not stopping now

I still can't decide what to do next, but I'm running in the meantime.

I took Boomer out to Palmer Park with me on Thursday afternoon and did the lot 13 to Overlook route via Kinnickinnick and GrandView trails.  I really enjoy that trail.  It's got some decent climbs and varying terrain, but it's not a total uphill slog that never ends.   I was in and out in 38:50.

On Friday, over beers, we decided to run Waldo Canyon at 9am on Sunday morning.  When I got up on Sunday, Michelle decided that she would go also and just hike to the loop and back.  We met Bucky and Ken at the trailhead and it wasn't long before we got moving.  I ran the majority of the trail to the loop only slowing down a couple of times to get my heart rate back to a sane number.  Once at the loop, I told Ken and Bucky to go ahead and I would catch them at the ridge where it starts back down.  This worked out nicely because the over loaded bagel I had for breakfast was trying to come back up once I started up the loop.  I power hiked the section of trail that runs along the creek.  Once it leaves the creek it's a very tame trail with mild grade that was an enjoyable section to run.  I ran that entire section and hooked up with Bucky and Ken at the top.

Once we started down, Bucky jumped behind me and I was able to pace Ken until we hit an uphill and he took off.  Bucky didn't let me walk it and pushed me to jog up the hill to the next downhill.  My legs were on fire but I didn't want to disappoint my Jedi master and I made it to the crest and started down the other side.

I guess I just give up too easily sometimes and take the easy way out.  It's nice having somebody around to yell at me motivate me  every now and again.  At the end of the loop, they took off again and I took my time going back up out of the canyon.  At the top, I ran the rest of the way down and finished the 7 miles in 1:58 and some change.  I had hiked it once last summer in 2:25ish so this was a nice improvement.   Ken said the trail is fairly passable in the winter as long as you do the loop clockwise so you are going uphill on the shady side.  I'll have to add this run as part of my regular training.  It's another rolling trail without too many long steep climbs.

I'm going to sign up for the Race for the Cure 5K on Sept 9 which will mark my one year "anniversary" of running.  It was the first race I had ever signed up for in 2006 when I ran it.  I didn't do much in the way of running during the winter so it's an unofficial anniversary of sorts.

ascent in review

Cliff notes: I finished!

What a wild ride it has been. Friday evening I made my way over to Manitou to pick up my packet and check out the expo. They slapped a bracelet on me, new this year to curb bib swapping, and I dug through my bag full of goodies. I tooled around the expo for a few minutes, grabbed a few samples, a new pair of running gloves, and then headed over to the massage chairs. My hamstrings had been sore most of the week leading up to the race after working in the yard the previous Sunday. They weren't exactly set up to handle any leg therapy, but the lady running the show worked on my hammies for a few minutes. I then turned around and got a quick shoulder and back rub to take the edge off a little bit. Nerves were definitely starting to kick in. Most of the day Friday I was extremely anxious.

After the massage, Josh, Jill, and I headed over to meet Michelle at Olive Garden for a meal of carb filled goodness. We broke from dinner about 8:30 and planned to meet up with them again tomorrow morning at 6:15 and head over to Manitou. Michelle asked me if I wanted anything special for breakfast. I put in my requests and she said she would make it happen. I went home, packed up all my gear, popped a melatonin, and fell asleep around 10pm.

Saturday morning I woke up at 5am and started prepping for the long day ahead of me. I left the house around 5:35 and went to pick up Michelle. Being the sweetheart that she is, she provided me with two pieces of toasted blueberry muffin bread and a banana. I scarfed it down and made a quick stop at the store for some Gatorade and water.

We arrived at Josh and Jill's house around 6:15 and loaded up to head over to the starting line. Once in Manitou, the scene was a madhouse. They dropped us off and we headed to the expo area where we made last minute preparations. We heard the countdown and the gun go off for Wave 1 and all the cheers that accompanied the send off of the first group of runners. By that time, Michelle and Jill had managed to find a parking spot and hung out with us while we stretched and waited for the start of Wave 2. Not much time went by before we were standing in a huge pack about 20 yards from the banner hanging over Manitou Avenue and they were counting us down. We hung on the right side of the street so that Michelle could snap some pics as we came through the starting line. Apparently her camera died as we went by, but I wasn't about to stop for pics then.

