6 miles
2,400 vertical
37:46up
25 down
Wanted to do some sort of interval training today, but was not sure what until the last minute. I ended up doing 11 minute on/minute offs. Started from the Gregory TH and had a nice easy warm-up for 8 minutes up Gregory Canyon. The whole time I was fearing the pain that I knew I was about to go through. The first 2 efforts I felt as though I would explode and the minute on dragged forever, while the minute off seemed like 10 seconds. Things got progressively worse through effort #5 and I was thinking I could do no more, but then things came around and I felt consistently good on efforts 6-10 and then put in an unplanned 11th interval. This brought me to just below the first switchback before the 4 way junction. I jogged a moderate pace the remainder of the way to the summit and then came down the same way in an easy 25.
Sierra
Sierra
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday 7/7/08 Enchanted Mesa Skunk
~6 Miles
~1,000 vertical
~1hr
Started with the intention of heading up Green, but at the last second, took a left on Bluebell-Baird to the 1st access trail, over to the base of the 2nd and down the 3rd access trail to Mesa. S. on Mesa to Skunk, then put together bits and pieces of trail around Enchanted Mesa and back to Chautauqua and up to the car. Felt crappy to start, then OK once I was out for 15 or 20 minutes. Did not feel like going the least bit fast and just took it completely easy.
~1,000 vertical
~1hr
Started with the intention of heading up Green, but at the last second, took a left on Bluebell-Baird to the 1st access trail, over to the base of the 2nd and down the 3rd access trail to Mesa. S. on Mesa to Skunk, then put together bits and pieces of trail around Enchanted Mesa and back to Chautauqua and up to the car. Felt crappy to start, then OK once I was out for 15 or 20 minutes. Did not feel like going the least bit fast and just took it completely easy.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Saturday, July 5th, 2008 Eva, Flora, Parry, Bancroft
Flora, Eva, Parry, Bancroft
7/05/08
~12 miles
~5,000 vertical
Jeff and Allison Valliere, Kevin Lund and Rick Canter (for part of the way) and Sierra
At the last moment, plans came together to meet up with good friend and fellow 14erworld member Rick Canter at Berthoud Pass for a bit of hiking. Allison, Kevin and I had plans to cruise the divide for a ways while Rick would play things by ear and use the day for acclimating.
We agreed that we would eventually go our separate ways and try to rendezvous later for the return trip as we started up Mines Peak at 8:00am. Rick warned us that he might be hurting having only been in Colorado for a day after arriving from Maryland, but… Rick was moving quite well all things considered and cruised along no problem as we chatted about all things related to mountains. I love talking with Rick and especially admire his passion for the mountains and ambition to make trips out here to Colorado every year on his own and climb as many peaks as he can fit in. Even though he lives on the East Coast, he is a Coloradan at heart.
Sadly, we parted ways with Rick near the top of Mines Peak as we set off for more distant peaks. We made the surprisingly distant (but very easy) summit of Flora around 9:40ish and took a 25 minute break. Eva looked further away than expected and the drop to the saddle was a little bit more significant, however turned out to be a very easy walk.
Once on Eva, Allison and Kevin announced that they were done for the day, but I was eyeing Parry and Bancroft. They said they would meander back as I ran over to tag the other summits. Made Parry in 20 minutes, then another 13 to Bancroft. I took a 5 minute break and eyed/seriously contemplated running over to James, but did not want to have my hiking mates waiting/worrying.
I gassed it pretty hard on the way back and got back to Flora in about 40 minutes where I again met up with Allison and Kevin. There were a few dark clouds building and I was hoping to catch Rick on the way down, so we jogged most of the way.
Unfortunately, we never caught Rick as he was long gone when we returned to the pass at 1:45. I talked to Rick later and he had made it up Flora, but called it a day there.
