Week In Review 8/20-8/26: New Kicks & Gore Range Recon

      If this post had been written two days ago it would have been quite melancholy and blue, but fortunately my body regrouped and I ended the week feeling great.  After a really funky day last Saturday, which required my working from 2:30am until noon, and then a pacing stretch that lasted from 5:45pm until 3:45am, my body was thrown out of whack.  No soreness or anything, but I felt like I weighed 250 pounds on every outing.

     I don't know if its merely coincidence or if it gave a bonafied boost to my morale, but after getting a new pair of New Balance MT1010s in the mail, I returned to normal (whatever that means).  Either way, in the three runs I've had in the new kicks they have worked flawlessly.  I look forward to testing them out on some longer runs on the Run Rabbit Run course this week.

     I got to see some new trail this week, too, which is always a delight.  We set out to do the Lost Man Loop off of Indy Pass, but I was just feeling so lethargic we only went out a couple of miles.  I look forward to seeing the rest of it.  I also set out on a not-before-seen section of the Gore Range Trail, leaving its southern terminus at I-70 and running up 7.5 miles to north Ten Mile Creek.  The Gore Range Trail runs between 45 & 49 miles with about 10,000 ft of elevation gain.  Rumor has it that the FKT is somewhere around 12 hours at present.  I would like to give it a go in October and see if I can lower that time to somewhere below 10 hours.  Whether I run it in sections or do a thru-run, I really want to see the rest of this seldom-traveled gem of a trail.

Monday 8/20-
        X

Tuesday 8/21-
        4 miles with Luke, Luna, and Mel on the Lost Man Loop, :45, 400 ft

Wednesday 8/22-
        6 miles with Luna on the Boulders trail, 1:00, 800 ft

Thursday 8/23-
        15 miles with Luna on the Gore Range Trail, 2:50, 2,800 ft

Friday 8/24-
         AM- 3 miles with  Luna on Boulders, :30, 400 ft
         PM-  6 miles with Luna on the CT at Tennessee Pass, :50, 400 ft

Saturday 8/25-
         7.5 miles with Andy, Luke, and Luna on the Highline Loop, 1:15, 1,400 ft

Sunday 8/26-
         6 miles on the Boulders trail with Luna, new PR, 24:08 to the road crossing, 44:15 round trip-  the ascent was about 30 seconds faster than the previous best, while the round trip time was over 5.5 minutes faster!?
         I was pretty pumped about this run, I ran with music for the first time since I ran my fastest time up and down Elbert (do I sense a PR trend?) and really enjoyed it.  Many thanks to the Alabama Shakes, Ratatat, and the Local Natives, you all will be joining me on the upcoming 100.

Totals: 47.5 miles, 8 hours, 7,000 ft

Smooth singletrack on the Lost Man Loop

Lost Man Reservoir

Lovin' it.

Mt Sherman Video

      It is a bit delayed, but here is the video Thomas Lorblanchet put together of our run  with Matt, Frosty, and Luna up Mt Sherman last week.  Enjoy!

  

Week In Review 8/13-8/19: Leadville 100 Pacing

    Racing- pretty exciting stuff.  Though I did none of my own this week, I certainly found myself caught up in enough of it to get excited about it!  The Transrockies Stage Race was in the area and I had the pleasure of following their course around with Luna and Anna for a couple of days while cheering for North Carolina representatives in Scott Williams and Jason Bryant.

     Just a couple of days ago the Leadville 100 and it's 1,000ish runners were in town- what an event!!  I was delighted to pace Matt Meckenstock for the last 40 miles- he would likely refute this compliment, but he had a heck of a day out there finishing stronger than just about anyone (he wasn't passed by anyone in the last 23 miles and he overtook at least 20 people?!).  Being a pacer myself, I realized it was something I will undoubtedly miss having at some point in the Run Rabbit Run 100 in a couple of weeks, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there...

     Many congratulations to friends new and old who completed the race, especially to Thomas for coming out and winning his first ever 100 in fine form and for having wicked cute kids!

8/13- Monday
        X

8/14- Tuesday
        12 miles in BV, followed the Transrockies route out with Luna, cheered for a few folks, shared the return trip with Anna back to a swim in the river, 1:40, 1,000 ft

8/15- Wednesday
        15 miles, up Hope Pass (1 hour 8 minutes) with Luna, cheered for a few Transrockies folk coming over, met up with Anna and scooted up Hope Mountain (13,933 ft) and followed the CDT back to the lake before skirting around over to the Willis Gulch Trailhead, 3:10, 4,800 ft.

8/16- Thursday
       4.5 miles with Luna and Anna to and from Timberline Lake, :35, 800 ft

8/17- Friday
        X

8/18- Saturday
        40 miles pacing Matt from Twin Lakes to the end of the Leadville 100.  10 hours, 4,000 ft

8/19- Sunday
       The above mentioned workout carried on into sunday for 3 hours and 46 minutes... :)

Totals:  71.5 miles, 15 hours 25 minutes, 10,600 ft

Scott and Jason on top of Hope Pass

Anna making the push up from Hope Pass to the top

The summit of Hope (13,933 ft)

Me and Donna are excited start pacing, Luna is less than happy about being left out

Me and Matt leaving the Fish Hatchery Aid Station (mile 77)

Matt shortly after finishing, the dude suffers beautifully!!

