Good evening runs...and Stinking Wind...

Been getting in some good evening runs (and good morning runs for Kathleen!!).  Until this week, no Nathan pack on the evening runs, as most have been shortish and keeping the throttle down.  Not yet anywhere near the point where I feel the need to push hard on the weekend long runs, so the evening outings have been an attempt at getting some tempo workouts (so traveling light...)  Thursday night, however, we had unexpected sunny skies in the afternoon (and the first afternoon with no wind), so immediately after arriving home, I headed for Ute Valley Park with the camera on board.  Here are some pics of the trip:

 Typical evening run - shade to the west, sun to the east

 Catching good rays on Pikes Peak - not a bad view for an evening run...

 Back around for a second glimpse and fading daylight

 Nice textures along the trail in the low light of evening

Rustic and suburban collide - heading out of the park for home

Both evening runs this week were over 7 miles, which will start helping with the endurance training.  (BTW, 3 runs in the mornings for Kathleen!)  I really pushed this one at Ute on Thursday, hitting very nice times for technical running and was hoping it would not backfire for the Saturday long run.  Good times!

Spruce Mountain ... and the WIND

Saturday, we headed up to Spruce Mountain Open Space for some good singletrack with a bit more mellow grades than the past couple weekend outings.  As has been the norm for longer than I want to remember, it was once again WINDY as all get out when we arrived.  You can only find so many sheltered areas to run good trails until you just have to suck it up and run in it.  So we glued a smile on the face and headed out on the trails.

 Kathleen enjoying the sun (but not the wind) on Spruce Meadows trail

 Nice view from the top of Spruce Mountain

The first portion of the run was on part of Spruce Meadows, which is quite exposed and therefore quite windy.  We looped back and headed up onto Spruce Mountain, enjoying some relative shelter on the climb and the first half of the loop on top.  It really was a pretty good day with sunny skies and low 60's temps.  The wind really dries you out, so water consumption was up quite a bit.  Rounding the south side of the mountain top loop, you hit Windy Point - and with the S to SW winds hitting 35+ mph, you can see the effect in this photo:

 Gritting our teeth (and hanging on to our shirts!!) while being pelted with sand...

Finished out the loop on top and dropped back down the front side in shelter, enjoying the break from the relentless wind.  I ran into the trailhead and grabbed more water from the truck.  Kathleen finished here with 10.5 miles and quite a solid run for her!!!  It is really looking like she is on the comeback trail!  I had that short moment when I could have thrown the Nathan in the back and been done, but against my better judgment, I actually made the decision to head out for another loop.  As it turned out, I made a bit of a blunder in route arrangement by heading out on the Spruce Meadows big loop in the clockwise direction.  In hindsight, counter-clockwise would have given me about 50% less headwind, but that sort of thing happens.  The next 8.5 miles would prove to be one of those loops that fall under one of those nonsensical categories such as "character building", among other things.  For the most part it just sucked.  The rolling hills and plentiful sand on the Spruce Meadows loop, combined with the wind and subsequent sandblasting, made the end of the run more drudgery than I cared to enjoy.  Will it be one of those runs that I look back on when in a tough spot on a future long run and say, "Hey - I pulled through that one" ?  Not if I can erase it from my memory before then....

Long into my day - Kathleen got this pic of me from above at the trailhead

Got in 19 miles for the day.  Thought about calling it 23 for the sustained wind resistance, but it is what it is.  I do know that I will be back to this area for a couple more long runs as the "out there" exposure to the elements is quite similar to an area I may visit for a really long run in the near future.  No photos from today - sorry.  Went for a short recovery run in Ute Valley Park to get out of the wind...again.  25 degrees cooler today and 40 mph winds = no stopping for photos - just get'r done!!!  Have a great week and Happy Trails!

Shoes - Montrail Mountain Masochist

The numbers - 19 miles, 2240' elevation gain, 4 stops to clear sand from the shoes....

Indian Summer and Trails

Hope everyone enjoyed that teaser from Thursday - those first couple bone-chilling mornings bring the shock of the impending months of winter home pretty hard.  However, with some nice weather on tap for the weekend and some improvement in Kathleen's running, we had plans to break away from the close confines of Ute Valley.  Saturday morning, we headed up to Spruce Mountain Open Space to take advantage of some blue skies and nice trails.  While it was windy, as always at Spruce and Greenland, it was not snowing sideways AND windy, so we did not complain .... much.

