Weekly Roundup - May 15-21, 2011

An up and down week, to be sure. Had some high quality runs, but was hamstrung by the lingering effects of the bug I picked up last week.  


Sunday - Bergen Peak Summit:  2:12; 10.47 miles; 2,109 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the summit of Bergen Peak from the house...up Bergen Peak, down Too Long.  A good 5-6 inches of snow up top.

Monday - South Mesa - Shanahan Loop:  1:20; 8 miles; 1,516 feet o' elevation gain.  From South Mesa Trailhead ran up Homestead and Towhee to the mouth of Shadow Canyon, traversed over to the Mesa Trail to Shanahan North Fork and closed the loop via Lower Big Bluestem and Mesa. Lots of variety in this loop: steady climbs, downhill screamers and rolling goodness.

Tuesday - Bear Creek Trail:  1:12; 7.72 miles, 1,033 feet o' elevation gain. Started from O'Fallon Park, a Denver Mountain Park, in Bear Creek Canyon. Ran up to the BCT, hung a left and cruised down to Lair o' the Bear Open Space, then turned around and retraced my steps. Maya was out on this one with me. The last couple of miles were in a cold rain. Thank goodness the run started right next to Bear Creek.  Maya, who is a mostly-white dog was now mostly dirt colored. I think she enjoyed the post-run creek bath.

Wednesday - Off:  Just couldn't get myself out into the rain/snow.

Thursday - Treadmill:  50+ minutes, 7.25 miles.  Heavy wet snow was falling most of the day. Totally unmotivated until around 5 p.m. Finally got myself out the door to the rec center. Wasn't sure what to do today on the 'mill, so I did a little of everything.  The miles went like this: 8:00; 5:42; 8:00; 6:58; 8:00; 6:00; 8:00. A veritable smorgasbord of treadmill fun.

Friday -  Centennial Cone Open Space:  2:30; 18 miles; 2,646 feet o' elevation gain. Took a good chunk of the day off work to get in a longer run since JP was going to be out of town over the weekend. Ran from the Mayhem Gulch Trailhead in Clear Creek Canyon.  This is a great, fast loop with a few modest climbs, lots of rollers and some fabulous views of the foothills and down into Clear Creek Canyon. Had a smile on my face pretty much the whole run, except for the parts where the sky spit bits of ice and water at me, but that was short-lived.

Saturday - Bergen Peak Upper Loop:  1:18; 8.21 miles, 1,733 feet o' elevation gain. Was feeling a bit tired from the previous two days' efforts. Jogged via streets to the lower lot at Elk Meadow Open Space. As soon as I hit dirt, the wind started roaring. It was blowing so hard, I turned off my iPod because I could no longer hear the music. The roar of the wind was drowning it out. I just put my head down and slogged it out, know that as soon as I hit the trees, I'd find relief.

Soon enough, I was out of the wind and enjoying my slow recovery jog pace. Then, just as I was approach the Too Long Trail turn off, I noticed a runner coming up behind me. Damn it! I don't want to be caught from behind and passed!  So, I picked it up a bit figuring I'd be alone again once I started up Too Long. Not many people run up that trail. Wrong. She turned up Too Long behind me.

I gave up my notion of a pure recovery jog and picked up the pace enough to avoid being overtaken. After about half a mile, I started feeling better. In fact, the higher I went, the better I felt.  On a couple of the long switchbacks, I could see her below running strong.  I continued on, past the Summit Trail turnoff and picked up the pace down the Bergen Peak Trail. I was feeling GREAT on the descent, just cruising through the rocks with confident foot placement and a solid pace - even passed a mountain biker who also was going down.  I enjoyed that way too much.

All-in-all, a solid week. The long run was shorter than I would have liked and the day off was unnecessary - the result of a lack of will, I guess. Still, ended up with a hair under 60 miles, 9 hours and 22 minutes of fun and 6,391 feet of ups.

Blowing a Gasket

The battle against time on Monday must have pushed the engine too hard. I think I blew a gasket.

Around mid-morning on Tuesday it was clear that an illness was building. Fatigue was setting in. The throat had a mild tickle. Damn.

By evening, the verdict was delivered. Sick. Sore throat. No energy. The crud. And, overnight we got six inches of heavy wet snow. Add it all up and you have the perfect time for a trip to the East Coast.  Up at 5 a.m. for a flight to Washington, D.C.

Despite feeling awful, I got out last night here in Arlington, Virginia for a six-mile run. Ran from the hotel down to the Potomac River, did a loop around Roosevelt Island, then ran a couple miles up the bike path along the river and looped back past the Iwo Jima Memorial.  50 minutes; 6+ miles (no GPS watch).

I hoped the run would ease the grip of the crud, but it didn't help. Glad I got out...the weather here is perfect - mild temps, light breeze, no humidity.  Hope to kick this crap quickly.

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.

Weekly Roundup - May 1 - 7, 2011

Decent week, considering the long travel home from the south Pacific, a day off in Hawaii and a travel recovery day at home.


The week's stats looked like this:

Time:  11:50
Distance: 61.08 miles
Elevation gain: 7,454 feet

Sunday and Monday featured sea level runs on Palmyra Atoll.

