If you’re lucky enough to be in the mountains, you’re lucky enough!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Happy Birthday Steve!!!


You're such a good example
of what a husband should be
We get along so well,
even when we disagree.

You're so patient and understanding,
 you don't ask for a thing.
You're kind and never demanding,
so thoughtful and caring.

You're so quick to give,
and such a joy to be around.
You're such a dear person,
you deserve a special crown.

You have a good heart,
you're honest and true.
You're the best husband and friend
and I really, really LOVE you!

Happy Birthday, My Sweet!!!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Some New Sights

First off, THANK YOU to everyone for their kind words and support (and cards, Ms Ginny!!!) for Kathleen.  We are very appreciative of the thoughtfulness while her docs wade through the details of getting her back to normal.  Some good and some bad days, but after 3 weeks on meds some things are responding.  Kathleen ran a solid 5 miles on Saturday on trails while I was out for my run - YEAH!!!

*******************
 Mt Rosa in the distance, and St Peter's Dome (I think??) on the left

So I have been trolling (lurking, stalking, whatever you want to name it) a bit on the Team C.R.U.D. website, watching their weekly run posts as it sometimes gets a bit boring to do long runs solo.  Some people are cut out for it, but since K and I have done most of our endurance outings together for 20 years, solo has not been part of the experience.   Now these guys are mostly ultra runners, so I would have to pick and choose which outings to participate in, but I signed up on their Yahoo group this week so I at least know what they are running.  Plus, they run a lot of cool places close to home, so it is good to get a few fresh routes dialed in.  When I saw that Saturday included a Major League and Minor League version, I took note.  The Major League runners were going from Gold Camp Elementary school, around the south side of Pikes Peak, and over to Cripple Creek - 36ish miles and a lot of OUT THERE time.  Ouch.  The Minor League crew was starting in a similar area, but looping around for 19-20 miles.  I showed up at 7 before the sun was even up in the canyon and took off running with Rick H, who I had met last summer at the North Fork 50.  There were only 4 people running the short loop, but as it turned out, I was the only greenhorn.  It was cool of Rick to run with me - this is a guy who can enter a 50 or 100 miler at the last minute and finish top 25%.  
 Early morning light, looking out to the plains

We started at the Gold Camp trailhead in Cheyenne Canon, just above Helen Hunt Falls.  Gold Camp "Road" is an old rail bed that carried trains from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek in the glory days of gold mining.  When the gold bust hit, it was converted to an auto road in the golden age of auto touring in the early half of the Twentieth century.  President Roosevelt once commented that Gold Camp was "the trip that bankrupts the English language"  After Saturday's run, I would tend to agree with Teddy!  8.5 miles of Gold Camp was closed to vehicle traffic in 1988 after rotting timbers in Tunnel #3 caused a partial collapse.  That tunnel is permanently closed now, and there is a trail up and around it.  (You may have seen pictures of Tunnels 1 and 2 from lower on the road, which is open to traffic, from our runs on Buckhorn and Captain Jacks)  It has been many years since I have been past the Buckhorn Trail cutoff, which is only .75 mile up from the traffic gate, and back then it was by mountain bike.  We would be running Gold Camp all the way to the intersection with Old Stage Road, another dirt road that is open to traffic, at which point Gold Camp is open again to traffic as it continues around the southern part of the Pikes Peak Massif.
 Aspen stand on Gold Camp, note the moon still visible high center
 Colorado Springs sprawls out about 2500' below
 Started encountering more snow above 8000'

It was good to have someone to chat with while running.  Rick is a wealth of knowledge about running, and knows everywhere to run in this part of Colorado as he is a life long resident and long time ultra runner.  Not only do we have running in common, but we also both are in the identical line of work - so we chatted about a little of everything.  This can be a good and bad thing.  The miles ticked away like nobody's business, especially given the fact that the entirety of that 8.5 mile section of GC is uphill.  When we hit the Old Stage intersection it dawned on me that: A. I was a little worked - OK, a lot.  B.  My right hammy was cramping a bit - "bridge to engine room, more S-Caps!"  C.  With almost 1000' more vert to gain, I might have gone over my head climbing with Rick.  Crapola!  Knowing that 2 other guys were waiting 2 miles up the road for us where the trail climbs the skirt below Mt Rosa, I apologized to Rick for the early exit, and made the decision to turn back down the way we came.  He was quite gracious and also gave me careful instructions for when to hit my next gels/ S-Caps on the descent so that I wouldn't cramp - thanks man!  I must say, I have never continuously climbed 9.5 miles on a run before and had some heavy legs starting the descent back to the truck.  But with the awesome blue skies and phenomenal scenery, I had plenty to occupy my mind on the way down.
 St. Peter's Dome again, from a different angle
 Something about Aspen trunks and Evergreens on a snowy canvas gets my attention
 Tunnel # 5 on the way back down

