Spruce Mountain

"It feels kind of weird running on a Friday..."

Those were the thoughts going through my mind as we started out across Spruce Meadows for the Spruce mountain trail today. That and the fact that it was strangely humid for Colorado, which was making the breathing a bit labored as the sun started to come out. We had heavy rain again yesterday and the abundant water is evident as all our favorite trails are lined with lush greenery ~ lush being relative to Colorado standards, of course! It is always nice to be out the first week of July without the imminent danger of our state burning to the ground in a blink!

As a side note, it was fun reading all the blogs and news this week from the Western States Endurance run - The Super Bowl of trail running - which was held last weekend between Squaw and Auburn, California. Congratulations to the winners - Hal Koerner on the men's side, and Colorado's own Anita Ortiz on the women's side! Big kudos to all the finishers who endured triple digit temps while running 100 miles!!!!

Steve ascending the lower meadow to the base of Spruce Mountain.

The rock formations along the southern edge of Spruce Mountain are very unique. Here is a nice view out to Mount Herman (foreground), with Pikes Peak just poking it's head out behind.
Kathleen rolls through the pines on the upper region of Spruce Mountain trail. It was really nice footing today as the normally sandy trails were well packed from our recent abundance of moisture.

Another nice overlook, peering out onto the western side of Greenland Open Space.

Definitely a great day for a run!

Steve rolls back through the waist-high prairie grass on the Spruce Meadows trail. We were able to do a nice 10.5 mile run, just a short drive up the road to Monument, Colorado. Happy Trails and a good start to a holiday weekend. Everyone be safe tomorrow!

Shoes- K Montrail Odyssey

S Saucony ProGrid Xodus

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As always at this time of year we're gearing up for some Tour de France coverage, which starts tomorrow in Monaco. It is particularly interesting this year with the return of Lance Armstrong bringing the Global Cancer Campaign to the main stage of competitive cycling. Like him or not - we do - the resources he has been able to coordinate for cancer patients and survivors is unbelievable. If you want to find out more, read this and watch this (we love this one)!