South Boulder, Bear, Green, Bear, South Boulder - And Altitude Training and Energy Costs During an Ultra

South Boulder, Bear, Green, Bear, South Boulder - And Altitude Training and Energy Costs During an Ultra


I figured that the day after Thanksgiving would be a good day to do the Skyline Traverse, as I would most likely run into some other runners and have some company. Not so. In fact, I didn't see any other runners out there, which was odd. Isn't today Fat Ass Day One? Either way, there were tons of hikers and walkers, but no one to share the trails with, so I went solo. Parked at the newly re-opened South Mesa trailhead and cruzed up the newly re-routed Homestead trail. As with other trails in the Boulder Park system that get re-routed, the new Homestead trail is nice and smooth. A tad longer, but not as steep and with less stair-steps and rocks. I don't really understand this trend to re-route trails to make them smoother and easier (well, I can see OSMP's logic in terms of the general populace, but it does take away from the "adventure" part of being in the woods). After Homestead, which now drops you onto the S. Mesa trail at a different spot then the old trail, I went up Shadow Canyon, which is one of my favorites. It is the closest trail to being in the mountains that I know of on the front range - steep, lots of rocks, stair-steps, etc. The flood exposed a lot of roots and added a ton of smaller cobbles to the trail, making it even more fun then before. No one on top of S. Boulder, but a gaggle of people on Bear. Cruzing down Bear's West Ridge is always fun, and the new Bear-Green trail is super smooth (like the other re-routed trails - buff or butter smooth as some say). Green's summit had a bunch of people, more walkers coming from the West Ridge route then Bear (which has more hikers). Once I tagged Green, I turned around and returned via the same route, tagging Bear and S. Boulder once more.

I'm always amazed at how vertical can make things go so much slower, and make the miles feel so much longer. Yesterday (T-day) I did 13 miles with 6 mile repeats thrown in in 1:25. Today, with all of these peaks, I only did 16 miles in 4:03. Of course, there was 6,838 feet of climbing, but it really still strikes me the difference in perceived physical and mental effort.

A new article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine discusses altitude training, VO2max, and haemoglobin. They conclude that altitude training can increase one's VO2max by half the magnitude of the increase in haemoglobin mass. That is a fairly large increase in VO2max! Of course, as they note, that may or may not translate to better race performances because of other factors. However, it seems pretty hard to argued against altitude training if one is planning on racing as sea level.

The other article, in the Journal of Experimental Biology, looked at factors affecting energy cost of running during an ultra. To cut to the chase, the authors found that greater muscular power and a lower foot-print index result in better performances in ultras. Foot-print index is basically your arch height and amount of your foot that hits the ground. So, in a way, they found that if you are stronger and run with more of a mid- to fore-foot strike pattern, you have a chance of performing better in ultras then if not. Of course, like above, there are TONs of other factors that go into solid performances, but it is something to think about. No heel-to-toe running, even when tired. And practice good form, over and over and over again.

G & T 15

G & T 15

Brutal day up on the mountain. I thought that with the weekend perhaps some of the trail would be packed out, but that was not the case. Getting up to the summer trailhead was not a problem, but once over the bridge, things got serious. There is about 10-14' of fresh across the entire trail, with sections both down low and up high where I was up to my waist. In a couple places up higher where I could not find the trail, I was forced to wade across large sections of deep snow. The only way at some points was to spread out on my stomach to not sink and scooch along before postholing in bottomless powder. This was by far the hardest trip yet. Still, a great day up in the snowy mist, lost in the clouds with no real sense of direction. There is magic up high in these kinds of conditions - fear that is right up front. The key is to keep the fear happy and not let it go to panic.

 A large herd on the shoulders of Kelso Mountain...

 Top of Grays...

 Top of Torreys, exhausted....

 Looking down over the edge into nothing...

 This is the way down...

Mile Repeats In Waterton Canyon

Mile Repeats in Waterton Canyon


One of the more painful workouts I've discovered is doing mile repeats. Trying to go hard for one mile is brutal - every time I want to give up around the half mile mark. However, I also feel like this is such a solid workout that I preserver and push through. I've been doing my repeats in Waterton Canyon, since it has mile and half mile markers posted on the side of the dirt road (I'm not sure how accurate they are, they seem a bit long). I do a mile, then rest for half a mile, then go again. Six repeats in the 13 mile out-and-back. Lately I've run into Bighorn sheep on the run. Of all of the hoofed animals, Bighorn sheep and mountain goats are the one's that freak me out the most. Elk, moose, deer, etc. are no big deal, they all keep a safe distance and stay away. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats, on the other hand, just stand their ground and stare back at you, allowing plenty of time for you to realize just how big and powerful they are. Needless to say, my time on this mile was not very good.

 This guy didn't seem to be bothered by me, but then up pops his buddy, who was not too happy to see me. I took off and he actually started to chase me down the road a bit...

G & T 14

G & T 14

After the big storm this weekend, I figured it would be "fun" to do my weekly run up Grays and Torreys. I wasn't too sure on how the conditions would be - Loveland, just up the road reported around 8+ inches out of the storm, and other areas got more. However, I figured it would be a good time either way. Needless to say, conditions were OK. Running up the road was not too bad, with some windblown spots here and there while the rest of the road had about 4 inches of fresh. Once I got to the summer trailhead, the snow got deep - there were sections where I was wallowing up past my knee/thigh, and if you didn't pick the best path, you were sure to end up in even deeper drifts. I pressed on, and punched my way up the hill until reaching the turnoff for the Kelso Ridge, at which point the conditions got remarkably better. There was still a ton of snow, but the big windblown drifts found below in the willows were gone. Once again, I had the entire basin to myself, as I cruzed up to Grays via the East Ridge and then over to Torreys and back down. On the way back down near the Big Sign there were two parties coming up - one party had been using snowshoes so the trail should be much better by tomorrow. They thanked me for breaking trail and I wished them good luck as I quickly ran back down to Bakersville and my recovery drink of chocolate milk (normally beer, but I got stuff to do today). Despite all of the snow and slogging in the snow, I was able to just come in under 4 hours at 3:56. Slow for summer conditions, but fast for winter. I also realized I've made it over the initial hump of 13 times (exactly one quarter of a year - once every week) and now have 14 weekly trips done. Still hoping to pull off 52 consecutive runs.

 Torreys and Dead Dog looking nice...

 Looking south towards South Park and beyond...

 Looking west past Keystone and Breck...

Flatiron XC Championships - Photos

Flatiron XC Championships - Photos


This morning I went to my second ever cross country race (the first was earlier this month). XC events are pretty fun, as runners do laps on the course, spectators run back and forth cheering them on. I was there to support some local runners - and in the process took a couple of photos. I wish I had signed up, but I thought you needed to be on a team. No worries, however, as I'm sure I couldn't hang with these speedsters.

 

Women at the start...

 And they are off...

 Things had already opened up during the first lap...

 The women leaders coming in to the finish... it was really windy during the women's race (check out the tree)

 

Ran into some "serious" racers there...

 Get ready...

 Go!

 First guy across the line...

 

Second place coming in strong...

 

Nice kick at the end from this guy...

 

Pushing to the end, nice job GZ...

I have no idea how Sandrock was able to run in all of that gear, and none of it blew off!

Mt. Falcon X 4

Mt. Falcon X 4

The goal was to get out for an extended period of time, and to try and get in some vertical. I was looking for something where I didn't have to carry all of my food and water, but still had a decent amount of miles and vert per lap. Green Mountain via one of the front side trails was my first choice, but since that is still closed, I opted for laps on Mt. Falcon. The route is straightforward, up to the fire lookout and back down. Each lap is 8.5 miles and 2,100' of gain. I wasn't looking to push the pace, but rather to keep moving up and down for an extended period of time, and to focus on any mental issues that might arise. After allowing myself an extra hour of sleep to try and catch up from a busy week, I got moving at 8:06 in the morning. Regularly, when I run this route semi-hard, it takes me ~1:20, so I was aiming for just under 2 hours per lap on this day. The day started off a bit cool, but quickly warmed up and I was in summer mode for the rest of the day. The first lap went well, and I finished it off in around 1:45 at a very comfortable pace. A quick stop at the car for some food and water, and I was off again after a couple minutes. The second lap went well, and my energy level seemed to be holding. The third and fourth also went well. I was worried that I would get bored and throw in the towel prior to reaching four laps, so I had that goal in the back of my mind all day. I also wanted to try and keep a mellow but even pace all day, which I was able to do. So, overall the day was a success. I still had enough energy after the fourth lap to go for another, but decided to call it at four - a solid training day with my goals accomplished. 34 miles, 8,400' of gain, 6h 53m. Project N training.

PAC 12 Cross Country Championship - Photos

PAC 12 Cross Country Championship - Photos


After a quick jaunt up Mt. Falcon early this morning, I had the honor to attend the PAC 12 Cross Country Championships as a media person. Although I don't have the best camera (really, not even a good one) I did have access to certain sections of the course to allow for some fun photos. The races were a blast to watch, and there were a lot of big name runners out in the crowd. Below is a photo dump of some of the race.

 The men warming up....

 Go Colorado!

 And they are off!

 CU leading strong after the first lap.

 Last lap and things are starting to shake out...

 Mens winner from Oregon - second place from Stanford behind.

 First place (Edward Cheserek of Oregon) at the finish line. You can see the distance this kid had between second place...

 Second place (Jim Rosa of Standord) at the line with third and fourth (both Colorado) just behind....

 Third (Blake Theroux of Colorado) and fourth (Connor Winter of Colorado) coming home...

 Fifth (Ben Saarel of Colorado) with sixth a bit back...

 Colorado's women's team.

 And they are off!

 End of the first lap, looking strong.

 First place Aisling Cuffe of Standord for the women, with a solid lead.

 Second place (Elvin Kibet from Arizona), with third, fourth and fifth just behind.

 Third, fourth, and fifth.

 The trophies...

 Alumni Cameron Clayton was there. Talked with him a bit, really nice guy. He is excited about the North Face 50 coming up this December. Same plan as usual, going out hard from the gun. Go Cameron!

 Michael Sandrock giving the peace sign and mountain running legend Pablo Vigil

Mark Wetmore talking to the press after winning the PAC 12 Championships.