I settled into a nice light jog down Manitou Avenue and rounded the corner onto Ruxton St. I got passed by a ton of people, but I wasn't worried about them. I still had almost 13 miles to go.... UP HILL! I slowed to a quick walk just before reaching Iron Springs Chateau. At Hydro St, I was two minutes ahead of the pace for a 5 hour Ascent. I didn't get too terribly excited since it was real early and Matt Carpenter's pace chart indicated that almost everyone is ahead of pace there anyway. As soon as I passed Hydro St, I looked up to see runners barely 50 yards ahead of me were way up on a hill. I had walked down this section once or twice, but never gone up it. It was pretty intimidating seeing a huge crowd headed up the path. There were still plenty of people passing me, mostly walking at this point, but I settled into a brisk walk and kept my heart rate steady. We hit the first aid station along the banks of Ruxton Creek and I grabbed a quick cup of water and dumped it into my bottle that was about half full of Gatorade. Just after the aid station, the course turns up a long switchback and then joins with Barr Trail proper and thus starts the "W's".

The "W's" proved to be a slow and arduous hike. Being near the back of the pack, there were times where we would all stop and wait for someone in front of us to step up on a rock ledge before the pack would start moving again. It was halfway up the first switchback that another friend of mine, Mark, passed me on the left. I had only learned a week prior that he was in the race and it was cool actually running into him. He was moving along at a good pace and eventually made his way out of traffic and I wouldn't see him again for a while. I made my way up to the second aid station at the incline bailout, grabbed a cup of water to drink, and dumped some more into my Gatorade bottle to water it down a little more. The Gatorade at the aid stations was extremely watered down, but still proved to be too strong to drink in huge quantities unless I watered it down some more. I hit my lap button to split time again. I would later find out that I was splitting at all the wrong spots on the bottom half of the course and my splits against the pace calculator were essentially worthless. I did know my target to get to Barr Camp, however.

I had passed a few people going up the "W's" and also got passed by some others coming up from the back. I slowed way down at one point to work out a side stitch and was then able to resume a steady pace. I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to be at the rock arch in about an hour and twenty minutes, but I think it was closer to 1:45 when I finally got there. The crowds really slowed me down and took me out of my race at that point. Not to worry, I could make up some time in the flats above No Name Creek.

I pulled into No Name and grabbed a couple cups of water. It was actually cold at this station and was quite refreshing. I popped down another GU pack and headed up. It wasn't long after No Name that I ran into my buddy Mark again. He was stopped, hanging onto a tree, and sucking on his Camelbak for all that it was worth. He filed in behind me and we chatted for a few minutes about how miserable this race was going to be. After we reached the top of the last couple switchbacks, I looked back and he was gone. Sadly, I didn't see his name on the finisher list and hope he was OK.

Once I reached the flats, I started walking pretty quickly. I kept thinking to myself that this was the spot I was going to make up time, but nobody else seemed to be in a big hurry. I settled in for the long walk and follwed the herd up to Barr Camp. The "longest half mile" didn't seem quite as long that day and I was at Barr Camp before too long. I checked my watch and I was 15 minutes behind my goal. Oops! I grabbed some more water, and had the awesome volunteers top of my water and watery Gatorade bottles. I quickly started moving again because I started getting worried about the new cutoff time at the A-Frame.

The stretch between Barr Camp and A-Frame was a section of the trail that I hadn't been on since July of 2006. I remember it being a particularly nasty haul and wasn't looking forward to it. I followed up a nice lady from Florissant and we spent about 20 or so minutes chatting as we walked up. She pulled off to the side about halfway between the two landmarks and I never saw her again. I asked a few people behind me if they would like to pass and they said my pace was good and we talked for a while. They came from Witchita, KS and I told them what to expect above treeline. At some point, they pulled off to take a break and I passed a few more people. I had a particularly chatty group of girls behind me that reminded everyone within earshot that we were "almost to A-Frame" at the end of every switchback. This went on for a few switchbacks and I jokingly suggested to them that they couldn't give us any more reminders until we were at A-Frame. I guess they got the hint because I didn't hear that phrase uttered again until we saw the balloons at the aid station.

