10-04-2010
Mon-AM: 15 miles (2:12) Green Mt., 3300'
Up the back and down Bear Cyn after an Enchanted Mesa loop with Jocelyn. Still really warm weather for this time of year.
PM: 8 miles (1:04) Creek Path+Kitt
2.5mi barefoot at Kitt.
10-05-2010
Tue-AM: 15 miles (2:15) Green Mt., 3300'
Up the back and down the NE ridge plus down Flagstaff to EGF. Really nice run this morning with good energy in the legs. No evening run because of class.
10-06-2010
Wed-AM: 7 miles (1:03) Creek Path+Kitt
Jogged up to Chautauqua and had zero energy, so couldn't motivate to head up the mountain. Ended up going home and then running the long way around to the fields where we did a mile of barefoot before running home. Weird, depressing, motivationless morning before heading into the lab.
PM: 15 miles (2:14) Green & Bear, 4200'
This afternoon there were still fall-like clouds and a great crispness in the air, so my spirits were buoyed a bit. Wore some new kicks that put an instant spring in my step. Charged up the frontside of Green in a one-second PR of 31:28 (6:20, 12:10, 14:40, 18:20, 22:00, 28:55). Jogged over to the top of Bear then and enjoyed the new shoes' grippiness for a 17min descent of Fern. If I hadn't been so wiped by the quick trip up Green I would've tagged SoBo, too, but my legs were not psyched at the prospect of any more climbing.
10-07-2010
Thu-AM: 8 miles (1:04) Boulder HS
Cruised 6mi of barefoot on the turf while Jocelyn, jLu, and Jurker hit the track. Gorgeous morning.
PM: 14 miles (2:06) Green Mt., 3000'
Up the back and down Flagstaff. Thought I had some decent energy, but the descent was pretty tired with flat legs after yesterday's harder effort.
10-08-2010
Fri-AM: 14 miles (2:00) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back, down Ridges to Flagstaff to EGF. Took it nice and easy, but still somewhat inexplicably tired. Might get some blood work done and make sure all my bases are covered. Wore a shirt the entire way, so it's definitely fall. Drove through snow going over Berthoud Pass in the evening.
10-09-2010
Sat-AM: 14 miles (2:11) Snow Mt. (Winter Park), 2600'
Was up at the Snow Mt. Ranch YMCA near Winter Park for a friend's wedding, so I got out in the morning to explore the area and hopefully find a mountain to run up, which I did. After bumbling around on some XC ski trails I found the Snow Mt. trailhead and enjoyed its 2000'/35min ascent to 10,800'. The significant snow/graupel/ice on the top half made the often very steep trail really slick at times and I had to be careful in spots going both up and down, but all in all it was a ton of fun to just step out the door, look for the nearest mountain, and run to the top of it and back. Legs didn't feel very on, though. The extra altitude might've had something to do with it. Coldest run I've done since April; long-sleeve and gloves the whole way.
10-10-2010
Sun-AM: 8 miles (1:11) Snow Mt. Ranch YMCA
Really enjoyable group run with a whole bunch of my old CC XC teammates. This weekend's wedding turned into a mini-reunion of sorts and it was a lot of fun hanging out with a bunch of people that I used to spend a whole lot of time with. I have great friends. We mostly just explored the extensive (and, right now, quite muddy) XC ski trails in and around the YMCA at a leisurely pace.
PM: 15 miles (2:28) 2xGreen Mt., 5000'
36:50 and 36:40 up the backside. Definitely the best run I've had since Leadville. Runs like this make me feel like I'm ready to get back out there and race again. Legs felt great right from the first few steps off my porch and the first time up Gregory-Ranger felt like a jog. Cruised the NE Ridge/Saddle Rock descent with perfect footwork and continued back up the mountain again without even pausing in the Gregory parking lot. Worked really hard above the 4-way on the 2nd climb to make sure I negative split the run before descending Greenman-Gregory mostly in the dark. Saw a bear at the mouth of Gregory at the start of the first climb and enjoyed a spectacular sunset from the first summit. Great run.
Total
-Miles: 133
-Hours: 19h 48min
-Vertical: 24,400'
2010 Boulder Summits:
-Green: 226
-Bear: 24
-SoBo: 4
---------------------------------------------------------------
This was kind of a strange week. I obviously got back into some real running, but I wasn't draconian about getting in my evening jogs, mostly because I was attending a wedding and because I still seem to be dealing with a bit of not-quite-right residual fatigue.
