Adventure Racing and Winning

The whole P. clan made it over to the Evergreen Fire & Rescue admin building yesterday evening to hear world-class adventure racers and Evergreen residents Mark and Travis Macy give a talk as part of the Mountain Area Land Trust's Armchair Adventure series.

Crappy pic of Travis (center left standing) and Mark (far left) Macy at MALT event

Mark and Travis gave a great talk, with really great father/son banter. Both of them had great stories about specific races, and the life lessons they've learned along the way.

Funds raised through donations and tickets to the event benefit the land trust, which is working to protect important lands from the foothills to Fairplay.  Great organization.  Please visit MALT on Facebook and "like" them.  Here.

And, CP and JP both ended up big winners in the raffle at the end of the event.  Both took home $110 gift certificates to Merrell.

Back(ish) At(ish) It(ish)

(Knocking on wood...) The ITBS seems to have faded into the background enabling me to return to some semblance of (easy) training. Patience is the word of the month.


It was back in late January when I finally had to admit that a dose of illiotibial band syndrome affecting my right knee could no longer be ignored. That conclusion came at the end of a 17-mile run when I had to walk the final few miles back to my car.

Since then I've been throwing all sorts of things at the problem, hoping something would work. So, enter NSAIDs, foam rollers, a lacrosse ball, a bit of ART, massage and ice and hiking.  After all that stuff, I began running, but only uphill.  Three weeks ago, I started adding in downhill jogging.

The weekend before last I joined Phil K. and Jason P. for a loop up to the summit of Bergen Peak. Our pace was easy (still a lot of snow on the last mile and a half to and from the summit), but I ran every step of that 12 miles.

Progress.

Last week I got in a few easy runs and a few mountain excursions, including a run up and down Bear Peak and Green Mountain in Boulder (two days/two runs), Apex in Golden and the Troublesome Gulch Loop here in Evergreen.  All runs were done without any problems with the right knee.

Looking west to Longs Peak from just below the four-way descending from the summit of Green Mountain

Looking north from the summit of Green Mountain

Yesterday I got out for a jog from the office to the top of Mt. Sanitas (21:43 - mostly hiking - for the ascent) and back. All good.

I'm also continuing to squeeze in a couple yoga classes per week. Last week and this week I tried out a Vinyasa class. I really like the flow of these classes, and the emphasis on strength (which I am regularly reminded I don't have nearly enough of).

Every night before bed I have a date with the foam roller and the lacrosse ball (which I roll around on to loosen up the glute muscles and to work the IT band).

I don't pretend to yet be out of the ITBS woods, just hopeful that I'm doing enough of the right stuff to help me get past this stupid injury.  I definitely am still mentally affected by the injury. I get phantom twinges all the time while running. I chock some of it up to paranoia/fear. The rest of it I take as a reminder to be patient and to take it easy. The goal is to get healthy...

...and, soon.

The Week in Review February 12 - 18, 2012

Still nursing the ITBS problem, so I'm taking it easy by doing some cross-training and limiting my self-locomotion to a quick hiking pace.

Sunday - 1.5-hour Bikram yoga session with JP.

Monday - Green Mountain - hiked up Ampi-Saddle-Green in 42:26; down via one of the Flatiron access trails (need to learn which is which).

Tuesday - 1.5-hour Bikram yoga session - great, hot yoga session with JP. A real Valentine's Day treat!

Wednesday - Bergen Peak - squeezed in an out-and-back hike between work/family obligations from the upper lot at Elk Meadow Open Space to the second overlook on the Bergen Peak Trail.

Thursday - Bear Peak - hiked to the summit in about 53 minutes via Fern Canyons from the Cragmoor Trailhead. Lots of drifted and unconsolidated snow on the stretch from the saddle to the post below the summit. Made first tracks through the drifts.

Friday - Off

Saturday - Bergen Peak - took both dogs (Cisco's first semi-extended outing) and hiked/jogged from the upper lot at Elk Meadow, up the Bergen Peak Trail, to the intersection with the Summit Trail. Returned the same way...about 7 miles. Cisco did great.

Perfect snow conditions on the Bergen Peak Trail

Looking west to Mt. Evans (just visible through the trees) from 1st overlook

I forgot the GPS watch for most of the hikes this week, so I didn't even bother to try and guess mileage. Just don't really care about such things right now. Most interested in holding onto some fitness as the ITBS runs its course.

It seems that I'm able to run uphill OK and without any pain. I experimented a bit Saturday heading up Bergen Peak. This morning, after about a 3/4 mile hiking warm-up, I jogged up the Bergen Peak trail to the Summit Trail intersection. No pain. Hiked the downhill, mostly.

