Week Ending April 29

Mon - Off. Wow, picked up a stomach bug from Stella that quite literally put me on my back. I haven't been out of commission like that in quite some time. Running was completely out of the question, and with Dana knocked out too, parenting was also a near impossibility. Thankfully, Alistair found some empathy and behaved himself while the rest of us wallowed in self pity.

Tues - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls. Miraculously, I woke up with at least some energy, and the stomach problems seemed to be largely gone. Definitely tired, but was at least able to jog.
PM: 6 miles (600') easy. Valley loop. Still tired, but jogging seemed to help.

Weds - Noon: 8 miles (2,000') easy. Horsetooth summit on Southridge/Audra, descent on Wathan/Spring Creek. Still not right, but definitely better.
PM - 6 miles (600') w/ 3 @ tempo. Jogged out to Arthurs from Soderberg on the east valley, then came back on the west valley / nomad at a solid tempo effort: 24:40 out, 18:35 back.

Thurs - AM 16 miles (3,800') fartlek. 2:28. Soderberg - Spring Creek - Towers (to top and then back down) - Shoreline - Sawmill - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge. Put in a tempo-type effort (if not speed) coming up Spring Creek (17:42, 3-way to Towers) and Sawmill-Loggers-Carey to Towers (19:17). Legs were pretty flat from the tempo effort yesterday, in addition to general flu fatigue.
PM: 7 miles easy. Social run with FCTR. Boom, and just like that the stomach bug was back. This was one of my more miserable runs in recent memory.

Fri - PM: 5 miles easy. Valley trails at Lory. Still not right, low energy levels, but better than the night before.

Sat - AM: 27 miles (6,000') long. Ran the Quad Rock loop from my house at a steady training pace (3:58). Original plan was to run some varied paces and push hard up the last climb, but due to continued stomach-bug bloat and low energy levels, I just plugged the whole way.  

Sun - AM: 20 miles (2,100') long. Initially I was going to complete the Quad Rock 50 course by running it in reverse after yesterday's clockwise loop, but I just couldn't face it. I was definitely feeling better, but I chose to run some faster mileage to give myself a break and get the run over with. Circumnavigated the reservoir from my house, with an attempt at connecting on the north end via a supposed (mythical) trail off the north dam. Ended up bushwhacking most of the way into Lory and down-climbing off a cliff band. Clearly, I need navigational help next time I attempt that. Bushwhack aside, most of this was at a comfortable 6:50 - 7:50 pace, with a 7:30 average.
  
PM: 5 miles (1,500') hike. Escorted my niece, Alistair and Stella up to the top of Horsetooth where we enjoyed a nice picnic and a chance encounter with Alistair's kindergarten teacher. As usual, hauling baby weight up and down Horsetooth proved to be as a good a workout as any training run.


Total: 105 miles (17,600')

Battled through a rough week with a really nasty stomach bug, but I think I'm through the worst of it. Hopefully, this week will be a nice rebound week and I'll be able to get some quality work done.

It was fun to run the Quad Rock course on Saturday. However, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor saps who'll be running the full 50 as I was finishing up my single loop. The course is plain old tough. If it's a hot day, I'm predicting high levels of carnage, and a 50-mile finisher rate close to 50 percent. Of course, I hope to be proven wrong. Plans continue to come together. We've lined up 'R&B-flavored' Lee Holiday and the Time Off for musical entertainment; Pateros Creek will be serving their English Mild, which we have dubbed the '51st Mile;' we've got a kids' course mapped out; schwag a plenty to dish out; and a nice cool reservoir to dip your tired legs in post race; oh, and a sizzling BBQ too.

Today is the last day to register. Yes, we're sold out, but due to a number of runner cancellations, we've decided to bump onto the start list anyone from the wait list who registers by tomorrow. But registration will definitively close EOD tomorrow.

And how about Team Pearlie? Dylan and Timmy sweep the top two spots at Leona, while Ashley picks up second in the women's race. With Dylan now on the start list for Western States, PI officially has a scoring team at the event (if, of course, there was a team event). On the right day, I believe that all three of us have a legitimate shot at the podium. The race is stacked like never before (seems like I've heard that before), with the international component being especially intriguing, so maybe some team dynamics might come into play. A little shoulder nudge here, a loose foot there, the team break from the peloton at a well-timed aid station. Who knows? The Big S will be bringing their star-studded cast of international runners + massive support crew, but you better believe that the Dirtbag Pearlies will be scrapping the whole way.

Fortnight Edning April 22

Week Ending April 15

Mon - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 4 miles (500') easy. Bluesky.

Tues - AM: 9 miles easy/steady. Turned the legs over at a very controlled effort at Jane's morning workout: mile, 2 mile, mile, 2 mile. Ran with Dennis for all of these: 6:19, 13:10, 6:06, 12:53.
PM: 4 miles (500') easy. Bluesky.


Weds - Noon: 4 miles (500') easy. Bluesky.

Thurs - Noon: 3 miles (600') easy. Bench loop.
PM: 7.5 miles easy. Social run with FCTR.

Fri - Off. Wanted to run, but crammed to get taxes finished (need to seriously adjust my withholdings) before my noon flight to Oakland, and then found myself a plate of pasta and an IPA deep at the pre-race shinding before I remembered that I was going to run on the CA end of the day. Oh well. 

Sat - 50.5 miles (7,000') race. Lake Sonoma 50.


Sun - 11.5 miles (700') steady. Joined Craig Thornley and Meghan Arbogast for a 10 miler at Meghan's 100k pace a week before her trip out to Italy to race the 100k World Championships. The legs felt surprisingly perky, if a bit sore, and the low to mid 7's felt good on the scenic rolling roads around Healdsburg.


Total: 98.5 miles (10,800')

Pretty much a taper week for what it was worth. Lake Sonoma was an excellent stock-taking race. A plan has been formulated. Kind of.

Week Ending April 22


Mon - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley trails. Quads were definitely sore on both runs, but okay after a couple of miles.

Tues - AM: 4.5 miles easy. Out and back on the Mason trail while waiting for new tires to be put on the Xterra.
PM: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs and back.


Weds - PM: 8.5 miles (2,200') easy. Horsetooth summit via Southridge - Audra with a return on Wathan - Spring Creek. Legs were good on the Horsetooth climb, but still a bit quiffy on the descent.

Thurs - AM: 4 miles easy on Bluesky.
PM: 9.5 miles (2,300') w/ hard Horsetooth summit. Switched the biweekly FCTR Towers TT to Horsetooth for a change of pace and scenery. Started out relatively easy on the initial section of the Rock trail and then popped in behind Sam from about the Soderberg/Rock trail intersection. Ended up PR'ing by 8 seconds (23:42), which was a bit of a surprise given the Lake Sonoma effort on Saturday. Certainly more time to be chopped there. Splits - bench: 4:42; Soderberg/H'tooth junction: 7:23; Rock/Southridge: 15:43; summit: 23:42. Back via Westridge, Spring Creek. Legs kinda shaky coming down.

Fri - Noon: 9 miles (1,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. 
PM: 5.5 miles (700') easy. From Bluesky TH to Nomad/Shoreline loop.

