08-09-2010
Mon-AM: 35 miles (5:41) Indian Peaks/Continental Divide, 6500'
Parked at Hessie with Scott and headed up to Devils Thumb in a pretty steady rain at 7am. What can you do? Just hunkered down in our lightweight shells and went for it. Above treeline the precip stopped and the sun came out intermittently for perfect weather at 12,000' on the CD. Ran 9 miles south essentially free-form cross-country right on the CD at 12k' the whole time--hummocky grass and some talus--to Rogers Pass and then descended the SoBo Creek drainage to the Forest Lakes Trail at 9600'. Ran that up to Rollins Pass Road where it started raining again and then hailing very hard (pea-sized) but only a little thunder and no visible lightning. Popped over the tunnel ridge and then tempoed it to Corona Pass through intensifying rain, hail, and thunder. Ran the King Lake Trail back down to Hessie to complete the loop. Another inspiring day in the mountains, for sure.
08-10-2010
Tue-AM: 15 miles (2:16) Green Mt up back down Bear Cyn, 3000'
Easy and slow after yesterday.
PM: 7 miles (1:01) Creek Path+2.5mi barefoot
Slow, easy run with Jocelyn.
08-11-2010
Wed-AM: 17 miles (2:38) Green Mt. and Bear Pk, 4200'
Good run on my favorite loop in the hills here. Looking forward to making this a daily run after I move into a new apartment much closer to Chautauqua next week and it turns into a duration of something closer to 2hr.
PM: 5 miles (:42) City Park in Denver
Quick spin with Jocelyn before hitting up the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros show at the Ogden. Which was incredible.
08-12-2010
Thu-AM: 15 miles (2:13) Green Mt up back down Bear Cyn, 3000'
Easy run and late morning after a late night. Ran into a plethora of folks all out enjoying the trails: Jeff, Brandon, George, Tim, and Tim. Finished up with a swim in Boulder Creek.
PM: 10 miles (1:53) Green Mt up and down Bear Cyn, 2500'
Started from Bear Mt Drive trailhead with Jocelyn...mellow pace with her, but on the last 1000' of climb up Green-Bear I went ahead on my own and then waited for her at the summit. Most of the descent ended up being slowed by darkness. Incredible sunset--even though it was a bit more than I'd planned, it was totally worth it to get out in the evening and share the run with Jocelyn.
08-13-2010
Fri-AM: 15 miles (2:11) Green Mt up back down Ridges/Flag, 3000'
Last run up Green for a couple weeks, I'm sure. After Leadville I'll probably be hitting this very consistently again as I become more busy with school and the snow starts closing up the high country.
PM: 7 miles (1:00) Red Rocks Canyon, 500'
Great evening run in the Springs with Jocelyn. We love it down there--so many great trails all over the place.
08-14-2010
Sat-AM: 16 miles (2:13) Almagre Mt., 2800'
Parked at Rosemont Reservoir and ran up to Frosty's Park then over on 701 to the North Cheyenne Creek trail, up to Stratton Reservoir (which had zero water in it) at 12k' and finally over to Almagre's extremely scenic summit at 12,350'-ish (it sits southeast of Pikes Peak, across the drainage). Descended the FS road. This is a great run in COS where the only people I saw were a few rednecks camping near the reservoir drinking beer and shooting off really really loud guns. The climb up Cheyenne Creek to the reservoir is fairly ridiculous: ~1600' in not much more than a mile on a very very little-known awesome reach of tiny half-track. I was following Alex Nichols' Inov-8 X-Talon footprints the whole way as he had run it only two days earlier...plus he's one of I'm sure very few people who actually use this trail. I love it.
PM: 7 miles (1:00) Palmer Park with Jocelyn, 500'
Another example of the endless options for fantastic trail running in Colorado Springs.
08-15-2010
Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:13) 7 Bridges-701-Buckhorn Mt., 3000'
Jocelyn and I slept in the Roost on Gold Camp Rd just below the upper parking lot (10min from downtown COS), so that's where I started the run. Went up 7 Bridges (one of my favorite trails in the Springs, it climbs 1600' in ~2mi to 9100') and then continued up the N. Cheyenne Creek drainage on the secret trail to 701 which I then traversed (at 10,000-10,300') over to the Bear Creek drainage and ran the classic 667 trail down to the ridge and Buckhorn Mt and back to the Roost. It looks like the dirt-bike club has done a ton of much needed work on the trail between 666 and the beaver meadows: rock water-bars, re-vegetation, bridges...good stuff. I don't mind the dirt-bikes since they do this kind of significant trail work. Didn't see a single person this entire run. Awesome.
