Brandon Fuller

Run: Green Mountain from 29th Street Mall (11.50 mi)

With all that treadmill last week, I was starting to grow accustom to just throwing on shorts, grabbing a towel, and sweating it up while I watched the kids play Wii or zoned out to CNBC. Then I read JV was running the streets. Then GZ didn’t blog for a day. WTF? It is the Apocalypse. I am not going out like that!

So after 2 days on the mill this week where I put in back to back 2-fer days in order to “fix” my mileage lag for the month. I decided to get the sand out of my pussy and grow a set and hit the mountains again. I had joked on AK’s blog that I need to start parking further from the Gregory TH. Well, today I had an errand at 29th Street Mall. So I parked there, laced up, and headed to Green Mountain.

There she is in the middle of the photo standing tall with a new coat of snow. It’s not THAT much further but when I usually park right at the foot of it, it was a step in the right direction. It more than doubled my usual distance for the run. I ran through the University to get to the TH. Kids going to class. For once, I finally felt warmed up at the TH and the initial few footsteps felt great instead of that usual “here we go again” thing. Times:

21:50 Lodge
24:40 4-Way
5:01 Summit
28:16 Down

A little fatigue from the prior 2 days on the treadmill. The new snow also slowed me down as I had to break the run in a few spots where trail was totally unconsolidated. Otherwise, it was a decent performance. I ran to the lodge in only my t-shirt. Great weather. Then the clouds came and the wind kicked up and I froze into a Popsicle on the way to the summit.

So the build up begins. A longer progression up Green from further out a few more times until I am doing it from home (post-Boston). Again, felt good at the TH like I was warmed up. But I bet once I get to 10+ miles before the climb it is going to not feel as good. The run back wasn’t bad either since its mostly downhill.

Yesterday, I went in for my massage. My normal dude doesn’t work during the week anymore so I have a new therapist. She is different. She gets up on the table on top of me. Mentioned that last time. But she isn’t getting in there like I would like or I am used to. Different technique. I like what I had. She brought up that I should consider orthotics this time and I about came unglued. I know when people can benefit from them (Kim!) but not me. I was evaluated. At the end of my old sessions, Henry would point at his muscle chart and tell me about what was tight. Left vs. right balance, etc. I liked it. This time when she finished she wanted to give me a summary. I was all ears. I am paraphrasing because I don’t recall the exact words but it was something like:

I notice a barrier around you. Its between us. Its like a shield that you put up. I get the sense it is part of some rage or anger you have. And I can feel that from your aura as I am listening to your body. It seems like you have something in your past or maybe your present holding you back. Maybe its a person or an experience or just some shit. But you are carrying it around in a backpack and it is weighing you down. You need to release it somehow. Get that shit out of there. Then you will be freer, happier, lighter. Maybe I am wrong. You can do what you want with this but it is what your body was telling me.

I wanted to say something but I just smiled and started thinking “where else in town can I go for this service?”. None of what she said had resonated with me and wasn’t the feedback I want after someone strokes my shit for an hour. I came home and told Kim and she started laughing at me. Arg. So not sure what to do at this point. This morning on Green as I left the TH, I cranked up my Slipknot which is all about rage and I cranked up that hill. Rage fuels my runs partly — I think. Its healthy. But I leave it there on the trail. Its that push that makes you run when you want to walk.

I scheduled my lactate profile for March 8th in Boulder. Get to meet with Neal after for analysis of my results. Sure, this is totally unnecessary but I have disposable income and I feel like this is a good investment. If I get a better grasp of how I am training in regards to my own levels, I feel like I will be more efficient with time spent. I can’t put a ton more time into running per week without making sacrifices that I am not prepared to. So anything that makes me feel more efficient — like having more data in this case — is money well spent. Plus, it should be fun.

Thursday night is another BTR seminar. Should be another good info session. Jeremy Rodgers on foot stuff.

And we have 4 of us going to IgniteBoulder 9 now! Should be a good time. Lucky, I got a hold of the secret registration link! Only 150 tickets. A few more left. Ping me if you want one.

I went 11.50 miles with an elevation gain of 3,181 feet in 02:13:09, which is an average pace of 11:34. View my GPS data on Garmin Connect.