3/4-3/10: Starting the bulding process

3/4: Bergen Peak: 2:17:40/2,400ft gained/summit #15 - This was my first time making it up Bergen since early February. The way up was easy going but on the way down this turned into another rough run. It was obvious that the Too Long trail, the trail I take down, wasn’t nearly as packed as the Bergen Peak trail I take up. I was hoping that it was just the more exposed section that I was on and that it would get better as I made my way down but no such luck. It was cold enough that the uneven snow was hard and crunchy, not the powdery fun stuff. The majority of the downhill turned into a slow hike.

3/5: Lookout Mountain (road): 1:33:57/1,300ft gained/summit #63 - This was an awesome run. Even though the pace was slow the day before my legs were actually pretty sore. I hit the top at 51:09 and made some time up on the way down shaving time off of my round trip PR.

3/6: Lookout Mountain: 1:23:15/1,800ft gained/summit #64 - Back on the trail for this run.   Everything up to the Windy Saddle was in fairly good shape, some icy sections but not too bad. I did underestimate how iced over from the Windy Saddle to the summit would be though, and didn’t bring microspikes, which added some time for sure.

3/7: Bergen Peak: 2:00:09/2,400ft gained/summit #16 - A much better outing at Bergen compared to my run earlier in the week. I stuck to an out-and-back on the Bergen Peak trail which was really established and packed out. There was great footing on the way up but as the temperature quickly climbed, things got sloppy on the way down. I had microspikes on for the entire run. I got back to my car with about 5 minutes to spare and ran on the road to hit my time of 2 hours.

3/8: Lookout Mountain: 1:34:59/1,800ft gained/summit #65 - Yet again I head up Lookout thinking I won’t need microspikes. I was very wrong. Windy Saddle to the summit was a sheet of ice. I walked every step and even thought about turning around but figured it’d be safer going up than down. It took me almost 50 minutes just to get to the top. From there I ran the road back to the Windy Saddle. No way I was going down what I just came up. From there I jumped back on the trail and ran to my car.

3/9: Off

3/10: Off

No long run this week, but a good solid increase in training volume nonetheless. Going back to the previous Sunday I ran 6 days in a row, something I haven't done for months.  The next couple of weeks will be a little extra challenging to get my running in as I'll be doing some traveling with work. If I don't get everything I have planned in I'll be okay with it considering it's only March but at the same time I am really ready to get going and start training for Leadville with more focus and intensity.

Viewing some snow covered peaks on top of Bergen.

The flat meadow before the climb starts up Bergen.

The kind of snow covered trails I don't mind running.

2/25-3/3: 60 Lookouts & 40 Greens

2/25: Off

2/26: Lookout Mountain (road): 1:45:45/1,300ft gained/summit #60: This was the first time all winter that snow effected my running. Coming off of my stretch of rest I really wanted to run and if I had stuck to the trail it would’ve been anything but a run. There were a few tracks on the trail but it would’ve been post-holing in about a foot of snow the entire way and I just wasn’t up for that, plus, I had never run this route before. I had run a section of it during a long run but never this specific section of the road to the trail junction at the summit. The parking lot is a bit higher up the mountain than the trailhead is so it isn’t as much climbing. Along with that this route is much less direct and therefore longer, 11.16 miles, than the trail. I have to say that this run is an excellent workout. With the lesser grade, I was able to run every step up the mountain, I felt that slow burn in my legs and a lower heart rate instead of crippling steep gradient that immediately spikes my heart rate and reduces me to a fast hike at best. I want to try to get both aspects of mountain running into my training from here on out. There was a light snow when I started and by the time I got to the top, 57:47 later, it was really coming down hard. The inch or so of fresh snow really made running down the pavement more pleasant than it usually is and I was grateful for it because I didn’t want to trash my legs after my first run back from my break.

2/27: Off

2/28: Lookout Mountain (road): 1:34:18/1,300ft gained/summit #61: Wow... Really shaved a lot of time off of this run compared to a couple of days ago. The weather was much nicer and the road was totally clear except for at the top. It was not enough of a change, though, to make up over 11 minutes just because of more favorable running conditions. I felt really good all the way up and could tell I was pushing harder than I was 2 days ago, but still far from an all-out effort. I hit the top at 51:51. I enjoyed the clear roads for the uphill but not so much on the downhill. My body just isn’t adapted to running on the road at all anymore, let alone over 5 miles of downhill pavement. My legs weren’t feeling great at the end. I need to hit the trails tomorrow.

3/1: Green Mountain: 1:15:53/2,200ft gained/summit #40: My 40th summit of Green was possibly my most fun yet. There was a lot of snow on the mountain but the trails were perfectly packed and established with the exception of a few spots where there were some drifts almost up to my knees. I hit the summit at 47:15, snow slowed me down even though packed, and then it was time to see what my traction was like running downhill with microspikes. I had only worn my microspikes one time before and I really didn’t get a chance to get a real feel for them because there was so much powder and drifting. It took me a few minutes before I really trusted the microspikes and realized my footing was just fine with the added traction on the packed trails. Probably the most fun I’ve ever had running down Green.

3/2: Off

3/3: Lookout Mountain: 1:23:13/1,800ft gained/summit #62: Trails were a mess today. By the time I made it out on Lookout it was almost 60 degrees. A combination of mud, ice, and ankle high slush covered the trails all the way to the top. My feet were freezing and legs hurt from all the sliding around. One of my longest trips up and down Lookout.

It felt good this week to be able to say that between Lookout and Green mountain I have a combined 100-plus summits. I can't really say that I happened to hit huge milestones on each mountain this week as far as summits go, but it was cool to hit nice round numbers on both of them. Especially when I'm not running Green that often. 

Not exactly the week I had planned for my first week back of running after taking a week off, but I'm happy with it. I did enjoy steady running, it's not often that I run out here for 11 some miles and not hike at all within that time, along with the slower stuff that the snow covered trails offered. I know I've said this in the past but from now on, even when the trails are in great shape, I want to make a trip to the top of Lookout once a week via the road. Other than that, I'm just working through some initial soreness that comes along with getting back into the swing of things.

Snow covered Flatirons.

Getting shelter from the wind on top of Green. 

Packed out trail going down the backside of Green.

2/11-2/17: Moab Red Hot 55k

2/11: Off

2/12: Windy Saddle: 45:45/1,100ft gained - Not an easy run this morning. Cold and windy on the way up. There was packed snow most of the way, and like usual after a few days off my legs just felt dead. I made it to the saddle in 27:05.

2/13: Windy Saddle: 43:09/1,100ft gained - Quickly looking at my training log the fastest time I saw on the route was 45:15, so it looks like it was a big PR today. Less snow and warmer than yesterday but much windier. I hit the saddle at 26:14 and really enjoyed the downhill back to my car. It felt good to get a short but intense run in like this a few days before Red Hot.

2/14: Golden Bike Path: 35:24/491ft gained - I ended up taking today much easier than I had planned. The plan was to run up to the Windy Saddle and back down but after only a few strides from my car I noticed that my legs were surprisingly sore. So instead of going up I took the offshoot over to the Golden Bike Path. I’ve only run a little section of the path during a race back in the fall. As far as I know the majority of the path is made of up easy rolling hills. So nothing like I normally run. Once I add another day to my weekly running in March I want to incorporate an hour on this path every week. I figure it’ll help me stay more balanced and give my legs a break from the downhill that comes with running in the mountains.

