I was hoping to ride up Big Mountain with Fritz this morning, but I'm in the process of taking one bike apart and putting another together so I wasn't ready to roll today. Since I couldn't ride, I decided to run. My knee has been holding up lately, so I thought it might be time to try a trail, so I headed up to Grandeur Peak. The climb, brutal as always, went well. I pretty much hiked the entire thing, steady pace, no stopping. I hit the summit in 61 minutes--almost 10 minutes slower than I did when racing, but not bad all things considered. After a breather at the top, I had to decide whether I'd head back down the way I came or run down the back side and continue the loop through Millcreek Canyon, and I chose the latter. The descent into the canyon is more gradual, so I thought it would be easier on my knee. Even so, I was cautious. My run was more of a jog, and I walked down the steep, technical parts to spare my knee. Even though I was running slowly, I missed a step in a rock garden and wiped out hard. First time for everything, I guess. After the descent, I washed my wounds in the stream and continued along the Pipeline trail. It's dead flat, and I appreciated being able to cruise along without worrying about my knee. I hit the turnoff to the game trail that climbs over the ridge back to the trailhead, but I turned back around after about 100 feet. The trail is very overgrown right now, and since one of Catherine's coworkers has poison ivy, I was afraid to take my chances in the foliage. So I continued along Pipeline thinking I'd simply run out the canyon and back to my car on the roads. Unfortunately, I missed a turn somewhere and ended up having to bushwhack my way down the mountain and through someone's back yard. It was slow going, but I eventually I made it back to the road and then to my car. I wasn't wearing a Garmin, so I don't know how far I went, but the race loop is 10 miles, so I assume I did about that. At 2:35, it was very slow, even though I was taking it easy. Of course, it would have been quicker if not for the off-trail adventure near the end. For now, I'm just glad to be back on the trails.
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