A cold start ... then a nice spin in the Garden

Kathleen needed to head to work this morning, so she headed out early for a quick run in Ute Valley Park with her friend, C. It was quite cold when they headed out - 20 degrees but felt like 14 with the wind chill - I let them go by themselves - I wanted to hold out for the forecasted 50 degreees! We have been friends with C and her husband P for about 13 years. They are an awesome couple. C is one of our local elite female runners. She has had a number of top 3 finishes in the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon over the years, mixing it up with "big" girls like Anita Ortiz, Lisa Goldsmith, and others of that running caliber. Now that Kathleen has accumulated a few more running miles in her legs, she is hoping to get some training runs in with C this year (trying to keep her in sight will be a good start!) and glean some knowledge (a little more strength and speed wouldn't be bad, either) from her years of running and racing experience. And FUN, it's mostly about having FUN!!! We live only about 2 miles apart so, hopefully, they will be able to hook up periodically, when schedules allow (they have 4 young kids!!!). Anyway, the girls seemed to have had a fun and good run this morning, in spite of the cold.
I have been having trouble finding some replacement shoes as my 2 pairs of Cacsadia 2's are nearing retirement, and I generally do not run 2 days in a row in the same pair of shoes. I took a tip from the Trail Zombie and checked out the Asics Gel Trabuco at one of the local shops this morning. They fit great right out of the box, and I decided to head out to Garden of the Gods and put them to the test. This was odd as I usually wear new shoes around the house a few days first to make sure everything is 'perfect'. I don't know why I have never tried these, as Kathleen has been a diehard Asics fan for a while now. The Garden was awesome as always with plenty of blue sky and crisp mid-40's air - pretty good for late November (and certainly better than the 14 degrees the girls had this morning!).

Cruising the Palmer trail here, with one of the many cool rock formations in the background. While we have enjoyed the non-seasonal weather, it is quite dry and our trails could use a little moisture. So we'll enjoy the good trail running weather while we can, as we know the moisture that will inevitably come will be snow and with that comes the periodic snowpacked/icy trails for 3 months or so. That will be another post where we can teach you how to make 'screw' shoes'!!! Lots of fun!

Coming out of the trees at the top of Palmer trail, overlooking South Gateway Rock.

Running the lower portion of the Niobrara trail, with Pikes Peak looming large on the horizon. (You don't realize how hard it is to capture photographic moments on the trail without a second person to take the pictues.)

From the top of Niobrara, it is cool to see the 'layers' of the park unfold to the north. It was a great day on the trails! The initial run in the Trabuco was good - no blisters, no feet falling off - very positive - thanks for the tip, TZ! Got in a nice 8 miler and although I don't normally do so, I will probably run in them again tomorrow. Good times!

Shoes K Asics Trail Attack

S Asics Gel Trabuco