Mt. Elbert -- Friday

On Friday, I decided that Mt. Elbert would be training for the day.  I had been chased off by hail a week or so before, and this would be my first time to hike the tallest peak in Colorado to the top.

I got started early enough to hopefully miss the afternoon storms that seem to build around the peaks every afternoon.  This was to be a training run as well as a sight seeing adventure.

So this is one profile of the trail that I took up to the summit of Mt. Elbert.  The mileage along the bottom of this one is not accurate for where I started.  The trail I took is almost 9 miles by the time you turn back, and reach the bottom.

I am not sure what a good times are for reaching the top, but I made it up in 2 hours and 19 minutes, and was pretty happy about that.

You can really move on the trail early before it gets too steep, and then I just buried my head, and hiked hard for a long time.  I did take frequent, short breaks, but kept moving.

For a since of perspective, look at the bottom left center of this picture...those 2 black dots are people hiking up below me.  Those bodies of water are Twin Lakes and Mt. Elbert Forbay.

Once you get up above tree line, and start really climbing, there are 3 false summits.  I am learning to prepare myself for these, and not get too excited as I reach the top.

I'm sorry, what did you say?  I can't hear you over my jacket, gloves, and shoes.

I rested at the peak for just a minute, ate a granola bar, and then prepared for the descent.

I was very pleased with my running on the way down.  Where it is very steep near the top, I used a controlled run, but was able to keep moving pretty quickly without tiring my knees or quads.  Once I made it back to the treeline, I could really turn on the speed, as the incline became a little more tolerable.

As I neared the trailhead, I had mixed feelings.  I looked down and realized I had a shot at making it all the way down in an hour, but knew that it would be close.  

When I burst into the parking lot I stopped my watch, looked down, and realized that I had made it in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

All in all it was a good workout.  After lunch I volunteered to work packet pick up for the 50 mountain bike and 50 run this weekend.  I worked Saturday, and spent some time at the start/finish line for the mountain bike race.

Check out the start of the race.  They have to run up this ski hill to begin the race.  To make it extra interesting this year, they were giving away a spot in the 100 mile mountain bike race in August.  There are 2 guys that break away from the pack.  Pretty awesome stuff.  Too bad my camera phone is so dinky.

Today is Sunday, and I will be sweeping the 50 run course.  This time I will not be running the full distance.  I will start at the turn around point around 2:00 PM this afternoon, and make my way in from there.  Hopefully, it will go a little more smoothly for me than marathon day a couple of weeks back.

I haven't figured out tomorrow's plan yet, but I need to knock out between 25-30 miles again, before I start my "recovery" week next week.

Until then...