Sunday, December 25, 2011

Weekly Update: 12/19 - 12/25

Monday (12/19) - off

Tuesday PM (12/20) - 4.1 mi (35 mins) Twin Lakes - An easy spin around the lakes after work with my new headlamp (Petzl Myo XP), which is far superior illumination than my previous lamp. Very exciting. Maybe I'll do a little review on this at a later date.

Wednesday (12/21) - off

Thursday PM (12/22) - 3 mi (31 mins) Twin Lakes - Boulder received a heaping load of snow on Wednesday - about 1 to 2 feet's worth. This made for a seriously exhausting run this evening as I laid mostly first tracks through the trails behind my house. Total blast.

Friday (12/23) - (1:39, 2,300') Hike up Amphi/Saddle Rock, back down to Blue Baird up to 1st/2nd Flatiron Access - I initially intended to go the typical route up Green (Amphi/SR/Greenman), but once I reached Saddle Rock, I decided to go exploring and head back down to Chautauqua and check out the 1st and 2nd Flatiron climbing access routes. The massive amounts of snow made for pretty challenging hiking and running because the routes were not exactly soft and fluffy unpacked tracks, but rather a funky mix of quasi-packed, yet soft, deep stuff. I didn't summit taking this route because I was too unfamiliar with this route given the substantial snow on trail and had no idea how long it would take. I hadn't traveled the flatty access routes before, but from what I did hike, it all looked very enticing. I shall return.

Saturday (12/24) - 5 mi (50 mins) - Twin Lakes, 3 laps around East lake - Since the Achilles has been feeling fine, I decided to increase the distance a little and see how things felt. Nice little run with no pain at all. The snow finally packed down enough to keep a pretty even pace. I can't wait to get more miles.

Sunday PM (12/25) - (1:43, 2,400') Green Mountain hike via Amphi/SR/Greenman from Chat. - After the festivities at home, I trekked up the mountain in the PM just before sunset. The trail conditions are really nice with some packed out trenches. There is a ton of snow on Green right now. Got up to the Amphi/SR junction in 10 minutes flat and summited in 55 mins. I took it easy descending and avoided to run balls out down the mountain. The trails are still pretty loose in spots, which can make for precarious footing when cruising at speed.

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The last few weeks have been agonizingly slow, but very encouraging considering the circumstances. I'm at a good point to continue tacking on more running miles and more hiking miles.

This being my first Winter of trail running and consistent hiking has exposed a weakness that I need to work on - my efficiency when ascending and descending steep routes. The snowpack makes steep trails very steep and I need to better utilize my quads rather than allowing my knees to absorb the strain when stepping up high rocks. On the downs, I need to again, better utilize my quads and allow my legs to do more work than my back. After the hike on Thursday, my left knee was awkwardly irritated, which I'm assuming was some sort of meniscus strain, but it went away completely by Sunday. So, I think it was me simply doing a few things wrong because I adjusted my footwork on Sunday's hike and felt no weirdness the entire time. On the downs, I have noticed myself taking a few shots straight to the back when jumping off of rock drops rather than allowing my legs to take the impact. Things to work on.

Amphitheater on Thursday morning following a decent snowfall.



At the base of 1st Flatiron

Nestled up near Flatty 1&2. Downtown Denver can be seen between tree and rock 
3rd Flatiron

Beginning my PM hike up Green on Xmas

Greenman nicely trenched out on the upper reaches

Obligatory routine summit pic

Longs Peak in the PM sun.


Monday, December 19, 2011

Weekly Update: 12/12-12/18

Monday (12/12) - 3.5 mi (28 mins) Twin Lakes - Easy little warm-up for the week.

Thursday (12/15) - (1:27, 2,400') Green Mtn hike via Amphi/Saddle/Greenman - Pretty snappy hike, reaching the summit in 53 mins. Ran pretty much the entire descent, ~ 2 miles. Got some great early morning pics.

Friday (12/16) - 3.5 mi (29 mins) Twin Lakes - Felt a bit tired from the hike the previous day.

Saturday (12/17) - 3.5 mi (27 mins) Twin Lakes - All of this flat, short running has got me itching for the Mesa Trail and Green.

