I typically alternate run days with gym days to allow a little recovery for my legs.
I also ended up doing another long one (25+ miles) on Thursday, just 8 days after my 24+ miler. I didn't really plan it that way, it just happened. 🙂 It was a fun adventure that I've had in mind to attempt for a while, but I'll get to that in a moment.
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Sunday, October 10th, 2021:
In-town run, 16 miles with 1300 ft elevation gain. Went up through Pulpit Rock on my way back. Sunny, warm day.
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Monday, October 11th, 2021:
Standing machine pull-downs and machine chest press in my gym.
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Tuesday, October 12th, 2021:
14 and a half miles with 2000 feet elevation. Ran on Rock Island Trail to Monument Valley Park, up through Sondermann Park, then over to Red Rocks Canyon in the late afternoon. It was breezy and I got a bit chilled. I was thankful for the hot shower after returning.
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Wednesday, October 16th, 2021:
I started my gym workout with heavy barbell deadlifts. I didn't want to exhaust myself too much, so I didn't go fully until failure, and stopped doing sets once I started to feel the fatigue set in. Then I also did barbell overhead press, and barbell curls.
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Thursday, October 17th, 2021:
This was the fun one! A true adventure run, one that required a little bit of uphill scrambling and some bushwacking. I encountered snow, cold, wind, thick fog, and amazing views.
I started my journey at the new-ish South Blodgett Peak entrance. This new parking lot is an alternative to the main Blodgett Peak Open Space, which easily fills early, especially on warm days (which this day was not.)
The plan was to go up the main trail, called the Wagon Wheel Road, into the National Forest and then through the wilderness until I found Road 303 at the base of Ormes Peak in the Rampart Range area, then run on 303 down to 300 (the main Rampart Range Road), and take this all the way back to town. A true mountain-crossing adventure!
I followed the main trail upwards, as it climbs steadily but smoothly for the first mile.
Soon after the first mile or so, the trail gets much steeper and more rocky, similar to the trail on the other side of the open space that goes up the actual Blodgett Peak. It becomes a bit of a challenge.
I was anticipating this, but what I wasn't anticipating was finding a couch a little ways up from here!
I have absolutely NO CLUE how someone got this couch all the way up here. At this point, the trail is so rocky and rough that I had to be careful not to slip and fall down the rocky hillside. How in the world did someone carry this couch across this rocky terrain straight up the mountain?
I didn't stop to ponder this for too long, though, as it was beginning to snow a little. Just small, lightweight, styrofoam snow. I had to keep moving to stay warm.
At least the views were impressive, with the colorful Gamble's Oak bushes surrounding me with their red-orange late-season leaves.
I was following a solid social trail for quite some time, until it mysteriously seemed to end or peter out. I was no stranger to blazing my own trail, so I kept climbing up through the wilderness, doing my best to navigate around the brush and fire-scarred downed trees (from the Waldo Canyon Fire.)
I kept climbing, without a defined trail, for what felt like a long distance. Finally, I came to a rocky outcropping at the top of a ridge. I thought, "I have to be close to the road." I stopped briefly to consult my GPS, and I was immediately disappointed. I was still quite a ways off from Road 303 - I wasn't even halfway there. I felt under-dressed for the cold wind that met me at the top of the ridge, and I hadn't brought gloves, which was an error on my part.
The styrofoam snow was coming down more heavily now, and I decided it was probably best to abandon the adventure for today and return back to town. I decided that I could try again when the weather was better.
However, I wasn't going to just turn around and descend the same way, without a trail. I knew from where I was located that if I could follow the ridgeline to the north, I'd be close to the main Blodgett Peak trail and I could hook into that and have a much easier descent.
I followed the ridgeline for a little way, and lo and behold, encountered a trail that I was expecting.
The trail went not only down to the east, but it also continued upwards to the west. My sense of adventure got the better of me! I decided to follow the trail upwards to see how far it would take me, and figured I could always turn around and descend this trail all the way if I had to. Also, the snow had subsided, and I felt warmer.
The trail was quite runnable for a bit, and I felt encouraged. I made up some distance, until the trail came to a rock outcropping again and just... ended.