Sat - Noon: 25.5 miles (8,000') Crosier Triple Bagger. For the fourth year in a row, I headed out to Crosier Mtn (9,250') and gave myself an early season ass whooping with three summits from the three different Crosier trailheads that sit along the Devil's Gulch Road between Drake and Glen Haven. Originally, I was planning on meeting folk from the Fort Collins Trail Runners at 5:45 for a pre-dawn start, but family obligations meant that I had to reschedule and run this one solo, starting just before noon. Given that it was HOT out, it ended up being quite a test and the first rung on the heat training ladder for WS100. I mueled 70 oz of water (heavy) to the top on the first climb from Garden Gate and drank all of it before the run was all said and done.

First climb and descent were fine, but I probably got a little carried away on the descent. Coming up on the second summit, the alarm bells started going off and I knew it was going to be a tough outing. My legs had very little pep and the uphill work was just hard. I was sweating profusely and feeling just a little bonky. I ate a banana and drank a ton of water on top, then started feeling bloated. Coming up on the third summit, the nausea started kicking in and I had no other thought in my mind than to get the run completed. For the first time ever on this route, I dropped to a hike on the summit grunt (450', half mile), but I was fine with that. I made an effort at running it, but just had nothing in my legs. Took it super easy coming down on the final 3,200 foot descent in an effort to get back to the car in one piece; hiked the 200 foot grunter in the middle of the descent. I think the heat, combined with lingering fatigue from Lake Sonoma did a number on me today. Nonetheless, I am super happy to take the crosier-triple streak into its fourth year, and as always the unsurpassed views of the Divide and Estes Valley from on top were (almost) worth the pain.

Splits (vs a steadier 2011):

First ascent: 1:05:53 (summit spur: 9:05, 3:41 on top) (2011 - 1:02, 8:55)
First descent: 30:14 (36:47)
Second ascent: 47:15 (8:24, 5:38) (46:30, 8:07)
Second descent: 33:54 (32:59)
Third ascent: 49:53 (10:11, 3:41) (45:21, 7:49)
Final descent: 51:12 (48:49)

Run time: 4:39 (4:32)
Outing time: 4:52 (5:33)

Sun - AM: 19 miles (1,000') steady. Ran from home to hook in with the Horsetooth Half Marathon course. Watched the race get under way from the top of South Dam and then ran easy for the next three of four miles waiting for the field to catch up. Bumped into A. Marks on the way, which was a surefire way to keep things easy. Leaders went by on top of North Dam, after which I picked up the pace a bit, dropping into the low 6s through to Bingham Hill. Dropped back down into the low 7s on the bike path so I could let friends further back in the field catch up. Ran with Pete for a bit, then Alex, and finally Sarah over the last two miles. Rounded out the morning at the New Belgium finish area with a brew and a bit of hanging out, before heading back with the family for a morning/afternoon of weed pulling and Horsetooth hiking.     

Total: 105 miles (18,300')

Straight back in the saddle post Lake Sonoma. May or may not be the best strategy in the world, but I always find that recovery comes easier through running than it does through sitting around. Paid for it on Saturday with a pretty miserable run, but that one gets filed away in the brain-callusing file, which I'll be inspecting somewhere between the Middle Fork of the American River and the Western States finish line in late June.

Lake Sonoma 50

Sonoma County reminds me of home - Canterbury home, that is. The hills are a bit bigger, but the wooded, lush and rolling nature of the terrain has a very Kentish feel to it. Deep greens are always a welcome break from Front Range Brown, so feeling at ease with my surroundings on the drive north from Oakland on Friday, I felt like I was ready for a good run.

After a very restful night, it was up early to meet Darcy and Mackey for the quick 20 minute drive to the start at the south bay of the ridiculously scenic Lake Sonoma, a reservoir that feeds the vineyard covered hillsides of the surrounding valleys. Given the serenity of the lakeside route and the seemingly remote nature of the venue, the race had a certain calm about it that was really quite refreshing.  

We listened to a few brief words from race director John Medinger and then we were off up the road for a couple of rolling asphalt miles to stretch out the field before the singletrack stomp began. Despite the strong field, the road miles were run at a pretty casual pace, with runners seemingly more interested in banter and catching up than in racing.

We hit the trail at 2.5 miles and immediately got a taste of what was in store for the next six hours. The dirt track bombed downwards on some pretty sloppy trail, then just as quickly assumed an upward trajectory around one of the hundreds of drainage channels that feed the lake. This was then followed by some rolling turns, a couple of sharp up and downs and then some more rolling. If you want to run a jabby, rolling course then come out and run Lake Sonoma, as I believe the race is the dictionary definition of both 'jabby' and 'rolling.' In fact, let's just call it 'jabolling.'

I prefer my climbs and descents a little longer, but a little variation never hurt anyone, besides I was feeling decent enough through the early going that I was happy to be on the roller coaster tracks. The banter was good, with Mr. Koerner being in particularly fine form.

With all the mini climbs and descents, it became apparent early where peoples' strengths lay. Joe Uhan was steady 10 meters or so off the front, while Gary Gellin in second was running an awkwardly choppy tempo dictated by his heart rate monitor: hard on the downs and then trippingly slow on the climbs. A group of us edged around Gary a few miles into the singletrack and the pace quickened a touch as we bridged up to Joe.

After about 10 miles, the pace was apparently still too lazy for Timmy Olson who shot to the front and quickly gapped the peloton. Fair enough, I thought; nobody went with him. Jorge Maravilla led the pace of the chase group with, I think Dave Mackey and Dakota in front of me and a train of probably seven other guys behind. We hit the second major creek crossing after 12 miles, just before the second aid station, after having gone waist deep through the first water crossing at mile three or four. This one, while longer, was a little shallower but still deep enough that foot placement was something of a leap of faith.

'Warm Creek' crossing. Photo: Glenn Tachiyama

Shortly after exiting the creek and coming into aid 2. Photo: Drymax

I should have just gone straight through at the aid station, but instead stopped to top up on water as I had no clue when the next water stop was. Jorge, Dakota, Dave and Hal all scooted through, and with Timmy already a minute ahead, I was in sixth leaving the aid station with a bit of a gap to make up on the chase pack. I figured it wouldn't take long, but as it turned out I wouldn't see Dakota or Timmy again until the finish. Hal and Dave, however, would remain in sight on longer stretches.

And so it went all the way to the mile 25 turnaround. I would get glimpses of Hal and Dave every now and again, then on the shoulder checks I would see that there was nobody in close proximity behind. Given that there was a one-mile loop for the turnaround before recommencing on the return portion of the 50 mile out-and-back course, I never got a check on the gap to Dakota and Tim. Too bad because I wanted to tell them both to slow the hell down. On the short spur to the halfway aid, I caught up to Hal, while seeing that Dave was a minute or two ahead. I got a quick refill, managing to get out just ahead of Hal.

