Fun With Gravity

Blurry Bald Eagle!

2012-01-26T08:11:00.001-07:00

I think this is the first bald eagle I've seen in Colorado, even though others seem to spot them every day. It was fishing at Crown Hill Lake while I walked at lunch on Wednesday. Hopefully this is the blurriest photo I will ever post:

Bird on left: "I'm a chicken hawk!"
That's a crow was sitting next to it, so I didn't get the full effect of its size relative to normal-sized birds.

This is the adjacent human-designated wildlife preserve, which apparently wasn't as much to the eagle's liking:

AM Short Green Lakewood

2012-01-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

Nice morning. At 30-degrees it was chilly on the uphill, then I was down to a T-shirt for the sunny downhill portion, and the tights were total overkill.

Run distance 4.63 miles, time 52:05, and elevation gain/loss 488 feet.

You may be glad to know I'm not going to talk about the State of the Union, either the state itself, or the speech. For now, anyway.

Warm, Cool At Bear Creek

2012-01-23T07:21:00.000-07:00

It was 40 degrees with 10-30 mph winds on Sunday, but I got away with wearing shorts and long sleeves with a wind shirt for my run... barely.

I was borderline freezing, but of course high school kids were out in shorts and T-shirts like it was summer. Sometimes it's hard to believe human young ever reach maturity, isn't it? Hey, I'm surprised I'm still here.

This was not the best way to go, but it was fun

With sun = warm

No sun = cold
Distance 8.10 miles, time 1:31, gain/loss 356 feet. Shoes: MT110, kept a quick cadence to keep the footsteps soft.

The feet have been happy, even with the uptick in running in thinner soles lately. The bike-crash knee is always slightly miffed when I get out for a run, and hopefully I'm not merely imagining that it seems to fade as time passes.

On a lighter note, some people get paid to wear this hat.

Mud, Ice, Summit

2012-01-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

I was not going to run Saturday, but I couldn't pass up 60 and sunny, in January no less. Downside: ice and mud. Still a great easy run over the hill.

Top of Green Mtn. in Lakewood

Distance 8.30 miles, time 1:55, and elevation gain/loss 1,474 feet.

Earth And Sky

2012-01-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from a run just a bit after sunrise on Friday morning. I got tired of night runs.

A nice thing about AM runs is if there's mud and it's below freezing, the mud is still firm. In the hour or so I ran, the mud went from frosty to sticky. Thankfully a lot of it was dry due to the incessant sunshine.

These clouds didn't even look real, and I kept staring at them:

Short and easy: distance was 5.16 miles, time 1:05, and elevation gain/loss 595 feet.

Shoes: Altra Instinct, which are terrible on snow because of the flat sole, but are nice on streets and dirt.

No wild animals this time, just some dogs behind fences bordering the city open space barking at me for no reason. Isn't there a pill for that?

This week snow has finally come to CO.

Lunch Walk, Night Run

2012-01-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

Clear Creek walk on Tuesday in a local park. Wednesday there were interesting ice crystal sheets along Ralston Creek where I walked for lunch.

Wednesday night run was short and easy (11:00 up/8:00 downhill on streets).

Ran in the Altra Instinct which felt good, with no hot spots, very easy shoe to run in. Plenty of padding, which makes it a bit sloppy but it didn't bother me while running, and I'm hoping the foam will pack out a bit and become more snug. Bad on snow due to the relatively flat tread, but I think for street runs it will work well.

Off to the right in this photo and behind me 50 yards, I saw the faintest grey ghost of a coyote in the open space just outside the reach of street lights, frozen and staring at me. It was in the exact same spot as the last time I ran up that street at night. Again, I waved and scared it away, not out of fear or anger and certainly not out of wanting to disrupt its hunting, but just because I figure that's best for both of us. This ain't The Daily Coyote, although sometimes it seems like coyote rush hour.

Spotting things like that may come in handy some day in the backcountry. However, the same visual pattern recognition of "things that look different" is probably what causes me to see animals in rocks and tree stumps when I'm running for a few hours and I'm fatigued. The brain plays tricks.

Down With SOPAPILLAS!

2012-01-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

One might think that because of my politics, I'd be rooting for rich companies pushing awful legislation through our government, because that's what capitalism is all about, right??

WRONG. Unfortunately for them, real capitalism involves defending everyone's rights, not just those who have tons of money and influence in Washington, and that means protecting the right to be free from interference unless you actually steal something.

You know... like we do with thieves.

The proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation involves taking action such as forcing Internet companies to block servers of suspected thieves and to stop them from doing business with suspects, before due process in a court of law. It's like forcing the postal service to remove people's address, or the cell company to delete phone numbers, because someone is suspected of stealing. It imposes burdens on non-thieves who haven't done anything, thus violating their individual rights.

I'm an "author", a photographer, and an advocate of free markets, and I opposed digital theft and fully support property rights (including signs on trail runs!). I do think that intellectual property and media should be protected from theft, but the laws need to be fair and clear, and involve standard criminal due process, and this is just not the right way to do it.

More info on the laws. Please consider contacting your representatives to protest these laws.

Thanks!

HT Jenn Casey via Twitter (@rationaljenn) on the title.

Green Lakewood Quick Summit

2012-01-15T19:30:00.002-07:00

This was my first run in 19 days, due to a sore toe bone that I think I was hammering too hard before Christmas vacation.

Injuries are your body's way of saying DON'T FRICKIN' DO THAT. After wearing cushioned shoes (the Altra Instinct, dark grey) for the last two weeks, things felt OK so I took a trial run. I was careful to land the left foot as flat as possible, and not on the ball. It worked; no pain.

I ran out the door to the summit of Green in Lakewood and back.

Love being able to do that, even if I do have to run up the street a bit before I hit dirt. But from there, I could literally run almost to Evergreen on trails, with just a few stretches of road. That's pretty cool.

And if you haven't noticed, I like my local hill. When you're running up, all you can see is prairie grass and a bowl of porcelain blue sky above. It's like you're going to launch off into space. Totally beautiful in a minimalist way.

Clouds rising as they hit the mountains:

Distance was 6.08 miles, moving time 1:12, and elevation gain/loss 1,165 feet.

Shoes: New Balance MT110AK, on their maiden voyage. Felt... perfect.

Mountain Sunset

2012-01-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Skies seen at Green Mountain on a hike I squeezed in on the way home from Boulder. The snow and the forest did actually have a gold glow, from the reflected light of the clouds above.

Near Greenman/Saddle junction

Longs Peak in the background

The Flatirons at dusk

Mountain Sun FYIPA

2012-01-14T19:44:00.001-07:00

After returning some shoes to BRC that were too small, I stopped by Southern Sun in Boulder for a growler of FYIPA, a darn strong, hoppy IPA. Check out that color:

As you can tell I couldn't wait to take the photo to start working on it. That's the cheesy Aspen pint glass I got at Carl's Pharmacy, but the peace sign is probably equally applicable for a Boulder beer.

Let's Talk About Immigration

2012-01-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Since the Republican party is on an anti-illegal-immigration jag, this is going to be an issue in the upcoming year. Here are my thoughts on various talking points.

We need to defend our borders - Yes, and we already have laws against criminals. FAIL.

There is border violence - Yes, and drug violence is 100% world governments' fault in the first place, and drugs should be legalized. FAIL.

They don't pay taxes and cost us money - This is a case against entitlements, not immigration. So, cut entitlement programs and meanwhile, only give benefits to proven citizens or those who can prove they've paid taxes. FAIL.

Law and order - Defending law for law's sake is not a virtue. What if the law said we had to hang every person who was 25 years old? Laws are only as good as the principles behind them. FAIL.

Let's take a step back and look at this objectively to see what illegal immigrants are supposedly doing that is so wrong. For the sake of example, I will use someone who is peaceful and is coming here to work. The other cases are covered above. So, they are crossing a line in order to improve their lives and work to earn money. Sorry folks, but that does not violate anyone's rights and does not threaten me in any way. You know what does? Someone weaving in and out of highway traffic like a maniac when I'm driving to work. I'm more concerned with speeding, which actually threatens my safety, rather than peaceful illegal immigration, which does not.

And therein lies my problem with the GOP candidates' push against illegal immigration: it is not based on any sort of objective threat, which is what laws are supposed to protect us against. Therefore you have the contradiction of a supposedly pro-freedom political party pushing for fines against businesses for hiring someone (again, a totally peaceful activity that doesn't violate anyone's rights). Crazy! That's what happens when you forget your principles.

There is really only one reason any country has a right to stop people at the border, and that is to protect its security. Not to save jobs, not to keep America Caucasian or preserve its religious makeup, not to limit our population. The purpose is to keep us safe, period. If we do more than that, then we are violating the rights of would-be immigrants, not the other way around.

A political party that wants to advocate freedom needs to spend its efforts making immigration easy and quick (which it is not), not punishing people who want to improve their lives.

Disclaimer: my politics.

Avery IPA

2012-01-13T21:22:00.001-07:00

It's taken me a while to get around to this local brew from Boulder, maybe because I'm now accustomed to craft ale in cans, and it's now available in cans. For some dumb reason I didn't like this beer the first time I had it. Don't know what I was thinking, because it's a really fine IPA. Good mix of hops and malt, nice fading bitterness on the palate, 6.5% ABV.

I really should find a blank pint glass to shoot these beers in, so I don't have to blur the logo in Photoshop. Truth be told, that's a Southern Tier glass. Made in Western NY state. Those were the days I used to ski at Kissing Bridge and Holiday Valley (750 feet of vertical!). Got some wedding party kegs from Ellicottville Brewing.

Pink Skies, MT110AK

2012-01-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've been trying on shoes like Imelda Marcos, but I'm not going to say a lot until I run in something for a while, because they keep falling short after a few runs, battering my poor feet. That and my bad form.

The one thing I will say is about the MT110AK. They now have these at Boulder Running Company and Runner's Roost in Lakewood, but they are going fast, so if you want to try them locally, you have about 15 minutes to git 'er done before they are all gone. BRC was already out of my size this weekend. You can also order the 2E online (which I did), from NB or Running Warehouse. I think NB has a huge hit on their hands. As for me, they feel great just standing around, maybe better than any shoe I can remember... but that means almost nothing. It's all in the running.

Cool story about developing the shoe.

Crazy Mountain Amber

2012-01-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

I don't usually go nuts over amber ales, but I like Crazy Mountain's version. It's got lots of flavor and deep color, really nice. It's worth a try if you're open to that style.

Early Green Lakewood Hike

2012-01-08T16:42:00.001-07:00

I woke up early to check on the snow reports to see if it would be worthwhile to go skiing. I decided against dust on crust, and opted for dust on my neighborhood mountain, and just walked up from home.

It was pretty darn cold right after sunrise, but I got to follow a band of coyotes uphill on their way to the den.

Distance was 7.54 miles, time 3:49, and elevation gain 1,271 feet. Walking takes forever!

Birds were shaking snow from the trees

The views play tricks on you as you walk up this mountain. The ridges are pretty big and seem to rise up like walls, and stack up as the recede into the distance. I always enjoy the way the light falls across the huge shapes of the hillsides.

Coyote Tag

2012-01-08T15:22:00.002-07:00

I got out for an early hike to the top of Green in Lakewood as a group of coyotes was heading back up after a night on the town. There five of them, and they made their way up-mountain, avoiding the single hiker with dog that seemed to be on every ridge. Along the way, these two were playing tag around a group of bushes:

Ha! I see you!
I'm pretty sure I saw crows playing around while they were flying down off the mountain, too. They weren't being combative, but they kept leapfrogging each other as they flew downhill, sort of buzzing each other in an innocent way. They're perfectly capable of flying apart from each other in unison, but they were like two teenagers pushing each other, messing around. I have no idea if that was really going on, but sometimes I think I should have been a field biologist so I can find out.

Live Free Or Help?

2012-01-07T22:58:00.001-07:00

I was listening to this story on NPR on a snowy ! drive home on Saturday, and a sentence jumped out at me. It's a story on the politically diverse nature of New Hampshire, where the motto is "Live Free or Die", and there was the following statement:

But there's this wrinkle to it all, despite the Libertarian-like trappings. People are also expected to look out for each other.

To which I thought: there is no wrinkle or irony here.

Laissez-faire capitalism, Libertarianism and other types of advocacy limited-government don't really advocate any particular actions you would take as a private citizen; in fact, that's the entire point of those political philosophies.

Instead, they protect everyone's right to make up their own mind about what to do. Including looking out for each other.

Lunch Walks Thu-Fri

2012-01-06T21:20:00.001-07:00

Thursday, walk at Clear Creek:

Further down the creek, a construction crew had diverted the water and was working on the now-dry shoreline to place huge rocks for what looked like the same sort of rock steps and seating that exists in Golden. Not sure if it's also going to be readied for kayaking.

Friday, Crown Hill Lake:

Didn't try any running shoes on the last two days of the week :) Although inspired by Chris, Brandon and Jaime, I'll be looking into the MT110 this weekend... if there are any left.

Not sure if I'll run. We'll see in the AM.

Uphill Night View From RRCC

2012-01-04T23:56:00.001-07:00

I've taken a few pictures from this compass-patterned patio up at Red Rocks Community College, because it has an interesting view up the ravine over the last few streets before Green Mountain in Lakewood. This is the first time I've taken a night photo with snow on the ground (thin as it is). You can see a jet trail in the upper left, because this is an 8-second exposure.

I did a walk in the VFFs this time with no socks, to test how the sole is doing. Still a bit tender but better for most of the 2.8 miles. It was 45 degrees, and I wore pants and a medium winter jacket. The feet were a little chilly but not bad.

Soft Fall - At one point I was walking along the sidewalk, absentmindedly looking at the sky, when I walked right across a sheet of pure ice, and ended up on the ground before I knew it. Slight impact on my palm, but that was it. Since I was walking very softly at the time, there was no pent-up forward force in my step to release on the slippery ice, and my legs did not fly out from under me as can happen. Instead, I just kind of folded onto the ground, or like doing a baseball slide onto carpet.

Tried the New Balance M730 at Sports Authority on the way home from work. It's actually a pretty nice minimal shoe with loose fit like the MT10, and probably the thinnest sole I've seen on a shoe at a major sports retailer. Maybe a 4mm heel drop? Not much. Super low to the ground. Strangely, I couldn't even find this shoe on the Sports Authority or New Balance web sites, even though it was not at Sports Authority two weeks ago. Still a bit cramped on the outsides for me in the size that fits best around the ankle and big toe.

Gloomy But Grassy - Clear Creek

2012-01-03T21:32:00.001-07:00

Walked along Clear Creek at lunch today, and it took the edge off of the end of vacation. Wore the Trail Gloves to work, and walked along the grass social (i.e. fishing) trails, and it was "just" like running... only slower.

Better than four walls
Seriously, I need to explore this area a bit more, I did that with Bear Creek last summer and it really paid off. I know the trails are a bit more urban on this river, but still.

Listening to the Iowa politics on the radio on the drive home was rather depressing. Being a limited-government guy, I want to believe the Republicans mean it when they talk about freedom, but instead they botch it so badly they make it radioactive and nobody will touch it for 4-8 years. Since I advocate political freedom in all areas, I'm socially liberal and I'm opposed to forcing private religion on the country. Is this any different from Sharia law, except in degree? GOP immigration policy is bizarrely out of sync with American ideals (prosecuting businesses that -- in an entirely peaceful commercial transaction --- hire illegals? Really?). Ron Paul is OK on commerce but bad in other areas. At the same time, I can't stomach the explicit socialism of the Democrats. I wish Gary Johnson had a real shot.

Kountze Lake Dusk Walk

2012-01-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Monday was another lazy evening after a lazy weekend.

The foot was bothering me a bit after a busy running week so I kept off it for a few days over the weekend (running/hiking-wise). I found the rubber band over the forefoot of the MT10 causes me grief and hurts my foot joints. Another shoe down :( and another cause to wonder what shoe designers are smoking. I ran in the Cascadia again all last week.

So no running or significant hiking this weekend, and right now in CO the snow is scarce, so I had no interest in skiing wind-raked hardpack. Not my best weekend ever.

However, I spent some time reading online, researching possible shoes, doing maintenance on the PC, looking for a suitable offline backup for photos (about 200 GB per year), and other exciting stuff.

I ordered the Vivobarefoot Neo Trail to try on.

I'm also going to try the Altra Instinct (the darker grey) when the next shipment arrives at Runner's Roost. Zero drop, and the only shoe I've tried in a long time that has enough room for my toes.

At the end of the day Monday I headed over to Kountze Lake for a walk before shopping just to get out.

Alderfer/Three Sisters Short Hike

2012-01-01T20:37:00.002-07:00

This was basically a photo hike. I needed an Evergreen fix after a long time away, and wanted to just chill and take some pictures. I was planning on bouldering a bit, but was kind of chilly when I wasn't moving so I just headed up The Brother, stopped for photos and that was it.

I love the terrain variety at this park, it's like a miniature rocky diorama about what a mountain park should be.

Elephant Butte

From on top of The Brother

GPS Can Be Accurate

2012-01-01T20:05:00.002-07:00

Although there was some truth in this NYT article on GPS accuracy, I've found once you get a good selection of satellites, accuracy can be pretty good.

For example, here I am parking in the last spot at Three Sisters in Evergreen, going for a hike, then using the restroom on the way back:

Based on this data, I'm only one CIA drone strike away from certain death.

Of course the reason I'm using SportTracks in the first place is to edit the GPS track. When I started this walk, I didn't realize the accuracy was poor and it placed me a mile down the road for about the first 1/4 mile, and I had to move those track points over. Ah well.

Like I said... "Can Be"...

Activity Summary - 2011

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Although I had some rough patches in 2011, it was still a fun year with some goals met. Raw numbers:

Runs: 153
Distance: 1,236 miles
Elevation Gain: 189,599 feet

Yeah, there was some uphill jogging in there somewhere. This year's bullet points:

I increased my mileage per run from 6 to 8
I met and got out for some runs with other folks
I had some absolutely fantastic outings
There was far too much down time due to injury
I really started to enjoy more minimal footwear (during the recovery phase, I might add)
I bought a mountain bike and started riding

Mileage (the years I've kept records):

Injuries

Incredibly aggravating. Main ones:

Plantar fasciitis
Knee issues

I still have the PF a bit, but it doesn't really interfere with running much. It's been pretty much stable since going minimalist. I don't wear the inserts much any more, but they help if symptoms flare up.

I referred earlier in comments to a developing idea about why my knees gave me trouble. My theory is this: my running form had faults that caused excessive joint motion (lateral and rotational). This caused stresses resulting in connective tissue injury, healing and perhaps growth, as my body tried to stabilize the problem joints (made worse by increased mileage). This caused more friction with increased connective tissue, resulting in tendinitis that never went away.

Now I'm running in a manner where my knees track straight, and symptoms lessen as time goes by. I still have some faint gristly noise and faint pops, but it's no worse than anywhere else on my body with tendons that are tight. Hey, I'm fifty years old.

Minimal footwear

In response to the injuries I got a bit more into minimal footwear. I started the move about 10 years ago and have always run in neutral shoes, but now try to go as light as possible with something that's actually shaped like my foot. It's not as painful as you may think, and I'm enjoying it. I like the discipline it imposes, I found I can still do nearly the same number of miles, and my stride is better. I'm sure there will be bumps on the road (such as when my foot finally explodes from stress), but it's both a continuation of what I've always done and an improvement.

Outings

I still had a great year of fun outings, a very small selection of which are:

Company

I've always been someone who's content to go out and do activities alone. At this point that's my comfort zone, is easy, simple and requires zero planning. However, this year I finally got out for some non-solo runs and met some great folks, and that was awesome too. More to follow.

Races

I ran one.

Also more to come, but I'm not going to go nuts on that front.

Bike

I "helped" this dude move by buying his vintage K2 Razorback so he could fit all his earthly possessions into his car for a move (U-Haul?). Thus, I biked for the first time in a decade, and mountain biked for the first time ever. Loved the sense of mobility, and I'm beginning to become more at ease on-trail.

Peaks

Forgot the peaks list. New 14ers summited:

Castle Peak
Conundrum Peak (if you count it)
Humboldt Peak

This puts me at 33/55 14ers, using Gerry Roach's list. Other than Bross (the summit of which is private and still not officially open), all remaining peaks are the Sangre de Cristo, Elk and San Juan Ranges.

Goals

Stay well and keep doing it.

This just in: I'll leave you with a funny end-of-year post.

Back Home

2011-12-31T19:16:00.001-07:00

Flew back to CO on Friday afternoon, sad to leave family but good to be back home.

I got the full weather treatment in Indiana: rain on arrival, then gloomy, then a couple of days of sun, then snow, then rain again. Not like the Colorado's almost-always-sunny-in-the-morning-then-who-knows? weather. I arrived to clear skies and a colorful sunset.

We made a very tiny dent in sorting family possessions for the parents' move, and I'm contemplating another trip out there. However, I came across a few gems like this photo of my grandmother (father's side) when she graduated from CSU in 1926:

I wish all my photos looked that good!

Ditto for the photos of my young parents. I particularly like one where they are walking into the guest house at her parents' in Denver soon after their wedding, carrying the suitcases they still own and have downstairs. They were 21 and 23 years old, and it always forces a comparison with the way I was at their age.

In addition to all the photos my parents will keep, I have two boxes full of my stuff shipping home to look at. Some of it is school assignments, artwork, and clippings from newspapers. There's one from about age 9 where I won LLH (low, low hurdles) for my age group, probably the last time I won any race, since I didn't run after that until I was 37. There are some rather blunt school reports about me, including "he talks to others and bothers them" followed by "he's somewhat of a loner" (well, which is it? Um... maybe because I was told to shut up?) Then again, I guess those are not too far off the mark.

Snowy Evening

2011-12-29T09:44:00.001-07:00

The view from my parents' porch in Indiana:

The property is about 0.7 acre, with woods behind. When I grew up there were essentially open lots next door, and we had the run of the place. Not exactly wilderness, but you grew to enjoy the outdoors.

Bloomington Snow Run

2011-12-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

It seems I am to get every variation possible in weather during this trip to Indiana. On Tuesday morning, fluffy snow was quietly falling. It was pretty warm by snow standards, which was pleasant, but this also meant slush.

I ran in to the IU campus and turned around, about 10 miles round trip. It was peaceful and not too dripping wet as long as I ran on the grass and on well-drained sidewalks. Glad I wore the wool socks.

I stopped in the Chemistry building for the restroom, water, and to snap a few pictures.

Distance 10.20 miles, moving time 1:40, and elevation gain/loss 330 feet.

Sorting And Foreshadowing

2011-12-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

My brother and I will spending a portion of the week sorting and cleaning stuff in our parents' basement, to help with their final push out to Colorado, and it's been fun looking at some of it.

I'm wondering if I drew this after a childhood trip up the Poudre River, while on vacation from Indiana:

Although I didn't grow up in Colorado, my grandma's family had a cabin up there and we stayed there at least one time. It was later destroyed -- um, "purchased" -- to make way for Highway 14. Apparently it was about a mile down from Cameron Pass, near a big island in the river, and was built so my great-grandfather could stay there while he was an engineer working on a reservoir near the pass.

I obviously found some mountains compelling enough to draw them later.

I did not, however, become an astronaut, jet pilot, or see any giant dragons as per my other drawings. Funny how that works out.

Sunday Yellowwood Run

2011-12-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

On Christmas Day, which was 50 degrees and sunny, my brother and I managed to squeeze in a quick run at nearby (i.e. 15 minutes) Yellowwood State Forest. He was planning to ride, but the rough roads might have hurt his delicate road bike ;) so he ran a loop around the lake with me instead. In his hiking shoes. And may have gone farther than I did in the same time.

Here he is running on the invisible trail:

There's really nothing other than a fishing trail on the east side, so we ran through brambles and over slippery moss until we got to the dam. Then, we searched along the wide creek for a good crossing point, scraping our legs some more.

We got separated briefly at the dam where there was a "Y", but he soon realized his error and cut through woods and swamp to get back to the lake and complete the loop a bit behind me.

The trail around the lake was on the Tecumseh Trail on the west side, and on gravel road and woods on the east. I really enjoyed running through my home terrain after years of running mountains. I felt both strong, and yet challenged by the rolling trail.

The country road back to the parking lot:

Distance was 6.02 miles, moving time 1:08, elevation gain/loss 455 feet. We were on a time constraint because we were going to help prep for dinner, but hopefully I can come back and run a bit more here.

Saturday Run Etc.

2011-12-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went for another run near home, to "shake out" the legs from the previous day's run. It was great weather and I just wanted to get outside.

I ran on the neighborhood streets, touched base with a friend's father who was out walking, and did a lap or so on nearby streets.

After the 13 miles on Friday, I found the MT10 had worked my outer toe joint to the point of tenderness, and I really couldn't wear those shoes again without some rest. I ended up cutting the rubber strap over the forefoot, and ran in the Cascadias in the meantime.

I explored the terrain around the new neighborhood to the east. Vines choked the trees and coiled along the old property line fence:

I used to cut these vines open with a knife to get a sip of water when I wandered the woods as a kid. More of a novelty and not exactly a gusher, but something. Sometimes we'd cut the bottom of the vine and swing out over ravines and ponds. We used to climb them like monkeys, sometimes crashing to the ground when they ripped from the branches above.

Back home, the holiday provisions slowly gathered. I'm a $7 bottle of wine kind of guy, so I don't usually see the name "Chateauneuf-du-Pape" on a wine bottle. The beer around here isn't bad either.

Run distance was 5.2 miles, moving time 55:54, elevation gain/loss 262 feet. Funny, that's not drastically different from my streets at home in Colorado.

