The Williams Canyon & Rampart Range Road solo marathon

Welcome to my monthly update for June 2020!

I hope everyone has been well, avoiding sickness and maintaining mental and physical health.

I always like to have a few "big" running goals each summer; something to train for and something to challenge me as a runner. Yesterday, I did my first marathon-length run for this year.

I set out from Williams Canyon just as the sun was beginning to light the sky enough to see, a bit before 5:30am.

It wasn't long before I was climbing up past the castle-like rock structures that are the signature of Williams Canyon. It was quiet and peaceful this early in the morning.

Williams Canyon was full of lovely wildflowers!

At the Williams/ Waldo trail split, I stayed to the right on the trail, making my way up towards Rampart Range Road at the radio tower.

The sun coming up on the mountains was bright and warm as I neared the Williams/ Rampart junction.

And there it was, the radio tower and the road, and the major part of the day for me, a long uphill journey along the Rampart Range.

I felt pretty good and fresh still, so I stayed steady on the long, gradual ascent up the road. The views got better and better, and the sky was a perfect Colorado blue.

I caught a busy bee working on his pollination along the roadside.

Before 8 am, the sun was already shining at full strength on the road, and I stopped to apply sunscreen.

Then I kept pushing onward, and soon arrived at the Highway 24 overlook, which would be the high point of my run at around 9100 feet.

After a brief break for the panorama and selfie, I coasted downhill for the next couple miles.

Around mile 12, I started to feel the first "low" that many runners are familiar with during long runs. At least I didn't have too much longer before the turn-around. Near mile 12.5, I deviated from Rampart Range Road (300) onto road 303, a side road that afforded me distant views of the Reservoir through the charred trees.

I was feeling pretty crashy and ready to be done with it already at this point. But of course I was only halfway done! There was no getting out of it.

At least my return trip was almost entirely downhill, and luckily for me, the day had begun to cloud over, offering me some partial respite from the heat that can be very unforgiving on the highly exposed Rampart Range Road.

I found this nice little rock outcropping near mile 13. I pushed past it the first time, but after turning around at 13.1, I returned to the outcropping and took a moment's (or maybe 5 minutes) rest.

There were tons of big bumblebees around me, and I sat in their presence and listened to their humming as they busied on their important pollination work.

I stretched out my hamstrings, hoping that would help me with my downhill task ahead.

But I didn't delay too long - it was time to go - on the road again!

I started to feel a bit better as I worked the little uphill that I'd have to face before my long descent.

I stopped for a photo of these cool rocks. These rocks were the same ones that I had admired two and a half years ago, when I'd run from Balanced Rock to Woodland Park with Bailey, just two weeks after the new year in January 2018.

Drawing energy from the cool rocks, I continued my journey. Soon I arrived back at the memorial rock, which wasn't far from the overlook, and second time at the high point of the road.

The inscription on the memorial plaque reads, "Rampart Range Road, constructed by U.S. Dept of Agriculture, Forest Service, and Civilian Conservation Corps. Dedicated to your use and enjoyment, June 19, 1938."

I was definitely using and enjoying the road! And now, with a long downhill ahead of me, I took some time to just coast.

I knew that I probably wasn't done with the tough moments, as a marathon-length run often involves many "highs" and "lows."

Sure enough, the sun began to come back out more as some of the cloud cover cleared, and the heat beating down on me began to wear me out more.

I kept counting down one mile at a time. One of the sayings I'd heard long ago resonated, "run the mile you're in." A monumental task is easier when broken down into actionable segments.

Finally, I arrived back at the Williams Canyon trail near the radio tower. I thought this part might be easier than sticking to the hot road, but this section ended up being the hardest part of my day. The heat in the canyon was muggy and sticky, and the rocky downhill trail was abuse to my legs after 23.5 miles.

I just kept thinking "I'm almost done." And finally, I arrived back at the base of Williams Canyon.

What a ride! I had done 26.5 miles with 3800 feet elevation gain. And although there were definite moments of struggle, the majority of the run was spent thinking how glad I was to be in the great outdoors in Colorado, enjoying the day and just being thankful for this existence.

Thanks to my husband for allowing my outing and keeping the kids occupied during my adventure!

And thanks for reading. I am looking forward to planning a few more interesting long runs this summer. I'm tossing around the idea of going back to Lost Creek, or maybe South Slopes on Pikes. Anything that's fairly quiet/ isolated and that I can manage to do solo and self-supported.

Keep on going, that's all we can do for now!