Total
-Miles: 164
-Hours: 25h 01min
-Vertical: 26,000'
2010 Summits (Day 227)
Green: 198
Bear: 14
SoBo: 4
---------------------------------------------
Summer is nearing an end. When I was down in the Springs over the weekend, the clearing of the clouds in the afternoon revealed a lightly snow-dusted eastern face of Pikes Peak. As such, it must be time to race the Leadville 100!
If I had more time, I might give some more thoughts on the end of summer, running and racing, etc, but as it is I haven't done a thing to pack for Leadville yet, so I should probably get on it. Nevertheless, the plan will be to stay relaxed, not worry about splits or time, and just enjoy the experience and spectacle of competing hard in what will be--in terms of participation--nearly double the biggest trail 100 ever held in North America. I'm looking forward to it.
Mon-AM: 35 miles (5:41) Indian Peaks/Continental Divide, 6500'
Parked at Hessie with Scott and headed up to Devils Thumb in a pretty steady rain at 7am. What can you do? Just hunkered down in our lightweight shells and went for it. Above treeline the precip stopped and the sun came out intermittently for perfect weather at 12,000' on the CD. Ran 9 miles south essentially free-form cross-country right on the CD at 12k' the whole time--hummocky grass and some talus--to Rogers Pass and then descended the SoBo Creek drainage to the Forest Lakes Trail at 9600'. Ran that up to Rollins Pass Road where it started raining again and then hailing very hard (pea-sized) but only a little thunder and no visible lightning. Popped over the tunnel ridge and then tempoed it to Corona Pass through intensifying rain, hail, and thunder. Ran the King Lake Trail back down to Hessie to complete the loop. Another inspiring day in the mountains, for sure.
08-10-2010
Tue-AM: 15 miles (2:16) Green Mt up back down Bear Cyn, 3000'
Easy and slow after yesterday.
PM: 7 miles (1:01) Creek Path+2.5mi barefoot
Slow, easy run with Jocelyn.
08-11-2010
Wed-AM: 17 miles (2:38) Green Mt. and Bear Pk, 4200'
Good run on my favorite loop in the hills here. Looking forward to making this a daily run after I move into a new apartment much closer to Chautauqua next week and it turns into a duration of something closer to 2hr.
PM: 5 miles (:42) City Park in Denver
Quick spin with Jocelyn before hitting up the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros show at the Ogden. Which was incredible.
08-12-2010
Thu-AM: 15 miles (2:13) Green Mt up back down Bear Cyn, 3000'
Easy run and late morning after a late night. Ran into a plethora of folks all out enjoying the trails: Jeff, Brandon, George, Tim, and Tim. Finished up with a swim in Boulder Creek.
PM: 10 miles (1:53) Green Mt up and down Bear Cyn, 2500'
Started from Bear Mt Drive trailhead with Jocelyn...mellow pace with her, but on the last 1000' of climb up Green-Bear I went ahead on my own and then waited for her at the summit. Most of the descent ended up being slowed by darkness. Incredible sunset--even though it was a bit more than I'd planned, it was totally worth it to get out in the evening and share the run with Jocelyn.
08-13-2010
Fri-AM: 15 miles (2:11) Green Mt up back down Ridges/Flag, 3000'
Last run up Green for a couple weeks, I'm sure. After Leadville I'll probably be hitting this very consistently again as I become more busy with school and the snow starts closing up the high country.
PM: 7 miles (1:00) Red Rocks Canyon, 500'
Great evening run in the Springs with Jocelyn. We love it down there--so many great trails all over the place.
08-14-2010
Sat-AM: 16 miles (2:13) Almagre Mt., 2800'
Parked at Rosemont Reservoir and ran up to Frosty's Park then over on 701 to the North Cheyenne Creek trail, up to Stratton Reservoir (which had zero water in it) at 12k' and finally over to Almagre's extremely scenic summit at 12,350'-ish (it sits southeast of Pikes Peak, across the drainage). Descended the FS road. This is a great run in COS where the only people I saw were a few rednecks camping near the reservoir drinking beer and shooting off really really loud guns. The climb up Cheyenne Creek to the reservoir is fairly ridiculous: ~1600' in not much more than a mile on a very very little-known awesome reach of tiny half-track. I was following Alex Nichols' Inov-8 X-Talon footprints the whole way as he had run it only two days earlier...plus he's one of I'm sure very few people who actually use this trail. I love it.
