Boulder has a sweet 42-acre bike park called the Valmont Bike Park! I wish I had found this earlier… it has a ton of practice area if you are learning to mountain bike as well as some insane jumps and other technical stuff. It is easy to get to via the bike trail system too. Check out some pictures here. Just keep in mind for all the insane ones you see there are some really easy ones that just help you learn.

I was diagnosed with an annular disc tear in 2014 and I had to take a lot of time off so that could heal. I stopped running completely, and I really miss it (the pounding is just not the best for the injury…). I really want to find something that is as mentally rewarding as running and I am going to try mountain biking and some bike touring…

I am doing a couch to 50km bike training challenge I found online. The goal is to get in better shape and spend time on a bike :). I am just about to start week 3… so far so good. I did bust up my knee last week on a mountain bike trail, but that was also the closest I’ve gotten to the calm zone running can bring. The intense focus of going really fast downhill doesn’t let you think about anything else. Running for a long time is like that but a little more flowy.

My goal is…

1. Get in better cardio shape. Especially so I can ride longer, and at higher elevations since I live in Colorado.
2. I want to do the Danube Cycle Path at some point in 2018. So that would be a 600+ mile ride, and I’d want to do ~40 miles per day. If that is fun I want to do more of those long-distance cycle paths.
3. Hiking/walking is awesome, but if I bike I can go a lot further and see a bit more of the world. I want to get comfortable doing trail rides of 20 to 40 miles a day and see how that goes.

PS. You can download the 8 week program for couch to 50km here too. If you want a slower plan just double it and do week one for two weeks. I did that with a marathon training schedule many years ago too.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.

Forest Road 550 is just my speed, the first 5.5 miles is a huge beautiful dirt road, with a ton of single track to either side. At 5.5 miles it hits another forest road and you can go left or right. Left is a gradual climb that eventually hits 126. Right goes forever and ends up at a lake and then 287. I went left and the climb was nice since I am trying to get in better shape. After 9 miles (since the start) I stopped and had a quick snack, and then took Shingle Mill Trail No. 725 back down.

Shingle Mill Trail is FUN! I am really new to mountain biking and this felt like a fast trail without too many crazy parts. The total thing is 3.4 miles and I finished it in ~21 minutes with a few stops for bikers coming up it (which was a nice break to take photos). I fell twice, and caught myself once mid-fall. Usually, because I was going fast and some rough dirt/rock mix that I turned too quick on. Really fun and highly recommended trail. I am looking forward to going back once I am in better shape.

Fun day, total ride 15.3 miles with an average speed of 8.9mph and a high of 24.5 miles per hour. Ascent/descent of a little under 1300 feet.

I am a newb when it comes to mountain biking on single track. I’ve done a lot of forest/logging roads but not much of anything else. I am trying to learn so I decided to do Coulson Gulch Trail. A local guide book rated it as “Technically easy to moderate with a few steep sections of rock and sand”. Unfortunately, I only made it 0.71 miles in before my back tire died :(… so I hiked the rest.

It was a BEAUTIFUL hike. There is an abandoned cabin 1.8 miles in, and the canyons are stunning. I also found several deer legs that were pretty fresh so watch out for animals. The trail did not seem like it was used very often, pretty overgrown. Some old wagon trail road for part of it too.

The book (referenced above) was written before the trail was washed away and a bridge (link goes to forest service details). I was able to leap from rock to rock to get across one area, but it is a mess. It made for some adventuring though. I walked along Button Rock Trail for about half a mile (which was amazing).

Hiking? Beautiful and fun! If you are feeling adventurous cross the stream and go up Button Rock Trail. Watch out for bears.

Biking? Good for about ~2 miles in max, and I am not sure it is really good for newbies. Pretty difficult with some of the washout, and a steam climb back which you are mostly walking.

It was a blast driving the new truck on some dirt roads, and some off roady type things. So much fun :)

How are my steaks doing? I am up to 445 days on meditation and doing sessions of 20 minutes. And, I am up to 515 days straight of my morning workout. That is pretty awesome and it has been a hard struggle that has gotten easier with time.

