Week ending 08FEB2026

A lighter week of sorts ...

Monday - 7 miles with GW
Tuesday - off.  Got a knee shot.  

Wednesday - 7 miles with GW
Thursday - 7.1 miles
Friday - 7.5 miles with GW
Saturday - 7 miles, including 8 by Stonehenge Hills.  
Sunday - decided I might as well do Green given the low mileage week.  As I started I noticed JV and BW in the meadow and so I was given the gift of the round trip with them.  5.5 miles.

About another 7-8 miles of walks in there too.

Album recording is plugging along. 

Sunday 17AUG2025

Back to Green.  It was a train wreck.  I went up the middle out of Gregory and managed to average under twenty minutes a mile for each of the miles except the last.  I was falling a lot though and cracked my knee pretty good on the way in the boulder field on Greenman.  

I got a call about 2 minutes from the summit by TZ that she was heading down so I flipped.  I thought I'd get down in about 40 minutes.  I was wrong.  I was moving at 2mph (27 min/mile) on the down.   Even on the runable sections, I was flopping at 15 minutes a mile.  I was a hurting dog.  

5.5 miles, with about 2200 feet of climbing.  

I was cooked for a bit post.  Afternoon nap helped.

50.5 miles on the week, with close to 5k of vert.  It started as a solid week but sorta came off the rails by the weekend.  1160 something on the year.

Saturday 09AUG2025

Again ... it has been a bit.  Based on labels on this blog, I have not been up Green since October of 2023.  That seems too long to be true, but I guess it could make sense.  That would mean I didn't get on it for all of 2024.  Sheesh.

I was mildly surprised at some trail reroutes and new connectors.  Again, I guess that is what happens when you don't go there for almost 2 years.  I meandered around, actually coming down after being halfway up, before heading back up to the summit.  

The lady bugs were back too.

I zapped myself pretty good over 9 miles, 3k+ of vert.  Legs were beat.  It has probably been that long since I have had that much of a vert day.  

Week ending 22OCT2023

Coming off the low miles of Puerto Rico, where it was frankly a chore to run in the heat and the humidity, I got back at it a bit.  Last Saturday and Sunday were 8 mile days, and I kept at it through out this past week.  Everyday was an 8+ miler with the exception on Tuesday (a 6 and 4) and Sunday (a near 12).  It is good to be home in the low humidity air, the cooler temps (even if it is a re-summer of sorts at the moment). 

On Friday, the local HS team competed in the regional meet.  Both teams earned a berth with 4th place showings.  It was definitely a nice surprise on the girls side, who got that by 4points.

This one has been hanging about as of late.  

On Sunday, JZ and I hit NCAR and headed out on the Mesa Trail.  We made the call at the Bear Trail break to head up that way.  And then we decided to do Green when we got to Green-Bear trail.  It was a bit more than I was looking for with it being 12 miles and near 2500 feet, but it was great to be out with the "boy."

Tuesday, Wednesday 28-29AUG2023

Tuesday - looong work day.  Started at 6AM.  Pushed away from the desk at 4PM and headed to practice.  It was hot.  7 miles.

Wednesday AM - 5.7 miles out of Gregory, up to Ranger, summit of Green and then back down the same way.  Was hoping to break an hour on the climb without losing my mind, but only got 60:18.  Managed to get down in about 35 though.  It ain't what it used to be ... as Strava was happy to tell me.

Afternoon - 3.3 out of practice.  

Weekend 11-13AUG2023

Friday - 5.1 over lunch.  Hot.

3 more a bit later in the afternoon.  Easy.  Legs are crap.

Saturday - jogged over to the Commons for the kids time trial.  Did the Lake Link loop back so ended up with 8 on the day.

Saturday night was a gig with the Spare Change crew over at Mother Tucker's.  It was a good gig.  

JV pinged me Saturday afternoon for a hill.  It had been a long time and I had the built in excuse of a late evening with the Saturday night music, but he waited on his start with me until 9.  We did Green, with him taking me up a different way off the Amp trail.  It was stupid steep (for me), but that was a great workout for my otherwise weak ass legs.  10.3 miles with about 2700 of elevation. 

