Winter Finally Came
Winter finally visited the Colorado Springs area this past weekend. Luckily I got in a decent long run before it fully engulfed the area. On Thursday I decided to check out a trail/dirt road just on the edge of the Air Force Academy that I had never before run. I left my house and headed north on the Santa Fe Trail for a few miles (5 maybe) until I reached the gate into the AFA. I then took a left (west) over the railroad tracks and followed a dirt road over a long climb in the foothills. The road followed the north edge of the Peregrine neighborhood. My goal was to connect to the Blodgett Open Space and maybe throw in a quick summit of Blodgett Peak before heading back towards home. But, by the time I reached the Blodgett area, the weather started rolling in over the mountains and light snow flurries began. Instead, I'd just find the Blodgett water tower and head down the trail to Woodmen road. The problem was that there were no trails (at least none that I could find, visually, or on my phone) that connected the trail I was currently on to the Blodgett Open Space. I had to bushwhack through thick scrub oak for about a mile. That was neither fun nor fast. But, eventually, I linked up with the Blodgett area and made my way down to Woodmen Road. I ran down the road (snow still falling and temperatures dropping rapidly) to Ute Valley park. I ran through the park from the far northwest corner to the farthest southeast corner where I crossed under I-25 and linked back up with the Santa Fe Trail and headed home. I made it back just before the snow really started falling. Total distance was 18.22 miles at an average pace of 12:49 min/mile (the scrub oak didn't help my pace at all).
Winter Series Race III
The third race of the Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Series took place on Saturday. At race start the temperature was about 12 degrees and the wind and snow were brutal. I'm pretty dedicated when it comes to running in adverse weather but had it not been for the series I definitely would have skipped running that day. There were multiple accidents along I-25 on the way to the race start at Baptist road. My cousin Ian and I put on pretty much every piece of running clothing that we had and braved the elements. Upon picking up our race numbers we were informed that the long race was shortened from 10 miles to 5 miles due to the weather. I was both happy and disappointed at the same time. The race itself was pretty uneventful. My time was terribly slow (44:32) but I was expecting that with the cold and the snow on the trail. After finishing I was ecstatic that the race had been shortened. 10 miles would have been absolutely miserable in that weather. I'm looking forward to race four coming up in two weeks.
18.22 miler
Finishing the Winter Series III Race
After the race.
Loving the Mild Winter So Far
Mild Winter
For those of you that live in Colorado you know that we've been having an unusually mild winter so far (before yesterday when it snowed for 24 hours straight). Normally I have an extremely difficult time keeping up with my running throughout the winter for no reason other than I hate running when it's below freezing. Due to our mild winter, I have yet to skip a run this winter due to temperatures and I'm definitely noticing the rewards. I feel like I'm in the best running shape of my life right now which is a huge contrast to how I typically feel during the winter months. Usually I struggle through the colder months entering spring in pretty bad shape which forces me to train even harder in the spring to prepare for summer races. Hopefully I can keep up with the progress I've been making so far and enter springtime in amazing shape ready to attack the race season.
Leadville
I finally bit the bullet and registered for Leadville (just before registration closed due to the race filling up). I'm excited to get back up into the Leadville area in the spring and starting hitting the trails. My goal is a sub-25 hour finish this year.
Marathon
Pikes Peak from the top of Pulpit Rock
Last week I put in a 26.25 mile training run to get a gauge of my current fitness level. While my time wasn't blazingly fast (I wasn't expecting it to be), I was still very pleased with the results. I finished in 4:58 which is only 18 minutes slower than my fastest official marathon time (which was, and probably will be, the only road marathon I ever run) and I started this run with a hike to the top of Pulpit Rock and I stopped into REI to pick up some gels along the way. I was happy with my time but even happier with my legs--they didn't really get very sore at all after the run. My feet hurt a little bit but that was pretty much it. My legs are definitely getting stronger...
