Weekly Run Log - August 21-27, 2011

 Elbert in the background.

 Surprised by such a developed Interlaken Historical Area.

Elbert above the sagebrush.

08/23/2011: Ran the Interlaken Trail on the South side of Twin Lakes Reservoir. The run was rolling singletrack through lodgepole with many views of Elbert (looking west) and the Mosquitoes (looking east). The trail travels through Historic Interlaken, several old houses restored and kept for tourists. As far as I can tell the only ways to get there are by boat and by trail (hiking, biking, trail running, etc.). It was a pleasant surprise as I wasn't prepared for a small village in the middle of my run through the "wilderness." The mileage is not right in the Trail Runner's Guide to Colorado: I left from a day use area at one of the gates to the east of the dam on CR25. I wasn't going to pay $5 to park at the fishing place. Even starting in a different place I calculated the mileage to be 13.2 miles, longer than in the book. 2:42, 13.2 miles, 1,000' vert.

Mosquito Peak from the "bump above the pass"

08/25/2011: I extended the Mosquito Pass out-n-back to include the peak immediately to the north with the communications building. The road ran around back and probably added another 1.5 miles to the 6.5 for just the Pass. I definitely have tendinitis. Something to think about for next year though it is probably too late to do anything about it until the Bear. 2:16, 8.0 miles, 2,300' vert.

08/27/2011: Decided to run a short one today instead of a long run. I want to see if I can rehab my knee a little before the Bear. My last goal before the race is to get in one last long run without destroying my knee. If I can do that I might resign myself to power hiking the sections of the Bear when I get there (departure date of Sept. 7th as of right now).

The run today was Turquoise Lake Trail to Tabor Boat Ramp and back. I had planned on running it slow but when. I got to he boat ramp I was in the same time as my fastest run. On the return I passed an old guy on a mountain bike and ended up putting on the speed to beat him back. Finished the fastest time ever for this run and still felt good! 0:39, 4.2 miles, 50' vert.

Weekly Summary: 25.4 miles, 3,350' vert.

Weekly Run Log - August 14-20, 2011

 The South side of Eccles Pass.

 Looking out from the north side of Eccles Pass.

 Looking out from the north side of Eccles Pass.

08/17/2011: Thought I would take advantage of traveling through Summit County on my way back from New Hampshire by going for a run while I was there. I ran the Eccles Pass Loop as defined in Trail Runner's Guide to Colorado: Meadow Trail, Gore Range Trail, Willow Spring/Buffalo Mountain Cutoff, Buffalo Cabin Trail, Lilypad Pond Trail. It was a fun loop despite two things: 1.) I didn't spend much time looking at the map beforehand and therefore I felt that I was almost done when I had arrived at the junction of the Gore Trail and the Buffalo Cabin Cutoff. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that I still had a third of the distance to travel again with maybe another 700' to 800' of uphill to travel. 2.) My right knee is acting up with tendonitis I think. This upsets me but shouldn't surprise me. Long runs lately have been on the monumental scale (relatively) and have been closely spaced. While the rest of my body (muscles, cardio, mind, etc.) is in phenomenal shape it is almost always my joints, the tendons and ligaments, that suffer. Yesterday I had flare-ups in both knees but it was the right knee that suffered the most.

Despite these setbacks (really only one real frustration - the knees) it was a wonderful run. Once I got out of the severely beetle-infested lodgepoles that stood from the trailhead (9180') to about 10,500') the views were amazing. I kept stopping to take pictures as each meadow was more scenic. There were abundant carpets of purple and yellow flowers that covered everywhere but the trail itself. The peaks were beautiful. Everything was just peaceful. An amazing run! 4:03, 14.5 miles, 3,200'

08/19/2011: Ran to Tabor Boat Ramp on Turquoise Lake Trail. Testing the knee our. Felt fine. Just some twinges here and there. Stretched it out good and proper. It  might be a good idea to warm up and stretch for a while. 0:43, 4.2 miles, 50' vert.

08/20/2011 (into 08/21/2011): Paced Jon Beyers from the Fish Hatchery to the Finish. We started at about 1:10 am and ran until 9:21 am where he finished with an official time of 29:21! I was excited and motivated by his ability to keep going. The Leadville 100 is always such an inspiring event and I was stoked to be a part of it in volunteering for the Aid Station and pacing a terrific guy. Because I walked so much of this I am not sure how to log it. I think I am going to count it as my weekly mileage because it was such good training walking through the night after being up all day working the aid station, but on the other hand I did walk the entire time. 8:11, 23.5 miles, 1,700' vert.


Weekly Summary: 42.2 miles, 4,950' vert.

Weekly Run Log - August 07-13, 2011

08/08/2011:  Ran the start of the Eccles Pass Loop. Ran out 30 minutes, (1,100' vert by my watch). Returned after 0:50 total elapsed minutes. 0:50, 3.5 miles, 1,100' vert.

