Beat the Heat at Rampart Reservoir

 Early morning sun on Rampart Reservoir

Saturday was a photo-less long run day so you will have to visualize for yourself...  Kathleen had to work, so we ran to the top of Mesa Road and she returned home to round out a 9.5 mile morning jaunt and tend to her duties.  I looped through the Garden of the Gods, down Ridge Rd and made a lap around Red Rock Canyon before returning home the same way.  20 miles and glad to be done before the big heat.

Sunday's forecast was for 90's, so we headed up Ute Pass to check on the city's water supply at Rampart Reservoir.  We had to get an early start or else miss out on parking spots at our favorite trailhead.  At 9300' elevation to start, the air is generally at least 10 degrees cooler than it would be at the house at 6800'.  It was an absolutely perfect morning with clear blue skies and mild temperatures - time to get rolling.

 Quiet bay

 Massive granite boulders are numerous along the trail

We like to start at the Rainbow Gulch trailhead and run down to the reservoir.  It means you have to finish with a climb, but it also makes the run a little longer :)  Early on in the run, we saw mostly fisherman down on the shore in various places, a couple runners, a mountain biker, and these folks:

 Kayakers enjoying the quiet morning

 Running some nice forest trails

 Views like this distract along the entire route

As we have said before, this is one of those "trick" runs.  Aside from the raw elevation, this trail has no extended alpine climbs nor does it have abundant technical footing.  However, the constant jaw-dropping views and incessant ups and downs that come with running the the shoreline of a mountain reservoir place a drag on your concentration, and eventually, your energy reserves.  There is a constant struggle to push an even pace - so this is a good mental training run, although the reservoir usually wins the struggle....

 Kathleen cruises the scenic trails

 Once again - views on the right, wait...watch your step...

 Looking out from the dam - the sharp point left of center is Blodgett Peak

Standing on the dam, looking out across the ridge you can see a wee bit of the sprawl that is Colorado Springs.  Here is the odd thing:  it is about a 28 mile drive to get to the trailhead from our house.  Blodgett Peak is only about a 3-ish mile hike from our front door.  From Blodgett to the reservoir, as the crow flies, is maybe 3 to 3.5 miles.  So you start wondering, if there was a good route, why not just bust over the hill from home, trudge up to the reservoir, run a lap, then run home???  Hmmm, maybe some time pouring over the Ormes Pikes Peak Atlas map is in order...

 Back around to the inlet - plenty of snowmelt pouring in

After crossing the dam, the west side of the reservoir goes by in a flash as the 2.5 miles or so on that side seem so short compared to the length of the eastern side with the large inlets.  Running through the forest, more and more light peers through, the sound of rushing water tickles the ears, and then you pop out of the trees along the inlet, ready for the climb out to the trailhead.

Stop for a pose

From the footbridge, it is about a mile and a half climb out, starting on sweet singletrack following the inlet.  At the end of the trail, it is back out onto a wider trail (more like a road) that is quite exposed - it was here we noticed just how warm it was becoming, and we were glad to be finishing, not starting as so many were.   The route ends up at 14.25 miles with just under 2400' climb.  It was a bit of a stretch for Kathleen, but she made it.  It was a great run - yet another that is so close to home!  We stopped in Woodland Park for some Starbucks refueling, then stopped on the westside of town to hit Rudy's BBQ for some awesome smoked turkey and green chili stew to repair some tired legs!!!  We were glad to have been up high - we hit 96 degrees in town, only 2 degrees shy of a record high!   Happy Trails!

Satellite view

Shoes - K Pearl Izumi SyncroFuel XC

S - Montrail Masochist

Sunday Fun Day in the Garden

 Postcard Perfect Day at the Garden of the Gods

So how do you follow up the day after doing the infamous Incline???  Gingerly, for one.  Kathleen and her sick friends will paint this as the ultimate joy fest (don't fall for their ploy!) that you can't live without doing on a regular basis.  If you want the truth, it hurts...for days...  Sunday we decided to take our mashed quads over to the Garden of the Gods for some good trail running.  We woke to a gray blanket of cloudcover and upper 40's temps - what?  The Weather Liars Channel said it was to stay all day, so we were not in much of any hurry to get moving.   Then the clouds started to peel open and we knew we better get rolling.  Sure enough, by the time we got to the Garden - BAM - full sun and warming up rapidly.  Nothing like sun, blue skies, and this scenery to get you rolling on the trails!!!

 On the way up, stopped by my favorite withered tree

I have been getting some great mileage out of the trails we picked up while doing part of the Ponderous Posterior back in January especially during the long runs.  This would be Kathleen's second pass on some of them so it was pretty "new" for her.  We departed the Palmer trail out of the Garden and headed up onto the ridge into Pike National Forest land.

 Kathleen on the way UP!

 The desert is alive - finally

The climb out to gain the ridge is quite stout and the humidity left from the early clouds was pouring off of us in sheets.  The ridge we were climbing is also exposed from sunrise and sheltered from the breeze, so it was baking pretty good at this point.  After gaining the ridge, we ran the contour north to the water tower above Queen's Canyon and dropped out onto Rampart Range Road. 

