Greenland

April 4, 2010

Greenland Open Space

20 miles

3:56 hours

11:49 min/mile

Wind ... again. Blustery, cold, hard-driving wind. I checked. Windspeeds were between 15-20mph with gusts up to 30mph, and I was out at Greenland with little cover from that horrible wind. But it was necessary; I'm running a 50K out here on May 1st and need to run in all conditions at this location.

I began at the trailhead and ran out to the loop. At the loop, I wasn't sure which way to go to mimic the race so I decided to run clockwise and tackle the hill first. At the bottom of the loop, you hit a dirt road which, if you continue to run clockwise, will take you back to the start of the loop. However, if you turn left instead on the road, you will run toward the other trailhead coming out of Palmer Lake. The sign said it was 1.1 miles to that trailhead so I decided to run that way, return and continue on the loop. This would give me a little over 2 miles on the regular loop and assist me in getting my 20 miles.

Once I turned left, I hit the full force of the wind and slowed down to power hike any incline on the road. Whew! Hard work and I wasn't even halfway through my run. Of course, at the turn, I felt like I had wings and was able to run the road back.

Once at the loop, I continued down the road back to the trailhead from whence I started and refueled, dropped my pants and drank some Gatorade. With my pit stop complete, I headed out back down the road and did the loop counter-clockwise.

After running the loop twice, going from one end of Greenland to the other, I was still short for my run by 1.5miles and I was beat. But so close! With gritted teeth and misplaced determination, I took off down the road and ran past the buffalo ranch and up the road. Okay, I didn't run up the road, I power hiked until I hit my turnaround point and then I ran back down to the trailhead for my 20 miles.

A long, hard day out at Greenland and boy, was I glad when my Garmin finally beeped 20 miles at me. A soak in a Lavender scented Epsom salt bath and plenty of water was definitely sought and granted!