08/10/2011: Ran the Goshen Trail to the Summit of Sunapee. Felt amazing! Could have turned around and run it again. Felt like I hadn't even run at all. Also took 12 or so minutes off my best time. 1:20, 7.0 miles, 1,500' vert.

08/11/2011: Ran from the cottage to the summit of Sunapee again by way of the Goshen Trail. Took my time this time! 1:33, 7.0 miles, 1,500' vert.

08/13/2011: A sentimental favorite of mine, the Presidential Traverse, after having single-day-hiked this a few times several years ago. I had never actually run this route over 11 summits of the Presidential Range in northern New Hampshire but figured while I was in NH and while I needed a long run I might as well shoot for the top. I made a good choice. This is definately a  climbing run – a good training run for Hardrock: 8,700’+ of climb over 24 miles. After running it from North to South I would recommend running it from South to North next time for several reasons. Hiking makes sense from North to South because the speed is slower and one can deal with the dew on the lichen encrusted rocks much better at a slow speed. For the higher speed travel of trail running it would make sense for the sun to evaporate the dew from the rocks to make footing better. This would have the additional benefit of giving more time for the shuttle (the last shuttle shows up at Valley Way at 3:55 as opposed to 1:30 at the Highland Center).

I drove up the night before and slept in the car. I discovered upon arriving that a.) it is really busy on a weekend night at Appalachia and b.) it was a full moon and therefore a bright night for a moonlight traverse (I had talked about doing this with friends years ago and now here I was with the opportunity). I actually slept about three to three and a half hours and was ready to go a little early at 3:15 when I started my stopwatch. I was shooting for the Highland Center at 1:30 in the afternoon so, in order to give myself 10 hours of running time, I would have left at 3:30 in the am. 

The only snafu was towards the beginning where I accidentally got rerouted back on to the Valley Way trail instead of climbing up the direct route of the Watson Trail. By the time I had realized that I had made a wrong turn I was no longer in a mood to climb hand over foot up the very steep Watson Path. I was comfortable with going by the Madison Hut twice, retracing my steps 0.5 miles after tagging the summit of Madison. 

Sunrise. Taken between Madison and Adams.

The summit of Madison was amazing. I was there a little early for the sunrise and the sunrise ended up lingering until after I was done summiting Adams 45 minutes later. There were clouds on the horizon that trapped the sunlight and made it a dark red as well as clouds down low over the Androscoggin RIver Valley. I couldn't have witnessed a better sunrise.

 Madison (5367') from the Summit of Adams (5774')

Mount Jefferson (5712') on the right and Mt. Washington (6288') in the cloud on the left

I stressed over the time I was making (unnecessarily). The talus that makes up the Northern Presidentials was covered in lichen and the lichen was covered in dew. Dew which didn't evaporate off until around 10:00 when I was far into the Southern Presidentials. I slipped and slid on the flattest and most ordinary of rocks. I even fell once, a total surprise. The slick surfaces played with my sense of which surfaces were good to plant my feet on and which were not. It wasn't until I was on the much more stable (and dirt covered) trails of the Southern Presidentials that I could actually run and make up time. I was slightly disappointed in my arrival at the summit of Washington at just after 8:00 am (4:54 into the run) but I had no idea what kind of time I could make up from there on.

My fifth peak of the day at 8:09am, Mt. Washington (6288')

The rest of the Southern Presidentials from Monroe (5372')

The trail quality improved to a much more runable singletrack and I was able to run all the way back to 302 with a few stops to negotiate some ledges between Pierce, Jackson, and Webster. I would not hesitate to recommend running in the Southern Presis, on the Crawford Trail and any of the loop trails to anyone unfamiliar with the White Mountains. I am excited to try running in more places in the Whites in the future. 9:14, 24.0 miles, 8,700' vert.

Weekly Summary: 41.5 miles, 12,800' vert.

Weekly Run Log - July 31-August 06, 2011

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me with the Outward Bound course and flying home. But at least I have been meeting my training needs quite well. Even in New Hampshire!

08/02/2011: Course End Run from Fulford Cave, up 418 to the Nolan Creek Trailhead and through the town of Fulford, then back down to Yeomen Park. Told the students it was 10 miles but probably less (maybe 9.5) because of how fast I ran it. The uphill was great and the nearest student came in about 10 to 15 minutes after me. 1:40 or so, 9.5 miles, 800' vert.

08/05/2011: Set out on a trip I have been looking forward to this summer: The Four Pass Loop including Buckskin, Trail Rider, Frigid Air, and West Maroon Passes. This ultra-classic trail run of the Colorado Rockies is more of a mini-Hardrock than a full long run. The physical challenge along with the views, trail quality, flora and fauna and altitude put it toward the top of my all-time favorite runs (along with the company I had!). This (as with the Grand Canyon Double Crossing) is a run I will return to many times in the future in an effort to gauge my fitness and enjoy the mountains.

