Fire on the Mountain

This was a strange week. I had a low mileage week of 38 miles. I took off Sunday with the plan of putting in 10 miles on Monday. The winds picked up on Monday and stirred up some sparks from a controlled burn in an area about 10 miles west of Waterton Canyon called the Lower North Fork. This area has been subject to many burns. Most notable is the Hayman Fire where 138,114 acres burned. Thankfully the Lower North Fork Fire burned only a little over 4,000 acres. Unfortunately 3 lives were lost along with 26 houses. It really puts into perspective the scale of the Hayman Fire.

The Lower North Fork Fire was close to the North Fork 50k/50m course. This course goes through some old burn areas. The fire was so hot that there was no chance for the seeds to germinate. The result is a wild and barren landscape. The course was not touched by this fire but the race director had to evacuate her house. I hope to hear that her house was spared.

I aborted my run on Monday to capture some photos of the fire. The smoke was terrible on Monday. A smokey haze filled all of the Front Range the rest of the week. Each day conditions improved but the air quality encouraged me to move my weekend up to the mountains.

The CPTR course offered me an opportunity to get in 25 miles and do a little recon. It was a brutal run for me. Temps were in the 70's and the skies were clear. I felt tired, dehydrated and slow. The good news is I got some invaluable experience for race day and completed the run. The course was beautiful but tough. There are 4 sustained climbs for the 50 mile course with several rollers in other areas. This type of climbing is different than most races and training runs that I do. I'm looking forward to the challenge but I am also a little nervous.

I ended the weekend with a 13.9 mile mountain bike ride up Waterton Canyon with Rob D. It was a nice break from running. Waterton Canyon starts a 3 week closure today to remove the dredging equipment from the reservoir.

I feel a lot better today and I am looking forward to a solid week of training before hitting the slopes for the last time this season on Saturday.