Short Table

This sounds like a post about carpentry. I wasn't going to run today, but I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow (i.e. if I'm going to be able to run), so I did a short easy jaunt to the top of North Table and tried to find the trail around the southeast side.

A) I think the North Table Loop "under construction" on the map does not exist yet (unlike Cottonwood Canyon, which seems complete). B) There's an existing social trail from the Fairmount trailhead on Easley Road, so I took that to Mesa Top, then up past the waterfall to the summit plain. I think the dashed line on the far right of the map near #2 is that social trail. As far as I can tell, the connecting section on the lower right has not been built yet, and there is not even a social trail there.

The easy way up/down the mountain is shown below, and involves four legs. There are lots of stables in the neighborhoods below the mountain. Yesterday I ran past riders practicing, and horses being fed. Horses are omnipresent out here, even in suburbia.

The waterfall is currently a mere trickle:

To run on top of this mountain, away from all cares and with an expansive and crazily colorful sky above, is a good way to spend the late afternoon after work.

On top of that, I heard that my uber-boss told our direct bosses that even though we have an important goal due next week, he didn't want staff burning the midnight oil, so we all went home at a normal hour and will have normal weekends. The workload was tailored to be realistic and to emphasize quality over hurried quantity. This is not the last software release in the world, after all.

I'm grateful for that simple command. Simple things matter.

Because now I can do this run, and take these pictures.

Distance was 6.49 miles, time 1:24, elevation gain/loss 875 feet, avg. pace 13:05, and best pace 7:10.

Thursday Table Loop

Thursday was another solid 10-miler around North Table at a decent pace.

Distance was 10.25 miles, time 1:56, elevation gain/loss 1,580 feet, avg. pace 11:20, and best pace 6:36.

It was busier today, not sure why, but maybe it's the warm weather. Lots of fairly well-mannered bikers, a few hikers, and only 3 other runners in two hours. One guy looked pretty solid coming uphill, but I didn't recognize him. I guess he doesn't have a blog ;)

Here's a closer view of a break in the cliff band that allows access to the flat top of the mountain. It's a short scramble up a rock slab and steep steps. Fun stuff:

Prickly local flora (yucca); I've been stabbed by these countless times:

I didn't even notice the tiny flowers when I took this photo:

I tried to find the North Table outer loop (on the southeast) this time, so I could actually run around the "real" outside perimeter of the mountain. I descended all the way to the houses at the bottom, but didn't see any trail so I had to run all the way back up to the top -- about a mile and 200 vertical feet of extra credit. I felt surprisingly good on this; I think I'm finally getting some conditioning built up -- slowly. I played chase uphill with the mountain bikers again, this time gaining some ground.

This is the break in the rock cap near the waterfall, which leads down to the plains on the east side:

After about 6 months messing with minimalist shoes and form, I think I can pretty much conclude that I feel better running in them (really liking the New Balance MT110), and that cadence and arm motion have had the biggest impact on my continuing knee health. The shoes make a difference, but only inasmuch as they encourage good form.

Seriously thinking of getting a backup pair or two of 110s, in case they decide the mess with them. The New Balance MT00 looks interesting, but I'm not enthralled, and I really need more rock protection so for me they'd be a niche shoe like the Five Fingers or MT10 (I once had a dried weed stem poke through the sole on them).

Kountze Lake Walk

Wednesday was a day off from running, so I just got in a short walk after work at Kountze Lake in Lakewood. The paths were thick with midges so I had to walk on the grass to avoid them. Leaves are coming out on trees (slowly -- I think they're shy of Colorado cold snaps).

The left knee was smarting a bit, causing me to ponder the idea of pushing 10 miles on my runs. We'll see.

I read an article on biking vs. cars that JT referenced, and the more I think about it, the more awful it becomes. Whether something benefits "society" is not an effective way of judging any issue, and it certainly leaves one wondering why we ever developed cars, let alone aircraft. That one's on the backlog for later.

Tuesday Ralston Creek

Just like last year when I tried to up my miles per run from 4 or 5 to 7, I find myself wanting to do that again. I've been running more like 8, and I'm pushing to run 10 to get a bit more endurance. For me that means setting aside an hour and 45 minutes, and I can't always do that.

Distance was 10.35 miles, time 1:40, elevation gain/loss 279 feet, pace 9:45.

Most of this run was on a concrete path, but somehow those pics just didn't make the cut. I wonder why that is.

The creek cuts through a combination of ranch/farm land, business parks, suburban homes and a golf course. So, there end up being a lot of peripheral meadows and singletrack. Not like Bear Creek, but some.

In these public spaces there are strange things like the big open field I ran through (no fence or signs) only to find "No Trespassing" signs on the other side. I never know whether the signs predate purchase of the land for public open space and were never taken down, or if it's actually private. The trails are usually well-worn and apparently nobody cares that much, but I try to abide by the rules and sometimes things just fall through the cracks.

This ended up being a pretty solid run with only about 5 minutes stopped for pictures. The more consistent mileage is putting a bit of pressure on the legs, but it's still under control. I was able to keep the knee quiet by watching my stride and arm motion.

Cadence was up there; not sure what it was, but it sounded rather quick when I went through an underpass and could hear my footsteps, and I kept it up for the full 1:40.

Still don't go that fast, but... it's feeling good and it's still enjoyable.

Smoke - North Fork Fire

Being the hardworking (or totally oblivious?) type that I am, I somehow got through the work day without realizing there's a major wildfire in the foothills southwest of Denver. This is from below Green Mountain (Lakewood) in my neighborhood:

The plume of smoke extends to the left, all the way out past the city onto the plains.

I found out about the fire as I was driving home and saw huge billows of smoke over the south suburbs about 15 degrees above the horizon (it appeared above the top of Green Mountain), and I was expecting to see fires on the hogbacks just to the south. It was actually about 15 miles away, which is almost worse, since it means it's a pretty serious fire to be generating that much smoke.

Scary. I hope they get it under control with no loss of life and little loss of property.

An interactive map of the fire area, from 11 PM on 3/26.

Sunday Green Lakewood

Family was visiting this weekend, so run time was limited. Nonetheless, I got out Sunday morning on the local hill. I wanted to get above 10 miles, which I had been unable to do that during the week. I figured I could do it in 1:45, but I ended up taking a bit longer for almost 12 (in talking about it later I remember it as 12, but it was actually slightly under).

Distance was 11.85 miles, time 2:18, and elevation gain/loss 1,878 feet.

Part of Summit Loop on the west:

I got a text from my brother when I was on the west side, and replied that I was about an hour from home. I stepped it up a bit to try to get back on time, and as a result this ended up being a pretty good workout. I popped a couple Clif Shot Bloks towards the end, experimenting with trying to keep the energy levels up on longer/hilly runs. May have helped.

I always underestimate the east side, on which the trail rolls up and over every successive ridge. This is a descent off one of those ridges (this is maybe 3/4 of the way down from the highest point in this area):

This time I exited onto the street nearby in an effort to speed up the run and shortcut home.

Ate at Lucile's in Boulder. Hadn't had beignets in a while, and the Creole Omelet was great. Cool little place.

Thursday Ralston Creek

Work was busy the last part of the week, but I managed to barely get out before dark for a late run on the Ralston Creek path on Thursday.

I may have to run a bit more in the AM during these busy periods, since there doesn't seem to be any inclination to ask "Hey, can you wake up at 4 AM and come into work tomorrow", whereas there seems to be no problem with expecting us to stay late in the evenings, which is when I typically run. Not that I'd rather wake up early.

Distance was 8.01 miles, time 1:20, and elevation gain/loss 191 feet.

I did a bit of reflection on this simple evening run, thinking about what running has done for me, how far I've come, and how grateful I am that I started this activity and stuck with it. It's certainly added a lot to my life.

It's also great to be able to run in evening again without risking frostbite. What great weather we've had lately.

This weekend will be mostly a family affair, with my brother and his girlfriend in town from far away, and a last-minute afternoon meetup with the sis' and nephews in the mountains. Nothing fancy, just stealing some time with the family. Enjoyment and relaxation.

Tuesday Is Awesome

At least it is when I get to run new trails on local mesas after work.

My legs felt OK after an intervening rest day, so I headed out again for a run on Tuesday to North Table Mountain. I'd been itching to run the east side trail that cuts through a gap in the cliffs and then circles back to the west side. I nearly circled the entire mountain, mostly on the North Table Loop. That section is totally new to me, and it was great. I cut across on the Cottonwood Canyon Trail, which the map says is new, but seems complete to me.

An easy way through the cliffs
This is the beginning of the descent down that loop, which heads to the southeast corner of the mountain, and runs along the Clear Creek valley that is occupied by Coors Brewing:

The trail first runs high above Highway 58 and Coors, but in spite of this it's pretty darn scenic, and cuts along below some great cliff bands. The entire mountain is capped by hard rock that results in rugged rocky terrain and cliffs for the upper 25-100 feet of every slope. This is looking back down the second canyon over from the highway:

I've got to hand it to the folks who built this trail, because it's graded perfectly for running, and I didn't break cadence once in a mile uphill, other than to get a couple of shots. I tried to stay ahead of this mountain biker, but he caught me at the top:

There's a tiny waterfall headed down the Mesa Top Trail:

It was getting near sunset so I high-tailed it for the second half of the run, making it back to the car about 15 minutes after sundown with plenty of light to spare.

Distance was 8.81 miles, time 1:39, and elevation gain/loss 1,155 feet. Shoe: MT110.

The patellar tendons were feeling it after my run (the right more so), but with some ice and a day of rest I think they'll be good. As long as it doesn't carry over from one run to the next and build up like last summer. If it does, I'll back off. Even at this relaxed rate (running ~40% of the month) March will probably be the most I've run since last July (maybe 120 miles, but that's OK).

This time, rather than being a ramp-up, in terms of number of days this is pretty much the top of the ramp.

Mesa-Slapped

I felt both good and bad about my run Sunday, on the Mesa Trail in Boulder.

On the one hand, my overall feel and fitness level was decent, even though I had "only" covered 14+ miles. On the other, the 3,000 feet of ups and downs took its toll, and I felt pretty thrashed. Even though I've been doing this type of distance for a while on weekends, it was a reality check.

Distance was 14.89 miles, time 4:14, and elevation gain/loss 3,163 feet.

Unfortunately GarminConnect.com stopped showing "moving time" for workouts :\ so I used SportTracks to calculate it, and it appears I spent about an hour not "moving", between gear changes, rest stops, etc.

There were quite a few runners out, and I saw Shad running the other way as I was a couple of miles into my run, as well as at least one guy who ran the Boulder Basic. I am rather slow so I got passed most of the time. Boulder can be hard on the ego.

GZ suggested I try the old Mesa trail spur into the town of Eldorado Springs, which I had coincidentally thought of running this weekend, so run it I did. It's not terribly runnable since it's rocky and not maintained (as far as I can tell), but it was fun to do something different and it's better than the gravel road to the South Mesa parking lot. This is a shot from the trail over towards Eldorado Canyon:

As I was descending and was about 50 yards up on the hillside, I passed behind a house where a dog started barking (one of many) and it turned out to be a beagle that started running up through the tangled brush and rocks, barking loudly. I thought it was going to come all the way up to the trail.

Since I had never done so, I wandered a few streets in town. This oddly facial building looks like a stone house in southern Europe, and is from the pool, which is currently closed for the season:

The trail starts/ends on a side street behind the pool. It's on a loop street, and to get to the trail I had to run the canine gauntlet: I could choose between two black dogs on short lines defending their turf (they could just barely reach the street) and the other side with the aggressive beagle. I opted for the beagle side, thinking it lived farther over and might not hear me. Wrong - it was right on the street to the trailhead! As I approached the house, the hill-climbing beagle ran out of his yard barking, and started circling behind me. Thankfully the owner was out in her yard.

"Basil! Basil!" she admonished, and insisted "He's friendly."

"It doesn't seem like it" I said. I'm sure he's friendly to her, but I was the one with the barking dog angling towards my backside.

I did get some laughs out of it re-living the incident on the way back up out of town on the trail. I expected to hike most of the ascent back out of Eldo, but did run a bit. Then there's a short stretch of downhill down the road, then uphill off the road, then downhill across the meadow, then uphill out of the meadow. Repeat for an hour. I ran things that were small steps, but hiked anything steep.

After I got back to the car, I contemplated going out again, but it was turning windy and I had already spent enough time. I was ready to be done.

I also need to give some thought to energy while running, since I'm pretty sure I tend to do my longer runs on too little gas.

Spring gear mix. Three helmets, three backpacks, bike shoes, an extra pair of running shoes, ski poles, portable shovel (which is really more for emergencies than the alpine touring I never do), yadda yadda:

This week I felt like my every-other-day exertions were catching up to me a bit, and I had some lingering tendinitis in the right knee going into this run. I may take an extra day off before my next one.

I also had some PF tenderness in the left foot including some elusive burning pain, often when I stepped right on a rock. I don't think the rock shield is as good in the Lone Peaks as in some other shoes like the Cascadia and the MT110. I don't blame the shoe, I've had it before the Altras, but it's bothersome that it's still around.

Chatfield Loop Ride

Winter ended abruptly in Colorado's Front Range this week. It's not that there won't be any more snow in the high country, it's just that when it hasn't snowed much in 10 days and it's been in the 70s in Denver -- 75 today -- the mind tends to wander.

So, I started "two-rack season" by putting my bike rack on in addition to the ski rack, and headed out for a ride at Chatfield Reservoir. I'm not a very aggressive biker (I started mountain biking last summer after a 15-year hiatus from two wheels), so I wanted some nice empty singletrack to get my balance back this season.

Cabin above the reservoir
As it turned out, the primary trail user today was equestrian. So, I'd be riding along through the woods along the Platte River, and a rider would come along, and I'd pull over, trying not to spook the horse. One guy asked me to talk to his horse to assure it I was not strange wild animal that was going to eat it. I said "Hey, horsie" and other stuff.

"Horsie"? What am I, 5 years old?

Since I had wondered about the east side of the park while running here, I rode past my usual running turnaround point to see how far around the reservoir I could get. The dam was straight, long, and slightly mind-numbing (would not have been much fun at a running pace). It followed the train tracks along Highway 85, until there came a point where berm of the dam ended and the trail more or less dumped downhill into the state park again. I just headed back towards the mountains in the general direction of my car, and it worked out OK. I finally found a way around the reservoir.

Until I ran over a thorn. I remember getting thorns in my shoes on one of my runs, and I was unlucky enough to get one today, and got a flat tire about 2 miles from the finish. The leak was too fast for the pump to keep with, and I walked back. Ah, well.

I could have done worse than to get a flat tire along the Platte in Colorado.

Ride distance was 16.1 miles, time 2:18, and elevation gain/loss 340 feet.

Thursday Mount Galbraith

Thursday I ran at Mount Galbraith west of Golden. I only left myself an hour until dark, otherwise I would have run farther. With street runs, I don't mind running after dark, but in the foothills, I really don't want to be out there after the dinner hour.

Distance was 6.33 miles, time 1:31, and elevation gain/loss 1,506 feet.

Here's the section that was burned by last year's fire, still looking a bit like charred matchsticks stuck into the ground. Thankfully this is only a very small section of the park:

I forgot how much fun the rocky terrain at this park is to run on... probably 1/3 of the park is somewhat smooth dirt, while the rest is steps and rocky sections like this:

Some rocky steps downhill (I trot down this carefully).

In addition right now quite a bit on the east is covered in snow and ice that is dirt-covered (which provides some traction) but slopes downhill and must be navigated carefully. Overall however this run really enjoyable. The trail is also foot traffic-only.

Tuesday White Ranch

I had not been to White Ranch in a while, and it was nice to go for a little jaunt there while the traffic still light, as it gets pretty busy in the summer.

Distance was 7.32 miles, time 1:32, and elevation gain/loss 1,297 feet.

I ran up/over to the Shorthorn/Longhorn junction, which avoids the rocky ascent road (at least the upper part) and gets you onto the great front side singletrack, alternating between woods and open grass with rocky bands. There is still snow on all the foothill trails right now, but the sunny areas are drying out.

I ran into an unusually large group of deer grazing; this is about 1/3 of them:

Looking northeast out onto the plains:

North Table Hike

Monday was a day off from running... I've been trying to do every other day, a level that I'm going to stick with as my default for a while, as long as my body can handle it. I don't have any intent of pushing it past that, unless fantastic opportunities arise, as they usually do in the summer! This is a walk up North Table in Golden.

This was a fun bit of scrambling through the cliff band at the top:

This photo was taken with iContrast on, which keep the highlights from getting blown out, and fills in the shadows. It does tend to flatten the tones in the upper 30%, so clouds look kind of flat, and the contrast in the shadows is a bit much, but if the scene is not too dark or light it works OK.