The Connection Runners

Week in review (7/5-7/11)

Monday - 7/5Short run around the neighborhood. It was a quick tempo, but felt good.

Tuesday - 7/6
I did my usual Skunk/Mallory run with some extra mileage thrown in, figuring that I should start building up that mileage base.

Wednesday - 7/7
Green Mountain (Gregory to Ranger and back, starting at Chautauqua). I had an interesting run. After running Hope Pass last weekend, I decided to try the trekking poles on an uphill climb to see if I liked it. The good news is that it helps take some stress off the legs. The bad news is that I hate running with poles. I ran into Scott Jurek and his friend Dustin, who were coming down while I was going up. It which was a nice surprise to see him on the trail, since I'd never met him before. He took a few minutes to chat with me, which was appreciated.

Thursday - 7/8
Green Mountain (Gregory to Ranger and back, standing/ending at Chautauqua). After running with the poles, I decided to give Green a jog to see how it was without poles. I wore a watch and timed myself for the first time - tagged the summit in under 40 minutes, which I think is pretty good.

I was going to go to the Boulder S&S at the res, but the weather looked shitty and I thought it would be cancelled. The weather was shit until I got on the trails, when the clouds separated and it turned into beautiful evening. Ah well - I'd rather run on the trails then at the res.

Friday - 7/9
Speed training/barefoot. Ran for a little over an hour around the sport fields behind the law building. I did some speed work and some barefoot running. It always feels nice to ditch the shoes and run through the grass. The speed work always kills me, but all around it was better today than normal.

Saturday - 7/10
Pawnee Pass/Peak. Awoke at the normal time and took a leisurely time getting ready for the day. When I was feeling sufficiently antsy, I jumped in the car and headed to the Indian Peaks Wilderness. I didn't really know where to go, but I'd never been to Long Lake so I figured I'd try that. Although I had to park a mile or so from the trail head, I wasn't complaining because I figured the extra mileage would be nice. The run from the trail head to Lake Isabelle was fairly uneventful. The only notable aspect was that there were a lot of people with lots of kids. After the Lake Isabelle/Pawnee Pass trail split there were much less people/kids, which made for a much nicer jog. 3/4's of the way up, some clouds and nasty weather rolled in. After talking with several people who had turned back after getting above tree line, I decided that I'd keep going, and I am glad that I did. The weather looked threatening all the way to the top of the pass, but it didn't do anything more than look threatening. The trail was rocky, but the grade was gentle, which made the trail very runnable. I got to the top of the pass and wanted to go farther but didn't necessarily want to head down to Crater Lake. I hiked to the top of Pawnee Peak - another 500 ft of climbing and an incredible view of Crater Lake - ate some food and then headed down.

Every time I get up to the Indian Peaks I wonder why I don't go up there more often. I decided that I should try to make a loop out of that run: up Pawnee, down to Crater, up Buchanan Pass... Clearly, I'd need to work on the logistics.

Sunday - 7/11
Day off. Went to Denver to see the final of the world cup. The game was boring, so I was glad that we brought a lot of beer with us.

Reflection: It was a fairly solid week. I enjoyed running Green and didn't feel like I was really pushing it, which is nice. I think that my Skunk/Mallory run has been getting me in fairly good shape, which is always nice. It was great to get up to the high country over the weekend: I should remember to do that more often since it doesn't take too long to get there and the trails are incredible.