Week Summary: Jan 30 - Feb 5

1-30-2011
Mon-AM: 2:50, 4500' ~ Green Mt. + 3rd Flatiron
Ran to Chautauqua, stashed my pack, and went up Green via Gregory-Ranger and down the Skunk Ridge. Back at Chat, I retrieved my pack before soloing a quick lap on the Third with Buzz.  By far the crux of the route was descending the access trail from the backside of the Third--death ice. Finished up by running down to Basemar for lunch.

1-31-2011
Tue-AM: 1:30, 2900' ~ Green Mt.
Up First Saddle and down Skunk Ridge.  Running (as every morning has been for the past week+).  Managed a snappy 32min ascent despite having pretty tired legs. Acupuncture with Allison afterwards.
PM: 2:14, 4000' ~ Green Mt. via Third Flatiron + extra lap to the Third and back to Chat
Really fun afternoon on the mountain. With the Third closing tomorrow for six months for raptor nesting, I couldn't resist one final scramble up its classic East Face. Biked to Chat and started hiking hard to the base with a rope and rock shoes in my backpack. Soloed the Third in a comfortable 26min (Dave and others can blitz this 900ft/5.2 climb in 9-10min when motivated) and then did the three-pitch rappel off the SW corner. Stashed my backpack before continuing to the summit of Green via the standard route to the NE ridge and Greenman. Hiked back down the same way to get my pack before hiking back to Chat. After I'd biked home and took my pack off I saw that the top was unzipped and that my harness, locking 'biner, and belay device had fallen out...WTF?!?!  Immediately hopped back on the bike, retraced my route to Chat with eyes peeled, and then hiked hard all the way back up to the backside of the Third looking for my harness.  Nowhere to be seen. I did tally another 1200' and 38min of hiking, though (and a little jogging). In this short time someone else must've been psyched to score Camp's sick super-lightweight harness. A really frustrating end to an otherwise stellar day.

2-1-2011
Wed-AM: 2:14, 4400' ~ Bear & Green
Jogged up to Chat to meet Jeff before heading over on Mesa to Fern Canyon to the summit of Bear and then coming back over Green and descending the 1st/2nd Access.  Today was definitely a test of the shin and I think it passed, just barely. Each of the last three days have had longer-than-necessary efforts, definitely going to back off the next couple of days before L.A. this weekend. Put in steady efforts on both climbs--Fern is such a beast, super-sustained, perfect. This is just a perfect mountain loop that I've missed so much. Even so, possibly the highlight of the morning was finding last night's wayward harness just sitting on the bench at the Chat Ranger Cottage. Yes!
PM: 1:16, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up behind First Arete and down First Saddle. Got a late start so needed the headlamp on the downhill. Very nice pink sunset on the summit. Hiking.

2-2-2011
Thu-AM: 1:48, 5000' ~ 2 x Bear Peak
Biked over to Cragmoor, ran to the summit, descended Fern all the way back to Mesa, summited again, and ran back down to Cragmoor. Mesa-Summitpost: 28:48, 27:50. The second lap was down the Fern connector to Mesa (not past the Slab), which is ~1min shorter, so both laps were essentially the same (splits were the same from the double posts at the mouth to the top). I finally broke my Microspikes last night (actually wore through a link!), so was rocking super-sharp new spikes above the Nebelhorn Saddle, which was absolutely incredible on the ice luge conditions up there. 16min descents on both laps. I was feeling great and would've gone for round three but had to get to an acupuncture appointment with Allison. Probably a good thing that I didn't have the time. Stay smart.
PM: 1:11, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up behind First Arete and down First Saddle. Another late start meant I was finishing in the dark, but my legs felt super strong. Hiking.

2-3-2011
Fri-AM: 2:00, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Winter! Up and down First Saddle. This was one of the more difficult Green ascents of the season. It took me exactly an hour to wade my way to the top, through a fresh foot+ of powder and wind-packed waist-deep drifts on upper Greenman in the dark at 4:30am before flying to L.A. Above the NE ridge I was having a really hard time seeing anything as it was snowing so hard my headlamp beam was just reflecting snow flakes. Even at the end of the run I feel like my body hadn't woken up yet. Definitely some accumulative fatigue from the last two weeks of vert.

2-4-2011
Sat-AM: 2:25, 5100' ~ Mt. Wilson & Mt. Harvard (L.A. Front Country)
Up and down Mt. Wilson Trail from Sierra Madre/Little Santa Anita Canyon (900' trailhead) with Dominic and Katie. Mellow climb for the first ~40min or so and then things really got fun, climbing ~2000' in the final two miles before joining the old Mt. Wilson Toll Road to the summit. Really sweet trail. TH to summit parking lot (5700') in 1:20:50 (7.5mi). Bopped up to 5440' Mt. Harvard on the way back down and then goat-footed it down the front before rejoining the trail and finding some really nice flow on the Cali carpet for a :53 descent (including the summit of Harvard). Incredibly good day for the shin. Zero pain. Also, shirtless in February.