2/15: Off

2/16: Moab Red Hot 55K: 5:27:14/4,100ft gained - It took awhile for my legs to really get going in this one. I think some of it might have had to do with the 4-hour drive to Grand Junction the night before the race and then another hour-and-a-half on race morning. I’m not trying to make excesses and am not saying that I could’ve run the course significantly faster if I had taken more time off and gotten to Moab sooner. Rather, I just want to make sure I avoid a similar situation for future races. I don’t race that often so when I do I want to feel like I’m giving it my best. I ran with a friend that I’ve done a few ultras with and we normally start off at the same pace, run a good amount of the race together, and then whoever seems to be having the better day pulls away with the lead. Not today, I was dropped right from the gun. We started on a long gradual climb and my legs just felt so heavy. My breathing was well under control, heart rate fine, but I just couldn’t get my legs to move. After the climb things leveled out and we hit long stretches of flat running with a few hills. Even on the flat stuff my legs weren’t feeling great. I stayed true to my gel every 30 minutes and was hoping after I took my first one things would start feeling better. When I hit the first aid station it wasn’t even as if I was way behind schedule or anything like that. I just felt like I was working way harder than I should be. The first aid station was around mile 6 and the next one would be just over mile 12. We hit some slick rock for the first time in this stretch which was fun and a nice break from the otherwise sandy sections of the trail. Also at this point all the slick rock was uphill. When I came into the second aid station I was starting to feel more optimistic. I asked how far it was to the next aid station, 5 miles, and took off. I felt great on this section. Small rolling hills, great footing, and I hit the next aid station less than 40 minutes later feeling better than I had all morning. So I was at mile 17, the half way point, and if I remember right at a time right around 2:25:00-2:30:00. Before the race I had just briefly looked at the race map and profile so I didn’t really know what lay ahead of me but I started thinking that maybe I could run just over 5 hours for the whole thing. I was told that the next section, another 5 miles or so, was a tough one and to stock up on plenty of calories before I left the aid station. For the first mile or 2 the terrain really didn’t change much but then we began our second big climb of the day. My legs continued to feel great and I ran most of it. Only hiking some of the small steep sections of slick rock at the top near the next aid station. I want to say I came into the aid station around 3:17:00 so with the climb my pace slowed down, of course, but I was still feeling good about a low 5 hour finish time as I thought I had a lot of easy downhill running over the next 7 miles. I was wrong about that and I’d say this was the only stretch of the race where frustration really set in. The next 7 miles was 90% slick rock which slowed me down. It was fun at first but the hard surface quickly fatigued my legs. Much of the section was downhill but I felt like I wasn’t making up any time because I didn’t want to totally destroy my quads with a good amount of running left. The other thing that kind of sucked on this section was staying on course. With all this slick rock there’s no trail. We were following painted white lines, established by the park and pink ribbons set up by the race coordinators. I am happy to say that I never went off course but there was plenty of times I had to stop and look ahead to figure out where I was going. Now, I know that most of the other runners would have to do the same unless they had a ton of experience on the course but at that point I wasn’t worried about where I was in the field. I was worried about coming in just over 5 hours and that was clearly slipping away.   Heading into the race I had a goal of a 5-5:30:00 finish so I kept going as hard as I could to make sure I, at least, hit the slower end of my goal window. The last aid station was around mile 29 and I don’t remember what time I hit it but I do remember thinking that I have plenty of time to make it under 5:30:00. There was a brief steep climb of slick rock in which I took time to hike and take 2 gels with hopes of really running the last section hard. After the climb we were treated to some really easy terrain for a mile or 2. Then we hit some sand. Deeper sand than we ran all day which isn’t ideal for running fast. I sucked it up and realized I was just going to make it under 5:30:00. My only thought while crossing the finish line was, “That was a harder 55K than I thought it would be.”

2/17: Off

Moving ahead...

This year I'm all about peaking at exactly the right moment, Leadville 100. In order to do that I really want to dial in my training and be realistic about balancing training volume/intensity with injury risk. That being said it's time to ramp things up just a bit but before that I want to rest. Moab has left me sore. A good sore, but I want to make sure everything is feeling fine before I jump back into training so I'm taking a week off. The week after Moab will be all rest. No cross training, just taking it easy. To ease back into it I'll be running one more 4-day week. Then the first full week of March I'll jump to 5 days a week and continue with my same long run plan, add an hour. So the March goal is 2 6-hour runs. I also need to commit to my other tune-up races. Ideally I'd like to race 2 more times before Leadville sometime between May and July. The problem is there are too many good options and I'm jumping all over the place trying to determine which races will be the most beneficial. I want my focus to remain strong so I just need to decide and get signed up for a couple more races.

