If it's cold enough to cancel school tomorrow, I figured it was cold enough to run indoors. Thus...to the treadmill!
Time: 58 minutes
Distance: 7.25 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Inside
Set the machine (my nemesis) at 1.5 percent grade and warmed up with two miles at 8:27, then did four at 7:30 and a final mile at 8:27 (although I did the last quarter mile at 5:27 pace...I was just so ready to be done). Walked for another quarter mile to cool down.
I have not been able to lose myself in treadmill runs, at least in busy gyms with TVs blaring. I tend to have better luck keeping my head in the treadmill game when I do intervals (i.e. mile repeats)...when I have a specific workout plan. Gotta get on that. May have to give it a whirl tomorrow, if I can convince the kids to hit the pool (and assuming it's not too cold to have the rec center open!).
Spent another 20 minutes doing squats, curls and some shoulder work while standing on the Bosu ball. I reckon not many people use the Bosu. I get a lot of stares when I use it. I like it because the balance work works all the little stabilizing muscles while your pushing weight with the major muscles.
On another front, I've been following the whole Contador doping case. I'm pretty burned out on believing these guys' protestations of innocence (yeah, I believed Floyd Landis for far too long). Setting aside whether or not Contador is innocent, this whole incident should make us all think about what the hell we are putting into our bodies. The fact that any meat has clenbuterol, or any other unnatural substance (calling Taco Bell!), in it once again brings into question our entire food system.
Makes Michael Pollan's overly-simplistic, but appreciatively-memorable, montra even more relevant: "eat food, not too much, mostly plants (and burritos)."
I may have taken a liberty or two with that quote.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday
Four miles up and down Evergreen Mountain with JP, jP and CP. Nice hike on a cloudy, but warm(ish), day. Kids were solid the whole time. They wanted to climb straight up the mountain, though. "What's with these switchbacks?"
Check out NY Times story on the Antarctica marathon. Rickey Gates didn't make it to the race...plane from South Pole station cancelled due to weather. Read what he did instead - here.
Check out NY Times story on the Antarctica marathon. Rickey Gates didn't make it to the race...plane from South Pole station cancelled due to weather. Read what he did instead - here.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Mt. Falcon - v1
Early morning group run around the full complement of trails in JeffCo's Mt. Falcon Open Space park.
Time: 2:26
Distance: 14 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Brilliant
Rolled into the Mt. Falcon parking lot at 7:02 a.m. and found motley group of runners standing around...waiting. Glad the the Two Minute Rule wasn't in effect, or I would have been running alone most of the morning.
The group, which consisted of me, TG, PG, JY WA and BF started out together, but soon spread out as the Turkey Trot Trail turned upwards. Mt. Falcon starts in a pretty unforgiving fashion, with the steepest climbs in the park appearing within the first three minutes of starting out.
The plan for the day was to run a route known as v1 (version one). Not sure why it's called that, but it works. This was my second time running this route. The first was a humbling experience back in October with Scott J.
We quickly spread out as we each found our warm-up paces. We climbed steadily up to the picnic shelter with TG and BF setting a solid pace. I hit the shelter in 34:30. I was not feeling it...no pep this morning.
After regrouping, we made quick work of a couple short out-and-backs on the left and right side of the trail before climbing up to near the park's apex and running a series of looping trails to the south and east.
I never found my legs this morning. I think I may have left them on Green Mountain yesterday. Felt this morning like I was suffering pretty much the whole time, save for the final 2.5 mile descent down the Castle Trail.
Beautiful morning with the warm temps. Trail conditions were fair. There was quite a bit of ice on the upper portions of Turkey Trot and on the loop trails towards the east. Still, a great run with a solid group of friends.
Even though I felt sluggish today, I had the most solid week of running since October. The left heel is definitely feeling better, making running much more appealing (and possible). For the last three nights, I've worn a night splint. That seems to be making a significant difference.
