***

Friday, January 21st, 2022:

Kettlebell lunges, dumbbell overhead presses. 35 minutes on the row machine. Overall feeling good during the rowing - maybe I'm beginning to get accustomed to it again. The last couple of row sessions prior to today's, I felt like I was dragging. Today I felt an energy returning. Hope this is a good sign! 

***

Sunday, January 23rd, 2022:

An in-town long run loop. It was so still and windless this early morning that I didn't realize how cold it actually was. I was dressed appropriately for the cold, but I forgot to keep sipping from my water, and the hose froze!

I went through Palmer Park, up to the top today, and down Lazyland Road to Greencrest. The moon was so bright at the start of my run! (Even though it's waning now). I then ran along the north edge of the park and connected to the Marconi Heights trail, watching the sun begin to rise behind me over Palmer Park. 

I connected to the Austin Bluffs Open Space. There was a small amount of crunchy snow on a few of the trails. I reflected upon how little snow we had in town right now. I bet that the mountains are a different story! I thought about the Incline club run that was starting in those mountains soon. Even while I miss going to those club runs, I appreciate all the new trails I've discovered that were so close to me the whole time.

Soon the bright pink alpenglow was shining on the distant mountains and foothills.

I continued on the trail towards Pulpit Rock. Often during a long run, I like to take a few minutes at a "halfway" point. This helps me take a breath, take in my surroundings, and "reset" my mind for the second half of my run.

I stopped for a few minutes in the open field to the south of Pulpit Rock and watched the golden sunlight begin to illuminate the rocks and the grassy meadows below.

I thought about how I always used to say I considered running my church, since I used to do my long run every Sunday. I rarely now do long runs on weekends, but this time it happened to coincide with my schedule. 

I considered how appropriate it was that I was at Pulpit Rock, and I took a quiet moment to reflect on life and pray for my family and friends. I viewed the mountains, now fully bathed in bright sunlight. I felt thankful for all my past experiences up there, while also thankful for the current moment and hopeful for the future.

I took a last glance back at my church in the rocks, and descended down through a golden field towards University Village.

I then went through the tunnel under Nevada, which connected right to the Pikes Peak Greenway for my run back to the south. As it so happened, just as I was thinking of my trail friends and all the good times I'd had in the mountains in previous years, I ran past Sharon! It was so nice to see her, even briefly, and definitely envigorating to see my friends still out and active. I hope I can start meeting with people for runs again very soon!

I did mostly dirt trails on my outbound run, and stuck to paved trails on my way back.

I got a little over 14 miles on this run, and a bit of soul work as well.

***

Tuesday, January 25th, 2022:

8 miles at Palmer Park. When I got up to the top of the park, I happily saw that the road to Grandview Overlook was closed to vehicles, likely due to the forecast of snow. I love it when this section of road is closed, as I can run right along it and not worry about vehicles. It did begin to snow, albeit lightly, while I jogged along. The small snowdrifts swirled on the road and made a beautiful wintry scene.

I felt really relaxed on my inbound jog, almost like I could sing! No tired or dragging legs today. Must have been the day off yesterday. 

After my morning run, I did some afternoon weights in the gym - straight-arm machine pulldowns, and barbell back squats. Because of the day off yesterday, I decided to include the weights today. Tomorrow's plan is to do the row machine plus some weights also.

***

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022:

First 35 minutes rowing, then I broke out the yoga mat for triangle pushups and lying leg raises.

***

Thursday, January 27th, 2022:

10 miles in the snow ❄ in Palmer Park! The road to the overlook was closed and it was great fun being the only person along the road, getting a decent covering of snow as I ran along.

***

Friday, January 28th, 2022:

Today's gym workout was barbell overhead press, machine chest press, and standing machine pull-downs.

Philosophies vary on which you should do first: cardio or weights. However, I find that variety is the key for an all-around routine like mine. Therefore, sometimes I do cardio first, sometimes I do weights first.

Also I've been doing mostly rowing as my cross-training cardio activity. Today I changed it up with 60 minutes on the exercise bike instead.

***

All in all, another successful training week! Although I am still looking forward to my first mountain run of the year, I've been happy to trek the urban trails and find beauty in the world right at my doorstep.

Maybe in the coming week or two, I'll take advantage of a break in the winter weather to hit the mountain trails - and I'll have to break out the spikes (traction) for that!

***

Wednesday, January 13th, 2022:

30 minutes on the rower, dumbbell overhead presses, and dumbbell squats.

***

Thursday, January 14th, 2022:

8 miles, lots of trail, lots of up & down. Nice evening!

***

Friday, January 15th, 2022:

Barbell curls, pushups, then 25 minutes of rowing. A few half-hearted leg raises too, but I need to find a better way to target those upper abs!

***

Saturday, January 16th, 2022:

I'm already seeing the effects of the row machine on my arms and shoulders! It feels great, but also very minor progress. I guess I cannot expect instant progress, since it's only been two weeks getting back to rowing.

Today's workout was an 8 mile run, just after sunset. The moon was so so bright! It was a beautiful, very calm and quiet evening, and I felt on top of the world at the top of the mesa. I floated right along. I love finding those moments during runs that remind me why I'm out here doing this!

***

Sunday, January 16th, 2022:

30 minutes on the row machine, at a little slower rate. 

Lying leg raises. Engage the core.

Then I did inclined pushups, feeling somewhat sore from my pushups two days ago still. I figured tackling a different angle might emphasize the chest in a different way and function more as an isolation exercise.

***

Monday, January 17th, 2022:

I went on my evening run today feeling quite good, and that feeling persisted for the whole run. 

