The Runs: 1/23 - 1/29

Mon (1/23): 3.5 mi, :31 - Twin Lakes PM run - Mellow evening shake out run

Tue: 5 mi, 1:26, 2,400' - Green Mountain via Amphitheater, Saddle Rock, Greenman - This makes Green summit #20 and it couldn't have been a nicer day for it - low clouds, no wind (finally), running the whole way. Super icy on lower Greenman.

Wed: Off

Thu: 4.1 mi, :34, Twin Lakes PM run - Quick run after work

Fri: 5 mi, :44, East Boulder Trail PM run - I was itching to get some miles and a bit of rollers in, so I ran Teller at night for the first time. By the time I made it down to the last hill before the farms, I heard the howling and yelping of coyotes - probably five or six. So, I turned around before entering the den so to speak. Fun night though, really quiet with the exception of the rabid wild dogs.

Sat: 12.7 mi, 2:55, 3,045', Bear Peak via Bear Creek Canyon - Went the same route as last week. Strong gusts made for a really chilly and tedious summit. Bear Peak West Ridge was a bit more manageable than last week with most of the trail packed out a little more. Really digging the track through Bear Creek Canyon right now.

Sun: 8 mi, 1:24, 1,264', Doudy, Spring Brook North, Fowler, Goshawk, S. Brook South - I headed to Eldorado Springs to check out the Goshawk trail, which I hadn't previously run. Accessing it from Doudy and Spring Brook North made for a really pleasant loop - meandering through the forest on pristine track the whole way except for a short dirt road on Spring Brook North. Nice morning. Legs felt good from the day before.

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Week Totals:
38 miles
7,209 vertical feet
7 hours, 36 mins

The latest weekly routine (running a couple of summits, flat short runs, and cross-country stuff) has made for a refreshing variety. I get bored quickly with too much of the same terrain, so I may stick with this pattern for a little while. If anything, I may push for one more summit during the week, but I'll see how things go. I can almost see the 60-mile weeks ahead!

This month is shaping up to be an unprecedented January in that I have started the year with a fair amount of mileage, which will hopefully springboard me into much higher mileage summer months than last year.

Bear Peak

Bear Creek

Spring Brook North, Summertime (Photo: Protrails.com)

(Photo: Protrails.com)

Weekly Update: 1/16 - 1/22

Monday (1/16) - 5.5 mi (51 mins, 787') East Boulder Trail - Haven't been to Teller Farms for a bit, so it was nice to get some cross-country running in on the rolling doubletrack. Pretty muddy in spots though.

Tuesday (1/17) - 2 mi (17 mins) Twin Lakes - a quickie to shake the legs out a bit following three days of decent climbing.

Wednesday (1/18) - Nada. The 60mph+ winds did little to inspire.

Thursday (1/19) - 4.1 mi (34 mins) Twin Lakes - Easy PM run. Crazy winds finally died down.

Friday (1/20) - 6 mi (1:02, 1,000') SoBo Trail to Mesa to 2nd Shadow Canyon junction - Got out at dusk for a little evening stroll on the Mesa. Getting re-acquianted with the climb from Eldorado Canyon. Huffing and puffing the whole way up.

Saturday (1/21) - 12.7 mi (3:10, 3,045') Bear Peak via Bear Creek Canyon - The first real full mountain run since November. Started at Chautauqua and hopped on the Mesa Trail to Bear Creek Canyon. Took things slow, really slow. Pulled the microspikes on at the entrance of Bear Creek Canyon. Bear Peak West Ridge was mostly post-holing through dense snow, making running nearly impossible. Apparently, few people have been summiting Bear from this route. A fairly large downed tree blocked the trail - remnants of the strong gusts earlier in the week. Great views from the summit and warm temps made for a nice outing. I was totally spent on the way down. I'm still not sure how this was a three hour excursion.

Sunday (1/22) - 7 mi (57 mins) Bobolink - Easy shake-out from the day prior. Really tired starting out, but got into the groove quickly. Really warm, low 50's.

