Friday, 12/03/10 Green Mountain

I was debating whether or not I wanted to get out and fight the wind today, but temps in the mid 60's, coupled with Homie's morning sighting of a family of bears on the Saddle Rock Trail had me eagerly speeding out the door.

Headed up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at a 'looking for bears and watching out for widow maker trees' pace and just before the Amphitheater, heard what I thought to be a bear cub make a loud moan, so I paused and looked up the hillside to the right.  I slowly backtracked a few paces and looked through the bushes up the hillside.  Then I hear a cascade of rocks and boulders, "Cool" I thought, this is my chance to finally see a bear(s) on the trail and was straining my eyes, contemplating a careful pursuit, until I saw a guy rapelling and knocking a slew of rocks.  Dammit.

I continued on at a casually moderate pace, constantly on guard.  Tagged the summit and took a few minutes to take in the view and headed back down at a moderate pace.  Awesome day out despite the wind, it was almost hot by the time I got back to the car.

Splits:

Top of Amphi:  7:??
1st Flat jct.:  13:05
Greenman jct.:  19:58
Summit:  35:08

Descent:  22:30

57:38 RT

Thursday, 12/02/10 Green Mountain

Started from Chautauqua, up/down Amphi/Saddle/Greenman.  I was eager to try out a pair of test shoes I recently acquired, the Brooks Racer ST5 , an 8oz. road race flat that seemed like it would be adequate (though not ideal) for the trail.  With their bright orange color with flashy blue trim, you can't help but to want to go fast in them. 

It was really warm today in the sunshine and I quickly realized that I was over-dressed with one too many shirts and gloves.  I put my gloves in my pockets and just sweated it out with my short sleeve over long sleeve combo.  Jogged at a quickish but not too hard warm-up pace to the start of the Amphi trail in 4:27, reset the watch and got down to business.  I felt good right from the start, but wanted to play it a bit conservative and see how things went as the run progressed.  A minute or two into the run, a duo of runners passed on the way down and said "hi Jeff", I think it was Aaron and said hi back, but I had a decent rythym going and did not want to stop (sorry).

I generally went reasonably hard, but never felt as though I was really pushing at PR pace.  My splits were decent, but I didn't (don't) think they were near PR, so I just kept a steady pace and did not worry about it at all.  Beyond the Saddle/Greenman junction, I upped the intensity a bit and was rolling good, but once I got to the final icy switchbacks, I was spinning out some on the sheer ice and was wishing I had a shoe with just a little bit of tread instead of a smooth-ish road shoe.  I tagged the summit and folded over in a heap, only 4 seconds off PR.  I am sure that without the ice, I would have gained 4 or more seconds.  Either way, I was very happy with that time, considering that it is December and I have been kicking back in Holiday mode for a while now.

I had topped out at the same time as a woman coming up from the other side and we exchanged pleasantries.  She started down Greenman about 20 seconds ahead of me and I assumed that I would pass her quickly, but she was moving pretty good and I very slowly gained on her, as I danced and slipped my way cautiously down the upper icy sections.  I finally passed her at the bottom of the wooden steps, but she was not too far behind until the rocky overlook, then I think I opened up some gap on the flattish section between the spring and the Greenman/Saddle junction.  Whoever she was, she was pretty quick!

The remainder of the run down was quick, but never really pushing, just getting used to the shoes I was wearing, which were OK, but not perfect for the rocky technical trail.

Splits:

Chautauqua to start of Amphi:  4:27
(Reset watch)
6:20 top of Amphi
12:07 1st Flatiron jct.
18:30 Saddle/Greenman
32:28 Green Summit

24:54 back to Chautauqua (21:27 down to Gregory lot)

1:01:49 RT

Tuesday, 11/30/10 "127 Hours" on Green

OK, not really, I don't have 5.291666666666667 days to spend on Green (it was more like 1h 29min on Green).

I had not seen Aron since an early October “Friends and Family” screening of his movie “127 Hours” in Boulder and had not hiked/ran together since late Spring, as he has been busy with movie promoting and such. We met at the Gregory TH and started up around 4:15pm and headed up the Amphi/Saddle/Greenman route at an easy pace. As we went higher, the wind picked up as it got darker and darker, but good conversation and some warm clothing lessened the effect. We made the summit at 5:09pm, just as it was getting dark and the lights in town created an amazing sight, almost illuminating our surroundings. There was quite the cloud cap over the divide, indicating snow and explaining the hammering wind. As soon as we started the descent, I switched on my 205 Lumen Fenix LD-20 and am always amazed at how much light it puts out. The trip down was uneventful, save for a few minor slips on the icy upper switchbacks and 2 (what appeared to be) college students heading up near the Greenman/NE junction without lights. Aron revealed that he is going on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Friday, so check it out if you get a chance.



Up Front: ~54
Down Front: ~35

Saturday, 11/27/10 Green Mountain

Got out with Dave and Bruce for a trip up Green from Chautauqua, starting a little after 12:30pm.  Jogged up to the Gregory TH, then mostly hiked up Amphi/Saddle/NE/Greenman at a casual/easy conversational pace.  Passed Homie and Mia coming down Amphi and Dave graciously offered Mia some food, as she was a bit hungry.  The day was pleasantly warm and calm for late November.