The first mile or two of the return journey would involve an 800 foot drop on what had been the biggest climb of the day on the way out, followed by a climb of equal length to the 30 mile aid, then another decent drop before resuming the rolling theme of the day. I hadn't really been descending that well for most of the morning as my quads were feeling strangely 'off,' so I took it relatively easy on the first big descent from the turnaround, which allowed Hal to get back in front of me. Nonetheless, it was good enough to pick off an obviously ailing Mackey. I resumed the lead over Hal climbing back up to the 30 mile aid station and then tried to hit the ensuing descent a little harder to see if I could build a gap, but it seemed like Hal was feeling feisty and ready to race, sticking to me like glue.

Mile 28 or so, with Mackey behind. Photo: Gary Wang

There was no need for shoulder checks to keep tabs on Hal as his headphones could be heard a good ten meters ahead. I'd get the second-hand music all the way through mile 35 or so, after which I slowly, finally, began to build a gap. While there was still no sign of the guys in front, I had heard the gap was six minutes from a couple of people along the course, and then just as I was pulling into the penultimate aid station at mile 38 I got a view of Jorge who I hadn't seen in a good three hours. Bummer for him, I thought, as I knew he was after a Western States spot, but a race is a race. I passed soon thereafter on a short climb and wished him well. My legs were still feeling decent so I was able to get out of sight pretty quickly. From there it was just a question of maintaining a tempo that would get me through to the finish in the shortest order possible. I had no idea how far Tim and Dakota were ahead of me, so continued to run as if I had a shot at reeling them in.

Then I got to the final aid station at mile 45 and learned that Dakota had somehow built a 30 minute lead on me and that Timmy was 10 minutes ahead. The sails were officially deflated and I slipped into 10-minute- per-mile mode for the last grinding uphill miles to the finish.

Ready for a beer. Photo: Drymax

As RD John Medinger put it in a recent email to runners, "the course is a hard - but ultimately fair - test of your fitness and tenacity." I'd definitely go along with that. As a side note, I think the total climb is probably a little closer to 7,000 feet than the advertised 10,000 feet, but unlike some 10,000 feet courses with five or six big upper-cut climbs, this one jabs away at you with 60-70 unrelenting body blows and it takes its toll. 

The post-race scene was highly conducive to hours of lingering. Buckets of quality beer, an awesome Yucatan feed, perfect weather and good people a plenty. Yup, that's the ticket.

Thornley seems to get everywhere. One day he'll rule the (ultrarunning) world. Photo: Drymax

I'm not quite sure what to make of my race to be quite honest. Up until I learned that Dakota was 30 minutes ahead of me, I actually felt like I was having a pretty good run. Through the last five miles, I faded horribly and started getting down on myself for letting the leaders get away so early in the race. Three or four days later, and I'm calling it a solid training run. With the Lake Sonoma and NF50 showing in December, it is clear that Dakota is running at the top of his game right now; I've just got to figure out how to up my game to match.
 

Top 10. Photo: Drymax

There are plenty of positives to take away from the race. I ran hard all morning and felt like there would have been plenty left to give at 100-mile pace. My equipment worked fantastically. The proto PI 'Ultra' shorts are a thing of beauty. They held two 5oz gel flasks in the compression hip pockets flawlessly and with absolutely no bounce. I'm digging the new tops too: nice and loud. For fueling, I used EFS drink mix and the new Kona Mocha gel, which combined offered great energy and kept at bay any threats of cramping. I made a conscious effort to drink more than I normally would in a bid to promote digestion and absorption of calories, and I was generally successful with getting the extra fluids down.

A tweak here and a tweak there and we should be good to go for Western States. To be sharp for the back 50, I know that I need to incorporate longer trail tempo efforts and start cutting out some of the 'easy' fluff that I'm so comfortable pushing out in training. I've also got to start working the downs a bit, but that's all part of the master plan. Getting beat by 30 minutes was a good slap in the face. Time to start sharpening the volume. Tick tock.   

Rough splits from memory:

12 mile (1:29)
25 mile (3:15)
30 mile (3:52)
38 mile (5:01)
46 mile (6:05)
50.5 mile (6:51)

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

Week Ending April 1

Mon - 10 miles (3,000') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Horsetooth summit - Audra - Southridge - Rock - Wathan - Spring Creek - Soderberg. 

Tues - AM: 11 miles intervals. Cemetery/City Park workout with a small group. Workout was: mile, 2x800, mile, 2x800, 2 mile. Looked like I was going to be working by myself, then Mike showed up after the first (lazy) mile and started pushing the pace on me. Ended up being a bit of a weird session with splits all over the place: 5:34, 2:36, 2:39, 5:11, 2:41, 2:39, 11:06 (5:33).
PM: 7 miles (1,700') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Southridge - Soderberg. Sore in the groin, hip and lower back - which is never a good sign - but okay after 20 minutes or so.

Weds - 10 miles (3,000') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Horsetooth summit - Audra - Southridge - Rock - Wathan - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Tired the whole way around. No second run today.

Thurs - AM: 12 miles (3,700') Horsetooth Hell Repeats. This is perhaps the workout I fear most in the whole world. It's (not that) short, (not that) sharp, incredibly painful, and never seems to end. Start point for each interval is a mile up the Soderberg service drive where it connects with the Horsetooth trail. Quarter mile is at the first big rock, just before the (very) slight downhill; half mile is at the tree about six strides beyond the top of the quad-killing railroad-tie stairs; 3/4 is at the memorial/intersection with Southridge; mile is at the second intersection with Southridge (route goes right at first intersection). The workout goes:

3 x 1/4 mile (+185')
2 x 1/2 mile (+380')
1 x 3/4 mile (+550')
1 x mile (+680') + top out on Rock
 
Had Tri-Sam and Mike to work with for these, which helped keep the effort honest. Doing different variations of the same concept were Pete, Victoria, Kristel, Mary and Steph, so a good early morning group. Didn't feel like I was going to have much, but ended up running all splits faster than the three previous times I've done this workout. Times, with Oct.'11 (abbreviated workout), August '11 & April '11 in parentheses for comparison:

2:33 (44, 42, 40), 2:29 (44, 41, 44), 2:31 (39, 38, 45)
5:19 (40, 42, 44), 5:26 (43, 38, 49)
8:26 (50, 40, 59)
11:00 (28, 41)

So those splits are significantly better than last year, which is encouraging. I can't say I felt particularly sharp, but the beauty of running known routes/workouts is that the watch doesn't lie. Based on the above splits, I should be PR'ing on Towers, which I am not, so I'm a little confused right now but I'll take the good news where I can get it.
PM: 7 miles social run with 4:59 downhill trail mile at the end.

Fri - AM: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Horsetooth summit. Up Southridge/Audra, down Rock. 
PM: 3.5 miles (1,500') peakbaggin'. 'Sullivan Stump' (7,778'). I was done with work projects by the early afternoon, the sun was shining and the kids were with their mother-in-law, so I zipped out to the Big Thompson for a run up Sullivan Gulch to go tag ranked peak 7,778' (41 down, 214 to go).

