Yup, we are still alive!!!

The Happy Trails duo is still alive and kicking despite a serious absence from blog activity.    Steve has settled into and is enjoying his new job.  We are both settling into the short, colder days of winter although we certainly have been happy with the overall mild weather Mother Nature has delivered thus far.  Everyone, locally, knows we need moisture in a BIG way but not having to wear our heavy duty cold weather gear sure is NICE!!!

Even though we have been on a blog hiatus, we have continued to run our local trails which is always a wonderful thing.  The not-as-wonderful-thing is that I am still not physically back up to speed.  For reasons unknown, it is taking me longer to "come back" than what we had hoped.  I am not able to rebuild much in the way of strength, speed, or endurance.  The body is just not able to build and accept much in terms of training adaptation yet.  Many runs feel a bit like a slog/sufferfest - the body just doesn't work quite right and won't "go".  Occasionally, I have been able to pop off a run where I feel pretty good - not normal - but pretty good and feel encouraged of what "could be".  There have been brief glimpses of promising potential but have been unable to make those brief glimpses last.  But, it is what it is and we are trying to roll with it.  The doc said, in some cases, it can take at least a year to get back to normal.  I am 7 months in - only 5 more to go.......

Nevertheless, I am still trying to do what the body allows.  I am thankful that I can still do "stuff" - I count my blessings - it certainly could be much worse.  I am also thankful for my most wonderful, patient, and long suffering husband.  Steve has been the model of love, support, and encouragement. He comforts me when all I want to do is curl up and cry.  He is my cheerleader and priceless treasure and I am grateful beyond measure for him.

So, here are a few pics from the last few months, a little proof that we are still getting out and getting after it:  

 Beautiful fall day at Red Rock Canyon

 Another beautiful autumn day up the Incline and down Barr Trail.  Magnificent Pikes Peak in the background.

I was graced with a visit from dearest Jillery.  We hit the Incline, Barr, and The Mate' Factor for lunch.  ALWAYS a FUN time together.

 Another stellar day, this time at Palmer Park

 Doesn't get much better than this - food and family on Thanksgiving.  Getting ready to eat at Steve's sis's house - his mom and sis - see how food makes everyone smile???!!!

 The work center trails in Monument the day after Thanksgiving......  notice the continued fine weather theme???

We encountered many mountain bikers while running in our beloved Ute Valley Park on Thanksgiving morning.  Steve and I remarked to each other that it sure looked like tons of fun which led us to ask why in the world hadn't we done it in oh, say, 4 years or so???  We don't know why.  We just haven't.  It caused us to wonder whether or not we could still RIDE our mountain bikes on anything bumpier or more technical than a paved street and not kill or permanently maim ourselves.  We decided to find out.  

Steve hauled the bikes off the garage wall, wiped off the inches of dust that enshrouded them, and proceeded to give them a quick "once over tune-up".  The final verdict:  Kathleen's bike, other than a couple of the pivots which need to be adjusted, a little air in the tires and front and rear shocks and lube on the chain, was in good working order and ready to roll.

Steve's bike, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  It seems that the seals on his rear shock were shot rendering the machine unrideable.  Boo-hoo.

We decided to head down to Cheyenne Mountain State Park yesterday.  I planned to run a 6 or 7 mile loop and then hop on the mountain bike and see if I had ANY technical skills left in me.  Steve planned on running long.  I figured CMSP was a good starting point for a first, semi-technical trail ride in 4 years - the trails are mostly flowy, smooth, albeit off-camber decomposed granite, punctuated by rocky and rooty sections.  Just enough challenge to help regain some feel for the bike but not too much so where a person could hurt herself.

 

 Group photo halfway up the Talons

The primary goal was to NOT kill or seriously injure myself.  Secondly, to not ride stiff as board after not being on dirt for so long.

