Wednesday, 12/28/11 Rosalie Attempt and 90mph Wind Abuse

8 miles/3,000 vertical

Prior to this attempt on Rosalie, I thought I have endured some severe winds.  I have been knocked to the ground, staggered like a drunk, leaned on my poles with all my weight to avoid falling, clung onto rocks and have had my breath taken away on numerous occasions in sub zero temperatures.  However, the winds we faced above treeline, especially as I peeked over the ridgeline as I attempted to make it to the consolation prize, ~12,200 foot Pegmatite Point, gave me a new found appreciation for the power of wind.

We were aware of the forecast for 90 mph winds near Mt. Evans and decided that perhaps we might luck out and get a bit of a wind shadow, or the forecast might not be as bad as feared.  Either way, the drive was not too much of a commitment, the forecast was the same on all other nearby peaks and we were all fine with just taking a hike and enjoying each others company, regardless of summit success.

The approach to treeline was pleasant and unseasonably warm, but we could hear the winds overhead and knew that the conditions would be tough above.  At treeline, we ate and drank as much as we could (knowing that there would be little chance of doing so above), donned full battle regalia and got down to business.  The wind was blowing hard, enough that we would occasionally have to hunker down to avoid getting knocked to the ground, but it was not particularly worrisome, as we were on grassy tundra and snow. I was well prepared for any conditions, was having a great time and was still 100% on board for attempting Rosalie.

Soon though, the writing was on the wall that it was not to be and everyone decided to hunker down behind some bushes and wait while Kevin, Sierra and I continued to ascend the ~250 vertical feet to the summit of very nearby Pegmatite Point.  On a calm day, this would have literally taken 5-10 minutes at the most, but with each step we took, the wind seemed to increase in strength exponentially.  This was further complicated by the fact that the ground now became blocky talus with surprisingly deep unconsolidated wind drifted snow between the rocks that made the consequences of a fall or misplaced footstep much greater.

Sierra and I made it to a false summit and though we were just about as high as the true summit, it was a surprising few hundred lateral feet away, but it may as well have been on the other side of the planet.  The will to go there had absolutely no bearing on the outcome, as once I crested that ridge, the wind pounded with such force, that movement was no longer an option.  I clung to the rocks, literally immobile and for the first time ever, was fearful of the wind and what it could do.  Who knows if my estimates are correct, but I would agree with the forecasters prediction of 90 mile per hour winds and would not be surprised if it were even more than that.

I slowly crab walked, crawled, rolled and butt scooted back down through the talus and then was able to stagger down across the tundra back down to the waiting group, where we retreated for the trees with our tails between our legs.  Despite not making the summit of anything (this was a repeat anyways), we all had a great time.

Here is a 2 minute video I took that gives a bit of an idea of what it was like, though I only had the camera out when there was somewhat of a lull in the wind.  25 seconds in is where I turned around and was the worst of it.  Turn the volume all the way up.

Emily, Sherri, Allison

Dave

Sherri and Kevin

Sierra

Allison, Em, Sherri

Looks better than it is

Some cool bristlecones

Sierra was loving it.

Back down in the trees and relative calm

Monday, 12/26/11 Saddle Rock/Greenman/Gregory Loop

4.56 miles/1,618 vert. Garmin Data

Drove up Flagstaff intending to hike the upper half of Green with Allison, Sierra and the babies.  In a matter of 5 road miles it went from a nice calm, warm, sunny day, to cloudy, cold and windy.  Drove back down and was hoping to park in my usual spot, but it was of course full due to added pressure from the Gregory lot being closed and competition with sledders (not sure why they plow the Gregory lot, then close it?  I'm sure they have some twisted "logic" though).  We ended up lucking out on a spot at Chautauqua.  The entire area had a holiday feel to it with kids sledding and out of towners bumbling around in cars and on snowshoes, nobody really knowing where they were going or what they were doing.

