Mon: 4.1 mi (:34) Twin lakes - easy run
Tue: 9 mi (1:24, 1,700') McClintock/Mesa - Took it easy on the out and bumped it up a bit more on the back
Wed: Nothing
Thu: 3.1 mi (:31) Twin Lakes - easy run
Fri: Nothing
Sat: 10 mi (2:19, 2,500') Mt Audubon - Sadly, I didn't make it to the summit, topped out at 11,300'. Trying to slowly acclimate to running above treeline. Super gusty winds didn't make things too easy, but I definitely felt strong enough at that altitude to keep going to the 13,223' summit - it's a start.
Sun: 14 mi (3:37, 4,500') Flagstaff Mtn, Green Mtn, Bear Peak - Felt a little weak going up Flagstaff, but found some rhythm once I hit Ranger. Kept a decent pace up Green and Bear. Linked up on the Mesa from the bottom of Shadow Canyon and slogged my way back in the heat and sun.
------------
Totals:
Miles: 40
Vertical: 8,900'
Time: 8:26
Audubon seemed to be the perfect venue to work on getting progressive exposure to running at high altitude - the couple miles of road running from the Brainard Lake park closure is sort of annoying though.
The last month has been plagued with erratic left knee issues, but after getting some consultation from an orthopedist and experimenting on my own, I've deduced that my technical downhill running form needs a lot of work. Today's jaunt down Shadow Canyon provided plenty of opportunity to practice.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Patience: It Regularly Sucks
At 6am this morning the gun went off at the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. The field took off, but there was one race bib left at the starting line. A couple of days ago I elected to drop out of the race to focus on getting my knee right. Over the last month, my left knee has been really unpredictable - a really awkward twinge fires above the patella at seemingly random moments. Some of these moments have left me hiking the rest of the way back to the car to avoid exacerbating it further (not so awesome on a 15-mile outing). So, in a rare move, I decided to play it safe and bow out of the race because the last thing I want to do is enter a race with little confidence that I could run hard and compete well. Also, I didn't want to run the risk of a real injury that takes months to heal, forcing me to drop out of the Silverton Alpine 50k in late August. In a way, it's nice because this meant that I could do what I tend to do best when I get hurt and blow an important running milestone - explore!
The last two weeks of long runs at Golden Gate Canyon have been a great preamble to higher altitude alpine training for Silverton, where most of the course is above 10,000'. Naturally, making a streak out of it sounded rather appealing and there was one destination that has been tickling my fancy for some time - Indian Peaks Wilderness. Specifically, Mt Audubon (13,223') and Pawnee Peak (12,943'). For today's adventure, I chose the latter since it provided a bit more of a technical ascent than the fairly straightforward approach up Audubon.
While the racers were beginning their climb up through Mountain Lion Trail, I was warming up my car with a tall mug of coffee between my legs - ditching out on race day may not be so bad after all.
Heading up Sunshine Canyon, I couldn't help but be reminded of how nice it is to have such trivial options in life and how equally trivial my knee setback is when compared to the remaining charred foundations of homes left from the Four Mile fire alongside the canyon road.
The gates to the Brainard Lake Recreation Area were closed, so I parked my car at the gate and shlepped the 2.5 mile run to the trailhead (this week has had it's fair share of road running - not so ideal). Upon entering the Pawnee Pass Trail, I quickly noticed just how much snow still remained. The trial was intermittently blocked by 3-4' tall glaciated snow mounds - often times leaving me second guessing as to the exact location of the trial. I proceeded to posthole my way up and over the snow, occasionally running on pure dirt trail for no more than 30' at a time. After about twenty minutes of this, I rationalized that the snow had probably mostly melted off the trail above treeline and all I needed to do was get through the muck in the trees.
I hit treeline, the muck remained! I was still about 1-1.5 miles to the pass, but the snowfields were so large and the area so unfamiliar that determining the best route (without ever traveling this way before) was deemed too precarious. I tried to follow some previous tracks, but those meandered around just as much as mine, which further bolstered my decision to call it a day. Figuring that there is still a guy missing up there from September, I didn't want to add another tally to that count.
