Barr Trail to Barr Camp

May 22, 2010

Barr Trail

12.86 miles

2:56:33

13:44 min/mile

I thought 6am was a little early to head out for a run; however, by the end of this run, I was proved wrong, very, very wrong. The temperature soared as well as the number of people on the trail.

Bob, Felix, Mike, Jeff and I met in front of the Cog Railway station at 6am and headed up Hydro to begin our nice long run this morning. As usual, Jeff, Mike, Bob and Felix (in that order) motored on ahead of me on the long ascent. As the nice fellow runners that they are, they waited for me at the intersection of the spur down from the Incline and the Barr Trail. Whew. This is a long, strenuous slog up the trail that can zap the energy from you if you push really hard. Today, I just wanted to finish in a decent time and not burn myself up on the lower portions.

I began the climb at a nice pace and continued with my steady pace up past the Incline spur with the guys ahead of me. This was a beautiful day and a beautiful "power hike" up the Barr Trail. After 1 hour and 54 minutes, I run into the Barr Camp with just Felix behind me. What a wonderful camp with great hosts. Teresa is outside chatting with Mike and I comment on the nice local article written up about her previous business in Monument.

The picture includes Felix -- the reason why I am training for Leadville. I helped paced him 2 years ago and had a great time!

I felt great. The altitude (10,200') at Barr Camp didn't hit me that hard and when the trail leveled, I was able to break into a nice, slow jog without any difficulty.

On the way down, the guys elected to let me lead! I told them I am running slow ... no showing off and falling flat on my face today -- I've got too many races planned for June.

At the Incline spur, I stop with Jeff. Mike was close on our heels, then Bob and finally Felix came rolling in. Felix has had some problems with his 'good' ankle lately and I'm amazed he joined us on this 12+ mile run today.

Once all are gathered and we chat for a bit, we continued down the last 3 miles to the Cog train station and end our wonderful run.

I say goodbye to the guys and quickly run back to the house where Catalina, her mom and aunt are already stirring!