But this time, I wasn't ready to turn around. I had been so completely convinced that I was going to turn around at the first ridgeline, but this time was different. I was almost at the elevation of the road - all I had to do was find the clearest path through the wilderness.
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| Some scenes from my trip through the eerie, charred woods, surrounded by clouds and fog. |
I followed the GPS map on my phone as best as possible, but I did have to ascend and descend a few little gullies.
I was able to see the road through the trees at one point, and it didn't look very far away anymore. As I got close to the road, a thick fog settled in. If I had been further away, I would have been more worried about finding my way, but at this point I was close enough that I knew I could make it.
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| Fog setting in near Road 303. |
And then I popped out onto the road! The hard part was over. Now I just had 16 miles or so back to town. Most of which was downhill, most of which was easy, comfortable jogging on a gently-graded dirt road. No navigation necessary.
Right at the point where I'd met the road, I found a cairn on the other side. I presume this is the cairn that leads to the trail up Ormes Peak. I had originally wanted to summit Ormes Peak during a trip like this, but not today. I was surprised I'd even made it to the road! I'll return to summit Ormes another day.
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| The cairn that must indicate the trail up Ormes Peak. |
Even though I still had a long way to go, it felt good jogging on the dirt road around Ormes Peak. As I got closer to Rampart Range Road (300), the clouds moved away and I was no longer surrounded by fog.
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| Top: Jogging around Ormes on 303. Bottom: Looking back at the Ormes Peak summit. |
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| Looking south from Road 303. |
When I was close to the junction with 300, Pikes Peak appeared. And it was an amazing view! 😍 I felt so elated.
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| Pikes Peak in the clouds, near the 303/300 junction. |
I enjoyed the views of Pikes and Almagre in the clouds as I joined Rampart Range Road. I knew I had a few miles of rolling uphill before the overlook, after which it would truly be all downhill. I was mentally prepared for this, since I'd gone this way during my Rampart Range Road marathon in June 2020. That day, these uphills were tiring and a good excuse to walk. This time, the cute little uphills felt easy. Nothing could bring me down now!
As I approached the overlook and high point, it began snowing again. But this time, it wasn't like the styrofoam snow earlier. It was big huge WET flakes of snow, and it was coming down fast!
It amazed me how quickly the weather could change from one mile to the next. I'd already encountered sun, snow, wind, fog, clear skies, and snow again.
The weather above Pikes Peak changed just as quickly. Went I reached the rock with the dedication plaque, the peak was totally engulfed in clouds.
But less than a mile down the road, I reached the overlook, and there she was, standing like a monolith above the rolling fog below.
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| Panorama from the overlook. |
The sun was beginning to go down, but I was not too cold, and it was really easy downhill from here. I felt like I could spread my wings and fly all the way to Balanced Rock. My legs still felt good, despite all the scrambling earlier, uphill segments, and even my heavy deadlifts yesterday. The human body truly is resilient.
As I approached the big S-curve in the road, I could see thick clouds hanging out down below. I was about to go into the fog again!
I coasted on the easy downhill as quickly as I could, wanting to make good time before it got totally dark.
It seemed like it went from light to dark quite fast. Maybe because I was engulfed in thick fog as it got dark. I could see the road right at my feet though, and that's all I needed.
Once I rounded a bend, the fog parted and I could see the city below.
Most of the way down, I was totally on my own. Few vehicles even ventured this way with this kind of weather. But when I was about 5 miles up from Balanced Rock, someone drove past me and asked if I wanted a ride down, or if I was ok. I politely declined, and I could tell he figured I would, since I was keeping a decent downhill clip. I told him this was easy peasy! Gentle downhill on a nice evening. After all, I did the climbing - this downhill was my reward! I earned this.
I still felt pretty good as I reached Balanced Rock at 22.5 miles. I've definitely felt worse at this point before. Lucky for me, since Alex was still on his way to pick me up. I jogged along the road towards the central Garden a little ways and back, accumulating a total of 25 miles before Alex met with me. And 4500 feet climbing today!
I know what they mean when ultrarunners talk about living "life in a day" during long races/ runs. I felt like I experienced so much, condensed into this short time frame. It was a treat to be able to accomplish what I set out to do, when I was certain I would turn back so early on. I'm glad I kept going, kept adventuring, and made it across the mountains ⛰ on this day.
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