In hindsight, Audubon's less exciting track seemed much more attractive after that little trek, but at least I'm not hiking my way to the nearest aid station to throw in a towel - I already did that.
As for Pawnee Peak and Mt. Audubon, I'll be back in a couple of months after some of the snow has melted receded.
The last two weeks of long runs at Golden Gate Canyon have been a great preamble to higher altitude alpine training for Silverton, where most of the course is above 10,000'. Naturally, making a streak out of it sounded rather appealing and there was one destination that has been tickling my fancy for some time - Indian Peaks Wilderness. Specifically, Mt Audubon (13,223') and Pawnee Peak (12,943'). For today's adventure, I chose the latter since it provided a bit more of a technical ascent than the fairly straightforward approach up Audubon.
While the racers were beginning their climb up through Mountain Lion Trail, I was warming up my car with a tall mug of coffee between my legs - ditching out on race day may not be so bad after all.
Heading up Sunshine Canyon, I couldn't help but be reminded of how nice it is to have such trivial options in life and how equally trivial my knee setback is when compared to the remaining charred foundations of homes left from the Four Mile fire alongside the canyon road.
The gates to the Brainard Lake Recreation Area were closed, so I parked my car at the gate and shlepped the 2.5 mile run to the trailhead (this week has had it's fair share of road running - not so ideal). Upon entering the Pawnee Pass Trail, I quickly noticed just how much snow still remained. The trial was intermittently blocked by 3-4' tall glaciated snow mounds - often times leaving me second guessing as to the exact location of the trial. I proceeded to posthole my way up and over the snow, occasionally running on pure dirt trail for no more than 30' at a time. After about twenty minutes of this, I rationalized that the snow had probably mostly melted off the trail above treeline and all I needed to do was get through the muck in the trees.
I hit treeline, the muck remained! I was still about 1-1.5 miles to the pass, but the snowfields were so large and the area so unfamiliar that determining the best route (without ever traveling this way before) was deemed too precarious. I tried to follow some previous tracks, but those meandered around just as much as mine, which further bolstered my decision to call it a day. Figuring that there is still a guy missing up there from September, I didn't want to add another tally to that count.
In hindsight, Audubon's less exciting track seemed much more attractive after that little trek, but at least I'm not hiking my way to the nearest aid station to throw in a towel - I already did that.
As for Pawnee Peak and Mt. Audubon, I'll be back in a couple of months after some of the snow has melted receded.
 |
| Brainard Lake with Navajo and Apache Peaks |
 |
| Morning meditation |
 |
| A little bit of snow left on the trails, doh! |
 |
| Approach to Isabelle Glacier |
 |
| The marmot had the opportunity to watch an idiot toil around on snow |
 |
| The Idiot. Isabelle Glacier behind me. |
 |
| Mt Audubon - not much of a snow issue there |
Monday, May 21, 2012
Weekly Update: 5/14 - 5/20
Mon - 5 mi (:42) Twin Lakes
Tue - 3.5 mi (:36) Twin Lakes
Wed - 6 mi (1:31, 2,700') Green Mtn via Chat, Amphi, SR, Greenman
Thu - Nothing
Fri - 5 mi (1:13, 2,400') Green Mtn - Hit the summit with a PR 42:20!
Sat - 4 mi (:53, 1,500') Mt Sanitas, Red Rocks, Anemone - Sort of played around. Hit the summit of Sanitas in :23, cruised up to Red Rocks (climbed around) and Anemone.
Sun - 17 mi (4:13, 4,500') Golden Gate Canyon State Park - Did some recon of the Dirty Thirty race course. Focused on the first and last sections - Mountain Lion, Buffalo, Snowshoe Hare, backside of Mountain Lion, Burro, Windy Peak. What an amazingly underrated state park. No crowds, beautiful track/scenery, and great history.
