Saturday was my last longer run before the Never Summer 100k. I left Lory State Park's Arthurs Rock trailhead at 6:20 a.m. to beat the heat and I'm glad I did because the last of the 19 miles had to be done in roasting conditions. At the top of the ridge I saw a turkey hen with a flock of chicks and mariposa lilies in bloom. It's been a good year for wildflowers and the bounty continues.

Here are my numbers.

• 8 hours, 39 minutes

• 43 miles

• 6,385 ft D+

With 13 days to go, how am I doing? My overall health is good. No hamstring injury like last year's and I'm keeping sinus infections at bay by rinsing and using an over-the-counter steroid spray. I believe I'm more fit than last year and I'm better at running. Downhill running in particular, with numbers to prove it. I've done high mountain running and hiking on five occasions, including a day on the Never Summer course and another day above 4000 meters, which is as good as the race-specific training I did last year. I'm confident about my gear and the experience I gained last year.

The only thing I'm going to do differently this time is run with a pacer for the last 10-15 miles. Mike Thompson offered to pace and I'm accepting. The plan is for Mike to keep me moving quickly through the last two aid stations and encourage me to give all I've got between Bockman and the finish line.

It's 20 days to the start of the Never Summer 100k. My objectives for this last training block are fine-tuning and tapering. I'll be reducing my mileage every week. Week nine's numbers remained relatively high.

• 14 hours, 16 minutes

• 64.7 miles

• 10,735 ft D+

I ran six days in a row. One interval workout on Wednesday. One hilly tempo run at Horsetooth on Friday. Back-to-back long runs on the weekend. These were my last back-to-backs before my race.

Mike Thompson and I ran and hiked to the summits of Hagues Peak (13,573 ft) and Mummy Mountain (13,430 ft) from the Lumpy Ridge trailhead on Saturday, a 25 mile round trip. These are the 4th and 8th highest peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Hagues is a rocky scramble and Mummy is a steep tundra walk. Both have big, flat tops with nice views. Including stops, the trip took ten hours. Because the weather was neither cold nor wet and streams were still running at the bases of the peaks we were able to go very light. I have a Sawyer brand squeeze filter with a 16 ounce pouch. It doesn't have much throughput, but weighs only 4 ounces and takes up very little room in my pack. I filtered and re-filled my two 16-ounce soft bottles at the saddle below Hagues and repeated this at the top of Black Canyon Creek on the way home. Still, I got a little dehydrated and was feeling pretty spent by the time we finished.

Sunday I convinced my tired and sore legs to go back out again for a much more mellow two-hour loop in Fort Collins. I felt much looser after.

I've been enjoying a week of recovery. I ran five times, but not long or hard. Friday and Saturday I ran around and near Dowdy Lake, where my family and I camped.

• 3 hours, 49 minutes

• 24 miles

• 1,073 ft D+

I'm looking forward to getting back at it next week. Only four more to go before the start of the Never Summer 100k.

Week seven was the biggest week of my biggest training block. I ran six days in a row, with a solid speed workout mid-week and back-to-back-to-back long hilly runs Friday-Sunday. We had friends over for dinner Sunday evening and I was falling asleep at the table. Three consecutive days of waking before 5 a.m. to run for hours were taking their toll. Monday I was still having periods of fatigue and grogginess. The numbers might hold some explanation.

• 17 hours, 48 minutes

• 76.5 miles

• 14,639 ft D+

Over the past 4 weeks I've run 255 miles and climbed 41,000 ft. My elevation gain in week seven was the fourth highest in the Gnar Runners Strava group. The folks ahead of me were all Gnar Slam finishers in previous years, perennials on the podiums, and one is running the UTMB this summer. I'm going more slowly, for sure, but am still getting it done.

Friday morning before work I ran in Lory State Park. I struggled through the first mile, but after a break to take pictures and resettle my head and legs I had a solid run.

Saturday I ran 50 km at Horsetooth and Lory. We had a little rain but not enough that I needed to break out my jacket or change plans.

Sunday I ran from the Bierstadt Lake trailhead at the Bear Lake Road park and ride to "Flattop Mountain" (12,324 ft) in Rocky Mountain National Park and back. I didn't run all the way, I hiked most of the uphill, but I did it all in one push without stopping.

Week eight is a recovery week. I'm doing easy runs and hikes and core strength exercises, but no workouts or very long runs.

I'm in the middle of my peak training block and need a couple days to recover before writing my recap blog post. Here are the numbers for week six.

• 15 hours, 41 minutes

• 73.3 miles

• 13,150 ft D+

A lot of steep running and hiking, much of it above 9,000 ft on the Never Summer course. One interval workout. The usual core exercises. Six days of running in a row.

Saturday I went with Mike Montgomery to run in State Forest State Park on the Never Summer 100k course. On the way to Cameron Pass we drove through sections of the Poudre Canyon which were badly burned last year.

Since we didn't start very early and lost time when we temporarily lost the Grass Creek Road, we ran up against a thunderstorm as we approached Montgomery Pass and the long, exposed ridge to North Diamond Peak (11,852 ft), the high point of the Never Summer course. We waited 30 minutes for it to pass to the south and then hustled across the ridge just before the next round of precipitation. Small hail did not complicate the steep descent from North Diamond.

On Sunday I needed more hilly miles but didn't want to deal with a long drive, navigation, or a full pack. Hence, I drove to the Soderberg Trailhead at Horsetooth and went up and down the Towers Trail (7 miles and 1,700 ft of climbing) three times, carrying only an 18 oz bottle, and stopping at my car to grab food and drink a mini Coke in between climbs. It's always fun to see the looks when people recognize me coming back for another trip to the top.