At A-Frame, I was about 4 hours into the race. I was no longer worried about time, but I was concerned with cramps. I had felt a few twinges set into my calves as I stepped up on some of the rock ledges between Barr Camp and A-Frame. Having to water down the Gatorade to make it drinkable, it wasn't having much of an effect with regards to replenishing electrolytes. I yanked out my water bottle, had it topped off, and drank two more cups while I stood around for a couple minutes. I had to move off the rock I was standing on since I was using my calves to support me and they were screaming. I needed some salt in me fast. I grabbed a few pieces of pretzels and toast chips from the pub mix bowl and popped them in my mouth. I couldn't even chew them because my mouth was so dry so I spit it out. I asked the guy peddling "margaritas" to fill up my other bottle and he obliged. Once again, more watered down Gatorade. As a last ditch effort, I grabbed a handful of Mike and Ike candies and a few grapes and headed up the trail past treeline. The candies and grapes hit the spot. I washed them down with another GU and started working on the Gatorade. I ended up behind a lady from KS and while she was a little reluctant to chat (she probably couldn't breathe up there), I did manage to get her to talk a few times. She finished not far behind me. Right as I started the 1st mile above the trees, I could hear the announcer on the summit and the cheers as people crossed the line. I don't know what came over me, but there I was fighting back tears. I took a couple deep breaths and told myself that was going to have to wait.

As we got into the second mile above the trees, I was feeling pretty good. I was still pacing the lady from Kansas and there was another lady in front of her. We stuck together for a good while and passed quite a few people walking slower or stopped on a rock while traversing over to the Cirque. The final aid station was just before the Cirque. There was a guy before the water buckets with a bag full of grapes barking "I've got grapes if you like!" I raised my hand and yelled "I LIKE!" and he rewarded me with a handful of red grapes. I also grabbed a cup of water and left my bottles in my pack. They had plenty to get me up that last mile. Just as I exited the "trash zone" of the aid station somebody in front yelled "Boulder coming down!" I look up and another guy on a switchback just above repeated the warning. I spotted the boulder and stopped dead in my tracks. It looked as if it would roll across the trail a good 10 or 15 feet in front of me. At the last second it bounced off another rock and headed right at me. I crouched and did my best Reggie Bush impression to juke the boulder. I'm not sure if it went in front of me, behind me, or right under me, but I jumped up just as it crossed the trail. I remember hearing a couple of "nice jumps!" from behind me. What I remember more is the fact that my calves felt like they had tied themselves in a know when I hit the ground. I yelled in pain and let an expletive or two fly. The group behind me asked if I was OK. I did a couple of lunges on each leg and put my heels on the ground to stretch my calves. It only took a few strides before they untied themselves and my calves were working again. Disaster narrowly averted!

As I passed the Cirque overlook, search and rescue had a poor soul wrapped up in a blanket and were administering oxygen. I hope he was able to get off the mountain safely. The S&R crew was top notch and they were running all over the place above treeline to attend to distressed runners. At this point, I ate my final GU pack and prepared to take it home. The nice lady from Kansas was still with me and asked if I wanted to pass. I declined the offer and told her I would let her know when I was ready. Her pace quickly slowed considerably, and I gasped out a "ok, here i come on your left" and she moved over and I had nobody in front of me for a while. I caught and passed a few more people before the 16 Golden Stairs. Once there I was slowed by a few folks, but they quickly yielded after getting up a couple of the stairs. Once I hit the last small (maybe 20 yards) of downhill, I could audibly discern voices in the crowd. I heard a couple of "Go JAY" chants from the crowd and looked up to see if I could recognize anyone. I couldn't and assumed they were yelling for someone else. A few more switchbacks and I could see the banner over the finish line and I heard the chants again. I looked up and saw Michelle, Josh, and Jill and I raised my arms over my head in acknowledgement. Once again emotion took hold and I was fighting back tears in an effort not to hyperventilate before I finished the race. "Deep breath, almost there." As I made the final turn, the announcer called out my name and bib number and my cheering section erupted. It didn't go unnoticed as the announcer call them out too. A spectator on the rocks encourage me to finish strong and I gave him five as I went by. I jogged up the final straight and through the line. I was immediately handed a finisher medal and my tag was torn from my bib.

There were still a couple of switchbacks and about 30 yards of trail to get to the actual summit. I stopped and waited and no less than 5 people asked me if I was OK. I was fine... completely worn out, but fine. I waited for my cheering section to come up but they couldn't get to me fast enough. I walked up to the old rail stop on the summit and grabbed a water at the table. I slammed it and turned around to see Michelle standing there. I reached for her and while she was exclaiming that she really didn't want to hug me, I bear hugged her and broke into tears. I held her for a couple minutes and once all the sap was done, I realized that I had made it!