-----------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 40
Vertical: 11,100'
Time: 9hrs, 10mins
Tue - 3.5 mi (:36) Twin Lakes
Wed - 6 mi (1:31, 2,700') Green Mtn via Chat, Amphi, SR, Greenman
Thu - Nothing
Fri - 5 mi (1:13, 2,400') Green Mtn - Hit the summit with a PR 42:20!
Sat - 4 mi (:53, 1,500') Mt Sanitas, Red Rocks, Anemone - Sort of played around. Hit the summit of Sanitas in :23, cruised up to Red Rocks (climbed around) and Anemone.
Sun - 17 mi (4:13, 4,500') Golden Gate Canyon State Park - Did some recon of the Dirty Thirty race course. Focused on the first and last sections - Mountain Lion, Buffalo, Snowshoe Hare, backside of Mountain Lion, Burro, Windy Peak. What an amazingly underrated state park. No crowds, beautiful track/scenery, and great history.
-----------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 40
Vertical: 11,100'
Time: 9hrs, 10mins
Weekly Update: 5/7 - 5/13
Mon - Nothing
Tue - 5 mi (:45) Twin Lakes - Mellow shake out after the 24-miler on Sunday
Wed - 3.5 mi (:31) Twin Lakes - Another easy run
Thu - 2.4 mi (:45, 600') View Point Trail - Rode my bike to Flagstaff Mtn after work. Hadn't run this trail before. I was running out of time as I had to grab beers with some friends at Avery (rough life, I know), so I skipped the summit.
Fri - Nothing
Sat - 9 mi (2:03, 3,000') Green Mtn, down Bear Canyon, back on Mesa Trail - My kind of weather, super cloudy and cool. Made quick work up Green, :44 summit. Bear Canyon was completely socked in, awesome.
Sun - 8 mi (1:57, 2,800') Flagstaff Mtn & Green Mtn - Another nice day with mild temps.
-------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 27
Vertical: 6,400'
Time: 6hrs flat
Backed off the mileage from the previous week by about 40%. I feel like the weekly schedule has been getting a little lopsided, with the majority of the miles coming from the Sunday long run. With the Dirty Thirty around the corner, I'm not going to push the distance much further until then.
Tue - 5 mi (:45) Twin Lakes - Mellow shake out after the 24-miler on Sunday
Wed - 3.5 mi (:31) Twin Lakes - Another easy run
Thu - 2.4 mi (:45, 600') View Point Trail - Rode my bike to Flagstaff Mtn after work. Hadn't run this trail before. I was running out of time as I had to grab beers with some friends at Avery (rough life, I know), so I skipped the summit.
Fri - Nothing
Sat - 9 mi (2:03, 3,000') Green Mtn, down Bear Canyon, back on Mesa Trail - My kind of weather, super cloudy and cool. Made quick work up Green, :44 summit. Bear Canyon was completely socked in, awesome.
Sun - 8 mi (1:57, 2,800') Flagstaff Mtn & Green Mtn - Another nice day with mild temps.
-------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 27
Vertical: 6,400'
Time: 6hrs flat
Backed off the mileage from the previous week by about 40%. I feel like the weekly schedule has been getting a little lopsided, with the majority of the miles coming from the Sunday long run. With the Dirty Thirty around the corner, I'm not going to push the distance much further until then.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Weekly Update: 4/30 - 5/6
Tue: 2 mi (:18) Twin Lakes - A scant run, but my left knee exhibited some acute soreness occasionally in the upper-right patella region as a result of really tight quads after Sunday's long run.
Wed: 3.5 mi (:32) Twin Lakes - Little test run to make sure the knee was proper and it was.
Thu: 7 mi (1,600', 1:28) McClintock/Mesa/Bluestem - Didn't feel much soreness until after an hour, at which point the pain wouldn't let up, so I stopped running and walked the last two miles. Just before I stopped running (I was climbing the little switchback behind NCAR) I happened upon a bear casually crusing the trail going my direction. We had a little moment before he ambled down into the drainage.
