Falcon Trail and Friends

After a 9 month furlough to the golden gate state, our friend Tim bid farewell to San Rafael and moved back to the Promised Land.  We were glad he decided to move back and hit him up for a run this weekend.  (Of course, everyone else up in Boulder was doing the same, so hopefully this week calms down for him!!)  So we decided we would go over to the Air Force Academy and run the Falcon Trail and follow it up with some good Mexican food - sound good????

Tim and Kathleen cruising the Falcon Trail

We headed out on Falcon counterclockwise and took a nice pace so that we could chat and catch up on Tim's jet-setting, Cali-tales and mostly running related yack.  (Oh - and also Pippit, Tim's awesomely cool little dog that goes everywhere with him!)  It turned out to be a perfect day with sunny skies and temps eventually climbing to 60 degrees.  That was fantastic after yesterday's gale force winds and downright cold temps for the morning run.  As you will soon see, it appears that we all run for team lime green!!! Too weird that everyone ended up in the same color shirts...Tim and I even had the same Wildcats on - lime green also!!!

Steve coming through (photo by TL)

We had a blast running the trails at AFA and Tim gave us a bunch of tips for the running/action photos, as he is an experienced outdoor clothing model and veteran of some magazine photo shoots.  Fortunately, the fellas up in Boulder softened up Tim's legs for us, so he was comfortable cruising the Happy Trails pace.  He has to save his legs for the Miwok 100k coming up in a few weeks.  Plus - he was noticing all the ladies out on the trail today and trying to make a good showing - never know when the future Mrs Footfeathers is on the trail!!!

Steve leading the way for Tim.

Kathleen strolling through the pines.  (Photo by TL)

Tim returns the favor, leading out Steve.

Group photo with Tim feigning exhaustion...

Had to stop for a group photo at the old cabin from the 1800's.  It is seriously leaning to one side and we were wondering if we would have to lean over at an angle to make the picture look good!!  You can't tell from the photo, but it was 1.5 miles to go and we were all thinking BURRITO!  We polished off a great 13 mile run, enjoying good company and a friend who was willing to drive 80 miles to run with us.  well, and eat Mexican food too - can't forget that.  We had a nice visit at 3 Margaritas Mexican restaurant in Monument and rehashed a great day running.  How wild is this - we ran into a guy in the parking lot that has read our blog and recognized us - Thanks Luis, you helped make our day!!!  We chatted a bit about Buffalo Creek trails - I might still have to kick around the idea of hitting the 50K there ... Hmmmm - not sure if I can safely train up to that mileage in 3 months, but alluring as the trails are awesome.  Maybe if some others joined the fun (TZ & Dana, Tim, anyone ....)

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S (&T) LaSportiva Wildcat

Sporting my new Diablo Trail race shirt that Tim smuggled in from Cali - Thanks TL!!

EVENING NEWS FLASH!

BREAKING HEADLINE

March 28, 2010 - Reuters - Colorado:  A normally peaceful, quiet, and happy-go-lucky Colorado couple snaps and goes on a rampage, driving their SUV wildly through muddy parks after winter continues to bludgeon their trail running efforts...More details at 10.

This could have been us.  Three spring dumps in 8 days has taken it's mental toll.  We're tired of winter and this ain't whining any more.  Just plain done with it!

Photo from I-25 from this last storm - not even funny Old Man Winter!

So when the dust, umm Powder, cleared from Friday's storm and the weather report for Saturday was continued flurries, Happy Trails was at the breaking point.  We got in a 5 miler yesterday and that was all we could take - 35 - 45 mph winds, temp 31 with 15 wind chill is just plain wrong for March 27!!!

Well, Sunday dawned with sunny skies and expected temps in the low 50's.  Good sun, good temp, however - lots o' mud.  We did not care - if we did not get the miles today, the short 50 mile drive to the state mental hospital in Pueblo was on our to-do list!!!  We headed over to the North entrance of the Air Force Academy to start our run on the Santa Fe trail - not singletrack, but it is dirt and kept us off the pavement!

Nice view of Mt Baldy holding a good stash of spring freshies.

Lots and lots of water running through the Academy streams!

There was no way we were running in knickers, even with the 40 degree start - Kathleen sporting a wonderful pink ensemble.  Go away winter, we want warm trail running!!!  Nice view of Pikes Peak-ing out over Blodgett Peak.