And we're off.

About to start the first climb.

Finishing. 

Friedman enjoying some sun after a well run race.

2/4 - 2/10: Bergen Double & Love for the Pure Grit 2

2/4: Bergen Peak Double: 5:00:24/5,200ft gained/summit #12,13 - Similar to the double that I did a couple weeks ago but this time I ran all the way back to my car, via Elk Ridge and Sleepy S, before heading back up for a full double summit of the peak. My goal was to slow things down on the first summit and come as close as I could to an even split on my 2 summits. I hit the first at 1:05:16 and made it back to my car at 2:00:46. The Too Long trail was quite icy making the downhill way slower than normal. So after some brief refueling my goal was to summit roughly an 1:05:00-1:10:00 later. I hit my second summit at 3:10:45. Just making it within the time frame I was looking for. My legs were feeling really good on the second climb and I thought I was going to hit the summit closer to my first split than I did. I think my actual running pace on both trips up were really close. I was taking a gel every 45 minutes, so on my first summit I only took one, on my second summit two, which, of course, slowed things down a bit. Anyway, I made it back to my car at 4:16:23 for the second round trip. At this point I had no desire to retrace my steps for a third time so I ran further out on some of the trails at the bottom that I hadn’t been on before to round out my 5-hour run. I don’t use a GPS watch but looking at the map afterwards I’d say I got in just over 25 miles. Mentally this run was awesome. I didn’t have anyone to pass the 5 hours with and time just flew by. I couldn’t believe it when I was done. Now, of course, I’ll be on my feet for just a little more than 5 hours while running Leadville but to be knocking out training runs like this in February and not feeling mentally fatigued at all is a great sign. Physically, I was good but not great. The downhills sucked. The trail conditions were anything from completely dry, solid packed snow, to very icy stretches. Getting in a groove on the downhill and then all of a sudden having to slam on the breaks to stop in time to walk a stretch of ice took it’s toll on my knees and quads. Things were just really tense on the downhills and by the time I got to the bottom both times I was in some pain. As soon as I was running flat or uphill things were feeling great so I know it mostly had to do with the added impact and the stop and go of the downhill. All in all, a great run.

2/5: Off

2/6: Lookout Mountain: 1:12:01/1,800ft gained/summit #58 - My legs were a little stiff starting out but other than that felt pretty good after Monday’s long run. With the trail 90% clear of snow and ice I would’ve liked to run under 1:10:00 but my legs seemed a little too fatigued still to get the job done.

2/7: Bergen Peak: 2:04:08/2,400ft gained/summit #14 - It was tough navigating the trails this morning. Evergreen received a few more inches of snow overnight and the trails were quite slippery. I summited at 1:07:01 (second slowest ever) and needed the rest of the time to get back to my car. No add-on time today.

2/8: Lookout Mountain: 1:08:20/1,800ft gained/summit #59 - Very encouraging way to close out the week of running. Especially with a short taper coming early next week and a race next weekend. I hit the summit at 40:52 and for the first time all week was able to run hard downhill with no pain.

2/9: Off

2/10: Off


As I have mentioned I'm still on the hunt for a shoe that I want to run Leadville in. I run in minimal shoes but have been leaning more toward the beefier side of the minimal spectrum. My ideal shoe is a balanced blend of protection for the long haul paired with natural feel. Ever since the NB MT100 came out I've been pretty much all New Balance when it comes to trail shoes. Sure, I've mixed others in here and there but the majority of all my training and racing have taken place with New Balance shoes on my feet. Their current offerings just aren't going to do the trick though. I really like the MT110 but know that's not going be enough shoe for the duration of a 100 miles. Maybe, I'll start out in a pair of them, but then again maybe not. Then there's the MT1010. I like the shoe but I don't love it. It has more protection and cushion compared to the 110 for sure but the durability just isn't there. I get running shoes at a fraction of the suggested retail price and still I refuse to buy another pair of 1010s after blowing through a couple pairs in no time. Now, the 1010 update is scheduled to be released this coming July and I haven't completely written that shoe off as I have heard New Balance has addressed durability issues.