Tuesday:  Off. Spent the day working in Honolulu and taking a red-eye flight back to Colorado (cue unwanted memories of a toddler screaming for three straight hours directly behind me on flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles.

Forgot to mention the two tornados (people who live by the ocean call 'em water spouts) we saw Monday as our return charter flight from Palmyra was landing in Honolulu.  Off the starboard side of the plane, two twisters dipped down from the clouds and churned up a big mass of water where their tips hit the ocean. Reminded me of a few childhood summer evenings in Kansas spent under the workbench in the basement as the tornado sirens wailed.


Wednesday:  Off.  Got home about 11 a.m. I was so wasted from lack of sleep, I spent the day zombie working and then passed out early for some seriously sound sleep.

Thursday - Bergen Peak Upper Loop:  1:27; 8.31 miles; 1,682 feet o' elevation gain.  Easy run to get re-acclimated to running in the Colorado version of paradise. Took Maya along for the ride.

Friday - Elephant Butte/Alderfer-Three Sisters:  1:12; 6.55 miles; 1,597 feet o' elevation gain.  Put in a moderate effort from the upper parking lot to the top of Elephant Butte. Hit the summit high point on the west side in 23:24 via the western social trail route.  After descending to the upper ridge, I ran the outside loop of Blair Ranch, up and over the Three Sisters rock formation and then took Ponderosa (hello park ranger...see Maya on her leash!?) up to the Brother before cruising back to the truck at the upper lot.

Saturday - Pine Valley Ranch/Buffalo Creek:  5 hours; 30 miles; 3,800 feet o' elevation gain.  Up early for a long one on the fine trails of PVR and Buffalo Creek area.  Started, sans watch (oops), around 6:20 a.m. Ran Stawberry Jack - Homestead - Sandy Wash - Buffalo Creek Road - Shinglemill - Colorado Trail - Tramway - Buffalo Creek Road - Baldy - Miller Gulch - Homestead - Buck Gulch loop.  This was a really good run. None of the niggles were acting up. Just ran a steady, if unimpressive, pace. Lots of mountain bikers out.  Forgot the watch this morning. Didn't miss it. In fact, time seemingly went by more quickly without it. Was surprised when I looked at the clock when I got back to the truck. Five hours went by fast! Spent a few minutes post-run soaking the feet in the South Platte River and downing a new recovery drink I'm testing this week.

Elevation: Six Feet

I have heard it said that more people have stood atop Mt. Everest (2,700 as of 2008) than have set foot on Palmyra Atoll (not counting WWII period).  

I'm willing to bet, then, that the membership in the Palmyra Atoll trail running club (the No Incline Club?), if one existed, would have to be infinitesimal. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit this special place, let alone run the trails of Cooper and Strawn Islands.

Initial approach to Palmyra Atoll aboard charter flight.  Photo courtesy of EW.

The last two days on Palmyra Atoll allowed for a couple more runs on now-familiar ground.  Felt like I got to know some of the sights along the way:

• the two spots where pairs of fairy terns would repeatedly flutter down from the trees and hover just out of reach before darting off into the tree canopy;
• places on the beach and on the mile-long runway where one was assured of seeing groups of bristle-thighed curlews, a bird species of global concern (estimated that there are just 8,000 left worldwide);
• the bushes where the Cooper Island trail dumps out on the runway where young red-footed boobies always seemed to be hanging out looking for twigs and plant material for nests;
• the noisy frigatebirds chasing red-footed boobies above the runway trying to get the boobies to regurgitate their day's food in order to have an easy meal (kleptoparasitism).

Adult red-footed boobies

In addition to running, I had the chance to snorkel around some absolutely amazing coral gardens, do an hour-long dive down what felt like a manta ray highway, explore some WWII ruins and learn about the atoll's history as a refueling base during that war, do some hands-on conservation work and sea kayak the length of the east lagoon.  

So, the runs:

Sunday, May 1st

AM:  3.10 miles - hike in the rain out to the end of Strawn Island and across the coral flats and back.

PM:  8.11 miles; 1:09 - three loops on the Cooper Island - trail/runway loop, plus a quick swing through the base camp.

The trail through the forest on Cooper Island

Monday, May 2nd

AM:  5.02 miles; 52 minutes - from base camp to the end of Strawn Island, then down the beach (past some really cool WWII concrete structures) to North Beach, then onto the Cooper Island trail/runway loop route. Took lots of pictures along the way.

Running down North Beach

The mile-long runway on Palmyra.  During WWII, the runway was twice as wide.

Pillbox on the beach on the north side of Strawn Island

The trail headed toward the end of Strawn Island.

The population figure changes when someone arrives or leaves. In WWII there were upwards of 3,000 people on the atoll.

It's good to back home in the dry air and 7,300-foot elevation, but it's hard not to miss the beauty and rarity of the atoll and its 6-foot elevation.

Running in Paradise

Easy six miles through the woods, down a WWII-era runway, past pill boxes, a wrecked airplane and the biggest darn crab I've ever seen.


