Front Range Rambler

Saturday Snow Day

2012-02-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

Although we got less snow than Denver and the surrounding foothills, we still had a sizable enough February snowfall to make it a winter wonderland in town.

Nighttime snow is perfect for cooling my muffins, so I can eat them faster after taking them out of the oven:

Of course, snow in town on a weekend doesn't mean everyone shacks up and watches TV; rather, everyone heads out to play.

First up was a sunrise run with Nick and Sarah up Redstone Canyon. We tracked some additional footprints in the snow, eventually catching up to Marie:

I had a great time chatting with them under the lightly falling snow, and the miles went by quickly.

Back in town, I met J, Bogdan, and Irina at Pineridge. Jax was cleared out of XC ski rentals, so Bogdan and Irina went with snowshoes. Either one was a great choice in knee-deep snow:

Among other folks out at play was this guy, with his sleeping young daughter in a sled. And, nothing says sleeping toddler like a skull and crossbones flag, of course:

I love the rare opportunities to ski very close to town: the feel of the terrain really changes, and new possibilities open up in the snow.
This guy built his own jump to hop the fence near the dogpark...and he nailed it:

Every other rock-free hill in town was dotted with kids on sleds.
What a beautiful day!

So long, Komen

2012-02-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

We'll be focused on causes "for the cure" (Don't sue me, I'm using a small "f", small "c" ) based on real science and less politics) instead. This appears to be a common sentiment.

And, by giving to other organizations instead of Komen, it will be nice not to support ludicrously obesogenic products with pink ribbons on them. Less obesity = less cancer deaths.

*

Update: Komen reversed its controversial funding decisions, but it appears the PR damage was already done....

Read a Damn Book!

2012-01-31T12:48:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to do an early 2012 post (fail) on reading in general, so I'll do a future post on interesting books that are least somewhat related to distance running. I've seen some fellow runners with goals of reading a book (or more) per month, etc., which is great. As people who value regular fitness and health, and the examples it might provide for others, I think reading is similarly important for intellectual health.

But a direct threat to both running and reading, with a Colorado angle as well, is this controversy from the South, in which the appropriateness of the famous CU cross-country biography, "Running with the Buffaloes," is questioned because of swear words.. Now I can entertain arguments about which books might be best for a Middle School library, given finite resources and space. But the argument offered by the student and the mother wasn't just that they were personally offended, but that they hoped no other students would be able to read it, either.
"I think they should ban every book that has words like that in it," dictated the 8th-grader.

Where to begin? The book is a detailed look into a talented group of runners. The swears come in handy with the reality of injuries, hard work, and (mini spoiler alert) a horrible tragedy that hits the team. In this way, the swearing is a raw reflection of the reality of these runners, meaning that any reality-based biography (also sometimes called "history") is not appropriate for middle schoolers.

While this mother focuses on the swear words, why is there no similar focus on the positive messages of inspiration and dedication to pursuing excellence and physical fitness? I'm dancing around stronger words, but watch the video: Dropping swear words doesn't save lives the way that dropping severely excess weight does.

And that's one of the main functions of the written word: anybody, including the most backward parts of the Union, can have equal access to messages and information that aren't provided at home, escaping prejudices and biases and ignorance that might have been in-bred for generations.

So I don't know if the books necessarily has to be in the library, but by God, it is appropriate for some 8th graders to be allowed to read it. I recall middle school as the time to move up into the "big books," when I started reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz, no worse for the wear...and I remember discussing favorites with my 8th grade English teacher. I remember that as a turning point of being able to walk in the library or used book store (we had a good one in town!) and feeling like any book was fair game. To that, I owe my parents, as well as the local librarians, booksellers, and English teachers alike a big thank you.

While I haven't read horror books like that in ages, I am absolutely terrified at the state of reading in this country. That's scary enough.

Horsetooth and Double Rock

2012-01-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

With the nice weather on Sunday, decided to head up to Horsetooth for a Quad Rock preview.

Of course, I use the word "preview" loosely, because conditions in May won't be anything like it is now in January, where I probably put my Microspikes on 8 or 9 times, in addition to wearing them longer than necessary at times out of laziness.

Here's how things looked after Friday's dusting of snow (the lighting in these pictures tilt-shifted for effect):

I added an extra-credit summit of Horsetooth Rock (an extra 30 minutes with some time on the summit), and with a water refill at the Lory visitor center, it's probably close to an even marathon, taking nearly 5:30 total, nothing to write home nor blog about. But a fair amount of that was fiddling with spikes, and running conservatively on the icy sections even with them on, filling up water, etc. so I sure expect the race to be significantly faster.

As for conditions (on a clockwise loop starting from the HT lot), the usual icy spots to the summit were the worst (although the very final pitch to the Rock was completely avoidable); West Ridge and the top of Towers and shaded parts of the middle are still slippery, as is Timber. The Falls trail still has ice but isn't the death trap it was a few weeks ago. Otherwise, the Valley trails were much less muddy than I expected, with only one short section in Lory with some standing water, but otherwise pleasantly manageable. Spring Creek was notably enjoyable.

Anyway, it was a nice preview for January, going to be a great event!
More work to do, but everything felt good and it put me over 100mpw -- not bad for me compared to previous January's.

Milner and Bobcat Loop

2012-01-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

~23Miles from Nick's House
Milner Mountain Summit (6881')
Pt. 7124 "Mahoney Knob" (proposed name)

Blurry view of Horsetooth Reservoir from Milner Summit

*
More than 150 years before our town's most famous British-born ultrarunner moved his family here, the Milner Family emigrated from England and settled in the environs between Milner Mountain and Bobcat Ridge, including the Redstone and Buckhorn canyons. The details of their early life, and the surrounding geohistory, are a storied piece of Western history, with a local school being named after Sarah Milner (as pointed out by my wife), the first teacher in the first public school in Larimer County.
Most of the surrounding land is private, and I have no idea if it's possible, but since there are some ranch properties for sale in the area, any possible addition of this historic land to the Larimer County Natural Areas would be a remarkable way to preserve the area, especially the impressive summit of Milner Mountain.

Anyway, Nick proposed a loop around Bobcat Ridge -- which is my favourite natural area, but is an otherwise routine loop. To make it more interesting, though, he proposed some exploration of Milner Mountain, which lies, conveniently, between his house and Bobcat Ridge. This extra bit of adventure would allow us to visit a new summit, and was sure to enliven what would otherwise have been a 5-mile road trudge. He has more of the details of the summit, but nominally it requires sufficient routefinding and obtaining permission, with respect to local ranch properties.

On the West side of Milner, we enjoyed following Firethorn Drive, South of Masonville, as a new road to explore, which pops out almost directly across from the Bobcat Ridge entrance. We arrived with no other cars, horses, or people in sight, although this could probably be attributed to the constant blustery wind and overcast skies.

The climb up the Ginny Trail is always enjoyable, and Nick has remarked that the terrain and elevation changes are very similar to the WS100 trail, making it a great training ground. My legs felt good, but since I hadn't brought sunglasses, my eyes were getting blurry in the wind, and I was getting dizzy trying to focus on the trail. Time to get new sunglasses! This got better as soon as we shifted out of the wind and headed into the trees near Mahoney Park.

Now at the far NW edge of the Bobcat Ridge trail system, there's a prominent knob which I always thinking about heading up and tagging, but never have. Based on the climb from the valley, and previous views from Milner, we thought it might be the officially ranked highpoint of Green Ridge, so we decided to make a quick go at it, which was especially nice on non-rattlesnake season. There's a fun little summit block at the top, with great views, but clearly the higher (and even more interesting) summits of Green Ridge and nearby Spruce Mountain were further North. We saved those for another day, in what looks like could be a fun combo loop from the North (possibly even as far as Storm Mountain).

Distant view of Milner Mountain, from West

We finished up the loop with some remaining ice in the shady parts of the DR trail, but then had easy work on the lower, frozen mud (complete with frozen mt. bike tracks) of the Valley trail, before the final uphill road slog back to Nick's house, completing a fun and interesting loop.

Trader Joe's CO OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!

2012-01-18T16:04:00.001-08:00

Colorado in April 2012!

Palisade Mountain Hike

2012-01-17T19:02:00.000-08:00

Palisade Mtn. (8225')
Class 2/Short Class 3 Summit
~3.5M, ~2200' gain

Palisade Mountain is a local foothill with a prominent protuberance on the south end of the Fort Collins skyline, forming a gateway (along with Round/Sheep Mountain) to the Big Thompson Canyon. I can see it on my daily runs and I've been intrigued by its ramped visage for years, but hadn't made the trip out there: for a 30 minute drive from my house, it's a short 1.5-2mile hike to the summit. But, it's a steep, rocky bushwhack and scramble, so it's also nice not to go solo.
Out of the blue, Nick puts out a call to hike it Sunday morning. He's recovering from Bandera and looking to get out for a quick hike, and I otherwise wasn't looking to do much running after the previous day's jaunt in the Springs, so along with Nick's neighbor Elijah, it was a perfect chance to get up on a new peak on the Front Range foothills checklist.

With a dearth of snow, and the cold temperatures of winter keeping the rattlesnakes at bay (important in the thick brush and rocks of the foothills), this was a good time of year to go. The time of day was another story: since the sun hadn't risen yet, we squinted roughly at the canyon walls, shrugged our shoulders, and headed up vaguely towards a peak we couldn't see.

As the day began to dawn, I wish my camera had been working, as it was pretty striking to see the silhouettes of Nick and Elijah working mostly vertically on some of the granite slabs. I took a mental picture instead.
But I also hoped to myself, as my beaten Cascadias slipped on some of the steeper areas of pine-needles strewn and grass covering the rocks, that we didn't have to descend this route.

Once we (the three of us, and the sun) got up higher, it was much easier to see our remaining route. We started out a bit further East than ideal, so we did more scrambling work than was necessary. But the rest was just a stairmaster straight-up hike to the obvious saddle on the summit ridge. In the trees, and by facing a different aspect, the ridge now had some completely manageable snow, but it was still open enough to be able to move steadily, especially when motivated by Premature False Summit Fever (PFSF).
A few windy false summits later, and we were on the summit proper, as evidenced by Nick finding a gigantic summit register completely out of proportion with the actual number of visitors:

Although it was too windy to enjoy for very long, the summit offers outstanding views to the West:

The way down was much easier, as we returned to the saddle, and then descended on the ridge above (and to the east) of the gulley that leads to the summit. As if by plan, we popped out within sight of the car at the bottom. As it turns out, a good entrance is directly across the street from the Idyllwild bridge (there is a culvert on the north side of that -- follow that up, going slightly to the climber's right).

All in all, a great, quick local peak worth hitting before breakfast.
Oh: bring your cactus-proof gloves, too!

Ponderous Posterior 50k 2012

2012-01-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

Ponderous Posterior 50k
Colorado/Manitou Springs, CO

The Ponderous Posterior 50k looked like a great opportunity to run some great, new (to me) trails with friends old and new. With a mild winter and perfect January weather on tap, this free Fat-Ass event was even harder to pass up.

I enjoyed carpooling down with Rob, so we had a great chance to chat both ways, while representing the Fort in the 50k. When arriving, we were glad to see Aaron and Dakota having made it down as well, for even more representation. But where was everyone else? I know the Fort is more than capable of invading Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona throughout the year, so next year, put it on the calendar!

Rob made good time getting us ready for the 8am wave, which seems to have been the most popular wave of the day. By then, cars with various bumper stickers with various numbers (usually 50 or 100) were lined up and down 31st street. With little fanfare, we were off.

The road section was over with fairly quickly, and soon enough we were on trails that led us a ridge above town. It was already impressive to see the type of trails that JT is able to hit from his front door, knowing that the later sections were even better, more classic trails.

After the first ridge was easy, conversational rolling, and the sunlight started hitting our sections of trail. We rolled comfortably and then entered some forested sections of trail, with periodic ice and snow. Like many, I had microspikes in my pack, but with careful, staccato steps, slipped occasionally but was able to avoid falling or pulling muscles.

Mostly.
I hit an icy patch on a corner and slid down. I popped right back up so as not to hold up the runner behind me, but blood and mud were caked on my left leg and splattered onto my right. At least I got it out of the way early.

Photo courtesy of Rob

I wondered how it would affect my running, but it honestly had no effect the rest of the day. The main thing that did slow me down was a strained hamstring from the previous Thursday morning downhill tempo, where I most certainly overstrided. So I had to take it easy on the downhills.

The uphills, though, were fun -- and there were plenty. I was running alone for a bit when I started wondering about the Red Mountain spur. I didn't want to miss it, but feared I did. Literally, as I was reaching into my pocket to grab the map, while still jogging, I saw the clearly-marked-with-flour intersection that said "Red" -- an obvious benefit to having course-markings done by hashing pros. Well done.

The Red climb was fun but I resorted to walking the icy sections, and saw a few 7am folks coming down. Two of them had microspikes on, which I had decided would be a good idea for the descent.

Arriving at the top, I took the fun little scramble (later noticed the trail around the back) and was surprised to see everyone else still chilling at the summit. I took in the views, put on the spikes, and headed down with them.

Next was a road downhill toward the infamous Manitou Incline. I enjoyed meeting up with Aaron, as well as Ryan K. here, and chatting -- hadn't met Ryan before, but I recognized his name, and look forward to running WS100 together. Met and chatted a bit with Leila as well and then reached the base of the Incline.

Of course, the Manitou Incline is well-known by weekend warriors looking to climb a couple thousand feet in just over a mile on an old Cog railway. It's been off-limits/private property the whole time, although thousands of people make the trek, and legitimizing of the trail is still in the works. (And, it's even safer now that some crazy Wisconsinite came and pounded in all the loose spikes).

So, time to hike. Kept it steady near some company, but then pulled up a bit. Passed numerous dayhikers that looked like death, I tried to encourage them on. I didn't know what to expect but heard someone discussing numbers, and saw that 30 minutes was a nice round number for being the middle of a long run (almost twice as slow as Matt C's 18 minute FKT). Caught up to NMP and chatted a bit at the top, and missed the arbitrary 30 minutes by 10 seconds. It would be fun to do an all-out effort sometime but then again it would be hard to pass up all the much more interesting trail options instead.

Again, I was surprised to see the other guys chilling at the top, so I grabbed a quick snack and adjusted clothes, then followed them into some more snow. Climbing was still OK but I was passed by several folks on the downhill. It was fun, soft snow, but I need to work on my technique, and my Cascadias suck at traction.

The descent kept going for quite a bit and then we hit the aid station. I was happy to ditch some clothes and grab some food from my bag, and then head back out, just behind the lead of the 8am group again, but it was the last time I'd see them.

Now I was pretty much by myself, as there was a group ahead and a group back, but I enjoyed the exploration of Waldo canyon, and ran into and chatted with a few folks running various distances with other start times. After getting into the shade again, the ice was pretty solid, and I debated putting my spikes back on. Right after I decided to do so, I remembered that I had just ditched them less than an hour ago. Oh well. At least with the previous traffic, I could see obvious shoe scrapes of the slipperiest spots, but I still grabbed onto branches and crashed into brush more than a few times.

Again, I looked forward to the climb out of the canyon more than I had the descent. Soon enough, that was done, and it was time for the long, sunny fire road descent, knowing that the real climbing of the day was done. The descent became tedious after awhile, and then I saw the little hill at the bottom which was marked in orange -- that was a fence-hopping endeavor into Garden of the Gods.

After a brief climb, and meeting a runner with a dog, we had gorgeous views of the Garden, and an eco-unfriendly eroded trail straight down into the Garden itself. It was awesome and I let out a "Whoop" here. I felt rejuvenated by some fun singletrack after too much road and ice, but somehow at the bottom, missed a left/North run to get around the rest of the Garden. Oh well, I mostly tacked my way East, backtracked a little bit, and asked around for suggestions, eventually popping out on a ridge less than a mile NW of JT's house (I had the map in my pocket and the street names helped). I'm not sure where the unofficial trails merged with official garden trails, but I'm guessing the flag/marking was moved or less obvious due to the heavy gaper traffic in the Garden itself, so mostly I'd just be more careful about studying that section of the course in the future.

Anyway, with minimal bushwhacking out of the Garden on onto a ridge, I saw a unicorn: a one-antlered deer, as the other antler had been busted off (and the existing one did have a few points, but was cracked and tilted). The buck didn't want to move, despite me being just a few yards away -- I stomped my foot, thinking the deer had already lost at least one fight, but hoping it didn't have mad deer disease either. I started running a little bit towards it, and it finally backed off. I scrambled down some rocks and skirted around a backyard, before getting down into some streets.

I missed 6 hours flat by 4 minutes, but oh well -- it was a great day and a great run. Enjoyed hanging out, eating, drinking, and chatting with folks. And it really did open my eyes to all the fantastic trails in the Springs! Thanks, JT and CRUD folks for a great event!

Save Edora's Disc Golf?

2012-01-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

I've played disc golf maybe 3 times in my life, but never at the popular course at Edora in Fort Collins.
I have, however, run or biked or rollerbladed hundreds of times (a minimum estimate of 3x/week for 5 years, 2 of which included a regular bike commute to CSU) past the course.

This means, potentially, that I'd have to watch out for errant discs and confused stoners wandering across the path in a cloud of smoke, yet another set of obstacles to avoid.
...
Right?
...
Except that hasn't happened. Instead, I've seen thousands of people (and their dogs) of all ages enjoying a game, and never gotten close to being hit by a disc. I've gotten respect and head-nods from them, without being judged while I pass through shirtless or in funny lycra or in outdated rollerblades (or -- on hot days when I'm feeling sassy -- a combination of all 3!)

But disc golf is too popular, it seems: hundreds of people play in the summer, leading to a wait at the tees. And the city mentioned a desire for more "passive use" in Edora, for being able to sit under a tree and read a book. (We here at the Rambler love reading books under trees -- except for the damn ants in Summer! -- but think that the northwest corner of the park, near the creek and bridge, is already a fine place to do so, although City Park instead can't be beat). So the planned solution is to shut down half the course.

Huh?

To be fair, there is a new course being built on the west side of town, near Future Former Hughes Stadium (FFHS). The new course has a goal to be even better than the Edora one: the problem is, FFHS is currently flat and treeless...and is across town. (An equally ridiculous solution to the "passive use" argument would be to suggest that someone read a book under the saplings at FFHS instead). Within a decade, the new course will undoubtedly be quite nice; meanwhile, the town population and the popularity of disc golf is unlikely to decrease.

There is an online petition to save the course.

Although there will be a net gain of 9 disc golf holes by building a new course on undeveloped land, we here at the Rambler think that removing the Edora course is short-sighted. We're not a fan of tearing down existing, working, popular infrastructure. We like the idea of having a course on both sides of town: one closer to CSU and some of the west-side schools, and the current, very popular Edora course closer to the numerous east side schools and businesses. We think supporting disc golf supports the economy in a sustainable way, supporting the work and vision set more than 30 years ago by legendary local disc golfer Bill Wright. We enjoy the mixing of populations that occurs in shared-use parks and have an idealistic belief that it secretly engenders respect and understanding. And we like doing whatever we can to get people outside.

And we, here at the Rambler, aren't even disc golfers!

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

2012-01-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

Despite very deliberately not belonging to any organized religion, I am fascinated with church architecture and Christian art.
(The highlight of actually living in Aurora was that my regular run took me through a cemetery past a gothic chapel built in the 1800s). Otherwise, I mostly pay attention only when I am in tourist mode, and it's hard to compare American churches (especially Western ones) to the deep history of foreign ones. I should like to make more of a concerted effort to visit notable American churches.

So even though we've been to Santa Fe a handful of times, I'd never actually been in the Cathedral. The first time or two, in fact, it was closed due to renovations for Santa Fe's 400th anniversary. Of course, the Loretto Chapel is worth a visit, and a few dollars admission, to peer at the wooden circular staircase.
But today, St. Francis, the patron saint of animals and the environment, beckoned us inside:

The low sun on a bright winter afternoon was perfect for illuminating the 12 Apostles, 6 on either side:

This church was rebuilt several times after prior destruction. The latest incarnation still dates to the 19th century, on an original site that was hundreds of years older, and had the honorific status of basilica bestowed by the current Pope in 2005. In a chapel (an older portion of one of the original churches) to the side of the altar lies several historic artifacts. A glass-enclosed case contains several relics, notably a bone relic of St. Francis, but the most important is La Conquistadora, a 400-year old statue of the Virgin Mary, the oldest in the New World. The statue, in fact, has a separate wardrobe of hundreds of pieces of ornate clothing, and is changed regularly.

A kindly woman was explaining the history to myself and another woman, a photographer from Colorado. With surprising, graphic detail, she stated how that, although La Conquistadora was not enclosed in any protective casing, it was highly protected by electric alarm systems.
"If you were lying, bleeding to death in the street," she said to the woman, "and he jumped over the fence to get that statue" (I appreciated the compliment to my assumed stealth), "the police would rush right past you toward the statue. That's how important the statue is!"

To some, or maybe just her. As much as I do appreciate history, the photographer from Colorado was lovely enough, so I know my decision would have been different. And easy. Ironically, my faith was reaffirmed.

By the way, among the veneration of images is a hierachy of (in order of precedence):latria, hyperdulia, and dulia. This means that the honor bestowed to Mary (hyperdulia), and the relative honour bestowed upon relics, lies between the highest honour bestowed to God alone (latria), and a lesser honour bestowed upon saints (dulia).

This, I expect, to be helpful in Scrabble sometime.

Santa Fe Skyline Run: Atalaya and Picacho

2012-01-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

Santa Fe Foothills Skyline
Atalaya Mountain (9117')
Picacho Peak (8577')
~13M Roundtrip (rough estimate) from downtown Santa Fe

*

A couple Thanksgivings ago, I ran up to check out Picacho Peak, a pointy and prominent knob in the Santa Fe foothills. I ran out of time to explore the nearby, higher Atayala Mountain, but this time came prepared to check out both.

View Larger Map (Picacho on left, Atalaya on Right)

On these trails in winter, "prepared" means mandatory traction, as much of the trail is shaded, but either sees enough traffic from other folks, or has creek/melt runoff from sunnier locations so as to coat large sections of the trail in solid ice. The only other tracks I saw consistently showed the shape of Yaktrax embedded in the mud. In this case, I put on Microspikes fairly early and was glad to have them for the duration.

Like last year, I left from Pueblo Bonito Inn, which is a great B&B bargain in the offseason: in this case, $75. And by leaving before sunrise, I knew I could do some damage to the breakfast buffet when I was done. I headed up Atalaya first, paralleling Camino de Cruz Blanca on a trail that was mostly a dirt sidewalk with low desert brush, but also solidly covered in ice. This trail was easy to follow before the climbing began. Eventually, there's a trail split, with the left fork labeled as "steeper." Not only was that one obviously more fun, but it had less traffic and better traction.
The Atalaya summit itself is the non-descript highpoint of the ridge to the East of town, just over 2000 feet higher than town. Great views, yes, but the irony is that most of the hiking guidebooks I've glanced at mention Atalaya (which also had a summit register jar) but not Picacho. By being more prominent and having a better view, Picacho is still my preference. That's an easy roll down to the saddle and then brief climb back up, so I headed that way. With the snow and ice, and with no idea of the actual map distance, the previous year I had estimated about 20 minutes between the two, and that was pretty much accurate.

I enjoyed the sunshine on Picacho for a bit before heading down the familiar, but very icy, trails on the Dale Ball system. The Microspikes worked great, in combination with moving very conservatively. The added insult to injury on these trails would be slipping on ice and then falling onto a cactus.

In all, this is a fun loop that is very accessible from town. Some sort of traction (microspikes or at least Yaktrax) would be mandatory in winter. From most places, the road approach is only 2-3 miles on road. The road parts are enjoyable runs past adobe buildings and art galleries, with the scent of woodsmoke in the air. Just be careful around blind corners for inattentive drivers.

I had also explored the lower Dorothy Stewart trail on a separate run. My opinion here is that the lower trails would be fun on a mountain bike, but the higher ones around both summits would be more of a chore on a bike.

Map is below in case it's useful, the Dale Ball system is well-marked but I had been hand-drawing the other sections:

Spence Hot Springs in Jemez Springs, NM

2012-01-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

~7 miles North of Jemez Springs, East side of Hwy ~MM25
0.5M hike from paved parking lot

*
While Jemez Springs is (in)famous among ultrarunners for a tough, mountainous race held in May, it certainly has a history that is much longer than just the race. Human habitation in the Jemez Valley has been dated to over 4000 years, while the geology became especially interesting after volcanic eruptions over 1 million years ago. Even today, numerous natural hot springs are found throughout the valley. We were hoping to check out at least one.

