Week Ending March 30

Monday - 7 miles (1,800') easy. I didn't have a chance to get out until late in the day, but wasn't much feeling like running after the big weekend anyway, so the extra rest was welcomed. Felt decent enough once on the hill, just a bit sluggish. Had a nice chat with Stephen Myers, editor of the Coloradoan's Xplore section, on the summit. On the way to the park, I was bitten on the (gloved) finger by a (leashed) neighborhood dog. Fortunately, there was no harm done (no blood drawn), but it certainly shocked me. On the way out of the park, it was all one owner could do to keep her massive hound from attacking me. Ah, yes, the joys of spring.

Coming off Towers on the Stout Trail last Sunday at March Mileage Madness.  Photo: Josh Arthur.

Tuesday - AM: 9.5 miles intervals. On the docket at the cemetery for the morning was: mile, 800, 800, mile, 800, 800, 1.5 mile lamppost fartlek (at ~5k, HM); all on 2-3 min rest. Had a good pack to work with this morning: McCullough, Garcia and Luke. Eased in over the first mile and a half, then Garcia started pushing the pace: 5:58, 2:45, 2:39, 5:16, 2:39, 2:39, 8:17 (5:32, 2:45). The legs were still a little sluggish from the big weekend mileage/vertical, but they responded when asked. I consciously pushed the second half of each rep this morning to work on that non-existent kick of mine, as I'm almost certain that Western States is going to come down to the last 300 meters this year.
PM: 7 miles (1,800') super easy. Kinda wobbled up the hill late in the afternoon. Definitely tired from the morning session - some lingering fatigue from the weekend in there too. Need to be careful.

Wednesday - Noon: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Nice easy jog up Horsetooth. It was warm out, but I still layered up to get a good sweat going, help loosen the muscles and begin preparing for the summer race season.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Ran an easy Falls loop at the park. Dog trouble again. Got nipped by a yappy rat-sized dog on a long leash right by the turn-off for the falls. Owner was mortified. I swore profusely. This is turning out to be a bad dog week.

Thurs - Noon: 5 miles (1,500') easy. Short loop on Horsetooth (76). Kept things super easy to save something for a harder run at Towers in the evening.
PM: 9.5 miles (2,000') hard hill effort. I'm not really sure why, but the thought of running hard on Towers fills me with dread these days. There was a time when I was hammering on the hill all summer long, dropping sub-30s with ease. I guess it's because I've done it so many times now that I'm intimately familiar with the pain involved. I was back and forth all day on how much of an effort I was willing to put forth, so I figured I'd see how things felt once I was off and running. Warmed up with a couple miles on the Valley Trails with Burch, then got after it, easing in on Swan Johnson (3:00 to the turn). Things felt okay, so I kept on the gas at perhaps 90%, and was surprised to see my Stout split pop within range of reasonably fast, so I committed to staying at effort for the rest of the run. Herrington (2) came in at 16:5x, which again is about 20 seconds off PR pace. I started feeling a good burn in the second half and rather than double down to squeeze the extra seconds out, I committed to just remaining steady. Finished up with 30:07 at the top, which, while 47 seconds off my PR, was pleasing for the effort output. Would have been a nice confidence boost to dip under 30 - it's been a while - but it would have been there easily with a little extra push.

Friday - 7 miles (1,800') easy. Kept it at one run today, and an easy one at that. Felt good enough, but wanted to rest up for the weekend.

Saturday - 29 miles (9,500') long. Round Mountain Ladder. Fun morning on the mountain today for the fourth year in a row doing this workout, an out and back from each mile marker up the mountain with a final summit run to finish it off. We had a good crowd working up and down the hill all morning, something that always helps with the motivation. Josh Arthur was back up in the Fort - clearly no talent to run with in Boulder - so I ran with him for most of the workout.

The goal with this workout is to start out conservatively and try to run every uphill mile segment quicker than the previous one (first mile gets run five times), so a ratchet of pace that you have to temper against increasing fatigue levels, finishing with a final summit push - after 20 miles & 6,500' of vert - into which you essentially pour all remaining strength and motivation in a bid to hit the fastest mile splits of the day. I find this workout to be an excellent simulator of race pacing.

The morning air was perfect and we got lucky with mainly overcast skies, so the conditions were primo. My legs didn't feel too peppy at all throughout the morning, but they were steady enough to get through the run. The first four rungs on the ladder went quickly and the splits were on point. For the summit leg - about 4.75 miles with 3,000' of climbing - the first mile went out pretty hard, leaving my legs pretty wobbly for the second mile. Josh was off to the races, so I just focused on settling back in and grinding up the hill at an effort that would take me to the top sustainably. I missed the second mile split by 13 seconds breaking up the perfect game, but was able to rally for the remainder, passing Josh 100 meters from the summit. The summit run came in at 54:25, which is three minutes faster than three years ago, 7 or 8 minutes quicker than last year when I fell to pieces in the heat, and four minutes of my PR for Round Mountain. Total time on the hill was 5:22, with 5:11 moving.

Mile 1..12:34..11:32..11:06..10:35..10:06
Mile 2............13:01..12:24..11:45..11:58
Mile 3......................11:59..11:20..11:09
Mile 4................................12:19..11:38
Summit........................................09:33

Summit Run.................................54:25

Coming down off lap one with Josh and Hinterberg. Photo: Eric Lee

Sunday - 13 miles (3,600') easy. Out with Hinterberg and Ostrom for an easy couple of hours at Horsetooth, with a double summit bag (78 & 79). Not much from the legs on the uphill and a bit of soreness in the quads on the downhill. Easy, easy.

Total: 99 miles (24,800')

Another solid week in the books. Good workout Tuesday morning on tired legs, a solid run up Towers Thursday and a generally strong morning of vertical on Saturday. Pieces are coming together nicely. One more week of mileage before I begin a very gradual taper for UTMF100, with a last long run two weeks before at the Lake Sonoma 50.

In addition to two dog bites this past week, I picked up another one yesterday (Monday) right at the first turn on the trail from the upper Horsetooth parking lot and right on the soft tissue under my butt. I've never been bitten by a dog before, so I guess I'm making up for lost time. I used to be very casual and friendly towards dogs in the park, but I find myself shying away from them now (once bitten, twice shy?) Dogs of course pick up on that fear to the point that I have apparently become a moving target in the park. Curiously, each incident these past few days has involved a dog on a leash (but always on a fully extended stretch leash), so owners have been obeying park regulations. Whether or not that means I have a right to bitch I don't know, but it's really not much fun being bitten by dogs or having fangs aggressively exposed in your general direction while running by.

In other news, I have noticed a considerable uptick in the number of plastic bags filled with dog poo sitting by the side of the trail. Being a regular park user, I can usually give an approximation for the number of days/weeks particular bags have been sitting there.

End rant.

Week Ending August 26

Mon - Off 

Tues - Off 

Weds - Off

Thurs - 8 miles (1,800') easy. Ran the Towers TT at a very moderate effort to the halfway, then picked up the pace just a notch as I started to warm up. 35 and change, I think. Descent was a little sore on my right hip, and legs in general, but nonetheless things are looking good for a speedy Leadville recovery.

Fri - 9.5 miles (3,000') easy. Round Mountain. Met Steph and Mary at the Round TH for a late afternoon run to the summit. Half a mile in, Steph and I stopped in our tracks 15 meters behind a big 200 pound bear who was sauntering down the trail. Bear heard Steph pull up, looked back and then casually headed up the hillside. By the time Mary caught up, the bear was a good 50 feet above us and we carried on our way. Second bear sighting in the last two outings on Round. Always a bonus. Bears aside, the moderate-effort ascent (57:05) felt descent, while the descent was just okay, but noticeably better than yesterday on Towers.

Sat - 3.5 miles (800') hike. Ranked Peak 8,194' - aka 'Giant Boulder Point.' Had plans to scout the tricky 5.7 west ridge of Pagoda with Brian, but he bailed the night before with a sore knee, so I enjoyed a fun little hike with the family instead. It's been a while since I checked in with the Larimer County high points project, so I decided to bag a nice easy one as part of our hike. The start point for this hike is off the Devil's Gulch Road past Glen Haven and just before the first of the two big S-bends that take you to the plateau above Estes. As described by Joe Grim on the Lists of John site, you essentially head under the three powerline transformers on the north side of the road (parking at a pull-off on the south side), following an old dirt road for 20-30 meters before picking up a faint trail to the left. We followed the trail for probably a mile or so, before cutting cross country up a drainage. Dana and Stella hung out in a nice spot on the ridge, while Alistair and I ran west along the ridge tagging two bumps along the way until we hit the actual summit block. Gaining the top of the summit rock requires some class III climbing, which was a lot of fun for Alistair, but really quite straightforward. The views from the top were exceptional for such a lowly peak. Longs was framed beautifully by a hole in the ridgeline to the south, while the Mummy's and more were impressively clear to the north and west. After a couple of summit shots, and signing in on the Lists of John member-studded log book, Alistair and I boogied back to the girls, packed up their picnic and made quick work of the exit, stopping for delicious cinnamon buns at the 100-year-old Glen Haven general store on our way down the canyon. Fun morning.

Ranked Peak 8,194'. Photo: Brandon Reich (from Lists of John).

Sun - 6 miles (2,800') peak baggin'. 8,310' & 7,567'. Enthused by yesterday's outing, I decided to pick up a few more of Larimer County's 255 ranked peaks, focusing again on the Big Thompson area. I had meant to knock off 8,092' with the other two this morning, but as is often the case with these bushwhacking routes, things frequently move much slower than planned. Anyway, with these two picked off, I only have two of 10 peaks left to bag in the Drake quadrangle: 8,092' and Pole Hill.

To get on 8,310', I drove about two miles up the tight Waltonia Road south off Hwy 34 to approximately 6,900' where the road dead ends at a private gate. I parked there and then ducked under the gate before heading in a southeasterly direction straight up the hillside, crossing one drainage and then following another to the ridge. There was some fun class three/four rock moves to be made approaching the ridge. Once on the ridge, the grade mellowed out and it was an easy, grassy jog to the rock pile at the summit. To my surprise, there was a pill box summit register at the top, which described the summit as 8,240'. This had me confused, especially as I could find nothing on the map suggesting an 8,240' peak in the vicinity. I'm 99% certain that I was on 8,310' as intended. After figuring the lay of the land on the south side of Round Mountain, I proceeded in a southeasterly direction for unranked point 7,812' along the ridge that forms the south side of a valley with the Round Mountain ridge to the north. From 7,812' I dropped down to Saddle Notch, following an old undeveloped homesite road to the road that services a couple of impressive houses down in the Round Mtn Saddle Notch Valley. Then it was just a question of crossing the road and hoofing the 400 or 500 feet up to 7,567'. No summit register that I could find, but there was a definitive summit rock pile. I essentially backtracked the way I had come, deciding to leave 8,092' for another day due to time constraints, which was a bummer, but my fault for being lazy and not getting up earlier. Just 210 more ranked Larimer summits to tag! 

