20120819 week summary

Monday: tunnels explorations: intended to do a 6 - 7 mile loop but i got turned around and wound up exploring a bit, my legs put or a very lackluster performance today, so i decided to head back cutting the run short. it's time to be smart and let the legs come back around.

Tuesday: running clinic: consisted of form work, stretches, drills, some hill repeats and a couple intervals. i've really lost a bit of speed. perhaps i need to add in some faster efforts and start working a bit on turnover.

Wednesday:  Black mtn Carmel mtn loop: legs started out feeling sluggish, but the pace was decent. once i reach the top of black mountain things got easier and my legs started to turn over a bit better. things seem to be coming around.

Thursday:

Friday: 

Saturday: Leadville 100 - i mean 30, at least for me. the first 4 - 5 miles felt ok, then it was as if someone sucked all the life out of my legs. everything became a huge effort, i was walking short low grade climbs, not pro-actively, but because i really didn't have the energy to run up them. i tried taking in as many calories as i could hoping it would bring things around, but that never happened. by mile 10 i was feeling like i would expect to feel around 80 or 90. by mile 30 i was 10 minutes behind the cutof and my day was over: 7:30ish for 30 miles, that's one huge step backwards. now to figure out what happened.  a full report is forthcoming

Sunday: 

Retrospective: and saturday was a most incredible experience.  i'm not exactly sure what happened, i do know that i had absolutely nothing in the tank after just 5 miles, so i managed to eak out just under a marathon in a little over 6 hours on fumes.  i will be taking some down time to try and figure out what caused the incredible fatigue i experienced.


Summary
Total Time:  9:57
Run Time:    9:57
Other Time:  0
Distance:      43
TSS:             289
Climbing:      4,124'

20120812 week summary

Monday: Sunday: spalding meadows run: i don't recall where we started, but carl and i joined geoff to shuttle the van to the skate cabin and catch up with the group around muir cabin.

the day started out raining. the rest of the group started up while we shuttled the cars around to the finishing point. carl, geoff, and i started up the trail which was an ideal choice for a rainy day as we'd wind up getting soaked in the meadows anyway.

today the entire group was out: karl, donna, damien, scott, andreas, rich, becca, jenny, corle and geoff where joined by glenn, guy, and carlyn.

goeff, karl, and i shuttled the van to where we would end the run then drove glen's car back and made a meager attempt (primarily hampered by karl and myself not being world class mountain runners:) at catching the group.

the trail up to muir cabin started out as dirt and mud turned into a stream and worked its way up until it was planked over a muskeg bog. somewhere along the climb to muir cabin goeff pulled off the trail and i wound up in front followed by goeff and then karl.  karl and geoff chatted for a good bit of the climb before geoff took off to catch the group.  by chatted, i mean karl asked geoff a question about his running (i don't recall the details as i was fully absorbed in the absurd endeavor to not slow goeff down on his climb).  this meant i was all but racing up the trail as best i could listening to goeff answer karl's question, and karl's monosyllabic replies as he tried to continue the conversation.  i was laughing inside, pretty sure that karl was working about as hard as i was (and had entered that i can't speak and am barely able to grunt acknowledgements phase of running) while goeff was happily chatting away.

it just helps me appreciate the level at which one needs to be in order to compete at that level.  very admirable.

the climb was runnable, though at a very slow pace for both karl and myself. we got to muir cabin shortly after the rest of the group and huddled inside to warm up and dry out before embarking on our adventure across the meadow.

we left the cabin and were pretty quickly into the meadow. glenn looked back and saw everyone but geoff when a bit of a smirk crossed his face and he inuired: " let's see how fast that geoff can run, lets go everybody" and took off through a small tree line and into another section of meadows.

these type of shennanigans continued throughout the meadows adventure. at one point we (Glen, Donna, Karl, Rich and myself) ducked down below a ridgeline to hide from the rest of the group, it was time for a new leader in glenn's words.  we were there for a few minutes with Glenn hushing everybody, Donna and Karl were chatting and trying to figure out what we were doing down there while the others were passing us by.