Last year I was excited for the release of the Pure Grit, Brooks first minimal trail running shoe. With the help of Scott Jurek I figured it had to be pretty descent, and it was for the most part. I did a fair amount of training in the shoe, never any racing, but had two major issues with it. The traction and loose fit. I was all over the place in that shoe. I just didn't trust it after a couple of rolled ankles and missed switchbacks thanks to the lack of traction. What I did really love about the shoe was the blend of cushion, low drop (4mm), and ground feel the shoe provided.

Just looking at the new Grit 2 I could tell things were going to be better this time around. Lugging on the sole replaced the funky pattern of the first one plus the uppers are totally redone. Staying true to the rest of the new Pure line, offset lacing and an asymmetric upper. Brooks addressed the two things I, and I'm sure others, hated about the first shoe but didn't feel the need to mess with the things that worked the first time.

About the only trail condition I haven't run in yet with these shoes are muddy, sloppy trails and considering I live in Colorado I'm not too worried about how they preform under those conditions anyway. Other than that they have handled everything I've thrown at them very well. I'm no longer afraid to really run the downhills hard in these shoes because the fit is great and my footing secure. I do have to mention that I went down a half size in these compared to what I wore in the first version of the shoe. So maybe I was wearing a half size too large the first time around which lead to some of my complaints but I know going down a half size in last years model wouldn't make them feel as good as the current ones do. I feel very natural in this shoe yet not as beat up as I do after running in some of the more minimal options out there.

If you're in the market for that blend of minimalism/protection I highly recommend giving the new Grits a spin. 

1/28 - 2/3: More of the same

1/28: Bergen Peak: 2:00:10/2,400ft gained/summit #10 - Solid run to the top. Only my 3rd time making it to the summit under an hour (59:22) but things kind of fell apart on the way down. I don’t know if some of it had to do with running in different shoes the day before, but my legs hurt-  right hip and knee and both feet. Nothing I’m too worried about.

1/29: Bergen Peak: 2:26:59/2,400ft gained/summit #11 - Wow.. slow moving but more than a worthwhile run. This is the same route that normally takes me 1:50:00-1:55:00 to complete. Bergen had a bunch of fresh snow slowing things down and making it much harder to cover ground. There had been some foot traffic on some of the lower trails but Bergen Peak trail, the trail I take up, and Too Long trail, the trail I descend on, were completely untouched. Being the first one to the top of the mountain on any given day is always kind of cool but I would’ve taken some packed snow too. A run like this really works all those little stabilizing muscles and ligaments and I could really feel the fatigue by the time I made it back to my car. I wouldn’t want every run to be like this but once in a while it sure is a lot of fun.

1/30: Off

1/31: Lookout Mountain: 1:16:59/1,800ft gained/summit #56 - A tough run up Lookout. A lot of unpacked snow made the climb pretty slow. I forgot to look at my watch at the top but know it was between 47-48 minutes, well off my normal time up. Coming down was a lot of fun though as conditions weren’t very slippery and the powder made for less impact.

2/1: Lookout Mountain: 1:17:50/1,800ft gained/summit #57 - Warming weather and more traffic resulted in significantly more packed trails than the day before making for a faster time up but slower on the way down thanks to some icy sections. Just couldn’t run it as fast as I could the day before.

2/2: Off

2/3: Off







I was on my feet longer this week than I normally would be for a non-long run week thanks to our snow covered trails. Going up Bergen and Lookout were both pretty tough and took some extra time and effort.





