Headed over to the Woodmen Park-n-Ride to start a run on the Santa Fe Trail. Seems our little bonus snow on Friday really upped the ante on our mud/ice scenario on our regular trails, so we figured we would try to at least bag some miles on the more open terrain that SF has to offer. Plus, at 600' or more lower than our house and some of our favorite singletrack, it got much less snow from the past 2 storms. The trains were running pretty frequently, this empty one heading back north for more coal. Pikes Peak looks great with a full blanket of snow, doesn't it?
We started out a bit cloudy with a stout headwind, however, that worked to our favor as the wind pushed the clouds off for a while and we got to run a majority of the time in SUNSHINE - oh yeah! We paid for that a bit in that we had a lot of mud, but with the crushed granite surface, most of it does not stick to the shoes. Plus, we'll take the sunny runny after some of our grayness of late. We ran north from Woodmen onto the US Air Force Academy and enjoyed some casual running today - no pace goals, nothing to worry about, just enjoy the run! Here I am enjoying the splash of sun and glad it made it feel warmer than it was.
Happy Trails indeed!
Ice is starting to melt on Monument Creek - maybe Spring will decide to get in gear.
Kathleen enjoying the wonderful rays that lift the spirit and warm the soul - almost makes running feel effortless at times!!!
Finishing up the run, crossing the footbridge over Monument Creek - little different scenery than some of our regular runs but a little flavor nonetheless from one of our regular haunts. There was nothing utterly spectacular about our run today, scenery or otherwise - unless of course you figure (as we do) that every day you get to be out and running is a great day. Life is definitely good!
Parting shot - looking back at the trail as it passes under the Mark Dabling and Woodmen interchanges, meandering along Monument Creek. We were able to enjoy 11 miles, most of it under a sunny sky which made it that much better. We're holding out hope that Old Man Winter is going to loosen the grip on us and let some Spring weather start to trickle in - plus it is two weeks from time change and longer evenings - bring on the midweek runs! Happy Trails!
Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail (think she finally found her Go-To shoe)
S - La Sportiva Wildcat
