This overcast Wednesday I went to Green Mountain and tried out my new Forerunner 305. I wanted to take it a bit easier the first part, and it did feel that way. But I managed to make it in 10 min to Saddle which I think was a pretty decent time. The rest of the way was pretty arduous, though I trudged through it @ 21:14. I didn’t feel like I had a ton of energy, kinda the opposite of last time where that didn’t hit me til the end. But I managed to comfortably make it to the top in 55. Going down was effortless and felt fast, only a little knee joint pain the last 5 min. Total distance 4:11 in 1:32 with 2,297 elev gain. GPS

Guess I have been a bit slacking on writing! Monday I went on a run through Hall’s Ranch near Lyons which I really enjoyed. The air started out cooler than usual but it heated up fast. It’s amazing to run all the way to some abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. There were some nice views of different perspectives of the Blue Mountain area and Apple Valley which I haven’t seen before. I think it’s tedious enough just going up our 4 mile dirt road, let alone a 5 mile drive-way! Saw deer prints on the path and then much later, saw mountain lion tracks. Wonder if the deer was getting chased? Total run 10.1 miles in 2 hours exactly and 1829 elev gain. Google map

I have always wanted to drive up this road but every time I went, it was closed (it’s only open in the summer Thurs-Sun). So I decided that I would run it. It was quite possibly the most enjoyable run I have done. I balked a bit at the RT length of 18 miles, but it was one of the most gradual inclines and an easy road well-kept road (no rocks, steps or roots!) so I just kept going and going up to the visitor center. For some reason I was thinking it was going to be closed and I would have it all to myself, but it wasn’t and there were hundreds of cars crawling up it. Some very nice people saying hi and asking if I needed a lift back I could ride with them. Chatted a bit with a guy driving with a LV100 sticker on the back of his truck. The funniest thing someone asked when I was almost at the top was if I wanted a fag (cigarette…they were British). That really made me laugh the rest of the way. I stopped for a few minutes just to take a picture from the visitor center then went back. Going down, as always, was a nice break and up until the last 3-4 miles, felt effortless, though by the end I just wanted to get back to the car! Heard an Elk bugling too which I was hoping to hear. My timer was just hitting 4:19 minutes when I got back after running 18.6 miles, climbing and then descending 4798 feet (max elev. 11768 feet above sea level). GPS map

Here are some more photos I snapped from my Android phone.

A few of the 16 switch-backs

Heading towards the visitor center

First time…didn’t know it was such a steep climb! This photo’s pretty much shows what one climbs for about 1 mile (interspersed with log steps). My legs will thank me in 3 days, but for now, it was a LOT of work! So funny to see mountains beyond Boulder…one sometimes can forget that they are there. Seeing the flatirons was pretty cool from behind as well. Was tempted to hike over and see how much I can freeclimb one. Will I do it again? Probably! But not this week. My times are all messed up because I hung out on the top exploring a bit. Total distance 5.2 mi, 1:52 total time with 2633 elev gain. GPS map

Ran up to the boulderfield at Longs Peak and I had pretty much the exact time that I ran my first time there. Not sure how that works, felt a lot better and springy than I have ever felt and thought I walked a lot less up those annoying big steps, but it came out to be pretty much the same. Also, the elevation gain was completely different (4449 vs. 3833). Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t have returned that Garmin Forerunner and stop using My Tracks on my google phone. Total distance 11.3 miles up a questionable 3833 feet in 3:32. GPS map

Which brings me to the quote by Einstein that I love so much: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”