Activity Summary - November 2011

Ah, dark, food-laden November... you have come and gone.

This month was a light month for running, but I felt better overall, and actually ran two more days than October and ran another 4-run week.

First, I got rid of my plantar fasciitis symptoms in one week by putting footbeds in my Cascadias (although I still feel it occasionally, it's no longer there between runs). Then, I ran a few nice medium-to-long weekend runs including the car run, a race, and a couple of other good outings. This week with the Five Fingers I've managed 3 runs in five days and my knees feel OK. I think I'm going to go minimal indefinitely until I find some reason not to. It's too much fun, and I really don't run very well when I can pound the hell out of my feet in cushioned shoes.

Running

• Count: 10
• Distance: 87 miles
• Time: 19:28
• Elevation Gain: 8,368 feet

Riding

• [nothing]

Tuesday VFF Jog

This evening I sat down with a beer and noticed my recently-running sister (with two young boys) had finished two long days' work and then gone out in the dark for 5k before dinner.

Well, if she can do it, I can, so I left the pint half empty and went out for 5 miles.

The plains at night, Denver back right
Ran in the Five Fingers again, and the legs were mildly unhappy from two other recent runs in them, but not bad.

I don't seem to bruise my soles any more, which is always a plus.

Funny, but I think I tend to stop less when I wear them, simply because I like hearing the soft pat-pat-pat sound of my feet, and the quicker tempo. When I sniff or clear my throat, it sounds loud by comparison and echoes down the street.

A far cry from the first time I wore them, when I sounded a zombie dragging a broken leg.

Crown Hill Lake Lights

Got out of work a bit early today -- for me -- and even so, it was dark. We still have a few more minutes to lose at the end of the day, but by Dec. 9th or so sunsets will begin getting later again.

Lights on Kipling St. across Crown Hill Lake
The legs don't feel so bad after two days of minimalist footwear running, though my calves feel like I'm midfoot running for the first time. Guess I did have something to learn after all.

I continued to lose weight last week, contrary to American tradition. Over the summer I gained ~10 pounds due to injuries and lax diet, and never lost the 5 I gained over the winter. I saw the scale go as high as 165 three weeks ago, and over the weekend I saw 153. I'm looking for another 10.

Bear Creek/Trail Glove

Yesterday's fun foray in the Five Fingers boosted my existing interest in the Merrell Trail Glove, and today I shopped for a pair. The Sonic (close-weave fabric vs. mesh upper) was too tight across the arch, so I went with the original model. I definitely liked the feel while in the store.


After running in them, bottom line is I like them but I'm going to have to adjust, and they may not be my only minimal shoe.

I'm 0 for 2 with Merrell in the heel comfort category, as these ripped a nice hole in my skin during the first 6 miles. I had a pair of Merrell hiking boots that inexplicably had a Z-stitch right up the heel, and hurt like hell on my first hike. I also lost some skin on the top where the fabric folded, but that will probably break in.

However, I liked the overall feel and the lack of heel rise. There is more rock protection in the sole than the VFF, which is both good and bad. My interest in a minimal shoe is to disable the tendency to run with too much impact, and a thin sole helps keep you honest. I think my technique was a bit more sloppy and knee tracking not as good in the Glove, either because of the tighter fit, or because it was easier to run over rough surfaces and extend my stride too much. Not sure.

However, I do like them, and I think I'll be able to tweak them and break them in. At the very least I need a better day-to-day shoe (not just for running) that encourages good habits, versus the heavily-padded Cascadia.


Interestingly, I dabbed some ointment on the heel and the other chafe point, slipped on the VFFs, and had no problem with a couple more miles, even with the raw skin. The inside heel on the VFF is just much better padded.

The legs felt OK, and if it hadn't been for the shoe malfunction, I would have run farther. Second day in a row in minimal footwear, so there may be repercussions over the next couple of days.

Distance was 8.33 miles, moving time 1:36, elevation gain/loss 206 feet. Moving pace was 11:32.

Green Mtn Lakewood VFF Run

Been reading Born to Run lately, and regardless of what you may think of the author or about barefoot running in general, the book is an engaging read. It kind of put me in the mood to go minimal today.