Sunday (12/18) - (1:37, 2,400') Green Mtn hike via Amphi/S.R/Greenman - Took it easy hiking up and jogging down. Really warm.

My Achilles seems to be accepting all the recent mellow running and even the steep hikes up Green. I'd like to add one more hiking day and another running day to the mix over the next couple of weeks and see how things go. Hopefully, I'll be back to higher mileage runs soon too.

Early morning up on Saddle Rock


Nice to beat the sun to the summit



Bear Peak







Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Weekly Update: 12/5 - 12/11

Tuesday (12/6) - 2 mi (19 mins) Easy run to Twin Lakes - A little warm-up to test the progress of my Achilles, which felt fine throughout.

Thursday (12/7 - 2 mi (20 mins) Easy run to Twin Lakes - Again, just to be mega-sure things are ok. There was a twinge of ache on the outer edge of my ankle, but nothing alarming.

Friday (12/9) - 3.5 mi (30 mins) Twin Lakes - This time I ran around the lakes on my usual route when Twin Lakes is in the cards. After three completely pain-free runs, I think I'm officially ready to get back into training mode.

Saturday (12/10) - (2:30, 2,400') Hike Green Mountain up Amphitheater/Greenman down Ranger/Gregory - A mellow stroll with my sister up Green Mtn. The snow-packed trails were still really nice and sticky since the temps have stayed cool. A tad achy, but mainly due to the duration of the hike. Refrained from running the descent as much as possible, which was painful considering the awesome conditions. Pretty icy in spots on lower Ranger and Gregory.

I'm fairly happy with the progress of my recovery thus far. It would appear my Achilles has pretty much fully mended. After nearly two weeks of zero running, I am itching to start building up the mileage again. Though, I need to stay cautious and not jump right back into the swing of things, so I'll keep the next couple of weeks mellow with a gradual increase in mileage.

Pleasant morning near the top

Captioning in the snow

Captioning on the summit

Somewhat of a luge on Ranger

Saturday, December 3, 2011

White on Green

This morning, Boulder was covered in six inches of the lightest, fluffiest powder that can possibly be emitted from a snow storm as cold as the one that blew through last night. Me being the type to be easily tempted to play in such conditions, I reveled at the possibility of hiking Green Mountain under potentially feet of fresh snow that had only been in contact with the Earth's surface for the last ten hours. Such fancy scheming was taking place on my couch at approximately ten this morning after lazily sleeping in from partying late last night. After sucking back a couple cups of coffee, eating a banana, and digging my running clothes out from my closet, I was ready to make this day an amazing one.

Literally less than twenty minutes later I came barreling up Baseline heading for Gregory Canyon Trailhead. The road was still covered in plowed snow and to my content, I had not seen more than three cars turning into the Chautauqua parking lot. As I cruised further, making a left into the Gregory Canyon parking area, I noticed the gates to the lot were closed. This was a wonderful sign as it meant this will likely weed out most of humanity that may, on a "good day", go for a hike on the trails I had in my sights on. I flipped a lou and parked on 6th Street just off of Baseline at the foot of the Flatirons. 

I grabbed my microspikes from my car and headed to the nearest trailhead.

There they are; the Flatirons marinating in the cool, soft stuff.
I made my way up the little connecting trail that parallels the Flatirons which eventually connects to the Amphitheater trailhead at the Gregory Canyon parking area. My destination today: the summit of Green Mountain. Rather than the usual route, which would be Gregory trail to Ranger trail, I'm taking Amphitheater to Saddle Rock to E.M. Greenman. This route is still fresh in my head as I hiked it on Wednesday morning in the dark, so I'm very anxious to enjoy the same trails in great contrast to the conditions I experienced earlier in the week. I reached Amphitheater in six minutes and began upward on the very steep climb up the trail.

The steepness of Amphitheater is not justified in this photo

Nor is it in this, but at least one can discern the rocky nature.
The snow on Amphitheater was deep. Very deep. I estimate there were portions of two to two and a half feet in spots. Most of the initial ascent was a purely cardiac effort of post-holing and stair-stepping up the large snow-capped boulders. I was not the first to hike this trail this morning. On most other trips, I would be fairly disgruntled by not having had the opportunity to christen the snow of bipedal traffic myself, but today I was particularly relieved to have some tracks to follow that had already packed some of the deep, obfuscating layer. This trail is nestled alongside a naturally formed amphitheater, thus its namesake. The fountain formation rocks project high overhead, providing a comforting sense of protection from above. Despite the impediments of the current conditions, I made fairly quick work of this trail, reaching the Saddle Rock junction in eight minutes.

