Saturday, 09/08/12 Green Mountain PR from Chautauqua

4.02 miles/2,500 vert./58:55 (37:54 up)/avg. HR 174

For 4 or 5 years, I have thought it would be a worthy goal to try to RT Green from Chautauqua in under an hour.  Putting various splits together from separate runs, I felt it was theoretically possible, but over the course of multiple attempts over the years by various routes, I was never able to do much better than 1:00:3? (or maybe it was 1:01?, I would have to go dredge for the exact previous PR).

For some reason, I just felt confident that I could do it today, despite not really "training" or hardly even running since July and especially not much since Pikes.  My legs just felt good though, well rested if nothing else.

I did an unusual (for me) mile warm up, then started up through Chautauqua toward the 1st/2nd Flatiron trail, up through to the 1st saddle, to the NE ridge and up Greenman.  I was fuzzy on my previous best splits on this route, but was almost positive that I would have to be 37 something or better at the summit to have a chance and arrived there in 37:54, turned around and started down Greenman/NE/Saddle/Amphi which I felt would be the quickest way back down for me.

I pushed pretty hard the entire time, but it felt really good and controlled.  My feet felt quite accurate on the descent and I was moving well, though not going too crazy, just quick cruising really.  I knew it would be close, so leaving nothing to chance, I sprinted across Chautauqua, HR topping out at 186 bpm.  By the end, I knew I would break an hour, but did not let off the gas at all in hopes that I could sneak in under 59 and came sliding in at 58:55.

This was one of those runs where I just felt great the entire time and was just overwhelmed with that runner's high, leaving me pumped up for the rest of the day.  

Splits:

Bluebell Baird Trail:  6:30ish

Back of 1st:  20:33

NE Ridge:  27:high

Summit:  37:54

Gregory Lot:  55:41

Finish:  58:55

Saturday, 09/01/12 Bear Peak

4.56 miles/2,674/1:06:54(41:25 post-42:02 true summit)avg. HR 158


It has been since the week prior to the fire since I have topped out on Bear, so I have been eager to revisit since it re-opened a little over 2 weeks ago.

Due to circumstances revolving around renovating and moving into our new house, my running has been pretty minimal for a long time. A few maintenance runs in late July/early August, Pikes Peak on the 19th, a week off, Green Mountain from Martin Acres on the 25th, then another week off. We finally finished our move on Friday and on Saturday I FINALLY felt as though I could breathe easy again. It has been a long and stressful summer and I am eager for cooler weather and eager to start running again.

Started off pretty mellow, but after 3 or 4 minutes started to get into a bit of a groove and eventually by the Slab, got my splits dialed for a sub 40 ascent, but then got stung in the Achilles by a bee while crossing the small creek just beyond. Bee stings are never fun, but getting it on the Achilles really hurt and threw me off a bit for much of the remainder of the ascent (that and my questionable fitness was catching up to me more than I cared to admit at the time). I had also forgotten that I had spent several hours in the morning carrying babies on a hike from S. Mesa, so that may have got to my legs a bit.

~5 or so minutes from the summit, I began to notice trees stained with red slurry and was surprised how thick and pasted it was, somewhat surprised even that it was still there. Despite viewing the summit of Bear from Green many times, I was still a bit surprised at how minimal the fire damage was. I took the descent at what I felt to be reasonably mellow, but was surprised to get a 1:06 RT all thing considered. Not too shabby (for me).

After seeing the fire damage up close, I really can't understand why Fern Canyon was closed for 2 months and am a bit mystified why the other trails are STILL closed. It all looks fine to me, just part of nature, so let's get on with it already!!!

Saturday, 08/25/12 USA Pro Cycling Challenge Flagstaff Finish

I had been eagerly anticipating this stage of the race since the route for the US Pro Cycling Challenge was announced way back last Winter. I was looking forward to making a day of it, following the race and spectating/cheering from several different spots before joining the raucous party up on Flagstaff Mountain with all my friends. My sister even planned to fly out and join me. As August approached however, I realized that making a day of it would be out of the question with all that we have to do to get into our new house by the end of the month. I thus resigned to zipping into town, biking/running up Flag, meeting a few friends and just watching them cruise up the hill, being part of a Tour de France quality crowd.

After some unanticipated delays at home, I hurried into Boulder a bit after 3pm, having received a few discouraging updates as to the location of the front of the race, but I pressed on hoping I might just make it.

Parked near 27th/Broadway in a neighborhood, pulled my bike out of the trunk ready to speed off up the hill and lo and behold, a flat tire! Seriously?  WTF?  AWESOME timing. I threw my bike back in the car and took off on foot in a full on sprint up Baseline. I could see the helicopter hovering and tried to convince myself that they were just shooting from afar or previewing the crowds. Soon though, I noticed people biking and walking down the hill, but continued on in a state of pissed off denial. I asked somebody (full well knowing the answer) and they confirmed that I was about 5-10 minutes too late.

I still pressed on at an angry intensity, got onto the course and was able to watch the final 6 stragglers being chased by the broom wagon just below Chautauqua. They got a good gap on me through this flat secton, but once I hit the Flagstaff Trail, I started to catch back up and could always hear the crowds/see the support cars going by just one switchback above. Going up the hill was difficult, fighting my way past all the down traffic, but I was very determined to salvage my day in some way, so I jumped on a climbing access trail between the 3rd and 4th road crossing. The surprisingly well travelled trail, soon climbed straight up the fall line to the Amphitheater (16 minute split from the base), where had to hop an orange fence and I quickly got crabbed at by a few guys telling me that it was not a trail, or that it was closed or something to that affect. I smiled, thanked them and told them that I was fine (it really was a great trail that I need to keep in mind). Had I arrived 10 minutes later, I would have been on TV, right behind Levi Leipheimer and Rory Sutherland.

I took a few minutes walking around, taking some pictures and looking for friends. I got a call from Dave who was up on Green, so I ran over to meet him on the Ranger Trail before hitting the summit. Turned out to be a longer and harder run than I expected (first run since Pikes) the whole time I had a sinking sense of disappointment that I missed out on all of the excitement, especially after coming so close and trying so hard.  Better luck next year.

Levi, the new race leader (for a day).  That is my friend Dave Towle under his arm pit.

10 minutes sooner and I would have literally popped up behind this press conference like a jack in the box.

Tyler Farrar

Sunday, 08/19/2012 Pikes Peak Marathon

2012 Pikes Peak Marathon

26.2 miles
7,815 vert.
4:49:11 (PR)
27th/739 Overall
5th Master

Another Pikes in the books and I have to admit that I am a bit relieved and quite satisfied to have been able to PR, take home a nice trophy and score a free entry for next year.

Just getting to the start line this year for me has been a challenge.  I was able to get out for a few 14ers early in the summer, with quality outings on Missouri/Belford/Oxford, raced Mt. Evans, Grays/Torreys, Longs Peak and a 17.5 mile hike of Bierstadt in July with Allison and Sierra.  Aside from that, it has been (what is now) the usual fare of the 1-3 times per week laps on Green Mountain and then baby jogger runs, pushing my almost 2 year old twin daughters.

The biggest distraction though this summer, has been the purchase of our first house.  We bought a fixer upper home in July and the process of buying the home, then the continued and ongoing task of renovating has been entirely consuming.  My dad came to help with the renovations, where I took the first two weeks of August off of work and pretty much hammered away from sunrise to sunset over that time.  All of this has left very little time (and sometimes very little energy) for running and zero time to get up high to acclimate. Most of my vertical has taken place on a 6 foot ladder.

Since we started the process of buying the house back in June, I carefully considered the timeline and worried a bit about all that we have to do to get the house ready to move in by the end of August and suddenly, Pikes Peak took a back seat purely out of necessity.  On several occasions, I was a mouse click away from withdrawing my entry, but was talked off the ledge on multiple occasions by my good friend George Zack.  My wife Allison also encouraged me to just not worry about it and look at it as just a fun day in the mountains with good friends.  Still, I was not entirely sure I would make it and I put the race out of my mind for the most part, only really thinking of it when I read George's blog or somebody asked me about it.

What little I did run in the time preceding the race has been really varied.  Some runs were encouraging enough to give me confidence that my fitness was solid, but my longest runs were barely over an hour and I continually questioned whether I could overcome and compensate somehow for these shortcomings.  Even as recently as noon on Saturday, I was second guessing if I could justify the time spent going to the race.

Dave picked me up around 4:30pm and we headed down to Manitou for packet pickup, ate at the Spaghetti buffet (while listening to Bart Yasso speak), then headed to my friend Hoot’s house for a good night of rest.