Total: 27 miles (8,400')

Nice easy week finding my legs after Leadville. It was good to be back ticking off peaks in the Larmier County project. I look forward to really getting back into that once I'm done with UROC. I'm also looking forward to taking a stab at the Glacier Gorge Traverse next weekend, but am a little nervous about the Pagoda west ridge section from Chiefs Head. That section will have to be a game-time decision for me as I've never seen it before, but all indications suggest that there's no avoiding a couple of very airy 5.6/.7 crux sections, without dropping all the way down and re-climbing. 

Week Ending April 8

Mon - 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop. Tired.

Tues - AM: 9.5 miles intervals. Small group again, but overjoyed to be running in the snow (for what it was worth). Workout was 5 x City Park mile (1.04), with 1st and last steady and middle three fartlek - quarter mile jog between + 1-2 min standing rest. Ran with Chris M for all five and felt horribly sluggish: 5:35 (5:22), 5:34 (:21), 5:41 (:27), 5:38 (:25), 5:37 (:24).
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.

Weds - Noon: 6 miles (600') easy. Valley trails, Soderberg to Arthurs and back.
PM: 4 miles easy on the bike paths before FCRC board meeting. Mileage padding.

Thurs - AM: 10.5 miles (1,200') easy. Early morning jaunt on Bluesky/Indian Summer with Slush, Celeste, Ziggy, Sarah and AlWesir. Nice crisp morning with another beautiful sunrise over Coyote Ridge. Notched things a touch over the last couple. Some good banter as always.
PM: 10 miles (2,100') Towers. 29:37. Eased into this one, hitting the road (.45) 20 seconds slower than last time, and taking it relatively easy on the grunts with the intention of gassing the shallower grades. The Stout split was 8:50 and Herrington 16:45, which means I made up about 20 seconds over the last 13 minutes versus two weeks ago. I ended up 4 seconds slower on what felt like a much more controlled effort with significantly less discomfort. One of these days I'll solve the riddle and put all the pieces together.

Fri - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 6 miles (600') easy. O&B Soderberg to Arthurs on Valley Trails.

Sat - AM: 21 miles (7,000'). Round Mountain ladder. This was the second outing of the Fort Collins Trail Runners' Spring Vertical Series and a repeat of last year's inaugural version, dubbed the Round Up. Total workout calls for an out and back from each of the four mile markers on the way up to the Round Mtn summit, followed by a final summit push (4.75 miles, 3,000') for a total of 29 miles & 9,500 feet. I decided to eschew the mile 4 O & B as I didn't want to overdo things with Lake Sonoma coming up next weekend. I also decided to take things super easy for the first three out and backs, before taking a harder run at the summit to finish things off. Ended up wavering between hard and 'can't be bothered' for the summit run, which ended up being surprisingly quick, just a couple minutes off my PR (50:24) at 52:23. I think we had an impressive 13 runners show up for the 5:30 pre-dawn push-off and then lots more as the morning progressed. Great sunrise over Alexander Mtn coming down from mile two. Total outing was 4:11, or 3:59 not including TH pit stops. 
 
The up splits: Mile 1 <+580'> (13:47, 12:40, 11:21, 10:22); mile 2 <+780'> (13:46, 12:25, 11:42); mile 3 <+460'> (11:54, 10:21); mile 4 <+580'> (10:51); final .75 <+480'> (9:05).

The down splits: Mile 1 (11:36, 9:15, 8:47, 9:56); mile 2 (9:03, 8:38, 9:36); mile 3 (10:29, 11:04); mile 4 (11:04); final .75 (6:45)

Sun - AM: 8 miles (900') easy on Bluesky. Been a while since I've been on a run and thinking about snakes, but with as warm as it's been I found myself scanning this morning.

Total: 90 miles (15,400') 

Took things a little easier this week on the running front, with a short run Sunday and an abbreviated Round Mountain ladder on Saturday. This disciplined behavior is an attempt to freshen the legs up a bit for the Lake Sonoma 50 next weekend, which will be my only 50 miler before Western States in June. It comes about halfway into my training block so an easier seven or eight days leading up to it seems reasonable enough. I feel pretty good right now, so I'd like to think I've got as a good a shot as anyone toeing the line.

Speaking of deep fields, Pete and I are pretty excited about the crew that will be assembling May 12 right here in Fort Collins for the Quad Rock 50. In the men's race we've got the JFK 50 record holder coming out to test his chops on a mountain 50 as he gets ready for Western States in June. He'll be up against last year's top U.S. finisher at UTMB, the third place finisher from this year's Way Too Cool and American River, and a host of Front Range speedsters who know the trails well. My money's on Burch, but I've been wrong before.

We've got a strong women's race too, with PI teammate Becky Wheeler perhaps the favorite on paper, but I'm betting she'll be pushed hard by Steamboat 50 winner Jenny Pierce, recent Salida winner Leila DeGrave, and some local Fort Collins women who are probably too modest to want to be named. My money's on Steph Lynn - pretty sure I've got that one right.

But it's not all about the front of the pack. Hell no, it's about the personal challenge. We've put together a tough course with a challenging cut-off, but we're betting that anyone with the requisite determination and mental fortitude will be able to get it done if they really want to. Pete went out and ran the full monty a couple of weekends ago (in the midst of 700-mile month). Based on his experience, he put together a 14-hour pacing plan. Check it out. And then come out next Saturday and run the loop for yourselves on the 'official course preview.' We'll have lots of local runners on hand (who may or may not know where they're going), which means good company at a range of different paces.

Wish I could be there for that one, but I'll be out getting my hide whooped in wine country USA

Alexander Mountain

Alexander Mountain (right), the gateway to the Big Thompson Narrows.

Despite it's somewhat diminutive stature, Alexander Mountain (7,105') is a good challenge, with rewarding and unique views of some very familiar terrain from its summit.