The run with Jeff, of course, was great.  We just easily fell into conversation like we saw each other yesterday - when it has actually been closer to a year.  I need to do that more often.

I was not super happy with the week as my legs just felt tired ALL the time.  I struggled a bit even on easy runs and only got in a somewhat workout with a bunch of 10x100s on Wednesday.  I sorta made some ground back with JV kicking my ass on a good roundabout on Green, but even there the struggle was significant. 55 plus miles on the week, 4k feet - again most that coming today.  

Saturday 17JUN2023 Back to Green

I took the dog for a walk up the hill from the house around sunset the other night and looked over the Front Range.  I know the profile pretty well from looking at it for years, and in many cases, having tagged many of the high points (or having JV point out to me the ones I had not done).

I looked at Green and wondered when, if ever, I'd get back to it.  And then I realized I couldn't remember when I last did it.

I texted GW and told him I was going to do it Saturday morning and he immediately responded with agreement that he was also in.  I wasn't expecting much other than to get my ass kicked.  I mean it always kicked my ass but this would be an ass kicking that would just take longer than it used to.  I was curious as to how my ankle would hold up, and recognized I might need to pull the rip cord early if I was jacking it up.  

As a bonus, JZ came home for the weekend last night and so he joined us.  We took the ASG up and Gregory down.  It was mostly a slog hike up, but with some slow running where we could manage.  JZ took off on the down - but I took it careful.  6.1 miles.

It had been 51 weeks since I had last hit this hill.  Definitely kicked my ass, but that is because I have not done this in a long time.  I am happy with how the ankle held up.  It was sore, but no more so than it has been the last week or so.  

Also was good to get this done early - it was turning into a bit of Disney Land as we finished up.  

Week ending 26JUN2022

 Monday AM - 4 miles around practice.  Getting hot early these days.  

Afternoon - 2.75 on the ditch with JZ and then I did 8 x 300 on the MS track.  It was hot and I had a lot of excuses but I figured that I need to do these because I don't want to do these since they suck but when I don't do them it just makes the suck suck some more.

Tuesday AM - Sore.  I guess the combination of squats yesterday - which I REALLY SUCK at and the workout put me here.  So that is good.  Embrace the suck.  But I did know I needed to go easy.  It was better at the end than the beginning.  6.1 miles around practice.  

Afternoon - ditch.  Moving well.  3.8 miles.

Wednesday AM - tired.  6.3 miles with GW.  Over to practice and then back.  Ditch

Afternoon ... 136 Ditch loop.  3.3 miles.  Was tired but it was cloudy out so I had no excuses.  

Thursday afternoon - short one.  3.6 with practice.

Afternoon - over on Ridgeview on the concrete hill climbing up into the 'hood by the gazebo.  8 x 1 minute hills.  5 miles.

From last weekend.

Friday - practice over at the Aquarius Trailhead.  6 x 30" hills in the middle.  8.6 miles all today (added on a bit on the end because I didn't want to double up today).

Saturday AM - Green  Mountain.  Up the front and down the back.  I am really really out of shape for this sort of thing and almost every step up from Gregory was a walk.  Yes, a walk with intention but still a walk.  Worse was the down ... I just am not bomb proof yet to take the down with anything but great caution.  6.6. miles.

Sunday afternoon - sore from the run yesterday.  7.2 miles - just to get me to 60.  A bit tired but that was probably from the gig at Luki last night.

A good week for training.  It was revealing as to where I am at but I pushed a bit too.  

Week ending 21NOV2021

Monday - full day on a local engagement.  Didn't get out until the near evening, dark.  5.1 miles.  

Tuesday AM - 5 miles easy with GW and Syd Kid before heading into work.

Tuesday PM - 5.1 miles on the sunset on the Ditch/Lake Link loop. Meant to be easy, and it sorta was but I was moving unexpectedly quicker than I thought.  

Wednesday AM - 8 miles around practice.  Super easy.

