Fri 6/3 - PM 60 minutes easy

Denver Creek Path, with drills and strides on the turf field at Moore school. The day started at great sand dunes with a hike up high dune, worth getting sandblasted for views like this:

Then another four hour drive back to the city. Still digesting lunch for most of the run which made for a less than comfortable experience. Legs tired but not sore from yesterday's odyssey. Drills very necessary and felt much better after having done them.

Thu 6/2 - AM 6 hour run/hike, Great Sand Dunes

Experienced all the different environments the park has to offer. Attempted to reach Medano Lake, forced to turn back near the top by snow. Much more running vs. hiking as compared to Monday on Pikes Peak though. Started on the Sand ramp trail, 5 miles in soft sand that took over an hour. Hooked up with the Medano Pass Primitive Road for the next 8 miles climbing up to the trailhead that leads to the lake. This was a nice stretch, both up and down, not too steep and with multiple stream crossings that helped to keep cool on the trip down. To top it off, wind was at my back for the climb up, headwind not as big an issue on the trip down. Passed through acres and acres of burnt out forest from last summer. Climbed as high as I could on the final trail, 2000' ascent in a little over 3.5 miles, until the snow was too deep to be able to see where the trail was. Wandered around for 15 minutes or so before giving it up and turning back. Realized soon after turning around that I didn't have as much water left as I would have liked for the trip back. Still, it went well for the portion of the road leading down to the valley floor with the moderate downhill grade. I was hopeful the vehicle traffic would make the road more firm than the Sand Ramp trail that runs parallel to it, but no such luck. Left to run the last 5 miles on soft sand, getting more dehydrated and frustrated with every step. Mountain miles seem drawn out, but mountain miles in the sand are simply excruciating. Took some walking breaks near the bitter end, finished and sucked down 48 ounces of water immediately, with more following soon after.

Wed 6/1 - AM 40 minutes easy

Denver, creek path to downtown. Serious booty lock for the first 15 minutes, incredibly sore glutes and a matching set at that. More pounding the past two days than they should ever have to endure. It took time but eventually legs loosened up and the last 10 minutes or so of the run moved along fairly quickly. In the afternoon, after 4 hours behind the wheel, went for an excursion on the great sand dunes, made it to the top of high dune. Some running was involved, in fits and starts thanks to highly variable footing and steepness. As ever, the coming down was a lot more fun than going up and worth being sandblasted by the wind.

Tue 5/31 - AM 90 minutes, Green Mountain

Boulder. Hair of the dog to be sure. I forgot how maliciously steep the trails to the top are, esp. Saddle Rock which I took down. Nearly tripped a couple of times on jutting rocks coming down. In combination with the borderline unrunnable stretches, I was in a black mood. On the plus side, no sheets of ice like the last time I tried in February. As expected, lots of sore spots from yesterday, incl. places that don't usually get sore--like my upper back and delts from lugging the pack while jarring down the mountain in all likelihood. Left ankle has been stiff lately but not that troublesome today after a few minutes to loosen up.

Mon 5/30 - AM 7 hour run/hike, Pikes Peak

Ran about 2 hours, the rest was walking including the entire descent. Unsuccessful summit push. Too tired, not acclimated, bad combo. Thought I would alternate higher intensity blocks with "recovery." Forgot that the only recovery when ascending a mountain is to walk or stop. Got to a bit over 12,700', by which point I lost the trail in the intermittent snowbanks. By the time I found it again hands and feet were wet and the 60+ mph wind gusts weren't making that feel any better. Mild altitude sickness as well, headache nausea and dizziness. Took one look at the rest of the trail to the summit and how far away the people looked and how much snow was on the trail and headed back down without a second thought. Too fried to do any more running so it was a long walk. Had I gotten more sleep over the past few days leading up to this it could have gone better but as it was, underlying exhaustion made it a bridge too far.

Sun 5/29 - double, 90 minutes total

AM - 60 minutes easy, Washington Park. Back in Denver, with foggy gray conditions. Not what I expected. Easy shakeout after a long day of travel yesterday.

PM - 30 minutes easy Cheesman Park, with drills and strides. Sluggish legs helped a lot by the drills. Long nap in the afternoon. Fog burned off and sunny warm conditions took over.

Sat 5/28 - AM 70 minutes incl. 5m road race

In hindsight quite deluded to think that I had a shot at the course record, which is only 50 seconds faster than what I ran. On the plus side, just a bit faster than what I did at this thing last year. Overall, training has been too dense and not sleeping nearly enough, esp. last night. Felt flat during the warmup, hit the mile in 5:20 and knew the CR was doubtful at best. Turned into the wind soon after that, next two miles in 5:30. Effort felt faster than that. Last two miles 5:45 and 5:15, marker probably not accurate but the average is. Temperature dropped as a stationary front moved over the area, still muggy.