Winter Race Series
I've been running the Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Race Series just to have some shorter races to look forward to and keep me running this winter. The first race was in Cheyenne Mountain State Park (which I had never before been to). It was only 7 miles but there was much more elevation change than I was expecting. Nothing crazy like climbing Hope Pass or Pikes Peak or anything but just little, never-ending ups and downs. On top of that the trails we're snow-packed and icy in many spots. My feet and ankles were sore by the end of the race from dealing with the snow and mud ruts the entire way. But, overall, I had a fun time and finished in exactly 1 hour. The second race of the 4 race series was this past weekend and it was 8 miles. I had done the 26.25 mile training run just 3 days before the race so I wasn't sure how fast I would be able to go. I figured I'd just go out and take it easy. It was below 30 degrees at the stat which didn't make me very happy but it was actually warmer than last time I ran the shorter version of the race two years ago. This race is pretty much flat the entire way on smooth trails and sidewalks. I ended up finishing in 1:03:45 (7:52 pace) which was much much faster than I expected. And, I think that might be the fastest pace I've had for any race longer than a 5k which I was happy with. After two races, of the four race series, I'm currently in 8th place in my age group with no real chance of finishing in the top 3 but I'm having fun along the way.
Finishing the 8 mile race
Getting back in a routine
Trail Near the House
Well, it's been a while since my last post about finishing the Leadville 100. I took some time off from running after the race (not 'off' but definitely tuned down compared to my usual mileage). It really took a lot longer to recover from the race than I thought it was going to. My legs/ankles/knees/feet hurt during all my runs for a good month afterwards. I was in good enough shape to finish a 100 miler but not in good enough shape to recover quickly after finishing.
But, now I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. It's funny, whenever I take some time away from real running I start to forget how much it means to me. Then, when I start doing higher mileage runs again, it all comes back to me, "Oh yeah, this is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!". I love getting out of the city and just spending time on the trail.
I've started to look ahead and loosely plan my running schedule for next year.
I'm hoping to take part in the informal Ponderous Posterior 50K in January (though I won't be very prepared, but that's never stopped me before).
I'm looking into potentially attempting the White Rim In A Day adventure that a few other ultra-runners have done in the past. For those of you that don't know, the White Rim Trail is a 100 mile dirt road that snakes through Canyonlands Park outside of Moab, UT. I mountain biked it in 3 days about 6 years ago and I've been itching to do the whole thing again ever since (run this time, not bike). Stay tuned for updates on that adventure as I get further ahead on planning/seeing if I can make it work. I'm shooting for the end of March (2012).
If I can't make the White Rim trip work then I'll find a 50K race to fill the Feb./March timeframe.
Next, I'd like to do either the Collegiate Peaks 50 miler on May 5th (I attempted this race two years ago but wasn't prepared for the distance and had to settle for a 25 mile finish time) or the Greenland Trails 50K on April 28th (I did the 8 mile version last year and loved it). After that I'd love to do the Sage Burner 50k in Gunnison. I did the race two years ago and it was pretty awesome--it totally killed me. But, I the website doesn't seem to be up right now so I can't find the specific dates.
I'd love to do Leadville again but I'm having trouble pulling the trigger on the $290 registration fee right now. Soon...we'll see.
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Training Week: 6/20-6/26; Roughly 61 miles
- Monday 6/20: Off
- Tuesday 6/21: 4.42 miles. Sunrise run in Palmer Park.
- Wednesday 6/22: 6.61 miles. Afternoon loop around Palmer Park.
- Thursday 6/23: 23.87 miles. Summit of Pikes Peak. This day was awesome. The weather was perfect the entire way. This was the first time I've ever been on the summit of Pikes Peak and not needed a jacket. I spent a lot of time stopping to take pictures. Overall great day (and one of the only times I've done Barr Trail without injuring myself; knock on wood)
- Friday 6/24: Off
- Saturday 6/25: 26.39 miles. In Leadville - Twin Lakes to May Queen. This was my first time back in Leadville since last year's DNF. It felt awesome to be back in the area. My wife and I left Colorado Springs early in the morning and arrived in Twin Lakes around 8:30am. She crewed for me the whole time, waiting at all the aid stations (except for Half Moon; but, luckily, there was a porta potty waiting for me at Half Moon that was much needed). The course was still marked from the training camp I assume so it was nice to be able to follow the pink and black streamers just like on race day. Considering this was my first real run at altitude I was happy with my progress until I hit Powerline. I had totally forgotten how much of a climb Powerline inbound was. It sapped all of my energy completely. I struggled for a while before finally making the summit of Sugarloaf and heading down. There were some drifts still across the road on the north side but all of them were perfectly passable (and had well worn tracks from the training camp). I joined my wife in May Queen and we sat on the shores of (a pretty low) Turquoise Lake while I cooled my legs in the water. This run gave me a boost of confidence considering doing this run at this time last year would have completely destroyed my legs and put me out of commission for a few days. I felt pretty much fine afterwards and definitely could have kept going. Based on what we saw from below, there's still quite a bit of snow on the north side of Hope Pass. I understand the training camp only climbed the south side. Hopefully it clears up soon.