Thursday AM - chilly (20 degrees).  5 miles easy.  

Friday AM - 6.1 miles.  Jumped in a lap or so every once in a bit of Syd kid's workout.

Saturday AM - been toying with the idea that I have to actually get back to some sort of racing so I headed over to Park Run this AM.  Good news:  I raced.  Bad news:  I am not that fit.  Good news:  I am not as bad off as I thought I might be.  Bad news:  I am sorta mentally soft right now.  Good news:  Nothing completely fell apart for me.  Bad news:  I was an idiot and went out too fast.

20:50.  Told myself going into the race I'd be super chill the first mile and them figure it out.  A group of guys made for a little pack at 100 yards in and I told myself to hang with them.  But 200 yards later I dropped because I had convinced myself they were going to slow.  And they caught me at 2 and quarter miles.  Good stuff.  Some things don't change.

Parkrun does really have their shit together.   You register, show up with your barcode, they scan that post your finish and its good to go.  Nice little email and results are sent over and they keep a database of your results over the years.

They also send age graded results.  While, I am not a proponent of age group ratings to identify who "won" a race outright, I recognize some value in considering those metrics.  When I consider my best times at various distances in my very late 20s, I would have posted a 80+% for those performances.  My Parkruns here (3 prior to the Saturday effort) ranked at 73% and my performance yesterday was at 71+%.  It gives me a bit of a pseudo objective view of where I was, how age versus focus may have shifted that some.  And a bit of a something in addition to times to chase.  

Oh yeah, first Parkrun since December of 2018, and first race since Pikes 2019.  It has been a while.  

10.2 miles on the day with the race, warm up and cool down.

Sunday AM - two super easy flat miles and then over to Green Mountain.  I think it has been since July of 2020 since I did a round trip on this.  Again, it has been a while.  I ended up going up ASG and then down the backroute.  Whole thing was slow but I expected that.  8.1 miles on the day.

56 miles on the week - a good one for me for sure with a Green, a Parkrun and some fair miles along the way.  

Crazy light lately on the bookends. 

Week ending 12JUL2020

Monday AM - 8.1 miles easy and some strides around practice.

Tuesday  AM - 11.5 miles.  10 x 500 on about equal time rest.  Was going about 1:46, 1:47 (with the thought that is what 600 v 500 repeats used to be none too long ago).  After six I had to high tail it to practice and so did the last four as a 1:50 repeat on the roads, trying to get to the same effort.

Wednesday AM - 10 miles easy.  About half of it with the team.

Thursday AM - really tired and the Achilles was irked.  8.5 miles with a pickup and some strides at the end.

Friday AM - 5 mile tempo on the roads.  Never felt so great.  Effort was there but the pace was lacking today.  Ended up averaging about 6:40.  11.5 miles.

Saturday AM - up at Tahosa.  7 miles up the road towards Beaver Res, and then up the Cony Flats 4WD road for a bit.

Sunday evening - back from Tahosa and bit fried.  Biked a dozen or so with TZ.  Headed over Green via the back route, then down the always redone Bear Canyon.

Fair week - nothing great.  66 miles, a good climb, a fair workout on Friday, a better one on Tuesday, and some time up high (with two nights in a tent too).

Did about an hour an half last week as a Live Stream.

Really diggin' Soul's Core Revival this week.  Loved the original back in the 90s, and enjoying reconnecting with it now.

Week ending 18MAY2020

Monday afternoon  - cooler day, but a bit tired today.  An hour and some strides.  7.7 miles.

Tuesday AM - misty chilly ... 6.1 miles with 10 x 40' hills (Eagle Hill).
Tuesday PM - easy four along the ditch.

Wednesday mid morning.  8.5 miles easy.  Felt better as the run went on.

Thursday afternoon - 8.2 miles.  Tired.  Easy and it felt like a slog but it was actually marginally quicker than yesterday.  A few strides at the end.

Friday PM - longer work today.  4 x a mile on the track on a lap rest.  Goal was 6:10-15.  Actual was 6:05, 6:05, 6:03, 5:55 with most that 55 coming on the last lap (and sort of looking silly, breaking down doing it).  Good workout.  10.2 miles on the day.

