Run Jeff run! No wait...Ski Jeff ski

It was an awesome day here on the west coast. I was up early and had a good breakfast. We then went out to the aircraft and finished all the maintenance that needed to be completed. With the run up complete and the weather completely sucking we decided that we'd go skiing. But before I would allow myself to any fun I was going to go for a run. A long run!!

I departed the Hotel and started running to the east towards a large water tank about 1.5 miles away. The hotel is sitting at 4800 feet and as I ran to the east it was slowly going down hill. A very nice way to warm up for a run but I knew I was going to have to climb that hill when I came back. I made it to the water tank after what seemed like an eternity. If you've ever ran in the desert you'll know what I mean about it taking an eternity. There is something about running towards an object you can see for miles. When I left the water tank I continued into the hills running on trails. I only made it another half mile before the trail was just to steep to run up without my lungs bursting from my chest and slapping my face while shouting "slow down". So I ended up "hiking" the last 3/4 miles to the summit of the hill I wanted to climb. The summit was at 5500 feet. I'd like to say the view was awesome but I was actually in the clouds when I reached the summit. Total distance was 3.03 miles at 33 minutes 30 seconds.

I was able to run back to the hotel since most of the trip was down hill. The run back to the water tank was a bit slow going since it was muddy and slippery from the snow. Once I was back on solid ground I was able to pick up the pace. The run took 55:31 and my average pace was 9:26 over 5.89 miles. Now don't start thinking I'm a slow poke because 3/4 of a mile was up a very steep hill. The speed was really not that important to me. The fact that I feel good enough to run and to run hard is just awesome! I'm so glad to be back to normal.

Now after that long run I allowed myself an afternoon of snow skiing at Diamond Peak in the Lake Tahoe area. It was a cloudy, wet and snowy day. The slopes were packed but I still had a very good time. They had about 6 inches of new snow and the bumps where easy on my legs. I wish I could snow ski more often. I really enjoy it!

Tomorrow I'm off to Southern California. At least it will be warm there and I can crossfit and run all I want.

Work, Work, Work

Well I had good intentions to workout today but work had other plans. I'm in NV and we have a broken aircraft. I was elected to stay with the broken aircraft and mechanic to get it fixed. Well getting it fixed took all day today and it's still not complete. On the up side I really enjoy working on aircraft and today was educational and fun. However, educational and fun is not going to get it done on the race course.

I wouldn't mind missing a day but after being sick and missing a week of training I'm getting a bit pissed at myself. Tomorrow the weather is looking pretty bad here so I will have time to do a long slow run during the afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting out! No more excuses!! I know you guys aren't reading this to hear about how I almost worked out today.

Back to Normal

After a long nights sleep and relaxing all morning I'm glad to report that I'm feeling normal again. Tomorrow I'll get back to crossfit and crossfit endurance.

I'm still in Nevada and today it was beautiful here. It was clear and sunny with hardly a breath of air blowing and flying in the mountains was awesome. Tonight was so bright that I was able to fly in the mountains without any night vision goggles. It was just a beautiful day and night to be out flying. I love this job!!

Have a good day friends! Tomorrow I'll be back on my workout schedule.

Still Sick

This is killing me!! I woke this morning thinking that it was all behind me and I could get back to normal. I had a good breakfast then went to visit the local Harley shop with some of the guys. I like the Harley's but I really like the style of the BMW motorcycles. But I digress!

I finally did a running workout before lunch. I did the Tabata workout from Crossfit Endurance. Using a treadmill set at 30 seconds slower than my best 5K pace at an incline of 12%. 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off x 8. I ran a 7:00 pace with a 10.5% incline. I was exhausted afterwards. I'm not sure if it's from the altitude or from being sick. Either way I was tired but still feeling pretty good.

I went to fly right after lunch and while I was flying I just kept feeling worse. By the time I landed I had the chills and aches of sickness again. I went back to my hotel and had a nice long nap. I felt good enough to eat but I've been laying low since then. I'm planning to rest as much as possible the next few days. I really need to shake this so I can get back to my training. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow morning.

Have a good day friends!

Sick Day

So I've been feeling pretty bad the last few day. Yes even when I was skiing! Today I'm feeling better but still not good enough to workout. I'm really hoping that tomorrow I can get my crossfit and crossfit endurance on here in NV. Not much more than that to report.

My poll for a new vehicle closed out today. I had 2 votes for the mini and 2 votes for the jeep. But I still want the BMW motorcycle. I guess it's really up to me in the end. Well I'm not doing anything until my contract with the government is renew. Lets hope that it's renewed in April.

Have a good night.

The longest WOD

The sun broke this morning over the mountains to the east of my hotel when the sun hit the mountains behind my hotel the snow sparkled like a million flashbulbs at a football game. It was beautiful!!

Today was the longest workout of the day (WOD) I have ever done. I went to crossfit Diamond Peak and did my workout at an all outdoor gym. The WOD was crazy! Here is the WOD: 3 hours on, 30 minute recovery, 3 hours on.

So for 3 hours I skied from the top to the bottom of the mountain. There was hardly a soul on the mountain so no waiting at the lifts. This mountain has a 2500 foot vertical drop and although I didn't count my runs I'm figuring we did about 5-7 runs per hour. After a healthy lunch and beer (recovery) we hit it again for 3 more hours. It was awesome! I think I would feel better if I'd just finished a marathon.

It was a good day. Tomorrow back to normal workouts.

Snowboarding

Well I tried snowboarding today. The verdict is still out but I had fun which is the main point. I signed up for a 2 hour private lesson and that was the smartest thing I could have done. I finished that 2 hour lesson will all the basic to go attack the mountain on my own. How did I do? Well I only had three bad crashes. When I say bad I mean knees, arms, face kind of crashes! But overall I had a very good time. I'm going again tomorrow to see if a good nights sleep helps me to enjoying it more.

I used my GPS watch today but at some point in the day it stopped. So I only had 1:46:00 of data. During that time I went 6.6 miles (including the lifts) and averaged 3.3 mph. Now I was on the mountain from 9am to 3:30pm and I know that I went a lot further than 6.6 miles. Just ask my legs which are burning!! As a matter of fact I'm sore all over. I'll be glad to get back to normal workouts.

I hope that everyone had a great day.