Time:  54 minutes
Distance:  6.1 miles
Pace: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Overcast and humid

Palmyra Atoll is located approximately 1,000 miles south of Hawaii.  That's 1,000 of nothing, save for Kingman Reef, between the Honolulu Airport and the crushed coral landing strip on Palmyra.  That's a long way to go for a run.

View from base camp on Cooper Island northwest toward Strawn Island

The running route starts at research base camp on Cooper Island and heads east on an old WWII two-track, past North Beach and connects with the east end of the runway.  From there, the route takes one down the runway to the two-track that leads back to base camp.  The loop is 2.5 miles, almost on the nose.

The running surface -- well, the islands' surface is crushed coral. Instead of having to watch out for rocks and roots, the chief trail obstacle here are crabs. There are three types of crabs to watch out for -- hermit crabs (everywhere), big fiddler crab-looking crabs and the Big Daddy of 'em all, the coconut crab (these crabs actually eat coconuts and can get to be the size of basketballs).

A coconut crab refuses to let a certain trail runner pass

The coral reefs here are among the best on the planet. Because there is so little direct human impact (save for climate change), the reefs are very healthy and resilient. Bleaching events and disease do happen here, but because the reefs are so healthy and the human impacts relatively minimal, they recover quickly.  There are places with 100 percent coral cover. Went for a dive today in an old channel dredged by the Navy during WWII. Saw about 20 manta rays...big ones, too, with 10-foot wing spans. 

There are several scientists here doing all sorts of research project, from seeking to spot the extraordinarily elusive beaked whale, to shark tagging, climate research and more. Because the ecosystem here is so intact, it's a great place to study how things work.

Thou Shall Ensure This Place Remains for Future Generations!

Check the Garmin map of this run, here.  Click on aerial view to see the atoll.  Incredible.

Remote Running

Two days off due to cramming for a last minute trip here.  Atoll ultrarunning, my new hobby.

Palmyra Atoll.  Note the unnaturally straight line in the center left of the pic.  The runway.

Flatiron Vista - Tempo

Post-work, squeeze-it-in-on-the-way-home-from-work, between-rain-hail-and-brimstone from the sky tempo run around Flatiron Vista.


Time: 45 minutes
Distance: 6.2 miles
Effort: Hard
Body: Good
Weather: Cloudy and cool

Every minute counted today, so I ran pretty hard from the get-go, setting off on the early winding climb from the Flatiron Vista parking lot off Highway 93 up into the woods. Maya was setting pace, although the check-everything-out route she ran must have added an extra mile to her day.

Settled into a steady pace in the low 7s on the climb, then picked it up through the rocky flatish stuff on the west side. Paused at the gate to double check the leash rules, dashed past a pride of mountain bikers and cruised down and up the Dowdy Draw Trail and ran a quarter mile up the Springbrook South Trail.

At the place where the Springbrook Loop begins, there were signs saying leashes were required. I wasn't in the mood to hold Maya back, so we turned around and headed back up Dowdy Draw. Rounded out the loop back to the truck via the Flatiron Vista North Trail. Ran the last couple miles in the 5:30-5:45 range.

Average pace for the run was 7:16, but it seemed harder with the rocks and modest ups and downs.

A whopping 523 feet o' elevation gain.

Apex Loop

Nice late afternoon loop through Apex Open Space en route home from the Boulder office. As a special treat, the sun made an unscheduled appearance.


Time: 47 minutes
Distance: 5.29 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Mostly cloudy and warm(ish)


Squeezed this run in between the end of an early-starting workday and picking up the kids. Apex Open Space is incredibly convenient for these rushed runs. The parking lot is just a couple hundred yards off my regular commuting route.

Glad to see the sun poke through the clouds just as I was setting off. Made it warm enough to run in just shirt sleeves, a far cry from the sleet/snow runs of the past two days.

Ran a nice loop through the park using the Apex, Sluicebox, Grubstake, Pick-n-Sledge and Argos Trails. Got some nice turn-over going through the rollers on Grubstake and on the Argos descent. Good stuff.

1,210 feet o' elevation gain.

Beaver Brook - Gudy Gaskill Trail

This has got to have been the LAST snow storm run of the first half of 2011! Conditions were lousy, but the vibe was great.


Time: 1:23
Distance: 8.01 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Blizzard and chilly


Late afternoon run on Beaver Brook trail from trailhead on Mt. Vernon Country Club land near Ralston Elementary School in Genessee.  Started and ended with heavy, wet snow falling (these are the kind of conditions people who were glasses HATE).

Run starts with some double-track which leads to an access point for the Beaver Brook Trail. This section has some great views down into Clear Creek Canyon. Ran the Gudy Gaskill loop, which takes one around a small mountain (more big views down into the canyon).  Once back on the Beaver Brook Trail, I headed east to add on a couple miles before looping back to the trailhead via some old service roads and a couple of unmarked, but well-trod social trails.

There are some impressive forests and meadows hidden away on this little used parcel of open space and conservation easement lands (thanks Mt. Vernon!).

Ran this one with Maya. Perfect running companion today...hung close, waiting when she got out of sight on twisty sections. Fun!