Gray Day and a Cup o' Joe

For scheduling reasons, we had to get moving early this morning - well at least by 7:15. When the mercury is sitting at 39 degrees, that is early enough. We needed to be time efficient, so we took off from the front door and ran a loop on the trails in Ute Valley Park. Must have been a schedule sort of day because we saw several other runners and hikers out early for a crisp, foggy morning. We ended up having a great run, though, logging about 6 miles of trail and feeling pretty strong after some good runs on our week off. We're trying out a new plan for the cold season - go as long as possible with light clothing until forced to break out the "winter" gear. We'll see how it goes - you always feel better (and run better) when not mummified by multiple layers of clothing.

After Kathleen took off, Steve went with Sage to the local park to get her a little exercise. Australian Shepherds do not do well when they have to stay inside all day!
Sage actually enjoys this time of year much more than her parents, especially with the heavy fur coat she wears. She looks darn good for getting ready to celebrate her 11th birthday! As you can see behind her, there were no mountain vistas to be had today. The weather is calling for more of the same tomorrow, not good since we need a long run.
Our walk was cut short by the rain man - we made it home a little damp and then the rain really started. One of those gray days...
So I was forced to put on a pot of coffee rather than rake leaves and mow the lawn - bummer!!! In case you were wondering, I am a coffee freak. Kathleen does not like hot drinks, so she has been more of an iced tea person. However, I recently got her hooked on Iced Mochas (key=chocolate), so my espresso maker has been doing extra duty. Back to the Joe - today I brewed some Organic Blacklightning from Aroma Coffee of Santa Fe that I picked up while in New Mexico. It is quite a nice coffee, smooth and dark which is my preference. Contrary to what you might think, the dark roasts are not necessarily the strongest in terms of caffeine. What I like about the dark roasts that I generally buy is that they are not as bitter and don't leave the after taste of some of the brighter roasts. If you are a coffee junkie also, I would highly suggest trying out some beans from Rocky Mountain Roastery in Fraser, CO. I have three all time favorites there - Italian Roast, Organic French Roast, and Team Totally Wired. RMR is a small batch roaster and often times when you order beans, they were roasted the same day or the previous day and come to you nice and fresh! Plus, they are coming straight from one of our favorite trail areas on the planet so every cup evokes memories of sweet singletrack.

Here's hoping that tomorrow brings a long run and some trail photos.

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo...

Is owning 4 pairs of trail running shoes considered obssessive for a 41 year-old, otherwise somewhat normal trail running male? I'm not sure but somewhere along the line I have picked up Kathleen's affection for footwear, at least as far as running goes. I wouldn't call it a fetish, I just like to have my options.

I went for a post work run at Palmer Park tonight and squeezed out 5 miles before dusk was upon me. The leaves crunching underfoot and crisp evening air remind me that fall is not going away, so I better enjoy the trails as much as possible. It was a great run for an evening after work and it is beginning to look like we might have to follow the suggestion of TZ and pick up some running worthy headlamps. I for one am not ready to give in to the seasonal mandate of indoor seclusion on the bike trainer (no treadmill in our home) - there are too many days in a Colorado winter where that is the only option, so why burn those up now?

... and by the way, I picked green tonight!

PS - Didn't want to leave out that Kathleen picked up 21 miles on the road bike Monday and got in a 5 mile trail run this morning before work. Happy Trails!!!

We hit the Jackpot!

...Well, not that kind of jackpot - we hit the new trails lottery! We have been wanting to find a fresh stash of trails locally so we could get a little more variety in our trail diet. We had heard from several people that the 'new' state park on the south end of town was nice but we had just never tried it. Cheyenne Mountain State Park opened in the Fall of 2006 but has been a work in progress. Definite kudos to the park officials and the trail designers as this is a top notch facility.
There are currently 20 miles of trails finished in the park and more coming. All of the trails are color coded on the park map and the trail markers, which is pretty cool. The trail surface ranges from buff, crushed granite to embedded boulders and all things in between. Sounds like fun running!
Color coordinated trail markers - collect the whole set!!!
Cheyenne Mountain is home to Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and, more notably, NORAD - the Aerospace Defense command post that is 2000' underground inside the mountain seen above. Don't get any funny ideas about strolling up in your trail running garb and knocking on the 'front door' or you may not be home in time for dinner!!!
Steve is running on the Cougar's Shadow trail, which is a nice forested section above the Blackmer Loop. Since we have a lot of cougar in our mountains, I would have probably chosen a better name for a remote trail but they did not ask!

Kathleen is cruising a buffed section on the Blackmer Loop. It is a good climb from the base up onto Blackmer and then the loop rolls along in one of the more alpine sections of the park.
A cooperative boulder lent a helping hand to get a shot of both of us running a little farther up Blackmer. This park is immaculate and we are very surprised it has not had more use.
Kathleen coming through a 'rock garden' near the intersection of Zook and Blackmer trails. We call these babyheads, no offense to our friends out there with children!!!
A gnarled old tree makes a nice arch to run through on the Sundance trail. Sundance bridges the terrain between the alpine level, the scrub oaks, and the prairie dog colony in the open fields at the base. With a great variety of foliage and trail surface, and plenty of trails already established, this park is for sure going to become part of our regular trail regimen.
We linked together about 9.5 miles today and had an absolute blast! With the southern exposure of most of the trail areas and the position on the south end of town, this is sure to be a nice haven in the winter when our higher trails are snowpacked and icy. Happy Trails!