In Search of the Ruins...

Yesterday, I completed what I would consider one of my most fun - albeit dangerous at times - solo adventures.

My goal was to find the remains of Spencer Penrose' brainchild: The Cheyenne Mountain Lodge on the summit of Cheyenne Mountain (elevation 9,500ft). For those of you not familiar with the Colorado Springs region, click here to check out the history of the lodge via photos and video - circa 1925 - or here to read an article about the structures on and around the mountain.

This post will likely be my most photo filled to date, so with no further ado, I'll let them do the talking for me...


(My goal is the summit of the mountain in the distance. About 4 miles away at this point.)



(Final approach to the base of Cheyenne Mountain. Soon the real climbing was about to begin!)

 

(First goal of the day: The Shrine.)



(Straight up the powerlines for me!)

 

(Just past the Shrine.)

  

(This was the typical condition of the old road to the summit. The only other tracks appeared to be from deer.)



(Gaining elevation quickly. Still a pretty nice day at this point, too.)



(A couple of surprised locals.)



 



(Looking north from about 2/3 of the way up. Already 1000+ feet above the Shrine.)



(Snow moving in quickly.)



(Starting to snow.)

 

(On on!)



(Getting closer. Two flagpoles in the distance. The one on the right was atop an old watchtower.)

 

(Almost to the stone watchtower.)



(My first shot from the top of the lookout.)

 

(Norad in the distance.)

 

(The stone stairs going up to the overlook.)





(Looking over the railing on the edge of the watchtower





(A temporary break in the weather. That's the scar where the bighorn sheep live far off in the distance.)



(Exploring the remains of the Lodge.)

(Proof.)

(I couldn't figure this one out...)



(A shot of the whole footprint of the old Lodge from the west.)

 

(Something about a toll gate.)

 

(For as fancy as the lodge was, I was surprised to find these outhouses...)



(Much better than the usual facilities in the woods!)

 

(A shelter I found while exploring to the west of the Lodge. This is where I holed up for a while during the heaviest snowfall.)



(Front view.)



(Getting warm.)



(I also found this abandoned structure.)



(Looking west. Gold Camp Road in the distance.)

 

(Still snowing on the way down.)

  

(The ravine I chose to drop into in hopes of getting back to civilization.)

 

(A parting shot of the mountain. Looking a lot colder & snowier...)

  

In summation, I ran/hiked the majority of the 24 mile (+/-) journey in 4:29, but was trekking for a total of 7 hours, just trying to soak it all in (and at times, trying to take shelter from the heavy snowfall and wind). I gained about 3400 vertical ft, ate 4 GU's and a bag of Skittles, took two falls scrambling down a ravine off the mountain, and saw the weather change from 44 degrees and sunny, to full blizzard conditions - all in the course of the afternoon. Even before the new snow arrived, I was breaking trail through 4-10" of crusty snow for several miles.

It's adventures such as this one that define ultra-running - and training - for me. Rather than hitting the track for 800m repeats or running a progressive tempo run, as is necessary when preparing for a road marathon, to get mentally and physically prepared for 50 and 100 mile mountain races, you get to have fun and see some amazing sights that many people will never be able to experience. 

Here's to the big playground that is Colorado!

Brooks

January 2011 Recap

My month in a nutshell:

• # of days I ran = 29
• # of miles run = 188
• Average miles per run = 6.48/day

After taking virtually the entire month of December off, the theme for January was consistency. Even though my mileage wasn't super impressive, I quickly started to get strong again and for the first time in almost two years, I'm running pain free! Somehow, I just woke up one morning and the Plantar Fasciitis pain was gone. And by averaging just over 10k per day, I'm nearly running the mileage I was at in July/August last year.

Overall, I'm pleased with where I'm at fitness wise, and the fact that I successfully avoided the most recent wave of sickness (chest cold/flu) that's been going around my office.

Highlights of the month:

1. Back-to-back long run weekends (32 mile and 23 mile days).
2. Beating JT at the Winter Series II 8 miler. (He'll deny it since I registered as 'Dirk Diggler', but it still happened. Oh, and ignore the slow times, we'd run 15 miles before the race.)
3. Running into a rabid squirrel who was chasing its own tail.
4. Meeting and (briefly) running with Scott Jurek.
5. Making page 21 of Runner's World.
6. Being touted as the featured athlete on the Brew to Brew race website.

With just over two months until I begin my 'official' race season, my main goal is to steadily increase the mileage while starting to incorporate speed work, tempo runs, hills, and interval training. Both of my April races are going to be more about leg speed than endurance (Brew to Brew, and the Boston Marathon), so it's time to get my butt moving.