Week Totals:
Miles: 37
Vertical: 4,832'
Time: 6hrs 54mins

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Great week of running. The long run up Bear was very encouraging, despite being super slow and exhausting. I took some time away from Green Mountain this week to focus on getting some mellow/moderate vertical before tackling Green from a purely running approach.

Jan 9 - 15

Monday (1/9) - 3.5 mi (31 mins) PM run around Twin Lakes - I keep seeing the same fox. I'm sure he or she is thrilled. Had to get out to see the massive full moon. I barely need my headlamp.

Tuesday (1/10) - (1:24, 2,400') hike/run Green Mountain - Kept things pretty mellow on the ups, only running a little bit. Ran the whole way down, but at a pretty slow clip. The full moon from the night prior was rather amazing in the early dawn light. ~2.5 mi of running

Wednesday (1/11) - 3.5 mi (32 mins) PM run around Twin Lakes - mellow run.

Thursday (1/12) - (1:30, 2,400') hike/run Green Mountain - Started pretty late, 6:40 am. In addition from feeling tired going up, the snow from earlier in the week was quite wind-blown near the summit, making for some exhausting post-holing to the summit. I trenched it out nicely for everyone else after me that day. Arrived to work a tad late because of the extra effort needed. Drats. ~2.5 mi of running

Friday (1/13) - 7 mi (59 mins) Bobolink Trail - Got out for a night mission after work. I've never run this trail at night, but it was pretty sweet. Easy effort the whole way. Ran by a skunk on the trail - close call.

Saturday (1/14) - (1:58, 2,900') Bear Peak via Fern Canyon - I reserved what would have been the 20th summit of Green for another day and chose to hit up its steeper, taller brother. So nice. ~4 mi of running

Sunday (1/15) - 5.7 mi (1:05, 1,100') Mesa Trail to North Shan junction down Big Bluestem - I haven't run Mesa since I got injured on 11/13, so I was glad to be back. The climb from the South Mesa trailhead served me up a piece, but I still managed to make it to the top in ~21 mins. I did't want to bite off more than I could chew, especially following the trek up Bear the day prior, so I made it an abbreviated outing and coasted down Big Bluestem.

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Weekly Totals:
Miles - 29
Vertical - 8,700'
Time - 7 hrs 59 mins (includes about 7 miles worth of hiking, which I don't include in mileage)

With the additional summit of Bear this week, I backed off the long run and broke it into two smaller runs on Friday and Sunday. I'm glad the Achilles is accepting the uphill running. I think I'll be back into the 60 miles/week range in the next four to five weeks, hopefully.

Brewing over the Divide

Bear Peak

After a lazy morning of sleeping in, chasing a finch out of my house (how a bird broke into my house overnight is beyond me), and eating breakfast with Mehri, I decided to do something different today and head up 8,461' Bear Peak.

I had summited Bear Peak only a couple of times during the Summer, so I had yet to visit the peak in the Winter, moreover via Fern Canyon. I've heard Fern is particularly steep, similar to Shadow Canyon. The allure being the most purely direct route to the summit - probably the most straightforward of any summit between the three prominent peaks of Boulder (South Boulder Peak, Bear Peak, Green Mountain). 

I chose to start at Shanahan Ridge and ran the 1.5-mile trail up to the Fern and Mesa junction. From there the remaining 1.4 miles climbs an additional 2,400', which means things get pretty steep pretty quick, so I grabbed a lower gear and maintained a fast hike to the summit. Fern Canyon is a tightly switchbacked trail through a steep ravine tucked into the East face of Bear Peak, providing much appreciated shelter from the afternoon chinook winds. The trail was entirely snow-packed and surprisingly smooth compared to the upper reaches of Shadow Canyon where many high-step rocks make the trail less of a discrete path and more like a cascade of large boulders. 

