Winter is slipping into Boulder County. I know because I’ve been out there running in it. Twenty-three miles yesterday. Twelve today. I’m starting to wear gloves on my weekly evening runs.

There’s snow on the Indian Peaks and the air’s been wet and cold. Colorado’s most humid months are January and February – the winter. It might be less humid in Bandera for my ultra in January. Still, I’m going to keep to my steam sauna and waxing regimen. Discipline.

My 20 mile run is to the res and back. I looped around it though yesterday for an extra 3 miles. I’m starting to run marathons for training. Please. Someone. Save me. From myself.

The cool thing about looping the res is I got onto the Boulder Backroads on the back-side. And those roads and the trail that connects back are hilly. It’s a good 3 miles to add to the workout.

The 50° weather was great for running, and apparently tolerable for the 3 rowers on the water. Boulder is slipping into winter. It feels good to get outside to enjoy it.

In my day, it was rare for coaches to think much of strength training for distance runners. But in high school, my jr and sr year coach was recently graduated from Baylor University, and was a standout lineman on their football team. Coach Wagner. So, way ahead of his time, he had us perform strength training, as in weights, twice a week. That’s Coach above in a photo with teammate Marc Jurnigan from my cross country team. Likely taken at the Texas State Meet we qualified for as a team in 1979.

You can’t look at this photo of me above and not think I was a strong looking distance runner. My senior year, my team didn’t just win the 2 mile relay (4×800) at every track meet of the season, we set the meet record for the event nearly every week. I’ve been a fan of strength training for distance runners ever since. BTW, RR was for Round Rock, not Road Runner.

Traditionally, coaches have always felt that time was more wisely spent putting in the miles for distance runners. They aren’t wrong on that. Strength training has many benefits, from staving off repetitive use injuries to contributing somewhat to endurance, but from a time perspective, a distance runner is going to benefit mostly from running the miles. It’s an aerobic activity after all. But what about ultra runners?

I don’t know if this thought is pervasive, but I’ve read enough to know that strength training is a good idea for ultra runners. You can only run so many miles in training each week. Lifting weights takes time too, but a separate routine from running can find another time in the day. And think about it, you’re not going to run any more miles each week training for an ultra than you would have for a marathon. I’m currently strength training at the Longmont Rec Center 3 times a week. 50% more than I ever did in high school or college. I’m lifting considerably less weight on my arms than I did back then, but I’m impressed with my progress on my legs. My legs are half the size currently than they were back in the day, but I’m working on them.

The pic above is of me and Doug Hall running the very first Capitol 10K in Austin in the spring of 1978. Doug died later that summer, in my arms, in a tragic car accident. I didn’t know then how traumatic that was for me, but I know now that the incredible positive influence of my high school sweetheart I paired up with the following fall probably saved my life. She was a runner too. I’ve been running ever since. I suspect this was one of those life events that burned running into my psyche. Running drives my emotions to this day like nothing else.

I didn’t beat Doug that day. I never, ever beat Doug in a race. But I kept running the Capitol 10K and improved.

I’m still running. My current goal is to complete the 62 mile course in the Bandera 100K in January. I’ve completed a couple of 50Ks at a 14 minute mile pace. I’m hoping to complete the Bandera 100K at a 14 minute pace. That’ll have me competitive with the top 3. I’m still racing. And I’m still working on my strength.

Some runners have this attitude where they are insulted if you call them a jogger. They are a runner. I’m so much worse than that. I don’t workout, I’m in training. It’s a fantasy I enjoy, a 62-year old man’s delusion. Judge me if you want, but I’m happy.

I consider this last week to be my first official training week for the Bandera 100K. The previous week was a recovery week from the Boulder Marathon. It’s not too much of a stretch to say I’m in training, because it’s rare I ever track my miles. I think doing so leading up to the ultra will give me some confidence knowing I put in the miles. I put in 51 miles.

More importantly, I did strength training 3 days this last week. That’s a lot for me. Not every runner considers strength training important but I do, especially for my age. My goal is to continue a routine of 3 days a week up to race day in January. I have a 3 month pass at the Longmont Rec Center, mostly for their sauna but it makes sense to use their weights there too. I could join a gym but I’m a public school kind of guy. I like the rec center.

