Training Run With a 14er in the Middle

Today got off to an early start.

Last week I had run with Smokey on Sunday.  We knocked out the 28 miles that started and ended the 100.

Today we decided to knock out a fairly lengthy run, but to summit a 14er in the middle (For the flatlanders, a 14er is a 14,000ft peak).

Smokey runs Community Threads, an awesome consignment shop in Leadville.  While we train at about the same pace, he has a much stronger background in running, has finished the 100 twice, and is a fast climber.

He lives 2 streets over, so we started our run form the neighborhood, and headed South/Southeast towards Mount Sherman.


It ended up being just shy of 20 miles, but had about 3600-3700 feet of climbing, and took about 5.5 hrs to complete.  It took us 3 hours and 5 minutes to summit the peak from our doorsteps.  It could have been quicker, but there were times when the grade of the climb was over 10%.

Here is the elevation profile:

Like I said, the run started in town, so we headed out on pavement first.  There are a couple of fairly steep pavement sections, so we ran over 3/4 of the way to the trailhead.  It was a nice tough grind.

From this picture, you don't get a great feel for the grade of the road, but you did get a look at what we will be climbing later.

Once you get to the trailhead, it rolls a bit through a meadow until you get to the base of the mountain and really start your climb.

Mt. Sherman is often someone's first 14er because it is a short route.  However, you do still need to be in shape as it is very steep at some points.  Where it is steep is not actually dangerous (no drop offs to the sides), but it is a pretty grueling ascent.

You make it over tree line pretty fast, and this is what the trail looks like on the side of the mountain.

Those are people back there on the trail, if that gives you a sense of scale

We motored up the mountain at a pretty good clip, and I felt great.  I am only mildly feeling any altitude affects now, and my climbing is already getting stronger.  I am not where I need to be yet, but today was a good confidence builder, and training day.

After making the saddle, we moved up along the ridge line.  I took a picture here last year also.  They look almost the same.

These flowers are called Blue Bells, and they are purple, so I of course thought of Southern Blackberry Cobbler Ice Cream from Blue Bell

Hiking and running the ridge line is one of my favorite parts of ascending 14ers.  Remember that this video looks more dangerous than it really is, there was never any real chance of falling off the sides.

As we neared the summit, I snapped this shot of the valley below, and you can see most of the roads, we ran in on, and even town back in the distance where we started.

Finally, we reached the summit, snapped the obligatory peak photo, and headed home.

It took about 2 hours and 20 minutes to make it back to town.  We were grinding out some pretty good times.  The course back is mostly down hill, but there are a couple of climbs that make you want to swear on the way back, and we ran them all.  After all this is training.

I ate a lot, and have been icing my feet as a precautionary measure.  They feel okay, but one is tight, and the other has a stone bruise.  Neither issue should be very problematic, I just want to stay ahead of any possible future issues.

Here is a pretty cool way to see the entirety of the route we took: