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!

Weekly Round-up - April 17 - 23rd

Feeling like I'm getting back to some consistency, despite a couple unscheduled days off this week. Nice mix of miles and quality.


Sunday:  Beaver Brook Parcel; 14.3 miles; 2:28 - Mid-day slog in chilly, windy conditions. Ran from Old Squaw Pass Road parking area down to reservoir and then explored the northwest part of this Forest Service/Clear Creek Open Space/State Land Board-owned collection of public lands. Eventually dumped off on Beaver Brook Canyon Road and ran this steep, narrow road up and over a ridge, then strung together a series of old mining roads to drop down into a new subdivision high above I-70 right around the intersection with Highway 6 at Clear Creek Canyon.  2,563 feet o' elevation gain.

Beaver Brook Reservoir. Run started at the cleft on the center horizon.

Looking down on I-70

Nice pair of ponderosas on Clear Creek County Open Space Land 

Not exactly OSMP-quality signage, but it works.

For a stretch of the run, I was tracking the elusive Colorado Yeti. That's my print on the right.

Upper meadow on a plateau above the reservoir

Monday: Washington, D.C.; 11 miles; 1:25 - Another trip to D.C. An early afternoon arrival meant I had the evening for a nice long run. Ran from hotel in Rosslyn area of Arlington along the Potomac, over Memorial Bridge then down the National Mall, through Capitol Hill and back.  The river was over its banks in one spot covering the bike path that runs along it. 206 feet o' elevation gain.

Tuesday: Arlington, VA; 10.51 miles; 1:22 - Ran three miles from hotel up the Custiss Trail bike path to Washington & Lee High School. Ran a 200-400-800-1600-800-400-200 ladder.  Felt very solid for the whole thing. Never had to dig deep.  The middle part went pace-wise like this 800 (5:35), 1600 (5:34), 800 (5:30).  Couldn't believe how easy it all felt (albeit, I only did one ladder). 3 miles c/d en route back to hotel in the dark. Sea level running...how sweet it can be. 295 feet o' elevation gain.

Wednesday: Off - travel day.


Thursday: Off - (insert excuse here).


Friday: Alderfer-Three Sisters; 5.24 miles;  51 minutes - Squeezed in a brief dog run during an otherwise busy work day. Ran the outer loop from the lower parking lot. 846 feet o' elevation gain.

Saturday: Alderfer-Three Sisters; 18.25 miles; 3:12 - Woke up at 5:40 a.m. to a few inches of new snow with more still falling. Bagged plan to drive to Buffalo Creek. After going back to bed, remembered that Steve F. and Steve G. were running at Alderfer this morning. Pried the covers off and was soon parked near the start of the Dedisse Trail on the south side of Upper Bear Creek Road. There were a herd's-worth of footprints, including a couple sets of Newton prints, in the fresh snow, so I knew a group was up ahead. Started the climb at a steady pace, planning to follow the prints until I caught up.

At the top of the Dedisse climb, ran into Andrew A. He let me know the group was putting along not far ahead. After a brief chat to catch up, I was off. Caught the group of six or seven just past the lower Alderfer parking lot. I ran with the group for a while, but ran off the front as we climbed Evergreen Mountain. Did an extra circuit of the summit loop as the rest of the group made their way up. The rest of the run played out much the same. I was eager for the incentive to do the out-and-backs required to get 18 miles on this trail system, so I hung with the group, but usually ran ahead at a bit quicker pace and paused at trail junctions. We ran pretty much all the trails in the park, save for the Sisters Trail. Good amount of time on feet. Conditions were lousy. Probably wouldn't have stuck it out without the accountability implicit in a group run.  2,880 feet o' elevation gain.

Week Total - 59.13 miles; 9 hours and 19 minutes.  Mileage was relatively low thanks to the two days off. Still, happy with the week. All the niggles of late are under control. Energy was good. The track workout was a big mental boost given all the injury crap of late. Need to get the long run mileage back up. Better weather will help with that.

Bergen Peak - Upper Loop

Running on tired legs today, but still made it up and around the snowy upper loop on Bergen Peak.


Time: 1:22
Distance: 8.14
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Sunny and cold

As I looked yesterday at my Friday work calendar, I had exactly one spot - 10 a.m. - when I could squeeze in a run, so I booked it. Fast forward a day, and exactly at 10 a.m. I was greeting Jason P. at the wind-swept lower lot at Elk Meadow Open Space.

Jason is an accomplished local Evergreen adventure racer/ultrarunner - 7th at Hardrock last year, 24-hour orienteering champion...the list goes on. It's amazing the quality of athletes lurking seemingly around every corner in our fair state.

We set off, running counter-clockwise up through the meadow trails up to the Meadow View/Too Long intersection. I was feeling sluggish, no doubt the effects of two days on Green Mountain in Boulder (combined w/ far too much time off of late). Still, we held a respectable, if uninspiring, pace up to the junction with the Summit Trail (44 minutes). Jason had extra time, so he set off for more ups and a trip to the summit of Bergen Peak. Maya and I continued down the Bergen Peak Trail.

There was a good five inches of snow on the upper portions of the loop. It will melt fast, no doubt.