As an aside, that evening we got a terrible phone call from Dave informing us that Scooby had passed away. After 3 years of countless climbs and great times with Scooby, Shep, Dave and Emily, it struck us particularly hard as we have become very attached. Scooby was in all ways one of the best dogs I have ever come across and we all loved him. If it is this hard on us, I just can’t imagine how bad Dave and Emily feel. Rest in Peace Scooby, your presence in the mountains will always be felt and never fogotten.
Pictures:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r...on=tageditmany
7/05/08
~12 miles
~5,000 vertical
Jeff and Allison Valliere, Kevin Lund and Rick Canter (for part of the way) and Sierra
At the last moment, plans came together to meet up with good friend and fellow 14erworld member Rick Canter at Berthoud Pass for a bit of hiking. Allison, Kevin and I had plans to cruise the divide for a ways while Rick would play things by ear and use the day for acclimating.
We agreed that we would eventually go our separate ways and try to rendezvous later for the return trip as we started up Mines Peak at 8:00am. Rick warned us that he might be hurting having only been in Colorado for a day after arriving from Maryland, but… Rick was moving quite well all things considered and cruised along no problem as we chatted about all things related to mountains. I love talking with Rick and especially admire his passion for the mountains and ambition to make trips out here to Colorado every year on his own and climb as many peaks as he can fit in. Even though he lives on the East Coast, he is a Coloradan at heart.
Sadly, we parted ways with Rick near the top of Mines Peak as we set off for more distant peaks. We made the surprisingly distant (but very easy) summit of Flora around 9:40ish and took a 25 minute break. Eva looked further away than expected and the drop to the saddle was a little bit more significant, however turned out to be a very easy walk.
Once on Eva, Allison and Kevin announced that they were done for the day, but I was eyeing Parry and Bancroft. They said they would meander back as I ran over to tag the other summits. Made Parry in 20 minutes, then another 13 to Bancroft. I took a 5 minute break and eyed/seriously contemplated running over to James, but did not want to have my hiking mates waiting/worrying.
I gassed it pretty hard on the way back and got back to Flora in about 40 minutes where I again met up with Allison and Kevin. There were a few dark clouds building and I was hoping to catch Rick on the way down, so we jogged most of the way.
Unfortunately, we never caught Rick as he was long gone when we returned to the pass at 1:45. I talked to Rick later and he had made it up Flora, but called it a day there.
As an aside, that evening we got a terrible phone call from Dave informing us that Scooby had passed away. After 3 years of countless climbs and great times with Scooby, Shep, Dave and Emily, it struck us particularly hard as we have become very attached. Scooby was in all ways one of the best dogs I have ever come across and we all loved him. If it is this hard on us, I just can’t imagine how bad Dave and Emily feel. Rest in Peace Scooby, your presence in the mountains will always be felt and never fogotten.
Pictures:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r...on=tageditmany
Friday July 4th, 2008, Jasper Peak
Jasper Peak (12,923)
7/04/08
6.6 miles RT
2,860 vertical
Northeast Slopes from 4th of July TH
Jeff and Allison Valliere, Kevin Lund and Sierra
Had an awesome hike on the 4th of July from the 4th of July TH (this was not a novel idea we observed on the way out, as there were cars parked down the road for nearly a mile!).
Started around 7:15am and got a good parking spot at the TH. Cruised up the trail to the Jasper Lake turn, dropped a bit of elevation to cross the creek and found the short lived trail on the South side of Middle Boulder Creek. From the end of the trail, it was a short and simple bushwhack to tree line.
We followed Roach’s route description to the small lake and then the crashed plane.From the plane, we headed up the NE slopes to the ridge. We could have avoided snow all the way to the ridge, but opted to cross a few patches as it is relatively low angle, the snow was perfect for kicking steps and we had axes.
We were kind of wishing we had brought crampons and started an hour earlier as there are ample moderately angled snow climbing opportunities here.Once on the ridge, we could peer over toward Snow Lion, Snow Leopard and Gaiteraid.