Sullivan Stump (7,778') from top Sullivan Gulch

From the little-known Sullivan Gulch TH, a mile or two past Drake on the right (very easy to miss), it's a little under 1.5 miles and 1,300' to the top of Sullivan Stump, a summit with commanding views of surrounding peaks and a great line of sight down the Big Thompson Canyon. It took about 20 minutes to get to the top, so this is one you can easily sneak in on your way up to Estes Park, if you've got 40 minutes or so to spare. The trail up to the Sullivan Gulch saddle is about a mile and 1,000 feet of climbing and then there is decent trod most of the way to the summit from there. Came back to the saddle and followed the Sullivan Gulch trail into Sullivan Park to the north with the intention of intersecting the Crosier Mountain trail, but the trail petered out to nothing and I couldn't be bothered bushwhacking to find the Crosier trail, but I got some good bearings and am pretty sure I'll be able to find it next time. Fun little outing.

Some local favorites: Signal, Lookout, Crosier Mtns.

Palisade Mtn. down the Big T

Longs Peak Up the Big T

Looking down at the Big T from Sullivan Stump

Sat - AM: 22 miles steady. Got up super early to squeeze in some miles on a busy day. Ran the bike paths to max mileage on minimum time. Wasted 10 minutes waiting for Sarah, who'd slept through her alarm, but ended up meeting her coming the other way a few miles in. No watch, but probably in the 6:40 zone for the first few, then high 6:50s for the next 10 or 11 miles with Sarah before she cut things short on Shields. Dropped it back down to probably 6:30s for the last 7 or 8, and felt decent, if not great.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') super easy. Falls loop at sundown.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
January: 330 miles (45,200')
February: 445 miles (58,500')
March: 501.5 (79,600')
 
Total: 1,276.5 miles (183,300')
Avg: 425.5 miles (61,100')
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 Ranked Summits: 
Horsetooth (22)
Palisade
Milner
Alexander
Green Mountain (7,335')
7,725'
7,098' (Poll Mtn range)
Goat Hill
Reservoir Ridge
7,260' (Ziggy Point)
8,415' (Leila Peak)
Mount Ethel
Buckhorn Mountain
5,740' (1)
5,740' (2)
7,178'
Table Mountain (7,074')
5,773' or 'Aggie Peak'
Green Ridge (7,402')
Spruce Mountain (7,781')
Storm Mountain (9,918')
Sullivan Stump (7,778')
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Sun - AM: 10.5 miles steady on the bike paths before the final T&H of the season.
AM (2): 5 miles (1,500') Horsetooth summit. Stopped off on the way back from the T&H and grabbed a quick summit. Stitch from a fat stomach (2 bagels, 2 big cups coffee).
PM: 5 miles (1,500') easy. Lily Mountain (9,786'). Went up to Estes Park with the family for the afternoon. Parked up at Lily Lake and then ran down to the Lily Mtn TH for a quick summit, while Dana, the kids and M-in-L enjoyed a nice stroll around the lake. It's just two miles to the top from the TH, with nearly all the climbing (1,000') in the last mile and the trail steepening up nicely toward the summit, which requires a bit of hands-on-rock action to get to the top of. The views west and north to The Divide are unsurpassed. The view of the Mummy Range in particular is quite fantastic and the complete Mummy Mania line is easy to pick out. As two-mile summits go, this one is pretty spectacular. Back to Lily Lake within an hour for a bit of jogging with Alistair before heading into town to feed our faces. Great day.

Total: 115 miles (18,700')

We've already had our first major fire of the season ... in March. This dry weather is really making me quite nervous. Here's hoping for major April moisture.

Fun and games next Saturday on Round Mountain for anyone who is interested. The Round Mountain ladder is a 30 mile, 10,000 foot beast of a training run, but the way we have it set up makes for a really fun and social morning. If you're going to grind yourself into the ground on a training run, then this is one of the more enjoyable ways of doing it.

Sad news out of NM yesterday. Rest in peace, Micah! 

Week Ending March 25

Mon - Noon: 8 miles (2,100') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Audra - Southridge - Rock - Soderberg. Took ages to warm up after Sunday's 37-mile effort, but felt reasonably smooth after a few miles.
PM: 3 miles (600') easy. Bench loop. All I had time for. 

Tues - AM: 10 miles intervals. Cemetery workout with Jane's group. Warming up, I felt totally flat so decided on a tempo effort for the workout, leaving Mike and Chris to do the heavy lifting by themselves. Workout was: mile, 3x800, mile, 2 mile. I decided to run the broken 1.5 mile (3x800) straight through without the usual 20 second jog between the 800s, as I wasn't trying to achieve any kind of turnover results. Splits: 5:40, 8:30 (2:50, 51, 49), 5:36, 11:29.
PM: 8.5 miles (2,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Horsetooth summit - Audra - Southridge - Rock - Soderberg.

Weds - Noon: 12 miles (3,000') easy. Jogged down to Soderberg, then sauntered up Towers (now fully clear of snow and ice), over the top on the Secret Trail and out for a quick summit of Horsetooth via Westridge. Back on Audra and Southridge, with some additional jogging in the neighborhood on the way home.

Thurs - AM: 10.5 miles (1,200') easy with Sarah. Conversational most of the way, with a slight uptick over the last few miles. Beautiful orange and blue daybreak over Coyote Ridge.
PM: 10 miles (2,100') Towers time trial. 29:33. There are only so many times a year that I can find the motivation to go hurt on Towers for 30 minutes straight, so I was a little disappointed not to register a PR tonight. Nonetheless, I was only seven seconds off, so I guess I should be happy with that. Judging by my splits (and how I felt working up the hill), it is pretty evident that I started pooping out about half way up.

Splits (from memory) versus PR Jan 2010 splits: Towers - 2:41 (2:45), Stout - 8:24 (8:43), Herrington 16:21 (16:43), Top 29:33 (29:26).

I'm not sure if it was a help or a hindrance, but there were five of us lined up in the sub-30 group (Hinterberg, Erb, Malmberg, Burch and me). Hinterberg and Malmberg went out at a pretty furious pace, which I had no interest in covering. By the Towers turn (.45), they were about 10 seconds up on me and Brian, with Burch close behind. As soon as we hit the road, it was evident that Mike had gone out too hard, and I went by him at the Stout intersection; Sam was maintaining his gap though and I could hear breathing behind (Brian). The pace felt slow, but I was working hard, so knew that I'd be in and around PR pace; however, by the top of the middle grunt I just didn't have much left to give. Brian went by me some time before the Mill Creek grunt and I just didn't have the mental fortitude to suck it up and get on his train. The last two pitches were pretty pathetic and I just did what I could to get to the top without puking. I learned again that the best way to attack this hill (and most in general) is to start conservatively and ratchet the pace/effort as you go. Starting with five other guys in a quasi-race situation didn't help with that pacing strategy. I think my next PR will come from an organic effort on a low-stress individual start where I can crank from Herrington.

Fri - PM: 8.5 miles (2,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock - Horsetooth summit - Audra - Southridge - Rock - Soderberg. Bumped into Mike on the way up to the Horsetooth summit. He'd come over from the Soderberg side, running Towers just 40 seconds slower than he did last night at the time trial.

Sat - AM: 33 miles (7,500'). Green Ridge, Spruce Mtn, Storm Mtn big ass loop with Mike.

