Bluebird Day at Palmer Park

Sun and decent temps called us out for a longer run today. We headed over to Palmer Park to log some good quality trail miles. There are a lot of really neat rock formations at Palmer and this is the marker for one of the named rock areas. We cannot verify the age but can tell you they are cool formations!
Steve running down a steep little hill on Sentinel Point. There was a lot of trail traffic today with the sunny skies - especially after yesterday's weather. There were tons of bikes on trail today, certainly more than we have seen in quite a few runs. Everyone is getting cabin fever!
One of the things we enjoy about Palmer Park is that, while it is an urban park, there are many places in the park that appear to be remote and detached from civilization - perfect for peaceful trail runs!
Some of the trails on the north facing rims were still a bit covered in snow but there was no real mud to speak of. Kathleen is cruising along the Grandview Trail in this photo.
Next we were off to part of the Cheyenne Trail that we have not run before. We appeared to be the first foot tracks on this section, all the other traffic had been bikes. We funneled down through the canyon and out around the Palmer Point Trail. We were having a great run but both of us were feeling pretty tired - must just be that time of year.
By the time we hit the Kinnickinnick Trail and were in the home stretch, it was definitely feeling like nap time! Find a nice spot beside the trail in the sun and take a little sleep time - well, maybe not!
Kathleen finishing strong - what awesome trails we get to run! We are very fortunate to have so many great places to run so close to home. It was a very nice run today as we squeezed out a little over 11 miles. If we can keep that up during the blah months, we'll be running well by spring and have a great base of miles for the start of the warm season. Hope all is well with our fellow runners and Happy Trails this week!

Shoes - K Montrail Odyssey
S - Montrail Odyssey

Foggy morning

It was quite foggy and gray when we got out for our run this morning. Not quite what you would call a motivational sight for runners but we needed to at least get some leg turnover, so out we went. It was hovering in the single digits with some ice/snow mix blowing so it was difficult to keep the glasses clear - we decided on staying mostly on the multi-use dirt paths around our neighborhood.
Kathleen is running along Flying W here - there were not many tracks in the snow yet but we did see a couple brave runners out.

We did get in a few trails along the outer bluff of Ute Valley Park...

... and ducked in to the front side of UVP for a few minutes. We stopped frequently to clear ice off the glasses - don't want to trip and fall on a cold morning. We saw some people out for a quiet hike and their dog ran with us for a minute, so we had a little pacing partner!

It was almost a black & white landscape - pretty cool how the color stands out!

The trail heading back up toward our house - the fog was more dense closer to the mountain. We got in a pretty mellow run, but the scenery was cool and it was quiet and peaceful on the trail. Weather man is calling for sun tomorrow - we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Shoes - K Nike Air Terra Ridge w/screws
S Brooks Cascadia 2 w/screws

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We had some of our regular "visitors" stop by this afternoon. Our local herd of mule deer came through to forage our yard - and the bird feeder! They make their rounds and are really not too scared of us if we're by the windows. This gal below was standing on our front porch looking in our window - they are fun to watch!

Outdoor Stairmaster

Why do pictures make all things hilly look flat??? It's NOT flat!!!

Deb and I headed over to the Manitou Incline this morning for our mile long, 2000 foot elevation gain outdoor stairmaster workout. It was SUPER DUPER windy today - 38 to 60 mph - yuck - BUT, THANKFULLY, the Incline/Barr Trail ended up being sheltered so we were happy climbers! I did it last Monday by myself and with ipod induced speed managed to tie my fastest time ever - that time coming about 5 years ago - a 32 minute mile! YAHOOOO! Certainly not close to the really speedy folks but fairly respectable. Today, being the chatty day with Deb, was not speedy but a good climb with good company! I reached the top a few minutes in front of Deb and walked to the side to take in the spectacular and expansive views to the north and east. I was suddenly startled by a mournful coyote howl and looked in the direction the howl was coming from. It continued, long and mournful. Well, it wasn't a coyote. It was a very normal looking lady whom I had passed on the way up. She threw her head back and continued her howling, in a very convincing, genuine coyote sounding way. Hmmmmm. V.E.R.Y. I.N.T.E.R.E.S.T.I.N.G. Now, I am prone to bouts of silliness at times but her howling seemed a little extreme, even to me. A little hoot or even a short howl MIGHT be a possiblity but the prolonged nature of the howling got me worried. A little panic set in as I began to wonder whether or not I had missed the memo requiring a long coyote howl when reaching the top of the Incline. I scratched my head and my palms started to sweat as I awaited Deb's arrival to the top and listened to the Coyote Lady. What if Deb let out a coyote howl when she reached the top??? If she howled, I would know I had definitely missed the boat, as she is not as prone to bouts of silliness as I am. My relief was magnanimous when she crested the final step with her normal "Deb look" and no head thrust back and howl emanating from her vocal chords. We didn't linger at the top, choosing to quickly leave Coyote Lady, who was now in a rather meditative looking state, and hightailed it down the trail. The run down Barr was uneventful but rich with our girlie chit-chat. Days spent with friends are always rich and memorable (Coyote Lady making it all the more memorable today!) and I strive to treasure each one. Happy trails to all this week and maybe cut loose with a little gleeful hoot and holler while out enjoying the trails!

K - shoes - Asics Gel Trabuco