I had mentioned in my previous post how disappointed I was with the Salomon Sense Mantra. I ended up exchanging that shoe for the Brooks Pure Grit 2 which I ran in on both trips up Lookout this week. So far I really like the shoe but considering both runs were on fresh powder to only slightly-packed trails it's hard to really get a feel for the shoe and give any sort of real feedback. Once I get more miles in the shoe, including a long run, I plan on writing a mini-review for the shoe.

Bergen is right in the middle. A good 6-8 inches of snow on the summit.

1/8 - 1/28: 2 Week Recap

1/8: Off

1/9: Bergen Peak: 1:50:34/2,400ft gained/summit #4 - Well I was looking to go easy and save my legs for tomorrow's long run and I ended up PRing to the summit (58:23). The plan for this run was to go up to the peak on the route that I’ve been taking but then checkout some different trails on the way down to run a loop and do some scouting for tomorrow's long run. I went up Sleepy S, to Elk Ridge, jumped on Meadow View to connect to the Bergen Peak trail which takes you to the top. Normally I’d back track all the way back to my car but today I went down the Too Long trail after a mile of necessary out-and-back-style running up to and off of the summit. Too Long then connects to Meadow View and its about a mile off rolling hills back to Elk Ridge and then my car. Round trip is 10.3 miles whereas the out and back I had been doing was 9.8. I plan on doing the same thing tomorrow but heading back up to the summit for 2 loops before I head down Elk Ridge. 

1/10: Bergen Peak Double: 4:00:53/4,500ft gained/summit #5 & 6 - The 2 loops/double summit was a success. My legs weren’t climbing like they were the day before which was fine. Sometimes its good to struggle a little bit on a long run. Also, my plan was to take a gel every 30 minutes, but a couple miles into my run I noticed I only brought 4 gels. Evidently I can’t do simple math. I think I would’ve had more life in my legs for the second summit if I had been taking in more calories. I got back to my car (18.5 miles) at 3:44:20, dropped off my pack, and headed back out for some easy jogging on flat trails to round out the 4 hour outing. I didn’t bring a GPS watch but I was easily going faster than 10 minute miles on the flat stuff so total mileage would be 20.5 or so. Not a bad couple days at Bergen. Especially for only January.

1/11: Off

1/12: Off

1/13: Lookout Mountain: 1:15:41/1,800ft gained/summit #52 - By far the coldest weather I’ve run in here in Colorado this winter. When I got to the trail head and checked the temperature in my car it read a whopping 1 degree. Luckily the sun was out and not much wind so it was bearable. The cold was pretty brutal on my lungs though making it hard to breathe.

1/14: Bergen Peak: 2:00:03/2,400ft gained/summit #7 - The trail head temp was 2 below without the windchill. Luckily not much wind to speak of but still another cold one for sure. My car was the lone car in a normally crowed lot. I have to say I take a little pride in that. I hit the summit in 1:03:26 and hung out for only a second or two before I headed back down. I opted for a loop instead of an out-and-back to add mileage/time. I got back to my car around 1:55:ish and did some loops around the parking lot to hit my desired 2 hour mark.

1/15: Off

1/16: Bergen Peak: 2:00:34/2,400ft gained/summit #8 - Only my second time hitting the summit in under an hour (59:32) about a minute off of my PR. Went for the loop on the way down and made up some time and hit a round trip PR making it back to my car at 1:49:25. I headed back out for 11 minutes to get my 2 hours in and right around 11.5 - 12 miles.

1/17: Lookout Mountain: 1:09:06/1,800ft gained/summit #53 - I was happy to run under 1:10:00 after a couple trips up Bergen this week. Quite a few icy sections on the way down that kept me from going under 1:09:00.

1/18: Lookout Mountain: 1:14:23/1,800ft gained/summit #54 - Breathing was labored and legs heavy right from the start so I was in no rush with this one. Beautiful morning out on the trail so I thought I might as well just enjoy the slower pace for my last run of the week.