Sat: 8 mi (3,600', 2:27) SoBo Peak & Bear Peak via Towhee/Shadow Canyon/down Fern Canyon/Bluestem - After tons of stretching on Friday, the knee was legit, so I headed to South Mesa to go up SoBo Peak and Bear Peak. My ascent of Shadow was at a super casual pace (stopping a couple times to let others go ahead - I hate leading people up climbs because I tend to run too hard), hitting the saddle in 1:02. I reached the summit of SoBo in 1:09 and Bear in 1:21. I descended Fern super slowly to make sure the knee didn't freak out.
Sun: 24 mi (5,010', 4:53) Goshawk loop/Mesa/McClintock/Mesa/Doudy to Springbrook - Really nice and slow long one. Perfect temps the whole morning, ~low 60's. Definitely a solid 5-hour outing. Legs were good the whole way and so was the knee!
-------------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 45
Vertical: 10,210
Time: 9:39:39
Wed: 3.5 mi (:32) Twin Lakes - Little test run to make sure the knee was proper and it was.
Thu: 7 mi (1,600', 1:28) McClintock/Mesa/Bluestem - Didn't feel much soreness until after an hour, at which point the pain wouldn't let up, so I stopped running and walked the last two miles. Just before I stopped running (I was climbing the little switchback behind NCAR) I happened upon a bear casually crusing the trail going my direction. We had a little moment before he ambled down into the drainage.
Sat: 8 mi (3,600', 2:27) SoBo Peak & Bear Peak via Towhee/Shadow Canyon/down Fern Canyon/Bluestem - After tons of stretching on Friday, the knee was legit, so I headed to South Mesa to go up SoBo Peak and Bear Peak. My ascent of Shadow was at a super casual pace (stopping a couple times to let others go ahead - I hate leading people up climbs because I tend to run too hard), hitting the saddle in 1:02. I reached the summit of SoBo in 1:09 and Bear in 1:21. I descended Fern super slowly to make sure the knee didn't freak out.
Sun: 24 mi (5,010', 4:53) Goshawk loop/Mesa/McClintock/Mesa/Doudy to Springbrook - Really nice and slow long one. Perfect temps the whole morning, ~low 60's. Definitely a solid 5-hour outing. Legs were good the whole way and so was the knee!
-------------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 45
Vertical: 10,210
Time: 9:39:39
Monday, April 30, 2012
Weekly Update: 4/23 - 4/29
Mon: 6 mi (1:47, 3,000') Green Mtn summit via 1st/2nd Access - A bit of a longer approach than going the typical Amphitheater/SR route, but equally as challenging, if not more so. I sort of stumbled around trying to connect the backside of the 1st flatiron to Saddle Rock, resulting in a slow ascent - 1:05 to the summit.
Tue: Off
Wed: Off
Thu: 7 mi (1:30, 2,000') 1st/2nd Flatiron Access/Mesa/McClintock - I was kind of on a kick with the 1st/2nd route over the last few days. Kicking off my usual Mesa run with the 1st/2nd climb was a nice change of pace. I dig the tight, technical switchbacks.
Fri: 9 mi (1:33, 1,800') McClintock/Mesa to Bluestem - Nice evening on the mesa with plenty of cool cloud cover - love the Spring/Summer afternoons in Boulder.
Sat: 6 mi (1:26, 2,900') Green Mtn - Good rhythm all the way up. Pushed pretty hard. Hit the top in ~ :44.
Sun: 22 mi (4:12, 4,700') Goshawk loop/Towhee/Mesa/McClintock/Doudy - Felt like the first 8 miles (Goshawk) took a bit more effort than usual, which is probably the result of accumulated fatigue from the last few days. Fell into a nice pace once I hit Towhee. Coming back, I felt much better than when I started out.
