May 20 - 26

5/20/2013
Mon-AM: 3:32, 8000' ~ Pikes Peak
Up and down the big hill again, from Manitou. Climbed about 90sec faster than a couple days ago and felt a lot better above treeline, which was probably mental. Started snowing above 11k' or so, but it never really got too nasty until the last 500' of vert below the summit. Still comfortable enough in running shorts and a jacket.

5/21/2013
Tue-AM: 2:05, 3200' ~ First Flatiron+Green Mt.
Got up early and scrambled my 100th lifetime ascent of the First before descending Bear Canyon. Spent the rest of the day driving to Nebraska.

5/22/2013
Wed-AM: 1:48, 1300' ~ Niobrara State Park+Ethiopian Trail
Started in town with Joel in a light drizzle. Ran out to the State Park, did my usual 5mi loop through the park, then ran home via the "Ethiopian Trail" (named for the opening scene in the Haile Gebreselassie film "Endurance"), which is an old pasture double-track that climbs out of the Missouri River valley up to my family's farm. Mostly steady cruising, but this was a 16mi run, the miles rack up quickly here.
PM: 0:52 ~ Run into Town
Ran 7mi back into town via the Ethiopian Trail with Joel to pick up my truck from the mechanic. Several squalls of rain along the way.

5/23/2013
Thu-AM: 2:22, 1500' ~ Liska Loop
Cranked out this super-classic, hilly 22mi loop that used to be my staple long run when I lived at home.  After getting the legs going with a couple of 7min miles I settled into low-6min pace, suffered through a bonk the last 4mi or so, but still finished things off with a 5:40 final mile. I was never very stressed cardiovascularly, but my legs just aren't very used to turning over that quickly for that long anymore. I'm pretty sure I'd have a really hard time breaking 5min for a single mile right now. Great run.

5/24/2013
Fri-AM: 1:07, 500' ~ Pastures
Sunrise run with Joel before hitting the road back to Colorado. Adductors and soleus were tight from yesterday's outing.

5/25/2013
Sat-AM: 2:07, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert
Up and down NE ridge. So great to be back up in the Sawatch! Snow on the route was much more manageable than I had anticipated, which got me really excited for all the great running to be done this summer. Windshirt was sufficient on the summit, it was basically summer conditions. Felt really strong on the whole climb, which was nice since the last time I was up here in November I was super weak above treeline. I was just beat-down by that point last fall.
PM: 1:01, 600' ~ Boulevard, Leadville
Easy jog out and back on the Boulevard (Leadville 100 race course) in the evening. Legs felt solid.

5/26/2013
Sun-AM: 2:24, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert
Up the West ridge and down the NE ridge. Struggled through some snow between 11k' and treeline, but nothing horribly frustrating. Above treeline, the fell lugs on my custom winter 110s were indispensable on the frozen snow. The 3000' grunt in a little more than a mile on the west ridge delivered the usual beat-down, however. Gorgeous morning.
PM: 1:05, 1500' ~ 5th St Leadville
Out and back up the hill east of town in beautiful evening light. Easy jog to 11,600', legs felt good.

Hours: 18h24min
Vert: 25,700'

Low vert and (relatively) low hours but I think it was somewhere around 120-125mi, so pretty solid. Really fun week with the mix of flattish, faster running back in Nebraska and the return to the high country for the summer. Super psyched to be regularly getting back above treeline, and can't wait to get the Nolan's 14 line dialed back in over the coming weeks. Definitely the focus for the next month.

Summit of Elbert Sunday morning.