I was secretly wishing we had opted for Snow Lion, but it would have required a bit more planning and a much earlier start on the day (there was a significant amount of rocks littering the route, some as big as kitchen stoves).From the saddle, it was a snow climb up the ridge, not too steep, but with snow it was enough to keep your attention and we were happy to have our ice axes just for peace of mind.
We made the summit around 10:45am at a very leisurely pace and lounged for quite some time.The descent back was a breeze and involved some top notch boot skiing. All too soon we were on the main trail passing the masses, a stark contrast after spending most of the day by ourselves, only seeing 2 others briefly on the summit.All in all an awesome way to spend the 4th, topped off by going to a friends house for the requisite top notch BBQ.
Pictures:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r...lliere/Jasper/
7/04/08
6.6 miles RT
2,860 vertical
Northeast Slopes from 4th of July TH
Jeff and Allison Valliere, Kevin Lund and Sierra
Had an awesome hike on the 4th of July from the 4th of July TH (this was not a novel idea we observed on the way out, as there were cars parked down the road for nearly a mile!).
Started around 7:15am and got a good parking spot at the TH. Cruised up the trail to the Jasper Lake turn, dropped a bit of elevation to cross the creek and found the short lived trail on the South side of Middle Boulder Creek. From the end of the trail, it was a short and simple bushwhack to tree line.
We followed Roach’s route description to the small lake and then the crashed plane.From the plane, we headed up the NE slopes to the ridge. We could have avoided snow all the way to the ridge, but opted to cross a few patches as it is relatively low angle, the snow was perfect for kicking steps and we had axes.
We were kind of wishing we had brought crampons and started an hour earlier as there are ample moderately angled snow climbing opportunities here.Once on the ridge, we could peer over toward Snow Lion, Snow Leopard and Gaiteraid.
I was secretly wishing we had opted for Snow Lion, but it would have required a bit more planning and a much earlier start on the day (there was a significant amount of rocks littering the route, some as big as kitchen stoves).From the saddle, it was a snow climb up the ridge, not too steep, but with snow it was enough to keep your attention and we were happy to have our ice axes just for peace of mind.
We made the summit around 10:45am at a very leisurely pace and lounged for quite some time.The descent back was a breeze and involved some top notch boot skiing. All too soon we were on the main trail passing the masses, a stark contrast after spending most of the day by ourselves, only seeing 2 others briefly on the summit.All in all an awesome way to spend the 4th, topped off by going to a friends house for the requisite top notch BBQ.
Pictures:http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r...lliere/Jasper/
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Green Mountain
5.5 miles
2,400 vertical
41:57up/30 down
Felt like absolute crap today, like I had cinder blocks attached to my feet. Even though I immediately knew it was not my day and I resolved to go slow, it still seemed like a disproportionate amount of effort just to make it to the summit, never mind the time.
Excuses excuses for today:
A 17 hour straight moving/unpacking Ultramarathon on Monday
Crappy sleep all week
Crappy eating all week
Biking hard yesterday (not having been biking at all for a long time)
Skipping breakfast (I bonked hard near the top to add insult to injury)
2,400 vertical
41:57up/30 down
Felt like absolute crap today, like I had cinder blocks attached to my feet. Even though I immediately knew it was not my day and I resolved to go slow, it still seemed like a disproportionate amount of effort just to make it to the summit, never mind the time.
Excuses excuses for today:
A 17 hour straight moving/unpacking Ultramarathon on Monday
Crappy sleep all week
Crappy eating all week
Biking hard yesterday (not having been biking at all for a long time)
Skipping breakfast (I bonked hard near the top to add insult to injury)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Green Mountain x 1.5
~8 miles
3,500 vertical
Got out with George today for a trip and a half up Green. Up the front, down Greenman to Ranger, back up to summit, met Allison and Sierra, then down Ranger/Gregory. Never really even checked times. I think I had 41:51 up the standard route from Gregory TH.
