Weekly Update: 4/2 - 4/8

4/3 Tue: 9 mi (1:34, 1,900') McClintock/Mesa to Bluestem - Snowy PM run. Really nice to have a break form the early spring heat.

4/4 Wed: 2 mi (:21) Twin Lakes - Really mellow short run

4/5 Thu: 5 mi (1:17, 2,400') Green Mtn via Amphi/SR/Greenman - The servers were down at work around 2pm, so it was a perfect time to get up the mountain. Perfect weather. I felt pretty strong going up, hitting the summit in 45:20. Made it back down just in time for the last conference call of the day - nice afternoon.

4/6 Fri: 4 mi (:31) Twin Lakes - Another mellow short run

4/7 Sat: 20 mi (3:53, 4,500') - Spring Brook/Goshawk/Mesa - For being the second 20-miler of the season, I must say I felt strong throughout and could have definitely pushed it a bit harder. The cool temps made things easy early on. Can't wait to stack some more miles onto the long run.

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Weekly Totals:
Miles: 40
Vert: 8,810'
Time: 7hrs, 36mins

This was the first week that felt like real training. Over the next six weeks, the goal is to get a couple more Green Mountain runs in each week along with 25 to 28-mile mountain runs preceding the Dirty Thirty. Some more heat acclimation is also definitely in order.

Weekly Update: 3/26 - 4/1

The last couple of weeks have been rather scant in miles and vertical, mostly due to a lack of motivation to run in general. Instead of consistent treks up Green Mountain, I've been substituting with my perennial favorite, Mesa Trail. Mesa definitely offers plenty of decent climbs, but by no means is it an adequate alternative to the sustained climbs of any of the local mountains here in Boulder. With my first race 8 weeks away, it's time to take things up a notch.

3/27 Tue: 7.4 mi (1:19, 1,330') McClintock/Mesa - Casual PM run. Pretty warm temps.

3/29 Thu: 6mi (1:01, 1,200') McClintock/Mesa - Another warm one.

3/31 Sat: 6mi (1:06, 1,260') McClintock/Mesa/Skunk/Enchanted Mesa - After a few miles on the Mesa, I got sort of board, so I wondered around a few trails I had never run; Skunk and Enchanted Mesa. Skunk Canyon is an excellent singletrack with some decent climbing and minimal people traffic. Enchanted Mesa isn't very enchanting - mostly wide, gravel trail. Boring.

4/1 Sun: 9mi (2:00, 2,600') Green Mtn via Amphi/Saddle Rock/Greenman and back down Bear Creek Canyon and Mesa - I didn't go up Green at all last week, so I was a little rusty on the ups. Hit the summit in 50 mins flat. This was in the new pair of MT110s i picked up earlier in the morning, so I was pretty thrilled to hit the mountains. After running in the MT101s for a couple years, I am elated over the updates, particularly the extra cushion in the sole. It also wraps the foot so much better than the 101 or any other running shoe I've ever had.

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Weekly Totals:
Miles: 28.5
Vert: 6,390'
Time: 5hrs, 26mins

March Totals:
Miles: 124
Vert: 26,480'
Time: 23hrs, 48mins

Here's some fun data. First, miles I've run over the last four years (April 2012 is still in progress, obviously):

Sum of Miles	Year
Month	2009	2010	2011	2012	Total
1		30		146	175
2		6	11	85	102
3		14	39	124	176
4		5	92	25	122
5	34	25	129		188
6	64	22	152		239
7	72	8	187		267
8	91	20	188		299
9	87	63	200		350
10	87	103	176		366
11	51	53	75		179
12	18	45	56		120
Total	504	393	1,305	380	2,582

And a look at cumulative vertical feet run (2009-2010 was pretty much all road running, so I didn't bother tracking vertical gain):

Vertical	Months
Years	2009	2010	2011	2012	Total
1				32,241	32241
2				24,689	24689
3				26,480	26480
4			1800	6,900	8700
5			7400		7400
6			14972		14972
7			25892		25892
8			29109		29109
9			31174		31174
10			36050		36050
11			17550		17550
12			16700		16700
Total			180,647	90,310	270,957

Catching Up (2/27 - 3/25)

I've been delinquent on weekly posts to the blog for the past few weeks. My mind has been elsewhere, but that doesn't mean training has completely fallen off too. I feel like I'm a tad behind on my goals, but I'm not too bent out of shape about it. I'm free-styling my way through training this year much more than I did in 2011. Let's get down to it.

2/27-3/4 - I basically took this entire week off to recover from the infected blister I got while out in CA. I did manage to log 7 miles from South Mesa up Shadow Canyon. I hadn't run up the canyon until this point and it proved to be as gnarly as I've heard. Really steep, but really fun.

3/5 - 3/11:
3/5 Mon: 6 mi (49 mins) Twin Lakes
3/8 Thu: 5 mi (1:24, 2,400') Green Mtn - Hit the summit in 47 mins
3/9 Fri: 6 mi (47 mins) Twin Lakes
3/10 Sat: 5 mi (1:32, 2,800') Green Mtn - Started on 6th St, hit the summit in 49 mins
3/11 Sun: 10 mi (1:49, 1,900') S. Brook, Goshawk, Mesa to Bluestem - Loving the Goshawk loop.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 39
Vert: 9,100'
Time: 7hr 53min

3/12 - 3/18:
3/13 Tue: 9.5 mi (1:21) Twin Lakes to top of White Rocks - The most road running I've done in the last year. I had to do a little poaching of the Boulder Country Club golf course to get home.
3/14 Wed: 6 mi (1:08, 1,300') Mesa to Bear Creek Canyon entrance
3/17 Sat: 5 mi (1:32, 2,700') Green Mtn from 7th St - Summit in 50 mins. Pretty slow go.
3/18 Sun: 13 mi (2:28, 3,250') Mesa Trail down McClintock- The first time I've done the full Mesa Trail since November. I tried something new this time by taking McClintock down to Chautauqua rather than the gravel service road, which is always so brutal midway through this run. McClintock is far superior as it offers technical singletrack and more steeps than the service road. Plus, there is far less people traffic.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 33.5
Vert: 7,550'
Time: 6hr 29min

3/19 - 3/25:
3/22 Thu: 4.2 mi (:39, 700') McClintock, Mesa to NCAR - PM lazy run after work
3/23 Fri: 7.4 mi (1:15, 1,330') MClintock, Mesa to N. Shanahan - Really nice evening stroll through the cool shade of the forest.
3/25 Sun: 20 mi (4:05, 4,010') S.Brook, Goshawk, Mesa - My first 20er of the season! I ran the first 8-mile loop with Mehri and since she doesn't run trails too often, the pace was really mild. I felt strong late in the run with all the typically steep climbs on Mesa, which was very encouraging. Had I run this solo, I'd probably be 20 mins quicker, but since it's the first 20er of the year, I don't really care. It was a blast of a run. I can't wait for SoBo Creek to start raging for my routine post-run foot-soaking sessions.

Weekly Totals:
Miles: 31.6
Vert: 6,040'
Time: 6hrs flat

Weekly Update 2/20-2/26 (A Little So Cal Sunshine)

2/20 Mon - 0

2/21 Tue - 6 mi (:52) Twin Lakes - Easy run to get back into the groove after the gnarly long run from the previous Sunday.

2/22 Wed - 6 mi (1:10, 700') Mesa Trail - Mellow, still a bit tired from the following week.

2/23 Thu - Went to LA for an extended weekend.

2/24 Fri - 5 mi (:58, 1,700') Mission Peak in Santa Susana Mountains (Three Trees) - I've always wanted to run this mountain and so I finally did. Started from O'Melveny Park in Granada Hills. This was a complete departure from the usual Rocky Mountain runs I do. The track was perfectly smooth and super steep. To not be under an evergreen canopy the whole time was strange - the mountain is completely covered in green grass. Great views of downtown LA too. Hit the summit in 28 mins. On the descent I felt a rather unusual blister form under my right foot.

2/25 Sat - 6 mi (1,600', 1:45) Hollywood Hills w/ my dude Dez - Perfect day with mid-70's temps. We started on Canyon Dr from the Hollywood side of the mountains and headed up to Old Mulholland Hwy, which we then took to an overlook above the observatory and traversed the range back toward the Hollywood sign and then back down to the trailhead. All-around super fun run. We even had some rather entertaining singletrack bush-wacking sessions on the north side. We grabbed some really good vegan food down on Sunset for lunch. The pesky blister held up fine all morning too.

2/26 Sun - 3 mi (:30, 500') Santa Monica Mountains Trippet Ranch trail - So, this was meant to be the weekly 15-mile long run, but the blister from the other day had become pretty infected and running on it proved to be pretty painful. It's too bad because this trail was wicked! I had meant to connect to the Backbone trail down on Old Topanga Rd, but once I got down there, I could hardly walk. I sadly turned around and ran up Entrada Rd (nice climb). I'll be back to tackle the Backbone soon.

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Week Totals:
Miles: 26
Vert: 4,500'
Time: 5:15

February Totals:
Miles: 85
Vert: 24,689'
Time: 21:53

February turned out to be pretty disappointing from a numbers perspective due to getting sick and then getting an infected blister on my foot (yet again). I can't help the former, but the latter was totally preventable and I obviously didn't learn my lesson from the last time this happened. The trip to LA was a nice reprieve from the Colorado winter temps.

I will be ramping up the vert and the mileage in earnest in March because I really don't have much more time before the Dirt Thirty in June.

Weekly Update: 2/13-2/19

Mon (2/13) - sick
Tue - sick
Wed - sick

Thu - 6 mi, 1,300', 1:06 - Mesa Trail - After being sick for the last few days, I got itchy for a run. Hopped on the Mesa trail from Chautauqua to the top of Bear Creek Canyon. Nice morning.