All the training and hard work had finally amounted to something and all the emotion came pouring out. I was as giddy as ever and couldn't wait to start sharing race stories with whomever would listen. I went to the tent to retrieve my finisher jacket and posed for a couple of pics. Josh and I shared a few stories while the girls made a final pit stop before we caught the shuttle down.

My final time was 5:42:50. I really wanted to be under 5:30, but there is always next year. We returned to Manitou, I got an awesome massage at the expo and I headed home for a much needed shower. We got back together Saturday night for pizza, beers, and plenty of war stories.

Now, two days removed from the race, I'm left wanting. The rush that I enjoyed after finishing is something that cannot be put into words. Those that know me as a pretty laid back dude can probably understand how much it takes to get me worked up as much as this race did. I can't wait to get back over to Manitou and do the incline again. I've started looking for trail races out of state to start preparing for. I don't want to stop now. I think this bug has just bitten and now it looks to sink its teeth in a little farther.

After I recover a little more, I'm going to get right back on my horse and start training for something. I don't know what yet, but I want to destroy that 5:30 mark in the Ascent next year. I'll need something to train for in the interim if the winter here is anything like it was last year.

Stay tuned... I have no idea what to expect next!

training comes to an end

It's here already? Josh and I headed up to the summit again for 3 down and 3 up as our last training session before the Ascent. I had my fastest time going down, not that it matters, but it felt pretty good. I grabbed a GU from Josh at treeline and then headed back up. He followed and quickly passed me in the first mile. I didn't see him again until I got to the summit. I didn't eat anything for breakfast and that turned out to be a huge mistake. The GU probably got me through the first mile or so and I felt weak before I hit the Cirque. I knocked off the first two miles up in 26 and 25 minutes respectively, but fell apart in the last mile. I finally crawled up 39 minutes later and walked past a poor soul looking at his breakfast in a puddle on the ground. I guess he pushed it a little harder than I did. While it wasn't the greatest workout, a valuable lesson was learned. Even if you eat enough pasta for two the night before, it's still a good idea to get something in your stomach in the morning before training.

The only thing that's left is to rest this week and make sure I'm 100% physically for Saturday morning. The nerves are starting to creep up a little, but I'm pretty confident about my preparation for the race. We are planning on eating a bunch of spaghetti on Friday night and I will be hitting the sack mad early so I can get up, head to Manitou, and get my last mental training session in about an hour before race time.

See you after the Ascent!

i got a new toy

After much debate and fanfare, I finally decided on a heart rate monitor. I'd been looking at combo GPS/heart rate monitor units but still wasn't prepared to drop at least $250 for one just yet. The Garmin units were still a touch too big to wear comfortably on my wrist. The Timex Ironman BodyLink system was attractive since it had a standard size watch and connected wirelessly to a small GPS transmitter worn in a pocket or clipped to your waistband. I had also looked at a couple of the higher end units from Polar that communicated with accelerometer units that you attach to your shoe.

In the end, I decided to stick with just a heart rate monitor since I have a pretty good idea of the distances of the courses I train on. GPS would be cool for hiking trips, but I just couldn't see spending the extra coin. When I got a 20% off once item coupon from Performance Bike Shop, I headed over to see what they had. I did some additional research on the web to find one that fit the budget and still had a fair amount of features.

I brought home the Polar RS100 heart rate monitor and running computer last week. It has a nice amount of features for a novice runner and will help to maximize training and race performance by helping you to stay in the optimal heart rate zones. This model takes input about height, weight, age, and sex on setup and plugs those numbers into a formula to give you some ideal heart rate zones. It also has a feature that figure out your zones based on a 5 minute routine of varying levels of intensity. Of course, you can also set your zones manually if you so desire. It will store your workouts including time in and out of zones, HR average, HR max, and split times for laps. The Polar RS100 also calculates an estimate of colories burned and how much of them came from fat stores during your session. When used in conjunction with the Polar Running Coach website, it's easy to log your workouts and see cumulative totals.

Probably a little late to really be of use for Ascent training, but since I spent the money on it, I guess I'll have to keep using it.

oxygen deprivation part deux

So I headed back up to the summit bright and early on Saturday morning. Josh had to work or something on Saturday morning so I went solo again.