Week In Review: 8/6-8/12: Back In The Sky

       After veering away from Colorado's fabled 14ers for a couple of weeks to rejuvenate my body, I am glad to say that three out of this week's four runs resulted in my getting my head back in the clouds.  The first of these runs, Pike's Peak (14,110 ft), was a wonderful solo outing in which I was able to keep myself completely collected throughout the entirety of the ascent and run nearly every step with my breathing in a very mellow and comfortable state.  It was invigorating and revitalizing to my confidence after the Grand Mesa Incident to carry myself up the mountain with such (relative) ease.

      The day prior I had thrown myself onto Manitou Springs' fabled Incline, a 1 mile climb/staircase that gains about 2,000 vertical feet.  I'd like to return to it again without the heat of the day to hinder me and see just how quickly (relative once again) I could knock it out.

      Returning to Leadville for the weekend I had the pleasure of scooting up Mt Sherman (14,034 ft) in what proved to be one of the most fun outings in the mountains I've had in a while.  Incredibly strong winds made the otherwise simple route an adventure in and of itself.  Wrapping up the week with a morning outing up Missouri (14, 067) coupled with an adventuresome scree-scramble with Anna rounded the week out quite nicely.

     I find myself wondering why exactly I am signed up for a race next month that requires a particular type of training when I find so much joy in pushing myself in the pursuit of routes and mountain peaks that beckon to me any given day.  But, on the bright side, all I have to do is finish Run Rabbit Run and I can put my name into the lottery for Hardrock, which would certainly be a mountain excursion to be reckoned with...

      So here it is, the week in review:

8/6- Monday
        X

8/7- Tuesday
        X

8/8- Wednesday
        4 miles including The Incline (31:03 up), 1:00, 2,000 ft 
  
8/9- Thursday
         25 miles up and down the Barr Trail to Pike's Peak (14,110), 3:10 ascent, 5:20 total, very comfortable and casual, enjoyed every second of it, 7,300 ft

8/10- Friday
         X

8/11- Saturday
         7 miles up Mt Sherman with Luna, Matt, Anna, and Tomas- rode the ridge to Gemini Peak and descended the saddle of Dyer back to the carpark, 1 hour to Sherman's summit, 1:50 total, 3,300 ft

         *Tomas put together a great video of this outing that I will post here as soon as its uploaded

8/12- Sunday
         10 miles with Anna up Missouri (14,067 ft), a scramble over to Elkhead Pass and back down, 1:50 on the ascent, 3:12 total, 4,500 ft

Totals:  46 miles, 11 hours 20 minutes, 17,100 ft

Silliness ensued in Missouri Gulch 

Ran through a beautiful basin

Me and Anna on Missouri's summit

Beautiful views north from the ridge

Week In Review: 7/30-8/5: Nothing Short Of Thankful

    After battling through the residual fatigue in my quads for most of the week, I'm glad to say I'm feeling more and more like myself everyday.  Last weekend's race still lingers in my mind with the stinging "what-if" mentality that often skews past events; but fortunately this time I'm able to ignore it and hone my thoughts in on whats most important to me about each running endeavor: smiling a lot and being completely present, wherever I am.

     I look forward to continuing to train and improve my fitness level over the next month leading up to the Run Rabbit Run 100.  I need to continue on working on the adaptability of my running mentality and remember that speed is not of the utmost importance, but instead it is the enjoyment of every outing that I look forward to and that imparts with me a certain satisfaction after every venture.  I am nothing short of extremely grateful for all of the folks that I get to share this time with, and I hope in the future I'm able to cast all self inflicted pressures off of myself to allow myself to best live in the moments that each experience in these marvelous places provides.

     Having said that, my goals for the Run Rabbit Run have changed a bit from when I last spoke of them.  I just want to go out completely comfortably, listen to my body, maintain a certain comfort level (and unspoken tolerance for suffering) throughout the entire day, and come away from the event deemed "qualified" for the Hardrock 100, and the ability to continue running and training for adventures in the near future that I can share with some of the people I love the most, and some friends-to-be that I haven't yet met.

    Anyways, heres what I've been up to:

7/30- Monday
        Couldn't even lower myself into a chair without a handhold due to soreness in my quads...

7/31- Tuesday
        7 casual miles with Luna near Twin Lakes, 1:10, 500 ft

8/1- Wednesday
        9 miles with Luke and Matt, Missouri Lakes Loop, 2:20, 2,800 ft

8/2- Thursday
       Nothing

8/3- Friday
       More of the same...

8/4- Saturday
       Headed up Hope Pass with Luna from Willis Gulch for an hour then came back down in half the time, 7 miles, 1:30, 2,000 ft

8/5- Sunday
       16 miles with Luna and Sandi on an out-and-back on the CT headed north from Timberline Lake.  A good bit of fatigue, grateful that Sandi and Luna were full of energy and able to pull me along.  3:35, 3,700ft.

Totals:  39 miles, 8 hours 40 minutes, 9,000 ft

Me and Luke climbing along the creek. (Photo M. Meckenstock)

Me, Luke, and Matt up on the first pass (Photo M. Meckenstock)

Another view from the pass (Photo M. Meckenstock)