3,500 vertical
Got out with George today for a trip and a half up Green. Up the front, down Greenman to Ranger, back up to summit, met Allison and Sierra, then down Ranger/Gregory. Never really even checked times. I think I had 41:51 up the standard route from Gregory TH.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Green Mountain
6 miles
2,400 vertical
51 up
Got out with Allison and Sierra today up Gregory/Ranger. It was surprisingly cool. Stuck with Allison and went fairly easy, but she was working a bit hard due to time spent slacking at sea level. Lots of awesome butterflies out today.
2,400 vertical
51 up
Got out with Allison and Sierra today up Gregory/Ranger. It was surprisingly cool. Stuck with Allison and went fairly easy, but she was working a bit hard due to time spent slacking at sea level. Lots of awesome butterflies out today.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Green Mountain
5 miles
2,400 vert
37:18 up/25 down
Day 4 in a row on Green, I just don't get sick of it for some reason. It is so quiet and peaceful. The trail is a good gradient and offers a good bit of variation and some fun views along the way.
Went moderate today, never pushed at all, but never really slacked either, just kept it steady. Felt good from the first step and felt better with each step up, felt like I could have really poured it on this morning, especially on the upper half, but refrained. Near Saddle Rock, I passed an older gentleman who I have seen many times in the past few weeks, probably in his 60's. He was moving pretty quick and it took me a little longer to pass than I anticipated. On the way down, he was already at the last wooden step before the final switchbacks. Pretty amazing, I sure hope I can stay that fit and active at that age.
2,400 vert
37:18 up/25 down
Day 4 in a row on Green, I just don't get sick of it for some reason. It is so quiet and peaceful. The trail is a good gradient and offers a good bit of variation and some fun views along the way.
Went moderate today, never pushed at all, but never really slacked either, just kept it steady. Felt good from the first step and felt better with each step up, felt like I could have really poured it on this morning, especially on the upper half, but refrained. Near Saddle Rock, I passed an older gentleman who I have seen many times in the past few weeks, probably in his 60's. He was moving pretty quick and it took me a little longer to pass than I anticipated. On the way down, he was already at the last wooden step before the final switchbacks. Pretty amazing, I sure hope I can stay that fit and active at that age.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Green Mountain
5 miles
2,400 vertical
35:53 up/22 down
Standard route
Got out of bed today and felt a bit creaky (I am 37 now afterall….). My back has been a bit stiff from humping heavy boxes all over the place preparing for the move, then I sat in one of our patio chairs to eat dinner and it broke, tweaking it a bit more. Crazy how something stupid around the house can potentially mess up your running or well being, like when I fell down the basement stairs and tweaked my ankle last summer, Kraig risking it all playing mini golf, or a collapsing yard chair.
Started up the trail a bit later than I had hoped and was a bit hurried by wanting to get to work by 8. I overall felt lousy as I warmed up my tired muscles through the upper part of Chautauqua. I was listening to my mp3 player and was eager for the line up of Endurance Planet episodes I had queued up.
I was hoping to go a bit faster than I did the past few days, but was not really committed to going too hard. I felt better and better the higher I went, but was paying more attention to the earphones than looking at my watch and subsequent pace. I went somewhat hard, but never felt as though I was extending myself, just really flowing well. I did crank it up through the new section, as it is my favorite section of trail to run, going up and down as it really is ideal for going fast.
Made the summit in 35:53, a few minutes off PR, but I was pretty happy with that considering the lack of commitment today. Went down in 22ish, and as George likes to say, the super computer was kicking in as my feet could do no wrong and my coordination was spot on.
2,400 vertical
35:53 up/22 down
Standard route
Got out of bed today and felt a bit creaky (I am 37 now afterall….). My back has been a bit stiff from humping heavy boxes all over the place preparing for the move, then I sat in one of our patio chairs to eat dinner and it broke, tweaking it a bit more. Crazy how something stupid around the house can potentially mess up your running or well being, like when I fell down the basement stairs and tweaked my ankle last summer, Kraig risking it all playing mini golf, or a collapsing yard chair.