I made it up to the summit about 7:40 and continued my experiment at the Enviromental Research station. :-X I strapped my water pack on and headed down the trail. The weather was a little bit warmer than the previous week and I quickly got comfortable as I moved down. The rocks seemed a little bit more slick than last week. I took extra care going down the first mile. After passing the Cirque, it's safe to open up for a while and run a little faster. I hit A-Frame in 40 minutes.

As soon as I turned around, I felt a cramp in the muscles between my lower calf and my achilles tendon on my left leg. It wasn't terribly painful, but annoying enough every time I tried to push off with that foot. I took it pretty slow during the first mile. It slowly started working itself out and I got through the second mile in 26 minutes. Once again, the last mile was a bear with all the steps up and just being plain miserable. I made it up to the top in 1:28 and was pretty pleased with that. I did feel better with respect to breathing and acclimation to the lack of oxygen than the previous week.

I'm going to hit it once more this weekend and probably take it easy most of next week in preparation for the race.

Probably going to get the bike out tonight and take a nice little ride.

reflections

I just want to say thanks to all the people who train with me or listen to me talk about this stuff. Josh, Crazy Bastard Bucky, Kenny, my parents who think I'm certifiable, and especially my fiancee, Michelle, who puts up with my shitty attitudes that come with exposure to heat and lack of food and water for the few hours after I'm done training.

I haven't lost near the weight that I wanted to thus far, but I feel way better physically today than I did even two months ago. I down about 10lbs since I started this blog. I'm sure I've packed on some sort of muscle in my legs though, right? Right? I'll keep telling myself that and not dwell too much on the scales.

I picked up some cool gear for my birthday that has helped to make training, and hopefully the race, more enjoyable. Michelle got me a REI Doubleshot pack that goes around my waist. I wasn't crazy about carrying a backpack of any kind to keep my back from getting sore and the waist carried camelbaks struck me as inconvenient due to the hose and time to fill. The Doubleshot pack has a holster for two 24 oz squirt bottles and a small zippered pouch in between for storing gels or snacks. It also has some elastic webbing across the outside of the pouch which is perfect for stuffing a light windbreaker in and cinching it down. Most important of all, it doesn't feel cumbersome when running with it on. My parents got me a pair of RaceReady LD running shorts. They are super lightweight and have mesh pockets on the back for holding additional gels or food.

If you would have told me two summers ago that I would be running the Pikes Peak Ascent, I would have laughed at you and ordered another beer. Who'da thunk I'd be going up past treeline for a training run and looking forward to it? Hope this winter isn't as bad as last and I can actually get outside and continue to build on the progress I've made so far. I'm even toying with the idea of running a full marathon sometime next summer! Let me get through the Ascent first before we get too far down that road.

more railroad ties

Josh and I met a little before 7pm yesterday and headed over to do the Incline.  I left the dog at home since he was generally slowing me down the last couple of times I had taken him up there.  I had told myself all day that I was going to set a new PR for the trip and I couldn't do it with Boomer in tow.

We've always started our watches at the top of the stairs leading from the Barr Trail parking lot to the incline itself so that's where we turned them on yesterday.  Josh was way out in front of me pretty quick but I kept a pretty good pace going.  There was a girl in front of me that I was slowly reeling in so I kept tabs on the distance between us to help with pacing.  Once we got to the steeps, she all but quit so I was on my own after that.  I held a pretty quick pace (for me) all the way to the bailout spot and slowed down a little between there and the false summit.  I knew I was going faster than normal when Josh was just at the false summit when I hit the bailout.  Once I crested the false summit, I saw Josh was still not to the top and I knew I could set a PR.  I quickly moved up the less steep section after the false summit and made quick work of the final climb.  I stopped my watch at 45:59.  Not sure if I bested that last summer or not, but it was a good 6 minutes faster than I had done it so far this year.  I was stoked.

We headed down Barr Trail to the bailout and then hopped back on the stairs.  On the way down, we stopped twice, turned around and ran up the stairs doing 50 yd sprints.  It burned like hell, but was a killer way to get some extra work in.

I think that gets this thing about caught up for the last month or so.  Got plans to head up the mountain again and get some more altitude work in this weekend.

the air up there

... or lack thereof.

I had had about enough of the scenery between the trailhead and Barr Camp and was looking forward to running the Classic 10K race on the 28th in the Springs.  The best laid plans... I don't remember the rest, but that's not what happened.

After talking with that Crazy Bastard Bucky (this is his new official title, by the way), I decided that I should think about getting some HIGH altitude training in since I pretty much suck at breathing anyway.  With that, I planned to drive up to the Summit on Sunday, July 29th to see what it was all about.

