Weekly Summary - 2/6

Monday, January 31st - 5.5 Miles in 48:27 - Treadmill (PM)
Still feeling a little sore from the weekend ski trip. Just a nice and easy shake-out on the mill as temperatures continue to drop.
Sit-ups & push-ups (1 set)
AM Food - Granola Cereal + Banana + Coffee
Lunch - Sandwich (turkey & cheese) + Sun Chips + Apple + 2 Clementines
PM Food - 2 Burritos (1 wheat + 1 corn tortilla) with lean beef, rice, & salsa

Tuesday, February 1st - 4.5 Miles in 44:57 - Treadmill (AM)
Another easy shake-out on the mill. It's been a while since I've gotten up early and got a short run in. I woke up surprisingly easy at 4:50 AM and felt ready to go after my run.
Sit-ups & push-ups (1 set)
AM Food - Wheat bagel with homemade strawberry jam + Banana + Granola Bar + Coffee
Lunch - Blackened Redfish with Rice & Ice Tea
Mid-afternoon - Trailmix
PM Food - Spicy Chicken Pasta from the Pumphouse + Beer

Wednesday, February 2nd - 6.5 Miles 55:10 - Treadmill (Late PM)
Another nice and easy run on the mill, just not wanting to battle the negative double digit temperatures. This should be the last night of the extreme cold and tomorrow will become more manageable. I'm taking it pretty easy this week as I contemplating the Skyline Traverse for Saturday. Just as I say that, a friend invited me backcountry skiing on Saturday morning. Oh, decisions, decisions.
Today was a bit of a heavy day as far as food is concerned:
AM Food - Wheat bagel with jam + Coffee x 2
Late AM - Coffee
Lunch - BBQ Chicken Wrap + Fries + Cantaloupe
Midafternoon - Banana
PM Food - Wheat pasta with peppers & tomatoes + 2 slices of wheat bread

Thursday, February 3rd - Off
Decided to take the day off, since Christine is heading out of town early tomorrow morning.
Sit-ups/Push-ups (PM)

Friday, February 4th - Total 8.44 Miles
3.0 Miles in 25:54 - Treadmill (AM)
After waking up at 3 AM so that I could get Christine to the airport, I only had enough time to get a few miles in before heading off to work.

5.44 Miles in 44:57 @ 271 vert ft - McIntosh Loop (PM)
I was able to get out of work and watch a nice sunset as I ran around the lake before meeting a friend at Oskar Blues. It was a beautiful evening to be out, especially since I've spent so much time on the mill this week.

AM - Bagel with Jam + Banana x 2 + Coffee x 2
Lunch - Spinach Lasagna + Apple
PM - Burger + Sweet Potato Fries + Beer (Oskar Blues)!

Saturday: 3523 vert ft on the day (skiing + running)
3.0 Miles @ 2030 vertical feet - Telemark Skiing (AM)
I decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park for some skiing with friends rather than try my luck at the Skyline Traverse. The weather forecast wasn't stellar, and I don't think my legs are ready for a proper go at it. I want to be able to actually run this and feel good doing so.

My friend Micah and I met up with 4 other folks in Lyons at the Barking Dog. After a blueberry muffin and a coffee to go, we headed up Hwy 36. It's interesting how different the skiing experience was today compared to last weekend, yet it was just as enjoyable. Last weekend was a more focused effort, while today was considerably more laid back. It's nice to head up to the mountains without an agenda or timetable. Sometimes it's good just to go with the flow, stop, look around at the scenery, take a deep breath, and just be.

We decided to stay below treeline, as the wind seemed to be blowing fairly hard and we wanted to enjoy our day as much as possible. We made 2 loops on the same run, getting fresh tracks through the small fur trees that have grown in the old ski runs at Hidden Valley. There was plenty of new snow and you couldn't help but smile after each turn. There was good conversation, no end to the sarcasm, and plenty of high-fives to go around. It was good day!

11.07 Miles in 1:44:41 @ 1493 vertical feet - Picture Rock (PM)
After stopping at the house for a quick drink of water and a change of clothes, I headed out the door again for a different snow sport. Donning my recently purchased MT101's, and Microspikes, I headed up the trail to log a few more miles on the day. Immediately I could feel the morning of skiing in my legs and soon a glance at my watch confirmed what I had suspected! It wasn't going to be a PR day. Despite my snails pace up and down the hill, I was captured by the beauty of the falling snow and the solitude of the trail. I finished up the run just before sunset. As I drove back home, I felt that I had truly made the most of this day, spending it all in the midst of mountains!

AM - Blueberry muffin + Coffee x 2
Late AM - Banana
Lunch - Tortilla with Nutella + Chips & salsa + Coffee
PM - Burrito with beef, rice & salsa + Christine's homemade chocolate chip cookies

Sunday: 6.11 Miles in 1:32:00 @ 2626 vertical feet - Green Mountain
If I were heading to Green Mountain to gain confidence in my fitness, I picked the wrong day. If I were heading there to strengthen my mental fortitude, then I picked the right day. Let's not live in the past!

With a coat of fresh snow (Boulder has about 6 inches and I'm guessing the upper stretches of Green had even more), I headed up Gregory. Besides feeling some stiffness from the previous days effort, I initially didn't feel too bad. I could tell my time was drastically reduced due to the snow conditions, but I didn't realize how much at first. When I arrived at the Ranger Station, I checked my watch at 22 minutes from the Gregory Trailhead. That's basically when my mind began drifting between one of the following thoughts: "this deep snow is making me work for every step and I'm still struggling!" to "could my fitness be that much worse than the last time I ran this mountain?"

