Red Rocks Stairs, and Mt. Falcon Outer Loop

Red Rocks stairs, Red Rocks Amphitheater stock photo


Mt. Falcon
Went out for a shorter trail run today while J had some training in Denver, then I could be back earlier to get work done.

First, ran a loop at Mt. Falcon. I guess there are various loop versions (Version 1.0, etc.), named by Scott and some others -- I like that as a reference. I ended up doing what I considered the full outer loop, including all the spurs, but skipping ~1M in the middle of extra Meadow/Tower trail loop -- because I took the 'wrong' Meadow and didn't realize it (but was too lazy to backtrack even 1/3rd of a mile). Anyway, I've run it and mt. biked it now, and I label this one as "preferred run" due to the waterbars. It has occurred to me to focus more specifically on technical downhill speed, so been trying to push that a little bit.

At the bottom, started talking to briefly to a guy, but then we ended up having a 20-minute conversation. His name was Bob Whitely, and he's run Pikes 18 times(!), and we talked about various trail runs and races. He asked what I was training for, and I always feel a little funny about that question because I mostly due the same stuff even with nothing specific on the calendar, but then I mentioned Leadville. He paced last year and said it was fun but tough, so we talked about that for a bit. Then I asked what he had coming up, and he mentioned Collegiate Peaks (CPTR). Yes! Mostly I'm just thinking about piling on miles for Leadville, but technically I should be training for CPTR. Anyway, I'm excited that he'll be there, in the 25M, and hope he gets his goal, so we hope to see each other on the trail. I'm getting pretty excited about that race because of Colorado friends doing the race; Colorado folks I haven't met yet; and a contingent of South Dakota friends coming out for the race as well.

Red Rocks Stairs
Then I decided to check out the infamous Red Rocks Amphitheater stairs.
Red Rocks has an interesting 'culture' and history. Most famously, it's a natural amphitheater that hosts national concerts in the warmer months, as well as movies. More topically relevant: it will be hosting an Easter sunrise service this coming Sunday. Red Rocks is also a public Denver Mountain Park, and outside of these special events, people can come in and wander the grounds for free. And many tourists do: J and I did so while visiting before moving here.

But it's also become known as an exercise Mecca. Throughout the week, but specifically Sunday mornings, people come and do various workouts on the stairs and bleachers. There's been an especially popular regular workout session on Sundays, with some controversy over the use of the Red Rocks name, the size of the crowds, usage of music, etc. I don't know how I feel about all of it: I guess some of the regulars really get into it and support each other, which is a good thing. (But is that similar/different to a group of folks wanting to have a friendly 'race' in other mountain parks? Not sure)

Sure enough, even on a Friday, people were up to various workouts. I couldn't help but be reminded of "Muscle Beach" in Venice Beach, California:


People were doing all kinds of "indoor exercises" -- outside. Not just running the stairs, but also jumping, side-to-side, and incline or decline pushups. I can see the attraction of doing these sort of exercises outside in a beautiful setting -- the Sunday crowd has weights and resistance bands as well. So I get the attraction, as everything is better outside.

But I prefer running, and the most natural thing to do would be to run up the stairs, right? This is actually pretty hard, since the bleachers are of course tall and wide, for sitting. It's too long to stretch from step to step consistently (I think), though you can start out this way, but if you put your foot down on each step naturally, you'll end up with the same leg pushing up each time, which tires out that leg faster. So you also want to switch legs every few stairs. I did this 4 times (after the earlier trail run) and it shot the heart rate through the roof as I tried different techniques, and what I came up with is a hybrid of changing techniques to avoid fatigue, but still not that great with times in the upper 0:40s (starting from touching the lower rail). Now I see that the best technique is indeed to fearlessly sprint up a stair at a time -- wow, these guys finished in the 0:20s unless they wiped out!

