Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Middle-style course at Granite Planite.

This was really fun! I was motivated to run since it was a shorter, flatter course -- and to try to stay ahead of Sharon.

The were several locations with old streamers (the same pink & blue combo as today's course). My tracks show that I found one of those instead of the actual #7...

A few mistakes at 9, 16 & 17 -- also the area where I caught up with some people and was overly focused on getting ahead of them.

Last night, I was extra-tired and had no trouble whatsoever falling asleep. But then, promptly at 7am this morning, the next-door neighbors started banging a sledgehammer on a metal drum (that's what it sounded like, anyway) -- at irregular intervals, which made it even more annoying and sleep-ruining. It turned out to be landscaping workers throwing cabbage-sized rocks into a wheel barrow...and they were still at it when I got home at ~3pm.

Training course at Antenna Hill.

I found the start triangle OK this time (Neal's car), but bumbled #1 (a cliff in a marshy, overgrown area -- I got too deep into the aspens / deadfall).

Most of the rest of the course went OK, with small mistakes at #8, #11 & #23. I went a bit too wide around the green to #15. And, I was really hating it and considered quitting in and out of #13 (THICK green woods); my plan was to look for the cliff and then head down the spur, but I stopped short and turned left too soon at the wrong boulder.

I found this to be physically exhausting, so I didn't ride my bike afterwards -- just went home and watched Tour de France coverage and some Dateline Mysteries.

Training Course at Twin Boulders.

Despite being very physically tired, it took me forever to fall asleep last night -- and then I felt like I was waking up every 15 minutes throughout the night. Maybe it was pre-event anxiety / excitement.

So I think I was still cognitively foggy when I wandered off in the wrong direction on my way to the start. Thank you to Will for pointing me towards the correct feature and not mocking me. :-P

After that small embarrassment, the rest of the course went pretty well. I had errors at #9, #11, and #21, but nothing too disastrous -- 1:59:04 after cutting off the time spent walking to the start and in from the finish.

It was scorching hot, so I jumped at the chance to join Boris, Ali, Inara, Will & Sara on an excursion to North Crow Reservoir. The beach there was amazingly uncrowded, and the COLD water felt great. Very fun -- and it's always nice to be invited along somewhere when traveling alone.

Grueling plank sequence.

I *r-e-a-l-l-y* wanted a shower and a nap...but I forced myself to go for a ride after hauling my bike along on this trip.

Mikell had recommended the Schoolyard trail system as something flat & easy, so I headed there after leaving North Crow Reservoir. There was a sign board at the trailhead, but no map -- and I didn't want to waste any more time scrolling around on my tiny phone screen (which I find REALLY annoying & frustrating) -- so I just headed off on what looked like the most obvious trail.

Inner monologue for the first ~20 minutes: "Well...I guess this is what I asked for (flat & easy), but I probably wouldn't come here again." I was never out of sight of the neighboring houses & roads. Meh.

As I finished the loop, I decided to check out a dirt road that headed east. And that's where the actual Schoolyard MTB trails started. Yay! Singletrack! Slickrock! Scenic canyons! And PRONGHORN ANTELOPES!!! It was super fun, with many more miles I didn't have the energy to explore -- I would definitely ride here again.

When I second-guess Google Maps' driving directions, I usually end up regretting it. But today, "light traffic" on I-25 turned out to be heavy congestion for more than an hour until I got past Fort Collins. Ugh.

So I squeaked into Curt Gowdy State Park with just barely enough time to ride the Stone Temple loop before dark. I stopped a few times to mess with my watch and take photos, and then I missed a turn and rode in the wrong direction for a while before I realized it. So it was almost fully dark when I finished. Oops...

This is an incredibly fun loop -- it was built specifically for mountain biking, and it has just enough rocks and tech stuff to be challenging (for me) but not scary. With more time / daylight, I would have ridden it twice.

C • Pics 5

Neighborhood walk.

Event: Cancelled - Rocky Mountain Orienteering Festival
 

Lunchtime walk in between meetings.

Two gnomes have appeared in the park near my house. I have a feeling they were probably "liberated" from a neighbor's yard...

Runner's Roost Group Run -- same route as last week, but much hotter! I had forgotten my hydration pack so I gladly drank a chemical-watermelon-flavored LaCroix when I got back to the park.

Neighborhood walk.