At the saddle, I was greeted with stellar views of Green Mountain and the high country. Hanging a left up the trail, things got really real. Approximately two feet of mostly unpacked snow covered the remainder of the peak. The trail was trenched out, but still very loose and I'd imagine much steeper than dry conditions. Whoever made first tracks up this trail earlier in the week deserves a serious pat on the back. Most of the last .2 miles are pretty much all hands-on-knees or hands-on-trail (due to the immense incline). The final forty feet or so to the summit rock is pretty much scrambling up large ice-packed boulders. It's highly exposed, where loose footing could mean taking a not-so-fun fall. I reached the summit in just over an hour and was rewarded with immaculate views of the mountainous West. Descending was entertaining as I didn't run, but rather pointed both feet forward and skied all the way down to the saddle - with microspikes! From there I ran the rest of the way back to the car. A nice Saturday, indeed.

Bear Peak (left), Green Mountain (right)

Nebel Horn

Final scramble to summit. A bit more precarious than Green's summit.

Green Mountain

Me, the Indians and Longs

Jan 2 - Jan 8

Monday (1/2) PM - 3.5 mi (29 mins) Twin Lakes - Mellow stroll after work

Tuesday (1/3) - (44 mins, 1,500') hike/run Amphitheater/Saddle Rock/Blue Baird - Weird morning with no real direction. Ambled around for a bit before heading to work. ~1.5 mi of running.

Wednesday (1/4) PM - 4.1 mi (34 mins) Twin Lakes - Easy run

Thursday (1/5) - (1:22, 2,400') hike/run Green Mtn - Ran most of the flatter parts of the ascent, getting a PR of 49:21 to the summit. Super slow run down. Really hard icy sections. ~2 mi of running.

Friday (1/6) - 4.1 mi (35 mins) Twin Lakes - easy run. I need to stop running these lakes. They're getting pretty old.

Saturday (1/7) - (1:28, 2,400') hike/run Green Mtn - Ran all of Amphitheater and much more of the vertical stuff on Greenman than Thursday. Feeling pretty confident that the Achilles is ready for much more vertical to come. I ran the whole descent, slowly as there's still plenty of tricky ice. ~2.5 mi of running.

Sunday (1/8) - 12.5 mi (1:54, ~800') SoBo trail/Mesa/Doudy/Spring Brook/Community Ditch - This was my first long-ish run since the marathon in November. The late morning was perfect with a fresh couple inches of snow on the trails, blue bird sky, nobody around, and mid-20's temps. Legs felt great the whole way. Can't wait for more.

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This week was a perfect way to start the new year and springboard of preparation for the Summer/Fall racing seasons. I've been giving a lot of thought to what my racing goals should be this year and while I already know an "ultra" or two should be on the list, as to which ones has yet to be determined. The following are some ideas for this year:

Golden Gate Dirty Thirty, June 2
Leadville Trail Marathon, June 30
White River 50, July 28
Blue Sky Trail Marathon, October 2

I think Golden Gate and Leadville would be prime choices preceding White River due to the sizable vertical gain and altitude in the latter case. White River itself is a hefty first 50-miler, but it may just be doable. Plus, I really just want to run in Washington....a lot.

Over the next couple weeks, I should start registering or at least finalize my plans for the year.

Weekly Update: 12/26 - 1/1

Monday (12/26) - Off

Tuesday (12/27) - 4.1 mi (35 mins) Twin Lakes - Snow packed, microspikes

Wednesday (12/28) - 4.1 mi (35 mins) Twin Lakes - Snow packed, microspikes

Thursday (12/29) - (1:27, 2,400') Green Mountain hike via Amphi/SR/Greenman - Chinook winds were pretty gnarly up top, filling most of the foot-deep snow trenches with blown snow. Ran pretty much the whole descent mostly in an effort to get out of the insane wind.

Friday (12/30) - 7 mi (58 mins) Bobolink - Having not run this trail since June, I decided to get reacquainted. Nice longer run for the week. The warm temps made for some icy/muddy sections.