After I passed the junction of Greenman, things got dramatically worse. The trail was even less traveled and the snow seemed to be getting deeper. It was basically as if I took one step forward and a half step back. The additional effort and difficult footing forced me to hike a few sections which I was upset about. I would assume run slower than hike, but my body just couldn't hold on. Despite the intersperced hikes, I continued up and finally reached the summit in 52 minutes.

It wasn't the day for a personal best, but it was a great day to challenge the mind. I truly enjoyed the views from the top and the achievement of just getting there. Then it was on the fun part....the descent! I'm not sure I've run that amount of vertical in the amount of fresh snow before, but for a while, I turned off my running brain and turned on my skiing brain. What fun it was to run down the mountain! It was very much like being 7 years old again!

Weekly Totals: 42.15 Miles in 6:56:06 @ 4390 vertical feet

Picture Log

I haven't been able to run as much as I'd like in the last week. Christine and I were working hard to finish packing before our move on Saturday. My workouts during that time could be described as strength training, as I was lifting couches, chairs, beds, and boxes stuffed to their limit. Thankfully, most of Christine's family had come into town to help with the move. They were a tremendous help and it actually brought some fun to the hectic move.

Sunday afternoon, Christine and I were able to take her parents and sister for a hike up Green Mountain. You could see that they were captured by the beauty of the hike, especially Christine's Dad, who loves being the mountains and was taking pictures the entire time. I enjoyed being able to share a favorite trail with them and was able see it a little differently through their eyes.

Here are a few pictures I took during the hike.


























The last two days define why I lean away from planning, especially through the week. When working in the manufacturing industry, you never completely know how things are going to operate. Christine has planned some time with her sister and mother for Monday, so I decided to plan a long run for Monday afternoon. Well, my plans failed me, as I worked late, not getting home until around 8 PM. The break from work was only temporary, as there were problems with a piece of machinery, causing late night, or should I say early morning troubleshooting at 1 AM. I worked through the morning, but decided to head out around 11 AM, when I found it difficult to concentrate on the computer screen.

I decided to get a trail run in, even though I was working on less than 3 hrs of sleep and at least 5 cups of coffee. I headed to Hall Ranch in the midst of 54 mph wind gusts and sustained winds of over 30 mph (we have a wind speed monitor at work). I actually enjoyed being out, having the trail to myself.

Here are a few pictures from the trail:






































Lastly, we weren't the only ones in the country to have extremely high winds. Christine showed me these pictures from a local photographer in her hometown of Ludington Michigan. It shows the true power and beauty of Mother Nature.

Ludington Michigan Lighthouse

Weekly Summary - 4/25

Monday: Boulder/Flagstaff Area (AM)
4.5 Miles - Minimal elevation gain
Had a terrible headache and severe stomach cramps.

Tuesday: Picture Rock (Lunch) w/Christine
4 Miles - Minimal elevation gain
Hall Ranch (PM)
5 Miles - 700 ft vert
Hike with Christine with 40 lb pack (45 min)

Wednesday: Pond Loop + (PM)
4.6 Miles - 0 elevation gain
Felt really bad - Legs hurt - wore Brooks

Thursday: Mc w/Christine (Lunch)
3.5 Miles - 0 elevation gain

Friday: Pond Loop w/Christine (PM)
3.5 Miles - 0 elevation gain

Saturday: Green Mtn & Co x2 (PM)
12 Miles - 5000 ft elevation gain
Felt good - had to hike a little at the end of 2nd climb

Sunday: Heil Ranch - Ponderossa Loop (AM)
7.6 Miles - 1100 ft elevation gain
Felt good after a hard day yesterday - fitness improving

Weekly Totals:
44.7 Miles
6600 Vertical Ft of Elevation Gain

Lastly, here's a new song that I just can't stop listening to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03oRy18jsxg

Green Mountain X 2

Christine and I awoke this morning to high winds and cloudy, dreary skies. "What a great time to leave for vacation," Christine said as I drove her to the airport for her girls, Sonoma, wine tasting weekend. I hit REI in Denver to pick up a few necessary items for my Rainier climb which is quickly approaching then stopped by to visit a friend at the Boulder Patagonia store http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=24317.

When I left Pearl Street, I was surprised that the clouds had lifted, the chill was gone and the day had turned out beautiful. I headed for Gregory Canyon Trailhead and my destination, Green Mountain. My typical trail runs have been 4-8 miles and 700-1500 vertical feet of climbing, usually with time constraints of needing to be somewhere at a certain time. Today was very different. I had nowhere to be, nothing to do, other than run and enjoy being in the mountains. So I headed up Gregory and Ranger for my first summit of the day. My legs felt good but I was hesitant to try my luck at Bear Peak as well, so I descended down Ranger, then to Saddle Rock and back to the trailhead.












Green Mountain, with a fresh dusting of spring snow.

The thought entered my head..."why not a double?" I mean, I've read of people lapping Green multiple times in a single day, why can't I. So, after refilling my water bottle and eating a couple Cliff Shots http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks I headed up the canyon again for seconds. Man, what was I thinking!? Halfway up Ranger, I definitely bonked! With stints of running and hiking, I logged a back-to-back summit of Green Mountain.....approximately 5000 vertical feet of climbing. The pasta afterward never tasted so good!

So my thoughts migrate toward a goal I've had for sometime now.....running Longs Peak (15.5 miles and 5000 vertical feet). Ever since I was passed by a trail runner on my first summit of Longs Peak, I've wanted to run it. If I'm able to continue logging the mileage and vertical gains that I have been lately, I think I'll give it a shot this summer.










Longs Peak is in the center of the picture


Lastly, this is a new artists that I've come to really enjoy listening to. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgsT-klFnXY