AAAAAYYY   I'M BASIN' HERE

catharsis 4 the soul

turkey bike

11x the only uphill run open in CO

i feel the rush

What a wonderful loop. Drove up with Grant last night, had some Indian food for dinner but got rained out from lake Isabelle so retreated to the car. Slept in the winter lot, though only for a few hours🥴 had some trouble getting back through the gate — I bought a day ticket when we showed up last night before realizing you can’t car camp at the trailheads, so had to buy another to get back in this morning blah like I’m not trying to scam a park out of $12 just tryna run around you know?!

Anywho, ended up starting around 6a once the sun was able to bite through the smoke enough. With grant for the first couple of miles before he split off for Audubon. Maybe started out a little too quick but whatevaaaa. That first decent is longer than I remember (though that kinda goes for all the descents on the loop!). Legs were already starting to feel kicked heading up to Buchanan. Had to take two moose stops to avoid getting trampled😎 beautiful animals tho! The runnable grade up to the pass is just real hard with loose gravel underfoot, just feels like a lot of slipping/lost energy. Crazy sunrise over the meadow though!

Felt better coming down off the back side of Buchanan and just enjoyed that perfect 7miles of delightful downhill. Probably one of my favorite sections of trail around.

Had decent strength in my legs for the last climb, so just ran what I could and walked whatever would have otherwise been redlining. I forgot how much run-walk-run-walk terrain there is heading up to Pawnee. Was definitely relieved when i got to the base and just got to power up the pass. Still incredible that there’s a trail there, kudos to whoever figured that out. I love how Pawnee just looks in front of you for an hour and you’re like “no way you go up that”

Nice to top out on the pass. Saw maybe 5 people in the back section, and then 50 on the last stretch down the pass and past the lakes. Lots of maneuvering but legs had enough energy to be a lil tricky with it!

Not sure how the actual route wraps up — do you stick to the road or take the trail back to Mitchell? Oh well, snuck under 5hr which is 1hr+ quicker than w Bobby and alistair last year! Went out just wanting to put in an even and non-stop effort and really pleased with how things unfolded. Especially happy that my body/legs felt solid the last mile! Always a good sign

Plenty of water flowing, only used a handheld filter. Had two clif bars and a PBJ sandwich which ended up being perfect. Definitely possible to do this with just a belt (or even shorts w lots of pockets?!). The mutants held up great by my toes are FEEEELING it. Pictures later, depending on how things shake out

Would like to put in a race effort on the loop before things get too ~snowy~ but that really doesn’t seem anytime soon🥵

Eggs after, obv

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Pawnee-Buchanan!

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AAAAAYYY I'M BASIN' HERE

catharsis 4 the soul

turkey bike

11x the only uphill run open in CO

i feel the rush

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