running across the bog was quite the adventure, some of the footing was suprisingly good, like running on a giant foam covering floating on a bed of water. punctuated with pools of water, which make good swimming/hot tubs on warm days.

we did not partake in the pools as it was a bit overcast and chilly. we got to the end of the meadows (some 3 hours into the adventure) and regrouped 1 final time to go over the remainder of the route:

there would be a couple miles of slippery plank covered sections that would turn into some single track trail with logs laid down, then to dirt trails which would grow into double track dirt roads, and finally 1 - 2 miles of pavement which would take us pretty much to the van.

and we were off. everything stayed pretty well together until we got through to the dirt single track then the groups broke up a bit. the trail was pretty well washed out and neglected, we had some pretty good climbing over downed trees and sections of the hillside that had washed out over the trail.

after 3 or 4 of these and a handful of downed trees we were cruising down some fun single track.
before long scott and i were running down the double track together side by side, not talking just enjoying the experience, just a bit faster then was comfortable but not fast enough to be a race.

we traded off pressing the pace a bit throughout and continued like this until we were roughly 1/2 mile from the van, at which point we slowed just enough to make things comfortable. we got back to the van opened it up and grabbed some drinks.

the rest of the group trickled in, everybody was paired: becca and glenn came in, followed by damien and jenny. shortly thereafter donna and rich followed closely by karl and andreas. corle and goeff a little farther back.

another epic run.

Tuesday: Mt jumbo ascent: this was our introduction to juneau steep. the day was supposed to be a recovery day with 1 - 2 hours of running the pretty flat treadwell ditch trail.

the cloud cover lifted and the rain lightened enough that when we got to the meeting point for the run, there was another option: 1/2 of us chose plan b - mt jumbo ascent, the other 1/2 joined the geezers along the treadwell ditch trail.

damien, scott, becca, carl, and myself joined geoff and john for the climb up mt jumbo while rich, andreas, and donna went with glenn, klaus, guy, and some of the other geezers on treadwell ditch.

we would all meet up after the run at sandy beach for a picnic style brunch.

we started out with some runnable ascent over planked muskeg swamps and some muddy dirt climbs before we got to the stepe section. as promised very steep covered in wet roots, mud and rocks. we pressed on through this for quit some time before we got above treeline.

we looked back down to juneau and over at the ridges which we were hoping to get an opportunity to run later in the week. then we continued the ascent, crossed a handfull of snow fields and some mountain goat climbing. a completely different experince. once we were at the top we sat for a bit and enjoyed the views.

we started down and were greeted by geoff, he was looking for becca and scott, who had apparently taken a spur trail that wasn't really a trail. the 3 of us headed down so geoff and/or john could look for becca and scott. we ran into damien shortly thereafter followed soon by becca an scott. carl had turned around to head back to the brunch.

john went down to make sure carl made it back, geoff, becca, scott, damien and i continued back up to mt jumbo peak, enjoyed the views for a bit and started back down.

becca and scott made the descent look easy and were soon well out of sight. damien took a little longer to dissappear form sight, but did before we entered back into treeline.

geoff stayed back with me as i nervously picked my way through the descent. there is a lot of room for improvement in my ability to do technical descents especially when there is water, rocks and wet mud involved.

geoff would pick his way down and wait periodically, exchanging texts with the group at the bottom letting them know when to expect who in what order roughly.

It took me about the same time to descend from the peak as it took me to climb. definitely room to improve on the more technical descents.

Wednesday: Juneau Ridge loop: we (damien, carl, donna, rich, scott, andreas, becca, geoff, corle)met up with several locals (guy, rosie, dan, brian, john and glenn) for what would prove to be the most diverse and epic runs of the camp. which is saying a lot as we've had some great excurions over the last 3 days.

epic run. legs definitely a bit haggard from the past 3 days, of climbing (including yesterday's "recovery" day / climb up mt jumbo). we all started out together on perseverance trail. after ~ 1 mile we began the direct ascent of juneau peak and 1/2 the group continued on perseverance through to granite ridge.

those of use that went towards juneau peak were hoping the weather would hold and we'd get to do the ridge and connect up with granite ridge.

