Sanitas

5.5 miles (including warmup)
1,900 vertical

17:08 up Sanitas S. Ridge
12 minutes down
177bpm ave (for the ascent).

Had an excellent run up Sanitas today. I was hoping to go fast, but was unsure throughout the day how I really felt. I warmed up for about half an hour, a good part of that being some scrambling up at Red Rocks and some of it talking to some "Sanitas" acquaintences.

During the warmup, I was feeling on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to go all out up Sanitas. Although it is only 1.5 miles and 1,300 vertical, it really really hurts when going hard, more so than anything else in my opinion. I came close to bailing, but decided I had nothing to lose.

For the first half, I felt like garbage. My HR was high and I was not really sure I was going a good pace. At my only time check on the hill (the slight dip where a puddle usually resides this time of year), I was at 13:40, definitely the best time I have ever seen at that point.

Greatly encouraged by my time check, I kept on digging and was able to maintain my momentum pretty good all the way to the top. For a short bit, I was thinking I might even break 17, but no matter how much I gave it, I could do no better than 17:08, 5 seconds shy of my PR. I was pretty satisfied though, as I was 34 seconds faster than the last time I gave this a good effort.

Not to make excuses, but I did get bottlenecked by 3 hikers at a narrow part of the trail. I made all the usual hacks, coughs, scuffs and loud breathing, but they did not pay attention. This for sure slowed me by a few seconds at least. Air quality was also not great today and I was hacking up pflegm much of the way. Sometimes I wonder if I have exercise induced athsma, or if it is solely tied to air quality, as it does not happen every time.

All in all a great run. I feel as though I am making steady progress and look forward to continueing that momentum. My knee felt great during and after, as well as my achilles, which has totally healed. I am feeling 100% back on track for the first time in over a year.