There are three tunnels on this section of GC, but #3 is collapsed, so you only run through 4 and 5.  #4 is pretty long and quite difficult to see through the midsection - and it is rocky, so seeing would be preferred!!  On our way up, we had some bats in #4 - sweeeeeeet, but not nearly rattlesnake freaky, so it was OK.  Local fairy tales abound about the tunnels being haunted, and I am sure a Google search would provide you countless hours of reading if you are into that thing.  The more troubling thing about GC is that, because it is remote, it has a bit of a reputation as a body dump.  Not my cup of tea either, especially after Rick informed me that he has an unfortunate habit of "stumbling" across an occasional corpse....
 Casting my shadow on the snow trench above #4 - the frozen posthole steps 
are ankle breakers if you are not careful

When I reached the snow trench above #4, I ran into the CRUD folks who were going for the Jumbo run.  They started later than we did, and farther down, so they were about 8.5 miles in at that point.  They had 12 people in the group and it will be interesting to hear how many made it to Cripple Creek!
 Middle of #4 and the flash barely lit up anything!
 Exiting #4 - Nice scene
 Fantastic day with incredible scenery
 Silver Cascade Falls, aka Spoon Falls, which is above Helen Hunt Falls
A barricade blocks both ends of Tunnel #3
Blue is my out-and-back route, neon green is the continuation of the loop - We'll be back!

I had a great descent and was very cautious not to beat up my quads too bad - plenty more running left and it is early season!  I was pretty tired after 19 miles and 3000' accumulated vertical gain.  It was a good call to pull the plug early, as I am pretty certain at this point that I paced over my head for the majority of the climb - live and learn, right?  Plus I heard from Rick this morning that they ran into snow up high and had to cut trail for quite a ways, and ended up being out over 4 hours.  I'll be back to do the whole loop (eventually with Kathleen!!) and this area for sure opens up a HUGE new realm of trail running, right in our backyard!

Shoes - Montrail Mountain Masochist

Monday, March 21, 2011

Another trip to the Garden, a glance in the rearview mirror, and a peek to the future


 Happy to be running in the sun!

Sunday we headed out to the Garden of the Gods for a run in some continued fantastic weather.  There was no intention of a long run, especially since Steve ran long on Saturday, part of which was in the Garden.  However, it is such a great place to run, we could go there multiple days in a row and not become bored!
 Kissing Camels through the trees on Palmer Trail
 Group photo as we ran past the Trading Post.  We need one of the saguaros for our yard!
 Steve climbing the Strausenback Trail
 And running down the other side!
Parting shot across the Garden - desert against mountain backdrop

As always when running the Garden, we had a great day.  Once again, we hit the low 60's which was outstanding!  We called it a day after 6.5 miles and for whatever reason, were both quite hungry.  No better place to be, so we headed back over to the Trading Post for a Southwest Burger and fries.  Yum!  Although it was a shorter outing, it was great to get out and stretch the legs and collect some good red dirt on the shins and shoes!

Shoes - Montrail Mountain Masochist
*********************************
And now, a quick glance in the rearview mirror...