Anyway, it's kinda cool if you pretend that the spectators at the top are watching you and will make fun of you if you slow down, so it pushes you to finish strong...when really, they're making fun of you anyway for running up stairs like an idiot. But even after 4, my legs were shaking a bit. I can see 8-10 reps, or 20 or more, being absolutely brutal, in a good way, and in a short amount of time.

But running the stairs directly is not the most popular route.
Rather, it is running a serpentine route across every row of stairs/bleachers, then running up to the next one. The rumor is that it ends up being a 5k. Here is what it looks like:



Essentially, this is the route that only a snake in the game "Nibbles" that got really long from eating a bunch of apples and needed to burn off some length would take.

Or maybe Pac-Man, under duress.

But for humans to run back and forth, it seems ridiculous to me. Sorry, I usually don't say stuff like that, but I'm tired of getting weird looks for ultrarunners being considered freaks. We don't think of running as drudgery and repetitive "exercise," but we like to see a bunch of stuff and have a bunch of stuff happen in a long run or race. Enough to tell stories, on a good day. You see, everyone likes to hike, be outside, etc. -- and ultrarunning is that, times 10 or 20. More of what you like, though still fits within 10-15 hours/week, which is in the realm of socially acceptable "tv watching" time. And, I comprehend the other outdoor circuit training (pushups, etc.) at Red Rocks -- good for you, but able to do them outside. Heck, this would be a great spot for yoga. But running back and forth across stairs, ending up a couple hundred feet within visual sight of where you started, is like running on a treadmill outside -- but a treadmill where you have to dodge people every minute, and stop and make a 180-degree turn frequently. I'd rather run straight up -- that's the unique thing you can't do just anywhere. So, I don't "get" it. It seems to be popular, though.

Then again, I don't usually see an ultrarunner jogging in place at a stop light, or jogging in place while waiting for a herd of deer or elk to move out of the way. Maybe we're just a lazy bunch and really want to get from Point A to Point B.

Of course, it doesn't hurt me at all for people to do what they want -- whatever floats their boat. I'm just trying to push a little toward exploration, so if visitors come to town and think about "running Red Rocks" -- check out the beautiful trails and road running surround the amphitheater instead!

Denver Rollerblade Ultra

32 miles, flat
3 hours

Perfect, warm, sunny saturday. Didn't want to drive anywhere (J had the car, anyway), and I didn't want to monkey around with traffic on the road bike. On a day like today, everybody's out, and I'd rather join it than fight it.

But, I also wanted to continue my non-running experiment this week at least to see if my leg would feel better. So I brought out the rollerblades!

I hit the HCT and Cherry Creek Trail in style, including my little mp3 player (I run with it less than 5% of the time) that has a speaker so I could subject everyone to my music. It also warns them of my approaching awesomeness as well.
(Ben had recently suggested that the best rollerblading would involve carrying an old-school boombox).

Now I've never rollerbladed a marathon before (maybe a half was the farthest?), so I thought that sounded like a good idea. But first, some rollerblade history.

Rollerblade History
I did "learn" to rollerskate at grade school skating parties. 'member those? Problem is, I never really learned correctly: I pushed off with my right foot repeatedly, kind of like a skateboard (I also had a skateboard and never got good at it, but it had skeletons on it and looked cool) and then coasted on my left foot. And I certainly couldn't ice skate (never even tried).

In middle school, probably because of the Wayne's World movie, I wanted to get rollerblades and a hockey stick and ball so my cousins and I could play rollerblade hockey. This didn't work out so well when we realized our neighborhood roads had all these pebbles and cracks on them that we hadn't noticed earlier on our bikes. And still, no skills for any of us, so we went back to playing football on the street.