Much to my surprise, I am actually enjoying the hiking. The climb up Bear Peak on Thursday definitely was a highlight. I think I like the consistent pace/effort one can put into a hard hiking effort. You just don't cross as aggressively into the red zone as you might while running, I guess. Plus, I had that climb all to myself, there was no wind and the late afternoon lighting was gorgeous. All the right ingredients for a spectacular outing.

All that said, I am so ready to run hard and fast.

Finally, a big congrats to Woody, Joe and Todd G. for their great runs at the Moab Red Hot 55K last weekend. Great job guys!

A Walk in the Park

There's an old saying that goes, "Injury is the mother of invention," or something like that. In that spirit, a dose of ITBS has forced me to come up with some new ways to get the heart rate up and the body moving.

This week I partook in a couple sessions of bikram yoga, including a great Valentine's Day evening session with JP at the Evergreen Center for Yoga, weightlifting, the elliptical machine and hiking.

It's been a while since I intentionally set out to hike, rather than run. This week, though, I managed to get out and up Boulder's Green Mountain (42 minutes via Ampi-Saddle-Green) and Bear Peak (53 minutes via Cragmoor to Fern), and about halfway of Evergreen's Bergen Peak (the house to the second overlook on Bergen Peak Trail).

Trail conditions on all three mountains were great this week, for the most part. Bergen, Green and Bear up to the saddle were all well-packed snow with just a bit of ice. The climb up Bear from the saddle was a bit tough with lots of unconsolidated snow and drifting in a number of places. Even with Microspikes, the climb up from the saddle was a challenge, but enjoyable. Didn't see a single person beyond the Mesa Trail that day.

Green Mountain summit

The Bergen Peak Trail 

An icy stretch in Fern Canyon on the way up Bear Peak

Bear Peak summit.  Looking north. 

Bear Peak. Looking southeast(ish)

Can you see the inner light? 

Great late afternoon lighting. Had to add another shot.

Didn't feel the IT band problem at all on any of the hikes, even moving at a pretty quick hiking pace up and down. I'm still continuing the nightly foam roller rolling, stretching and hip mobility and glute strengthening exercises. I'll probably give running a go later today with a run up Bergen Peak and a hike down. Fingers crossed.

Killian confirms plans to race the Pikes Peak Marathon.


Good luck to everyone running today's Moab Red Hot 33K and 55K!

The Week That Was(n't)...January 29 - February 4, 2012

On some runs, I forget to bring my GPS watch. Looking back on a weeks when this happened, I regularly have a hard time remembering what I did on a given day.  No problem with that issue this week.

No runs this week.  

Got in a good 1.5-hour yoga session Sunday morning with JP.  Both kids came to the class with us. That was a lot of fun. So great to see the three of them lined up beside me (the family that sweats together, stays together...).

On Thursday, I went and saw Josh Shadle over at All Sports Recovery Club in Boulder for some deep tissue abuse massage. I had quite a few moments where I had to laugh out loud at the pain. It was either that or yell. Not sure how I got this tight, but it seems clear that with everything all bound up in my hips/glutes/lower back, it's no wonder my IT band is getting jacked.

The All Sports Recovery Club is an interesting idea. Essentially, you can become a member for a monthly fee and use their collection of recovery equipment, from cold lasers and ice baths to compression boots and a vast quiver of foam rollers. Interesting concept, and definitely one of those "only in Boulder" things.

So, I'm doing daily hip mobility and glute strengthening exercises, along with a lot of time with my two new best friends. A new (hard) foam roller and a lacrosse ball.

Nope, not a tall glass of Guinness.

I'm using the foam roller to roll out my IT band and lower back. The lacrosse ball is for rolling around on and working to loosen up the gluteus maximus and gluteus medias muscles.

Tested the IT band out last night (Tuesday) on the rec center treadmill. Did a half-mile walking warm-up, then a half-mile at 10:00 pace and then 3.3 miles at a whopping 9:00 pace. Shut it down at 4.3 when I started to feel a hint of IT ache in the right knee.

So tempted to just go out and run hard. A big part of me just wants to say f*** it and get out and keep building on the fitness that was really starting to come around. Fortunately, for now, I'm able to tamp down that desire and stay focused on getting the ITBS under control so I can do what I want to do this summer.

Traffic jam, Evergreen style:

The Week That Was...January 22-28, 2012

A great thing about having a hobby, such as running, is that you get to learn a whole new set of acronyms. Acronyms are great. They enable a sense of elitism, or clubbiness. They confuse the uninitiated. And, they allow us to further render unintelligible the English language. So, let's try a few out:

MUT
w/u
c/d
DNF
RBI
HR (two meanings to this one)
WS
WTC
PR
PB (two meanings to this one, too)
FKT
RT
PF

...and so on.