I kept telling myself to keep the elbows soft and shoulders relaxed.  It's really funny how the body remembers the flow and feel - after a couple of miles it felt natural, familiar, and instinctual - just a little more tentative and stiff than years past but good.  Very good.  I even made it up and around a few of the tighter switchbacks near the top of the Talons where there are quite a few embedded rocks and loose scree which can cause some balance and traction issues.  I was ecstatic on how the feel for the technical aspect came back.  The thing that was a glaring weakness, though, and a reminder of some physical limitation, was my lack of strength.  I just don't have the torque strength to power up, over, and around rocks, roots, etc.  I made it over everything, but sometimes barely, and it HURT A LOT doing it. No amount of "try or train harder" can remedy it - it's just not an available option to the body yet.  It's frustrating to have absolutely zero control over the situation.  I just keep reminding myself that it will get better, eventually, and to continue to be thankful that I am able to get out to run AND ride.  That counts for much. 

 Finally made it to the top of the Talons and getting ready to start down.....

Grimacing while looking toward the rocky switchback that starts a sweet descent

Long story short - I had a BLAST on the mountain bike.  I don't think I have had as big of a grin on my face on any of our trail outings as of late as I did yesterday.  Probably because I wasn't in continuous slog/sufferfest mode - just was at play and having good old fun.  The Geico commercial with Maxwell the pig came to mind many times during the ride, particularly on the faster, flowing descents.  All I was thinking was "Weeee, weeee, weeeeeeeeee!"  I love Maxwell - he embodies what life should be -  such fun!  

Because I was moving fairly slowly, Steve wasn't ever too far behind on the climbs.  It was nice to have him nearby - not only because I adore his fine form and company, but also he was close by to scrape me off the rocks if I had a magnificent wipe-out on my maiden mountain bike voyage.  Thankfully, no scraping was needed.  Once he gets his shock re-built, I will look forward to us getting out together on the bikes again.  It is just too much fun!!!  How did we stray away for so long???

Steve ended the day with a great 18 mile run - a nice accomplishment since CMSP is more of a challenging effort.  I ended up with a 7 mile run and a little over 15 mile ride and a big grin on my face - a grin because I didn't kill or hurt myself and for the overall fun factor of the day.

As a follow-up, I saddled up the bike and headed over to UVP this morning despite the windchill registering at 18 degrees - that's cold on a bike.  But I HAD to give it a whirl at Ute.  It's where we learned to ride trails 20+ years ago and I figured if I could make it around the very rocky, rooty, sandy, and technical nature of trails there, there was hope.  I made it around the basic loop unscathed and finished feeling super excited.  Again, I was reminded of how weak I am physically.  But I made it over everything so it's a starting point and the mountain bike will serve as another tool to help rebuild and keep the fun factor high and fresh.

Hopefully you will all be able to find some FUN FACTOR over these coming winter weeks and months and do like Maxwell the Geico pig - be a little silly and exult in the ride whether it's humming along perfectly or not so much.  Enjoy the ride!  

Happy Trails!!!

Good Times on Limbaugh Canyon Trails

Last Sunday, we headed back up to Greenland to get in a run with Craig - you can read about it here.  I have had a little experience with wanting to put that course to rest, so it was no problem to head up and suffer for another lap in an attempt to push down a good time.  It was a good run and post-run conversation led to all the runs Craig has been missing out on in this wonderful playground that is the Pikes Peak Region.  One of the runs that caught his attention was Mt Herman/Limbaugh Canyon, a stout loop starting from the Monument Fire Center and circumnavigating Mt Herman on some great technical trails.  (Well, I may have left out the technical part...)  So it was decided that this morning we hit up this nice route.

Already a ways up Trail 715, looking over Monument, CO

Our forecast was looking a wee bit sketchy with 50's for highs, after 80 on Friday, and a good chance of rain.  I admit that as I approached Monument and I-25 was wet, I was a bit unsure about pulling this one off.  Limbaugh Canyon is nowhere to be when a lightning episode breaks out!  However, Mt Herman was still washed with sun from behind the clouds.  So off we went, meandering through the trails in the work center, over a couple ridges, before hopping onto the 715 Trail.  I think by this point, Craig was becoming aware of the technical nature of these trails (sorry I forgot to mention it!!) but we were enjoying the start of the long climb with the cooler temps. 

Almost to the Bear Creek drainage, time to head UP!

