Healing...and Pondering

Forced time off is never easy, but at least this stretch has been made easier by the sudden change in weather. This is my third day off from any running, following Sunday's 23-mile sufferfest.

The Achilles today feels good. No soreness when just walking around. So, that's coming along. Same with the left plantar.

The plantar has been episodic. Last year around this time, at the advice of a podiatrist I took about three weeks off to see if it would heal. I spent that time lazing around, icing the foot, doing exercises...the works (and driving those around me nuts). I eased carefully back into running and ended up right back where I started. Lots of discomfort, all the time. Next up was a visit to a well-known PT in Boulder. One extremely painful session later, I was 80 percent better. After one more session, I was up to a 90 percent improvement...pretty much good to go. Through the spring/winter/summer, I was largely pain-free. The foot would hurt a fair bit after a long, hard run, but would be fine the next day. Late this fall, though, the plantar was hurting again throughout the day. I wasn't getting the overnight healing done anymore.

Three days off, though, does wonders. I presume, however, that the days off-induced improvement will be temporary, so I scheduled a return visit to the Boulder PT's House of Pain for late next week. Hopefully, I won't have to ask about the Achilles. I'm hoping I have nipped that one in the bud.

So, since I haven't been running, I have been relegated to thinking (some) about running. In particular, I've been thinking about the 100-mile distance, and whether it's something I want to tackle. I must admit, there's a pull there. Something about the grandiosity...the absurdity....the challenge of the distance.

I have a desire to feel the satisfaction of having pushed myself that far...that hard. I don't, for a moment, underestimate the size of the challenge and its difficulty. Nor am I oblivious to the ego-centric drive that lurks beneath the "I'm in it for the challenge...the pushing myself to the limits" public rationale.

So, I'm left to ponder the distance, the races that could be run and the time commitment required to pull it off and be reasonably competitive. Thankfully, I have the benefit of having folks around to probe for insight and from whom to learn. Figuring out the balance, though, is all me. And, that's the first big hurdle to overcome.

Willow Springs - Ken Caryl Ranch Open Space - Hurtin'

Explored a wealth of close-in, beautiful singletrack in the foothills south of Highway 285. Great trails, but a tough day.


Distance: 23.48 miles
Time: 4:21
Pace: Easy/long
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny & Warm

There's nothing better than exploring new trails right from one's door, but that's a rare thing. So, the second-best thing is exploring new trails right from a friend's door.  Those were my thoughts as Todd G. and I started running up the road from his house to the trails of the Willow Springs neighborhood open space.

Willow Springs Open Space Trail Map - Credit: Bill Highland

Heading up the paved road to the trails, I was feeling a bit creaky. Despite several weeks of moderation in running, I've got more aches and pains now than I've had all year. Between a flared-up left plantar, a worsening groin pull of some sort and a newly sore right Achilles, I was walking wounded. Still I was optimistic that things would chill out once we hit the dirt.

And, for the most part, things were fine through the early climbs through the 800-acre Willow Springs mountain park. The trails in here were awesome...well built, narrow, little-used singletrack. The trails, loaded with tight switchbacks, climb the hillsides behind the subdivision. After one minor summit and lots of up and down across grassy hillsides and through forested drainages, we made our way into the privately-owned Ken Caryl Ranch Open Space.

The Ken Caryl Ranch subdivision includes 5,000 acres of open space with over 25 miles trails, much of it great singletrack. In this area, we ran along more of the great, narrow foothills singletrack before dropping down into the subdivision itself for a number of miles on the red dirt around the hogback and red rocks.

It was in here when the Achilles started really aching. We were about 10 miles in at this point and I was not eager to call it a day, so we marched on.  Soon, the trail turned up and we headed back up toward the foothills. Just before ascending a really steep, rocky canyon, we came across a bunch of West Metro Fire and Rescue trucks parked at a trail junction. Apparently, a kid fell 60 feet down a rocky cliff here yesterday. (Denver Post story here.)

We had better luck and made our way up out of the canyon and onto a hillside covered by gambel oak and aspen. Beautiful spot. I hit a rough patch through here and was just trying to hold it together. Everything seemed to be aching. Still, we motored on, passed a few mountain bikers and made our way back onto Willow Springs land.

We wound our way back to Todd's 'hood via a different route. Thanks to Todd's route-finding, we did the 23-mile loop with only one mile of overlapping trail. Other than that way-short section, it was all new trail. And, all the trail was great. And, unfortunately, it's all private land...owned by the subdivisions below.

