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| Looking over first part of the trail at trailhead of Barr Trail |
So after having such tired legs on Saturday of last week I decided that my hard hill run would be on Wednesday now. Just over 70 days out now from the race I also decided that I need to hit the Barr Trail more often and get more used to both the intensity and the altitude of the trail. Once again, while struggling up the trail the thought came to my mind, "This is really hard...am I really going to try and run all the way up to the top of the mountain?" My legs burned to no end step after step and my breathing sounded like a freight train coming closer the higher I went. It hurt a lot and I kept telling myself the quote from the Colorado Springs Incline Club: "Go out hard, when it hurts speed up," and then kept pushing on. Be it known though, that after much study on the Pike's Peak Ascent I have learned that it is smarter to learn when to walk instead of trying to run the whole time. In other words, if you are running up a steep section of trail at the same speed as you would be walking that section...WALK! It uses up much less energy than running and you go the same speed!
I was able to go about 6 minutes up the trail before I started a run/walk/run/walk/run pattern. I would run one switchback, then walk the next. I did this pattern up the rest of the 'W's' at the bottom of Barr Trail. I continued on to the Rock Arch almost 3 miles out which took around 45 minutes to do. I then stood in the shadows of Rock Arch and enjoyed the cool breeze rushing through it for 2 minutes and then headed back down the mountain back to the start in 27 minutes. Total miles: 5.8, total time: 72 minutes, total rocks tripped over: a few dozen. This is what my workouts are all about!
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| You guessed it...Rock Arch |
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