Worked and goofed all day and ended up running in the dark. Returned to Alderfer-Three Sisters for another varied loop o' fun.
Time: 6.1 miles
Distance: 57 minutes
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Cloudy & cool
Following a highly competitive bowling session down in Lakewood with my nine-year-old son, I dashed out around 6:30 p.m. to get in a few more miles with the dog at Alderfer-Three Sisters. Given my current state of creakiness, the modest grades and mostly forgiving terrain at this open space park is much to my liking.
Started with Maya from the upper lot and ran the mountainside loop on Evergreen Mountain counterclockwise, crossed Buffalo Park Road and ran the Sisters Trail to Bearberry and cruised that back to the parking lot. Finished the run in the dark.
Still no improvement on the back/hip thing. Working on stretching more and icing is a regular evening ritual (the hard part is deciding what to ice first...).
996 feet o' elevation gain.
Check out these new ways to view blogs that use the Blogger platform. Just type the usual name of the blog and add /view/flipcard (or one of the other ones below) to the end of the current URL. Pretty cool.
http://www.anodynerunning.blogspot.com/view/flipcard
http://www.anodynerunning.blogspot.com/view/mosaic
http://www.anodynerunning.blogspot.com/view/sidebar
http://www.anodynerunning.blogspot.com/view/snapshot
http://www.anodynerunning.blogspot.com/view/timeslide
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Definitely Not a Tempo Run
A modest-paced loop around Alderfer-Three Sisters and Evergreen Mountain during the twilight hours.
Time: 1:18
Distance: 8.01 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Mostly cloudy and cool
Didn't get out until after 5 p.m., but that turned out to be just fine as I pretty much had the entirety of Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space park to myself (well, myself and Maya the dog).
From the upper lot, I ran north to the Mountain Muhly Trail and followed it around to the park's northwest and northeast corners before ascending to Bearberry and over to the Sisters Trail which heads up over a ridge next to the park's three namesake rock formations (the Three Sisters).
We then descended down to the lower lot, crossed Buffalo Park Road and ran up the Evergreen Mountain East Trail (past the Brother, another rock formation) and back down to the upper lot via the Evergreen Mountain West trail.
The whole time out on the trails, we passed one mountain biker and saw two other people off in the distance. The upper lot was empty when we got back to the truck. Sorta cool to be the King of the Park for an evening.
My back/left hip is slowly improving. Still have a fair bit of steady discomfort, and there's no way I'm leaping for a frisbee right now, but moderate-effort running is doable. Running, at least, doesn't appear to make things worse. Will make a return trip to the PT after the kids' spring break week is over.
Maya, on the other hand, is running solid. Endurance is building. She had no trouble with the eight miles and the evening's elevation gain. That said, she zonked out post-run while I made a quick trip into the local library.
1,341 feet o' elevation gain.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Bergen Peak - Summit
After a day off to again rest the back, twas time to test things out again and see where things stood.
Time: 2 hours (AM) 2:06 (PM)
Distance: 4.06 miles (AM) 11.44 miles (PM)
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Mostly cloudy and cool
The AM time/miles was a hike up Elephant Butte with CP. We had a great time in the morning sun hiking to the top of this rocky, bulbous geographic protuberance that rises from the banks of Bear Creek and looms above the meadows at JeffCo's Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space.
1,444 feet o' elevation gain.
Late afternoon (after a nap and much lounging), I snuck out for a run up Bergen Peak. My back/whatever was still aching, but was feeling better than Friday (Saturday was a day off). So, time to test things out again.
Was never able to run without some amount of discomfort...no sharp pain, just a lot of background aching. Ran through the lower meadow in a counter-clockwise direction up to the junction with the Too Long Trail. Once again, the legs felt solid and aerobically all was well. Flew by a mountain biker about 100 yards up the trail and continued motoring on trying to ignore the discomfort.
After much deliberation during the climb, I opted to go all the way to the summit and hung a right at the Summit Trail junction for the one-mile ascent to the mountain's apex. There was still a good amount of ice in the trees on the mountain's east side. I tagged the summit sign and turned around for the descent.
