I never can get a shot of the entry to Palmer Park after my runs lately because it is dark, so I "cheated" and snapped this one while I was at lunch. This is at one of the main entrances near the baseball fields, playground, dog park, and volleyball courts. At over 700 acres and more than 25 miles of marked trails, this is a nice oasis wedged into the middle of our city.
Got a later start than I have been and had virtually no sunlight as I began my run out onto the Grandview Mesa. It was quite chilly with a stout breeze, but I needed a run and did not mind the environmental conditions. I ran into a handful of mountain bikers who, like me, were desparately attempting to squeeze the maximum dosage of daylight from the park - comraderie of the trail junkies in fall!! It is important to be cautious when running at dusk, especially on more technical trails such as these, because the shadows are sometimes odd and depth perception is off. Another tricky part are the dang rabbits - darting back and forth across the trail, seemingly timed to perfection to arrive right below your next foot-fall.
I was able to squeeze out a nice run, free from any bunny squashings, and felt like I maximized my available daylight. Pikes Peak stands watch over the 'skyline' of Colorado Springs and in the darkness of the foreground, the trails are closing down for the night.
Not really having a great deal of anticipation to riding the trainer on these mid-week workouts, so I will get a few more dimly lit runs in before waving the white flag. If we decided to do some night running, it would most certainly be played out on much more tame trails than these. The jury is still out on that as the cold night air is not always kind to our lungs. Get out and enjoy the trails!