Also, on Friday morning I had my first-ever acupuncture treatment. The therapist did a whole mess o' needle insertions in areas on my left calf, aimed at getting all the stuff that's tight in there to let go. The calf muscles seem to be pulling on the heel, leading to all the pain I've been having there. She also did a bunch of work on my right ab to see about easing the muscle tear/discomfort that's been plaguing me in that area. I ended up with a lot of new soreness in my calf, which she told me to expect (and which eased a lot overnight). Not sure yet if it's helping the heel pain or not. I'm going to go back another time or two to let it play out. I'm really keen to get past this seemingly chronic injury. Would be very nice to run pain free. Starting to see some daylight now.
2,878 feet of elevation gain.
Time: 2:26
Distance: 14 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Brilliant
Rolled into the Mt. Falcon parking lot at 7:02 a.m. and found motley group of runners standing around...waiting. Glad the the Two Minute Rule wasn't in effect, or I would have been running alone most of the morning.
The group, which consisted of me, TG, PG, JY WA and BF started out together, but soon spread out as the Turkey Trot Trail turned upwards. Mt. Falcon starts in a pretty unforgiving fashion, with the steepest climbs in the park appearing within the first three minutes of starting out.
The plan for the day was to run a route known as v1 (version one). Not sure why it's called that, but it works. This was my second time running this route. The first was a humbling experience back in October with Scott J.
We quickly spread out as we each found our warm-up paces. We climbed steadily up to the picnic shelter with TG and BF setting a solid pace. I hit the shelter in 34:30. I was not feeling it...no pep this morning.
After regrouping, we made quick work of a couple short out-and-backs on the left and right side of the trail before climbing up to near the park's apex and running a series of looping trails to the south and east.
I never found my legs this morning. I think I may have left them on Green Mountain yesterday. Felt this morning like I was suffering pretty much the whole time, save for the final 2.5 mile descent down the Castle Trail.
Beautiful morning with the warm temps. Trail conditions were fair. There was quite a bit of ice on the upper portions of Turkey Trot and on the loop trails towards the east. Still, a great run with a solid group of friends.
Even though I felt sluggish today, I had the most solid week of running since October. The left heel is definitely feeling better, making running much more appealing (and possible). For the last three nights, I've worn a night splint. That seems to be making a significant difference.
Also, on Friday morning I had my first-ever acupuncture treatment. The therapist did a whole mess o' needle insertions in areas on my left calf, aimed at getting all the stuff that's tight in there to let go. The calf muscles seem to be pulling on the heel, leading to all the pain I've been having there. She also did a bunch of work on my right ab to see about easing the muscle tear/discomfort that's been plaguing me in that area. I ended up with a lot of new soreness in my calf, which she told me to expect (and which eased a lot overnight). Not sure yet if it's helping the heel pain or not. I'm going to go back another time or two to let it play out. I'm really keen to get past this seemingly chronic injury. Would be very nice to run pain free. Starting to see some daylight now.
2,878 feet of elevation gain.
Friday, January 28, 2011
What Slides Up, Must Slide Down
Sixty-plus degrees in January? Couldn't ask for better temps for a slippery dash up and down Boulder's Green Mountain
Time: 1:14
Distance: 5.5 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Amazing
Mid-afternoon run up Green Mountain starting from Baseline, about a quarter mile down from Gregory Canyon. In the spirit of mixing things up a bit, I decided to run up the frontside today. I hadn't been up that route since May of last year.
I left the traction devices in the car figuring I wouldn't need them. Bad call. There still was a lot of slippery, icy sections on the frontside. I recall thinking that after experiencing all the various snow conditions on Green's trails -- grabby powder, ice, frozen snow, slush, icy slush, perfect snowball snow, and so on... -- I have a much deeper appreciation for the urban legend about Inuit peoples having so many words for snow. While it may not be true that the Inuit have over 100 names for snow...there probably are 100 different types of snow conditions on trails this time of year.