2-5-2011
Sun-AM: 2:26, 5800' ~ Mt. Baldy
Up and down Bear Canyon from Baldy Village (4300') with Dominic and Katie again. Started off slow and creaky, feeling yesterday's run a bit in the hip flexors and hamstrings. Just didn't have good pop or strength all day really. Eventually found a rhythm, though, and ground out this remarkably sustained, long climb. It's just a really good, direct line up the mountain; not a lot of messing around. Hit a 1:37:22 ascent from the Bear Cyn Drive/Baldy Village junction to the summit plaque (~6.4mi). Waited around for Dom, just enjoying the super clear day on the summit and then descended in :49. Again, really nicely-flowing singletrack with stunning views the whole way down. Awesome mountain. I've been really impressed with the 1010's performance this weekend, too, on mountain trails. Soaked in the frigid stream afterwards before some pretty stellar french toast at the Baldy Village Lodge.

Hours: 19h54
Vert: 39,500'

Ended the week just short of three different round numbers with ~99mi, almost 20hrs, and nearly 40k' vert.  That's a lot.  The shin really seemed to solidify itself over the weekend.  Both runs it felt really, really good.  Never noticed it.  I had a blast on two exceptional mountain ascents in the San Gabes.  They're a really scenic, steep mountain range with totally legit climbs. This weekend was by far the most fun I've had running in over a year. Really a pleasure.  This next week I'll look to maintain this volume while shifting some of my evening outings to running, hopefully (evenings were hiking-only this past week).  Even though running up big mountains shirtless in L.A. had me jonesing a bit for the simplicity of summer, I'm still really psyched to get out in the bounty of fresh now here in Boulder.

Oh yeah, January stats:

• 65h22min 
• 122,200' vert 
• 301mi 
• 39 Greens

Summit of the Third Flatiron, Monday morning. Photo: Buzz Burrell.

Bear Peak Thursday, with weather coming in.

Running up Mt. Wilson Trail Saturday with Dominic. Photo: Dominic Grossman.

Of course, I had to scout a goat route off of Mt. Harvard. Encountered a few thorns. Photo: DG.

Final ridge leading to summit of Mt. Baldy (San Antonio, 10,064'). 

Almost to the top of Mt. Baldy. Photo: DG.

Photo: DG.

Photo: DG.

Cattle Canyon and the Pacific beyond, during the Baldy descent.

Week Summary: Jan 23 - 29

1-23-2012
Mon-AM: 1:22, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down Third access.  Boom, running. Ran the runnable terrain on this route (including to and from Chautauqua), which made for about 50min worth. Super exciting.
PM: 1:01, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle. Biked to Gregory and was very disciplined about just hiking. Warm afternoon had me shirtless on the climb, though. Awesome, considering it's January.  Snappy 33min ascent.

1-24-2012
Tue-AM: 1:22, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Same exact outing as yesterday morning, except the shin felt even better. Ran everything that is runnable. Patience, patience, PATIENCE! Acupuncture session with Allison Suddard.
PM: 1:09, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle. Very nice evening; perfectly calm w/ lightly falling flakes. All hiking.

1-25-2012
Wed-AM: 1:20, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
The usual, up and down Third access. Really really good.  My shin felt extremely close to 100% and the fresh pair of kicks (NB 1010s) had excellent stability and traction on the techiest terrain possible. I can't express how good it feels to be running again.
PM: 1:15, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Took a fun new variation up to the First Saddle, scrambling the arete that leads out of Amphitheater and up to the First. Came out a little further east than I would've liked (right at the base of the backside of the First, so a touch high), but joined up with the standard path and then caught up to Gavin just below the NE ridge. Hiked to the top with him, but then hiked down solo as he was running down. Trying to stay smart.

1-26-2012
Thu-AM: 1:18, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up Amphi-Saddle Rock-Greenman and down First Saddle. Greenman above Saddle Rock is a freaking glacier right now. The ice is just ridiculous. All running, 35min up/18min down.  Acupuncture with Allison Suddard.
PM: 1:18, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up First Arete and down First Saddle. Got a late start after chatting with Buzz at the trailhead (he was out biking, too), but it ended up being a really fun climb. Was caught by darkness on the way down so stumbled a bit coming down Amphitheater. All hiking.

1-27-2012
Fri-AM: 1:31, 2900' ~ Green Mt.
Up Skunk Ridge down First Flatironette. Nice as I was able to get this in right before it started dumping snow.  Hit a cloud/snow line at ~7800' heading up the Skunk Ridge but then it was snowing pretty much the whole descent. Running.
PM: 1:15, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up First Arete and down First Saddle. Fresh layer of snow made things pretty slow and the icy patches super treacherous.  Truly magical evening on the summit with the sun setting behind swirling purple and pink mist; really wished I had the camera.

