My goal run of the year!

Monday, 9/12

8 miles evening jog. Combination of trails and roads. 

***

Tuesday, 9/13

Two of my favorite gym exercises today, barbell squats and barbell overhead presses. I decided just to go for the good leg workout with the squats today! 

I'm feeling really good in the gym lately with my overall strength.

Maybe some ab-wheel roll-outs next time though, still a little lacking in the core work.

***

Wednesday, 9/14

Rest day! My gym day yesterday left me a little sore, so I took it easy. Just a short family walk.

***

Thursday, 9/15

10.3 miles, mostly trail. A nice big loop up through Palmer Park, Marconi Heights, Austin Bluffs Open Space. 

I felt really good, especially with the squats two days ago, but slowed the pace to my goal pace for my upcoming long one, to get some practice for that (and not overtax my legs).

I just generally coasted along the open space trails, enjoying the easy trail miles without needing to push the pace.

Palmer Park, Marconi Heights, Austin Bluffs Open Space, and a nice sunset above Pikes Peak. That's what I call a good 10.3-mile trail day.

I got to see a nice sunset, too.

I want to plan my 45-mile as my next run, but I need to convince myself to rest for a few days before! If I am going to attempt a big one, I can't just be coming off a weight room day.

Maybe Monday morning.

***

Sunday, 9/18

I took Friday, Saturday, and today off from workouts (with the exception of our daily family walk each day).

I planned my big yearly goal run for tomorrow! Hopefully it goes to plan!

Today, we traveled up to Cripple Creek in the early morning. We did a bit of stargazing, watched the sunrise, and then did a morning walk at the Mountain View Adventure Park in Cripple Creek.

This neat little park has a walking loop, a small playground, and friendly mules (the symbol of Cripple Creek). Plus great views of the Crestones off in the distance!

***

Monday, 9/19

Today was the day! I set out just after 5:15 am from lower High Drive for my goal run of the year.

The stars were bright. The air was cool but not cold.

I put a decent effort in as I ascended High Drive all the way to the saddle, and watched Jupiter setting behind Tenney Crags.

When I reached the saddle, a fantastic sunrise greeted me.

The climb up High Drive and Mt. Buckhorn Trail, with a colorful sunrise to begin the day.

I continued onto Mt. Buckhorn trail #667 (Captain Jack's) and climbed all the way until the junction with trail #668, Pipeline trail.

Low-ground foliage showing signs of fall along trail 667.

By this time, the sunshine was bright and the forest was showing signs of autumn arriving, just on time. With the seasonal equinox and the official first day of fall just three days away, the bright greens of a summer well-spent are gradually giving way to bright yellow. The splashes of gold created neon accents on the still-lush forest floor.

Trail 668 (Pipeline).

This time, I didn't feel like going down the big hill at 622A and just continued on 667 until it joined Pipeline trail #668.

Though the day was warming up nicely (I'd already taken off my long sleeve shirt before reaching the top of High Drive), intermittent cloud cover kept me from getting too overheated.

The climb up Pipeline trail went smoothly, and I soon arrived at Frosty's Park. From here, I'd stay on road 379 all the way until it reaches the junction with 376, at the gate to the South Slopes.

Climbing on road 379.

Soon I'd reached Elk Park. There are several Elk Parks in Colorado and even in this region. This Elk Park is a high-altitude, long, flat area along road 379.

Views at Elk Park, with Almagre Mountain's south summit standing tall (bottom).

Outstanding views surrounded me. The road slowly winds around the south summit of Almagre Mountain. Splashes of color from early-turning aspens dotted the mountains. 

Sheep Mountain rises above treeline on the left, and Pikes Peak stands tall on the right.

Soon I came to an open view through the meadow of Sheep Mountain and Pikes Peak.

Although Sheep Mountain is geographically a sub-summit of Pikes, and therefore not typically considered as a separate summit on most lists, it does stand out above the treeline. The aspens on the base of Sheep Mountain were quite abundant and colorful, with various shades of green fading into yellow.

Fields of yellow aspens. With Sheep Mountain in the background (top).

After running past the long meadow of Elk Park, road 379 climbs up a steep, rocky hillside just to descend again on a hill just as steep and even more rocky.

The last time I ran this far along road 379 was in October of 2016, when Bailey and I ran to Cripple Creek from the top of N. Cheyenne Cañon. That was an epic journey that I wish I had blogged about at the time! Maybe some day I'll go back, find my photos, and write the story.

The remainder of today's journey would bring back the memories of that day many times, as I was replicating a part of the route.

However, I didn't recall the road 379 being so rocky and gaining and losing so much elevation all at once! It was rough on my climbing legs.

Finally, I arrived at the junction with road 376. Here, at the major water crossing, I filtered water, and then began my last major climb of the day toward Bull Park.

Some aspens are already very yellow in the high country as I climbed towards Bull Park.

This road is labeled as 376A on the map, and it ascends up towards a long, flat overlook at a saddle before descending again into Bull Park.

Bull Park is another high alpine meadow, with some really cool pancake-shapped rocks that I adored last time.

This time, when I arrived at the top of the climb, I decided to go out to the overlook and skip the descent to Bull Park.

A very short walk-up and I was at the tip of a rock outcropping with views all around me!