I initially wanted to check out San Antonio Hot Springs, thinking it would be a good xc-ski destination (as opposed to driving on a rough 4WD road), but as I was unsure of the snow level, I ruled that out. Pictures of the Soda Dam looked impressive indeed, and I read about a natural waterslide, but it turns out that the hot springs in the immediate vicinity are very small warm pools. Talking with a friendly local that lived near the Soda Dam, he suggested Spence Hot Springs up the road. Backtracking about 6 miles, we pulled off near Battleship Rock (another impressive formation) before hiking another 20 minutes on an icy trail -- the wrong one, in fact -- which would have led to Macauley Hot Springs instead.

We were running out of daylight and J's patience, but I backtracked just a bit further up the road and found the right spot. The sign doesn't label the hot springs itself, but mentions "No Nudity" and such, so we figured we were in the right place. Just over a half mile of hiking on mud and ice, we passed a group of folks heading out that said it was "absolutely beautiful."

Finally, we arrived, and had the entire place to ourselves. There were two pools, with a small waterfall connecting them. The upper, warmer pool, has a small cave as the source of the hot water. I squeezed in there, Gollum-like, and vowed never to leave. Until it was time to go.

I can imagine a different scene in the middle of summer, but as it was in January, we were able to soak in a steaming pool of water and watch the sunset over snow-covered hills. All by ourselves! This is a glorious and magical spot.

Pajarito Mountain: New Mexico Nordic

2012-01-06T19:38:00.001-08:00

Pajarito Nordic Area
~5.5M total ski, Groomed, Free

*

J and I were eager to try out some new (to us) New Mexico-area XC trails, nearer to Santa Fe. With decent snow (compared to Colorado, especially), we had some good choices, but decided to check out the trails near Pajarito Ski Area above Los Alamos.

This trail system has free access, and is maintained quite well by the Southwest Nordic Ski club. The trails start from the far corner of the Pajarito Ski Area parking lot (note: the ski road is steep and requires 4WD or chains in any sort of inclimate weather). The main loop is about 5k out with gradual climbs to a gorgeous meadow, with a few parallel trails and loops along the way.

There was just enough snow (thanks to some of the shade fences) in the early parts to make it into the shade and higher elevations, and the snow was fantastic in the meadow. Before we started, we had met Tarik from the SW Nordic club, who gave us much-appreciated trail updates and recommendations, so we pretty much stayed to the better snow on the rightmost trails towards the meadow.

We reached the meadow with full sun and temperatures in the 40s, so we hung out for a bit and had lunch. With just a bit further of bushwhacking, we were able to peer into the Valles Caldera preserve (which does have its own set of ski trails in the winter). Above the meadow, albeit south-facing, are glorious glades of tall aspen and pine, on gentle, nearly rock-free hills. Right after a storm, this would be a fun place to practice turns.

On our way back, we ran into another woman who was training for "some ski race in Wisconsin." Of course, I knew she was talking about the Birkie, which is somewhere on my lifelong list as well. We talked about the poor snow conditions in Wisconsin, as well as the poor conditions in Colorado, as she has a Copper Pass and called it the "worst conditions she's seen in 40 years." At that moment, at least, it seemed New Mexico was the place to be.

Red River, New Mexico: Enchanted forest XC Ski and Red River Ski Area

2012-01-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

Enchanted Forest XC Ski Area
Bobcat Pass above Red River, NM
~6.5M groomed ski ($12/pp afternoon access pass after 12:30)

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Enchanted Forest XC Ski
While much of the Colorado snowpack has been suffering, Pacific storms have instead snuck to the south and dumped on Northern New Mexico. And with the holidays over, crowds disappear and the lodging prices drop, making it the perfect time of year to check out the Land of Enchantment.

Just minutes above and to the east of the quaint mountain town of Red River, New Mexico, lies the Enchanted Forest Ski Area, at the top of Bobcat Pass. We've visited this area before, with J being on snowshoes, but now it was time to try out her new skis.

We had a fantastic afternoon skiing the outer loop, which ends up being over 10k of trail. The mixture of a few rolling hills was enough to challenge J with some downhill turns, but the trails are generously wide enough and devoid of obstacles. Best of all, the warm afternoon sun was perfect for churning up corn snow on the groomed trails.

I did a few quick spur trails, including a "double black" run called Judy's Lead where I kicked up a mule deer that ran in parallel with me for a bit down the trail. Otherwise, the far side of the loop has exquisite views of the Latir Wilderness, along with groves of tall aspen.

The trails weren't crowded by any means, but we had the views at the edge to ourselves.

Although $12 is steeper than free skiing or places like Happy Jack, it's pretty competitive for a high-quality selection of groomed trails with great views. And certainly not a bad way to work up an appetite for New Mexican chile!
For that, our go-to place is Sundance Mexican in town, which has solid chips-and-salsa, margs and Shiners, turkey tacos, great veggie chile (red and green), and sopapillas.

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Red River Ski Area

Of course, Red River itself is a ski town, with a ski area looming right above town. We've been here before, it's a small but fun area. In January, lift tickets are nearly half-price ($35 in 2012) with a valid college ID, and discount afternoon-only tickets are also available. Again, with better conditions than Colorado (40+ inch base), we knew we couldn't go wrong.

The ski mountain mostly faces north, so as to hold onto the snow, which means shade and ice can be an issue. But otherwise the mountain is mellow and friendly to beginners, for better or worse. In this case, J was happy to take mellow runs for her first downhill of the year, while I worked on a semblance of tele skiing. The real challenge is to avoid the Texans and Okies, of course, but it's all good. Truth be told, I took a few falls myself as I was working on my turns, but I actually put the climbability of my bindings to good use by retrieving at least half a dozen skis and poles from various yard sales, and was otherwise happy not to get hit by anyone.

Although Red River is mostly known for it's proximity to the, uh, South, it's a worthy destination for anyone searching for a combination of beginner slopes with legitimate downhill, cheap lift tickets and lodging, and great food. And, this year at least, some decent snow.

New Year in Running

2012-01-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ended up 2011 with a final race: the Fort Collins Resolution Run 5k.
I didn't have any sort of costume, other than my favourite alpaca hat, but enjoyed seeing some of the other FCTR's out in formal wear.

J and Nora were decked out in tutus:

The course is a couple of loops around CSU, with an extra final spur around The Oval. Similar to the Jingle Bell Run, I was excited to run on familiar roads on campus. But this time: at night!
And it supports KRFC, our great local NPR affiliate.

I pushed hard and painfully, and didn't get mile splits, but enjoyed pacing fast people in front of me, and was very happy with 6th in a PR of 17:01.
I had actually pushed to beep the timing mat (they had chips at the race!) at 16:59 on the digital clock. I then hacked up my asthmatic lungs for about 10 minutes, which weren't happy with the effort in the cold temperatures. As I sort of suspected, the GPS guys showed ~3.05M, so possibly a bit short, though a google maps view shows a legit 5k.
Either way, that pace is another big improvement that made me happy and a good way to end 2011.

J also hit a PR, when I caught up with them and told them to push to make it under half an hour, and they did it!

After this, we headed to a fun party at the Slushoconnor household:

We found out the downtown fireworks were cancelled due to the wind (earlier in the day), so we enjoyed hanging out until the stroke of midnight, as determined by an arbitrary microwave clock. Looking forward to a great year of running achievements and tall tales from this group of friends!

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If nothing else, 2012 is now notable to me for being the first time I've ever purchased a Horsetooth Mountain Park vehicle pass. Now with the initial investment, I'm sure I'll be inspired to go up there often and get my money's worth!

Today was a nice morning, with the wind finally having died down. That didn't prevent ice:

So it was pretty slow going in both directions on the upper part of the trail. I got less miles in, but more vertical, hitting up a HT summit and then a subsequent Towers summit, all of it pretty slowly.
But the theme of my WS100 prep is vertical and trail, so it was nice to be out.

Happy 2012!

Winter Green

2011-12-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

After a few hours of skiing at Eldora, I stopped in Boulder for a jaunt up Green Mountain.
Although Boulder received a fair amount of snow, I knew that Boulder superfreaks would have packed down the trail by the afternoon, and I wasn't disappointed! This was my first time to try out the trail with some soft snow, as a few days after any snow and it seems to be solid ice -- I was up there a few weeks ago and had to slide on my butt a few times.

This time I had my Microspikes. I've used them mostly for hiking in the winter last year, but honestly, I'm not as much of a mountain trail snow runner. I love running the roads in the snow, but if there's enough on the trails, I generally prefer taking the x-country skis out for a spin.

Alas, WS100 doesn't allow skis. And while I'll spare you the inner details of training plans for now (maybe a future post, but I'm bored even thinking about it) -- but my cardio isn't currently my weakest link. My running -- especially downhill -- is. So let's work on that for now.

So, on to Green. I'm sure I need better running technique, but it was pretty much a solid 50+ minute hike for me, digging down into the snow. It was pleasantly soft, in a knee-deep trench. Not too much running. I found some sunglasses, and later the owner, who was quite grateful for them (they fell off her head and she didn't know they were missing) and said "that woulda been $100."
The summit was gorgeous, sunny, and windless -- this was only my 4th time up there. I think there was a temperature inversion today, as Ned was warmer than the lower parts of the canyon. Only saw a few other people, though I hoped to randomly run into some of the regulars.

I decided to descend the front side since I knew it was packed. Usually, on snow this good, I'd rather be on skis. But, the descent was an absolute blast, with occasional slipping on heels, knees, and grabbing trees on switchbacks. None of those skills are incredibly useful, either, but it was fun! I whooped out loud at one point, and a few minutes later came upon a couple that got out of my way, smiling and saying they heard me up there.

So while I won't be giving up the skis anytime soon, I guess I won't automatically grab them every time there's a decent amount of snow on the ground, when the running shoes can still be fun, too.

J on the XC

2011-12-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

J finally got some XC skis! (Usually, she snowshoes while I ski).

Perfect timing to get enough snow to cruise around the neighborhood and along the south Powerline Trail.

Rim Trail in Snowmass -- Night Running

2011-12-11T21:37:00.001-08:00

Rim Trail -- Snowmass Village, CO

Besides skiing, I also wanted to check out some of the running/hiking trails in Snowmass. The Rim Trail caught my attention on the map, as it climbed quickly up a nearby hill, some 800-1000 feet in a couple miles or so, and then rolled along for several more miles. So one night, full of great dinner and wine, I headed somewhat blindly toward where I hoped the Rim Trail might be. I found some tracks going off into the woods near Deerfield Drive, which headed up exactly on the trail I was looking for.

After a 25 minute grind up numerous switchbacks, covered in mostly in light snow, I finally reached a summit plateau with fantastic views all around. I saw something on the ground, then nearly wiped out as I stood on it: a marble Yin-Yang. At a different time and day, it would look something like this:

Well, that was unexpected. I continued the rolling trail, with a few short steeper sections, before the trail curved onto a narrower north-south ridge with new views toward Aspen and the airport. I turned around once the trail began switchbacking downward. This was an exquisite run right next to Snowmass -- with a bit more snow, it would have been a great x-country ski or snowshoe trail, as well as a nicely buff mountain bike trail in the summer.

Lunar Eclipse
I had so much fun on this trail, I returned a few days later to view the lunar eclipse.

The Yin-Yang was the perfect vantage point, as the setting moon wasn't visible from town down below. Somehow, the Yin-Yang also made sense, as a balance between the rising sun and setting moon, the cycles of waxing and waning, the lunar influence on the rhythms of the tides....Or something like that. Yin, yang, yada-yada-yada.

I waited and watched in the cold, while inch-by-inch, the oak moon disappeared, and the sun took its place. The coyotes and dogs in the valley below howled and yapped in protest.

Sunlight Moonlight

2011-12-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

Moonlight Ski Tour on Sunlight Mountain (Glenwood Springs, CO)

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With a full moon (and eclipse) earlier the same day, I had planned on a nighttime ski tour of Sunlight Mountain near Glenwood. Sunlight is a smaller, friendlier local's mountain, and it would give me an excuse to visit it for the first time. It permits uphill hiking on all trails, has a nice network of free cross-country trails adjacent to the mountain (which also would lead most of the way to the summit), and puts on a 24-hour ski race.

I began my ski tour just after 6pm, in full darkness with the moon cresting nearby hills. A few cars were scattered in the lot, but it seemed as if it would be lonely out there. I started on the Old 4-Mile Road leading into the Babbish Gulch x-country trails, but ended up following a side trail right onto the Ute Trail. The Ute Trail is a green groomer leading all the way to the top, but takes 2.5 miles to do so. Every other trail (including the 24-hour race course) is much steeper and much shorter, but I was happy with my conservative choice, which allowed for me to take a mellow ski up on a wide, moonlit trail.

As I got nearer to the top, I thought I saw a headlamp in the distance. Sure enough, right as the final pitch under the lift came into view, I saw a party of 3 heading up. I caught up and greeted them, and then consciously thought about the fact that the light on the summit house was on.

It turns out these 3 were up for full moon shenanigans -- and more were on the way. Another couple was in the summit shack (which also had the fireplace on). They were just out for a moonlit ski like me, but the rest of the crowd was up for a party. As was explained to me, sometimes the lifties party up on the hill, sometimes the ski patrol; and on full-moon nights like this, they all come up. How cool is that?
"Hey, what do you guys want to do tonight after we're done with work -- which is skiing?"
"Uh, how about some skiing?"

Some of the goods, including hot apple cider, were courtesy of Meier Skis, a good ol' U.S. of A. local shop which custom-builds skis using Colorado wood. Despite my status as an interloper, these guys also freely offered burgers and brats which they were grilling outside.
More friendly folks showed up, and 80's music started blaring on a stereo. The inside of the shack had an unsurprising damp, sweaty smell, while the outside smelled decidedly more herbal.

I hung out with the guys a bit while waiting for some of my clothes to dry, and checked out awesome views from the proper summit of Compass Peak. I had a long drive ahead, so I thanked them for the fun and began skiing down. I stayed on the Ute Trail again, as I knew what to expect from the ascent. I barely needed a headlamp at all, heading instinctually for the lighter pitches of moonlit snow, absentmindedly expecting the surface to be noticeably softer as it would be in sun exposure. At the bottom, another group had just begun hiking up, with loose dogs chasing glowing frisbees. Having the run to myself under the stars was both surreal and sublime.

My preference is wandering through the woods, but I'm just as happy knowing that folks are occupying the local mountain for a fun time. No jostling in lift lines, no credit card or electricity needed.
Who said resort skiing can't be fun?

Aspen Skiing: Earn your Turns?

2011-12-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Snowmass Mountain
With about 4 hours of break, and no lift ticket, yet located right next door to a snow-covered mountain on a brilliant bluebird day, there was only one natural choice:
Go Higher.

I've never skied up a ski resort, so I decided to give it a go on my beat-up waxless backcountry skis, with no idea how long it would take, and how well received the act of skiing upward in Our National Forest would be amongst hundreds of people, mid-day, which is perfectly legal, generally, and allowed on all trails on Aspen-Snowmass Mountain (but isn't helpful if people aren't looking out for you or aren't aware).

Things were going relatively well as I stayed skiers-left of the slope, closer to the aspen groves on the lower part of the mountain, before needing to cross over to the other side. I traversed across the hill -- very uncrowded, being an early-season weekday -- with a nearly flat trajectory, when a helpful older gentleman told me to "stay to the side when going uphill!" I thanked him for this, but mentioned crossing over to the other side. I also made a mental note never to crash or drop anything again while skiing, as the slight uphill motion to retrieve lost objects might also be offensive.

The runs had changed from Green to Blue here, which slowed things down, but eventually I was at the Village Express midpoint. I stopped to check my map, near a ski photographer, who asked if I had any questions. "No, just seeing where I am."
As I considered my options, though, he did point out the way most of the uphill skiers went: Lunchline to Sunnyside. This was both easier and would lead me to aspects that were still in the afternoon sun, so it was a nice tip.

I picked my way over to Sunnyside, and now reached spots where hiking was easier than shuffling and slipping. I probably could have done this much earlier, as it was easier to keep a consistent hiking speed. I am starting to see how hiking up with good boots and lighter skis might just be the way to go instead of messing with skins. I hadn't brought anything to attach my skis to my pack, so I used them as extra poles to dig into the snow. On the final pitch, I went partly through the glades at the top, which had almost no traffic and had the usual zig-zagging paths that cut across the mountain between different tree sections.

Finally, about 2:10 after I started, I made it to the top of the "Big Burn" -- the actual summit was closed off, so I had reached the highest terrain that was currently open, more than 3000 feet higher than where I started.

I scarfed down a sandwich, and a bird landed on my skis, waiting for crumbs.

Now in the shade, it was time to head down. I had shed several layers on the way up, but was still soaked with sweat. I didn't have the energy or desire to mess with trying out tele turns, so I just made conservative swooping alpine turns -- these skis, and my ability on them, are sketchy at best. I made it down in half an hour, probably 4 times slower than I would have been on my alpine skis, but was happy to make it down safely after having earned my turns.

Aspen Highlands

The next day, again with about 4 hours to spare in the afternoon, I found myself in possession of a lift ticket. I hurried over to the bus stop, nearly tripping over my loose clothes and gear, just in time to catch a bus. I decided to head over to the Highlands, which supposedly had great views, and some friends that were skiing over there for opening day.
I was not able to meet up with those friends, as they had enjoyed the steep runs up in the bowl, and I hadn't really planned on being there until the last minute. That wouldn't have been smart on my skinny skis anyway. Again, I was very careful and slow on these skis, especially as some areas were icing up, but enjoyed trying out a new area.
In fact, even without views from the bowl, I will say that this was the prettiest resort views I've seen in my limited experience.

WS100

2011-12-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

In!

Lunar Eclipse 2011 -- Rim Trail, Snowmass Village

2011-12-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

From 2011-Dec Eclipse

Upcoming Races

2011-12-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

* WS100 lottery tomorrow. Cautiously optimistic for Alex and I
* Should be a fun one, but can't make Chubby Cheeks tomorrow -- up in Snowmass for school/work. I imagine it'll be a fun day of tromping through the snow and checking lottery results
* Instead, I'm up in Snowmass for school/work -- can't complain about that. Making extra red blood cells for next week's VBM
* No HR lottery, no problem -- extra ticket for next year. Hope to hang out in Silverton in July anyway
* How about QR (Quad Rock) instead? Looking forward to that one
* Not planning on Leadville -- would like to go back someday, and definitely can speed up my time, but too many other races to do, and I like the idea of PPA in the morning, pacing at night
* Looking at Bighorn as a WS backup, and have thought a little bit about Black Hills, but..
* The Steamboat 100 sounds very intriguing. Not a fan nor interested in the arbitrary split of runners, and the possible giant purse is neither here nor there for me, but I have no problems with the attempt or desire to do so. I like everything else about the race: course, time of year, cost; and I've always heard good things about the RD. Hoping for a good race there in Year 1!

We'll see how things shake out starting tomorrow. Good luck in the WS lottery!

Jingle Bell 5k 2011

2011-12-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Jingle Bell 5k
17:46, 2nd OA

Despite ice, snow, and single-digit temperatures in the morning, J and I lined up for the Jingle Bell 5k at the CSU Oval on Saturday. We ended up having a great time, and will look to do it again in the future.

J had received two complimentary entries, which put it on our schedule. Still, shivering in our car before the start, I wasn't sure about my own motivation. Luckily, J's a tough girl, having been running early pre-dawn runs with a friend for several weeks now. Plus, she had snowpants on! So we donned our free jingle bells, a characteristic of the Arthritis Foundations national Jingle Bell runs. (In fact, a Jingle Bell run in San Diego 8 years ago might have been the first 5k we ever ran!)

Onto the race. Previous results suggested that I might place well, but it all depends on who shows up, and I didn't know how much the ice and snow would affect things. As a compromise on traction, I gave up on pure road flats and wore my new-ish Brooks Pure Grit lightweight trail shoes instead, and ultimately think this choice was a good one, since I didn't fulfill my worst fears of slipping and getting a concussion. Again.

The race starts with a lap around "The Oval" at CSU, which is a beautiful quad area on campus with majestic older oak trees and some of the older campus buildings that serve the classic sciences and liberal arts. By going counterclockwise, it's a fun track-like start to the race. Despite a few hundred runners and walkers that braved the elements, the start line wasn't too crowded, and the announcers kindly asked walkers to wait until runners made the first lap. Then, we were off. Quickly, I found myself running shoulder-to-shoulder with one other runner, who had the inside track, and a tattoo on his calf, which was visible because he was wearing shorts. Clearly, he meant business. We stayed next to each other running a bit hot for my goals, and I realized I wasn't doing myself any favours by running the extra distance in "Lane 2", so I tucked in behind him.

By the end of the oval, he had a gap on me, and as we headed West through campus, I kept him in view but let him go (aka "I couldn't keep up"), which was fine as I continued to run my own race, having opened a gap on anyone else behind me. The course was mostly plowed, so I enjoyed the views of the foothills and fond memories of having taken classes for a few years at CSU, and have run every part of the course outside the oval numerous times.

We worked our way West, with few turns, before a brief section going south and then heading back East. We occasionally ran through patches of snow, and some of the corners required more care to negotiate, but the course was otherwise very well-marked and controlled. I didn't have any mile splits, but by the 2nd mile the leader was in view but about 25 seconds ahead of me. So I just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the run. Soon enough, we were back on the oval, with 3/4 of a lap to finish up the race. Again, this is a fun finish, to be able to see the finish line and anyone ahead or behind for a few minutes. I ended up 2nd in 17:46, 35 seconds behind the winner, Mark Saunders, whose name I recognized as being generally faster than me. 3rd place was more than a minute behind me, so there's clearly room for more local runners to show up. Happy with my time, despite the pace being slower than last week's longer Turkey Trot -- given a warm-weather race in the future, I'm hopeful that I still have even more speeding up to do in these shorter races before I start slowing down.

I ran back to grab the camera, and followed J in as she finished up a solid pace, fully decked in snowpants scarf, hat, and a few hundred other layers.

So, I have to strongly recommend this race as being well-run and fun, a good time right after the Thanksgiving Day Run. As for materialistic perks, along with the entry fee, racers receive a timed run and a nicely-designed long-sleeve T-shirt (which I'm wearing as I type this), in addition to bagels and hot coffee and hot chocolate after the race. Top 3 runners, as well as best costume and top fundraisers, are additionally recognized with medals and (in my case) a highly-appreciated Whole Foods Gift card. Of course, with all these benefits on a free entry, it was obvious that we would be increasing our donations to the Arthritis
Foundation.

The Arthritis Foundation
Finally, and most importantly, a word about the Arthritis Foundation. Besides a well-organized race, with some inspirational fundraisers as well as some motivated child running groups, we enjoyed hearing various facts about the Arthritis Foundation's work while cheering on other runners. Like many diseases, arthritis (which itself has over 100 forms) has a drastically different presentation, cause, and treatment results for patients of all different ages. This means it's difficult to make broad generalizations. However, one area of results-driven protocol supported by the Arthritis Foundation is that of regular exercise to prevent and reduce the symptoms of arthritis. Coincidentally, I discussed this recently in a disease and pathology course in the context of osteoarthritis, so I have a bit of a soapbox on the subject. (Remember, there are numerous forms of arthritis, which run the gamut from less-understood genetically influenced autoimmune forms, to those which are very much affected by diet and lifestyle, of which I am focused on here).

A recent meta-analysis ("Exercise and knee osteoarthritis: benefit or hazard?", Bosomworth) highlights research showing that a history of physical activity is not associated with development or progression of osteoarthritis, and may be protective:
http://171.66.125.180/content/55/9/871.full.pdf

This makes sense mechanistically based on what we discussed this week in class: both bone strength and cartilage development are stimulated by repeated stress. Stress such as running is sensed biomechanically, ultimately resulting in stronger bones, tendons, and ligaments. The stress of the activity is temporary and is compensated by long-term physiological adaptations.

Obesity, on the other hand, stresses cartilage in the knee (e.g.) chronically, and studies have shown for several decades that obesity can increase the risk of development of osteoarthritis:
"Obesity and knee osteoarthritis. The Framingham Study" (Felson, et al.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3377350

Unfortunately, osteoarthritis can make it difficult for people to exercise without pain, leading to a vicious cycle of more weight gain. However, among people who already have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, continued exercise and diet/weight-loss have been shown to reduce pain and improve functional mobility:
"Exercise and Dietary Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Older Adults With Knee Osteoarthritis: The Arthritis, Diet, and Activity Promotion Trial (Messier, et al.)"
https://www.cebp.nl/media/m1074.pdf

In summary, I believe it is imperative that doctors recommend exercise and weight loss as a primary treatment for osteoarthritis, especially among younger patients, and physical activity that includes running or walking should be encouraged as prevention.

