Two Girls on a Joy-Run

Monday morning dawned spectacularly perfect - bluebird skies and pleasantly warm temperatures.  I picked up Tammy and we headed over to Manitou, destination: Barr Camp.  In an effort to gain some altitude right quick and in a hurry and avoid some of the crowds on the lower switchbacks, we headed up the Incline.  Along the way, we ran into a gentleman, Jerome, whom I have seen the past four times I have been up the Incline.  I don't know the man, at all, other than seeing him  here - he's a very jolly sort of fellow and seems to LOVE the Incline (I think more than us!) - it appears to be his Happy Place.  It has been fun to see his familiar, beaming face the past few climbs.

Ooey, gooey, sweaty - one mile down, 4.5 to go.  

Even though it was early and it wasn't too hot, we were dripping!  The high altitude sun is strong and this initial effort is fairly intense.

After hopping on the half mile connector trail, we joined up with Barr Trail.  It was a nice four mile climb, from here, to Barr Camp.  I really enjoyed this section because it is a realistically runnable grade for mere mortals like me.  There were a few steep pitches that we elected to hike but for the most part, we ran.

Again, I LOVED this 4 mile section of trail.  I wish my photos could do justice to the scenery.  I will try to do better next time.  It is such a beautifully magnificent yet peaceful setting - awesome.

We stopped for refueling and visited briefly with the friendly folks at Barr Camp.  Barr Camp has various forms of overnight accomodations available, albeit rustic.  There are campsites to pitch a tent, lean-to type structures (equipped with mattresses - bring your own sleeping bag!), bunkhouse, and separate cabin (again, pack your own sleeping bag!).  Could be a fun weekend outing, were it not that I would have to carry my own bed (sleeping bag) up!!!  :-)  

One of the local residents begging for a handout.

More local residents getting busy with their carbo load.

A quick look at the creek before we headed back down.

Tammy took the lead on the descent, and lead she did.  Holy cow, the girl is fast and fearless on the descent!  I tend to be a more cautious (and somewhat LAZY) descender - I like to coast - and she made me WORK.  HARD.  I LOVED it!  Thanks, Tammy, for busting on me - it was all good!  :-)  She flew down the mountain for about 3.5 miles and then eased up on me and we coasted the last few miles to the end, thank goodness!

We splashed around in the creek a few minutes, near the end, and if I would have had a change of clothes, would have gone for the leg ice bath immersion.  But, since we were  NEEDING to make a public appearance by partaking of a post-run mate' tea, I opted  to avoid the drowned rat look.  We ended with a visit to The Mate' Factor for a peach mate' - YUM!!!

For me, it most certainly was a joy-run.  A picture perfect day, a magnificent setting, wonderful trail, and good company - it can't get too much better.  We ended up with around 11 miles and about 3600 feet of climbing.  A good day, indeed.

Happy trails to everyone this week!

Roundup, Bear Creek, and Section 16

With forecast temperatures in the 70's today, and a taxing day yesterday, we slept in and opted out of driving too far to run.  Instead we headed over to Bear Creek Park to check out the Summer Roundup Trail Race  course and add a bit of extras in as well. The SR is a July staple in Colorado Springs, put on by the fine folks at the Triple Crown of Running.  We did this race a couple years back and are expecting a couple of folks from out of town to be doing it this year.  It is a pretty straight forward race - up, up, and up until the turn around point, then straight back down.  :-)  Pretty standard, Colorado-race-director-sicko-stuff really.  It actually is more attractive than that, so read on...

Cheyenne Mountain from Bear Creek Park

The race starts at Bear Creek Park opposite the dog park.  The race starts in the parking lot to accommodate the herd of runners, then quickly files onto a dirt trail (about 8 feet wide, or so).  A direct left turn shortly after and the climb is on.  If you can swallow enough air to do so, you want to get up front here as the wall of humanity soon packs in at various forms of shuffle/walk/crawl and there is no way to pass.  The lower flanks were holding some humidity this morning and are quite exposed, so despite lower temps, we were dripping sweat in minutes!

A little respite from the climb

Looking up the canyon to our destination

After the initial steep climbs, there is some more rolling terrain where you need to work toward establishing a budgeted effort, keeping some in the tank with the knowledge that more climbing lies ahead.  With the late/cool spring we had, it is still quite green in the park, especially for end of June.

