February 13 - February 19

Monday, 2/13 - Animal World - 2:00

Got up the crag in the fine February weather with Jack. I lead Joint Venture (5.11a) and almost got it clean except for I botched my feet at the bolt right before the arete. After his turn we moved over to Free Willy (5.11a); I took the lead and got it with two hangs. Man, I really could have gotten the onsite of this but got hung up on one sequence which alone made me have to take, but I still held on long enough to get pumped. Still, the final move and the bolt to clip is a doozy on lead.

Tuesday, 2/14 - Boulder Valley Ranch - 7 miles, 500', 0:56

Easy jog on flat North Boulder trails.Yoga in the evening.

Wednesday, 2/15 - Ruper - 1000', 3:02
Met Tony in a cold Eldo parking lot and did an easy climb of Ruper. He was soloing this route last year but wanted a "rust buster" so we did it in "normal" style. Some heavy ropedrag while simuling pitches 4, 5 and 6 slowed us down (he thought I was sketched and I thought he was). The route was in the sun and we were plenty warm -- good to be in Eldo in February! Some bouldering and a yoga class in the evening, too.

Thursday, 2/16 - Spyronette - 3 miles, 1700', 1:26
Easy scrambling with Jackson. Today was his first time up the route (1st Flatironette, Spy, North Arete of the 1st) so we kept it nice and casual.

Friday, 2/17 - Eldo Scrambling - 1200', 1:46
With my bike finally fixed up with tubeless tires properly I was able to get back to Eldo for some scrambles on the Wind Tower before the drive to Moab. Boulder Direct, West Overhang, Calypso, Wind Ridge.

Saturday, 2/18 - Moab Red Hot 33km - 21 miles, 3000', 2:42
Mile and a half warm up. The race started off well enough, I think I was around 5th-8th for the first half which was mostly on jeep roads. It was a struggle to keep up with those around me but I was able to make up lost ground on the "technical" downhills. Thanks for keeping me ready for that Boulder! A few route finding errors (everyone got lost it seemed) in the slickrock shuffled up the positioning and I think I got passed by one or two guys during my relocation of the course. In no man's land for the third quarter of the race I fell off the try hard train and had to push the final road descent to not get passed before the finish. 8th place, good to see where I stand and what needs work.

Sunday, 2/19 - AM: Delicate Arch - 3 miles, 800', 1:16 - PM; Negro Bill Canyon - 5 miles, 500', 0:47
Easy hike in Arches NP with Abby (who got 6th in the 55km so had more so legs than I) then an easy jog up a canyon on my lonesome afterwards.

Week Totals:
41 miles
9,200'
16:06 (total including bikes/climbs)

Lower volume week with the race, but progressing along.

January 30 - February 12

Been through a variety of things since last post (failed 100 miler (again), failed attempt on the JMT, overuse injury (not a surprise) and in general, too many big days), I wrote some drafts of posts but never quite felt like writing the whole schpeal up, nor that it was particularly interesting from a reader's perspective. Hopefully, this post gets me back in the swing of things.

Monday 1/30 - 3rd Flatiron, Green Mtn, Bear Pk - 12 miles, 4500', 3:10
Commuted home from Pearl to Table Mesa via a final lap of the 3rd (rapotr closure Feb 1 - Aug 1) until August and a summit of both Green and Bear. Fun point to point.

A photo posted by Cordis Hall (@cordisimo) on Jan 30, 2017 at 12:09pm PST

Tuesday, 1/31 - 2 x 5km - 13 miles, 400', 1:35
30min warm up including 5min of stretching. The first 5km ended up being downhill with a tailwind so I flew through in 17:58. 8min of rest was enough, but it did nothing to lessen the gradient or headwind on the second 5km. Feeling like I was working way harder I labored to a 19:50 second interval. I should probably be at 18:40's for this workout on flat windless terrain, so the weird times make sense.

Wednesday, 2/1 - 7 miles, 300', 0:56
Easy with Jack around the XC course and back on Cherryvale Rd.

Thursday, 2/2 - South Boulder Creek/Community Ditch/Cherryvale Rd - 13 miles, 800', 1:41
Wanted to do a tempo run today but ice was covering everything so I ended up going a little longer than planned at slightly above normal pace. The last couple miles were on pavement so I was able to push more there. 45min of climbing and 1h15 of yin yoga in the evening.

Friday, 2/3 - Green Mtn - 9 miles, 2900', 1:47
Went up the hill with Kyle and Len. I was completely wrecked from the past few days so I basically just struggled to stay within visual range the whole time. Sweet inversion on top made it all worth it though.