I already had a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, but I had some chafing in the heel and they didn't seem to help the plantar fasciitis.

But today I engaged in some DIY mods. I heated the problem heel rubber over the electric stove, then formed it and cooled it on an ice pack, and voila! No chafing. I was planning on a ride today, but I was kind of inspired so I took the VFFs for a run instead.

Hoka clown shoes got nothin' on me
The temp read 36, so in the shadows it was a wee bit chilly for the Five Fingers, but the heels felt fine for ~2 hours, and the toes were warm enough. Thank goodness for the occasional sunny sections!

Ready for that fire
There's some great singletrack on this mountain, the only problem is the rocks (see photo #1). Those things hurt in the VFFs, so I had to tread carefully.


You know that great feeling of being under your own power when you run? Running in minimal shoes or VFFs is that feeling all over again, since there's no buffer between you and the trail other than a thin layer of rubber. If you run softly, it's bliss, if you run poorly, it hurts. Very simple, and frankly a lot of fun.


I only averaged a blistering 11-minute pace on flats today, but my cadence was really high. Short soft steps. When I came to rocks, I just slowed down until it didn't hurt.

The jury is out on whether such workouts will hurt or help my feet and knees (we'll see over time).

Certainly our feet benefit from protective soles. However, beyond that, barefoot/minimalism certainly begs an important question: do you really want to use gear to protect your body from the way you are running?

Distance was 7.40 miles, time 1:51, and elevation gain/loss 1,347 feet.

Mount Morrison

After five years of living here, I finally summited the highest mountain in my area, Mount Morrison, at 7,877 feet elevation.

It sits just a few miles to the southwest of where I live, and stands above everything else nearby, but because there are no official trails to the top, and for a while I didn't know the status of the surrounding land, I'd never climbed it. Today I had a couple of hours and I did it.

Mount Morrison with Red Rocks in the foreground
Mike H had written a report about Mt. Morrison, but I seem to have used the wrong entrance and didn't see the trail sign, and there were somewhat ominous warnings not to park except in designated areas, so I ended up driving a bit farther into the park to the Upper South Lot. I was looking for a quick outing anyway. There is a visible trail to the west on the hillside, and you just follow it up. Reading his report later, as he relates second-hand it's a bit eroded, but I didn't find it that bad, certainly not as bad as some 14ers. I also think I started farther south (as opposed to from the visitor center).

Red Rocks Amphitheater falling under shadow
I knew there was a trail on the ridge above, so I took whatever social and game trails I could find, and basically just hiked straight up. There were some nice rock outcroppings along the way. Mule deer were grazing as usual around here, with a young buck chasing a doe, and some "kids" out for an evening snack.

Once I topped out on the ridge I was in the sun, and saw the summit to the north, but because it appears foreshortened it's farther than you think, and it took another 20 minutes to cover the rugged 1/2 mile to the top.


The view west, including a few high peaks on the left:


The last push up to the top is pretty steep and involves some scrambling similar to parts of Sanitas, Fern and Bear Peak in Boulder, minus the exposure on top.

Funny, but recently I've been wishing for some more rugged terrain right next door that involved either climbing or steep hiking, and I've found it. Patrick G mentioned a similar viewpoint.

This is steep
I didn't pick the best time of day for lighting, but the views were still great. This is to the north from the summit:


On the upper descent I was pretty timid, since the surface was littered with small pebbles and was right on the edge of "grip or slip". There was some descending on all fours. When it leveled out I jogged a good deal at a careful pace. Looking down the upper ridge:


If you really don't like heights, this may not be a good trail, especially on the way down. Not huge exposure, but the ridge itself is rather steep and there are some steep sections, steps and rock slabs. I definitely felt the slope dropping away.

That's Red Rocks way the heck down in the back:


Green Mountain in Lakewood is on the right below the horizon (behind the darker ridge). Green is about 1,000 feet above my street, and Morrison is another 1,000 feet higher:


I stopped at the Florida lot on Green to capture the city lights with the added stability of a tripod.


Distance was 2.55 miles, time 1:24, and elevation gain 1,602 feet. It was 23 minutes to the ridge, and 42 minutes to the summit at a strong hiking pace.