I was up and wide awake at 3:59am, eager to get on with the day, feeling well rested, but relaxed for a while trying to go back to sleep before slowly getting ready.  As usual, the time before the race went by really quick and although I was a bit anxious, I was much less nervous than years past.  Much of this came from not really having thought of goals or having put any pressure on myself to perform well.  What ever happens, happens and I was just going to enjoy my time out on a 14er.

Made my way to the start line and chatted with good friends and acquaintances old and new, introduced myself to Killian (who was very friendly) and soaked up the excitement in the moments before and during the national anthem and the firing of the start cannon (the cannon always catches me a bit off guard for some reason).

I quickly settled into a comfortable pace and was able to tune out most of what was going on around me (which is unusual) and I just focused on running my own race and enjoying the scenery.  I passed a handful of people on the ascent and was passed by a few, then passed some back, but pretty much held my position well to the top (18th position in 2:54).  The effort felt very controlled and sustainable, I definitely could have gone faster if I were only going to the summit (could very possibly have even been a PR ascent day, I felt that good), but I was careful to save some energy for the descent, as I really wanted to avenge my terrible 1:54 descent from the previous year.

The first 3 miles of the downhill went well and I was moving OK, making it a priority to hydrate and take a gel.  Once below A-Frame though, I started to get some pretty bad abdominal cramps, so I found myself slowing to compensate, walked a few times and even briefly stopped twice to try and let it pass.  To top it off, I rolled my ankle 3 times between A-Frame and Barr Camp (unusual for me), which took a bit of a toll on my confidence.

My mind occasionally drifted to how much I just wanted to be done with this descent, but there are really no options, this is a race, you have to stay on course and you just have to get back down and the quicker the better.  My pace varied depending on the cramps, as did my resolve, but I was generally able to mentally override the discomfort and keep moving forward at least.

Above No Name, after yet another short stop on the side of the trail, George caught up to me and I knew it was him before I even looked back. I had been expecting him to pass, it was just a matter of when, so I was almost relieved to just get it over with.  He shouted encouragement to latch on, but he was flying and there was no way I could rally enough to follow.  I knew he was having a great run though and I was happy for him to be exceeding his own expectations.

I got passed by a handful of others on the down in various spots on the course (would end up being 9 total, 2 of those being Masters) and I was pushing hard at the end, hoping to be able to take home a trophy, earn a free entry for next year and possibly sneak in under my 4:52 PR from last year, but I really had no idea where I was positioned in the Masters category.

I was VERY happy to cross the line in 4:49:11 and quite relieved just to be done with that downhill.  I felt much better than last year, but still took advantage of the cots and medical crew, where it just felt good to lay down in the shade for a bit and get tended to.

After about 10 minutes, I was back on my feet, catching up on liquids and checking the results.  Dave ended up 7th overall and I was 5th Master (6th really, but since Dave placed top 10, that moved us all up one place).  George ended up 3rd Master with a 4:42.  Since we were all getting awards, this meant for a long afternoon of socializing, reflecting on our accomplishments and eating pizza.

The awards ceremony was great, the trophies are awesome, the comp entry for next year is a real treat, but I always feel a little awkward getting called up in front of the crowd.

All in all, despite another lackluster 1:54 descent, I am generally satisfied with my result and there is no way I can be at all dissatisfied with a PR.  With all of the distractions I have faced in the build up, I was not sure I would even line up, so finishing and finishing with a good result was icing on the cake.

Approximate Splits:

Ruxton:  2:4?
Hydro:  9:3?
Top of Ws:  31:30
No Name:  46
Bobs Aid Station:  1:00
Barr Camp:  1:22
Bottomless Pit:  1:36
A-Frame:  2:00:5?
Summit:  2:54
(I don't really pay attention to splits on the down, but the chip timing says it took me 30 minutes back to A-Frame from the summit).

They gave us two bibs, so I put this #1 bib on my warm up shirt to get a few laughs.

Dave ready to roll.

I am wearing bib #39, Dave is on the right with the Hoka shirt (the next 9 photos are courtesy of Tim Bergsten at http://www.pikespeaksports.us/)

Team Salomon ready to dominate

Max King

3.. 2.. 1..
                           

And we're off!

Killian, Max and Salomon taking it out hard

Running up Ruxton (photo courtesy of ???)