I have gotten into this topic a bit because of a couple of oddities -- bear with me -- related to running and arthritis.
First, I've heard more than a few (dozen?) times, "Isn't running bad for your knees?" Not only is it very much generally not bad for your knees, shown repeatedly in scientific studies, but it is generally beneficial. The unfortunate irony of this is a fundamental misconception that leads some people to avoid the very thing that could most improve their health.
Exercise, such as running, trains the body to adapt and deal with occasional stress; combined with proper nutrition, the body beautifully builds itself even stronger. In contrast, the latest research shows that excess weight and lack of exercise leads to a chronic situation of inflammation and stress, which exacerbates all kinds of diseases, including osteoarthritis.

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So, as the Arthritis Foundation says, "Arthritis is Not Inevitable!" Let's continue to support their good work in supporting research and awareness. Even more simply, as a runner, every time you lace up your shoes, and encourage a friend or family member to go for a walk and make healthy food choices, you're already doing your part in prevention!

Kitchen Countertop/Sink Remodel

2011-12-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

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This isn't going to become a home improvement blog anytime soon, but this project took a bit of time so I might as well put some pictures up.

The backstories are more detailed and interesting, but this took all of my freetime before Thanksgiving. I barely ran at all, as something had to give so I could keep up with this and school (so running, sleep, and eating went first). Ironically, this meant I
"tapered" unwittingly for the Thanksgiving race!

Brilliantly, we invited 11 people over to our condo for Thanksgiving, including inviting my parents from Oklahoma...and then proceeded to rip the kitchen apart, with no hope of salvation. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Neil -- the pacer once again, who masterminded the countertop woodwork and tiling, as well as sharing lots of quality tools -- and my parents for a ton of help, as well as DJ and Deb for support. Luckily (more gratitude), C&C let us borrow their house for the occasion, and my parents spent most of their "vacation" helping us finish up. I think/hope they kind of enjoy this stuff, and we did enjoy spending the time with them working together. Good memories!

I'm still happy we did it ourselves -- we wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise, and it was a learning experience -- but it was stressful at times. Did I mention we're not really experts on stuff like this? It was gratifying to work with my (cracked and bleeding) hands more than normal (which is also why I like doing all of my own bike mechanic work). I now know some things that would have made it go more quickly: the biggest pain was cutting tile around the sink, which eventually became much easier when I changed to a different sink, used a different blade on the tile saw than the stock one, and decided to tile-in the sink instead of fitting curves underneath it. So anyway, I have a tile saw now if anybody ever needs to borrow that -- let's get some mileage out of it!

We're very happy with the results! But, again, it wouldn't have been possible with the help from everyone else.
THANKS to everyone that helped!

Back to our regularly-scheduled programming...

Fort Collins T-Day Run 2011

2011-11-24T13:43:00.001-08:00

Perfect day for today's Thanksgiving Day run, finished well ahead of my < 23 goal in 22:22, but still finished well out of the pie range, since at least 6 M30-34 were faster.

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Mostly, this race is a celebration of fun, running, and community in Fort Collins. The centerpiece is a great course right in the middle of Old Town Fort Collins, which heads uphill in a loop toward City Park and back down the classic, gradual downhill down Mountain Avenue. Proceeds go to the Food Bank, a worthy and well-run local charity (J has some friends that work there).

We had only done this race once before, a couple years ago, but vowed that any time we spent Thanksgiving in town we would certainly want to do this run. J lined up to run with her friend Nora, and her mom signed up to walk. I learned my lesson from the first time I did this run, and lined up near the front so as to avoid the maelstrom of ipods, strollers, and 5-wide groups of gapers that prevent smooth passage in the narrow starting area. A few rows from the front, I was happy to see a good group of friends and fellow runners all ready to go.

Splits:
5:25
10:50
16:45
22:22

This was a solid 2 minutes off of my previous time, so I was quite happy with it. Still not close enough in the very competitive age group -- I would have had to run better than 5:02/mile to have won a pie -- but I look forward to future runs and improvement in this race.
Being a shorter run, I laced up my Brooks Green Silence shoes for this one. I've pretty much worn these shoes out, but have gotten a solid year of some speed work and a few races (half marathon and marathon) in them.

Meanwhile, J and Nora ran together, and I had told her that 10 min/mile was within her reach. Unfortunately, they got stuck farther back in the swarm of humanity, and said their first mile took an extra 3 minutes or so. After that, each mile was well into the 9's, and when I saw them in the last quarter mile, they dug deeper and sped up to the finish line. J's been getting up before sunrise several times a week for the last month and running with a friend, and it shows! Hope she keeps it up and keeps having fun. Finally, almost exactly at the hour mark, Debbie finished up with a fast walk, having met and talked with an out-of-towner visiting for Thanksgiving.

Overall, a fun morning at one of the funnest races of the year. Check it out!

More running, and on track

2011-11-17T12:36:00.000-08:00

Been really happy with the last few workouts (some of them on the Aurora Central High Trojan Track) focused on speedwork in preparation for the Thanksgiving Day run, and generally staying healthier and running better/more focused with less miles and some stretching and strength. I've been playing with stride and breathing a bit as well: after running for a few years now, I feel like I'm still learning.

I don't like to post workout numbers -- this isn't a training blog! -- but I'm starting to forget what I did last year (or last month), and then I curse myself for not writing things down. And, I like learning and getting ideas from other people's workouts.

I've never broken 24 minutes in a 4M race, which is a nice, round number which I feel I should be capable of reaching. That's still a goal, but my A-goal for next week is to aim for 23 (5:45/mile). That won't be pie-worthy, but I can't fully control that. Hopefully I can set a new baseline for myself now and improve next year as well.

Whether or not the recent runs are sufficient training (this close to the event) vs. prediction is debatable, but here are some key workouts:

Week -2:
Mon: 5k@sea level (Corona del Mar Track): 17:10 (PR)
Wed: 8x800, ~2:20 RBI (complete rest to add up to 5:00 so I can keep my watch running): 2:33-2:36-2:38 (min-avg-max)
Week -1:
Tues: 5k@Aurora Central Track: 17:42 (Colorado PR)
Thurs: 4x1600, 400m slow jog between intervals. Goal: 5:30 avg. pace.
5:27, 5:26, 5:26, 5:23
* Hit the track again when I knew I wouldn't be able to make Towers tonight. Otherwise, really enjoyed this, wanted to bag it on the 3rd repeat when the wind picked up, and thought I'd be above 5:30 with a slower start, but pushed it and negative-split each of the next two 400m. After experimenting with stride, pushed it even harder in the last repeat.

Pretty stoked about these, I forgot how running hard and short can actually be fun, rather than chugging around slow and beat up all summer!
If weather or crowds aren't highly unusual, my prediction is that a 3M/5k training pace should predict 4M race pace, and that a 4x1600 cumulative time is roughly 5% faster than race time. We'll see!

Squaw or Bust!

2011-11-12T19:45:00.001-08:00

Western States 100 lottery registration today, drawing on Dec 10th.

Good luck especially to the other Colorado folks on the list!

Quick sea-level running weekend

2011-11-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

Orange County, CA

We were fortunate to have a quick weekend visit out to Orange County to visit our good friends, Todd and Andrea. We always have a great time with them, and the weekend went by too quickly. Unfortunately, the weather was as about as bad as it gets in sunny So Cal, with rain and cool temperatures 2 of the 3 days we were there.

But there's nothing to complain about, as we still had a great time with them, and did have a nice day to get some surfing in, which was one of my main goals.

Rain, rain, go away!
We used to live in So Cal, and I remember how the infrastructure just...isn't...built...for...rain. That is, the roads get slippery (noticeably so on a bike); bacterial levels get high in the ocean so you can get sick if you surf afterward (although I'll pay for that check when it comes in a few days, if it does); and the trails are caked in thick mud. Al fresco dining is ruined, and the coffee shops don't have the requisite character, generally. Everyone gets crabby, and doesn't know what to do with themselves.

Strangely, though, it was a perfectly welcome relief.

I went for a run a couple mornings in the rain and grey, something I rarely did while living there (I ran less, so I'd just do some sort of indoor workout or something else). Instead, I found it quite enjoyable to go for a run in the morning when it was calm and traffic was light. The people that were out in the rain were, as a percentage, more friendly.
So I did a couple of 1.5-2 hour jogs from downtown Newport to areas around the beach, Corona Del Mar, and Irvine.
This one's for Alex!

Sea Level Run Tests
8x800s
But first: one of my goals was to do some sort of quick sea-level test to see how noticeable the extra oxygen density might be. So, the first morning I headed out to the track at Irvine, home of the UCI Anteaters.

This, however, happened to be the absolute heaviest part of the storm.
I decided to run 8x800 anyway, but used Lane 5 so as to avoid the worst of the puddles:

This meant I had to think about the staggered start lines and such.
First lap was OK, in the mid 2:30's. The same or a little faster than I've been lately, though not the fastest.
The rain picked up a bit.
I thought I'd be OK as long as I didn't slip or anything, but in the following laps, my shorts, socks, and shoes were absolutely soaked. I was easily 5, 10, then 15 seconds slower than my first lap, with times all over the place. I stopped in the middle and wrang the water out of my socks.

So the workout was absolutely worthless in terms of testing-the-fitness at sea level. This bothered me as both a runner, and a student of exercise physiology. Shoot.

5000meter
In the afternoon of our last day, a few hours before we left, I hadn't run during the day yet. Todd said he'd be OK with a quick jog to the local high school track in Corona Del Mar. Then I could do a quick workout and he didn't mind waiting or stretching, etc. It was near sunset now, due to Daylight Savings Time ending, but the weather was absolutely perfect.

I ended up having about 20 minutes, so I just decided to do a 5k.

Everything felt awesome and I hit 5000m at 17:10. Holy crap (in my world, anyway). I wasn't dying at the end, and finished another 400m up at the same pace to make it an even 13 laps. Todd was timing as well and said he was impressed (very kind of him to say so) about clicking off tight 5:30 splits with regularity.

I was pretty stoked by this -- I've never even run sub-18 in a race.
Is this a PR? Does it "count" since I didn't pay money for it? Who knows. AK is running his own self-timed marathon, and I think it's an awesome idea.
In any case, it's the fastest I've ever run that distance, and it felt awesome.

I don't know where that came from exactly, but I felt like a few things were key:
1. I've been doing less mileage (planned and unplanned) and am pretty well rested
2. I've been stretching with some regularity, and some niggling pains are getting better (fingers crossed)
3. Sea level doesn't give you any speed that you don't have already, but it makes the speed you do have easier to maintain for longer periods of time

Regarding the last point, I realize I could also benefit from some occasional very short stuff (100m, 200m, 400m), because my leg speed in this case was the limiter, whereas my heart and lungs felt like they had a bit more to give.

Anyway, it was a memorable workout and a fun scientific test.
Now back home, where our motto might was well be "A mile higher and a minute slower!"
Next up is the FC Thanksgiving Day Run, so it's fun to do the short stuff for a change.

A little time off...

2011-10-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

I've taken a little time off from running the last few days.

It's not a bad idea -- my right leg hasn't been 100% for, oh, all year or so -- trying to balance that out with some stretching and strengthening, as well as some cycling in recent weeks. It's been sore in the groin area on and off since last year, and occasionally the hamstring, and while the pain hasn't been bad, it's a definite stiffness and weakness that holds me back a bit on longer runs, especially when my left leg feels fantastic. It actually wasn't too much of a deal in Leadville, it hurt more after Denver Marathon a year ago. I think the stretching and alternating with cycling have been good things, and I need to pay attention to it. Let me know if you have other ideas, but I think the actual source is the piriformis, so I've been working more on that.

I've also given it 100% rest the last few days, which was unplanned. That's because I slipped on some ice at the gas station on Saturday morning. Stepping on a solid sheet of ice (from water dripping above, the rest of the parking lot was clear), I slipped completely backward, cartoon-style. Didn't hurt anything on my body at all...

But I smacked the back of my head on solid concrete. Worse than anything else was the slapping sound of my head hitting the ground, which I heard with detachment, like somebody dropping a bowling ball or something down from 6 feet. That was the sound of my head hitting the ground???

I didn't black out or bleed, but I conservatively modified any plans of heading to the mountains, exerting myself, or drinking alcohol, until any headaches stopped. No other brain symptoms (I had one concussion a few years ago and felt noticeably foggy), thankfully, just soreness, mostly in my neck. Unfortunately, my neck was more sore the next day, and I could even feel it while swallowing, so when eating lunch, i got something stuck in my throat (also from eating too fast, probably) and then threw up.

Blech.

Feeling OK now, a bit of a headache this afternoon but I think it was from my neck. Should be running soon, and like any injury or minor scare, it quickly made me remember -- again -- how important being healthy is. Especially in the brain!

And watch out for that ice!

Running in Sandwich, Illinois

2011-10-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

I've run pretty much everywhere, in all kinds of weather, when travelling: that's what I love about it.

It's a great way to see a new area, reflect on things, and take a break. I've been lucky to have strange but enjoyable runs in strange but enjoyable towns on 4 continents. The most challenging runs, though, would seem to be in the middle-of-nowhere places in the U.S. But these are also the most surprising. Despite skepticism, I've had great and memorable runs in Oklahoma and Kansas, for example.

Still, my faith was to be tested in Sandwich. Looking at the map, and mapmyrun, and the satellite view, things looked bleak. It's not just me -- my friend Todd, also at the wedding, had done the same thing and reached the same depressing conclusion...and he grew up in Iowa!

He was interested in a 4-to-5 mile jaunt, and was worried about slowing me down, etc. No worries, running with a willing friend, especially one you don't get to see too often, is about as good as it gets. Even if the scenery was disappointing, we'd still have a chance to chat.

But you know what? Like always, the run was still quite enjoyable. Cars gave us sufficiently wide berth, eventually, but it was clear that running wasn't usual in these parts. And that's a shame, for once we made a turn along some country roads, we were surrounded by rustling, dry corn stalks, with the last bits of life in their leaves upturned towards a glorious morning sun.

Once we got back to the hotel, I took a quick romp through a section of woods next to the hotel, finding some game trails littered with yellow and brown leaves, a few deer hunting stands (thankfully I was wearing bright neon yellow), long wooded vines that hung from tall trees, and a creek; and I kicked up a couple deer on the other side. The scent of leaves at the end of Fall immediately brought back memories of trampling through the woods as a kid: should I lose my sight someday, bring me out to those woods in October and November and I should enjoy them still.

The next morning, after the wedding, I dragged myself out of bed with just over an hour and a half to spare for a run. I headed East towards Yorkville, again, but then South. I had a rough destination in mind: the lower Fox River.

When looking on the map, I had seen a bit of arboreal coverage along the river, including Maramech Woods nature preserve and Silver Spring State Park, so I guessed it would be more scenic. I also wondered, and later confirmed, about the river itself: the lower Fox river does indeed wind south from Wisconsin, down past Chicago, before hooking West near Yorkville.

As I approached the river valley, I enjoyed classic pastoral scenes of cows grazing lazily in the sun. A large buck crashed through some brush across the street, as the tree cover grew denser. The landscape transitioned from the clearing and plowing man had done -- the active and necessary destruction, the ambitious and honorable -- from the domesticated to the wild, mysterious woods which had been directed by other forces. Here, I found where I preferred to be: in the shadows of the woods, among the fallen leaves.

I only had a short amount of time before I need to head back, but I blasted down the leafy, rolling paths as quickly as I could, before taking a break to view the Fox River.

The Fox River runs around my birth town of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, which means I've seen it thousands of times. It also flows directly through Waukesha, Wisconsin, and near the Carroll campus -- the place where J and I ultimately had met the groom. And here it was again, flowing through these tiny towns in Illinois. This spurred on thoughts about life, impermanence, context, the transient nature of things, defining things by their actions (verbs) instead of mere existence (noun), etc. on a glorious Sunday morning.

But this experiential religion --a run on a gorgeous morning -- is the inferior and odd one. Would it be more comfortable to hear the old stories inside a building instead?
Who am I to say?

Illinois and Wisconsin weekend

2011-10-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, had a quick but fabulous trip to the midwest to see our friends get married. We've been friends with the groom, Jason, for over a decade, after meeting him as a brother of one of J's random roommates in her one year at Carroll College in Wisconsin. It's amazing to think of how several lifelong friendships have developed from that one year,we had a great time at the wedding, with the groom, bride, and families being great hosts that threw a great party that went by altogether too quickly!

Some other blog-related (whatever that means) tidbits and observations:

Chicago

Stopped at Revolution Brewing for lunch in downtown Chicago -- a little mid-upper high end in prices but also food and service. For lunch, a pizza and polenta fries, along with a brew, were just perfect.

Also stopped at the first Dunkin Donuts I saw. We have them down in the Springs, but otherwise don't have much access to it, especially fresh vanilla long johns (maple seems to be more popular West of the Mississippi, in my donut observation at least)

Since we passed another dozen or so DD's along the way, I probably didn't need to get as excited as I did about seeing the first one

Drove into the maelstrom of downtown Chicago traffic in the rental car, heading for Michigan Avenue. This requires alertness, agressive maneuvers, swerving around delivery trucks, and running through numerous yellowish-red lights (possibly with a courtesy honk). I find this kind of chaotic driving oddly soothing, because everyone actually seems to be focused on the task. I'm much more frustrated with hitting every stoplight on Colfax (for example) around here precisely because people are doing everything but driving

At H&M, downtown, I found pants that fit!

Naperville
Took surface streets out West so as to see something different and avoid tolls. The system was annoying and weird decades ago when we drove through, and is even more antiquated and strange now. The last thing I want to do is go 60-to-0-to-60 to pay $0.80. And I don't want to think about bringing quarters or even singles as soon as I get to the airport, let alone think about how this will work with a rental car if I blew through and relied on the license plate instead.

Made a planned stop in Naperville: looked somewhat interesting on the map, which was seconded by a local trailrunner, Lance. Naperville Running Store is supposedly one of the country's best running stores. I visited, and it sure is a nice store, but then I realized how visiting cool running stores isn't entirely useful unless you need something, which I didn't. Which is why I like running: because I don't need to buy a lot of stuff. Still a cool store.

Trader Joe's! Splurged on a $4 malbec, and got some 'sushi' rolls for dinner, to bring back to the hotel.

Sandwich and Yorkville, Illinois

Kept driving into increasing nowhere-ness, until getting near the town of Sandwich, Illinois, where the reception was to be held (at a nice hotel/convention center, which is fun and convenient once you get into town).

Sandwich does not have any interesting sandwich shops or delicatessans, or large statues of sandwiches.

Jason's parents (Jerome and Marian) had a great pre-party Friday night, welcoming out of town guests, and I really enjoy when people do that. Even better, they had it down the road in Yorkville at Kendall Pub, which had a surprisingly cool ambiance and availability of microbrews, which Jerome was supporting and was served by a great staff).

Good news: I enjoyed a large Dead Guy Ale, one of my all-time favourites, as well as a local brew from Metropolitan brewing, and a Warsteiner Oktoberfest. All were excellent.
Bad news: For some reason, the combination of these, a bit of wine, and little-to-no sleep the night before, really hit me hard.

*

After this, I found out that this guy was a few hours North in the Wisconsin Dells -- and won the marathon! Holy cow!
Or should I say -- Spotted Cow -- since he had previously visited New Glarus brewery? That explains the victory!

Buying Pants

2011-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Seriously, where the hell do you guys buy pants that fit?

Specifically, in the USA in 2011, in a brick-and-mortar store where I can see/try them on first...but most importantly, where the length exceeds the waist? (This used to be common)

Sorry, I go through this tirade once a year or so.

Red Feather Lakes "Triple Bald" Loop

2011-10-16T19:28:00.001-07:00

North Bald Mountain (10982')
Middle Bald Mountain (11002')
South Bald Mountain (11007')

Looking for something mellower, and with wind moving into the high country, it seemed like a good day to head to Red Feather Lakes.

No I-25, no I-70: just a mellow drive up north. (Or bike ride: it's just over 50 miles from my side of town, and made a nice out-and-back century a few summers ago).

Staring at maps west of town, on Deadman Road (note: this is CR86, not 162 as denoted on the Trails Illustrated map), I decided to check out an interesting loop combining North Lone Pine trail and Killpecker trail.. The trail loop itself can't be more than 12 miles or so, including a couple miles on the dirt road to join the two. But just off of these trails are some prominent peaks of the Laramie range, worth some off-trail exploring. The highest named peaks -- North Bald Mountain, Middle Bald Mountain, and South Bald Mountain -- poke just above treeline, giving great 360-degree views.

South (Left) and Middle (Right) Bald Mountain, seen from North Bald Mountain

North Lone Pine trail is a steady but pleasant climb in the trees. After running for about half an hour, the trail took a left and started descending slightly/flattening out. At this point, I suspected North Bald Mountain was above, to the right/West, but didn't have a direct view of it. Nonetheless, I began the bushwhack upward.

The lower part of the slope was more open and had less deadfall than other dreadful bushwhacks in Northern Colorado, but just as I was getting content with this fate, a bit more rocks, trees, and snow appeared, slowing things down a bit, but still quite manageable. Soon enough, daylight poked through the trees: except for a bit of rolling terrain, I was on the top of North Bald Mountain.

This afforded nice views of Middle and South Bald Mountain. Unfortunately, it's another descending, and then ascending, bushwhack over to Middle Bald Mountain. At least it's easier to find via dead reckoning, and although not easily runnable, it didn't take too long to get up there.

Middle Bald had more interesting rock formations and scrambling opportunities on top. I took in the views, and then slowly downclimbed on large, solid boulders, toward South Bald. In retrospect, it would have been easier and quicker to drop down the mellow backside to the Killpecker trail.

I headed toward South Bald, knowing that a few trails were down below in the thick of trees, but that the trail can be subtle in some of the thicker spots. I hit one of the trails (North Lone Pine, again), but inexplicably headed the wrong direction: I happened to hit it when it made a short bend, heading downhill, which at the time was the direction of my goal, before it headed very much North again.

I recognized my mistake after 10-15 minutes, turned around, and then re-questioned my initial decision about which way would really be the best. I wasted a good 30-40 minutes running back and forth a few times and double checking the map, but once I was on track, I found that my original intersection of the trail was within 3 minutes of my goal: an intersection with Elkhorn Baldy Rd.

Back on track, I headed up toward South Bald, taking what I think was the Swamp Creek cutoff. (Things get a bit questionable back there when offroad vehicles make their own trails). Nonetheless, it was easy and obvious to climb up to open areas and get clear views of South Bald.

South Bald is the highest of the named peaks, and is an enjoyable, quick climb. But I didn't spend too much time in the wind before retracing my steps back to the Elkhorn Baldy intersection.

Now it was time to check out the Killpecker trail. Although at similar elevations as North Lone Pine, these aspects held a few inches of consistent snow, which was enjoyable to run in.

I could even make out faint cross-country ski tracks! Somebody already got some skiing in. I've read about these trails in Snowshoe guides, and Killpecker is especially nice because the rocks aren't too large on the trail, and both trails are mostly protected from the wind. For some possible turns, the backside of Middle Bald, and possibly South Bald, are mellow-angle and north-facing. I'll definitely be back to check it out in winter!

I would recommend the loop as a run, as both trails are quite runnable and enjoyable. Bring a good map! Further exploration may include some of the lower "bald," rocky points sticking up in the area. Otherwise, Middle Bald is right off of Killpecker trail and easily accessible, and South Bald isn't too much more of an effort -- I'd recommend those for great views. North Bald might not be worth the effort.

Grand Canyon R2R2R

2011-10-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

The Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim (R2R2R, or R^3) is a spectacular, classic trek on foot across one of the natural wonders of the world. It is a remarkable and challenging endeavor that can be done as a multi-day hike, but among runners, it is done as a one-day test of endurance. Depending on the route, it is between 42 and nearly 50 miles, and the fastest known time (FKT) is currently Dave Mackey's astounding 6:59. Hundreds of runners and hikers attempt the double-crossing each year, with late Spring (April) and early Fall (October) being especially popular to avoid both heat and snow.

While wanting to run at the best of our ability, it's also a celebration to be able to step back and become inspired by the Canyon itself. It is a privilege to be able to visit the Canyon itself, which is why it is rightly popular with both American and international tourists. Unfortunately, for most visitors, the Canyon is a simple drive along the Rim, barely worth leaving the car other than to visit the gift shops.

“Industrial tourism is a threat to the national parks. But the chief victims of the system are the motorized tourists. They are being robbed and robbing themselves. So long as they are unwilling to crawl out of their cars they will not discover the treasures of the national parks and will never escape the stress and turmoil of the urban-suburban complexes which they had hoped, presumably, to leave behind for a while.”
-- Edward Abbey, "Desert Solitaire"

And so, more important than the ability to run in a given footrace, a sturdy pair of legs, following the beat of a healthy heart, serves as a vehicle to free the mind and deliver the soul to the beautiful places of the Earth -- the places that have been crafted over millenia, the primitive and untamed places, places worthy of worship precisely because they are older than what man has ever known.

This is why we were inspired to descend from the surface, to discover a new world over a mile below.

