Weekly Summary: Feb 27 - Mar 4

2/27 - Rest.

2/28 - 5.78 miles.  1:04:21.  ~600'v.  Steamboat.   PM.  It snowed very hard all day long but I was able to take advantage of a mid-afternoon window of moderate snow to run Spring Creek Trail from JDs house downtown.  It started out only snowing lightly for the first half hour.  I was even warm and took of my beanie for a little while at the beginning of the run.  I passed a group of older folks skiing down the trail as I ran up and one of the concerned older ladies says to me, "Where's your hat?"  How thoughtful.  I assured her it was in my pocket and I was going to be alright.   Later, the trail was snowshoe packed but I still ended up breaking some trail on the final climb up the ridge and I continued until I got stopped by a fairly deep snowdrift.  I turned around and started back down and it started snowing harder.  I cruised the 2.5 miles back to the trail head then ran the road up to Butcherknife Canyon trail before running through some alleys on the way back to JDs.  It was cool spending most of the run in the woods and then coming out and running by the cute, little mountain houses in Old Town.  Snowy run, for sure.

2/29 - 2.16 miles.  1:17:15.  ~400'v.  Stagecoach.  PM.  Snowshoe with Benny.  Made a .5 mile lap through the open space but it was a bit windy so we headed up the mountain.  Broke a trail up and, then, downhill in some pretty deep snow.  I didn't feel like running when I got home so this was my alternative.  Slow and steady. 

3/1 - 6.66 miles.  :57:43.  Steamboat.  Yampa River Core Trail.  PM.  After work run from downtown to Casey's Pond and back on the Core Trail.  A little cement and alot of ice and snow just before it got dark and started snowing again.  Another burly drive home afterwards.

3/2 - Rest.

3/3 - Snowboarding.  2:43:00.  -16,360'v.  Steamboat Ski Area.  AM. I was supposed to do a 21-mile long run today but, instead, Katy scored me a ski pass and with all the new snow this week, had to settle for the Best Day of riding this year.  Solo shred morning session.  Tons of powder and plenty deep as it continued to snow.   Ridiculously good runs through the trees on the skier's left of Concentration.  Later, I ran into Ian Wilson, in town from Ft. Collins, and took him and couple of his friends down Broadway Trees where I had found untracked lines earlier.  My last run, I dropped the rope next to the Gondola and rode some out of bounds terrain before finishing up.  I even got to "hollywood" under the Gondy as I rode out on Lower Valley View.    It was hard to leave when I did but I wanted to meet up with some friends and watch "A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas." 

3/4 - 20.69 miles.  4:06:28.  1,800'v.  Stagecoach.  late AM start.  From the house, I ran some hilly, snow covered dirt road for 5 miles until I got to the end of the road in the South Shore neighborhood.  That's when the fun started.  From there, I pulled out my hiking poles (yep, I ran with poles in anticipation of dealing with over a foot of snow that fell during the week) and started post holing thigh deep snow.  At first, I decided to follow a track that led across the lake but I was not only punching through super deep snow but also stepping into 3 inches of water every time I took a step.  My gaiters and Gore-Tex shoes kept my feet from getting totally soaked but I was sure that my feet were already wet.  I decided to not trudge through the water and turned around making my way back up to the shoreline and punched out a new trail for the next .5 mile until I got to the dam.  I looked down at my GPS to check my pace, which had slowed to a laughable 30-45 min/mile.  Once I crossed the dam, I took off my gaiters and stowed them in my Nathan vest.  I kept the walking sticks out, sipped some water and felt pretty good, ready to run some snowmobile packed trail down towards Sarvis Creek.  This was the best part of the run.  The snow was decently packed so I could maintain a run and the sun came out as I ran in a small, narrow valley next to the Yampa River.  I passed a couple of snowshoers and couple people out fishing.  It was really beautiful.  I turned around when my GPS read 9 miles and cruised back up the road.  Right before I got back to the dam, I stepped through a cattle guard and put a nice knot on my left shin.  Ouch!   Took it easy for a minute and ate a Clif Bar.  From the dam, I stayed on the road that goes around the north shore of the reservoir.  Fortunately, the plow had made one pass on the road so it was easy to run.  After a couple more miles, I got onto CR 14 and ran on the shoulder of the road which was just wet asphalt, so I was finally able to get some traction and I ran a decent pace to the turn off that goes back up to the house.  The next 2 miles were pretty uneventful except seeing the sled dogs hanging out by the reservoir.  It made me think of local musher, Tom Thurston, who is running his dogs in the Iditarod right now.  As I made the last hill before the house, I was starting to struggle a bit so I pulled out the sticks to lean on a little bit and decided to run another mile and half up the road before turning around a calling it a day.  I took a few big gulps of water and worked one more long uphill then turned around pushed myself to finish strong.  I was definitely tired and a little sore by the end of the run but felt really good about breaking the 20 mile and 4 hour marks. 

Weekly Totals:  35.29 miles.   6:24:00 running/snowshoe.  2:43:00 snowboarding.  19,160'v. 

Again, I didn't get the mileage I was supposed to get according to my training schedule but I'm getting the long runs done, getting plenty of time on my feet, spending some time outside and I'm shredding some serious snow.   All good things and it's always good to mix it up to avoid overtraining.  It's exciting to be able to run 20 miles again especially so early in the year and feeling strong enough to improve.  