The beauty of acronyms is that they are endless. There's always a new one to learn. In recent weeks, I've learned a new one, and one I sure as hell wish I had no cause to discover:  ITBS.

Yep, iliotibial band syndrome.  In other words, that damn thing that's making the outside of my right knee ache when I run.  As such was my week...

Monday:  Easy - 5.75 miles in the dark on the Custis Trail in Arlington, VA.


Tuesday: Speedwork - 9 miles. Hit the Washington & Lee High School track in Arlington, VA. This great facility is about three blocks from my organization's office. The plan was to do a ladder workout (400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400). Through the first half of the ladder I felt like I was flying. Worked my way up to the mile and run it at about 5:39. Everything was feeling great. Running hard, but not redlining. No doubt about finishing the workout without dropping off. Then, about halfway through the second 1200, the right knee started a-hurtin'. I pulled up 2/3 of the way through the 1200 to stretch and chill. Got mad...then got going again. Did two more 400s (each around 70 seconds) and called it a night. Jogged back to the hotel. Frustrated to feel so good fitness-wise, but end up hobbling.

Washington & Lee High School Track in Arlington, VA

Wednesday:  Off


Thursday:  Off - went to see a PT guy in Boulder about the ITBS. He did a bunch of ART (another acronym! - active release therapy) and used KT (another!) tape to try and tackle the problem.


Friday:  Off


Saturday: Long(ish) 16.53 miles. Early morning run with JY, WA, CB and JZ from Matthew Winters Open Space through Red Rocks, along the Hogback, a lap around Green Mountain (Lakewood) and back to the Hogback and Matthew Winters. Great time running with some great guys. Knee was solid until the descent down Green Mountain. Let the others continue on and walked the climb back up the Hogback on the Zorro Trail. To my surprise, those that didn't have a pressing time commitment waited at the top of Zorro and marched the rest of the way back with me. Good guys.

Will keep at the stretching, icing, rolling to address the ITBS. And, will, of course, take it as easy as is required. I'm also going to try some deep tissue massage to see if I can get things loosened up in the hips and legs (ouch).  Moab 55K in February is looking dicey at best.

Crap...that's another acronym - DNS. I hate that one.

The Week That Was...January 15-21, 2012

Decent week, all-in-all. Getting a bit frustrated by the on-again, off-again ache in the outside of my right knee. Weird how it comes and goes on a given run, even on a long 32-mile run. There's nothing consistent about the pain. It just comes and goes.


Sunday - Off - taking it easy after the PP50K the day before. 1.5-hour Bikram (hot) yoga session in the a.m. New sweat volume PR. Felt markedly better after this session than I did pre-yoga. Growing more and more convinced of the recovery value of yoga following a hard run (provided, of course, one doesn't push the body too far stretching-wise). Best of all, JP and I do the classes together. So great to see her in action. She is the star of the classes...strong, steady and so flexible the teacher looks at her with envy. I'm happy to be the "before" example to her "after," when it comes to yoga (and so many other things).


Monday - Soda Creek Loop - 8:01 miles; 1:14; 1,234 feet o' elevation gain. Squeezed this one in before picking up the kids. Pleased to feel very solid after the hard run on Saturday. Right knee - good.


Tuesday - Off - schedule


Wednesday - Treadmill - for the first-time ever, all the treadmills (and even the elliptical machines) were full. I wandered around trying to decide what else I should do. Finally a 'mill opened up and I hopped on. 2 miles@8:00 w/u; 1 mile@5:52; .5 recovery; 1 mile@5:49; 1.5 mile c/d. Was planning on doing 3x1-mile but the first two wrecked me. On the second mile repeat, I was literally counting steps, ticking off the 1/100ths over the last 3/10s of a mile. Couldn't believe how hard these were. One of those sessions, I guess.  Knee - quiet.


Thursday - Mt. Sanitas - 6:38 miles; 1:09; 1,571 feet o' elevation gain. Lunch run from the office to the summit of Mt. Sanitas via the backside. An easy 21:38 from trailhead sign to summit marker. Lots of people out on the mountain today dressed as if it were summer. Knee - quiet until road run back to office, then a few pains.


Friday - Off - decided I would run the Southside 50K Fat A** on Saturday so opted to dodge the stress of squeezing in a run on a crushing workload day and conserve some energy for Saturday.