About a quarter of the way down, I had slowed to a jog. Just not feeling good. Then, the mountain biker I passed about 45 minutes prior passed me (he must have been crawling up Too Long since he didn't do the Summit Trail). Being passed put a bit of life in my legs as I picked up the pace to keep the biker in sight. After about 3/4 mile, though, he was gone. I slowed back down and realized how tired my glutes and lower back muscles had become. I felt like I had just run 35 miles.
I shuffled my way back down to the Meadow View Trail and back home marveling at the amount of fatigue I felt after just 11 miles.
2,270 feet o' elevation gain.
The good news is that nothing hurts worse than before I started. The bad news, obviously, is that things are no better. Damn frustrating.
Time: 2 hours (AM) 2:06 (PM)
Distance: 4.06 miles (AM) 11.44 miles (PM)
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Mostly cloudy and cool
The AM time/miles was a hike up Elephant Butte with CP. We had a great time in the morning sun hiking to the top of this rocky, bulbous geographic protuberance that rises from the banks of Bear Creek and looms above the meadows at JeffCo's Alderfer-Three Sisters Open Space.
1,444 feet o' elevation gain.
 |
| Elephant Butte from the parking lot at Alderfer-Three Sisters |
 |
| CP signs the register at the top of Elephant Butte |
 |
| Looking west towards Mt. Evans from the summit. A weather front was building on the divide. |
 |
| Looking southeast back down to the Alderfer meadow. |
 |
| Maya. Must have more hiking! |
Was never able to run without some amount of discomfort...no sharp pain, just a lot of background aching. Ran through the lower meadow in a counter-clockwise direction up to the junction with the Too Long Trail. Once again, the legs felt solid and aerobically all was well. Flew by a mountain biker about 100 yards up the trail and continued motoring on trying to ignore the discomfort.
After much deliberation during the climb, I opted to go all the way to the summit and hung a right at the Summit Trail junction for the one-mile ascent to the mountain's apex. There was still a good amount of ice in the trees on the mountain's east side. I tagged the summit sign and turned around for the descent.
About a quarter of the way down, I had slowed to a jog. Just not feeling good. Then, the mountain biker I passed about 45 minutes prior passed me (he must have been crawling up Too Long since he didn't do the Summit Trail). Being passed put a bit of life in my legs as I picked up the pace to keep the biker in sight. After about 3/4 mile, though, he was gone. I slowed back down and realized how tired my glutes and lower back muscles had become. I felt like I had just run 35 miles.
I shuffled my way back down to the Meadow View Trail and back home marveling at the amount of fatigue I felt after just 11 miles.
2,270 feet o' elevation gain.
The good news is that nothing hurts worse than before I started. The bad news, obviously, is that things are no better. Damn frustrating.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Mt. Sanitas - Loopin'
Testing out the body after a couple days off and a trip to see a Dr. Richey for a bit of physical therapy.
Time: 1:04
Distance: 5.02 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny and cool
Got back from Washington, D.C. late Thursday morning and headed straight to Boulder for a session with Dr. Richey at High Altitude Spine and Sport. Somewhere, sometime last week I tweaked something connecting my lower back and left hip, which has left me pretty much aching all the time and grunting with just about any movement.
The PT session was good, with Richey working all sorts of tendons, muscles, capsules and who-knows-what-else buried deep in the netherworld of my insides. We wrapped up the session with the application of some k-tape above my left pelvic bone.
By Friday, though, I was more sore than ever...no doubt due to the prodding and miscellaneous adjustments. Out I went, though.
With Maya (the dog) in tow, or maybe it was the other way around, we set off from the parking lot across the road from Mt. Sanitas and ran up the Dakota Ridge Trail to the top of the valley then continued on up to the Sanitas summit via the East Ridge Trail. Legs felt OK and the breathing was easy, but there was just too much tension in the mid-section. I presume everything is tight as assorted muscles contract to protect whatever is out of place.
From the summit, we descended down toward the northwest to Sunshine Canyon via a series of social trails, then jogged down the road a bit before picked up the nice singletrack trail that parallels the road on the south side. Cruised back to the truck from there.
Overall, glad to be out...not glad to be hurtin' so bad, though.
1,394 feet o' elevation gain.