Anyway, moderately tough conditions on the ascent. Lots of slick spots in all the wrong places - namely the steep, rocky parts in the dense woods. So, I ended up walking a bunch of sections and carefully hoping from rock island to rock island. Hit the summit in just over 39 minutes...39:12.
Chatted briefly with a couple of summiteers, tagged the marker and was immediately off down the backside. A fair amount of snow and slick conditions from the four-way down to the ranger cottage. Good conditions from there down. I really enjoyed the rocky technical sections today. Feet and brain were hyper-synched. Felt like I was floating through the tough stuff. Good feeling.
Time: 1:14
Distance: 5.5 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Average
Weather: Amazing
Mid-afternoon run up Green Mountain starting from Baseline, about a quarter mile down from Gregory Canyon. In the spirit of mixing things up a bit, I decided to run up the frontside today. I hadn't been up that route since May of last year.
I left the traction devices in the car figuring I wouldn't need them. Bad call. There still was a lot of slippery, icy sections on the frontside. I recall thinking that after experiencing all the various snow conditions on Green's trails -- grabby powder, ice, frozen snow, slush, icy slush, perfect snowball snow, and so on... -- I have a much deeper appreciation for the urban legend about Inuit peoples having so many words for snow. While it may not be true that the Inuit have over 100 names for snow...there probably are 100 different types of snow conditions on trails this time of year.
Anyway, moderately tough conditions on the ascent. Lots of slick spots in all the wrong places - namely the steep, rocky parts in the dense woods. So, I ended up walking a bunch of sections and carefully hoping from rock island to rock island. Hit the summit in just over 39 minutes...39:12.
Chatted briefly with a couple of summiteers, tagged the marker and was immediately off down the backside. A fair amount of snow and slick conditions from the four-way down to the ranger cottage. Good conditions from there down. I really enjoyed the rocky technical sections today. Feet and brain were hyper-synched. Felt like I was floating through the tough stuff. Good feeling.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
There's Nothing There in the Dark...
...that's not there in the light. It's just that you can tell ice from snow much better when the sun's out.
Time: 1:26
Distance: 9.75 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Clear and Cool
Great early evening cruise on a route that offered a little of everything...pavement, dirt shoulders, singletrack, double track, dirt road and paved bike path. Felt really solid this whole run. Maybe some of the fitness is starting to return.
Ran down Lewis Ridge Road and up through the Hiwan neighborhood before dropping down into Troublesome Gulch for the trail climb up to Bergen Peak Drive. Ran through Bergen Park, past the rec center and into Elk Meadow Open Space.
Darkness was fast approaching, but couldn't will myself away from the Meadow View Trail singletrack. By the time I hit the Too Long Trail intersection, it was pretty much dark. Visibility, though, was decent on the packed snow sections. The white of the snow reflected just enough ambient light to enable me to keep up a respectable pace through these sections. Trouble was, when I hit the dirt sections I was relying on my trail memory to tell me where the rocks were.
Made it through the bulk of the run without incident, with the pace dropping the darker it got. At the bottom of one hill, just after a final pair of switchbacks, I planted my right foot on a patch of ice and had one of those jolt-yourself-awake moments. One second I was jamming along, eyes seemingly half-closed, with Drag the River in my ears, the next second I was wide-eyed and enjoying a rush of adrenaline as I fought to regain my balance.
Yeah, the near slip-and-fall shook me up a bit, but, man, did that brief adrenaline rush feel good. Jogged the last mile with a huge grin on my face.
Drag the River - from FoCo
Time: 1:26
Distance: 9.75 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Clear and Cool
Great early evening cruise on a route that offered a little of everything...pavement, dirt shoulders, singletrack, double track, dirt road and paved bike path. Felt really solid this whole run. Maybe some of the fitness is starting to return.
Ran down Lewis Ridge Road and up through the Hiwan neighborhood before dropping down into Troublesome Gulch for the trail climb up to Bergen Peak Drive. Ran through Bergen Park, past the rec center and into Elk Meadow Open Space.