In other news, some of you may or may not have noticed of late that I have not been as prevalent in the running posts (unfortunately, I am painfully aware).  In order to explain, we'll go back several months' time and look at some things that seemed unrelated to me at the time that affected not only my running, but everything I do.  (In all actuality, it probably even started before that, some of which will become clear to me as time goes on.)  I had noticed, specifically related to running, that I was starting to struggle to pace myself on hills that would never have been an issue for me.  I was needing to walk rather than run up mere gopher mounds.  It was a strange sort of pervasive fatigue that was in no way subject to "mind over matter" that anyone who has exercised regularly for years often uses when they have "one of those days".  I mentioned to Steve, too many times, that it felt like I had 5 lb. weights strapped to my feet and just couldn't get my legs to move.  The troubling issue is that these days started to string together into weeks, then a month, then two months.  Looking back now, I don't think I have had a run where I felt 'normal' in quite a few months.  Three runs that stand out in my mind were the Rescue Run on January 1, the Ponderous Posterior on January 15, and Cheyenne Mountain on January 29 where I remember moments during  those runs where I thought, "hmmm, something isn't quite right but can't put my finger on it....."  
Then came the more troubling symptoms.  My upper arms and shoulders ached.  Not just a little but like I was doing 1000 rep sets of push-ups, to the point where I sometimes struggled to lift my arms shoulder height. I got "stuck" trying to put on or take clothes off over my head and needed Steve to help me. And the tremors - I could not sit in a chair without my legs quivering, sometimes to the point of not being able to concentrate.  Then there was the weight loss - around 9 pounds.  Not that I'm complaining about losing a couple, but when it continued in spite of a newly ravenous appetite where I was eating EVERYTHING - something wasn't right.  And it wasn't flattering - my body was basically cannibalizing all of my muscle mass.  I have always had decent upper body muscle tone and it was gone - I looked like an emaciated, shrunken refugee.  Also, my heart rate started pounding and became irregular - and fast.   Quite fast, as in 50 beats higher than normal at rest.  I started wondering whether or not I was getting ready to have a heart attack. I was fidgety, restless, and completely exhausted and yet, couldn't sleep.  And hot!  I am ALWAYS cold - never hot.  I was sleeping without covers at night when usually I am hunkered down in my nest with blankets tucked tightly around. The heart symptoms and leg tremors are what finally drove me to the doctor.  What.In.The.World.Is.Happening???   

That is pretty much what I asked my doctor as I could not explain away any of the symptoms.  It's funny how we come up with illogical explanations for things:  the thought crossed my mind that perhaps my Camelbak was bouncing around and therefore causing my achy shoulders and upper arms.  Completely illogical as it's never bounced around in the years I have been running with it.  I blamed the extra fatigue on the dark days of winter.  And so on.  I was fortunate that our family doc (whom I've gone to for 20 years) was immediately suspicious of a couple things and ordered some extensive blood testing (where they hooked a hose up to my arm and drained a gallon of blood from me.  I asked the lab tech if she was going to leave any in me).  One of his theories showed clearly on the first blood tests and he ordered a more specific test with some 'reserve', which confirmed to him that I had a diseased thyroid.  It is startling in itself to hear the word Disease come from your doctor's mouth.  Then you start to wonder what happens next.  Family doc wants me in to see an Endocrinologist ASAP (he said if we couldn't get in to one here in town soon, we would go to C.U. in Denver), and in the mean time, puts me on a Beta Blocker to protect my heart from being damaged.  CRUD - 'heart' and 'damage' in the same sentence?  PANIC!!!  The potential for having a heart attack was VERY REAL (YIKES!) if left untreated in spite of the fact that I have NO heart related risk factors - I have low blood pressure (normally!) and very low cholesterol (newly discovered from the gallon of blood they drained from me).

A very caring and understanding scheduler at the Endocrine specialist sensed my desperation after telling me the next appointment is a month out.  She says, 'Sweet thing, let me call you back.'  Five minutes later she calls back.  She had called a couple of patients whom she 'knew' to see if one would be willing to swap appointment times - which one did.  For 9 AM.  The Next Day.  WOW!!!  What a girl!  So, at 9 AM, the next morning, I am in the specialist's office learning about hyperthyroidism and thyrotoxicosis, whereby my thyroid was malfunctioning had gone into warp speed and was spilling  thyroid hormone into my body.  Not only that, the hormone that my body "used to" make to keep the thyroid in check had stopped producing - nada, zilch, pretty much Elvis.  The doc (a young gal whom I liked very much) ordered more tests to confirm the flavor of thyroid disease - another gallon of blood, an ultrasound, and a radioactive iodine uptake scan.  On March 7, I was officially diagnosed with Graves' Disease, a severe form of hyperthyroidism that is actually considered an autoimmune disorder (based on the fact that the thyroid is trying to attack itself).  It has been described as a "Beast" of a disease - I would agree as it is debilitating in all aspects of life particularly when untreated.  Most people recognize Graves by one of the common symptoms - bulging eyes - which I am happy to report DID NOT happen to me!  While there is no cure, Graves' is very manageable.  I am fortunate to have two doctors who were perceptive and jumped on it immediately.  According to the specialist, I am a textbook case.  Ha!  Comforting to know I am normal!  I am also thankful that both docs are VERY empathetic to my desire to get back to my level of activity that I so enjoy and assured me that with some time and patience, I indeed would.   And an added note:  in a time where we hear so many horror stories about health care, I can say that there is not ONE thing I would change about how this whole process unfolded.  Everything fell into place - from the docs, the procedures, and the wonderful scheduling lady.  Nothing could have gone any smoother or any more timely.  In spite of the less than optimal reason to be there, it was a very positive experience.

