Dec 23 - 29

12/23/2013
Mon-AM: 2:18, 4500' ~ Bear & Green
Easy loop over the peaks. Grunting up Fern Canyon was a little slower than normal due to a couple inches of fresh snow.
PM: 1:08, 2700' ~ 2nd Flatiron+Green
Biked to Chautauqua and wasn't running until after 4:30pm, so most of this outing was in the dark. Scrambling the Freeway on the 2nd was fun, a little spicy with the dusting of snow on everything.

12/24/2013
Tue-AM: 1:37, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Up and out the door early before driving home to Nebraska for Christmas. Exceptionally windy morning, and my legs were a bit tired from yesterday's first double in a long time.

12/25/2013
Wed-AM: 3:35, 1800' ~ Verdigre Loop (Nebraska)
Awesome run. At 32 miles this was the longest run I've ever done back home in Nebraska and it was a great way to spend Christmas morning. This is a 30mi loop, but when I was nearing the end I thought I might as well go a full 50K (in 3:28) and then jogged another mile as a cooldown. 10 mile splits were 69:20, 66:30, 64:50. Really fun to just get out and roll along at a steady pace for a few hours; definitely boosted my confidence a bit in my fitness. Also, I haven't done a run like this in a long time…a couple of years at least. I'm anticipating a couple races this year with lots of flattish running, so I might be doing a run like this fairly regularly here in the early season.

12/26/2013
Thu-AM: 2:02, 1000' ~ Nebraska
Nice, easy recovery jog on one of my favorite 15 mile loops here in Nebraska. Felt good to get out and go easy on tight legs from yesterday.

12/27/2013
Fri-AM: 1:02, 600' ~ Nebraska
Down to the river and back via the "Ethiopian Trail". Brilliant moonlight from a quarter-orb, and I even saw a shooting star. I love easy jogs like this at home.
PM: 2:16, 4500' ~ Bear & Green
Back in Boulder after a long day of driving, but my legs felt fantastic as they often do in the evening after a morning run. Had to turn on my light once I entered Fern Canyon, and really enjoyed the unseasonably warm evening and having the trails all to myself. Shorts and a t-shirt.

12/28/2013
Sat-AM: 5:07, 5200' ~ Torreys & Grays
Parked just off the highway with Joe and went up Kelso Ridge before making the trudge up Grays as well. Ugh. My first time above 9000' or so since August, and I could tell. Above 12k' I was struggling. Today was my first outing on my new skis, and I suppose I learned some things. We skinned up to basically the base of Kelso Ridge before ditching the skis and continuing on in our boots. Our boots are light, but it's nothing like scrambling in a pair of running shoes, haha. Skiing down the road at the end of the day was, of course, a nice pay-off.

12/29/2013
Sun-AM: 2:02, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Up Gregory-Ranger and down to Red Lion and back down the Creek Path. A few inches of fresh snow made for a nice low-intensity outing. Unexpectedly caught up to Jurker while heading down to the highway; nice to share some strides with him after not seeing much of each other the last few months.
AM2: Climbing at Movement. Gym climbing is interesting; it's basically reducing the act of climbing to the pure kinesthetic/physical aspect, removing virtually all of the danger, uncertainty and route-finding of climbing on actual rock outside. Good for getting strong, that's for sure.
PM: 1:02, 200' ~ Creek Path
Easy jog in the dark in the evening. Trying to re-boost the amount of actual running I'm doing this season.

Hours: 22h09min
Vert: 26,800'

Really good week of running here. I had a pretty big boost in volume this week, and with all of the flatlander running back home in Nebraska even managed 130 miles or so. I can feel myself finally starting to build some fitness, but Saturday's outing up into the thin air was a rude reminder of the fact that I've spent most of the past month on the road at near sea-level elevations. Altitude acclimation will return quickly, though.

Mom and Dad on the spread.

Joe cruising up Kelso Ridge on Torreys Peak on Saturday.