*
Driving
But first, of course, was "The Love Muffin."
Alex had suggested a stop at The Love Muffin Cafe in Moab, nearly halfway through our drive, which serves up delicious breakfasts and quirky T-shirts in equal measure, as well as muffins: some, with bacon, but non-baconated muffin choices as well.

After this, it was onward toward Arizona. We were making decent time, but the clouds started to gather to the west. Past Kayenta, Arizona, we began climbing toward Marsh Pass, which wasn't much of a mountain pass by Colorado standards. However, this spot in Arizona was the first seasonal snowfall most of us had seen this year:

We were still a few hours from the Park, so we hoped that the weather would clear and we wouldn't have to deal with snow on the route. As predicted, the weather was drier as we headed West. Finally, we reached the Park near sunset, just in time to view what we would be exploring in the morning.
South Rim at Sunset:

Preparation
After the sun dropped, so did the temperature, with nighttime lows of mid-20s predicted. We headed back to our campsite at Mather campground, and I put on most of the clothes I had brought with me, which meant I had 4 layers of shirts and 2 layers of pants on, in addition to a hat and a pair of gloves. This was sufficient, provided that I was close enough to our campfire. We enjoyed a delicious carbo-loading pot luck pasta, salad, and beer, before heading into our tents.

We had made a few group decisions on the route and logistics. Namely, we'd head down South Kaibab, and up Bright Angel, and we'd all head out together in the morning. This would add three miles to the total, and likely affect our chances of breaking the FKT for the canyon(!), but we'd see more of a variety of scenery, the Bright Angel canyon is more shaded from the sun, and the trail has more water taps (2) than South Kaibab (0). We decided to park cars near Bright Angel, then, and took a shuttle to South Kaibab, which does not allow parking.

And so we awoke, groggy and very cold, and headed out for the first bus at 5AM. Driving around a bit disoriented, we missed it. As it turned out, this was perfectly OK, as 5AM has a bit more hiker traffic and it meant less running in the dark for us.

GEAR
But it was still very cold! I began with tights and 5 upper layers of clothes while waiting for the bus. Just before the bus came, I remembered to ditch a heavy fleece, but I still carried an unnecessary 2 warm layers of clothes and the tights, as ~15 minutes of running and the warmer temperatures in the canyon were easily sufficient. The extra layers of clothes took up half the space and a good amount of weight (especially being wet from sweat/water).

Also being overly cautious, I had capacity for over 100 ounces of water (though I didn't always carry this much), and I did bring a small multi-tool and lighter amongst more reasonable items, meaning that I was a rare runner that carried all ten essentials, although I clearly didn't need them. I otherwise had a fistful of gels, shot blocks, and a PB&J sandwich. Although I had some Gatorade, I should have brought electrolyte capsules.

THE RUN
We started together and wished each other well as we split off into small groups. Pete and I stayed together, at a very relaxed pace with stops for pictures and gear adjustments. We encountered numerous hikers on the trail, but most were sufficiently courteous and aware to let us through.

Pete surveying the South Rim at Sunrise:

In no time, it seemed, we were down at the river.

Bridge across the Colorado River:

We stopped at Phantom Ranch for a water fill, restroom break, and more gear adjustments. Again, I wished I hadn't brought so many clothes, as I had to dig them out of the way to get more food out, and I had unnecessarily brought an extra unused liter of water down the canyon, yet still refilled out of caution.

The temperature at the bottom of the still-shaded canyon was perfectly cool running weather.

A panoramic view of the Colorado River:

This suspension bridge also carries a pipe beneath it:

Now it was time for a rolling 7 mile section, with a rushing creek nearby echoing off the canyon walls. As we left Phantom Ranch, we saw few other hikers and runners and mostly had the place to ourselves.

Down in the Canyon:

At Cottonwood Campground, we filled water again, and prepared for the 7 mile trek up to the North Rim. By now, we had encountered a few other running groups, from the Bay area and from St. Louis, and chatted with them a bit. But I was also looking forward to the power-hike up the steeper stuff, and I headed up on the hike with Pete behind, knowing he'd catch up at my next break and on any of the flatter stuff.

Ribbon Falls:

Roaring Springs:

Views down below the North Rim, where the walls are steeper:

Once Pete and I were less than a couple miles from the top, we encountered the infamous scourge of the Canyon, worse than heat or snow or rains and flash floods...

The dreaded Mule Trains.

A mule train is a line of an unusual sort of fauna found nowhere else on earth. Each individual unit is 1/3rd horse, and 2/3rds ass. It is formed when a jack (male ass) mounts a mare (horse), before the resultant offspring is finally mounted by a lazy tourist. This process is repeated 6-8 times to form a train, and then another half dozen times to form a Really Big Inconvenience, resulting in raunchy piles of waste and deep puddles of fetid urine.

But: it's a tradition!

Pete and I gamely waited for each of 6 or so mule trains to pass, giving wide berth to unpredictable but thankfully well-trained and behaved animals. All mule guides were thankful and courteous, though some were encouraging of our activity and explained it to the tourons, while others warned us to "Be Careful." Most tourists were courteous as well, though only a very few were actually curious enough to ask us how and what we were doing; less, in fact, than the number that proudly exclaimed how much fun they were having, and a couple that were conquering their fear of heights and animals.

Good! We're in the middle of a 45 mile run, thankyouverymuch!

After the last train had passed, we got back into a rhythm of climbing, and soon worked our way from Summer back into Fall, as Pete put it, with red and yellow foliage, along with pine trees, replacing the desert flora below.

Finally, after about 4:45, we reached the top:

Pete and I on the North Rim, in front of the water taps:

This was cold enough to don more layers again, which we quickly shed within 10-15 minutes. And soon enough, we saw Alex! And then Cat! They were having a great day as well, and were looking good.

Pete had now pulled ahead, and as I told him several times earlier, he was welcome to do so, as I figured I'd descend more slowly. I did have sore legs and feet already and was tentative on the descent, reminding me once again that I need to train specifically on downhill running, as well as watching electrolyte balance to avoid quad cramps. I saw Pete a few more times on the switchbacks below, but otherwise we were now all running solo, spread out on the trail.

I enjoyed the renewed warmth and views, but was feeling tired, and not looking forward to the 7 mile stretch at the bottom of the canyon. I had a rough idea of "10 hours" as a goal time for the route, thinking we'd do South Kaibab in both directions. I wasn't sure how the BA route would affect it, but I figured I was slowing down more than I would have liked. But, I kept moving, and reached Phantom Ranch at 7.5 hours. As I filled up on water, I learned from another camper that the Milwaukee Brewers had won their game the night before: a bit of news from the surface.

As I was getting ready to leave Phantom Ranch, I saw a familiar face: my friend Tina, from San Diego! She recognized me as I saw her, and we caught up for a bit. She was leading a hiking group on a 2-day trek. It was amazing to see someone I knew, pretty much halfway between Colorado and California.

Did I mention the weather was near perfect? Cloud cover arrived late morning, preventing the canyon from baking in the heat. I was sweating lightly, but was otherwise very comfortable.

Now it was time for new scenery.
Returning up the Bright Angel Trail, which begins in soft sand:

There were some flat spots and even descents in the beginning, which I was tired of. When I'm too tired to run decently, my pace is way off of what I can run it fresh, whereas my tired power-hiking pace isn't that much (proportionally) slower than a fresh pace. Finally, the steady climbing started, and it was time to get into a zone of working uphill for a few hours.

I saw Shaun here, who had turned around earlier from cramping but was otherwise doing OK and looked better than any other hiker going up the trail.

The South Rim was interminably high above us, but it was fun to see how much climbing we were doing, and know that the trail led all the way up there. And no longer did we have the tranquility of the lower canyon: this was a parade of hikers. Some were enjoying the day, but other people didn't share that vision: A crossfit group was doing a North-to-South hike, and already looked exhausted, but couldn't believe we were going up to the top of that. I wasn't running, but it was fun to pass dozens upon dozens of hikers each mile. Some would stand and stop as soon as I passed (not expecting to get passed themselves), and one woman said I looked "too peppy!" I tried to encourage all of them that seemed receptive to it. This would not include the "Ipod" set, which were easily startled and apparently wanted to think about anything but the Grand Canyon.

As we got nearer to the top, switchback after switchback, I turned around occasionally to take in more of the view. Finally, I jettisoned the extra liter of water. I was very near 11 hours, and the last tunnel and top was near, so I started a jog to get to the top right at 11:00-something.

Finally, I was done! An obviously memorable day. I headed towards the bus to get to the car, and abandoned thoughts of an extra few miles of running to get to the car. I had a painful jog to the bus and then missed it by seconds -- my normally reliable power faded. I waited for the next bus with some international students from Harvard Business School, who excitedly asked me about the trip (they had hiked to Phantom Ranch and back). The bus arrived, and the bus driver was curt with tourists who wouldn't move back to make room, and with other gapers on the side of the road (blocking it) to take pictures of an elk, which probably describes most of her route most of the days. But she listened in on our conversation and asked about running, barefoot running, etc.

*

RETURN

I returned to the campground and saw Pete. Within an hour or so, everyone else arrived, having had a safe and fun adventure of their own. Ron and Lisa had left us a nice treat of Grand Canyon beer! We took luxurious 8-minute showers at the campground -- I rarely stand around in the shower that long at home -- before getting pizza and beer at the Pizza Pub in the village, and then returning for a campfire. I had a great time hanging out with the whole group.

We drove home via Durango, where Alex, Ean, and I stopped at Nini's Taqueria, which was awesome. Fresh ingredients, fast but good prices, beer and wine available, blue corn tortillas, half a dozen salsas...the only thing that was missing was a green chile (though they didn't claim to be New Mexican...)
Hint: Instead of 3 tacos, order 2 plus a side of rice and beans: you'll get a variety of more food that way!

We enjoyed seeing yellow aspen among the fresh snow on Wolf Creek Pass, which had enough snow to open for skiing for the weekend. I enjoyed the rest of the drive with them, as we discussed my second-favourite topic (running), as well as my first (everything else, e.g. books, math, personal histories, etc.).

In all, it was a fantastic trip, not only with incredible natural scenery, but also spending time with wonderful people. I am eternally grateful for both.

Leadville Video

2011-10-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

Saw this on GZ's Blog.

Brings back great memories, I think it beautifully captures a small part of that day for everyone that was there:

Meadow Mountain Cafe in Allenspark

2011-10-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Mountain Meadow Cafe
"Downtown" Allenspark, CO

After finishing a fabulous hike on Meadow Mountain, we knew we had even more to look forward to: a delicious breakfast at the Meadow Mountain Cafe, right in town. The reviews online offered high praise, and we certainly agreed.

The cafe is in a cozy cabin, and only serves breakfast and lunch from 7-2:00pm (closed Thursdays). There is some outdoor seating, which is nice on a perfect day, but we still chose to nestle inside at a small wooden bar, between a sunny window and pot-bellied stove, which would be even more exquisite on an imperfect day of cold and snow.

There is essentially a waitstaff of two, so be prepared to wait, but the timelessness of the place makes it easy. My coffee cup was immediately filled and never empty of fresh coffee, with a signature hint of cinnamon. Now, looking around, many of the folks were much older and appeared local: the gentleman next to us certainly was, who gave us tips about foliage vantage points as well as how to score extra slices of homemade bread (the "butt" ends) to take home. The standard options of omelettes, french toast (made from home-made bread), and pancakes are available, and you can't go wrong with any of these. It's nice to be able to pair up an omelette (4-egg, by default) with giant banana or blueberry pancakes, which are deliciously more complicated than standard diner faire. All of the dessert options (cobbler, pie, and cinnamon rolls) would have been delicious, had we saved room.

We waited quietly in the corner with a view into the kitchen. The younger waitress, perhaps a daughter (this is how I am imagining them as characters, anyway), washed dishes and lightly sang some of the songs, mostly older country and rock, playing on the speakers. It was easy to feel nostalgia for a time that may or may not have existed. Then, without warning, a song which I didn't recognize, but ended up being "Good Luck Charm" by Elvis Presley.

Don't want a silver dollar
Rabbit's foot on a string
The happiness in your warm caress
No rabbit's foot can bring

I hadn't thought about it consciously earlier in the week, but my grandmother had died this same week, 7 years ago. With her being a big Elvis fan, this immediately came to mind before I could not think about it. That thought, and the smell of coffee and the diner itself, couldn't help but remind me of my grandfather also, for at every visit to Wisconsin before he died, I would meet him for breakfast somewhere. I'm happy to imagine that we had breakfast with them, in a way.

*

Wait, was this like a restaurant review or something, or what? Anyway, this is a magical little place.

Meadow Mountain Hike in Allenspark

2011-10-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Meadow Mountain (11632')
~7 miles RT, 2700 ft. gain from St. Vrain TH near Allenspark, CO

My bride and I decided to spend a fantastic fall morning with a more leisurely hike up Meadow Mountain near Allenspark. I had spotted Meadow Mountain and its higher neighbor, St. Vrain Mountain, during recent forays into Wild Basin. Since the area appeared to be near-peak in terms of foliage viewing, and the summit would provide fantastic panoramic views, it was nice to minimize driving on I-25 and avoid I-70 altogether. Finally, I would get to check out yet another trailhead and trail, having recently decided there's no reason not to visit every single trail in the park at least once.

Both St. Vrain Mountain and Meadow Mountain are less-popular hikes, but much of the hiking information I do find is in regard to snowshoeing. Undoubtedly, with ample snowfall, the great views and relatively safe approach on the mellow angles of these slopes make it a great choice for winter excursions. In fact, the St. Vrain TH is a turnoff near the end of Ski Hill Road in Allenspark, which is historically named for several ski areas which used to be in Allenspark. Now, the community is a very quaint outpost near RMNP, tucked off of the main Peak-to-Peak highway. It gets almost none of the attention of its famous neighbor to the North -- Estes Park -- yet has more than twice the charm, and is worth a visit any time of year.

The hike is a typical forested creekside trail with a steady climb to treeline. The aspen are immediately stunning near the trailhead, with some brilliant orange on display:

A hike in Fall continues in colourful splendor as the trail leaves the forest for open meadows of deep reds, and distant views of amber leaves below:

So far, the hike nicely met J's requirement of being "Over the River and Through the Woods," which means mostly on trail, without long slogs on talus, snowfields, scree piles, etc., as it approached the saddle and National Park Boundary (having crossed through IPW) at a saddle between Meadow Mtn., some unnamed points just above 11,400, and St. Vrain Mountain. We had planned on a decision between Meadow Mtn. and St. Vrain at this point. Prior to the hike, I was secretly hoping for the "higher-is-better" choice, but seeing the two options in front of us, I imagine words like "steep," "talus," and "krummholz" being thrown about as curse words should we have chosen St. Vrain. Truthfully, Meadow Mtn from the saddle was an appealingly short hike that was mostly tundra, with just enough talus to be fun but not annoying, and would give us better views to the North. Easy decision.

With extra time at the top, low wind, and sufficiently warm temperatures, we lounged around a bit with the summit to ourselves, nicely able to celebrate our 9th anniversary from earlier in the week:

The broad summit had no visible marker or summit log, but has an electric box with a solar panel and antenna, and otherwise sublime views in every direction. We were in no hurry to leave the summit, with only gentle clouds in the area.

In all, this was a spectacular fall hike, even better by enjoying it together, and I can imagine returning for a bluebird winter day. We hadn't left the trailhead until almost 8:30AM, yet had only seen 2 other people on the trail, and took plenty of time for foliage pictures. On the way down, we did see maybe half a dozen parties as the clouds began to roll in. I hesitate a bit, but this hike is a great suggestion for foliage viewing and acclimatization hiking for visitors. It is similar in difficulty and elevation to the much more popular Twin Sisters hike (also a free-parking TH that accesses RMNP), yet has better views and much less human traffic.

Go Orange

2011-10-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Although it's more rare, some of the aspen stands turn a brilliant, flaming orange. Among the otherwise stunning yellow aspen, and bright red sumac and underbrush against mountainous Colorado terrain (especially with the typical Autumn blue skies), I'll happily put Colorado foliage against the best of New England.

College Competition

2011-10-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

Random "Mini Husker":

Easier to talk smack when they can't talk back. Yet.

Go Green

2011-09-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Stopped by Green Mountain in Boulder on my way home (actually about the same amount of time for that detour than it would be for me to go to Horsetooth in Fort Collins) for my first timed attempt: 35:00 even for the "Front" route starting from the Gregory Canyon Parking Lot

Splits I remember:
6:26
12:06
19:26

Pretty happy with this as my only knowledge was that I wanted something below 40, and after a crappy 8x800 on Tuesday. The only bummer is I slowed slightly at the top when I saw hikers on the lower summit rock and I knew I was sub-35, thinking I was done and headed towards them, but then realized I had better scramble up to the actual summit which put me right at 35:00.

Otherwise, I figured "run at a 10k pace" and kept my effort accordingly, but plenty of power-hiking-to-run transitions which I somewhat enjoy for something different. I didn't feel like I was going to die like I do on Towers, but that's also because it was a baseline. Subsequent efforts will have to be harder. Cool to get an appreciation for those that run it way faster.

Great scenery, lots of red at the bottom especially, bear warning from Sep 17th. No camera, which I thought would guarantee a bear sighting, but didn't.

Go Red

2011-09-28T19:00:00.001-07:00

My alma mater -- the Wisconsin Badgers -- play an historic game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this Saturday night. The usual Nebraska chant of "Go Big Red" will likely fall on deaf ears in a stadium dominated by (drunk) red-wearing Badger fans; in fact, Nebraska fans will be wearing black as a way to support/mourn their team's losing effort.

Meanwhile, the foliage in Colorado is en fuego. The typical peak for most areas appears to be shifted a week late, due to late snows and consistently warm temperatures this summer; and some aspens are noticeably drier and browner this year. All this is among a backdrop of brown beetle-killed pines in the Northern Front Range especially.

But what has been noticeably impressive this year, to me at least, is the intensity of colour in some of the underbrush. I'm seeing more brilliant reds than I have in previous years.

Here's a sample from the last few weekends:

Gothic Rd near Gothic, CO

Grey Rock trail near Ted's Place, CO

Rist Canyon near Bellevue, CO.
Note the red-shaped "H" for Hinterberg in the foliage!

Raspberries in Wild Basin in RMNP, CO

Wet and Wild Basin: RMNP Bluebird Lake Trail

2011-09-19T19:14:00.001-07:00

~14 miles (Bluebird plus Ouzel lakes)
Things looked optimistic enough when I turned into the Wild Basin TH:

But the rest of the morning was more rain than sun.

I decided to head up to the Wild Basin trail in RMNP, despite generally crappy, cold, and wet weather. I heard similar reports in Steamboat, Longs, Quandary, and the San Juans, so there weren't really any good options anywhere, it seems. Still, a chance to explore.

I planned on heading to Bluebird and Ouzel Lake, and scoping out the peaks surrounding it. Namely, Mahana and Desolation Peaks, as well as a view of Copeland Mountain and Ouzel Peak.

Without further ado, here is a picture of the glorious Bluebird Lake cirque:

Should you desire a specific view of Mahana and Desolation, here you go:

Now, the clouds/rain/snow did clear enough occasionally to get better views of some of the mountains (never all 3 at the same time), but the above pictures best capture the general idea. Ironically, I spent a winter day a few years ago making my way up to Thunder Lake on skis, breaking trail past the Ouzel/Bluebird junction, only to have even less of a view. Wild Basin owes me a nice day!

Still, it's an interesting and runnable trail, for the most part. On this day, due to the recent rain and snow, the trail was muddy and slick, with running water on top of the trail in places. The last 1.5 miles or so to Bluebird was a slower hike due to very slick rock. Additionally, some of the trail has been rerouted on downed trees, and there's thick growth on either side of the trail. Brushing against it made my pants soaking wet, instantly. I certainly could use a better solution for waterproof over-trousers! I otherwise wore all of my layers: on top, this was 5(!), which I didn't think I'd honestly need...

By the time I reached the lake, the weather was getting worse, and the wind was picking up. My hands were frozen in wet gloves, so I took some time out of the wind and tucked my hands under my clothes, waiting for that uncomfortable moment where bloodflow returns but the fingers throb intensely. After about 10 minutes, I began to feel better, and contemplated what to do next. Copeland looked like the easiest climb, maybe an hours worth or so to get over and up there, but would begin with a bushwhack that would likely get me even more wet. I watched the clouds for a bit: moving quickly up high, but with a small potential for blowing through and dissipating. Then I realized the whole thing was foolish, that even beyond the wind, rain, and wet rock, the only reward would be an abstract geographic location with no view whatsoever.

So I took my time and headed over to check out Ouzel Lake, before heading back down the main trail. I kept looking over my shoulder, as every once in awhile a small patch of blue sky would appear, before clouds swirled in to fill the void. This is foolish, I should come back another day. Anyway, I certainly should like to come back. Mahana and Desolation would still be two of my top picks, but I found Copeland Mtn. to be more inspiring than I was led to believe: it's generally a bulbous blob of a mountain, but the north face vantage shows interesting spikes and turrets that make it look more like a legitimate mountain. A loop from Pear Lake might be an interesting day. Beyond these easier Class 3 peaks are opportunities for Ogallala, Ouzel, and Elk Tooth.

But all of this would have to wait for another day, and I headed back down the trail. The rain stopped and temperature warmed up a bit, so I enjoyed some of the surroundings more. I can't believe how many wildflowers are left this late in the year; and, I was able to enjoy wild raspberries in late September!

Besides wildflowers and raspberries, what is all this water good for?

Super Mario mushrooms?

Lily pads?

Waterfalls?

Can't take that stuff for granted, either.
Still, I look forward to coming back on a "bluebird" day instead!

Rawah Lakes and Peaks: Rawah Peak Traverse

2011-09-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sheep Mountain (Rawahs) (11820')
S. Rawah Pk (12644')
N. Rawah Pk (12473')
~20 mile trail circuit from West Branch TH
Plus ~5 Miles for peakbagging (1 RT for Sheep, 4 RT for Rawah Peaks)

*

With summer waning, I had been looking for something in the high country before the snow settled in. I decided on taking a trip to the Rawah's, to attempt a route connecting some of the region's lakes and highpoints.

For scheduling reasons, I ended up doing this solo, and since the trip was exploratory with some unknown route connections, this ended up working out pretty well, as I was able to take my time (and then some), as I wouldn't sure how it would turn out. Mainly, I began with the framework of a semi-classic clockwise loop route starting from the West Branch Trailhead, which goes past the numbered Rawah Lakes (#1-#4) and numerous other named alpine lakes. This loop is generally done as a multi-day backpacking trip, but contains good trail for a 19.3 mile circuit. To this, I added a short but 0.6 mile (roundtrip) spur towards Crater Lakes, which I had read that led to an opening with a view of the surrounding mountains, but was unnecessary since I later achieved the same views.

To this basic route, I intended on adding some Rawah peak-bagging as well; namely, 12ers North and South Rawah Peaks. There is some limited beta on these peaks, but I had one more goal in mind: explore the connecting ridge between the 2 peaks for a natural traverse. Additionally, I would gain views to the South for future connections of the ridge that leads to the monarch of the range, 12951' Clark Peak. I've hiked to Clark with J on a long but beautiful approach from Blue Lake, and was intrigued to see new reaches of the range to the north.

So after a pre-sunrise drive up the Poudre Canyon under a nearly full moon, I was ready to tackle the loop on a gorgeous September day. My car thermometer read 31 degrees as I headed out along the Laramie River. The trail crosses the river and quickly heads into the trees, where it steadily gains elevation along the west branch of the river. Interspersed among the trees, even this late in the year, were blooming yellow, purple, and white wildflowers. The underbrush was changing to amber, and the aspens will be sure to follow in the coming weeks.

After a few miles, I headed due west along the Rawah Trail. As I mentioned, I headed briefly up the North Fork/Crater Lakes trail for a snack break and my first views of the mountains, but shortly after returning to the Rawah Trail, several open meadows afforded mountain views which would be persistent above treeline. Bench Lake was the first lake visible to the west, and South Rawah Peak made its first appearance. There were clearly several climbable options along the east and southeast ridges of South Rawah, but I had a plan to continue to the trail's highpoint of Grassy Pass.

The trail above treeline was in fantastic shape. I had been making good time, so I couldn't help but notice Sheep Mountain just off the right side of the trail. It was a named peak and would be quick work, so I decided to climb it and use the vantage point for further viewing of the Rawah connecting ridge. This is also suggested for anybody with the desire to climb all 45 peaks named "Sheep Mountain" in Colorado!

Climbing up Sheep Mountain is an easy tundra walk, but begins with a bit of scrambling through willows on a lower shoulder of the peak. Fortunately, there are sufficient game trails scattered throughout the willows, so it doesn't take long to get through the willows and head directly up the peak.

This was an easy diversion but worth it for the views of the imposing ridge above Rawah Lake #4. I was reminded of the Comanche-Fall headwall.

