G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT On Hood, Bouldering

G & T 41, Bergen Peak, New FKT on Mt. Hood, Bouldering


On Friday I did my weekly run up Grays and Torreys. The weather was really unsettled that day, and it was sprinkling as I drove up. I had gotten up pretty early because I had to be at work by 1:00pm and I was not sure how slow the snow would be. There were already some storm clouds around the peaks when I started, and of the four other parties on the mountain that day, three turned around before reaching either summit due to the blackening clouds and possible torrential rain/lightning storms. The snow was really soft, as it is not freezing at night, making it necessary for me once again to use snowshoes above the summer trailhead to the big sign. The road to the summer trailhead is all melted out and runnable, but the section between the trailhead through the willows and to the big sign is a postholing nightmare unless you have some floatation. After that, it is fairly straight forward.

The following day I ran up Bergen Peak just outside of Evergreen. A fun 13 mile loop with 2,300' of gain, I wanted to see how hard of an effort I could put in following G&T. I ran the race course, and clocked 2:07 with some stops for pictures and a bit of off trail exploration near the summit. I was certainly tired by the end, but the wildflowers that are in bloom kept me going.

 I scrambled up some of this stuff near the summit.

 Pikes Peak way off in the distance.

I ran Mt. Hood way back in 1999, leaving Timberline Lodge at 10:00pm and doing a solo run under the full moon to the summit and back. I was not in the best of shape, and it took me a little over 3 hours roundtrip. I've always thought of getting back there for a solid effort, but have never found the chance. Jason Dorais recently put up a stout time on skis of 1:44:03. I don't know what the running FKT is, but 1:27:46 for the ascent is pretty good.

Shot of the Morning Watchman from my window.

Had a great bouldering session on Flagstaff the other afternoon. I hadn't been up there in a bit, but was excited to revisit the "Dark Side" and re-do all of my FAs that I put up about 10 years ago. Most are in the V2-V6 range, but they have some fun movements and this little area has a great set of boulders allowing for some peaceful climbing in the shade on hotter days.

I've also managed to get out to Morrison a couple times and work on my long-term summer project. The moves are starting to come together, but I need to stay focused and not try and link up the entire Lobby from right to left, which just pumps me out for any serious efforts.

The real climber of the area...

Bear Creek 10 Spot

Bear Creek 10 Spot

Fast! That about sums up the Bear Creek 10 Spot race. Yesterday was the 4th annual race, and boy was it fast. Held right outside of Morrison, the race is 10.4 miles (two laps) on a fairly flat course of trails and dirt roads. I've never run a race this short, nor this flat, but with the goal of getting more race experience, I figured it would be a fun time. Now, I don't do much, if any, speed work. I try and push myself on certain loops up in the valley, but otherwise, I train for longer events. So, when the gun went off, I knew right away that I had no chance of placing anywhere in the top 20. The lead group took off at a full on sprint, and the guy that won ran an average of 6:02 pace! Pretty darn fast. After the first couple hundred yards, I was in 29th place, and I kept that place almost until the end, where I finished in 1:20:27 good for 32 overall (out of 116). My average pace was 7:45, which may be the fastest I've ever run at that distance.

A couple of interesting observations. One, within literally a few hundred yards my overall place in the race was decided. I never passed anyone, and no one passed me. I find it very interesting that my overall place was already decided from the beginning. Of course, if I had crashed and burned, I would have dropped back, but again, this shows to me just how important the start is. I've also noticed this in the ultras that I ran, in that I was basically in the place I finished right from the start.

Also, the race was impacting. By that I mean both Tara and I noticed that after the race it felt like we had run on pavement, not trails. The trails at Bear Creek are fairly hard, Front Range compacted mud/dirt. The surface may have played a part, but also the speed at which I ran also made the race impacting. As I said, I don't do speed, and running all out for 10 miles really hard puts a big impact on one's knees, feet, etc.

All in all, a great race. It is fun to run these faster races with the speedsters of the Front Range, simply because you get to toe the line with some really fast people, but also because it really pushes you as a runner. Obviously, I'll never place good at these races unless I spend some time training speed, but I still think I learned so many lessons - lessons that I am still processing - that when it comes to the longer races next summer, I'll be much better at them. If you are looking for a fast 10 mile trail race to do in the fall, and you want to see how you will stack up with some of the faster runners in the Denver area, I definitely recommend this race.