Darkness was fast approaching, but couldn't will myself away from the Meadow View Trail singletrack. By the time I hit the Too Long Trail intersection, it was pretty much dark. Visibility, though, was decent on the packed snow sections. The white of the snow reflected just enough ambient light to enable me to keep up a respectable pace through these sections. Trouble was, when I hit the dirt sections I was relying on my trail memory to tell me where the rocks were.
Made it through the bulk of the run without incident, with the pace dropping the darker it got. At the bottom of one hill, just after a final pair of switchbacks, I planted my right foot on a patch of ice and had one of those jolt-yourself-awake moments. One second I was jamming along, eyes seemingly half-closed, with Drag the River in my ears, the next second I was wide-eyed and enjoying a rush of adrenaline as I fought to regain my balance.
Yeah, the near slip-and-fall shook me up a bit, but, man, did that brief adrenaline rush feel good. Jogged the last mile with a huge grin on my face.
Drag the River - from FoCo
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Kissing the Sky
An amazing day along the Front Range -- moderate temps, sunshine, brilliant blue sky and no wind. Perfect day to run 1,635 feet uphill.
Time: 1:23
Distance: 8.25 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Brilliant
Two-thirds of the way through the climb up the eastern side of Bergen Peak, just over the crest of a hill that is the climb's steepest section, one is treated with a full-on view of Mt. Evans and its brood of surrounding thirteeners.
 |
| Bergen Peak from Elk Meadow. Photo from early January. |
Engulfed in the deepest blue of blue skies, the mountain today looked almost unworldly...too beautiful to be real. But, of course, real it was. Bathed in white and dominating the western skyline, Mt. Evans looms large as the backdrop (and water source) to the Evergreen vicinity.
Clearly, I was particularly struck today by the peaks to the west. The perfect weather and the stillness on this windless, sunny day seemed to make everything that much more vivid.
The run, too, was sublime. I brought the climbing legs. No fatigue felt on the steady 1,635-foot climb up the Bergen Peak Trail to the intersection with the Summit Trail (43:18 from home). The trail was snow-covered, but the snow was still grabby. Almost no ice. Good winter running conditions.
Jogged down the Too Long Trail and completed the circle via Meadow View.
Got home exactly on time for my next conference call. The flow was happenin' today.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
One On...One Off
Wanted to run hard today, but really just found the running hard.
Time: 55 minutes
Distance: 6.61 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and cool
Started with a one mile warm up running from the house up the neighborhood access trail to the upper parking lot at Elk Meadow. Jogged up to the Sleepy S junction and started a 5.5 mile series of running one minute hard, then one minute easy.
Tried to keep the effort on the hard ones honest, running a consistent effort up or down whatever the trail terrain. Given the undulating nature of this loop, my paces on the hard minutes were all over the map, from 9:20s to 5:30s. A nice variety.
The first couple of hard ones were haaaaard, particularly with most of the trail snow-covered. After the second one, I considered just jogging the rest of the loop. Kept at it, though. By the middle of the run things began to feel better and the hard minutes came a bit easier.
After completing the loop, I jogged back down Sleepy S and cut through the woods to pick the kids up at their school, which borders the open space. We walked home together. Nice close to the outing.
Left heel was not happy with today's run. It was pretty sore following the outing, and my left calf also was very tight...probably the result of a changed gait to deal with the soreness. Soaked my foot in an ice bath in the evening. Feels better.
I'm going to try some acupuncture on the heel on Friday. Interested to see how that goes and whether it helps at all.
Time: 55 minutes
Distance: 6.61 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and cool
Started with a one mile warm up running from the house up the neighborhood access trail to the upper parking lot at Elk Meadow. Jogged up to the Sleepy S junction and started a 5.5 mile series of running one minute hard, then one minute easy.
Tried to keep the effort on the hard ones honest, running a consistent effort up or down whatever the trail terrain. Given the undulating nature of this loop, my paces on the hard minutes were all over the map, from 9:20s to 5:30s. A nice variety.