1-28-2012
Sat-AM: 4:48, 5000' ~ La Plata Peak
From Highway 82, I took the NW ridge to the summit and back the same way. A few hundred extra feet of vert from the bumps on the ridge. Total postholing endless drudgery through the trees (w/ snowshoes even!) was the only damper on an otherwise excellent day. 3:22 up, 1:26 down.  On the way down I got in a bit of snowshoe running for the first time ever and found it to be way less awkward than I'd always assumed.

1-29-2012
Sun-AM: 1:36, 2900' ~ Green Mt.
Up Skunk Ridge and down 3rd access, mostly with Geoff after starting with a big group of others (Jenny, Scott, Jon, Krissy, Dan, Darcy). Shin felt good.
PM: 1:14, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle in the dark (headlamp). Hiking.

Hours: 20h29min (~9hr running/11h30 hiking)
Vert: 37,000'

Ah, good news to report this week, the first in almost a month it seems.  My shin started feeling good again last weekend and this week I was determined to not get over-excited with its seeming health.  I've been in this position probably a half dozen times over the past year, but this past week I made the crucial difference of not increasing the running at all for the whole week, sticking to my usual 1:20-ish trip up and down Green from my doorstep each morning, and of reinstituting acupuncture into my plan of attack. Yesterday's 14er involved less than 30min of actual running (most of which was on cushiony snow, no less), so despite the longer outing was still pretty tame on the shin, I think.  This week I will look to maintain the discipline and not increase the running appreciably until at least next weekend when I'll be back in L.A. and hope to enjoy another outing in the San Gabes.

This week's positive progress gave me the confidence to finally post a racing schedule for the 2012 season. After only racing once in 2011, I'm extremely excited about the events I have lined up in 2012, especially the prospect of racing internationally multiple times.  I've always identified deepest with the European style of mountain running (steep and techy), so May's races are super inspiring for me.  And how can one not be excited about visiting New Zealand?

Overall, I'm trying to diversify things a bit this year: different countries, a foray into shorter races (Mt. Washington and Pikes Peak), and maybe the gnarliest event in the sport (Hardrock).  I may even still throw the Boston Marathon in there in April; I've always wanted to experience the most classic pavement session on the calendar.  I'm most excited to finally be in a position, physically, where I feel confident allowing myself to realistically anticipate racing again.

• Finally, here is a long interview I recently did with SportVicious.com.

Alpenglow at the base of Green, Friday morning.

But a just-starting-to-snow cloud on the summit, #33.

A special sight for anyone who's run the Leadville 100: 13,933' Mt. Hope (left) and Twin Peaks/Rinker Peak near Twin Lakes (Hope Pass just barely out of frame on the left). On the way to La Plata Pk Saturday morning.

Really looking forward to the new Sleigh Bells album on February 21st.

Two Week Summary: Jan 9 - 22

1-9-2012
Mon-AM: :22, 500' ~ Amphitheater
Hiked to the top of the Amphitheater trail at the base of Green before deciding that the shin was too tight and that tagging the summit would be a bad idea.

1-10-2012
Tue-AM: 1:14, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Shin felt quite a bit better this morning, especially as the hike went on.
PM: 1:19, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st Saddle.  Incredibly warm afternoon.  All hiking.

1-11-2012
Wed-AM: 1:08, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. At the Gregory TH by 5:15am when it was already lightly flaking. Needed the headlamp all the way back down the mountain as the falling snow seemed to be suppressing any sort of sunrise. My bus to DIA was delayed by 1h30 due to an accident on 270 so I had to catch a later flight to Charlotte where there ended up being tornadoes that evening.  In January. Long day, but really glad I got the summit in to start it off.

1-12-2012
Thu - off.
Spent the day in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Durham, giving a talk at the Carrboro Fleet Feet in the evening. No exercise today, but really fun to see a new corner of the country. Really liked the vibe in Carrboro and would like to do Uhwarrie or Mt. Mitchell one of these years.

1-13-2012
Fri-PM: 1:21, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Got out in the late evening after a long day of travel back from North Carolina. Shin was more sore than I would've liked, even just hiking. WTF.

1-14-2012
Sat - off.
Just seemed stupid to do anything since the shin is hurting.

1-15-2012
Sun - off.

Hours: 5h02min
Vert: 10,600'

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

1-16-2012
Mon-AM: 1:18, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle. Felt crappy after the time off.

1-17-2012
Tue-AM: 1:16, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle. Cold morning at +10F. Warmed up nicely later, though.
PM: 0:13 ~ Streets
Tested the shin with a little flat jogging. Meh.

