Thursday, March 28, 2013

March 18 - 24

03/18/2013
Mon-AM: 0:53, 1600' ~ First Flatiron
Biked to Chat, hiked up to the First, scrambled it, and hiked back down. Cold, breezy day, especially up on the rock. Just taking it easy on the shin.

03/19/2013
Tue-AM: 0:53, 1600' ~ First Flatiron
Exact same outing as yesterday. Bike, hike, scramble, hike, bike.  Not as cold, though.

03/20/2013
Wed-AM: 1:03, 1600' ~ 1st and 2nd Flatiron
Biked to Chat, hiked up and scrambled the 1st, but then instead of just hiking back down to Chat I downclimbed the 2nd, which is something I've always wanted to do as a test for linking all the flatties together as quickly as possible. It was interesting, but not something that really appeals to me aesthetically.
PM: 3hr?, 1600' ~ First Flatiron
Went up the 1st in the afternoon with Joe and Geoff. I was really just tagging along for the fun of it while Joe did the grunt work of dragging the rope up and setting up anchors for Geoff who was climbing it for the first time, on belay. Pitching it out with a rope makes you realize just how big a formation it is. Fun afternoon hanging out on the rock, though.

03/21/2013
Thu-AM: 0:48, 1600' ~ First Flatiron
Biked to Chat, ran to the base, scrambled it, and ran down. Which was a notable improvement in the shin after limiting myself to hiking all week. This was my 60th ascent ever of the First Flatiron, 59 of those occurring since last July.

03/22/2013
Fri-AM: 1:51, 4000' ~ 5th Flatiron & 1st Flatiron+Green Mt.
Biked to Chautauqua and ran up to the base of the 5th Flatiron. There was quite a bit of snow at the base, but really well consolidated so I didn't have any issues getting on the face. I haven't been on the 5th in almost two months, so some of the sequences felt a little rusty, but the arete finish on that rock is by far the finest of any of the flatties, I think. After downclimbing, I picked my way to the top of the mountain...still haven't found a super-efficient route for that but it's getting there. After tagging the summit I ran down to the base of the 1st and then scrambled that--I was starting to feel the duration and accumulated vert of the outing by time I got to the top. Downclimbed and ran back down to Chat. Shin was pain-free, but about an hour of this was steep hiking/scrambling, not running.

03/23/2013
Sat-AM: 2:17, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Ran from my apartment with Joel, met Jurker, and headed up to the Gregory lot in a snowstorm, where we headed up and down the front of the mountain in a ton of fresh snow. Close to knee-deep on the upper parts of the mountain. Cold and humid and snowy on the run home.

03/24/2013
Sun-AM: 1:56, 3000' ~ Green Mt.
Same run as yesterday, with Joel again. Trail still had very loose footing; put in a casual effort on the uphill.

Hours: 10h41min
Vert: 18,000'

I was happy with this week because I think I did a good job of managing the niggle in my shin and was able to keep getting out in the mountains without making it worse. By the end of the week it was feeling a lot better. The weekend's snow was a bit of a bummer after the extended warm weather we had before that. I definitely have spring fever.

This week's shin issues have made me realize that I'm going to have to be conservative with the running for a few weeks, much like last summer where I focused on vertical and steep hiking/scrambling for a long time before the shin was strong enough to do consistent, sustained running. This is fine fitness-wise as long as my races have suitable amounts of vertical, but not so great in a proper running race (see: Leadville 100 last year). So, Transvulcania will be interesting, but given my results at Cavalls del Vent last fall (the TV field this year will have most of the same European players) I'm confident that this kind of preparation will still be effective, the most important thing being arriving at the starting line healthy.

I've been really digging this song lately, and really, the whole album (which you can stream at bandcamp):



Atop the Fourth Elephant Buttress in Boulder Canyon. Photo: Jenny Jurek.
On the Dome in Boulder Canyon. Photo: Jenny Jurek.
Slogging up Green on Saturday with Scott and Joel. Photo: Scott Jurek.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like your getting better at taking it easy and listening to your body but still getting some good vertical training when your body (shin) is flaring up.

I feel you....I'm over the winter this week should be stellar in weather

David Hill said...

Cool to see you coming down Green this morning. Best of luck staying healthy.

Stay Vertical said...

While up and around the Chat climbs, be sure to hit up the West Chimney of GMP. A great 5.4. Have you checked out much on the South End of the Flatirons? The Maiden and Matron are fantastic. Also consider the whole enchilada...the Flatiron Marathon: http://home.comcast.net/~gibell/trip_reports/flatirons_marathon.html.

Anonymous said...

Hey Tony,

Good to run into you a few weeks ago up on Green. Don't know if you ever got my email from Buzz, but I'd love to tell you more about the MS Relay. You can hit me up at (Jay Runs 4 MS at gmail) or get some more info here www.msruntheus.com/jayrawlings/. Glad to hear you're healthy again.

dan1525 said...

Hey Tony, what route do you take to summit Green after climbing the 1st flattie? I recently moved to Boulder and didn't know if you could link to saddle rock after climbing the 1st or hiking the 1st/2nd trail. Thanks man and I hope all is going well with the shin.

Anton said...

Stay Vertical - Joe and I looked at GMP's West Chimney one day sans rope (I think it's barely protectable anyhow) and were scared off by the exit at the top...it seems to just get a touch too wide. But, of course, need to go back.

I've climbed the Matron a couple of times but have yet to get on the Maiden. The Top Ten Classics in-a-day definitely interests me, but a couple of them are a little suspect in my opinion. And two routes on the Third? Come on... :-)

Unknown said...

Hey Anton, just wondered where your white frame shades are from? No sign of them on the Rudy Project website.