First Quarter Progress Report

James using the treadmill in his own way!

Somehow it is already April...someone please tell me my little baby is not about to turn 2! I'm not sure how that has happened or where the past 3 months have gone. But I figured it was a good time to look at where my fitness and training is compared to last year. I have run nearly 300 miles more than I had at this time last year. Last year I didn't keep real good track of my vertical until the end of the year, but despite the treadmill miles I logged this winter I'm pretty confident I've still ran more vertical this year than last. 

The really crazy part is last year I felt confident that I would finish Leadville. I felt great and like my training was going really well. It's strange to have a slightly different perspective on that now. I still am confident I will be ready for my races this summer. I need a 30+ mile run in the next week or two, but otherwise I'm sitting pretty well. I also really need to get my butt in gear and start doing hill workouts. I definitely feel good going into the season this year. I've been putting in the training and I'm excited to see if it will pay off.

He looks peaceful now...but this is just his launching pad
for climbing onto the ottoman!

This week was a typical Colorado spring week! Another foot plus of snow...heavy, wet, muddy snow. So Dan and I took to Bear Creek for our long run on Friday. Even that was pretty muddy and we ran probably half of the 20 miles with an extra 5 lbs caked onto each foot. It was great to get out Friday for our long run and be able to relax a bit over the weekend. I spent the rest of the week running up Apex. The climbing legs are coming back! Each day I had a faster split to the top with less exertion. As always i'm disspointed at how much I lost over the winter, but I can tell I'm gaining it back faster than in previous years. I also hit 50 miles in a week much earlier than I did last year. Hopefully the mileage I put in last fall combined with keeping up with my strengthening exercises will keep me healthy enough to continue with this higher mileage through the summer.

It's hard to believe how much James has progressed in the past three months as well. His communication has come so far. It makes me feel good that I made the right decision to drive out to Children's once a week for private speech therapy. It's been a challenge to lose nearly half a day each week with all the driving, but he has finally caught on to the conception of communication, learned some signs with consistency and is babbling away telling his own tales of craziness...not to mention calling Dan "dada" and even "dad" once in awhile. The kid's growing up and becoming a little boy, one that is often full of piss and vinegar as toddler boys so often are!

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as thought nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle -Albert Einstein
 
Week March 31 - April 6

Miles Running: 53.0
Hours Hiking and Running: 9.0