Once again I woke up at the asscrack of dawn something, because it wasn't even light out and made my way to the Pikes Peak Highway.  That Crazy Bastard Bucky gave me a heads up to a $2 off coupon for the toll and I printed it off and headed out.  I was at the gate at 6:35am and was already 17 cars back.  Apparently, I wasn't the only nutcase who couldn't wait to starve himself of oxygen for a couple hours that day.  The gates opened about 10 minutes early, I paid the man my $8, and I was in the rarified air by 7:45.  I drank a bunch of water on the way up and was doing a little dance in my seat for about the last mile and well you know... had to take a leak REAL BAD.  Naturally, the turistas don't load their happy asses onto the first train until about 8 or so and the Summit House was closed.  Shit!  I strolled across the summit to the US Army Environmental Research station and conducted my own little experiment on the rocks behind the building.  I'll post results later.

I packed my double bottle belt on, threw a windbreaker in the webbing and started down Barr Trail.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, clear skies, not terribly cold, and no wind.  I took it easy down the first mile.  Those 16 Golden Stairs are a bitch in both directions.  Once down to the Cirque, I put it on cruise control and got down the to 3 miles to go sign in just under 45 minutes.  There were a ton of people on the mountain that day.  Most of them making the same trip as me, but there were already a few who had made it up from Manitou after starting real early.

I drank some water, ate a gel pack, chatted with some other folks about how many times they had done the Ascent or Marathon ( I was way outta my leage with that crowd ) then decided to head up.  I had a nice little break to catch my breath and immediately went out fast to show those veterans I deserved to be up there.  Bad idea, genius.  That lasted for a couple of switchbacks before I settled into a pretty slow walk to let my heartbeat catch up and most of those people blew right by me.  I pressed on and made the first mile in about 26 minutes.  This wasn't too bad as I was expecting to be closed to 30 up there.  The second mile is a little bit easier... if the weather holds.  At this point, I had worked up a good sweat and my shirt was pretty wet.  Then some light clouds moved in, quickly followed by some thicker ones.  I would never see the sun again until I was back down to Glen Cove.  The temp dropped pretty drastically and I got a little chill.  I didn't let that stop me.  I pushed through the second mile in about the same pace as the first.  Cool! That last traverse before the Cirque is pretty daunting and it seemed like it took forever.  I took a quick break to get a few deep breaths and started up the final mile.   It was a death march for the most part and I couldn't see the summit for the majority of the time.  This is actually a good thing so you can't see how much more hell you have left.  I'm not sure what my time was on that final mile, but it was just under 90 minutes from where I started to the top.  So the 30 minute mile average up top was right on.

I grabbed some warm clothes out of my Jeep and waited for Kenny to come up whom I was supposed to take back down. I sat around for about an hour and a half watching what seemed like the same 5 people come up and then head back down for the next leg of a 3-2-1.  Still no Kenny.  I finally decided that if he wanted a ride he could hitch and I was freezing my ass off.  I later found out that he and Crazy Bastard Bucky ended up turning around at A-Frame when they saw the clouds building.

It was a good training session and I'm going to spend the last two weekends before the Ascent up there to get some more acclimation and hopefully take a few minutes off those last three miles.

back on barr

The weekend after we climbed Pikes, I was ready to get firmly back into the groove.  I skipped the Incline during the week to be fully rested for the run up to Barr the following Saturday.  Josh had a wedding to go to up in Northern CO, so I was going it alone this week.

I was up at 4:30ish on Saturday morning and out of the house a little after 5am.  I stopped at the store for a couple of gel packs and a banana to eat on the way over.  I was on the trailhead a couple of minutes after 6am and headed for Barr Camp.  I brought my watch along this time since I wanted to take some time off from last month's run.  I got about a mile up and realized that I forgot to bring any cash with me to get a Gatorade or extra water at camp.  I started working the consumption rates in my head and almost talked myself into turning back at No Name Creek, but decided to stick with the plan.

I got up past No Name and into the "Hansel and Gretel" forest feeling great and was excited about the prospect of getting to Barr Camp under 2 hours.  I found the energy to run a good chunk of the flats in the forest.  I guess I didn't realize I hadn't come as far as I thought and kept waiting and waiting for the "1/2 miles to Barr" sign to show itself.  I finally found it right at 2 hours and started the push up the longest half mile in the world.  I got to camp in 2hr 11 minutes and was still pretty pleased since it was at least 10 minutes off my time a month earlier.