So now, maybe, you can begin to understand the short runs, the nonexistent photos, the look on my face in this photo!!!  Steve has done a great job figuring out how to keep it mostly "hidden" but has been pestering me (he can be a relentless Pesterer) the past two weeks to talk about it.  At first, when we had an inkling of what might be coming after the first visit to our family doc, I was embarrassed.  Don't ask me why - I just was.  I was an embarrassed invalid - perhaps defective in some way.  I am getting over that - not QUITE there yet - but it is what it is.  The specialist doc reassured me that I didn't do anything to cause the disease.  In her words, it was Murphy's Law and in my DNA destiny.  The curious thing is that Graves is often hereditary.  I quizzed my Dad about it and neither of us know of anyone in our family with thyroid disease.  High blood pressure and high cholesterol, a BIG YES (go figure), but no thyroid issues.

There are three ways to treat Graves:

1.  Antithyroid meds
2.  Radioactive iodine treatment to kill the thyroid
3.  Surgery to remove the thyoid

Apparently, the most popular in the U.S. is the Radioactive Iodine Treatment.  I am not ready to kill off a part of my body yet so I am trying the antithyroid meds.  I will take them for 1.5 to 2 years and have a 30% chance of going into remission at that time.  We are ready to take a chance of 30%.  If the meds don't end up doing the trick, then I will have to opt for the RAIT.
I have been on the med for 2 weeks and am noticing a bit of an overall improvement.  Supposedly, it takes about 6ish weeks to flush the excess thyroid poison from the system and that most people start to feel close to 'normal' in 2 to 4 months.  I have to stay on the beta blocker to protect the heart until my thyroid levels are more normalized - probably another good month or so.

I am trying to just 'go with it' - Life Happens.  But, doggone it - we had plans!!!  We had REALLY planned for some races this year - I am encouraging Steve to GO FOR IT and I'll catch up.  I will be happy to be his cheerleader.  We had planned to do the Run Through Time in Salida last week - Steve didn't want to 'drive all the way over there' if I wasn't able to do it, too.  So I am throwing out the rest of his early schedule so he can be gently peer pressured to race:  Cheyenne Mountain 25k April 23, and/or Greenland 25k May 7, maybe Sageburner 25k on May 28, and the GOAL race of North Fork 50k on July 16.  I had planned to do Cheyenne Mountain and Sageburner but will have to live vicariously through Steve, for now.  We'll have to find some things after North Fork as I HOPE to be up and going by then. Right now, I have to be happy to eek out 5 miles for my 'long' run (ha, ha) at a shuffling pace because, well, that's all the body can do right now.  The 6 and 7 miles I tried to do yesterday and the past couple of weekends just wipe me out too much.  Crazy. I am cautiously excited about one aspect, though:  there is a good possibility that this disease has affected me for a while, as a slow drain on the system, and that, after recovery, may experience some improved physical performance I have not seen in a long time.  That.Would.Be.AWESOME.  A girl can hope.........

So there you have it, the whole, long (still abbreviated), gory story.  The biggest reason we wanted to share is to offer up the information for others out there who might be going through this whole Graves Disease thing and to also potentially get feedback from any who might have already been there and done that.  We have thought about setting up an information page that chronicles the journey.  Interestingly enough, there doesn't seem to be tons of info out there regarding athletic people and Graves.  I experienced other symptoms, which are common to Graves, that weren't mentioned on this post.  We will gain a much broader perspective in our rear view mirror once we get a little farther down the road.  Thanks for hanging through this LONG post.........

Happy Trails this week!



