Going Up (and Down): 2/6-2/12

Mon (2/6) - 4.1 mi (:38) Twin Lakes - Easy PM run

Tue (2/7) - 3 mi (1:29, 2,400') Green Mt - All the snow has yet to be packed out, so tricky footing. Summit in 1:00 flat.

Wed (2/8) - 3 mi (1:20, 2,400') Green Mt - Better track this morning, ran a bit of the ascent. Summit in :53.

Thu (2/9) - sick

Fri (2/10) - sick

Sat (2/11) - 3 mi (:29, 600') Mesa Trail to Skunk Canyon - I was planning on another Green run, but I was still feeling pretty crappy, so I checked out Mesa from Chautauqua. The track was perfectly packed out with just enough fresh snow to make things sticky. Too bad I couldn't run the whole trail today.

Sun (2/12) - 4 mi (1:17, 2,400') Green Mt - What a perfect morning - sunny, low 20's. I felt much better, so I ran as much of the ascent as I could. As with the Mesa, the trails on Green are so perfectly packed that most of the rock steps are filled in, making for some really smooth track.

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Totals:
Miles: 17
Vertical: 7800'
Time: 5hr, 15min

My recent trips up Green Mountain have inspired me to approach training from a slightly altered perspective. I realize that gaining miles is important, but vertical feet play just as much, if not more, of a critical role in preparing for mountain racing. This first dawned on me when I ran the Moab Trail Marathon back in November and faced the Scorched Earth Wall trail, where the climb was relentlessly steep (~1,200'/mi) and, at mile 15, taxed my energy level by a staggering clip. I remember wishing the summit would be around the next bend as I hiked, hands on knees and panting like a dog up the muddy and rocky trail to the top of the mesa. After this I knew mastering steep ascents is essential to mountain trail running.

Choosing to run up a mountain on a consistent basis is a tough routine to get into because every run is mentally and physically exhausting - at least initially. The physical demands of ascending a mountain are obvious, but descending (especially steep terrain) is equally challenging - staying in control of tired quads while trying to run as quickly as possible and not tripping or misstepping on rocks and roots. Also, there are so many easier options for trails to dissuade one from going up a mountain, especially in Boulder. I've caught myself on many occasions saying to myself, "should I get miles this morning or vert?" My typical route up Green (Amphitheater/Saddle Rock/Greenman) is only five miles roundtrip, but it takes a solid hour and twenty minutes. In that same time, I could just as easily put in ten miles on so many other flatter trails. Ignoring the miles devil on the left shoulder for the vertical devil on the right is a tough proposition, but no less worthy.

There comes a point where measuring a run by miles is meaningless on trails with significant climbing because the grade of the trail can be so steep that any amount of time running it is pretty much incomparable to the same distance on flatter terrain. Particularly in long distance running, time, irrespective of miles traveled, is the most important yardstick so long as either miles or vertical feet are being accumulated during that period. There are plenty of steep trails (Fern Canyon and Shadow Canyon come to mind) where running is less efficient as hiking and even then the task is a formidable one - no matter the level of fitness. Merely keeping the body moving in a strained stated as fast as possible for X amount of hours is what ultimately determines fitness in my opinion.

I noticed this week that with enough time and consistency, gains are eventually realized as I caught myself running sections of Amphitheater and Greenman that I could barely hike quickly weeks prior. To see progress was really gratifying because it ignited a reassuring confidence in the choice I made to concentrate most of my running going up and down a mountain. Feeling that sting in the legs is no longer a dreaded warning sign of fatigue, but an addictive feeling of forward momentum and a signal to keep pushing. No longer stumbling up rocks and over roots, but precisely controlling each foot-fall and push-off I cruise up the mountain knowing that with enough time, mastery will be achieved.