Started up the trail a bit later than I had hoped and was a bit hurried by wanting to get to work by 8. I overall felt lousy as I warmed up my tired muscles through the upper part of Chautauqua. I was listening to my mp3 player and was eager for the line up of Endurance Planet episodes I had queued up.
I was hoping to go a bit faster than I did the past few days, but was not really committed to going too hard. I felt better and better the higher I went, but was paying more attention to the earphones than looking at my watch and subsequent pace. I went somewhat hard, but never felt as though I was extending myself, just really flowing well. I did crank it up through the new section, as it is my favorite section of trail to run, going up and down as it really is ideal for going fast.
Made the summit in 35:53, a few minutes off PR, but I was pretty happy with that considering the lack of commitment today. Went down in 22ish, and as George likes to say, the super computer was kicking in as my feet could do no wrong and my coordination was spot on.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Green Mountain
2,400 vertical
5 miles
42:32up/?? down?
Went up Green the "standard" way again with Sierra today. It was yet another one of those perfect mornings and we had the trail all to ourselves. Went super easy.... 60% walking, 20% jogging, 15% stopping to wait on Sierra and another 5% for moving a dead tree that fell overnight.
On the way down we bumped into Homie, so we waited for him to finish and then went down pretty easy.
5 miles
42:32up/?? down?
Went up Green the "standard" way again with Sierra today. It was yet another one of those perfect mornings and we had the trail all to ourselves. Went super easy.... 60% walking, 20% jogging, 15% stopping to wait on Sierra and another 5% for moving a dead tree that fell overnight.
On the way down we bumped into Homie, so we waited for him to finish and then went down pretty easy.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Green
6.5 miles
2,500 vertical
George and I met at Chautauqua for an easyish spin up Green. After a minor delay, we hit the trail around 6:30? Went up the "standard" route in 44 from Chautauqua at easy moderate pace blabbing the whole time. My legs felt good, but I am content to take it easy for a bit. The descent was very slow as we waited a bunch for Sierra, might have even taken us longer to get down Ranger/Gregory..... As always, it is always a blast running with George, even if his day was off to a bad start ;).
2,500 vertical
George and I met at Chautauqua for an easyish spin up Green. After a minor delay, we hit the trail around 6:30? Went up the "standard" route in 44 from Chautauqua at easy moderate pace blabbing the whole time. My legs felt good, but I am content to take it easy for a bit. The descent was very slow as we waited a bunch for Sierra, might have even taken us longer to get down Ranger/Gregory..... As always, it is always a blast running with George, even if his day was off to a bad start ;).
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Moving lots of boxes
~3 miles
~700 vertical feet
Just a guestimate on the stats, but I spun many laps up and down the stairs today. I regretfully passed up an offer from Homie to go to the mountains, but the impending move on the 30th is weighing heavily on me. Got quite a bit done around the house, packed and carried many boxes, feeling like I am starting to get a handle on it. Sierra reminded me all day that we should be out trouncing around on snowy peaks, I felt so bad not being able to get her out, it has been a full week and will probably be another two weeks until we get out again. At 2:30 I got caught up on a few mountain trip reports and almost sped out the door for a late afternoon trip up Grays and Torreys, but was ultimately glad I did not.
As a side note, I don't feel tired or sore today whatsoever from the race yesterday. Last year I felt it a bit (although I climbed a few 14ers the next day....). I may take a few days off or easy before I start training again, mainly I need a bit of a mental break.
~700 vertical feet
Just a guestimate on the stats, but I spun many laps up and down the stairs today. I regretfully passed up an offer from Homie to go to the mountains, but the impending move on the 30th is weighing heavily on me. Got quite a bit done around the house, packed and carried many boxes, feeling like I am starting to get a handle on it. Sierra reminded me all day that we should be out trouncing around on snowy peaks, I felt so bad not being able to get her out, it has been a full week and will probably be another two weeks until we get out again. At 2:30 I got caught up on a few mountain trip reports and almost sped out the door for a late afternoon trip up Grays and Torreys, but was ultimately glad I did not.