If you've ever driven up Hwy 34 through the Narrows of the Big Thompson, then you've undoubtedly seen Alexander, but maybe never known it as such. Alexander Mountain is the first named mountain in the Big Thompson Canyon, but plays little brother to it's better-known neighbors. Both Round Mountain and Palisade Mountain can be seen from the top of Alexander, but neither of them offer the unique views of the Narrows and hogback foothills that their humble sibling does.

As you approach the mouth of the canyon, Alexander Mountain is easily recognizable from its sheer south face. The Big Thompson itself begins its journey from the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park - viewable to the west from Alexander's summit.

Left to right: Stone, Meeker, Longs, Round.

There are a number of ways to get on top of the mountain, the most direct of which is to ascend a steep, brush-infested gully directly from the canyon floor, soon after Hwy 34 crosses the Big Thompson for the first time. From the summit, Ryan and I spied a longer, but more interesting route that would take you up from the jaws of the canyon on Alexander's long southeastern ridge.

The entry to the gully, right off the Big Thompson.

The southeast ridge of Alexander.

Soon after entering the gully, there is a large boulder plugging up the boxed-in route, which requires some class III maneuvering to get around. Once past the chockstone, it's time to fight with the rough brush that inhabits the dry creek bed.

Tiring of that game, Ryan and I cut a line to the western ridge of the gully and enjoyed some fun class III/IV climbing all the way to the top of a small point from where the best views on Alexander are available. The actual summit is a short hike north on the summit ridge in a forested area of little note.

Chockstone.

Brush, brush and more brush early on.

Out of the weeds...

...and on to some solid rock.

Anticlimactic summit.

After making the requisite summit tag, Ryan and I returned to the slightly lower point that we had gained from the ridge and enjoyed the awesome views for a while. 100 miles to the south, Pikes Peak was visible, with close-ups of Carter Lake, Longs Peak, Mount Meeker, and Round and Stone Mountains in the foreground. Off to the east, there were great views of the foothill hogbacks, including Devil's Backbone, the Bluesky Valley, Eden Valley Reservoir, Horsetooth and Milner Mountain. To the west were good views of the nicely painted Mummies and other RMNP peaks. But perhaps most impressive of all was the view down into the Big Thompson Narrows - a quite unique vantage point to be sure.

Eden Valley Reservoir

Horsetooth (left) & Milner Mountain (right)

Big Thompson Narrows, with hogbacks beyond.

Coming down, we forewent the rocky down-climbing, deciding instead to wage war against the mountain mahogany and other nasty creek brush.

With 20-30 minutes on top, we were up and down in about 2.5 hours. Total climb is in the 1,600 foot range and distance is probably no more than 3 miles. This one comes highly recommended.

Fortnight Ending Jan 15

Mon - 3.5 miles easy. Two university loops.

Tues - 3.5 miles easy. Two university loops.

Weds - 0 miles. London to Denver by way of manic JFK.

Thurs - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Insanely warm out.
PM - 6 miles easy on the bike paths with the FCTR crowd. Despite the Jan 6 date and dark of night, we had sports bras and bare midriffs aplenty tonight. Two weeks in the UK and I return home to mid-summer in January.

Fri - PM: 2.5 miles (500') easy with Dylan and Yassine on the Bandera course.

Sat - 62 miles (4,500'). Bandera 100k.

Sun - 0 miles

Total: 82 miles (5,900')

Mon - 0 miles

Tues - 0 miles

Weds - 0 miles

Thurs - AM: 10.5 miles (1,500'). HTH5MO&B with Pete, Celeste, Ziggy (who has big doggy goals for 2012), Slush, Mike, and a very late Sarah. Windy and cold. Out in a sore 45 mins, back in an even sorer ~34.5 mins. Downhills were quite painful on the quads. Took things very easy.
PM: 7 miles (1,700'). First Towers session of the year. Good turnout on what was a pretty nice evening for mid January. Track was dangerously icy in places. Up in an easy 38 mins.

Fri - 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls long.

Sat - 22 miles (1,800') easy. Horsetooth circumnavigation with Sarah, Alex and Pete. Beautiful morning. Still quite sore in the quads, but just glad to be out.

Sun - AM: 3.5 miles (2,500'). Palisade Mtn (8,264') with Mike and Elijah. Been wanting to get on Palisade Mtn, a prominent and jagged Front Range peak, for quite some time. Palisade is essentially on the opposite side of the Big Thompson from Round Mountain and is visible from many vantage points in Fort Collins and Loveland. From the canyon floor, there are multiple drainages and ridges to choose from in getting up. We ascended a few drainage ribs too far to the east, making our morning a little longer than it would otherwise have been, but we were still up and down in a reasonable 2.5 hours. All bushwhacking, probably a little more class III than necessary, and a ton of cactus. Back home for breakfast and then up Horsetooth with friends and family.

Possibly the largest summit-register canister in the Rockies. All pics: Mike H

Mike with Round Mtn. behind

West up the Big Thompson toward RMNP

PM: 4.5 miles (1,500'). Horsetooth summit with Dana, Alistair, Stella C, Brian, Sandis, Stella W, Rob and Madison.

On H'tooth summit with Great Plains to the east behind.

Looking southwest. Pikes is faintly visible 100 miles south.

Halfway up with my zonked-out baby.

Total: 52.5 miles (10,100')

Bit of this, bit of that and a few days off after Bandera. January will be a very relaxed, run-when-I-want kind of month. There is so little snow around right now, I think I'll take the opportunity to explore locally a bit and get up a few of the lesser visited NoCo Front Range peaks. Palisade was a good start today. Also on the list are Alexander, Storm, Christ, Milner, Goat, Spruce, Buckhorn, and Ethel. Other suggestions welcome.