Heading directly southwest of Sheep Mountain, back down over Grassy Pass, leads up to a natural approach to a saddle between S. Rawah Peak and Pt 12484'. This is easy, grassy tundra that was also blessed with hues of a brilliant pinkish-red flowers and scrub.

Interspersed among the tundra are short sections of talus-hopping, and maneuvering around small pockets of water. This late in the year, feet can be kept dry if you're careful.

Near the top is an avoidable snowfield, just below a lower summit bump which can be avoided. Finally, the top of South Rawah Peak provides distance views to the South.

The tallest peak along the ridge is Clark Peak, with its prominent Northeast Ridge. At this time I am convinced that the Blue Lakes approach to Clark remains the classic one: the southeast side of the ridge is more gentle and approachable (with some interesting Class 2+ on the top of the ridge), and in the summer there are sparkling lakes connected by rushing streams, fields of wildflowers, and short opportunities for glissading.
From my vantage point on S. Rawah, one could certainly scale each of the humps in succession from Clark Peak to North Rawah, but it would be a very long day (e.g., the Summer Solstice!) or multiday adventure, with backpacking down at the lakes. There are occasional rocky sections that look manageable but would slow down the traverse. Now that I know, I am not as intrigued by a lengthy ridge run in that direction. Instead, future investigations will likely involve running the ridge from the Diamond Peaks side instead.

I looked around the S. Rawah Pk summit, and found obvious cairns but no summit register. After a quick snack, I headed north, again skirting the useless hump before the top of headwall, to contemplate my fate.

This was to be the crux of the route, and had me both anxious and excited. I had seen no pictures of this section and read no direct reports on it (although based on brief Summitpost listings, I know people have traversed it). I am not an overly experienced scrambler, so I was looking forward to the challenge, yet keeping it within my abilities. If at any point I could not proceed safely, I would certainly turn around; and I would additionally monitor any committing moves to ensure that I could turn around easily.

The other information I was relying on is based on previous observations of the area:
* The face is dramatic and erodes sharply, but the hills to the West are more gradual, and this configuration is typical (e.g. Comanche-Fall). It appeared steep on the map but not a knife edge.
* The rock on that side of the Poudre is solid (which is in stark contrast to Richtofen, Mahler, Static Peak, Nokhu Crags, etc. on the other side).
* Rocky sections in the Rawahs are generally larger boulders, whereas large slabs and big scree piles are more rare.

Consequently, the first view of the connecting ridge was a relief.
The northern half of the traverse was safe tundra, reminiscent of the Comanche Wilderness, so only the southern half was actually scrambling. The lower part of the slope was looser, but up on top the rocks were large and stable enough to suggest a choice of routes.

In the middle were two larger rockpiles. These were manageable as well, and terrain was similar behind them. The key was to stay as high as possible, and although some of the rocks were large enough for fun friction climbing, no sections required a completely exposed climb.

Once the rocks gave way to tundra, it was easy to stand near the edge and peer below. With a few hundred feet of easy gain on tundra, the lumpy peak of N. Rawah is obtained.

Again, I found cairns and a small summit shelter at the top, but no summit log.
After a lunch break, it was time to descend. I had spotted at least two decent alternatives on the view below (retreating slightly towards the saddle to the south of the peak, then descending; or continuing north along the ridge, before descending to one of the lakes further up on the trail), but inexplicably choose neither. I headed straight for the trail to scope it out. It steeply drops off, but it seemed manageable, so I headed down. It was loose and steep, and although it wasn't a horrible option, it was slow and not entirely fun. There were just enough rocks and occasional vegetation to grab a handhold, but you needed to test every single hold, and it was easy to send rocks below (albeit with clear visibility of the fact that nobody is down there). This would be really slow with more than one person due to the instability of the rocks, so I strongly suggest backtracking slightly and descending around the snowfield to the south of the peak.

Now the peakbagging session was over, which took probably 4 hours itself with lunch/picture breaks, and it was back to the trail. It would have been quicker to return via the West Branch/Rawah Trail, but I wanted to complete the loop. After scooting north around the shoulder of Sheep Mountain, this meant heading past some more lakes, including a criss-crossing intersection of loops near the Sandbar Lakes. A sign pointed left and right, respectively, to the 2 lakes, but the trail also continued (after briefly disappearing) straight ahead, which corresponded to the easternly direction of my goal. This is the desired trail as it heads towards Camp Lake.

Oh, I had just encountered two backpackers: the first people I'd seen in six hours.

The trail is now back into the trees. A sign describes the intersection of Camp Lake and a spur trail to Upper Camp Lake. Camp Lake itself is larger and serene, but not as glorious as the alpine lakes already seen. Now the trail becomes very faint in boggy marshland around the lake. Some logs and small bridges are placed in particularly troublesome spots, but if you head in the general direction of the sign, the trail picks up again.

Alternatives on the return loop
One thought of a more direct loop that still includes Sheep Mountain: the trail itself now isn't as exciting, so climbing Sheep Mountain on the return, descending to Upper Camp Lake (if a less-steep route with minimal bushwhacking is possible), and then dropping down to Camp Lake on the trail would be a good alternative. Simply put, there isn't otherwise a really strong argument for climbing Sheep Mountain by itself.

But don't be fooled by the Trails Illustrated map if you think you can stay above treeline even longer and hit the trail further east! I had mistakenly thought that the brown colouring is above treeline, and green is forested. This is mostly true, but the actual meaning (as depicted in the legend) is unforested versus forested. The key point here is that unforested, in this area particularly, can mean bogs and marshes! So sticking only to known alpine, or known trails, is the safest and fastest route.

But I had chosen to stick to the trail, so now I was on the Camp Lake section for awhile. I was a bit tired from the rest of the day, so I was just trying to get done. The trail is still lovely but the lakes and waterfalls are prettier on the bottom/West Branch part of the loop instead. The only interesting new development here is, for a few miles, the trail is actually along a ditch that was developed and abandoned some years ago.

This provides an interesting change and a bit of relief from running on rocks and walking sideways on tundra. It would be a fantastic cross-country ski trail -- too bad it would require a few hours on rocky terrain just to reach it; or a very fun bike trail -- but the Wilderness regulations preclude such usage. As it is, it's an interesting smooth trail in the middle of nowhere.

After a few miles of slightly rolling terrain, the descent finally begins. And goes on and on and on. The map doesn't have the resolution to show the dozens of switchbacks through the woods, but it gets monotonous and tiresome. Well, it's still a beautiful area, but I mismanaged my distance estimates because I didn't consider the switchbacks. So given a single choice, West Branch is the better one for a shorter, prettier approach to Grassy Pass (if not Crater Lakes) and the peaks above. But it's hard to beat a loop for seeing 20+ miles of different terrain!

I finally reached the car, over 9 hours since I started. My estimates were 6-8 hours, but adding the extra Sheep Mountain trip (30 minutes), a slow descent off of N Rawah, and accumulated fatigue added up.

Northern Colorado Classic?
Already a classic backpacking and fishing destination, for running (all singletrack!) and scenery, this loop is a classic running route as well. It's hard to compete with something like with the Maroon Bells Loop, and I still haven't done Pawnee-Buchanan, but it belongs on an extended list with routes like Comanche-Fall (Comanche Wilderness), Flat Top-Hallett-Otis-Taylor, and Comanche-Venable (Sangres). I'll also add the unheralded Zimmerman-Thunder Pass loop across the street. For pure running, the trails themselves on the main circuit are in great condition and relatively easy to follow. The traverse between the peaks is a scrambling challenge, but it's on solid rock with great views. And, for whatever it's worth, I saw 5 people all day on a perfect Sunday!

For the peakbagging experience as well, I'd suggest a few minor tweaks:
* Climb S. Rawah further south, either from Bench Lake, or even nearer to Crater Lakes (giving a good excuse to take that spur trail), rather than backtracking from Grassy Pass. This is described elsewhere as the East Ridge route.
* When descending N. Rawah, retreat slightly to the saddle and descend around the snowfield
* Consider a return approach that goes above Sheep Mtn. and descends to Upper Camp Lake

If you've been up there or have different ideas, let me know. The Cameron Pass area is a fantastic area to explore year round!

Rawah Wilderness Videos

2011-09-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Telluride Film Festival

2011-09-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Just a couple days before the weekend, we decided to head to the San Juans (which, along with New Mexico, are my default top choices for long weekends). J says, "Let's go to Telluride, we haven't been there." Sounds good. What's going on for Labor Day? The famous film festival!

I knew it was a big deal, but only after looking online did I realize it was a Big Deal (capital B, capital D). The festival truly is a world-class event for showing new films, and celebrating the people who make them. Stars would be in town, such as George Clooney, whose career was being celebrated this year. (I killed time on the drive over by wondering to myself if I would be upset if George Clooney kissed my wife...and surprised myself with my own answer!) Anyway, most festival-goers have passes that cost hundreds of dollars, whereas single movie tickets go for $25/each, if available. So it's not an event to take lightly.

However, there also happens to be free outdoor showings each night in the park. The only catch is getting a spot on the grass. And, the titles aren't announced before the weekend, so it could be anything. We decided to show up and push our luck, hoping that Sunday night would work out better than Friday or Saturday.

So we rolled into Telluride about 5pm. The lady at the visitor center told us where to park, and that we should grab a spot to sit (for the 8:30 show!) immediately, if there were even a spot left! I didn't know about this system of saving seats, but the thing to do is show up with a tarp or blanket or chairs in the afternoon. Fortunately, we were able to find a spot in the back, but unobstructed in the middle, which fit our 2 small chairs. Now we could relax and check out the town itself.

I expected qualities of Aspen or Vail -- in a bad way. Ostentatious houses dotted the canyon walls: 2nd homes of stars that barely use them a week or two a year, when they fly in to the local airport on holiday. Some of these stars are no doubt environmentally-conscious, as the solar panels on their 4000-square-foot homes can attest. But, hey, at least there's a Sotheby's in town!

But then Telluride surprised me. We didn't see George Clooney, or any other stars, but instead we saw a town genuinely celebrating the art of film in a beautiful way. Local buildings are repurposed into theaters, with colorful decor and lighting, making the town feel even cozier in the waning summer sunlight that leaves early in the box canyon. We took a break at Smuggler's Brewpub and enjoyed hanging out on the patio. The beer was decent and the food was OK, but the staff was friendly and "real" and the prices weren't too bad. We then headed up the canyon to check out Bridal Veil Falls, and enjoyed quiet, distant views at sunset.

Realizing that I needed to refill water bottles, we stopped at the town park, which is a lovely green space with camping and free showers. A couple was staying in their van in the parking lot, and some kids were playing badminton. A guy was waiting for his cell phone to charge in a restroom outlet, and another couple were having a wine picnic on a picnic table. I was struck by the simplicity and openness of the place, and my curmudgeonliness gave way to bemusement, and ultimately wonder.

And then hunger and thirst.

We headed back down the road into town, and stopped at a coffee stand (out of several coffee shops that looked promising and were open past 8pm) for coffee and tea. Wanting just a bit of dessert -- chocolate, specifically, because somebody is addicted to chocolate -- we wandered back to a truffle store I had seen earlier. Yes, a truffle store, but when you want just a simple but quality hint of a dessert, it's not such a bad deal, is it? The girl behind the counter was friendly, patient, and European. I asked if she was here for the skiing, but she waxed poetically on the imminent Autumn. This is the first time I've ever heard a ski bum that was interested in September!

Now it was time to take our seats, prepared with chocolate, coffee, and some beer in a Nalgene (waste of time: everyone else was openly pouring from bottles of wine). But would our chairs remain where we placed them hours earlier? Yes! No sooner had we sat down, then I learned about the free popcorn stand, and no sooner had I learned about that than I stood up again.

The lady at the visitor center had told us that the film was a comedic remix of clips from surf movies. I was excited, having seen "The Endless Summer" as well as various big-wave documentaries, and Jack Johnson's surf film.
True story: 6 years ago, I was on-shore after finishing a surf session in Del Mar (Full true story: I suck at surfing but am enthralled by it), and started chatting with a guy on shore. Somehow we were talking about the epic wave that had hit Teahupoo the week before; and he told me he was there! It was such a big wave that even casual people like me had heard about it. I started buying his story, he was very cool about it, and I kept listening, but then wondered if I had been suckered. Later, at home, I was googling around, and I found an article with his picture on it! This ended up being "Big Wave Hunters," I believe.

So back to Telluride...turns out Sunday night was a free Double Feature! The "bad news" was that the surf film, "Hollywood Don't Surf," didn't begin until 10:15. The prospect of driving up the rocky, one-car-wide Alta Lakes Road at midnight-thirty was daunting even to me, so we would have to miss it. Instead, the film we would see was "The Island President," which ended up being as good or better than anything else I could have expected, and deserves it's own separate review, as well as an Oscar nod next year.

At 8:15, the lights of the surrounding buildings dimmed. Behind the blue screen was a sheer canyon wall, with a crescent moon hanging overhead. An occasional moth would cross the stream of light from the projector, flitting about like fat snowflakes. And around us were people snuggling up in blankets and down jackets and hats.

This setting, this spot, was absolutely magical and spectacular. The show was about to begin.

Telluride: Bridal Veil Falls

2011-09-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Bridal Veil Falls
365 feet
Just drove out to the edge of town to look

Alta Lakes Camping near Telluride

2011-09-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

Alta Lakes Campground
Free camping near Telluride

Now here's a San Juan gem for free camping!
Just south of Telluride/Mountain Village, immediately across the street from the pay/crowded Sunshine Campground, is Alta Lakes Road. This road is a semi-rough 5 miles upward to Alta Lakes, with some dropoffs (aka "Great Views!") off the side of the road. As you get higher, in fact, you'll have great views of Lizard Head in the distance. The road isn't too bad but high clearance is recommended and perhaps necessary.

Near the top, pass some photo-worthy mining buildings and streams, before reaching the lakes themselves.

Your reward is a pick of one of the best car campsites I've seen in Colorado, if not a wonderful day area for a picnic and some hiking, biking, or fishing. Again, even trying our luck on Labor Day/Telluride Film Festival weekend, we had a choice of spots. Three alpine lakes are filled with jumping fish that were simply teasing the fishermen trying to catch them, but not that they didn't have fun trying.

We chose the first spot on the backside, along the large cliff wall that formed Silver Mountain and Palmyra Peak. With some downtime, I climbed these peaks about half a dozen times, tracing out different routes -- in my mind, with a beer in hand. Climbing is much safer this way! Since we plan on kicking around in Colorado for years to come, I anticipate coming back there and heading up some other time.

Tracing the ridge around the lake, it eventually gives way to a softer tundra shoulder, and the poky outlier named "Bald Peak." This area is the top of Telluride ski area, so a quick 20-25 minute jaunt above treeline gives views towards the ski area, as well as up toward Lizard Head. Otherwise, some singletrack skirts around the mountains and makes for a nice mountain biking loop from the ski area, down Alta Lakes road, and across to Sunshine.

There is no shortage of activities at Alta Lakes!

Free Camping near Ouray

2011-09-07T07:05:00.000-07:00

Found some good campsites on the Ouray side of Red Mountain Pass. Immediately after the Ironton Park turnoff, on the left as you're going towards Silverton, any of the next turns lead into the flat park area with open camping. Found something on Labor Day weekend, and enjoyed being able to look up at the Red Mountains above.

Next 2 weekends?

2011-09-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Still on the (growing) list:
Pawnee-Buchanan Loop
Tenmile Traverse
Belford-Oxford-Missouri (Emerald-Iowa optional)
Rawah Lakes Loop (w/ TBD modifications for N and S Rawah Pk)
Mummy Kill
Aspen 4-Pass again

Anyone?

Blue Lakes Pass Hike from Yankee Boy Basin

2011-09-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

Blue Lakes Pass Hike from Yankee Boy Basin
~4M roundtrip, loop near Wright Lake and return via Sneffels/Road

Yankee Boy Basin is one of the most photographed natural landscapes in Colorado, and inspires numerous adjectives attesting to the beauty of the area, especially during wildflower season. I agree with these sentiments, yet would add my own: "Overrated."

Now, this isn't entirely fair for many reasons. First, I'm obviously and shamelessly trying to get your attention with a controversial hook. Sorry. Also, we're past the peak of the wildflower bloom, and so I haven't seen the explosion of colour against a blue sky backdrop that is truly a daytime fireworks show. Finally, we're simply spoiled with so many other beautiful options in Colorado especially, that I can't help but think that most of the superlatives come from folks that just stepped out of the car. And, for me, that ends up being a major detraction, the same way I was disappointed, almost enough to "sit by the Merced River and cry," when visiting Yosemite and seeing a string of cars snaking along the valley. Similarly, in Yankee Boy Basin, just behind the telephoto lenses of all those gorgeous pictures lies the buzzing of 4WD vehicles crawling up and down the mountain; loud t-shirted folk in clouds of cigarette smoke; and a group of "sportsman" that decide above treeline is a fine place for recreational target shooting.

The first step, of course, is a slow 6-mile drive along a shelf road (Camp Bird Road) just barely wide enough for a single car at many points. This road is deservedly interesting and can be handled by most cars in good weather, and people even less hypocritical than me might hike the road. (Not really: most people drive most of the way up to a parking area near restrooms, before the terrain gets steeper and rockier). The highlight is driving underneath a section of rock that overhangs the road. Driving this road does command full attention, but the real danger is the threat of Dad's inflated self-satisfaction when the drive is done, despite modern engineering and technology having done most of the work. We're a lazy bunch these days: throw in horses and snow and darkness into the mix instead, and we'd be talking legitimate danger.

But let's be honest, and back up a bit: if you can ignore the sensual assault via smoke, fumes, and echoing gunfire above treeline, this area is still a feast for the eyes, with the full palette represented by this year's late bloom:

The best view is actually backward toward Potosi Peak, which one writer had aptly compared to Huayna Picchu standing sentinel over Macchu Picchu:

Further up the road lies a trail to Blue Lakes Pass, as well as the more popular trail up a scree-filled couloir to the top of 14er Mt. Sneffels. Sneffels is more approachable but significantly less impressive than it's North face presentation, where it lords Mordor-like over Ridgway. I will not post a picture here of the shortened stature of what Sneffels looks behind the curtain.

Instead, we headed up to Blue Lakes Pass, as an easy hike to peer over into another mountain valley.

Since I promised J an easy, non-summit hike, we ended up doing everything ironically and wrong to make it more challenging. We started at 3pm with significant cloud cover and visible verga, and she kept a cotton shirt on. Thinking we were on a road for nearly all of the hike, she asked about keeping her flip-flops on. Sure, why not? I kept my keen sandals, shorts, and cotton flannel on as well. This worked for most of the hike, until a few things happened. First, it started snowing lightly. No big deal, we did have extra layers. Then, right before the top of the pass, the trail follows directly perpendicular to fall line with almost no purchase whatsoever on hardpacked dirt. I didn't know J's sandals had no tread whatsoever, whereas my shoes are 8 years old. So the Class 1 involved scooting on our butts so as not to slide off the trail. We spent less than 2 minutes at the top, where I was chastised yet again for things being not as easy as advertised.

But, there were no storms or falls, and we made it back down. Once we looped back to the Sneffels junction, a few other groups were heading up to Sneffels still, and despite our attire and questionable footwear and obvious lack of helmets (which are a great idea on the Sneffels route), still asked us that common question:

"Did you summit?"

We were happy to fit right in.

A Wyoming High: Medicine Bow Peak and Sugar Loaf Mountain

2011-08-29T22:24:00.001-07:00

Medicine Bow Pk 12013'
Sugarloaf Mtn 11398'
7.5 Mile loop (CW) from Lake Marie
~3.75hrs RT w/ Caleb

The border between Colorado and Wyoming is a fully human concept, set at the 41st parallel. Notwithstanding the Wind River Range, Tetons, and Bighorns in Northern Wyoming, most of Southern Wyoming generally gets the shaft in terms of terrific alpine scenery.

Except, that is, for the Medicine Bow Peak massif in the Snowy Range of Southern Wyoming. With trailheads above 10000 feet and just off of the paved Highway 130, Medicine Bow Peak is an instantly accessible alpine high.

And what a high indeed! Numerous well-stocked alpine lakes, streams, and giant granite boulders dot the landscape. Wildflowers burst with color, lupine and Columbines alike, the Colorado state flower itself knows no boundaries. And, this never gets too old: snowfields in August!

We strolled steadily up the back side of Medicine Bow Pk, taking our time getting distracted by the stone remains of a cabin, and heading off trail occasionally to peer over the edge to the lakes below. Solid cracks led up obvious climbing routes, and scrambled along some short sections.

The infamous Wyoming wind was not to be found on this glorious day, as we made our way to the summit, where we saw maybe 8 or so other people.
Obligatory summit shot:

Obligatory summit-with-ridiculous-belt-buckle-shot:

Heading down off the mountain, on a loop to the east, leads to a trail that switchbacks and descends quickly, to a saddle with Sugarloaf Mountain. This lesser peak (labeled below from an earlier view) has an interesting enough prominence to make a short Class 2 scramble to the top worthwhile:

Etymological Digression
"Sugarloaf" is a name that refers to numerous mountains and hills around the world, from Brazil to Winona, Minnesota. This refers to the shape of a block of sugar, that used to have a long, conical shape for shipping and storage purposes.

When a person wanted a bit of sugar, he would simply cut a chunk off. Incidentally, the tool used for this is called "sugar nips."

Entomological Digression
Caleb mentioned a friend who was recently recovering from a brown recluse spider bite (ugh!). This led to a discussion of which insects we would remove from existence if given the choice. In a limited list including spiders, wasps, and the pine beetle, Caleb unselfishly chose the pine beetle. But when expanded to other insects, he easily chose the annoying horsefly. I hate horseflies as much as anyone, but suggested the mosquito, so as to reduce malaria and dengue fever. However, Caleb pointed out that I hadn't been specific about species, since when thinking about mosquitos, we were first thinking about the annoying but non-deadly familiar kind (Aves Minnesotus)...and if we wiped out horseflies, would we wipe out all flies? Considering the advances in scientific understanding of evolutionary development we've gained from the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, I hope not.

But I digress.
*
Sugarloaf was a quick, fun diversion that gave us great views back toward Medicine Bow Peak. Now we headed down along a ridge and eventually hit the rest of the loop trail, where even more wildflowers and great views awaited.

All too quickly, we reached the shores of Lake Marie again, where schools of small trout darted out of the weeds each time our shadow cast a reflection.

This area is an easy 2-hour drive from Fort Collins, and is absolutely stunning. Even short walks and picnics along the shore would be worthwhile. More trails to nearby lakes deserve further exploration, as well as an intriguing canyon on the other side of the road.

Finally, this trail would be a great running loop as well. Start early to avoid crowds, and I would suggest going counterclockwise (opposite of our direction) to start the busier part of the trail in the trees earlier, and then climb up the rockier switchbacks, before enjoying a smooth descent along the plateau of the peak.

The Girls Ride 100: Venus de Miles 2011

2011-08-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

J, Nora, and Deirdre RODE 100 MILES...in tutus!

They did it! By training this summer, all 3 rode 100 miles for the first time in their lives -- AWESOME! No flats, no major mechanicals, nobody got lost, and a good time was had by all. They finished in about 8.5 hours, well under a 9-ish hour goal and with a solid, consistent speed.

I certainly can't speak for most of their day, but I parked in Longmont and rode a section of course backward before finally meeting them at mile 70 at one of the two toughest spots of the course: the rolling hills up 36 towards Lyons. Clouds had come in to cool off the temperature a bit from the heat they had experienced in James Canyon, but unfortunately the clouds were accompanied by a stiff North headwind. I looped around when I saw them on the hills and talked with them a bit, but clearly it was time to focus and just get out to Highway 66 for the left turn into Lyons. We stayed in a line as much as possible and grinded out the miles before finally getting out of the wind.

Now that they could relax a bit, I asked how they were doing on food and water. They were hungry and looking for good food options -- apparently the last few aid stations (in the critical middle part of the race) were lacking in quality food selection. This was bad news, because I had seen what awaited them at the next aid station (mile 76): Gel packets and shot blocks. Now maybe the idea of having eaten several dozen gels in the previous week gave me an unfair negative bias, but they weren't interested in that, either. I quickly decided to go ahead into town and scrounge up whatever food I could find.

Luckily, the day was saved by St Vrain Market:

I grabbed whatever looked good: some plums, a fresh loaf of bread, cheese, turkey, a tomato, a perfectly ripe avocado, and a few sodas, and dashed out of there. (They also had plastic knives which were helpful for making sandwiches). I met them at the aid station with REAL FOOD (TM) ! They were very pleased at having sandwiches and their mood was instantly better after eating and drinking, and we set off across the threshold of 76 miles, officially making it their longest ride ever.

