Rocky Mountain Raider

January Photo Bomb

2016-01-25T07:04:00.002-07:00

Just another photo bomb from the ski trips. Photos from the climbing gym or my local running routes are not nearly as interesting.

Last week we got a perfect day dropping in off the Continental Divide - on the skin up it was snowing, but then the storm rolled out and it turned into a bluebird day with no wind.

Charging the powder off the Divide.

Always looking for fun stuff to pop off.

Fun little drop to launch on the way back down.

Sometimes it's fun to try and swim through the powder instead of surfing on top.

Start of the year strength test - 3x10 seconds with +35lbs.

Pre-dawn kamikaze downhill on the skateboard.

Blurry photo, but still a good capture of the tight corners at Balch.

New Post All Skiing

2016-01-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

New Post All Skiing

This winter I've gone back to my roots a bit and emphasized telemark skiing again as a way to cross-train and keep the stoke high for being in the mountains. I like that it gets me up into the thin air a couple times a week, and because I tele it is a solid workout at altitude. I am still running on work days - a couple speed sessions here and there, but mostly trying to maintain an aerobic base. Sometimes I think that I begin my ramp up and peaking too early for events that take place in August or September, so skiing seems to be a good way to stay fit without too much fatigue accumulating over the winter.

The season has been very good so far, with lots of amazing powder days to keep the smiles flowing. After last year competing in the Skyrunning Series I have been trying to figure out what to go for this year. I don't think I will do the Skyrunning Series this year since the races don't seem very exciting to me - especially the championship race in Flagstaff and then the other ones in the series, so all I have on my list is to put my hat in the San Juan Solstice lottery. Any suggestions as to must-do races within the greater Colorado area? Never Summer looks good, but I'm on the fence with it.

So, here is another photo bomb post of me getting after it so far this winter.

Messing with Photoshop.

I love floating through the air, one of the coolest feelings I've ever experienced. This is mid-rotation on a blind 180.

Dropping in on the world.

Pikes Peak from Mt. Morrison.

I did the first A-Basin Rise and Shine Skimo race. First day skinning, so I was out of shape. I also did it in the "heavy metal" division, which is waaaaay different than the skimo division. I got 2nd in my division.

Seasons Change, Books Out

2015-11-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Seasons Change, Books Out

Well, after competing in the US Skyrunning series and completing a satisfying 7th place overall (1st Master) I was a little lost in what to do next. There were not too many running related races or endeavors that seemed to fit with my schedule or budget, so I delved back into serious climbing training and started to work a bit on my speed. That was certainly a shocker, as my leg turnover was horrible initially, but soon started to come back after running on the roads early in the mornings prior to work and incorporating a few speed workouts here and there. I'm still not sure what to aim for right now - I did another M5 challenge in early November (just under 20 miles, 10,000' of climbing) and have been getting back into climbing and now skiing shape. I also ran my first ever 5K, jumping into the Beware of the Bear 5K trail race as I was there picking up shoes for One World Running. Never having run that fast and short of a race, and with no speed work and a summer of slogging in the mountains, I was happy to just finish without dying. The School of Mines XC team showed up and pretty much took the top 10 spots, but I finished 12th overall and 1st Master in 21:02 on a non-flat course.

Most of my goals currently are focused on spring and next summer, which leaves one a bit amiss as to what to do. I've got one fun project that I will attempt over the winter break as it involves a bit of bandit running, but the big news is that the end of October and all of November were consumed with the completion of two new books.

First off is another trail guide coming out next year that I had the honor to work on with Adam Chase and Nancy Hobbs, which is pretty cool. I guess that makes me an authority of sorts as I will have authored the two guides in print for the area. The other one is the creation, writing, editing, layout, and production of the first ever Boulder Running Journal. I really have to give almost all of the credit on this to Todd Straka - he simply killed it with his design, layout, and production skills. Without him at the lead, it would not have happened. Sandrock was also involved, in the usual Sandrock fashion, as well as the contributions of many amazing people. We are pretty excited about it, and hope that everyone else is too. It just went to the printers, so now my plate is clean and it is time to relax, reassess, and get after it. If all goes as planned, we should have copies back and ready for people to view by mid-December.

So, here is a photo recap of the past month or so, since it's much cooler to just look at photos than to read words...

Arturo Barrios and Mike Sandrock sharing old stories of Boulder back in the day at the Boulder Track Club dinner.

Arturo telling us about his racing career, starting with a one-way ticket to Phoenix from Mexico and only $10 bucks in his pocket to becoming one of the best runners of all time. Amazing, humble man.

The Citadel - great class 3 peak in the summer, but two of the best ski colouirs around for spring.

Early season powder in the backcountry.

Climbing on an obscure line at an even more obscure location.

The trail to Eldo...

Riding switch early season at Loveland.

I love this photo I took of Joe Gray and Andy Wacker. It went all around the internet and on various feeds, and I think is going to be used in an ad or something.

This is another photo I took at Club Cross. Looking at the leg turnover, you can see that Joe is already ahead by one rotation, meaning that if anyone wanted to catch him, they would have to somehow double their cadence to catch him.

A black and white shot from the mountains.

Flagstaff Sky Race And US Skyrunning Series

2015-10-10T10:05:00.000-06:00

Flagstaff Sky Race and US Skyrunning Series

Last week I raced in the US Skyrunning Championships held outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. The final race in the US Skyrunning Ultra Series, I was excited to try and race against some of the best runners in the country and check out some new mountains. I knew the course had some serious climbs, as well as a long running section which worried me, so I was not sure how I would do. My right foot and ankle had been wonky since the Tushar 93K race in Utah, and although it had been improving on a daily basis, I had basically only been able to speed hike since the beginning of August. No worries, hopefully I would make up all the time I knew I would lose on the rolling flat section on the big monster climbs - especially the Vertical K in the last 3 miles of the course.

So the week before, in an effort to "rest" as much as possible, I went bouldering, skateboarding, and read books - as well as worked a ton.

These are two poems I found in a book of Chinese Poetry published in 1919. These were written by Po Chu-i, who lived between 772-846. Although I'm not the biggest reader of poetry - or really any reader of poetry - they struck me when I read them.

Some bouldering up at Guanella Pass on the local granite. Good problems up there, with a wide diversity of grades. Love Matters Low (V8?) was a fun problem, although the amount of excavation work on the boulder is slightly disturbing. I'm psyched to go back when it is a tad cooler to try the slopy arete on the boulder below - looks hard and temperature dependent.

Blasting down a mountain road on the board - I need to get some better wheels and tighten up the back truck a bit. Still a great way to check out the aspens.

Some of the topography around Flagstaff, Arizona.

The start of the race. At 6am, the sun was just peaking above the horizon, so we didn't need headlamps, which was great, since I forgot to bring mine! I felt OK, but my legs really didn't seem to respond for the first couple miles which was frustrating.

This is coming down off the second big climb. We ascended a peak, then dropped down off the backside to the valley floor before running around and then ascending it again via a different route. Two big climbs done in the first 13 miles - now for 15 miles of rolling, sandy Ponderosa forest running. I was still doing good here, but over the next 15 miles I once again became discourage and lacked the necessary energy to keep pace. I do really well when it is up-down-up-down, but throw in some rolling terrain, and I get dropped by those who can crank out 7:30ish miles. Of course, if I'm lucky, I catch back up on the next big climb... but not this time.

Still up high. The mountain in the background is where we were headed, and was the final climb up to 11,500' after 31 miles of running. It kicked pretty much everyone's ass.

At the finish! I had to really fight on this race, as I was really discourage during the long rolling section about my place and overall performance. However, I just kept pushing and ended up finishing 19th overall, 2nd master. I was pretty happy with that, as I thought I was somewhere in the 30s in terms of place.

What really made it sweet, however, was that I ended up with 7th place overall for the series, and 1st master. I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out, and after only really running for 4 years (my first race ever was in 2012) I've come a long way. However, I know I can still improve, and that keeps my fire burning. The learning curve has been pretty steep when it comes to racing, running, and ultras, but it's starting to come around and I'm only going to keep working and improving (or so I tell myself ;))

Flatirons Tour, Andrew's Amazing Summer, Sports Hall of Fame

2015-09-27T10:45:00.002-06:00

Flatirons Tour, Andrew's Amazing Summer, Sports Hall of Fame

In an attempt to maximize page views, I'm going to drop a bunch of big names. No, not really, but over these last two weeks I've had the honor to write about and hang with some superstars.

I've written now for almost every type of publication. It took me about 5+ years before my academic writing stated to get published. That took a lot of work, research, and effort to figure out how to write in an academic setting. It paid off, however, as I now have publications in journals, books, encyclopedias and the like. About a year ago I started to try my hand at sports journalism, something I knew nothing about. With the help and guidance of Mike Sandrock, Todd Straka, and Brian Metzler, I'm pretty psyched to have finally started to get published in that world. It's been a long journey, and I've had to re-learn the art of writing, but it has been a great challenge and something that I have really enjoyed. I finally capped off that journey last week when two of my articles were published in Competitor - my biggest publication to date in the field of sports journalism. I wrote one article on the start of the Tour de Flatirons by Satan's Minions and another on Andrew Hamilton's amazing summer of 14er records. Thanks for the encouragement and help from everyone along the way!

I made the above map for the article, but it was not included. It shows Andrew's splits on his Nolan's 14 run. All on two granola bars, a Subway sandwich, and a ton of powdered drink!

This is a photo I took from the summit of Mt. Harvard, showing the southern half of the Nolan's line.

Here is looking north from Mt. Harvard showing the northern half of the line.

Then, last night, after a lot of work on the part of many, many people, the 4th Annual Boulder Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place. Again, such an honor to be part of the event and to meet such amazing people.

Okay, time to drop some names (left to right): Frank Shorter, Steve Jones, Loraine Moller, Benji Durden, Tim DeBoom, Lynn Hill, Jim Erickson.

Attending the event last night really put into perspective just how many amazing people call Boulder home. There were probably another dozen Olympians, World Record holders, and the like in the audience. Small fish in a BIG pond indeed!

Oh Where Does The Time Go?

2015-09-16T15:12:00.002-06:00

Oh Where Does The Time Go?

Lots has happened since my last post. Tara and I moved out of our VW Rabbit after living in it for 3 months and we are now living the American Dream as owners of a condo in Golden. I orchestrated a coup at work and got the owners to back off, which in turn made me an official manager. As a result, my work level increased, but not my pay. My right foot has developed some sort of wonky twinge that has been bothering me for a couple weeks now - it only hurts when I run, not when I power hike. So, if you notice my strava data, it is all power hikes up Mt. Morrison, Bergen Peak, Grays and Torreys and the like. I'm just now able to run again and get back into it. We will see how that goes as the US Skyrunning Championships in Flagstaff are Oct. 2-3 and I'm all ready to go. I am working on another trail running guidebook with Adam Chase and Nancy Hobbs, so that has taken up a bunch of time writing up trails, taking photos, etc. It will be a complementary guidebook to my other one - The Best Front Range Trail Runs - as it will have different trails in it. Together, the two should cover just about every trail along the Front Range from Boulder to Colorado Springs. I continue to try and work on my journalism, writing up some articles here and there for Colorado Runner Magazine, but lately I have been too swamped to get much done. However, the real big deal is that I am in the midst of a project celebrating Boulder runners and Boulder running. It will be a full color magazine/book that will come out this January. If anyone wants to contribute photos, writing, art, poetry, or other items, please reach out to me. I've been reaching out to folks and getting content, etc., but I have not announced it to the world at large yet. It will probably consume most of Oct. and Nov. I was appointed Deputy Director of the Transpersonal Psychology Department at Akamai University, and as a result am now working a ton on revamping the program and sitting on two different Ph.D. committees. Oh, and I'm furiously trying to get into the mountains before the snow comes and the mountain running season ends.

So there it is, a major catch up in only one paragraph! As usual, I'm more frequent on Twitter, Facebook, and Strava, but I do like trying to keep this blog up. Hopefully I'll get some more time and keep it going.

The haze from the western fires on my Nolan's soft attempt. Sadly, I'd develop a weird altitude/asthma thing after four peaks, at which point I had to bail because I could not breath. The haze from the fires has been pretty bad off and on - I'm praying for rain for the folks out west.

Antero from Tabeguache - pretty straight forward drop from the saddle down to Browns Creek, around the western side of the lake and then straight up.

Looking back at Shavano and Tabeguache from near the top of Antero.

Princeton from Antero.

The trail up Grouse.

The sunset with all of the haze in the air - and my lungs!

The old familiar - the Stevens Gulch road. I've been getting back into hitting up the Full Kelso route and doing Grays and Torreys. It is such a perfect line - 5,300' of elevation gain all on a nice, dramatic ridge with plenty of class 3. I'm trying to get a good FKT for the line - right now it is 4:01 roundtrip from Bakerville for the Full Kelso and G & T. Certainly can go faster, especially on the descent where I have to go a bit slow due to my wonky ankle.

The start of the Full Kelso - just power hike straight up for a vertical K.

Colors are going off right now up high.

Another go at the Full Kelso FKT - still not happy with my time, but there was snow and ice up high this time, so it will have to wait until next year for a real fast attempt at this point.

Sunrise laps on Mt. Morrison - always worth it.

Tushar 93K Race

2015-08-07T11:15:00.000-06:00

Tushar 93K Race

Last Saturday, way out in the Tushar Mountains, was the Tushar 93K race. Part of the US Skyrunning Ultra series, this inaugural race came just 13 days after the Power of Four 50K in Aspen. After the Power of Four my quads had some pretty good DOMS, and I really didn't do much running. A couple days of rest and the DOMS wore off and I was able to run a couple good runs on the local hills. I felt fairly good about the upcoming race and was excited to get on the road.

We left Thursday after work and drove out to Grand Junction for the night, then continued on to Beaver, Utah the following day. There is not a lot to the town of Beaver, and hanging out in town one thinks they are in a semi-desert wasteland. However, driving up the canyon towards Eagle Point Ski Area and the start of the race, the environment begins to change and pretty soon you are up in the desert alpine of the Tushar Mountains. I didn't really pay much attention to the course profile or description, hoping not to scare myself or get too psyched out. Rather, I tried to just go into the race as a "long day in the mountains."

Saturday morning the race got under way at 5am. It was pretty casual, and we all started mellow under the fading light of the full moon. I quickly fell into pace with Scott out of Salt Lake and we joked how our goal was to finish before it got dark again - 16 hours roughly. Little did I know that that was just about right for me.

The course was killer. It was a massive lollipop course with one serious out and back at the half way point. All of the course was either at treeline or above it, with a few sections where you dropped down to around 10,000' before climbing back up to the alpine. Most of it was on singletrack or overgrown, grass slopes, some talus, a bit of alpine tundra, with a few small sections of jeep road thrown in for fun. There is very little that one would consider "smooth, flowy trail" but rather "tight, technical, rocky trail" is what the course consisted of. The views were out of this world, the wildflowers were over the top, and the summits made the long climbs worth it. It was a true Skyrunning course.

My race went well. I stayed consistent most of the day, just chugging along trying to run when I could, but mostly power-hiking as fast as I could. As the day wore on, despite being tired, I was pretty happy with how I felt - I was able to keep moving and my spirits were high all day. I can't say that was the case for everyone, as over half the field dropped or were timed out. I didn't bring my camera, something that I cursed myself for during the race as it was so beautiful, but I've stolen a couple photos from other runners to showcase just how amazing this course is.

I crossed the finish line just as it was getting too dark to see without a headlamp, almost exactly 16 hours after starting. That's right, it took me 16:02:47 to cover 57 miles and 16,500' of gain. Good enough for 18th place overall, 3rd master. The winner took over 12 hours, so that should give some idea of how brutal a course this was. The aid stations were amazing - one had a live red-tail hawk just hanging out - and the volunteers really made the race. Without them I doubt that I would have finished.

Views of the Swell on the way out...

View from the start at Eagle Point Ski Area

5AM Start

It was an amazing sunrise that morning...

View of the Tushars looking down at Blue Lake. We descended all the way down to the lake, then climbed up past it and to a saddle just outside of the photo on the right. This was only the 5th of 11 climbs. Photo from Scott Zipprich.

Typical view with wildflowers on the course. Photo from Scott Zipprich.

We ran along this for a bit - simply amazing!

Sunrise with runners on the course. Photo from Austin Baird.

Big climb up Copper Belt Peak at the halfway point. Again, amazing views. Photo from Scott Zipprich.

Typical views and running terrain.

More views of the "course".

And done!

Audi Power of Four Race

2015-07-25T10:18:00.000-06:00

Audi Power of Four Race

I went into the Audi Power of Four 50K race with a couple goals in mind: get points in the US Skyrunning series, stay steady and strong for the entire race - don't crash and burn, and use it as a build up race for Nolan's. I'd say I accomplished all three goals, but I still was a bit disappointed in myself.

I won't go into a turn by turn race report, as that really only helps those who ran the course. Instead, the quick summary of the day is that there were three major climbs, two major descents, some traversing, meandering, and then a final mellow descent down to the finish. It rained off and on all day, making the course extremely muddy and wet, but it kept the heat down which was a good thing. I've heard a lot of people gripping about the first part of the course, where we went straight up Aspen and Highlands - pure powerhiking. I've also heard some people complain about the descent off Highlands - straight down ~2,000 in just under 2 miles. I found those sections to be fun and challenging, just what I would expect from a skyrace. My complaint with the course was the last section on Snowmass where we tooled around on tedious singletrack switchbacking slowly down to get in the correct miles to equal a 50K. Basically, I hated the running part!

And really, that is where I fell apart. Going up, going down, no problem, but the long traverse over to Snowmass in the deep mud, and then the tooling around on Snowmass for over 7K to just get in some random miles really killed my spirits and I mentally threw in the towel. I guess I'm just not a "runner" deep down.

I ended up 7th Master and 37th Overall. My watch said the race was 33 miles with 11,000' of gain. Despite my mental failure, I had a great time at the race - incredible course, great aid station volunteers, and a pretty fun day out in the mountains. If there were any complaints, it would be more options at the aid stations (pretty much only water, a few had Coke, and some Clif products) and some sort of medal at the finish line. This last thing seems to be a trend with the Skyraces, perhaps because the RDs need to pay the Skyrunning Federation too much to be part of the series or something, but I know mentally I really wanted something to prove that I slogged through that course. Now I've got less then six days to continue to recover and prep before the Tushar 93K in middle-of-nowhere Utah.

Talking About Races

2015-07-04T14:52:00.000-06:00

Talking About Races

I've had some interesting experiences lately talking about races. I'm on Strava, but don't really get too into the analytics of it. Likewise, I have a GPS watch, but don't really know how to use it, and so I only clock car-to-car times, or on Strava, elapsed time. For me, this is fine since in a race it is about elapsed time, not moving time. However, when talking to people about races or even training runs, more often than not they are referring to moving time. This is not necessarily a problem, but I've noticed that after these talks, I end up having self-doubts about my abilities or training. Below is an extreme example that I ran across on Strava from earlier this week.

Now here is an example of where moving and elapsed times are totally way off. This may be no big deal, except that I often have a hard time parsing this out in my head, and instead think that I need to run way faster, or give up completely.

For example, I'm doing the Audi Power of Four 50K race in a couple weeks. I've never done the race, but I was talking with someone who did it last year and they were saying things like "it will be really fast on the downhills, probably sub-5 min/miles." I'm like, shit, I don't know if I have ever run a sub-5 min/mile, let alone during a 50K. I'm going to get killed! But is that really true?

Does talking about races help or hinder? For me, I can't decide. I think I learn some things about the course, what to expect, but at the same time, I seem to come away from these types of conversations a bit worse off. I get negative and have self doubts about my abilities and my training. I like to think that I'm training as best as I know how given that I work full time and have other responsibilities, but I also know there are people who will be at the race who are professionals or who don't have any other life constraints except for running. I don't come from a running background, but a climbing one. So running fast is not something I can just do. I ran some fast races this winter, but now my mountain legs are back and that means I've slowed down. Anyways, I'm just not sure how good it is to talk with other runners about things unless they are totally opposite, like running in Europe or something that doesn't directly touch my life. Even talking about local runs, I often get discouraged because I don't think I will ever be that fast. However, it could just be the difference between moving and elapsed times... Just some thoughts.

Old stuff in the Niwot Ridge biosphere - a nice hard run can be done here up through the biosphere to the ridge itself.

Sunset in the Sawatch Range.

This is the east ridge of Yale, which is the descent on the Nolan's line going north to south.

This is the ridge coming out of Maxwell Gulch on Princeton, which is the ascent on the Nolan's line going north to south.

This is the descent off Princeton, follow the ridge, turn left and down to where the snow almost ends, then off into the grass and follow the faint climbers trail to Alpine.

I got these in the mail to try. A new shoe company with a new concept. They feel really interesting, but I have yet to actually run in them. We will see shortly.

Long's in the distance from a run up Audubon from the winter trailhead. Why pay the entry fee when it is pretty easy to just run the trails from the winter trailhead.

Looks, a brown object! No, a big bull moose. There were three of them in the willows just past Brainard Lake the other day. Apparently they are pretty common there right now.

The flowers are in full bloom in the mountains right now!

Nice perspective of James Peak's east face.

The Continental Divide and the Pfiffner Traverse.

One of the most appealing looking sections of trail I know of! Yes, please run here.

Lots Of Green

2015-06-23T12:40:00.001-06:00

Lots of Green

I was looking over my Strava today trying to figure out how many times I've done Green Mountain since May 1. From what I can tell, I've run up the thing 33 times now since May 1. Not bad when you consider I've also done Bear and SoBo a couple times as well as some of the higher peaks now that they are melting out. It's not the most ideal training for almost any kind of running event except perhaps Nolans or something similar, and I have noticed that although the vert. doesn't seem to impact me nearly as much as it did at the beginning, my speed/leg turnover has dropped off a bit. I've tried to keep two days a week focused on some kind of run with a bit of leg turnover in it, but as we have been camping up on the Peak to Peak even the "fast" days are not that fast as they are run at altitude.

It has been a good training block: 53 days, 509.7 miles, 121,034' of gain. I've taken a couple rest days, and still been able to maintain some climbing strength, but overall despite the rain and dreary spring we had, I'm pretty happy where I'm at. The first big race is coming up July 19 - Power of Four. It's a 50K and I know I will not have the speed necessary as I'm sure there will be some fast people, but I'm hoping to pick up a little speed over the next four weeks while maintaining my focus on vert.

Coming from a non-running background, this is perhaps the most consistent period of running I've ever done, so I'm hoping it pays off for my summer goals. I know they are pretty lofty, but you might as well aim high!

Photos from some of the runs, peaks, and secret spots we are camping follow.

Looking down Skywalker Couloir on S. Arapaho - a easy climb on the peak.

This is the real Olympic Torch from the L.A. Games!

One of the best traverses around - Audubon to Navajo, I call it the Blue Navajo. Still needs to melt out a touch.

More of the traverse, with Navajo in the background. I've done this traverse twice, always from Audubon. Hoping to hit it up this summer if time permits.

May Is Done

2015-05-31T16:59:00.000-06:00

May Is Done

Well, that was a wet month! Although I had plans on getting up into the high country and starting to get on the Nolan's course this past month, that did not materialize due to the insane amount of rain and snow we received. The snowpack actually increased during the month as opposed to the usual melting that begins. So, I was limited to the Front Range peaks, banging out laps on Green Mountain with a few faster runs tossed in here and there. Overall, despite a crimp in the plans, things turned out OK. I did 291.1 miles and 63,415' of gain (with the same in descent). That is right about where I want to be, although I would have hoped to have more of it at altitude.

I did get in a couple good sessions for the Skyrunning series at altitude, with a 10 mile tempo at 10,000' and a 10K at 10,000', along with some stuff down on the plains, mostly surges of 30 secs. to 1 min. during a run. Playing the balance between trying to build for Nolan's while also keeping some speed for the Skyrunning is certainly hard, but I think as long as I get in one or perhaps two good speed sessions per week I will be alright. We will see as the races approach.

Went to the Flatirons Running event with Kara Goucher. She is obviously better and more used to taking photos then me. I had an English class with her at CU back in '95 - neither one of us could remember what it was other than the fact that we hated it.

Got to meet and run with Meb Keflezighi also. Pretty cool. His shakeout run was at 7:20 pace. I could obviously crush him with my stature and girth, if I could catch him! ;)

I was pretty proud of this photo, simply because I was able to hold the camera steady enough to do a mega-zoom after running Green Mountain. My heartrate recovers pretty fast I guess.

Green had about 5 different streams running down the mountain, something that you hardly ever see. So despite all the rain, the mountain has been pretty magical.

Standard after run legs for the past month.

Snow on the Brainard road. Still tons of it. Won't be melting out until mid-June.

This is the road to Long Lake and Mitchell Lake trailheads. Not even close yet!

So, despite everything, a fairly descent month. I backed off on the climbing, only able to get in a couple days a week due to life factors, but I was able to maintain my fitness, which was good. I'm hovering around the V9 grade right now in 2-3 attempts, with onsights at V5-6 on a regular basis. I was really happy to be able to go and do an old circuit of mine up on Flagstaff that involves 4 V4s, 3 V5s, 2 V6s, a V7, and a bunch of moderates without any problem. This is more a backburner this summer as my primary goals are Nolan's and the Skyrunning series, but I do want to keep my strength up as I have projects in mind come fall.

As for living, we are still both living in our VW Rabbit. Life is good up at 9,000' on the Peak to Peak. If anyone needs a housesitter, let me know! ;)

Training In The Rain - The Adventure Begins

2015-05-22T12:45:00.000-06:00

Training In The Rain - The Adventure Begins

Originally a celebration of the running, climbing, and telemark skiing adventures that Tara and I took part in, this blog has morphed from one of primarily climbing FAs on obscure pebbles to backcountry powder posts, to trail running adventures in Colorado. Every once and awhile I'd throw in a link to a new article I read in some science journal about running, or I discuss some of my training. However, I never really said much, or opened up much of my life to the outside world. Let's face it, I'm not an extrovert and I've always been very humble. But I've been thinking lately that I have a lot to share and tell, and perhaps I should not keep so quiet about what I am up to or my opinions or thoughts. Also, as I've read other blogs over the years, I've noticed that the one's I enjoy reading the most are the most transparent and open. So, in a new turn for me, I'm going to try and talk more about my life in general - with a focus on my goals and how I am going about achieving them.

May has been wet. Too wet. The high country is still snowed in, Tara and I don't have any tele boots that fit, and so we are relegated to dealing with the rain and the local hills. As my two primary goals for this summer are Nolan's and the US Skyrunning series, I've been trying to get in the right training during this deluge. On top of that, we ended up moving into a VW Rabbit on April 25. Not ideal, but as part of the adventure we have embraced it and found it to be fairly OK - what is not to love living in a 50 square foot mobile home?

The idea originally was to start getting into the high peaks in May, with the hopes of getting on parts of the Nolan's course as well. That plan was quickly denied by mother nature. Instead, it has been simply a chore to keep up with training in some reasonable fashion while dealing with the non-stop rain. That means trying to get in as much vert. as possible, while still getting in one or two faster days during the week.

The other day I came across this 100 miler training plan that looks pretty much like what I have been doing, except that I don't have the volume and have focused on increasing vert. in May instead of volume. I think it's a solid plan, although I will work on emphasizing vert and volume in June and July, with the two Sky races coming July 17 and August 1. Then it will be Nolans with the final Sky race in October.

If you want to follow along on our journey this summer, there are a couple ways. I'll try and post regularly here (and be as open and transparent about the process), but you can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Strava. Now for some photos of the past four weeks of fun!

I don't have any photos of myself prior to 2011, but a friend posted this one on my Facebook wall earlier. I took my buddy up a solo climb of the north face of Long's Peak under almost ideal conditions. I don't think he went on any more climbs with me after...

The start of the rains... somewhere above Golden in the mist.

The second night in the Rabbit, still fresh snow on the ground at 9,000'

Sunrise run above Denver.

The view from one of our secret spots.

Tucked in for the night...

Alpine glow - the best view for waking up.

Rainy mist at Chautauqua - back at the start of May, but now a common scene.

It snowed one night, but we were warm and ended up running up Sanitas.

The standard Amphitheater trail these days... a small stream.

Longs on the one clear morning we have had since 2009....

Watching storm clouds from our nightly perch.

Passing time...

This guy walked about four feet in front of us one evening... very cool.

The view from a ten mile tempo run at 10,000' on an open/closed road.

Morning on the Boulder peaks before the rains came...

I train at EarthTreks in Golden. Best climbing gym around, and these adjustable systems boards are killer.

Sunrise on the Flatirons...

Your standard image for the past month... wet, rainy trails.

Way Behind - Time To Catch Up

2015-04-21T15:28:00.000-06:00

Way Behind - Time To Catch Up

It's been a busy month trying to finish up projects, get training in, climb, and arrange everything for my next social experiment. March turned out all right, despite one week of semi-taper for a race (8th overall), some crappy weather, and dealing with the nightmare commute which requires me getting up at 4am three days a week. In total I did 237.9 miles and 50,748' of gain - a little shy of where I would like to be, but given everything I'm happy. April is looking to be a better month so far, and my last with the commute which hopefully will either free up some time or at least allow me to sleep more to recover better.

For April so far, I'm at 219.3 miles and 25,637' gain. That includes a couple rest and taper days and dealing with the last week of crappy weather. I'm feeling good, and should be able to bump up the vert to around 50,000 over the next 9 days. So, things are going well. My foot acted up pretty bad during the 24 Hours of Lake Palmer event, forcing me to start walking way too early and then eventually to pull the plug after 12 hours and ~62 miles. It was certainly a bummer, as I was mentally and physically feeling good, but I was unwilling to push into an injury for a "fun" run. After a week of taking it easy, the foot seems to be OK. It really only acts up on roads when my gait is a certain way and I do much more mid-foot striking. On trails, I notice it but it doesn't seem to be bothered. Must be a sign of some kind!

As for climbing, things have been going well, although I have not had the time I would like to get outside much. Lots of campus board, finger board, and gym bouldering. I'm thinking with the move back to B-town and my social experiment, I'll get more time to get outside. I've already got two areas in the Flatirons that I need to check out, some are only partially developed and need more work. One is a M. Battaglia area that I looked at a long time ago but really want to go back to and develop this one house-sized boulder. Of course, summer is right around the corner, and that means all the fun will be up high, so they might have to wait until fall when temps will be better for pulling on small edges.

Couple articles that I wrote: Five Trails for Hill Running and Mountain Training around Boulder.

I had the honor to interview Alan Culpepper a week or so ago. Amazing guy, humble, insanely fast and talented. Here is the article.

Sunrise over Green Mountain. So happy to not be running in the dark anymore!

The standard shot of Boulder from on top of Bear Peak. Running the Skyline is always a fun time, and I'm psyched to be moving back there.

Longs Peak and clouds.

I went and watched the Boulder Track Club dominate a meet at Mines a week or two ago. Some really talented runners, and Troopy is really doing an excellent job coaching.

Old mine ruin I checked out on my failed Mt. Saxon Double. There was still too much snow to really make it worth it, but I love checking out old mine ruins. Found two medium sized boulders up there, but nothing deserving the 4 mile hike!

Don't mess with these dudes!

The board from 24 Hours of Lake Palmer. It worked pretty good, although I know I marked on a couple others at points when I was tired, and someone marked on mine at the beginning. But for a fun run, a great time and event!

Looking up Clear Creek Canyon from the top of Lookout Mountain. This was during our 5 days of snow and rain we just finished.

The view south from the summit of Mount Morrison. I really want to run the hogback from point to point, seems like a cool, logical line if not a hellish bushwack!

Dinosaur tracks! Lots of wild turkeys on the backside of Mount Morrison. It's a lush little valley and they must be thriving down there, as I saw four of them in one day.

Not the best shot, but you can see the turkey taking flight in the center of the photo. Big birds that you rarely see.

I'll be hosting a trail running clinic on May 7th as part of the promo around my new book. Come and check it out, should be a good time, and it's free!

Spring - Training Starts

2015-03-20T16:22:00.000-06:00

Spring - Training Starts

Today is the first day of spring, and that means training needs to get serious for any summer projects or goals to be completed. Last year I was already well into my G & T Challenge, which consumed one of my two free days every week, preventing me from focusing 100% on any other goals. This year my two main goals, as stated before, are to do Nolan's and to race in the US Skyrunning Ultra series. The two goals do not go hand in hand, as Nolan's is a long walk in the mountains, while the US Skyrunning races are fast 50Ks (Tushar is 50 miles) on fairly runnable courses. As such, I need to build massive endurance and vertical stamina, while also somehow maintaining any leg speed and tempo endurance I have gained over the winter. Not an easy task, and one that I continue to struggle with in my mind. My work and volunteer schedule keeps my life pretty tight, but my plans right now are to focus on recovery, tempo, and fast speed work during the week when I have only about 1 hour each day before catching the bus to work. On my two free days, I am hoping to spend them slogging up and down mountains to get in the massive vertical training necessary for Nolans. How these two opposing training plans mesh is up in the air, but that is the idea going in from here on out. I will also be taking a random day off when I can to try and get one more long, vertical oriented day starting in April. Not sure how it will all work out, but that is the "plan".

So, to start it off, I did the M5 challenge today. I've done this before, and it is always a killer. Run (hike) up and down Mt. Morrison's southeast ridge 5 times for a total of around 10,000' and 20 miles. It went well, but I could certainly tell that I didn't have my climbing legs as I have done more road stuff over the winter.

Long's Peak from the summit of Mt. Morrison.

Pike's Peak from the summit. So crystal clear this morning, you could see forever...

Speaking of which, last Saturday I ran the Erin Go Braugh 7.77K race in Westminster. This was the shortest race I have ever run, and I had little idea what I was getting into. Most of the winter has been spent building a solid base, with some surge runs thrown in here and there, and an occasional tempo run as well, along with vertical slogs. I figured I would just go as fast as possible from the gun and see if I could not hold on. After a mellow warm-up, I lined up and took off with the lead pack. I instantly hit a wall but kept pushing and trying to keep pace. The pack thinned out and I soon found myself running alone. Umm, I thought that only happened in ultras, not fast road races? At the turn around, I noticed that I was not alone, and the entire 400+ field was right behind me. I kept pushing, chanting positive mantras over and over in my head and just praying that I could hold on. I could feel a good burn in the legs, and my stomach started to get acidic, but I just steeled my eyes on the finish and kept pushing. I crossed the finish line and instantly threw up, right there off to the side. Nothing bad, mostly just a tad bit of water/stomach acid. This is the first (and only) time I've every tossed my stomach after only running for 4.8 miles! I guess I was pretty much at my limit. At the results, I found out I was 8th overall, and 2nd in my age group, which was a shocker. Pretty good for a MUT oriented runner I think. I might have to see if I can't loose my breakfast in an even shorter race!

Notice my hat above, pretty cool. Here is a better shot.

I got it from the magazine Like the Wind, out of the UK. I also wrote a piece for them, which finally showed up in their latest issue. Pretty psyched to have my name in print alongside Bill Rodgers (yes, him), Dakota Jones, Guy Oliver, and a slew of other running writers.

I had a good friend make me some custom snow tools for this coming season. Made by Paul Sibley, one of the original climbers of the area from back in the '60s and '70s, he did a great job. They are made of aluminum and titanium and are perfect for moving fast over snowfields on the local mountains. I got a set of two, one for each hand.

Ran up Grays and Torreys a week or so again, testing snowshoes once more. Not much snow compared to last year, but I still really enjoy the mountain and area. Soon the better lines will open up and some serious adventures can be had.

The Apex trails are running so nice right now...

Got a first-hand look at the Rowdy Mermaid kombucha brewery yesterday. Jamba is turning out some incredible flavors and brews. If I could, I'd drink a bottle a day simply for the health reasons.

Finally, I picked up about 200 pairs of old, used running shoes from BRC Littleton. I was thinking, most people are excited about spring because of the flowers, longer days, warm weather, etc. I picked up these shoes, filling my little VW Rabbit to the max, and was thankful that it was warm enough to keep the windows down. Nothing like a car full of used running shoes with the windows up and the heat on...

Updates, Grays Peak, Bouldering, Snow Running, And More

2015-02-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Updates, Grays Peak, Bouldering, Snow Running, And More

It's been a busy and fun month. Although I have not been able to put in the time or miles I would necessarily like, I feel like I've had a solid month and things are shaping up well for spring. I don't go into my training much here (although sometimes I think I should, simply to put it out there, maybe get some feedback, and to hold me accountable), but I am slowly and consistently working my way towards my goals for 2015: Nolans, Skyrunning series, climb V12, work on my writing, and possibly do some other stuff. Below are some highlights over the past couple weeks:

Found this book in a used bookstore. It's great that we have freedom of speech.

One of the many sunrises I see, as most of my runs take place early these days.

Got out and worked on some problems up on Dinosaur Mountain during one of the "summer" spells we had this month. Lots of good stuff up there - undone lines, hard projects, and relatively few people.

Sunrise from one of the weekly runs up Apex and Lookout Mountain.

I was challenged to do a President's Day Bouldering Challenge by Moja Gear. The goal was to climb 43 problems V5 and under in one try, all different, all under 2 hours. I succeeded, doing it in 1:43. 43 problems is a lot, and it was a lot harder then I thought originally, but super fun to step up and try and complete.

Looking back at the Lookout Mountain road. I've grown to really love this run. The grade is perfect for continuous running at a hard effort. There is a nice 13 mile loop, and hammering up and then down seems to be a really solid workout. Perfect for Skyrunning type races.

I ran up Grays Peak (14,278') the other day before this last set of storms rolled in. I was testing a pair of snowshoes for Backpacker Magazine, so it had dual purposes. At the time, the snow levels were lower then last year at the same time, but that might have changed now. My roundtrip time from Bakerville was 4:14, including some fumbling/testing of the snowshoes.

This picture is taken about 100 yards west of where the fellow was killed in an avalanche earlier this year. It is a common slide zone, and a key part where the winter trail differs from the summer trail.

I had the honor to talk with three-time Olympian Lee Troop a couple weeks ago and write up an article on him and the Boulder Track Club. Really nice guy, and what he is doing with the BTC is pretty exciting.

A nice set of photos from the original running of Nolans 14 here.

I really love the below movie. I used to surf way back when I was a pro snowboarder, but what I like is the vibe, old-school edits, and the music. I would really dig a movie set like this, but on running.

Palmera Express from Vissla on Vimeo.

2015 USA Cross Country Championships And Sourdough Snowshoe Race

2015-02-10T06:44:00.002-07:00

2015 USA Cross Country Championships and Sourdough Snowshoe Race

I don't have a lot of wisdom concerning cross country, having never run an XC race before (but wanting to now), but I do have one thought that has been going through my mind. I had the honor of getting a press pass so that I could sit right at the finish line and take photos and notes from the runners. It was an amazing experience to be able to be right there when the elites came across the line, and then to be in the midst of the chaos as athletes collapsed to the ground, officials directed runners to certain areas, press people surrounded the winners, with people on the sidelines yelling their hearts out at teammates. Some runners came across and seemed to recover quickly, while others fell apart and had to be dragged over to the tent and in the shade. The level of effort left out on the course was inspiring. My one thought has to do with the current scientific thinking around fatigue and what I witnessed out on the course. Science has shown that we never really run out of energy, and that it is not our muscles or the actual build-up of lactate or other bi-products in the muscles that cause fatigue. Rather, the current thinking has to do with the idea of a "central governor" that controls our efforts and monitors our body. When we start to get out of homeostasis the central governor begins to shut our muscles down to preserve itself. Fatigue in this model is really a trick, a trick our brain plays on us to preserve itself. What I saw during the race is that the Juniors and some of the Elite/Open men and women seem to be able to overcome their central governor and push one level beyond. This was especially evident among the Juniors, as many of them came in to the finish line and instantly collapsed, blacking out for a brief moment, and taking some time before they were able to walk again. The Masters and many of the Elite runners did not reach this level of effort, they ran using their mind, while the Juniors, young and throwing it all out there, somehow were able to run past their mental limits and push into that zone of pure physical limits.

So, my thought, quick and unformulated as it is, is that as we become better at our sports, we develop mental attributes that allow us to be better runners - knowing how to pace, pushing through hurdles, training smarter, etc. However, this mental development also hinders us at a critical point, the point where we need to push beyond all of our known limits and find one more gear. The Juniors, still young and running on physical and emotional strengths don't have that mental limit yet - they simply have not reached it - so they go all out and simply collapse at the end. Spectacular and something to think about. How often do you really go all out? Probably not as often as you should.

Photos from the race (some more good ones on Boulder Running here).

Kaitlyn Benner and Val Constien out front (no central governor holding them back)

Kaitlyn Benner winning in spectacular fashion.

About to collapse...

The aftermath...

Conner Mantz winning the Junior Men's race.

Paul Roberts from Lyons showing what it takes to go to China (no central governor again).

CU's Paul Miller pale and dazed - but going to China (no central governor)

Women's Open at the start.

Laura Thweatt and Sara Hall dueling it out at the start of the last lap.

Boom!

Men's Open start.

Chris Derrick making a surge.

Derrick making the "3-peat goggle" sign at the finish.

Sportsmanship.

Does this man exist?

In other news, I ran the Sourdough 30K Snowshoe race last week. "Running" 18+ miles with snowshoes is !*$king hard! Great time, but I failed with my nutrition and lost four places within the final 2 miles. Totally my fault, and something I will focus on next time. Still, great time. Finished 9th overall in 4:16.

My Book, Red Rocks, Gavin McKenzie Interview, Science And More

2015-01-26T16:23:00.001-07:00

My Book, Red Rocks, Gavin McKenzie Interview, Science and More

Well, my book "The Best Front Range Trail Runs" has finally hit the market, and I've noticed it at a few stores around town. Pretty excited, but I could not have done it without the support and contributions from fellow runners (and my wife). Thanks everyone! For those wanting to know what trails are covered, here is the list:

Front and center at Boulder Bookstore!

Fort Collins:

Greyrock Mountain
Lory State Park
Horsetooth Mountain
Blue Sky to Indian Summer
Sheep Mountain

Boulder:

Hall Ranch
Heil Valley Ranch
Boulder Valley Ranch
Mount Sanitas
Mesa Trail
Green Mountain
Bear Peak
South Boulder Peak
Bobolink and South Boulder Creek
Spring Brook and Goshawk
Marshall Mesa
Flatirons Vista
Walker Ranch
Eldorado Canyon
Skyline Traverse

Denver:

Barry Lake
White Ranch
North Table
Golden Gate Canyon
Centennial Cone
Apex Park
Bergen Peak
Three Sisters
Green Mountain
Bear Creek to O'Fallon
Mount Falcon
Chatfield Reservoir
Cherry Creek State Park
Deer Creek Canyon
Strawberry Jack to Buck Gulch
Buffalo Creek
Carpenter Peak
Castlewood Canyon
Greenland Pairie

Colorado Springs:

US Air Force Academy Falcon Loop
Barr Trail and Pikes Peak
The Incline
Rampart Reservoir
Talon Loop/Cheyenne Mountain State Park

High Mountains:

Lumpy Ridge
Mount Audubon
High Lonesome
Heart Lake and James Peak
Ben Tyler Gulch

There are plenty of photos, maps, and other stuff, but really, the best are the stories and notes from all of the local runners who contributed.

One of the challenges for training for something like Nolans or the high mountains is that you need to get in tons of vertical gain, while also working on nutrition, hydration, etc. The Skyline Traverse in Boulder is classic and makes sense, but since I work in Boulder, it is really hard for me to motivate to drive there on my off days. There are some really good alternatives near Denver when the snow melts, and I have been trying to hit up a few, but there are not big sections of vertical trail without doing laps. I've done the M5 challenge a couple times now, and that works great, but lately I've been looking for alternatives. Right now, one of my go-to "runs" is Red Rocks. I've come up with 4 different loops all ranging between 1 mile and 3.5 miles and 557' gain and 800' gain. Although it sounds unexciting, the time flies by and the workout of the constant up and down really gets to you. Last week I did 20 miles and 9,530' of gain, and this morning I did 19 miles and 8,720' gain. Nothing special, but solid work and only 5 minutes from my house. Plus the people watching on each lap is pretty good, so the time goes by really fast. The reason I like this is because it has the same ratio of miles/vertical gain as Nolans, which is roughly for every mile, you gain 500' repeated over 100 miles and 44,000' gain, so if nothing else the grade is roughly equivalent.

Sunrise at Red Rocks

An alternative, and one that gets you up into the thin air, is running the Mount Evans road. The road is closed, and the first two miles are snowpacked, but most of the rest of the road is dry and windblown, so no traction or flotation is necessary. I ran the road a week ago, but didn't make the summit due to insanely high winds. Still, a killer run at altitude with no one around - the only time you will get all of the Evans massif all to yourself.

I caught up with Gavin McKenzie and did an interview with him about his 2014 season, Nolan's 14, and his upcoming plans. Great guy, humble, and a tough-ass runner.

There have been a couple other articles on this same topic, but basically, your mouth will sense when food is coming, tell your brain it is coming so don't worry, no need to bonk, even before your stomach even gets any of the calories and starts to process them. Key take away - swish your mouth with soda or carb drink at aid stations (or drink the stuff too) and get those carb receptors firing!

The above herd of elk live right by my place, and I see them all the time. However, when it is dark out, and my headlamp flashes across a hundred eyes in the dark, it still freaks me out for a second.

More articles on diet, nutrition, fats, carbs, and the whole mystery that science is beginning to unravel: here and here.

Went up to Area A and Area B at Mount Evans the other day. Long haul in on snowshoes, but for those wondering, one can climb right now as long as the wind and temps are right. I'll probably make a trip up there soon.

2014 Review, New Science Articles, Colorado Ultra Runners Of The Year

2015-01-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

2014 Review, New Science Articles, Colorado Ultra Runners of the Year

It's already five days into 2015, and things are already heating up (literally, if you are paying attention to today's weather compared to the past two weeks). 2014 turned out to be a good year, and I was able to accomplish several of my goals: finish the G & T Challenge, run and rank in the US Skyrunning series, get back into climbing and boulder V9/10, have some adventures, and run some races. The one goal that I failed on was doing Nolans, which as I look back now, other then the logistical and planning errors, was also hampered by the G & T challenge. In fact, a lot of my other goals were slightly compromised by the challenge, simply because I never got to have a week off, a down week, or anything similar. Although such a challenge didn't wear me out, it certainly didn't keep a spring in my step or allow for proper rest and tapers. I've only been "running" for three years consistently, so I don't have the logs to compare to over the years to see just how 2014 stacked up, but here are some numbers.

2014

Miles: 3,167.5
Vertical Gain: 713,897'
Hours: 559.92
Peaks: 184 summits, 71 14ers, 27 13ers, and a bunch of others

2013

Miles: 2,747.23
Vertical Gain: 521,943'
Hours: 399.81

2012

See here, no stats, but a narrative recap.

I want to say that I'm getting faster/stronger, but it is hard to tell that from the numbers. I don't have PR times at set distances to see if I have actually improved, but I want to say that the numbers support my perceived gains: in 2014 I was able to run 420.27 miles further, with 191,954' more of gain, in only 160.11 hours more time. My average miles per hour, however was slower: 5.6 in 2014 and 6.8 in 2013. Perhaps that extra 191,954' of gain explains that.

Plans for 2015 are still in the works, but they involve running the US Skyrunning Ultra series, with an aim for top 5 overall, attempting Nolans again (early summer), doing some other races, and climbing V12 if possible. I will be a master this year, so we will see if that means anything. I believe I have a good shot at the US Skyrunning series since it will be a major focus, and I won't have the G & T challenge to slow my leg speed down. As for Nolans, well, we will see, although I'm more confident then last year with more experience under my belt. Climbing V12 should be possible if everything stays on track, as I am now back to my 2011 strength, and V10s are regularly within my range. As for other races, I'm planning on the Sourdough snowshoe 30K, the Twin Mountain Trudge, and then trying to figure out a spring that will benefit an early Nolans attempt. I'm currently thinking something like 24 hours of Utah (March 21-22) for the all day effort experience, Desert Rats 25 miler (April 18), Collegiate Peaks 50 (May 2), then give it a go early June. I would prefer some more mountainous races, but there doesn't seem to be any around.

I wrote a recap of the 2014 Ultra Performances of the Year by Colorado runners for Colorado Runner Magazine. A lot of amazing races and performances last year, and I hope to keep track again and put together an even more comprehensive list next year.

Obviously, I run a lot at sunrise, but that is a perfect time to get out and get in a solid run up the mountain. Hence, my sunrise heavy photos.

Finally, another set of very interesting and informative articles on running and endurance performance.

Snowshoe Race And A Slew Of Articles

2014-12-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Snowshoe Race and a Slew of Articles

Ran my first ever snowshoe race on Saturday in Beaver Creek. In fact, this was my first time on snowshoes this year. Last year I used them a fair bit during my G & T challenge, and although I did technically use them once earlier in November on a miserable run up Grays Peak, I have not used them at all as it has been nice and dry both down low and up high. Needless to say, I was not in great "snowshoeing shape" whatever that might be on Saturday. I don't know much about how snowshoe races are run, but from a little research online prior, I figured it would be on packed or groomed trails, perhaps on the Avon golf course or something. Boy was I wrong. I later learned that this race in particular is known to be challenging. As the RD said, he tries to make a snowshoe race with some running, not a running race with snowshoes. That means that the "course" consisted of arrows tacked to trees at random intervals leading one up, down, through bushes, over and yes under logs, with ample bushwhacking, vertical gain, and general adventure. Certainly a fun challenge as we ran, then trudged, then slid, then ran again all through the aspens and woods just above the town of Avon right outside the Beaver Creek ski resort.

I had a blast, and although I had to slow a bit after the first mile to get my heart rate back under control, it was a great race overall. I will certainly keep it and others on my radar - I really dig these low key events. After my initial redlining, I was able to get my heart rate back under control and keep a solid pace that resulted in a 6th place overall finish with a time of 1:06:23. One thing I noticed, is that some people had directly mounted their shoes to the snowshoes, which I would assume results in a lighter setup. Something to look into if one were to pursue any more of these with any seriousness.

Warming up, something I did not do enough of!

And the gun goes off!

Leading the charge up the first hill.

6th place overall - great race, fun times.

A slew of articles that I have read over the past week or so, some really good ones in there.

First are two on diets. A real good analysis of the whole BulletProof Coffee crap. I like to say, follow the French and keep the coffee black and eat a croissant to get your butter if that is your thing. And to go with the BulletProof Coffee trend, here is a good take on the Paleo diet trend. When I was getting my Ph.D. I spent a lot of time researching human development and human prehistory, and there is so much evidence out there that demonstrates we are omnivores more then anything else. Most of the Paleo stuff I've read is highly selective in its choices of evidence and rarely looks at humans from a global or even continental perspective, but rather picks and chooses what to take as evidence from one cultural group or another. More often then not, those cultural groups were outliers, and were not the norm for humans and human subsistence at that time period.

GZ posted a good article the other day on Ron Hill and his lost legacy. I was one of the uninformed, so thanks GZ. I do believe there are lots of others out there, past runners and climbers who are still around today that people just don't know about. Steve Jones comes to mind. He lives in Boulder, and I see him on a regular basis, yet most people don't know who he is or what he accomplished. A quick example: The other day Steve is sitting in a coffee shop in Boulder, next to him is one of Boulder's more elite ultrarunners, and right next to him is a CU kid into running (mostly fast trail stuff). All three are within 15 feet of each other, yet all three fail to recognize or acknowledge each other. Or maybe that is just Boulder?

OK, a couple new science articles for those interested in trying to stay up-to-date on the latest science of running:

The last article is the one I find most intriguing. The psychology of running, racing, and sports performance is perhaps one of the least understood areas of the sport. I know from personal experience that if I get bogged down in negative thoughts during a race, I don't perform as well. My new mantra during a race, which I try and repeat over and over and over without letting any other thoughts enter my mind is: light, fast, smooth, easy. I just keep saying those words over and over and over in a meditative mantra fashion. It's helped during the last three races for me, with two age group podiums and two top ten finishes.

Black and white of Denver from high up on Apex the other day.

Great report on the Boulder Bad Ass 100 here. Not sure if it will ever be repeated. If you didn't know about the 24 Hours of Mt. Sanitas run, here is a short article I wrote on it.

Finally, another article from GZ - we are just soft and have given up trying. Time to go train!

Fa La La Half, Where the Monkey Sleeps, Hells Canyon, Nitrate Supplementation, Grays and Torreys

2014-12-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Fa La La Half, Where the Monkey Sleeps, Hells Canyon, Nitrate Supplementation, Grays and Torreys

On Saturday Tara and I ran the Fa La La Half Marathon in Westminster. This was my second road race and second speed race in the past two weeks. Coming from mountain and trail running, I didn't really have any good idea of how fast I might be able to run this, nor was I sure of my fitness. I was thinking 1:30 would be a nice time to try and aim for, but depending on the course, wind, etc., I was unsure of whether that was a reasonable goal or not. I ended up running a 1:32:16 which was good for 13th place overall, and 1st in my age group. I'm pretty pleased with the result, and I know with a bit more prep and some more speed work I could break 1:30. I do have to say that I'm coming to really enjoy the pain associated with these faster road races versus the slower trail/mountain ones I'm used to. Pushing hard and flying along for a good distance is pretty rewarding in its own way.

Getting a bit tired of waiting during the pre-race instructions - there seemed to be a lot of them.

Got out on JD's "Where the Monkey Sleeps" V10 the other day. This is a super thin problem with terrible holds and non-existent feet. Despite getting shut down, I came pretty close. The campus and fingerboard training is paying off.

Another article on nitrate supplementation, beet juice, and it's benefits. I used Red Rush prior to the Half on Saturday, taking one shot each morning three days prior to the race and then one more shot on race morning. Although I don't feel a "rush" I do believe the stuff works and have noted several benefits when taking the stuff, namely less lactic acid and seemingly faster recovery from efforts. The science is pretty conclusive that taking around 500mg of beet juice a day will help with oxygen delivery, vasodilation, muscle contraction, and more. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Although the R2R2R run in the Grand Canyon is an ultra classic, I've always thought of and wanted to do a run down into Hells Canyon on the Snake River in Idaho. Having worked up in the area, I know the terrain and depth of the canyon, and always thought it would be super cool to try and put together a run. The problem is that it is very remote country, and there are no clear-cut trails descending down into the canyon. However, it looks like two guys have finally put together a line that is fairly straight forward for pulling off a R2R2R of Hells Canyon. I need to put this on the list for sure.

Ran up Grays and Torreys again yesterday. This is becoming my "Green Mountain" these days, as it is the biggest bang for your buck in terms of altitude, elevation gain, and mileage. Other then driving down to the Springs for Pikes, no other peak or run gets you all three so easily. Unlike two weeks ago when I ran Grays only, this time it was perfect out. On days like this, winter fourteener running is the way to go - a packed trail, minimal wind, descent temps., and no one around. Beats summer mountain running hands down, but then again, days like that rarely happen. I'm sure next time I go up, it will suck and I'll hate it.

Looking west towards Breckenridge and beyond...

Looking south - you can just make out the Sangres...

Longs way off in the distance...

Shoe Donations And Sand Creek Massacre Healing Run

2014-12-01T11:56:00.001-07:00

Shoe Donations and Sand Creek Massacre Healing Run

I've been helping out Mike Sandrock and One World Running for a number of years now, as I really believe in the organization and what it does. One hundred percent volunteer run, OWR collects shoes from all over, hand washes them, sorts them, and then hand delivers them to runners in need around the world. This past weekend I had the honor to help with the shoe donations for tribal runners at the 150th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre as part of the Sand Creek Massacre Healing Run.

There is always a ton of volunteer work involved in something like this, and I was happy to be part of it. On Saturday, Tara and I loaded up my VW Rabbit with about 150 pairs of shoes, along with a couple hundred shirts and made the drive out east to Eads, Colorado. We made good time, and pulled into the area in the middle afternoon - just enough time to unload all of the shoes and get them organized by size. A little later Mike showed up with another car of volunteers and another 150 pairs of shoes, as well as more shirts. There were about 200 tribal runners participating, and getting all of their shoes organized and the right sizes to the runners was a bit of a task. Kaden Walksnice was coordinating the run, and he told us what to do. After getting the shoes organized, we participated in the ceremonial dinner, where many prayers and stories were shared.

The next morning, at sunrise, we drove out to the site, which is run by the NPS. They allowed us to drive in to a certain area, where all of the runners and participants parked and prepared for the morning ceremonies and events. Sandrock, myself, and Peter H. went and did a nice tempo run around the site and out along the bluffs overlooking Big Sandy Creek. We got back just in time as the ceremonies were starting - ceremonial painting, blessings, singing, prayers, and more. It was such an honor to be able to attend and be there during such an important event. Finally, the healing run got under way - and it was a healing run. The elders lead everyone, followed by the runners who would run the course all the way back to Denver for the closing ceremonies on Wednesday.

I would like to thank the Cheyenne and Arapaho people for allowing Tara and I to attend and be part of this amazing spiritual healing run. Here are some photos of the event that I took.

That evenings sunset - powerful times.

How many pairs of shoes can you fit in a VW Rabbit? About 150 from my experience.

Sorting out the shoes...

Kaden Walksnice - thank you for allowing us to be a part!

Sunrise on the way out to the site...

Tara and Mike at the painting and blessing.

Some of the runners...

Powerful drumming and singing

Elders leading the start...

The elders lead us out of the site, where the lead and eagle staff were handed off to the runners for the rest of the healing run.

More Mt. Morrison, New Trail Guidebook, 10K Race, Grays Peak, Cerebral Oxygenation Among Kenyans

2014-11-24T15:52:00.005-07:00

More Mt. Morrison, New Trail Guidebook, 10K Race, Grays Peak, Cerebral Oxygenation Among Kenyans

One week ago, on Saturday, William and I had planned on doing a big day of laps on Mt. Morrison, going for twelve hours if possible. Sadly, mother nature had a different idea for us that day. We started at 6am and made it to the top of the first lap for a beautiful sunrise. However, starting on our second lap the storm that was supposed to roll in that evening arrived early. We were in good spirits and challenged mother nature to bring on the snow and cold. On the third lap, it started to really blizzard and the trail in sections started to get really slick (the rock section at the top and the initial .5 miles that is pretty steep and loose). We continued on our way, but as conditions continued to deteriorate and the trail became less and less manageable, we thought it best to save ourselves from a possible ankle-twisting slip and call it a day after four laps. Still a great time, and given the conditions, not bad: ~16 miles and ~8,000' of gain.

Looking west from the summit at sunrise

Above the storm clouds at sunrise looking east

The summit on lap three, storm raging below

Over the past year+ I've been hard at work on a new guidebook to trail running along Colorado's Front Range. Well, on Monday I finally received two advanced copies of the book. Published by CMC Press, I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was a ton of work, running all of the trails (many multiple times), taking hundreds of photos (over 150 in all), checking and re-checking stats, information, etc. I was pretty burned out on it and kinda not into it by the end, but now that it is done and in print, I'm really excited. I also had a lot of great help from fellow runners, who contributed nice bits throughout the book to help break it up. I'm really thankful for their generosity and for CMC Press for publishing it. Copies should be hitting stores in a couple weeks.

On Saturday, I ran a fast road 10K. Having never run a road race of this kind, and coming off a summer of mountain slogging, I wasn't really too sure what to expect. I had a vague idea of trying to beat :40 minutes, but I really had no idea if that was possible for me. The course consisted of 800' of climbing, with the first 3/4 mile following a gently uphill dirt service road before hopping onto a bike path and rolling along around the Arvada Reservoir. About 2.5 miles in a solid 500' climb went up onto the mesa behind the reservoir before turning east. I went out right behind the lead pack, figuring I'd just try and redline it from the gun, holding a bit back for the end. I felt pretty good once I got off the dirt road and started to get into a groove, and then caught a few guys on the climb as that is my strength. Up on the mesa, I was able to pull in two other guys before having to battle a fairly decent headwind for about two miles. The lead pack was up ahead, and it was just me and some dude in Newtons fighting it out - no idea on position, but just pushing each other. I took over the lead and responsibility of breaking the wind at mile 4, and then tried to make a little break at mile 4.5 at the start of the final climb of 200' or so. I was maybe twenty yards ahead, but the wind and effort started to get to me, and Newtons started to pull me back in. He caught back up and then drafted for a bit, at which point there was a final climb up and then a rolling section to the finish line. He made a move on the final couple meters of the climb, and then very subtly pushed a bit harder. I had nothing to respond with, and just tried to hold on as best I could. I crossed the line in :41:51, which was good enough for 9th place overall, 3rd in my age group. I was pretty pleased, since I had no idea what to expect given the distance and racing against some fast roadies.

Making my move with Newtons on my tail

New article on how some Kenyans are able to maintain cerebral oxygenation during maximal self-paced efforts. Interesting stuff, although as Dr. Samuele Marcora noted, we don't have any data from others to compare this to.

Nice video of Jennilyn Eaton and Craig Lloyd's new Zion Double Crossing FKT.

After sleeping in and not wanting to do anything as it seemed windy outside, Tara and I finally rallied and we went up to Bakerville to give a go at Grays and Torreys today. I have not been back since completing my challenge, and with the howling wind and blizzard like conditions, I instantly got PTSD. "Running" up the snow covered road, I kept thinking how I had run this damn thing every week all last winter. This sucked - it was cold (around 6 degrees), windy, snowing, and I could be down on the Front Range running on some nice dry trails. However, pretty soon I had reached the summer trailhead, my PTSD had mostly vanished, and I was ready to put on my final layers to try and push through the brunt of the storm above the willows and into the open tundra. Climbing 14ers in the winter is great if you can deal with the cold and snow, as there was no one else in the entire basin. Once again I got into my power hike and just put my head down and broke trail. Conditions never got better and after passing the Big Sign and the Kelso ridge turnoff, it got really cold and windy. My jacket started to freeze into a single frozen icicle and I started to get a blistering headache from the pure, cold wind. Needless to say, after tagging Gray's summit, I elected to get the hell out of there before I completely froze, not tagging Torrey's summit.

Lovely conditions up there

It's only 4,700' down and about 7 miles to get to the car...

First Winter Run, Ketone Bodies, Zion Double Crossing FKT, UTMB, Nanga Parbat, 24 Hours of Sanitas

2014-11-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

First Winter Run, Ketone Bodies, Zion Double Crossing FKT, UTMB, Nanga Parbat, 24 Hours of Sanitas

Well, winter rolled in with a vengeance this week. On Monday I was running laps at Red Rocks, where I started in shorts and a t-shirt but finished with a jacket and pants. The arctic blast was forecasted to roll in Monday at around noon, but early Monday morning it was warm and sunny. I went for a quick 7,000' of gain on the Red Rocks loop, hoping to beat out the cold front. I didn't quite make it, as I watched in awe as the cold air first rolled into Denver and down Cherry Creek - a moving blanket of clouds and visibly cold looking air. After it reached south Denver, it backed up and started to come around Green Mountain, rising up and over the hogback. Then, on my 13th lap a brisk wind picked up and within a half mile it went from 60 degrees or so to around 30. I tucked tail and did one more lap before calling it quits.

Morning sunrise tempo run.

Sunrise from on top of the local mountain.

I ran across an interesting article the other day that may be a nutritional breakthrough for endurance sports - ketone esters and nutritional administration of ketone bodies. As the article explains, the ketone diet works, but only if you are working at a fairly low effort level. There doesn't seem to be any scientific evidence that a ketone diet works for effort levels above 70% or so. However, there may be some benefit to utilizing ketone bodies for energy supplementation during exercise. But how does one utilize ketone bodies without going into starvation mode, which is really the only way the body produces them? New studies indicate that scientists may have come up with a synthesized ketone body that is bound to an ester which allows it to be stable, while still being able to be broken down in the stomach. Yes, a ketone body milkshake is coming soon. The science is still out on whether this type of fueling will prove to be beneficial or possible, but it is very intriguing, especially for endurance athletes as it may not upset the stomach while still providing a steady and reliable source of fuel. You can read the article here (and the article they reference concerning the ketone milkshake here).

Ran up the mountain this morning. Radio said it was zero degrees out, and I would believe them. It is that time of year again...

Looks like the UTMB is no longer associated with The North Face. I'm sure it is all about the financials, but an end of an era nonetheless. Here is to hoping that the new partnership with Columbia Sportswear Company is just as beneficial.

There are two new 'zines out that I really like. The first, Like the Wind, is out of the UK and is really nice. Not your typical runners magazine, but rather a cool, art focused graphic book with stories, art, photos, and more. No ads, just page after page of really creative content. The other is Meter by Tracksmith. Again, a solid magazine, but in full newspaper print size, with double page photos, art, and excellent writing. Both of these two magazines are hands down more interesting, creative, and cool then anything I've seen on the market. Really inspiring. I wish there was something similar for climbing.

Two great endurance events took place over the past two weeks that really embody the sport. First is the new FKT on the Zion Double Crossing set by Craig Lloyd and Jennilyn Eaton on November 7 in 24 hours and 50 minutes. The Trans-Zion seems like a great run, almost better then the R2R2R these days, but the Double is just amazing. Just six days before, here in Boulder, locals Adam St. Pierre and Henry Schliff completed 24 hours of Mt. Sanitas. Wowza! They pulled of 28,000' of climbing and 70 miles during that time. Here is Adam's report, and here is Henry's. I really dig these types of efforts - low key, no publicity, just people out there pushing the limits really for their own personal reasons.

I've done my share of winter climbing and mountaineering, having summited a couple 17,000' and 18,000' peaks. However, the 8,000 meter peaks are an entirely different animal. Now imagine trying to climb one in the winter. Talk about suffering. This video really got to me. I really felt the raw human emotion in this video, especially at the end. You may not even care about climbing big peaks, but I think anyone who has pushed themselves to the limit can feel how stripped down these two climbers are.

New Roundup Of Scientific Research, Money In Mountain Running, US Skyrunning Series, 24 Hours Of Sanitas

2014-11-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

New Roundup of Scientific Research, Money in Mountain Running, US Skyrunning Series, 24 Hours of Sanitas

I've been swamped lately working, so most of my training has been confined to the local hills. Likewise, I've been focusing a bit on speed workouts, trying to get some leg turnover going for a few shorter races this early winter (a 10K in Arvada and a Half in Westminster). Although I'm not a speedster by any means, I've been doing a session of 4x60secs on flats and 4x15secs on a steep hill, as well as some Meb style kicks (3 sets post workout) twice a week. I've also incorporated a once a week tempo run on a rolling course (1,000' of gain only) which seems to be helping. I'm going to keep working this, as well as my usual vert. days, for a bit and see what kind of speed I can pull off in these two upcoming races.

It's called Golden for a reason - sunrise speed session photo

A car full of shoes for One World Running

Here is the latest roundup on new scientific articles concerning running:

The first three continue to build on the scientific literature concerning nitric oxide and dietary nitrate supplementation. I'm really excited to be using Red Rush as it is an all natural concentration of beet juice that tastes good and is easy to take. Although there is no real studies looking at nitric oxide and climbing, there is plenty of cross over from running, strength training, and so forth that also would benefit climbers too.

Another study looks at training volume (in terms of hours) and intensity, and found that training volume is essential, but intensity can cause some problems if not properly monitored. This makes sense, as we all know that if you want to be a better runner, you need to run more. Likewise, intensity is great, but you cant do HIIT workouts every day as some argue. To back this up, another new study has verified what we already know: to be a good runner you have to do volume, some intensity, and some threshold workouts. I've been negligent in this aspect, especially in the summer when all I want to do is long mountain runs. Hence, my focus on quality workouts with a purpose. It is all about discipline, purpose, and consistency.

Another sunrise run - early morning sessions are often the most productive

So, there is money in mountain running, just not the kind we find here in the US. Why is that? I don't quite understand the disjunction between mountain running, skyrunning, short mountain ultra running, and trail running. It seems we have too many governing bodies that spread out the field, cause confusion, and fail to allow us to really put together a solid series of races - especially as a US team on the world stage.

Speaking of which, the US Skyrunning series for 2015 came out today. I'm planning on doing the series again, and hoping for a higher place then 10th overall. Looks like I have to figure out how to budget for some travel...

Big congrats to Adam St. Pierre and Henry Schliff for their completion of the 24 Hours of Mt. Sanitas. An amazing achievement! Speaking of which, William and I, and anyone else who wants to join, are doing 12 hours of Mt. Morrison on Nov. 15 from 6am to 6pm. We are going for the M10 Challenge, but I really don't know if it is possible in 12 hours.

The Red Rock Challenge

2014-10-20T16:36:00.001-06:00

The Red Rock Challenge

I've been working a fair bit lately, which has limited my ability to get into the mountains. However, I still try and log one or two solid vertical days per week to keep my climbing legs and to prep for future plans. As such, trying to come up with fun long runs with lots of vert. is not as easy as it may seem here along the Front Range. The M5 Challenge is great, but it is more power hiking then running, and so I was looking for something similar but that allowed me to run for the entire time. In a scramble to come up with something, I devised what I am dubbing the Red Rock Challenge. The challenge is simple, run as many laps as you can/want on a 1 mile, 500' gain loop that goes directly through Red Rocks amphitheater. The run seems easy enough at first, but soon the laps start adding up and the vertical really gets to the legs, simply because there are really no walking/hiking breaks and every mile you gain and lose 500'. This morning I was able to bang out 16 laps before throwing in the towel - I seem to have a small bruise on the knuckle of my second toe that started to act up. So I ended up with 16 miles and 8,000' of gain in 2:29.

Some people may not like the idea of laps, but I've really been enjoying them lately. They are easy to deal with - you run by your car each lap, so you don't have to carry water, food, etc. At Red Rocks, there are so many people out exercising, running the stairs, etc., that you can basically people watch the entire time. I think this is a great challenge, and perfect for the upcoming winter as the loop should be dry all winter and is a good running course with little or no power hiking - I was by the last two laps power hiking the stairs, skipping every other one.

Seems like UROC is moving to California. I wonder if this has anything to do with the permitting issues noted by Sherpa John - which if true, are a real bummer.