Wed, Jan 18

It snowed last night and today was bitter, windy, and cold. I still wanted to take Pippin out for a short while, but I didn't want either of us to get too chilled, so we just did 3.4 miles.

I felt like that was only good for half a workout, so I did a quick 30 minute row afterwards.

***

Fri, Jan 20

50 minutes on the row machine today, followed by my favorite lifting exercise - barbell overhead presses.

It has been pretty chilly and still icy out, so I've switched to a little more indoor exercise lately.

***

Sun, Jan 22

Sharon met me at the track for our second week of repeats!

The track was rather snow packed from the most recent winter squall, so our laps were a little long because of having to avoid the snow.

We opted to do the same workout as last week. This worked out great, as it made a good comparison of times.

My times were pretty similar to last week. I ran 1:45, 3:43, 6:00, 3:53, and 1:40 for the 400, 800, 1200, 800, 400.

I was more rested going into the speed workout this week, so I felt more energetic than last week. I hope my body is getting the hang of running at a decent race-pace effort.

As we both said at the outset this morning, we weren't necessarily looking forward to the actual speed work, but staying consistent and getting it done is good.

And as always, it's far easier to maintain motivation with a friend - it's too easy to cop out if I was doing it on my own!

As this was our second track workout of the month, I've met my twice-monthly goal for January.

I hope to fit a longer run in before the end of the month.

Today's total mileage, including warm-up, repeats, and cool-down, was 6.5 miles.

***

Mon, Jan 23

Today I took the majestic trail dog 🐕, Pippin, out for a run on the Rock Island Trail.

We got 7 miles in on partly-snowy, partly-slushy, partly-sloppy trails.

***

Tue, Jan 24

6 miles total, out to Grandview Overlook and back.

It was cold with a bitter wind, but when that bright winter Colorado sun poked through the clouds, it made the temperature feel much more tolerable.

***

Wed, Jan 25

5.8 miles with Pippin. Nice evening run. Felt fast in the cold air with no wind. I could see my breath in front of me in my headlamp.

We got over 700 feet elevation gain from going out to the Grandview Overlook and back.

***

Thurs, Jan 26

With Pippin again. Rock Island Trail.

6.1 miles with full sun and nice temps. Glad I wore shorts.

Later on, just a few sets of regular push-ups.

***

Fri, Jan 27 

I tried to not run today. I really did. I wanted a rest day from running, and I even did 40 minutes on the row machine in the morning.

But by the time evening rolled around, I was too tempted by the running dog... He looked at me 🤣 and I took him on a run!

We did 7.3 miles with 950 feet elevation, although I went a little slower today.

***

Sat, Jan 28

I now have a one-week daily run streak under my belt.

I felt a little sore a couple days ago, but overall I feel stronger today.

I am not intentionally doing a run streak, but I decided that I don't have to feel guilty about wanting to run every day, and I'll continue to do so until life forces a rest day (which will happen eventually, I'm sure.)

I did some more reading about running with dogs, and found out that what I'm doing by training Pippin to run on a waist leash is called "canicross." It's a whole sport consisting of cross country running with a canine! Or, more specifically, a human-dog running team.

Pippin and I did 8.5 miles today, and 850 feet of elevation.

He has gotten so good with his training! He only requires minor adjustments each run now, but mostly stays on my right-hand front side. He knows how to pull consistently, to help me run faster but not pull me down.

I also found out that blue heelers are actually the blue-colored variation of Australian Cattle Dogs, so that is what Pippin is. They are perfect for canicross! They are very active working dogs, so they respond well to training and have a tendency to "herd" which translates great to pulling when on a canicross lead.

***

What a nice week (and a half.)

I made my goal of two speedworks for January, and got Pippin trained for daily runs. Now I am going to have to run every day (mostly) - it's for the sake of the beast 😂!

Tue, Jan 10

Ran with Pippin for our second run together today! We did a shorter and quicker run along the Rock Island trail, adding 5.2 miles to the books.

***

Wed, Jan 11

50 minutes rowing. Haven't done this in a little while, so I didn't go too fast.

***

Thurs, Jan 12

10.5 miles today, mostly flat.

***

Fri, Jan 13

8.6 miles today, on the bluffs. 1200 feet elevation.

I got to see a lovely sunset with shades of golden yellow and sky blue.

Unbeatable!

***

Sat, Jan 14

Pippin was just begging for a run, so we went to the trails in Palmer Park.

Some of the trails were sloppy with ice, snow, and mud. The perfect test of a true trail dog! Pippin did just great.

7.3 miles today.

