Fri 8/17 - AM 60+ minutes very easy

Florissant. Not sure precisely how far I went, wasn't keeping track that closely and took a lot of  breaks, some of them quite long, to check out the various sights. This made the effort worthwhile, otherwise I would rather have just slept in as I was getting more tired by the step it felt like. Returned to the campground and promptly took a nap in the car. Quads feel somewhat better than yesterday thankfully but still sore from all the nonsense at the dunes.

Thu 8/16 - AM 25 minutes very easy

Slow slow putter back and forth alongside the Arkansas river in Salida, followed by much-needed stretching and core routine. Legs are quite wrecked from the all the fun at the dunes over the last 24 hours. The trudging in sand adds that extra dimension of muscle tissue destruction. Quads took it the worst, somewhat surprisingly. I doubt they'll feel 100% by Saturday, alas. Live and learn.

Wed 8/15 - AM 5 hour run/hike, Medano Lake

Not nearly as much of an ordeal as my last visit to the Medano Pass primitive road, but no walk in the park either. Unlike 14 months ago I was able to make it to the lake at end of the trail. No snowpack this time. I can say definitively I had no chance of getting to the top last year, and didn't even get close in fact. The day began with breaking camp in the dunes and hiking back out to my car, which took longer than I would have liked.

 campsite, amidst sand and sunflowers

sunrise on the dunes

escape dunes that jumped the creek

Not long after starting off down the road I noticed the medial aspect of my left knee was sore, no doubt from all the trudging up and down and along the dunes. Soft and uneven surfaces, where they cropped up, didn't help with this. Patience wore thin on the final section of the ascent, from where the trail splits off from the road. I misread the trailhead sign and thought it was 3 miles of climbing, in fact it was closer to 4. As ever, the upper reaches were the steepest and there was almost no running to be done the final couple of miles to the lake. Those 4 miles ended up taking almost an hour, with my patience having worn very thin. Took a long break at the lake, where two people were fishing:

The return trip, while tiresome, was a much better experience than last year. I didn't run out of fluids this time which was big. Took a couple of well-timed breaks including a soak in the creek that felt fantastic. Chased down the road for a time by a developing shower, no lightning though and it stayed above the mountain not extending as far as the dunes. Legs tired from the soft footing at the beginning and end, and all the hiking in sand yesterday. Easy days ahead in advance of Saturday.

Tue 8/14 - AM 65 minutes

Salida trails, near the distinctive "S" hill just on the other side of the river from downtown. Plenty of hilly terrain and windy singletrack that would seem perfect for mountain biking. Fine for running as well. Overall the run was mostly an out and back with all the climbing in the front end. Had the run been on flat terrain I would have categorized it as easy, not possible with the uphill stuff though. Delightful morning, dry and sunny after yesterday's mostly dismal conditions.

 trail near and far

 14ers off in the distance

Worth noting for the effort expended that later in the day I headed down to the Great Sand Dunes. Obligatory hike up to the top of High Dune, then another hike out to the "backcountry" after dinner with my camping gear in tow for a night spent sleeping amongst the dunes.

Mon 8/13 - AM 3 hour hike/run, Mt. Elbert

Not the most pleasant experience. The trail was much harder than I remembered it from the one other time I've visited here, only able to run for the first 20 minutes of the ascent before switching over to walking for almost the entire remainder of the trip up. Similar to the ascent up Pikes last week, I had pretty much decided to turn around well before the summit but kept going anyway. The false summit and  precipitously steep slopes above treeline did nothing to improve my mood. As an added bonus the clouds thickened and once above treeline the rain started, which became something more like ice pellets near the summit. The cotton gloves I brought which work well as potholders when cooking with the camp stove not so great under these conditions. With freezing hands and poor visibility at the summit I wasn't inclined  to stick around very long. Clouds descended faster than I was which led to pea soup conditions for a time while clambering down the steepest part of the trip down. Once things leveled off I was able to run the rest of the way although it was more of a get it over with putter. Rain continued  most of the rest of the day after that as well. Ugh.

 Twin Lakes, sort of

 the roof of Colorado with views for miles, or so I'm told

 summit ridgeline

the way down

Sun 8/12 - double, 70 minutes total incl. 10k race

PM - Leadville 10k, out and back, down and then back up. Something like 500 feet of elevation loss from the start at 10,200' to the turnaround point. This made for a mostly gentle slope actually perfect for getting good turnover. Not that this was the least of my concerns as I wanted to get through it without embarassing myself and blowing up on the return trip back up the road. No idea really how to pace myself, and I could tell I wasn't alone in that. Fairly cautious at first, mostly desparate to get it over with by the end. The last mile it felt like my head was going to explode, good practice for next week I suppose. Didn't bother with the watch, splits being pointless in an event such as this although it would have been interesting to compare the two halves of the race. Managed to hold a spot in the top 5 the entire way, passed the two early leaders on the way back up, but also passed by a college kid and his 16 year old brother who appeared to actually know what they were doing. I figured them for locals, turns out they're from Iowa. WTF. In fact, the top 5 were all flatlanders, as this race is just an afterthought compared to the rest of the series. Finished feeling quite tired and ready to take a nap, which I never got around to. Cooldown didn't happen either, no interest in moving much, especially anything up or down.

later PM - 15 minutes very easy jog barefoot on the Lake County HS football field. Delayed cooldown, as in 6 hours after finishing the race. Very lush carpet of well-irrigated grass, very impressive for a field at this elevation, but also the lumpiest athletic field I've ever seen. Encircled by a track that is nothing more than a paved strip. Did some stretching after the jog which was much needed after the race and traipsing around town afterward.

Sat 8/11 - double, 70 minutes total

PM - 50 minutes very easy, out and back to Turquoise Lake. Woke up, ate breakfast, went back to sleep, woke up, ate a snack, wasted time online until realizing that the day was slipping away before finally getting out on the road. Feeling very tired from the past few days, running and travel both, and the bill came due today. Shuffled along as a result in the punishingly strong noontime sun.

later PM - 20 minutes including drills and strides. Barefoot laps of the turf field, which felt quite good underfoot. Ended up surging the short sides of the field and jogging the long sides, in deference to the elevation of course. This shakeout was preceded by another nap after lunch, finally starting to come around. More importantly I was able to get in a thorough post-run stretch and core routine which included gapping the SI joint. Desperately needed, and felt much better afterward.