What challenges have I done lately?

1. 30 day challenge to not eat in front of the TV.
2. 30 day challenge to do a nightly mood log of nice things I did that day.

This weekend I went on a easy hike called Meyers Homstead Trail, or the Meyers Gulch Trail. It was a relatively flat hike with a wide path and the out and back added up to a total of 5.5 miles. Beautiful pine forest, old barn, etc. Highly recommend! Good one for kids too I think.

If you want something more challenging, Walker Ranch is right around the corner which is an 8 mile loop with some climbs and beautiful walks along the river. I see people fly fishing out there quite often.

I loved soccer as a kid. I played as much as I could at recess, and eventually rec leagues. It was so much fun and I seemed to be good at it (especially defense). At some point around 6th grade I tried out for the Comets and made the team, it was the first year they formed and our coaches were awesome. I was one of the worst on the team, def the slowest, but I had so much fun. The team was really talented, and it was awesome to be part of it. My proudest moment was winning MVP during a state championship, we had a lot of injuries so I got a lot of playing time and played well.

The Comets straddled a confusing time in my life, I had a bad teacher in grade school who told my mom I would never be more than a D student and bumped me out of all the honors classes for my first year of junior high. So all the people I had known in school were not in my classes, and I was in a lot of remedial classes. I don’t know why the teacher was so pissed, but the rumors is I said something offensive to her and hadn’t realized it since I was just a kid and just asking an innocent question. Throw in the aftereffects of a divorce, a lot of guys turning into assholes in junior high, and a lot of other things and it was generally a shitty period in my life. I really disliked junior high and high school. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

In early high school I had a bad knee injury, it turned out to just be a severe bone bruise instead of a tear. But I ended up quitting soccer, and switching to Ultimate Frisbee.

PS. I loved my bowl cut!

2014 was a pretty tough year on my normal workout routine due to injury and health problems. 2015 was much better but still very challenging. For the first half of the year I was only doing rehab and walking. Slowly I was able to add back in biking and running. I had hoped to do a lot of yoga, but with Lindsey and I traveling it fell by the wayside. It didn’t help that the first eight months of the year were pretty stressful and I just didn’t have as much energy left as I normally do.

For 2015, I did a total of 254 hours of tracked workouts. 226 hours of that was hiking/walks, which was especially boosted by the big Hardrian’s Wall hike I did. Fun stats:

I hiked/walked 727.9 miles this year for exercise!

I biked a mere 115 miles, I didn’t get enough biking in for the 2 months I had a bike. About 50 miles of that is one ride.

Over the entire year I ascended 58,000 feet walking (which isn’t very much when you think about it).

My rehab to make my core stronger didn’t go great this year, but it has gotten better. Most months I managed to do it every other day. I should be hitting 80% but it is hard to build that type of routine in when the exercises are so boring. I’ll get there.

What are my workout goals for 2016?

1. My main goal is to do Yoga 3x a week. I did a ton of Yoga in Nov/Dec 2014 and want to pick it up and make it a habit. It helps my core stay strong and it is very relaxing. I need more core strong to take more of the impact off my back and keep my annular disc tear from ever bothering me again.

And, two smaller goals.

2. I wanted to be able to start running, but the doctor said it was not good for my back. So I am working to switch over to biking, esp mountain biking. I am aiming to do a bike workout 3x a week while I explore that option.
*Goal shifted late Jan 16.
3. I want to build up to be able to do 10 minutes non-stop on my core rehab ball workouts. That is going to be tough.

I had a fun day, I road my bike all the way from Nottingham to what is left of Sherwood Forest! The ride was a total of 56 Miles which I think is the longest ride I’ve ever done. And, I def hurt a little :).

I tried to stay on the A6 national cycle path, but I still had to do a lot of time on the road which I hate (I can’t wait for cars that drive themselves and get people away from the steering wheel). The cycle route was amazing, through forest and all kinds of stuff I hope to go back and see. And Sherwood Forest was great, a little gimmicky but very fun. I ended up doing about 10 miles just in Sherwood on the trails which were a blast.