***

Sun, Jan 15

Finally, today it was time to start on my goal of twice-monthly speedwork!

Sharon met me at the track. It was nice to have her with me, as it's easier to do hard workouts with friends.

This was my first track session in over three years, so I was glad to start with a simple ladder.

We did 400 (once around), followed by 800, then 1200, 800, 400.

I was around 1:45, 3:45, 6:00, 3:45, 1:45. So, I'm around an 8 minute mile race pace. I need to work on retaining focus on the second lap especially, as it seems consistently slower than the first lap.

For the first session in so long, I would not say it was fast but I would say it was successful. I'll be happy to gradually improve upon my times as we continue to train!

My total distance for today, including warm-up, workout, and cool-down, was 6 miles.

Then, we took the afternoon to go to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver.

This was a cool museum to check out, and especially neat for anyone who is interested in aviation.

***

Mon, Jan 16

8 miles today on the eastern Rock Island Trail.

***

Tue, Jan 17

Today we took the kids for a mini hiking adventure in the lower part of Section 16 (the upper trail portion is still closed due to a rock slide). We climbed up the ridgeline and made it to the top of the first major rock outcropping. What a beautiful view and the kids had a nice nature experience, too!

Husband and kids and jagged red rocks, part of the Fountain Formation, at Section 16.

Later, at home, I did 35 minutes on the row machine, followed by triangle pushups.

I haven't done the triangle pushups in a while, and they seemed to help focus on stability muscles in the core. I'll have to try to incorporate these into my workout routine more often.

***

Overall, I feel good about my workouts this last week. The first speedwork session of the year was a success, and I'm looking forward to more soon!

Sunday, Jan 1 (2023!)

I wanted to start the year off right - with a long run!! Right off the bat, before the year gets going.

I'm really excited for this year in running!

I also had motivation to run long before the next wave of snow hits the Front Range tonight.

I didn't have an exact route in mind, although I knew I wanted at least 20 miles today. Alex dropped me off at the corner of Red Rocks Canyon and 31st street.

The first hill at the trailhead was immediately icy. I put my spikes on, but as soon as I hit the Lower Codell trail, the ice had melted but the ground was very wet. The Codell trail runs along the Niobrara sandstone ridgeline that was once a part of Colorado's Cretaceous Seaway. The sandstone is very fine, almost a siltstone, and it had melted in the freeze-thaw cycle, creating a layer of thick clay that was sticking in clumps to my spikes and shoes.

Top: Some foraging deer were unperturbed by my presence. Bottom: The Codell trail runs along a ridge of Niobrara sandstone that used to make up the shoreline of the Cretaceous Seaway, 70 million years ago.

Not wanting to muck up the trail any more than necessary, I dipped out to the road at the intersection of 26th street & Gold Camp Road.

I decided I'd rejoin the trail higher up, where the ice- and snow-packed trails would put my spikes to better use.

I jogged up Gold Camp all the way to High Drive and then up to the saddle. From here, I turned westward and joined the Captain Jack's trail, which ascends the east flank of Mount Buckhorn.

At some point in this section, my GPS accidently paused and I only realized it a half-mile or so later. I laughed that it was the first run of the year, and I'd already gotten some bonus mileage! 🤣 It was also a good reminder that, even though I enjoy tracking my distance data, it's not a perfect system and my "yearly mileage total" is probably off by a small percentage.

When I joined the Captain Jack's trail, I saw the type of conditions I expected from the outset of today's run - hard-packed ice that was perfect for my nanospikes.

Views from Mount Buckhorn. The true summit is the top of that round rock (right), which I did not climb up.

I ascended to the summit of Mount Buckhorn (a right turn off of 667), turning around after the boulder field at top. I said hello to a climber who was perched atop a summit rock, soaking in the views.

I descended the short trail back to the trail junction with the main 667 trail, and took a minute to look around with the mini binoculars. 

This is when the climber caught up with me, and we had a chat! It was a pleasure to meet Erika, and nice to welcome her to Colorado and this great area for hiking and the outdoors that we have in the Pikes Peak Region. I'm thankful that it's day one of the year and I'm already working towards one New Years goal - to meet with friends, old and new, out on the trail!

I did want to continue uphill on the trail today, so I continued west on 667. I climbed up the first major hill, and rolled along the saddle that followed.

The wind was beginning to pick up and I knew that a cold front was expected this evening. But I did want to get up high, somewhere that I could get a good vantage point.

Soon I came to a significant rock formation along the trail, which stands out along the ridgeline.

I scrambled a few feet up the side of the rock, and a great 360-degree panorama was in front of me!