Pikes Peak from afar

Kathleen heads across Spruce Meadows

Enjoying the trail just in front of Spruce Mountain

Luckily we had headwind all the way out Spruce Meadows trail, so in theory we would have tailwind and downhill heading back out - nice!  While the temps were clawing their way up toward the 60 mark, the 25-35 mph winds left the arms raw if uncovered, so the sleeves remained in place the entire run.  Still beats snow.  Or 16 degrees.

Kathleen on the lower flanks of Spruce...

...Followed by Steve

Looking out toward Larkspur and the Continental Divide's snowcaps

HT on Windy Point - camera blew over twice...

Looking off the rim to Greenland Open Space

Textures of Fall

We made our way up onto Spruce Mountain and did the upper loop, then made our way down and headed back across Spruce Meadow.  We were soaking up the awesome day and not really paying heed to the windy conditions.  It was great to be out on the trails, especially with Kathleen running well!  We made it back to the Spruce trailhead - 9 Miles Pain Free for Kathleen, longest such endeavor in well over 2 months!  I was itching for a bit more, so I proceeded down the road and over to Greenland Open Space for some extra miles.

Standing guard over "Norman" (remember City Slickers?)

D&RG making frequent coal runs, Spruce Mountain  in background

I was not sure when I got into Greenland if I would be ambitious or not.  A full loop on Kipps would put me over 18, but after the 2.5 mile start straight into the wind, I took the shorter loop and finished with 15.  It was such a great run - we just wanted to lounge in the sun and continue soaking in the brilliance of the day!

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S - Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC

A "Garden" variety run

Aspen-framed splendor!

The Big View

Although we were being cautious about the condition of Kathleen's legs, weather again lured us away from home to run.  We headed down to Garden of the Gods Sunday morning to get in a sun drenched cruise through the labyrinth of trails that weave their way through the magnificent spires.  It was a repeat performance on blue sky and sun, minus the gale force winds.  Excellent!

The Kissing Camels

Kathleen on Palmer Trail

Some daring folk perched on Sentinel Rock

Cruising down from the Siamese Twins

Someone is getting her legs back...

Trails with a view - Nice!!!

Up, up, up onto Niobrara trail

Parting shot - the Valley View

It is certainly hard to beat a run in the Garden of the Gods - unless of course it is the second long run in a row PAIN FREE.  Kathleen peeled off at 8 miles - in her words, "content in being patient and not greedy with increasing the mileage too quickly".  She was comfortable the whole time, which made me wear a huge smile on my last loop!  I celebrated by meandering through another 4 mile circuit and we were "forced" to celebrate at Starbucks afterward.  WooHoo!  Not certain at this point as to the length of Indian Summer's visit, but we have extended an open welcome for any length it desires to stay with us - "we'll leave the light on"!!!  Happy Trails for sure!

Shoes - K Asics Trabuco

S Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC

Spring in the Rockies - a little Seattle, a lot of Colorado!

Spring .. or Seattle?

One of the things that you learn to live with when Spring finally arrives to the mountains - weather is, from day to day, a crap shoot.  But it is a change of seasons that does not bring aggravation like the prolonged winter does.  It is different.  Green starts to show, flowers attempt to come out, and every weather-challenged day generally brings with it a run of several days of pretty good stuff.  It is a season of transition.

So, when you wake up to days like Saturday, you roll with it.  Thick fog surrounded our house Saturday morning, so much so that I thought I had awakened too early for a weekend.  Kathleen had to work, so we had to get in a run or she would be out of luck.  So we pretended we were in Seattle and this was normal, and headed out the door.  Up and over Flying W and down to 30th street and it was a little "brighter", and then climbed up Mesa Rd - where I am approaching summit above.  Fog was thick enough, you could not even see Kissing Camels from the top of Mesa.  Pikes Peak - forgetta bout it!

As we made the return trip, the fog grew more dense.  Not really a surprise as we live about 500' elevation above 30th.  This was the view on the Flying W trail about half mile from summit - a little soupy!

We crested Flying W and headed down toward home.  Here is Kathleen dropping into the Abyss o' Fog.  It is strangely peaceful running in the fog, though I don't know that I would prefer to do it enough to get "used to" it.  There is an odd detachment from spatial and distance relation in the fog as well.  Your internal pace sensors don't work well and time seems frozen.  It is cool every once in a while.  We borrowed it for a day, now the Pac NW can have it back. To keep.  All in all, it was a nice morning out, given the soggy conditions - did I mention there was light rain coming from the fog the whole time?  We were able to get in 9.5 miles with around 1100' elevation gain - significant because this route fairly closely mimics the undulations of the Greenland 25k in two weeks.  

Shoes - Asics 2150 Trail

Colorado Came Back

As almost always is the case, fantastic weather followed up our foggy, soggy day.  It took a while as we were astounded to wake to a blanket of fog again this morning.  However, it was short lived, and the skies (and trails) were treated to the radiance of a spring Colorado sky by mid morning.