It was still windy walking across Chautauqua, but once we got in the trees and started up the Saddle Rock Trail (skipping the usual Amphitheater approach), the day improved dramatically.  Once we got to Saddle Rock, the wind picked up again on the ridge and the trail was drifted over, so much so that we helped an out of town trail runner find his way.  At the Greenman junction, I gave the runner directions to find the summit of Green, while debating what to do ourselves.  I was of course pushing to go to the summit, but we would be stretching it as it was with the girls (not to mention the wind was a bit too much as well), so we headed down Greenman/Gregory, where the sun came out and it got really nice and warm.

Me and Isabelle

Allison and Amelie

Sunday, 12/25/11 Green Mountain

Up Front/Down Back

4.72 miles/2,278 vert./1:21 (45 up) Garmin Data

I was able to carve out a gap between holiday festivities for a late afternoon hike on Green.  Used poles and was disciplined enough to just go super easy on the up and down, walking ~90% of the up and much of the down with a little light jogging at times.  The trail/snow conditions do not get better than they are right now.

Saturday, 12/24/11 Green Mountain

Up/down front

4 miles/2,286 vert.

Homie joined Sierra and I for a nice snowy lap on Green starting a few minutes after 7am.  Perfect morning and we had a blast in the snow.

Homie

Longs

Sierra and I

Nice trench

Friday, 12/23/11 Snow Shoveling Critiques

I never gave shoveling the sidewalk in front of my house too much thought.  It snows and then as soon as I can (either before work at 6am and/or when I get home), I shovel the driveway, sidewalk, around the community mailbox, back deck, around the garbage cans, shovel piles of snow the best I can in front/back of other neighbors (who I like less) cars who ALWAYS park around our corner lot etc....  If it looks like the neighbor (who I like) is out of town, I'll shovel their sidewalk too and a path to their door so the house does not look vacant.

Aside from that, I paid little attention to what anybody else in the neighborhood did....  UNTIL I started pushing the girls around in a double jogger and am directly affected by it.  I have since become pretty interested in observing the behavior of people all over town.

Okay, I completely understand that there are many people out there who do not have nearly as much time as I have (because parents of twins have so much spare time) or have the ripped and muscular upper body that I have, so I am absolutely sympathetic.  At the very least, they could ask a neighbor kid to do it for 5 or 10 bucks.  Heck, if I had an elderly neighbor, I would jump at the chance to shovel their house out just because it is the right thing to do and I enjoy the workout.

Today I attempted a run and it turned into a 2 mile/46 minute game of dead ends, backtracking and heaving a low slung jogger through snowbank after snowbank and we were often forced into the street (not ideal with traffic and slush).  Fortunately, I had my camera and was able to document some of the sillyness that I come across.

I got spoiled right off the bat running along my own sidewalk.

Then I come to this.  No way through, so back onto the street.

I heaved the jogger through 4-5 inch deep snow for more than a block (to avoid the somewhat busy street), only to encounter this impassable obstruction, courtesy of the person hired to plow the condos across the street.  He gets paid to plow and is a professional?  I would lose my job if I did not pay attention to detail, a skill this person seems to lack.

House for sale.  Fine, but somebody should be looking after it, not a fine selling point (coming from somebody who is currently looking to buy a house).  The next door neighbor appears to have not such a good excuse.

Nice work on the driveway (well, they could have scraped it to the surface a little better), but did not even attempt the sidewalk.

I was on a roll and enjoying an unprecedented stretch of continuity, then this.  Could not shovel the extra 20 feet?  "Nope, not my problem"

Even with a snow blower, this person just can't quite get it right.

"I'll do half the sidewalk and then take a swipe at the grass"

Another dead end.

Missed a spot on the driveway and saved that energy for a few scoops along the sidewalk to be compliant with the city rule of shoveling the sidewalk within 24 hours of a storm.

C- on the driveway.  F- on the sidewalk.  Don't they realize that people see this and makes them look lazy?  It makes you wonder where else in life they cut corners.

Thursday, 12/22/11

Nothing much to speak of in the way of running up mountains, but have gotten in some quality time with the girls, pushing them through the snow in the Chariot, playing in the snow and plenty of snow shoveling.  Have a few good hikes planned for next week, hopefully a new Winter 14er involved in there somewhere as well.