1-18-2012
Wed-AM: 1:43, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up Third access and down First Saddle. Jogged to Chautauqua and then the first couple minutes up the meadow. Status quo blah.

1-19-2012
Thu-AM: 1:36, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down First Saddle. Ran the 13min to Gregory. Shin twingier than I would've liked, but I'm used to disappointment after a year of this shit.  +60F today, which is awesome but feels wrong.

1-20-2012
Fri-AM: 1:18, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access, down 1st/2nd access. More warm weather. Short-sleeved shirt. All hiking.

1-21-2012
Sat-AM: 1:20, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd, access down 1st/2nd. Another unseasonably warm day.
PM: 1:13, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 3rd access. Felt really dialed in and tagged a 38min ascent from Chat. Shin felt really solid on the down, and on such steep terrain it's tough not to sneak in a few running-type steps. Finished just as a headlamp would've become helpful. Perfect timing.

1-22-2012
Sun-AM: 1:33, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 3rd access. Tested out a little running today, and it went pretty well. My guiding principle now will be to do nothing that I don't think I can repeat the next day.
PM: 1:15, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down Third access. All hiking but shin felt quite good. Really enjoying getting out again.

Hours: 12h45min
Vert: 23,800'

I'm bored of whining, so won't.  But there did seem to be a legitimate glimmer of hope at the end of a really tough two-week stretch with the shin.

• Wait, one thing I will whine about: posing as someone else on the Internet is pretty lame, bordering on douchie. Equal parts flattering and annoying, I suppose.  For the record, "Anton's Ghost" on Twitter is not me in case there was any confusion about that (and there actually seems to be).

• Tickets for the February 9th Boulder screening of Unbreakable were sold out as of a couple days ago.  Sounds like there may be a couple of extra guests, so expect it to be the sort of trail/mountain/ultra gathering typical of the Boulder scene, i.e. more top mountain runners and other assorted legends anywhere else other than maybe Placer High on a late June evening.

• Got a new post up over at Running Times.

I recommend checking out these two wildly divergent but equally emotive tracks:

Week Summary: Jan 2 - 8

1-2-2012

Mon-AM: 1:27, 2800' ~ Green Mt.

Up 3rd access and down Greenman-SR-Amphi. All running except for the obvious hiking on the super steep postholing sections.  Cruised the descent at a moderate but not committed effort and skittered down the ice in 16:42.  A big part of me would love a new 2ft dump of fluff some time soon.

PM: 1:02, 2700' ~ Green Mt.

Up and down 1st Saddle. Met up with JV, Brandon and Bill for an afternoon lap. Pushed solid on the up with Jeff and got a couple hundred extra feet of vert when we went back to tag the summit again with Brandon. All hiking on the up, but all running on the down, nice chatting a bit with Bill there.

1-3-2012

Tue-AM: 1:37, 3000' ~ Green Mt.

Up 3rd access and down 1st Saddle. Really tired this morning, so just jogged easy and then hiked steady. Really warm morning in the 50s at 7am. Added a couple hundred extra feet of vert on the descent as I thought better of postholing through a new route in only 3/4 length tights.

PM: 1:14, 2500' ~ Green Mt.

Up and down 1st Saddle. Frustrating punchy, slushy conditions but a lot of exposed rock, too. Super warm evening had me climbing in a t-shirt even though the sun was already set.  All hiking.

1-4-2012

Wed-AM: 3:02, 5200' ~ Grays & Torreys

Parked at Bakerville and round-tripped these classic Front Range 14ers in 2:55 in perfect winter conditions.

PM: 1:12, 2500' ~ Green Mt.

Up and down 1st Saddle. Didn't get out until later but it almost didn't matter because the slightly-more-than-half-full moon was offering some brilliant lumination. Didn't put on spikes until above the First but then kept them on all the way down, mostly because I was in the dark. Gorgeous warm evening. Hiking.

1-5-2012

Thu-AM: 1:52, 2800' ~ Green Mt.

Up and down 1st Saddle. Scott biked over to my place and we ran up 6th St to the Gregory trailhead where I promptly snapped a Microspike just putting it on. Never had that happen before. Easy effort hike up and down the mountain then because of my lack of traction but the shin was definitely a bit touchy and needed to be babied after yesterday's overzealous outing anyways. Jogged ~10min on the streets on the way back home.

1-6-2012

Fri-AM: 1:17, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access down 1st Saddle. Was cautious this morning by biking to Chat and limiting the running. Snuck some in on the way down. Calves are still quite sore from Wednesday morning.
PM: 1:09, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Exact same loop as this morning except I went up in 39:50 from Chat this time, which is the fastest I've done that route in quite some time.  Mostly because there's really no postholing anymore.