We hit the road together for some cloverleafs around Lyons itself. This section of course was the only set of roads I had never ridden on, and it involved some gorgeous backroads that I didn't know existed, with good pavement, light traffic and shady trees:

After this Tour du Lyons, we headed back East towards Longmont. The Northwest wind and renewed vigor sped us along into zizagging south and east turns. Another very light rest stop was somewhere around mile 90, but was unnecessary. The girls kept on moving until the final turns in the Prospect New Town part of Longmont -- a surprisingly vibrant and fun part of Longmont that we've never visited before.

At the finish, we were surprised by DJ and Neil!

We hung out in the park a bit and they enjoyed some mojitos. The touted gourmet lunch was a lackluster, cold premade sandwich and a small side of grains. Despite being hungry, most of that was tossed aside, and we headed to the Pump House instead to celebrate.

Congratulations to all of them on a great ride!

LT100 2011

2011-08-22T11:51:00.001-07:00

Dan Jones, Kieran McCarthy, Scott Slusher, MAH, J, Nora, Mama W

This year's LT100 was my 2nd 100-mile race, and first mountain 100. I knew I would have my work cut out for me with a more challenging course at higher elevations, but was looking forward to the adventure.

Despite bouts of heavy rain and thunder in town the night before, the weather was calm enough for a light jacket and shorts to start the race. This was a relief, as starting in a cold rain would have been tough to manage. My fancy new light North Face jacket and Black Diamond headlamp worked perfectly, but I try not to be too much of a gear nerd because it's just running. It was also cold enough that I donned my alpaca wool hat for the beginning of the race. It doesn't have a brand name or anything on it, but it sheds rain better than cotton, and I bought it in a stall from the woman who made it in Aguas Calientes, Peru.

Now if you're in Leadville, Colorado the 3rd weekend in August, and somehow want to avoid the spectacle of this race, good luck ignoring the blast of a shotgun at 4AM.

With that, we were off and down the road. The advice here is to stay relaxed and easy, avoiding going too fast downhill, as we run several road and dirt road miles to Turquoise Lake. I have no idea what our pace was, but I looked at my watch exactly 3 times before the aid station: 29-something, 59-something, 1:29-something. I planned on taking a gel every 30 minutes, and a cool and underappreciated superpower of distance runners is the ability to estimate elapsed time accurately while running. It's too bad that this skill is utterly useless otherwise.

I had heard that the Turquoise Lake singletrack can get crowded, but from my vantage it was nothing to be concerned about, other than hearing an occasional runner behind with a missed step (worried about them tripping into me) or someone's dizzying bouncy headlamp. It wasn't too difficult to pass if necessary, and we were also reasonably segregated into natural pacing groups. At one point, I stepped off the trail briefly for a bio-break and ended up in a gap between groups, so I had a pleasant 10-20 minute stretch of running alone.

As we went around the lake, I did sneak a few peeks backward to appreciate the stream of headlamps around the lake. More sublime was the mist that had settled over the lake, and occasionally seeing an illuminated runner cast a shadow into the fog and then disappear. Even if I had a camera, my photography skills wouldn't do this any justice, so the image will remain burned in my memory.

A few camping groups greated and cheered us around the lake, and as we neared 2 hours and 13.5 miles, the May Queen aid station came into view. Since this is the first aid station and people are all packed together, I suggested to the girls not to come to this aid station. I think this was a good plan, as they got some rest and were better equipped to make it to Fish Hatchery without the stress of driving in and out of May Queen and trying to find me. However, the May Queen herself (Alex's wife Ean) and Celeste and crew were out here and able to spot me in the crowd somehow, so I felt pumped up by seeing them. I grabbed a few snacks here and more gels, and filled up my 2 bottles, keeping my plan of a bottle per hour.

If you're wondering, 6AM at this time of year is sufficient to ditch the headlamp. I wondered about this but then decided to transport my headlamp to the next aid station at Fish Hatchery, no big deal.

The next stretch is 10 miles including singletrack, a steady climb, and then the powerline descent to Fish Hatchery. I enjoyed the trail sections, and the rest were obvious walk-when-it's-steep, run downhill variety. The views were enjoyable as we climbed sugarloaf, although we had occasional long views of the trail ahead. It was easy to run smoothly on light uphills, and eat and drink when necessary. Finally, we reached steep downhill. I enjoyed the descents and tried to save my quads, but I don't know how successful I was.

The troubling thing was, my legs hurt somewhat at this point. This was unusual because they normally wouldn't feel this way in a 20-mile training run, and hadn't felt like that in any previous 50M or 100M. I'll need to reflect on this some more -- taper? hydration? electrolytes? The simplest answer is likely the fact that more downhill training (and less track work!) could have been beneficial for this.

Before Fish Hatch, we were on some rolling roads, and I was able to run these steadily. Again, we went from a calm run to a roaring spectacle of crowds and cheering -- and that's pretty cool. J spotted me and got my bottle, and she took off running at a great clip to get things ready while I looped through the checkin. I was also happy to see Alex's support crew and family out here as well. I accidentally dropped a glove here -- and then a subsequent F-bomb -- bad karma!

After this, it was time to get ready for a few miles of open road. For the first time in a race of any length, I put headphones in my ears. And I was cool with it, it kept my spirit and tempo up, just cruising and grooving down the road. At this point, I was down to my one large bottle, as the next aid station (Pipeline) was a flat 6 miles out, and then another 10 with a net downhill to Twin Lakes.
After filling up at Pipeline, it was time for steady climbing. Historically, miles in the mid-30s are a low point for me, but I felt consistent here, no worries. My mental focus was all about planning to get to the next aid station.
The Mt. Elbert trail sections here were pretty fun, with some wildflowers, stream crossings, and bridges. I forgot about the additional Mt. Elbert aid station -- I was good on water but topped off anyway, so I could dump some on my head and not worry about dehydration.

Now we had a fun, steady descent to Twin Lakes. I was cruising along steadily here, nothing technical at all, but I slipped and totally wiped out! No injuries or abrasions, I landed pretty well. Now you know how my shirt got dirty.

At Twin Lakes outbound, I was happy to see the girls again, as well as my first pacer, Kieran. Also saw Pete and recognized some other folks. Again, my emotions ran high from the crowd, which was important for the slog ahead.

The next part begins with a trudge through swampy marshland across the street, through calf-deep puddles and mud. You're going to get wet, so no use fighting it, and then your feet are heavy and slow bricks. Eventually we reached the creek, which had a rope across it for safety it wasn't absolutely necessary. I bent down a bit and splashed water on my legs to refresh them a bit. After that, it was a straight shot to the trees, where the climb up Hope Pass begins in earnest.

Now I was on my first truly familiar section of trail. I ran this in training, but there was no need for that today: it was time to hike. The shade in the trees was refreshing, and I kept that in mind as we headed up to treeline. Along here I saw a familiar orange shirt and thought I recognized Brandon -- with hiking poles! I hadn't seen him use them before so I wasn't sure it was him. He was moving decently but I slowly caught up so we could chat. He said he picked up the poles because his quads were blown, perhaps in part from a blazing start to May Queen. But he was still moving good, and it's a long race, so he was appropriately optimistic about the rest of the run, as was I for both of us, and I still expected to see him on the downhill as I felt I'd have to take it easy there.

Every once in awhile we'd hit a short, flat runnable section, but mostly I focused on keeping the breathing and heart rate in check, with no idea of distance or splits. But at least I recognized the terrain, and appreciated the trail opening up into wildflower meadows, then back into the trees, before finally reaching treeline for good.

"Welcome to Camp, can I get you anything?" asked a young male volunteer, maybe 11 or 12 years old. His phrasing made it even more special: here I was at the famous "Hopeless" aid station, replete with the llamas that had carried up the supplies. Although I had been to this same geographical spot 2 weeks earlier, now that it was set up as an alpine "camp," I could pretend I was out in the Himalayas or Andes on an excursion. Context is as important as the environment when it comes to experiences like this.

By now, I had also lost a bit of appetite but knew it was from the elevation, so I had a bit of soup and other snacks to help get ready for cresting the pass. I filled up on water as well and continued to climb. To my left was the familiar lumpy shoulder of Quail Mountain, with the pass itself was appreciably lower.

With a photographer on top, it was time to begin running the last bit of the climb and then all the way down. Now I would get to figure out how to deal with the 2-way traffic on the tight singletrack, but it all just worked out. I did everything possible to give the leaders room, and often enough they did the same and let us continue downhill, and they were all pleasant and encouraging. It just all worked out. Team Spandex was in the lead, and I was happy to recognize Burch coming up 3 spots later (but no pacer?). I tried to be conservative enough on the downhill and not get injured, I passed a couple folks but got passed by a few more and was fine with that, as I was on or ahead of pace.

It was getting pretty warm by now and I reached the Winfield road, knowing I was ahead of my 10-hour turnaround estimate. I ditched the shirt and stuck to the south side of the road for shade. This is rumored to be the last year of having to run on the dusty road in traffic, as they are building a parallel trail that should be ready next year, so I told myself that at least I got to appreciate the classic experience. They offered dust masks at the bottom, but had also watered the road, and it was manageable. I think I also hit at a good time, as J told me traffic picked up significantly after I left. Along the way, the fabulous mAy Team drove by and cheered me on.

The girls spotted me pretty quickly, and Kieran ran right along to get ready for his pacing duties. He was diligent about figuring out what we might need for the Hope Pass re-climb, and was perfectly stocked up with anything I might need.

And then we were off on the road again. Mentally, the whole idea of re-climbing 3000 feet again can be daunting, but it absolutely blocked from my brain. Having new company helped significantly, as well as muling some of my gear. We ran most of the road and then got ready for the climb, settling into having me in front to set a pace.

I had only met Kieran briefly during CPTR, and he graciously offered to pace by responding online. This is just another example of how the ultrarunning community works in strange and awesome ways. It was fantastic to have this boost, and although I wish I had more oxygen for more conversation, for his part he was equally encouraging, distracting (with jokes, etc.), attentive, and informative about other parts of the race. I was a bit worried about my stomach, but kept taking gels and it never got worse.

Obviously, this section was more crowded going up, now that I was spending over an hour going 3 miles while a large contingent of runners were heading down, but again it all worked out, and we were all encouraging of each other. I felt steady but slower than when I was fresh for a training run a couple weeks ago. I told Kieran that it took about 65 minutes in training, so maybe 80 minutes would be good today. We hit the top in 70! It just shows how much perception can be off at these times.

Now some more downhill to Hopeless, and I tried to take it easy technically so as not to twist an ankle. I had one little slip before I was able to open up my stride, and then Kieran ran ahead to get supplies ready. I still didn't have much of an appetite, but again had some soup and Coke, definitely more out of caloric necessity than desire. Some clouds had moved in but we had beaten any threat of a real storm -- never a given in the Colorado mountains in summer.

We continued downhill at a steady pace, my quads remained in a constant sore but functional state. We got back into the trees and enjoyed the shade and more runnable downhill again, before the final flattening to the open marshes of Twin Lakes. Again I soaked a few seconds in the river, and had the unpleasantness of small rocks in my shoes, but knew that would end soon enough.
Kieran ran ahead to get things ready for the handoff.

How would you measure the effectiveness of a pacer? How about this: my split over Hope Pass, with Kieran, after 50 miles and a loss of appetite, was 30 seconds faster than my solo split after 40 miles!

At this point, I planned on cleaning/drying off my feet and switching socks, yet keeping the same shoes, based on Pete Stevenson's advice. This ended up being a fine choice, as the fresh socks felt great and the wet shoes dried soon enough, yet still performed as predictably as they had for the first 60 miles. The only risk was sitting in a chair for the first time ever in an ultra for me, but my "pit crew" attended to me quickly: a truly fast 2-tire change, top off of fuel, a round of wedge, and we were off.

"We" now being Dan Jones and I. Kieran did great, and Dan picked up right where he left off. Did I mention Dan just ran up Pikes Peak earlier in the morning? Yeah, then he drove out a few hours for a "fun run" to help me in Leadville! I enjoyed meeting and catching up with Dan as he told me some of the PPA stories, and that they had perfect weather. I also appreciated his insights into Leadville, having successfully finished the course the previous year in his first attempt. Again, I wish I had more energy to be conversational, but I think (or at least hope) veteran runners and pacers understand this.

Dan was great at keeping me moving and motivated, eating and drinking, and getting ready at the aid stations. I had a Red Bull stashed at Pipeline (~M70) and that helped out, and it was still nice not have to carry both bottles. I think I walked a bit more of the gradual uphills here but was still satisfied with my own pace. About 5-10 minutes past Pipeline, though, I asked Dan if he had a headlamp. It turns out both of us had the same negative answer! Whoops. I had stashed one at Pipeline just in case, but forgot in my 70-mile haze to do the new math on whether I would need it or not. But I also remember thinking that most of this section wouldn't necessitate a headlamp anyway, and it turns out we were just fine, as we hit the road at dusk. Lights could have been nice for safety from (annoying) oncoming cars, but Dan graciously shielded me from harm by running in front of me. And it worked! We weren't killed, and we made it to Fish Hatch. Dan's duties were complete in spectacular fashion.

Slush spotted us before Fish Hatch and I didn't recognize him at first as he offered us a light. But he ran us in and we got ready for the return climb up Sugarloaf.

As promised, Scott injected new life and encouragement into my run. But, I use the word "run" here very loosely, because other than a bit of downhill after Sugarloaf, I severely abused Scott's generosity with a long nighttime walk. But first, he caught me up on his own PPA race experience, which involved an unfortunate exploding electrolyte tablet, but otherwise an enjoyable day on that mountain out East. Let me remind you here: Like Dan, Scott had come out to pace me after climbing 8000 feet in the morning! Through his own admission, and observations later from the girls, Scott had suffered from a coffee deficiency earlier in the day, something I can totally relate too! His enthusiasm though certainly didn't miss a beat, so I like to think that I took it easy on him for these last 6-7 hours so he didn't have to, you know, run a bunch and stuff, like when he paces people to course records and all that.

He also pointed out -- rightfully so -- how glorious the stars were above the top of Sugarloaf. Again, I wish I could have been more sociable, but for his part he kept me on track and moving along. He was also sociable with other runners on the climb that caught up to me, which helped pass the time. Sorry, but my legs were now shot. I was able to gently shuffle down on the smoother parts after Sugarloaf, but he biggest threat was a lack of proprioception, so that I was unstable on even the slightest technical section. The focus was merely on moving forward. I also wanted to lean against a tree and take a quick nap but Scott kept me going.

The focus was on May Queen. At this point of the day -- no, it is past 10 pm -- if you stop and think about having 6 or 7 more hours to run, it would be absolutely overwhelming. You absolutely have to break it up and focus on the next aid station. But the important thing is, we did arrive at May Queen, and fueled up on coffee and soup. The girls were there -- did they get a chance to sleep? -- and I told them we'd see them 3.5-4 hours later. This is still a ridiculously long amount of time to run, but you know what? We were going to finish, and we would get the big buckle.

Heading out, the remaining goals were sub-24 hours, and sub-Brownie's-time-from-last-year. And we hit the Turquoise Lake trail, which I told Slush was "flat" and "lightly technical", but now somehow it was longer, more technical, and quite rolling. My legs felt like tanks of lactic acid: swollen and slow. I could walk decently, and it actually felt good when we hit the road later, but running was out of the question. I apologized to Scott a few times, but he came up with a new positive response each time. I felt like I was passed by gobs of people. I didn't mind the act of being passed so much as the envy of not being able to run. So, as I learned, I would have enjoyed the race more if I had been in a position to run through the end. I'll even go so far as to say I would trade finishing slightly slower but being able to run through the end. But that's what you learn in these things.

Sub-24 would require just a bit more running, but I just didn't have it. In my addled brain, though, I knew the Big Buckle was ours. That's what I wanted, and that's what I owed to myself and my crew. By now, we had survived and formed all the stories and memories that would make up the race. So after the interminable Turquoise Lake, we hit a bunch of long roads that I didn't remember from the morning. I could shuffle down a slight downhill, but anything more than that and it was back to power-hiking. (In hindsight, I think I needed a better salt strategy).

Finally, town came into view (it sneaks up on you in the last mile). A full day had passed, full of adventure. Scott had kept me moving, motivated, and on-course. Kieran and Dan were there, and I was happy to have them pull me up the hill as a group together. My uphill "run" was glacial, but the important thing was that it was in the right direction.

After a few hours sleep, walking was painful, but I can always ride a bike.
Luckily I brought my junker Minnesota free-bike with me to town. I never drove anywhere all weekend.

I can't say enough about how important all of my crew and pacers were, as well as the support along the course.
That is what helped me to finish and earn "La Plata Grande"

Thanks for reading.

24:11 Leadville

2011-08-21T04:32:00.001-07:00

Missed my stated 24 hour goal (and Brownie's time by a half hour), but still had a fun race. My fault for too aggressive of a plan in the lower 20's when I had no business doing so, especially for a mountain/altitude/Leadville first-timer, trying to get impressive results. I had a great run for 60 miles, then early leg pain caught up to me, subjecting poor Slush to a night-time hike around endless Turquoise Lake while gobs of people passed us. Should have backed off like many experience runners have said and run a first 60+ miles that felt very easy, and I know better! Lots of things went well, especially the crew and pacers and numerous friends on and along the course, and nutrition/gear/stomach/head all felt fine all day (more than any 50M)

But, for those unfamiliar with these races, the "award" is a belt buckle for finishing. There is often a more strict cutoff for a "big buckle." In Leadville, the cutoff for "La Plata Grande" is 25 Hours. I certainly wanted to earn this and was excited to do so -- the 24 hour number I came up with was only because it's a more "natural" number and would end the suffering earlier. Once I knew 22, 23, and 24 hours were out of reach, I focused on being conservative enough not to get injured and to get the big buckle.

So, overall it was a blast and I really enjoyed the Leadville experience more than I thought. It was also very difficult and satisfying to finish this race. Tedious report and pictures forthcoming.

More pictures from the start

2011-08-20T03:18:00.001-07:00

10K feet, 4AM, and 611 runners are off!

2011-08-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

Mike woke up ready to run and was off to a good start this early am!

Leadville Race Tracking: #417

2011-08-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

You can track Leadville race progress here.

The race starts at 4AM Mountain Daylight Time.
I am #417, though you can also search by name.

Keep in mind there will often be a gap of a couple hours or more between aid station updates.

If you want something to root for, my main goal is to finish in a day -- less than 24 hours -- and hopefully comfortably faster than that, which will be based on feel after a conservative first 2/3rds. Lots of things can happen out there...and they will!

Good luck other racers!

Countdown to Leadville: Unnamed 13500

2011-08-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Unnamed 13500 from Independence Pass
? Miles, 1400 ft gain

Very happy to be in Leadville, staying in a wonderful house just a couple blocks from the race.

I guess I could, and maybe should, lie around and not move, but after doing some work this morning at the coffee shop, I got restless and headed up to Independence Pass. Besides great views, I hoped that a little time above 12000 feet with some mild exercise would increase acclimatization.

I knew there were some easy and obvious trails at the top, and a hunk of rock to the north of the road that looked particularly inviting, looking no more than a half hour walk away and several hundred feet up (I am very bad at estimating . I pushed it steadily until near the top, when I met a friendly couple from Kansas, Andy and Deb. There, I stopped to chat and took their picture. I was clearly feeling the elevation, but grateful to have had a mile headstart living in Fort Collins. Andy was a few months returned from Afghanistan, and I promptly thanked him for his service and welcomed him back home and to Colorado.

I headed up to the top and enjoyed new views to the north, and a fun bit of exposure if you hang on the North edge. An alpine lake lies below: I could have guessed its name by pure luck, since "Blue Lake" is the most common unimaginative name around here. As these things go, though, there was an obvious higher chunk of rock just a short stroll to the west, so I headed that way as well, tracing the Continental Divide. There was a small summit marker here but no log. A more impressive, prominent peak lies further to the West: this is Twining Peak, and would have to wait for another day. The saddle looked to be at least 300 feet lower (and it is), so I declared my position a satisfactory summit of some sort.

I headed back along the ridge and saw Andy and Deb hanging out, and offered to take some pictures for them up there. We chatted some more, I told them how much easier it is when you get used to it and that it's certainly hard coming from sea level. They were originally just heading up to see some snow and decided to go for the top -- good for them! Eventually I disclosed the upcoming race and then the distance. Andy was graciously excited for me and said it was the first time he met an ultramarathoner, so that was a fun compliment. They told me about some trails and events they recommended out in Arkansas (a new state for me which I'd like to visit), and that there GPS had us up at 13400. Whoops, underestimated that one.

We headed down, and I told them about watermelon snow (which I was unable to smell), pointed out La Plata Peak, ptarmigans, marmots, and pikas, before heading down in a light better-not-trip jog. Near the bottom, I met Rick (?) from Dallas, who had a race shirt on. I accosted him (and his pacer, "CC"): "Shouldn't you be at home with your feet up?" He was out for a bit of elevation as well, though he's been here for a week. I'll be excited to see them on Saturday as well.

I checked the map when I got home to learn that Unnamed 13500 is a legitimate 13er, 255th highest in Colorado. That makes it a "tri" for the people working on climbing the highest 300 peaks in the state. So I have a head start on that. Assuming I finish this weekend, "Unnamed Runner #417", I'll recommend this as a mellow altitude hike to check out on race week.

*

I headed back to the house and then learned about early packet pickup, so I hopped on a bike for a short ride down there. Met a few folks there and participated in a brief research study. Now I have a green bracelet on my wrist that ain't comin' off until Sunday morning.

*

Then made a quick batch of couscous and rode over to Brandon's house. I definitely appreciated the hospitality and camaraderie over there, it'll be even more fun to recognize faces and see everybody run a strong race this weekend.

Go time!

Sex, Alcohol, and the Leadville Trail 100

2011-08-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Maybe everybody else knew this story already, but I sure didn't. Here's something to read for your Leadville taper if you were unaware like I was.

My curiosity began with a spreadsheet.

At the bottom, there is a footnote of a runner named Ricklefs dropping out at mile 95 of the LT100 in 2001, despite being at the front of the race. I wondered about this story, finding Chad Ricklefs's website, among other things.

But I also learned about "Divine Madness" for the first time.

Technically, it was mentioned in McDougall's "Born to Run," but somehow I missed it. Even in a generally sensationalized book, "Divine Madness" received only a brief mention:

Not surprisingly, an event with more flameouts than finishers tends to attract a rare breed of athlete. For five years, Leadville's reigning champion was Steve
Peterson, a member of a Colorado higher-consciousness cult called Divine Madness, which seeks nirvana through sex parties, extreme trail running, and affordable housecleaning.
- "Born to Run", Christopher McDougall

However, the story was actually covered in some detail in the late 90s and early 2000s by mainstream publications, such as SI and the New York Times, with brief mentions in the local Denver publication Westword. Online, the Rick Ross institute has a collection of several critical articles, including the death of one of their runners in an event. The group trained and lived in both Boulder and New Mexico.

*

The most lurid mainstream presentation is the SI article:
Soon the group, which came to be known as Divine Madness, was running ultramarathons twice a week. By '96 its members were dominating at Leadville, with five of its runners in the top 15 that year.
...
Each Sunday as many as two dozen members will run as far as 50 miles over the paths and trails outside Boulder. In the past, two former Divine Madness members told SI, runners who didn't finish were occasionally not permitted to eat that day.
...
On Thursday nights, according to several former members, the group would typically dance until sunrise at wild, alcohol-fueled parties where random sexual couplings were encouraged. Monogamy was discouraged among those in the community, and rest and nutritional intake were severely rationed. Most members made do with about four hours' sleep on futons or mattresses laid atop bare floors.

*

I had never heard of this before, so I find it utterly fascinating.
The group certainly produced running results, and was the source of the popular mainstream book that introduced Chi Running.

Now I can't pretend to know what is truth or what is exaggeration, and it would be easiest just to present the details quietly, but if some of the quotes and representations were falsified, I would have imagined libel lawsuits. Instead, sexual assault allegations (among others) led to an out-of-court civil settlement. I am most certainly critical of cultism and dogma in any form, especially when dispensed from a single, self-appointed individual, and I have zero tolerance for misogyny and sexual control. But, other members suggest it was just a harmless running community, so if these details are exaggerated, then how about this seemingly innocuous one: "Tizer forbade reading of outside literature." I would suggest that forsaking the collective wisdom of mankind, the great historical works of art and science, for a singular insular viewpoint, would be a sin against one's own humanity. Exploring the limits of the human body is fantastic, but not if it comes at the expense of the mind.

Or would more reading necessitate more alcohol?
He has rationalized his need to drink excessive amounts of alcohol by explaining that his mind gets overheated by the intensity of the thoughts he thinks and that he needs to cool it down.
*

So, what about Chad Ricklefs, the footnote that piqued my curiosity?

At Leadville last August, Ricklefs gained his revenge on Peterson, setting out at a torrid pace and letting it be known that he meant to sustain it. Ricklefs had become an outspoken critic of Divine Madness, believing that it further marginalizes a sport already well on the fringe, his resentment fueled, in part, by the belief that he and other top ultrarunners -- and not Peterson and his unusual lifestyle -- should be getting what little publicity the sport attracts.