Early in the W's

Heading up through the Cirque (thanks to Wes Go for the following three photos and volunteering for the race)

Heading back down (still) with high hopes

Below A-Frame (Jen Allen photo)

Ready to be done!

Showing awesome running form as I sprint to sneak in under 4:50 (and worried about getting passed, yet again)

OK, done.  A 3 minute personal best over my first Pikes Peak Marathon last year.  Though I had a tough descent, this year seemed like less effort and I did not throw up in the trash can after finishing.

 Celebrating my 2nd marathon ever (I have still yet to beat Oprah's 4:30 marathon PR though)

Top 5 old guys

This is getting to be a regular occurrance.  Thanks GZ for your friendship, encouraging words and support throughout.  (JT photo).  Even though this guy kicks my butt every year, he believes in me more than me for some odd reason (although I just think he is being gracious).

GZ, me and Dave, hanging with great buds made for an awesome weekend. (Dave Mackey photo)

JT guarding my award, practicing for his days as a Master (JT photo)

Thursday, 07/26/12 Boulder Creek Path

10.7 miles/500 vert./1:20/7:30 pace/160 avg. HR 

A run on the creek path is hardly worthy of mention, but I felt particularly good today.  Started from Potts Field a little later than I had hoped (a bit after 10am and it was already getting a bit hotter than I would have liked), headed West on the Boulder Creek Path and was immediately feeling good, so I started pushing a little bit.  The miles were clicking by surprisingly fast and the uphill gradient barely seemed noticeable for the most part.

Once the path turned to dirt West of town, I was as little surprised to get passed by a fit/fast looking runner (I was wearing headphones and did not hear him coming).  He gave me props for pushing the double baby jogger and shared that he too had been there before, just with a single jogger.

Even though I was already going what I thought to be a good pace, he sort of woke me up a bit and I upped the pace a notch, staying a few strides behind him all the way until he turned around, a mile or so later, a bit short of my turn around at the end of the path.  I was a little bummed, as I was enjoying the fast pacing and was looking forward to chasing (racing) him going back down.  This effort had my HR in the 180's, which is somewhat unusual for me nowadays, which felt awesome and surprisingly sustainable.  Getting passed was a very welcome thing, as it really made me push harder than I would have otherwise.

Kept a reasonably steady tempo on the descent, but was using the brakes at times to keep my speed in check once I got to the steeper cement sections.  I was starting to feel a bit cooked from the heat, but was able to maintain a respectable pace over the final few miles, knowing that it will come in handy next month on the lower section of Barr and Ruxton Ave.. 

7:30 pace is nothing to get fired up about, but considering I was pushing 97 lbs (24lbs per girl, then the Chariot loaded with essentials, like water, food, camera, wallet, keys, teddy bears, puppies, hats, sunglasses, sandbox toys, spare tubes, pump etc…), it was certainly one of my more solid runs in a while.

Thursday, 07/19/12 Green Mountain

3.13 miles/2,286 vert./49:54 (32:28 up)  Garmin Data

Had a great run despite the heat, blisters on my toes and generally feeling a little lethargic at first.  Was in a hurry to get over to Potts Field to see GZ duke it out with Brownie in the Steeple Chase which motivated me to go fast.  Was also testing a pair of NB 1010s that turned out to be pretty sweet.  Very light, agile, great traction and a touch more protection/cushion than the 110.

Wednesday, 07/18/12 Mt. Bierstadt via Abyss Lake

17.51 miles/4,847 vert./8:40 (6:12 moving time) Garmin Data

We had an entire day to ourselves, so we got out for an awesome Tour de Bierstadt from the Abyss trailhead, up to Abyss Lake, to the summit of Bierstadt, then down the S. Ridge.  This was the first time the three of us have gotten out for a 14er in ~2.5 years, so it was like old times and we really had an amazing time.  Allison and Sierra did great on such a long day, especially considering neither of them had done anything like this in some time.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Abyss Lake

Black Hawk searching for an overdue climber.  Unfortunately, they found him on the West side of the ridge, as he had taken a fatal fall off the Sawtooth.

Our descent involved what I was sure would be an easy bushwhack (I had been through there before), but was severely complicated by a massive blowdown that happened over the Winter and affected much of Colorado.  Getting back to the trail in the valley involved a lot of zig zagging and tree hopping.