Tuesday: 10 miles, Foothills trail, 1250ft of gain; 6 miles, Foothills trail, 1000ft of gain. Okay, feeling much better after I decided to eat more - imagine that, eating more food gives me more energy!
Wednesday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2000ft of gain; 4 miles, Foothills trail, 750ft of gain. The last run of the day was more like 2 miles out, take cover, and then 2 miles back. I got caught in a pop-up thunderstorm and hunkered down in a ditch for about 10 minutes.
Thursday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2000ft of gain; 4 miles, Foothills trail, 750ft of gain; 8 miles, Towers time trial, 1750ft of gain. Whoah, what a day. I don't know why, but I kept thinking next week was the triple-T, so I did my normal routine for the day - morning and lunch run. I saw Nick's email reminder when I got back and decided to head out later tonight, anyway. Despite the heat I managed to PR again and knock my time down to 29:17. I foresee myself breaking 29 minutes come the cool evenings of fall.
Friday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1000ft of gain. Not surprisingly, today's run was on tired legs. I kept it short and sweet to save myself for tomorrow.
Saturday: 20 miles, 4000ft of gain, Continental Divide in RMNP. Started at Bear Lake, summitted Flattop Mountain and then cruised on down to Haynach Lake. On the way back I tagged Hallet Peak before dropping back down to the trailhead. I kept my head above 10,000ft for almost the entire run - Leadville is coming and the last thing I want is to feel inadequately prepared for the altitude.
Sunday: Off.
Totals:
Mileage: 100 miles
Elevation gain: 17,250ft
Ah yes, the magic 100 mile week. To be honest, this feels so much easier after the past 6 months of training, even though they've been interrupted by the occasional injury or extended post-race recovery (read: Badger Mountain 100).
Monday: 25 miles, 5500ft of gain, Quad Rock 25 course (clockwise). Got up super early to crank this guy out. I felt quite good on the entire run until I hit the climb up Howard trail on the inbound leg. I put my right foot on a boulder and lofted myself up, only to fall to my hands and knees. Feels like I pulled something in my arch area. Iced the bejesus out of it afterward.
Tuesday: Can't walk without pain. I ditched today's training to massage and ice the arch. I don't think I've ever had an acute injury like this from trail running.
Wednesday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2000ft of gain; 4 miles, Foothills trail, 750ft of gain. Well, it feels a bit better and I was able to complete my runs without significant pain or altering my gait. If things keep improving I'll just keep training.
Thursday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2000ft of gain; 14 miles, Foothills trail, 2500ft of gain. I can't tell if it's much better or not, but again, running isn't being hampered.
Friday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2500ft of gain. Added the extra climb by the Laporte dam and cut out the tagging of the big A. Foot feels about the same.
Saturday: 15 miles, Long's Peak Keyhole, 5000ft of gain. 2:25 up and 1:35 down for a roundtrip of ~4 hours. Got held up behind a mass of humanity trying to navigate the Ledges and the Trough. I passed almost all hikers by the time I got to the top - and I started at about 6:30. Lots of strange reactions from folks.
Sunday: Off.
Totals:
Mileage: 90 miles
Elevation gain: 20,250ft
Monster elevation gain this week, especially for the mileage. Long's Peak was great fun and I'm looking forward to heading back sometime.
Long's Peak nestled between Mount Lady Washington on the right and Mount Meeker on the left. To the notch!
Above treeline on the way to Granite Pass.
Scrambling through the boulder field up to the Keyhole.
Looking back along the Narrows. To the left is a nearly-sheer drop.
Another view of the Narrows.
The Palisades from the Homestretch. This is where the Loft route joins the Keyhole route on the final ascent.
Long's Peak summit - flat as a pancake, as large as a football field. And quite lonely when you're one of the first ones up!
Getting ready to bomb down the Trough on the way back. Summit to Keyhole took 25 minutes.
Cruising over the tundra just past Granite Pass.
Wild views up here.
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