Another Day in Paradise!

Another beautiful day in paradise! Today I knew I would be tired. I could feel it coming. A culmination of three hard weeks, each with over 20 combined running/riding hours. This week was particularly hard, with over 21,000 ft of climbing thrown in.

Left from home & met Dan at the top of Chutes early in the morning and we headed up Gold Camp, then up St. Mary’s Falls on a loop that lead us back to Gold Camp. It was evident that I was tired and I couldn’t keep up with Dan. He mentioned something about his wife being faster on a single speed. We did an hour of steady climbing up Gold Camp before we hit Old Stage.

One of the Tunnels on Gold Camp

At this point we up to abut 9,500 ft and I had no power. I seemed fine as long as I went my own pace, but trying to keep up with Dan was killing me. And it was frustrating for him to be waiting on me. So we split. I headed down Old Stage looking for a trail I’d never been on that Dan pointed out on the map, and Dan headed for Jones Park.

Dan Checking the Map

It took some looking but I eventually found the trail. It’s a very isolated single track along a ridge and the scenery is incredible. I was pretty tired though and kept making mistakes. After the second crash I got to thinking. "This is a very remote trail, if I crash and get hurt it could be days before I’m found. This is also very dense mountain lion country, not a good combination." I scared myself enough to turn around.

Riding "The Trail"

Once I got down to Cheyenne Canyon at 7,000 ft or so I felt much better and rode the normal combination of trails back home: up the Chutes, Section 16, Entemann, Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods, Ute Park. I felt much better the last 2 ½ hours than the first 3 ½. Go figure.

Garden of the Gods from Red Rocks

Next week is nothing but recovery and racing. Sand Creek Mountain Bike Race Wednesday evening, and the "Dirty Thirty" 50K running race on Saturday. These last three weeks have been pretty incredible. It’s nice to be home!

Total for Week:
Run: 9.9 hrs, 60 miles
Bike: 13.3 hrs, 139 miles