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!