Hoosier Half

2011-12-23T20:36:00.002-07:00

The air has been thick and gloomy in Indiana, without the clockwork AM sunshine of Colorado. The dampness produced by this weather is evident everywhere, in the mud, the moss, the leaves. Too bad it's not summer so I can get pictures of how amazingly green it gets during the warmer months.

A large oak in the back yard
Behind the tree is the woods that start at the property line. There are miles of forest we used to wander through as kids, oblivious to the fences of apparently benevolent owners who never hassled us.

I ran into town, cutting through woods to another road, and passing a hidden cemetery that is now dwarfed by the empty new subdivision next to it (with new streets that allow me to avoid running along a highway). The date on the pictured tombstone is 1869, and there were others I couldn't even read. Old neighbors.

I grew up just on the edge of town, so it's a few miles into the city along suburban lanes and bike paths I used to ride to the university. I had a rough plan of connecting neighborhoods and paths, and probably the campus, but that was about it. I just meandered down the path of least resistance and finally made it downtown. The the center of town is a courthouse right out of Back to the Future:

I ran back through the IU campus:

My neighborhood. In the summer, the lush green closes in like the jungle compared to CO:

Distance was 13.62 miles, moving time 2:09 (actual 2:22), and elevation gain/loss 601 feet.

There were no big hills in town to speak of, but as I said the area is not exactly flat. At least the slopes in the city are gradual, and it's only 800 feet above sea level, almost exactly 5,000 feet below where I live now. I felt pretty good and I'm sure the extra oxygen had something to do with it. Ran in the MT10.

Heading Home

2011-12-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Indiana tomorrow to visit family in my home town. Right on schedule, a snow storm has arrived in time to mess up travel and for me to not ski in :\

I took this picture Wednesday evening up near the open space on 2-second exposure while it was snowing. I could see 3 coyotes making their way down the valley and whistled. They stopped, looked up, and ducked into the brush. The wind was blowing and you can see the blurred bushes in front. The terrain slopes up to the right towards Green Mountain (Lakewood).

Scott raced near Bloomington IN recently, finishing at a park down the road where we used to picnic. Hopefully I can make it out there to hit the trails while I'm there; I've never run trails there because I didn't start running until much later in life. As you can see from this map, the area is not exactly flat, and the race web site claims 3,500 feet of elevation change for the marathon:

View Larger Map
It's basically a lot of wooded hills, and is a bit of a road cyclists' paradise, especially after the movie Breaking Away, which was filmed in the area.

Minimalism So Far

2011-12-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

My current footwear has become a pair of Five Fingers and the New Balance MT10. I don't know what anyone else derives from such minimalist footwear -- if they use it at all -- but for me:

I enjoy it
I run better

The latter point has to do primarily with the fact that my knee motion was all over the place and was resulting in knee tension and soreness that was not getting better between runs. By mid-summer, it was freaking me out enough that I wondered if I'd have to stop running. As I look down while running now (with new shoes and adjusted form), I can see that my knees track almost perfectly true forward and backwards.

I am slower

There's no doubt I've had to slow down to keep the footsteps light and gentle. But since I don't worry about competition or train for racing, I don't really care all that much. And as my strength increases, I'll step it up some.

Maybe most interesting has been the fact that

The shoes better match my feet

And this goes beyond simply having better running form, to the matter of actually matching in shape and function, i.e. they are wider in the forefoot and let my toes actually work. I wasn't really expecting this, but using the Five Fingers has made me very aware when my toes are being constricted, and with standard running shoes that is always.

Imagine if you taped your toes together into a cone shape and then tried to walk barefoot. That's what my old shoes do. The more I think about it and live without it, the stranger it seems. How are my feet supposed to work properly when they're stuffed into a tube? What parts have gotten weaker over the years as a result?

I'm not sure where this process will lead, but preliminary results are good and it sure is interesting.

At some point I'll post a discussion of criticisms of the minimalist trend ;)

Sunday Green Mtn Lakewood

2011-12-18T20:30:00.013-07:00

I probably overdid it today by doing another 16 trail miles today (that took me forever). But I sort of wanted to stick with the early AM plan I had going, and the weather was too good to pass up.

Distance was 16.01 miles, moving time 3:44 (total 4:24), and elevation gain/loss 2,738 feet. Shoe: MT10.

Average moving pace was a glacial 14:03.

I really didn't screw around much, but there was a lot of mud and a bit of hiking, and towards the end I was out of water and hot, and was lying in the snow and putting fistfuls of snow in my cap to cool off (and that was in shorts and a T-shirt). I jogged most of it, but there was walking. And my pace in the MT10 is slow and careful.

I liked the almost perfect separation of rock colors here:

This is one of the few non-rocky sections of Box O' Rox, with Mount Morrison in the background:

It's a good trail to use to ascend the west side if you don't want to use the Jeep road. Pro: it's singletrack and the grade is less extreme. Cons: it's narrow and in the summer you'd be stopping for bikes a lot.

I ended up running Zorro up Dakota Ridge on the other side of Highway 470 (there's a pedestrian bridge), which was a slow, nasty mud-fest. It was terrible.

But on top of the hogback there was a mix of easy packed snow and well-drained or dry sandy soil. Fantastic! I turned around where the trail crosses the road (Alameda, now closed to traffic) at the hairpin turn on top. Below is a typical section. There are cliffs on the right, so don't trip!

I actually have a positive bike story this time, so people don't think I'm 100% curmudgeon even though I have a MTB of my own now. No big deal, but there were 3 really good bikers coming down the hogback on one of the steeper sections. The trail is ridiculous; it's super rocky, and there are 20-foot plus drops off the cliffs on the right. Anyway, these guys were totally in control on the way down, no skidding, nothing. Lead guy in particular was really good, said hi, "Two more", "Have a nice day" or whatever and just weaved his way down through the rock slabs on his Niner. Impressive. I wish I had thought to get video.

Conditions on the shaded east and north sides of Green are still wintry and crisp:

I was totally wiped after this run, drank a ton of water, forced down some food and rested on the bed for 45 minutes. I couldn't nap because I had stuff to do.

I went shopping and it's now later in the evening and I feel like I've had a significant outing of some kind, but there are no particular areas of discomfort. No significant pains. That's pretty awesome.

My MT10s, on the other hand, are a mess and I'm going to have to wash them and use the boot drier on them again, because the mesh holds dirt like crazy. And I've made them my work shoes (casual office) so they have to be good to go tomorrow.

Saturday Green Mtn Lakewood

2011-12-18T07:40:00.020-07:00

I admit to still having some insecurity about wearing minimalist shoes, half expecting my foot to blow up out on trail and have to limp home. (Angry hippie voice:) "He's been brainwashed by the fascist thick-sole conspiracy theorists, man!" It's still early in the process, and I have not done anything approaching the type of runs I was doing early this year, in the 20-25 mile range.

Nonetheless, today's outing at Green Mountain in Lakewood helped move me towards that confidence a bit.

Distance was 14.02 miles, moving time 2:49 (actual 3:18) and elevation gain/loss 2,339 feet. Shoe: MT10.

I'd say I'm about 1-2 minutes per mile slower in minimal shoes, because I negotiate the terrain gently and without the impunity of running in highly a padded shoe. Uphills are not that different, but downhills are way slower.

This one took me all the way around the mountain in a lollipop. I ran ravines up to the top, then on Rooney Valley trail, then returned around the south and east on official and social trails, re-ascended via another ravine, then down another ravine to finish. Basically I got to the top and it felt good, so I just kept running. Easy, maintainable pace.

Bobcat? These were small and about 10-15 inches apart.
It was pretty muddy throughout, and I had to dance around the edge and over tiny snow islands to avoid the slick mud.

I shot this through my sunglasses to get the contrast of the polarized material:

I noticed today there is conglomerate sandstone with rocks embedded in it all over the place. This appears in between bands of striped dirt and soft sandstone.

The den

Saturday I think I found out where the coyotes hang out.

For the first time I followed a ravine on the east side that I knew had a lot of trees in it, and to some extent saw human traffic. There were fort-like structures obviously built by kids out of branches, and some rusted equipment. As I ascended, the ravine grew progressively narrower, until I was nearly bushwhacking through a tunnel of branches in deepening powder in my shorts and T-shirt (it was 35 but sunny -- I learned my lesson from being too hot the other day).

There were tall cottonwoods in this ravine; I didn't even realize there were trees this big high on the mountain. And there was a tiny stream down the middle, which animals had obviously been drinking from.

As I ascended, human footprints were replaced with paw and hoof prints, and soon I was running through a steep-sided ravine tracked with nothing but countless canine prints spotted with urine here and there. It was damned creepy. I was pretty much walking through a den when the dogs were out for the day. And sure enough, as I exited the gully, a coyote spotted me and turned and ran away over the ridge.

Maybe I won't go up that ravine in the winter.

Looking back towards the coyote den:

It was a pretty decent workout running up that snowy field to the trail near the top. The photo is from about halfway up the field.

Ape man

Odd experience. At one point I was running downhill, and the toe next to my big toe started feeling chafed. Then I realized it was sort of curling, almost like running on a closed fist, and the corner of it was getting sensitive from the friction. Is it that after so many years of being a useless appendage, my toes assume a fetal position in the middle of a technical section of a run? WTH. So I concentrated on keeping them stretched flat and forward. I had the distinct sensation of reaching with them as if with a hand, to grasp the ground. Yep, I'm a primate.

The legs were a bit more hammered this time, but I didn't have the calf pain even though I ran farther than before. I'm starting to relax my stride. The knees are feeling it and still had some slight edema on the right, but no soreness comparing to this summer. I'm now 99% sure it's just connective tissue irritation.

I have a theory on why my formerly solid leg health crashed and burned this year, but I'll wait until I've got a bit more mileage on these kicks.

AM Short Run

2011-12-14T11:00:00.003-07:00

I overcame my body's clock to get out for a short one this AM. It was nice to have some light, but there's a lot more exhaust on the sidewalk sections on my way to the open space since people are leaving for work. Never really noticed that before when running off-hours.

This is one of several ravines leading to the mountain proper, which I call Glamorous Gulch for its scraps of concrete and telephone (?) wires:

Hey, it's dirt, it's off-street, and neither I nor the omnipresent wildlife care about the aesthetics. Just makes me chuckle. Coyotes sleep here and use it as a commuter highway.

Early sunlight on snow:

I explored some pathways I saw behind some sort of public maintenance facility that connect two entrances to city open space. Good to have another link between points.

Not sure the 3/4 tights work really well with deeper snow, since I had ice forming on my calves I had to scrape off.

Distance 3.66 miles, moving time 37:22, and elevation gain/loss 259 feet.

Green Lakewood Walk

2011-12-11T18:51:00.012-07:00

Did a quick late hike part way up Green Mountain in Lakewood, then ran down through the snow in my pants and jacket -- because I wasn't expecting to run and had my walking/hiking clothes on. Wore the MT10s.

But I couldn't help myself.

Beautiful and a lot of fun playing in the snow.

Picasa/Blogger Image Change?

2011-12-11T14:03:00.017-07:00

For a while on Sunday, my banner image appeared smaller than usual. I didn't think I'd changed the code, but it was appearing at 512 pixels wide instead of the full width.

I then experimented with the URL in my Blogger template by forcing the actual width to the banner image's correct size of 863 pixels wide (I added part in bold, including a slash):

.../QhoLFYCEwRs/s863/Banner_Indian_Peaks_2.jpg

Then it showed correctly again. Did Picasa/Blogger servers change their default behavior? In other words, if you omit the image size from the URL, do they no longer always pass the full-sized image? If you find this happening to you, try adding "s" + the width in pixels like I did above.

Green Lakewood Run

2011-12-11T11:04:00.012-07:00

Thought about running the Chubstah on Saturday, for a good run and company, but several reasons conspired to make me stay home. Early. Cold. Far. Long (compared to what I've been running lately).

I'm sure it was fun; I'll make it some time. Still not really used to long cold-weather runs, and... not an early riser.

Lately I've been trying to run in a more minimalist/natural?/barefoot? shoe, and since I don't really have any such thing that I can wear in snow, I spent this week trying on shoes at home. With trepidation, I chose the New Balance MT10 (original Minimus) in 11 1/2 D.

They worked pretty well Saturday in snow on Green Mountain in Lakewood.

The photos are probably misleading, because even at 35 degrees, it was hot in the sun. I ran in short sleeves and then put the long sleeves back on in the shadows. There was a runner on top of Green in a T and shorts.

Saw two coyotes on my run up. I took the next photo right after scaring one out of the ravine about 20 feet below me (it's long-gone).

I like twisty trees
The photo below shows my reason for choosing the Minimus over other shoes, better than a side view: it has a wide, flexible toe box. And it's actually shaped like my foot.

Plenty of room
The socks are SmartWool casual socks. These socks rocked down to -13 last winter, but were a bit too toasty this time.

Traction of the MT10 on snow was not super, but it was adequate. I'd probably opt for spikes sooner than if I were wearing the Cascadias.