- Sunday 6/26: Off
Total miles for the week were 61.29. I had originally planned on doing the Leadville marathon next weekend because I loved doing the race last year; but, the $100 registration fee was just too much to swallow. Instead, I'm going to head up to Leadville on Friday (7/1) night and make an attempt at the entire outbound 50 miles on Saturday (7/2). We'll see how the snow on Hope Pass looks; I may only make it to Twin Lakes.
Update on the Montrail Rogue Racers: I've been using these as my primary running shoe since I got them and haven't had any issues with them. I read one story online where someone's pair fell apart after 100 miles. I have well over that on my pair now and they're holding up fine. I'll keep updating as the miles add up. If no issues arise then they'll be my shoes on race day.
Taken at sunrise in Palmer Park
Taken from above tree line on Barr Trail
Turquoise Lake
My wife Lindsey soaking up the sun
The scenery is amazing this time of year.
Training Week: 6/13-6/19; roughly 42 miles
- Monday 6/13 - I took this day off to give my legs a little time to recuperate from the Garden of the Gods 10 miler that I ran the day before.
- Tuedsay 6/14 - I received some reports that Barr Trail was passable all the way to the summit of Pikes Peak so I decided to head up. I had originally intended to hike to the summit and then run the entire descent but my legs were still pretty destroyed from the Garden of the Gods 10 miler (they aren't used to running on pavement for that long). I knew pretty soon into the ascent that there would be no running today. I made it to the summit in roughly 4 hours, spent about 45 minutes at the top eating and taking pics, and then began the long descent--it takes so much longer when you aren't running. I expected to be out for between 6-7 hours but since I hiked up and down I made it back to the car in just under 9 hours. Surprisingly I felt pretty good afterwards even though my legs were totally destroyed (in a good way).
- Wednesday 6/15 - I did a short 3 mile run in Palmer Park to flush out the (incredibly sore) legs.
- Thursday 6/16 - Day off. Legs super sore; exactly what they need.
- Friday 6/17 - Had intended to get a 15 miler in but instead I worked late while we had monsoon like rains. I'll run in most weather but the rain and lighting were totally insane.
- Saturday 6/18 - Set out to make up the 15 miler that I missed on Friday but was only able to get in 7.75 miles before the rain returned and I started getting dumped on. Ran north on the Santa Fe trail from the northgate of the Air Force Academy.
- Sunday 6/19 - An early (appx. 6:30am) 8 mile run in Ute Valley Park. The weather was perfect. There was still some cloud cover from the storms the previous night and everything was damp and cool.
Total Weekly miles: 42.16. Embarrassingly this is my highest mileage week since Leadville last year. Oh well, I'm on track now and I'm having a blast running so much again. Hopefully I'll make it up to Leadville this week or next week to get in some mileage.
Summit of Pikes Peak
Still some snow on Barr Trail but all passable
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About Me
My name is Nicholas B. Lee. I'm a husband, entrepreneur, and ultra-runner currently residing in Colorado Springs, CO. This is my running blog...stay tuned
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Recent Posts
- Winter Finally Came
- Loving the Mild Winter So Far
- Getting back in a routine
- Leadville 100 2011 – Race Report
- Leadville 100 2011 – Pre race thoughts
- Training Week: 6/20-6/26; Roughly 61 miles
- 2011 Western States 100 Live Coverage
- Training Week: 6/13-6/19; roughly 42 miles
- GOG 10 Miler
- Mt. Esther Trail Hike/Run