The climb was, as always, steep and loose with a lot of rocks and decomposed granite surface - something you get used to in these parts, sort of like running on ball bearings at times!  We had been enjoying some good chatter along the route, but a few of the harsher pitches begged a bit more silence, focusing the mind on the task at hand.  For the record, I walked *several* sections of steep, but Craig ran the whole thing - animal!  We worked our way up to the saddle intersection with Mt Herman Road, leaving one last grunt to the entrance for Limbaugh Canyon.  As luck would have it, some fine folk HAD TO BE OUT EARLY at the "shooting range" that needs to be closed on Mt Herman, so we nervously climbed the last bit with what I perceived to be largish caliber rifle and small caliber carbine going off below us.  It was just a wee tiny bit unnerving to drop in the canyon and hear ricochet buzzes echo off the high rock walls above us - yikes!

We thought for a bit the sun would poke out on the run out through Limbaugh, then about a mile out from the opening to Palmer Lake, we could see the whisps of fog rolling up toward us at a good clip.  By the time we approached Inspiration Point, overlooking the town of Palmer Lake, a dense fog had pushed in and some thick drizzly air along with it.

Town of Palmer Lake below the fog bank

Looking back up Limbaugh, with the fog really closing in

It was too cool to stand around and gawk at the sights, so we dropped in the steep descent, then made the sharp right uphill onto the new cut that heads back up into the National Forest on the front side of Mt Herman.  For some reason, it felt like we never finished climbing today, as the 8 or 10 switchbacks here really sapped my legs.  Must be pre-season lack of vert hitting home.  Started to pick up a little light rain a couple miles out from the work center, but it never amounted to much and was never uncomfortable.

Monument Rock on a gray day

It was nice to drop in the top of the work center and run the fresh cut descent on the west side - it was finished sometime late fall, and this was only the second time on it but it is some fantastic trail work.  Got down through the pond, had a few picks of The Rock, and ran it in to the trailhead - 13.5 miles, with just under 3000' vertical gain on the day.   Definitely Good Times!  This was also by far the hardest test I put the Brooks Pure Grits through to date, and it has earned the right to hang in my full time trail rotation with the Saucony Peregrines. 

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 Speaking of shoes..........

OK - changing gears here, but did you know I love shoes?  Kathleen's "Imelda Marcos" streak has really rubbed off on me!  I am borderline shoe-aholic...  One of the things I didn't really get into post-Greenland was that it was the second race I have done in low heel-to-toe drop shoes.  While I admit I have not gone to the great scientific length that this guy has, I did some due diligence to make sure I did not crash-n-burn.  I started "breaking in" my body to a 4mm drop shoe early last year with the Saucony Mirage, which is more of a road shoe.  I did this gradually until I was ready to try out the Peregrine for more serious trail work, and it has been great.  Later in the fall I picked up the Kinvara 2, two days before Crazy Horse and ran the race in them on their first outing.  They were also great and I was pretty well liking the low drop, other than the occasional fleeting notion that I needed wanted more "cush".  After the unnamed cushioned shoes were used a good portion of early winter, I found myself living in KT Tape with a latent hip issue.  Nothing against the tape guys, but that ain't normal.  So in February I went to total low drop - canned all my other shoes.  Over the next couple months, voila, no hip issues.  Hmmmm.  Now while I am definitely not talking minimalist here as all these shoes are still well cushioned, my body has responded well to lowering the heel and I listened to that.  For whatever that is worth...

Uh-Oh

So imagine then my horror when I come home from the last tune-up run before Greenland and Kathleen points out this in what was going to be my race shoe - Nooooooooooooooooooooo......  Blown out toe is not good.

Plan B - Mr Blue gets to go racing

It just so happens, I found a Kinvara 2 the week before Greenland (the new model 3 is out, which I am not caring for initially) and raced in it (again no break in - isn't that sacrilege for racing???)  But I do have to give props to Saucony - a couple emails were exchanged and they had me send the black shoe back for inspection.  I'm a shoe geek if you had not noticed, so it was hard to part with those puppies after that run at Crazy Horse, but just this Wednesday, these showed up at HT Central:

Still black, but check out those blinding green accents!!!

Can't wait to wear out the Blues and get these dirty!!

Happy Trails!

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

Fun in the Sun!