Time: 1:04
Distance: 5.02 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny and cool
Got back from Washington, D.C. late Thursday morning and headed straight to Boulder for a session with Dr. Richey at High Altitude Spine and Sport. Somewhere, sometime last week I tweaked something connecting my lower back and left hip, which has left me pretty much aching all the time and grunting with just about any movement.
The PT session was good, with Richey working all sorts of tendons, muscles, capsules and who-knows-what-else buried deep in the netherworld of my insides. We wrapped up the session with the application of some k-tape above my left pelvic bone.
By Friday, though, I was more sore than ever...no doubt due to the prodding and miscellaneous adjustments. Out I went, though.
With Maya (the dog) in tow, or maybe it was the other way around, we set off from the parking lot across the road from Mt. Sanitas and ran up the Dakota Ridge Trail to the top of the valley then continued on up to the Sanitas summit via the East Ridge Trail. Legs felt OK and the breathing was easy, but there was just too much tension in the mid-section. I presume everything is tight as assorted muscles contract to protect whatever is out of place.
From the summit, we descended down toward the northwest to Sunshine Canyon via a series of social trails, then jogged down the road a bit before picked up the nice singletrack trail that parallels the road on the south side. Cruised back to the truck from there.
Overall, glad to be out...not glad to be hurtin' so bad, though.
1,394 feet o' elevation gain.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Back to It...Running in VA
After a few days off and a flight to D.C., jumped back into things with a 15-mile jaunt on just about every surface available...asphalt, concrete, dirt, rocks, gravel....
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:11
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and warm
Ran from the hotel about 3.5 miles down theCurtis Custis Trail, a paved bike path along I-66, to Rosslyn and hopped on the Potomac Heritage Trail for 4+ miles of dirt. The PHT runs along the Potomac River through this part of VA and is the closet part of an evolving 800-mile collection of trails in the Potomac River watershed.
This part of the PHT is a rock and root-strewn stretch of singletrack that runs between the river and the George Washington Memorial Parkway above. The trees are still leafless here, so the views down to the river were unobstructed and beautiful. I scared up about half-dozen great blue herons and saw my first belted kingfisher of the year. Spring is coming quick here. Today's temps were in the 60s, warm enough to run shirtless, particularly with the humidity.
Ran the PHT to Chain Bridge, hung a right and ran across the bridge and descended down to the C&O Towpath, a wide crushed gravel path that parallels an old canal. Picked up the pace a bit along this long, flat stretch and ticked off the four mile trek back to Key Bridge in Georgetown at just below a 7-minute pace.
At this point, the race was on to see if I could finish the run before my back, which has been bugging me for the last five or so days and was the reason I took off Thursday - Sunday, tightened up too much and forced me to lope home. Fortunately, things held up and I was able to run steady the last four miles back over Key Bridge and up the Curtis Trail back to the hotel.
After a quick shower, I immediately headed out the door for some food and walked for another two miles to keep the blood going to hopefully hasten a return to a more normal running schedule.
Post walk and post-refueling, I returned to the hotel and started icing. Not sure what happened to tweak the back so bad. The discomfort has centered around the an area just to the left of the spine with some modest pain radiating into the left glute and around the left side into the region around the top left front of my pelvis. Been a bit anxious that I did something to my hip, but there's no impact-related pain. So, for now, I figure its just some annoying (really annoying) muscle strain.
Eager to see how things feel tomorrow.
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2:11
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and warm
Ran from the hotel about 3.5 miles down the
This part of the PHT is a rock and root-strewn stretch of singletrack that runs between the river and the George Washington Memorial Parkway above. The trees are still leafless here, so the views down to the river were unobstructed and beautiful. I scared up about half-dozen great blue herons and saw my first belted kingfisher of the year. Spring is coming quick here. Today's temps were in the 60s, warm enough to run shirtless, particularly with the humidity.
Ran the PHT to Chain Bridge, hung a right and ran across the bridge and descended down to the C&O Towpath, a wide crushed gravel path that parallels an old canal. Picked up the pace a bit along this long, flat stretch and ticked off the four mile trek back to Key Bridge in Georgetown at just below a 7-minute pace.
At this point, the race was on to see if I could finish the run before my back, which has been bugging me for the last five or so days and was the reason I took off Thursday - Sunday, tightened up too much and forced me to lope home. Fortunately, things held up and I was able to run steady the last four miles back over Key Bridge and up the Curtis Trail back to the hotel.