Saturday, 12/17/11 Bear/South Boulder/Green

10.64 miles/4,430 vert./2:41:14 Garmin Data

From Cragmoor, up Shanahan/Fern to Bear/SoBo West Ridge/Green/Bear to Green and the back via Bear Canyon/Mesa/Shanahan.

Yesterday I got a surprise call from the in-laws, who after viewing this post on my other blog decided that they had to come up for some quality grand daughter time, which meant that I could get a few hours to myself on consecutive day three of baby juggling.  The weather forecast was pretty stellar for mid December, high 40's to almost 50, sunny, calm and I was pretty fired up to get in some running where I did not need a flashlight.  The warm sun and vitamin D really helps boost the spirits.

Conditions are still pretty good, but things are getting bare in spots and there are some patches of ice forming.  Most of the ascent up Fern though was absolutely perfect and Bear Canyon was nice and smooth.  The remainder was hit and miss, with many of the trails that see less use being a bit mucked up with deep frozen footprints that made for some poor footing.

I kept up a decent pace, not pushing too hard, despite what always seemed to be a higher than I was trying to put out HR.  I was planning to do a bit more, maybe tack on a second round on Green or Bear, but I was a little behind my predicted pace and my fitness/endurance did not at all match my intentions today.  I might have been able to dig deep and race back home just in time for my 2:30 deadline, but the prospect of being worked over, then not being able to eat and shower seemed quite unappealing, so after Green, I just called it a day and cruised back down Bear Canyon.

A few random observations on the day.

• At the Cragmoor TH, there was quite a lot of blood splattered all over the snow, where I suspected a dog had cut it's paw.  I did not think too much of it, until I ended up following a trail of blood, a drop or three every 10-15 feet or so, all the way up to the Bear/Nebel Horn saddle.  The entire way, I was wondering how it could be that the owners would continue on with their dog bleeding so badly and was rehearsing in my mind what I was going to say to the owner(s) for doing such a thing.  I never did get to see them, either they were off trail at the saddle, or the blood drops were from earlier that morning and not as fresh as I thought.

• I bumped into Kendrick at the Bear/SoBo saddle on my way back to Bear/Green (who I was expecting to bump into).  We stopped and chatted for a bit, along with another runner who was familiar with my blog (forgot his name though).  I was tempted to join Kendrick for a re-ascent of SoBo, but had to keep moving in my own direction due to time constraints.

• On the way down W. Ridge, I was getting a little annoyed with all the trail diversions and had me musing for quite a long time as to why somebody with minimal or no knowledge of the trail, up and decides to be the one to break trail in shin deep snow to the top of the peak and often times getting off route.  Sometimes, it is just by a few feet, on the wrong side of a tree or whatever, but other times the diversions are more significant, where the trail breaker totally overlooks obvious cues.

• While topping out on Bear the second time, I passed 2 OSMP rangers hiking together, a rare sight on the higher sections of trails, more rare in the Winter, even more rare hiking in tandem.  You would think they would be able to write up double the off leash tickets if they split up....  I reverse tracked their footprints all the way back to Green.

• I get a kick out of seeing the tracks in the snow of the types of shoes people wear and noticed footprints ranging from Saucony Kinvara 2's, NB MT10 (or maybe MT00?) and even some sort of traction-less loafers.  Wearing those shoes without traction must have made for a miserable outing.  Most people however, whether running or hiking, were wearing Microspikes, as they seem to be really catching on.  I really enjoy tracking prints in the snow, determining direction, age, type of shoe, stride length, pronation, supination and if I know the owner of the shoes or not.  I think this started for me tracking animals as a young child roaming the woods of New Hampshire.

