Time: 1:16
Distance: 8.2 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Mostly cloudy & cool
After a few days in Crested Butte, we dropped nephew Will off at Colorado College in the Springs and headed south. After a day's stop in Santa Fe to take in the art scene, we headed up to Taos to kick back and chill out. The place we stayed had a pool for the kids, was paid for with hotel points and was located not too far from the boundary of the Carson National Forest. Perfect.
Managed to get out on Thursday for an easy run up a two-lane county road to the forest boundary. My trails radar was going wild as I rounded a bend, looked up a canyon and saw the brown signs that are alternatively my savior and my bane. Those familiarly-colored signs inevitably mean access to public lands, hence the reference to them being my savior...my balm...my sanctuary. On the other hand, they also can be a bane in that they point to places I often don't have the time to explore, and that, at times, gnaws at me.
Today, though, I had a bit of time and headed up Trail 108 - the Devisadero Trail, which ascends Devisadero Peak, a peak the Taos Pueblo Indians used to use as a place to watch for Apache raiders coming down Taos Canyon. I followed the trail for several miles, gaining a couple of smaller summits in the hill-strewn foothills here. I didn't have enough time to get to Devisadero Peak (and, at the time, didn't know where the trail went), but enjoyed the time on the mostly-dry, south-facing trails.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Crested Butte - Easy
Time: 1:25
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm
Easy 10 miles from the west edge of Crested Butte along the Lower Loop and on the (gulp) Nordic ski trails groomed just above the Slate River. The groomed surface was firm enough to be great to run on. Just a bit of cushion. From there, I headed back through town, then up the Kebler Pass road a couple of miles to where it dead ends at a snowmobile staging area (they groom the road up and over the pass, plus the road up to and beyond Lake Irwin for snowmobiles). I returned down the road the way I came.
Felt great to be out on such a perfect spring day in the mountains. CB is dead right now. This was the last week of skiing and all the spring breakers had returned to school (the prefect time to visit w/ elementary school-aged kids).
Been slacking these past couple of days. Decided not to sweat it and count it as a bit of down time to let the new(ish) right foot ache/injury heal up. Plan on getting in a long run or two in Taos tomorrow or Saturday.
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm
Easy 10 miles from the west edge of Crested Butte along the Lower Loop and on the (gulp) Nordic ski trails groomed just above the Slate River. The groomed surface was firm enough to be great to run on. Just a bit of cushion. From there, I headed back through town, then up the Kebler Pass road a couple of miles to where it dead ends at a snowmobile staging area (they groom the road up and over the pass, plus the road up to and beyond Lake Irwin for snowmobiles). I returned down the road the way I came.
Felt great to be out on such a perfect spring day in the mountains. CB is dead right now. This was the last week of skiing and all the spring breakers had returned to school (the prefect time to visit w/ elementary school-aged kids).
Been slacking these past couple of days. Decided not to sweat it and count it as a bit of down time to let the new(ish) right foot ache/injury heal up. Plan on getting in a long run or two in Taos tomorrow or Saturday.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Upper Bear Creek Road & More - Long Run
Time: 3:24
Distance: 22 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Gray and snowing
Up early to meet Steve G., Chris A. and Kristin for a run up Upper Bear Creek Road. Everyone had different mileage plans. Steve turned back at four miles and Chris and Kristin turned back at 7.5 miles. I continued on to the caretaker house at the Mt. Evans State Wildlife Management Area at 8.5 miles. Did a bit of exploring on the way back, including a run up to the Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab, a JeffCo school district property, and an uphill jaunt up Echo Lake Road to King Murphy Elementary and looping back down Whittier Gulch to Upper Bear.
It was snowing off and on the whole time...even had a few tantalizing glimpses of blue sky and sun now and then, but those moments were fleeting at best. We're back to a full-on snow storm now.
Off to Crested Butte tomorrow.