After a quick shower, I immediately headed out the door for some food and walked for another two miles to keep the blood going to hopefully hasten a return to a more normal running schedule.
Post walk and post-refueling, I returned to the hotel and started icing. Not sure what happened to tweak the back so bad. The discomfort has centered around the an area just to the left of the spine with some modest pain radiating into the left glute and around the left side into the region around the top left front of my pelvis. Been a bit anxious that I did something to my hip, but there's no impact-related pain. So, for now, I figure its just some annoying (really annoying) muscle strain.
Eager to see how things feel tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Bergen Peak - Upper Loop
Modest jog up and around the upper loop on Bergen Peak. Was nice to get back to some elevation gain, but the body wasn't doing much more than going along for the ride.
Time: 1:34
Distance: 8.21
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny and warm
Dashed out at the end of the day with dog in tow for a run around the upper loop at Bergen Peak, part of the Elk Meadow Open Space. I enjoyed being out in the spring-like temps, but the run was a tough one.
My lower back has been barking at me this week. Despite a two-hour session of Thai and traditional massage last night, things hadn't improved much this morning. I hoped a run would shake things out, or at least not make things worse.
Things were fine (but slow) on the ups, but on the downs, I caught a toe on a rock, which thrust me forward and tweaked my already tweaked back...right where the lower back meets the pelvis on the left side. I didn't go down, but whatever was tweaked was pushed further. Not good.
Still, it was good to be out. Maya certainly thought so. She made good use of the remaining snow banks.
A few pics from the run.
Ended the run at the kids' school. We all walked home together.
Also, I signed up today for August's Pikes Peak Marathon. Decided to skip the Ascent this year. I put my projected finish time as 4:50. I ran a 5:11 last year the day after running the Ascent. I had a poor ascent during the marathon, hitting the summit a good 22 minutes slower than the day before.
1,635 feet o' elevation gain.
Time: 1:34
Distance: 8.21
Effort: Easy
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny and warm
Dashed out at the end of the day with dog in tow for a run around the upper loop at Bergen Peak, part of the Elk Meadow Open Space. I enjoyed being out in the spring-like temps, but the run was a tough one.
My lower back has been barking at me this week. Despite a two-hour session of Thai and traditional massage last night, things hadn't improved much this morning. I hoped a run would shake things out, or at least not make things worse.
Things were fine (but slow) on the ups, but on the downs, I caught a toe on a rock, which thrust me forward and tweaked my already tweaked back...right where the lower back meets the pelvis on the left side. I didn't go down, but whatever was tweaked was pushed further. Not good.
Still, it was good to be out. Maya certainly thought so. She made good use of the remaining snow banks.
A few pics from the run.
 |
| Heading up the Bergen Peak Trai |
 |
| View of the Mt. Evans group from the Bergen Peak Trail |
 |
| Another snow bank at the top of the upper ridge off the Bergen Peak Trail |
 |
| Pikes Peak from the Too Long Trail |
 |
| Yet another snow bank. |
 |
| Looking down toward Elk Meadow from the Too Long Trail |
 |
| A lot of elk were grazing in Elk Meadow this afternoon. |
Also, I signed up today for August's Pikes Peak Marathon. Decided to skip the Ascent this year. I put my projected finish time as 4:50. I ran a 5:11 last year the day after running the Ascent. I had a poor ascent during the marathon, hitting the summit a good 22 minutes slower than the day before.
1,635 feet o' elevation gain.
A New Ultrarunning Relay on Wasatch 100 Course
This new ultra relay on the Wasatch 100 course looks interesting. Multiple options for team composition. 142.5 miles. Six runners. Each runner runs two legs. Race is mid-July on the 14th and 15th.
The race is called the Heaven and Hell Ultra Relay. Race Web site here.
Anyone have any interest?
Also am looking at this new race, the Aspen Backcountry Marathon.
The race is called the Heaven and Hell Ultra Relay. Race Web site here.
Anyone have any interest?
Also am looking at this new race, the Aspen Backcountry Marathon.