1-7-2012

Sat-AM: 2:09, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert
Drove up to Leadville with jLu and Scott. Snow was already coming down at the Eisenhower Tunnel and Fremont Pass, but things were good in town and great at the North Elbert trailhead.  Temps in the upper teens and perfectly still with only lightly-falling flakes.  A mix of running and a steady hike on the nicely-packed trail deposited Scott and I on the 14,433' summit 1h30 later.  After stowing the sticks and spending a few minutes hanging out on the summit, I ran back down to the car in :39 for a surprisingly quick trip up and down the hill.  The drive home on I-70 was a different story--ice- and snow-packed roads, grid-locked traffic...6hrs later we were finally back in Boulder.

1-8-2012

Sun-AM: 1:42, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Maybe 2-3" of fresh snow on the upper trails. Fresh cat tracks on the NE ridge. Ran the 15min to the trailhead mostly because I didn't want to bike on icy roads. Jogged most of the descent but walked the streets home to be nice to the shin.

Hours: 17h42min

Vert: 34,000'

Overall, obviously quite a good-looking week--a few big peaks, a bunch of vert and ~7.5hr of actual running--but the shin is still very much a limiting factor on what I am able to do pain-free in the mountains, blah blah blah boring; I'm very tired of thinking and complaining about it.  I know that right now Colorado (along with most of the American West) is experiencing a very mild winter, but I can't believe that I've waited until this year to really make a concerted effort to keep getting into the high country during the winter months.  A huge part of this is my shift these last few months toward realizing the value in hiking uphills (something snow and ice necessitates this time of year); I know that in the past I simply wasn't prepared to accept that for whatever misguided reason (ego).  A fun fact about these winter summits is that nearly as much time that is lost on the climb is able to be re-gained on the descent thanks to the relatively smooth(er) and softer surface that the snow provides.

Moving along, later this week I'm looking forward to a trip to North Carolina for New Balance and will probably use it as an opportunity to enforce a few consecutive easy days for the shin.  Wednesday evening I'll be speaking at the Dilworth Run For Your Life store in Charlotte and Thursday evening I'll be at the Fleet Feet Carborro store near Chapel Hill.

Here is a link to an interview I recently did with a runner I met on a trip I took to Michigan for NB last year.

Finally, next Saturday is Colorado Springs' 2nd Annual Ponderous Posterior 50K.  Because Team CRUD knows how to do things right, this year's Fat Ass-style run on the Pikes Peak region trails will follow the same route as last year (still starting and finishing at JT's house), BUT this time in the clockwise direction (last year we ran it counter-clockwise).  Due to the change in direction, the official course this year will include an ascent of the Manitou Incline to the top of Longs Ranch Road instead of running up Barr Trail.  Any out-of-towners or Incline virgins are in for a treat.  It is highly unlikely that my shin will allow me to make it around the full 50K loop, but I definitely still plan on heading down to the Springs for a more abbreviated version of the trail festivities.

Fri evening: #10

Elbert.

Jurker.

Up. Photo: Scott Jurek.

Summit ridge. Photo: Scott Jurek.

14,433'

Jurker descending.

jLu.

Grays & Torreys

Wednesday morning I couldn't ignore the absolutely stellar mid-winter weather window and bolted for the high country.  With only an hour's drive to the trailhead at Bakerville on I-70, Grays & Torreys were the obvious choice for getting above 14,000'; I was running up the road to the summer trailhead by 7:30am. Three miles, 1500' vert and :38 later and I was crossing the footbridge to the trail proper.

Upon hitting the singletrack, I was pleasantly surprised to find more excellent footing--wind- and boot-packed, stryofoam-like snow; perfect for Microspikes--and as such was able to maintain a running cadence until the trail kicks up appreciably at the giant cairn at the base of Grays.  Wind was a non-issue until the final 100' or so of vertical to Grays' summit (where there seemed to be a steady 30mph+ or so breeze), which I reached in 1:47 from Bakerville.  I negotiated the 600' drop and subsequent ascent to the top of Torreys in :18, on whose windless summit I shed my shell before making the descent back to the car in 50min flat, dispatching of the final three downhill road miles in a snappy sub-18min for a total of 2:55 car-to-car.

The one time I've hit this loop in summer it took me 2:41, so I think it is safe to say that conditions up there right now are about as perfect as they could possibly be for this time of year.  With sufficient acclimation I think Wednesday's conditions were capable of being even faster than a typical summer trip.  All in all, this outing was certainly a gift considering the throngs of crowds that these peaks are known for in the summer (I briefly saw only two other parties yesterday)--not to mention the fact that I spent the vast balance of my summer in 2011 sitting on my duff with a broken leg and have plenty of catching up to do when it comes to high country summits.  

Euro-style accessories all around.

The morning's objectives: Grays, left and Torreys, right.

Torreys, from the summit of Grays.

Grays Peak from Torreys summit.

