In anticipation of actually getting internet at the house this evening after the lightening strike last Monday, I figured I’d get started updating what’s been happening for awhile.
The first week of June, I went up to Aspen to participate in the second meeting of the Polartec Athlete Advisory Board. We enjoyed great food and discussed product we have been testing (including Power Shield Pro and others I cannot discuss) as well as new ideas and future product. JustAZipper.com has a nice recap of the week if you’re interested otherwise all I can say is that I’m very excited about what’s to come from Polartec!
Axel and I left directly from Aspen and headed to Vail (I was a bit spoiled that week) for the Teva Mountain Games. Ian and Juniper had been there for a few days, Ian working and Juniper playing with some friends. The last two summers I have competed in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge consisting of four events in two days and the two years before that in the adventure race. With Ian working and Axel only eight weeks old, I had to skip the UMC and just race in the 10K trail run on Sunday morning. This 10K is unlike any other I have raced including trail races – it is brutal. Most of the climbing is so steep that even the leaders are relegated to fast hiking so I was happy to finish just a minute or so slower than my time from last year (even with a stop to dump the rocks from my shoes). I missed competing in it all but it just wasn’t possible this year.
Dropping some ounces before the mountain bike race.
Lindsay at Carmichael Training Systems has been working hard to get me faster after the pregnancy and had me doing hill repeats and intervals throughout the week with a mountain bike race mixed in. My legs were sufficiently tired after Saturday’s running repeats and then we headed to Boulder for the Newton Running Form Symposium and Clinic. Danny Abshire (Newton founder) and Ian Adamson (my old adventure race teammate) gave a great talk on the importance of proper running form to help prevent injuries and increase speed and efficiency. After an hour and a half run through Boulder and up Mt. Sanitas in the pouring rain on Sunday morning, I joined the Newton crew again for the form clinic. About thirty runners showed up to have their form critiqued and to practice what we had learned the night before. If you are able to get to one of these clinics, I highly suggest it! If you can’t make one, check out this video for some great tips.
Despite having missed two training sessions early in the week, I had an awesome twelve mile run with both kids in the Chariot this morning. With the temperature perfect, the wind still somewhat calm and not many people on the path, I was able to push my sixty pounds at an average 7 min. 50 sec. per mile pace. With all the foundation CTS has been having me build, I’m excited to get to the next phase of my training when I start to really prepare for racing again. I think I may be able to set some PRs and push the pace in some mountain bike races.
