This time, I held off the discomfort. Just barely, and I had to really focus on my form to do it (a touch more forward lean, soft foot strike + stretching and rolling during the week), but I kept the negatives to a minimum through most of the run. I seem to have gotten behind on energy about 3 hours in, but caught up somewhat.
I figured this had to be Mount Evans during my run, and it was (the small point on the right). The middle summit is Rosalie Peak:
Another crest of white just visible to the left of this was the peaks over near Kenosha Pass, including Whale Peak. Since that's almost over to Breckenridge, I was surprised to find out what it was. This is Cathedral Spires along the Platte River:
I picked up the Colorado Trail near the top, and turned right (west) for the long meander -- about 9 miles -- over to the Buffalo Trailhead on FR 550.
Yet another "Green Mountain" is below. The Colorado Trail heads towards the mountain, then skirts the base to the right for several miles before dropping down to the Buffalo Trailhead.
The trail passes below Little Scraggy Peak, and through some interesting rocks and pretty terrain. The rock on the top right looked like a cartoon frog (or dog) to me:
It looked like winter on the northeast side of Green Mountain, and my hands grew progressively colder. Up to now, I had been running in shorts, T-shirt and gloves but I broke out the arm sleeves here.
Water! I stopped at the same place as last time to filter a couple of bottles of water:
Sunset on the drive home:
There was actually detail visible in the moon in this view, but I couldn't manage to figure out how to capture both it and the city lights. My smaller, non-RAW camera doesn't have the range.
Distance was 21.29 miles, time 4:21 (moving 3:48), elevation gain/loss 2,079 feet, avg. pace 12:18 (moving 10:44), and best pace ~7:30.
The loop was about an hour faster than last time because I wasn't as gimpy. Still not that fast, but good by my standards. 20 miles is definitely far enough for me right now.