Last but not least, my good friend Andy Henshaw just laid down a 2:26 marathon in Miami last Sunday, which has also inspired me to run fast! With a little help from him and others, I'm putting together a training plan that will hopefully have me in sub-2:45 shape by Boston.

Brooks

Ponderous Posterior Pikes Peak 50k

Yesterday was the final 'race' of the Colorado Fat Ass 50k series, which comprised of three informal events across the Front Range: Boulder in November, Ft. Collins in December, and Colorado Springs in January.

The field for these informal races would make any race director jealous, with Scott Jurek, Matt Carpenter, Tony Krupicka, Scott Jaime, Justin Ricks, Joe Grant, JT and yours truly all running. Despite not being prepared to run an ultra-distance event just two weeks into the new year, and nearly equalling my year-to-date mileage in one run, I was NOT about to miss the opportunity to run with these guys.

The course was a 'best-of' collection of our local trails which provided a treat for people unfamiliar with the area and locals alike. There was an abundance of single-track, fresh powder, gnarly climbs and descents, beautiful views of Pikes Peak, and thousands of feet of elevation gain/loss. For those of you familiar with the trail network around Colorado Springs, we hit the following: Garden of the Gods, Rampart Range Road, Williams Canyon, Waldo Canyon, Longs Ranch Road, Barr Trail, Intemann Trail, and Red Rock Canyon. In close to 32 miles there was less than 3 miles of running on pavement.

I had the privilege of meeting and running with a new friend, Patrick Garcia, for most of the day. He and I were both in less than peak condition, so we really had no interest in pushing the pace and tearing our bodies down too much. With several stops, including the PBR aid at mile 30, we were out there for about 6:35.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

(Pikes Peak as seen from the top of Waldo Canyon.)

(A long and snowy 2000ft climb up Longs Ranch Road.)

   

(Pit stop at No Name Creek on Barr Trail.)

(Patrick and I showing off our sweet winter running moves.)

 (PBR can hit a guy quickly afer 6 hours of running!)

(The final climb out of Red Rock Canyon.) 

(This guy kept CLAIMING to be Scott Jurek. I don't buy it.)

It was a perfect January day for a long trek in the mountains with some cool and talented people and just the kick in the 'posterior' I needed to get back to training for the 2011 race season!

Running and Rabid Rodents

Running:
So after my much needed 3 week hiatus from running, I got back on the horse on January 1st with the annual 'Hangover Run'... I mean Rescue Run 10k. This was the second consecutive year that my friend James and I were late to the race start, but unlike last year where we arrived maybe 5 minutes after the gun went off, we were a good 12 minutes behind schedule this year which made it too late to for me to officially register. But hey, I hadn't planned my outfit and decked myself out in snowboard/running attire for nothing, so I still went out and put in the miles.

Since then I have run every day of this cold new year, which puts my streak at 10 days as I write this. While I have no specific longevity goals for this streak, I also have no intentions of breaking it unless my body forces me to do so (ie: injury). Consistency and higher mileage will be the name of the game this year in hopes of a sub-2:47 marathon at Boston and a top-5 at the Leadville 100.

Oh, and I almost forgot... I'm in the 'What it Takes' section of the February 2011 Runners World.

Rabid Rodents:
Okay, so there is actually only one rodent in this video - a squirrel - but you won't be disappointed. While this video has potential to go viral on YouTube if I put techno music in the background, it's still pretty funny as it is. I rarely run with my phone, but last Saturday was thankfully one of those occasions.

Here's the scenario: I was two hours into my long run, and I'd just gotten off the snowy trails and hit the road behind Bear Creek Park to run home on surface streets when I encountered the squirrel in the videos below. I recommend watching BOTH videos, even if only for the entertainment value of the of the hill-billy comments the local resident provides in the background.
(I especially like "Who knows what happens when you get hit by a car?", and "He must have some sort of brain damage.")

Video #1. 'My Discovery':

Video #2. 'Squirrel and Stick':

Brooks

What will 2011 hold?!

I've spent the last month or two thinking about what races, travel, or other adventures I want to embark on in 2011. I'd been waiting to put together a set game-plan until I knew whether or not I would be running Western States in June. Obviously, the lottery last week wasn't favorable for either me or Colorado runners in general, and I now have an open schedule next Spring/Summer/Fall.

So it's time to start preparing and looking ahead to another stellar year... I encourage feedback or suggestions, so don't be shy in commenting! Here are the races I'm doing for sure:

• Brew to Brew - 44 Miles - April 3rd, Kansas
• Boston Marathon - April 18th
• Leadville Trail 100, August 20th. This is the one I want to peak for this season. Sub-19 hour and top 5 is the goal. Having experience on this course and two good finishes, I don't think this is unrealistic.