Great outing. I'll be back again, maybe to try the south ridge trail if it's open. If not I'll do the same route, because the surface wasn't that bad. There were stretches of dirt and scree, but a fair amount of it was bolstered by natural rock.

I would consider the route I took to be for hiking, rather than running. There were runnable stretches on the down, but almost nothing on the uphill.

2011 Mile High Turkey Trot 4m

A couple of weeks ago my sister contacted me and my brother about running Thanksgiving Day races simultaneously this year. She's lost weight, is focused hard on fitness, and started running recently, and thought it would be fun to do a "group" run, even if it is by long distance. She's in that initial running aha!/enlightenment stage and that's a great place to be.

As you can tell from my "Races" schedule ==>

...I don't race much, but I'm glad to support her effort. Now all the "kids" run, bike and ski.

I opted for the 10:15 AM start of the Mile High United Way Turkey Trot 4-miler, since I was running a bit behind this morning, so I thought the 9 AM Highlands Ranch race would be pushing it. I got there early, signed up, got the corral #1 sticker (the group of runners you start with) and then walked around taking photos in Wash Park.

Washington Park
Oddly enough my mom lived near here with her family in college. I didn't grow up in CO so it's kind of a history discovery adventure for me.

The day started out chilly but the sun quickly warmed it, and by race time it was short sleeve weather. Couldn't have been a nicer day. It was 70 this afternoon.


The race

Not a lot to say about running the race. I did no specific training, did a short warm-up jog, and just ran it. That's the way I like it. I picked a pace I thought I could maintain and it worked fine. Felt a bit queasy in the last half mile (perfect, I wanted to push it a bit), and if it had been longer I probably would have had a stitch in my side like my last Bolder Boulder 10k.

I'm pretty sure I got "elementary schooled" by at least one kid, since there was a 10-year-old who ran by about mile 3, and I never saw him again. Crap. Such is life. But I also said "way to go" to another 10-ish boy with a race bib who was waiting at the finish line for... Mom? Dad? His baby sister? Wow.

Stats

• Time: 33:39
• Pace: 8:25
• 5k Split: 26:02
• Division (50-59) Place: 46 out of 246
• Gender Place: 613 out of 3074
• Overall Place: 900 out of 7376

Splits:

• 8:15
• 8:35 (slight hill)
• 8:24 (tired)
• 8:14

I did notice that I didn't lag on the hills as much as some others did (no surprise there).

Since I've only been working on the arm balance thing (to keep the knees tracking straight) for about a week, it isn't ingrained yet, and I forgot it for half the race, so my right knee is a bit angry right now. Soon it will become second nature.

Wore the CW-X tights and the neon green Brooks PureFlow, which may have been the brightest shoes in the entire race. A red shirt rounded out the sartorial cacophony (congrats if you don't have to Google that). Here I appear to be questioning my fashion statement in a nonexistent mirror:

Maybe a neon tie-died shirt next time?
My brother (who doesn't run much and is more of a commuter/road bike guy) nonetheless finished his 5k in 27:29. My sister the new runner finished in 35:00 with an injured toe (non-running-related). Nice! Congratulations to them both!

Didn't do anything the rest of the day except eat, drink, blog, call the family and watch Armadillo which was really interesting. About a Danish army unit that operated out of Armadillo base in Helmand province in Afghanistan. Wow. What a quagmire in a hell-hole in a wasteland; NATO needs to get the heck out of that country altogether. Great spooky soundtrack that conveys the danger and chaos of the place. I guess that's not traditional Thanksgiving viewing, but I'm not a traditional guy.

Pre-T-Day 2011

Earlier this week

After my 23-mile car maintenance run on Saturday, I've been resting. As I mentioned I felt zero knee pain during the run due to letting my arms counterbalance hip (?) movement and keep the knees tracking straight. I've felt very faint twinges of sensation in the knees (I hesitate to even call it pain) for the last couple of days, but have nonetheless counteracted it with NSAIDs and ice.

My goal is to totally eliminate any distinctive sensation in my knees in the days following my runs. I would say this week, considering the run, I've felt less than I have in months.