~47 up
~?? down

Friday, 11/26/10 Green Mountain

Inefficiency around the house meant that our ~3 hour window between baby feeds became less than two hours, as we did not want to leave Grandma to fend for herself.  Allison and I started from the Gregory TH, up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman a bit after noon.  Allison was feeling tired from yesterday, so she sent me on my way to the top and agreed to turn around wherever I met up with her on my descent.  In the interest of time, I cut up the NE Ridge route to shave a minute or two and made decent time, as that route was almost completely snow/ice free until the upper section of Greenman.  I never really pushed at all, just went moderate at best and was surprised to make the summit in 34:30.  This was especially surprising to me, as I was dressed heavily in winter mode (heavy shoes, jacket, pants etc....) and each night I get up to feed babies, I feel like I am crippled and hobble around the house, stumbling and dragging myself like a Sleestak.

I met up with Allison on the descent just above the high talus field below the NE jct. and we headed back down Greenman/Canter Cut/Gregory.

Thursday, 11/25/10 Green Mountain

Allison and I got out for a lap on Green while Grandma watched the girls.  Started at 10:50am up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman and soon bumped into Homie on his way down and stated that he would meet us on his second lap.  Allison was pushing a bit, trying to hold Homie off, but he caught us at the NE Ridge jct. near the top and hiked it in with us.  We did not linger on the summit, as temps were probably in the single digits or less with the windchill.  Of course Homie was wearing shorts, certainly way tougher than I am, as I was somewhat bundled and still cold.  Despite the cold, he was gracious enough to hike/jog down with us and it was great to have his company.  Allison took 8 minutes off her post pregnancy Green ascent PR, so she was happy with that, as it will not be long before she is back to her old self.

Splits:

Up: 56
Down: ~38?

Wednesday, 11/24/10 Green Mountain

Today was my first day out since Saturday.  I was hoping for more wintery weather this afternoon, but unfortunately there was no snowfall to be had.  Went up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at an easy pace and it was quite cold late in the day, though I soon warmed up and alternated between too warm and too cold depending on what the wind was doing (usually blowing steady).  When I finished, the temp read 19 degrees, so I am sure it was a good bit cooler than that with the wind chill.  I headed down Greenman/Canter Cutoff (old trail to the top of Gregory), then down Gregory at a very casual pace, being careful on the ice and snow on the upper sections.

Splits:

Up:  37:57
Down: 32:17

Saturday, 11/20/10 Green Mountain

Met up with Homie at 6:30am for a trip up Green.  I was again so tired from a sleepless night, that I was seeing a large sun spot most of the way up Gregory, but fortunately it finally wore off and I felt at least half awake.  Went an easy conversational pace and as always it was great to catch up with Homie, as he is one of my favorite trail partners and we always have too much to talk about to fit into one run/hike.  It was also a rare opportunity to get above the clouds, which finally broke above the Ranger cabin.  On the summit, it was so cool to see a sea of clouds butted up against the Front Range and it was relatively clear to the West over the divide, we both were kicking ourselves for leaving behind the camera.

Up Greg/Ranger:  48
Down " ":  27

Friday, 11/19/10 Green Mountain

Started at 10:30am, up/down Gregory/Ranger.  T-shirt weather again and much of the snow has melted, but the upper sections that were slush yesterday were bullet-proof sheets of ice this morning.  I felt pretty good, passing the cabin in an un-pressed 16 flat and maintained less than a minute off PR pace without pushing, but lost a good chunk skating around below 4-way.  This was also sketchy and slow on the down, not sure if it would have been worth it to carry traction just for that.  I thought so while I was on it.

Up:  37:35
Down:  22:46

Thursday, 11/18/10 Green Mountain

Up/Down Gregory/Ranger.  Very easy hike/jog with Allison and Sierra, great to get out with both of them on the trails after a long hiatus.  It was quite warm on the lower half, but windy on the NW Ridge to summit and was glad to have a windbreaker, hat and gloves.  A significant amount of snow has melted today, so traction was not necessary (though ironically, I carried Microspikes and did not use them).

Up: 48
Down: 33

Wednesday, 11/17/10 Green Mountain 2+ laps

I had a bit more time than normal today to run, but the caveat was a somewhat late start of 2pm (the sun is pretty low behind the hill by that time on this date), so I figured I would shoot for 2 laps on Green if I felt like it after the first lap.  Headed up Gregory at a moderately moderate pace and not surprisingly bumped into Tony at the top of Gregory, as he was descending from his 3rd consecutive lap of Green for the day and was going to head back up for a 4th lap.  I continued on at a plodding pace, surprised by the increasing amount of drifted snow from the unexpected squall the previous day, probably more snow fell/drifted yesterday than the previous minor snowfalls combined and I was wishing I had my Microspikes.