The view east towards Almagre Mountain.

To the east, I could see all of Almagre Mountain's broad west face. I could make out the north, south, and "middle" summits. I could also see the lakes at the South Slopes Recreation Area.

The view northwest, with Cow Mountain in the center.

To the northwest, I saw Cow Mountain. This mountain (in the center of the photo) looks just like someone came out and dumped a whole pile of rocks in the middle of the wilderness! I remember being quite impressed with it last time.

Just to the north of Cow Mountain is Bull Park, which looks like a brown patch of land in my photo. But this small high altitude meadow features some really neat rocks that I could clearly see from my overlook spot.

The view to the west, with Molly Kathleen gold mine near the center of the photo, and the Sangre de Cristos in the far background. 

To the west and southwest, I could see all the massive mountains of the Sangre de Cristo range, including the Crestones and even as far south as the Blanca group 😀!

I spent a few short minutes on top looking around, and then video called Alex, since I actually had cell phone reception up here. I seem to notice that pattern in the mountains - I rarely have reception along trails in the woods, but on mountain summits I often have four or five bars.

I wanted to spend more time on top, but the day was already getting away from me, and I had to push onward.

I descended the rocky outcrop and returned to 376A. Another quick mile or two and I was back at 376. Here, I filtered water again, and then I was ready for my return trip to town. I turned right and headed downhill.

The road 376 was so nice and smooth! I made good time on the very well-maintained dirt road. It felt very steeply downhill. I tried to restrain myself just enough so that I wasn't burning out my legs, but it was easy to let gravity help out.

Aspens popping with color and a stacked rock formation on road 376.

The aspens and the cool rocks along the road helped me from going too fast, as I stopped to take some photos!

Approaching the bottom of road 376.

Finally I approached the junction of 376 and Gold Camp Road, near the Cathedral Park area.

This area was another highlight of the day. Beautiful spires of Pikes Peak granite dot the landscape.

Dramatic rock formations of Cathedral Park.

From here, I turned east and made my long way back to town along Gold Camp Road. The first few miles are actually very slightly uphill, gaining back about 400 feet of altitude. This may not seem like much, but I was pretty tired from all the earlier uphills, so my progress was slow at this point. I walked most of this segment, trying to convince myself to run again once the road stopped ascending.

Fall colors on my descent along Colorado 8 (Gold Camp Road).

I was around 30 miles in at this point and feeling pretty fatigued. But I tried not to think about that, and just kept going as best as I could.

At this point I was running late already and I figured I'd have to cut my route a little bit short. I had originally planned anywhere between about 45 and 48 miles, but I could end it around 40 by just continuing down Old Stage instead of cutting over through N. Cheyenne Cañon. 

I kept pushing onward, jogging with intermittent walking breaks.

Just as the sun was setting, a little angry cloud burst and dropped some cold rain on me. I caught a rainbow in the setting sun, and the clouds were quite pretty.

A brief rain shower at sunset.

I put my long sleeve shirt on, although it didn't help much with the big, fat, wet raindrops that soaked in, leaving me feeling a little chilled.

But the rain soon stopped, and I kept descending. Then it got warmer again. I passed all the usual landmarks, like Devil's Slide and St. Peter's Dome.

Then the real downhill started. The light was tricky now, as I was going down into the canyon just as the twilight was fading out, and the flashlight wasn't as illuminating because of the ambient light.

I actually looked forward to this part of the journey. This section had pleasant memories for me, as the very first time I ran down this way, it was nighttime in the winter. I had felt like I was alone in my world with my headlamp and my breath. This time, I felt comfortable. I was definitely tired, but I wasn't in that much pain. I could keep going, even though my pace was slow 🐌. 

I watched the stars come up again. Jupiter was on the eastern horizon already. It felt like only a few short hours ago that I had watched it set in the west, over the mountains, at the start of my run. I had come full circle!

In the darkness, the downhill felt steeper than it did in the daylight. This actually helped me speed up, and soon I was making good time. My fastest mile of the entire day came in mile 40.

Finally, I arrived at the National Forest edge. The road turned to pavement for the very last half-mile or so. Alex brought the kids with him to come get me.

I ended my day with 41.2 miles, and 9400 feet of elevation gain!

It was less mileage than I had planned initially, but quite a bit more climbing than I'd expected. My moving time was just under 14 hours. So definitely not a fast paced day, but I was thankful to get this one done. It was a very worthwhile experience.

And since we hadn't had our family walk for the day yet - that's what we did next! We immediately drove to the track and walked 2 miles around. So I guess my actual total for the day was 43.2 miles 🙃! So really not that far off from my initial goal of 45.

What a journey this run was!

Now I plan to let my body rest as much as it needs before getting back to anything major. I'd still like to do a fall colors run in a week or two, and some other long runs around the marathon mark this winter. But this will probably be the longest one I do for this calendar year.

While I'm happy I did it, and built up some confidence for the long distance with lots of climbing, I still feel that there is more that I can do! And in a way, I'm glad that I still yearn for that 50-mile distance and still have the opportunity to chase that goal in the future.

This definitely helps me see the marathon mark as a lot shorter run though! Now that distance should be easy, right? 😂

Thank you for reading along! See you on the trails soon.