Amen, Chad. I see ultrarunning as an endeavor and challenge to promote happiness, fitness, and confidence in other aspects of life. It is a means, not an ends. So it turns out the "footnote" of the spreadsheet I had seen is a multiple-time Leadville champion, still running fast and coaching...and is, presumably, monogamous (since he's married).

Ready to Roll

2011-08-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

The girls in Jamestown, CO

The girls got their longest ride in ever -- 75 Miles -- as final preparation for their century ride in two weeks.
They are ready!

This route started from North Loveland, and puts the hardest climbing of their ride (Lyons to Jamestown) right in the middle, before looping back on different country roads to the start. I am in an awkward position where not doing anything all day, and even all week, would have more benefit for me than Leadville, but they wanted me to ride along as well. Though I suspect it's mostly for mechanicals and flats (none!) and routefinding, I also try to focus on nutrition, water, keeping the pace appropriate, and making sure there's no stopping on the climbs (possibly by slowing down the initial pace)...oh, and getting up early in the morning to beat the heat, rain, and traffic -- without being too overbearing (I hope)! With all the warning and mental preparation, they all handled the climb up to Jamestown easily! They'll be passing girls on the climb. And it was fun to hear them enjoy rolling past farms, ranches, and small towns, that most people never see on the highways, and enjoying the early morning start when the weather is cool and you can smell the plants in the air, yet still have the rest of your day when done. These are the things that I love about cycling!

We took a break at the top at the Jamestown Merc -- I've never been there, and it's certainly an iconic and cycling-friendly place.

They got a sense for the climb they had just done with a solid 7-mile no-pedals-needed descent back down the canyon.

So, they're ready. It's been fun watching them stay focused and help each other out, on the long rides as well as the weekday rides. They took the training seriously enough that they'll undoubtedly finish the century and be able to enjoy every bit of it.

*

Por moi, that wasn't ideal Leadville tapering on paper, but it's hard to justify not joining your wife for a bike ride when I'm used to riding solo and she's getting into it. I took it really easy and hung off the back, including the Jamestown climb, and I've found that cycling feels like a long, good stretch. The niggling pains that I had the day before and generally have during running weeks all summer went away after yesterday's ride. I have no soreness or strange pains from riding, which suggests I don't push too much, just a difference in "pep" in the legs that I would have if I hadn't run at all. But, I trust that will come back in the next couple days. I am stoked to get up high and out on the trail!

Mt. Audobon Morning Run

2011-08-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Mt. Audobon
13,323 feet

Pic taken by and stolen from GZ.
Justin and I approaching the summit. Behind us, mountains beyond mountains, and an inversion with a low layer of clouds blanketing the front range cities below.

George put up a post mentioning Mt. Audobon for the morning, which was something I was considering for a morning mountain run, and I had coincidentally borrowed the parking pass from my brother-in-law earlier that day. I had never been up there, and it has a good bang-for-the-buck of solid elevation and gain on a Class 1 trail, without having to drive too far or past Denver. And by starting early, we were able to beat the typical crowds and parking madness (actually, even the descent wasn't too bad, with respectful and attentive hikers). I was very glad to meet him and Justin in the parking lot (and, later, TZ and JZ), and enjoy the run with those guys.

My small camera is still broken, so I'm glad to see some of the pics from GZ and Justin. The drive out included a gorgeous full moon revealing the jagged outline of the mountains to the west, followed moments later by watching the sun rise while going up Brainard Lake road. I thought I might have missed the guys, but saw the rockin' minivan pull up moments later.

Justin got us going in a hurry, and despite everybody talking about taking it easy, I wasn't finding it incredibly easy to chat leisurely without running out of breath. Those guys seemed pretty comfortable with it though. But it was a great pace and we were quickly above treeline in the full sunshine and practically no wind.

Justin and I peered over the saddle towards the Divide, then power-hiked up to the Audobon summit. Awesome views all around, and some snacks, and then the descent. Justin admonished us to take it easy so as not to ruin our races, and then they took off. I quickly took a step next to a sharp rock that poked my inside heel, and then definitely focused on not doing anything else stupid. This route wasn't overly technical by any means, but Leadville is significantly less so.

This was a great run for the morning, really enjoyed getting to know JM and GZ better, and meeting some of GZ's family, and look forward to more runs with the guys in the future. I was a little more winded going up than I would like, but it wasn't insurmountable and hopefully a couple days at altitude will help. Everything else feels fine, a few tweaks in the right leg that haunt me but are manageable and should feel better over the week. Hopefully this workout helped, rather than hurt anything, but mainly it was fun!

Mountain Avenue Mile

2011-08-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Mountain Avenue Mile is our traditional 1 Mile summer Thursday night race. There is only a single left turn to the finish, so it's nearly impossible to get lost. A steady 40 foot drop over the course undoubtedly helps with fast and competitive times, but is barely perceptible when looking down the straight road.

8.5 days before Leadville, with zero relevance to that event, would doing a quick intense workout be a Lydiard-esque stroke of mad genius, or a foolish hamstring-tearing, lung-bleeding nightmare?

4:47, still in one piece. PR by 6.5 seconds from 2008.

And Slush earns a margarita glass for 2nd Masters!

LT100 Pacer

2011-08-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

I am incredibly stoked and grateful to have the services of Scott "Slush" Slusher as a pacer from Fish Hatchery in (Mile 76.5), the critical part of the race where I'll need it the most.

I'm not worthy! Scott has paced Nick to a CR at Jemez, so expectations are high. Too high! He's faster than me on Towers, and just blew away his 10k PR with a 37:23, 2nd-place finish in the FC Human Race 10k. And he has a GPS watch! Just as important, though, he's got a great sense of humor. I missed out while we were in Denver, but since this summer I've found that Scott and his wife Celeste constantly make me laugh. And on a serious note, he's done work in Ghana in the Peace Corps, and I haven't gotten a chance to hear stories about it. He's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again.

With any luck, he's got the grail (big buckle) already.

Earlier in the day, Scott will be running the PPA, and based on his training and racing this year, he's going to have a great day.

This is going to be awesome!

*

However, I do not currently have a pacer at Winfield (50-60-76.5)
Not sure about this situation: I've had a few well-meaning possibilities that didn't work out for one reason or another, and I feel strange drawing attention to myself and bringing somebody else in to an already boring, slow endeavor (OK, I'm not an advertising agent!).
But, Scott may have a friend from the ascent that might be interested -- we'll have to work on timing from the PPA, but it would likely be Twin Lakes at earliest.

I've thought about either...
1. No pacer at Winfield: Some vets have suggested this, that sometimes logistics make it more difficult and that it's not necessary. I see their point, and the muling aspect is still strange to me, but this would only be possible precisely because I do have Scott for the hardest, make-or-break part of the course, at night. Having this to look forward to will help get through those earlier miles -- I think it's going to be a mental benefit even before Fish Hatch. But over Hope Pass again, with several hundred friends hiking nearby, I won't slip on pace or motivation like what happens when we're all strung out in races with "only" 100 people or so.

But, it would be nice to have the company AND some muling help, since it's allowed...

2. Random pacer found ahead of time: Anybody interested, or know anyone? I might ask around on Friday in case somebody's interested. I regret not heading out to Silverton last month as I saw that people picked up some pacers that week.

3. Pre-paid Lifetime Fitness Pacer (with optional IV kit): Wait, that doesn't exist. Yet.

4. Random pacer at Winfield. It's been suggested. At Lean Horse, somebody asked past the turnaround if I had/needed a pacer. And, unfortunately, some pacers will be ready to rock but their runner DNF'ed. Hopefully, a knowledgeable person would see what condition my condition is in and figure out from my time what sort of pace would be appropriate. If I looked like incoherent garbage, nobody would feel obliged; if I'm still smiling, we could hitch a ride over the pass together. (At least, that's how I would decide if I wanted to pace someone randomly). This kind of has an intriguing since of adventure and randomness to it -- like hiring a mercenary -- but is it a realistic possibility?

Oh, I just decided that I'm going to refer to any of my pacers as "mercenaries" for the badass factor alone.

Anyway, if anybody has some interest, leads, or ideas, let me know!

Herman Lake Wildflowers and Continental Divide

2011-08-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Herman Lake and Continental Divide
~7.5 miles, 2800 foot gain (10,200 to 13,000)

J and I were looking for enjoyable wildflower and tundra hiking, with less than a 2 hour drive from Fort Collins, and something different than the reliable but crowded IPW. Herman Gulch met these requirements, and then some.

Herman Gulch is located East of the Divide tunnels, just off of I-70 on Exit 218. Correspondingly, the large dirt parking lot just off the freeway can be crowded. But getting there around 8AM, there were still plenty of spots.

This hike is well-documented elsewhere on the internet and guidebooks. A class-1 trail leads
3.5 miles up, through the forest and into wildflower meadows, before leading to Herman Lake itself, which sits in the shadow of 13er Petingell Peak.

So essentially there were 3 goals for this hike.

First goal: to see the wildflowers in full bloom.

Second goal: Get up on the Divide.
After visiting the lake, with maybe a dozen or so other folks, we headed back down less than half a mile to the Jones Pass/CDT trail split. We descended slightly on the Jones Pass trail, which follows below a ridge to the north before cresting it. Shortly after that, we headed up the steep tundra to the ridge itself, giving views of a whole new basin and range of mountains. Next, we followed along the ridge to the flat, loafy 13,000' shoulder of Petingell. This is an unnamed expanse of tundra, but gives fantastic views above Herman Lake, as well as new views which opened up to the North. And for a couple of hours of hiking and lounging around, we had the place to ourselves.

J took a nap:

I poked around restlessly:

...before waking her up to achieve the 3rd goal of the hike:
Hit J with a snowball in August!

Another beautiful day up high. This hike is rightly popular for being within an hour of Denver, but it's undoubtedly less crowded than Torrey's/Grey's across the street. The trail here, as well as the CDT trail towards Jones Pass, is also fantastically runnable: need to stare at the map for some loop options.

Here is a map. The extra effort of getting to the Divide more than triples your views:

Hope Pass Double, plus Quail Mt.-ish

2011-08-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

Alex and I on Hope Pass. Pic courtesy of his camera courtesy of JP Martin

*

Favorite (and first) Erik Solof Quote:
"So I guess the bridge is out. I have a Visa with me -- would you guys mind carrying us over Hope Pass?"

Alex and I had arrived in Twin Lakes on a gorgeous morning to run the hardest (but prettiest) part of the Leadville Trail 100: The infamous double crossing of 12,500' Hope Pass. We knew that the course bridge was "out", and I recalled reading something about Parry Peak campground as an alternate bridge route further up Hwy 82. But when we reached the course location, we saw a couple of other obvious runner-folks parked and looking around.

And that's how we met Erik and Kate.

I was completely out of it when Erik made his first comment, thinking he wanted to drive around to the Winfield side or something. But when he cracked a smile and some more jokes, we caught on to the humor.

So we were all out ready to run the trail: Alex and I for specific training, and Erik and Kate, essentially, for fun. Erik had said he ran it in 2005 and it was a fantastic course -- "Gospel, man" -- but we were still unsure about the bridge, when a sheriff rolled through and gave us directions. The directions had more turns and references to the "new bridge" and the "old bridge" and such that I mostly nodded and hoped somebody else was paying attention. And so did everyone else! The course will go through the water, which will be fine in race day crowds, but for today it was nice to keep our feet dry and stick together as a group in the beginning and not have to think about it, as the river is running pretty solidly.

We followed Erik and Kate to a small gravel lot a few miles further up Hwy 82, got ready, and then headed up along the shoulder of the road. In less than half a mile, there's a "one-man bridge" which we fit 4 people on and then hit the trail. This training route heads back left (East) towards the race route. Within a mile or so, we hit the Little Willis/Big Willis junction, and re-grouped to discuss. Alex suggested a left onto Little Willis (correctly) as the most conservative route that headed in the general direction, although it heads down immediately and wastes some of the elevation we just gained.

After 20 minutes or so, we hit a 4-way with a "No Vehicles Allowed" sign that matched the course description. This, indeed, was now a right turn onto the course (and the course will have come in from the left and head straight through). Let the climbing begin.

Alex and I were set on our own paces, deciding to do the run to Winfield and back and regroup when it made sense and see each other on the course. As it turned out, enough other folks were out training (maybe 5-6 other small groups) that it was a nice combination of solitude and companionship, as well as an ability to figure out where people were through the "pipeline," as I asked later if people saw Alex/the guy with the red shirt, etc.

The first goal I had was to run as much of the Twin Lakes as I could and get some sort of split. I didn't have any numeric goals, as I didn't research or remember any specific numbers -- I wanted to remember the numbers I got and then see how that fit into any sort of pacing plan. The trail grinds steadily up through the trees, but is nicely shaded and pleasantly runnable. Eventually, the trail opens up into a splendid wildflower meadow:

This is and the top of Hope are the last pictures I got before my camera died -- hopefully Alex got some good ones!

Hope Pass loomed in the distance, getting closer with each step, and I set a goal of running this entire side. I was happy to achieve it, at 1:32 flat, which included the pauses for directions.

But the entire time going up, the insidious plan of going up Quail Mtn. was also on my mind. I discussed this with Alex earlier: he thought I might have extra time and would be able to head up above 13k. I had initially thought about doing this on the return (if at all), but the temptation was too great. If anything, I could skip the Winfield Rd. in lieu of the extra elevation, but that would be less "course-specific."

But I'm more interested in heading up something high, so I scrambled up the scree and some climbing trails to the summit. Or, what I thought was the summit: the second hump of rock visible from Hope Pass, which I had seen before and focused on as the summit. There was a cairn there, and spectacular views, but no summit register or anything. I saw another point further up but was convinced it was something else, and was a bit hurried when I saw runners now coming up Hope Pass. (Later, at home, I know that the summit has some interesting mine structures on top, and I was merely on a non-descript 13,300' hump).

That excursion took about 20 minutes, and it took almost as much coming down as I was careful on the scree and talus (falling on my butt once) and not wanting to fall too far behind. I recombobulated at the Pass and headed down at a good effort.

I saw and gained on a group of 3 ahead, including a red shirt, but it turned out not to be Alex. But, it was someone who knew Alex: JP Martin from Ft. Collins. We introduced ourselves and chatted briefly for a few minutes, he was out with his 2 pacers. I took off then, hoping to catch up to the real Alex, who was even further ahead than I thought since I was mistaken in the group of 3 that I saw descending Hope.

I enjoyed this run down and seeing folks climbing from the Winfield side, and hit the lot in 31 minutes, before turning right and heading up the road. I kept watching the road for the other runners but didn't see them until right before Winfield -- at least it was a nice distraction from the otherwise boring, uphill road! This section was about 25 minutes (and the same time down) to the bridge, but not the campground.

So I saw Alex, Erik, and Kate looking great -- the latter two hadn't initially planned on the Winfield section. I was a couple minutes behind Alex, but needed to refill/filter water. I sat down by creek awkwardly and got a strange leg cramp, so I shifted around until that felt better and ate some chips. This break ended up being over 10 minutes so I needed to get moving.

Now this side of Hope is much steeper, and I remember it as such from hiking up it a few years ago with J. How far up could I run it, though? Not far at all, as I hiked nearly all of it with my heart banging in my head. Whatever. I think this is common but I'll see what people are doing during the race. I am OK with a sustained hiking pace though if that's what the situation calls for.

Above treeline, I saw Alex a good 5 minutes ahead, and JPM's group heading back up. I entertained myself with the thought that I now can stare up at 13,400+' Mt. Hope and Quail, and think, "At least we don't have to go over those -- we're taking the easy route over the pass!" I hope I can remember this in a couple weeks.
Alex waited a few minutes for me up top: our climbing was done!

Now we headed back down from whence we came at a social pace, running together and chatting. I tried taking some pictures but with a broken screen I didn't know until later that the pictures failed. We were still enjoying great weather, and it was nice to get back into the shade of the trees. That last mile descent to the 4-way was an absolute blast.

The last couple miles on the re-route dragged a bit, including the kidney-punch climb back up to the Little Willis fork. Oh well: that's non course-specific. I decided to grab another bottle of water rather than thinking about it for another 25 minutes. Back to the bridge and the car. Didn't catch up with Erik and Kate again, but glad to have met them, and really glad to have a fun day running and chatting with Alex. Ready to be back there in 2 weeks!

WIN for KC Tri: J and J's Excellent Tri-venture

2011-08-02T09:17:00.001-07:00

The reason for visiting Kansas on this particular weekend was so that J and her friend JSko could participate in the WIN for KC Women's sprint triathlon. This triathlon is an excellent, safe, and fun introduction to the sport for women of all ages and abilities, but is also sufficiently competitive with all-event chip timing and a staggered swim start. The swim is 500 meters (~1/3M) in the warm July waters of Smithville Lake, followed by a 10-mile out and back mostly flat ride on a controlled course, before ending in a 5k run along the lake on a leafy bike path.

Now, despite having been hot and soaking wet with sweat at 3:30AM, somehow we found ourselves wet and cold 3 hours later. Unfortunately, a powerful storm moved in and sat right on top of the course. After everyone was lined up for the swim, lightning flashed and hit the ground on both sides of the lake, and a cold, hard rain pelted the triathletes, who were standing around in swimsuits. The 7:30 start was delayed by 10 minute increments, but we were all worried about a cancellation. The storm clouds were swirling quickly, literally colliding from two opposite directions above the lake. We were in the eye, hoping the storm would move past.

Eventually, the race started handing out garbage bags for warmth, which helped. It was a mad and chaotic scramble to get one, so the girls shared one (and I, like the sorry guy in the Titanic lifeboat amongst women and children, shamelessly huddled in for a bit until I stopped shivering). I felt bad for their anxiety as they waited out the storm. I had nobody to blame for my foolishness: I was standing around in full cotton clothes, drenched in cold rain and shivering, barely able to move achy legs.

Finally, the rain and nearby lightning stopped for at least 20 minutes, and the start was on for 8:30, after an hour delay. The day was still somewhat dreary, but the water (I was told) was pleasantly warm. The race had swim pace groups from 6-20 minutes, and the girls lined up at 15, despite my call of sandbagging on their part. The system worked nicely for spreading the swimmers out, but the girls finally got into the lake at 9am.

I missed JSko coming out of the water, who is generally a faster swimmer, but saw J come out running somewhere in the 13's. As I suspected, they were faster than what they gave themselves credit for. I hobbled over to the transition zone as quickly as I could and saw J come out on her bike. With a small rise to start, I saw her get off the saddle and start passing immediately -- awesome! Within a couple minutes, I saw JSko come out, too, smiling on her bike. They both survived the dreaded swim!

Now I had time to get in position to watch the bikes come back in. The fear of course is a flat tire or mechanical issue, but now also some sort of problem with the wet roads. But, the sun was out now, and it was as nice of a day as they expected. I had time to watch the women come in, a mixture of road and mt. bikes, generally smiling and enjoying the race. I did some math and hoped for J in the 15mph-17mph range, and was happy to see her come in right on schedule, looking strong. I just barely saw her get out of the transition and start running, so I knew she was still feeling good, and I'd have time to watch for JSko.

JSko was on a mt. bike with slicks. I remember when she bought that bike, back in San Diego where we all lived and met probably 7 years ago or so. Among a few casual rides in San Diego, we also had a road trip where we all rode near Sedona and Flagstaff, AZ. We had also done a few runs together, most memorably Coronado Island, another 4-mile partly trail run in Del Mar, and a road-trip run to Monterey for the Big Sur Half. I would say that their enthusiasm for doing different runs really helped get me into it.
Anyway, JSko was most anxious about the bike portion, and unbeknownst to me at the time, she had slipped and endo'd due to slick conditions when she started, but had hopped right back on the bike! Soon enough, I saw her riding in strong and smiling. I caught her coming out of the transition, running! She didn't know how much she'd be able to run and didn't want to be at the end of the pack but was looking great and still ahead of plenty of others.

Now the day was getting hotter, and I hoped J was able to keep running, and sure enough she was right at a solid running pace and finished up strong.

JSko's husband and kids made it up to the finish line just in time to see their Mom finish as well, still running!

What started as a horrible day still ended up being the event the girls were hoping for, and I think they did as well or better than they possibly expected. The event and organization are fantastic, they are very much encouraging of women to incorporate sports into their life. Women like JSko, a full-time working mom of 2 young boys that still fits training and sports into her schedule, are the exact sort of people that events like this can bring together. In the swim line, and in many pictures afterwards, I saw lots of little tykes being handed over to mom's for pictures. Physical activity is important for everyone, but I can't help think about how powerful a message it sends for kids to see Mom, who is more often the maker of lunches and influential in lifestyle messages on a day-to-day basis, out there working hard yet having fun in a race. And maybe, along with her, you recognize and cheer on your Aunt, your teacher, your babysitter, your Doctor. I don't pretend that running 100 miles or whatever is the most for everyone, but I certainly enjoy the more realistic inspiration that comes just from watching one of these events.

I'm proud of the girls for how they did in the triathlon, and I'd encourage anyone to look for a local race -- they're everywhere! -- that's a few months in the future, and then make a focused goal to finish it. Everyone can do it, and ends up a happier and healthier person for doing so!

A Night in Kansas: Coleen's Sweaty Ass

2011-07-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

"It's not so much the heat, as it is the gosh darn humidity"
-Bananas at Large, "Da Turdy Point Buck"

My last long run for Leadville training, essentially, found me running in circles in the middle of the night in the Kansas prairie.

Leaving Colorado for a flatter, lower elevation trail run in preparation for an ultra at 10k feet may seem counterintuitive, but based on circumstances, it was a fantastic and fun choice. J and her friend Jenny had signed up for the WIN for KC triathlon in Kansas City, so we had a quick weekend trip planned to see Jenny, her husband Tom, and their two adorable and energetic young boys. Meanwhile, 3 weeks out from Leadville, I was looking for some trail running for the weekend.

Enter Coleen's Sweaty Ass.

Most trail runners are familiar with the concept, but a Fat Ass run is an organized, disorganized, timed or not timed running (when you feel like it) non-race race of arbitrary distance or time, or neither. In short, it's a gathering of folks that want to go for a run together on a predetermined course, and any aid stations are informal, pot-luck affairs. In many people's opinion (including mine), although we like races as well, these sort of runs are truly the height of trail running ethos and culture, where everyone is welcome. In fact, this same weekend, many of the FCTR group were busy at the "24 Hours of Towers" run, a spectacle which I was sorry to have missed!

Instead, courtesy of the fun and welcoming Coleen Voeks and the Lawrence Trail Hawks, a Friday night run was going on just a few miles from where we were staying in Olathe, KS. This meant I could meet some new people, and get a trail run in without missing anything else. And, I would get some quality night-running training in as well!

The run is configured as a 3-mile trail loop. A shorter loop course isn't always the most fun during the day, but has many advantages for a night time run such as this, where one could get used to the rhythm of the trail and not get lost (especially with excellent marking), and aid/water were easily available.

I had vague notions of running anywhere between 30-40 miles, hoping to run between 8pm and 3am, but as it turned out, I didn't start until 9:30PM. Before that, we went to watch Tom's softball game, and they were shorthanded on players, so I played in the first game, intending to head out afterward. But they were still short on the 2nd game, as no extras showed up, so I played that one as well. I didn't really contribute anything offensively, but had a fun time and didn't break any bones (2 of 3 broken bones I've ever had were from playing softball).

So I arrived an hour and a half after the running started, missing the turn initially over the top of a hill on a dark, country road. But off to my left, I saw the magical sight of distant headlamps out in the woods, and knew that I was near. I arrived to find the parking lot full, and the festivities already in full swing. I signed in to a big board with a lap count on it, seeing that dozens of people had already started and some of them had finished, intent with a lap or two. I met Coleen, and then headed out for the first loop.

This was my first test with my Black Diamond Spot headlamp, and other than some initial usability and adjustment issues, I was happy with the comfort and brightness of the light. In fact, after the first mile or so, another runner (Al) and I started chatting and kept pace. His headlamp batteries, so we shared the light from my headlamp, and he told me a bit about the course and the group. Oh, and I asked about poisonous local fauna: he told me about several recent encounters with copperhead snakes, but suggested they "probably" wouldn't be out at night, but they're so hard to see that I might not notice anyway.

As for the course itself, despite evidence that Kansas is indeed flatter than a pancake, this course was very enjoyable and had 4 legitimate hills in it. By "legitimate", I mean you had to be careful of footing and speed on the downhills, and the uphills included a short, calf-kicking steep section near the end, and several slightly longer grunts that require a different gear to get up.
Later, I learned of stats of 2k feet gain for a 30M loop -- not incredibly hilly, but a nice mix. The entire loop was very runnable, and included some sections out in the open prairie, before dipping into the forest and along murky ponds with a chorus of bullfrogs and cicadas. And for being a 3 mile loop, people actually get strung out pretty easily, so I would often go a mile or 2 before seeing another person (usually 2 or 3) running together. We all had brief greetings, and I had a few chats around the aid station, but mostly ran an even pace by myself, enjoying the evening.

