Weekly Summary: 6/21-6/27

6-21-2010
Monday:
AM: 5.15 miles (44:30)

6-22-2010
Tuesday:
AM: 10.75 miles (1:26:54) 600' vertical Out to Marshall Mesa and then took Dowdy Draw down and over to the South Mesa Trailhead

6-23-2010
Wednesday:
AM: 5.1 miles (38:54) Easy run

PM: 5.3 miles (41.38) 1.35 miles barefoot

6-24-2010
Thursday:
PM: 8.6 miles (1:08:27) 400' vertical Out to Marshal Mesa

6-25-2010
Friday:
AM: 5.1 miles (40:32) Easy run

PM: 10 miles (1:47:07) 2000' vertical Jasper Lake 10 850'

6-26-2010
Saturday:
PM: 15 miles (3:10:00) 4750' vertical Full moon Skyline Traverse. Time is a bit of an estimate.

6-27-2010
Sunday:
AM: 17 miles (2:34:44) 1500' vertical Pretty warm so I cut the run a bit short.
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Totals:
Miles: 82.2
Hours: 12h 53min
Vertical: 9 250'

Bike Totals:
Miles: 47.1
Hours: 3h 15min

This week I didn't push it too hard in terms of effort and vertical due to my abdominal strain bugging me. Doesn't seem too bad though. Mileage and time are a good increase (i.e. not too much too soon).

Jasper Lake Run

I left work and headed straight for the Indian Peaks Wilderness just west of Nederland. Good timing allowed me to get one of the few "legal" parking spaces by the 2WD parking area of the Hessie Trailhead. I didn't have any specific plans today other than taking the Devil's Thumb trail until either the weather or trail conditions forced me to turn around (the latter was the case, with the former a close second). It's about a .5 mile run from the 2WD parking area to the actual Hessie TH, the road is passible with a 4WD vehicle although there is a large amount of water on the trail. At the Hessie TH you cross the Middle Fork of South Boulder Creek.

The trail climbs a rocky dirt road until it once again intersects with the creek after about a mile. This is the trail junction to go to Lost Lake (0.5 mi.). I took a right on the Devil's Thumb Trail.

From this trail junction the trail climbs and opens into a nice meadow.

Much of the trail was very wet, this particular section was the trail with about 5 inches of water rushing down it.

Although it may be 95 degrees on the Front Range today, there is still a lot of snow up in the high country. I didn't see a trail, but the sign said it was there.

After crossing quite a few patches or fields of snow I made it to Jasper Lake.

Next, I planned on continuing up to Devil's Thumb Lake until the trail I was on ended in a large amount of snow with no tracks, it was here that I decided I'd turn back.

Other images from the day:

Outlet to Jasper Lake

Wildflowers

"Summer"

. . .

I took the run nice and easy and took plenty of stops to take in the views, a nice summer day in my backyard.

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Stats

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10 miles (1:47:07)

Starting Elevation: 9 000'

Highest Elevation: 10 850'

Cumulative Vertical Gain: 2 000'

Weekly Summary: 6/14-6/20

6-14-2010
Monday:
PM: 5.15 miles (42:32) Marshall Road after work.

6-15-2010
Tuesday:
AM: 8.45 miles (1:10:39) 500' vertical Running down lower Big Bluestem I started a stampede of cows running down the trail. One of the mama cows got sick of running and stopped right on the trail with two young ones behind her. Every time I tried to get around her she'd take a few steps towards me like she was going to charge after me. I did eventually get around her, all's well that ends well.

6-16-2010
Wednesday:
PM: 10.1 miles (1:22:13) 1300' vertical Ran south to meet up with the Mesa Trail and took that over to Bear Canyon then back home. Same run the last few Wednesdays, and I ran this as a tempo run. This week I just wasn't feeling it. The time wasn't too bad, but I just didn't feel strong.