Sun - AM: 22 miles steady with Mike and Sarah. The classic shark's tooth route on the bike paths/Overland Trail. Helped pace Sarah on a split 15 mile marathon pace run. After a 2 mile warm-up, we went 4 miles @ Sarah's MP (6:40, 39, 38, 37), 2 miles easy, 5 miles @ MP (6:45, 33, 45, 39, 40), 2 miles easy, 6 miles @ MP (6:43, 43, 45, 45, 48, 38). Sarah held on pretty well and dug deep to hold pace over the last six miles; confident that she'll go 2:55 or better at the Colorado Marathon in May. All things considered, I actually felt pretty good too, and it was nice to be getting some turnover after slogging for hours on Saturday.   

Total: 125.5 miles (21,400') 

Pretty good week for the most part. I was a bit disappointed to come up short on my Towers PR attempt on Thursday, but that will come. Went easy on the first half of the week to give myself time to recover from the 37-mile effort last Sunday, then hit a hard effort on Towers and cranked out two bigger efforts Saturday and Sunday for a 55-mile, two-run weekend. Not too shabby. Saturday was a fun outing and a long, time-on-feet kind of effort, and then Sunday was a good cruise that felt pretty effortless considering the 33 miles and big vert the day before.

This week tells me that I may not be that sharp right now on the speed side of the equation, but that things look good on the stamina/endurance front: No major slogging through the tail end of long runs, just strong and ready for the next one. And I guess that's where I want things as I start getting into the meat of the 50/100-mile season starting next month with Lake Sonoma. Nonetheless, I'll keep working on tweaking that top-end speed, if for no other reason than I enjoy moving a little faster every now and then.

Green Ridge, Spruce & Storm Mtns

Palisade Mountain and Longs/Meeker from Green Ridge.

One of these days I'm going to run to the top of Longs Peak from my house via an all-dirt route (that I'm still trying to figure out). Longs is easily the most prominent peak on our western skyline here in Fort Collins, and viewable from many a different angle from nearly every peak in the area with a southern or westerly view. Today was a scouting day ... a long scouting day.

Picking back up where I left off a couple of weeks ago, it was back out in search of ranked Larimer County peaks. Mine and Mike's plan for Saturday was to launch from Bobcat Ridge, heading in a northwesterly direction for Green Ridge (7,402') by way of the Valley and Powerline trails, before jumping the gate at the end of Powerline and quickly dropping into National Forest land on a forest road that dropped us under what we thought was the Green Ridge summit. Wrong. Again. Instead we were on a sub-summit to the south between Green Ridge and another sub-summit further down the ridge (Mahoney Knob, 7,141') that we had previously mistaken for Green Ridge on an expedition over the top of Milner Mtn in January.

Green Ridge summit hump.

Deadfall on Green Ridge's western slope. Mike descending in foreground.

The error was quickly remedied with a drop over mega deadfall to the saddle a couple of hundred  feet below, and a quick bop up to the true summit which offered nice views to the west (third time's a charm).

Spruce Mountain (7,781') became our fourth summit of the morning after we once again misidentified our intended target by pulling down a knob (7,722') to the north of Spruce. That, again, was quickly remedied, and after tagging at least five rock piles that looked like they could lay equal claim to the high point, we were off in search of FR 153. The route off Spruce, like Green Ridge, was littered with deadfall, laying like oversized matchsticks in the positions that the massive 2000 Bobcat wildfire had left them.

Spruce Mountain from Green Ridge.

Our morning's route took us through much of the burn zone from the fire, which started in Cedar Park at the southern base of Storm Mountain and spread east over Green Ridge into what is now Bobcat Ridge natural area and almost over the Masonville Road into Masonville. There are pockets of regrowth, including a nice wood of young spruce near the Spruce Mountain summit, but the ridges and gulleys remain largely barren. Needless to say, any off-trail work becomes incredibly slow in these areas.

Forest Road 153 is a popular one among hunters, jeepers and their ilk. For the jeepers, it offers challenging terrain, killer views and a length of burly mountain road that stretches from Buckhorn Canyon all the way west to the top of Storm Mountain. For the hunters this area between Storm Mountain and Green Ridge is loaded with game. From our first steps in Bobcat as day was breaking, we saw a huge herd of Elk and then continued to see them in large numbers all the way out to Spruce.

Anyway, once we were on FR 153, it was a slow icy grind of a run to the Storm Mountain summit (9,918'). The road was at times thick with drifted snow, at times icy, at times muddy and then also at times as dry as a bone. The road runs a rolling connecting ridge between Spruce and Storm, before dropping into and up Bear Gulch. All this area north of Cedar Park and east of Spruce was spared in the 2000 fire and remains heavily forested. All told it was about eight miles and 3,000 feet of accumulated gain on FR 153 to the summit.

Storm Mountain from Spruce.

A view of Storm before we cut across the southern slope.

Once out of Bear Gulch, FR 153 wraps around the southern flank of Storm before climbing sharply up the southwest slopes to gain the western summit ridge. Galuchie Park, an open space sitting 1,000 feet below the Storm summit, and Foggy Park on the western summit ridge, both looked like fantastic camping spots. The summit itself was okay, with good views between the trees, but they were far superior descending back through the Foggy Park meadow, which offered expansive views to the west of The Divide and Mummy Range. 

Foggy Park, about 500 feet below the summit (off to the right).

We picked a route to the south to return on, which involved a steep drop back down to the FR128/153 intersection at Galuchie Park, and then a right down perhaps the most deliciously graded road in the county. We dropped about 1,700 feet over four miles on FR 128 (Storm Mountain Road) passing through a couple of gulleys that had been totally devastated by the 2000 fire, before cutting east into the Cedar Park neighborhood, which sits nestled in the valley between Spruce Mountain to the north and Palisade Mountain to the south.

True to form, we got a little turned around in here, ending up at the end of a private road that we'd had to jump a gate to get on. Not wanting to back track, and with really no other option, we approached the property there and got the attention of the home owners who were conveniently out staining their deck. They were more than happy to offer navigational advice, while also giving us free rein to follow their private ATV tracks down to a small dry creek bed that feeds into the bigger Cedar Creek in Jug Gulch. They were also kind enough to offer a much needed water refill.

We found the road that was supposed to take us over Jug Gulch, naturally taking it the wrong way for a half mile before figuring out our error and retracing and climbing northeast out of Jug Creek, dropping down to Cedar Creek and finally hoofing it up Green Ridge back into the Bobcat natural area.

It was a long morning, which would have been considerably shorter with better navigation, but a very worthy loop nonetheless. All told, we covered 33 miles with about 7k' of climbing. This one minus the off-trail summits will be good to revisit a couple of times before June to take advantage of the long descents in the build-up to Western States.

Week Ending March 18

Mon - Noon: 7 miles (1,900') easy Horsetooth summit. Beautiful day + spring break + noon outing = major crowds on trail. But I still couldn't resist a trip to the top. Up Rock, down Audra/Southridge. I always feel like a bit of jerk running up popular trails when there are tons of people to pass - almost like I'm trying to show off or something - but wadda ya gonna do? Just another day at the office. Serious spring fever today. 
PM: 8.5 miles (800'). Out and back from Bluesky TH to Arthurs TH. Legs feel remarkably good post Salida.