A photo posted by Cordis Hall (@cordisimo) on Feb 3, 2017 at 11:19am PST

Saturday, 2/4 - Walker Ranch - 10 miles, 3100', 1:46
Easy jogging around Walker Ranch with Jackson. We really didn't have much of plan besides getting outside in the beautiful weather and not slipping on ice. Good times.

Sunday, 2/5 - Mount Lady Washington - 8 miles, 4000', 6:45
Fun hike with Elliot up a proud satellite peak of Longs. Windy above treeline, but really got pummeled on the top with the increased exposure. Always a pleasure to be around Longs.

A photo posted by Elliot Whitehead (@elliot.whitehead) on Feb 6, 2017 at 11:09am PST

Week Totals:
72 miles
16,200ft
17:40

Monday - Regency, Royal Arch, 5th, Green Mtn - 8 miles, 3200', 2:11
Wanted to scramble, but didn't quite feel like doing the 1st (hoping to branch out more this year). So I took the central route of scrambling up the East side of the mountain. The 5th ended up having a healthy amount of snow at the base, so that took some extra time and convinced me to forgo the Fist (which usually ends this linkup). From the topout on Green I felt like running quick so I put in a little extra effort descending West Ridge-Long Canyon-Gregory Canyon.

Tuesday - Mt Sanitas - 6 miles, 1900', 1:10
Set out to do a tempo of the South ridge, with a warm up up Sunshine Canyon. I ended up PR'ing (somehow, I felt terrible), but I should be able to go a couple minutes faster. Descended down the valley.

Wednesday - Green Mtn, Bear Pk, SoBo Pk, SoBo Pk, Bear Pk, Bear Pk, Green Mtn - 18 miles, 10,500', 6:16
Wanted to focus on vert and mountains this week so the long run reflected that. Started by headlamp up the Northeast ridge of Green, a descent of Bear Canyon lead me to an expedition up the North ridge of Bear which I will not be doing again, particularly with the presence of snow or wind -- still happy to have investigated it though. Bopped over to SoBo then down and up Shadow Canyon. Returning to Bear I then did a down and up of Fern Canyon. Opted for not tagging SoBo a third time and went straight into the descent of the West ridge to link back up to Green for my seventh summit of the day. Descended down to the 1st/2nd trail and meandered about just a tad to ensure I would get over 10k climbing for the day. Wasn't particularly fast -- okay, given the bushwhacking and horrendous ice in certain locales -- but not particularly slow either. Progress.

A photo posted by Cordis Hall (@cordisimo) on Feb 8, 2017 at 11:52am PST

Thursday - 1st Flatiron, 2nd Flatiron, 4th Flatiron, GMP, Challenger, Green Mtn - 7 miles, 4300', 3:03
Didn't push the pace too hard today but the legs felt pretty good considering yesterday. My scrambling form is still lacking so slow splits, (18:30 up the 1st, 14:xx down the 2nd) but that'll come with persistence. A bunch of snow in the hanging garden on the 4th made things interesting there before leaving the worst of the numbered flatiron for the absolute gems alongside it (Green Mountain Pinnacle and Challenger, so good). Finished to Green and descended Ranger-EM Greenman-Saddle Rock for some extra miles and vert.

A photo posted by Cordis Hall (@cordisimo) on Feb 9, 2017 at 11:38am PST

2/10, Friday - Give Up - 3 miles, 200', 0:22
Set out to run out on the dirt on the plains but the ridiculous wind putting dirt tornadoes in my eyes and mouth convinced me to turn around almost immediately.

2/11, Saturday - Bear Peak & SoBo Peak - 7 miles, 3400', 1:47
From Cragmoor TH with Jack and Jackson we made good time to the summit of Bear (0:41 for me, followed by Jackson then Jack who is still recovering from a marathon last weekend). Jack, under a time crunch headed back down Fern while Jackson and I tagged South Boulder Peak before ripping the descent of Shadow for the hell of it. Mesa trail back to the TH.

A photo posted by Cordis Hall (@cordisimo) on Feb 11, 2017 at 3:15pm PST

2/12, Sunday - Creek Path - 12 miles, 400', 1:15
Set out for a moderate 10 miles around town but fell into a nice groove at 6:15 pace. Feeling strong, I went with it and was able to PR for 10 miles (1:04:17). At the 10 mile mark I felt it prudent to ease off of the accelerator a tad for the last mile point five home.

Week Totals:
61 miles
24,000'
16:05

Signed up for Red Hot 33k at 11:30PM Saturday night -- 30 minutes before it closed -- since I knew I was going to be there anyways. Excited to see how that pans out as I feel surprisingly ready and fit for the time of year.