Week ending October 8th

Oct 2nd: 9 miles, 2000 vert, Shanahan/Table Mesa/Skunk Canyon. I suppose technically I'm running Skunk Canyon and Kohler Mesa. I don't know. All of these terrain features are so small, it's hard to keep track of the names. Rainy, boggy, barely above freezing. It was honestly energizing to get out in the elements and feel my body fight a little to stay warm. It reminds me of running in Seattle over winter.

Oct 3rd: 6 miles, 3000 vert, Bear Peak via Fern Canyon. Saw the mountaintops dusted with snow, decided I needed to get on that. Snow line was at 7000 feet, although the coverage was patchy until just over 8000. The top was somewhat of a mess - rocks in the shadow of trees were iced over by refrozen meltwater, but the snow in the trail was crunchy and grippy. Definitely a hands-and-knees affair coming down the first quarter mile, though. I should have brought spikes.

 Green Mountain from the Bear Mountain summit.

Oct 5th: Off. Somewhat busy work day.

Oct 4th: 12 miles, 3000, Royal(e) Arch. With cheese. This is becoming my favorite mid-week mileage booster. Rolling terrain at the start/end with a steep, angry climb smack in the middle. My focus right now is on technical, steep trails followed by runnable terrain. It's race-specific training for the Blue Sky Marathon, but it's also perfect training for longer races where I need to transition between runnable terrain and steeper ascents/descents.

Oct 6th: 9 miles, 2000 vert, Shanahan/Table Mesa/Skunk Canyon.

Oct 7th: 18 miles, 4500 vert, Green Mountain loop. Up via Shanahan/Mesa/Bear Canyon, down via Ranger/Gregory Canyon, quick jog over to Chautauqua for water, and then up Chautauqua and south on Mesa back home. Looks vaguely like the Blue Sky course with a climb at the start and rolling hills in the second half. In reality, this is more vert than Blue Sky in substantially less mileage. Still, I felt great the entire run. I started a little sleepy and out of it, but by the start of the big climb up Bear Canyon my legs were pretty warmed up. The up-and-over on Green was speedy, and my descent off the backside was definitely my fastest. The Chautauqua, Enchanted Mesa, and Mesa trail climbs were cruisey - I was tired, but I was able to extract a lot of speed out of my legs without feeling "tired". I feel like I'm slowly getting my body back in shape after years of mediocrity. It just needed some hard work.

Oct 8th: Off.

Totals: 54 miles, 14,500 feet of gain.

I signed up for the Blue Sky Marathon, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. Is this a way to kick my training in gear? To give me a benchmark? To get my fifth finish? A resounding yes on all accounts. I remember always falling flat at Blue Sky around the second Indian Summer climb. I guess the question is "who doesn't?", but I'd like to see if I can slam it home this time. Taper time.