Tues - AM: 9 miles intervals. Jane's group for a cemetery session. On tap was: mile, 2x800, mile, 2x800, 1.5 mile. All on 2-3 min recovery. Post Salida, my legs have been feeling next to no soreness, but a full-on effort would certainly have been a poor decision for this morning. Went at a hard tempo effort with Chris M instead and held up pretty well once the legs were in gear: 5:27, 2:40, 2:38, 5:21, 2:41, 2:39, 8:12 (5:27, 2:45). 2.5 mile w-u, .75 mile c-d, then champagne and cake to celebrate John Lonsdale's retirement from 34 years of running Foot of the Rockies, Fort Collins' first running specialty store.
PM: 7 miles (1,900') easy Horsetooth summit. Up Rock, down Audra/Southridge. Another gorgeous day. Nice and easy.

Weds - AM: 8.5 miles (1,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Nice and casual with neighbor Mike. Shorts and T.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop super easy.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills steady. Five mile O&B on Centennial. Came back in a steady ~34 to leave something in the tank for Saturday. Mike, Slush, Celeste and the wunderdog.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop. 

Fri - Noon: 8 miles (2,100') easy Horsetooth summit. Up Southridge/Audra, down Wathan - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Nice easy cruise on a breezy, but warm day. Park packed again.

Sat - 10 miles race. Sharin' O' the Green 5k (16:46) with 6 mile w-u, 1 mile c-d.

Sun - 37 miles (7,500') long. Had a really fun morning running a lap around the reservoir - the long way - with Burch, Pedatella, Tiernan and Kosick, in addition to meeting up with other friends along the way. After a week of really warm weather, the trails were essentially clear, which made the outing all the better. We went easy to steady the whole way around with a few lingering stops on top of Horsetooth and Arthurs, in addition to the Lory Visitors Center. The morning was capped off with a great spread of food and beverages at the May's house.

Route went: Platte Dr - 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls - H'tooth TH - Soderberg - Southridge - Audra - H'tooth summit - Westridge - Mill Creek - Howard - Westridge - Arthurs summit - Westridge - Timber - Lodgepole Drive - Centennial - Reservoir Ridge - Foothills Trail - Pineridge - Platte Dr.  

Heading around the south end of the Reservoir in the early miles. Horsetooth to the left of Zeke's head. Kosick, Tiernan, Clark, Pedatella. Pic: Burch

Top Horsetooth: Clark, Pedatella, Burch, Tiernan, Kosick. Pic: Erskine

All four of us will be at WS100 this summer. Pedatella on pacing duties and the other three racing. Tiernan and Burch are strong right now. Prediction: all three in the top 10. Image 2: Under Horsetooth on Westridge. Pics: Erskine

Top Arthur's: Clark, Stevenson, Tiernan, Slush, Kosick, Lynn, The Erskine. Pic: Burch

From top Arthurs. About half way around the Reservoir on the west side. Pic: Burch

Refueling at the Lory Visitors Center. Pic: Erskine

Finish line. Pic: Alex May

Fail. Pic: Erskine

Total: 115 miles (19,000')

We were treated to an early taste of spring this past week, which made for a great week for running, capped off with a full morning on some of my favorite trails on Sunday. Next FCTR outing is the Spring Round Up on April 7: 30 miles, 10,000 feet, one summit (of Round Mountain). Mark your calendars. 

Sharin' Of the Green 5k

One of the weirder things I found out when I moved to the United States for the first time was that Americans love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I was in Ann Arbor Michigan for my first St. Paddy's day and I honestly had no idea that people celebrated this holiday with such vigor. Green beer, green rivers, green everything. Really? I've come to accept it, but as a Brit still refuse to embrace it. Nonetheless, I did find myself toeing the line at the annual St. Patrick's Day race here in Fort Collins. The race has grown to become one of the bigger ones in town, with a capacity crowd of 2,800 runners this year.

Chatting with Steve Cathcart, owner of the local Runenrs Roost, pre-race. All pics: Kevin Hurd

The course was a bit confused with 8 or 9 hard 90 degree turns, one of the them just 20 meters from the start, and a slightly long inbound turn thanks to the large numbers of runners as the course doubled back on itself, but I'm sure they'll tweak all that for next year to accommodate the numbers they apparently did not anticipate for this year. Course hiccups aside, the event appeared to be a huge success, and how could a race that finishes at one of Fort Collins' premier breweries (Odell's) not be, especially when they're serving up free beer?

Race start outside ODell's Brewing.

So anyway, after a 6 mile warm-up with Sarah, it was a sprint for the first corner. With that negotiated without incident it was time to settle in. I found a spot in fifth, ten meters or so behind Steve Folkerts, and tried to get working. The legs felt decent, but for whatever reason I didn't feel particularly zippy. Seeing my first mile split at 5:20, I knew this wasn't going to be the low-16-minute race I thought I was in shape for. I got lazy on the second mile, which popped at 5:26, before getting passed by Mark Saunders who I had beaten in January at the Frost Giant 5k in Estes Park. That woke me up a bit and I fought to pass Mark back, before trying to get to work reeling in Steve. But I just didn't have a whole lot to give. Having put a decent gap on Mark, I figured I was good for fifth, but ended up getting kicked down right on the line, which I crossed in 16:46.  A PR, but a disappointing one. After crossing I turned around and boom, there was training partner Mike just five seconds behind; a solid PR for him. Sarah came in a minute later for an altitude PR of 18:30.

Results.

With .1 to go

Rule number one of running and racing is that there is no bitching when you score a PR, so I'll end this report here. Finished up the morning walking in the parade with the family on the Fort Collins Running Club 'float.' The crowds were deep with kids begging for candy and necklaces, which we had in abundance, so it was fun to watch Alistair distribute in as fair and measured a manner as he thought appropriate. Fort Collins is breeding. I can't believe how many kids there were in the crowds.

Week Ending March 11

Mon - 5 miles (1,000') easy. A quick and early loop on the Falls trail before scooting off to Boulder for the Pearl gathering.

Tues - early AM: 6.5 miles (~1,400') stumbling. After a vigorous tequila-fueled session on the dance floor, the unwise decision was made to attempt a summit of Green at 1:00 in the morning. It was, after all, splendidly nice out. I won't name names, but a good percentage of the Pearl team and a journo who runs long distances were in attendance for this most foolhardy of missions, which ultimately ended in defeat at the top of Saddle Rock. A lack of lights, traction and oomph were to blame; Ranger/Flagstaff was the escape route.
AM: 10 miles (~1,500') hungover. Three hours of sleep and a nasty hangover for the jaunt out on the Mesa Trail towards NCAR for PI photos and other misc marketing stuff. Only the journo failed to get out of bed. Grabbed a few more miles here and there throughout the morning. 

Weds: 7.5 miles (1,800'). Falls - Spring Creek - Wathan - Rock - Soderberg. Easy cruise, beautiful afternoon. 