The Run:

Amir, Brenden, and myself hit the trail at 6:55, heading up past other folk traveling the Maroon Lake Trail until our split off from the main thoroughfare and headed up Minehaha Basin toward our first pass, Buckskin, by way of the Maroon Snowmass Trail.

Amir ascending the last switchback to Buckskin Pass

The climb up Minehaha went well as we were still quite fresh. Brenden and Amir both had one bottle each and refilled several times. We reached the summit at 8:26 completing 2,840' of climb in 1:31 - a great pace. Temps were starting to to get into the t-shirt comfortable range as we climbed the last few switchbacks to the summit.

Brenden traversing snow and talus above Snowmass Lake

The descent was wonderful. We conversed as we descended down the switchbacks toward the treed low areas near Snowmass Lake. The steepness backed off as we hit the low point between Buckskin and Trail Rider Passes. The number of people increased as we moved through the Snowmass Lake vicinity, but we left them behind and started the ascent of our second pass, Trail Rider.

 Looking South from Trail Rider Pass

 Looking North to Snowmass Lake

Myself, Amir, Brenden on Trail Rider Pass

At 10:25 we arrived at the summit of Trail Rider Pass. Two passes of four down, ~4,500' of ~7,500' down, and 10-11 miles of 25.4-28 miles down. A ways to go. We descended down toward the low point along the North Fork of the Crystal River, an area familiar to Outward Bound Instructors. Aches and pains were beginning to make themselves known.

 The wildflowers were just flowering!

 The Cascade on the North Fork of the Crystal River

Looking Southwest toward Lead King Basin

At the low point we turned our heading toward Fravert Basin, past the cascade, and up to Frigid Air Pass. We were able to run for quite a while on the low angle trail, walking only for the short steep section of switchbacks next to the cascade. Fravert Basin was an amazingly wide and low angle alpine basin, giving a great feeling of space. The only steep areas are where the basin walls ascending to the ridges and peaks that create its defining boundaries. The ascent up the several switchback to Frigid Air revealed to us that we were slowing down.

 We three on Frigid Air Pass with South Maroon Peak in the background

Looking South from Frigid Air Pass

But it was the descent from the South side of Frigid Air that wrecked Amir's extremities: left foot's arch and right knee. Our pace slowed to the "Ultra-shuffle." At this point the route that remained contained several hundred feet of downhill, 1,000' of climb and a 6.7 miles of downhill with 2,900' of elevation loss to finish off the run. 

 We three on West Maroon Pass, the fourth pass

Amir and Brenden descending West Maroon Pass

We ended up covering this in several hours of shuffling along. I felt we did a great job of keeping the mood light. The weather held out and Amir was able to do a little running on the long slow descent from West Maroon Pass. The trail quality remained fairly alright on the spectrum of loose talus to creamy singletrack with loose rock dotting the good singletrack base.

Hopefully, there is no permanent (or semi-permanent) injury to any of Amir's "undercarriage." 10:20, 26.65 miles, 7,415' vert. 

Other Details: 

Departure from Leadville at 4:00 am after deciding on staying where we knew we wouldn't be bothered instead of attempting to find someplace cheap (i.e. free) and local. Dinner was consumed locally in Aspen. We ate at the Red Onion after failing to find the Flying Dog. Dinner was about $40 for three great tasting fajitas and some spicy sweet potato fries and a Stella Artois. This is not usually what I would pay for a dinner like this but "when in Aspen..." 

Weekly Summary: 36.1 miles, 8,215' vert.

Weekly Run Log - July 24-30, 2011

07/30/2011: On an OB backpacking course camped in Negro Basin in the Holy Cross Wilderness. Put the students on solo and was able to sneak off for a recon run down to Yeomen Park by way of the Lake Charles Trail. Off trailed it down to where I could pick up the trail. Then ran down to Fulford Cave TH and Yeomen Park. Turned around and ran back. Ran into one other ultra guy named Eric. Talked about races. He mentioned the Black Hills Ultra. Sounded interesting. 

The trail itself was a pretty good run. The below 10,500', I would say, the trail gains very slowly allowing a great pace. at 10,500' it starts to kick up more steeply to the point where a person dehydrated from Outward Bounding might have to power walk it a bit. Needs some trailwork but overall the quality was good. Could probably do an out and back to Mystic Island Lake and run maybe 8 miles or so. 3:50, 11.5 miles, 2,500' vert.

Weekly Summary: 11.5 miles, 2,500' vert.

Weekly Run Log - July 17-23, 2011

Sadly, I was on course this week being driven insane by tough students. Course Directing and Instructing was so hard I compare it to running Leadville. I hope to never do it again.

I chock up big fat zeros this week but all is not lost. Outward Bound is not as bad as I thought it was, originally, for my running. It does give a chance for rest while building muscle in some cross training and dehydration training. So there you have it!