I ate a gel, talked with another guy training for the Ascent, and then headed back down.  I again ran most of the flats and moved quickly to the top of the 'Ws'.  I got a little past the Incline bailout and had to pull up with a nasty blister on my instep.  I had been having a bit of an athlete's foot flare-up and a particular inflamed area was right in my left instep.  The itching was gone, but there was still a nice little swolen dry patch when I started.  My shoes just happened to hit it right between the edge of the insole and the instep of the shoe and managed to rub a dime sized blister on the spot.  To make matters worse, my shirt was soaked and caused my nipple to chafe to the point of bleeding.  I looked down and saw it coming through my shirt and freaked!  I took the cutoff at the last W to take me down by the river for a change of scenery and to see what the first climbs of the race course were like.  That won't be fun going up on raceday!

All in all, it was a successful workout and I actually felt much better later in the day than I had after the last Barr roundtrip.

back from vacation

After the weekend in Ouray, the 4th of July fell in the middle of the following week.  Michelle and I went for a picnic up on Capt. Jack's trail and I decided it was finally time to ask her to marry me.  After dinner and all the important questions were asked, we met up with our friends over at Josh's house and watched fireworks from the roof.

A few days later, we headed up to China Wall, outside of Divide, for two nights of camping for my 30th birthday.  We returned on Sunday just in time for a BBQ at my parent's house with a bunch of friends.  That was the end of the break from training and I got right back to work the following Monday with a trip up the Incline.

It sucked!  I was a good 5 minutes off my normal pace and could definitely tell that I hadn't done anything but drink beer and relax for the past two weeks.  I had some pretty serious muscle pains in my calves and quads through Friday and finally felt ready to do something again on Saturday.  We had planned to get to the summit of the Peak via the Crags trail on Sunday, July 14th.

Sunday, we all loaded up and headed to the Crags bright and early.  I packed some peanut butter bagels, GU, raisins, almonds, and loaded up my Camelbak.  I forgot to eat one of my sandwiches on the way up and it hit me hard about a half mile into the trail.  We stopped and I put one away real quick.  Crags starts at 10k feet and it didn't take long for the altitude to take it's toll.  I hung near the back of the pack for most of the ascent from treeline to Devil's Playground with the exception of the section where Josh and I dumped our packs and got a 50yd sprint in just before cresting the first ridge.  That hurt!

Things were going well until we started the last push toward the rock scramble.  It got really windy and cold, so I threw on a windbreaker.  It took about 5 minutes before the sauna started inside of that thing so I took it back off.  The only other warm clothing I had was soaked in sweat from the first couple miles of the hike.  Luckily, once we started up the steeps, I forgot about how cold I was.  We summited in about 4 hours taking our sweet time on the way up.  I still felt like my legs were a little beat up from doing the incline earlier in the week, but I made it.

We got down in just a little over half the time and stopped at Wines of Colorado in Cascade for lunch.  They have a killer burger there and I highly recommend it.

I was still feeling the effects of two weeks of nothing, but it was good that I took the time off earlier instead of later so I could really start pressing hard to train before the Ascent.

still going...

Not quite the energizer bunny, but I'm still training and with just a hair over two weeks left before the Pikes Peak Ascent, I'm getting excited.

Let me get this thing caught up a little bit and go over what I've been up to over the last month.

A week after the Sailin' Shoes 10K, Josh and I started training on Barr Trail.  We decided that it was time to extend the runs/hikes a little bit so we decided to head up to Barr Camp and back.  Naturally, being the horse that he is Josh flew up in a couple minutes over 2 hours.  I kept a decent pace, tried to conserve the 32oz of water I had with me and got up in around 2:20 according to his watch.  Not bad, but I needed to find some time somewhere on that section to make my pace.  We came back down and we both felt that it was our longest trip yet.  We both got some good cramps on the 'Ws' past the incline bailout.  I took off running just to get it over with and Josh came down a couple minutes after me.  I think we made the roundtrip in around 4 hours.  It was extremely hot that day, too.  I think it was almost 90 by the time we got back to Manitou and well over that by the time we drove back into the Springs.

The following Wednesday, I headed off to Ouray, CO for an extended weekend of jeeping with my future in-laws and their Jeep club from NM.  It was nice to take a weekend off from the training.