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Run With a Fast Female
Hoofed it up Evergreen Mountain late this afternoon chasing after Maya who repeatedly mocked my pedestrian pace and literally ran circles around me.
Time: 1:45
Distance: 6 miles (Evergreen Mountain); 2 miles (Elk Meadow Off-leash Area)
Effort: Easy
Weather: Sunny and warm
Maya (the new addition to the P family) had been patiently waiting all day while I pounded away at the keyboard and talked on the phone. She gave me "are you ready yet" eye now and then, but otherwise bided her time, for she knew her time would come.
Round about 4 p.m., her time came. So, off we went to the lower lot at Alderfer-Three Sister Open Space for a run up Evergreen Mountain. Maya's previous long run had been just a hair over four miles, so I was interested to see how she'd do with six miles and some elevation gain.
The trail, just across Buffalo Park Road from the parking lot, was in fair shape...a bit of mud and lots of melting ice. Fortunately, the ice was well on its way to melting and the footing was pretty good. Maya spent a lot of time dashing ahead, stopping to check something out as I passed then sprinting ahead to the next interesting thing (which often included leisurely rolls in the softening snow). I never had to stop to call her or wait for her. She hung right with me.
We hit the summit, did the short loop at the top and returned down the Evergreen Mountain West Trail to the upper lot at Alderfer and ran the completely dry Silver Fox and Ponderosa Trails back to the truck. Great run with the budding trail dog.
Post-run, we picked up jP at school and headed over to the off-leash part of Elk Meadow Open Space where the three of us jogged a couple of miles around the park, then spent a good hour watching Maya horse around with other dogs in the fenced area. jP got a new pair of kicks yesterday and was eager to get in a run. He loves his new Nike Freedom Lites. Swears he can run faster and jump higher with 'em. I couldn't have agreed more.
Speaking of new kicks...I ran today in the new Saucony Peregrines I got yesterday. I really am liking them so far. I'll say a bit more about them after a couple more runs. So far...so good.
Time: 1:45
Distance: 6 miles (Evergreen Mountain); 2 miles (Elk Meadow Off-leash Area)
Effort: Easy
Weather: Sunny and warm
Maya (the new addition to the P family) had been patiently waiting all day while I pounded away at the keyboard and talked on the phone. She gave me "are you ready yet" eye now and then, but otherwise bided her time, for she knew her time would come.
Round about 4 p.m., her time came. So, off we went to the lower lot at Alderfer-Three Sister Open Space for a run up Evergreen Mountain. Maya's previous long run had been just a hair over four miles, so I was interested to see how she'd do with six miles and some elevation gain.
The trail, just across Buffalo Park Road from the parking lot, was in fair shape...a bit of mud and lots of melting ice. Fortunately, the ice was well on its way to melting and the footing was pretty good. Maya spent a lot of time dashing ahead, stopping to check something out as I passed then sprinting ahead to the next interesting thing (which often included leisurely rolls in the softening snow). I never had to stop to call her or wait for her. She hung right with me.
We hit the summit, did the short loop at the top and returned down the Evergreen Mountain West Trail to the upper lot at Alderfer and ran the completely dry Silver Fox and Ponderosa Trails back to the truck. Great run with the budding trail dog.
Post-run, we picked up jP at school and headed over to the off-leash part of Elk Meadow Open Space where the three of us jogged a couple of miles around the park, then spent a good hour watching Maya horse around with other dogs in the fenced area. jP got a new pair of kicks yesterday and was eager to get in a run. He loves his new Nike Freedom Lites. Swears he can run faster and jump higher with 'em. I couldn't have agreed more.
Speaking of new kicks...I ran today in the new Saucony Peregrines I got yesterday. I really am liking them so far. I'll say a bit more about them after a couple more runs. So far...so good.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
A Week (or weak) in March
The plan for the week was to take it down a notch from last week's 94 miles, knowing that I'm not prepped (yet?) to handle many back-to-back 90+ mile weeks. Stuck to that plan. Good thing, because other than the Thursday run, I wasn't feeling very peppy.
Two days off...Sunday (planned: following the previous day's 28 miles) and Monday (unplanned: an overly busy day). Had a couple days of solid climbing (Flagstaff and Sanitas) and a very good Thursday tempo run (Upper Bear Creek Road). Saturday's long run was a bit of a slogfest, but got it done.
