 (Devil's Thumb Lake and the Thumb itself on the Continental Divide in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.) Now that the Western States 100 is behind me, it is thankfully time to quit worrying about heat training and instead pursue the cooler climes and thinner air of Boulder County’s loftier trails. (Ironically, I suppose, now that Western States has come and gone, it is now truly hot here in Boulder–for the past week the mercury has flirted with, if not ventured into, the triple digits every day.) In pursuit of these higher elevations, on Saturday, some friends and I all squeezed into a car and made the 30 minute drive up Boulder Canyon, through the crunchy mountain enclave of Nederland and just past the tidy community of Eldora to the Hessie Trailhead at the edge of the Indian Peaks Wilderness.
When we finally arrived at the 9000′ launching point of our run, I was surprised to see that at least 20 other parties had already copped our idea and their associated vehicles were parked in a long line stretching down the access road. Fortunately, this startling sight did little to affect our little soiree up to the 12,000′ Continental Divide and back. As Scott and I climbed moderately but steadily through the last reaches of forest, I was instantly transported back to my summer spent in Leadville last year where runs like this were a daily occurrence. Towering rock walls rose on both sides of the valley to frame cascading streams and alpine lakes, our ridgeline goal was capped with a magnificent cornice, and the air was a perfect temperature for running–in stark contrast to the oven-like conditions back down in Boulder.
After grunting up the steep, switchbacked headwall of the basin, we kick-stepped through a few dozen feet of steep snow and finally paused on the Divide to survey our surroundings. The Fraser valley and Winter Park were visible immediately down to the west and the hot, hazy plains extended far out beyond the Front Range to the east. This was exactly the kind of running I’d been missing so far this summer. On the descent we caught back up with Bill, Jenny, and Jocelyn and then all convened back at the now even more shockingly crowded trailhead with a 2hr+/15 mile effort in our legs.
In order to leave we had to negotiate a literal traffic jam on the congested access road, and on the drive back down the canyon to Boulder I couldn’t help but think about the unfortunate dichotomies of our morning’s outing. Here we were, clambering to get out of the hot city, revel in the high country, and just cruise a delicious ribbon of alpine singletrack. However, this is such a uniformly good idea that, of course, it seemed everyone else had the same thought and was also acting on it, thereby bringing some of the most frustrating elements of the city along with us.
It’s a tough bind to be in and one that I think about quite a bit with my daily running. Because I live in Boulder, I have the luxury of running up a (albeit, relatively small) mountain from my doorstep on a daily basis, which seems like the most socially-conscious and least-angst-inducing option on most days. But, the summer is short in the high country, and when it is free from snow I am quite compelled to get up there and enjoy it as much as possible. Another big part of Boulder’s cachet for a mountain runner is that this high country is accessible with only a relatively short drive. But, it is a drive, and this is something I will probably never be fully comfortable with when it comes to running. For me, running is about embracing the aspects of life that aren’t fettered with highways, automobiles, and carbon footprints, so introducing that element into my running a few days a week is a tricky emotional move for me to make.
I try to rationalize my choice with internal arguments that I only do this a couple of months out of the year, I’m often carpooling, and that lots and lots of other folks complete at least a 30 minute commute every single day–what’s one more a few days a week from me? Of course, this is wrong-minded at best and more likely a little delusional, but at this point I guess I’m just not ready to give up the exquisite alpine pleasures that come from jumping in the car to go running a few days a week.
Is it wrong or right to drive to run? Is it selfish in a broader sense? I’m still not sure, but I do know that there are less than two months of summer left (and only a month before a high-altitude goal race occurs and school starts again) and I got to capitalize…and right now I guess that’s all the answer I need.