6-17-2010
Thursday:
AM: 8.45 miles (1:14:49) 500' vertical Recovery effort today, took it real easy.

6-18-2010
Friday:
PM: 14.4 miles (2:27:00) 3300' vertical Ran over to Gregory Canyon trailhead and ran up Green via Gregory Canyon and Ranger (44:15). Warm today and I tried not to push too hard.

6-19-2010
Saturday:
Rest 0 miles I decided this week should be a recovery week since Jenna will be gone next weekend and I plan on doing a lot of running. Also abdominal strain seems to be acting up again so I'm a bit concerned about that. I'll probably have to back off the vertical.

6-20-2010
Sunday:
PM: 12.05 miles (1:40:34) 600' vertical Took it easy and soaked in South Boulder Creek for a bit at the end of the run.
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Totals:
Miles: 58.6
Hours: 8h 38min
Vertical: 6 100'

Bike Totals:
Miles: 46.5
Hours: 3h 35min

This includes biking to work and biking around town running errands, nothing with any real hard effort.

Rest week. One thing that really bugs me is my abdominal strain started acting up at the end of this week...on a rest week which sucks. Next week I'll have to back off the vertical towards the beginning of the week. The pain isn't too bad, and I can certainly run though it, but I want to make sure it heals well.

Weekly Summary: 6/7-6/13

6-7-2010
Monday:
Rest 0 miles

6-8-2010
Tuesday:
PM: 7.5 miles (1:05:56) South Boulder creek path plus 2 miles barefoot.

6-9-2010
Wednesday:
AM: 10.1 miles (1:21:18) 1300' vertical Ran south to meet up with the Mesa Trail and took that over to Bear Canyon then back home. Same run the last few Wednesdays, and I ran this as a tempo run.

6-10-2010
Thursday:
AM: 9.9 miles (1:22:15) 500' vertical Did 2 miles barefoot at the end of the run.

6-11-2010
Friday:
PM: 14 miles (2:16:00) 3300' vertical Ran over to the Gregory Canyon trailhead. This was a 5.3 mile 1000' vertical 48:08 warm up. Ate a gel on my way over from Chautauqua to the Gregory Canyon trailhead. Took a breather and tied my shoes a little tighter for the up coming effort. My goal was to see what sort of time I could get on the front side of Green. So I started from the Amphitheater trailhead about 2 min. another runner asked me if this was the way up Green. I stopped to talk, and stopped my watch probably spent 10 sec. then started up again. My only other folly was losing the trail for a few seconds. Once I realized I wasn't on the correct trail I stopped my watch, I then started it not long after starting up the correct part of the trail so I think the time is fairly accurate. Reached Greenman trail at around 22:00. I think I started to open it up a bit too soon before the summit, but I reached the post at the summit in 38:12. I think I could do better if I didn't have as long of a warmup. Also I think I just need to run this a few times to get a good idea of pacing. I'm fairly pleased with the effort. Casual effort back home. It rained very hard for about 20 min. so I was drenched when I got home.

6-12-2010
Saturday:
AM: 21.1 miles (3:48:27) 4700' vertical SoBo, over to Bear (didn't top out), and Green. Down Bear Canyon and over to Bluestem on the Mesa trail. I took it easy on the way up Shadow Canyon since I put a hard effort in yesterday. Rained most of the run. I didn't see anyone until about 2 hours into the run on Bear West Ridge. Nice decently long run.

6-13-2010
Sunday:
AM: 14.4 miles (2:29:06) 3300' vertical Green Mountain via Gregory Ranger (43:20). Didn't push too hard since I've had some decent miles the last few days. After the last creek crossing in Bear Canyon , the trail had turn into a stream from all the rain we've had so I made sure to be careful and not twist an ankle on any rocks.
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Totals:
Miles: 77
Hours: 12h 28min
Vertical: 13 100'

Biking to Work Totals:
Miles: 33.4
Hours: 2h 20min

The slight increase in mileage and vertical seems to have went well. More vertical = more fun!

