Keel Mountain Climbs

Given that I usually dedicate my Saturday to hanging out with my boys and giving Kirsten some free time, I usually try to leave the office on Friday afternoon to put in my long training runs. However, the impending freezing rain storm we saw in North Alabama on Friday afternoon and Saturday, prompted me to bolt for the long run on Thursday afternoon to beat the weather (luckily, Thursday afternoon was flexible).

So I got my employees settled in with tasks to keep 'em busy for the next 2-3 working days and took off about 1400 on Thursday. I had already spent to pre-dawn morning in the weight room, so a long hard run this afternoon could get interesting.

At home I quickly pulled my gear, water, and fuel together and to Keel Mountain for some serious climbing and descents!



Got started about 1515 and took about 20min to get a rhythm going, just as the first monster climb started. The road is very steep, winding my up through several properties with barking dogs for the first hour. One pair of dogs was actually a touch scary for a minute or so, the pair came right up to me barking like crazy and had the look of being ready to sink some teeth into. One was an old bitch with at least 8 sagging nipples from producing who-knows how many pups, the other was one of her grown male pups. I was about 10-15sec from having to take the offensive, for they were not backing off. Luckily, the toothless redneck owner emerged from his trailer and called them back. With a wave and a smile I continued on.

Once on Keel Mtn plateau, I turned south on the main road and got a decent tempo rhythm going. The running was quite pleasant, even some friendly looks from the folks who live on the rural mountain community. I took a short detour on Angel Bluff Rd and was rewarded with a wonderful view east down into the Paint Rock River valley. From there I continued south on the main road and down the gnarly descent off the south end of Keel (quad busting hell). Got to the bottom in about 2hr 5min, put down some fuel and electrolytes, then turned around and went back up! The southern end of Keel climbs about 900' with a pair of switchback at 19% grade, making for grunts and taunt calves.

Once back on top of the mountain, I got a decent tempo rhythm back up and turned on my flashlight. The dogs are less of a problem at night, owners have them indoors over the winter. Took another view over Angel Bluff with the rural lights on below, but steadily knocked down the miles before turning left and working through the more wnding portion of the mountain. After about 3:30 on the move, dropped over the edge on the descent, 25% (+) grade in several places on the way down, gotta love it! Once past the dogs and in the final mile, I could afford to tune out a bit, so turned on my mp3 player, listening to the Mission to Mars soundtrack. I especially like the finale music, which made the last mile sail by as I was able to shake off the long, hard descent and pick up a steady 8min/mile pace to finish out the run around 1930.

4 hrs 5min on the move for about 24.5 miles. A great route to keep preparing for hard climbs and descents this summer in Colorado. A little stiff in my knees and hips in the office on Friday, but not too bad. As predicted, the freezing rain and snow storms rolled in Friday afternoon, shutting down schools early and leaving icicles over the trees on Monte Sano, Huntsville, and Green Mountains. The boys even played in the very brief snow flurries on Saturday afternoon!