As a side note, I don't feel tired or sore today whatsoever from the race yesterday. Last year I felt it a bit (although I climbed a few 14ers the next day....). I may take a few days off or easy before I start training again, mainly I need a bit of a mental break.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Mt. Evans Ascent
Mt. Evans Ascent
6/21/08
14.5 miles
3,800 vertical +/-
2hrs 09min 18 sec
13th male
14th overall
2rd 35-39 age division
Results:http://www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/
The field for this one was pretty deep and I was a bit intimidated going into it, but heck, the best way to get better is to run with people who are faster! With names like Matt Carpenter, Michael Selig, Cornelis Guijt, Bryan Dayton, Andrew Adamowski, Daryn Parker amongst other fast names on the start list, I knew that a faster run than last year on my part would most likely yield an even lower placing, but my focus today was to just go out and run my own race, have fun, do my best and try not to really be influenced one way or the other by who was ahead.
The morning was perfect, if a bit cool while getting ready, but by the 8am start time, the temperature had warmed to a near perfect temperature under perfect blue clear skies. I take my place on the line next to Carpenter and mention something to him about whether or not he is going for the record. He shrugs off the question as expected, saying something to the effect of the record standing for 30+ years (1:41) and he is of course not giving much up, especially to me, a complete stranger.
The race starts and I am buried in a surge of adrenaline pumped runners. Quickly things begin to sort themselves out and I settle into a “comfortable” pace behind Mike Selig in something like 12th or 13th place? Mike is a great runner and has placed very high at Pikes before, in addition to some other very good placings, so I am a bit surprised to be this close to him. We pass the 2 mile mark a few ticks over 15 and at one point, I even work up the nerve to attempt a pass, but he is not letting it happen and I quickly realize that the additional effort would just not be worth it, oh well .
I keep most of the runners ahead of me pretty much in sight for about half the race, but they are ever so slowly creeping away a bit more with each passing step. I keep Mike within 30 seconds or so and know that he knows how to pace well, so I figure that I am on track to at least set a PR. At mile 7.5, he suddenly and unexpectedly pulls to the side of the road and jumps into a waiting vehicle (of course he is having a bad day which explains why I was so close afterall….). Before he jumped in, I gave Mike some encouragement for him to continue as I passed by, but he is done for the day.
Just prior to summit lake, I get passed by a guy who I do not recognize and he is really turning over a great pace. I continue to maintain my steady trot though and he does not get too far ahead. I make it to summit lake 3 minutes faster than last year and know that if I play it smart, I can at least maintain that margin. At this point my legs are starting to feel a bit worked from the effort and the pavement and I know from experience that last 5 miles are going to really hurt bad .
Out of the blue, I think to myself that there are no women ahead of me and it secretly makes me happy . No more than a few minutes after thinking that, I hear a light pitter pat behind me and some fast breathing that sounds suspiciously feminine. Uh oh, here it goes, I am about to get chicked . A petite Japanese woman passes and we exchange nods. I try hard to keep up and do OK, until we get to the final downhill and she shoots off ahead and quickly passes the guy that earlier passed me, but I keep them in sight and for the most part am always on the same stretch as them. I later find out that she is an Olympic Gold medalist in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Games! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoko_Takahashi I guess I don't feel that bad afterall..... .
As the switchbacks start to really double back, I notice that a few guys are starting to gain on me, along with the second place woman. I am hurting and I really start to question whether or not I can hold them off and start having haunting premonitions that I am about to lose at least 3 places in the final mile. Without really increasing my pace, just mainly adjusting effort to altitude and building fatigue, I dig as deep as I can and it feels as though I am about to explode. I am not super concerned with placing, my primary goal is to go under 2:10, but I have come this far and worked this hard that I don’t really want to concede hard fought placings to anyone this close to the summit.