Registrations for the Quad Rock 50 (aka FoCo 50) are going strong. We're about half full right now, with just 40 spots left in the 25 miler. Pete and I are working hard to make sure that we put on a top-notch event, and we couldn't be happier to be teaming up with some really great local companies, including Pearl Izumi which has just signed on as the shoe and apparel sponsor. This means top-quality, gender-cut race T-shirts for all participants, shoes for age group winners and tons of other great giveaways.

In addition to Pearl, we're working with First Endurance as the fuel sponsor. All participants will receive a 5oz EFS gel flask with their entry and we'll be doing jug refills at the aid stations. If you haven't tried EFS before and want to test it out before the race, we've set up a 20% discount for runners. Visit the race website, nose around a bit and you'll find the coupon code. We're also working with Smith Optics (which means more awesome prizes and giveaways) and Colorado Physical Therapy Specialists (which means free massages and PT after your run). Other relationships are in the works, all of which means more cool stuff for you.

Rick just hosted his first annual VerticALE Beer Mile in North Carolina. I hear there might be one occurring on the Incline soon too. It's sweeping the nation, folks.

Week Ending November 27

Mon - 6 miles (700') easy. Valley Trails. Pretty stiff from the weekend. Went super easy with Sam.

Tues - AM: 7.5 miles. City Park workout: 1,200 x 2, 1,000 x 2, 800 x 2, with second of each 1,200 & 1,000 as fartleks. 800s were actually .6 of a mile. I was feeling stiff and full of leg crud from the weekend, so started out easy and then upped the effort for the last few: 4:23 (5:50 pace), 4:21 (5:48), 3:14 (5:12), 3:22 (5:23), 3:09 (5:15), 3:02 (5:03).
PM: 3.5 miles (700') easy. Reservoir Ridge Loop.

Weds - 6 miles (700') easy. Valley trails with Sam.

Thurs - AM: 11 miles. Thanksgiving 4 Mile Race. 21:38. 5 mile w-u with Slush, 2 mile c-d.
PM: 6.5 miles (1,700') easy. Beautiful afternoon, so snuck out for an easy summit of Horsetooth before cooking T-Day dinner.

Fri - AM: 9.5 miles (3,200') easy. Up Round Mountain with Pete and Alwesir. 38 mins to 3 mile, then notched the effort to get up in under an hour. 58:50.

Sat - AM: 21.5 miles (5,500') easy. With Pete and Alwesir on JV version of El Chub. Windy out and just a little fatigued there towards the end. Fun morning.

Sun - AM: 18.5 (5,800') easy. Double Crosier with Pete, Alex and Eric Lee. From Drake TH to summit, then on to Glen Haven TH, back up to summit and then down to Drake. Legs felt pretty beat up, but still plenty in there to grind on Crosier for a few hours. Beautiful day out, which made the views from the summit even more outstanding than usual. Best 9'ner on the Front Range.

Total: 90 miles (18,300')

Made the last-minute call to register for Western States last night. There goes another $370. Whoosh. Pains me beyond belief to register for these things so far in advance, but I guess it's the nature of the beast. I was going to wait until Bandera - see how things played out there - and maybe take a qualification spot from that, but there are other people running Bandera that I know want to run Western, so I felt guilty potentially taking a spot from the Bandera qualifying pool.

Moving right along. Here's an event that won't break the bank ... coz it's free. December 10. Email, comment, whatever, if you have any questions. But essentially, we will be following exactly the same arrangements as last year (detailed in link above). And of course, this is the free teaser for bigger and better things to come on May 12, 2012. Registration for Fort Collins' first ever 50 miler opens December 7. Website goes live December 1 (or so).

A Horsetooth taster from Saturday:

Stumbled across this vid the other day. Fell running looks like a lot of fun - love those cross country starts.

Week Ending Nov 20

Mon - 7 miles (1,800') easy with Sam. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Sdoerberg - home long.

Tues - AM: 9 miles intervals. Cemetery work out with the cemetery gang: mile, 800, 1.5 mile, 3x800. 3min rest between first four intervals, then 20 sec between 3x800. Tough workout. I was able to hang on at a decent effort for the most part, but definitely faded on the 3x800 at the end on short rest: 5:16, 2:34, 8:09 (5:18, 2:51 (ugh!)), 2:41, 2:36, 2:42.
PM: 7.5 miles (1,400') easy. Two laps of the Reservoir Ridge route in the dark with a fading light. Easy, easy.

Weds - 7.5 miles (1,800') easy with Sam. Horsetooth summit - Wathan - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hill tempo. HTH5MO@B. Chilly out, but little to no wind made it bearable. Driving down and jogging out I was feeling supremely unmotivated after a sleepless night of Stella wake-up calls. Out super easy with Pete, Sam, Slush, Celeste and Lisa in 41:45, with the thought to come back at a steady rather than hard effort. Coming up the north dam hill, I was largely able to stick to that plan, then Sam decided to notch up the effort and I couldn't resist tagging along, 10 meters adrift. Bridged the gap through mile two and then pushed past going up the hill on mile three. As usual, Sam blew by me and my short, stubby legs coming down Monster Hill and then it was off to the races for the last mile down to Maxwell. Was happy to keep Sam within 10 seconds by the finish, which popped at 30:20 (6:04). Splits went: 7:45, 6:14, 5:56, 5:34, 4:51.
PM: 7 miles (1,700') Towers steady. Started out conversational with Slush until Herrington and then opened it up a bit as I was feeling surprisingly smooth despite the morning session. Beautiful evening out, and probably 25 degrees warmer than 12 hours earlier. Well over 20 of us on the hill, which is pretty impressive for mid-November. Up in 34:02.

Friday: 8.5 miles (2,100') easy. Soderberg - Spring Creek - Wathan - Rock - Audra - Southridge back up to Rock - Rock - Soderberg - home long.

