Friday, May 13, 2011

May In The Mountains

After an early and mild spring--and a significant taste of summer in the past week (I have the sunburned shoulders to prove it)--the last couple days have served Boulder with almost winter-like temperatures and some much needed moisture.

With only rain and a little graupel in town yesterday morning I only added a 3 oz. wind shirt/jacket to my usual t-shirt and shorts on my run up Green Mountain. This proved to be a bit of a mistake as by the time I crested the Saddle Rock ridge I was trudging through ~5" of snow and enduring a stiff western breeze. This morning's additional attire of shameless man-pri tights and gloves proved worth it as by the time Scott and I had gained Green's northwestern Ranger trail ridge it was snowing big, wet floppy flakes and there was a solid 8" of the slush on the summit.

Even with the chilly, wet conditions and with the summit engulfed in clouds I always enjoy these little breaks from Boulder's default of brilliant sunshine. Scott and I had first tracks to the top, and didn't see another soul out there--just the way I like it.


The summit of Green is barely visible through the mist in the upper right.
Scott on the winter-like summit of Green: 8" of snow!
And myself.
Descending the Greenman trail.
Looking down to town from the Saddle Rock overlook.

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to rock the man-pris! And I agree, breaking new snow is always a blast.

Brandon Thrower said...

do you know what your race schedule is looking like now after coming off the injury?

Agiofws said...

Good to see you back on the mountains again!!! just take it easy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44bQ0z0tJWs

Anonymous said...

Big question.Will you be fit enough for the last week of june?!?!

Rob Timko said...

Guess I don't have to head up Green today post-work to check it out....or do I? I do.

Your post from yesterday is still in my RSS reader if you want it..

----------------------

"After an early and mild spring--and a significant taste of summer in the past week (I have the sunburned shoulders to prove it)--the last couple days have served Boulder with almost winter-like temperatures and some much needed moisture.

With only rain and a little graupel in town yesterday morning I only added a 3 oz. wind shirt/jacket to my usual t-shirt and shorts on my run up Green Mountain. This proved to be a bit of a mistake as by the time I crested the Saddle Rock ridge I was trudging through ~5" of snow and enduring a stiff western breeze. This morning's additional attire of man-pri tights and gloves proved worth it as by the time Scott and I had gained Green's northwestern Ranger trail ridge it was snowing big, wet floppy flakes and there was a solid 8" of the slush on the summit.

Even with the chilly, wet conditions and with the summit engulfed in clouds I always enjoy these little breaks from Boulder's default of brilliant sunshine. Scott and I had first tracks to the top, and didn't see another soul out there--just the way I like it."

jacob said...

Wow, nice to actually see a pic of you out running again! I really hope your recovery is quick and you feel ready for WS. It would seem unjust if you weren't capable of going out and giving your best. I know on some level it would be very disappointing for you not to compete. Good luck bro. And thanks for being one of the two people responsible for me competing in ultra's now.(I say responsible because my wife blames you and Geoff).

Agiofws said...

Its good to see you Back on the Trails again... :) Take it easy ... :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44bQ0z0tJWs

Barry Bliss said...

What a beautiful place.

Jeff Valliere said...

Good to know I am not the only one who lost a post (I lost the one I posted of the two SNL videos). Thought it got flagged because it had "sex" in the title.

gene said...

Beautiful shots! 70 and humid here in NC. Much sweating on this morning's trail run!

Ian Scott said...

Yea! Glad to see you're back at it. Crazy weather the past couple of days, but at least the trees and plants are blooming. Keep it up Tony.

Plodding Blogger said...

Looks awesome out there, if a little treacherous ;-) Good to see you out and about.

Barry Bliss said...

Tony, if you're ever passing through NYC and need a free room for the night let me know.
Also, happy to take you on a run over the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, or all three.
barrynowbliss@gmail.com

JessiePants said...

Beautiful photos! Colorado spring snows can be so serene.

Charlie said...

You must have raided Jocelyn's closet for those manpri tights. Shameful.

Charlie said...

The beginning of a trend?

Kieran McCarthy said...

That is the lime-greeniest outfit I've seen since 1992.

Andy said...

They don't call it the Greenman trail for nothing!