All kinds of crazy thoughts go through my head in the last miles. Jump on the back of a car? Cut a switchback or two? Give up and walk? Steal some poor sap’s carbon road bike? None of that is realistic or fair, so I give in to good ole’ fashioned deep suffering, knowing that this last push is hurting my competitors as much as me and before I know it, it will all be over.
A surge of adrenaline as I near the final switchback gives me just what I need to bust out my best sprint. I know I have everyone behind me under control, but I can see that I am getting pretty close to 2:10 and don’t want to take any chances. I sneak in under my goal time and dizzily walk off the pain for about a minute. Then my mountaineer brain immediately kicks in and I spent another few minutes huffing my way up to the true summit. I figure if I don’t do it now, I will not want to later as my mind and quads revolt. I flop onto the familiar summit rock and pant for a bit, sign the register and spend a few minutes looking down on the race and taking in the views.
The trip down was a mess. We jumped into a “shuttle” (somebodys SUV), were dropped off at the waiting busses at summit lake, then were told that they would not be departing for another 45+ minutes!! Uggg…., I just want to get down after waiting for friends to finish for over 40 minutes at the summit. We resort to good ole’ fashioned hitch hiking and myself and my two friends who I rode with this morning all got rides within 10 minutes or so.
I had a great day on the mountain. I felt great and felt as though I gave it my all and had no excuses, I had an awesome time the whole day, despite the pain and suffering. You gotta like that sort of thing, otherwise why else would you pay $55 to run the highest road race?
Matt Carpenter ended up breaking the course record, bringing it down to 1:37:01! Naoko Takahashi also set a woman's course record of 2:06:20.
6/21/08
14.5 miles
3,800 vertical +/-
2hrs 09min 18 sec
13th male
14th overall
2rd 35-39 age division
Results:http://www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/
The field for this one was pretty deep and I was a bit intimidated going into it, but heck, the best way to get better is to run with people who are faster! With names like Matt Carpenter, Michael Selig, Cornelis Guijt, Bryan Dayton, Andrew Adamowski, Daryn Parker amongst other fast names on the start list, I knew that a faster run than last year on my part would most likely yield an even lower placing, but my focus today was to just go out and run my own race, have fun, do my best and try not to really be influenced one way or the other by who was ahead.
The morning was perfect, if a bit cool while getting ready, but by the 8am start time, the temperature had warmed to a near perfect temperature under perfect blue clear skies. I take my place on the line next to Carpenter and mention something to him about whether or not he is going for the record. He shrugs off the question as expected, saying something to the effect of the record standing for 30+ years (1:41) and he is of course not giving much up, especially to me, a complete stranger.
The race starts and I am buried in a surge of adrenaline pumped runners. Quickly things begin to sort themselves out and I settle into a “comfortable” pace behind Mike Selig in something like 12th or 13th place? Mike is a great runner and has placed very high at Pikes before, in addition to some other very good placings, so I am a bit surprised to be this close to him. We pass the 2 mile mark a few ticks over 15 and at one point, I even work up the nerve to attempt a pass, but he is not letting it happen and I quickly realize that the additional effort would just not be worth it, oh well .
I keep most of the runners ahead of me pretty much in sight for about half the race, but they are ever so slowly creeping away a bit more with each passing step. I keep Mike within 30 seconds or so and know that he knows how to pace well, so I figure that I am on track to at least set a PR. At mile 7.5, he suddenly and unexpectedly pulls to the side of the road and jumps into a waiting vehicle (of course he is having a bad day which explains why I was so close afterall….). Before he jumped in, I gave Mike some encouragement for him to continue as I passed by, but he is done for the day.