Saturday (12/31) - 4.1 mi (34 mins) Twin Lakes

Sunday (1/1) - (1:51, 2,400') Green Mountain hike via Amphi/SR/Greenman - Got up a little later than I had hoped, but I guess we can't all be hyper-motivated on the first day of the year. Ran some of the ups and most of the flats on the ascent getting to the summit in 49:50. After hanging out on the summit rock for about ten minutes, I headed down really slowly. The warm temps and ice-packed trails made for some really slippery conditions, even with microspikes.
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2011 Totals:
Miles: 1,305
Vertical Feet: 180,647
Time: 228:40:54

Weekly Update: 12/19 - 12/25

Monday (12/19) - off

Tuesday PM (12/20) - 4.1 mi (35 mins) Twin Lakes - An easy spin around the lakes after work with my new headlamp (Petzl Myo XP), which is far superior illumination than my previous lamp. Very exciting. Maybe I'll do a little review on this at a later date.

Wednesday (12/21) - off

Thursday PM (12/22) - 3 mi (31 mins) Twin Lakes - Boulder received a heaping load of snow on Wednesday - about 1 to 2 feet's worth. This made for a seriously exhausting run this evening as I laid mostly first tracks through the trails behind my house. Total blast.

Friday (12/23) - (1:39, 2,300') Hike up Amphi/Saddle Rock, back down to Blue Baird up to 1st/2nd Flatiron Access - I initially intended to go the typical route up Green (Amphi/SR/Greenman), but once I reached Saddle Rock, I decided to go exploring and head back down to Chautauqua and check out the 1st and 2nd Flatiron climbing access routes. The massive amounts of snow made for pretty challenging hiking and running because the routes were not exactly soft and fluffy unpacked tracks, but rather a funky mix of quasi-packed, yet soft, deep stuff. I didn't summit taking this route because I was too unfamiliar with this route given the substantial snow on trail and had no idea how long it would take. I hadn't traveled the flatty access routes before, but from what I did hike, it all looked very enticing. I shall return.

Saturday (12/24) - 5 mi (50 mins) - Twin Lakes, 3 laps around East lake - Since the Achilles has been feeling fine, I decided to increase the distance a little and see how things felt. Nice little run with no pain at all. The snow finally packed down enough to keep a pretty even pace. I can't wait to get more miles.

Sunday PM (12/25) - (1:43, 2,400') Green Mountain hike via Amphi/SR/Greenman from Chat. - After the festivities at home, I trekked up the mountain in the PM just before sunset. The trail conditions are really nice with some packed out trenches. There is a ton of snow on Green right now. Got up to the Amphi/SR junction in 10 minutes flat and summited in 55 mins. I took it easy descending and avoided to run balls out down the mountain. The trails are still pretty loose in spots, which can make for precarious footing when cruising at speed.

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The last few weeks have been agonizingly slow, but very encouraging considering the circumstances. I'm at a good point to continue tacking on more running miles and more hiking miles.

This being my first Winter of trail running and consistent hiking has exposed a weakness that I need to work on - my efficiency when ascending and descending steep routes. The snowpack makes steep trails very steep and I need to better utilize my quads rather than allowing my knees to absorb the strain when stepping up high rocks. On the downs, I need to again, better utilize my quads and allow my legs to do more work than my back. After the hike on Thursday, my left knee was awkwardly irritated, which I'm assuming was some sort of meniscus strain, but it went away completely by Sunday. So, I think it was me simply doing a few things wrong because I adjusted my footwork on Sunday's hike and felt no weirdness the entire time. On the downs, I have noticed myself taking a few shots straight to the back when jumping off of rock drops rather than allowing my legs to take the impact. Things to work on.

Amphitheater on Thursday morning following a decent snowfall.

At the base of 1st Flatiron

Nestled up near Flatty 1&2. Downtown Denver can be seen between tree and rock 

3rd Flatiron

Beginning my PM hike up Green on Xmas

Greenman nicely trenched out on the upper reaches

Obligatory routine summit pic

Longs Peak in the PM sun.