Thurs - AM: 11 miles (1,200') progression. Out and back on Bluesky/Indian Summer with Pete, Slush, Mike, Sarah, Celeste, Ziggy, Mary and Steph. Controlled tempo over last four from Rim Rock.
PM: 7 miles (1,700') Towers. Nice evening out with a beautiful full orange moon to the east on the way back down. Went up in a very controlled 34:05. 

Fri - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop early. 

Sat - AM: 26 miles (4,000') race. Salida Marathon.

Sun - AM: 15.5 miles easy. Super early at Pineridge and on the bike paths with Sarah, Nicole Callan & Nikole Johns. Fun to run with a group of competitive and talented women.    
PM: 5 miles (1,500') hiking. To the top of Horsetooth with the family, Sarah, Ryan and their boys. Carrying Stella up and down the mountain was, I think, the toughest workout of the weekend. Beat.

Top H'tooth with the family.

Total: 98.5 miles (13,600')

Didn't quite get the run in that I was looking for on Sunday, but I was still happy with how good my legs felt. Salida, as always, was a great little getaway. I love the town, the peaks and the overall camaraderie of the race. And the family always enjoys the area too. Just bummed we didn't find the time for a soak in the hot springs on the way home.

Looking forward to this upcoming weekend. I'm excited to race a road 5k on Saturday and then banging out 35 miles of Horseooth Reservoir circumnavigation (the long way) on Sunday, before hanging out and kicking back with friends and family over beers and burgers. The weather forecast is looking great, the trails are essentially clear of snow and ice, and spring is most assuredly in the air. Train leaves at 8:00.

Had a ton of fun at the Pearl gathering last week. The company has some really exciting stuff going on right now. The new 2013 'Ultra' apparel line really blew me away, and while we don't have samples to put on our feet just yet, the new 2013 shoe concept looks like it could be a game changer. More on that as it evolves.

Exciting stuff going on with other sponsors too. After listening closely to Robert from First Endurance, I realized that I still have a ton of work to do in figuring out the whole fueling thing. Fortunately, Robert has looked at all the research and produced some of the best products on the market. He is firmly of the opinion that the best fueling strategy for endurance events is a liquid one, so I ran my race at Salida this weekend fueled entirely on EFS drink. Energy was great, and not even close to any cramp issues (EFS has by far the highest concentration of electrolytes of any sports drink on the market), but damn it's sweet. I need to play with my dilution levels to cut the sweetness and then supplement calories with Liquid Shot, I think. More experimentation required.

Anyway, for the liquid diet, the optimal caloric dilution rate according to the research is 8%. This means 36 oz of EFS drink per hour (which seems unlikely), or the same amount of water/diluted EFS supplemented with the necessary EFS Liquid Shot to hit 300 calories per hour. Not enough fluids/too many calories and stomach issues come into play. Simply put, I need to consume more fluids in races, as I don't even come close to getting that volume in per hour. And that will take a focused effort if I want to avoid the coke-for-the-last-40-miles routine.

The other exciting presentation was from Dale at Highgear who was showing off the company's entry into the GPS market. The XT7's GPS capabilities include mileage accumulation, real time pacing, upload and download of waypoints, 8 hour battery life and probably a bunch of other stuff I haven't figured out yet. All this comes in addition to a barometric altimeter for accurate vert readings all packaged in a sleek watch. While I would never shell out $250 for a watch, I understand that this represents very good value.

Salida Marathon

This was my fourth straight year running the Salida Marathon, a race that offers up a nice early season test of fitness on a challenging higher altitude course that typically takes place on trails and roads that are largely clear of snow. The course had been tweaked again this year to include a new six-mile section of snaking singletrack on the front end. This replaced a fair portion of the 'Ute Trail,' a long railroad-graded dirt road that on the original course took runners out to the ghost town of Turret. As it turned out we would only run a few miles on the Ute Trail on the new course, with the road out to Turret having been cut out altogether.

While the course changes they've made at Salida over the past two years are all good improvements in terms of the running experience, I'm a fan of picking a course and sticking to it so times and performances are comparable through the years. There has been a really good history of runners at Salida in the six or seven years that they've been running it, so it has always been a good yardstick to measure yourself against. If I had to guess, I'd say the new course is six or seven minutes slower than the original and three to four slower than last year's. Not that anyone really cares.  

So the race got out much the same as it has in years past, with Timmy Parr assuming the lead behind a handful of half marathoners through an uptempo early couple of miles. My legs felt astoundingly flat and plain old heavy almost as soon as we started running. This of course is never a good sign, so I chose to sit back off the lead to see if I could warm things up a bit before we started the big climb to the course's high point at 9,000 feet.

Tucking into the Tenderfoot Mountain switchbacks, I could see there were three half marathoners, Timmy, Jason Koop and two others I didn't recognize ahead of me, with Rob Kosick - who had beaten me twice on the same day in Estes Park in January - close behind. I ducked in behind Jason and followed his heels up the initial singletrack climb, passing second and third along the way. At the first aid I went around Jason and set about chasing down Timmy who had built a bit of a lead by the time we started a rolling traverse on tight singletrack across a number of gullies.

Early in the climb, with a couple of the Collegiate Peaks in the rear view.

The traverse took us over to the Ute Trail and back on to the old course. I saw Timmy run through the aid station there and timed his lead at 40 seconds. On the road my legs still felt terrible, as if I'd had a really heavy dose of vertical the day before, so I resigned myself to grinding away at what felt like a pitifully poor pace. On the four miles up to the 9,000 foot turnaround, I watched Timmy extend his lead by half a minute or so, before suddenly seeing it shrink to next to nothing in less than a mile. We hit the 12.5 mile turnaround essentially together, chatted for a bit, and then I assumed the lead as we descended the mile or so to the 181/173 jeep track turn.

The shaded sections of the jeep track were about average in terms of snow coverage, but it was decently packed so the running was pretty good for the most part. My legs opened up a bit through the rolling terrain and after a few miles of occasional shoulder checking on sections that afforded a bit of a view, I figured that I had a lock on the race. I put the run into steady mode and started thinking about Sunday's run.

At mile 20, it was a left turn off the rocky jeep trail and on to the new section of super-twisty singletrack from last year. My legs were starting to feel a little tired, but at the same time as open as they had all day. On the last big climb of the course, with perhaps five miles to go, I checked down the switchbacks and all of a sudden saw Jason. Ughh. He can't have been much more than a minute behind, which of course meant that I needed to refocus and push.

I was glad to find the required gear and be able to move quickly enough over the remaining miles to chalk my first win in Salida. I've always enjoyed this tough little season opener, so couldn't be happier to finally get my name up there on the winners' board. I ended up running about five minutes slower than last year, which is probably an equal effort given the course changes. I definitely felt more in control this weekend, as I remember struggling last year through the closing miles when trying to hold off Dan Vega for second.

I'll take that as a positive and see what two upcoming test-pieces have in store over the next few weeks. First up on Saturday is a speed test, with 5k of road racing at the St Paddy's Day run where I'm really hoping to register something in the low 16s, and then in April it will be the Lake Sonoma 50 miler, which promises to be quite the race.

