Day off. Toes feel a bit better this AM, but are still relatively purple. Sitting at 56 miles on the week, and will carve down to a 50 mile week next week – including the race.
This is the OSMP proposed map that illustrates the changes to the trails on Green they like to see. In short, it is a lot of changes, with some new trails going in, and others getting shut down altogether. Couple of thoughts ...
1.) if I am reading it right, this calls for (#7) a reroute of Long Canyon and a new trail that connects it up to West Green (#6D). I like the idea of the trail connecting up to the summit, and not shutting down Long Canyon altogher.
2.) #6A is a reroute of lower Ranger (which I could live with) but #6B is a shut down of upper Ranger altogether. I am opposed to that.
3.) #6C is a rerouting of the some of the West Green.
4.) #2 is ridiculous. It does a round and round trip up Green - but essentially is also proposing this would be the ONLY way up Green for the upper stretches.
5.) I think #5 is the route that one could "unofficially" pick up on upper Gregory at the fence on the right, about a 1/3rd of a mile east of the cabin.
Thoughts?
Women Ascent Predictions:
1.) Erholtz 2:41 in the tough weather year, look for her to go under 2:40, and maybe dance with sub 2:35 for the win.
2.) Kimmel does not get the win here, but wins the PPM the next day
3.) Ortiz
4.) Dobson
5.) Goldsmith
6.) Nelson
7.) Prichard
I am obviously not as familiar with the women's field or the history. Shame on me – I should be as I run closer to their times then the front men. It seems that in recent years a handful or less break 3. All of these women can do that. I am also not sure what the WMRA status will bring to the field. I am almost assuredly overlooking someone – so correct me please.
Some stuff on UTMB. Hmm, no Tony in Pb yet. Could he be holding out for a rematch between him and Geoff (and Kilian and Jurek)?
Hmm...here's my thoughts:
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the UK's Anna Frost will be Erholtz's biggest challenger.
No way that Ortiz races post knee surgery.
I wouldn't be surprised if Dobson beats Kimmel. Last year it was tight and Kimmel isn't running like she was last year, although that Jupiter Peak Steeplechase was won in the same time as last year.
I think I saw Haefeli on the start list too?
For the marathon, I'm taking Keri Nelson over Kimmel.
Justin - good call on Frost and Ortiz. I don't see Laura on the Ascent list.
ReplyDeleteGiven that, I'll pull Ortiz, push Frost to 2 and Kimmel to three.
Anna Frost appears to be the real deal. Altitude will be the decider, so Erholtz is a solid pick.
ReplyDeleteI think the Jupiter Steeplechase was shorter this year, which would make Kimmel's time slower.
Agreed on JM's take on Dobson, but Kimmel beats Nelson in the 'thon.
Ascent top 10 (although there look to be a few internationals who'll probably slip in there):
Erholtz
Frost
Dobson
Haefeli
Kimmel
Goldsmith
Nelson
Lusk
Prichard
Malmberg
Ms. Colfax Heather Utrata could sneak a top 10 in also. She ran PPA last year and was well out of it though.
ReplyDeleteI had heard that one of the goals of a lot of these trail reroutes is to get the trails up out of the riparian areas and more onto the ridges. They did this a bit with Bear Canyon. So in that sense, it seems crazy to shut down upper Ranger - such a nice ridgeline trail.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think that #5 is that old trail that leaves from the log fence on the upper Gregory Canyon trail.
Some of those long sweeping switchbacks seem like they were designed by a mountain biker. Probably makes maintenance on the trails easier (fewer steps/water bars needed), but it looks kind of absurd on that blue trail close to the summit of Green.
Any idea what the red-dotted #3 trails are? Part of it looks like it might be the ridge route that heads south from the Saddle Rock trail just before the intersection with Greenman, but it seems to be marked on the map as hitting the Saddle Rock trail lower down than I'm thinking (below that overlook).
It'd be a shame to lose some of those trails up Green.
(I'm a longtime lurker, but we ran into each other in Chautauqua a couple years back...good following your blog.)
Alex
Alex - I remember meeting you that afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAs best as I can tell, there are a few proposals from a few different groups on the same map, so it makes it a bit tough to sort out.
I think number 3 are sort of those trails that are really poor that cut back over towards the Flatirons?