(Yet Another) Ponderous Posterior Re-cap, Plus the Week That Was...

Definitely the highlight of the week was the Saturday morning trek down to Colorado Springs for the second annual Ponderous Posterior 50K. I can't say enough good things about this little jaunt around Manitou Springs. Great weather. Great course. Great people. Great organization.

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.

Starting up the Incline. Photo: PG.

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.

Sounds of the Trail

Running is a treat for the senses...the sights, sounds, temperature, wind, footing and smells all stimulate some aspect of our five senses, whether we think about it or not. Sometimes, though, a particular sense is activated and for a given run, that sense dominates.

So was the case on Tuesday's jaunt up Green Mountain as I was struck by the sounds of the mountain.

The run began around 3:30 p.m. from Chautauqua, climbing the old paved road to the Mesa Trail. The trail was, as expected, a mix of snow, ice, dirt and mud. No traction required (on the ascent).

I made my way over to the junction with the Bear Canyon Trail and started climbing. The further up I went, the more aware I become of the few sounds around me.

First, it was the pleasant gurgling of Bear Canyon Creek running beneath a layer of ice and snow, reminding me that even on the coldest days, our mountains remain invaluable water factories for the plants, animals and human communities that surround them.

On the climb up Green-Bear, I paused to listen to the distant caw of a crow, it's call forlorn and almost out of place on such a beautiful, sunny day.

Soon I was standing on Green Mountain's summit rock, marveling at the fact that there was no wind. None. It was perfectly still. I noticed then the constant, low rumble generated by the 97,000 or so souls moving around and going about their days down below in Boulder. Their collective sounds rolled up, combined and enveloped the mountain in a strangely comforting auditory embrace.

Green Mountain's summit marker. Photo: Brandon Fuller

Just then, the whistle of a train dropping down the side of Eldorado Mountain echoed through the hills, adding a new dimension of sound to the bass line of the city. The train's sound reminded me of hearing as a kid in Kansas the same distant whistle in the summer through my open bedroom window. To me the whistle is as much a warning as it is a reminder of movement, of going places...as in running.

On the run down Green's frontside, the dominant sounds became of my own making -- the scrape of Microspikes on ice and rock, or the satisfying "squench" when spikes found a solid purchase in firmly packed snow, propelling me around a sharp switchback.

Once back at the now dark Gregory Canyon parking lot, the sounds became those of others. A car driving down Flagstaff Road, a dog barking in the backyard of a house in the neighborhood adjacent to the open space.

The low rumble of humanity I heard atop Green's summit now was just the usual collection of individual sounds. The crows were quiet, and the train's whistle now was drowned out by the immediate din of the neighborhood.

Running is, indeed, a treat for the senses.

Distance: 8.23 miles
Time: 1:46 (Green descent - 20:57)
Elevation gain: 2,887

The Week That Was...December 5-11, 2011

Pretty happy with the week, minus the unplanned days off (the increasingly common refrain...I know).  Good quality efforts with some light intensity on Monday, more on Wednesday, a solid mountain run on Friday and a long, hard 17-mile tempo(ish) run on Sunday.

Strangely, I have been enjoying the road miles, something I have had a definite aversion to for years. I think I'm liking mostly because they aren't snow-covered, as the trails are up here. That said, I'm really enjoying the steady and quick turnover on the roads.

Anyway, this is what last week looked like:


Monday - Treadmill - 1:15; 10 miles - (all at 1 percent grade) one mile warm-up, then 8 miles at 6:58 pace followed by a 1-mile cool down. Felt great on this one. Started saying, I'll do 5 miles at the 6:58 pace. Got there, and said....OK, a 10K. Hit that. How about 8 miles. No problem. Could have gone for a lot more.


Tuesday - Off 


Wednesday - Neighborhood loop; 1:09; 9.06 miles - Started from the house in the dark. Ran hilly route through a couple of the local subdivisions all while listening to Lucho on Endurance Planet describe smarter workouts than the one I was doing. Did make me up the intensity throughout the run, though.  811 feet o' elevation gain.


Thursday - Off


Friday - Green Mountain - Bear Canyon Loop. 1:47; 9.01 miles - Ran from Chautauqua to the top of Green Mountain via the backside. Great snow conditions on the Green trails - packed, dry snow, very little ice. Hit the summit rock in just over 41 minutes (disappointed with the time given the effort I put in). Headed back down to the four-way and cruised through a knee deep snow trough down into Bear Canyon. Only a couple handfuls of people had been down that trail since the last snow. Made steady progress down the canyon to the Mesa Trail and back to the car. Felt darn tuckered after this one. 2,849 feet o' elevation gain.


Saturday - Evergreen Lake - Hiwan Hills Loop - 1:09; 6.69 miles - Easy jog from the house down the Peoples' Path to Evergreen Lake and back via Hiwan Hills 'hood. 799 feet o' elevation gain.  Still feeling the Friday mountain run.


Sunday - Golden and Clear Creek Bike Paths - 2:02; 17 miles - Long tempo(ish) run starting in downtown Golden. Wound my way around the Coors plant and picked up the Clear Creek concrete bike path. Ran it deep into Wheat Ridge and returned. Started around 4 p.m. and was quickly running in the dark. Decided to make this a pretty hard run. Average pace for the 17 miles was 7:09, including a one-mile w/u and c/d. Pretty happy w/ this one.  461 feet o' elevation gain.

Yesterday, Monday, I had plans to meet up with Steve F. in the a.m. for some tempo work on Upper Bear Creek Road. I was feeling a bit wrecked from Sunday night's long run, but still kept the man-date. I warned him at the onset I likely wouldn't do the tempo work. After the four mile jog up the road, I changed my mind. Decided to see if I could make the tired legs go. We ran three miles of tempo (6:18; 6:14; 6:08). Legs weren't happy, but I sure was after it was over. Felt good to push through the fatigue.

Took today off.

Must admit to being a little bummed I shelled out the bucks for the Leadville 100 now that the Run Rabbit Run 100 is being offered. I really enjoyed the Run Rabbit Run 50 in 2010. Fantastic terrain around Steamboat Springs. That said, I'm still very much looking forward to the Leadville experience.

Bear Peak & A Mental Lapse

Late afternoon run up to the summit of Bear Peak via the backside. A navigational error added a bit of urgency (...and time...and distance) to the run.


Time:  2 hours
Distance: 8.25 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny and warm

Started from the Cragmoor trailhead, unsure about what I was going to run today.  Thought about heading up Bear Peak via Fern Canyon, but wanted a bit more distance and running than that route offered.  The catch was I had a time cut-off to meet in order to be where I needed to be to pick up jP and CP.

By the time I had climbed up to the Mesa Trail, I had a plan. I'd run up Bear Canyon to the West Ridge Trail junction, assess time and either return down the canyon or head over to Bear and down Fern Canyon.

The climb up Bear Canyon was a beautiful as ever. Still my favorite route up into the Boulder hills. I passed a ranger hiking near the mouth of the canyon - the first ranger I've seen out and about in a while. I hit the West Ridge junction and time was looking good. By my calculations, I had enough time to get up to Bear, down Fern, back to the car and back to the 'hood to pick up the kids.

So, up West Ridge I went. I realized here that this was the first time I'd been on this trail since running last June an abbreviated and moonlight version of the Boulder Skyline Traverse with GZ, Tim L., JP and a host of others. I made steady work of the ups and downs over to the backside base of Bear, then scrambled up the loose stuff to the north ridge, climbed the jagged rocks to the summit and tagged the summit marker.

As I made my way back down from the summit, I was back doing the time calculations. My head was filled with numbers, which obscured the mental map I was following. Before I knew it, I was jogging over to the saddle between Bear and South Boulder Peaks.

The minute I hit the saddle I realized I messed up. Fern Canyon is on the north side of Bear, and roughly a straight line down to the car. I was now standing at the mouth of Shadow Canyon, which angles decidedly to the south, away from where I was parked.

Well, I was committed (and now a bit stressed out) so I started down Shadow Canyon, pushing the pace and hopping from rock to rock, down the big drops, around the trees and past three to four groups of hikers. Time was ticking by faster than I was running.

Made it out of the canyon and traversed over to the Mesa Trail, winding my way, eventually, back to the gravel path that leads down to the Cragmoor cut-off.  Made it back to the truck at exactly two hours.

And, as luck would have it, it was JP's turn to pick up the kids. Good thing, because I would have been late. Rest assured, I now have the location of Fern Canyon permanently tattooed on my brain.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Late afternoon run from Chautauqua to the top o' Green Mountain via Bear Canyon.


Time:  1:41
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and Cool

Solid run...decent distance and elevation gain. Body held up well and felt best when moving (which is sorta the whole idea behind running, so things worked out pretty well).

Felt relatively good on the ups. From the Chautauqua parking lot, headed up McClintock to Mesa, Mesa to Bear Canyon and Green Bear to the four-way, then up to the summit of Green. Tagged the summit marker in 1:07, 39 minutes and change from the sign at the start of the Bear Canyon trail. Just focused on running a sustainable pace. Never red-lined it.

Came down the backside of Green. Cruised pretty hard down to just past the ranger cabin, then slowed it down after the flatish stretch. My quads definitely were letting me know I haven't run hard downhill in a number of weeks.

Wrapped it up with a nice jaunt through the Chautauqua meadow back to the truck.

The hardest part of the run was the first 100 yards, which is about how long it takes until all the muscles are warmed up, the joints are oiled and the engine stops knocking.  Once the back loosens up...good to go.  More progress.

2,686 feet o' elevation gain.

A Monochrome Day on Green Mountain

Solid run from Chautauqua up the backside of Green Mountain and down Bear Canyon.


Time: 1:47
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Steady
Body: Average
Weather: Gray and cold

Sometimes the incongruence of a name and a place becomes suddenly conspicuous.  For example, if something terrible happens to a family that lives in a place called Happy Valley...or if no one in Germantown speaks German...or if there are no hills or dales anywhere near Hillsdale.

I was thinking about this as I was headed up Green Mountain as a light snow was falling and the fog-like fingers of a low cloud ceiling were reaching down into the furrows that unfold along the mountain's flanks. The snow, trees shrouded in white, the clouds and the poor overall visibility created a monochrome feel around Green Mountain today, a peak whose names suggests a verdant, living place.

Still, even a seemingly colorless landscape has beauty and Green didn't disappoint today...it just presented itself in a new way. Stark. Simple. Quiet.

I started late afternoon at the Chautauqua parking lot and made my way over to Gregory Canyon, slipped on the traction devices and started my trek up toward the ranger cottage. I saw one other hiker on the ascent, just a bit past the trailhead.

I ran up to the cottage at a steady, but unimpressive pace, stopping ten or so times to readjust the Microspikes. I need to get a smaller sized pair for my size 11.5 feet. The Crosslites I was wearing are too narrow for the large size spikes I have.

I was today in the mood for the mountains, so the stops didn't bother me. Everything would be taken in stride. No hurry. The temps were nice. The snow was beautiful.  All good.

I hit the summit in around 46 minutes, tagged the summit marker and headed back down to the four-way and dropped down toward Bear Canyon. Along the southwestern side of Green, the cloud ceiling really seemed to close in, heightening the feeling of absence of color.

I don't remember much of the descent. I was lost in thought and on blissful autopilot feeling like I was miles away from the bustle of work and of Boulder.

I saw my first hikers since early in Gregory Canyon shortly after joining the Mesa Trail. The appearance of others whipped me out of my revelry. I put my head down and focused on keeping a steady pace back to Chautauqua.

By the time I was back in the truck and headed home on Highway 93, the falling snow and dropping temps had made for some relatively treacherous driving conditions. Traffic slowed, and so did my commute. The upside...I had more time to reflect on the monochrome silence that enveloped Green Mountain this winter day.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Late afternoon run around this classic Chautauqua-area route. Despite poor trail conditions, a solid run.


Time: 1:45
Distance: 8.39
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Clear and cool

Got a somewhat late start, heading up toward the Mesa Trail from Chautauqua around 3:50 p.m.  The dry dirt/pavement heading up along the Chautauqua meadow was deceiving.  As soon as I hit the Mesa Trail, it was clear that trails conditions were going to be challenging today.

The intermittent mix of fall-on-your-ass ice, dirt and mud certainly made things interesting.  There was not enough ice to warrant wearing traction devices, so I carefully plodded across the slick spots and picked it up on the dirt.

At the mouth of Bear Canyon, I stopped to strap on the Microspikes to navigate the quarter mile of icy steeps. Soon, though, the trail leveled out a bit and the ice was less of a problem, so off came the Microspikes. The rest of the cruise up Bear Canyon was typical, which is to say great. My favorite Boulder trail.

Once at the four-way below the summit of Green Mountain, I hung a right and climbed up to the summit, tagging the marker in 1:08.

With darkness fast approaching, I put the Microspikes back on and jogged down the backside of Green, suffering through the same dirt-ice-dirt conditions. I finally yanked the Microspikes back off a quarter mile or so past the ranger cottage and picked my way down carefully from there.

It was just about dark by the time I got back to the truck at Chautauqua.

Those trail conditions were about as bad as it gets.  Too little snow for tractions, too much ice for carefree running.  Bring on the snow (or a whole lot o' sun)!

