Beyond the PP50K, the week was so-so. Had a couple days off and a couple of good runs. A quick run-down:
Monday: Soda Creek - 6 miles; 49:21; 838 feet o' elevation gain. Easy jog through this hilly 'hood.
Tuesday: Chautauqua - Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain Loop - 8:23 miles; 1:46; 2,887 feet o' elevation gain. An auditory celebration.
Wednesday: Off - work/family schedule ate up the day. About 7 p.m. I pulled into the rec center parking lot after driving up from Denver, got out of the car, took 10 steps in the freezing cold with my quads barking loudly at me and called it a day. Went home. Quads were aching from the hard run down Green Mountain on Tuesday - my first use of Micospikes this year.
Thursday: Off - not enough time in a busy day to get out. Good thing, too. The cold and wind were ferocious.
Friday: Elk Meadow Open Space - 6 miles; 1:10; 844 feet o' elevation gain. Thursday's wind had kicked up a lot of snow. This was a slog of a late afternoon run. Knee-deep snow drifts were everywhere. Ugh.
Saturday: Ponderous Posterior 50K - 29.15 miles; 5:47; (5:24 running time); 6,788 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the car to lose the tights as people were gathering in JT's yard for the 7 a.m. start as warm weather was expected. By the time I got back to the house, everyone was gone. Nothing like a bit of tempo to start a 50K!
Caught up the the back of the pack as we entered Red Rocks. Slowly worked my way up to the lead group over the next mile or two. Had a great time running with PG, JY and TG, plus a host of new faces from across the Front Range. The pace was easy and the views/temps/company were perfect.
My right knee pretty early let me know that it wasn't happy. It was aching and occasionally bitching at me. I started thinking about dropping after the Incline. I'd never been up the Incline and really wanted to make the 2K climb up. The climb was tough, but manageable at our laid-back pace. Once up top, I decided to continue on to the aid station at the mouth of Waldo Canyon and see how things went. I took the descent down snow-covered road through Longs Ranch way easy. Knee was still grumpy, but holding up fine.
A few folks were gathered at the truck taking on water and fuel (and PBR...not sure if that's water or fuel). Never really contemplated dropping at the truck. Figured it would take longer to wait for a ride than it would to finish the run. I nudged TG and off we went for the climb up Waldo. We pretty much ran all the dirt and hiked the icy sections as we made our way down into and up Williams.
I really enjoyed Waldo/Williams. We just ran/hiked steady and before we knew it, we popped out on Rampart Range Road for the final descent down to the Garden of the Gods and back to JT's place.
I was pretty happy with the run. No rough spots, no wrong turns and we finished strong. Knee was no worse for the wear, although the discomfort was/is frustrating. Hitting the foam roller, icing and stretching regularly to keep at bay what I suspect is some IT band stuff.
Great time catching up with folks back at JT's house and enjoying some fine post-race food and beers. Many thanks to JT for hosting and for everyone that took the time to mark the course. The CRUD South gang puts on one hell of an event!
Learned this morning that a large group of the 7 a.m. starters, including me, missed the out-and-back up Red Mountain, which explains why we ended up a bit short of a true 50K. Bummer.
Early Sunday I morning, I joined JP for my third-ever yoga class. This time is was a 1.5-hour Bikram yoga class, which meant even more sweating than the previous two sessions I've done this winter. I am convinced yoga is a great long run recovery activity. I feel so much better after these classes.
Saturday: Ponderous Posterior 50K - 29.15 miles; 5:47; (5:24 running time); 6,788 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the car to lose the tights as people were gathering in JT's yard for the 7 a.m. start as warm weather was expected. By the time I got back to the house, everyone was gone. Nothing like a bit of tempo to start a 50K!
Caught up the the back of the pack as we entered Red Rocks. Slowly worked my way up to the lead group over the next mile or two. Had a great time running with PG, JY and TG, plus a host of new faces from across the Front Range. The pace was easy and the views/temps/company were perfect.
My right knee pretty early let me know that it wasn't happy. It was aching and occasionally bitching at me. I started thinking about dropping after the Incline. I'd never been up the Incline and really wanted to make the 2K climb up. The climb was tough, but manageable at our laid-back pace. Once up top, I decided to continue on to the aid station at the mouth of Waldo Canyon and see how things went. I took the descent down snow-covered road through Longs Ranch way easy. Knee was still grumpy, but holding up fine.
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| Starting up the Incline. Photo: PG. |
I really enjoyed Waldo/Williams. We just ran/hiked steady and before we knew it, we popped out on Rampart Range Road for the final descent down to the Garden of the Gods and back to JT's place.
I was pretty happy with the run. No rough spots, no wrong turns and we finished strong. Knee was no worse for the wear, although the discomfort was/is frustrating. Hitting the foam roller, icing and stretching regularly to keep at bay what I suspect is some IT band stuff.
Great time catching up with folks back at JT's house and enjoying some fine post-race food and beers. Many thanks to JT for hosting and for everyone that took the time to mark the course. The CRUD South gang puts on one hell of an event!
Learned this morning that a large group of the 7 a.m. starters, including me, missed the out-and-back up Red Mountain, which explains why we ended up a bit short of a true 50K. Bummer.
Early Sunday I morning, I joined JP for my third-ever yoga class. This time is was a 1.5-hour Bikram yoga class, which meant even more sweating than the previous two sessions I've done this winter. I am convinced yoga is a great long run recovery activity. I feel so much better after these classes.
I wish we could do it again this weekend. Great day! We need a do-over so you can tag Red Mountain.
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