The 11th running of the Golden Gate Dirty 30 near Blackhawk took place this past Saturday, and I decided to head up there and join the fun for a 3rd year in a row. Although it wound up being my slowest finish time thus far, I was happy with the overall effort and still felt I overachieved based on my training compared to past years.
It’s no secret that 2019 has been one incredible snow year. Living in the mountains has had some obvious and much-welcomed upsides this season, but one downside was the lack of dry trails in March and April. In Denver, a solid April long-run was almost always available at Green Mountain, Indian Creek, or Deer Creek Canyon. But up here in Vail, on a year like this one, good luck. So that just meant it was a lot of skinning and road running up until the end of April, when the desert side of the valley finally melted out and I was able to log a few 20 mile runs. Better late than never I suppose. Keep reading…
The 2018 running of the San Juan Solstice 50 was this past weekend, and I’m happy to say I made it through for a second finish without any major issues along the way. Things went smoothly for me in just about every category and I was able to improve on my time from last year by over an hour.
Our move to the Vail Valley, in addition to our lean snow year, had me trail running a lot more in place of backcountry skiing throughout the months of April and May. I was able to log six 20+ mile runs leading into the SJS, which included another go at the Dirty 30 in early-June and a fun morning climbing Grouse Mountain from the streets of Eagle-Vail. I was hopeful all the vert and miles on trails would translate to a better race in Lake City this go around. Keep reading…
After spending the first half of June getting packed up and moved into our place in Eagle Vail, it was finally time to go check out the new backyard. Truth be told I was looking for a big day up high to acclimate and continue training for a pair of upcoming races. A quick glance at the map landed me on local 12er Grouse Mountain south of Beaver Creek in the Holy Cross Wilderness. Keep Reading…
For the past year or so, Ben has been telling me about the Golden Gate Dirty 30 ultra marathon in Golden Gate Canyon State Park. He had a really good experience last year during his race, and he knew I would like this race given my running and trail running background. I kept it loosely on the radar throughout the year, but never too seriously. 32.2 miles on single track is a big commitment to train for. Keep Reading…
