Three Weeks Ending September 15

Week Ending September 1

Mon - 5 miles (1,500') easy. Horsetooth north summit.

Tues - 5 miles (1,500') easy. Horsetooth north summit.

Weds - 5 miles (1,500') easy. Horsetooth north summit.

Thurs - 4 miles easy. Bluesky.

Fri - 10 miles (1,800') easy. Marking Black Squirrel course with Justin.

Sat - 2 miles. Checking Black Squirrel markings.

Sun - Off.

Total: 31 miles (6,300')

-----------------------------------------------

Week Ending September 8

Mon - 5 miles (1,500') easy. 100th Horsetooth summit of the year.

Tues - 4 miles easy. Bluesky

Weds - 4 miles easy. Bluesky.

Thurs - Off. Travel day to Salt Lake City.

Fri - 100 miles (26,500'). Wasatch 100.

Sat - Off

Sun - Off 

Total: 113 miles (28,000')

-----------------------------------------------

Week Ending September 15 

Mon - Sun: Off

Total: 0 miles

-------------------------------------------------

Playing catch up here. Not a whole lot to report from the training side of things. Basically a couple of taper/recovery weeks, a race and another recovery week. Yup, that's pretty much your summer if you take on the Grand Slam. While the whole series of races has been a lot of fun, and it's been a summer I won't soon forget, I do feel like June through September kind of passed me by a bit in terms of getting out and enjoying the high country. And so it goes.

I promised myself that I'd be serious about taking significant rest after it was all said and done, so that is exactly what I'm doing until the end of September. From there, I'll see about getting back into some running and finding some fitness. Traditionally in the fall/winter, I've enjoyed working on turnover stuff in an attempt to feel like a real runner after months of shuffling around. I'm thinking pretty much the same this time around.

As far as races go, I've got very little on the calendar. I'll race the Silent Trails 10 miler up in the Laramie area in mid-October and then probably get my ass handed to me as always at the Turkey Day 4 miler here in town, but that's about it. If you're interested in Silent Trails, it comes highly recommended. I've run it the last three years and it is one of my all time favorite races, simply because it puts you on beautiful trails in beautiful country, with an absolute minimum of fuss, among a group of hardy Wyoming runners in celebration of eight guys who will never have the chance to enjoy those trails again. And, you're almost guaranteed adverse weather conditions. And wait, there's more ... it costs a whopping $5 to enter this year. There really is no better way to celebrate the turning of the seasons in my opinion.

Speaking of races, Pete and I put on the inaugural Black Squirrel Half Marathon a couple of weeks ago and really had a good time doing so. People really seemed to enjoy the event and we're excited about making this a mainstay of the Fort Collins trail racing calendar. We have a little recap over on the race website if you're bored and wanted to take a look.

We had fun manning the Steamboat 70 mile aid station this past weekend. It was great to see the runners come in and do their aid station things. The race was definitely on up front with the lead guys and girls flying in and out, and then it was fun to hang with slower runners who were definitely a little more relaxed (and social) about their aid station experiences. I was chewing on caffeine gum to stay awake, but it was a totally worthwhile experience. The after party the next day was as fantastic as it always is in Steamboat (12 kegs this year). So, yeah, Fred got things figured out in the 100 miler. He has a fantastic crew of helpers up there in Steamboat and the race was a resounding success that will no doubt grow significantly as a result. Come run Steamboat next year, I'm planning on it.

We came home to massive flooding across the Front Range, both in the plains and in the canyon communities. Many of these communities have been totally devastated by the floods and airlift operations have been flying overhead now for days. Estes Park is completely cut off, with the three roads out of town (34, 36, 7) in various states of devastation. Highway 34 up the Big Thompson looks to have come off worst of all and initial assessments suggest a two-year rebuilding process. From a recreation standpoint this is a massive bummer as the canyon is a favorite playground for tons of outdoor enthusiasts in Northern Colorado, myself included, but in light of the damage that occurred to life and property up the canyon, those worries seem pretty trivial.

It appears that Fort Collins got off a good bit better than Front Range towns like Boulder, Lyons, Longmont and Estes Park, all of which have major drainages flowing into town from multiple directions. The Poudre here in Fort Collins certainly burst its banks but the devastation does not appear to be anything like it was in the aforementioned communities.

I got out for a run at Horsetooth yesterday to take a look at the trails there on the section of the Bluesky Marathon course that runs through the park, and everything looks great. The trails are fine and all the waterways are still flowing strong. I've yet to assess the Bluesky section of the course, but as I understand it, those trails are just fine too. We are fully confident that the race will take place as planned and we still have spots open if people are interested in running.