Finished off the run with a jaunt south on Meadow View to Sleepy S and back to the car.  My back was feeling a bit tight on the descent. Might be time for a day off, or a very easy day. Don't want to give back the progress I've made this week.

1,757 feet o' elevation gain.

And, if you haven't seen this story by Charlie Engle on the Barkley Marathons in the current issue of Runner's World, check it out. Jason is mentioned in the piece several times. The accompanying videos are pretty cool, too.

Timing is Everything

Easy jog/slog in the snow/slush on the backside route up Boulder's Green Mountain.


Time: 1:18
Distance: 5.43 miles
Effort: Easy
Weather: Sunny and cool

An hour or so post-lunch, I started thinking about running. Maya was with me at the office this morning, so I had to find a place where dogs could run off-leash and wouldn't be too muddy. The location also had to be in town, since JP and I commuted together this morning so she could attend a symposium at CU.

I dropped JV a note, since I knew he regularly runs the peaks with his dog, Sierra. Was the backside route on Green Mountain a designated off-leash area?  He quickly wrote back confirming that it, indeed, was and he and Scott Jurek were planning on running that route at exactly the same time I was hoping to get out. A plan was quickly hatched. Timing is everything.

Forty minutes later, JV, Maya and I were waiting at the mouth of Gregory Canyon for Scott to show up, which he did within minutes of my arrival.

After introductions, the leash came off and we headed up. Maya didn't know what to make of the group run vibe. She's never run with more than one person. Should I run up front? Should I run in front of Jim? How about brining up the rear?  She decided on all three, plus a lot of exuberant dashing up snowy hills. Her favorite spot, though, appeared to be right on Scott's heels.

There was a lot of heavy, slushy snow left on the trail as we splashed our way up at an easy pace, which was more than fine with me as I was still feeling yesterday evening's Mesa-Bear Canyon-Green run.  We hit the summit at around 44 minutes and spent five or six minutes chatting atop the summit rock.

Soon, we were splashing our way back down, with globs of slush splattering left and right with every step.  Good times.

2,388 feet o' elevation gain

Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain

Late afternoon run from Chautauqua to the top o' Green Mountain via Bear Canyon.


Time:  1:41
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Moderate
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy and Cool

Solid run...decent distance and elevation gain. Body held up well and felt best when moving (which is sorta the whole idea behind running, so things worked out pretty well).

Felt relatively good on the ups. From the Chautauqua parking lot, headed up McClintock to Mesa, Mesa to Bear Canyon and Green Bear to the four-way, then up to the summit of Green. Tagged the summit marker in 1:07, 39 minutes and change from the sign at the start of the Bear Canyon trail. Just focused on running a sustainable pace. Never red-lined it.

Came down the backside of Green. Cruised pretty hard down to just past the ranger cabin, then slowed it down after the flatish stretch. My quads definitely were letting me know I haven't run hard downhill in a number of weeks.

Wrapped it up with a nice jaunt through the Chautauqua meadow back to the truck.

The hardest part of the run was the first 100 yards, which is about how long it takes until all the muscles are warmed up, the joints are oiled and the engine stops knocking.  Once the back loosens up...good to go.  More progress.

2,686 feet o' elevation gain.

Over a Bear and Up the Elephant's Back

Very nice evening out-and-back run from Bear Creek to the summit of Elephant Butte, which included a newly discovered stretch of (shhhhhhhhhh) secret trail.


Time: 1:30
Distance: 7.76 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Cloudy & warm

Busy day at the grindstone but managed to finally get out for a few miles in the early evening.  I was keen to hit some dirt somewhere other than Elk Meadow, so I drove a few miles over to Upper Bear Creek Road and parked in a dirt lot by the Evergreen Golf Course (owned by the City of Denver).

With Maya running beside me, I ran over the bridge over Bear Creek (Maya opted for the more direct, through-the-creek route) and started the climb up the Dedisee Trail to Alderfer-Three Sisters.  After a couple miles, the Dedisee Trail intersects with the Hidden Fawn Trail. As I approached that intersection, I started wondering if there was a way to skate around the north side of the Sisters rock formations.

Near the intersection I saw a faint trail heading northwest and decided to check it out.  With Maya leading the way, the faint track turned into a fully-evident trail.  And, sure enough, it led around the rock formation and intersected with an old fire/logging road just southeast of the intersection with the Bearberry Trail in the old Blair Ranch parcel.  Perfect.

From there, I ran the Mountain Muhly horseshoe to its apex on the west side of the park. Here, I picked up a cairned social trail that I knew would lead to the well-maintained, but unofficial, trail up Elephant Butte on Denver Mountain Parks land.

Hit the highpoint on the Butte's summit in 49:05. Paused for a few minutes to soak in the views of Mt. Evans and let Maya catch her breath.  We soon were headed back down, retracing our steps back to the truck (with dog pauses at Buffalo Creek and Bear Creek for water breaks).

1,503 feet o' elevation gain from creek to summit, 1,723 feet on the day.

Solid run. Felt pretty good the whole way. Body cooperated, with only mild discomfort. Progress.

Yesterday was an easy Meadow View Loop dog jog at Elk Meadow from the house.  5.63 miles in 52 minutes with 730 feet o' elevation gain.