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Longest...Run...Yet

It has already been a good week of running and the weekend, the source of the majority of my quality runs, is only half done.  With the DST bringing wonderful daylight to my post-work hours, two nice runs were already in the bank before the weekend hit, including a good outing Wednesday where Kathleen and I enjoyed 64 degree running temps after 6 PM.   After that run, we were talking at dinner and I said - I think I'll shoot for 20 Saturday.  Now, for most of you, that is no big deal.  However, for quite some time "20" has been one of those mental blocks.  You must remember, most of our mileage is exclusively on dirt and there is nothing flat in Colorado, so this is not your average long run number.  Anyhoo, I had it in mind all week to break through that ceiling and the weatherman was really helping my cause with the weekend forecast, now I just had to decide where I wanted to run.  Kathleen had to work and so it was going to be a solo outing, so non-boring had to be a part of the equation.  Originally I had eyeballed Spruce Mtn / Greenland area because the big loops provide an easy outlet for long training runs.  However, I decided to run from our front door, through the Garden and up into Pike Nat'l Forest, then catch Rampart Range Road, back through the Garden and home.  I was hoping my calculations would work out, and was glad we hopped in on this run back in January as it provided beta on some extra goods above the Garden that we never knew about.
New singletrack in Blair Bridge Open Space
Above the beaten path

So the run starts out a bit on the urban side, following the trail along Flying W road up and over, then catching the bike path along 30th street to get over to the Garden.  For whatever reason, I always dislike running the blacktop bike path, so I hopped off onto some fresh singletrack we have seen in passing which headed up to the trail connector for the Blair Bridge Open Space.  There was a nice view from the ridge and it helped cut out 1/2 mile of pavement so that was cool.  I was wearing the pod early on for a little distraction, but when I crossed under 30th and dropped onto the trails in the Garden, that got stashed in the pack. 
Weathered remnant
Looks like the Peak is just over the crest...

After exiting the Garden above the Palmer trail, I continued on the trudge up to gain the ridge above Queen's Canyon.  Certainly the most taxing climb of the day, I was reluctant to push hard because I was only 5 miles in.  So I hiked a coupled of the game trails that go straight up the ridges.  It wasn't long before I turned back to these views:
Far above the Garden on the ridge
And to the north, Queen's Canyon and Glen Eyrie - 
the Castle is almost dead center of the photo if you can pick it out!
Over the hill, and there is snowcapped majesty

Made my way up the ridge and over to the lookout for Queen's.  Then it was a steep drop down past the water tank (off the right edge of the photo above), and I rolled out onto Rampart Range Road.  This is an old dirt road that starts in the Garden and travels along the spine of the Rampart Range all the way to Sedalia, just southwest of Denver.  It is of variable surface, but generally is not a regular car road.  It is mostly frequented by:  A - Recreational users headed for various rec use areas.  B - Those members of society looking for a place to hang out and get drunk, stoned, or otherwise abuse their bodies.  C - Worthless punks looking for natural scenic wonders to deface with graffiti, whose hands I would most likely cut off if caught in the act, but that's another story for a different post.   Since B & C are generally out under cover of dusk, mostly was watching out for A as those folks are sometimes distracted by destination rather than focused on other people on the road (ie, me!)   It is about a 3 mile descent on RRR and then you are back in the Garden.
The first balanced rocks you see on RRR - not many tourists 
here because you have to walk more than 20 feet from your car.
Then the Balanced Rock that everyone visits!
Sorry Renee, but this is the best Saguaro I could come up with :-) Kathleen was impressed!
Ah, the Garden!

It was good to be back down in the Garden.  I had a pretzel shaped loop in mind to run in order to snag some of the favorite trails.  It was also quite warm.  I started at 38 degrees and had ditched the light wool long sleeve up on RRR.  (When I finished, it was 65 at the house - sweet!)  It was surprisingly light for traffic on the trails considering the awesome conditions.  Rumor has it around 15 miles, I hit a low spot.  However, since I was by myself, this cannot be confirmed....
View from the Vistor's Center front door - good office view, eh???