Saturday - Southside 50K+ - 32.35 miles; 5:19; 3,319 feet o' elevation gain. Got the tip early in the week from SY about this run. A group o' folks was planning to run a 50K route through the open space around Superior and Boulder. With 60+ degree temps forecasted, it wasn't a hard decision to make this another long training run to bookend last Saturday's PP50K. A nudge from fellow Evergreen-er Jason P. was all it took to seal the deal.

The run was a lot of fun. Wind was a bit of an issue through the rolling grasslands of Marshall Mesa, but not too bad. The run had a bit of everything...rolling, flat, hills...dirt, mud, snow, ice, rock...you name it.

Jason and I arrived just before the 7 a.m. start. Met a bunch of new folks from the Boulder/Lafayette/Niwot/Longmont netherworlds. Even managed to lure GZ out for a few miles. Funny moment...when I walked up to the start area, a burly looking guy steps out of a group of runners and marches straight at me with a very angry look on his face. For a few anxious seconds I was working hard to remember who I might have pissed off. In no time, I realized the burly-ness was actually a down jacket and the anger was a charade pulled off with great skill by non-other than GZ. Got the bear-hug rather than a smack in the kisser. Great poker face on that cat. Beware.

Ran pretty steady for the whole 50K. Had more than a few minutes the last five miles or so where I got to wondering what the hell I was doing. Running a long time doesn't always feel all that whippy. I found myself questioning whether it's worth it. A few hours later, I decided it was...for now.

Knee was solid most of the run, but barked a bit on the steady flat stuff that comprised the final 5-6 miles. Annoying.

For the week:  52.75 miles; 8:48; 6,123 feet o' elevation gain.

Blowing in the Wind

Man...that was one hell of a windy night. I was awoken multiple times as violent wind gusts rocked the house. I could actually feel the house flinch as I lay in bed.

92 mph wind gusts in Boulder.

The wind drove me to the rec center treadmill Wednesday late afternoon for a bit of monotonous fun. Six miles at one percent grade (2 miles @8:00; 1 mile @5:52; .5 mile @8:00 recovery ; 1 mile @5:49; 1.5 miles c/d). The second mile repeat hurt something fierce. Was literally counting footsteps the last 3/10ths of a mile to assure myself I was going to hold on. Was wasted for the last 1.5 miles. Not a great run, but glad to have gotten in a couple sub-6 miles, even though they were hard. Lingering effects of Saturday's long run?

Followed up the running with three sets of Romanian deadlifts, kettleball swings and a mad dash to pick up the kids on time from school.

Oh, and (knock on wood) not a peep from the right knee. Fingers crossed.

Looking out the office window here in Boulder at mid-morning, it looks like things have calmed down substantially. Thinking a jaunt up Sanitas might be in order late this afternoon.

Jogged from the office to the summit of Mt. Sanitas. 6.38 miles; 1:09 roundtrip; 1,571 feet o' elevation gain. 21:38 from trailhead sign to summit marker. Lots of hiking. Trail conditions were near perfect, just a bit of wetness here and there. Lots of people out, and dressed as if it were May, not January. Beautiful day!

(Yet Another) Ponderous Posterior Re-cap, Plus the Week That Was...

Definitely the highlight of the week was the Saturday morning trek down to Colorado Springs for the second annual Ponderous Posterior 50K. I can't say enough good things about this little jaunt around Manitou Springs. Great weather. Great course. Great people. Great organization.

Beyond the PP50K, the week was so-so. Had a couple days off and a couple of good runs. A quick run-down:

Monday:  Soda Creek -  6 miles; 49:21; 838 feet o' elevation gain. Easy jog through this hilly 'hood.

Tuesday:  Chautauqua - Mesa - Bear Canyon - Green Mountain Loop - 8:23 miles; 1:46; 2,887 feet o' elevation gain. An auditory celebration.

Wednesday:  Off - work/family schedule ate up the day. About 7 p.m. I pulled into the rec center parking lot after driving up from Denver, got out of the car, took 10 steps in the freezing cold with my quads barking loudly at me and called it a day. Went home. Quads were aching from the hard run down Green Mountain on Tuesday - my first use of Micospikes this year.

Thursday:  Off - not enough time in a busy day to get out. Good thing, too. The cold and wind were ferocious.

Friday:  Elk Meadow Open Space - 6 miles; 1:10; 844 feet o' elevation gain. Thursday's wind had kicked up a lot of snow. This was a slog of a late afternoon run. Knee-deep snow drifts were everywhere. Ugh.

Saturday:  Ponderous Posterior 50K - 29.15 miles; 5:47; (5:24 running time); 6,788 feet o' elevation gain. Ran to the car to lose the tights as people were gathering in JT's yard for the 7 a.m. start as warm weather was expected. By the time I got back to the house, everyone was gone. Nothing like a bit of tempo to start a 50K!

