Last week I mentioned my legs, particularly my quads, felt weak and as a result my knees were taking a bit of a bangin' on the steep technical downhills. Well, this week marks the start of a winter-long regimen of leg strengthening and building power. Accumulating mileage will take a backseat to vertical gain; Green Mountain and Bear Peak are the too obvious contenders for proper incline.
There are some general digits I hope to hit on a consistent basis: weekly vertical gain in the neighborhood of 10,000'+; weekly time, 10+ hours; mountain summits, as many as I can. There will also probably be one or two dead-flat runs per week to focus on form.
I'll start there and see how things progress. In the non-running department, I have begun to practice some localized exercises for the quads and hip abductors along with a few more bicycle rides to work (poor excuse for cross-training, I know).
With the preface out of the way...
Mon: Off
Tue: 3.2 mi (:50, 1,500') Amphitheater/Saddle Rock to Greenman junction
To hell with my overly comfortable bed; I woke up late. Since I need to be off the mountain by 8am and I parked the car at 6:50, I knew it'd be a bit tight, so I planned on not hitting the summit. I hiked the whole way up to the junction, making reasonably good splits, but nothing too taxing. Enjoyed a leasurely stroll down to Ranger and Gregory.
Wed: Off
Thu: Off - yes, three days off this week—really lazy.
Fri: 4.4 mi (1:14, 2,400') Green Mountain
The typical short way up (Amphi/SR/EMG). Hit the summit in :42. Ran a healthy portion up, had better control coming down than recent trips. Stopped a few times to poke my nose into some off-trail permit areas (I might need to check these routes out in greater detail in the future).
Sat: 12 mi (2:16, 3,470') Green Mountain & Skunk Canyon Loop
From my usual spot on 8th Street, I headed up Baseline Trial to Gregory—reaching the trailhead in 5:37—and took Gregory to EMG for the summit. The legs definitely felt pretty tired from yesterday's excursion, but I wasn't totally spent. In fact, I made decent time (for me) up Gregory—15 minutes to the top of the canyon. I gained the summit in ~:56. Took Ranger down and hit Chautauqua in 1:23. I still had some good energy left and the mid-30° temps were too perfect to ignore, so I strolled through Chautauqua Park, ran up Enchanted Mesa, descended down into Skunk Canyon, went up the canyon to the Mesa Trail, then cruised the Chautauqua Trail back to Baseline. Nice new mix of trails and overall fun time out. The snow began falling in earnest as I wrapped up.
Sun: 9 mi (1:58, 2,800') Green Mountain/Bear Creek Canyon Loop
The quads were pretty sore, but surprisingly, I had more energy than expected. I took the ascent casually, hiking most of the way. I ran back down through Bear Creek Canyon to loop it all up. Beautiful morning with sunny skies and a fresh couple of inches of snow, mid-30°s.
Week Totals:
Miles: 29
Vert: 10,170'
Time: 6:19
It's been a long time since I've had three mountain summits in one week (since Summer at least). I'll shoot for four next week.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
10/29 - 11/4
Mon: 8 mi (:57, 1,000') Betasso Preserve
This singletrack loop in the mountains west of Boulder has piqued my interest as of late, so I popped over there in the afternoon. While offering mild vertical, it's generally smooth, flat singletrack that encourages plenty of full-stride running. Really a blast to zip through the contouring trail in a mix of forest and view-yielding mountain meadows.
Tue: Off
Wed: Off
Thu: 5 mi (1:03, 1,300') Flagstaff Mountain
Started from Chautauqua parking lot and took Baseline trail to Flagstaff Rd, which I ran to the top. Came back down Gregory Canyon. Obviously, the road is not very steep at all in comparison to the trail, but I feel it offers a nice warm up to bigger, more legitimate climbing later in the week. Caught a spectacular orange and purple sunrise in low-lying clouds on the way up.