Torreys summit.

Week Summary: Dec 26 - Jan 1

12-26-2011
Mon-AM: 0:10 ~ Home Pastures in Nebraska
Shin was twingy so I didn't push it beyond more than this with running and then wasn't motivated to seek out any legitimately steep hiking terrain.

12-27-2011
Tue - off

12-28-2011
Wed - off

12-29-2011
Thu-PM: 1:22, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Got out in the dark after a long day of driving back to Boulder from Nebraska. Really warm evening, but there was some crazy wind up on the NE ridge and the summit. Great to get back on the hill after a few days away, but pretty wild how much snow has melted.

12-30-2011
Fri-AM: 4:00, 6000' ~ Mt Belford & Mt. Oxford
Missouri Gulch TH via NW Ridge w/ Jeff and Homie. Balmy upper-30s at the trailhead were contrasted with some fairly significant winds (50+ mph?) on the summits and the saddle between the two peaks. Hiked well on the uphills but could definitely feel my lack of altitude acclimation. Ran the downhills and flats and enjoyed pounding the quads on the final 4mi/4600' drop back to the trailhead (including the mile down the NW ridge that loses 2200') off the summit of Belford. Shin held up well, helped by the mixed snow/talus/scree conditions. Awesome day with some great mountain folks. Hardrock training commences!

12-31-2011
Sat-AM: 1:26, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Awesome morning. I ran to the base of Amphitheater, marched to the top, and then ran every step back to my door, all without protest from the shin. It's crazy to me how the right amount of activity heals this thing, but too little or too much makes it unhappy.  More crazy Chinooks up on the NE ridge this morning.
PM: 1:21, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st Saddle, all hiking. Locked bike at the usual spot by Gregory but then hiked over to the Third.  Legs felt really good and spikes were gripping well on the super icy trails; nearly lost an eye on an errant tree branch, though. Made it half-way back down the mountain by moonlight but eventually relented and switched the headlamp on. Really fun outing.

1-1-2012
Sun-AM: 1:22, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle.  Ran almost every step of this outing, hiking only the steepest stuff on the way up. Very nice first summit of the year, but trail is becoming bullet-proof ice for pretty much everything below Greenman. Hugely encouraging run; nice way to kick off 2012!
PM: 1:28, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access, down 1st/2nd access. Felt good and the half-full moon provided enough light on the way down.  All hiking.

Hours: 11h09min
Vert: 19,200'

2011 Totals
Miles: 2360
Hours: 452h18min
Up: 629,800'
Greens: 181
Bears: 16
SoBos: 0

I was visiting my parents in Nebraska the first half of this week, and while there the shin seemed to be frustratingly touchy.  I say "seemed" because I'm now fairly certain that complete rest isn't the best thing for it.  While with each day off ("off" being a relative term; each day I still got out for a couple mile stroll around the farm and other rigorous physical activity in the form of firewood-making with axes and chainsaws) my shin seemed to only worsen, when I returned to Colorado on Thursday the return to focused intensity and duration of hiking/running seemed to only make the shin feel better and better.  This is a pattern I've noticed with it before; the trick now is to carefully monitor and limit my progression.

In terms of stats, 2011's numbers were severely limited by all my non-running due to injury (shin periostitus, broken fibula).  Mileage was only ~40% of 2010, but all of my steep hiking this year is reflected in the fact that in 2010 I only averaged 175'/mi while I bumped that up to 266'/mile this year.  Even with all my time off I still managed a Green summit on average of nearly every-other-day; I was quite surprised to realize that I didn't top out on SoBo a single time in the past calendar year (nor visit Shadow Canyon, sadly).  I surely hope to rectify that in 2012.

Friday's foray into the high country was just what I needed.  I've sorely missed the big mountains over the past 18 months and I really look forward to making them an increasingly bigger part of my weekly outdoors activity as I build my fitness for Hardrock over the next six months.

Homie and Jeff heading up Belford's NW ridge in the morning.

Hope Pass in the center on the other side of the valley.

Mt. Oxford.

Homie re-ascending Belford, with Harvard looming behind.

Probably not for everyone:

Week Summary: Dec 19 - 25

12-19-2011
Mon-AM: 1:13, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Nice morning.

12-20-2011
Tue-AM: 1:14, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Same as yesterday; all hiking, but put in a solid effort, which I haven't done for a while.

12-21-2011
Wed-AM: 1:29, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st/2nd access.  Getting to be some super icy spots on the mountain.
PM: 1:14, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Timed it perfectly as light snowflakes chased me all the way down the mountain and shortly after I got back to my bike and returned to my apartment the snowstorm had started in earnest.