Miles for the week: 61.94
Time for the week: 9:53
Elevation gain: 8,872 feet
The early part of this week looks like fantastic weather, so I may try to up the mileage a bit and return to Upper Bear Creek Road for a Thursday tempo run.
Picked up a pair of Saucony Peregrines today. Eager to get in some easy miles in them this week. I'll definitely be easing into 'em. I think the heel drop is something like 4mm, a bit different than 10mm drop of my beloved La Sportiva Crosslites.
I also bought a new bladder for my Nathan pack - my third bladder. The first two went down due to the remarkably crappy bite valve. The new one has a redesigned bite valve. Hoping this one is easier to use and survives at least through the summer.
Really enjoyed this recollection from GZ.
Two days off...Sunday (planned: following the previous day's 28 miles) and Monday (unplanned: an overly busy day). Had a couple days of solid climbing (Flagstaff and Sanitas) and a very good Thursday tempo run (Upper Bear Creek Road). Saturday's long run was a bit of a slogfest, but got it done.
Miles for the week: 61.94
Time for the week: 9:53
Elevation gain: 8,872 feet
The early part of this week looks like fantastic weather, so I may try to up the mileage a bit and return to Upper Bear Creek Road for a Thursday tempo run.
Picked up a pair of Saucony Peregrines today. Eager to get in some easy miles in them this week. I'll definitely be easing into 'em. I think the heel drop is something like 4mm, a bit different than 10mm drop of my beloved La Sportiva Crosslites.
I also bought a new bladder for my Nathan pack - my third bladder. The first two went down due to the remarkably crappy bite valve. The new one has a redesigned bite valve. Hoping this one is easier to use and survives at least through the summer.
Really enjoyed this recollection from GZ.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
One of Those Days...Green Mountain (Lakewood)
Ever have one of those....scratch that. Everyone's HAS had one of those days. Today was my turn during a double loop around Lakewood's Green Mountain.
Time: 2:59
Distance: 19.01
Effort: Easy (but hard)
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny, then cloudy, warm(ish)
Had grand plans to get up early and head over to Buffalo Creek, but a poor night's sleep and a dog looking at me that way conspired to convince me to lend the early morning to the NY Times over breakfast and an hour at the dog park.
So, Plan B was something local.
A couple week's back, I really enjoyed running around the trails of Lakewood's 2,400-acre Green Mountain, formally known as the William Frederick Hayden Park. Seemed like a good plan to head back there for a couple loops.
From the get-go, the legs weren't there. Everything felt hard. In response, I adjusted expectations, put my head down and slogged out three hours of up and down. I ran the first loop of about 8.5 miles around the mountain counter-clockwise and the second the other way, adding on some trail sections to the northeast that I'd never been on before.
By the time I was jogging along the final stretch of trail back to the car, I was cooked. I was moving OK, but the mind and body definitely wanted to be somewhere else (like on a massage table).
I can say that I'm glad to have gotten it done, but that's about the only good thing I can say.
2,726 feet o' elevation gain.
Time: 2:59
Distance: 19.01
Effort: Easy (but hard)
Body: Poor
Weather: Sunny, then cloudy, warm(ish)
Had grand plans to get up early and head over to Buffalo Creek, but a poor night's sleep and a dog looking at me that way conspired to convince me to lend the early morning to the NY Times over breakfast and an hour at the dog park.
So, Plan B was something local.
A couple week's back, I really enjoyed running around the trails of Lakewood's 2,400-acre Green Mountain, formally known as the William Frederick Hayden Park. Seemed like a good plan to head back there for a couple loops.
From the get-go, the legs weren't there. Everything felt hard. In response, I adjusted expectations, put my head down and slogged out three hours of up and down. I ran the first loop of about 8.5 miles around the mountain counter-clockwise and the second the other way, adding on some trail sections to the northeast that I'd never been on before.
By the time I was jogging along the final stretch of trail back to the car, I was cooked. I was moving OK, but the mind and body definitely wanted to be somewhere else (like on a massage table).
I can say that I'm glad to have gotten it done, but that's about the only good thing I can say.
2,726 feet o' elevation gain.
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