Although I enjoyed the course, I had surprising problems with the heat. Not surprising in terms of preparation, as I was refilling twice as much ice water, twice as often, as I would have done in a daytime Colorado run in full sun, and I've been doing a decent amount of running during the heat of the day lately. But the nighttime humidity ended up being more of a psychological surprise. By the 3rd lap, I consciously started thinking about the heat, and just after midnight, something switched inside of me where I started getting angry at it. The heat and humidity, that is. I had been running for a couple hours, into the middle of the night, but improbably, it actually got hotter. (I say "improbably" only because my brain expects that, when it's dark out, it gets predictably cooler outside). I did drink plenty of water (on the order of twice as much as a usual daytime run around here), and consumed sufficient salt, but I had this feeling of oppressive wetness -- I would sweat, and dump water over my head, but it was just stick to me and go nowhere! I saw tiny droplets in my headlamp, especially when I breathed out -- with a dew point in the mid 70s (it rose after the sun set!), you could literally see the humidity in the air. And the clouds: there wasn't a star in the sky, despite long views to the horizon. The clouds were trapping us in a greenhouse, and minutes and hours ticked by without any relief. Now I grew up in Wisconsin, and have certainly been in and run in tropical places, but something about running longer at night, in these conditions, set off a strange disconnect between my expectations and reality. Running, and training, has such a rhythm and predictability to it, of knowing your surroundings as well as your body, but here things were not obeying the simple physical rules I expected! I don't whine about the weather at home, as I look forward to the first snow runs, slush runs, and cold rainy runts, as well as the typical hot but dry days. I ran the Twin Cities marathon in 2007, which was actually hotter in the first few hours than the infamous Chicago marathon, and still enjoyed it. But when it comes to humidity, I have to take a moment to tip my salty visor to the folks that have been dealing with it for months this summer.

So I accepted the humidity, and kept ticking off the laps, squelching thoughts of thinking about how many more miles/hours I intended to run -- good practice for the longer runs -- and hit a low/tired point in the 20s but keeping a generally steady pace. I ran a lap with Rick, who finished out at 50k and had run Leadville a couple times, told me about his experiences there. I had been planning on 30-40M, and eventually settled with 6 hours total time. This put me on pace for 36M with stops. I spread out a mt. dew and a Red Bull over a few laps, and I started feeling better again, so my last 2 laps ended up being faster and enjoyable. I finished the last lap feeling like I could keep going, so I know I got what I wanted out of the training.

Overall, a great group and a great trail run out in Kansas! This will be a great memory for Leadville and the rest of my life, and I look forward to more meetings with Lawrence-area runners in the future!

*
That wraps up the final 2 long weekends: a 38M-20M block and a 20M-36M block. Nothing at elevation, but all runs were either mid-day 90+ on the trail or nighttime running, which has to count for something.

Finca Organica de Oscar

2011-07-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for Iron, and by happy coincidence, our friends Oscar and Paige have an abundance of kale.
A native of Nicaragua, Oscar is nearing his completion of a degree at CSU, and has a plot of land in North Fort Collins where he is successfully growing a variety of vegetables organically. They graciously invited us over to pick some vegetables and see the farm. He has experimented with some natural ways of increasing nitrogen and decreasing salinity of the soil, and protecting some of the leafy vegetables with natural pesticides. We can barely grow anything in pots on our balcony!

But I think the whole place is actually run by their adorable and precocious bilingual 3-year old son, Tait, who showed us all the different vegetables, shared all of them, and happily eats freshly picked carrots:

Carter Lake Ride

2011-07-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Nora, Deirdre, and J at Carter Lake

With their century ride coming up, J, Nora, and Deirdre were looking for a challenging training ride, and it's hard to beat the classic Masonville-Carter Lake Loop. This loop begins with great climbs past Horsetooth, a tougher climb to Carter Lake, and some rural cruising in between, but has sufficient shoulders and driver awareness to make it safer and less intimidating than some of the canyons. I've enjoyed this loop very much in the past, but hadn't ridden it this year, and was very pleased to be able to ride it with my wife and friends.

We met early at Spring Canyon Park, which makes for a 50 mile loop. By riding from our house, we would go above 60. After having ridden the dams the previous week, the girls were ready for the first climb, and soon settled into a steady grind up the hill. We regrouped after the first few climbs, and then on the first fast descent, I was happily surprised to see Deirdre come flying by, eventually catching up with another pack of riders! She's an aggressive and confident descender, so I lazily and unapologetically drafted behind her on the next downhill.

Finally we hit the Masonville turn, which was a new and enjoyable route for some of them. The girls mostly chatted, and I was happy enough to ride out for any support, but as it turns out we pretty much rotated so I had a chance to talk with them as well. Soon enough, it was starting to get warm out, we were already at 30 miles, and the Carter climb was in sight.

They weren't too happy with the sight of the climb, which I had warned them about, but (with one quick break) it took 13 or 14 minutes. Then we hit the best part of the ride: as soon as you crest the hill, the reservoir comes into view, the temperature drops noticeably, and the smell of pine trees is in the air. I don't think any of them had been to Carter Lake before, but it wouldn't have been nearly the same experience when driving there. We filled up on water and took some pictures around the lake, enjoying a slightly cooler breeze, before blasting downhill.

We wound our way back through country rodes, and Nora and I worked on some pacing again. Since a headwind picked up just a bit, this made a noticeable difference, but we'd end up pulling away from the others. We headed up Taft, making great time with no mechanicals, and finally hit the last few hills (which always seem bigger) after Coyote Ridge.

We hit Spring Canyon again with 56 on J's odometer -- a great ride! We ran a few errands by bike and then got some well-deserved Wahoo's for lunch. 62M/100k when we got back to our condo, J's farthest ride ever. The girls are looking great for the century ride, one more longer ride and they'll be set for sure!

Personal Physiology Results

2011-07-20T08:30:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week, I obtained some personal physiology results: basic blood tests and a DEXA body composition scan.

I have these results by stroke of fortune and opportunity: not because I have an excess of money and an obsession to move higher in the ectomorphic pantheon of unpaid ultramarathon running; rather I was paid for these results as part of an ongoing research study (more on that when I can discuss more about it).

These test were at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, where I am fortunate to be employed in a research fellowship. Lately I have had more time to wander the hallways of the hospital, both as part of my own budding research as well as this study, and I am even more impressed with the highly-talented and motivated staff who are both enthusiastic and willing to discuss research and share data with me. Along those lines, I am making these raw data public for anyone else that might be interested, as I am a physiologic data geek.

*

Personal observations:
- My blood pressure (not shown) is, again, prehypertensive (13x/9x). I will again monitor this, as it has been slightly high in the past. Exercise is known to reduce blood pressure, but a physician yesterday told me that this effect lasts only up to 18 hours, which could have affected my results. This may well also be an inherited salt-sensitivy. I cook most of my own food and use salt sparingly, having to intercept fresh food before liberal salt is dumped on by my wife and others, but I can be more diligent about that. I love bananas already, but can investigate how to add more potassium to my diet.
And as much as it pains me to say it -- I may have to rethink cheese.
- BMI of 19.8
- Body comp through DEXA shows 9.8% body fat, about 1% higher than the last time I had it measured with calipers (for free at work, and I was probably the same BMI). DEXA is more accurate. Interesting assymetries which I'm curious to learn more about.
- Hemoglobin is on the low end. This can happen during intense training. I try to be mindful of my Iron intake since I don't eat red meat, but I can easily add more spinach and kale.
- I can gain or lose weight and still be perfectly healthy, but I'm comfortable at this weight (have been for 3-4 years) and feel healthy (get sick 0-1 times per year, never get headaches or have to take any sort of drugs). Awkwardly, a few acquaintances make weird comments occasionally about (me) being skinny, although I think very little about my own weight, much less theirs.
- Very happy with my cholesterol: HDL is nearly equal to my LDL, which seems to be an off-the-charts ratio. In 9th grade, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol!

Personal Physiology: DEXA Body Composition Scan

2011-07-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

Personal Physiology: Metabolic, CBC, and Lipid Test

2011-07-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Component	Measurement	Normal Range	Unit
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT	4.4	4.0 - 11.1	10
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT	4.74	4.76 - 6.09	10
Hemoglobin	14.2	14.3 - 18.1	g/dL
HEMATOCRIT	42.6	39.2 - 50.2	%
MEAN CORPUSCULAR VOLUME	89.9	80.0 - 100.0	fL
MEAN CORPUSCULAR HGB	30	27.5 - 35.1	pg
MEAN CORPUSCULAR HGB CONCENTRN	33.3	32.0 - 36.0	g/dL
PLATELET COUNT	195	150 - 400	10
MEAN PLATELET VOLUME	11.5	9.6 - 12.8	fL
RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH SD	44.5	37.1 - 48.8	fL
RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH CV	13.5	11.7 - 14.2	%
NRBC PERCENT	0	0.0 - 0.0	%
NRBC ABSOLUTE	0	0.00 - 0.00	10
CHOLESTEROL	145	0 - 200	mg/dL
HIGH DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOL	64	40 - 60	mg/dL
Non HDL Cholesterol	81	0 - 160	mg/dL
TRIGLYCERIDES	71	0 - 150	mg/dL
LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOL	67	0 - 130	mg/dL
SODIUM,SERUM/PLASMA	140	133 - 145	mmol/L
POTASSIUM, SERUM/PLASMA	4.3	3.3 - 5.0	mmol/L
CHLORIDE, SERUM/PLASMA	106	101 - 111	mmol/L
BLOOD UREA NITROGEN	15	40717	mg/dL
CREATININE, SERUM/PLASMA	0.9	0.40 - 1.20	mg/dL
GLUCOSE, RANDOM, SERUM/PLASMA	91	70 - 199	mg/dL
CALCIUM, SERUM/PLASMA	8.9	8.5 - 10.3	mg/dL
ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE	30	0 - 47	U/L
ALK PHOS, SERUM/PLASMA	55	39 - 117	U/L
PROTEIN TOTAL, SERUM/PLASMA	6.2	6.4 - 8.3	g/dL
BILIRUBIN TOTAL	0.6	0.0 - 1.3	mg/dL
CARBON DIOXIDE	26	22 - 32	mmol/L
ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE	22	0 - 47	U/L
ALBUMIN	3.9	3.4 - 5.0	g/dL

Half-Baked Triathlon

2011-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

1/2 century, 1/2 mile swim, 1/2 marathon

Bike

Rode 50 in the AM with J and Nora, who are training well for their 1st century:
Today was a flat ride for the girls to get the miles in. I forgot how beautiful the country roads on the plains can be in the morning:

I couldn't help but make amusing (to me) gender comparisons. The girls chatted for miles, often remarking about big, beautiful country houses in the rural parts of Weld County. I thought about Nick and I, just yesterday, spending our time identifying all the surrounding peaks from the summit. I guess it's kind of the same thing? Anyway, I think the early miles went by quickly as the girls were talking.

We road Kechter out before dropping down to 392 to Windsor, then wound our way back, ultimately ending up on a section of the road that becomes Horsetooth in Fort Collins. Again, as I haven't ridden like I did a few years ago, things were new, and it turns out that stretch of road was newly, and gloriously, paved and uncrowded.

But I was also hoping for some training on the ride. I started it out early by showing (again) how to fix a flat -- mine. Got J to spend more time in her big ring and push more, rather than spin. After looping through Weld County, then, we hit the Frontage roads. Not great scenery, but not too crowded and easy to get a rhythm.

I didn't push a paceline too much, but suggested J ride behind Nora and try to match her speed. Sure enough, she nudged closer and they hooked up pretty well. Nora took some great pulls and I eased in front slowly to show her the difference that drafting makes, and then pointed out some etiquette about consistent pace, soft-pedaling, and using the shadows on the corner of the eye to make sure you don't drop the line behind you. The girls then held steady and kept up a solid stretch of ~17-18mph on the flats -- I was so proud! The key seems to have been finding a long enough stretch for a consistent pace, and not starting out immediately in the ride when they were in more of a rhythmic mood.

We headed up to Wellington before looping back down. Our fortune in new pavement was taken away on a soft surface with crappy regrading down from Wellington, all the way past the Waverly turnoff, but soon enough we were down to Lemay and enjoyed back into town, hitting 50 right at Rocky Mountain Bagel Works. Having started early, we had beaten the heat, and it was still breakfast time with plenty of daytime left!

Great ride with the girls, really proud of their work and attitude today, fun ride!

Swim

We decided to cool off in the pool, and J and I started some laps, then as they were chatting again, I snuck in more laps, eventually hitting a 1/2 mile. This isn't easy for my crappy swimming style, in which I have to stop every 1-3 laps to catch my breath. Still, I figure it's good for the darkest parts of an ultra: it's boring, tedious, pointless, I'm moving slower than a normal person can walk and I hate it, yet I still can't breathe and my heart's beating fast.

Run
Slow 1/2 marathon loop around the hood.

Anyway, not the normal grind-it-out ultra miles that I'd normally plan on, but something different and more fun to keep it fresh. Somewhere around mile 60-70 in Pbville, I can think to myself: "It could be worse. I could be swimming."

Mt. Dunraven and Mt. Dickinson Loop from Dunraven TH

2011-07-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Mt. Dunraven (12571')
Mt. Dickinson (11831')
~21M from Dunraven TH, ~1M elevation gain
7 hours RT with Nick

After a remarkable fortnight in which he placed 3rd (and remarkably high in all-time finishing times) in both Western States and the Hardrock 100, Sir Nick was back in town and looking for a decent run. I suggested a hastily-researched loop which included Mt. Dunraven and Mt. Dickinson, two less popular peaks on the border of the Comanche Wilderness and RMNP. His writeup is detailed enough for anyone else looking at this loop, so it's now the pre-eminent source of some peaks that didn't have much information about them.

The route begins with a run along the North Fork of the Big Thompson river, up to Lost Lake, which has some great recent beta from Rob. This is a popular backpacking area, on a trail which also leads towards Stormy Peaks, another great run. However, I've been drawn to the obvious rolling tundra above this trail, forming the ridges of Mt. Dunraven and Mt. Dickinson. Lisa Foster's excellent RMNP hiking book has some mention of these peaks, noting the more obvious Class 2 approach above Lost Lake. Also intriguing, however, was the Northeast Slope route to Mt. Dickinson, which would make a lollipop route possible back down to the Happily Lost campground, just over halfway up the trail. This sounded promising enough to scout out, and with a clear view from the top we had a hopeful possibility that we might be able to head due East to the North Boundary Trail. That was not to be so, and although the mention of the route description was comforting in that there were no terrain traps by dropping back down to the North Fork, the phrase "bushwhack" being used twice did end up making this section of the 'hike' a slog.

As it turned out, we had a great run up to Lost Lake in just under 1:50, and then switched into off-route mode with some snowfield and creek crossings. The creeks were still fast enough -- it's July! -- to warrant a bit of investigation, but ended up being entirely manageable. Next up was a constant march up to Dunraven, a steady grunt up talus and tundra, all the while enjoying the above-treeline views.

A summit register on top was dated from 2006, and had only 3-4 pages of signatures -- a far cry from anything on a 14er! We identified the surrounding peaks, either by map, or familiarity from previous excursions or planned future ones, before heading down along the ridge to Dickinson. This was a straightforward hike across the familiar tufted, uneven tundra that marks the Mummy Range -- easy to manage but watch your ankles. We skirted around the lesser "Dunraven Knob" before heading to the Dunraven-Dickinson saddle, and enjoyed Dickinson's more prominent peak. Again, a summit register was present, but had much fewer visits than Dunraven. One of the entries mentioned bushwhacking up from the Happily Lost campground, so we were hopeful about that possible route. Since backpackers often stay there, some summit attempts would naturally include day trips from the camgpound.

With that, it was time to scout the return trip.

Trees, trees everywhere. It didn't look that far, so down we went.
We hoped we'd find some evidence of usage, enough clearing in the trees, some game trails, or something, but instead we got more snowfields, deadfall with pointy limbs, and thicker trees. The slope was manageable, but we essentially slogged straight down the hill for an hour and a half or so. Nick remarked it would have all been worth it if we at least saw a moose or an elk, but no such luck (plenty of evidence, however).

Finally, the roar of the North Fork grew louder. Crossing there was as good (or bad) as anywhere else. And where did we hit the trail? Nearly dead-on with the Happily Lost campground! Although we didn't see any evidence of trail use, it was pretty cool that dead reckoning and lack of visual cues still worked out as planned.

Now we had 6 miles to run back, which was just an anxious cruise down the trail. For being tired and beat-up, it's still fun to watch Nick run down the trail, and at least have a hope of hanging on.

All in all, a solid day with some new peaks. Hard to call this loop a 'classic', but nice to get up there, on what was essentially 3 hours of running, 2 hours of stairmaster, and another 1.5 hours of stepping over trees. Is that good training for Barkley? (Answer: No, because that's ridiculous).

Rox-Brewers

2011-07-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Brewers lose away (again), fall out of first place, Braun's hitting streak ends.

Otherwise, a nice night at Coors Field!

*

On the way home, we spotted a driver weaving obviously into the next lane, then quickly correcting. It wasn't into other cars or anything, but they guy kept doing it. As I was driving, I pointed it out to Caleb, and he agreed it was pretty obvious. By then it had been for 3-4 miles, and Caleb called in *CSP. I've done this a few times and nothing interesting happened, but this time...CSP called him back! Turns out they had a trooper 3 miles down the road. They asked us to update them on the position, trail the car safely, and put on my flashers -- wow! They got behind him, and the guy indeed swerved 2 more times, and they (two squad cars now) pulled the driver over.

They asked us to stay put and wait (somewhat unexpected for us). They came back after checking the guy out. They said he was sober, but really tired from driving from the Springs and had a small child in the back of the car. They were inclined to give him a warning, unless we wanted to show up in court to testify what we saw (no thanks). But they were still cool and grateful and encouraging of calling in.

Somewhat disappointed that it wasn't a real DUI, but I'm guessing the shot of adrenaline from getting over was helpful for this driver. But also disappointed at how much we tolerate crappy, dangerous, distracted driving in this country. We talk in this limited Blogosphere about the dangers of mountains, weather, etc. but really it's some tool in another car on the drive home that's the biggest realistic threat.

Anyway, an interesting process to observe nonetheless.

Book Mini-Review: "Unbroken"

2011-07-14T20:28:00.001-07:00

I listened to the Audible audibook version

Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" is a phenomenal historical account of the life of Louis Zamperini, and is certainly topical to those interested in both running and survival history, in addition to a deep account of the Pacific theater of WWII. Zamperini was a world-class Olympic distance runner who was honing his skills in the mile when war interrupted his promising young life. As a bombardier in bulky and unreliable aircraft, he had numerous close calls. Eventually, instead of having a chance to battle for the coveted 4-minute mile, he instead was focused on unwittingly attempting to surpass the world record for survival at sea, and eventually survival as a prisoner-of-war. And these are only the basics of the story, I'm not really giving away anything here, as the details are more incredible.

Finally, the biggest realization I had from this book was letting the details of the war settle in for several hours, from the point of view of a single actor, and then imagining the psychological impact of the atomic bomb, from the point of view of a world that had little to no previous understanding of it. I've read technical accounts of the Manhattan project, and reserving any judgment on the overall merits of the bomb, I've never properly imagined the disbelief of soldiers, civilians, and especially prisoners at the moment a devastating yet decisive force was unleashed in the world.

But back to the individual level, the story of Zamperini is absolutely incredible, and highly recommended.

Racing with my Godson

2011-07-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Last month, my cousins were kind enough to have a picnic where we were able to visit with the family in Wisconsin. My godson Max, who just finished 2nd in a x-country race at school (and also plays baseball, soccer, swimming, and races bikes), and I had a fun race around the block near his house.

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The first lap was running, and he ran the entire loop (almost a quarter of a mile!), awesome! He used some strategy to try to fake me out, saving a good kick for the end of the run. The finish was too close to call!

Next, he raced on the bike. His parents had said that maybe we should go sometime where I ran and he rode his bike, and he said, "But that wouldn't be fair!" -- what good sportsmanship! Again, he saved some bursts of speed for the end, and we finished at the same time. He told me he was pretty tired afterward, but was full of energy approximately 10 minutes later. Meanwhile, I was drenched in sweat!

It sure is fun to see him, his brother, and cousins all getting older and into different activities. I had a great time running with Max, and can't wait to do it again...I know he's going to keep getting faster though, can't wait to see that!

More Running in the Sangres: Humboldt Peak

2011-07-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

Humboldt Peak (14064')
Standard Route from lower 2WD TH
18M RT, 1M elevation gain
~5:10 moving, 5:45 total

I wanted to maximize my time with a quick weekend in the Sangre de Cristo Range, so I checked out Humboldt Peak. Among 14ers, Humboldt is deserving of its reputation of being comparatively easy, especially among the Sangres, when approached from the Class 2 walkup standard route from Colony Lakes. However, this "shapeless hump", as Roach calls it, also provides a great vantage point for viewing the Crestones, shown here in morning alpenglow:

The Colony Lakes area below is a common approach to Humboldt and surrounding peaks, and is therefore a popular backpacking spot. In the last couple years, several miles of very rough road have been gated off, to the dismay of the drive-slower-than-I-could-walk-or-bike crowd. The lower part of the road is still open and more manageable when going slowly, but in order to make this route interesting, I started at the very bottom trailhead. I am (still) not collecting 14ers, but this sounded like a good addition to a decent run.

I set up camp Saturday afternoon at the trailhead, where a few cars were parked and another showed up shortly after, with Sal(?) and his son Mario and dog Jake. We chatted a bit that night and the next day, it turns out 8-year-old Mario is into climbing the 14ers and has done quite a few already, eager to do more. The best part was when he said to his Dad, "Well I think I'm going to start getting ready for bed so we can get up early tomorrow!" It was cool to see his enthusiasm. They were setting up a camper and planning on driving up to the upper TH in the morning.

My 'camp' was sleeping in the back of our Civic -- did I mention we bought that for gas mileage (~40mpg for my Denver commutes) and that part of my test drive was folding the seats down to see if I could fit? Anyway, I do and it works nicely.

I wanted to get up around 3 for an attempted sunrise hike, but awoke to some light rain. I thought about it some more and then heard thunder, which settled it for me. I waited a bit, and by 4:30 the rain and thunder had both passed. That also meant more sleep and less time jogging at night during prime mountain lion time. So by 5AM, I was off, and only needed the headlamp for less than half an hour.

The road was a nice start to the run because it's easy and straightforward even at night. I had thought that I might be passed by cars heading up on the road, but instead my run was blissfully quiet and calm. Eventually I hit Colony Lakes, where I saw 2 people heading down from dawn patrol. Seeing them bundled up, I then remembered that sunrise hikes are always more romanticized than reality: usually the wind picks up right as the sun is rising, and none of the peak is yet exposed to the warmth of the sun, so you might be sacrificing 10-20 degrees of temperature right there.

After the road ends, the trail narrows and undulates before finally reaching switchbacks at timberline. Were the switchbacks runnable? This guy says yes:

Unfortunately, I tired out a bit and hiked most of this, so I wasn't making any blazingly fast progress. Mostly, the incessant wind made it even harder to breathe. But I caught up and passed the only other 2 guys above treeline. Rather than being busy with peak-baggers as I feared, the early morning was serene and I only saw 4 hikers on the way up. Finally, the views (and wind!) opened up at the top of the ridge, which is all Class 2. Some faint trails and cairns wind here-and-there, but awkward steps, wobbly talus, and directional changes mean that the running is over up here, and it was also time to put on pants (legs), wool hat, and wind shell. Most of the work, then, is up to a false summit, and then a quick bolt up the ridge itself to the summit.

I enjoyed the complete break from the wind and thawed my hands in the sun, with the summit to myself for about 15 minutes, before heading down. On the switchbacks, I saw the trio from the night before, and Mario was still in good spirits, ready to get up top.

After that came more folks in bunches, but still not the huge crowds that I feared.
agoracrophobia (noun): An irrational fear of crowds in high places. Also see: a psychiatrist! (rimshot)

Finally, a long but enjoyable descent on South Colony Road. I took it easy until the last 3 miles below the upper trailhead, and then had fun opening it up a bit. The cursed, rocky road -- no fun for walking or driving -- can be fun for running, with the right attitude.

All in all, another fun route for running, plus an easy scramble up top. I'm just feeling like exploring now when I can on the weekends, which is what summer is best for, I guess. I feel like I'm going pretty slowly, which is the bad news, but I feel like I can keep going slowly all day and night, which is hopefully good news.