A co-worker of mine was bitten by a small unleashed dog while walking near my office on private property (though it is "park-like" and many dog owners walk their pets there). The owner offered some coconut oil as treatment (?? I guess she is a homeopath). She did not offer to pay for his tetanus shot and was initially hesitant to do so when asked. I think I was more upset than he was.

Food/Drink

Picked up West Coast Double Stout on the way home, which is like delicious crude oil in a pint glass. Wow. Whole Foods' Thankgiving spread looked really good, and the roast turkey was amazing. How often do you say "wow, this is great turkey"?

T-Day Run

My sister started running recently (great job!) and cajoled me and my brother into running a Turkey Trot so the three of us can run the same day in our home towns.

I might have run the Arvada or Littleton events, but I wanted a more secular and generic cause to support. For example, comments from last years' Clement Park 5k in Littleton included the following:

When I asked a well dressed gentlemen where the profits were going to he simply stated, "A trip to Nauvoo."

That name rang a bell, and it's because it was the Illinois settlement of Joseph Smith and the early Mormons before they moved to Utah. Nothing against Mormons in particular, but I want to fund something more broad than a religious field trip for LDS youth.

I agonized over this incredibly simple decision all week, and basically it came down to wanting a 5k that does not start super early and is close by. I'll be running either the Highlands Ranch 5k or the Mile High 4-mile in Denver depending on how I early I get up. Lol.

Have a great holiday!

Sunday Dusk Walk

A recovery walk just to get outside and enjoy the trails.

Legs felt fine, kept the knees in line by letting the arms swing (as opposed to keeping my hands in my pockets, which I wanted to do since it was cold).

West
East
Again, I'm really appreciating my proximity to this huge city of Lakewood park, namely Patrick Hayden, i.e. Green Mountain. A resource that truly adds to my well-being.

More sweating the mechanics

An OCD thought from yesterday: occasionally I looked down and watched my legs as I ran. When I wasn't paying attention, I could see my left knee in particular rotating inward (femur rotating clockwise it seemed). So not only have my knees been moving inward laterally, but apparently the joints have been rotating :\ Yeah, that doesn't really seem optimal.

So I've been thinking back on why summer might have been tough on my knees, as opposed to winter. Hills? Maybe, but I can experience knee pain on flats too.

However, I carry a water bottle in the summer in one hand. Not only does this have the possibility of introducing imbalance, but I tend to not swing the arm the bottle is in quite as much. I tried varying this during the run, and sure enough: my knees track pretty straight when I make an effort to keep the arms going.

As for hills, well, I've had a habit of trotting downhill with little arm movement, until recently when I intentionally avoided the habit of braking downhill, and my arms started swinging in a more normal running movement. So while downhills may be harder on the legs, in my case this may be more a matter of differing mechanics, than slope.

This seems to be borne out by recent experience, in which I've clearly lessened knee stress with mechanics changes.

Food for thought, certainly.

Take that, plantar Fascists!

One more thing... I've had say 10% the level of PF symptoms since wearing footbeds. Basically gone overnight. It acts up when I run 10+ miles, so I clearly have some foot strengthening to do, but it's nice to not have to endure the discomfort the rest of the time.

Lookout, Apex, Green Lakewood

This was another weekend when I thought I might have to work, but everything came together like clockwork and I was off the hook. Total credit to my team leader for the way he scheduled things.

So, I was able to proceed with the exciting matter of having my 30,000-mile car maintenance done on Saturday.

However -- I usually do a fun run or bike while I'm waiting. This time, I'm looking at the hills rise up like a wall a couple of miles away, and another "see it and run it" course was born: I linked the visible high points: Lookout Mountain, Apex, and Green Mountain in Lakewood, ending at my place. Why not? I had all day.

The edge of the Rocky Mountains. Pikes Peak in back.
This is the view of Lookout from about halfway to the trailhead, from behind the JeffCo Open Space offices:


Lookout Mountain/Beaver Brook

Headed up Chimney Gulch on the way to Lookout:


Near the top is the intersection with the Beaver Brook trail. I'd run parts of it, but never the part between Lookout and the waterfall. The rock formations all along this trail are fantastic, and opportunities for hospitalization abound (Mom doesn't read my blog regularly):

Beaver Brook trail
This was also about the time I'm thinking "I drop my car off for service and I get to jog this? Yeah, baby!"