And finally, for those keeping score at home, my margin of victory over Brownie this year was a full 75 minutes. So despite giving him a generous 45-minute handicap, I again walked away with free beer. Last year it took Brownie 10 months to make good on his debt, but this year there was an immediate post-race pay off with a nice growler of Irish Red from the famed Moonlight Pizza. Next year he gets 75 minutes.

Week Ending March 4

Monday - Noon: 7.5 miles (1,800') easy. Beautiful day out, which was hugely refreshing after the wind lashing we received last week. Jogged up to top of Horsetooth and spent some time lingering on the summit checking out the lay of the land, putting names to a few more peaks that until Sunday's peakbagging outing were nameless to me (Buckhorn, Leila and Ethel). Conditions up top are starting to get pretty sketchy on the ice front, but definitely seen it worse. Up Rock trail, down Audra/Southridge, home long. 
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Quick Falls loop before Dana took off for work.

Tues - AM: 10.5 miles intervals. Cemetery workout with Jane's group: mile, 3x800 (on 20 sec rest), mile, 3x800 (on 20 sec rest), mile. Good conditions this morning, high 20s and no wind, so really tried to keep the effort honest the whole way around. First mile felt super smooth, last mile and second set of 800s I had to stay pretty focused. 5:17, (2:40, 2:38, 2:41), 5:14, (2:40, 2:41, 2:41), 5:15.
PM: 10.5 miles (1,500') easy. Milner loop, plus Redstone one mile O@B and neighborhood add-ons.

Weds - Noon: 9 miles (2,100') easy. Horsetooth summit (up Rock, down Audra/Southridge) then some meandering in the neighborhood. Wind was back and angry. Warm out though. 
PM: 6 miles (1,100') easy. Milner loop.

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January: 330 miles (45,200')
February: 445 miles (58,500')
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2012 Ranked Summits: 
Horsetooth (9)
Palisade
Milner
Alexander
Blue Mountain (Sth)
Green Mountain (7,335)
7,725'
7,098' (Poll Mtn range)
Goat Hill
Reservoir Ridge
7,260 (Ziggy Point)
8,415 (Leila Peak)
Mount Ethel
Buckhorn Mountain
5,740' (1)
5,740' (2)
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Thurs - AM: 15 miles (1,700') hill tempo. 5:30 start for this one, but it was light enough to see by 6:00. The longer days are starting to get me excited for spring, even if it looks like we're going to get an extended wind season this year. So anyway, the usual HTH5MO@B run for this morning, with Steph, Sarah, Celeste, Zig, Pete and Mike in attendance. Pretty big headwind coming out of the north, northwest for the way out, meaning a slower than usual warm-up, but potential for a zippy return. After a low-7 split following Mike's heels over the big north dam hill on the way back, I felt like a sub-30 might be on, so put it into 10k mode for the net uphill second and third miles to see if I could get there without having to beat myself up too badly on the descent over the last mile and a half. Needing just 5:40s for the last two miles, I took them just moderately hard and still came home in a big one-minute, but wind-aided, PR (7:05, 6:00, 5:36, 5:26, 5:03 = 29:11). After Tuesday's workout, which was noticeably better than a similar, but shorter, workout from the end of January, I'm starting to feel like I'm building some really good fitness here. Snagged a few on the front and back ends for a 15-mile morning. Good stuff.
PM: 6.5 miles easy with FCTR folk at Pineridge.

Friday - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Tired
PM: 5.5 miles (800') easy with Pete on the 'A' trail. Picked up 5,773' or 'Aggie Peak' along the way.

Saturday - AM: 18.5 miles (2,800') peakbaggery. Decided against heading up to Laramie for the rescheduled Trudge (which sounded epic), choosing to check out the Red Mountain Open Space with Mike instead. Goal was three peaks and some quality trail miles, with a pop into Wyoming on the way; reality as usual with these peakbagging missions was a little different. The wind was absolutely howling and given the general lack of cover out in the Red Mountain area, that made for a fairly unpleasant start to the morning.

Northern slope of Table Mountain

By the time we'd bushwhacked our way to the top of Table Mountain (7,074') -- by way of the cactus-infested northern shoulder -- we were both a little wind-shocked. After almost being blown off our feet (quite literally) on the western cap of the summit bluff I pulled the plug on our intended descent route, deciding that the semi-technical nature of the down climb was too sketchy in the freezing cold and powerful swirling winds. Tail between legs, we headed off the gentler west side of Table and back to the trailhead (into a fierce headwind). The plan now was to salvage the day by knocking out a long run on the awesome network of trails in Redstone and Soapstone; wind be damned. However, we were seduced back on peakbagging track after rounding the north side of Table Mtn on the Bent Rock trail and seeing 7,178 to the southwest. Picking up a mix of ranch and game tracks for what we were pretty sure was our intended target, we made our way southwest. An hour later and we were on top enjoying the slightly less violent winds and awesome westerly and easterly views.     

 On top of a windy 7,178

Table Mtn from 7,178'

Southeast from 7,178' towards 6,740'

Retracing our steps from the summit, we cut back north, picking up a more westerly ranch track from the one we had been on heading south, which we hoped would get us close to 7,380' up on the Wyoming border. The approach to 7,380' came a little quicker than we had expected and essentially stopped us in our tracks. The southerly wall was imposing and there was no obvious way up. All of a sudden time was a factor and after scouting around a bit, we decided that we were going to have to come back and get this bad boy another day so we followed the drainage east out of the canyon and back towards Table Mountain and the Red Mountain trail network. The Boxelder drainage offered up some fine scrambling, awesome red rock cuts, the remnants of a lion's feast and all-around atypical northern Colorado scenery - all of which made up for the disappointment of failing on summit three. 

Northern side of the impressive Boxelder Creek.

Roaming around in lower Boxelder Creek; Table Mtn to the east.

There was a lot of game activity in Boxelder Canyon; this guy was dinner and pretty much picked clean.

Once out of Boxelder, we navigated back to the Red Mountain trails. While finishing up the Bent Rock loop we realized that the peak we had been looking at was in fact the wrong one as we had been one drainage too far to the south, so it would have been a wasted effort anyway had we taken a crack at. All in all, a fun morning in a unique corner of Colorado. There is plenty of unfinished peak-grabbing business up there, so I'll be back soon. 

Sunday - AM: 8.5 miles easy. Setting up 12k T&H course. Beautiful morning out.
Noon: 2 miles easy with Alistair to Horsetooth Falls and back. Mud-fest hike/run plus some fun exploring down the creek from the falls.
PM: 7 miles (1,900') Horsetooth summit easy. Dropped Alistair back home and then took off for the peak. Killer weather, warm and sunny, with nary a breath of wind; so refreshing after the beating we've been taking from the wind all week. Peak was about as crowded as I've seen it (outside of an FCTR time trial).

Total: 116.5 miles (11,800')

Felt an odd mix of tired and strong this week. Failed to get the bigger weekend runs in that I was hoping for, but that's alright because I think it will leave me feeling a little fresher for the Salida Marathon next weekend, which I'm really looking forward to. Good people, good competition, fun town.