Sierra

Sierra
Sierra

Thursday, June 3, 2010

06/03/10 Green Mountain

I hit the trail today with 3 gels and a full bottle, ready to just go as far/fast as I felt like.  Started up the Amphitheater Trail going a fairly slow pace.  Caught up to some college students who for the 3rd time in 3 days (different groups), saw me coming and decided to challenge (all on my easy days).  I'll admit that at first, they put in a good effort and I contemplated upping my pace to play their game, but none of the challengers lasted for more than a minute or two so I never had to up my tempo, all followed by them blowing up catostrophically.  Funny stuff.

Made the summit of Green in 37:39 with a HR of 159.  Although my legs felt much better than in days past and my HR was moderate, the ascent still felt a bit more labored than it should have for some reason.  I really wanted to head over to Bear/SoBo, as it was overcast and cool, but opted instead to run W. Ridge to SuperFlag/Long Canyon and back down Gregory.  As much as I wanted to run for a few more hours, I figured it was prudent to save up a bit for a higher quality effort tomorrow.  Long Canyon was awesome, so lush and green, perfect singletrack and wildflowers galore today, purple, pink, yellow and white.  I only run this trail a few times per year, but every time I do, I question why I do not run it much more often.  I stopped many times just to drink it all in and enjoyed just cruising along enjoying the day and the scenery.