Fri - 6 mi, :52 - Twin Lakes PM run - A little evening stroll after work. I've actually been enjoying doing laps around the lakes as a departure or rest from the usual mountain runs.

Sat - 8 mi, 2,800', 1:53 - Green Mt via Amphi, Saddle Rock, Greenman, down Bear Creek Canyon -  I had a ton of energy built up from not running this for a few days. Hit the summit with a PR of :45. Pretty exciting.

Sun - 15 mi, 5,300', 4:28 - Green Mt, Bear Peak, SoBo Peak, Mesa - I've been eager to check out South Boulder Peak, so I went a little gonzo and made a rather large effort to do so. Starting at the Gregory trailhead, I went my usual route up Green Mt (Amphi, SR, Greenman) and reached the summit in :48. On the Green summit I saw some trail runners smoking a joint, pretty ironic I thought. Almost an hour later, I reached Bear Peak, 1:40. I was delighted to have the summit to myself, especially with the perfect conditions: clear skies, mid 50's temp, no wind. After hanging out for 8 minutes, I made my way to SoBo Peak, reaching the summit in 12 mins, 2:00. I enjoyed the great views of Walker Ranch and the southern peaks. I then made my way down Shadow Canyon where the track was perfectly sticky snowpack. Towhee was a different story entirely - really muddy from melted snow. Eventually, I hit the South Boulder trailhead in 3:08. I headed back home via the Mesa Trail and reached the car with an ending time of 4:28. This run was officially the kick-off of the long mountain runs for the season.

I screwed up my nutrition, only having a piece of toast and a coffee before walking out the door. On the mountain, I ate two GUs (one on Bear Peak West Ridge and another on SoBo Peak). Thus, I fell apart by the time I hit Eldorado Springs. For next time.

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Week Totals:
Miles: 35
Vertical: 9,400'
Time: 8h,18m

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.

The Runs: 1/30-2/5

Mon (1/30) - 5.3 mi, 44:25 Twin Lakes PM run -  Decided to take a few more laps than usual around the East lake. Really warm night.

Tue (1/31) - 4 mi, 1:17, 2,000' Up/Down Amphitheater to Flagstaff Mtn - I initially planned on summiting Green Mtn, but once I reached the top of Amphitheater (~10mins), my excitement ceased and I made my way back down. At the Gregory trailhead I decided to run up Flagstaff trail and tag the summit of Flagstaff Mountain (7,283') for the first time. Nice little trail with some decent climbing - 1,400' in 1.6 mi. Saw a couple bucks.

Wed (2/1) - Nada


Thu (2/2) - 2 mi, 17:36 Twin Lakes PM run - I intended to go for a longer run, but running at night with the headlamp under falling snowflakes makes for a difficult task. Not only were the flakes lightly stabbing my eyeballs, but they also reflected heavily under the light of my lamp. Turned around at the lake.

Fri (2/3) - Nothing - Can't believe I bailed on another run this week, but the snow was still falling and I wasn't about to waste my time like the prior night.

Sat (2/4) - 2:12, 2,600' Green Mountain via Amphi/SR/Greenman - After a mega-storm dumped upwards of 20" of snow in town, I made my way (slowly) up Green. I started from Chautauqua and was fairly spent by the time I got to the Amphi trailhead after 8 minutes (.6 mi) of running through knee-deep snow. I hiked the rest of the way to the summit. The depth of snow made running fairly unfeasible. Upper Greenman had serious accumulation - nearly waist-deep. I reached the summit in 1:26. Ran/floated back down, ~ 3 mi. Snowshoes would have been ideal.

Sun (2/5) - 2 mi, 33:58, 300' Doudy to Springbrook - Not learning my lesson from the day before, I set out to get my ass kicked again. The snow was packed a bit more on Doudy, but still really tough to run. I decided to blaze trail and run over a hill in knee-deep snow.....again. Exhausted, I retreated.

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Week Totals:
Miles: 16
Vertical: 4,950'
Time: 5hrs, 5min (1:26 of hiking)

January Totals:
Miles: 146
Vertical: 32,241'
Time: 33hrs, 31min

This week was far less fruitful than I had planned, but the snowstorm on Friday and Saturday really warped my plans. I should have packed some more miles on earlier in the week in preparation. Oh well. A little break in mileage never hurt I guess.

However, I am quite pleased with my January totals as this has been the highest mileage January ever for me. In fact, I didn't run a single step in January of 2011.

In other news, I registered for the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty for June, so the real work begins in earnest now. Since this is technically an "ultra" race, I don't know if I should get another 50k or possibly 50m race in this year. I really want to do White River 50, but I don't want to jump into it without enough preparation or base miles and have a crappy race. We shall see.

Here are some pics from Saturday's grunt work.