PM: 7 miles (1:00) Palmer Park with Jocelyn, 500'
Another example of the endless options for fantastic trail running in Colorado Springs.
08-15-2010
Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:13) 7 Bridges-701-Buckhorn Mt., 3000'
Jocelyn and I slept in the Roost on Gold Camp Rd just below the upper parking lot (10min from downtown COS), so that's where I started the run. Went up 7 Bridges (one of my favorite trails in the Springs, it climbs 1600' in ~2mi to 9100') and then continued up the N. Cheyenne Creek drainage on the secret trail to 701 which I then traversed (at 10,000-10,300') over to the Bear Creek drainage and ran the classic 667 trail down to the ridge and Buckhorn Mt and back to the Roost. It looks like the dirt-bike club has done a ton of much needed work on the trail between 666 and the beaver meadows: rock water-bars, re-vegetation, bridges...good stuff. I don't mind the dirt-bikes since they do this kind of significant trail work. Didn't see a single person this entire run. Awesome.
Total
-Miles: 164
-Hours: 25h 01min
-Vertical: 26,000'
2010 Summits (Day 227)
Green: 198
Bear: 14
SoBo: 4
---------------------------------------------
Summer is nearing an end. When I was down in the Springs over the weekend, the clearing of the clouds in the afternoon revealed a lightly snow-dusted eastern face of Pikes Peak. As such, it must be time to race the Leadville 100!
If I had more time, I might give some more thoughts on the end of summer, running and racing, etc, but as it is I haven't done a thing to pack for Leadville yet, so I should probably get on it. Nevertheless, the plan will be to stay relaxed, not worry about splits or time, and just enjoy the experience and spectacle of competing hard in what will be--in terms of participation--nearly double the biggest trail 100 ever held in North America. I'm looking forward to it.
(Me and the savvy Leadville crew chief. jLu photo.)
22 comments:
see you here!
Go time.
Rock it brother.
Good luck in Leadville!
As great as the running was, the highlight had to be ES and 0s. Thanks for turning a brother on to such hip music. Good luck at Leadville.
Is there any kind of virtual tracker for Leadville?
Good luck, Tony-- but save something for the Triple Ripple! :)
Have fun! ...and gotta love your taper weeks.
Tony,
Good luck in Leadville, but most importantly enjoy yourself. Good choice in tunes. I had the pleasure of getting turned on to the Magnetic Zero's by a friend from Prescott, Az, good stuff and good to run to especially an easy tempo jaunt. Be safe Tony.
whoaw...definitively you seems so so solid...always running,each day running,many times in a day running...and never biking or just riding something else in your endurance training...and never be injured just a bit.
otherwise keep to turn us on on some such good and "unknown in europe" musical "summer,shiny and impredictable" bands like your magnetic zero and some of few you've put in your blog!
Anton -strike the fe whilst hot @ the pb. wishing you the best! - Go get it man!
Mon-AM: 35 miles (5:41) Indian Peaks/Continental Divide, 6500'
Parked at Hessie with Scott and headed up to Devils Thumb in a pretty steady rain at 7am. What can you do? Just hunkered down in our lightweight shells and went for it.
I'm always interessted in what the pro's use, so what lightweight shells did you and Scott use? And goodluck at Leadville!
Keep inspiring brother!
That concert at the Ogden was amazing!! Going to work early the next morning aside, I was dancing and singing with every song until I became a sweaty mess.
Have a good race.
Checked out a video of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
I really liked it.
I know a lot can happen over the course of 100-miles but based on your recent WS100 splits and your solid training I predict good things in Leadville.
Safe travels and enjoy the day.
Ron
Pleasure bumping into you (twice) on the trail last thurs. I agree with you; that's likely my fav loop in boulder (up green down bear canyon).
Have a good one in Leadville.
Tim
just reading your blog is making me want to throw my computer out of the window and get out there!!
you're not on the leadvill entrant list?
Good luck and good running. Enjoy the 100 mile trip, were pulling for you!
Inspirationally post man! Love it! Enjoy the way in Leadville!
You had a great week and great run too. Hoping for more run update from you.
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