Great to hear and see you back on the mountain. BTW, broke down and bought my first pair of Minimus after years in conventional shoes. Having spent about 3.5 hours of a recovery week in them on the trails, my wife is pretty upset that I'm wearing them to bed -- I just don't want to take them off! I hate being a fadist, but they're a great piece of natural engineering and really do make the trails and the run even more fun than they were before. Kudos and thanks.

Brandon Fuller said...

Apparently, you are no longer confined to Flagstaff Mountain.

Forest Bethell said...

Awesome shots :)

sonja said...

You can see how green and spring-like it is down below through the fog and snow up above. Quite a contrast!

Anonymous said...

Are those 3/4 tights made by New Balance? I've been on the lookout for some. No shame in the man-pri game!

Great to see a post from you this morning.

Jen said...

What great pictures. You guys are hard core. No wonder you were the only ones out there. Loving the capris though. Very manly!

nikitis said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg2OZd7rPTc

nikitis said...

http://youtu.be/vISI7_HfFI4

a tribute to you and your green mountain...

Tom said...

Wanted to ask if you know distance for a Eben G fine park start up flagstaff, over and up green mtn west ridge trail, down green bear to bear canyon and back to chataqua via Mesa trail?

Thanks,

TR

Anton said...

Rob- Thanks for the recovered text.

Barry-Thanks for the kind offer.

Charlie-Indeed, the manpris evoke shameful euro-trash imagery, which I can handle, but being lumped in with a triathlete?!?! That's just too much :-)

Shane-the tights are NB.

Tom-best guess on the distance would be ~12mi give or take a mile. That would be ascending via viewpoint to flagstaff summit (maybe 3mi?), ute trail over to the stone cabin at the top of the gregory canyon trail (0.5mi or so), long canyon to green westridge (1.5mi), summit green (another 1.5mi), down bear canyon (3mi), mesa back to chautauqua (2.5 or 3mi) = 12mi. If you just went straight up ranger from the stone cabin, subtract 1.5mi.

Speedgoat Karl said...

May shouldn't be like this, more snow on the way. snowing at 6000' here again all day. I like how you and Scott are smiling, I'm having a hard time smiling with all this snow....call the wambulance for me please. :-)

Great to see you back at it.

fabrice said...

UTMB ??? Really hope to see you there :-)

Unknown said...

nice post tony!

Charlie said...

FWIW Anton, the trucker's hat totally balances the manpri tights to maintain your blue collar cred. Plus, 150+ mile weeks don't hurt either. We will say they are "ironic" like when Jesse Ventura used to wear a feather boa in the ring.

Roberto Cofresi said...

Tony, Any insights on the new MT20 as compared to the MT10?

Bipolar Boy said...

do you have western states on your race list after your injury ?. As someone returning back to running long what piece of advice could you offer that i might find most useful. Keep on,keeping on.

R. Logan Brooks said...
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R. Logan Brooks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
R. Logan Brooks said...

Tony,

Thanks again for going out of your way to head down to the Valley of the Sun a few weeks back for the New Balance/Runners Den shindig! It was epic! Hope you made it back to the Portugal show in time?

It may be a little too much but hope ya enjoy this musical magic by Sufjan. It may be a perfect companion piece for that nice, rolling, flat singletrack you'll come across sometimes up in Colorado? Even though I know you despise tunes on the run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uceNZtKZAnc&playnext=1&list=PL3BDC1A7B8EF48DD6

Anonymous said...

Tony,

We're holding a Columbia Sportswear Spring Field Test of our Trail Running gear. If you're interested in testing out a variety of gear just let us know.

Thanks,

Dan
Columbia Sportswear Spring Field Test
columbiafieldtest@columbia.com

mr everyday guy said...

A while back you mentioned of wrapping up a graduate degree this spring...I hope you have found your way. If a doctorate is in your vision, know that your best efforts and attitude towards running is no different if applied to attaining that goal. That is just my armchair philosophy from an everyday guy...who also enjoys the long run. Best.

Shwa Training said...

I live and train at sea level in the Seattle area and was wondering if you have any suggestions on how to train for runs that are at higher elevation while still being saturated with oxygen? I have plenty of mt's here but non get higher then 5000 ft.

Sportsclothingapparel said...

Your post is great..What an awesome experience it is..I just wanna ask of your jackets and other sportswear used, is it a Columbia Sportswear?..

Unknown said...

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