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Boulder County is considering bus service to mountain communities, AND to trailheads like Brainard Lake:
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_15540166
I hope I am not over-rationalizing, but the runners I know — as I myself try to — live much “greener” lifestyles than most people. That fact that we worry over the question of whether or not it’s OK to drive to a run speaks well of runners. If driving to different runs can greatly enhance your enjoyment of the sport — which in turn benefits your health — I vote in favor of doing so. If you can drive a hybrid or carpool, do so! Or, when possible, bicycle to your running spot instead of driving. Looking forward to hearing others’ replies.
For anyone whose passion is trail running, they should get to the trailhead, even if it’s in a WW2 tank. No apologies.
I don’t say this out of blind hubris, but because it’s one thing to state the mere abstraction “clean air and water is a value”, and entirely another to apply it our individual lives.
We are not individually responsible for the aggregate effects of what society does, but only what we do given the options open to us at this time, given all of our means and all our personal goals and preferences combined. As long as we make the best calculation we can, we’ve done the right thing.
Love the Devil’s Thumb trail, what great varied scenery. Pawnee Pass and Arapaho Glacier are excellent too.
Sounds like a great run, though I can’t help but think that it would have been even better had you biked up to the trail.
I am with you; can’t stand the concept of driving to run! I’ve never done it, though I am a rank beginner and do not run anywhere near as many miles as most. That being said, as my mileage slowly increases and I am more and more intrigued by running on trails and through the woods I am faced with driving a car in order to run. Living in Toronto does not offer much in the way of trails, and I think the closest ones are so far away that biking will not be a viable option. Quite frankly, the whole thing saddens me. I am not a staunch environmentalist either, just find being stuck in a car to be worse than prison (not that I know what that’s like, but for the driver at least you can’t even zone out and must stay alert!).
Perhaps it’s time to consider a move…
Anyway, keep on truckin’ and all the best!
Jeff says, “We are not individually responsible for the aggregate effects of what society does…”
I disagree. In contrast, I believe that we are all individually responsible for the aggregate effects of what society does. People’s inability to comprehend (or at least acknowledge) that is one of the greatest ills of humankind.
it’s great to not have to drive to Your running workout, But sometimes life requires
it. I am blessed to be merely 11 miles from four beautiful trails in western phoenix, AZ.
and thuroughly enjoy arriving at them after
My teaching job.
This is a dilema that I deal with on a daily basis. It is easy for me to rationalize why driving is okay. “I’m being healthy”, “I already live a green life in comparison to others.”
However, I think that by rationalizing my driving to training (even while I usually carpool) I am making a critical error. This decision is saying “My next race or my training in my preferred location is more important than making sustainable choices.” I think it is more important to act according to higher morals than our own athletic goals or our own interests. When we put our planet second to our personal interests, we are acting with the same poor judgment as people who drive to a coffee joint for a cup of coffee. They can say things like “I drive, but I buy fair trade” or “I only do this once in a while”.
Isn’t our planet more important than our next performance?
Sure, we are a generally green group of people, but we can do better. I’m gonna try.
Methane gas from cows causes more environmental damage then driving your car.
Enjoying the outdoors is priceless and I think our using the wilderness helps keep it wild … not sold for timber sales, mineral extraction, etc. This helps the environment too as we need these open spaces with trees, animals, diversity, etc.
Get out there …
I run on trails that are on my way home from work, so there is zero impact during the week. On weekends, I drive to trails. I really don’t have a choice, as the alternatives are to run on city streets, which always results in injury within 2 or three days. Easy choice for me.
I was recently on Vacation in Boulder, Leadville, and
Manitou Springs. It was awesome to be so near trails!
I am seriously considering moving there.
Fortunately, the RTD busses are also available which leave from Boulder and drop you off about 5 miles from the trailhead if you choose that option. It was crowded up at Hessie on Sunday as well (I ran a similar route – spectacular up there right now). So worth it to get out and up.
Interesting comments, all. It is a dilemma, and there is no easy answer, of course.
George, thanks much for the DC link–a timely development for sure, although it too seems a bit fraught with complexity.
