Week 4 is officially in the bank. That’s one consecutive month of training…more weeks than I’ve managed to string together since the end of 2009, when I started my series of bouts with viral relapses. Woohoo! Here’s the breakdown:

Training Days: 4 (To Date: 19)

Rest Days: 3 (To Date: 9)

Body Weight: 155 (Net Gain/Loss: -5)

Running Days: 3 (To Date: 13)

Running Miles Logged: 19.9 (To Date: 83)

Average Run: 6.6 (Short = 4.5, Long = 9.2)

Cross-Training: Mountaineering

Happily, I’m continuing to see progress. I’ve lost most of the weight I gained over Memorial Day Weekend. My legs are feeling stronger. My per mile pace is decreasing, even as my mileage is increasing.

As far as trail running goes, I concluded my week with a 6-plus mile run up to the saddle between Bear Peak and South Boulder Peak. What really defines the run is the relentless elevation gain. From trailhead to saddle, the route climbs some 2,500 vertical feet or so. Nearly 2,000 of those feet are climbed in just 1.1 miles, as the trail ascends Shadow Canyon. When I reached that point, my thighs were burning, and I just couldn’t maintain the leg speed turnover to keep myself jogging uphill. Instead, I power-hiked the steepest sections. Just then, a guy – easily 15 years older than me – came bounding up the trail, seemingly unfazed. I stepped to the side to allow him to pass, and watched as he disappeared among the trees and boulders above me. Toward the end of last year’s race season, I was that guy.

Clearly, I still have some work to do…

To read the rest of Peter’s latest blog entry, click here