Training Weeks Seven and Eight

Training is starting to get longer, with week seven being my first 40 mile week, and putting me just over 200 miles for the year (well, recorded miles anyway). It's cool to look at the numbers, I'm running farther, but my weekly time spent running is about the same. Proof that, even if it doesn't feel like it, I'm getting faster. Feels good. It was a pretty standard week, nothing super exciting. I got to run the second half of my Saturday long run with Gwen, who started a little after me and apparently had been running in my footprints the whole way. That helped make the second half of that run faster than it would have otherwise been.

Tuesday- 8 miles

Wednesday- 5 miles

Thursday- 7.5 miles

Saturday- 14.5 miles

Sunday- 5 miles

Total- 40 miles

This week was great. We had some new snow by Tuesday, so I had to get the tights out. Kind of a bummer, because it has been more or less nice enough to stick with shorts, but it looks like winter isn't going to let Leadville off the hook that easily. Saturday's run (as usual) was really the highlight of this week. I needed 16 miles, but my normal route up to the Black Cloud was 14 at most, so I had to came up with something new. I decided to run from campus to Turquoise Lake, across Sugarloaf Dam, and up the road another 3 miles or so. I left at 6:30 in the morning, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the Mosquitoes. Running down the hill from campus and across California Gulch, I was greeted by two foxes barking and chasing each other around. Obviously a good omen.

Looking East to Mt. Sherman and the sunrise.

From there, I crossed Highway 24 and skirted the East side of town, but not without stopping for a moment at Sixth street to look up the hill. Sixth street is the site of the very first and very last steps of the Leadville 100 race.

One of these days...

 Looking up that hill, I felt like Carl, from Up, watching the movie about Charles Muntz. I could hear the reporter in my mind:

He hurdles the Grand Canyon!

He hurdles Pike's Peak!

He hurdles Mt. Everest... He goes around Mt. Everest!

Is there nothing he can't do?

Adventure is out there!

These happy thoughts made the next few miles of gentle downhill fly by. Before too long, I popped out of the trees and was running across the Arkansas River.

Beautiful morning

Fun fact: the Arkansas River valley East of Leadville has the lowest gravity low in the continental United States, which means that you will weigh less here than anywhere else in the lower 48. This is because the valley is largely filled with not very dense (relatively) glacial till that was pushed into it during past ice ages. The valley actually extends another 4,000 ft below ground surface to granite basement rock, making the total relief from the bottom to the top of Mt. Elbert a whopping 8,000 ft. The Grand Canyon would easily fit inside.

I'm not sure if weighing less actually helped, or I was just to busy drinking in the scenery to notice, but things were going great.

Just me today!

I ran past SugarLoafin' campground, where I had my first Leadville experience I don't know how long ago. Dad will have to remind me which year that was.

I hit the first of many uphills for the day, climbing up the glacial moraines that hold Turquoise Lake. When I got up to the dam, I was greeted with a surprise. I had counted on running on pavement all day, but looking at the dam, I was reminded--on no uncertain terms--that Turquoise Lake road is not maintained in the winter. Oh well, what's a little snow?

Looking South from Sugarloaf Dam

The going got tougher after that, with steeper and more variable grades, but I kept chugging along. Up another three miles past the dam, wolf down a Cliff Bar, and turn for home. The return trip was a little easier. I was running mostly on snowmobile tracks, which had broken the snow up into little chunks, from marble size up to about the size of an apple. When I was going downhill, the little chunks would break off and slide down the hill a little ways. The slithering sound they made is incredibly unnerving. At the least, it sounded like there was another running coming up behind, but why would the imagination stop there, right? Once I got past that, the run became really enjoyable again. The sun was shining, and the lake--although really low--was beautiful. When I got back to the dam, the air was so clear I could see all the way down the valley to Quail Mountain and Mt. Hope.

Quail Mountain on the left, and Mt. Hope (very faint) to the right, just peeking over the shoulder of Mt. Elbert.

A quick stop to tighten my laces and wave to some ice fishers, and I was back on the road. When I crossed the Arkansas for the second time, I felt like putting down a lawn chair and staying there all day. A nice nap, listening to the water go by would be awesome.

Look at that and tell me it doesn't look relaxing.

From there is was a long, gentle climb back up to town.

The good thing about running on the road is that you can see far ahead of you. The bad thing about running on the road is that you can see a long way ahead.

I got back to campus without incident, if a little warmer than usual. The weather was beautiful, and I was glad to get out and take advantage of it. A great day for my longest run so far this year.

Tuesday- 7 miles

Wednesday- 5 miles

Thursday- 7 miles

Saturday- 16 miles

Sunday- 5.5 miles

Total- 40.5 miles