Distance: 22 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Gray and snowing
Up early to meet Steve G., Chris A. and Kristin for a run up Upper Bear Creek Road. Everyone had different mileage plans. Steve turned back at four miles and Chris and Kristin turned back at 7.5 miles. I continued on to the caretaker house at the Mt. Evans State Wildlife Management Area at 8.5 miles. Did a bit of exploring on the way back, including a run up to the Mt. Evans Outdoor Lab, a JeffCo school district property, and an uphill jaunt up Echo Lake Road to King Murphy Elementary and looping back down Whittier Gulch to Upper Bear.
It was snowing off and on the whole time...even had a few tantalizing glimpses of blue sky and sun now and then, but those moments were fleeting at best. We're back to a full-on snow storm now.
Off to Crested Butte tomorrow.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Treadmill - Easy
Time: 50 (ish)
Distance: 7.25
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Indoors
It was snowing again Friday afternoon, making for lousy outdoor conditions. The promise of an easy treadmill run followed by a bit of time in the sauna was enough to lure me indoors to the Buchanan Rec Center.
Did an easy mile w/u at 8:30, followed by five miles at 7:30 at 1-2 percent grade and a one-mile c/d at 8:00. For fun, and to close it out with a high heart rate, I jacked the 'mill to 15 percent and finished strong (so mu
ch for the c/d).
Distance: 7.25
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Indoors
It was snowing again Friday afternoon, making for lousy outdoor conditions. The promise of an easy treadmill run followed by a bit of time in the sauna was enough to lure me indoors to the Buchanan Rec Center.
Did an easy mile w/u at 8:30, followed by five miles at 7:30 at 1-2 percent grade and a one-mile c/d at 8:00. For fun, and to close it out with a high heart rate, I jacked the 'mill to 15 percent and finished strong (so mu
ch for the c/d).
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Boulder - Tempo
Time: 49:00
Distance: 8.1
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Mostly sunny & cool
Mid-morning break in the back-to-back meetings/conference calls allowed enough time for a quick tempo run from work, up the Boulder Creek trail to the mouth of Boulder Canyon, then up and over Mapleton Hill and a return through the 'hoods on both sides of Broadway. Average pace was 6:34 with 1,346 feet of elevation gain for the 7.46 miles of tempo (half-mile c/d).
I was pretty happy with this run. Never felt like I was maxed and could pull out another gear if needed.
Yesterday was one of those days...left the house with running gear on and got 15 meters from the house, stopped my watch and walked back in. Just didn't want to run. I was fine physically, but mentally just wasn't there. What got me was the realization that I was going to bang out an hour just for the sake of banging it out...no joy...no fun...just rote mileage. On one hand, sometimes you have got to do those runs. After all, it's about consistency, right? Still, at least for me, if there's no joy, no abandon, no "I just want to be out and moving," it's not worth it. Yesterday, it would not have been worth it.
Today was fun.
Distance: 8.1
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Mostly sunny & cool
Mid-morning break in the back-to-back meetings/conference calls allowed enough time for a quick tempo run from work, up the Boulder Creek trail to the mouth of Boulder Canyon, then up and over Mapleton Hill and a return through the 'hoods on both sides of Broadway. Average pace was 6:34 with 1,346 feet of elevation gain for the 7.46 miles of tempo (half-mile c/d).
I was pretty happy with this run. Never felt like I was maxed and could pull out another gear if needed.
Yesterday was one of those days...left the house with running gear on and got 15 meters from the house, stopped my watch and walked back in. Just didn't want to run. I was fine physically, but mentally just wasn't there. What got me was the realization that I was going to bang out an hour just for the sake of banging it out...no joy...no fun...just rote mileage. On one hand, sometimes you have got to do those runs. After all, it's about consistency, right? Still, at least for me, if there's no joy, no abandon, no "I just want to be out and moving," it's not worth it. Yesterday, it would not have been worth it.
