Mt Herman Road

Mt Herman Road

May 28, 2010

16.55 miles

3:25:39

12:26 min/mile

noon

Three things I wanted today: distance, elevation, and heat - I got all three. Yeah!

Catalina, her mom and aunt finally made it out today. I took them to the airport yesterday morning at 5:30am and stood in line for two+ hours before the airline casually mentioned they'd miss their flight and would rebook them on Monday. Whoa! Cata and family had flights to Colombia out of Florida on Monday; no siree bob, check the other airlines. Just a minute while I get a supervisor. It's amazing how quickly solutions can be found when you don't settle for the company line. So, they were able to catch a flight today, same flight as yesterday with only an hour's worth of bargaining and patience.

So, here I am at noon, beginning my run up Mt Herman fire road. My goal was 16 miles and a steady rate of climb under 15 min/mile pace up the road. I begin in the park below the fire road for one mile of single track through the pines and scrub oak before popping out next to the road. It's a great park to run and I am able to find a nice secluded group of scrub oak to relieve myself before the heavy climbing begins.

Once on the road, it is a steady rate of climb up, through switch backs and rocky road. F and I trained on this road last year and we did the same run I am doing today so I know what to expect. I take my hand held bottle and a full camelback plus a peanut butter and honey half sandwich that I eat right away for fuel. I also have fruit snacks, gel blasts, and ginger with me.

I begin my combination of power hiking and running up this road for the next 7 miles and keep glancing at my garmin to make sure I am at 15min/mile or below for an overall pace. I am pleasantly surprised at how well I feel in the middle of the day going up this road. I am doing my usual gel blasts and electrolyte tablets; however, instead of one of those every hour, I'm taking one every 30-45 minutes. It is significantly hotter today than any of my previous runs. I believe we finally have past the snow mark and summer is here in the Rockies!

My pace fluctuates going up between 15 and 14:30's and I am very pleased with that. Also, another goal was to get above 8,500' in elevation and I am checking for that mark as well. Much to my happiness, I top out on this trail at over 9,137'. Around the 8 mile point (7 up the road), it levels out and I believe I've made most, if not all, of the elevation I am going to on this road. Mt. Herman road goes from Monument, CO to Woodland Park, CO and is 19 miles long. One of these days, I'm going to run the entire length and have someone pick me up on the other side. Same with Rampart Range Road - it runs from Garden of the Gods to Woodland Park and is 25 miles long. However, back to today's run.

At the 8 mile point, I am shy of 2 hours of running by a few minutes and decide to continue on the road and turn when I do hit the 2 hour mark. A quarter of a mile later and I turn. I look at my average pace and am happy that the top portion of this run has brought me down in the 14:30's range overall for my pace. I drink the mini Red Bull I brought and begin my run down.

Picture is of the back of Pikes Peak from Mt. Herman Road.
Wonderful views from the road.

Given how great I felt going up despite the heat and elevation, I think to myself that this will be a breeze going down. It is almost all downhill and I love doing that. However, I don't realize how much the heat has taken out of me, nor how the rocks on the road are affecting my feet.

I run pretty well for the first hour down; but, need to stop and walk a few times due to being just plain dog tired. I pick it up just fine; however, am still bewildered regarding how well I don't run down this road. 25 more minutes and I make it back to my car with only a few sips left in the camelback. I sit down on the boulder next to my car and feel overheated. Lesson learned on this run. Even my steady, average pace can be affected by the heat and just keep plugging away. Monitor the heart rate (I do this without a real monitor - I can tell when I'm pegging), keep the fluids flowing and take the electrolytes every 30 minutes.

Overall, the stomach was great, I did go to the bathroom twice on this run so I feel my hydration was pretty close, and my fuel was decent as well. It was the heat. However, I needed to know that. Coming out of Twin Lakes during Leadville will be in the heat of the day and there is little cover after leaving the town of Twin Lakes.

Once home, I greet Garret, one of our cadets we host, take a long shower and then plop myself down on the couch with my feet propped up (the bottom's hurt from the rocks) and enjoy the NCIS marathon on TV.

Picture is of the sign at the beginning of the trail. Yup, I run with the cougars -- and I don't mean the over 40 women pickin' up younger men!