Rock outcropping summit panorama.

Looking to the southeast, North Cheyenne Cañon was filled with snow-covered hills. It was easy to make out the old Gold Camp Road down below (the hiking portion).

Looking to the northeast, Bear Creek Canyon was thousands of feet below.

Looking east, Colorado Springs lays far beyond and below. Just ahead of me is the pinnacle of the rock outcropping I'm standing on.

I hung out here for a few minutes and used the binoculars to spot as many distant landmarks as I could.

Soon, however, the predicted cold front began to make itself known. Cold gusts of wind reminded me that I was but a visitor to these winter mountains.

The cold front was a slow-moving one. I could see it coming in from the west, with streaks in the clouds.

I reluctantly relinquished my perch, and headed back down the trail.

It was time to go anyway, as I figured I could be all the way down and out of the Cañon before it got dark. Then it was just some easy peasy flat miles to get home, right? 

Coming down from the high point of my run, I felt exhilarated! Especially as I jogged along the 776 trail, I was just coasting. I hadn't felt so good on a run in quite some time, and even if it was fleeting, it was so nice to feel like I was zooming.

I was running from the weather, into town, and I had a long, long, long downhill ahead of me before I'd hit the flats in town.

I decided that at this time of day, my best route was to just jog all the way down the trails back to the Cañon, and then jog down the paved road.

I loved my time jogging down the paved road, reminiscent of when I used to jog this downhill route more regularly in my younger days when I lived on the southwest side of Colorado Springs.

I glanced back up the canyon from the road, and saw the snow clouds coming in over the mountains where I'd just been.

The sides of North Cheyenne Cañon were already decorated with snow, and they'd be seeing more of that tonight!

I came out of the Cañon just a bit before it got dark, and joined into a southern portion of the Pikes Peak Greenway after a short jog along the sidewalks.

I took the Pikes Peak Greenway north along the powerplant corridor and through into America The Beautiful Park.

At this park, I decided to turn east and go home through downtown. I was glad I made this decision, as it gave me the awesome opportunity of crossing the new pedestrian bridge over to the Olympic & Paralympic Museum, which brought me right into the heart of downtown Colorado Springs.

It felt like I was a part of a futuristic city, crossing this new bridge! I'm so glad the city is making these improvements.

I continued running through downtown, and just as I got back to my neighborhood, big fluffy snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.

They were in no rush to reach the ground, swirling this way and that before finally melting into the warm ground.

As I got inside and comfortable for the evening, the temperature dropped and the snow began to stick, and I felt that pleasantly successful feeling of "beating the storm home."

I got a total of 24 miles for this run, with just under 4000 feet (total) of elevation gain.

***

Wednesday, Jan 4

8.3 miles, plus several sets of pull-ups to failure on my favorite pull-up bars in Monument Valley Park.

***

Friday, Jan 6

10.1 miles on the flats, nice day for it! Not windy or breezy at all. Some distant clouds drifted over Pikes Peak, but eventually evaporated.

The swirling clouds above St. Peter's Dome in the distance were quite cool.

I snapped a nifty pic of the sun mixing with the clouds.

I might have slightly over exerted myself on the pull-ups two days ago, so I'm taking a break from strength training until my lower back is fully recovered.

***

Saturday, Jan 7

6 miles, 950 feet elevation.

***

Sunday, Jan 8

My lower back was really sore for a few days after the pull-ups on Wednesday. I was still mildly sore today, but felt recovered enough for some dumbbell overhead presses.

***

Monday, Jan 9

Today I was so lucky that I was able to take our new live-in beast, Pippin, for his first training jog!

Pippin is a blue heeler mix who I will be training to be a well-mannered trail dog (waist-leash trained.)

I'm so excited for our future runs! But I'm getting ahead of myself, because today was just our first day. I am teaching him to right-side heel with the word "side."

I took Pippin to Palmer Park. He was such a good boy!

He has a bit of a base from hiking, and is a very energetic and active 2 to 3 year old pup. We did 6.1 miles today, at a very moderate pace. Pippin will be a great lead dog.

Then, I was able to sit on my couch with a view of the mountains, and watch the sunset with Mount Rosa in the background while doing dumbbell curls. Inspired weight lifting!

I figured one supplemental lifting exercise per day is fine for now.

***

This blog got a bit long for only being the first 9 days of the year!

What an excellent start to the year for me.

As far as my twice-monthly speedwork goal, I haven't done any yet, but I am scheduled with Sharon for some track repeats. Can't wait to get after it and get faster together!