10.19 miles/2,958 vert./1:40:53 (1:02:08 up)/avg. HR 143 Garmin Data
Wow, what an amazing run up Green on some great trails that I do not visit often enough. The evening was perfect, temperatures in the low 60's to upper 50's, sunny and somewhat damp trails from the recent rain (lower down) and snow (higher up).
Started from Chautauqua and headed S. on the Mesa Trail to the mouth of Bear Canyon, then up. I was not pushing at all, but my pace seemed to be much better than my low heart rate and very low perceived effort would otherwise suggest. It was just one of those runs where everything comes together and you feel like you could run indefinitely and just did not want it to end. At every junction, I debated taking the longer way.
From the summit of Green, I was originally planning to head down one of the shorter routes on the front side, but felt a strong urge to visit Long Canyon for some nice cruising. I even came across quite the mess of a deer carcass right in the middle of the trail, which made me pause momentarily and look over my shoulder.
I was also testing a new pair of shoes (new shoes always make you go faster right?), the Puma Faas 900. The Faas 900 is a road shoe, with very little traction, but it has amazing cushion, stability and control and I found it to perform very well on this run.
Also noted 3 OSMP maintenance trucks/and crew as far up as they could drive on the Green W. Ridge Trail, presumably working on the new Green/Bear trail (which looks like it might be ready fairly soon).