Below is the view from the top. The high point in the middle is Mount Tom, and farther to the right are the Flatirons:

Here is a shaky video of lower part of the descent. I'm not really going that fast, about 7:30-8:30 tops, but the cadence is quick because I'm not braking. I actually missed the best part which was the steeper upper section in partially-broken powder. Yee-ha! If you can't see the embedded video, click here.

Strange echo in the background, which makes it sound like I was carrying a sloshing bucket of water. ??

MT10 Pros:

The sole is not as thin as the Five Fingers but you can still feel the trail and it flexes quite a bit, so you have to be somewhat careful on rocks and gentle on pavement. That's a "pro" because I want to run gently.
The overall feel was really nice.
I didn't have any issues with them slipping on the foot.
The left heel that still has a scab started to sting, so I stuck one of my gloves under my heel with the wrist portion sticking over the back of the shoe, and that allowed me to complete the run pain-free. The other heel was fine.
I didn't have any issues yet with the rubber band over the forefoot that some have commented about (saw this during online research).

Cons:

I am wary of heels that have abrupt edges. The MT10 has a thin bead around the heel at the top, which could potentially become a hot spot (this edge was irritating my prior injury). We'll see how it goes.
I'm also not sure why NB uses really thin tongues, since the laces can dig into the top of your foot. IMO, that's one area that should always be padded, or maybe nobody but me has nerves in the top of their foot.

In general, no major issues and I enjoyed running in them.

My soleus muscles, however, are not super happy. Still adjusting to thinner shoes.

Distance was 8.43 miles, moving time 1:39, and elevation gain/loss 1,247 feet. Longest so far in minimalist footwear.

My Feet Are Not Shaped Like A Bullet

2011-12-04T22:21:00.041-07:00

An observation: the shape of my feet doesn't fit most of the running shoes I've worn (a couple of examples are on the left).

This "shocking" realization came after 3 runs in a row in the Five Fingers (second from right), when my feet and toes tasted freedom from bondage. The VFFs were too cold for snow, so I've been trying out other shoes including the Merrell Trail Glove (right).

Then, over the last couple of days I tried on an old pair of the MT101 (far left), which is supposedly a minimal shoe, but my big toe was ridiculously cramped. I wanted to cut the side of the toe open. The type of shoe I want to run in is changing very rapidly.

What am I, a ballerina? It's not even close the same shape:

Maybe the idea is that if you heel strike, you need to stuff your toes into a funnel to help with braking. Not sure.

Now I'm wondering what happens when you inhibit the big toe's ability to stabilize the foot. Most shoes nowadays are a bit like taping your toes together. No wonder people have issues with pronation and foot mechanics (myself included).

The plot thickens, and the type of shoe I'm looking for thickens/widens also. I need to break in the Trail Glove, so meanwhile I'm trying the MT10 (original NB Minimus). I may look at the new MT20.

Activity Summary - November 2011

2011-11-30T20:01:00.007-07:00

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

2011-11-29T22:24:00.012-07:00

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

2011-11-28T19:10:00.004-07:00

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

2011-11-27T19:40:00.001-07:00

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

2011-11-26T18:20:00.005-07:00

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

2011-11-25T21:24:00.014-07:00

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

2011-11-24T18:28:00.019-07:00

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

2011-11-23T21:07:00.024-07:00

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

2011-11-20T18:49:00.003-07:00

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

2011-11-20T14:48:00.013-07:00

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

2011-11-18T18:23:00.036-07:00

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

2011-11-14T07:30:00.009-07:00

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

2011-11-13T19:26:00.002-07:00

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

2011-11-11T22:01:00.005-07:00

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.

Chatfield Run, New Gear

2011-11-07T10:34:00.007-07:00

Looking for something a little flatter, I ran at Chatfield Reservoir on Sunday from the south lot.

I ran the first 11 miles in the PureFlow, and wearing the CW-X tights. Initial impressions on both are good. Somehow I managed to keep the uppers clean.

Brooks PureFlow
At the 5.5-mile turnaround I was developing pre-blister tenderness on the right heel (yeah, I knew running in new shoes was a risk) so I switched over the Cascadias at mile 11, which by comparison felt like a medieval torture device. Apparently I didn't realize how happy my feet were to be able to stretch out in the PureFlow's wide forefoot and on the flat sole. Wow. The Cascadias felt like my feet were being bound, and were lumpy and weird. So in terms of design, I like the shoe a lot, and hopefully I can get past the heel hot spot with some daily wear. Cushioning is super comfy and the fit for me is good.

At the same time, while acknowledging that this is a flat neutral shoe, I'm still considering getting some footbeds to get rid of the PF and possibly aid mechanics. I can always take the foot-strengthening offline, outside the longer runs, or just do it during hiking/walking.

I didn't notice a huge difference with the CW-X tights regarding recovery, but while running I certainly felt the legs were "quieter", i.e. no aches or pains and no irritation in the knees. On the drive home I felt a bit right below the patella (jumper's knee), and felt like an old man getting out after 30 minutes of driving, but that always happens when I drive right after a run, even with stretching.

The day after, the muscles are tired and a bit stiff -- which is right for me after 13 miles -- but I have no pain other than PF. As when I started wearing other compression gear, I'd expect the full gains to kick in over time as impact is reduced repeatedly.

Along the shore of the lake there was some really strange-looking "grass" that wasn't grass, I think it's some sort of aquatic plant that was exposed as the water level fell. I've never seen anything like it; it was like really straight Spanish Moss, an odd gray lawn.

This is at the turnaround point. My starting point was a little over a mile past the far end of the lake, along the Platte River. A great, comfortable fall day along the mountains:

As usual, the amazing thing about these trails (the singletrack along the river and shore) is there really aren't that many people, even though they are really nice. Just some fly fisherman, the occasional equestrians, and some mellow mountain bikers (the trails probably don't inspire advanced riders).

Dog, horse, shoe, bike, raccoon
I think it was probably 60 degrees in the sun (ran in tights and short sleeve), but once the sun fell behind the mountains, it felt like it dropped to 40 in about a half an hour. With my sweat-dampened gloves and clothes, I was cold, and when I changed shoes I put on my cap and long sleeves. After three more miles though, I could no longer keep my fingers from getting numb, and called it a day.

Distance was 13.83 miles, moving time 2:21 (total 2:52), elevation gain/loss 250 feet -- exactly the same as Boulder Reservoir 2 weeks ago. Flat.

Incoming Weather

2011-11-05T21:13:00.013-06:00

It was very windy late this afternoon, and showers were brewing all over the city and over the mountains. These pictures are from Belmar Park in Lakewood.

"High seas" on Kountze Lake

I picked up a pair of the Brooks PureFlow at Runners Roost this afternoon because I need a road shoe, and they feel much better than the NB 890s, which in the end had too much drop from the heel and feel hard in the sole. These are "flat", i.e. 4mm drop, and have a very wide toe box, which I like. The green is bright but I think it's a pretty good-looking shoe and it fits me very well. I tried the PureGrit trail shoe but just didn't like the fit. Not surprisingly Scott Jurek wore a pair last week, but he must have different feet than me.

I also bought some CW-X compression tights, both 3/4 and insulated full-length. It has occurred to me that having my oversized thighs and calves banging around for several hours at a time might not be a good thing. Years ago I started wearing compression briefs because... well, I'm a guy. I don't know why I never applied the same principle to the rest of my body. Maybe footfeathers' testimonials and the fact that other better runners are using compression finally woke me up.

My first (short) run in the 3/4 tights and the shoes felt good.

Anderson Park

2011-11-03T23:16:00.007-06:00

I went for a walk outside a couple of times Thursday, in the brilliant sunshine with the remnants of snow on the ground, seriously jonesing for the mountains that are always taunting me from the background on every city street.

What a gorgeous day.

I did the best I could, which was a suburban park in Wheat Ridge on lunch break.

This park is on the Clear Creek greenbelt. The creek starts up near Loveland Ski Area, flows by Idaho Springs, Golden, then through the remaining suburbs to the Platte. A couple of weeks ago, I ran far above it.

I may go for a long flat run this weekend, since someone suggested hills may be tougher on the legs. I don't feel that much difference on flats, but I have not run on easy terrain for a long time, and believe it or not for me it could be a nice change of pace.

My sister is trying to talk me into a Thanksgiving Day race, since she just started running and thought it would be cool for all of us 3 kids to do it (even if it's separately, in our home areas). I've taken an intentional race break since 2009, and my "speed" probably peaked about 10 years ago, but I'm game to to support her efforts.

I just hope I can figure out what to do if nature calls.

Wendy's Wrapper FAIL

2011-11-02T09:05:00.002-06:00

In general I like Wendy's products. They seem to contain more actual food than some other fast food, and the chili is great.

However, recently they took a perfectly functional sandwich wrapper (you know, the paper/wax and/or foil wrapper almost every chain has been using forever) and changed it.

They now take a white paper wrapper, fold it into a pocket, put the sandwich in it, then place it -- still open -- in a cardboard holder. So, it probably takes more time to wrap, it's less sanitary, doesn't stay as warm, it's more messy when you reach into the bag, you throw away a little carboard box when you buy one, and who knows what the extra shipping cost on all that carboard is.

Environmentally clueless/wasteful and impractical. FAIL.

Please go back to the old wrapper. And although I like butter, I don't need a grilled buttered bun.

If you are a manager, don't think you have to swoop in and change things to do your job well. You may well have your job precisely because things are already good and don't need changing.

PS - I hope they don't "improve" (i.e. "im-ruin") the chili.

I sent them feedback via their website.

Tuesday Greys

2011-11-01T20:47:00.016-06:00

Trying a mid-week jog to see how things feel. It's supposed to be a snowy mess tomorrow so I figured now was the time.

Alien landing pad at Red Rocks Community College
I ran up some local streets and experimented with armswings, including swinging them in big circles like a windmill, and trying the same thing in opposite directions while yelling "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!"

Kidding.

I did try to vary/use my armswing a bit. I was wondering if it has an impact on stride straightness, and maybe the knees. Jury's out. I'll try on a longer run.

Run distance was 3.35 miles, time was 36:51, and elevation gain/loss was 276 feet. That passes for flat around here.

Monday Blues

2011-11-01T08:31:00.013-06:00

I'm referring to the photo, as well as perhaps my mood. Great weekend, and I wish it could have continued. Work will be less creative and somewhat aggravating this week.

I did manage to sneak in a walk at Crown Hill on the way home Monday.

The legs feel decent after the Basic, but not ready to run, as they seem to have taken this run a bit harder than the 20-miler last week. But I've been doing more radical quad stretches for about 10 days and it seems to help recovery.

Sunday I went to IKEA to check out the Pöpli and to look at bookshelves. I don't like everything they have, but I do like simple modern designs and despite its rat-maze layout, it's a fairly pleasing store.

Excuse me, in which aisle is the Ark of the Covenant?
There were probably more diverse crowds and couples from all over the world than I've seen anywhere except maybe Toronto. Is that what a world without bigotry looks like?

This is getting out of hand. What disturbs me most is the de-humanization of the wealthy, versus distinguishing between ill-gotten and just earnings. The follow-up isn't any better. What we need is to do away with unjust government powers, not gain control of them. Cast The Ring into the fire, no good can come from it.

Disclaimer: my politics.

A Basically Fun Day

2011-10-30T12:42:00.021-06:00

Saturday I ran the Basic, which I saw happen last year but didn't really catch in time to actually run. It was good to participate in this long-standing Boulder tradition, catch up with some folks and meet a few others including Scott Barnes and Jay Rawlings.

Update: - Rob has a video and Jeff has a post on the run also.

Bottom line: great day.

Another bottom line: a lot of talent, at every level. Tony arrived after I took these, but otherwise I'll let readers play "Find Waldos" (and Waldas) in these photos (JV's back is to the camera in the first picture).

There are also couple of folks who are hard to spot or not in the picture, such as Helen, Dakota, JP, Shad and Wyatt (I only realized as he was leaving). I think we passed Darcy on the mountain, but not sure if she was there. All right, enough hyperlinking.

The route went up Flagstaff, then across the road and up Ranger.

There I made the mistake I told myself I wouldn't make by blindly following a crowd (instead of getting the map out at each junction), and a whole train of people took Ranger instead of Greenman, the correct route for the day. D'oh! I made up for it by making extra sure to do the designated Fern loop off of Mesa, which was easy to run past.

Even considering the fact that my route to the top of Green was 0.4 miles shorter, I was keeping up pretty well up to that point, and ran down Green Bear in reasonable proximity to Shad, Krissy and another guy.

Then I took a rest stop, and filtered some water (<5 minutes) from Bear Creek, and I was alone. Probably 20 people had passed during those stops including brownie, but I couldn't have made it in good shape without that extra water.

The ascent up the West Ridge of Bear is where the wind started to pick up, so I put on the ultra-light wind jacket and put the hood on. I was feeling hungry, so I chewed some jerky, lunch of champions.

Yeah, Bear was pretty cold, and in shorts and a couple of light/medium tops I was kind of on the edge of my comfort zone, but it worked.

I caught up to (spike-less) JT on Bear and we chatted a bit on the summits. It was really slippery and slow going without spikes, I don't know how he managed. I will again give a shout out to Kahtoola for their Microspikes, because every time I wear them on snowy runs I think how great they are.

Of course you still have to be careful; ~~one guy~~ Kendrick caught a spike coming down Shadow and really slammed his knee on a rock. Ouch. He was walking normally but said it really hurt. I hope the damage isn't too bad.

I walked down with JT to JP who was waiting up for him, and I bombed down ahead knowing they'd catch me farther down. The trip down the steep, rugged Shadow required the usual full concentration to avoid severe bodily harm.

As predicted, shortly after Fern I joined up with JP and brownie again, and we ran it in together. In all my time here, I'd never been on that little connector from North Shanahan to Fern.

The stats

Total mileage was 15.63, total time 4:49, and elevation gain/loss 5,392 feet.

With four peaks, that's a tough 15 miles. I'm glad it wasn't a full marathon, this was enough.

A lot of this route was fast-hiking, I passed people on the slippery downhills, and I ran the rest pretty steadily, so I'm not sure how I ended up towards the back. Ah well. Others weren't pleased but I was pretty happy. There's definitely something to be said for having someone both ahead and behind you on a trail. You try to keep up.

Peoples' mileage was all over the map, so to speak. I saw Wyatt on his way out and he logged 18-something! I don't know how much of it was due to device differences and how much was the route they took. Even the same model GPS can show 10-20% differences.

Gear and stuff

Clothing was Cascadias, spikes, shorts, a tech short sleeve, a TNF Impulse, gloves, baseball-style cap and the super-light Marmot Ion for the wind. On the summits it was barely enough. On Bear I felt my warmth slipping away and my fingers were going numb but I brought a pack of hand warmers and that fixed it, along with getting out of the wind on the descent.

Except for short runs at home, I don't have a lot of cold-weather trail experience, so I was a bit anxious about getting an hour out in the park and then freezing, but that didn't happen. I'm getting so I can dial in "winter" clothing better than before.

Drank 3 1/2 bottles, had 3-ish S-caps and ate some jerky. A bit thin for almost 5 hours, but because of the cool temps it worked.

Food and shelter

JP, JT and I got back just as Krissy, Scott and Geoff ran up the street with a goodbye wave, and I changed into dry clothes and we grabbed some chow and recovery beverages. Thanks to Jack for hosting (2 blocks from the hills, what a location!) and everyone who brought food and drink. Jay brought a crude-oil-dark stout from The Sun which was awesome. Looking forward to Stout Month (February).

I'm not a great mingler, but it was good to chat with a few folks, and Nick Pedatella convinced me I need to try the Brooks Trailblade, which is a softer, lighter version of the Cascadia, which I don't like as much this year (except for snow traction, which is better). He also confirmed my impression that they're not great on wet rock.

Speaking of not mingling, someone offered that mountain ultras (not that this was an ultra, or that I run ultras) are for people who like to be alone. lol. For me there's a bit of truth in that. Although this year I decided to make an effort at getting together for group outings, and I had moderate success at doing so. Ten group runs in a year is a veritable whirlwind of social running for me.

At the same time, being a blogger or following blogs allows you to get to know people beforehand. And I have to say the Front Range running/blogging community is a great bunch.

Chilling out

I wasn't done punishing my feet, so I walked off the brews with a loop of McClintock Trail, enjoying the now-sunny fall day.

Then I did a lap of the pedestrian Mall and saw an interesting Asian art gallery where Tesla used to be. There's a really cool photo of women washing up and braiding their hair by Rui Yuan. Here is his web site with more images; I think his work is absolutely amazing. This subject may not seem fascinating, but the way it was shot and the expressions are really interesting. It gets you thinking about how people live and cope impressively in parts of the world where life is considerably harder than it is here. The gallery is worth a visit if you're down there.

Activity Summary - October 2011

2011-10-30T12:41:00.000-06:00

I won't be running over the next few days, so it's time for an October summary.

I may have only run 25% of the time lately, but between a run at Golden Gate, the Maroon Bells, GZ's 100-mile race, the Basic and a fun run with T, it was a great month. That's some damned good quality right there :)

Running

Count: 8
Distance: 92 miles
Time: 31:54
Elevation Gain: 19,697 feet

Riding

Count: 4
Distance: 48 miles
Time: 7:46
Elevation Gain: 3,173 feet

Once again, the vertical is silly because of the type of thing I've been running on weekends. So, I almost ran up Mount McKinley from sea level in 8 runs (actually 6, because two runs were flat). Good grief.

Last week I had my first run in two months where I didn't have knee pain after two days. That's a good sign, and if it continues, I may dabble in an extra run during the week to see how it goes. But the fact is, my body could not handle 4-6 workouts per week, and I'm still healing from its effects. In the end I'm more concerned with the longevity of my active life rather than its intensity. We'll see.

Friday Jog

2011-10-29T19:25:00.010-06:00

Before I post about the Basic, I'm clearing this from the queue. I was busy last night fussing over gear.

Friday lunch in the park. With the geese. And the cold wind.

Fall picnics can be cold
I like that photo because of the leaves, which are cottonwood. Cottonwoods are very prevalent here, and I think if there were no people (to import non-native species), they would make up the vast majority of trees on the plains.

I went for my first cold-weather evening jog Friday, just a couple of miles -- "yay". Remember photos like this from last winter?

I was going to trash it, but somehow these night photos capture the cool look of the sky lit from below, and the peaceful quiet. It's really pretty at night, granting that it's a civilized, suburban night, not wild mountain night.

I also wanted to try some clothing out for the Basic on Saturday, where the temperature range was going to be between 30 (summits/wind chill) and 60 (mid-day flats), with 20 mph winds. Hard to dress for.

(Saturday update: I went light, and I chose correctly)

Snowy But Bright

2011-10-27T20:02:00.018-06:00

When I ate lunch outside today, it was bright but chilly. I don't think it was much over 40, but I just have to get outside and I'll keep doing this until my fingers get numb, i.e. roughly December-February.

I made a quick recovery from last Sunday's 20-mile/3,500-foot trail run/hike. In spite of serious depletion on Sunday, I didn't have the expected soreness in the knees on day 2 (or any time after); why, I don't really know. Hopefully it's some combination of time and maintenance.

I still continue to run once per week, although I was tempted to go for a jog mid-week.

The feeling of invincibility I used to have, of being able to exercise as much as I want and simply wait out the inevitable full recovery, is still not back. Some would call it age, but I don't believe in that. One look around at the number of old fossils doing amazing things is enough to convince me otherwise. "Age" is really some combination of personal choice mitigated by cumulative wear and tear. Hopefully with some more rest, I'm still well on the "personal choice" side of the equation.

Snowy

2011-10-26T10:05:00.000-06:00

We're getting real snow today, as opposed to a little dusting. Roads were not bad or very busy, I think some people stayed home this morning. Kind of slushy for running though, it's right around freezing.

Crown Hill Park Walk

2011-10-24T21:45:00.000-06:00

Sitting at my desk all day was not the best thing after my run yesterday, and I hobbled down the stairs on stiff legs when leaving the office (good thing it wasn't an ultra). Time for a little exercise, so I stopped by Crown Hill on the way home for a walk.

It's pretty nice, and it's big, 242 acres or about 2 miles for a lap around the outside. There are two lakes/ponds, a small wildlife sanctuary section, and some cottonwood groves here and there to divide it up and keep it interesting. According to the sign it's based on an 1860 homestead and the lakes are natural.

There was a goose happy hour out on the lake raising causing quite a ruckus. Lots of water birds landing for the evening.

Some of the runners were more "serious" (speed-oriented?) than what I see out on the trails, moving a long at a good clip, doing strides, etc. Pretty good crowd but still plenty of room.

Gudy Gaskill/Beaver Brook Run

2011-10-24T11:06:00.013-06:00

On Sunday I met WildChildT for a 2-hour run on the Beaver Brook Trail, and after she took off, I continued solo for a while. We hadn't run for a while, so it was a nice change of pace.

I also had not run over 20 miles since July (Crater Lake), and before that in April, so I wanted to see what I could manage. I've had arch pain and PF this year, and in August I also decided my knees were not recovering sufficiently between runs and were getting a bit noisy, so I dialed things way back, starting with not running for 3 weeks. I'm currently running once per week and recover to the point of feeling no aches or discomfort.

The initial loop with T was 8.01 miles in 1:58, gain 1,525 feet. Total run was 20.31 miles, moving time 4:22 (total 6:20), and elevation gain 3,578 feet (hilly!).

The little white speck in the photo above is T, which is about how I spent the run: trailing behind. On one-day-per-week conditioning, it was all I could do to catch up on the uphills. Flats and downs, not so much.

The views were great on this run, here's one looking back down the Clear Creek valley towards the plains:

The Indian Peaks from Bald Mountain:

I timed the run by water. When I was out, I made my way back to the car to fill up. I ended up drinking about a gallon.

On the second of 3 loops, I ran the section of Beaver Brook with canyon views, which were crazy. The overlooks are about 1,000 feet above the highway down to Clear Creek.

A view to the west from a different spot:

Lap 2 included the Gudy Gaskill trail. There are signs pointing to "Clear Creek Overlook", which I guess is a feature, not a trail name. Although any section on the north has views, there is one particular perch on a rock in densely-wooded section along ledges that I guess is the overlook.

This trail has a lot of terrain variety, including woods, cliffs and large sections of meadow and ravine, before rejoining Beaver Brook.

I think this is from my third loop, which was farther west on Beaver Brook. The western part is steep, rocky, less-used and more densely wooded. It really felt "out there". It's about 1,200 feet down to the low point if you're going all the way to the west trailhead (I didn't, I descended about 500 feet before returning), so there was really no running up on this section! Plus I was tired by then.

The intent of my run was hardly a fast time, I wanted to take it easy, stay out there a while, walk and hike if necessary, and go the distance. Mission accomplished.

My legs were fairly spent by the end and felt the effort, but I didn't really feel any particular pains other than the usual feelings of abuse. The day after (Monday) I feel a few aches and pains, but not bad. The PF was achy while running but not bad today. Muscles are tired by not very sore.

On a side note, I plan to avoid this particular access point in the future. Based on things I'd read, I thought it was now more open to the public, but the signs still indicate that you must be a Mount Vernon member to pass through their land to get to the public open space (including stating "No Trespassing") and I did not find any other legal access point. Bear in mind that this trailhead has been used for years by local trail users including running groups. One could rationalize that "everyone is doing it" or that "they don't really care" but if that were the case, there probably wouldn't be signs. I mulled it over and researched it online, even checking property maps for an alternative (other than making a dash through the buffalo enclosure), and decided that going forward I don't want to use it until Mount Vernon's official position is that it's OK or some other mitigating information surfaces. I can't very well expect people to respect my property then not respect others'. It is what it is, and I can live with it. I do wish there were a public trail easement and hopefully things will change in the future. Meanwhile, there are trailheads at either end of Beaver Brook.

Green Mtn Lakewood Ride

2011-10-22T21:45:00.002-06:00

I had considered taking a few ski turns at A-Basin on Saturday, and then maybe doing a hike nearby, but decided a pre-dawn start and "go, go, go!" was not really the pace I wanted for the first day of the weekend.

This was another exploratory ride on streets and singletrack. Even after 5 years here, I'm still discovering streets and stuff in my neighborhood. And I'm still awestruck by some of the views along the mountains.

Suburbia on the slopes of Green Mountain, looking northwest:

I circled Green Mountain today, taking trails I used to run when I ran more multi-use instead of hiker-only stuff. I rode this when I first got this bike, and felt much more comfortable this time, hammering hard when nobody was around and there were no blind turns. If I do say so, I was rocking it a bit. River stones and all.

I walked the steeper uphills to save the legs since I wasn't sure what I was doing Sunday.

The pastel fall colors are kind of hard to capture, but it was really pretty on the shadow side of the mountain, zig-zagging through the ravines and all the prairie/desert vegetation changing color.

Lots of silvery green and blues mixed in with yellows.

Ride distance was 15.92 miles, moving time 2:04 (total 2:45), gain/loss 2,084 feet. Average speed 7.7 mph, max 25.1 mph.

A really satisfying ride.

Vuelta a España 2011 - Stage 17

2011-10-22T21:01:00.000-06:00

The finish of this Vuelta stage is just amazing. The fun really starts around 1:40. I love the announcing; they are just so into it.

Brings back memories of riding up to watch the Pro Cycling Challenge stage 2 this summer, and my brother's awesome photos. Man that was a great day!

OWS: Camping With Marx

2011-10-22T11:01:00.038-06:00

Opinions are a dime a dozen.

I have not done many political posts lately because I've trouble finding a voice that is more substance than opinion. I tend to take the easy route, which is to simply give my reaction. But ultimately, I have less interest in simply preaching to those who agree, rather than in trying to offer a perspective on something to someone who hadn't considered it.

There has been a lot of news lately about Occupy Wall Street protesters camping out in city parks across the country to make their case about why Wall Street is the source of our economic ills. I'd like to talk about some of the protester's demands and talking points, and offer an alternative voice on (some of) them:

The rich, specifically those on Wall Street, have too much influence on politics and the influence of money needs to be stopped.
Too few people have too much of the country's income ("We are the 99%").
The Fed should be abolished.

I've seen the last point mentioned a couple of times on signs and/or video, and since this is a free-market advocate's dream, it always seems like it a Libertarian spy to me, but I'm including it. Unlike the left's dishonest and nearly libelous smears regarding the Tea Party, I'm going to be fair and say that any protest movement has a variety of characters of varying ideas. This list of demands/points is an indication of that, and I'll address them one by one.

The influence of money

I agree with #1 -- that the left that the rich have an undue effect on government -- but don't always agree on how.

In a truly capitalist society properly understood, neither the rich nor the poor nor middle class would have control of the government. Individual rights mean everyone's rights would be equally protected, regardless of income, race or other criteria. This entails both a negative and a positive: that government should be limited from providing unfair advantage, it must refrain from stopping peaceful activities, and additionally must protect everyone equally.

However, many people no longer have any concept of individual rights, so this often translates into robbing the rich of their political voice (campaign finance reform and "transparency"), then taking their money. Now that is morally corrupt.

My point is not that bribery does not happen. My point is that the problem is not money; it is the substance of the laws that are being created. If government did not have control over commerce like it does, there would be no need or way to influence government.

One major way in which government unfairly supports big business is with "too big to fail" and "system risk". Failure is how capitalism cleans out people who don't know how to run businesses. What do we do instead? We bail companies out, so that failed business live on and continue to provide poor service and products and so non-performing executives are rewarded instead of punished. Businesses should be allowed to go into bankruptcy like they are supposed to, no matter now big they are. In the current case, I have no doubt this has greatly extended the recession. There is no way it could have done otherwise.

Income distribution

Point #2 is often considered a corollary of #1, but it isn't. Neither the possession of money nor its percentage distribution in itself constitutes and injustice; what matters is how it was obtained.

It may be possible that this number is too small; that in a free society, 1/10% of the population owns 99% of the wealth. As long as it is obtained by people paying someone for a product or service, then this distribution is just. What makes it unjust is if government supports a business by making it a monopoly, or keeps it from going out of business, or the like.

The notion that concentrated wealth is immoral is re-heated Marx, pure and simple. Such ideas are morally and economically wrong and have had utterly disastrous historical consequences, resulting in tens of millions of deaths and the enslavement of entire countries for the better part of the 20th century. It's pretty shocking to me that anyone would advocate such blatant collectivism without realizing what the end of that path is.

Instead of focusing on the how much, we should focus on the how.

Abolish the Fed

Yes, please.

As pointed out in the videos below, this item suggests the absurdity of claiming that unregulated markets cause our economic trouble. WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT-RUN BANKING SYSTEM. The Fed was created ostensibly to mitigate fluctuations in markets, but has become a tool of political policy and actually accentuates fluctuations, making them more devastating. This happened in the 1920s and it happened again in 2008.

The irony is that if banks were forced to rely on actual reserves and markets, the housing bubble never would have occurred because they would not have loaned to high-risk customers. But some people won't accept the verdicts of markets, and government policy pressure is exerted towards home ownership regardless, which means lowering of standards. That's not markets, that's government-created institutions implementing government policy.

Bottom line

The Occupy Wall Street movement is right on saying business has too much influence, but often wrong on how and what to do about it.

How the recession really happened

The other day I found the videos below of John Allison, former CEO of BB&T, speaking at Harvard Law. BB&T was one of the few banks that weathered the recession well because of staying away from government policy influences, and has a unique business philosophy derived from -- gasp -- Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. As a 40-year veteran of the industry, Allison gives an explanation of the causes of our predicament, and then goes on to give a remarkable series of philosophical recommendations in part 2/3. Part 3 is the Q&A.

Yeah it's long -- the main talk is an hour -- but if you are at all interested in the roots of economic problems, I think you'll find it worthwhile.

One of the more interesting things about it is that despite distortions in the media (both liberal and conservative) concerning Ayn Rand's ideas, her philosophy does not mean taking advantage of others, but rather -- as Allison puts it -- "creating win-win relationships". His talk is refreshingly value-driven, and bears a remarkable resemblance to some of the job-related talk in Steve Jobs' great commencement speech. Good stuff.

West Lake/Nightbird Gulch

2011-10-21T08:43:00.016-06:00

West Lake is right off I-70 on the Clear Creek path, and on Wednesday I stopped there to stretch the legs after lunch.

This area is to the right out of the parking lot. Just past these trees next to a second lake there is a series of boardwalks over marsh to show us suburban folk what marshes look like.

I returned to Golden trails Wednesday evening with a tripod for the camera, this time up Nightbird Gulch Trail in Mount Galbraith park. The prior night I was on the other side of the valley.

This trail is just east of where the fire was this spring, and fortunately for the trail and houses, the fire was stopped at the top of the mountain.

The shot below was with a tripod. It was almost dark by the time I got to the bottom, so I couldn't have gotten a clear shot without a motionless camera.

For some reason the background of this shot, and my zoom shots (not posted) are slightly blurry, with focus supposedly at "infinity". I'm not sure if that's atmosphere, focusing, user error or camera malfunction. I need to shoot a couple at the same zoom level with another camera and compare.

PS - This was all walking. The rest between weekend runs is really feeling good.

Faversham/South Table

2011-10-19T09:57:00.003-06:00

Two walks. Lunch at Faversham Park, with downtown Denver barely visible on the horizon:

On the way home I threw on the Five Fingers and walked up to the top of South Table. Downtown Golden:

Up on top was this red grass:

The trails up there are littered with marble-sized rocks, which don't feel great if you step on them in the Five Fingers.

I need to bring a tripod up some time, because I really couldn't do justice to the last scene just holding the camera. Out of focus and I need to shoot RAW next time instead of JPEG, so I can adjust the lights/darks.

I've used up 72% of my free gigabyte of Picasa space. Go figure.

Boulder 100 Pacing

2011-10-17T23:39:00.010-06:00

I've never really had a hankering to run 100 miles.

Or to run all night by headlamp, even though I run in the dark sometimes. But if you know GZ or have interacted with him much online, you can probably understand why a bunch of people would gladly show up during his first 100 attempt to do just that.

So after my ride on Saturday, at about 6:15 PM I headed over to the Reservoir to check out how the race was going. I didn't recognize anyone at the start/finish area (not having met the family), so I rode along the course to see if I could find either Shad or GZ. Shad was running the 12-hour.

I ended up on-course until 12:40 AM. Ha!

Shad had finished a bit after 3 PM, so I missed him, but I caught up to George and Jeff Valliere (on bike) towards the back of the course:

George was doing great, not what I'd call... comfortable... but steady considering this was mile 55, already roughly a 10-mile PR.

He was probably not in a position to care, but it was a beautiful evening, with neon pink sunset clouds all around. Amazing.

After JV left, Wyatt and Lucho paced on foot while I rode along on my bike, Homie stopped by on course, then around 9 PM I changed to running shoes and started pacing on foot. I ran a bit shy of 2 laps or 13 miles. I called it a day at 12:40 AM with 3 laps to go, and JT, Brandon and Bob took him in for the finish.

Three generations of family rocked it too, hanging out the chilly air to cheer him on, TZ and JZ like the pit crew changing the tires and filling the tank.

Yeah, this course doesn't have Hope Pass, but the city lights behind the Reservoir, the night sky (nearly full moon), and the headlamps bobbing along in the dark were all pretty cool. It was a good time.

This is a good picture for last, because no matter how many people are around, it's still the racer that does the work and brings it in. Way to go, man.

Boulder Valley Ranch Ride

2011-10-16T12:18:00.017-06:00

I headed up to Boulder on Saturday with the bike to find some nice singletrack, and to see how this guy and this guy were doing at their races. Never saw Shad, but caught up with GZ on his first 100.

I knew from running that Boulder Valley Ranch had some great trails that would offer something for a somewhat new mountain biker like me. It's a combination of gravel roads and fairly rock-free singletrack. Great riding.

Being on the plains right next to the mountains, it's prairie terrain, with big open spaces. On the left below you can just barely see Haystack Mountain, which looks like a tiny volcano. I guess some relatives of mine once owned part or all of it (sketchy on the details), but now it's better known for the goat cheese that bears its name.

The riding was fun. Nobody around, rolling, few bumps, and I could really haul on it. Only problem is the numerous ranch gates I had to stop for.

I was still hearing some sort of significant rattling sound from my bike on bumps, darn it. I thought I had that fixed. Need to switch rear shocks and see if it's still there (I have a backup), and go from there.

After the sun got low and mountain shadows started creeping across the plains, I headed over to Boulder Reservoir to see how things were going at the Boulder 100/24 hour/12 hour. I ended up accompanying GZ on bike (with a combination of other people on bike and foot) and then running. More on that later.

Total distance was 24.36 miles, moving time 3:15, gain/loss 685 feet.

Bells Day 2 - Buckskin Pass

2011-10-15T07:41:00.013-06:00

On Monday -- day 3/3 of my long weekend -- I revisited the Maroon Bells trailhead to hike and run the Buckskin Pass trail.

Buckskin Pass is another of those trails that looks more innocent on the map than it actually is. Even so, I recognized it wouldn't involve much running due to steepness, and for me at least, I was right. It was a long, beautiful slog uphill at a decent hiking pace.

Pyramid Peak from next to the T-Lazy-7 Ranch

Because it was so cold the prior morning and because it was supposed to be sunny, I got a more leisurely start to the day, starting out around 11 AM.

Because I saw the trail ascend into the pine forest from previous outings, I imagined a path through dense woods up a steep valley. It was steep, but weaved in and out of the woods, so the views were open and sweeping almost the entire way. It was pretty wintry too.

Although the lake areas are busy, I only saw 5 people above the lake: a young couple near the bottom, who warned of snow (good! carried my spikes both days) a 65-70-ish guy around 11,000 feet who was coming down (gotta give him credit), and a biker type couple looking beat just below tree line as I was running down.

As long as the trail was in the trees, it made pretty good progress uphill, with few switchbacks. However, once I got above tree line I saw a basin criss-crossed with huge "Z"s. The formula for the proper number of switchbacks must be something like slope x altitude / the home elevation of the average hiker. There were a lot, and the top was at 12,400 feet. At altitude, in snow, I knew it was going to take a while.

I really enjoyed the basin above tree line, but I have to admit it was pretty trying going 1/10 of a mile left or right on the switchbacks. I could have shortcut straight up, but I don't like to do that.

You can just barely make out the trail to the left of middle, going down towards the pine trees in the upper middle:

Getting near the top:

Pyramid (left) and North Maroon (right)
The home stretch
Below is the crest of snow right on the ridge at the pass itself. I could have gone in up to my thigh if I had really wanted to. I walked down to the rocky area to take stock and get some photos.

I took a couple of zoom shots from the pass:

Capitol Peak
Hagerman Peak and Snowmass Mountain
Below is one more shot of Pyramid before starting down. Temperatures were just high enough that slush was forming, so the first part of the descent was messy, and I couldn't get any kind of firm footing or rhythm. Every other step my foot would slide unpredictably, throwing my balance off. It wasn't until I got down to the little waterfall that I could start jogging.

Being used to several months of warm weather, the fluffy white coating on everything was new and different, and it looked and felt like spring snow, with big globs falling off of branches in the sun the whole time.

It wasn't until I got down to the aspens below Crater Lake that things were reasonably dry again.

A last view across Maroon Lake before calling it a day:

Hike/run distance was 9.63 miles, moving time 2:47 (total 4:40), and elevation gain/loss 3,073 feet. Total time to the pass was around 2:40, downhill 2:00.

Afterwards I got some 'que and a Ranger IPA at Hickory House, and walked it off briefly before hitting the road.

Eponymous aspens
I drove straight through to Denver to save time, since I had to work on Tuesday. The drive wasn't bad, with the usual rogue's gallery of drivers: the Eight Percent Over, the Itchy and Scratchy Lane Changer, the Yo-Yo, the Adrenaline Junkie and the Luxury Vehicle Exemption. In spite of this, there were even a few others driving at the speed limit, and traffic was light and pleasant. I have to say driving at the speed limit of 75 in the dark, over bridge seams and uneven pavement, was "interesting". I slowed down a couple of times.

What a great couple of days. Even living in Colorado, as great as my home area is, the Aspen trips have been among those where I regret having to leave. So many great places, so little time.

Thursday Dusk Ride

2011-10-13T22:23:00.032-06:00

I finally swapped in a rear shock that I had sent to Noleen for routine maintenance, and took the bike out for a ride after dark.

I rode a bit on streets but also on trails by headlamp, basically because it's fun and probably better practice. Tried to keep a steady pace on the dark trails, which is a bit like skiing downhill around trees, in that you definitely surrender a bit of control in exchange for the confidence that you will be able to handle what you may encounter.

The shock felt good, but I bailed out after 4 miles because I realized the occasional "clunk" sound I heard was my shock bottoming out. I hadn't bled it properly while filling it.

Update: Also, the fact that I didn't have it bolted on firmly. Sheesh.

The legs are recovered after the weekend of 25 miles/6,000 feet of mountain running, 3 days later. Had a bit of knee pain on the 2nd morning after, but it went away after stretching, massage etc.

The light running schedule seems to partially slake my appetite for trail running, but allows the body to stay feeling good.

I almost ran today, but I admit I like the feeling of recovering fully between runs.

Bells Day 1 - West Maroon Creek

2011-10-12T22:15:00.019-06:00

On Sunday -- day 2/3 of a long weekend -- I visited the Maroon Bells trailhead for the first time and met the mountain icons. Even the view from the parking lot wasn't too shabby.

It was pretty cold at the parking lot, probably 25-30 degrees, and I bundled up to take some preliminary photographs. Once I'd done that, I knew Crater Lake was higher up, so I started to jog up, not realizing or really caring exactly how far it was.

Past Maroon Lake, the trail surface became re-frozen slush, like winter running, and I quickly realized this was not going to be a dry trail run for very long.

At the lake, which was pretty low on water:

Since I didn't have all my gear, I headed back to the car to get my stuff and adjust clothing. Already the sun peeked out over the ridge next to Pyramid Peak, shining into the aspen groves along the trail. The lonely dark chill transformed into a benevolent glow on the fresh snow.

My little exploration ended up being 4.5 miles round trip, a bit longer than I anticipated. I grabbed proper running gear, water and my pack from the car, and set out again up West Maroon. The sun was shining fully into the valley when I reached the same point 45 minutes later, and ice was starting to soften and turn into mud.

At about this point I was down to short sleeves, and at a jog it felt like spring trail running, a bit warm. What a change in an hour.

Some of the uphill was running, but I hiked the steeper parts and most of the snow.

Several miles up there's a crossing of West Maroon Creek, which was pretty low compared to what it must be like in the spring. I was able to easily step across rocks to cross it. Above this, the trail headed up into willows covered in heaps of snow. This is where my shoes started to really get wet and cold, but since I was moving and the sun was shining it was manageable.

Shortly afterwards, clouds obscured the sun and snow clouds began to swirl at the top of the pass. Without the sun I immediately felt the chill, plus a bit of psychological exposure from being alone in the cold, with wet feet, far up the valley. But I had all the gear I needed, unlimited water, a soft shell, and as long as my core temp stayed OK, my cold soaked feet wouldn't be an issue.

At the same time began the mental argument between the inner voices that said "Higher!" and "Back to town!" I still felt OK, but it was past mid-day, the clouds were looking ugly, and the going was getting slower due to deepening snow. I pressed on for a while.

It was probably another 1/2 mile of post holing and sliding around in slush from hidden mountain creeks before I admitted it was going to take a long time to get to the top of the pass. Aside from being around 12,000 feet and snowy, I also knew that upper parts of trails tend to have switchbacks that make progress seem like a bad dream where the farther you go, the longer you have left. If I hadn't run up to Crater Lake twice, I'd probably have had time, but as it was I decided to turn around.

I saw a little band of ptarmigans as I ran down, and stopped to shadow them as they waddled among the pines and weeds pecking at low-hanging berries. They vocalize quite a bit, apparently talking to each other, especially if they have chicks along. I tried to imitate them in an attempt to put them at ease, but probably just insulted them in snow chicken talk.

I ran down much of the downhill through the snowy sections above, and the part through (and over) snow-covered willows was crazy fun. I could have taken a header if my foot had caught on a branch, but I held it together.

Hike/run distance was 15.8 miles, moving time 4:12 (total 6:52), and elevation gain/loss 2,975 feet.

My shoes were soaked and my pant legs were filthy from sand and mud, so I took my dirty shirt and washed them off at the creek. I felt like I was third-world citizen at the river doing my laundry. Or just a camper.

I drove into town and hit Aspen Brewing for a couple of pints, then New York Pizza for a couple of slices.

As usual I ended up walking for a while, starting at the cut-through path on Monarch (I forget the name), walking over on Lake and Gillespie, past interesting homes out of architecture magazines (wondering what they are like inside), over to the Aspen Music Festival grounds. Groovy architecture, man! A very peaceful walk. Then I headed back to Glenwood to rest up for Monday.

Buckskin Pass Panoramas

2011-10-11T08:13:00.004-06:00

Two more photos from the weekend, from Buckskin Pass near the Maroon Bells TH. The uphill was more of a hike than a run on this steep trail, and ended in knee-deep snow at the top. Views were spectacular the entire way.

Looking southeast towards Pyramid Peak
To the northwest towards Hagerman, Snowmass and Capitol
It may be autumn in CO cities and towns, but it's winter up high. Having run though last winter, I knew better what to wear and how much I could handle. For example, I spent most of the two days in snow with wet shoes, but it worked because I was able to keep my core temp above a certain level. Nonetheless, it may finally be time to find a Gore-Tex running shoe.

The White Bells

2011-10-09T21:20:00.013-06:00

A photo from my ongoing long weekend below; I finally saw The Maroon Bells in person. Very cool. And cold.

I'm too tired to mess with other photos now, since I spent the day hiking/running around in the area and I'm beat. It started out finger-numbing cold with icy trails, and by mid-day I ended up in short sleeves in brilliant sun on snow, before storm clouds rolled in. Great day.

Snow, Calves, Weekend

2011-10-08T12:29:00.023-06:00

I awoke to drizzle near my house and snow on Green Mountain in Lakewood, a mere few hundred feet higher. It may be a squat brown hill, but it behaves like a mountain, catching snow and thunderstorms.

I parked my car up there and started a walk, but my shoes were getting soaked -- time for the wool socks!

I also spotted Cujo and his owner coming down, and at about 1/10 of a mile away the dog came to alert when it saw me -- a walker on a popular public trail -- as if I were a bear or a burglar. I turned around, because I was cold and needed to get going anyway. He probably thought nobody else would be out in this weather.

I spent all week working on the inside middle of my left calf, and I only got down about a 1/2 inch. Some of it produced a stinging sensation as I worked it sideways, gradually softening it (over days). There's still a ton of tight muscle in there, so it may take an entire month to loosen both calves! What the heck have I been running with, if so much of it is firm and less elastic?

Not up on the Ironman races/athletes, but I'll be interested to see how the Slickrock 100 turns out. Also happening this weekend, a traverse.

I'm heading west again for a long weekend.

Thursday Laundry Ride

2011-10-06T22:31:00.014-06:00

Very breezy and fall-like tonight, and the first time since spring at home altitude that I've worn long sleeves. Rode a quick 4 miles just to relax, up and down streets and on a couple strips of dirt.

Both the early and after-works hours are sinking into darkness, like a scene out of Pitch Black. It may be new and different now, but probably by late January it will suck.

Some aches and pains during the ride make me think that although I'm getting muscles loosened up, there may be some fallout. What happens when formerly sluggish muscles start to move freely and pull? Or when muscles are only used once or twice a week for strenuous tasks? Remains to be seen. Little steps.

Lowell Ponds SWA

2011-10-06T08:20:00.008-06:00

On Wednesday at lunch I drove past an apparent trailhead parking lot I hadn't seen and it was for Lowell Ponds State Wildlife Area on Lowell near 56th in Denver/Arvada/Berkley (not sure which). I turned around and stopped to stretch my legs with a walk.

The small section I saw on my brief outing was possibly not the best part, and being nestled in a semi-industrial area, parts of it had the welcoming allure of a minimum-security prison exercise yard.

However, look away from the barbed wire and the electric transmission lines, and the ponds are pretty nice and full of life. There was an east-west paved path, plus a social trail around one of the ponds. There are more ponds to the north farther away from the lot (there's a map at the parking lot).

I've heard that amphibians are an indicator of the health of a watershed, and if so this one's doing fine. As I walked by, frogs of all sizes jumped into the water. Plus, toads and frogs are up there with sea turtles, sea otters, giraffes and cephalopods on my list of cool animals. Yeah, I have a list.

I've always had a fascination with the marginal spaces in cities and towns, how they get turned into recreational spaces, and how nature simply goes on in them as if we don't exist. Life is incredibly adaptable and the variety of species in these small places amazes me.

As I kicked a minature liqour bottle out of my way and got in my car to leave, a Mexican guy was staring at me intently the whole time, doing a bad job of "hiding" behind his truck. Up to no good? Worried that I'm Immigration? It didn't exactly lend a warm fuzzy feeling to the experience... and this was mid-day in broad daylight.

Nonetheless, it would be worth it to come back and explore the whole complex of marshes and ponds, since I just saw the tiny quadrant near the parking lot. In Googling the place I found several bird watchers' reports about it, so obviously it sees some use and has something to offer. The frogs like it.

So Long, Steve Jobs

2011-10-05T20:03:00.016-06:00

Today brought the sad news of the passing of Steve Jobs, a man who drove the development so many things that have made peoples' lives more enjoyable and better.

My first computer was a Mac, and at the time I despised Windows (3.1) due to its then-obtuse OS and its abysmal handling of desktop publishing. Along the way I've worked on NeXT, enjoyed the immensely creative work of Pixar, bought music on iTunes, enjoyed the iPod and iPhone, and although I make my living on Windows now and enjoy that OS too, I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro running Windows. lol.

J.P. has this post of a Standford commencement address by Jobs a few years ago, and it's wonderful for many reasons.

So long, Steve, the world will miss you.

Monday Green Lakewood, Etc.

2011-10-05T13:28:00.008-06:00

The parents were in town this weekend and Monday, so I took a day off and we spun around the area seeing some of the beautiful fall trees like this:

Apparently I'm the last person in the area to know about Apex Road and the foliage viewing up near Central City, because that dirt road was full of people taking pictures. I just took a wrong turn and ended up on it, otherwise I wouldn't have known.

We had a great lunch at Wild Mountain in Nederland. Excellent IPA, "Texas" sauce, slaw, baked beans, with a slightly overdone brisket. I would buy both the sauce and beer if they bottled it.

Sun-seeker in Nederland
Later we took an hour and half "break" and while they relaxed, I squeezed in a quick hike/run on the local hill. I parked up near the open space border to make it quicker to get to the top.

As I ascended the ravine (hiking), ahead of me was another guy hiking uphill with a dog. As I got closer, the dog started stopping and staring at me, not a curious stare but the alert stare of seeing me as a threat. After about 5-6 rounds of staring and huffing sounds from the dog I whistled to alert Mr. Totally-unaware-his-dog-was-in-defense-mode because he appeared to be hard of hearing or wearing in-ear headphones. As I got closer, the dog circled behind me, hair on its tail raised, with freaky yellow eyes and a Cujo-like expression, and I rotated to match it. The owner finally grabbed it, and as I walked uphill I heard "He must not be used to people whistling."

Yeah... that's it, my whistling.

Time for the owner to act before his dog gets put down for mauling someone, and he gets sued. Surprising how easily I let myself get into a potentially bad situation simply because it happened quickly; I should have hung farther back until the owner responded. Creepy.

I hiked quickly to the top, but once I got up there I started running, moving a couple of ridges over to avoid the "friendly" dog and because that's what I was going to do anyway.

The spines of the ridges can be pretty steep and are littered with river rock and dirt. As long as you take quick, short, (very) sure strides, it's runnable until the rocks became about grape-sized and too plentiful, when there's a real risk of your feet slipping out from under you. But a really fun run.

There are lots of houses below, so if you fall, you provide free entertainment to anyone who happens to be looking out their window.

A. Bad for biking B. Falling will hurt

Distance for the hike up/run down was 3.6 miles, moving time 46:36, elevation gain/loss 917 feet.

I felt muscular tightness in my calves from the run, but worked some of it out with massage. No knee pain during, later, or the next day.

Golden Gate Canyon Run

2011-10-02T12:13:00.010-06:00

Saturday I thought of driving west for some aspen viewing near Vail/Minturn (either run at the ski resort or some of the trails at Holy Cross), then bounce around in towns the rest of the day relaxing, and come back late when the traffic thins.

However, as I drove over it was obvious the weather was not going to cooperate, so I turned around and went north on 119 to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, where skies were still partly blue.

I knew this park would have lots of fall color, and I had run there once before. All I can say is the trails I took were RUG-GED.

My GPS track in yellow
And the leaves were SPEC-TACULAR. You are now about to see way too many aspen images, because I took 332 photos, and I had a hard time choosing.

This is some nice trail running:

There are two main ridges on this route, with meadows in between. The trails in the meadows are pretty smooth, but the ones in the hills are pretty rugged, with constant ups and downs and rocks. I have a feeling this is not reflected in the corrected gain numbers on Garmin.com, so I included both at the bottom of the post.

This profile isn't to scale, but it gives you some idea of the terrain:

From my starting point at Bootleg Bottom (aid station 2 during the Dirty Thirty) I ran down to the Visitor's Center (center of profile) to fill my bottles and to check if the park or any of the gates close at a certain time. For example, Roxborough closes at 6 PM. Turns out Golden Gate doesn't close.

Then I ran back up to my car, starting with the 1,100 foot ascent from the road, passing some of the same hikers again. I hiked a fair amount myself on the way back up, but felt OK considering my lack of recent running.

Some of the trees near Bootleg Bottom were distinctly orange verging on red-orange. It probably had the most foliage variety of any spot on my run.

As you can see the weather went from sunny to overcast, and it started sprinkling right as I hit the parking lot at the end. Perfect timing.

This is from Panorama Point on the northwest side of the park. The sunset was lighting up the undersides of the swirling storm clouds:

I took Gap Road back, which I didn't even know existed, and leads into Coal Creek Canyon (Highway 72). It's a quick way to the west side of the park if you're coming from the east.

Distance: 11.46 miles, moving time 2:39 (total 4:11!), elevation gain 2,669/3,271 feet (corrected/uncorrected).

I don't know how anyone raced 30 miles over this under 5 hours, it's ridiculous. I'm going to have to eat my Wheaties if I ever run the 1/2.

Did a bunch of deep tissue work on my quads in particular in the evening, and it seemed to alleviate some of the tightness on Sunday. I've been doing A LOT of that lately (I'm going to have huge thumb muscles). I'm gradually working out all the knots that have been there for... who knows how long?

Activity Summary - September 2011

2011-09-30T22:20:00.000-06:00

Monthly totals have almost become a masochistic exercise, since I've run so little lately. September's totals are:

Running

Count: 7
Distance: 49.33
Time: 18:21:33
Elevation Gain: 13,832

Riding

Count: 7
Distance: 96.99
Time: 12:23:51
Elevation Gain: 3,975

This graph sheds some light on just how injury-addled this year has been. My recent peak months were November and March, which are not typically big months.

Looking at the ramp upwards during 2010, I can also venture a guess as to why I'm currently afflicted with tendonitis: I ran too much compared to what my body was used to doing. I thought I could stay ahead of the curve with stretching and massage, but it didn't happen that way.

I'm still resting and taking it easy, and doing runs with lots of recovery in between.

I'm not going to talk about what the future may hold. It's just guessing anyway.

Green Area Dusk Ride

2011-09-30T21:03:00.002-06:00

After work I dropped my stuff off at home, threw on the bike gear, and went for a quick after-sunset ride. The air was 65-70 degrees, nice and cool. I rode in the vicinity of Green Mountain in Lakewood, part trail, part streets, hence the post title.

This photo was taken walking up a short steep uphill, in the middle of an open field below Green. You can just see lights from the last row of homes between me and the hill. Or I should say the main hill, because it's all uphill.

It was pretty much black without the light, so this was a tentative ride. Lots of these trails are rutted and I have a hard enough time staying on track during the day. Nonetheless it was fun to be out there.

No coyotes or other critters tonight.

Distance was 6 miles, time 42 minutes, elevation gain/loss 478 feet.

My folks are passing through this weekend and timing got shuffled at the last minute, so I'm still not sure what I'm doing for recreation. Something involving fall leaves and mountains probably ;)

Mount Galbraith Pics 2

2011-09-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

No run, hike, ride or anything else today, so leftover photos it is.

I liked last night's photo by itself, but also a few others. Typical Colorado shrubbery:

The city of Golden is right over the 2nd ridge below. Hard to believe it's so close, but the TH is only a mile or so up the highway.

Fall color around here shows up in shrubs and plants, in addition to stands of aspen and cottonwoods. Small patches of color:

Mount Galbraith Walk

2011-09-28T23:16:00.001-06:00

The fact that it's a 30-minute walk doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. The setting sun, the rugged dirt and rock path ascending along a steep hillside, cotton-candy clouds, the increasingly autumnal foliage.

I didn't think I was ready for another run, as I could still feel the effects of Saturday, so I just stayed in work clothes and hiked a bit.

Local Evening Ride

2011-09-27T21:27:00.001-06:00

Laundry day: 25 minutes of riding, followed by another 40 minutes. Sun sets at 6:50, so here comes the season of the night shots.

I got an inexpensive headlamp/tailight set for my bike, not of the retinal-damage, cuts-through-trees sort used by pro bikers and Twin Daddies, but a Bell you can find at Wal-Mart in Durango on a hurried shopping trip for other stuff. Regardless, it helps cut the darkness and allows me to be seen more easily by cars. Here I pulled over on a nearby hill for the usual city lights shot:

I was wrong about having no knee pain after Green on Saturday; I felt it last night and during my ride today. At least it's minimal. And it's still the knee I fell on while biking (onto sand/dirt, thank goodness) that is more problematic. Connective tissue just takes a long time to heal.

Ride distance was 8.5 miles, moving time 50 minutes, elevation gain/loss 620 feet.

If I really want to be serious about night riding, I'm going to pay the bucks for a bright rechargeable lamp (and probably one for my helmet too). But summer vacation sort of snuck up and bit my budget, so I'll wait a bit.

It's Aspen Time

2011-09-26T23:23:00.007-06:00

If you haven't been up to the mountains in the past couple of weeks, the trees are really starting to turn. At about 8,500 feet there's a good amount of gold and I even saw an orange one.

Inspired by Jim P and WildChildT, I finally went to Maxwell Falls in the Arapaho National Forest. Although the creek is just a trickle (so the falls are almost dry), the trees are beautiful and the views from the cliffs are great. I missed the lower trailhead as I was driving up, so this hike was from the upper TH, and does not involve the longer ascent from the lower lot.

At the first junction I took the Cliff Loop trail, which leads up out of the forest into some short aspens and pines. Nice terrain.

On the cliff loop
The upper trails of this park seem to be mostly dirt and pale pink/orange granite sand. Rocks along the cliff are pretty interesting and warrant investigation if you have time.

The cliffs flow along for several hundred yards, and have great views over the valley to the patches of aspen on the hills. There are homes way up on the mountainsides.

I felt the adrenaline while walking near the edge of these cliffs. The afternoon light and bright sky was tough to shoot in, because the sky was bright and the valley was dark. For photography, it would be better to arrive before the western sky lights up:

On the way back through the cliffs there are short aspens and pines and the terrain is fairly open:

With the sun shining, this section was great.

I took a left at the Maxwell Falls sign and dropped down into the canyon. It's only a short walk down, and the rocks are pretty impressive, but hard to get a photo of because you're right in the canyon.

On the other side there's a trail, so I crossed to that side and hiked/ran along groves of aspen.

Unfortunately back near the parking lot, you find evidence that not everybody treats forests with care:

Our mommies will clean up after us
I don't exactly carry around trash bags and gloves wherever I go, or I'd have picked some of this mess up.

As I left Maxwell Falls, I kept going on 78 and drove towards Conifer just to see what it was like. The road tops out around 8,900 feet on an unnamed pass, then rolls down through some beautiful high valley country to US 285. Amazingly, the surrounding mountains are packed with homes, even this far up in the mountains. I work with a guy who lives in Conifer, but man, that must be a long, tough drive. Don't think I haven't thought about it, though.

I also stopped at Meyer Ranch since I knew of some aspens up there too. I got a few shots but the light was getting dim so they weren't the best of the lot. No matter, I had a nice hike/run with some fall color.

Total (mostly hiking) mileage for the day was about 5 miles, roughly 2 hours of moving time, and 700 feet of elevation gain/loss.

I didn't do too much running on these outings, since I was a bit sore from the prior day. I did do the "keeping it loose" type of run now and then... just because. It's fun.

I'm pretty darn sore in the quads on Monday, grabbing the rail to ease my descent down stairs. That's what I get for running Green after 6 weeks of near-inactivity.

Green Boulder Run

2011-09-25T12:00:00.005-06:00

I dodged the bullet regarding work this weekend. We're all sitting at the office at 8:30 PM on Friday, eating dinner and talking about what had to be done (it was too much to do that evening), and I was dreading the possibility of losing another weekend or weekend day. Thankfully, the call was made that we were all pretty burnt and we'd take the weekend off, and would just deal with things on Monday. Phew!

I hadn't had a Boulder fix in a while, so I ended up at Chautauqua just before 11 AM on Saturday.

I parked on a side street and ran up through the Gregory lot, then headed up Gregory Canyon. Lots of sweating in the full sun.

Flats before the ranger cabin
After a month and a half without regular running, I was feeling it only about half way up Gregory. I hiked a lot of the ups today.

Made the top in 1:07 via Gregory-Ranger-Greenman.

I'm trying to show the sensation of sitting on the summit rock below. It was a fantastic day and I just sat up there for about 5 minutes.

Attack of the giant shoes! Run!
The run down was quick, or so I thought until a 60-ish dude and an 11-ish-year-old girl dropped me.

Later they slowed and I passed them, and the guy said "Follow that runner down!", which resulted in her being about 3 feet behind me on technical trail, which was annoying (yet impressive), so I stopped and let them run by. I walked a bit to let them get some distance. Next up: "Hey, go bother that dog!"

As I was saying, the run down was quick -- for me, just not 60-somethings and little kids. I was hitting all the rocks down Gregory pretty well, and probably took too many risks, but it was one of the days I was just "on".

I was also aiming to keep braking and knee/quad tension to a minimum, although that's pretty hard on that trail. Lots of steps.

Distance was 7.26 miles, moving time 1:42, elevation gain/loss 2,559 feet.

After a bunch of stretching in the shade, I headed into town for lunch, and to just mellow out. It was Fall Festival time, so it was crowded but still pleasant.

There is a huge cottonwood at the west end of Pearl, which Boulder residents are probably familiar with. It's a fantastic tree:

Today I noticed for the first time that on the corner, there is a huge tree stump carved into a bench, with some small historical plaques on top. Apparently 10 cottonwoods were planted in the 1870s by the builder of the home next to them, and it's one of those ten trees. Here's the house:

The Arnett-Fullen House
I had little or no knee-specific pain afterwards, which is good. My quads and leg tendons definitely felt the hit, and were pounded by the 1/2-mile ascent and descent. On Sunday I have muscle aches mostly in the quads, probably because they are just not used to the abuse any more.

But I'm heartened by the lack of central knee tendon/tissue issues, because that's what I've been trying to improve and avoid. Sweet.

Don't Hike In Iran

2011-09-25T11:25:00.003-06:00

The hikers who were arrested for spying by the Iranian government and had two years of their lives wasted are finally home.

Yeah, hiking there was probably too risky, but that does not justify what the Iranian government did. It was kidnapping for ransom. Everyone arrested by a dictatorship is a "spy". Duh.

Yet anywhere you see this story, you see cynical commenters blaming the hikers (I don't believe they were just hiking, they shouldn't have been there) or blaming greed (they're in it for the movie rights). Ever hear of Robert Young Pelton? The climbers kidnapped as told in the book Over the Edge? War correspondents? The Peace Corps? Doctors Without Borders? etc. etc. Some people thrive on going to edgy places, or just want to help others, or access the wild places that happen to be near edgy places. If so much of the Middle East weren't war-torn or under dictatorship, I'd consider going there. It's beautiful.

The only thing wrong with this story is that we are allegedly the most powerful country on earth, yet we are prey to common kidnappers, and nothing else will come of it. We should have dealt with Iran in 1979. The cost will only rise with time...

Unfortunately we are a nation with low self-esteem. We don't even think we have a right to drive our cars, let alone stand up for our national interests.

Belmar Sunset

2011-09-22T22:09:00.006-06:00

This is why I keep a camera handy. I'm driving home Thursday, and the sky starts to look promising. It's nice out, so I drive over to Belmar Park for a short walk. The sky lit up for only about 15 minutes:

Green Lakewood Mini

2011-09-22T09:26:00.005-06:00

I parked up near the open space so I could get past the homes to the good stuff more quickly. Ran 2/3 of the way up the hill, it was getting dark, tried to shortcut straight up a ridge and it was farther than I thought so I turned around. Isn't that always the way with hills?

I had lightning flashing behind me as I was running, lighting up the hill briefly. I ran down almost in the dark. The headlights of passing cars helped a bit once I got near the bottom. No headlamp.

Distance 2.36 miles, time 33:52, elevation gain/loss 605 feet.

Because I've been resting a lot lately, the proportion of stretching and massage has gone up exponentially relative to the number of miles/days I'm running. I'm finally starting to feel looser and better on a regular basis. Looking back I'm thinking I may have just fallen behind with this. Going forward, I'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again. Always looking for root causes.

Thursday the day after, the body feels good.

So, I think I will gradually start to add in short runs every few days, as long as they continue to have little or no impact on how I feel. There will be no return to multi-day weeks for now. We'll see how it goes.