Saturday: 18.5 miles (6,300') hills. Double Round Mountain. Bit of a sketchy drive out to the Round trailhead with an icy downfall during the night. Trail conditions were decent enough though, with not much more than a skiff of snow, with some ice hidden in places underneath. Ran most of the first climb at a pretty casual pace with Dakota and Slush, then soloed the descent and subsequent ascent/descent. Just managed to sneak under an hour on the first summit (which required an absurd sprint through the last 200 meters), then right on 59 mins for the second climb. Both descents were slow (45, 43) due to the sketchy underfoot conditions, and I was generally feeling tired and a little bonky second time up. Good group out: Kristel, Justin, Toto, Pete, Celeste, Ziggy, Steph, Chris, Pete and Dakota.

Sunday: 27 miles (6,200') long. 4:22. Out with Ryan for an elevation-gain fact-finding mission. Ran the full 25 miles of the May race route, which my Highgear altimeter clocked at a whopping 5,800 feet (11,600' for the full 50). This thing really is going to be a ball buster. After yesterday's Round Mountain session, I was feeling pretty worked towards the end, but by and large was able to maintain a constantly steady and comfortable pace the whole way around. The 25 miles took almost exactly 4 hours, so we're thinking anything under 3:30 in the 25 mile and 7:30 in the 50 mile will be pretty stout, with the 7:30 being the tougher target in my opinion. Ryan thinks we should name the race 'Relentless 50,' as the climbs just keep coming, but we already have a name (and almost a website). Registration opens within the next couple of weeks.

Total: 102 miles (22,700')

Another big weekend in the books. Not sure I can remember my last 6,000'+ double weekend. I certainly didn't feel stellar on either run, but by the same token I was able to run through both runs at a steady effort without feeling a great deal of deterioration, which has me feeling pretty strong if not particularly sharp. Just grinding 'em out and hoping to have some good fitness for Bandera in January.

Thinking I'll put in a mini taper for the Turkey Day race just to rest things up a bit and not get too carried away on the volume front. The summer racing season is still a long way off and I'm no spring chicken. Got to take care of all the moving parts.

Week Ending May 15

Mon - Noon: 9 miles (1,900') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.
PM: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Bluesky to Arthurs and back.

Tues - AM: 10 miles track. This workout was Sarah's suggestion and ended up being a nice mix of speed and stamina: 4 (1,600, 400). It's always so hard to get cranking at six in the morning, but then it's also great to be done with your workout by seven. Digits: 5:41, 75, 5:31, 75, 5:24, 75, 5:20, 73.
PM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Dead legs, sore throat, crappy run.

Weds - 8 miles (1,900') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Wathan - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long. Holy hail batman. Hailed pretty much the entire run - think there might have been a mix of snow in there too.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Thurs - 11 miles (1,500') hill tempo. Scared off the trails by two days of rain, my Thursday morning running partners outvoted my pitch for Bluesky in favor of our winter road route: the HTH 5 Mile Out and Back (HTH5MOaB). It was wet, kinda windy, but generally pleasant enough. Out with Scott, Sarah and Tim in a casual 40:38, then back in 31:25 (7:25, 6:17, 6:36, 5:40, 5:25). Doubled back to run the last half mile back in with Sarah.
PM - 8.5 miles easy. On the bike paths with the FCTR crew for the Thursday social run.

Fri - 13 miles (2,000') easy. From Bluesky TH, Bluesky - Valley - Arthurs TH - Arthurs Rock trail to summit - Howard - Mill Creek Link - Valley - Bluesky. Hot. Nice cruiser run.

Sat - 25 miles (3,700') easy. 3:31. Out and back from home to Devil's Backbone in Loveland via Bluesky. All three Loveland-side loops with Indian Summer both ways, then home long. Ran easy with Alex M to the Loveland Ridge, picked it up a touch coming home. Just the warm up for the main event tomorrow.

Sun - 30 miles (10,000'). Round Mountain ladder workout. 5:22 run time, 5:34 total with stops at TH. Okay, so Round Mountain (8,500') is an approximately 3,000' foot climb to the summit over the course of 4.75 miles from the trailhead. Conveniently there are mile markers to the summit, which when combined with the steady and steep climbing nature of the rocky singletrack makes for a great training hill. The plan for this particular morning was to out-and-back from each of the four mile markers, finishing up with a final run at the summit for 29 miles and just under 10k' of climbing (9,750'). As usual, we had a good group show up for the early 5:30 start, despite the socked-in snowy conditions. The goal going in was to run at a steadily decent clip all morning with a slight uptick in effort as the run progressed. An uphill pacing session, I guess. I took splits at each and every mile marker - up and down - to try and make sure I was sticking to the plan.

The up splits: Mile 1 <+580'> (12:43, 11:43, 11:14, 11:24, 11:16); mile 2 <+780'> (12:55, 12:25, 12:15 , 12:24); mile 3 <+460'> (11:41, 11:25, 11:07); mile 4 <+580'> (12:32, 11:45); final .75 <+480'> (10:49).

The down splits: Mile 1 (9:26, 8:45, 8:23, 8:43, 9:02); mile 2 (8:53, 8:19, 8:07, 8:10); mile 3 (10:03, 10:18, 10:17); mile 4 (9:15, 8:56); final .75 (8:21)

Ran the final summit lap in 57:21, a good 7 minutes off my PR, but given the previous 20 miles and 6,500' of climbing and descending, I felt like it was a pretty solid effort. Pooped out on the final 3/4 of a mile to the summit. Total climb on the day, including bonus climbing on the down laps, was exactly 10,000 feet (per my Highgear altimeter). Warmed down with a final half mile out and back to hit 5 figures on the climbing front and a nice round 30 miles on the morning.