• While rehearsing all the snappy things I was going to say to the neglectful dog owner with the bloody paw, I realized that if I actually were able to confront the person, my tone would not be anywhere near what was going on in my head, as I am just not very confrontational by nature and spend the majority of my life trying to avoid it.  In a round about way of random thinking, that usually happens while running by myself for hours, led me to the conclusion that this non-confrontational nature is the very thing I like least about racing and is probably the root cause as to why I don't race more often.  This aversion to confrontation is just the foundation though and supports several of the other excuses I typically come up with to not race.  I would simply just rather be doing other things on a day off, such as climbing mountains and spending time in the mountains with my wife, friends, Sierra and more recently, with my daughters.  Not to mention many of the entry fees are kind of pricey and I am cheap, which reinforces my "I would rather be doing something else" thoughts.  I also hate wasting a week tapering, then another few days or whatever recovering, it just throws off what I like most, just being out running on the trails and completely enjoying it for what it is.

Friday, 12/16/11 Green Mountain

Up/Down Front
4.1 miles/2,278 vert./1:15:39 Garmin Data

Got out for a night lap with Rob, Kendrick, Joey and Sierra.  Started at 8:22pm, walked easy on the up, talking the whole way, then jogged easy on the down.

Thursday, 12/15/11 Local Run

7.13 miles/187 vert./1:01/143 avg. HR

Super easy run today with the jogger zig zagging around Louisville and scoping out some of the better playgrounds for when the weather warms.  The playground at the rec center might be the favored one, as it is not too far from home, is well padded with wood chips, has lots of fun slides and swings, but most importantly is fenced in, which will be key next Spring trying to herd twins.

Wednesday, 12/14/11 Local Run

5.03 miles/46:38/9:16 pace 126 avg. HR

Was not really inspired to get out this evening in the cold/dark/flat/cement/black ice, but I needed to do some emergency shoe testing for Pearlizumi (the Kissaki) and was feeling like I needed to work off the all I could eat Chik fil A buffet lunch.  The only thing that really got me through it was listening to the Adam Carolla podcast.

Tuesday, 12/13/12 Green Mountain

Up/Down Front
4.06/2,285 vert./56:58 (37:17 up/19:41 down) Garmin Data

Pushed a little bit on the up at times, never really digging TOOO deep, but a solid effort all things considered.  Thought I would be a bit closer to 35 high or 36 low, but the watch got away from me a bit toward the end (actually in the middle somewhere, as I finished pretty strong).

Was not planning on going hard on the down as to not tax my still healing knee, but I was simultaneously in a hurry to get home, finish without needing a light and to test the knee just a little bit.  I was cruising pretty well and the knee was feeling good, but still not taking any chances.  I got to the Greenman/Amphi jct. ~1:45 ahead of PR descent pace which surprised me given the minimal effort (though did not surprise me too much given the great conditions).  I kept decent momentum until I dropped into the ravine crossing the spring above the 1st access jct., where it quickly got dark and I could no longer see very well to move as fast as I had been.

I did not want to give in to stopping to pull out my well stashed lights, so I just kept moving and got progressively slower as the steps got bigger and darkness closed in.  All in all a great run on a great evening despite feeling pretty out of shape.

Was also stoked that we are gaining daylight in the afternoons starting today, 1 more minute than yesterday which I have been looking forward to for months (helps a lot mentally).  The morning sunrise continues to get later and outpace the evening gains for a few more weeks though.  I refer to this table almost daily, as I am keeping close track of minutes this time of year for obvious reasons.

Sunday, 12/11/11 Green Mountain

Up/Down front
4.07 miles/2,275 vert./1:35(57 up) Garmin Data

Met Allison and Sierra for a lap on Green starting at 4pm.  Went pretty easy on the up, talking the whole way and taking in the perfect evening.  I think if she did not talk and pushed a little, she could have shaved a good 10 minutes off, as I pushed the pace a little over the last 6 or 7 minutes and she stuck to my heels pretty good.  I'm going to have to crack the whip on the up next time!

Almost the entire descent was in the dark, but was really fun with the snow, perfect trail conditions, good lighting and great company.  The knee seems to have miraculously healed as I did not feel it at all, quite a pleasant turn of events considering how a week ago I was fearing worst.