We wanted to get one more recon mission in at Greenland Open Space this week, but decided to change it up a bit.  How do I say this gently?  Greenland.Is.Boring.  At least Kipps Loop where the race is held.  One lap is plenty.  We do two laps for the 25k, the folks doing 50k get a whopping 4 - with a free sanity check at the finish!  Really, it is good for a race because it is compact enough for logistics to work on race day and it is challenging enough to keep your attention - and heart rate - up on race day.  BUT, we like to have fun on the weekends - the whole, entire, absolute reason for trail running. Soooooooooooo, the plan was to first run a loop on Spruce Mountain for "fun" and then head back over to Greenland and run a loop on the race course with tired legs, like we will do for lap 2 in the race. We started our run from Spruce Meadows horse parking area - and got to start behind these 4 horse riders.

We ran the 1.5 mile gradual climb on Spruce Meadow trail over to the base of Spruce Mountain and then started the ascending in earnest.  Two and a half miles of climb until cresting mid-way around the loop on top of Spruce will get the legs jellied up a bit.  Kathleen is climbing above on one of the "flatter" sections going up Spruce.  Some of the switchback sections are nearing 20% - ouch.

Surprisingly, the trail conditions were stellar on Spruce.  A few mud patches, some standing water from snowmelt, but mostly smooth sailing - sweet!  Here I am about a third of the way up - still a bit of snow on the north side.

View from the southern rim of Spruce Mtn.

The ranch down below might as well be named Bonanza - bordering over 1000 acres of open space, and within easy access to Pike National Forest, these folks have access to the Trail Bonanza!!!  On top of that, they have their own "open space" to play on as well.

One of our favorite group photo spots - overlooking Larkspur.

Panoramic view of Spruce Mountain, seen from Greenland Open Space.

We headed back across the prairie trail to connect over to Greenland.  We had maintained a reasonable pace for Spruce, knowing that we wanted to run a loop on Kipps with pre-fatigued legs - as much for the mental preparation as it was for the physical seasoning.   We headed out on Greenland with just a bit over 9 miles in the legs and knew it was going to be another long run.  While lap 2 is not exactly identical to lap 1, for the most part the trail is generally ascending for the first 4.5 miles of the second loop.  There is a short, steepish descent off the saddle that drops down to the Territorial Road and connects at about the 2 mile mark of the first lap.  The second ascent of Kipps is tough, as that 1.5 miles of steeper climb comes on softened legs.  Get ready to work!

Kathleen running the WIDE OPEN spaces at Greenland.

 By the finish, clouds were building to the west - almost like summer...

We made our way to the summit and knew that, for the most part, it was downhill rolling from here.  Although tired legs prevailed, we did chip away at our overall average pace on the loop around Greenland - good sign.  We ran 17.5 miles with 2100' climb and 8:40 pace.  That was, for the second week in a row, a new distance achievement for Happy Trails!  At almost 2 miles additional to the race, and with a lap on the more difficult Spruce Mtn, we are feeling pretty good for the 25k in two weeks. AND, thankfully no "issues" for Kathleen this week!  Great day out running!

Shoes - K Brooks Cascadia - Loop 1, Asics 2150 Trail - Loop 2

S - La Sportiva Wildcat

Good luck to all the Boston Marathon runners tomorrow - both Blogger friends and local PPRR members!

Mid-Winter's Run at Greenland

We are in that bleak period of gray running weather where it is not so much a question of "Will I Run?" but more "Where can I run that is not icy skating-rink-of-season-ending-doom or ankle swallowing mud bog?"  With surprisingly warm temps the last few days and some single digit night temps, we are in constant flux between the two extremes.  One thing is for certain though, we were not missing out on a chance to run some trails with 50 degree warmth in January!!!

After deciding we did not feel like the hour drive to Pueblo Reservoir, we headed off to Greenland Open Space.  They have had more a lot more snow right there on the divide between Co Springs and Denver, but we were hoping for some decent running.  Getting ready to head out, looking south to Pikes Peak from the trailhead.

 

We started out running the Spruce Meadows Prairie Loop, hoping that the open areas would be dry.  While there were some dry spots, as in the photo above, we did a fair amount of prairie grass running today.  (By the way, if you are reading this, Sunshine Girl, that is Kathleen, in a SKIRT, in the middle of winter!! hehe!  No worries, though, we'll get paid back and have to don our eskimo suits before long.)

 

We started the run in full sun, but were racing the clouds all day as they rolled in over the Front Range.  This is looking north toward Larkspur.

