A higher volume week

On Wednesday, I hit up the park for a 10k+ trail loop.

Then, on Thursday, I ran to a pho restaurant and met my husband for dinner. I rounded out 10 miles exactly by running three loops around the parking lot when I got there. (You might be able to relate to that!) We had a lovely dinner, and I have to mention here that I appreciate his support and him meeting me after runs. It makes for a fun way to change up my training a bit and include my family.

Speaking of training/family balance, on Friday, I took my kids for a short run. 1.5 miles up the little hill, just enough for them and a quick recovery workout for me.

Finally, on Saturday evening, my growing concern about Sunday morning's forecast (high winds and snow) forced me to decide to do my long run right then. I set out an hour before sunset, and decided to do an urban 15 mile loop that's pretty standard for me.

Templeton Gap trail. Lovely urban trails in Colorado Springs!

I felt good setting out, even though my legs were a bit fatigued from more volume lately. I felt elated within the first few miles, but my energy wound down somewhat with the sunset. It was still a very peaceful evening and I wasn't in the pain cave as much as I could have expected, and I got a semi-decent photo from the Garden of the Gods overlook at night.

Twilight lingers at the Garden of the Gods overlook.

I was surprised that I was able to stay focused and out of the "real" pain cave for the duration of my run! Anytime I began to feel a low, I tried to check my posture and stay focused on the trail. My urban loop had over 1000 feet of climbing, and it felt good to have it accomplished before the storm.

It was refreshing to sleep in on a snowy Sunday. Even though I had a very satisfactory week for my training, every weekend that I don't go to the mountains does make me miss them - just a little. :) Hope to see you all next weekend!

Blue skies on Barr trail with Jill, Mark, and the Incline club

Sunday was a day that reminded me, once again, why I love Barr trail in the winter so much!

It was a bluebird day after a lot of snow during the week. And with the expectation of more snow in the forecast on Monday, lots of Incline clubbers headed to the hills to make the best of a clear winter day.

As an aside, since it is a new year and hopefully I have some new blog followers, I wanted to share the link to the Incline club website. They also have a link to their Facebook page, which is updated more frequently than the website. But generally, we meet at Memorial Park in Manitou on Sundays from Nov to Aug. 8 am in the winter, 7 am after Memorial day. All are welcome to come join us!

After some cheery conversations at the start, I headed out with Jill to Barr trail. I brought my nanospikes, which were very necessary, since the trail was a sheet of ice from the very start. It was that kind of crunchy ice that has been beat up by lots of spikes already.

Near the Incline connection trail, Tim was coming down from his Incline trip. We stopped and chatted for a while.

Our conversational pace wasn't too terrible because when we were moving, our pace felt athletic. Soon we were already at No Name Creek, where Jill's turn around for the day was.

After No Name Creek, the trail conditions were much better, mostly packed snow with a few patches of ice.

After Bob's road, I decided to check out the rock overlook that Jill and I went to two weeks ago. This was a quick off trail photo stop, since I wanted to grab the clear views of the Pikes summit with blue skies while they lasted. (And the afternoon skies did cloud up later.)

I love this view to the south from the overlook. It is a peek through to the Bear Creek drainage, with Cameron's Cone on the far left behind the rock outcropping, and Almagre to the right of the photo (with all the snow).

Soon after my photographic detour, Mark caught up to me on the trail! He'd started later, but he was moving at quite a speedy pace compared to the relaxed stride I'd fallen into. He gave me quite the boost! We had great conversation and made it to Barr Camp in what felt like no time.

At Barr Camp, I was very happy to see Zach, since he might not be a caretaker too much longer. Zach has always been warm and friendly during his tenure here, and it will be sad to see him go on to other adventures.

Of course we all wish him the best!!

Barr Camp has traditionally been a natural gathering hub for the trail running community, and it will continue to be. But it won't be quite the same without Zach, the ultramarathon guru!

After a lovely amount of chatting at Camp, including hearing all of Craig's latest adventures, I had to head back down the big hill.

The downhill felt like coasting all the way to No Name Creek, after which the trail had melted out a ton from the morning, and was basically completely slush. It was a sloppy mess of downhill splashing that I can't say I didn't enjoy, but certainly demanded an extra level of attention.

At least it was warm enough to go to a tank top! There is an extra layer of elation when running downhill through the forest on a warm winter day, feeling the breeze on your skin.

When I finally arrived back at my vehicle, I was close to 16 miles for the day.

And of course, as I sit at home now with a fresh layer of snow covering everything, I'm thankful that I was gifted the opportunity to share another lovely Sunday with friends on the Barr trail.

I'll leave you all off with some photos from my downhill, and I hope to see you on the trails soon.

Almagre in the distance, from Bob's road. 

Pikes Peak from Bob's road.

Deep snow at No Name Creek! That sign is several feet under. 

Cameron's Cone on the right.

Engelmann Canyon, clouding up and waving goodbye as I return to the city after a day in the sky, with good companionship and soul-refreshing energy.

Winter training days

Although I missed going to the mountains this weekend, I cannot complain too much when I had the beauty of Palmer Park in the snowstorm!

I ran back-to-back-to-back mileage this weekend after a break in the early part of the week. First, on Friday, I ran 6 miles at the top of the park in the snow. The road to Grandview Overlook was closed to vehicles and it was so refreshing to be jogging on it in the snow.

Then, on Saturday, I went back out for another 4 mile loop to see how much the snow had melted.

It had melted off completely on the roads, but the trails were still deep in snow.

Finally, on Sunday, I ran a 12.5 mile loop, first through the park along Palmer Point trail, then up through UCCS, along the "Tava Trail." This trail is continuous through campus and actually connects to the Pikes Peak Greenway at the major trail artery in UCCS Village Center (by Costco.)

My three-day-weekend total of 22.5 miles with 2500+ feet elevation change wasn't too terrible for in-town running! My training for the Golden Gate Dirty 30, which I'll be running on May 30, is going well. It will no doubt be a difficult race for me, but I am glad to be building up my base.

Back on Barr trail with Jill and the Incline club

As I sit looking at the snow dusting the city and the cloud obscuring the mountains, I am once again thankful that I was given the opportunity to run on a beautiful and clear day. How quickly our Colorado weather changes!

Sunday 2/2 was my first club run of the season, which felt wonderful. I am so glad to be back on Barr trail. There's just something special about it. It was nice to see Lindsay, Mark, Debbie, and many others at the start of the club run. We all had various training plans today, but I knew I wanted to go on Barr trail at a comfortable pace. I recruited Jill to go with me (more like wrangled.)

My legs felt a little heavy and I didn't want to push as far as Barr Camp today, but I did plan to get up above No Name Creek and past the 4 mile sign.

The hill at No Name Creek was like a giant ice slide!! I had brought my nano spikes but Jill's screw shoes were rather worn down and it was not an easy hill to tackle. (I tend to bring traction in the winter no matter what, especially if I'm going past just the Incline).

The weather was amazing! It was warm and perfect to soak in the day before the coming storm.

At Bob's road I was about ready to turn around, but I wanted to get some nice views of Pikes Peak.

I convinced Jill to scramble up a very small rocky top and soak in the sunshine for a few minutes.

After we had had our fill of sunshine and cool rocks, we descended Barr trail and ran into Bryan at the intersection of the Incline connector! We ran down with him until the bailout, where he was going to go back up the second half of the Incline. (What a trooper!)

What a great winter day on Barr trail. Thanks Jill for being adventurous with me! I always love Barr trail in the winter, and being with friends makes it even more fun.