Monday, August 13, 2012

Week Summary: Aug 6 - 12

8/6/2012
Mon-AM: 4:01, 8000' ~ Pikes Peak Marathon Course+ (14,115')
Parked at Memorial Park in Manitou Springs and ran to the summit of Pikes Peak in 2:32:58 from the starting line.  My legs felt okay for a while, but the last couple of miles seemed to really be a struggle despite the very shallow grade and what I consider to be very good altitude acclimation at this point.  Overall, my climbing legs were just sluggish this morning, probably from the late evening ascent of Cameron Cone last night. Stopped the watch and took a quick break on the summit to grab a drink of water in the tourist-swarmed summit gift shop.  Frosty was still running up and was planning on hitching back down to the start, so I thought I'd give the descent a little gas and race her back to the bottom.  Really surprised to get back down to Barr Camp in only 36:50 and then eased the effort on the smooth track below there for a 1:20:50 descent back to the finish line in downtown Manitou, so a 3:53 PPM not counting the break on the summit.  Jogged around some and then headed back over to Memorial where I met Anna just seconds after her ride from the summit dropped her off. Good timing.

8/7/2012
Tue-AM: 1:32, 3500' ~ 3rd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Ran from Chat to the East Bench of the Third where I scrambled the standard East Face to the summit, then downclimbed the Southwest Chimney before continuing on to the summit of Green. Met Anna there and ran back down with a couple of short side trips for some scrambling on Jaws and the 2nd Flatiron.  Looks like a long outing but 21min of that was spent downclimbing off of the Third.
PM: 2:05, 4500' ~ Torreys & Grays Peaks (14,267' & 14,270')
Nice evening jog up the peaks, via the Kelso Ridge. Super idyllic conditions on the summits--calm, clear, warm with pleasing light.  It's nice doing these mountains in the evening as the usual crowds are non-existent.

8/8/2012
Wed-AM: 2:17, 4500' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Up the West Ridge and down the NE Ridge. Remarkably crowded summit this morning, so I was really glad I took the backside route (which I've never seen another human on).
PM: 1:01, 500' ~ Boulevard+barefoot turf
Nice evening shake-out on the start/end of the LT100 course plus 15min barefootin' and striders on the turf field. Some nice pep in the legs.

8/9/2012
Thu-AM: 2:28, 5300' ~ Mt. Elbert (14,433')
Up and down the Black Cloud trail. This route was a really nice surprise--excellent, proper-steep trail from the highway to reach Elbert's SE ridge at 13.5k', and then a very scenic run up the ridge to the summit, bopping over 14,134' South Elbert along the way. The climb offers nothing in the way of a warm-up, so the start was a bit rough, but overall I felt very good. Trailhead is at 9700', but the 200+' double-bop over South Elbert adds the extra vert.
PM: 1:00, 500' ~ East Leadville+barefoot
Jogged around on the east side of town before finishing up with 17min of barefoot down on the turf, including half a dozen striders.

8/10/2012
Fri-AM: 2:37, 5000' ~ Mt. Massive (14,421')
Up and down the East Ridge from Fish Hatchery. Legs were feeling good up and down, this is quickest I've done this run.
PM: 2:00, 4500' ~ 3rd-2nd-1st Flatirons-Green Mt. Link-up
One of the most fun outings I've had this summer.

8/11/2012
Sat-AM: 2:27, 5000' ~ Longs Peak (14,255')
Up and down the North Face (Cables) from the East TH. Up in 1:29:55, down in 48:47. Even though I got to the TH at 7:00am, being a Saturday morning the lot was already completely full with cars parked over a half a mile down the road. This gave me a few minutes of warm-up and cooldown, which was nice.  Legs felt quite good on the run up, but once I popped out of the trees at Battle Mt I was buffeted with a heinous headwind that would toss me about and periodically stop me in my tracks all the way until Chasm View.  Definitely lost a few minutes to the wind as I couldn't run nearly as much as I normally would.  Cutting over the north shoulder of Mt. Lady Washington I also lost a couple minutes by traversing too high and remaining in slow talus/boulders (not wanting to lose any elevation) instead of crossing the more runnable terrain down in the basin.  Despite all the cars in the parking lot, I encountered my only other compatriots of the day on the section of technical climbing on the Cables--a roped-up couple.  The 5.4 corner went quickly and 9min later I was standing on the completely clagged-in summit. On the Cables downclimb I re-passed the couple who was now rappelling (slowly--apparently w/o tagging the summit?!?!) before cutting back over the shoulder of MLW and taking the Jim Grove and Reveley Routes back down to the car. Footwork and energy were excellent on the downhill.