 

More than half of the trail was in this state today - under water and snot-slick muddy!  So we ran a lot of lumpy grass on either side - good foot and ankle strengthening day!

 

When we finally got to the base of Spruce Mountain, we were greeted by quite a bit of snow in the trees.  So we made the frontside loop and decided to head over to Greenland and run a loop there.  No sense going up top, and then having to descend on ice with no traction control in place!!!

 

It was cool running through the forest on the north side of Spruce.

 

We did the bottom loop at Greenland and headed in from there - 14 miles on the day.  Felt longer with the lumpy-grass trekking but that's what trail running gives you some days.  Beats a treadmill!!!  Still had a nice view of the Peak, however, it would be socked in with clouds by the time we got home.  It was a great day and we truly can't beat getting these warm-up days mid-winter.  Some folks had big races this weekend - hope they went well and we're looking forward to your reports.  Happy Trails!

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S - La Sportiva Wildcat

Some Sun, Some Clouds - Harbinger of Fall???

Sunny and cool at Ute Valley Park

Kathleen hits the trail before the sun.

Saturday dawned sunny and clear, with a crisp 49 degree starting temp for a nice trail run at Ute Valley Park. We had to hit the dirt early so Kathleen could put in a half day at work (blah!) and we always get the most of our morning runs at UVP. We have been biting our tongue on uttering the two words we dread - early fall, yet we have certainly been having some cool mornings and the air has a different snap to it. We like fall - it is, in fact, one of the best seasons in Colorado. We just don't want an early winter.

Sun was welcome this morning as Kathleen emerges from the trees.

Running the ridge with Pikes Peak bathing in morning sun - that sight never gets old!

There were some folks out marking the trails for Komen Walk for the Cure and they were kind enough to snap a photo for us near our favorite arch.

Lose the sleeves and enjoy the sun!

Heading out of the park on the still shady side - UVP is a gem and we love having it so close to home! 8.5 early miles with nearly 1500' of climb.

Shoes K- La Sportiva Wildcat
S- Asics Trabuco

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WARNING: IF YOU LIVE WHERE IT IS BLAZING HOT, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO SEE WHAT IS NEXT. . .

Something is missing ... Pikes Peak should be on the left-hand skyline in the photo!

Fog, drizzle, wind, and 54 fantastic degrees greeted us Sunday morning. Interesting, because just over the Rockies on the western slope of Colorado, the day topped 96 degrees in Fruita. Welcome to the mountains!!! We had been planning a long run at Spruce Mountain Open Space and figured we would just go ahead with that regardless of weather. We headed out from Spruce Meadows trailhead and up onto Spruce Mountain. It's August and we had lightweight wool on - wrong . . .

Kathleen slaloms through the pines on the ascent of Spruce Mtn.

Steve rounding the bend through the rocks, almost to the top.

Group photo-op on Windy Point - aptly named today!! It felt like we were overlooking the ocean on a foggy day, being pelted by the moist wind. Almost had us wishing for a run in Carmel or Monterey . . .

Looking out toward Greenland Open Space from Windy Point.

It still was not raining when we finished Spruce, so we headed over to Greenland for a little extra mileage. This is the view of Greenland's "population center" from the exit of Spruce Meadows trailhead!

View from Greenland looking toward Spruce Mountain.

I love hearing the trains sound off when the fog and low clouds are overhead. They were very busy today hustling coal down to Colorado Springs and Pueblo.
Kathleen prepares to make the left hand turn onto the singletrack Greenland Trail. To the north (toward Denver), it was bright and the clouds were breaking a bit.

On the descent back toward Greenland trailhead - ready for some Starbucks?

After finishing our run, we had to wait for another train in order to get back to where we parked. Here are some of the bison grazing at Endless Frontier Ranch. There is a bison to human population imbalance in Greenland!!!

Looking south on our way out, it was getting really socked in on the mountains.

It warmed up to a balmy 55 degrees by the time we finished! We were able to run a little over 15 miles in just over two hours. It is a bit more mellow on climbing here also - 1750' gain for the run. All in all, a couple nice runs for the weekend and we are blessed to be healthy and running well. Happy Trails to all this week!

Shoes - Asics Trabuco

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Something a bit different - art on Happy Trails???

We had the unique opportunity to have a special guest last evening during our worship services at Woodmen Valley Chapel - we had an evening of dialogue with world-renowned "Nihonga" artist Makoto Fujimura regarding a reintroduction to the arts a message of hope and healing - something missing from the works of many, if not most, modern artists. It was an inspirational treat - if you enjoy different types of art, you might enjoy his.