Weekly Summary: 5/31-6/6

5-31-2010
Monday:
Rest 0 miles

6-1-2010
Tuesday:
PM: 8.32 miles (1:01:54) South Boulder Creek trail, ran this run as a tempo run.

6-2-2010
Wednesday:
AM: 10.1 miles (1:30:00) 1300' vertical Ran south to meet up with the Mesa Trail and took that over to Bear Canyon then back home. This seems to be a good Wednesday run. This week was a little slower than last week.

6-3-2010
Thursday:
AM: 8.45 miles (1:10:30) 500' vertical South Boulder Creek Trail down Homestead. Recovery effort today.

6-4-2010
Friday:
PM: 12.83 miles (2:16:00) 2800' vertical Green Mountain via Bear Canyon. Really hot this afternoon, and I bonked pretty bad on the way down. I had one water bottle and that was not enough. .

6-5-2010
Saturday:
PM: 6.2 miles (50:52) Little run after the hike I did with Jenna around the Shanahan loop in Boulder. We went to look at the wild flowers.

6-6-2010
Sunday:
23.4 miles (4:25:52) 6400' vertical Abridged Skyline Traverse (SoBo, Bear, Green, and Flagstaff). Started at 6:00 and it was too warm already. I tried to conserve my one water bottle that I had to make last for the next 3+ hours until I got back to Chatauqua. When I got to Chatauqua I started up the road a few hundred feet to a water fountain that is just apparently for looks. Felt kind of pissed off running back down the hill to get water. I chugged two full bottles, then proceeded to feel like crap for the next half hour. Overall the run went well, I am going to start bringing two water bottles when its that hot.
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Totals:
Miles: 69.2
Hours: 11h 15min
Vertical: 11 000'

Biking to Work Totals:
Miles: 25.14
Hours: 1h 34min

I'm pleased with this week in terms of both volume and amount of cumulative vertical.

May: finally some decent running

Totals:
Miles: 223.5
Hours: 33h 50min
Vertical: 20 500'

Biking to Work Totals:
Miles: 55.67
Hours: 4h 49min

I think May went well. I've got confidence that June and July will be two big months for running. I got in a decent amount of miles and some vertical as well. As far as biking to work goes, I finally started recording this now that I'm riding my road bike to work. During the school year I biked most days but never recorded anything.

Weekly Summary: 5/24-5/30

5-24-2010
Monday:
Rest 0 miles

5-25-2010
Tuesday:
AM: 6.05 miles (48:00) South Boulder Creek trail.

5-26-2010
Wednesday:
AM: 10.1 miles (1:24:00) 1300' vertical This run went well considering the vertical gain. Ran south to meet up with the Mesa Trail and took that over to Bear Canyon then back home.

5-27-2010
Thursday:
AM: 8.6 miles (1:06:40) 2 miles barefoot South Boulder Creek Trail with some barefoot afterwards.

5-28-2010
Friday:
AM: 4.2 miles (34:30) Easy run before work and before heading out to Utah to go rafting.

5-29-2010
Saturday:
AM: 8.6 miles (58:44) 200' vertical Just outside of Westwater Canyon in Utah. Ran in the morning before putting in for the raft trip. I'm not sure if the distance is accurate though because I though I was taking it kind of casual not 6:50/mi pace.

5-30-2010
Sunday:
3.5 miles (31:27) 700' vertical Ran up from our campsite in Blackrock Canyon on the Colorado River to the top of the canyon. Great views from the top of the canyon.
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Totals:
Miles: 41
Hours: 5h 24min
Vertical: 2100'

Biking to Work Totals:
Miles: 33.56
Hours: 2h 03min

This week I scheduled as a rest week since the last four weeks have been okay in terms of volume. I wanted to have a rest week before really hitting the training with the start of summer. It also lined up well with the rafting trip in Utah.