Sierra

Sierra
Sierra

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sanitas


3.5 miles
1,300 vertical
23:49up/37:56 total

Got out for a whirl up Sanitas today. Went up Dakota Ridge trail, then up the East side. Went fairly mellow at first as I was feeling like crap from eating too much pepperoni pizza during our lunch time meeting at work.... ugggg. I have made this mistake in the past and even specifically remember a day in high school when I went out for a hard ride after gorging myself on pizza and really feeling bogged down and low on energy. After about 10 minutes I started to feel at least semi good, then soon after I looked high up the trail and saw two guys running up above, maybe 4+ minutes ahead. I stepped on the gas a bit trying to catch them, but all the while remembering that during my upcoming race, it will not matter who won up Sanitas after work on Wednesday. Oh well, sometimes I just need a little motivation. I caught them as one was catching the other just past the narrow rock squeeze through. One guy beelined it straight up the hillside to cut the big swichback and the other one picked up the pace on the trail, oblivious to my presence. He was wearing headphones and I said "hi" and "on your left", but he either could not hear me or was ignoring me, so I was forced to pull off a surprise pass. Shocked by my passing, I think it woke him up and lit a bit of a fire under his a$$. He stuck for a minute or so, but he blew hard just as I passed the other guy who had just snuck onto the trail after cutting the switchback. I put about 40 seconds on them in the last 150 vertical and felt good that I had a bit of zip. Got back down to the car in 14. I think that I will be in great shape for my upcoming race, just as long as I don't eat pizza beforehand ;).

Sanitas 5/13/08

3.5 miles
1,300 vertical
24:31 up/about that down

The weather today was terrible, steady rain with a few flakes mixed in, snow above 6,500ft, temps in the 30's. I was convinced that I would blow off the planned workout, run some errands and go laze around at home. Just before leaving work though, the sun came out and it warmed up a bit. What the heck, Sanitas would be fun. We took it super easy, a walk really with a few bits of jogging thrown in as Sierra is still pooped from Sunday I think. I was not all that motivated either, so I did not mind one bit. It was really just a great day to take it all in and enjoy the fresh air. We made the top in 24:31 which felt extremely leisurely, barely a notch above couch level really. To spice it up, we went down the East side and the valley. This was unfortunately the much muddier option, as the S. Ridge was damp, but not muddy at all. Gotta love Spring in Colorado.