58 Degrees in January ... Enough Said!

A quarter mile into the run at Garden of the Gods confirmed that we were NOT in the desert today! A week of above average temps, followed by near record highs the past two days, and our previously snow covered trails are "attempting" to dry out. Any areas with shade we had to be careful but the open areas were pretty dry today.
It was an absolutely beautiful day, almost warm in fact! Kathleen is cruising the Dakota trail while climbing into the park.
Stopped for a group photo on Buckskin Charlie trail. Special thanks to the kind rock that held the camera for us!
An awesome view of some of the park's famous rock formations frame the background as Kathleen runs along the Niobrara trail.
Pikes Peak looming large behind Steve as he runs along the Scotsman trail. The legs were a bit flat after yesterday's long run, so we cut off the run at about 7.5 miles. It was a spectacular weekend, though, with unimaginable weather for January and a great test for our winter fitness level. We both agreed that this is some of best fitness we have had in recent years in January - looking good for 2009!
While we were cooling down the legs, we posed for a photo with the Kissing Camels over our shoulder. Definitely Good Times!

Shoes - Montrail Odyssey for both.

On a side note, check out Sporthill's home page - if you watch the flash rotator on the home page, you will eventually see a photo of Kathleen running in Ute Valley Park and Steve running in Section 16 (of course, sporting our 3SP gear). Sweet!

Lake Pueblo South Shore Trails

The weather forecast was calling for 50's in Pueblo ... so it was road trip day!!! We headed 45 miles south on I-25 to Pueblo, Colorado and out to Lake Pueblo State Park's South Shore trail system. Although developed for mountain biking, the trails are absolutely perfect for running - classic desert singletrack! You could potentially put together a high-quality 25 - 35+ mile run (if you can run that far!) on the trails here. Plus, according to state park's web page, there are about 15 more miles of singletrack in the development stage. Pretty cool!

We started on the Cuatro Cinco trail, winding our way down toward Rock Canyon and the South Shore. We have not had dry and snow-free trails near home in a while now, so we were in heaven running the rocky and dusty trails today - absolutely dry!

Kathleen crosses a small creek between Cuatro Cinco and the start of Pedro's Point.

We climbed up onto Pedro's Point trail and then took Pronghorn trail over to the Outer Limits. This is an awesome singletrack that weaves along the canyon rim above one of the reservoir's large inlets. Surprisingly, there is more water now than there was when we were here in October.

Calm waters. Far off in the distance you can see the snowcapped top of Pikes Peak.

Kathleen rolls along the Outer Limits trail...

... and Steve is not far behind.

After reaching the end of the Outer Limits trail, we headed back in on the Pedro's Point trail. When we reached the crossing of Pedro's and Waterfall, we headed down off of the mesa, back toward the South Shore.

Kathleen descending some of the step-downs on Waterfall.
And Steve coming over several of the rock slabs.

Nearing the drop out into the South Shore from Waterfall.

One more look back up the trail before heading over to the Rock Canyon trail. The climb back out to the trailhead on Rock Canyon is about 1 mile and ascends a dry wash, layered with broken shale and mounds of bubbly igneous rock. It is tricky footing on tired legs!

We finished our day with almost 13 miles of fantastic desert singletrack and uninterrupted sunshine! If you would like to see the aerial map on Google, click here. It was 61 degrees when we left the trailhead and we were wishing we could stay for more of the same tomorrow. It was nice to get a long run in without mud, snow, or ice in the middle of January but we know it is a bit too early to get used to that yet. It felt rather odd to not be wearing multiple layers of clothing or gloves in the middle of winter - but we'll take it if we can! Happy Trails!!!

Shoes- Asics Gel Trabuco for both of us.

2009 Race ... umm, "Event", Musings

Fuel for running ... almost brings tears to my eyes!!!

Nothing like a great stash of coffee to show up in the middle of winter to help with the blah's of the short, dark days. Since my dad loves good java as much as I do, I did a little stocking up - some for me, some to send off to NY. This is quite the dark coffee drinker's dream lineup: Beans from Rocky Mountain Roastery - Fraser, Colorado; Aroma Coffee - Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Steamboat Coffee Roasters, Steamboat Springs, Colorado (no web, but I know "the number" if you're itching for some!!!). Currently on deck is the Blacklightning from Aroma - dark and buttery smooth going down!

Well, 2008 was our first official, full-time trail running year. We had run winters between cycling seasons for 4 years and last spring we just kept going for some reason. It was a good year, although we took the mileage buildup slow as we want to be able to continue running. The running has agreed with us both as our health is very good this year. It was odd vacationing this year without transporting bicycles and all the gear that goes along with it. Trail running definitely lends to packing lightly!

So now we're looking at the 2009 calendar and musing about some "events" that could interest us. We'll try to avoid calling them races at this point. We already started 2009 off on the right foot by doing the Rescue Run on New Year's Day. While we have no aspirations of becoming ultramarathoners, we would like to attempt some trail half-marathon's and/or a couple of 25k trail runs. We already know we can run those distances, racing them is another story. But, that's what goals are for, right? It seems like the thing to do in Blogland! So here's our short list:

January 1 Rescue Run 10k, Colorado Springs, CO - Done and Fun - 700+ runners!

May 23 Sageburner 25k, Gunnison, CO - we've mountain biked these trails and they are AWESOME.

June 6 Turkey Track Trail 1/2 Marathon, Pagosa Springs, CO - never been there...but we like discovering NEW trails.

June 13 Joe Colton's Off Road Adventure 10 Mile, Rollinsville, CO - Our FIRST race we ever ran last year - 10 miler on dirt roads with awesome Continental Divide views!

July 5 Summer Roundup Trail Run 12k, Colorado Springs, CO - Another repeat and well worth it - great race put on by the folks that do the Pikes Peak Acent & Marathon.

July 12 Barr Trail Mountain Race 12+ Mile, Manitou Springs, CO - more Kathleen's list than Steve's - straight up Barr Trail to Barr Camp, then straight back down - but hey, it's in our backyard.

July 18 Devil Mountain Trail 1/2 Marathon, Pagosa Springs, CO - IF we do Turkey Track and like it, we might go back for this one - we'll see. BTMR might do us in for a couple weeks!!!

September 20 Lead King Loop 25k, Marble, CO - If we have legs left, this is supposed to be unbelievable scenery.

September 26 Golden Leaf Trail 1/2 Marathon, Aspen, CO - We've never run in Aspen but have ridden there in the fall - unreal scenic value and the Government Trail is supposed to be a Classic! Even before we knew we could run 13 miles, we had been eyeing this one.

October TBD Blue Sky Trail 1/2 Marathon, Fort Collins, CO - All trail and looks very interesting.

OF COURSE, we reserve the right to change our minds, run them all, run only one, or none, or probably find somewhere in between!!! :-) Part of the fun is the musing...