I've lived in the Springs for eight years now. I'd like to think I hit trails more than the average bear. What I find so damn cool about this town is that I'm STILL finding new routes.
Today was meant to just be time on my feet, a good hour and a half or so. At first, I figured I'd drop down into Bear Creek Park, maybe go up Gold Camp Rd and see how I felt from there. As I began the gradual climb of Gold Camp, I couldn't help but notice a faint trail that I'd passed many times before. This time, I decided to see where it went.
Up. It went straight up.
Of course, I was too stubborn to turn around as it led me further and further away from the road. The trail, already weak, petered out to nothing. By this time, though, I had almost made the ridge of whatever incline I was ascending. I naturally had to see what was on top. So I continued over bushes, through yuccas, and around deadfall, collecting a fair share of battle marks while at it. My run had long since slowed to a trudge, but that's not to say I wasn't working. Finally, I gained a vantage on the ridge.
From the top of the ridge, I actually connected with a deer trail as it led me south. I called upon the GPS between my shoulders and realized Captain Jack's must be somewhere over....well, over THAT way a bit. I just had to get there. What surprised me was the depth of the valley that sat between me and my destination! And of course, no trail. Good times - a drop and a rise and a few wrong turns later found me somewhere on the middle of Jack's! With all the moisture we've gotten lately, the singletrack was tacky as hell.
Today's run was hardly of epic proportions, but it was fun to finally figure out where that trail goes. 10 miles, 2,100'. That's actually about the same gain as the race Saturday.
Who in their right mind comes up with this kind of crap?
A few months ago, I took ideas from a few of my friends and began to put together an "event" that would get some people to show. (I'm good for about one of these annually) Peter Maksimow had turned 32 a few months ago and did a 32-miler that day just for kicks. Brooks had run the 35 miles from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek unsupported a couple of times. I realized that A)I was turning 36 and B)I needed to get at least one meaty run in before Collegiate Peaks. Why not see if I could talk a few people into joining me for the trek across the south side of Pikes?
The logistics were fluid to say the least. In the two months leading up to the event, many people were in and out of the picture. A couple of guys committed to running the whole thing. Many others chose to run it as a relay, run just a portion, ride a bike, provide sag support to everyone, or just wait for the crew to show up in Cripple Creek. Some folks were staying overnight in Cripple Creek, others opted to take the Ramblin' Express shuttle back to the Springs. Needless to say, trying to figure out just who was going to be where was a challenge.
Ready to run
When all the smoke had cleared, we had a group of about 12 or so looking to at least start the run on a crisp and beautiful morning. From the Upper Gold Camp Rd./Helen Hunt parking lot at 7,500', we set off together in a 10:00 mile before settling into a couple of groups. We stayed in these groups for the majority of the day - in mine were Peter, Branden Stepanowich, and Paul Doyle. All four of us have 50-milers on the not-so-far-off horizon. I was a little nicked up, as my left hip/IT band had been kind of tender all week. I had concerns that the birthday boy might have to pull out of his own shenanigans prematurely.
The first eight miles climbed 1,500' on the closed portion of Gold Camp Rd., and they featured many tunnels and views of Colorado Springs down below. Unfortunately, running this stretch was like running on a beach - sand, gravel, and generally sloggy footing. We met our sag vehicle at mile 8.5, where Gold Camp intersects Old Stage Rd. and opens up to car traffic again. A quick refuel and we were off again. To this point, my hip problems seemed fine - a little soreness, but nothing debilitating.
Patrick, Peter, Sean, Branden, Paul. "9 miles down"
As the miles clicked away, we alternated between chatting and retreating into our own little worlds. As one would expect, the further in we got, the more withdrawn we became. Once we hit our first view of the Rosemount Reservoir at mile 14, we had reached just short of 10,000'. We stayed within a few hundred feet of 10k for the remainder of the day.
One of many tunnels
Gold Camp solitude?
A little lack of communication with our Taylor, our sag driver (I failed to tell him that he was to take care of ALL the runners, not just the back pack) left us without extra clothes, food, or water from miles 9 to 22. These miles were precisely where a brisk headwind met us. Paul and I had stripped down to short sleeves when we last saw the sag. At first, we weren't concerned as we figured Taylor would catch up to us any minute. One minute turned into ten, then sixty. Finally, another sag vehicle topped us all off. We also gained two more part-time runners - Darin and Sandu. We began to open up the pace a little bit from miles 10 to 25, averaging a shade under 8:00's for this stretch. The pace was a tad more brisk than I had hoped for, but save my hip I felt comfortable. It began to throb periodically during this stretch, and I began to wonder again if I was going to suffer a DNF.
At mile 24, Brooks and Amanda joined us. They had parked in Cripple Creek and run backwards to catch us. They were just in time to witness the first casualty of the lead pack. My hip had been tightening up with more and more frequency, and just after they joined us, I looked up to find myself a minute behind the others. After downing some calories and sandbagging a couple of 9:30 miles, I got back into a groove. Brooks and Amanda stayed with me for the remainder of the run, and I was thankful for the company.
By now, I had begun to chunk up the remainder of the run into doable portions. My focus moved to just reaching the first pavement of the day at mile 30. This signified a new long for me. The thought of every subsequent step taking me further into the unknown blew a little bit of wind back into my sails, but needless to say I was still experiencing more downs than ups at this point.
The last six miles were broken up in my head in this way - 1.5 miles of pavement, 2.5 miles of climbing on a dirt road, and 2 very steep downhill miles into town.
The paved mile and a half marked my low point of the day. Thoughts of the various methods of inflicting death upon myself went through my head. I'm pretty sure theyallweremoreappealing than continuing in the ragged state I was in. The pain that I had once felt in my hip I swear had spread to my entire body.
Once we turned back onto dirt and began climbing again, I caught a glimpse of Branden ahead of me...it was then that I quit having a pity party and went to catch up to him. His wheels had fallen off not too much after mine, but our little reunion gave us enough juice to top out at mile 34 realizing we were going to finish this madness. All that remained was, according to Brooks, a "nice little jog" into town. Losing 1,000' vertical. In just under two miles. On twisty, uneven pavement with no shoulder. Ugh. Sweet relief when we hit the city limits!
Run distance: 36.0 miles
Gain: 3,560'
Time: 5h20min
This was a great experience on many levels. First, bringing over 30 people together for something like this was neat. Never thought I'd find like-minded souls that actually find running for hours on end to be fun. Second, I finally am familiar with the ultra "death" feeling. I had averted it in my 30-miler last month, but now I know it's real and that I won't actually die. How encouraging. The celebration afterward was comical, as well...
Runners(full): Paul, Peter, Sean, Branden, Steve, Julian, Yeti
Runners(part): Patrick, Jane, Andrea, Deirdre, Darin, Sandu, Brooks, Amanda, Sarah, Deb
Bikers: Patrick, Beth, Marc, Brandon
Support vehicle: Taylor
Moral support: Brian, Christoph, Wes, Chris, Josh, Katie, Matt, Randi, Nora
New first for me: back-to-back days of 2+ hours. With yesterday's effort, today's run put me over 30 miles for the weekend. Brooks and I agreed yesterday to go to Gold Camp for a good climbing run on trails, albeit at an easy effort. This was the standard 'accountability trick' - with both of us committing to each other, we would be less likely to bail.
Captain Jack's/Buckhorn from Gold Camp Elem.
What a beautiful morning! It took us a while to get into the flow. Brooks, a lifetime COS resident who has been known to run a few trail miles, had never been on Chamberlain, The Chutes, or Captain Jack's. We found ourselves grinding up from 6,300' to 8,300' during the first six miles, then ambled back down Gold Camp Rd.
Ran into mountain stud Tommy Manning high on Captain Jack's. Kinda cool how the higher and deeper you get into the mountains, the Tommy Mannings are more and more likely to be the only types you run into.
Sneaked in another 6 miles on Sunday night with Brooks and Christoph. Put me up over 70 for the first time in 13.
Definitely a strong week - the consistency and quality of training I've had this year are new. Two challenges await for next week: 2 x 4 miles FAST (for me, anyway), and a run to Cripple Creek on Sunday.
Took yesterday off to spend some time with Cale. After Saturday's race, it would have been a little better for my legs to have shaken them out, but it is what it is.
Saturday was just one race, but it does give me hope that I'm on the right track this season - that I've cleared a hurdle, maybe broken out of a plateau. I would hope so, as I've prepared differently these past few months. One of the biggest changes I've made has been in my diet. More on that in the future, but I've got to think it's had a major impact in my performance.
Five miles uphill from school this afternoon - two miles through Chamberlain to Gold Camp Rd, then three more on the dirt till just past the Helen Hunt parking lot. Definitely had some post-race legs - I was 93 minutes with a 139 HR this time around. Last time I ran it back in late Feb, I was 3 minutes faster with the same HR. Not a surprise there. I'm hopeful that another day of recovery will get me ready for some hill work tomorrow.
Of course, I was too stubborn to turn around as it led me further and further away from the road. The trail, already weak, petered out to nothing. By this time, though, I had almost made the ridge of whatever incline I was ascending. I naturally had to see what was on top. So I continued over bushes, through yuccas, and around deadfall, collecting a fair share of battle marks while at it. My run had long since slowed to a trudge, but that's not to say I wasn't working. Finally, I gained a vantage on the ridge.