Rolling out of the park, down to Bear Creek Road

There is a descent into the drainage and across a foot bridge and then you spill out onto Bear Creek Road.  You climb this on asphalt up to the gate on High Drive, going against the one-way traffic (blocked on race day).  High drive is back to dirt from this point, not technical but has a few embedded rocks and off camber running.  The first section is really steep and some may well do better taking some walk breaks here.  After the sudden ramps, there is mostly runnable grade where you can again establish a nice climbing rhythm.  From the entrance to High Drive, the climb is about a mile and a quarter or so.  Make the turn, grab some water if you are not carrying any, and get the legs ready for some serious downhill running.

Stopping at the footbridge on Bear Creek Trail

Since we had no racing agenda for the run, we detoured from the race course onto lower Bear Creek Trail.  We forgot, however, how many steps there are on the trail AND how many pedestrians/hikers there would be on a Sunday.  So we hit the second stream crossing and decided to head back out and try Section 16.

... the foot bridge over Bear Creek

The view down the Canyon from Section 16

We hopped back out onto High Drive and dropped down a bit to Section 16 and headed in.  As we suspected,there was fairly low traffic so we started the 2.5 mile climb up Section 16.  We were treated to some shade, a little thunder rolling through the canyon, and lots of great views once we got up on the hill.

Almost to the high point on the saddle, atop Section 16

Kathleen rolling out - ready for a long descent

We hit the high point on the saddle and turned around for the return trip down.  The drop out of Section 16 is one of our favorite run descents in the area - a nice 2.5 mile cruiser down to High Drive.  From there, we are back on course and flying (well, as fast as we *fly*) down High Drive and Bear Creek Road.  The dirty little secret to the race, one you don't notice while on the arduous climb, is that there are three nasty little climbs on the "descent" to the finish.  You must keep some limber on deck in the quads in order to not lose your position on these pesky little buggers.  We had a nice roll into the finish area and put in a fantastic 13.5 miles.  Interesting note - early on in the run, we felt like we were really lagging out today.  We were surprised to check out our stats when we got home and find out we climbed about 3700'.  So we had to stop flogging ourselves at that point and actually felt pretty good about our run.  Hope some of the course descriptions help out those looking to check out this local race - we're always willing to offer more details if you need - just drop a comment.  We will be on the lookout, this week, for some new trail stash on the upcoming holiday weekend.......  Happy Trails!


ALSO - forgot to mention how much we appreciated all the nice comments yesterday!  Thanks for your care and support!

Shoes- K Asics 2150 Trail

S - LaSportiva Wildcat

Sad trip down memory lane...

I will admit we have had our fair share of bum health lately, but part of our lack of "Joie de vivre" the last couple months has been that we have been caring for our ailing miss Sage as she fought to survive with congestive heart failure.  We have been nervous about traveling or going too far to run or ride because we felt we could not burden our awesome pet sitting neighbor with the laborious task of multiple meds daily and Sage just not wanting to eat any more.  We knew when we left Santa Fe in May that we would not make another trip with her and it was very sad for us to come to that realization.  Miss Sage was ALWAYS happy, always a "silly heart" (for those who fondly remember Uncle Buck), and always had a photogenic smile.  We adopted Sage almost 11 years ago after she had been a champion show dog.  She couldn't be used for breeding because of a conformation flaw, and so we began our wonderful journey with her.  We had to teach her to be a "dog" and just have fun.  We're biased, of course, but we feel she ended up with a full and happy life following us on our journeys and outdoor adventures!

This morning we ran early before Kathleen went to work and upon our return, Sage greeted us at the door with her big smile and vigorously wagging stub tail, as always.  Two short hours later, I heard a thud upstairs and to my dismay, she was gone before I made it to her.  Those of you who are pet lovers know that we have been dreading for months the prospect that we would have make "that" decision - to put Sage to sleep.  Although we were blessed that she went quickly and without suffering, it did not ease the pain in our hearts.  Without ever having kids, our pets have always been our "children" and this was a great loss.  We bawled like babies while I made her final resting spot in the opposite corner of the yard from our little Barney that we lost 7 years ago.  If you don't want to be sad, check in tomorrow night and we'll probably have some photos from a memorial run to relive in our minds fond memories of our girl.  For now, we are in seclusion, watching live updates at Western States 100, and drowning our sorrows with Breyers Ice Cream, Nutella, espresso, and Dark Chocolate Reese's cups.

Palmer Lake Reservoirs

Palmer Lake Reservoirs

Monarch Lake - near Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park

Halfway up Blodgett Peak on "Lunch Rock"

Winter Park

Winter Park - Ice Hill Trail

Fraser, Colorado - Givelo Trail

In front of our garden - Monday this week

Drowning our sorrows...

A few Pics from the morning run at Ute Valley Park - 9 miles - just so we don't end on a bummer note...

Happy Trails -- tomorrow...