February Summary

208 Miles, 6.2 Vertical Miles

The Breakdown:
Trail (5 runs) 95 miles, 3.58 vertical, 20.4 hours
Road (7) 64 miles, 0.24 vertical
Treadmill (6) 31 miles, 2.33 vertical
Track (3) 18 miles
Strength Training (11)
Rest Days (7)
Longest Run 30.8 miles, 5.7 hours
Most Vertical 5059 feet

Pretty steady continuation from January's 221 miles and 6.5 vertical miles with a very similar breakdown.  Hopefully, I can keep this pace through March and then bump up the trail time a little come April and May leading up to Black Hills.

Outlaw 50K

I had done 50K's in December and January, so I thought I should try to knock out a 50K today to get one in for February.  Not real challenging with the climbing today along the Blue Sky trails.  I find it a nice test of the fitness, however, to do some big miles without any major climbs so I have no excuses for not running every step.  I was pretty happy with the result.  Most of the snow from Friday was already gone and I was surprised at how much of the trail along Blue Sky had already dried out.  The worst mud came late morning back toward Coyote Ridge.

So it turns out that heading out from a trailhead at 4:30 in the morning in the middle of the Winter seems abnormal to some, like with the local law enforcement.  After being temporarily detained by the sheriff, I got headed out from the Coyote Ridge Trailhead a little later than planned.  I just had to make up the lost time by running a little harder on what I will call the "Outlaw 50K".

Todays Course:
Coyote Ridge TH - Devil's Backbone TH - Soderberg TH - Coyote Ridge TH
30.84 miles, 3715 feet climbed, GPS data here

Foothills Trail and Reservoir Ridge

Got out this afternoon for a good moderate effort on the trails.  All clear and dry along the Foothills Trail and around Reservoir Ridge.  I am hoping for more of these faster paced, shorter trail runs to mix in with my usual long trail slogs on the weekend.  Just about the same distance as my Greyrock "run" the other day but with only half the climbing.

Today's run:
12.99 miles, 2154 feet climbed, GPS data here
Start/Finish at Maxwell Natural Area Trailhead.

Greyrock

Almost a little embarrasing to admit that I had never climbed Greyrock until yesterday.  I guess with only 6 miles of total trails and being one of the more popular trails around, I never considered it worth the short drive up the Poudre Canyon.  Boy, was I wrong.  Pete reported some nice trail conditions last week as he was officially kicking off his Hardrock training.  He also has a nice trail description here.  With 2 routes to the top, the run (hike) can be done in a looping fashion covering 7.5 miles with over 2500 feet of vertical.  Yes, I believe this is the best place right now (unless you're snowshoeing) to get some serious vertical.  I did a double loop, reversing directions for the 2nd loop.  I also had to skip the summit on the 2nd loop since I was short on time, so I was just short of an official Greyrock 2-pack.  There is talk of a Greyrock 6-pack attempt coming this Spring.  Yeah, we are talking 45 miles with over 15,000 feet of vertical.  I plan to get back for a legit 2-pack, or maybe 3-pack very soon.  Trail conditions on these predominantly south-facing slopes are just about perfect right now, as long as you don't mind rocky, rugged, and steep.  I also didn't see another person until I finished and 2 hikers were just heading out from the trailhead.

A big shout out to America's top trail running town for showing up big at the Moab races this weekend.  If we can claim temporary resident and race winner Dakota Jones, then Fort Collins trail runners took 4 of the top 9 in the 55K.  Great job everyone and I hope you all got home safe over the stormy passes.

Great stuff in Boulder Friday night at the "Running Wild" benefit for CEES.  It was great to hear the first-hand adventures of running in the Copper Canyons with the Tarahumara from "Born to Run" author Christopher McDougall and ultra-running legend Scott Jurek.  Anton Krupicka also gave a nice talk, and I really enjoyed meeting and chatting with Luis Escobar whose photography is just spectacular.  His photo credits include the cover of "Born to Run".  It turns out that he is a pretty accomplished ultra runner himself.  Good luck at Badwater this year Luis!

Greyrock run stats:
13.3 miles with 4226 feet of climbing (GPS data here)

Sunrise viewed from just below Greyrock summit.

Another view from the summit.

Some typical trail climbing toward Greyrock.

Distances are a little short in the description, but you get the picture.

5K20

5000 feet of climbing and 20 miles was the goal for today.  It's really not hard to get that kind of climbing if you want it in the Horsetooth hills.  I added another summit of Horsetooth Rock and Arthurs Rock on a pleasantly mild morning.  A nice change from the 20 below zero temps last week.  Trails are a little slick, but I got by without any extra traction.  After getting denied for Hardrock, I've added the Black Hills 100 to the 2011 schedule.  Should be a beautiful run along the Centennial Trail of South Dakota.

Today's course:
Southridge/Audra Culver/Horsetooth Rock (with Summit)/Soderberg/Spring Creek/Wathen/Westridge/Mill Creek/Howard/Arthurs Rock (with Summit)/Valley/Sawmill/Stout/Spring Creek/Horsetooth Falls

21.06 miles and 5059 feet of climbing (GPS data here)



Pikes Peak a bump on the horizon over 100 miles away from the backside of Horsetooth Rock.



Westridge Trail.

Maybe Next Year

I didn't even make the first 100 on the waiting list, so no Hardrock for me this year.  I will try again next year with an additional ticket to double my chances.  I've got some ideas for Plan B and will decide soon on when and where I plan to cover 100 miles of trail this summer.

Fast times as expected at Rocky Raccoon on Saturday.  But a 12:44?  Are you kidding me?  That is fast no matter where you run it.  Nice job Ian Sharman.  It looks like he could be in the mix at Western States this year.

Today's run in some fresh snow around Horsetooth and Lory Parks:
16.45 miles, 3769 feet climbed (GPS data here)

Swan Johnson/Shoreline/Valley/Arthurs Rock/Overlook/Well Gulch/Timber/Westridge/Howard/Mill Creek/Spring Creek/Herrington/Towers/Swan Johnson
Start/Finish at Soderberg Trailhead

Spring Creek Trail

January Summary

221 Miles, 6.4 Vertical Miles

The breakdown:
Trail (6 runs) 117 miles, 4.3 vertical miles, 25 hours
Road (6) 62 miles, 0.2 vertical miles
Treadmill (5) 24.5 miles, 1.9 vertical miles
Track (3) 17.5 miles
Strength Training (12)
Rest Days (11)
Longest run (trail run of course) 32.5 miles, 6999 feet vertical, 7.3 hours

Really happy with the volume and balance of training this month.  I was lacking any short, hard (fast) efforts on the trail (i.e. Horsetooth Rock time trial), but I did get in some intense workouts at the track and on the "mill".  I can see that 100 vertical miles for the year is not going to come easy as I am on pace for about 76 right now.