Today was fun.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Green Mountain - Ups
Time: 1:06
Distance: 5.75
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Partly cloudy & cool
Hit Green Mountain before work this a.m., arriving at the trailhead around 7:30 a.m. Looking up towards the summit from the approach on Baseline Road, it looked like the apex would be in a cloud. The sky far to the east, though, was still clear with the rising sun still low in the sky. Fortunately, the temps were good, somewhere in the mid-30s.
Dressed in shorts and a light long-sleeve shirt, I set out from the mouth of Gregory Canyon. I ran the Gregory-Ranger-Summit route. Splits: Ranger Cottage - 17:55; 4-way: 36:30; Summit - 41:02. Despite the "moderate" effort and a bit of speed hiking some of the steep upper switchbacks and approach to the 4-way, I knocked 36 seconds of my summit PR. Still chasing sub-40 on this route, though.
Surprisingly, the views from the summit to the west were gorgeous. Beautiful blue sky. To the east, all clouds. Socked in. The clouds, the foot soldiers for today's snowstorm, were piled up against the Flatirons. The mountains bought me one more gorgeous summit view before today's spring snow onslaught. One more reason to pay homage to the wonder that is the Rocky Mountains.
Returned back to the car via the same route. Passed Tony as he was ascending just past the Ranger cottage - what must be his 87th run up Green this year. I was so focused on foot placement, I was almost on top of him before his presence registered.
Perfect way to start the day.
Distance: 5.75
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Partly cloudy & cool
Hit Green Mountain before work this a.m., arriving at the trailhead around 7:30 a.m. Looking up towards the summit from the approach on Baseline Road, it looked like the apex would be in a cloud. The sky far to the east, though, was still clear with the rising sun still low in the sky. Fortunately, the temps were good, somewhere in the mid-30s.
Dressed in shorts and a light long-sleeve shirt, I set out from the mouth of Gregory Canyon. I ran the Gregory-Ranger-Summit route. Splits: Ranger Cottage - 17:55; 4-way: 36:30; Summit - 41:02. Despite the "moderate" effort and a bit of speed hiking some of the steep upper switchbacks and approach to the 4-way, I knocked 36 seconds of my summit PR. Still chasing sub-40 on this route, though.
Surprisingly, the views from the summit to the west were gorgeous. Beautiful blue sky. To the east, all clouds. Socked in. The clouds, the foot soldiers for today's snowstorm, were piled up against the Flatirons. The mountains bought me one more gorgeous summit view before today's spring snow onslaught. One more reason to pay homage to the wonder that is the Rocky Mountains.
Returned back to the car via the same route. Passed Tony as he was ascending just past the Ranger cottage - what must be his 87th run up Green this year. I was so focused on foot placement, I was almost on top of him before his presence registered.
Perfect way to start the day.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Quarterhorse Road - Dog Park - Easy
Time: 45 minutes
Distance: 5.2
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny & warm
Easy recovery run on the hill of Quarterhorse and on the trails of the south-of-Stagecoach Road part of Elk Meadow Open Space.
Distance: 5.2
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather: Sunny & warm
Easy recovery run on the hill of Quarterhorse and on the trails of the south-of-Stagecoach Road part of Elk Meadow Open Space.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Buffalo Park - Brook Forest - Long Run
Time: 2:45 (guess)
Distance: 18.75 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm
Wrapping up a kid's birthday sleepover in the morning, plus great conditions for taking the kids rollerblading meant the weekend long run had to be late in the afternoon. Finally hit it around 4:30 p.m. Parked at Evergreen Lake and did a long loop through Buffalo Park (with drop-dead gorgeous views of the snow-covered Mt. Evans) and Brook Forest. I had no map...just went by feel, exploring roads that actually called themselves "roads" rather than "drives" or "lanes," figuring the "roads" would go for a while. My favorite road name of the day was "Lois Lane."
Managed to string together a big enough collection of dirt and paved roads to end up with about 19 miles on the day. Watch battery died halfway in, so time was by feel. Mileage by mapmyrun.com.