Those feelings, however, were weirdly juxtaposed with an unexpected PR on Green on Wednesday and a fantastically good run on Sunday evening, so I guess I can't complain too much. Efforts such as those make me feel like I'm emerging from the funk I've been feeling for the past 6+ weeks and that with continued diligence I'll soon be back in ripping shape. The Green PR felt like a bit of a token occurrence: it was only a one second improvement and I know I was in better/faster shape in July but I just never bothered to hit it on a day when I was feeling good and rested. In any event, I certainly enjoyed running this past week more than I have any time since August.
16 comments:
Odds are that you have a rhinovirus. Next week, you will have a runny nose.
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a doctor. Just someone with a cold.
Great read Anton. Inspiring as ever.
Just had Mt101's delivered. Lets hope they make me cruise up the mountains just as you do ;)! in my dreams...
A PR is a PR, congrats!
hey tony, maybe you've mentioned it in a previous post, but curious to know what each split signifies in your run up Green? (ie: 6:20, 12:10, 14:40, 18:20, 22:00, 28:55). thanks man.
6 weeks...this is almost a macro-cycle of training...it was a lower one...great now to expect you back in good shape anthon;-)
Jeff-Yeah, sort of nice, especially since I know I have a lot of room for improvement still.
Jacob-My splits are almost completely meaningless to anyone but myself, except for maybe a couple of Boulderites with extreme knowledge of the route: 6:20 is the Saddle Rock trail junction, 12:10 the 2nd Flatiron trail junction, 14:40 a random tree that I've picked out in an overlook-type area, 18:20 the Greenman trail junction, 22:00 a cedar tree just after the talus switchback, and 28:55 the rail fence/top of the log stairs just before the start of the final switchbacks. So, just my own checkpoints along the way.
Why do you link to the people that you link to? "Folks mostly"... are those guys the ones the ones that you run with most often and promote you the most? Your regular friends? That is quite an elite list! You seem to run with others more often though?
Maybe you needed to be buried into a funk to excel out of it.
I hit a minor PR in a road half, meanwhile struggling weeks prior to.
Still a beginner, but seems to be my experience. Hope yours looks up going forward.
Anton,
First of all, I really enjoy your writing, especially when you share the depths of why you venture into the mountains and chose running as your means of transportation. Thanks for sharing.
I was also wondering if you've been running in the NB Minimus and what your thoughts are thus far.
I sense the return of the icicle beard is coming!
"Wore some new kicks that put an instant spring in my step."
Which kicks are these? I'm dying to find out!
Regarding shoes:
I have been running in a pair of the Trail Minimus for about a month now. I typically do my easy, flat evening runs in this shoe. It is definitely a "barefoot" shoe as opposed to what I refer to as "minimalist" shoes. For the intensity that I like to run the mountain trails here in Boulder, the Minimus' forefoot is just a little too thin to provide me with the necessary confidence to run really fast on technical terrain. However, I think it's perfect as a "barefoot simulator" that works over a much wider range of terrain than I would ever be comfortable wearing, say, FiveFingers on. And, I have done easy technical trail runs in them, too.
So, the shoes I do my mountain runs in (and am comfortable charging at the highest intensity in) is either a pair of 101s or a pair of custom mash-ups that have a 100 upper and a 790 platform. When I wrote "springy new kicks" I was simply referring to the fact that it was a fresh pair of shoes as opposed to a pair with a few hundred miles in them.
Gotta love it :)
Tony, Thanks for the details on your splits. I'm one of those Boulderites who knows these trails somewhat well (still haven't run all of them). Can you confirm what your different ascent routes are? I assume "frontside of Green" is Amphitheater to Saddle Rock to Greenman? And "backside" is Gregory to Ranger? Is that right? Then what is the "NE Ridge" route? Or is that not on official OSMP trails? Last, do you start your splits at Chautauqua or the Gregory parking lot? Thanks if you're willing to share. It's always fun to run these same routes and then stare at my watch in disbelief, wondering how in the world you manage such times.
Jay--You've assumed right on all the routes. I start my splits at the Gregory trailheads, not Chautauqua.
I'm glad to have find this blog.
Anton, I'm curious, have you ever been interested in all those theories : chirunning, poserunning, evolutionrunning
Or are you doing just as you do?
Post a Comment