I considered these things when buying my first house recently. My dilemma was this — live near the good running spots and have a longer commute to work, or live near work and have to drive to get to the decent running spots. I decided to live a mile from work, because I KNOW I am going to be going to work every day, but I don’t need to run in a great location every day. Perhaps it’s not right, but this is how I am going to justify driving to trails as often as two times a week. My total driving mileage per week will be very low, and on weekends, I can run errands on the way home from a run and combine trips.
Thanks for the blog entry and for making us think about this.
Depends what you’re driving!
I said, “We are not individually responsible for the aggregate effects of what society does…”
Actually, upon pondering this, I don’t think this properly expresses what I wanted to say, so scratch that.
My intent is not to absolve us from responsibility, but to delimit it to that which we have within our power. Both pride and guilt should be based on whatever real powers we have, not things beyond our control. A better formulation will have to wait.
-Jeff
aka mtnrunner2
Tony, was just wondering what other states would be your top choices for living and running for you?
1) Colorado 2) New Mexico 3) tie btwn AZ and UT (politics are crazy in both places but the natural landscapes are spectacular)
After that, it gets tough to pick…parts of CA and OR probably even belong in my 3rd-place slot. If I ever truly make peace with winter, MT and ID would be thrown in there, too.
to take things to their logical conclusion let me point out that there’s nothing ‘green’ about running regardless of how you get to the trailhead. running may be ‘greener’ than skydiving or racing speedboats, but the bottom line is that running 193 miles in a week carries with it a substantial increase in one’s carbon footprint over a non-ultrarunning lifestyle. sure, less driving is better than more but the caloric requirements of that much running means a huge increase in the energy requirements of food production (natural gas) and transport (oil) supporting your lifestyle. ~20,000 extra calories in a week is essentially the dietary equivalent of 10 other humans combined. i enjoy running and plan to continue to increase my mileage so i’m not casting stones as much as offering a sobering critical analysis of the situation. aside from the personal enjoyment one gets from running, is any mileage above what’s absolutely necessary to win a race considered ‘waste’? time for a someone to organize a carbon-neutral ultra.
Good to see young folk thinking about things so deeply, but you’re sweating it a bit too much.
Nonfingo, 20000 calories per week does not amount to the dietary equivalent of 10 other humans combined. If we go on average caloric intake for a healthy male at around 2000 per day, it’s about 10 ‘man’ days, not weeks. That’s not to trivialise the point you’re making though… when it’s put like that it certainly is an eye-opening statistic! Thanks for adding it to the debate.
If I never drove anywhere to run the only place I could run would be my neighborhood. It’s not safe to run or bike on the main road that I would have to go down to get anywhere else. I think I’d get sick of running in the same place daily pretty quick.
DON’T navel gaze while running. You’re sure to trip.
Tony, was at white river and you killed it! Top notch stuff man. But my question is I thought i put in the work to have a decent day at white river but it was not good. So do you think training on trails elevates your game that much as opposed to myself living in a city and having to improvise on alot of things? Either I’m moving to the boulder area and hope to see you on the trails. Jamal.
Great question. Running is part of your job, in a way, so you could see it as commuting. I try to look at the big picture in considering and addressing my impact. Driving fuel/emissions are just one piece of our total footprint. We can wear secondhand, recycled, organic and natural fiber content clothing, look for shoes with recycled and other enviro materials and donate or recycle these when they’re spent. We can meet our big calorie needs with local and organic whole foods (affordable versus processed food), make our own energy foods and drinks or at least stick with organic/real food ones, use reusable water bottles and drink tap water. Runner’s World has green race info we can share with RD’s to reduce the impact of races. Sponsored athletes can influence companies and runners to do better and make positive choices (and not promote things w/ negative impact). I think about these ad other factors, and do what I can so things average out better
I’ve always had problems with normal off the shelve cosmetic products because of my sensible facial skin, going to have a look for these mineral ones to see if aid in some way. Can you provide more information on particular labels that sell these kind of products ?
Thnx