Air Force Falcon Stadium on a beautiful day.

Good full view of Pikes - note the sign on the left:  Definitely don't want low flying aircraft while we are running!!!

MUCH Happier Trails today - regardless of the shoe swallowing mud at times, sun and an eventual 50 degrees puts a smile on our face.  (Now we just need to work on the tan lines....)

More snow being held on the north end but we did not care.  The run was just what the Dr. ordered today and we had a great time out on the trail.  We were able to run 12.5 miles, enjoy the sun, renew our will to live - you know, all the things that happen on a good spring run after shoveling 2 feet of snow in the past week!  It was good to be out - and most of the whining is tongue-in-cheek, just FYI!!!  (Although that could change if we get Armageddon Snow week again - stole that line from Jill, who feels our pain too!!!)  Have a great week and Happy Trails!

Shoes - Asics 2150 Trail

Sun and fun on Monday!

I was completely ecstatic for the forecast for today - lots of sunshine and a high in the mid-60's.  Well Mr. Weatherman, you spoke the truth and came through - I love you!!!!

Consequently, I gleefully headed out for my run mid morning (50's but glorious full sun and bluebird skies!).  Stayed on the maintained dirt paths around our neighborhood which are beginning to dry out nicely.  The route I did today is one of my basic, "normal" routes - nothing especially spectacular or noteworthy but good - I do it frequently and generally don't get too tired of it.
Up and over Flying W to 30th, turn around and head back over, loop around Starbucks, then head home.  The nice thing about this route is that there are quite a few options to change it up for variety and add mileage and elevation - mostly on dirt.  I stuck with the standard route of 8 miles and 1100 feet of elevation.  It's good.

After I got home, made myself an iced decaf non-fat mocha, leashed up The Girl, and headed right back out the door for a walk.  After a lovely walk and my recovery mocha drink, it was time to load up the road bike to meet my dear friend, Deb, at the Air Force Academy for a "first ride" of the season.  The AFA is one of our favorite places to ride - wide, clean shoulders, and controlled traffic.  It was WONDERFUL!  I felt very good and fairly strong - certainly not top notch, in-season strong - but I could feel the potential lurking beneath the surface and that made me HAPPY, particularly since there have been zero miles outside on the bike in the past few months.  The hills felt good and there are enough on the Academy to work it.  Deb and I always enjoy our time together, although it isn't nearly frequent enough.  She is a local high school track coach and teacher.  Interestingly enough, she was telling me about how she has been running almost exclusively (when weather permits) in Vibram's Five Fingers for the past 6 months.  When the weather is fowl, she runs in the Nike Free.  I have known Deb for many years and most of those years she has been a passionate proponent of barefoot drills so the switch to the Five Fingers was a fairly easy adjustment.  But she did it gradually, one mile at a time.
I'm still not sold, although I understand the philosophy behind it.  Anyway, after expounding on the pros and cons of Five Fingers, barefoot running, and the interesting aspects of coaching high schoolers,we ended up with 33 high quality miles and about 3000 ft (??? - I don't totally remember - I need to get the altimeter back on my bike) of climbing.  AWESOME!  I was REALLY hungry during the entire ride (because I forgot to eat much after my recovery mocha other than yogurt and blueberries) and ended up sidling up to the energy food buffet - 3 Strawberry Banana Power Gels and 2 packs of Honey Stinger blocks.  I always carry LOTS of food with me - my friends know that if they get hungry, my Camel Bak is a rolling/running energy food grocery store! 

Threw the bike in the back of the Pilot (the Pilot has a pretty voluminous rear area - I crammed the bike in without even taking off the front tire or needing to fold down the rear seats!), raced over to Borders to pick up my new cookbook (above), hit Natural Grocers for a few supplies and then headed home.  I was excited to get home to try out this recipe for dinner, of course, out of the new book.  Yes, I am going gluten free - more on the why and how at a later date.  Suffice to say, my periodic indulgence of hubcap size cinnamon rolls from the Donut Mill in Woodland Park after long runs or rides is a thing of the past.  Sigh.  Weep for me Slomo...   :-)

What can I say???  It was a GREAT day all around - did a good run, a fantastic ride with a dear friend, got lots accomplished, and had awesome weather as icing on the cake.  Life is always good, despite some occasional bumps in the road.  Those bumps just serve as character builders and are refining tools.  Happy Trails to everyone this week!