Just prior to summit lake, I get passed by a guy who I do not recognize and he is really turning over a great pace. I continue to maintain my steady trot though and he does not get too far ahead. I make it to summit lake 3 minutes faster than last year and know that if I play it smart, I can at least maintain that margin. At this point my legs are starting to feel a bit worked from the effort and the pavement and I know from experience that last 5 miles are going to really hurt bad .
Out of the blue, I think to myself that there are no women ahead of me and it secretly makes me happy . No more than a few minutes after thinking that, I hear a light pitter pat behind me and some fast breathing that sounds suspiciously feminine. Uh oh, here it goes, I am about to get chicked . A petite Japanese woman passes and we exchange nods. I try hard to keep up and do OK, until we get to the final downhill and she shoots off ahead and quickly passes the guy that earlier passed me, but I keep them in sight and for the most part am always on the same stretch as them. I later find out that she is an Olympic Gold medalist in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Games! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoko_Takahashi I guess I don't feel that bad afterall..... .
As the switchbacks start to really double back, I notice that a few guys are starting to gain on me, along with the second place woman. I am hurting and I really start to question whether or not I can hold them off and start having haunting premonitions that I am about to lose at least 3 places in the final mile. Without really increasing my pace, just mainly adjusting effort to altitude and building fatigue, I dig as deep as I can and it feels as though I am about to explode. I am not super concerned with placing, my primary goal is to go under 2:10, but I have come this far and worked this hard that I don’t really want to concede hard fought placings to anyone this close to the summit.
All kinds of crazy thoughts go through my head in the last miles. Jump on the back of a car? Cut a switchback or two? Give up and walk? Steal some poor sap’s carbon road bike? None of that is realistic or fair, so I give in to good ole’ fashioned deep suffering, knowing that this last push is hurting my competitors as much as me and before I know it, it will all be over.
A surge of adrenaline as I near the final switchback gives me just what I need to bust out my best sprint. I know I have everyone behind me under control, but I can see that I am getting pretty close to 2:10 and don’t want to take any chances. I sneak in under my goal time and dizzily walk off the pain for about a minute. Then my mountaineer brain immediately kicks in and I spent another few minutes huffing my way up to the true summit. I figure if I don’t do it now, I will not want to later as my mind and quads revolt. I flop onto the familiar summit rock and pant for a bit, sign the register and spend a few minutes looking down on the race and taking in the views.
The trip down was a mess. We jumped into a “shuttle” (somebodys SUV), were dropped off at the waiting busses at summit lake, then were told that they would not be departing for another 45+ minutes!! Uggg…., I just want to get down after waiting for friends to finish for over 40 minutes at the summit. We resort to good ole’ fashioned hitch hiking and myself and my two friends who I rode with this morning all got rides within 10 minutes or so.
I had a great day on the mountain. I felt great and felt as though I gave it my all and had no excuses, I had an awesome time the whole day, despite the pain and suffering. You gotta like that sort of thing, otherwise why else would you pay $55 to run the highest road race?
Matt Carpenter ended up breaking the course record, bringing it down to 1:37:01! Naoko Takahashi also set a woman's course record of 2:06:20.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Loop around Chautauqua
~3 miles
~500 vertical
~30 minutes
Just got out for an easy run this morning. I was feeling really tired after getting shocked out of a deep REM stage at 4:15am (had to take Allison to the airport).... Uggg.
Ran Enchanted Mesa, Mesa, Bluebell-Baird, Ski Hill. Bumped into Kraig at the end of the run. Felt dopey and uncoordinated for the entire run (actually felt that way all day). Going to bed EARLY!!!
~500 vertical
~30 minutes
Just got out for an easy run this morning. I was feeling really tired after getting shocked out of a deep REM stage at 4:15am (had to take Allison to the airport).... Uggg.
Ran Enchanted Mesa, Mesa, Bluebell-Baird, Ski Hill. Bumped into Kraig at the end of the run. Felt dopey and uncoordinated for the entire run (actually felt that way all day). Going to bed EARLY!!!
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