Once back at the truck, I assessed the damage. Left foot...trashed.  Right Achilles...aching.  Groin...shot.  I haven't felt this fragile in years. Time for some prescribed time off for a bit of PT and healing. Ugh.

Other than the aches, this was a great (and much slowed) run. Eager to do it again...in due time.

Alderfer-Three Sisters - Easy

Snuck in a quick six miles while jP was doing a basketball skills clinic at the local rec center, which just happens to be within half-mile of a JeffCo Open Space park.


Time: 55 minutes
Distance:  6 miles
Effort: Easy
Body:  Average
Weather: Sunny & Warm

Congrats to Scott Jaime, 2010 Mountain Masochist 50 winner!  Finishing time:  7:23!  Nice job, Scott!

Easy run from the Wulf Rec Center up to Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space park. Looped through the park via multiple trails. Paused at one point to watch a very non-plussed fox meandering through the woods just 10 meters from the trail (and me). No watch.

At 9:30 a.m. it already was t-shirt temps. It's going to be a beautiful weekend.

Apex Open Space - Here & There

A post-early morning flight run in a local gem of an open space park. Explored some of the new trails built there this summer.


Time:  1:27
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Sunny and warming

Got up at 3:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C. to catch a 6 a.m. flight home from Dulles. Got a solid couple hours of sleep on the plane. When I landed in Colorado at about 8:30 a.m., the sun was out and things were warming up nicely.

Since it was so early and I had my running gear packed in my suitcase, everything lined up nicely for a quick morning run. En route home, I stopped off at Apex Open Space, which is located just above Heritage Square in Golden. I head heard from Todd G. that the county put in some new trails at the park this summer, so I was eager to see what was new.

The first thing I noticed at the park was all the new signs put up to instruct bikers about new rules governing which direction on which days they could ride certain trails. There have been some significant hiker/biker conflicts at this small, close-in park. The directional days and new trails are the county's solution to the identified problems.

The first new trail, is the .7-mile Argos Trail, which switchbacks up the east-side face park's foothills mountains.  The trail is well built...I'd say over-built. It's a good 3-4 feet wide. This seems to be JeffCo's modus operandi these days...widening trails, removing rocks, etc...  I'm sure the trails will feel more narrow once the vegetation has regrown and preferred lines get worn into the wide tread. Will be interesting to watch how the trail matures. Still, my critiques aside, Open Space should be thanked and commended for investing in new trails, particularly in these challenging budget times!

From the top of the new Argos Trail, I cruised along Pick-n-Sledge and made a small loop out of Grubstake and Bonanza before dropping down Sluicebox to the Apex Trail. From this junction, I headed up Apex to its upper reaches and then ran down Enchanted Forest back to Apex (the upper part of Apex also has been re-routed), which I followed back to my truck.

Good stuff.

HQ - Hotel - Commuting & Running

The Tuesday tempo run today took me from the Ballston 'hood in Arlington, VA to the Woodley Park neighborhood in D.C. All on bike paths, no less.


Time: 1:09
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Sorta Hard
Body: Good
Weather: Clear and cool

Second day in D.C. on a biz trip. Decided the best way to ensure I got in a solid run was to bring my shoes-n-shorts to work from the hotel and do the evening commute via foot.

Surprisingly, I was in the mood for a track work-out, which is a rare feeling. So, from the HQ, I warmed up via a half-mile run to the Washington & Lee High School, where they have a fine, new track. I didn't have much time due to impending darkness (left the headlamp in the hotel), so I hopped on the track and did a whopping 1x1 mile in 5:40. Those four loops sated my immediate desire to run in circles, so off I went to pick up the Curtiss Trail, which is a paved bike path that runs along I-66 through this part of Arlington.

Running a steady pace around 6:20, I ran over Key Bridge into Georgetown, hung a right in Francis Scott Key Park and jumped on the towpath along the last bit of the C&O Canal. This path took me to the mouth of Rock Creek Park.

With darkness settling in, I started the very gentle climb up through the park to the Woodley Park area, where my hotel was located. I tried to hold the pace up the last steep climb up from the creek to the bluff above where the hotel is perched, but ran out of gas about 20 meters from the top and jogged the rest of the way up. Average pace for the 7.69 run, including the warm-up and track mile was 6:45.  Finished things up with a two-mile+ cool down through the Embassy Row 'hood gawking at the huge houses tucked away in this quiet, wooded corner of the city.

Really enjoyed this run.

Centennial Cone - Steady

Morning run around the 3,500-acre Centennial Cone Open Space here in Jefferson County. Great pre-run Hallowen moment at The Bagelry.  Read on...


Time: 2:28
Distance:17 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather:  Sunny and Warm

Met up with Todd G. just after 7:30 a.m. at the wonderfully-named Mayhem Gulch Trailhead in Clear Creek Canyon for a loop around JeffCo's Centennial Cone Open Space.  (Mayhem Gulch, turns out, was not named after some riotous event of the past. Mayhem is the last name of a long-time ranching family from the area. Go figure.)

The run starts with a 600-foot climb from the bottom of the canyon to the pine-covered hillsides above. The singletrack here is some of the best constructed trail I've seen in a long time. It snakes gently up, meandering across the hills and climbing via multiple switchbacks before intersecting with the Juniper Trail.

We hung a right here, continuing on the Mayhem Gulch Trail to the 7.4-mile Travois Trail, which undulates through a nice diversity of habitat types...coniferous forests, open grasslands, rocky hillsides and one modest summit. Ran into Erik Soloff somewhere in here and stopped to chat for a bit.  Following a slog up to the upper parking lot (pit stop), we jumped on the 3.2-mile Elk Range Trail for another slog, this time, though, on a dirt road (the only non-singletrack part of this run).

With the left foot aching, I was eager to wrap things up, so we hung a left just before the second upper parking lot and cruised down to the Juniper Trail. At the intersection with Mayhem Gulch, I retrieved a shirt and bottle I'd stashed and we made our way back around to the south side of the property for the final descent down to the bottom of Clear Creek Canyon.

With Todd setting the pace, we cruised at a really nice, hard pace, ranging from 5:45 to 6:30 for the last mile and a half. On such a well-built, rock-free trail (not to mention it's steady downhill grade), running at this pace is pure bliss.

I was really happy to get out for another solid run while this amazing weather pattern holds.  Will, no doubt, look back with envy at these days in a couple months when the temps drop and the snow settles in.

Note:  On weekends, JeffCo sets alternating hiker and biker days (.pdf) for this open space park. If you visit, be sure you pick the right weekend day. Fines are in effect for violating the rules. We saw a couple of rangers at one of the parking lots.

Finally, a great moment early this morning at The Bagelry (a local Evergreen joint that makes real bagels...boiled and everything). Just after I placed my order, a woman behind the counter looks over at me and says, "Are you a marathon runner?"  I replied that, yes, I was and I was up early to get in a long run. She laughed because she thought I was in costume - dressed as a "marathon runner" for Halloween. Not sure what to make of that. Any thoughts?

Alderfer-Three Sisters - Easy

Bailed on the BBMM today to put in some quality time at home. Got out for an easy five miles late.


Time: :44
Distance: 5.12
Effort:: Easy
Body: Average
Weather:  Sunny and Warm

Spent the day hanging out on the home front. Carved pumpkins with jP and CP. Took jP to the grand opening of the new Golden Bike Park. Spent a couple hours riding the tracks, jumps and obstacles. Great facility, right on the southeastern edge of North Table Mountain. Very cool.  jP even scored a comp pair of Native sunglasses from one of the sponsored riders hanging out.

Had planned on running the Boulder Basic Mountain Marathon social run, but the desire to hang home combined with a suddenly worsening case of chronic plantar fasciitis in my left foot made the decision easier (slept in the boot last night), although I'm sure I'll second guess things as the blog write-ups start appearing.  I think I'm due for a return to the PT for a painful session or two on the foot. I gritted my way though a pair of sessions last year around this time and emerged with an 80 percent or so improvement. Not sure why it's gotten bad again. Need to noodle on that.

JV already has a post up about the BBMM.

Anyway....got out for a very pleasurable evening run in the local Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space park today. Ran the outside loop, starting at the upper lot. Ran the Bluebird Meadow, Burberry, Mt. Muhy, Sisters and Pondersosa Trails to complete a really nice loop back to the upper lot. Perfectly still out there tonight in the waning sunlight. Felt really good just to be in the woods and moving briskly.

If the foot holds up, I will try and hit Centennial Cone first thing tomorrow a.m.