I made it about 13 of the 22 miles home before my legs gave out, and they cramped so hard I could barely walk. I only had some anchovies in my bag because I am trying to stay true to my paleo aip diet. I opened one, and somehow got the hot salty disgusting stuff down… About 20 minutes later I was good to go. Apart from almost throwing up.

Anchovies are disgusting when warm. I had quite a few moments of walking until my legs warmed back up.

I was also proud as I’ve never used lock in pedal things and I went the entire day without falling over. Which is good when a bus is 15 inches away from you on the right. I fell the first time when a herd of geese attacked me. I feel the second time when a cute adorable puppy almost went in front of the bike and I had to stop suddenly. True stories.

I had my first run in a long time now that my injury is healed. I still have a lot of rehab to do before I can start pushing up the miles but it was a really good feeling. I really miss running, such a fun feeling to move over the ground like that :) !

I was diagnosed with an annular disc tear in June, and after 6 months of rehab and healing I got the news that the tear is all healed!!!! This is very exciting as it frees me up to do more physical activity!!!!!!!! I still have a lot to do to strengthen and build muscle in my core, but it is really good news :). I’ve got a 6 month rehab plan that will build muscle in my core so that running and other hard impacts don’t hit my spine as hard.. And, I will keep doing Yoga for the same reason, plus its fun.

Dr. Whitelaw and his team at Millennium Chiro were amazing. I highly recommend him as he is the best doctor I’ve ever had, he is patient, explains everything, and can explain things in a way that you understand.

2014 has been a very interesting year… It was one of the most stressful/traumatic years of my life combined with one of the absolute best years of my life.

The Amazing!
I came home for a big college reunion ultimate tournament in October 2013 and met up with an old friend and everything just clicked. She ended up visiting me in Scotland in December and we’ve been together ever since :). We got engaged in October and married on December 21st :). I am incredibly happy and excited to have her in my life!

What other fun stuff did I do this year?
– Lindsey and I went on an amazing trip to Spain & Portugal in late spring. It was a great break and nice to have some time off. We also had a great trip out to California in the Fall. And, one to New Mexico in March that was fun (although I got a bad sinus infection and was conked out for most of it).
– I did a 30 day challenge to live as if I was only making $12 dollars an hour. It was a good experience and you can read more of my thoughts on it above.
– I had a fantastic time at work meetups in Prague, Scotland, Vegas, and Texas. I had such a blast visiting with everyone.
– I said goodbye to all my paper books which was tough, but it feels good to not cart those around.
– I learned so much this year about myself and so many other things. One nice things about big challenges is that you learn at a very accelerated rate. I was very fortuntuate that a friend referred me to Vistage as it has been a huge help, and I recommend it to any CEO/BizOwners.

The Challenges!
This year had also had some big challenges.

Health:
Health problems suck, I hate being limited in what I can do physically, or if anything makes me feel tired and slow. This year has been a doozy in that regard… Short summary: in April I started having some pain in my stomach area, along with being very tired. After many specialists and tests I was told it was either cancer, tumors, or possibly crohn’s disease (not fun to hear). After a bunch more tests I got surgery in late August to get a biopsy. The good news is it isn’t cancer (always nice to hear after such a stressful period). The bad news is the doctors think it is crohn’s disease or possibly IBUprofen damage. I recovered pretty quickly from the surgery and felt a lot better since they removed twelve inches of my small intestine that was inflamed. Unfortunately, I started having some symptoms in early December and tests backed up that I still have some problems. So, I am still working on figuring it out :) . The doctors think it is crohn’s disease which seems to be a pretty made up diagnosis for something they don’t know much about, and they want to start jamming a load of pills down me. I’ve started the paleo autoimmune protocol eating plan, as a lot of people have had great success with it. It’s tough but hopefully over the next 6 months it helps me heal naturally. And I’ve got an appointment with a doctor in a few weeks to learn more about how I can help the pharmaceutical industry financially… This health issue has taken so much time and energy this year.