Other Stuff:

Good run on Saturday in Breckenridge from our weekend rental condo (with friends from CA). Ran up Boreas Pass Road a couple miles and looped back via Illinois Gulch. Eager to explore that area more.  6.05 miles in 51 minutes.  On Sunday XC skied about 5K on the Breckenridge Nordic Center trails. Only fell once.  Really enjoyed the change of pace. Would love to do a lot more XC skiing.  Kids took skiing/snowboarding lessons on Sunday. The numbers were off for their small-group lesson and they both ended up with private lessons. So cool when things go your way...

Registered Saturday morning for June's San Juan Solstice 50. Race registration was mangled by problems with the IMAthlete site. I can only imagine the frantic morning the RD had trying to straighten that out and deal with all the frustrated runners trying to register. Took about two hours to sort out. Glad I cancelled a morning run and stuck it out.  I really enjoyed running that race last summer. Looking forward to tackling it again. Goal is to go under 10 hours.  Ran it in 10:41 last year.

I'm interested in a few other races, but am reluctant to invest in more until I can pack on some consistent, pain-free miles. Left heel is still harping at me. Right lower ab also is still telling me to take it easy. Can't wait to get past this crap.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain Loop

Time: 1:43
Distance: 8.23 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny & Hot


Morning run from Chautauqua up to the Mesa Trail, over to Bear Canyon, up to the Green Bear Trail, over to the four-way and up to the summit of Green. Ran steady the whole way to the summit of Green. The cruise up Bear Canyon was a highlight. Just felt solid the whole way up. No fatigue in the climbing legs. Slowed a bit heading over to the four-way and up the Green's summit. 

Green Mountain from Chautauqua

View from the Mesa Trail just before descending to Bear Canyon

Looking east back down Bear Canyon, about 2/3 of the way up.

Looking west from the summit of Green Mountain

Took it way easy descending down the front side of Green. Note to self:  You do not like that trail. Do not descend that way. 


Got it.


This stretch of record-breaking warm fall temps has been great. I know it can't keep going this way, but I sure am loving it for now.

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Great mid-afternoon loop that included a stint on the Mesa Trail, up Bear Canyon, over to Green Mountain and back to the start.


Time:  1:44
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm/humid


An early start to the workday allowed for a respectable-length mid-afternoon run. Started again at Chautauqua. This time I ran up to the Mesa Trail and over to Bear Canyon. I've decided that I really like the Bear Canyon trail. It's a moderate, but steady and totally runnable climb. There's lots of step-ups, but nothing that forces one to break stride.  And, Bear Canyon Creek's waters provide a ready-source of body-cooling relief.


Near the top of Bear Canyon, I hung a right and climbed up Green Bear to the four-way intersection with Greenman and Ranger. After a quick check to make sure I had enough time to do the summit out-and-back, I did the quick climb up to the summit of Green Mountain. I paused just for a minute to watch the fast-approaching storm that was already dumping rain around Walker Ranch and throwing lightening and thunder around.


I returned to the four-way and sped down Ranger and Gregory Canyon and back to the car at Chautauqua. Pushed the pace a bit on the descent enough to get the quads a bit grumpy. Felt good.


Good Speedgoat 50K race report from #2 finisher and FoCoian Nick Clark. 


Ryan Burch has part one of his race report from the inaugural running of the Grand Mesa 100.  My favorite part:


 "At Anderson Lake the AS personnel told us to wait a few minutes. Apparently at the time no one was manning the Carson Lake Aid station which was our next destination and they were thinking of possibly ending the race. After refueling we got confirmation to continue!"


WTF?


The race apparently had 60 starters and 33 finishers. Eager to read part II of Ryan's race report. Will the race be around for a second year? 

Chautauqua - Bear Canyon - Green Mtn - Gregory

Great, moderate-paced late morning run from Chautauqua, topping out at the summit of Green Mountain.


Time:  1:30-ish
Distance: ? miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny and warm


Escaped from the desk at mid-morning, lured out by the perfect weather - mild temps, a bit of humidity in the air and blue skies. 


From the Chautauqua trailhead, I headed up Bluebell to Mesa, took Mesa over to Bear Canyon and climbed the canyon to the intersection with West Ridge, pausing to dunk the hat in the blissfully cool creek. From here, I climbed Green Bear up to the four-way and then on to the summit of Green Mountain. I clicked a spit here - 1:07.


Retraced my steps back to the four-way and cruised down Green's backside to the Gregory trailhead. After a short jaunt through the Chautauqua meadow, I back at the car feeling refreshed and wishing I could do it all over again.


Solid and steady climbing day. Very little fatigue. I forgot the Garmin watch today...and didn't miss it.  Just a very enjoyable day on the trails...as it should be.