--------------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 50
Vertical: 14,400'
Time: 10hrs, 28mins
April Totals:
Miles: 168
Vertical: 41,040'
Time: 33hrs, 8mins
A fairly decent week in terms of volume. With the exception of last week, I've been consistently increasing the mileage at a pretty conservative rate. My climbing fitness is definitely getting sharper with each week too. I feel like I've transitioned well from hiking the super steep stuff to running the same terrain, especially the bigger step-ups on Amphitheater.
Only four more weeks until the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty and there's still plenty of work to do yet.
Tue: Off
Wed: Off
Thu: 7 mi (1:30, 2,000') 1st/2nd Flatiron Access/Mesa/McClintock - I was kind of on a kick with the 1st/2nd route over the last few days. Kicking off my usual Mesa run with the 1st/2nd climb was a nice change of pace. I dig the tight, technical switchbacks.
Fri: 9 mi (1:33, 1,800') McClintock/Mesa to Bluestem - Nice evening on the mesa with plenty of cool cloud cover - love the Spring/Summer afternoons in Boulder.
Sat: 6 mi (1:26, 2,900') Green Mtn - Good rhythm all the way up. Pushed pretty hard. Hit the top in ~ :44.
Sun: 22 mi (4:12, 4,700') Goshawk loop/Towhee/Mesa/McClintock/Doudy - Felt like the first 8 miles (Goshawk) took a bit more effort than usual, which is probably the result of accumulated fatigue from the last few days. Fell into a nice pace once I hit Towhee. Coming back, I felt much better than when I started out.
--------------------
Weekly Totals:
Miles: 50
Vertical: 14,400'
Time: 10hrs, 28mins
April Totals:
Miles: 168
Vertical: 41,040'
Time: 33hrs, 8mins
A fairly decent week in terms of volume. With the exception of last week, I've been consistently increasing the mileage at a pretty conservative rate. My climbing fitness is definitely getting sharper with each week too. I feel like I've transitioned well from hiking the super steep stuff to running the same terrain, especially the bigger step-ups on Amphitheater.
Only four more weeks until the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty and there's still plenty of work to do yet.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Weekly Update: 4/16 - 4/22
Mon: Nothing
Tue: Nothing
Wed: 9 mi (2,000') McClintock/Mesa - Cool morning, easy pace
Thu: 9 mi (2,000') McClintock/Mesa - Another nice morning, a little bit more pep in the step
Fri: Nada
Sat: 3.5 mi Twin Lakes
Sun: Fun hike with some friends
-------------------
Totals:
Miles: 21.5
Vert: 4,000'
Time: 3:29
This week was fairly uneventful on the running front due to the fact that I got married over the weekend and the week was booked with associated dinners/parties. However, Mehri and I took my L.A. friends out for a tour of Green Mountain, which may have been a bit too much for one of them. Nonetheless, we spent three and half hours cruising up Amphi/Saddle Rock/Ranger/Gregory at a causal pace with plenty of stops for pictures and snacks. Good times.
Oh, by the way, this week marks the 1-year anniversary of this blog. Yup.
Tue: Nothing
Wed: 9 mi (2,000') McClintock/Mesa - Cool morning, easy pace
Thu: 9 mi (2,000') McClintock/Mesa - Another nice morning, a little bit more pep in the step
Fri: Nada
Sat: 3.5 mi Twin Lakes
Sun: Fun hike with some friends
-------------------
Totals:
Miles: 21.5
Vert: 4,000'
Time: 3:29
This week was fairly uneventful on the running front due to the fact that I got married over the weekend and the week was booked with associated dinners/parties. However, Mehri and I took my L.A. friends out for a tour of Green Mountain, which may have been a bit too much for one of them. Nonetheless, we spent three and half hours cruising up Amphi/Saddle Rock/Ranger/Gregory at a causal pace with plenty of stops for pictures and snacks. Good times.
Oh, by the way, this week marks the 1-year anniversary of this blog. Yup.
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