Caught up the the back of the pack as we entered Red Rocks.  Slowly worked my way up to the lead group over the next mile or two. Had a great time running with PG, JY and TG, plus a host of new faces from across the Front Range. The pace was easy and the views/temps/company were perfect.

My right knee pretty early let me know that it wasn't happy. It was aching and occasionally bitching at me. I started thinking about dropping after the Incline. I'd never been up the Incline and really wanted to make the 2K climb up. The climb was tough, but manageable at our laid-back pace. Once up top, I decided to continue on to the aid station at the mouth of Waldo Canyon and see how things went.  I took the descent down snow-covered road through Longs Ranch way easy.  Knee was still grumpy, but holding up fine.

Starting up the Incline. Photo: PG.

A few folks were gathered at the truck taking on water and fuel (and PBR...not sure if that's water or fuel).  Never really contemplated dropping at the truck. Figured it would take longer to wait for a ride than it would to finish the run. I nudged TG and off we went for the climb up Waldo. We pretty much ran all the dirt and hiked the icy sections as we made our way down into and up Williams.

I really enjoyed Waldo/Williams. We just ran/hiked steady and before we knew it, we popped out on Rampart Range Road for the final descent down to the Garden of the Gods and back to JT's place.

I was pretty happy with the run. No rough spots, no wrong turns and we finished strong. Knee was no worse for the wear, although the discomfort was/is frustrating.  Hitting the foam roller, icing and stretching regularly to keep at bay what I suspect is some IT band stuff.

Great time catching up with folks back at JT's house and enjoying some fine post-race food and beers.  Many thanks to JT for hosting and for everyone that took the time to mark the course. The CRUD South gang puts on one hell of an event!

Learned this morning that a large group of the 7 a.m. starters, including me, missed the out-and-back up Red Mountain, which explains why we ended up a bit short of a true 50K. Bummer.

Early Sunday I morning, I joined JP for my third-ever yoga class. This time is was a 1.5-hour Bikram yoga class, which meant even more sweating than the previous two sessions I've done this winter. I am convinced yoga is a great long run recovery activity. I feel so much better after these classes.

Sounds of the Trail

Running is a treat for the senses...the sights, sounds, temperature, wind, footing and smells all stimulate some aspect of our five senses, whether we think about it or not. Sometimes, though, a particular sense is activated and for a given run, that sense dominates.

So was the case on Tuesday's jaunt up Green Mountain as I was struck by the sounds of the mountain.

The run began around 3:30 p.m. from Chautauqua, climbing the old paved road to the Mesa Trail. The trail was, as expected, a mix of snow, ice, dirt and mud. No traction required (on the ascent).

I made my way over to the junction with the Bear Canyon Trail and started climbing. The further up I went, the more aware I become of the few sounds around me.

First, it was the pleasant gurgling of Bear Canyon Creek running beneath a layer of ice and snow, reminding me that even on the coldest days, our mountains remain invaluable water factories for the plants, animals and human communities that surround them.

On the climb up Green-Bear, I paused to listen to the distant caw of a crow, it's call forlorn and almost out of place on such a beautiful, sunny day.

Soon I was standing on Green Mountain's summit rock, marveling at the fact that there was no wind. None. It was perfectly still. I noticed then the constant, low rumble generated by the 97,000 or so souls moving around and going about their days down below in Boulder. Their collective sounds rolled up, combined and enveloped the mountain in a strangely comforting auditory embrace.

Green Mountain's summit marker. Photo: Brandon Fuller

Just then, the whistle of a train dropping down the side of Eldorado Mountain echoed through the hills, adding a new dimension of sound to the bass line of the city. The train's sound reminded me of hearing as a kid in Kansas the same distant whistle in the summer through my open bedroom window. To me the whistle is as much a warning as it is a reminder of movement, of going places...as in running.

On the run down Green's frontside, the dominant sounds became of my own making -- the scrape of Microspikes on ice and rock, or the satisfying "squench" when spikes found a solid purchase in firmly packed snow, propelling me around a sharp switchback.

Once back at the now dark Gregory Canyon parking lot, the sounds became those of others. A car driving down Flagstaff Road, a dog barking in the backyard of a house in the neighborhood adjacent to the open space.

The low rumble of humanity I heard atop Green's summit now was just the usual collection of individual sounds. The crows were quiet, and the train's whistle now was drowned out by the immediate din of the neighborhood.

Running is, indeed, a treat for the senses.

Distance: 8.23 miles
Time: 1:46 (Green descent - 20:57)
Elevation gain: 2,887