I stopped by the visitor's center to fill my pack as I had gone dry about a mile back.  Ran into a mountain biker filling his bottles and we chatted up about the unfreakingbelievable weather.  Ate a gel, plugged back in to some tunes, and headed out of the Garden and back toward home.  I was growing a bit tired, and still had a bit of climb before hitting HT central, so I still had some work left.  The mile and a quarter grind up Flying W was certainly rough.  However, the haunting riffs from Mark Knopfler's frets on Dire Strait's "Brothers in Arms" soothed my mind on the climb and pulled me over the top.  Then some serious blistering tunes (including something from the Scorpions I haven't listened to in 20+ yrs...) drug me the rest of the way home. 
Home at last - these puppies carried me 21.03 miles
 Profile of the run
50,000 foot perspective

Made it home and stopped the Garmin at 21.03 miles - longest ever by far.  It was a great run and, while tired, nothing hurt and I was in relatively good shape!  I really enjoyed this, and it probably helped cement in my mind that I'll try out a 50k trail race this summer.  Seems kind of odd to skip a marathon in the progression, but since I'm not a pavement afficianado, such is life.  There is a possibility that this guy might even tackle the formidably frustrating task of attempting to coach a  non-structured runner such as myself through just such an event....we'll see ;-)  It was a great day - nothing spectacular for a lot of you I realize, but I had a blast and jumped that "hurdle"!!  Hopefully the next one will include my lovely bride!!!  Not sure what the legs will have today, but it's all icing after yesterday...
Speaking of icing, Kathleen stopped at Boonzaaijer's on the way home.... A little
Black Forest Roulade to congratulate and help "recovery" efforts

Shoes - Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC
Wore the McDavid Sleeves again - very nice
Stats: 21.03 Miles, 3479' elevation gain

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Sunny Sunday in the Park

It was another great day for a run Sunday, albeit a little on the cool side with a stout breeze coming from the north.  We decided to cruise into Ute Valley and get out of the worst part of the wind scenario and log a few miles in relatively comfortable conditions.  With the blue skies, there were plenty of photo-ops again Sunday:
Kathleen on the west ridge

Coming off the ridge on one of the "beach" sections - deep sand

There was not really a plan for the day aside from wanting to see how the legs could be pushed after 17 miles on technical trails Saturday.  When we got home from Saturday's run, by the way, there was a package awaiting on the doorstep with my new McDavid Compression calf sleeves.  I don't think I will wear these for every run, but certainly on longer runs or outings where leg abuse will be high.  I was anxious to see how they would feel with pre-fatigued legs, and I must say they were quite good on day 2 of the hard trails.  We'll see how they fare after a few more outings.

Lightning victim
Watch.Your.Step
Great view of Pikes Peak
Pine Slalom
Been a few weeks since the sky was THAT blue!
How could you not enjoy running here?
Favorite Arch
Just a great day!
It is fairly tough to beat days like this around this time of year.  It was a great way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the trail running year - DST.  (Got out last night for the traditional first post-work run sans headlamp since November - sweet!!!)  Kathleen ran the first loop with me, then I beat myself down enjoyed another round and ended up at home with 13 miles.  Wrapped up a solid weekend of tough trails and squashed the legs pretty good - very nice!  Happy Trails!

Shoes - K Montrail Mountain Masochist
S Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Running at Monument Fire Center

Catching some early rays

Saturday morning we headed up to Monument to catch some good trails at the USFS Monument Work Center.  After the mercury tickling the low 70's on Friday (as in a work day...), we knew somewhat early that we were not going to hit the initial forecast of 60's for the day.  So we tried to get up there while the sun was out to log some miles on fantastic trails.  Took a bunch of pics, so we'll let them do most of the talking:

Monument Rock foreground, Mount Herman behind

Monument Rock from across the pond
Trail through one of the Memorial Groves

Sweet, rocky trails...

...and a couple smooth ones, too!!!

Looking down from a ridge

Posing before Kathleen called it a day

Thirsty???

Trail 715 - getting ready to drop in

Nice view of the memorial area

Sorry - pool is closed today... Notice a change in the weather????

Monument Rock - nice pine nestled in there at the base

Had to take this on the way out just for Jennifer... :-)

If you couldn't tell from the pics, it was a good day!   Got a little cold toward the end when the clouds rolled in and the wind kicked up, but we'll take it.  I ended up with a total of 17 miles and some tired feet, while Kathleen cut it a bit short and took a Starbucks run while I was out finishing up!!! Will post later about Sunday's outing - hope you enjoyed the photo tour!!!

Shoes - K Columbia Ravenous
S Montrail Mountain Masochist
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