I had a bit more time than normal today to run, but the caveat was a somewhat late start of 2pm (the sun is pretty low behind the hill by that time on this date), so I figured I would shoot for 2 laps on Green if I felt like it after the first lap. Headed up Gregory at a moderately moderate pace and not surprisingly bumped into Tony at the top of Gregory, as he was descending from his 3rd consecutive lap of Green for the day and was going to head back up for a 4th lap. I continued on at a plodding pace, surprised by the increasing amount of drifted snow from the unexpected squall the previous day, probably more snow fell/drifted yesterday than the previous minor snowfalls combined and I was wishing I had my Microspikes.
After a few minutes on top, I started down and intended to turn around and follow Tony back up once we crossed paths again, which happened at the flat spot on the NW Ridge. I did my best to keep up without traction, as he was wearing Microspikes (yeah, that is my excuse ;)), but I felt kind of sluggish and he put 15 or so seconds on me on the final steep steps to the summit, despite it being his 4th lap and he was able to negative split each ascent, pretty frickin amazing.
We hung out on the summit for a while and headed down Greenman to the Ranger Cabin/Gregory to spice things up, going a moderate pace and chatting all the while about various topics related to running mostly and the upcoming NF50. Once at the car, I changed into dry shirt, hat, windbreaker, gloves and tried to talk Tony into a 5th lap, which he contemplated, but ultimately thought better of it.
I started back up Gregory, at a reluctant and non-commital pace, a little spoiled by having had Tony along for a good bit of the previous lap for enthusiastic conversation and good energy, now it was just me heading up in the cold. Each step forward, I contemplated it being my last in that direction and looked at each one as further away from the car instead of closer to where I wanted to go.
I intended to head up to where I met Tony and turned around for my re-ascent to complete the two lap loop, but once I got there, I stopped and debated a bit, as it just did not feel right (especially knowing that Tony just clicked off 4 laps), so I continued on to the summit despite tired legs, falling temps, a quickly setting sun and a heavy bonk (I forget my gel at the car, oops). I was the last one on the peak, so I shuffled back down at a dedicated, yet not too fast pace, just zoning out to the Car Guys on my earphones, arriving back at the TH as it was getting dark. I was frozen and worked over by the time I finished and hurried home with the heat in the car blasting, then took an extended hot shower and chewed the handle off the fridge as GZ likes to say. My endurance is pretty lacking right now (at least it is in the snow/cold temps with no insufficient food) and I think my fitness is waning fast as well. Luckily, I am not training for anything, just getting out as much as I can before I start back to work on Sunday.
Splits:
Ascent 1: Gregory/Ranger: 41
Ascent 2: Gregory/Ranger: 49
