Training Log

Welcome to my (mostly) unfiltered, (mostly) unedited training log entries. Here is where I track progress, provide updates, and share insights. It is purposefully informal and honest, where I grapple with challenges and laud achievements.

• Sunrise Long Run
  February 19, 2026 It’s been nearly twenty days since I posted, so I’m doing a bit of catching up today. I went out for a shorter run today, long before the sun rose. At some point, however, I had a eureka moment and realized how far I can actually run. I had been limiting myself for some arbitrary reason to shorter distances and easier loads, but today I wanted more. I rerouted toward the CSU “A” a long run that would end up being just over 11 miles. The sun rose as I climbed the mountain, which was one of… Read more: Sunrise Long Run
• Got Lost Just a Little
  February 16, 2026 I managed to miss my turn two different times on my bike ride, leading to a 35 miler instead of a 31 miler. The first was on my way North, when I missed CR 68 and turned on 70 (adding two miles), and the second when I missed the turn onto CR 15, which you can see in the top left of my map (and adding another two miles). It struck me how easy it is to add mileage on the bike because neither of those “mistakes” cost me much energy at all. I just kept on… Read more: Got Lost Just a Little
• Bridge
  February 15, 2026 Stumbled across a bridge today so I took a picture. It had a surprisingly steep ramp up for a car bridge. I’m looking for some ways to expand my favorite 18-mile loop, so today was a 22 miler that did a decent job. There were some busier roads on this route than I typically like to find, but overall I’d give it a 7/10 on the extra mileage. My quads burned quite a bit today, but my heartrate stayed lower which is a good sign. I think I might start adding gym sessions to improve my peak… Read more: Bridge
• Valentine’s Day Workouts with the Girl
  February 14, 2026 I had a recovery day today, and since it was Valentine’s day, my girlfriend and I did a sunrise hike of The “A” in Maxwell Nature Area, a 4-mile out-and-back hike. Before CSU became the Rams, they were the Aggies, and placed a giant “A” on a hill overlooking the town. Neither were super strenuous and it was good to give my body a rest day. However, I do sometimes feel like I swing on a pendulum between hard and easy days. I think increasing some of my base distances/times will help, and instead of calling a… Read more: Valentine’s Day Workouts with the Girl
• Biking to the Trailhead
  February 13, 2026 I found a new trailsystem today at Coyote Ridge Open Space. It looked really interesting and has lots of access to mountain trails, so I thought I’d give it a go. When I hopped in my car, however, it wouldn’t start. I resigned myself to another run on Spring Creek Trail, when suddenly I realized that I could very easily bike to the trailhead. This revelation, while maybe obvious to some, has opened up an entire world of trails that now I want to go run. Not only can I call the ride part of my workout… Read more: Biking to the Trailhead
• Short Brick?
  February 12, 2026 After a couple days off and an easier run yesterday, I wanted to have a bit of a harder day today. I decided to do a fast ride and did a Time Trial loop. I PR’d on nearly every segment on the way out, and got second fastest efforts on the segments back (because I didn’t have a 15 mph tailwind this time). It was a good solid ride averaging 18.8 mph, and my legs felt strong the entire time. I probably need to start doing longer loops for rides like this since the race I’m training… Read more: Short Brick?