I got over 12 miles, with a bright moon overhead and mild evening temps. 

I think part of the reason I felt so great was the consistency I've been doing my weight workouts with.

I figured I'd best focus on consistency in weightlifting before beginning a dedicated routine. I am feeling great already just from picking two exercises to do for each session. My weight sessions are usually on my cross-training days in combination with rowing.

One major benefit from increasing my consistency is that my confidence has also increased, as well as my energy for my daily life tasks (work and family.)

I feel like I'm riding a wave, and I hope I can stay on it for as long as possible! 

***

Tuesday, January 18th, 2022:

30 minutes of rowing, followed by barbell deadlifts, standing pulldowns, and side lateral raises.

***

Thursday, January 20th, 2022:

A cold evening, after taking a day off yesterday because of a small layer of frosty (slick) snow falling. Tonight I set out because the roads had dried from last night's snow. A frosty cool evening, but no wind. Beautiful moonlight. 8 miles.

***

I've been thinking of my goals for this year and looking at route options for a 50-mile self-supported run.

One idea that I had was to start at North Cheyenne Cañon, work my way through the mountains and reconnect to Gold Camp Road, then go through Goldfield/ Victor to Phantom Canyon, and down into Penrose. This route is almost exactly 50 miles from the top of N. Cheyenne Cañon to the National Forest border in Phantom Canyon. Since it ends at a lower altitude than it begins it, this route only gains about 6300 feet, and most of that is within the first 10 miles or so.

My water pack is sufficient for about a marathon, so if I find one resupply location near Victor (about halfway through), I should be able to manage this route logistically. 

Another route that I've considered was running  the length of Rampart Range Road from Balanced Rock to Indian Creek, which is about 56 or 57 miles.

Anyway, just brainstorming! For now I'm content to look forward to my next mountain run, possibly soon 😄! 

Nice in-town runs to start the year off!

The new year is off to a bang start! It's been a busy first week. I kicked off New Years Day with chinups, deadlifts, and leg raises (engage the core!)

This year for Christmas, we found a great deal on a row machine. I'm super excited about this! Rowing has long been one of my favorite cross-training activities. It's something I've missed since I stopped going to gyms a couple years ago at the start of the pandemic. Over the last couple years I've been steadily building up my home gym instead.

Our new row machine completes my home gym! And I am very happy with the quality of the model we got. (It is a magnetic resistant based machine.) I now feel like I have everything I need for a well-rounded gym workout at home.

I did 30 minutes of rowing for my first session on the 2nd. It has been quite a while since I've used the row machine, so that much felt pretty tiring.

Then, on the 3rd, I did my first run of the new year, 15.5 miles with 1750 ft elevation. 

Top: "Marconi Heights" trail; Bottom: Windmill Project on UCCS.

Top: Pulpit Rock from a distance; Bottom: Sunset on the way back home through UCCS. 

I saw a nice sunset as I made my return home.

I went back to the row machine for a couple days, doing 25 minutes the first day and 15 the next. I was getting a little sore from it, so I decided to take it short. I'm so excited about this row machine, but I need to work up to longer times again since I'm so out of practice! 

On the 6th, I ran 8 miles, and then just over 9 miles on the 7th, so I felt like that was a solid first week of the year for running also. At the risk of having too many goals, I want to be able to do both running AND solid cross-training throughout the year.

One of my goals for this year is to get a weightlifting program so I can be more consistent with my resistance training. I've done some research but haven't decided on a set program to start yet. I figure I may begin with a 12 to 16 week program once I settle on the right one. For now, I'm sticking to the pick-two concept, just to get myself more consistent with lifting before I begin a designated program. The pick-two concept is where I decide on two exercises to focus on each day. Then I try to do as many sets as possible of those two exercises, even if I take a break in between sets.

For the 8th, I did standing pulldowns and lunges. On the 9th, machine chest press and dips, and back to the row machine for 25 minutes.

Then after a rest day, on the 11th, I set out for an evening in-town run. The secret plan was 20 miles.

I ran from home to the Garden of the Gods, entering from the southeast, near Valley Reservoir Trail. The first lovely valley near the old Reservoir gives a great view of the whole Garden from a unique angle.

This angle, looking north past the golden winter fields of the empty Valley Reservoir, reminds me of a similar viewpoint further down the valley in Red Rocks Canyon.

I ran through the far south side of the Garden of the Gods and saw several unique and rarely-seen formations. In fact, I haven't been through this area since I worked as Park Safety in 2017.

Then I crossed over Ridge Road and ran along the Buckskin Charlie Trail until I crossed Garden Drive, just a short way from the Siamese Twins.

I made it up to the "view window" in the fading blue light, enjoying a quiet glance at Pikes Peak (Tava Mountain) through the window before heading home. 

I ran up the road, through the central Garden, and out of the Garden on the nicely repaired Dakota Trail that connects right to the Foothills Trail.

The half-moon 🌙 high in the sky was so bright that I didn't even need a headlamp on the urban trails.

A big loop back to home, and my total landed right at 20 miles! I was overall pretty happy with how I felt for my first 20+ miler of the year. I wasn't fast, but a lot of my recent strength work has left me feeling stronger, and mentally focused. I didn't feel so fatigued at the end that I just wanted to collapse, either, which is saying a lot for a 20 miler with a fair amount of concrete and asphalt. And I got to see some lesser-known trails in Garden of the Gods, as well as have the Siamese Twins to myself at sundown.

What a peaceful start for the year. I hope to get to the "real" mountains sometime soon still, but this gorgeous loop through the Garden was quite enjoyable too! What a blessing to live in such a rich and varied natural area!