Didn't think of it much until college, when I had been dating J for a year, who was great at figure skating. Meanwhile, a friend, Neil W., and I used to study together, and one day he pointed out that we could skate for just a couple bucks at noon (including rentals) at the "Shell" by Camp Randall. So a couple days a week, we ice skated, all year, as I learned to skate. Neil W. helped me, and even cranked my laces tight for me (which he said was imporant). This whole thing would be great to watch with some sort of musical montage. Eventually I did some basic crossovers and skated backwards -- and this was all in secret from J! Then eventually J and I were able to skate together, and we continued to do so -- maybe 2 or 3 more times, ever.

By senior year of college, I had a sweet rental house with 4 roommates on Lake Monona. One time I tried skating around it in my old skates -- don't remember if I even made it all the way around (7 miles or so?) but barely moved in the wind and thought I was gonna die. Then I borrowed my roommate's skates, some sweet Nike's, and it made a world of difference! I learned about bearings and ABEC ratings: basically, a higher number is faster (skates are nice and uncomplicated that way). J got me some as a gift, and I used them a few times in Madison.

Then, J and I definitely rollerbladed together more than we ice skated: occasionally in the Twin Cities, sometimes to class and mostly on nice weekends near Lake Calhoun. Then we moved to San Diego, and the best spot was the trails around Crown Point near Mission Bay (and along the Pacific Beach boardwalk). By then, we met "other" Neil, and Diana, and often met them on perfect weekend mornings for skating and breakfast. And that reminds me: I worked with one guy in San Diego, who was definitely "in" to rollerblading: he had done the Minnesota Duluth North Shore Inline Marathon a few times, even returning from San Diego to do it. I thought that sounded really cool, but 26 miles sounded crazy far for anything less than a bike! But the point is, there is apparently a pocket of rollerblade culture in Minnesota, and it was perfectly acceptable in San Diego (actually, in PB it was cooler to have old-school skates and be able to dance and stuff), even if it's not as popular elsewhere.

We also took our blades with us for a Labor Day weekend trip to Vancouver and Victoria, BC, where we bladed in Stanley Park, which was awesome. But then we carried our heavy skates in our packs the whole rest of the time.

Then, in the Fort, a few times we bladed in South Fort Collins and on the bike paths; namely, the Spring Creek/Mason/Power loop that ends up being 13 miles. For the first 6 months or maybe even a year, I think I actually rollerbladed to work more than any other transportation -- at ~2.5 miles, the bike ride was "too short" and it was easy to stash the blades in a locker, yet I wasn't sweaty like I would be from running.

So now, Denver -- I hadn't rollerbladed here at all.

Denver Rollerblading
So today, on a perfect day, I saw 3 other rollerbladers in 3 hours! Bad news is, they all appeared *older* than me. I gave them the knowing nod, but I think they were also focused on not wiping out on some crack in the trail. (To make up for it, though, some legit kids on skateboards gave me the nod as well). Actually, for the most part (especially Cherry Creek) rollerblading here is decent.

Rollerblading is more popular say in Wash Park, but I am more of a cover-the-map sort of dude than a park-loop dude when it comes to anything, though. It appears that there is a group that meets regularly and then hits the streets...neat!

So normally when running, I cut off HCT on Florida, but it's a steep hill with a stop sign in the middle that would mean death on wheels (based on my relative inability to stop gracefully on rollerblades), so I followed the winding HCT the extra miles to Cherry Creek. I had mapped out that this route would be 13.1 miles where the trail crossed Speer. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed that it first crosses right after the country club, and then the trail runs parallel for another few miles until crossing it for real, basically in LoDo, which was actually 16 miles (I thought I was just slowing down).

So I ended up blading my first ultra. At 5:45ish miles, nothing to write home about -- many dudes run faster than that! But it accomplished my goal of not irritating my groin muscle at all (I figured it would be a nice, 3 hour adductor stretch), and also accomplished a newish goal (which used to be the older M.O., and might be related to lingering injury) of not chasing running miles if there's a fun alternative.

Mostly, though, it just made other muscles hurt and blisters appear. Importantly, I didn't wipe out!