The first couple of hard ones were haaaaard, particularly with most of the trail snow-covered. After the second one, I considered just jogging the rest of the loop. Kept at it, though. By the middle of the run things began to feel better and the hard minutes came a bit easier.
After completing the loop, I jogged back down Sleepy S and cut through the woods to pick the kids up at their school, which borders the open space. We walked home together. Nice close to the outing.
Left heel was not happy with today's run. It was pretty sore following the outing, and my left calf also was very tight...probably the result of a changed gait to deal with the soreness. Soaked my foot in an ice bath in the evening. Feels better.
I'm going to try some acupuncture on the heel on Friday. Interested to see how that goes and whether it helps at all.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Treadmill Blues
Sometimes running without going anywhere can be a welcome change. Other times...not so much.
Time: 1:05
Distance: 7 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Indoors
Busy day = post-dinner trip to the rec center's row o' treadmills.
Ran six miles at 1.5 percent grade in 50 minutes. Cooled down with a one-mile powerhike at 14 percent grade. Was really eager to get this one done.
I was one treadmill over from a LOUD TALKER. She was chatting away, LOUDLY, with the guy next to her. Despite three treadmills and all the foot-slapping and machine noise that goes with them, plus the fact I was wearing headphones and blasting Slobberbone, I still couldn't drown out her VOICE. I think she was communicating at some specific sound frequency that can penetrate anything. She may well have been surreptitiously testing a new CIA vocal weapon on us unsuspecting fitness buffs.
Fortunately, she wrapped it up (completed her experiment?) before I did.
Followed up the run with 20 minutes of weight work, most while standing on a Bosu Ball, and then a few planks.
A rockin' gem from Slobberbone:
Time: 1:05
Distance: 7 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Indoors
Busy day = post-dinner trip to the rec center's row o' treadmills.
Ran six miles at 1.5 percent grade in 50 minutes. Cooled down with a one-mile powerhike at 14 percent grade. Was really eager to get this one done.
I was one treadmill over from a LOUD TALKER. She was chatting away, LOUDLY, with the guy next to her. Despite three treadmills and all the foot-slapping and machine noise that goes with them, plus the fact I was wearing headphones and blasting Slobberbone, I still couldn't drown out her VOICE. I think she was communicating at some specific sound frequency that can penetrate anything. She may well have been surreptitiously testing a new CIA vocal weapon on us unsuspecting fitness buffs.
Fortunately, she wrapped it up (completed her experiment?) before I did.
Followed up the run with 20 minutes of weight work, most while standing on a Bosu Ball, and then a few planks.
A rockin' gem from Slobberbone:
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Rampart Range Road - Up-n-Down
Was in the Springs to drop off my nephew at Colorado College after a long weekend visit up this way. Got in a late afternoon cruise up Rampart Range Road from the Garden of the Gods state park.
Time: 1:31
Distance: 11 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather: Clear and cool
After dropping WA off at Colorado College in Colorado Springs on Sunday, I headed west from campus and made my way to the Garden of the Gods state park and parked at the first parking lot I found, which was near the terminus of the 60-mile Rampart Range Road.
Since it already was 4 p.m., I knew my daylight time was, at best, fleeting, so I quickly suited up and set off running up the dirt Forest Service Road.
The plan was to do an out-and-back to get in some decent climbing and a solid tempo effort descent.
The road, which switchbacks moderately up through the foothills, was almost completely snow-free. I ran up about 5 miles to just past a radio tower. Here I saw a couple of orange marking tape pieces tied to some shrubs on the left side of the road. The tape marked the entrance to a sweet-looking bit of singletrack that snaked down, I believe, Williams Canyon. I think this was part of the Ponderous Posterior 50K course from the previous weekend.
I jogged down the trail about a quarter mile, wishing I had more daylight left to explore. It's funny the feeling I got as I started down the trail. Uplifted. Excited. There's just something about new trails...