• Getting Fit(ish)
  February 11, 2026 I’m definitely getting stronger and back into running shape. It’s slow but steady progress. Today was 5 miles at just under 7 minute pace. It actually felt really comfortable until I got hungry near the end. The repeated hungriness means I’m likely underfueling, and my hands have been struggling to stay warm. I need to focus on getting calories in over the next few days to support my exercise. Something I do wonder with the triathlon training I’m currently doing is whether I’ll ever actually be fit in any of the three sports, or if I’m simply… Read more: Getting Fit(ish)
• First Swim at the CSU Rec
  February 10, 2026 For those unaware, I recently moved to Fort Collins. I haven’t had access to a pool since moving, until today! After buying a membership to the CSU Rec Center, I can now officially swim again. Good thing too, cause that’s my weakest event by a bit. Today definitely felt like a shakeoff day. I was a little bit rusty from not swimming for a while, and the lanes were different and felt weird compared to the YMCA. I think they are a bit narrower as well. I had to share my lane with someone and I kept… Read more: First Swim at the CSU Rec
• Brick
  February 7, 2026 Today was my first “real” brick (bike + run) of the training block. A 30-mile ride followed by a six-mile run is just about half of the bike and run sections of the half Ironman. I’d say both went very well. I’m still working on fueling on the bike, which impacted my run a bit, as I ran out of snacks at around mile 25. When I got back to my apartment to drop off the bike and start my run, I didn’t grab anything to eat and then was hungry and felt weak on the run.… Read more: Brick
• Guy Feels Moderately Fit and Decides 7:00 is Recovery Pace
  February 6, 2026 I definitely ran too fast for a recovery run, but it was so pretty out, I was wearing my full pink outfit, and the sun was shining. It was a good day to be a runner. Honestly, though, the 7:00 pace for my 3.6 mile run felt smooth and strong. Wasn’t too strenuous. It’s days like these that help me love running. The weather was nice, my legs felt smooth, the sun was shining, and there wasn’t anything slowing me down. I was kinda hungry as I ran (which is funny because I ate dinner just before… Read more: Guy Feels Moderately Fit and Decides 7:00 is Recovery Pace
• Biking on the side of the highway is scary
  February 5, 2026 This was definitely one of my most enjoyable rides to date. 40 miles during a gorgeously sunny was wonderful. I did end up on the side of the highway, which was a tad scary, but fortunately it was only a handful of miles until I was back on country roads. I took yesterday off because my plantar fasciitis flared up (thank you, hike-a-biking yesterday in my vans) but today it felt much better. Not quite 100%, but enough to do a long ride. I went out on the flat country roads, hoping to just crank through some… Read more: Biking on the side of the highway is scary
• Road Bike? Nahhh it’s a Mountain Bike
  February 3, 2026 It was very cold this morning when I left. It was also windy. I didn’t think much of the wind, other than it took much more wattage to hit higher speeds than it usually does. I thought that meant I got to practice my aero form a bit, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. My goal was to climb hills, so I went back over to horsetooth to grind up some of the mega hills there. I found another killer climb that I’d like to train, on which I averaged 8.1 mph. Lots of room to… Read more: Road Bike? Nahhh it’s a Mountain Bike
• Bird
  February 2, 2026 I saw a great blue heron on my run today. It was really big. Big birds are always surprising to me for some reason. When I saw a bald eagle up close for the first time and realized how huge they are it was shocking. A six foot wingspan doesn’t look as big when they’re hundreds of feet in the sky, but when they’re ten feet away sifting through a dumpster, those are not birds I’d want to fight. The run was a bit harder, but also much faster than I’ve done recently. It felt good to… Read more: Bird
• I Saw a Cow
  February 1, 2026 30 mile bike ride today. I went on some of the country roads near where I live which was excellent. I love biking in Fort Collins. It was freezing when I started my ride, and I almost turned around, but I’m glad I didn’t. The sun came out eventually and with it came the warmth. I saw a whole dairy farm, including the fluffiest cow I have ever seen. There was also a calf that was just as fluffy, but it was farther away and I couldn’t get a good picture. At around mile 20 of the… Read more: I Saw a Cow
• Up the Dam Hill
  January 30, 2026 Easy run today to help encourage my recovery. There ended up being a ton of hills on the route I planned, one of which was the Dam Hill, our highschool hill repeat hill. I haven’t run up it in a long time, so naturally, I changed the route just enough so that I could stand at the top and NOT run up it. I may run up it sometime soon, but for a recovery day, not a chance. I felt better today than I did yesterday. It ended up being fairly warm, so I ran shirtless toward… Read more: Up the Dam Hill