12-22-2011
Thu-AM: 2:12, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Woke to epic amounts of snow (18-24"?).  The streets were a total mess, so I ran (!) to Baseline before slogging up and down the 1st Saddle route. Took me 1:05 to get up but an incredible morning on the mountain with snow dumping down. Running the down would've been very tough even if I'd wanted to because there was so much snow. Also ran the 9min back to the house on the streets; shin was good!

12-23-2011
Fri-AM: 2:11, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st Saddle. Ran the 14min to Chat and then wallowed my way to the summit, breaking fresh trail all the way from the base of the 2nd Flatiron to upper Greenman. Slalomed/fell/ran my way down the mountain in 19:45 before also running the 12min back home on the streets. Shin felt really good.
PM: 1:43, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Biked to Baseline with snowshoes and poles on my back, which I used for the hike up and down the mountain. Only my third time ever snowshoeing, and it was...interesting.  The Kahtoola Flightdecks actually handle impressively well, but they're a pretty small platform. Wore the snowshoes so that I wasn't at all tempted to do any running.  Gorgeous evening.

12-24-2011
Sat-AM: 1:34, 2800' ~ Green Mt. (Descent Time Trial)
Up 1st Saddle and down Greenman-Saddlerock-Amphi.  43min worth of running.
PM: 1:32, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle with the snowshoes again. Was unavoidably delayed in hitting the road for Nebraska, so went for another trip up the mountain. Remarkably warm afternoon made for some very good packing conditions on much of the trail and I got the stowing/strapping/pack strategy dialed for the snowshoes and the poles so that riding a bike isn't an issue at all.  Felt way more confident and nimble with the s-shoes and poles today when compared to yesterday.

12-25-2011
Sun-AM: :35 ~ Pastures/Hills, Nebraska
Awesome cross-country run through the hills and hollows on my family's farm.  There is zero snow at home right now, which combined with the middle-of-winter lack of vegetation (grass, brush) made for excellent conditions to strike out in whatever direction I wanted and run fell-style over the hills.  My shin seemed good for about 30min or so, but then the last 5min might have been a touch too much for it.

Hours: 13h25min
Vert: 21,000'

The Third.

Finally above the boulder field.

Back of the Third.

Avalanche (!) on the slab.

View from slab: First & Second Flatirons and Boulder.

Seated on the top: much steeper than it looks here.

#176

And if you have a little angst (go to 1:00 on the first vid to get to the music); I can never get enough of The Walkmen but understand it can be an acquired taste:

Christmas Eve Morning Green Descent

Got out pretty early this morning before hitting the road for what is sure to be a long day/evening of driving home to Nebraska to see my parents for Christmas.  I ran the 15min of streets to the Gregory lot and then trudged to the summit via the First Saddle route.  For some reason I wore my absolute dullest pair of Microspikes (the "spikes" are worn down to flat nubs) this morning, so I wasn't getting great purchase in the punchy and somewhat loose snow, but I was still impressed at how relatively well the trail had set up overnight, even compared to yesterday evening.  This was enough to convince me to go for a fast time on the descent via the standard frontside route of Greenman-Saddlerock-Amphitheater, inspired by Homie's antics of the past month or so.

I took off strong right from the top and it was a total kamikaze blast careening through switchbacks, leaping down drops and swinging around trees all with very little concern for catching a toe or tripping on anything; I was anaerobic pretty much the entire way down, with the unstable, soft footing definitely making me work harder than usual.  I've actually never gone all-out on a Green descent, snow conditions or not, so didn't really know what to expect, but summit post to Amphi/Baseline junction post was 14:08 with another 6 seconds to the Gregory lot pavement for a 14:14.  I would say that I was taking some pretty wild risks and was definitely out-of-control at times, but with all the deep powder everywhere it never felt that risky.  I only thought once or twice about how heinously unpleasant it would be to miscalculate a footplant, hyperextend a knee and break my leg again; the only split I dared take my eyes off the trail to glance at my watch for was an 11:32 at the Saddle Rock/Amphi junction.

Trail conditions were definitely not perfect, especially on Greenman where it's still quite loose and unconsolidated and I think just a fresh, sharp pair of Microspikes alone would've easily carried me under 14min this morning as I was definitely losing time sliding out on turns.  With a perfect packed track I think sub-13 might be possible.  I'm super bummed that I'm driving to Nebraska today and will miss the next few days of what are sure to be stellar trail conditions, but so it goes.  BRING IT, HOMIE!

A couple pics from the uphill portion of the morning:

Longs Peak.

Sunrise reflected on the NE ridge.

#178

Week Summary: Dec 12 - 18

12-12-2011
Mon - off

12-13-2011
Tue-AM: 1:19, 2500' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle.  Kind of a test outing.  I could feel the shin a bit hiking, but it definitely didn't make it worse.  Rather, like usual, a little activity seemed to actually make it feel a bit better.

12-14-2011
Wed - off
LA screening of Unbreakable at Occidental College in the evening.