Weekly Summary: Feb. 20 - 27

2/20 - Splitboarding.  3.45 miles.  2:04:43.  1340'v.  Stagecoach.  PM.  Off work early today + 1 foot of fresh powder at home = splitboard session.  Supposed to be a rest day but when it snows, it snows.  And, for me, that means do whatever I can to surf the white wave.  I enlisted the company of faithful companion Benihana and up Stagecoach Mt. we went to ride the newly fallen snow.  Skinned up to The Beach down 3rd, 2nd and 1st Pitch, then hiked back up to the top of 1st Pitch for one more ride all the way back to the house.  I would have been up for a couple more laps but us "old" guys need to learn to take it easy sometimes.   Meanwhile, Steamboat got crushed...27" of snow in 24 hours, 34" in 36 hours.

2/21 - Snowboarding.  ~3:00:00.  Steamboat Ski Area.  No running.  Winter is finally back.  It took its sweet time, but I knew it had to happen eventually.  It snowed all night and continued through the day.  A gnarly drive to work but there wasn't any, so I called up JD and he was able to score me a medallion so I could go ride with him, Chris and, later, Derek, on the Mountain ("mountain, mountain").   Knee deep to waist deep snow depending on where we were but mostly, just sick conditions.  I just wished I had waxed my snowboard because I was a little slow on the flatter sections.   Run of the day definitely went to No Name Chutes but, really, it was all good.  Steep, deep and fresh.   It's supposed to continue snowing through the week so I might not be getting much mileage in the way of running but hopefully I will get in some of the best riding of the year.  Ah, life in a ski town does not suck.

2/22 - Snowshoe.  ~:45:00.  >1 mile.  Stagecoach.  PM.  Just a fun walk in the deep snow with my girl.  Katy made a cool figure-8 route and I had a great time following her around.  Actually, this was the first time I've really snowshoed and I thought it was a blast.  Later that evening the wind picked up and erased all of our tracks.  Bummer.

2/23 - 6.0 miles.  :57:12.  Steamboat.  PM.  Brrr.  Cold day.  Katy says it was "cold like back East."  I'm thinking the humidity was higher than usual and there was a biting wind that lasted most of the day.  It warmed up a little as I ran from downtown, past the high school and then up and down the hill by the middle school before going out to Buff Pass Road and back.  Overall, a nice mellow run.  Glad to get some mileage this week, I wasn't sure that was going to happen with the weather. 

2/24 - 14.05 miles.  2:21:48.  1320'v.  Stagecoach.  PM.  Sunny and somewhat mild this afternoon as I ran on snow, dirt roads and a little asphalt.  Decided to do my long run today since I'm going to splitboard Stagecoach Mtn. tomorrow.  I wore a Nathan vest I'm trying out for racing this summer and it felt pretty comfortable.  In it, I carried a small bag of cashews, a tangerine, an electrolyte tablet, a water bottle (for a few miles, I hand carried it the rest of the way) and my gaiters, once I took them off about 4 miles into the run.  I ate a few cashews just after the 5 mile mark and drank water most of the run.  In the last 3 miles or so, I dropped the tablet into my water bottle so I could finish my run and cool down while replenishing electrolytes.  The run went well, for the most part, although I did feel like I had a couple of rough patches but nothing too bad.  The best part of the run was seeing Katy pass me in her car as she was getting home from work!   It definitely made the last few miles easier.

2/25 - Splitboarding.  2:33:00.  1820'v.  Stagecoach.  AM.  Skinned up to within a couple hundred feet of the summit of Stagecoach Mtn. with my neighbor, Robert, for a nice morning session.  Very relaxed pace, stopping along the way to take a few photos and to talk.  For me, there are few things better than to walk right out my front door, start climbing a mountain and ride down.  The snow was quite good.  A little settled but still soft and deep, making for good speed and turns.  The terrain was rolling and smooth all the way to the bottom of the mountain.   A beautiful, sunny and breezy morning.  I think the wind is supposed to pick up tonight and it's supposed to snow again. 

2/26 - 7.87 miles.  1:06:19.  880'v.  Stagecoach.  AM.  One mile warm-up for 10 minutes followed by 6 miles of tempo (8:28,7:41,8:01,7:34,7:35,7:35) and .8 mile cool down on some pretty icy roads (with a little bit of dirt).  A good run with some pretty modest splits but fun for me.  Spent quite a few steps telling myself, "Don't slip.  Don't fall.  Don't bust your ass."  Stopped to talk to my friend Dave Demos for a couple of minutes as he was driving home and then again at the port-o-potty at the trail head by the reservoir. Sunny but a damn cold wind kept it really chilly. 

Weekly Totals:  28.92 miles running/snowshoe. 2200++'v.  (4:25:xx running, 7:34:00 splitboarding/snowboarding)

I got a chance to mix it up a little this week thanks to the return of winter.  Mother Nature timed it perfectly and I got to take advantage of a low mileage week and get out and ride some powder, even if it meant skipping a couple runs.  It also helped that we were slow at work so I could move my training schedule around a little bit (it didn't help financially).   Next week, I'll be back to bumping up the mileage with a 21 mile long run on Saturday, so hopefully (for me) the weather will cooperate.  However, if we are back to a normal cycle in terms of snowfall, we could still see alot of it through March and April.   I think that as long as I keep hitting my long runs, I can keep sacrificing a few shorter runs here and there.