Here are some races I'm also interested in:

• Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50/100- March 25th, Utah. The only problem I see with this one is its close proximity to B2B the next weekend. I'm going to need more than a week to recover from a 100 miler, but I could always do the 50 mile distance. These races look fast and beautiful. Located on an island on the Great Salt Lake!
• DRTE 100 - April 29th, California
• Collegiate Peaks 50 - May 7. This is just an all-around fun race that I've participated in the past two years. If it conflicts with something way more awesome, I'll gladly push it aside for a year, though.
• Miwok 100k... oops. I just realized the lottery closed last Friday, so this one is off the list.
• Hardrock Hundred - July 8th. What more needs to be said about this one? I have a personal vendetta against the race that beat me and humbled me last summer. Only problem I see here is that it too is a lottery and I'm not guaranteed entry.
• White River 50 - July 31st - Washington. I'm about 75% sure I'll be doing this one, even if it's just my excuse to run and catch up with my buddy, Andy Henshaw. If you're not already familiar with the name, 2011 should change that. He's among the newest members of the Montrail Ultrarunning team, alongside other greats such as Geoff Roes and Dakota Jones.

Let me know what you think of the tentative plan and please feel free to offer suggestions for other races/events I might have overlooked. Even if it's not an ultra-distance event, I'm not closing the door on any options!

For now, it's still relaxation mode for this guy. Tonight I'll be seeing these fellas rockin' it at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs. Should be a good time...


Brooks

Ending the 2010 Season on a High Note

(12/10/10 - Photos to follow this weekend)
I say that not because of how I placed, or how fast I covered the terrain at the 2010 North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championship, San Francisco, CA, Presented by Gore-Tex... (yeah, that's really the half-paragraph long name of the event), but rather because I had tons of fun and a mini-vacation at the same time.

This race was my last scheduled ultra-distance event of 2010 and it couldn't get here quick enough. I'm not gonna lie, I've been mentally checked out of running and training for the last 6 weeks mostly due to the cumulative physical and psychological fatigue of racing 11 ultra-distance events since February. I've been remarkably healthy through all of it - both my lungs and my legs - but that doesn't mean I wasn't run down.

I arrived in San Francisco pretty late on Thursday night after an uneventful trip that required no body scans, pat downs, or cavity searches, so I was a happy camper. By the time I was on the road in my very own rental car for the first time (I felt like I was playing grown-up), it was late enough that I decided to wait until Friday to meet up with my friends and fellow racers, Natalee and Brandon. Thankfully however, it was not too late to experience a $10 sushi feast at a hole in the wall restaurant near my hotel on Lombard St.!

Friday started early since I had to move my vehicle before it risked a 9:00am tow. I relocated my sweet Ford Escape (sarcasm intended) to a spot a few blocks away in a residential neighborhood that resulted in a $55 dollar parking ticket instead. Apparently, you can park there any time imaginable, except between 9 and 11am on the 1st Friday of each month. How convenient... it was there between 8 and 10am on the first Friday of December! That's my kind of luck, but in no way put a damper on the weekend. I figured as long as I found enough free parking over the next 4 days, I'd make up for the $55 dollar hit.

All this occurred while I roamed the streets of downtown SF soaking up the sights, sounds, smells, and buzz of the city (it's amazing how tall I felt after wandering through Chinatown). I eventually made it to the heart of the shopping district and picked up my race packet at the North Face store. After returning from my hilly 2-hour jaunt, I was finally hungry and ready to head down to San Jose to meet Natalee and Brandon for lunch.

After fueling our tanks, talking some trash, and making some friendly wagers on the outcome of the race, Brandon returned to work (business trip for him) and Natalee and I ran pre-race errands and hit the city for the remainder of the afternoon. We all reconvened for dinner in SJ and then went our separate ways to prepare for the looming 2:30am wake up calls which were necessary in order to catch the 3:45am shuttle. By 11:00pm I was finally all prepared for the pain and suffering that was in my near future and caught a quick 3+ hours of sleep.

One downside to running ultra's is how early they normally start. I say this since I'm definitely not a morning person, and feel that there is something inherently wrong with getting up and hitting the road while most individuals are just leaving the bars to head home.

Anyway, I met the rest of the gang shortly thereafter and Brandon and I piled into the bus for a short trip across the bay to the Marin Headlands and the race start. For the first time I can remember, I actually had a normal bowel movement before the race started as opposed to the 3+ I normally endure throughout the course of a 50 mile race. Off to a good start!

At 5:00 we were off into the darkness and it was amazing how fresh I felt and how much fun it was to be running again. I say this because I had done virtually no training over the last 6 weeks since the Deadman Peaks 50 in late October... a slightly longer taper than conventional wisdom recommends, but again, I was primarily doing this race for the experience and to get out of Colorado for a few days. In hindsight, I probably should have run more than a 17 mile long run in preparation for it, but considering I'm alive and well as I write this, I can't complain too much. Ultimately, the main difference I felt was the level of pain I had to endure to get through it. Normally the real meat-and-potatoes fatigue sets in around the 50k mark for me, but this time I was hurting, cramping, and hating life in general around mile 17. It was going to be a classic suffer-fest from there on, so my freshness and excitement were definitely short lived.

By the 9 mile mark we had already covered 2 substantial climbs (you are constantly climbing or descending at this race, with no flat running to speak of) and I was still within sight of the leaders. This falsely had me thinking I was a genius for taking a 6 week hiatus/taper, as I normally can't see the leaders after the first 15 minutes!

I was again shocked at the mile 13+ aid station to discover I was still less than 5 minutes behind the leaders. I still felt pretty awesome at this point but the fact I'd just covered a mountainous half marathon in 1:41 made me nervous. That's freakishly fast for a trail race with lots of climbing and descending and in hindsight was probably a big contributing factor to the bad hamstring cramps that hit me about 4 miles later.

This cramping hit in the middle of the day's longest and highest climb to the top of the beautiful Mt. Tamalpais.

Rain and cold winds were arriving at this point as well, so I was looking forward to grabbing my rain shell and dry socks at the Boot Jack aid station around mile 19. If there is one thing you can count on at 50 and 100 mile events though, it's that you can't count on anything, and this was the case when I discovered my drop bag was MIA. Having endured enough of these sufferfests' by now, I finally realize that getting pissed off and throwing a hissy-fit accomplishes nothing and saps valuable energy and mental strength, so I grabbed some fuel and hit the trail again, rather than having a pity-party with only one guest.

The remaining climb to the turnaround on Mt. Tam was gradual to say the least, but my legs were already toasted, so a lot of walking ensued. This created a new problem in that I needed to run to stay warm in the rain/wind, but really couldn't. With chattering teeth I reached the turnaround and began running again for the long descent through the enchanted forest down to Stinson Beach. On top of warming up from the increased exertion level, I was able to dry out under the thick canopy of Redwood's, but this mental boost was shortlived as I took a tumble and went rolling off the trail. A quick self-diagnostic confirmed that I only had surface wounds, and would unfortunately have to continue. (As twisted as it sounds, I was kind of hoping for a more serious injury that would get me out of running 22 more miles, but again, I just don't have that kind of good fortune very often!)

The remainder of the race was pretty uneventful and included more of the same: Climb, descend, walk, run, drink, GU, salt, aid station, etc. I will say the course was one of the most beautiful I've ever run (with the exception of the Hardrock Hundred), and the ocean views seemed to always sneak up on me right as I needed a pick-me-up. While racing I ran into both Natalee and Brandon at various points and this was another huge boost when I was getting low.

The last real challenge of the day was the slippery mud and complete lack of traction on the hills that resulted from the constant rain. If anything it added to the experience and makes the story and memory that much fonder at this point!

In the end, I finished in 8:48.37 good for 34th place in what was by far the toughest field I've ever gone up against. I have no complaints or regrets about this... if anything, it was awesome enough to make me want to return in 2011 and actually prepare for it next time!

Natalee went on to finish her first marathon that day in 5:42 which is stellar considering the difficult terrain and the fact that she'd never run over 10 miles in training for it!

Brandon finished the 50 miler in 11:36 which was good for a new personal record, and the privilege of buying my ticket to the metal concert we all went to the next night!

After sitting around in the cold and rain until 7:30pm waiting for drop bags to be returned (mine was finally found), we were bussed back to the city. The most adventuresome event of the evening was drinking medicinal alcohol and playing Angry Birds on the iPad.

Sunday was tourist day but Brandon and I looked like locals in the gay community based on how we were both walking!

We hit all the popular spots, including Coit Tower, Lombard St, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Ghiradelli Square, and finally the DNA Lounge where we had our eardrums destroyed by a bunch of angry foreigners.

I still haven't decided on a firm race schedule for 2011, but the Western States lottery on Saturday wasn't kind to me and this won't be my big event. I'm already registered for the Boston Marathon and the Leadville 100 again, so now I just need to fill in the gaps in between as I kick back and relax for a few weeks. It's time for me to pursue a month's worth of offseason hobbies which now include ice hockey and learning to play guitar!

In honor of an awesome weekend in the Bay area, here's a tune from Geographer, who conveniently are from San Fran and happen to be my current favorite artist... enjoy!