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Saturday, July 30th:
8 miles on the flats, followed by dips & pullups at home.
I'd like to do a little more weightlifting in coming weeks; I've been slacking a little on lifting as my summer mileage has ramped up.
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Sunday, July 31st:
8 miles, at Palmer, in the evening.
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Tuesday, August 2nd:
Yesterday was just a basic rest day/ walk, and same for today. We met my parents at Columbine Open Space! Now that they're back here in Colorado, it's nice to do some hiking with them.
We did about 1.5 miles total, an easy start for my folks who are still readjusting to the altitude here.
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Wednesday, August 3rd:
7.6 miles, mostly flat (eastern Rock Island Trail). Very hot today!
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Thursday, August 4th:
I set out early this morning from home, with the goal of at least 20 miles. I was a little tired from the 7.6 yesterday afternoon in the heat, but nothing too unmanageable.
I ran west along Rock Island Trail to Monument Valley Park, crossing the bridge and running along the west side of the park until the underpass at Fontanero, where I crossed under I-25 and connected to Sondermann Park and the Mesa Valley Trail.
From Mesa Valley, I joined the neighborhood trail that took me through Pioneer Park and dumped me out onto King St., the perfect connection to the west side. King Street brought me quickly to 30th, where I joined the bike path for a quick minute before crossing Hwy 24 at 31st.
Here, I entered Red Rock Canyon Open Space at the 31st Street trailhead.
The fun part of the day was just getting started!! I would now be on rocky, climby trails. Instead of joining the flatter and smoother Hogback Valley Trail in Red Rock Canyon, I immediately turned off onto the Codell Trail.
The Codell Trail is a rocky, narrow single-track that climbs along the very easternmost hogback uplift in the park. It is an exposed ridge that's really fun to run along, with big views of the city to the east.
White sandstone, rather than the rusty red, makes up the top of the ridgeline. This white sandstone is part of the Niobrara Formation, which was deposited during the time that Colorado was underneath the Western Interior Seaway during the late Cretaceous. It's cool to run along a ridge that contains prehistoric fossils of an ancient ocean!
By now, I was about 8 miles in and the mid-morning sun was beginning to get pretty toasty! Good heat training, I thought. My greatest concern was crossing paths with a rattlesnake, so I kept a careful eye on the trail and listened for any warning rattles.
I followed the Codell Trail all the way to where it tops out at an overlook. I could see all of Red Rock Canyon down below! What a beautiful day!
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| Top: Codell Trail in Red Rock Canyon follows the easternmost uplift, which is a white sandstone ridgeline. Bottom: The overlook of Red Rock Canyon, near where the Codell Trail tops out. |
After a brief pause at the overlook, I continued on the trail labeled "to Section 16." Although the main Section 16 trail is closed due to a rock slide, the Red Rock Canyon-Section 16 connector trail is still open.
All the way along, I had amazing views of the Old Gods of the mountains - the Pikes Peak granite uplifts dotting the foothills, beyond the red rock sandstone formations of the canyon.
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| Section 16 connector trail with Pikes Peak granite uplifts decorating the foothills. |
I dropped down into the Section 16 parking area and quickly connected to the base of High Drive. This would be the longest, most sustained climb of the day. Fortunately, an occasional breeze helped me feel slightly less hot.
And the Colorado wildflowers are still in full bloom! I love watching the different types of flowers blossoming throughout the summer.
Some clouds began to form over the mountains to the west of me, partly shading Specimen Rock and the Tenney Crags.
After what felt like quite a long climb, I finally attained the High Drive saddle, and my high point for the day. From here, you can connect to the deep mountains by going west on the 667 trail - a way I often go. But for today, it was time to head downhill to the east, and back towards home.
I joined the 665 trail that encircles Mays Peak. This trail eventually joins Gold Camp Road, not far above the pavement.
I enjoyed the views to the north and east as I began the slow descent on the trail. The heat of the day really began to hit hard on this part of the trail, though!! Even the occasional wind was hot, like opening the door to an oven.
As the trail winds around the base of Mays Peak, it turns south and provides an excellent view of all of North Cheyenne Cañon.
I could see many of my favorite distant mountains, including Almagre in the far background.
After winding around to the south, the 665 trail descends more rapidly towards Gold Camp Road. At the road, I got one last good view of the whole Cañon before cutting down through the neighborhood to Bear Creek Park.
Once I was on the east side of the Bear Creek Regional Trail, I turned around and looked back at the foothills which I'd just come from. They seemed so distant already!
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| Top: View of North Cheyenne Cañon, nearing Gold Camp Road on trail 665. Bottom: View back to the mountains from the eastern Bear Creek Regional trail. |
The remainder of my run was simple. Perhaps not easy, but definitely simple. I connected to the Pikes Peak Greenway at the trail underpass next to the 8th street Walmart, and took the Greenway home.
I landed on my doorstep with a total of exactly 26.21 miles!! A full marathon, with about 3400 feet of climbing. More than I'd expected when I set out, but I'd succeeded in getting this big Mays Peak loop route done. ✔ And my two-day total was more than 33 miles.
What a lovely day for this run. ☺ Good heat training with some refreshing mountain views. The whole thing took around 7 hours, which is on par with my previous runs of this distance, at altitude and with elevation gain.
And I got my fill of views (for now)! I hope this run will fix the long-run itch for a little while. I am looking forward to hitting the ultra-distances as soon as I can, with maybe another long run as soon as next week.
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Friday, August 4th:
I don't feel overly sore from yesterday's long one at all. My left hip is a little sore, and my shoulders are slightly achy from carrying the heavy pack, but these minor aches weren't even very bothersome. I'll take that as a win!
Today we visited the Paint Mines Interpretive Park, and did a walk which was around 2.5 miles.
What a great recovery day with my family.
***
A nice week since my return to town! I'm looking forward to more big adventures soon.
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