S. Boulder, Bear and Green

~15.5 miles
~4,500 vertical
2:28:02

Had a great run this morning over the 3 peaks going up Towee, Shadow, over to Bear, down W. Ridge to Bear Canyon, up Green, down Bear Canyon to Mesa, Mesa to Bluestem and back to S. Mesa TH.

Despite the rainy weather, it turned out to be a great morning for a run. Today I was hoping to go fairly hard, but keep things reasonable and just run a fast, but sustainable pace. I felt like I did a great job pacing myself and felt awesome the whole run. The footing in spots was a bit slick, especially on the summits of S. Boulder and Bear, where it was raining steadily and visibility was nil. Running down W. Ridge of Bear was a highlight, perfect rolling singletrack, everything was green and moist, foggy, quiet. Just me, running fast and feeling completely focused.

Pushed the pace hard on the ups, but being very careful not to build lactic acid and then pushed beyond my comfort zone on the downhills and flats where footing was good. The trip back to S. Mesa TH always seems to drag on over the final mile +. I was hoping to beat 2:45 (an arbitrary estimate), but was discovering as the run progressed that I might beat 2:30. I layed it on for all I was worth at the end, sprinting as if I were neck and neck with somebody, trying to come in at 2:27:??, but missed it by two seconds. Oh well, I was quite happy with my time either way.

Headed into Boulder to watch the Bolder Boulder pro race. Rode my bike and followed the racers for the first 20 minutes. They were really flying, I was in disbelief. Really made me feel like a slowpoke.

Splits:

13:59 end of Towee (where it meets "dirt road")
21:30 mouth of Shadow
46:20 saddle
52:40 S. Boulder summit
1:03 Bear Peak
1:21 Bear Canyon Jct
1:34 4 way on W. side of Green
1:38 Green summit
1:40 back at 4 way on W. side of Green
2:03 Mesa trail
2:15 Bluestem jct.
2:28:02 Finish