the climb up had some pretty good ascents and goat paths. Carl and Donna turned around before the peak and enjoyed some of the spur trails off perseverance. shortly after that, dan, brian and rosie turned down as well (they had some prior commitments).

those of us that continued enjoyed lots of hiking and slow running up to the peak. some very interesting stream crossing and traversals punctuated by seveal sections of scrambling on all 4s (at least for me). and then the peak.

once over the peak we regrouped. then carried on with some slow going jogging and incredible views. as we came into view of the snow fields, we were greeted by the other half of the camp (they came up through granite.

some of use followed the snowpack down for the rendevous while the rest of use picked our way down the dirt path into the snowfield to meet up and form nearly the full group again.

we regrouped exchanged some stories and all enjoyed the good fortune that allowed us to pass over the ridge and meet up for a group trek back down the snow fields and granite ridge into perseverance.

down into the snowfield. the hard pack made for a bit more challenging descent, somewhere between sliding down on foot, careening semi out of control on my bottom, and the occassional jog down on my feet.

we regrouped 2 times or so, and each of the locals paired up with 1 or 2 of us guests to ensure safe passage, impart a little local knowledge and share in the enjoyment.

the descent was fun, a bit slow for myself, as i'm still getting comfortable with the footing and coordination required to descend these types of trails.

i cautiously picked my way through the rocky, wet, muddy, icy and snow mixture gaining confidence, and wound up a little over confident on a planked section that saw my feet come out form under me and a good solid landing on my left hip and right hand.

i got up dusted off a bit and was back on the way, a bit more cautious and no worse for the wear other then a little soreness from the landing.

just before the trial opened up Geoff had turned back to check on us and I was fortunate enough to run the remainder 3ish miles down to the van with him. we spoke briefly early on, and then fell into silence as he glided over the course and i did what i could to enjoy the descent.

with 1 - 1.5 miles left i had a strange pain shoot through my left foot. this would come and go as we continued so i slowed my pace a bit, and geof continued to match my pace.

the pains continued periodically until we got to the van. scott and becca where already there, and damien was right behind us, followed shortly behind by john and andreas. not 5 minutes later rich, glen, and corle finished up.

the day turned out pretty well, we went from a shot at juneau ridge trail that wasn't likely to a full crossing of the ridge trail with some incredile views, to meeting up with the rest of the group and enjoying the trek down granite ridge and perseverance trail.

Thursday:  Herbert River trail: a good run with some higher efforts enjoying the opportunity to stretch the legs and let things go a bit.  karl and donna did just that.  we were running for a little when glenn decided he needed to take a break for some reason or other.  donna, rich, karl and i ran together for a bit.

after a little while Glenn came riding by on an old rusted up bike he had apparently stashed in the weeds along the trail.

after a little bit, karl and i pulled away from the group for a bit.  damien and john caught up to us a little before we reached the glacier.  today was a nice reprieve from the climbing earlier in the week.

Friday: Black mtn Carmel mtn Loop: legs definitely feel the weeks climbing efforts. i feel a bit sluggish and the legs are heavy. just took it easy, never pushed the pace as it would have been a futile effort.

Saturday: 

Sunday: 

Retrospective:  an incredible week of running in alaska with a great group of people.  damien managed to capture some breathtaking shots (also available grouped by map locales).  I was welcomed back to reality with the Chula Vista Challenge race prep.  so lots of helping out set up the course and trying to make sure things go just so for the athletes.

Summary
Total Time:  14:33
Run Time:    14:33
Other Time:  0
Distance:      51.5
TSS:             365
Climbing:      13,461'

20120805 Week summary

Monday: 

Tuesday: pre-rehab run:  i was running a bit behind schedule so the pace was pressed slightly, though my legs didn't really turn over very well.

post rehab run: the lethargy continues, though the route is slightly uphill, i'm still not running how i'd hoped to be at this point in my training. i'm really going to need to give some serious thought to recovery and diet changes.

Wednesday: bryce canyon - sunset rim trail to horse loop and some others: an easy start over relatively flat very nice trails.
Sara and I stopped and enjoyed some of the views before dropping down into the canyon. my legs were feeling a bit tired but the scenery was making it all worth while. i did pretty well on the descents and had some slowness on the flats and climbs.
though i managed to run the entire climb back out of the canyon (some 700 - 800 ft of gain). my legs were better then they were at noble canyon, but still far from peppy.
we took it easy for the mile or so back to the camp site. an unspectacular day of running filled with incredible views.

Thursday: 3/4 hope pass ascent from twin lakes. my legs had very little in them today, sara, izzy, and i started out very slowly, i walked a good bit of the 2 mile lead up to the climb. when we got to the base of the climb i tried to muster a bit of a run, but nothing really came of it, so it was going to be a hiking day. we continued up for close to 1 hour before sara and izzy turned around.
i continued up, contemplating reaching the top.it soon started raining, my tired legs and desire to avoid being caught out in any kind of bad weather hastened my turn around, and i slowly picked my way down the path trying to avoid the rocks and other uneven or slippery surfaces. i soon caught back up with izzy and sara.  we ran together for a little bit then i went ahead and waited at the first stream crossing.  the water was cold and a little over knee deep. we again separated on the other side of the crossing, i wound up taking a different trail and chasing after a snake for a bit before heading back towards twin lakes. the lethargy in my legs continued and i slowly made my way back to the car, arriving a little after sara and izzy.
good company and good scenery to offset the poor showing by my legs.

Friday:  travel to Juneau for Alaska Mountain Ultrarunning Camp hosted by Goeff Roes

Saturday: 

Sunday: glacier loop with nugget creek trail spur: the day started out pretty clear but the cloud cover rolled in, relegating us to an easier introduction to juneau running then the juneau ridge route.
we parked at the skate cabin and were greeted by john and gina.

Goeff and John discussed the plan and off we went. the weather was a little chilly and damp, and within 20 minuites we were running through the shores of lake mendenhall were it had overrun the path due to high rains and snow levels.
the trail continued on flat and fun through some forests for another 10 - 15 minutes. when we came across a crowd of tourists. they were gathered looking at a treed bear cub. so we took a break and each took turns oggling the bear cub, then were on our way again.
the trail turned up and we were making our way through some muddy rooted rocky climbs with john telling us about how much the glacier had receded in the past several years. and other stories.
we stopped 2 or 3 times to enjoy some incredible views of the glacier, the ice floats in the lake, a small lean too that was weathered and falling apart, and a spectacular if not precarious view of a nugget creek waterfall at the turnaround.
we then proceeded to retrace our steps back to the glacier loop trail and back to the van, where we soaked in the icy lake for a little and ate our sandwiches and drinks while recounting the stories of who had fallen and how different the running is from anything any of us had done before.


Retrospective:  an incredible week of running, i started out in southern california, worked my way up to colorado, stopping in utah, and finished off in Juneau.  I couldn't think of a more disparate week from beginning to end.  each stop along the way proved to be incredibly scenic and fun, despite the fact that i've had some pretty sluggish days, my legs seem to be coming around.  i'm still tired, but feeling a little less sluggish.  i'm really looking forward to the next 4 days exploring the trails in Juneau.

I'm really enjoying the group dynamics, everybody is pretty humble yet talented in their own right.  it's fun to see how each persons strengths play out during the runs.  Donna and Rich shine on the groomed trails and stretches of roads, Scott and Damien seem to have a good go on the technical descents as well as being pretty strong climbers, becca gets stronger as the trails get more technical, Karl did well on moderate trails with some light climbing, andreas is very persistent and entertaining in a german/austrian way - things he says that shouldn't really be funny are for some reason.  i still haven't figured out why, but they definitely are.  I'm not sure what Jenny's strengths were, as she only ran 1 day due to some lingering issues.  She has a very strong personality and seems like one to be incredibly persistent.  Corle is full of emotion and incredibly good at pointing out the positives.  Goeff is an intersting mix of quiet reserved and incredibly talented and interested in sharing his love for running.

a very fun group to spend the week with and we all seem to be getting along magically.


Summary
Total Time:  8:06
Run Time:    8:06
Other Time:  0
Distance:      33
TSS:             235
Climbing:      6,785'