Recommendations
I highly recommend the Cherry Creek Trail for rollerblading and people-watching. The Highline Canal Trail (HCT) is decent, too -- it's smoother by the golf course west of Parker, and noticeably more rough to the East.

Red Rocks/Dakota Ridge Loop Run: Ice and Mud

Red Rocks-Morrison Slide-Dakota Ridge Loop
(Matthews/Winters and Red Rocks Park)
~6.5M, 1500ft gain X 2



After some deliberation, got out early Saturday afternoon for trail running near Red Rocks. This is a fairly common loop, though I've seen a disparity and confusion on mileage and elevation, but I think the above estimate is accurate if not conservative.

The attraction was getting to trails with only a half hour drive (still hate driving to run), but I was worried about crowds enjoying the nice weather. The crowds were there compared to what I'm used to, but quite manageable at this time of year. And once I started moving on the trail, my mood improved considerably, and of the folks that were there, I enjoyed brief chats, waving to kids, and playing toss with a dog that brought a branch to my feet (guess I looked like I wanted to play).

I decided to start from the Matthews/Winters and do a counterclockwise loop, followed by a clockwise loop. It was warm enough that I enjoyed the luxury of stopping at the car mid-run to take a swig of water and ditch the shirt.



Beginning with the clockwise run, after a short, flat, rolling section, that trail dipped and climbed into shaded switchbacks, a nice section of roller coaster through the snow. Without traction, I definitely had to focus on short, choppy steps on the hilly sections. After this, there's an option to continue on the Red Rocks trail, or take the Morrison Slide option instead, which is ~0.4 miles longer and also climbs more. Easy choice, as the Morrison Slide trail has a fun climb up to a gorgeous, broad plateau. I definitely enjoyed the scenery here as much as any foothills trail, especially being able to look out at the rolling ridges of Green Mountain. I like being on top of stuff and looking at other stuff I've been on top of, even in the foothills.

Next comes the downhill that you earned, again on switchbacks, which is just barely technical enough to make you pay attention but mostly a fairly clean descent. At the bottom, you're back to roads for a bit, or you can loop back on the Red Rocks trail and stay within Matthews/Winters. Otherwise, the signs help guide you to follow the Red Rocks trail further, a couple more road crossings, to Dakota Ridge.

The Dakota Ridge section is just over a couple miles, but is an entirely different world of rocky, technical climbing, with some landscaped stairs that ended up forming a ramp of solid ice in the winter. At the top, the rolling climbs keep continuing, with some off-camber slabs and rocks that force you to pay attention. (Reminds me of some sections of Devil's Backbone). Despite having views of civilization, it's still a nice perch. Of the folks that weren't walking up here with dogs, many of the rest were walking with mountain bikes instead.

Finally, the descent back down to Matthews/Winters is a less-technical blast down switchbacks (I overran a couple switchbacks, not because of speed, but because many other people have overrun them so the trail generally continues a few feet past each corner), which leads back to Hwy 93 across from the parking lot.

These trails give a good selection of whatever-you're-in-the-mood-for. Both parks allow mountain biking as well as hiking. It's a great loop, but sort of an odd one for mountain biking (though it seems to be popular to do both), since there's so much disparity in the technical nature on either side of the road. I wouldn't consider it a destination mt. biking area unless you lived nearby, or were a technical perfectionist that wanted to clean all of Dakota Ridge. But the interior park roads are also quite nice and had a decent number of cyclists on them, so I could imagine a fun day for many riders could include some road miles as well.

I was quite happy with an early season snow and mud romp. I bet I encountered much less mt. bikers than I would in just a few months, especially since the mud in Matthews/Winters was utterly unrideable. As for the loop, I enjoyed both directions for different reasons, but was surprised on the return clockwise trip, when I saw impressive, glowing red rock formations that somehow I completely missed on the way out (daylight/sun angle also had an effect there). Predictably, the shady areas of the descent on Morrison Slide were really slick and sloppy on the way back.

