Tony and I had been discussing options for a Friday long run throughout the week, but the storm on Tues/Weds had us considering a few laps on Green depending on conditions. Thursday I spent a few hours stomping down the trail with snowshoes hoping to make it suitable for reasonably paced laps. That and afternoon traffic set the trails up to be in reasonable shape.
Lap 1: We headed up Gregory/Ranger to the ridge together chatting away with me setting pace. My new HRM and my thighs were telling me that if I have any hope of 3 laps, that I should back off the pace a touch. I let Tony pass and he got a minute or two ahead and was nice enough to wait for me on the summit. For a change of scenery, we headed down Greenman/Saddle/Amphi. The upper part of the trail was one foot width wide and was a bit of a balancing act in spots, but eventually widened a bit and actually made for good running.
Lap 2: Same a lap 1, but I was about a minute slower (same pace or maybe a little faster, but I stopped countless times to adjust my microspikes that just don't fit well on my lighter (smaller) shoes. Tony was a bit quicker on this lap and started to open the gap on me at the top of Gregory and was once again nice enough to wait on the summit for me.
Lap 3: After a quick bite of food at the Element aid station, some water and a change of shoes (for me), we decided to take different routes to the summit. Since I knew I might be walking a bit more, I would rather walk up steep, so I went up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman while Tony opted for more of the same. I felt surprisingly good (though not really moving that fast) and felt progessively better as I went up, but started to lose a bit of steam near the talus field ~2/3-3/4 of the way up, at about the same time trail conditions deteriorated a bit (hard to notice on the way down, but very evident on the way up when tired). As expected, Tony was on the summit waiting and we headed back down the way I had just "ran", enjoying the now sunny day and enjoying good conversation. We contemplated a second lap, but ultimately decided that 3 was enough with the snow, maybe when things pack down more or dry out.
An awesome day, great workout and great company. Thanks to Tony for pushing me, it would have been tempting to bail in the middle or at least slack off even more than I did had I been solo.
Splits:
Lap 1 Ascent: 44:15 Avg. HR 166, 176 Max
Lap 1 Descent: 22:??
Lap 2 Ascent: 45:?? Avg. HR 171, 180 Max
Lap 2 Descent: 22:41 Avg. HR 158, 165 Max
Lap 3 Ascent: 46:54 Avg. HR 168, 174 Max
Lap 3 Descent: 22:13 Avg. HR 156, 168 Max