The outter rocks of the Amphitheater. Truly amazing.

The steep terrain does not relent on Saddle Rock, though it has much less precarious footing than Amphitheater. This trail climbs out of the corridor of high rock outcroppings and into the dense lodgepole forrest that constitutes the vast landscape of Green Mountain and pretty much the entire Front Range. The trail itself switchbacks up the Northeast side of Green providing few not-so-angular pitches. The snow was still very deep with only one set of tracks from someone who was about fifty yards ahead of me. I had no intentions of passing this guy just yet as I was comfortable moving at a fairly quick speed, but not killing myself. Twenty minutes into the hike, my Achilles was holding up nicely, with only some slight tightness in the lower calf. This was a good sign and I continued on, not putting too much tension on the tendon by keeping my foot somewhat locked in a kick-off sort of position. This reduced the stretching of the tendon quite a bit and allowed for very comfortable and fast hiking.

Saddle Rock switchbacks up into these trees
After thirty minutes or so of climbing, the trees opened up to a small clearing on an Eastward face just behind the Flatirons. I scrambled up some steep sections where the snow was still very loose and the deepest yet. I closed in on the fellow ahead of me and past him just before the Greenman/Ranger fork. We chatted on the saddle before he let me continue on ahead of him. He and I looked down into town and shared a grin at the cheekiness of the experience. It felt deceitful to think that all the other people in town didn't notice today was a perfect day for a hike. I guess there are so many conveniently accessible pleasures that to do something so uncomfortable as hiking up a snowy mountain seems completely lousy and annoying. If that is the case, I hope Apple continues to make really cool gadgets to distract the masses from the amazing land that is just outside their front door.


Boulder to the left and the backside of Flatiron #1  to the right



I continued up Greenman, not seeing another person for the rest of the ascent. Greenman is such an ideal trail. This being only the second time traveling the entirety of it, I am totally in love with the route. The bottom sections are mostly undulating smooth singletrack through the forest and the upper reaches are steeper North-facing switchbacks with fantastic views of Rocky Mountain National Park, Indian Peaks, and Boulder. The final approach does not have the same high-step rock sections of Ranger, which is also totally appreciated.

The flatter sections of Greenman taunted me to run, but I resisted the urge and compromised with a few bridled jogs.
Green Mountain summit. Only another twenty minutes from this point to the top.

Lower section of Greenman. The most pristine track in all the land. How is this all mine right now?

Scampering through the trees on Greenman


Upper Greenman's steep sections were greatly exacerbated by the fresh dump of snow, making most of it very challenging to make consistent steps forward. I ambled upward toward the summit and eventually made it in one hour and sixteen minutes. That's not terrible considering it took me a flat hour to ascend on Wednesday morning with no snow and starting at the base of Gregory. All of the mountain running during the year has really helped improve my VO2 max, I believe. Hopefully, I can build on this fitness base a bit during the winter months.

Upper Greenman




Upon reaching the summit, I made the final scramble up the summit boulder and took a pic, enjoyed the view and cooled down. The cloud layer was still pretty thick, so not much could be seen to the West. Oh well. I shared the summit with an older man. I'm usually bummed to see someone on the top, but this old mountaineer was really great. Sipping some soup from a thermos and decked out in old school Lowe Alpine gear, he stood with me on the summit rock and we chatted about the amazing weather and the lack of wind up top. He was expecting this winter to provide enough snowfall to allow the waterfalls in Bear Creek Canyon to flow so he could take showers during his hikes in the summer. He amazed me. Not because he was probably pushing his late sixties and still summits Green on a completely snow-ladden day, but because he seemed like the kind of person that truly respects and appreciates the mountains and enjoys them to the fullest extend. I had never imagined to take showers during a run up Bear Creek Canyon. I didn't even know there was such a waterfall to permit it.