Which means I also got in 3 days in the sauna. What I’ve read on acclimating to heat and humidity is to spend 30 minute sessions 3 days a week in the sauna. That’s harder than I expected. It’s exhausting, sitting there in a steam bath. I have experience racing marathons in the Texas winter and the humidity is tough; probably harder for me coming down from the dry Colorado air. I’m hoping this works.

For the next 3 months, expect this blog to be a steady stream of ultra training reports. Oh, and that’s my new running hat in the photo.

I’m so happy when I go to a rock concert. I do it sometimes once a year, at least every couple of years. I can’t explain why I don’t do it more often because I end up having the best time. I feel like a kid again, remembering my first ever concert in San Antonio when I saw Bad Company and the opening act was so much better – Cheap Trick. I went to a lot of concerts in high school and college.

I saw Struts perform at the Mission Ballroom earlier this week with my buddy, Jed. We met for beers and wings at the BrewDog because it’s a short walk from the venue. I highly recommend it for that reason alone, but the IPAs are tasty as well. I have to ding them for charging a $1 for each additional ramekin of blue cheese. I’d let that go but they were smaller than a Dominoes ramekin and only half full. I mean, seriously, blue cheese is a condiment. But go, it was good.

I’d describe Struts as glam rock – which describes the performance more than the music itself, which I’d call pop rock. Struts puts on a good show. They get the audience involved. I’ve attached a couple of videos to give you a feel for them. Go see them if you get a chance. And go to the Mission Ballroom. There’s seating if you want it and a huge floor for standing with quick access to bars galore.

The cooler temps that ended the week have been nice. I ran a really fast 10 miler Thursday, a 9:40 pace which is fast for me, and a 10 minute pace Saturday on a 15 miler. That’s also my longest run since the Colorado Marathon in May. It’s time for me to up my miles to prep for the Boulder Marathon at the end of September. And I think 15 miles is long enough but I’d like to run a couple of 20 milers before then. I could have gone for 20 today. The cooler temps really make a difference.

I learned a cool running tip while watching the women’s marathon in Paris today. Carry an ice pack in your left hand. Blood flows from the heart through your left hand before moving to the right side of your body, so you can cool your blood off early in its circulation. It could be cold in Bandera in January, but it will be humid and that’s just like heat because the sweat doesn’t evaporate effectively.

I have my hydration plan decided now for Bandera. I’ll drink 3 different mixes. One bottle of LMNT with 1000mg of sodium and one bottle of high carb/high calorie SIS Beta Fuel. I’ll drink that for the first loop. I’ll continue drinking the high carb SIS on the second loop but swap out the LMNT for high sodium (500mg) Precision Fuel. PF has a bit less electrolytes than LMNT but is still on the high end while it contains a higher dose of calories, closer to what SIS has. PF is a super good blend of high calories and high electrolytes. Swapping out LMNT for PF will give me some diversity in taste. I’ll be able to drink Tailwind at the aid stations which is another good drink and one I know I do well with.

I have a short list of gels to fuel with, that I know don’t cause me GI distress, and I’ll have a more diverse mix of those. I want to avoid super sticky gels because that really irritates me. The empty packets make a mess out of my vest and hands. SIS Beta Fuel gels and Maurten gels will be on that short list. Maybe Santa Madre, they have a hugely diverse assortment and I like their jelly bars – they’re not sticky and also not as dense as gummy bears which don’t digest easily for me. I’ll eat some natural foods at the aid stations. I’m a big fan of oranges.

I would have run on the track today but Karen and I got in a mountain trail hike instead. The air felt so good up along the Indian Peaks. We got in an hour on the Middle St. Vrain Trail. It’s an area we typically snow shoe, about 45 minutes from our house.

This is me today, running on the track. I intend to run 400 meter intervals for the month of August to improve my cadence and stride length before the Boulder Marathon at the end of September. I ran 4x400s today and I’ll add one more interval each Sunday until I reach 8, which is what I used to run in college, 8x400s.

This was me on the track in college, forty years ago. I don’t expect my stride length to get to where it was then, but a boy can dream.

Today was my first track day in a good decade. I didn’t time myself but I ran a few 400 meter laps at about 80% full speed – resting for a minute interval in between. Running track is hard. My goal was less conditioning and more training to run with a faster form. It felt good. I increased my normal cadence from 170 to 200 steps per minute and my stride length from .9 to 1.3 meters.