The Round Mountain Ladder: 29 miles, 10k'. Courtesy: Pete Stevenson

Final descent. Photo: Rob Erskine.

Punch drunk on vertical: Mr Awesome (Slush). Photo: Alex May.

Pete showing off the Hardrock beard. Photo: Rob Erskine.

Total: 135 miles (24,400').

Another big week (biggest ever in fact) with just three more to go before I start a gradual three-week taper for WS/HR. Today's workout was maybe not the best idea with Jemez just around the corner, but got to keep my eye on the dueling Western States/Hardrock goals. Will definitely take things easy this week in getting ready for Jemez.

Looks like Kilian ran well for the win at the NF100k in Australia against some decent competition this weekend. Tony is running again, and most everyone else on the WS100 start list looks to be in killer shape. Gonna be a barn burner.

Switching things up this week for the Towers workout with a run at Horsetooth Rock. We'll meet at the Upper Horsetooth parking lot at the usual time (a few ticks before six) with the usual handicapping. Choose your route: 3.3 - 3.6 miles & 1,500' climb depending on your route choices.

Round Mountain Spring Time Trial

Round Mountain is without a doubt my favorite hill to time trial. Towers is all good and well, but it's a dirt road and that's not really my thing. Round has everything. It's got its grunts, some flats, some views along the way, mile markers, rocks, roots, tons of switchbacks, and speedy technical sections. Honestly, you couldn't ask for more from a mountain, and at 4.5-4.75 miles (unsure of exact distance) with 2,700 feet of vertical it has just about the right stats to make it a challenge, but not be too intimidating that the thought of it makes you want to roll over and go back to bed (Pikes).

This was to be the second installment of the Front Range time trial series, the first having taken place on much different terrain up the front side of Green. We had almost the same cast of characters in attendance minus Brandon, Cat, Victoria, Slush and Brownie, but plus Nick P (finally Boulder shows up), Cherilyn, Rick and Travis. The last time (July `09) I TT'd Round I ran 52:55, so that was floating out there as a fastest known time (FKT) and the morning's mark.

Rick had taken off up the mountain before I got there, while Cherilyn and Travis set off a few minutes before the rest of us, apparently tired of our mindless chatter. As usual, GZ got the ball rolling by taking a flier from the gate, while Lucho was busy waiting for a satellite signal from space. Undeterred, Lucho was on us within meters and much like on Green was soon out of sight with Eric not far behind and Bob making up the last of the podium positions. I was in a state of absolute oxygen debt after a cold (no warm-up) start, and my legs felt like bricks after a heavy weekend of miles and vertical. A couple of minutes in and I was still feeling terrible, so I just slotted in behind George and figured I'd tempo the hill.

Just before the first mile marker, I finally felt like I was hitting a bit of a rhythm and that I would be able to push out a solid effort. Half way into the second mile, I caught sight of Bob a couple of switchbacks up and was overtaking him by 2.5, just before the beginning of the technical flat section, which I hammered harder than I think I ever have. By the time I popped out past the three-mile marker, Eric was beginning to come into view, so I set about hunting him down although he was still a good couple of switchbacks up on me. I finally caught him shortly after the four-mile marker, and then concentrated on getting my head down for the remainder of the climb, confident that Lucho was still way up on me and uncatchable.

The split at four miles was just under 42 minutes, so I knew a PR was going to happen, but that the sub-50 was going to be touch and go. Apparently I didn't have enough left in the tank to dip under 50, but I got close, hitting the summit cairn in 50:24, which was good for a PR haircut of two and a half minutes. Considering I had 52 miles and over 12,000' in my legs from the prior two days, I'll take it.

Eric was next up (51 low), followed by Bob (53:30), George (55:47), Nick P (60 low), Cherilyn (60-61 - no watch, but best guess based on her start time and proximity to GZ at the finish), Rick (62 high, coming from sea level) and Travis (no watch). Pete was a DNF after puking two miles in. Lucho also puked at the top (Rick reportedly has video evidence) after registering a blistering 47:58. I think anyone who has run Round can attest to how fast that time is - damn, Lucho!

So, yeah, another fun morning with a great bunch of guys, some good BS'in, and perfect weather. George and I headed back up to the two-mile marker for 13 miles and 4,200' on the day, while Nick pushed out another summit as he builds back up for Hardrock in six weeks after five weeks on the DL.

Splits (versus previous PR):

9:58 (10:09)
11:33 (11:53)
9:43 (10:35)
10:25 (11:04)
8:43 (9:13)

Some action from the morning:

Round Mountain Summer Time Trial

Last time I chased Round Mountain, in January, I was pretty pleased to get up the 4.75 miles and 3,000 feet of rocky, switchback-laden singletrack in under an hour (58:23), but at the time I figured I was good for at least a sub-55-minute ascent with increased fitness and better, snow-free conditions. I decided to take a stab at the 55-minute goal last night. I was joined by Jonathan Zeif, who is in training for his tenth Journey Across the Sky in Leadville this summer. If successful, which he will be, J.Z. will bring home the coveted (and ridiculously large) 1,000-mile belt buckle.

The conditions at 6:30 on this evening were overcast and spitting rain - pretty good considering it could have been sweltering or massively stormy. As usual, I didn't much feel like embarking on an hour of hurt, but that's what mountain racing is all about (once you find your threshold and rhythm, it's never that bad).

Through the first mile, I was huffing and puffing, feeling slow and generally out of sorts. I was surprised then to see my one-mile split at 10:09, which was a minute faster than last time. Hmm, effort felt hard, but sustainable. I was going to wait for the two-mile split before calling this one a PR'able run.

