Running With the Devil

OK, so Simon isn't really the devil, but he can be evil in training sessions! Friday morning I met up with Simon, Michael and Tim for what was supposed to be an easy to moderate 15 mile hill run. "Easy" quickly transformed itself to brisk within the first mile as "competitive" reared its ugly head. It was a beautiful morning for a run and Simon threw out a couple of options...the Teller Farm run or a new route to east Niwot. Michael's response was simply, "Whatever will slow us down." The challenging Teller Farm trail it would be. By mile 2 Michael decided he really didn't need to be running the set pace, so he wisely dropped back. Tim joined him at mile 3 and I found myself running shoulder to shoulder with the lanky South African. When we hit the turnaround Simon commented we were running a bit faster than what he typically runs over this portion of the route. I thought to myself, "Greaaat" knowing the next few miles were the toughest with steep hills. We hit these pretty hard but I didn't lose my vision. Simon gapped me a bit at the 13.5 mile mark and I opted not to kill myself in an effort to go with him. Upon returning to his house Simon noted we had just ran this route the fastest he ever has...not sure if that is good or bad. At any rate it was a hearty effort!

Yesterday I rode my favorite long climbing route which had close to 4500 feet of climbing. It was a magnificant day to ride in the mountains and I was loving it. I rode from Boulder north to Big Thompson Canyon up through Glen Haven and on to Estes Park. This climb is stunning with its views leading into Estes Park and not much vehicle traffic. The final portion has a nasty bite with a 10-12% grade. It's well worth it though as the view upon cresting is simply stellar...as a hand painted sign reads "A slice of heaven". The descent down 36 into Lyons was awesome riding 35-45 MPH. I completed the 104 mile loop faster than I thought I would given Friday's run the day before and my legs felt pretty good running off the bike. The day was topped off having dinner & dessert on Pearl with a couple of friends.

Keep it smooth...