Mountain Dreams

This has been a frustrating week in my training. My legs are there, I am ready to run, but the time has not been. I was facing a major deadline at work all week, and 11+ hours a day at work plus an hour and a half or more of commuting does not leave much time for running. Hopefully I can still get a few good workouts in today and tomorrow and salvage a little training out of these seven days. But if not, I have to remember that I a) am in solid shape for this time of year and b) I still have quite some time before my first planned race of the year.

My first planned race (as opposed to my last minute, "why not?" races) is the Golden Gate Dirty Thirty. This is a 50k race in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, just an hour or so away from my house, taking place on June 1st this year. This will be my longest race to date, and it has approximately the same elevation change as the Pikes Peak Marathon, so it should be a difficult challenge for me. Fortunately, I know several other people also running the 50k, and at least one who is planning to run the 12 mile accompanying race. That means I should have a cheering section.

My second planned race, should it come to pass, is the Telluride Mountain Run on August 10. This is a 55 mile monster in, naturally, Telluride, with a total of 20,000 of elevation gain and, since it's a loop course, loss. Dakota Jones is the RD for the race, so it's bound to be interesting. My goal is simply to finish in under the cutoff (16 hours). As of this writing, the permitting process is still underway, but hopefully that will be taken care of soon. If not, the PPM is my backup.

There may be a couple other races in the summer/fall as well. Some friends at work are putting together a team for the Wild West Relay, which takes place the weekend before T-Rad. I may or may not join them, depending on how I'm feeling at that time. Also, my gf has plans to do a triathlon on June 8th, which I intend to do with her. Fortunately, given my plans for the weekend before this, it's a short tri.

Races aside, I have a large number of fun runs in the mountains I would like to take on this summer. With my experiences on Longs last summer, I feel a great deal more comfortable with my abilities in the high country. If Andy Anderson gives you a compliment on your performance on Longs, you take note. The following is a selection:

Grizzly Peak Traverse: Starting at Loveland Pass, this traverse is entirely above tree line, taking you on a ridgeline up Grizzly Peak (a thirteener) before putting you atop Torreys Peak followed by Grays Peak. If I can find somebody to do it with, I can finish at the Stevens Gulch trailhead, otherwise I get to turn around and head straight back the way I came.

Grand Slam on Longs: This might be a warmup for another traverse (the Glacier Gorge Traverse, which I will decidedly not be doing alone, should I do it at all). Taking the Loft route up to Meeker and Longs, this then traverses over to Pagoda Mountain on the other side of the Keyboard of the Winds, back to the Keyhole, over to Storm King and then Mt Lady Washington before returning to the Longs Peak trailhead. Optionally, I can add Battle Peak and Estes Cone before heading back to the trailhead.

General 14ers: At this point, including the peaks above, I have a list of 20 different 14ers I'd like to climb this year. It seems like a long shot, but I don't see that much issue with it. With the (unfortunate) lack of snowpack this year, I hope to be able to get out early in the season and keep climbing into September and October, should I still be in Colorado. The list at this point includes, but it not limited to:

Mt Elbert
La Plata
Kit Carson
Challenger Point
Crestone Peak/Needle
Bierstadt
Grays and Torreys
Longs
The Shermanator
Blanca

That should about do it for the summer! My gf and I are planning to do a number of these together, but the harder (class 3+) mountains I will likely be on my own for.

It looks to be an interesting summer, and I'm looking forward to it.