Last week I spent a lot of time on local trails and on trails in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Roosevelt National Forest. I'm trying to build endurance for running at higher elevations and made some good progress. Here are the numbers.

• 14 hours, 57 minutes

• 70 miles

• 9,672 ft D+

In the city I suffered from allergies and hay fever again this season and my speed workout last week was a minor disaster, but I felt great in the mountains at the end of the week. Saturday I picked Mike Thompson up in Loveland, drove to Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, and we did some multiple minor peak bagging: Estes Cone (11,007 ft) and points west, and the Twin Sisters peaks (11,427 ft). 20 miles of rocky trails and 6,000 feet of climbing between 9,000 and 11,400 ft elevation. One of my bigger non-race days ever.

Sunday I went to the Red Feather Lakes region northwest of Fort Collins for some easy trail running and summer campsite scouting. On the way I stopped for a run at Eagles Nest Open Space, a beautiful park on the North Fork of the Poudre River. The trail network isn't extensive enough to make it a big running destination, but the scenery is very nice.

From Eagles Nest I continued west on County Road 74E to the Roosevelt National Forest's Mount Margaret trailhead for another several hours of running in higher forest and meadows. It was a hot day, even at 8,000 ft. I was glad that I brought plenty of water and ice.

Because the previous three weeks weren't very hard, I ran more this week than I will during my next break on week eight. Five days of running, one short speed workout, one hilly run, and one long run today. The numbers:

• 6 hours, 43 minutes

• 36.2 miles

• 3,507 ft D+ (dénivelé positif or elevation gain)

For curiosity's sake I changed the work/rest ratio for my speed workout to four minutes of hard running and 2 minutes of easy jogging recovery. It's a subtly different workout. I was able to run at and beyond my lactate threshold (by feel) a little bit more with another minute of recovery. I might switch between 5:1 and 4:2 in the future.

Saturday I went out for two hour run on a hilly, 250 ft D+ per mile, route in Lory. The switch on our weather has flipped, as it does, from cool and rainy to roasting heat, and I was grateful for the water that still flows in Well Gulch, at Arthurs Rock, and along the Overlook Trail. I see long term forecasts from NOAA that predict that the hot and dry weather is here to stay.

Today, Sunday, I ran from my house to Pineridge Natural Area and the first two little ridges on the east edge of the Rocky Mountains. I watched my heart rate and kept this run super easy, dialing my effort back on the small grades. I can run all out to the bench at the top of the "Skimmerhorn", a 10% grade for 0.4 miles, but today I hiked it very casually.

It's a great time for wildflowers on the Front Range, especially the blue ones. I've seen extra large patches of penstemon and skullcap (from the mint family) this week.

I'm planning to do a lot of alpine running in the next three weeks. Expect photos with tundra, rocks, and snow.

I'm training in earnest again. During week three I ran six times, including a speed workout and back-to-back long runs.

• 11 hours, 33 minutes

• 60.8 miles

• 7,858 ft D+

I did 5 minute repeats (with 1 minute recovery) on the Spring Creek trail for the first time since January. After weeks of walking and easy running only while I was rec from injury, I was only up for four repeats. The goal of this workout is to increase my lactate threshold, my capacity for harder running, and work on my form while fatigued. My standard workout comes from Krissy Moehl's book. The 5:1 work/rest ratio makes it more steady than a 2:1 cruise workout, while faster and less grueling than 25-35 minutes of steady hard running. I'm going to do this workout again next week, which will be a little lighter in anticipation of three very hard weeks to come.

Saturday I ran 19 miles at Lory and Horsetooth, a route similar to the second half of Quad Rock with two and a half of its three climbs. I hit the trail before 7 a.m. and had beautiful running weather all morning long. I didn't see many runners, mostly bikers, deer, turkeys, and wildflowers. Horsetooth Open Space is trying out a new one-way loop system and it did help make the Horsetooth Falls Trail feel less crowded.

Sunday's weather was very wet. I had intended to run up and down Towers Trail twice, but arrived at the Soderberg trailhead at 9 a.m. in torrential rain, water running off in every gully and gulch along Shoreline Drive. I waited in my car for an hour and then gave up. Around 5 p.m. the rain tapered off into a drizzle, so I went out for a long run from my house, up the Spring Creek bike path to Pineridge Open Space and beyond. The rain stopped within a mile and I enjoyed a cool, quiet, and peaceful run. I haven't run at the very end of a day since last year's Never Summer race and the dimming light and wet smells brought up a lot of strong, good memories.

It was a light week of running for me. Only four runs and all of them under 90 minutes.

• 3 hours, 50 minutes

• 22.5 miles

• 1,709 ft D+

I did two strength workouts, Tuesday and Thursday, and went hard enough to make myself sore. I rode my bike to the Pineridge trailhead and home again twice, but didn't count those trips in the total above.

I'm learning to navigate the county roads north of Fort Collins near the equestrian complex where my youngest kid is learning to ride. There are some nice views towards the northeast corner of Colorado.

Next week I'm planning to run 55-65 miles with a hard speed workout and back-to-back long runs. Something like week 14 in 2020.

There are 12 weeks between the Quad Rock and Never Summer events. I'm going to split this up into three four-week blocks of training. One block of working on my base with some speed work, one block of hard workouts and back-to-back long runs at high elevation, treeline and above, and one block of fine-tuning, tapering, and racing. With luck, I'll start Never Summer in better shape than last year. I'm excited about that.