But, darkness was threatening, so I ran back up to the road and headed back down. I set the legs on autopilot and ran the 5.5 miles down at a low-to-mid 6s pace. Felt good to run fast, particularly with the aid of gravity. Had to turn on the headlamp for the last half-mile or so.
I'm really eager to explore the trails down that way. Other than the Barr Trail, I haven't had the chance to experienced the Springs-area trail offerings.
Time: 1:31
Distance: 11 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Average
Weather: Clear and cool
After dropping WA off at Colorado College in Colorado Springs on Sunday, I headed west from campus and made my way to the Garden of the Gods state park and parked at the first parking lot I found, which was near the terminus of the 60-mile Rampart Range Road.
Since it already was 4 p.m., I knew my daylight time was, at best, fleeting, so I quickly suited up and set off running up the dirt Forest Service Road.
The plan was to do an out-and-back to get in some decent climbing and a solid tempo effort descent.
The road, which switchbacks moderately up through the foothills, was almost completely snow-free. I ran up about 5 miles to just past a radio tower. Here I saw a couple of orange marking tape pieces tied to some shrubs on the left side of the road. The tape marked the entrance to a sweet-looking bit of singletrack that snaked down, I believe, Williams Canyon. I think this was part of the Ponderous Posterior 50K course from the previous weekend.
I jogged down the trail about a quarter mile, wishing I had more daylight left to explore. It's funny the feeling I got as I started down the trail. Uplifted. Excited. There's just something about new trails...
But, darkness was threatening, so I ran back up to the road and headed back down. I set the legs on autopilot and ran the 5.5 miles down at a low-to-mid 6s pace. Felt good to run fast, particularly with the aid of gravity. Had to turn on the headlamp for the last half-mile or so.
I'm really eager to explore the trails down that way. Other than the Barr Trail, I haven't had the chance to experienced the Springs-area trail offerings.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Green Mountain Circuit
Late afternoon loop around Boulder's Green Mountain. Trail conditions were much improved from earlier this week.
Time: 1:13
Distance: 5.2 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Clear, breezy and cool
Was feeling pretty perky this afternoon, but was crushed for time. Ran from the mouth of Gregory Canyon to the trailhead. Realized about halfway up that I'd forgotten the Microspikes. Oh well. Got to the trail sign and hit the watch.
Ran up via Gregory and Ranger. An easy 17:25 to the ranger cottage. Had to do a couple hand-over-hand climbs up the slippery, steep rock sections. Other than that, the traction was fine.
The climb up to the four-way was uneventful...just steady jogging, a few short sections of powerhiking through the drifts and a final slippery slog up to the four-way. From there, it was just the usual dash to the summit. Hit the split at 43:29.
The winds were howling up top, so I tagged the summit marker and headed down the frontside. I remember thinking it would be darn-near a miracle if I didn't crash and burn on the traction-less descent. I slid around a lot, but never went down. Had a couple of close calls, though. A fun challenge, to be sure.
Time: 1:13
Distance: 5.2 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Good
Weather: Clear, breezy and cool
Was feeling pretty perky this afternoon, but was crushed for time. Ran from the mouth of Gregory Canyon to the trailhead. Realized about halfway up that I'd forgotten the Microspikes. Oh well. Got to the trail sign and hit the watch.
Ran up via Gregory and Ranger. An easy 17:25 to the ranger cottage. Had to do a couple hand-over-hand climbs up the slippery, steep rock sections. Other than that, the traction was fine.
The climb up to the four-way was uneventful...just steady jogging, a few short sections of powerhiking through the drifts and a final slippery slog up to the four-way. From there, it was just the usual dash to the summit. Hit the split at 43:29.
The winds were howling up top, so I tagged the summit marker and headed down the frontside. I remember thinking it would be darn-near a miracle if I didn't crash and burn on the traction-less descent. I slid around a lot, but never went down. Had a couple of close calls, though. A fun challenge, to be sure.
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