Fri: 10 mi (1:31) Bobolink from work
Jogged 15 minutes from work to the trailhead where I met Mehri to run Bobolink. Ran really slow from the trailhead to where Mehri turned around (~3 miles), after which point I bumped up the pace a little bit, but nothing serious. Sunset was nice.
Sat: 4.4 mi (1:11, 2,400') Green Mountain
Up Amphitheater/Saddle Rock/Greenman. Hit the summit in :45. I started out way too fast up Amphi and subsequently blew up after the first view on Saddle Rock. Stopped at the SR/Greenman junction to regroup. Ran the flatter stuff on Greenman and power hiked the rest, which felt totally exhausting. The top was crammed with the usual Saturday morning hiking crowd, so I didn't linger and immediately came back down. Might need to do some strength training in the quads as my knees felt pretty banged up afterwards. 60th summit of Green.
Sun: 10 mi (2:28, 3,500') Bear Peak & Mesa Trail
I initially intended to run Mesa to Eldo and run Rattlesnake Gulch like last week, but by the time I got to South Shanahan junction, lack of inspiration had the last say. I turned around and went up Fern Canyon to tag Bear Peak. Windy above the saddle, but warm and clear skies otherwise. Great choice.
Totals:
Miles: 37.4
Vert: 8,200'
Time: 7:12
Although I enjoy the mix of different running styles I've been incorporating over the last month or so, the lack of serious climbing has left me feeling pretty weak in the quads, which I believe has been affecting my knees on the descents. While I really wanted to build up mileage this Winter, strength training might need to be the priority. I'll probably focus on power hiking more of the local peaks and, dare I say, doing some lunges.
This singletrack loop in the mountains west of Boulder has piqued my interest as of late, so I popped over there in the afternoon. While offering mild vertical, it's generally smooth, flat singletrack that encourages plenty of full-stride running. Really a blast to zip through the contouring trail in a mix of forest and view-yielding mountain meadows.
Tue: Off
Wed: Off
Thu: 5 mi (1:03, 1,300') Flagstaff Mountain
Started from Chautauqua parking lot and took Baseline trail to Flagstaff Rd, which I ran to the top. Came back down Gregory Canyon. Obviously, the road is not very steep at all in comparison to the trail, but I feel it offers a nice warm up to bigger, more legitimate climbing later in the week. Caught a spectacular orange and purple sunrise in low-lying clouds on the way up.
Fri: 10 mi (1:31) Bobolink from work
Jogged 15 minutes from work to the trailhead where I met Mehri to run Bobolink. Ran really slow from the trailhead to where Mehri turned around (~3 miles), after which point I bumped up the pace a little bit, but nothing serious. Sunset was nice.
Sat: 4.4 mi (1:11, 2,400') Green Mountain
Up Amphitheater/Saddle Rock/Greenman. Hit the summit in :45. I started out way too fast up Amphi and subsequently blew up after the first view on Saddle Rock. Stopped at the SR/Greenman junction to regroup. Ran the flatter stuff on Greenman and power hiked the rest, which felt totally exhausting. The top was crammed with the usual Saturday morning hiking crowd, so I didn't linger and immediately came back down. Might need to do some strength training in the quads as my knees felt pretty banged up afterwards. 60th summit of Green.
Sun: 10 mi (2:28, 3,500') Bear Peak & Mesa Trail
I initially intended to run Mesa to Eldo and run Rattlesnake Gulch like last week, but by the time I got to South Shanahan junction, lack of inspiration had the last say. I turned around and went up Fern Canyon to tag Bear Peak. Windy above the saddle, but warm and clear skies otherwise. Great choice.
Totals:
Miles: 37.4
Vert: 8,200'
Time: 7:12
Although I enjoy the mix of different running styles I've been incorporating over the last month or so, the lack of serious climbing has left me feeling pretty weak in the quads, which I believe has been affecting my knees on the descents. While I really wanted to build up mileage this Winter, strength training might need to be the priority. I'll probably focus on power hiking more of the local peaks and, dare I say, doing some lunges.
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