I headed back down the mountain just as the clouds began to break apart over the city. Descending was a total blast. With as much snow as there was, I simply floated down in a slow jog. Plowing through the snow with my feet and realizing how awesome the morning had been so far, I thought about how people believe in God. I for one am not that type of person, but in conditions such as these, it's easy to understand how some could believe there is such a higher power that grants such beautifully serene landscapes.

A snowy summit





Rehab and Hiking - 11/28-12/4

Last week was spent laying low with basically no running in an effort to let my left Achilles heal. On Wednesday (11/23) I went out for a little test run, only getting a mile into the run before discomfort set in. I walked home, but it at least gave me a baseline for recovery. Over the next couple weeks, I'll slowly ramp up the running as my Achilles permits. In the meantime, I've been insistent on keeping baseline fitness and I can think of no better way of maintaining this than to do the next best thing to running, hiking. Since I can't hike every day just yet, I have to go on 4-mile walks nearly everyday to not go completely stir crazy. I think riding my bike to work will be in the cards soon too.

Monday (11/28) - 59 min walk on Sobo Creek Trail


Tuesday (11/29) - 57 min walk on Sobo Creek Trail

Wednesday (11/30) AM - (1:42, 2,300') Green Mountain via Amphitheater/Greenman - This was the first time I've summited Green via Greenman. Now that I've tagged the summit of this mountain from every approach, I think Greenman offers the best all-around experience, especially starting from Amphitheater. More to come on this hike later.
PM - 57 min walk on Sobo Creek Trail

Thursday - rest

Friday - rest 

Saturday (12/3) - (2:13, 2,400') Green Mountain via Aphi/Greenman - I started from Chautauqua, which lead to the increase in time. Oh and the two feet of fresh snow the night before slowed things down, but made the hike immensely more enjoyable. Spectacular morning.

Sunday - rest

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Aching Achilles (11/14-11/20)

Following my long run on Sunday (11/13), I noticed my left Achilles was a bit tight that evening. I didn't think much of it until the next day when I noticed a small bump on the upper area of the tendon. I thought maybe it was just a bit over-worked, but nothing serious. On Wednesday (11/16), I went out for what was supposed to be a 10-mile run on the Mesa from Chautauqua, but by The North Shanahan junction (~3.3 miles into the run) my Achilles was fairly aggitated. So, I turned around just before the little climb up a series of wooden stairs as they would only exacerbate the problem. At work later that day I was in somewhat of a limp here and there and it struck me that this was probably something a bit more serious. So, I halted the running for most of the week.

On Saturday (11/19), I went out for another spin on the Mesa from Chautauqua to test out the condition of the Achilles. This turned out to be another ill-fated voyage as I only managed to make it to Woods Quarry (~1.6 miles) when my Achilles stopped me dead in my tracks. I realized I wouldn't be running back to the car because the discomfort was too much for even a slow jog. The funny thing was I didn't want to leave the Mesa just then, so I hiked up to Woods Quarry to explore and check out the view of the city before heading back to the car.

As it turns out, after a little investigating on the web, I have Noninsertional Achilles Tendinitis. This means I won't be running for a few weeks at best. Bummer. Though reflecting on what went wrong, I think it's easy to deduce that the three consecutive Green Mountain runs and the Mesa PR long run the week following the Moab marathon was probably the worst way to recover from a marathon. I'll bet the long climb up Scorched Earth Wall in Moab was the prime impetus. In any case, this was a blatant learning lesson to lay low in the week following any sort of long distance race.

Wednesday (11/16) - 6.6 miles (1:09, 2,000') Mesa from Chautauqua to North Shan - Tightness in the left Achilles

Saturday (11/19) - 1.8 miles (16 mins, 800') Mesa from Chautauqua to Woods Quarry - Ender. Achilles was too uncomfortable to run any further.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Weekly Update: 11/7-11/13

Wednesday (11/9) - 6 mi (56 mins, 1,000') Gregory and Mesa to Skunk Canyon - I tried to take it really easy coming off of the marathon on Sunday, but my eagerness to run Green was a mainstay all week.

Thursday (11/10) - 5 mi (1:15, 2,000') Green Mtn (no summit) via Gregory/Ranger - Turned around at the four-way .2 miles from the summit to make it to work on time. Super icy up top, which resulted in a couple good wipe-outs on the ass. Yes, I didn't bring the microspikes today.

Saturday (11/12) - 4.2 mi (52 mins, 1,800') Green Mtn (no summit) via Gregory/Ranger - I'm getting much quicker dissecting the technical sections up Gregory. Seriously strong winds on the ridge leading to the four-way only supplemented my overall exhaustion from the week, so I headed back down. Weak sauce.

Sunday (11/13) - 13 mi (2:11, 3,250') Mesa Trail via Towhee - Being bored with the usual 1.5 mile gravel trail ascending Mesa from Eldo, I switched it up and took Towhee; a steeper, rocky singletrack that offers an infinitely more interesting alternative. My pace was pretty snappy heading to Chautauqua, hitting the trailhead in 1:06. This was mostly driven by my propensity to pass others on the trail as to create a more peaceful, albeit exhausting run. The cooler temps are making me lazy in that I hit the trail much later in the morning than I did in the Summer, resulting in a traffic-ier (that's a word) run on Mesa. It's not so bad seeing others on the trail, so long as they respond to my greeting (you know who you are).

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 28.2
Vertical Ft: 8,050'
Time: 5:14

I had intentions of keeping the miles low this week and the pace for that matter. Though, as I mentioned, I was very excited about getting miles on Green Mtn. This resulted in a pretty tough week, which probably wasn't a smart idea. I'll be slowly ramping the mileage up over the next month to hit 50-60 miles/week of maintenance miles through the winter.

As for Green Mountain, I didn't summit once this week - not part of the original plan, but I was more concerned with simply getting more miles on Gregory/Ranger. These trails offer significant climbing, which makes them incredibly more fun than the Mesa. I am extremely excited at the prospect of migrating more of my running routine onto Green Mtn.

Monday, November 7, 2011

2011 Moab Trail Marathon

Driving into Moab on Friday morning, I didn't see a cloud in the sky. This was contrary to the NOAA weather forecast that predicted a 50-60% chance of precipitation on Friday and Saturday. Rather, the skies were blue and the sun had warmed the air to a mild 42°F. The weekend was off to a good start, but NOAA got the last word.

Early Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of rain drops pelting the roof of my car and the annoying sound of the alarm from my watch as I laid in my sleeping bag mentally preparing for the 4 hours of sloppiness that was to ensue. I was too cozy to move or even think about getting my shorts on and stepping out into the cold rain. After briefly entertaining the prospect that the race directors might even halt the race, I hit the alarm button on my watch and went back to sleep for another thirty minutes. I eventually gained enough motivation to scrounge through the mess of camping gear in my car to source a banana and commence the day.

At the starting line, a light drizzle persisted, which would remain through the better part of the race. The gun went off and so did I and about 130 others. Heading into Pritchett Canyon, I broke off with the front pack and we sloshed through the red mud and rain run-off covering the slick rock shelves and drainages in this narrow, shallow canyon. I haven't seen Moab wet, but it was amazing so far. All of the lava-esque smoothly tiered rock created several series of water falls all over the place. Within the first two miles I realized I was in the top 10 and we had distanced ourselves nicely from the heard. This would be the crew to which I belonged for the entirety of the race.

I made quick work of Pritchett, but realized I was moving a bit faster than I should have so early in the race. After cresting the first little climb, I backed off the gas a tad and cruised into Hunter Canyon Rim Trail. After a couple miles of rolling Jeep trail, myself and the rest of the front pack had dispersed a bit, allowing about 15 to 20 seconds between each runner. The trail eventually narrowed into singletrack along the rim of the mesa. The rain from the last several hours had made the slick rock live up to its name. We all condensed into a tight string of people edging our way down the side of a precarious cliff that descended into a crevasse. This was the first of a few sketchy spots where if one were to slip, a 20 or 30 foot fall would be realized. I knew I needed to keep vigilant of my footing throughout the rest of the race.

We all spilled into Kane Springs Canyon. I passed up the aid station there as I had plenty of gas in the tank and hadn't even sipped from my bottle yet (a nice bi-product of colder temps). This section was a flat dirt road (Kane Creek Road) that hugged the bottom of a huge rock-walled canyon. The rain had increased a bit. I was in a perfect cruise mode - maybe 7:30-7:50's. This was a great opportunity to toss a few cordial words back and forth with some of my competition.

