Week Ending October 7

Mon - Off. Legs still destroyed from the 40 miles of pavement at UROC.

Tues - 3 miles track. End of season relays for the Tuesday Night Track group. I only showed up for this because it was the last session of the season. I jogged out a painful mile to warm up and then ground my teeth for an 800 - 800 - 400 - 200 - 100 relay session with tons of rest between each one. For the open 800 I was just about able to hang with Sarah. The 800 and 400 after that were just painful, but the sprints felt okay. I had the anchor leg for the 200 and ended up receiving the baton in second just five meters back from Ruth - a former D1 (Baylor) 400 meter runner - and of course felt compelled to at least try and compete. Was able to keep the gap at 5 meters for the first 150, then totally pooped out when it became clear that I wasn't going to bridge the gap. The final 100 meter leg felt pretty good compared to everything else (in fact the shorter the distance, the better things felt in general).

Weds - Off

Thurs - 6.5 miles (1,600') easy. Horsetooth south summit via Slush's Slit with Burch, Wesir and Marks. Good to get some miles in with Burch after his return from boot camp. Dude has put on a bunch of upper body poundage.

Fri - 6.5 miles (1,600') easy. Horsetooth north summit.

Sat - 4 miles (1,000') hiking. Kruger Rock (9,355'). Took a quick trip up to Estes after Alistair's XC meet in Longmont. Hiked up with the family on a beautifully crisp fall morning. Everything south of Longs was obscured by clouds, but north from there the views were sensational. Fun little hike.

Sun - 4.5 miles (1,500') hiking. Horsetooth north summit with Alistair and Stella later in the day after manning the Towers aid station for the Bluesky Marathon in the morning. Alistair called off any talk of breaking an hour for the ascent early in the hike, so we just enjoyed the afternoon and goofed off on the way up. Alistair said he wanted a south summit, so we tried one of the easier routes up there, but he got a bit freaked out half way up so we backtracked and did the north summit instead. Started getting cold once the sun ducked behind the Divide, so we hot footed it down with Stella screaming in my ear much of the way.

Total: 24.5 miles (5,700')

I love the off season: Go out when you feel like it, otherwise stay home and feel good about it. More of the same over the next few months with lots of bushwhacking up obscure peaks added to the mix.