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.