Sunday, 11/07/10 Green/Bear/S. Boulder

An awesome run on another great Fall day, hard to believe it is November already and I am still comfortable running in no more than shorts and a t-shirt every day, as it has been in the mid to upper 70's as of late.  Met up with Dave, Tony, Geoff, Krissy, Darcy, Dan, Charles, and Jason for a casual trip over a few Boulder peaks.  I felt as though I was about the only one who has not been on the cover of, or featured in Trail Runner magazine, quite the accomplished group.

We generally took it pretty easy, but ran at the upper end of conversational pace at the most for a few minutes near the summit of each peak, where we then re-grouped and hung out for a long time, chatting and taking in the fine day.  Sitting on SoBo Peak, we could see an impressive line of dark storm clouds marching toward us coming off the divide.  The imposing weather and rapid change in temperature, coupled with the need to get home to the girls, had us running reasonably quick back down off Bear via Fern Canyon.  I led the way, with Tony and Geoff on my tail, going quick, but not really pushing too hard.  Interesting to hear their chatter about how great Killian Jornet is (I agree), but they both smoked him at WS100 by an hour, so what does that say about them?  Some rare air indeed.

We made it back to Chautauqua just in time, as it began to rain and get all hurricano-ish.

As is happening at the Zack household, the never ending Dog/Squirrel battle is also continuing to rage with full fury here in Louisville.  This goes on all day long, literally.  All I have to say is "Sierra, theres a BAAAAD Squirrel" and she about breaks through the glass door.

Saturday, 11/06/10 Green Mountain and Hoka impressions

Met up with Homie at 9am/Chautauqua for a run up the front side of Green.  I was anxious to catch up with him, enjoy the record or near record warmth for the date and also try out a pair of Hoka Mafate shoes that I am borrowing for a few days.  At first the shoes feel (look) a bit silly, as they are so big and boaty.  Though they are reasonably light considering their bulk, the rocker action of the outsole took a bit of getting used to and they do not feel like a fast shoe, at least not to me (but that might be more a result of being up half the night tending to newborn twin daughters).  The cushion on them is incredible and I immidiately started to seek out every obstacle I could find to put them to the test, big sharp rocks, small sharp rocks, roots, pointy stumps etc.... and I could not feel a thing.  I became more and more impressed with the cushioning and was really looking forward to seeing how stable they are on the technical downhill and how they would eat up the impact.

Though initially tentative, I slowly cranked up the speed coming down the upper section of Greenman and was very impressed at how stable they are despite the added ~2" to my height.  These shoes are like a plush, full suspension mountain bike on the downhill, smoothing out the ride and making the trip more comfortable.  They don't quite have the stability of a really low slung shoe, but are as good or better than all of the middle of the road trail shoes I have used over the years.  The tread pattern and rubber composition is awesome and really hook up well on various steep surfaces. 

I'm not sure I would run in this shoe daily, but it would be ideally suited to somebody recovering from/nursing or trying to prevent a nagging foot injury and would probably be awesome for a 100 mile race.  I am guessing that ones feet would feel quite fresh wearing such shoes over long distances over rugged/rocky terrain.  I will be disappointed to have to turn them in, as it would make an excellent addition to my quiver of trail shoes.

After months of mocking these shoes, I have to eat my words.  Just another example of "don't knock it till you try it".

Splits: 

Up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman (from Gregory):  45 going a relaxed conversational pace
Down Greenman/NE/1st-2nd Flatiron route back to Chautauqua: 28

Friday, 11/05/10 Now I am 6' tall

I'll admit that I have laughed at these Hoka shoes more than once, but I figured I can't knock em till I try them.  I got a test pair today and plan to give them a whirl tomorrow.  I'll report back soon.

Thursday, 11/04/10 Green Mountain

Ran up Green this morning from Chautauqua, up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at what started off as a painful effort and not very quick, until I backed off the pace a bit and just gave in to the fact that I was not at all on today.  Headed back down Greenman at a very casual pace, intending to continue down Saddle Rock/Amphi, but at the last minute hung a left and took Greenman down to Gregory.  I really like technical trails, but that new(ish)/refurbished stretch of trail between Ranger and Saddle Rock, just perfectly smooth, gently twisting and undulating singletrack through the forest is a really nice treat.

Warmup: ~5 minutes
Up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman:  34:42
Down Greenman/Gregory:  28
Cooldown back to Chautauqua:  ~4 minutes

Tuesday, 11/02/10 Green Mountain

As I rolled up to my normal parking spot by the bridge at the base of Flag just a few minutes before 3pm, I was surprised to see that all spots were taken.  It turned out to be a great coincidence, as I drove up to park at the Gregory lot, I  passed Tony running up the road and asked if he minded company. 

We headed up Gregory at a moderate conversational pace, passed the cabin in 17ish (I think, as I was not really paying attention) and kept the pace even until a bit after the Greenman/Ranger junction.  Almost imperceptibly, we began to dial up the effort, conversation ceased and we settled into a fairly steady effort.  It was a bit harder than I had planned to push, but I had no plan or real reason to hold back, so I just focused on Tony's heels and we cruised up the mountain in perfect sync.  We topped out in 36, which was good considering the casual start and might have even been a PR on the upper half then for me at least.

After hanging out on the summit for 5 or so minutes, we decided to take advantage of such a perfect Fall day and headed down Green/Bear, Bear Canyon and then Mesa Trail.  We went a solid pace, chatting all the while and stopped a few times for bio breaks, rock in shoe removal, wildlife camera investigating and scoping future bushwhack routes.

Tony bailed off the Mesa Trail at Skunk Canyon to go do some barefoot miles and I continued North back to Chautauqua, or oops, I forgot, back to Gregory TH, which meant a good bit more climbing/rolling terrain on the Bluebell-Baird trail back to the car instead of the nice smooth sail I had in my mind back to Chautauqua.  An awesome run on an awesome day.  Thanks Tony, I appreciated the company and conversation.

I did not really catch any splits, but we were 36 up Green and 1:29 for the loop with the summit break and a few stops on the way down.

Start: 3pm
Finish: 4:29pm

Monday, 11/01/10 Green Mountain

After walking around Chautauqua with Allison, Amelie, Isabelle and Sierra, I got an hour long pass to hit up Green Mountain while they hung out on the lawn next to the van.  After a ~5 minute casual warm up to the Gregory TH, I started my watch and headed up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at a moderate, but lousy feeling pace.  My legs felt like lead and it was as though I were running on a slippery treadmill and seemed as though I was going nowhere, or at least nowhere fast.  I debated cutting the run short, as to not hold up the family, but I just kept going, not pushing, but not really holding back either.  My time splits were nothing great, but not as terrible as it felt, so I pressed a little bit harder for the next 8 or 9 minutes above the Saddle Rock/Greenman Junction (only because it is flat/down for a short while) and then slowly faded toward the end, topping out in a better than anticipated 33:55.  Nothing great, but much better than I would have guessed early on.  My final split was actually close to PR pace, so I guess I just needed a bit of a warm up.  The final switchbacks were coated in a light dusting of snow, a nice surprise and a reminder that Winter is right around the corner on this first day of November.

Splits:

Up:
6:44
12:52
19:48
33:55

Down in 20:55

Saturday, 10/30/10 Basic Boulder Mountain Marathon

I was pretty sure that I would be unable to participate in this years Basic Boulder Mountain Marathon (otherwise known as an end of season BTR social run), but at the last minute, got confirmation that I could get out for a few hours.  Knowing that a few hours would not be enough to complete the entire circuit, I elected to stash my car at the Cragmoor TH (major thanks to Brandon for picking me up) which enabled me to at least join in some of the fun.

We started off from Phil's house around 9am, where we headed toward Flagstaff at a very casual/conversational pace and it was great to catch up with friends new and old.  It was a little crazy how many prolific runners were out to celebrate running in Boulder on such a fine day.  Tony Krupicka, Dave Mackey, Scott Jurek, Geoff Roes and Nick Clark to name a few, plus more than a handful of very fast local guys and gals, too many to try to name.

Once we passed Flagstaff Road, Dave and I inadvertantly got a small gap on the group behind, but never deliberately upped the pace, as we were just cruising along at the high end of conversational pace (for me at least) but Dave was having no trouble, nor was Tony, whose voice we could hear chatting away a little ways back over all the other voices.

Dave and I topped out on Green together, less than a minute ahead of the group.  I asked if he wanted to wait, but he elected to keep on going, so I led the way back down.  We kept a pretty casual pace down Green-Bear and Bear Canyon, just chatting away and joking a bunch, enjoying an absolutely perfect fall day.  Once we hit the Mesa Trail, we headed South and at Shanahan, I said bye to Dave and another guy named Scott? that caught up to us and back tracked a bit to chat with the group behind.  I got in front of Jurek and went along at the casual pace they were going, behind him was Geoff, Nick, Ryan Cooper, Johannes and a handful of guys I did not know.  Before long, we caught up with Dave again who stopped for a nature break and we all just cruised along in sync to the Bluestem Trail, then down to the East end, where I very reluctantly had to bail at 10:55am, missing out on the ascent of Shadow Canyon/SoBo/Bear where I was guessing the intensity would pick up a bit.

Eager to get home and score points for being timely, the hardest running of the day was my trip back to the Cragmoor TH.  I was pushing fairly hard and managed to get back there in 13 minutes.

Though I was a little bummed to bail early (as I was feeling great and wanted to go the entire distance) I was elated to get out for part of the run at least on such a perfect day.  Cruising along with some of the superstars of the sport/great friends made for a day I will always remember.

Thursday, 10/28/10 Green Mountain

Went with Allison, started from halfway (we were short on time), up Greenman, down Ranger.  Though a long ways from her previous fitness, she is getting her energy back and jogged the flatter stretches and hiked fast on the steeper stuff, then we ran back down to the car.  It was pleasantly cool and sunny and the high mountains to the West are dressed in a nice thick, new coat of white.

Wednesday, 10/27/10 Eldorado Mountain

After a few days off tending to babies (not to mention the hideous wind), I was driving toward Boulder intending to run Green, but turned toward Eldo at the last minute with the intention of running up Eldorado Mountain.  I parked where the road turns to dirt and took the back way to the Fowler Trail and then up the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail at a very easy pace.  About 2/3 of the way up the trail, where it switchbacks near the bench and signs, I got off the trail and headed up the steepish hillside onto the NW ridge.  This worked OK, but seemed a bit long and I think was slower than my normal route of staying on the trail, almost to the tracks and heading directly up the very steep hillside at the log fence.

I was cold to start, but since I was going uphill, I was maintaining a decent temperature in shorts, t-shirt and a thermal bike shirt, but once on the ridge, the wind was pounding and I was glad that (reluctantly at the last minute) I stuffed another light long sleeve shirt and light windbreaker into my jersey pockets and frantically put them on.  I kept going along the rough ridge, often times getting thrown off balance.  I came down with a bad case of "ice cream headache" from the freezing temperatures and hammering wind and was really wishing that I had a warm hat and/or balaclava.  Puddles in the rocks were frozen solid, which helped assure me that it truly was cold and I was not just being a wimp (OK, I was being a little bit wimpy).  Each step I contemplated bailing, as this was the most uncomfortable I have been in recent memory.  I tried working my way up on the steeper and more over grown leeward/East side of the ridge, but progress was painfully slow and at times dangerous, so I alternately took my chances with the wind.

With low motivation, I was just not on top of my game and my coordination, recollection of the route and navigational abilities were a bit off and I constantly found myself taking more time than necessary to route find around obstacles.

I tagged the summit and paused for not a second and started working my way down.  As has happened to me before, the terrain slowly lures one a bit far to the right on the descent, but I was leery of this and only had to make one minor correction through some rough bushes to get back on track and re-find the start of the NW ridge.  My descent was slow and cautious as I tried to not get blown off and make a bad mis-step into the talus or take a ~15 foot fall.  I bailed off the ridge a bit earlier than on my ascent which made for a more efficient line back down to the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail.  The remainder of the run back to the car was relatively warmer and pleasant, even though the wind was still cranking up intermittently.  This was really more of a hike/bushwhack with a jogging approach.

Up: 1:07
Down: :53

Sunday, 10/24/10 Green Mountain

Driving to Boulder, I was feeling sluggish, low on energy and lacking sleep.  I was mentally into getting out for a run, but my body was just not feeling all that into it.  As soon as I laced up my shoes and got on the trail though, everything seemed better and I was feeling springy.  I headed up Gregory/Crown Rock up to the Flagstaff trail at a quick pace, but not really digging too deep.  Once at the top of Flagstaff, I looped around on the Ute trail, crossed Flagstaff road and then over to the Ranger Cabin.  I hung a right up the Long Canyon Trail, SuperFlag, W. Ridge to the top of Green and was just feeling really solid.

Feeling great at this point, I was itching to crank it down Bear Canyon and Mesa Trail back to Chautauqua.  My footwork was spot on and I was in that zen like state of focus and concentration, feeling as though I was flowing down the trail like water.  As I got to the Bear Canyon/Mesa Junction, I could see a runner going fast a minute or so down the trail and in an instant, I got that competetive surge of adreneline and was in chase mode.  I had already been going near my limit on the descent, but I upped the intensity even more and caught the runner just before the Mallory Cave jct. and kept pushing the pace even higher, dropped quickly across Skunk Canyon and punched it up the other side.  I could see the runner hanging tough just seconds back, but I was on a mission to crack him and push to a PR descent back to Chautauqua.  I could see I was opening a gap and just kept rolling it, gaining a few minutes by the end.

I hung out until until he rolled in and we exchanged compliments on a job well done and chatted for a while.  He admitted that I spooked him, kicking him into competition mode, but he blew on the climb out of Skunk Canyon.  I gave him credit for a good fight and he certainly pressed me into giving it all I had.  All in all, an awesome day out and I felt spot on, totally in the groove.

Splits:

Gregory TH to Flag:  17:20
Ranger Cabin:  26:04
SuperFlag:  43:08
Green:  57:43

Green to Bear W. Ridge jct.:  8:24
Wood Bridge getting into Bear Canyon:  11
Mesa Trail:  23:04
Finish at Chautauqua:  42:13

RT:  1:39:56 (plus ~7 minutes of warm up/cool down)

Friday, 10/22/10 Green Mountain

Met up with GZ at Chautauqua for a run up Green.  Went up the front side at an easy conversational pace and then back via GreenBear/Bear Cnyn/Mesa, going easy and chit chatting the entire time.  The foliage is awesome right now and the rain on the way down added to the beauty.  As always, it was great to catch up with George, wish we could do this more often.

Up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman: 41 from Gregory (another ~5 from Chautauqua?)
Down Bear Canyon/Mesa:  52

Thursday, 10/21/10 Bear/South Boulder

I was able to sneak out of the house for a bit this morning on the pretense of looking for a furnace filter at McGuckins, yet soon found myself at the Cragmoor TH, ready to get in some quick fresh air.  After 4 days off, I felt decent at the start, but my lack of sleep over the past few nights feeding and changing Amelie and Isabelle was quickly creeping up on me.  I stubbed my toe and almost fell twice on the way up, as I was feeling a bit lethargic.  I just backed off the pace a bit and went back and forth between the high end of moderate and the low end of moderate.  I was a complete dope on the downhills/technical and it took all of my concentration to not fall off the edge of the mountain.  It was still awesome to be out on a fine Fall day and have a little time to myself.

Splits:

Bear:  43:57
Bear to SoBo:  10:44
SoBo to Bear:  9:30
Descent from Bear:  27:06
RT:  1:31:17

Saturday, 10/16/10 Green/Bear

Had another awesome run on yet another perfect Fall day.  Started from 6th/Baseline and jogged easy up to the Gregory TH.  Started my watch and headed up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at a casually moderate pace and topped out in 35:50ish.  Not content with just Green on such a day, I continued on over to Bear at a similar trot, just cruising along and enjoying the sunshine on my face.  I could have kept going all day if I had enough water, gels and enough time, but I had to get back.

I cruised off of Bear quickly, but not really pushing at all, just on auto pilot, relying on my well choreographed memory of the trail, not to mention my foot accuracy was bomber today.  Once on the Mesa Trail, I upped the tempo a bit and cruised it back in to Chautauqua.  The trails were quite packed today, I think it is homecoming or something, Boulder was an absolute mess.

Splits:

Green: 35:50ish
Green to Bear: 37:20 (Start W. Ridge: 9:45)
Bear to Chautauqua:  38:15 (Bear Saddle 7:5?, Mesa Trail 16:55)

1:51:25 RT

Friday, 10/15/10 Green Mountain

What an amazing day, mid 70's, crystal clear blue skies, not a bit of wind, snow capped peaks and brilliant fall colors.  Best of all, Allison joined me.  Certainly one of the best of my 120 something trips up there this year, days just do not get better than this!

Start of Long Canyon

Mt. Audubon

James Peak

Longs Peak

Bear Peak