Second, and toughest, mile came in at 11:53, another minute quicker than last time. I had found my groove and knew that a PR and FKT was in the cards. My effort felt similar to my run in January, so I concluded that I was simply a minute per mile fitter over this climb than I was in the winter. The third mile, which includes some flatter and faster sections, in addition to some of the steeper switchbacks on the climb, came in at 10:35; 90 seconds up on January. Now it was just a matter of maintaining the effort and seeing where I could shave some extra seconds with increased push. I decided to stay steady on mile four, hitting the split at 11:04 (one minute faster again), and then push the final 3/4 of a mile with whatever I had left.

The final stretch has probably the steepest climbing of the whole run, but it also has the best footing so you can really push if you have anything left. I felt like I still had some good push in me, so put my head down and ground out what I could, which turned out to be a 9:13 last split (another minute shaved) for a total run time of 52:55, or a 5:20 PR and new fastest-known time (FKT) for local runners who keep track of such things.

Very pleased with this run and the evidence that I'm in good aerobic shape despite significantly reduced mileage in the weeks either side of Bighorn. My legs felt great, so appear to be back on track after the beating they took two weeks ago, although I'm fully aware that they're probably not entirely healed. I plan to take it very easy after the Leadville Marathon next weekend to let everything repair properly before shifting my focus to the roads, and the beginning of a training cycle that will hopefully culminate in a sub-2:40 run at the Dublin Marathon in October.

I wore the Crosslites for their first outing since I got them the other day. Unfortunately I had the laces pulled too tight, so suffered through numb feet for most of the run. In addition, I had some pain in my right arch because of the narrow fit. On the plus side, the shoes are like none I have ever run in before, both in terms of lightness of feel and in flexibility across the whole shoe. I know La Sportiva build rock climbing shoes, so I couldn't help feeling that the fit of the Crosslites kind of felt that way: tight and flexible. These shoes are going to take some getting used to, but once I've figured out the right tension to put on the laces, and find trust in the flexibility of the shoe, I think they're going to rock as much as I thought they would when I got them out of the box for the first time.

Round Mountain Time Trial

Round Mountain (a.k.a Sheep Mountain) is a few miles west of Loveland on Highway 34, accessed via a pull-off to the left, a few bends past Big Thompson Canyon. The first and last time I ran Round Mountain, I decided it would make for a great test of mountain fitness. Not only do the stats suggest a major climb (4.75 miles, 3,000+ ft climbing), but the trail is in great shape and ... get this ... there are mile markers!

My time to beat from a steady effort the first time was 1 hour 10 minutes, which I knew was more than do-able. The real test was to get to the summit in under an hour.

Chad and I met at the Conoco on Highway 34 at 6:30. It was still dark out and the full moon to the west was sitting just above the mountains, slightly shrouded by early morning mist. The sun to the east was just starting to spray orange over the plains. Another perfect morning for a run.

Chad hadn't gotten home until two that morning, so was working on less than four hours sleep: a victory in itself I later told him as we were getting back into the car from the run. I wasn't feeling particularly perky either and was ready to take it easy. However, like a tightly wound energizer bunny, as soon as we got going I found adrenaline from somewhere and rocketed up the opening jeep track section of the trail.

There are a couple of short downhill sections in the opening mile, which make for possibly the fastest mile of the five. It still being dark out, and with loose rock strewn across the trail, the downhills were pretty precarious. Luckily there were no spills. I hit the first mile marker a bit under 11 minutes.

The second mile is a real grind of unrelenting switchbacks. I was beginning to feel my two cups of early morning coffee on this section and felt like I might be revisiting them sometime soon. I clocked the second mile at 24 minutes and continued the upward grind, detouring off trail a couple of times to get around trees that had come down in the wind earlier in the week.

About halfway through the third mile the trail relents a little and one has a chance to open up across some nice rocky formations and sandy footing. I hit mile marker three at 36 minutes and felt like I was well on course for a sub-60 minute summit. My legs were beginning to scream, but on the plus side I was pretty sure the coffee was going to stay down.

After a reasonably easy section, the switchbacks started back up and there were some tricky patches of snow and ice through mile four, which I clicked off at 48 minutes, a steady 12-minute-per-mile average. At the best of times, the last .75-mile section is probably the toughest; on tired legs and lungs it is a real grind. However, I knew that if I could continue to push I would meet my goal for the day. And so it was that I was able to get the last three quarters of a mile done in just over 10 minutes for a total ascent time of 58:23. I was pretty beat and spent a good half minute panting for air.

As I was waiting for Chad I took the time to sign the summit book and leaf through the comments from the last year. The fastest recorded time in the log book was 1 hour, 1 second. After consulting Jonathan Vigh's Fort Collins fastest known time (FKT) website, it looks like I bettered the previous record from Aug '05 by a slender 14 seconds, so I am going to put my time out there as an FKT to beat. With a clear trail, and in similar shape, I reckon I could probably go under 58 minutes. Come spring, I hope to run it in under 55 minutes.

Chad ended up limping his way to the top with knee-tracking issues, so we took it real slow on the way back down, taking time to snap off a few pictures and throw in a couple of "free running" moves. Chad's high air heel click won the day!

We talked about following the ridge line to the summit of this peak on the other side of the river sometime in the future, possibly coming in from Bobcat Ridge.

An unusual formation in the middle of the trail

Someone had the clever idea of naming it!

The Big Thompson winding its way down the valley

Chad's arse obscuring a cool little section of the trail that runs through the rock

That section minus the arse

Our original plan was to come back down and go cross country to take in the two peaks in the foreground. My hands were so cold and Chad's knees so beat up, we bagged that idea for another day.

Update: Ran 52:55 in July setting a new FKT.