Training Log Archive: bbrooke

I drove to Pueblo last night (~2 hours) so I could get an early start on today's MTB ride. I wanted to do long miles without much technical rocky stuff (since I have to get off and walk for that), and Lake Pueblo State Park was perfect -- especially since all Colorado state parks had free admission today.

Weather was great (70s) except for the wind -- gusts up to 35 mph, according to wunderground.

Saw very few other people (three hikers / runners and maybe five other bikers total).

3:35 total time / 2:40 moving time (I stopped to eat lunch and also stopped LOTS of times to consult my map, since it was my first time on these trails).

The only sucky part (besides the wind) was the "cutoff" trail across the creek / river feeding into the south end of the reservoir. The trail died off into thick vegetation / dead logs and then a 50-foot stretch of deep, nasty mud. I'm off to clean my bike and shoes now...

C • Bike ride 2

Louisville Turkey Trot -- free and very fun. Also, the weather was amazing (sunny and 66 degrees at the start).

This event is just a fun run, not a race (no timing or results), and it's a mob of people with strollers & dogs, and walkers, so I wasn't attempting to go fast. Also, I stopped during mile #2 to walk with some friends for a few minutes.

I had volunteered to help with tear-down & clean-up after the race -- and it consisted of moving & loading zillions of metal barricades, four bike racks, and other heavy things. Oof. It was constant moving & lifting, so I'm counting all 90 minutes of it. :-P

Weekly Wednesday night Roost run. I had my headlamp for seeing the path, my blinkie light for safety, my gloves "just in case", and my OH MY GOD I FORGOT MY GPS WATCH! I FEEL SO NAKED AND HOW CAN I POSSIBLY RUN WITHOUT IT?!? ;-)

Time is estimated from other people's watches; distance estimated from gmap-pedometer.

Out to Community Park on the sidewalk, back along a portion of the Coal Creek trail, then the rest of the way on the sidewalk.

Nice, mild weather (still 55 degrees long after dark). Very light (slightly disappointing) snacks afterwards -- augmented with leftover Indian food and a Blue Moon Apricot Wheat beer at home.

C • 1

C • watch 2

Walked to & from the rec center.

Restorative Yoga class at the rec center.

Off from work this week -- yay!

I walked to and from downtown Louisville to run some errands and have a treat at Moxie Bread Co. (I drive past their sign advertising new items every day on my way to work -- and the cranberry-citrus and chocolate-almond-chai spice kouign amann pastries have been calling my name lately... I tried the chocolate-almond-chai one; may go back later this week for the other one.)

(Internet photo:)

Possum Trot @ Blue & Grey Park.

Since it was cold, I opted to wear an ear-warmer instead of my usual hat or visor -- and I spent the first three hours really regretting that (since I seem to have a hard time seeing when there's a lot of bright sun / dark shadow contrast in the woods). It was really hard for me to see -- especially combined with the massive amount of eye-watering I have lately every time I start an outdoor activity (cold + wind + sunscreen?). I swapped to my hat when I got to #15 at the start / finish area.

Otherwise, it took me a few controls to get used to how faint and hard to see many of the trails were (totally covered in leaves, etc.). And -- I did decide to use trails almost exclusively, since thorny things made me even slower in the woods.

So I had a few mistakes here and there -- mainly at #2 (some wandering, lost in the trail network), #4 (I left the field too soon at the wrong trail -- and there was an old camp chair right there which I told myself could be the man-made object), and #25 (lost the trail and took a really inefficient route). I chose #22 as my skipped control, and it looks like that's the one most others skipped, too -- so I guess I chose wisely...

I was expecting to cover about nine miles (based on the 14 km course length), but it was actually 13+ (earning the chocolate mousse crepes I had for dessert last night...). After the first few controls, I was worried about missing the five-hour cutoff or even finishing the whole course, but I made it and finished 2nd out of three women, 19th out of 26 starters -- not DFL! ;-) Sharon stomped me by ~50 minutes -- but I'm sure she didn't have any of the dumb navigational mistakes I had.

I'm surprised at the total elevation gain shown on my Garmin (even after correction), but other logs show similar numbers...

Very fun!!!

PT XVIII - Splits