Saturday - easy miles.  5 with JZ in the old neighborhood as we waited on an tire repair.  I got a few more post.

Sunday - 3 peaks - Bear via Fern out of Cragmoor, then over to SoBo, then over to Green and then back down Bear Canyon back to Cragmoor.  13.6 miles with about 4500 feet of gain.  So a long run and finally some mountain vert.  I had JV and Homie for escorts this AM.   The run was a bit more than I was planning but it was a beautiful enough morning and the effort was in check enough that it was manageable (although I had to slurp some water at Bear Creek).  I am certainly not in "mountain" shape but I managed ok given the length of this effort.

Showing how little I get to the big hills anymore - it is the first time I had been to Green since going there with GW and Gabby last July.  Bear?  Got to go back to 2018 for that. SoBo?  Yeah - 2015.  For me it is mostly the "time tax" that I have been less than willing to pay over the last few years.  I might need to be more willing to eat that if I want success in a hill race.

Solid week - 2 quality workouts, a climb/long run and overall good miles (67.3) and the biggest vertical run on the year yet (although it is hardly enough). Actually on a gig remotely on a different time zone next week so it might be a bit more challenged that has been the last couple of months.

Apparently the rumor is that Pikes will make a call as to what they are doing June 1.  I'm fine with whatever that call is.  I sort of feel I can take a crack at some so-called 50yo PRs (as I am still pretty freshly minted in that decade) for the mile and 5k if Pikes pulls the plug, and I sort of think I could possibly take a long shot crack at a sub 5 effort at Pikes if that plays out.  It is all good either way.  I am thinking with Leadville canceled for that same weekend, Pikes will likely do the same but that is just a guess

Sunday 21JUL2019

Did a little round on Green with Greg and Gabby.





Saw this weirdness in the port-a-potty at Gregory Lot.


Local honey is back.



Made a mistake and walked the dogs on the Valmont side of Teller.  Got a ticket for it.  Ugh.




Short week on whole but got some stuff in.

Sunday 07JUL2019

9.5 on Green.  Headed up the middle route and then came back down via the Long Canyon route.  Pretty morning ... eyeballed some wild turkeys in the stretch between West Green (recently rerouted too) and Long Canyon.



Ran into Nick P on the trail just below the Ranger cottage.  I don't think I have seen that guy in like 2 years.

Felt like a proper week of training - for the first time in a bit:  a round on Green, a few quality sessions spread over the week and just over 70 miles.  My legs felt tired pretty consistently throughout the week, but I think it is the investment I need to make for some later summer racing. 

Saturday 15JUN2019

Green.  Went up Gregory and then took Long Canyon - which is the longer trip and pretty but something I typically don't have time for.  Didn't feel spry so it was a slow go, but happy to get the reps in.






KZ and TZ hiked up from Chautauqua on ASG so I met them.  I buzzed down a bit, found them, then came back up the old set of stairs that Scott E used to call the "four minute Green mile" (it took me about six today) (and it might be a quarter mile).

9 miles.

Sunday 02JUN2019

I was up early - which seems to be more the norm these day - I struggle to stay sleeping past 5.  And with everyone still sacked out, I decided to take advantage and get the run done - and get a run on Green.






My legs were not up for the task, and I knew this early on.  My brain wasn't super dialed in either, so I "went through the motions" ... and just had a grinder of a day slogging up the hill, not particularly quickly, but feeling like I was working hard.  I was fine with it as this was my second Green in a week - the first time I have done that in a very long time (certainly this year).

Round trip was about 6.9 (although it took me close to half a mile to remember where I parked the car).  I finished the week in the mid 60s, with my two Greens counting for my desired quality efforts.  The dual climbs pushed the week to be the largest vertical week of the year, and with the slower efforts the time climbed to over 10 hours for the first time this year as well.

Different sort of week on tap coming up:  off to PHX, and temps there are already in the mid 90s.  Should be fun to be back in the land of the cactus and scorpion.