About 5 minutes later, we tucked into Hunters Canyon, which was entirely rolling singletrack and a couple water crossings. This was an out-and-back section with a punch flag at the turn-around, though the creek had risen too high to cross, so we were instructed to turn at the creek and head back to the road. The other two water crossings felt great as the cold water cooled my legs down a bit and put a huge smile on my face jumping through the knee-deep creeks. We hopped back on the road and over to a mud-laden grassy meadow that made keeping a straight track nearly impossible. I biffed a couple times in the mud, but the hilarity wore off as it grew annoying trying to keep a true direction. Though, I'm sure my competition had a fun time watching from arrear.

After the slop affair, we entered the Scorched Earth Wall trail at mile 15. This was the biggest climb of the race. Rising 1,200' in just over a mile, this trail hugs the profile of a huge mesa, continuing all the way to the top. Shortly before entering the climb, another racer informed me that it's pretty pitchy, but if I kept a mellow pace, I'd have no problem. I hunkered down into a slower pace (about 12-13's) and focused on the few feet of trail directly in front of me. The frustrating thing about this trail was it wrapped around the mesa (out of vision), giving the illusion of multiple false summits. Additionally, the pitch got much, much steeper toward the top. Nonetheless, I managed my way up, occasionally resorting to power hiking a few of the steeper parts. Once on the summit, the views of Moab were amazing. I wish I had more time to actually glance away from the trail for a few more seconds, but I'd have to save it for another day.

Descending the mesa, I entered the Amasa Back trail and focused on quickly recovering from the gnarly climb up Scorched Earth. I sucked down a GU and proceeded. I couldn't see the competition behind me nor the four that were ahead of me, which was nice because it gave me a chance to regroup.

I made it to the next aid station where I popped a Coke, refilled my bottle, and cruised out of there. The rest of the competition had all come back together and we all began to negotiate the tricky slick rock descents down into another canyon. At one point, I lost track of the orange flags marking the course and I noticed myself perched on a wall with no way down. I was clearly off course, so I carefully backtracked a few yards to reconnect, letting a couple racers pass - damn. After a few miles of travel on moon-like surfaces, I hung a right onto Jackson Trail - 18 or so miles into the race. I was by myself after a while, but I noticed someone coming up on me wicked fast. I tucked in behind this fellow and we descended into Kane Creek at a feverish pace. Seeing the finish off in the distance, we made quick work of this singletrack clinging to the side of a steep mesa wall. Again, this was another opportunity to take a pretty sizable plummet to the river far below.

I emerged at the parking lot where this fiasco had begun 3 hours and 30 minutes prior and I hurried to the check point to turn around and head back out for the last section of the race. I admittedly didn't review the map closely before running this race, so I had no idea there was another 5 mile section to this race. I should have known because my time was far too fast for a marathon on this type of course. Anyway, had I not gunned it so hard down Jackson, I wouldn't be in the state of mind that I was in - angry and drained. I headed back out and this is where the wheels fell off.

After trampling through yet another muddy section I entered the last aid station where I sucked down another GU, drank a Coke, filled the bottle, and proceeded onward. I slowly and begrudgingly entered the rope section. I will say that had I not just ran 22 miles, I would have really enjoyed this section, but because this wasn't the case, I was pissed about the prospect. Managing to make somewhat quick work climbing the rocks, I motored on. As I ascended the last of the hills before a punch check, I noticed my current standing was no longer fourth or fifth. I managed to let a few more people go at the last aid station, so now I was hanging on to ninth place.

I made my way back to the finishing area and crossed the line with a time of 4:15 and a 9th place finish. Not too shab.

That evening, I cozied my salty, greasy ass up into my sleeping bag and fell asleep under a clear sky and a bright moon. Another great Moab adventure.


The mighty La Sals in the backdrop of Canyonlands

The White Rim down in the Canyonlands

Our campsite for the weekend. Not my first choice as it had amenities, but it sufficed.

Some muddy mt101s. Very aromatic.

Headquarters

I watched the last few reach the finish line

Make note of the dog with the down jacket