Splits:
Goblin - 12:56
Battle Mt Trail - 27:00
Granite Pass Trail - 45:13
Chasm View - 1:17:00
Top of Cables - 1:20:54
Summit - 1:29:55
Top of Cables - 1:36:05
Chasm View - 1:39:50
MLW Shoulder - 1:52:15
GP Trail - 1:56:45
Battle Mt Trail - 2:05:45
Goblin - 2:12:45
Pavement - 2:18:42

PM: 1:30, 3000' ~ 3rd Flatiron+Green Mt.
Scrambled the Third and continued on to the summit of Green before descending Gman-NE Ridge-Saddle Rock. Did the scramble in 10:36--wasn't feeling super 'on' today, especially on the downclimb--so abandoned any plans of hitting the Second and/or First, too. Trails have taken a real hit this summer; lots of water run-off damage, wonder if OSMP has any plans to do anything about that. Runners in Boulder would be ready to volunteer in a second if just given the opportunity.

8/12/2012
Sun-AM: 2:12, 4500' ~ La Plata Peak (14,336')
Up and down the standard NW Ridge. Easy the whole time, testing out a footwear option for the race next weekend (RC1600, 5oz racing flat). Think I might use them, but would like just a touch more traction on sandy/gritty sections of trail as there was a little slippage. Overall, a super-dialed in shoe, though. Last summit I'll see before the LT100; it's been an awesome summer for sure.

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Really fun week with a good mix of flat running (the most I've done all summer), peak-bagging, and scrambling.  Did my only longish run way at the beginning of the week and my legs are definitely itching to go long again, so after a week of nothing more than short, flat jogging I'm sure I'll be ready to go for the Leadville 100 this weekend.  It's going to be really fun to race 100mi again for the first time in 18 months, but there's definitely a part of me that can't help but feel that next weekend pretty much marks the end of the summer.  A few aspen leaves have already started draining their chlorophyll and I'm sure I'll need a couple super-mellow weeks post-Leadville before my legs are ready for any significant adventuring again.  I'll probably spend a lot of that time scrambling in the Flatirons, but definitely hope to tag a few more high-country summits, too, before I head to Europe the middle of next month.
  • A post I recently published over on the UD Blog.

21 comments:

Barry Bliss said...

Really enjoyed that video.

the runner said...

That's some climbing. Good Leadville prep.

Joey said...

That video just changed my life.

Giles said...

The footage that you, and Joe, have been posting recently has been inspiring and it seems as if you are really pushing the boundaries. Out of interest, do you get any negative comments from the more traditionally dressed mountaineers that you pass, particularly during the ascents, or are they appreciative of your FKT efforts?

Awake My Sole said...

good luck at Leadville.

Jim

Awake My Sole

Unknown said...

Seen a lot of vids on the net that are super-produced but they never capture the sweat and scrambling like this one. Great job and kill it at Leadville.

Jannicke said...

Awesome, lovely terrain.

Erik Ammon said...

Awesome week! Best of luck at Leadville!

Unknown said...

Awesome footage on Grand Teton...been about 10 years since I've been there, but makes me want to head up there. Wish you well at Leadville

Dallan said...

Looking forward to see how you do at Leadville

Kendall said...

A fitting return...Leadville, where it all began. Best of luck to you this weekend. Great to see you out here in SLC.

qrtrmiler said...

Incredible video! Thanks for sharing...great to see you bombing those downhills again!

monica said...

glad to hear the 1600s made it to you on time!! sounds like your perfectly primed for this weekend :-) see you in Leadville!!!

Steve said...

I hope the 1600s work out well for you. What shoes did you wear at Hardrock?

Speedgoat Karl said...

Climb up Pikes...ehhhh, not bad. :-) the descent however....very impressive. 1:20 down that mountain is as fast as anyone. Have a great run at Leadville!

René said...

I can't find the video anymore....

Jarob said...

Yeah, anyone know where to find this video?

Jamie said...

Good luck over the next few days!

xkyzero said...

No more video?

Bill said...

My guess on the video is newbalance asked it removed as Krupicka is very clearly shown wearing a pair of sportivas to climb grand teton. It is too bad because it was one damn good clip.

Congrats on 4th at Leadville. Looking forward to the full report.

Unknown said...

I'll speculate Salomon will use the tasty footage for a forthcoming Kilian's Quest--in any case, it is pretty fresh.