My right foot is hurting. Same pain in the forefoot, radiating into the third and fourth toes. First mile and a half were fine, then it hit. Tried walking it off. No dice. Ended up stopping, removing my shoe and massaging the forefoot for three minutes or so. That seemed to do the trick, at least enough to do the run. The pain, before the massage, was not so bad that I "couldn't" run, but bad enough that if it didn't ease I would have known I "shouldn't" run. Not sure what to make of this new problem.
Distance: 18.75 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & warm
Wrapping up a kid's birthday sleepover in the morning, plus great conditions for taking the kids rollerblading meant the weekend long run had to be late in the afternoon. Finally hit it around 4:30 p.m. Parked at Evergreen Lake and did a long loop through Buffalo Park (with drop-dead gorgeous views of the snow-covered Mt. Evans) and Brook Forest. I had no map...just went by feel, exploring roads that actually called themselves "roads" rather than "drives" or "lanes," figuring the "roads" would go for a while. My favorite road name of the day was "Lois Lane."
Managed to string together a big enough collection of dirt and paved roads to end up with about 19 miles on the day. Watch battery died halfway in, so time was by feel. Mileage by mapmyrun.com.
My right foot is hurting. Same pain in the forefoot, radiating into the third and fourth toes. First mile and a half were fine, then it hit. Tried walking it off. No dice. Ended up stopping, removing my shoe and massaging the forefoot for three minutes or so. That seemed to do the trick, at least enough to do the run. The pain, before the massage, was not so bad that I "couldn't" run, but bad enough that if it didn't ease I would have known I "shouldn't" run. Not sure what to make of this new problem.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Elk Meadow - Meadow View Loop-Plus
Time: 1:00
Distance: 7 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Cloudy & Cool
Today was one of those runs. Plan was for some speedwork, but the legs were weighed down like anchors. Didn't want to go...so I didn't make 'em. Just did an easy long loop on the Sleepy-S, Meadow View - Painters Pause and social trails at Elk Meadow Open Space. Never felt good. Trail was muddy, snow and soft. Need to get more sleep.
I did see a flock of about 20 western bluebirds. Those guys will be in for a bit of a shock when the snow starts flying tonight.
Distance: 7 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Cloudy & Cool
Today was one of those runs. Plan was for some speedwork, but the legs were weighed down like anchors. Didn't want to go...so I didn't make 'em. Just did an easy long loop on the Sleepy-S, Meadow View - Painters Pause and social trails at Elk Meadow Open Space. Never felt good. Trail was muddy, snow and soft. Need to get more sleep.
I did see a flock of about 20 western bluebirds. Those guys will be in for a bit of a shock when the snow starts flying tonight.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Boulder Rez - South Valley Ranch - Steady
Time: 1:15
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Clear & Warm
Easy 10 miles around the Boulder Reservoir and the South Valley Ranch loop. Average pace 7:30. Just 296 feet of elevation gain. Felt good to run on this relatively flat, low elevation dirt route.
Signed up today for the Pike Peak double...the ascent and marathon. I was on the fence right up to registration time as to whether or not to sign up for both races. I kept meaning to think more about what I wanted to do, but never got around to giving it much thought. At the last minute, I decided it would at least be an interesting challenge. The three times I have run the ascent, I had a great time. So, with the double, I guess it'll be twice the fun, with a healthy dose of suffering to go along with it. August sure seems like a long way off.
JM also is doing a double at Pikes.
Distance: 10 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Clear & Warm
Easy 10 miles around the Boulder Reservoir and the South Valley Ranch loop. Average pace 7:30. Just 296 feet of elevation gain. Felt good to run on this relatively flat, low elevation dirt route.
Signed up today for the Pike Peak double...the ascent and marathon. I was on the fence right up to registration time as to whether or not to sign up for both races. I kept meaning to think more about what I wanted to do, but never got around to giving it much thought. At the last minute, I decided it would at least be an interesting challenge. The three times I have run the ascent, I had a great time. So, with the double, I guess it'll be twice the fun, with a healthy dose of suffering to go along with it. August sure seems like a long way off.
JM also is doing a double at Pikes.
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