Finally, when I saw another runner in the parking lot, I asked him,
"Do you think we'll get in trouble for being dirty?"

Denver Film Festival

Denver Film Festival going on now, 3rd-14th of November.

On the schedule, this quote:
"It's like a marathon, only without all the senseless running."

Good point. Hope to check out at least one or two of these.

Denver Rock and Roll

Inaugural Rock and Roll Marathon in Denver.
3:03:57.

J & Tammy with their bling:


J & Mara:


Had a fun time with friends on a gorgeous fall day in Denver. Nice and chilly to start, warmed up towards the end. J, Tammy, and Mara ran the half, and friend Nora graciously volunteered for the day, while my friends Alex and Will ran the full. Also saw my friend Ray from HP coming through the park, didn't know he was running, and he ended up with a great PR.

I didn't know what to expect heading in. I signed up since we were moving to Denver, other people were doing it, and hadn't done a road marathon since Boston last year. I thought with the Lean Horse training, it would either be a great idea, or a horrible idea. Turns out it was just a middling idea. All the miles helped to get 'er done, but lack of specificity for the marathon made it less than I know what I'm capable of. Still, I threw caution to the wind and decided to go for around 3 hours, a barrier I've never broken in the marathon.

And still haven't, at 3:03:57. Oh well. It is a PR, and I can't feel too disappointed: I worked pretty hard to qualify for Boston a few years ago and just barely did it. Now it's kind of a default when I'm healthy, and even though I know much faster people, I can't take what I have for granted, ever. I lost those 4 minutes in the last 5 miles, but I know what I need to do to pick it up. Maybe getting at racing weight and/or an easier course would be enough, but certainly just putting in the work is really what I would need. I would like to do that, but I also really prefer the trails!

But it was a fun time. Another neat aspect of the 100M training, as Alex pointed out, is how fast, psychologically, a marathon goes by now. Right now an hour is a third of the race -- a 100M might be an hour to the next aid station, and there's 20 of 'em!

Back to Denver: the RnR series is sleek and run like a machine for the most part. I didn't hear all that much music though. The course is a fairly scenic tour of Denver, with the best spots being in the beginning and end, in my opinion. The parks are OK but have a lot of looping. The worst section was the Bridge of Death between miles 23 and 24: enough said if you ran it.

So I experimented with some racing flats for the first time, these bad boys:


They (Brooks Green Silence) deserve a separate review. I was and still am excited about these shoes, both in concept and execution, but I did have some blister issues. But, I only ran in them 3 times prior (couple 12-13 milers and a 3 miler), I did feel a pressure point in one foot. However, that is where I had a slight blister/callous from Lean Horse, which had a little bit of tender skin. Wasn't holding me back any, until today:


Whah! Actually didn't really slow me down or affect my gait, just something I could feel. Wish I had better results on these shoes for advertising purposes (though maybe, and likely, I would have been slower in trainers), but I do feel like they held up well for the duration and I'm going to keep them around for racing and speedwork.

On the way home, had a great time stopping for breakfast/lunch at Pete's Kitchen:


Finally got to try this iconic, 24-hour greasy spoon. The coffee was weak and bland, but the service was quick and the food was deliciously unhealthy: exactly what we wanted!

Denver Taper

2 days out from Denver marathon, had a textbook taper day:
No running, lots of eating, 2 hour nap.



Stopped drinking beer for the week, even though it's Isolation season.


I've done everything I can...except for training effectively and intelligently. Whoops!
I crammed some specificity in the last few weeks. Short distance speed is 'meh'...endurance seems OK but hasn't been tested...middle distance speed is OK. But I'm heavier than any marathon in awhile, gained a few pounds right after Lean (sic) Horse. C'est la vie. It'll be a fun time with friends and bands. Never did a Rock 'n Roll before, J and friends have enjoyed them, and I do enjoy a little energy from the crowds.

I won't lie, though: I will also try to get it over with as soon as possible.