1/19: Off

1/20: Off

1/21: Lookout Mountain: 1:06:13/1,800ft gained/summit #55 - A PR by about 30 seconds. On the way up I walked more than average but always in very short intervals. I guess that allowed me to pick up the pace while running because I hit the top at 40:22. I’m hoping to go under 1:06:00 in the not too distant future.

1/22: Off

1/23: Grays and Torreys: 4:00:42/5,200ft gained/summit #2 for both peaks - Today I was going to do what I did for my last long run (double Bergen summit) but with the warm temps and decent trail reports I decided to give Grays and Torreys a crack and see what it’s like getting up there in the winter. Like my previous trip up I started at the winter trail head and ran up the road. The road was covered with packed snow and I really felt like I was crawling. I figured I was doing about 15 minute miles so I was surprised to hit the Summer trail head at 38:40. The head wind was really strong from here on out especially while covering the flatter ground leading to the real climb. With the punchy snow, altitude, and wind I had trouble running even the flat stuff. Climbing was getting frustrating because of poor traction so right around the trail split from the Torreys loop I put on my microspikes. I noticed a huge difference and was very happy that I brought them with me. I hit Grays peak in just under 2 hours and immediately made my way over to Torreys. If there was an established packed trail coming off of the summit I couldn’t find it which resulted in a very slow decent down to the saddle. It was pretty much the same making my way up to Torreys. I think .5 mile or so took me almost 20 minutes. On top of Torreys I got a brief break from the wind and had time to snap a few pictures and take a gel without freezing. On the decent I left my spikes on until I hit the same spot I put them on and cruised the downhill slowly from there. While this week's long run might not have equaled the mileage I did on my double Bergen summit this was much more challenging and rewarding. Just moving forward was no easy task.

1/24: Bergen Peak: 2:00:45/2,400ft gained/summit #9 - Hardest part of this run was driving to the trail head. Yesterday was more of a mental fatigue than physical but like it normally happens once I was out on the trail for a mile or two I was really enjoying myself. Didn’t feel yesterday's run in my legs at all. Hit the summit at 1:02:13 and continued on with the loop back to my car.

1/26: Off

1/27: Off

1/28: Green Mountain: 1:09:44/2,200ft gained/summit #39 - I hadn’t run Green for quite a while so I was looking forward to this run but it turned out to actually be quite frustrating. First of all I was trying out a new pair of shoes, Salomon Sense Mantra, and they just weren’t working for me. I have never run in Salomon’s before and and didn’t really care for the speed laces. They were either too tight or too loose. I could never get them just right. Also, I was thinking this could be my 100-mile shoe so I was looking for something beefier than I normally run in but this shoe is just so stiff that it hurt my feet. I don’t know, maybe with more miles the shoe would break in and I’d enjoy it more but I just really don’t care to find out if that’s the case. I’ll be opting for a different shoe instead. Secondly, it was a almost 60 degree, sunny, mid January day in Boulder on a Sunday afternoon which means the trails were beyond packed. Going up wasn’t terrible but the trip down was insane. I’m okay with dodging people but in Boulder you don’t have to worry about just avoiding people. It’s people and their dogs. Unleashed dogs that seem to own the trail. It seemed like every other turn I was avoiding a dog that was either tripping me up or just standing there looking at me as if saying, “You expect me to move?” Okay, done with my rant. I’ll just avoid Boulder on Sunday afternoons from now on.

Well, early Leadville training is coming along very nicely. With all this mild weather we've been getting it's been easy to get out for some longer runs very early in the season. I'm getting closer to getting a set schedule for some tuneup races before Leadville. One that I want to do for sure is the Silverton 6/12/14 hour run at the end of June. They actually have 5 different races taking place over the weekend and I think I could benefit a ton from doing the 12 hour night run. Ideal training for Leadville. Other than that I have a few options. I'm now thinking about doing a May race, as opposed to a July, and then spending July getting to know the Leadville course as much as I can. So my leading May options are Quad Rock and Collegiate Peaks. Either race would be ideal and as of now I'm not really favoring one over the other. Of course, I could always set out to do any number of epic runs in the area in May and not race at all. I have a little time to decide but I don't want to delay too long.