We have had at least a solid month of the most phenomenal weather (as if it is not always great...) and aside from needing some rain, we will take all of it we can get!  We had our hopes up to run Falcon Trail at the Air Force Academy Saturday morning to test out Kathleen's running progress, however, when we got there the trail was closed for a 24 Hour mountain bike race.  Plan B - we headed back home and ran at Ute Valley Park, which is always a good backup plan!

View across park to Pikes Peak

Kathleen running bottom of the valley

It was another splendid fall day along with summer like 80 degree temps.  We were able to get in about 9 miles at Ute and loop back to the house.  Kathleen decided to break off there and nurse her ailing legs in hopes of a shot at a longer run Sunday.  I headed across to the Foothills Trail and up for a short extra loop in Pike National Forest.

Starting to show some fall on Foothills

Next weekend, expect more orange and yellow..

Ended the day with 12 miles and both feeling really good.  We got a late start with the trail confusion, so we were a little sapped from the 80's at the finish of the run.  But fall is here, and we'll stockpile all the warmth we can!

Stats - 12 miles, 1600' elevation gain

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S - Asics Trabuco

Limbaugh Canyon Run on a Spectacular Day!

Trail 715 with Mt Herman in the background

We were hoping to get in a run today with a bit of fall color starting to show, and we hit the jackpot by heading to Monument to run the Limbaugh Canyon Loop that we first ran back in August.  We got out quite a bit earlier today, but it was already warming up.  Welcome back summer!  We ran a loop through the Fire Center and connected over to Trail 715, which is the backbone of the route.  Won't need a whole lot of description for the run as the photos pretty much tell the story.  If you want to see more after seeing the pics, you might be interested in this link.

Climbing 715

A little group photo-op

Why run pavement???

Bucolic countryside south of Mt Herman - Love Colorado!

The trail heading up Bear Creek drainage

Since we knew all the turns for the route this time around, we were able to just concentrate on the trail and the beautiful mountain we were running around.  The above photo is about 1 mile below the Mt Herman road crossing and was our first taste of changing Aspens for the year.  There is something serene about their quaking leaves and the soft crunch of a leaf-blanketed trail that makes running in the fall endearing.

Opening from the forest to Mt Herman road

Signature fall colors in Colorado - Aspens & Blue Sky!

Wanna get away???

For those who live in the east and upper midwest, I know the plethora of colors you get in the fall - I grew up back there.  However, there is something about the dry mountain air, dizzying elevation, azure blue sky, and rich golden aspen trees that really make the fall here.  What it lacks in colorful variety, it makes up for in mountain grandeur!!!

Trail 715 - Limbaugh Canyon

Kathleen running Limbaugh - Awesome Day!

Wildlife encounter #1 - Smooth Green Snake

Not nearly the size or intimidation factor of a bull snake or rattlesnake, but this smooth green snake might be the most colorful snake we have seen.  He was almost moving too fast to get a good pic!

Coming out of Limbaugh Canyon...

... to this View!  Inspiration Point, overlooking Palmer Lake, CO

Kathleen passing the sandstone spire on Red Tail

Wildlife Encounter #2 - Hello Yogi!

So we're finishing off a nice run, heading back down through the Fire Center and I round the trail nearing the pond to this sight.  After regaining consciousness (!!) I carefully extracted the camera and started taking pics.  As soon as he (how can you tell?) saw that I was not going to continue toward him, he just sat down in the trail and watched me.  This is ~ 100 feet away.

Hey ... how's it going tasty human???

Finally distracted by some horses

So we have seen bears before on the run, but never one this large.  This was a very large, very magnificent animal.  He seemed very mellow, and honestly, I think he just wanted a dip in the pond.  It was already in the mid 80's by now and that is ONE.HEAVY.COAT he has on!  Pretty cool to see animals like this close up.  He took off into the brush shortly after this photo as a group of 5 horse riders approached.

We had a great 14 mile run - this is really just an all around awesome loop, especially with the fall color and wildlife excitement!  Hope everyone has a great week and let us know if you would like to try this one out - we'll be glad to go along!  Happy Trails...

Stats - 14 miles, 2700' elevation gain

Shoes - K Asics Trabuco

S Pearl Izumi SyncroSeek XC