 Cruising down RRR - enjoying the long descent!

Rampart provides a nice long descent after the harsh climb, and is also noticeably cooler than the front side was.  After approximately 3 miles, we popped back out into the Garden and ran around near the Trading Post.  We intended to run a newer cut of trail up and over to the Scotsman, however, the initial climb had a really long horse train headed up.  The stable folks from the Garden aren't too keen on letting you pass them, and riding behind a dozen or so 1000-lb walking crap factories on a hot day is a no no :)  So we cut over to the Siamese Twins trail and looped around to cut back onto the trails to the south before the horse train got there.

 Stunning landscape to run in - what is keeping you from running here...?

Temporarily Green - the valley vista

We made our way around the outer loop and headed back up to the visitor's center trailhead.  Kathleen called it a day here after a great 10 mile trail run - feeling good, too, I might add!  I topped off the water in my pack and decided against my laziness my better judgment  to run back through the park, and up Flying W before heading home for the day.  The legs were fairly toasty after 16 miles and it was time to be done.  Another great day running in some hard to beat locations.  I know, we have it rough.  But someone has to do it ....  Happy Trails!!!

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S - Saucony Progrid Peregrine

If you are So Inclined!

Our initial plan for the weekend was to head to the mountains.  We nixed that idea when the weather forecast for the area we had planned looked sketchy.  We'd rather save the drive time and money for a pristine weather weekend.  We were twiddling our thumbs with no definite weekend running or riding plans when we received an email from our friend Jill late last night wondering whether we would like to join them for a climb up the Incline this morning.  I responded a very enthusiastic YES (I LOVE the Incline - it is a great, quick, intense workout that is a nice change of pace.  Steve isn't as enthusiastic about the Incline as I am - he usually goes along mostly to humor me, I think.  LOL!)  One of Jill's sons, B, and a friend of Jill's, are training for a climb up Mt. Whitney later this summer.  Jill's other son, R, and another friend rounded out the Incline group today (as well as hundreds of our 'closest' friends - the place was swarming with people!).

 The Cog Railway Depot

 The object of our desire - the start looking up to the false summit

 Graph from Incline Club website

 Pre-carnage group photo

 Almost to the false summit - about 2/3 of the way up

 Obligatory Happy Trails group photo, of course - at the top

It was kind of neat hanging out on top for a bit, watching and listening to all the people cresting the last step.  There were many locals but probably lots more out-of-towners, no doubt 'duped' into climbing this critter by their dearest friends and family.  Seeing and hearing their excited expressions at completing such a challenging climb was a lot of fun for us.

Saw lots of Vibram Five Fingers going up but heard quite a few comment that there was no way they were running down Barr Trail in them.  Some ended up hiking back down the Incline (no thank you), some hiked down Barr, and we did see a few run down.  Looks too painful to me.  Steve, Jill, and I concentrated on a mid-foot strike in our nice springy shoes on the 4 mile-ish descent and think we did a pretty good job!

 Majestic Pikes Peak as seen from the connector to Barr Trail

Purple Mountain majesty

Today's route

After we all re-convened at the bottom of Barr Trail, we waded through the masses and ended up at Coquette Creperie in Manitou for some quality post run grazing.  Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals as all the plates were licked clean.  We ended a fun, satisfying day with friends with smiles on our faces.  Good times, indeed!

I wasn't sure what to expect up the climb today and was willing to take whatever came (ie, slow).  One of the things Graves Disease causes is muscle wasting and it has affected not only the strength of my legs and arms but also the heart and lungs.  I have been working diligently to rebuild and regain all that has been lost and today was a good indicator that things are heading in the right direction.  Steve and I crested the last step together in 34:56 - TOGETHER!

We have not been running together in months.  He mostly has been a very distant figure way out in front of me - a moving target of sorts, for me to aim toward.  It was a nice feeling to keep up with him today.   He is in really good shape and the Incline is NOT his favorite.  The fastest I have ever climbed the Incline is 32 minutes.  The fastest I did it last year was 33.  Those times seem to be within sight.  I was encouraged earlier this week when I rode 30 miles on the road bike last Monday and saw some hill climbing repeatability - about 3000 feet-ish.  Not fast, but strength seems to be lurking beneath the surface.  I felt GREAT.  Then, on my couple of before-work morning runs, I was able to notch it up a gear a few times (not much of a bigger gear but it was there and it hasn't been).  So combined with today, I am cautiously excited.  Steve says I should throw the 'caution' part out the window, celebrate, put on my dancing shoes (if I owned dancing shoes) but that's just how I roll -  a cautious realist.  It might get thrown out the window if I can get a few more consistently good weeks under the belt.  The 'magic' number I seem to be hearing from the docs and a couple of people is 6 months on the anti-thyroid med = feeling close to 'normal'.  I am at 15 weeks and keeping my fingers crossed.

Let's see what tomorrow brings!  Happy Trails All!