Mt. Falcon - Everything

Long,hard morning run touching almost every bit of trail in Jefferson County's Mt. Falcon Open Space near Morrison.


Time: 2:08:44
Distance: 14.26
Effort: Hard
Body: Fair
Weather: Sunny and cool

When I look at a GPS rendering of most of my runs I either see symmetry, as in when I run a nice long loop, or the simple, thick, squigly line of an out-and-back. Today's run provided neither familiar pattern.

Today's GPS rendering of a run in Mt. Falcon Open Space park looked more like something one would get by radio-collaring an inebriated bear and turning him loose in the foothills..

The route Scott J. and I ran today, which Scott calls "Version One," takes one to nearly every trail in the park, save for a brief equestrian bypass up top and the lower portion of the Castle Trail, which descends down the frontside of the park and is the alternative to the hiker-only Turkey Trot Trail (a more scenic and singletrack ascent/descent).

After a quick greeting in the chilly winds buffeting the lower parking lot, we set out at a steady climbing pace up through the early steeps and then onto the more gentle grades of the Turkey Trot Trail. We then merged onto the Castle Trail and climbed to the picnic shelter and hit a split of 31:19 (a PR for me by a couple of minutes...but only the third time I've run up that route).

From there, we ran up a couple of dead-end ascents (with views) before getting back on the Castle Trail and running it to it's high point. Next up were a series of loops on the Parmalee, Old Ute and Devils Elbow Trails before returning to the Castle Trail for the descent.

I was dragging on the last few ascents, feeling like I'd pretty much out-run the calories provided by the homemade fruit/greens/protein smoothie I'd had for breakfast. I was ready for some gravity-assist by the time we hit the picnic shelter and began cruising back down to the lower parking lot.

All-in-all, a good, tough run on a beautiful Thursday morning. The wind was all but gone by the time we got back to our cars.

2,903 feet of elevation gain.

Neighborhood Stuff - Easy

Easy jog around the 'hood to shake out the legs. Still too windy to be "fun," but good to get out.


Time:  :39
Distance:  4.4 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather:  Sunny, cool and windy

Late afternoon jog from the house.  Did a loop around the neighborhood open space, ran down Quarterhorse Road, into the dog park and home through the southern end of Elk Meadow Open Space. As is all too often typical...squeezed it in between work and picking up jP and CP. Off to go bowling...

Bear Peak - Blowin' in the Wind

A really good run to the summit of Boulder's Bear Peak, although I could have done without the fierce wind gusts blowing from the west.


Time: 1:18
Distance: 5.08
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny, WINDY and cool


Late afternoon run from the Cragmore Cragmoor Trailhead to the summit of Bear Peak. I remember stepping out of the truck and immediately doing a quick body status check. Was this going to be a good run, or a not-so-good one? The answer was not immediate. 


I started out up the long series of step-ups from the trailhead sign feeling...OK. After 50 meters or so, the verdict was in.  I was feeling really good. I picked up the pace a bit and just went with it.  Steady.


Made a wrong turn at the first sign, corrected and climbed up to the singletrack that loops up past a huge rock slab to the mouth of Fern Canyon. I ran up Fern to the first major set of rocky stairs and started the power hiking.  Just felt great through the steep stuff. I could feel the leg muscles working and working hard, but the fatigue just never came. Hit the switchbacks below the saddle and started running. Gained the saddle with a smile.


Looked up at Bear to the left as the fierce winds from the west chilled my hands. Set out to finish the climb up the west ridge. 


Got to the summit sign and debated tagging the summit. The wind gusts were scary-strong. Got to within about 10 meters of the summit slab, paused to let a few seconds on the watch tick by, and called it a day. I already was keeping a low body profile, moving on all fours. Still felt like the wind could blow me off.


Returned down the west ridge, hit the saddle and started just cruising down Fern. Of all the rocky canyon descents around Boulder, this is my favorite. I felt in control the whole way. Step. Plant. Pivot. Go. Hit the mouth of Fern and turned it up a notch. On the gravel road sections I was running 5:40s and just feeling great. Hit the Cragmore Cragmoor turn-off and cruised down the steps, hit the pavement and immediately jumped in the truck to head home to pick up jP and CP.


Feeling it.


2,675 feet of elevation gain.


Saddle - 30 minutes
Summit - 45:19 (PR - second time on this route)