Sports Injury:
In June, I finally got a proper diagnoses of a sport injury I’ve had for 2.5 years. It turns out I had a torn disc… and I’ve been working to rehab the muscles around it + give it time to heal. I haven’t been able to do anything but walk and a few other things. It was very difficult to eliminate running from my life as it is a major stress reliever. I’ve slowly found some new things, and I am now doing a Yoga more, and a lot of walking & stationary biking. I’ll get a read on how it is healing in a week or so from the MRI results.

Life:
This year has been a very tough year personally and professional. It has brought a lot of challenges, I am hopeful it will improve in 2015.

I pushed way too hard this year when so much other stuff was going on. I moved three times, got engaged, got married, traveled for work or pleasure for at least three months total this year, and many other things. Next time I will be better about cutting out the superfluous stuff to give myself time to breath when having such a challenging year. Live and learn :) !

Overall…
I am very ready for 2015, and glad that I am alive and surviving!

Then flourish.

I posted one of these for 2013 so why not 2014!

In June I was diagnosed with a pretty bad sports injury, combined with some other medical problems it was a pretty limited year in terms of running. Because of this I modified my workout plan to instead be how many hours I get in, and how many days in the month I workout. Then I can just focus on what I can do, rather than what I can’t… Right now I can do yoga, rehab, swimming, walking, and up to 30 minutes of biking as long as its stationary or on flat surfaces. I’ll find out how the injury looks in a week or so, they just took a 2nd MRI to see how it is healing :).

In 2014 I ran 168 miles with my longest run being 7 miles before I had to stop in early June :(. Over the course of the year I worked out for 85 hours total, which compared to the 3 years previous wasn’t very good, but it was in line with the years before that. And, I feel pretty good about it considering I had a really difficult year with surgery, major sports trauma, and some huge stresses. I am going to try to do a lot better in 2015 though, and get better about a daily workout practice.

So what am I planning on doing for 2015?

1. Rehab, I need to keep my core strong to support my back injury for the rest of my life. I don’t count this as part of my workout and I track separately.

2. Yoga, this is a great core strengthening exercise and I am really digging it. In December I went to 9 Yoga sessions and I am going to keep that up wherever I go. It is making me stronger and I like the meditation part.

3. I’ll just keep doing what exercises I can… I should be living next to the ocean by summer, and I hope to do a lot of swimming combined with a lot of walking. I am going to try to find a gym to do stationary bike too.

Otherwise I am just waiting for the Doc to let me know what I can do after this MRI coming up in a week…

About 2.5 years ago I got hit with a pretty bad injury that caused intense pain in my buttox / lower back. It has gotten better over time but I could never figure out what was going on too well. I went to a sports doc in Australia and got MRIs but he just told me to keep taking IBUprofen and go to a doctor when I got home. I was doing my own rehab which helped a little but nothing was really fixing it. It turns out the aussie doc missed a huge tear on my disc on the MRIs and a really awesome doc on Fayetteville walked me through the problem today. And I have a lot of rehab to do.

So… I can’t do anything for the next 3 to 6 months except swim and walk. Which sucks. I’ve been running since 2007 and I am going to have to relax that for the rest of the year which really sucks. It is a good thing I love treading water, now I just need to find a pool or move the ocean to me.

No running :(
No ultimate
No hiking
No kayaking
No boxing
No biking
Etc…

Sucks, but I am really excited to be fixing this. They gave me some pills to help with the inflammation and my pain is almost gone, which has made me realize how much pain I was in.

For 2013 I ran 713 miles over 111 hours, with my longest run being 15 miles. That is a real slow mile pace but that is partially because when I do treadmill workouts my watch can’t track mile splits and just divide the miles over 10 min which isn’t really accurate. This was a pretty weak year since I was traveling so heavily. I also had a really weak end of year because I did a walking pilgrimage, got injured, didn’t want to run in the icy wind of Scotland the last few months, and then a cold. 2012 was about the same for similar reasons.

I’m looking forward to running in 2014 and having a little more routine :). Apart from just building up a bit more my only plans are to enter some races, and trying to bet my fastest mile time. And the first annual Ben-Joel-Jester race at the end of year :)