March Mileage Madness 2012

It was March Madness FCTR-style.  In other words, let's run a heck of a lot of miles. Like last year, Alex, Ean, and the May family graciously hosted the annual March Mileage Madness run.  Unlike last year, I actually ran this time.  The plan for many of us was to leave the May house bright and early, complete a full circumnavigation of Horsetooth Reservoir, and summit the 2 famous rocks (Horsetooth and Arthurs) along the way.  A 35 plus mile excursion that would be my first complete loop around "The Res".

The warm weather all week has finally got all our trails in prime condition, but thankfully it stayed cool today.  Really couldn't complain except for when the winds picked up in the afternoon.  This created a killer headwind that made the last 5 miles feel like 20.

With people taking off at different times and running various routes, I was able to hook up with lots of different people to run with, making for a very fun day out on the trails.  About 7 and a half hours out there today.  I can probably cut off an hour if I were only to count "moving" time, so really the pace was pretty decent.  The post-run BBQ and beer back at the May's provided more than enough motivation to "get er done".  Most of us found our post-run "slackline" talents to be quite poor, however.  Was it the miles or the beers?

According to my Garmin: 35.5 miles with 5706 feet of vertical.

Here are a few pics from the day.  All of my pics can be seen here.

Nick and Sam leaving Horsetooth Rock.

Pete hitting the summit of Horsetooth.



Nick C leading the charge up Westridge.

Pete, Steph, and Slush cruising down Mill Creek.

The crew atop a blustery Arthurs Rock.

Marie, Brian, and Ean entering Pineridge.

Ean showing us all how it is done on the slackline.

PPM 2012

First official race commitment for 2012.  Pikes Peak, I'll be back!  Hopefully the Ascent will fill quickly so I can resist the urge to "Double" again.  I've got to keep the legs fresh so I can push Kilian to that course record.  At the very least, "Whisper" and I are gonna try to chalk up the top brother/sister team.  Do we get a big rock for that?  Of course, this all hinges on me surviving something in mid-July first.

February Summary

191 miles with 31314 feet of vertical (5.9 miles)

Trail (14 runs) 153 miles, 29445 feet, 34 hours
Track (4) 23 miles, 3 hours
Road (2)  10 miles, 1 hour
Treadmill (1) 5 miles, 1869 feet, 1 hour
Weight Room (12) 7 hours
Rest Days 8

Total hours 46

When I was chest deep in snow trying to break trail at the start of this month, I figured the total numbers might be down a little from January.  Well the trails are finally getting back to "runnable" around here with only some intermittent trudging, slipping, and sliding.  At least I got myself reacquainted to speed work this month, always a good thing.

Resistance Training

Who needs a gym?  Yes, it finally snowed in Fort Collins (and it's still coming down).

Foothills Trail along Horsetooth Reservoir

January Summary

The numbers because I've got them.

232 miles with 49131 feet of vertical (9.3 miles)

Trail (15 runs) 219 miles, 41866 feet vertical, 44 hours
Treadmill (3) 13 miles, 7265 feet vertical, 3 hours
Weightlift (5), 4 hours
Road (0)
Track (0)
Rest Days (13)

51 Total Hours

So I pretty much just ran trails and did nothing else this month.  I'm really okay with that since it is what I like to do most.  I do want to get back to the gym more.  I just don't like that place in January with the New Year's invasion.  It should get back to normal soon.

I've managed (am still managing) to get through a broken toe since New Year's Day.  I also survived another mountain lion encounter.  So I should just feel lucky that I can still lace them up and hit the trail again for at least another morning.

Ponderous Posterior 2012

Believe me, there are many days that I realize how lucky I am to live where I do, and this was certainly one of those days.  I completed the Fat Ass Double for the second straight year on Saturday.  After slogging through my hometown Chubby Cheeks 50K in December, I again made the trip south to the Pikes Peak area for the 2nd annual Ponderous Posterior 50K.  At least this time I wasn't the lone Fort Collins rep as Mike made the trip down with me.  We soon discovered our two local movie stars also awaiting the 8am start wave from JT's house, making us 4 strong this year.

In Hardrock fashion, we ran a clockwise loop this year (counterclockwise last year), and the course took on the nice additions of a Red Mountain summit and a trip up the famous Incline (my first time).  Speaking of Hardrock, and running with so many already in the 2012 race, it was suggested to me that I only needed to break four legs to secure my spot.  Well I felt that wouldn't really be in the spirit of a jovial Fat Ass event, so I am still #4 on the wait list.  Although, I do think Pedatella broke his hand.

We took off at 8am sharp and I was quickly down to my t-shirt on this gorgeous day.  This year we started with a run through Red Rock Canyon before hooking up with the Intemann Trail (where I ran some bonus miles last year).  The rolling singletrack through here made for a nice conversational pace running along with Mike, Eric, and catching up with Bremner and his dog (until the dog took off after a deer).  Ryan and I reminisced the Black Hills 100.  I also recognized several other folks who made it up to Chubby Cheeks.  They were all commenting how our Fort Collins course was much tougher.  Yeah, we had a lot of snow and these conversations took place before the Incline.  Soon (9 miles in) we were making a left turn for our first big climb of the day up Red Mountain.

Ryan, Jeremiah, and Eric approaching the Red Mountain summit.

Mike proudly wearing his early battle wound leaving Red Mountain.

Seeing the lead pack still on Red Mountain when I got there made it obvious that no one was in a hurry on this day.  And why would they be?  It was hard to leave the summit, but the Incline was calling us.

The Incline, at over 2000 feet of climbing in just about 1 mile, was hopping with activity on this summer-like day.  No doubt, this fun run was now turning into a bit of work.  I certainly didn't blaze up it (I think it took me about 35 minutes).  I was able to carry on some Jemez conversation with Steve on the way up, but the legs were burning and felt like jello when I tried to run after reaching the top.

Going up the famous Incline.

Icy for a while.

Looking back down from the top.

No longer an Incline virgin, I slowly got my legs to run again and, after a short section of the familiar Barr Trail, I was looking forward to the well-earned descent of the snowy Longs Ranch Road.  The temperatures were still very comfortable above 9000 feet and I was guessing it would have been a great day to summit Pikes Peak, but I wasn't about to do those bonus miles.

Some nice trail connecting the Incline to Barr Trail with Pikes Peak looming.

Snowy Longs Ranch Road.  Much more fun going down this year.

After having a blast coming down through the snow of Longs Ranch Road, I fully expected a large gathering at the Waldo Canyon Trailhead.  I was right.  This was our one aid station which was fully stocked.  Water, PBR, and donuts!  What else do you need!  I figured that I would catch up with Brownie, our gracious host, here.  Again, nobody was in any real hurry to leave.  It was just too nice a day!

PBR and donuts!

I did eventually leave the trailhead, as I knew there were 13 miles to go and the next section of trail was actually my favorite.  The Waldo and Williams Canyon trails were the pleasant surprises of last year's run and I was looking forward to running through them again.  I was mostly running on my own through here and just enjoying the solitude for a while.  There were some pretty nasty icy patches, but I managed to stay upright without ever opting to put on my spikes.

Waldo Canyon trail.

After climbing up out of Williams Canyon, the end was now in sight.  It was on the long, dusty run down Rampart Range Road that the legs started telling me it was almost quitting time and, for the first time all day, I was looking forward to the run being over.  Ryan, Jeremiah, and Chris ran me down by the bottom, and along with Leila we ran over to the Garden of the Gods.  Once hitting the singletrack in the Garden, I was reinvigorated and we pushed along a strong pace.

Garden of the Gods.

Ryan and Jeremiah dropped off for a final "yellow" drink but I decided to chase Leila to the finish back at JT's house, where I knew there was better beer.  Official time: 6 hours and 27 minutes.  Probably could have broke 6 hours if I had cut down on all that "aid station" time, but the day went by too fast as it was.  My Garmin watch put the course at 30.3 miles with 7568 feet of climbing.

So yes, I am very lucky to live here in the Front Range of Colorado amongst some of the best trails and some pretty good folks to share them with.  Thanks to JT and all the CRUD for putting this together again.  Now with Brendan planning a Durango Fat Ass for February 4th, we truly have the Colorado Fat Ass Slam (Boulder Basic, Chubby Cheeks, Ponderous Posterior, and Phil's Fatass Run).  I might have to think about completing that Slam in 2012-2013.

All photos can be seen here.

First Horsetooth Rock Summit

I'm proud of you Madison!  A winter summit, no less, with some nasty ice to navigate near the top.  A fun family climb with Brian and Nick.