The sunnier south sides of hills (er, mountains) are covered with brush, cactus, yucca and other desert plants.


Nature Center/traverse to Apex

After the Beaver Brook spur, I headed up to the Nature Center to fill up the water bottles and empty my shoes at the 11-mile mark. I also ate some jerky. I was already feeling tired and beat up :\

From there I had to take some neighborhood roads over to Apex park for the downhill section of the program. I didn't realize this beforehand, but the Lookout Mountain trail (a few feet off the road) links Lookout to Apex. Score! Apparently I'm not the first person to have thought of doing this :)

Coming down Apex trail, there was a bit of packed snow here and there, but for the most part it was covered with dirt and you could get traction on it.

Coming down Apex
It's not just me

Lest anyone think I'm just a curmudgeon making up stories about trail users, on this day I overheard some shouting back and forth below me, ending in the words "Downhill traffic yields?" spoken in a tone of admonition. Three bikers had just gone down. Shortly thereafter an athletic female mountain biker with the demeanor of a pro cranks uphill towards me at a good clip, and I got the picture. I said something like "You tell 'em" and she shook her head with a wry smile. I got a good laugh out of that, and a bit of vindication.

Yeah, it was Saturday and trails were infested with biketards (ahem). But then, there was the uphill rider on Green who, when I simply moved over to the rockier side of some doubletrack so we could pass each other, said "You didn't have to do that. Have a great day!" in a preposterously cheery Doug Henning kind of voice (dating myself a bit).

Expressions of respect and goodwill mean a lot in these days of anonymity and irresponsibility.

Trails needed here

The traverse from the bottom of Apex over to Green Mountain is the least enjoyable part of the run, and entails some travel on road shoulders next to fast-moving traffic and fumes. You have to get past Rooney Road, Highway 40, 70, 470, and a couple of highway ramps. I got honked at while I was taking a photo from the shoulder -- I was not in the road. WTF.

I ran along 40, then along Rooney Road, which felt like running on a highway on-ramp. I was also really tired and had some chafing on the arch from my footbed, which was nearly a blister, so I walked up to the top of the overpass.

Rooney Road
I did get to run by these cool chalk formations along the road:


Off Rooney Road there is a spur of the 470 bike path, and you can finally leave the road. It passes under 470 before dumping you out next to Green Mountain, and from there I was on dirt and Jeep road all the way back to my neighborhood.

No GPS signal here
Green Mountain

Right off the concrete 470 bike path is the aptly-named Box O' Rox trail, which I took uphill. After a right turn on a connector I found myself staring up at the west-side Jeep road:

This blue sky is un-edited
I don't like running this thing when I'm fresh, let alone at mile 19. People on the ridge in the upper right look like tiny dark specks. I walked it, but still managed to outpace a bike and other hikers. No, I'm not competitive ;)

The downhill to my place felt better, but I was too pounded to enjoy it, and my arch was still getting chafed.

The home hill - or a small part of it
At this point I was thinking what running the Dirty Thirty 50k would be like, and whether I could finish by sundown. Heh. Based on this, I'm thinking it would take some serious work and focus for me to finish under 9 hours. The only thing that would save me is a lot of experience on technical trails, certainly not my speed, which I find people tend to overestimate simply because I run a bit. I am also disinclined to ever go back to running a majority of days of the week to train. But I could still do OK, and I really enjoyed hanging out last year even though I'm kind of a reclusive social dork (just being truthful, folks). So I'd like to finish before the food is gone and everyone leaves :)

Distance for this run was 23.51 miles, moving time 4:55 (actual 5:55), and elevation gain/loss 3,934 feet. Avg pace 15:08 min/mile, avg moving pace 12:35 min/mile.

Had zero knee pain during the run, due to watching even arm motion. However as a consequence I had cramps in the arms (lol), so I need to relax them a bit.

Bike to the car

I wasn't done yet; I still had to go pick up my car. So, still aching, I got into my bike gear with 45 minutes until closing time. Yikes. It usually takes me 12-13 minutes to get there when I drive the 65-mph Highway 6. In my condition, I had no idea how long it would take!

Cranking as steadily as I could up the (tiny) hills on the way over left me cursing out loud. Quads burning.

But it turns out I had no need to worry, I got there in 19 minutes even with traffic signals (3.4 miles, gain 175 feet -- seemed like more!).

Afterwards

Felt like death warmed over afterwards, but good microbrews helped with that. By the middle of the evening I was getting re-hydrated and muscles were starting to relax. Still a bit stiff every time I stood up. Sheesh.

Sunday I had pre-paid to demo skis at Loveland, but decided my knees and legs needed the rest, plus I'm really not into it and bought the ticket almost out of habit just in case. And I like the skis I have. I also tend to cramp up in ski boots the day after a long run, though that may be lack of hydration.

I can feel some minor swelling and muscle pain in a few spots, but nothing major.

The knee pain is typically on delay, so I anticipate next week I'll have a bit of soreness on the patellar tendons.

I have empirical evidence that sleeping on my stomach aggravates them after stress (pushing on the knee cap?) as well as flexing the leg (presses the tendon against the knee?) so I'm trying preventive icing and keeping my legs straight-ish.

Now that I step back and look at the summer, I guess it's no surprise I still have more discomfort in the right knee where I landed during my mountain bike endo in August. For example, I tore a PIP ligament in my finger and that took a year to feel normal and it will probably never be fully straight. I yanked a big toe in a tragic putting-on-my-pants accident last year and I still get pain there. Tendons just take forever to heal, and are easily irritated. But then, they have a tough job. So thank you, tendons; without you I'd be flopping around aimlessly.

----------

Update: Corrected "Rattlesnake" to "Chimney" Gulch.

Durango Hop Hugger IPA

I have to admit that Durango Brewing (established 1990) has not gotten much of my attention over the years, but that's mostly due to my preference for hops, and Durango's seeming preference for non-hoppy beers. That has all come to an abrupt end with the Hop Hugger IPA.


Simply put, this is a really good IPA, and that's coming from someone who's had a lot of IPAs and drinks them as their daily beer. It's got plenty of hops, a good malt body to back it up, and finishes with nice bitterness on the palate that lets you know it's not a wimp. It's also 7.5% ABV so watch out.

I'm impressed, Durango Brewing. Guess whose tasting room I'll be visiting next time I'm in town.

--------------------

*BTW if you can't find it in the Denver area, I bought it at Mile High Wine & Spirits, which is under the Whole Foods at Belmar, in Lakewood. There's also a Runner's Roost a couple of blocks away, as well as Belmar Park, and an entire shopping Potemkin Village. It's one of those artificial "neighborhood" developments where they mix shops and residences, but I have to admit it's pretty nice.

Bear Creek Trails

On Sunday I was feeling good and didn't run far on Saturday, so I got out again, this time on the flat-ish Bear Creek. It's flat on the east end, anyway.

Two in a row. Not really returning to regular successive days of running, but it still felt good.

First, I had to take care of this:

Sole sushi
For some unknown reason, the Sole insoles I bought had arch on the outside of the foot, i.e. starting in the heel pocket the footbed went up about a 1/4 inch before coming back down at the midfoot. Whose foot is like that?? It was hurting my PF, and felt too high. So I shaved it flat down the middle, and left the arch support intact.

I ran with the inserts in the Cascadia 5s and they felt pretty good. My PF is acting up, and hopefully this will help. Needless to say I'm sick of it.

I parked at the Estes lot and ran west on the Bear Creek Trail.

This time I grappled with the "water features" of the south side natural trail, which crosses the sizeable Bear Creek three times, something I first read about in Jill's race report.

Below is crossing number one, which I managed with a support stick and one dunked toe. The stuff in the middle is mostly leaves and branches that are stuck, and there are a few dry rocks behind in 6"-12" of water. Not much to work with.

The trail is the left side
The riverside trail runs next to the golf course, and is pretty much like this:


I thought I was in trouble at the second crossing, until I spotted this gift of a natural bridge. The tree is big, about 3 feet thick. The water is also probably 2-3 feet deep here.


I finally arrived at the third crossing and was stumped by foot-deep water over slippery rocks. Not really looking for that today, and I didn't know how chilly it was going to get later with wet feet. Some day I'll do it.

So I turned around and took the path along the golf course, then alongside and above Morrison Road on rolling ridges. I really like this prairie terrain next to the mountains. A bit like Marshall Mesa. Only saw one runner and one biker on 6 miles or so of singletrack.


I ran out to the lake just in case the water well was still working, but it wasn't, it was locked for the cold season and the handle was gone. Not really a problem. Here's the view coming down the ridge next to Morrison Road headed east:


I ran about 2 miles on the dark bike path along the creek, by headlamp. Not a single person was still out, and there were no shiny eyes this time.

Distance: 11.68 miles, moving time 2:05 (10:45 pace), elevation gain/loss 517 feet.

"Only" 20 minutes of stopping, due to the river crossings, photos and rest stop. I may have even managed 15 minutes at a time without a break, a pretty decent workout for me.

Had some nausea at home later, because I tried doing this on a tiny breakfast and a snack until about 8 PM. That didn't work.

Oh...

I noticed something while running today: if my arms were by my side without swinging much, the insides of my knees brushed against each other and I started feeling subtle pain in the front of the knee. When I pulled back consistently with each arm, my knees did not touch and did not hurt.

Sonofabeech.

Windy Green, Odd Signs

Saturday I got out for an afternoon run, and the winds that were pushing against my walls and banging stuff on the roof proved to be milder than I expected by the time I got out there.

The run took me up and over the neighborhood Green Mountain (Lakewood), enjoying largely vacant trails.


Under a tree right next to the trail I spotted what looked like a sign on a peice of wood, and it turned out to be a hand-lettered deal that said something like "There are hidden cameras, so stop pooping here". M'kay. I guess the local busybody/psychopath can't tell the difference between human and canine feces, or thinks dogs and coytotes can read. Either that, or we have ultrarunners here. I laughed and kept running. Then again... slightly unnerving.


The wind was pretty strong on top, but since it was 55-60 degrees, it was not uncomfortable.


When I say Green is covered with river rocks, this is what I'm talking about. I actually enjoyed the descent down the barely-visible ridge:


I was gratified to find that I was able to run the entire uphill, even though it's probably mostly because I rest all week now.

Distance was 7.74 miles, moving time 1:30, elevation gain/loss 1,287 feet.

2011 In Squiggles

I noticed that I recently passed the 1,000-mile mark for the year, and while this isn't a lot of miles for some people, it will be a record year for me after another 10 miles or so. That's with a month off in April, and running 1 or 2 days max per week since August. So, I output some charts again to see how things stack up.

Seen from afar, the lines tell the tale of overuse injury.

Although I've been running steadily for about 12 years now, you can see a pretty big ramp up in 2010, I ran through the winter, and when I hit the ground running in the spring of 2011 I started having issues.


My running imploded in the spring with arch aches and PF (which still lingers), and with knee tendonitis late in the summer, causing me to nearly stop running (this was less actual pain than prevention). I bought the bike in June.


I'm still down to 1 run per week, with an occasional second jog. However, I feel like I've bottomed out and I'm getting to the point where I can try more.

On the upside, I think I made pretty good use of weekends this summer, and looking back on some of the great outings I had, it barely seemed to matter.
The compression tights do seem to help stabilize the quads and knees, and I've worn footbeds during the day this week and it helps the PF a bit. Hopefully that's not just a temporary coincidence.

Was looking at the Loveland Pass forecast for this weekend:

Could be a decent ski weekend if you're brave enough to bear the weather and the drive home. 8"-12" by Sunday. This is for Saturday:

High near 27. Wind chill values as low as -2. Windy, with a west wind between 36 and 38 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Whether you will get home at a decent hour depends on how many cars have snow tires on them already. It could also be a good day to stay on the plains and keep "warm". The Denver forecast is for 60 degrees, but with 60-mph gusts. Strap down your Chihuahuas, Lakewood.