Sunday, May 31, 2009

Week Ending May 31

Mon - 5 miles (1,300 feet). Felt sore from Wyoming the day before, so settled for a hike to the top of Horsetooth with Dana, Alistair, Kenny, Amy and their boys.
Tues noon - 13.5 miles (2,000 feet). Mill Creek route.
pm - 8 miles easy at Pineridge. 59:35

Weds noon - 13.5 miles (2,000 feet). Mill Creek route in reverse (Up Horsetooth - Westridge - Mill - Stout - Spring Ck). 1:49.
pm - 6 miles easy with Bubba. Soderburg to Arthur's TH & back. Bubba is not an endurance athlete.

Bubba at Kenny and Amy's house in his preferred position: horizontal.

Thurs noon - 15.5 miles (2,700 feet). 2:15. Horsetooth - Westridge - Mill Creek - Arthurs - West Valley - Nomad - Sawmill - Herrington - Spring Creek - home.

Saw one of these (Greater Prairie Chicken):

Photo: Mary Tremaine

And one of these on my run (third rattler of the season; rattlers 3, bull snakes 4):

Thurs pm - 6 miles easy at Pineridge.

Fri noon - 8 miles (1,650 feet) with Amy. Horsetooth/Audra route.

Amy topping out at the Audra turn-off

Friday pm - 8 miles easy at Pineridge. 58:23.

Sat am - 16 miles. Half-mile warm-up, Pilot Hill 25k (1,600 feet). 1:45.

Sun am - 25.5 miles (7,200 feet). Crosier triple crossing with Ryan. 4:57.

Total: 125 miles (18,450 vertical feet)

Well it has been a huge May for me, and it is mission accomplished on the getting-myself-ready-for-Bighorn front. I'm sure there's more that I could and maybe should have done, but the goal for May was to rack up as many miles and vertical feet of climbing as time would allow. I ended up with 513 miles and a massive 67,000 feet of climbing. If I don't see another upward facing trail for the next week, I'll be a happy man.

Bighorn is not a huge climbing course (17,000 feet), but that's not why I put my legs through such torture. For me, hills work on multiple fronts: they make me faster, they make me stronger and most importantly, they give me confidence. But above all, I genuinely love running up hills. Besides, I really don't have too many other options where I live unless I want to drive to a trailhead (which I don't).

For the next 18 days, the plan is to focus on recovery and to take a few stabs at some FKT climb routes around Fort Collins.

1 comment:

  1. Wow--I'm amazed to see what you go through doing this. I'm a new follower of your blog! Keep me updated. And good luck on the Bighorn Course.

    Cheers.

    Andrew C.

    ReplyDelete