12-15-2011
Thu-AM: 2:23, 4000' ~ Mt. Baldy (10,064')
Couldn't resist the chance to get into the San Gabriel Mts with Dominic, Jorge, Chris and Katie as the local tour guides. Though not my first time in the range, the Gabes are impressively steep, high and rugged, especially considering their extreme proximity to L.A.

12-16-2011
Fri - off

12-17-2011
Sat - off

12-18-2011
Sun-PM: 2:08, 2600' ~ Green Mt.
Up 3rd access and down 1st/2nd access with Jocelyn. It was a remarkably warm day, so I started back to the hills a day early. We took it easy, enjoying the spectacular weather and laying down fresh tracks through slushy snow. Shin felt notably better than it typically has the past two weeks.

Hours: 5h50min
Vert: 9100'

A week of semi-random outings with the emphasis being on really just trying to take it easy on my shin.  By the end of this week I could feel discernible improvement and I think it's ready to get back out there with some consistent hiking before I tentatively dip my toes back into the waters of easy jogging. I'm determined to stay smart this time around.

Also, I have a new post over on my RT Blog.

Baldy summit with Chris and Jorge. Photo: Jorge Pacheco.

Descending from Baldy summit to Devil's Backbone with Jorge. Photo: Dominic Grossman.

The Hallway.

And here's a catchy little Christmas tune, if you give it a minute: 

Week Summary: Dec 5 - 11

 12-05-2011
Mon-AM: 1:39, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up 1st Saddle and down ASG. Particularly crisp morning at +5F or so and with a cold cloud hanging over the mountain.  Ran to the base of Amphi, hiked to the top through some thigh-deep snow at times, and then ran all the way down and back home.  Shin was definitely a little sore this morning and it's time to back off and inject a little more rationality into the progression.  Hopefully I haven't set it back too much and I can get it to calm back down without completely taking time off from the mountain.

12-06-2011
Tue-AM: 1:55, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up ASG and down 1st Saddle.  Morning started out cold again at +5F or so, but warmed nicely into the 20s.  Ran to the base of Amphi, hiked up and down, and then ran home via the streets.  Shin was off-and-on, not sure what to think, but do think it's probably time to shift the balance of my activity back more towards hiking for the next few days.

12-07-2011
Wed-AM: 1:55, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle. Ran to and from Baseline again with basically all hiking while on the actual trails/mountain.  All of the snow is falling off the trees now, laying down a new layer of snow on the trail.

12-08-2011
Thu-AM: 1:43, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle.  Nice warm day at +30F or so with brilliant sunshine. The single summits have been giving the shin a measure of rest and it seems to be slowly improving. ~28min of actual running today (to and from the trailhead) with nice tacky trail conditions making the Microspikes work like magic on the steeps.

12-09-2011
Fri-AM: 1:52, 2800' ~ Green Mt.
Up and down 1st Saddle.  For whatever reason, the shin felt a little twingier than usual this morning, so the running was limited to the first 15min to the base of Amphitheater.  Hiked everything else, even the streets back home.  Frustrating to not even be running downhill right now as the winter trail conditions on Green are currently at least equal to the best I've ever seen. Temperature inversion today made things chilly back down in town.

12-10-2011
Sat- off.

12-11-2011
Sun- off.

Hours: 9h15min
Vert: 14,000'

Overall, a frustrating week.  I'm quite disappointed with myself and my oh-so-predictable lack of discipline.  Last week I had some great momentum going with the shin's health, but I took that tiny ray of hope and unconsciously used it as an excuse to overzealously accelerate the run/hike ratio.  In hindsight, things are always so crystal clear, which only exacerbates the self-loathing.  Looking at least week's log of activity is almost painful in its ridiculousness.  I mean, 13hrs of running?!?!  What's wrong with me?

But, so it goes, and I like to hope that I have (re- re- re- re-) learned my lesson.  The days off at the end of this week weren't out of necessity--I probably could've hiked, no problem--but rather frustration and desperation.  In November I was given a promising taste of my shin's current ability to heal itself--given the opportunity--and that is the basis for my current plan: give the shin a few days to calm down completely and then hopefully be granted the opportunity to try once again to ease back into things, this time with more patience and caution.  At this point, my sanity depends on it.  I have a strong foundation of basic fitness and still plenty of time--now it's just a matter of enforcing a controlled execution in the return to running, and paying such a sentiment more than lip-service.  I just have to remember that an injury that's been giving me fits for 11 months (!?!?!) now isn't going to magically be completely back to 100% in a matter of days; and I have to treat it that way once it starts showing improvement.

Fresh coat on the Flatties.

Single-digit temps the first half of the week.

#168 on the year.

Longs Peak peeking through the clouds.

Greenman trail in winter -- packed-out trench.

Worth a listen: