G & T 23 and Deer Creek

G & T 23 and Deer Creek

I ran the Deer Creek half marathon course on Wednesday, thinking that it would be fairly melted out. Little did I know, but it was one giant icy bobsled route. I didn't bring any traction, so I had to go a bit slow, but the course is really great. A solid climb at the start, and then nice rolling terrain for the rest of the time, with a fast downhill in the last two miles. At 13+ miles and 3,000+ feet of gain, it runs a lot faster then other similar trails in the area, especially those in the Boulder area. Not sure why, but it has a really nice flow almost the entire time.

Number 23 in the G & T challenge today. Started off cold and really windy. On the ridges there were times when I really had to go on all fours to keep from being blown off. By the time I was coming back down, however, things seemed to be calming down and warming up. Early starts may not be the best in winter - but you do get the entire basin to yourself which will never happen in summer.

Planning on doing the Leadville Snowshoe Marathon next Saturday as long as the roads are good and I can get up there in my car with summer tires. Should be fun - never been in a snowshoe race. I'm looking at it as a great 26 mile run at 10,000' and not really a race.