After a few minutes on top, I started down and intended to turn around and follow Tony back up once we crossed paths again, which happened at the flat spot on the NW Ridge.  I did my best to keep up without traction, as he was wearing Microspikes (yeah, that is my excuse ;)), but I felt kind of sluggish and he put 15 or so seconds on me on the final steep steps to the summit, despite it being his 4th lap and he was able to negative split each ascent, pretty frickin amazing.

We hung out on the summit for a while and headed down Greenman to the Ranger Cabin/Gregory to spice things up, going a moderate pace and chatting all the while about various topics related to running mostly and the upcoming NF50.  Once at the car, I changed into dry shirt, hat, windbreaker, gloves and tried to talk Tony into a 5th lap, which he contemplated, but ultimately thought better of it.

I started back up Gregory, at a reluctant and non-commital pace, a little spoiled by having had Tony along for a good bit of the previous lap for enthusiastic conversation and good energy, now it was just me heading up in the cold.  Each step forward, I contemplated it being my last in that direction and looked at each one as further away from the car instead of closer to where I wanted to go. 

I intended to head up to where I met Tony and turned around for my re-ascent to complete the two lap loop, but once I got there, I stopped and debated a bit, as it just did not feel right (especially knowing that Tony just clicked off 4 laps), so I continued on to the summit despite tired legs, falling temps, a quickly setting sun and a heavy bonk (I forget my gel at the car, oops).  I was the last one on the peak, so I shuffled back down at a dedicated, yet not too fast pace, just zoning out to the Car Guys on my earphones, arriving back at the TH as it was getting dark.  I was frozen and worked over by the time I finished and hurried home with the heat in the car blasting, then took an extended hot shower and chewed the handle off the fridge as GZ likes to say.  My endurance is pretty lacking right now (at least it is in the snow/cold temps with no insufficient food) and I think my fitness is waning fast as well.  Luckily, I am not training for anything, just getting out as much as I can before I start back to work on Sunday.

Splits:

Ascent 1:  Gregory/Ranger: 41

Ascent 2:  Gregory/Ranger: 49

Tuesday, 11/16/10 Green Mountain

I was up early feeding babies and figured since it was starting to get light as I was finishing up, I would strike while the iron was hot.  Somehow it managed to take me 90 or so minutes to dress, eat, check e-mail, download my daily podcasts, drive to Boulder, then poop at the TH.  Just as I was about ready to go (7:30am-ish), I heard a distant and distinct scratch, scrape, scratch, scrape and figured it must be Homie, since I was parked next to his car.  I was right in my assumption and spent a short while chatting with him.  We both had to boogie, as I had ~1 hour to meet Brandon and possibly go another lap (if I could get clearance from home) and Homie had to do something, not sure what he called it, work I think he said.

Due to the snow, I had been avoiding the front side in favor of shallower grades and marginally more sunshine of Gregory/Ranger, so I figured for something different, I would go up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman.  Immidiately I felt like crap, my legs had no pep and it was all I could do to get up the larger step ups.  My vision was also a little skewed, dark in the periphery and the middle was kind of like I got a surprise flash from a camera, or stared at the sun for a little too long.  I just went slowish (since that was about all I could muster up) and was thankful to make it to the top.  The wind was blowing, so I threw on my wind breaker and took off down Ranger/Gregory to warm up.  Fortunately, not long below the 4-way, the wind subsided and the day seemed warm again.  I just cruised casually on auto pilot back to the TH and then waited on Brandon to tell him that I would not be able to join him for a second lap (permission denied, probably for the best anyways considering how lousy I felt on the first lap).  I think lack of sleep was the main culprit, I should have just slept in and gone later.  Oh well, a tough day on Green is better than a great day on the flats or a treadmill.

Splits:

Up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman:  39:52
Down Ranger/Gregory:  25

Sunday, 11/14/10 Green Mountain

Up/Down Gregory/Ranger

Started off at nearly 3pm at a quick, but comfortable pace up Gregory.  Passed the cabin in a surprising 15:38 (surprising, considering the lack of concentrated effort and how effortless it felt).  I knew that my splits would suffer above the cabin, no matter the effort I put in due to the snow and ice, as the trail is nicely packed, but still pretty slick the entire way to the summit.  Microspikes might have been nice just for efficiency sake on the upper half, but it hardly seems worth it at this point to have to mess with them.  I considered screw shoes for the next trip, but the though of scratching around on the bare lower half is even more unappealing.

Splits:

Cabin: 15:38
Greenman/Ranger: 19:28
Flat spot on ridge: 24:15
4-Way:  33:34
Summit:  36:59

Descent:  22:52

RT:  59:53

Saturday, 11/13/10 Green Mountain

Easy day out with Homie up/down Gregory/Ranger.  Jogged casually and hiked some, just chatting away and enjoying the day.  Met up with a fellow runner named Jaime from Denver on the summit and chatted with him for a bit, but soon got cold and had to keep moving.  Bumped into and chatted with Tony for a short while on the descent and then bumped into my friend Rick from Maryland who we started off with briefly and talked with him for a while.

~46 up
?? down