Looking closely you can see the trail leading up Grays.

Looking back on some of the ground covered on the days run.

1/7 - 1/13: Bergen Double

1/7: Lookout Mountain: 1:10:26/1,800ft gained/summit #51 - Not a great run. My legs actually hurt today. Not tired, but hurt. Funny thing was the pain seemed to float around and not stay in one spot. Oh well, you’ll have those off days.

1/8: Off

1/9: Bergen Peak: 1:50:34/2,400ft gained/summit #4 - Well I was looking to go easy and save my legs for tomorrow's long run and I ended up PRing to the summit (58:23). The plan for this run was to go up to the peak on the route that I’ve been taking but then checkout some different trails on the way down to run a loop and do some scouting for tomorrow's long run. I went up Sleepy S, to Elk Ridge, jumped on Meadow View to connect to the Bergen Peak trail which takes you to the top. Normally I’d back track all the way back to my car but today I went down the Too Long trail after a mile of necessary out and back style running up to and off of the summit. Too Long then connects to Meadow View and its about a mile off rolling hills back to Elk Ridge and then my car. Round trip is 10.3 miles whereas the out and back I had been doing was 9.8. I plan on doing the same thing tomorrow but heading back up to the summit for 2 loops before I head down Elk Ridge. 

1/10: Bergen Peak Double: 4:00:53/4,500ft gained/summit #5 & #6 - The 2 loops/double summit was a success. My legs weren’t climbing like they were the day before which was fine. Sometimes its good to struggle a little bit on your long run. Also, my plan was to take a gel every 30 minutes but a couple miles into my run I noticed I only brought 4 gels. Evidently I can’t do simple math. I think I would’ve had more life in my legs for the second summit if I had been taking in more calories. I got back to my car (18.5 miles) at 3:44:20, dropped off my pack, and headed back out for some easy jogging on flat trails to round out the 4 hour outing. I didn’t bring a GPS watch but I was easily going faster than 10 minute miles on the flat stuff so total mileage would be 20.5 or so. Not a bad couple days at Bergen, especially for only January.

1/11: Off

1/12: Off

1/13: Lookout Mountain: 1:15:41/1,800ft gained/summit #52 - By far the coldest weather I’ve run in here in Colorado this winter. When I got to the trail head and checked the temperature in my car it read a whopping 1 degree. Luckily the sun was out and not much wind so it was bearable. The cold was pretty brutal on my lungs though, making it hard to breathe.

I have some more of my Leadville training plans hammered out. I'll be dividing the year into 3 training cycles. The 1st one is now till Red Hot Moab which is on February 16th. Not much time between now and then but I'll continue to only run 4 days a week. I will focus on my every other week long run and extending a couple of my daily runs each week to the 2 hour mark.

Next will be the week after Red Hot till sometime in June. I'll mark it again with another race. I'm just not sure what race I'll be doing that month. It'll either be Golden Gate Dirty 30 which is early June or the Leadville Marathon which is at the end of June. Either Way I'm going to up my running to 5 days a week and not change much else. Build on my long run and maybe add some speed work.

Then comes the last bit of hard training where I'll really try to get in peak shape just in time for Leadville. This cycle will last from the week after whichever race I do in June till the Leadville 50 miler. As I type this I'm thinking the Dirty 30 might be a better option considering there are only a few weeks separating the Leadville Marathon and the 50 miler. Anyway, I'll go to 6 days a week of running and maybe add a 7th that's hiking only. That will really be a time when I need to listen to my body and remember that more isn't always beneficial. Of course, same focus, build on the long run and get the necessary supplementary daily mileage in as well.

After the Leadville 50 comes a gradual taper and then the 100. Sounds easy enough.

This route shows the most direct line for the out-and-back to Bergen's summit... 

I'm "borrowing" this image that I found online.

 

The layout of Bergen.