A quick overview of workouts:
- July 16 - 11.1 mi
- July 17 - dumbbell push-ups
- July 18 - 6.5 mi
- July 19 - pull-ups
- July 20 - 8.5 mi
- July 21 - 35 minutes row machine
- July 24 - 5.0 mi (intervals)
- July 25 - squats (lightweight - 30 lb total)
- July 27 - 40 minutes row machine
- July 29 - 10.2 mi
- July 30 - 6.3 mi
- July 31 - standing chest flies
A decent mix of cross-training and running in this half of the month. Running mileage is a little lower, but I am going a bit lighter in this half of the month since I had a big first half of the month (with the marathon on the mountain).
I have big mileage coming up soon too, hopefully 😁!
In addition to these specific workout sessions, I have been doing a lot of casual hikes and walks with the family, and with friends.
Here are summaries and photos from the end half of the month.
***
On Sunday, July 16th, I jogged up Bear Creek Canyon Trail from the base of High Drive.
I continued on towards the trail's end. Where the trail #666 meets the creek near the dead end, I crossed the stream. I was now on the steep slope at the southeast base of the Tenney Crags.
The summit of the Tenney Crags rises sharply above this side of the creek, so I worked my way around the mountain from the east face to the south face, routefinding easily through the scree-filled lower slopes.
Then, I climbed.
I encountered several prominent rock ledges as I ascended the steep slopes decorated with fallen pine needles.
The view to the southwest opened up, and I could make out both the North Cheyenne Cañon and the Bear Creek Canyon drainages, with Kineo Mountain rising between them.
Soon, I arrived at a very prominent rock outcropping just across the valley from the Tenney Crags.
I consider this rock outcropping the primary sub-summit of Tenney, and it's just to the south of the big Crags.
As I hung out on this flat, open top, I spotted a big bird of prey eyeing his kingdom from above.
I began to descend from this primary sub-summit of Tenney Crags and cross the ridgeline towards the main crag, trying to pick my route carefully.
I came to a huge piece of granite at the base of the final climb and crossed this big slab of rock.
A short climb later, and I was at the top of the sharp main crag that is the summit of Tenney Crags.
The small patch of land that is the summit area of Tenney Crags was very green!!
After spending entirely too long 😂 looking at the views, I began my downhill scramble.
Instead of following the standard downhill trail, I scrambled down to the north, trying to follow the ridgeline. I knew I'd eventually connect to the Section 16 trail after a long down hill.
I passed by plenty of wildflowers and through green grass meadows with summer aspens dancing in the wind.
I spotted a few places that would make excellent camping spots.
After a bit more route finding, I connected with the Section 16 loop and followed the trail back south to connect with High Drive and complete my lollipop loop, totaling 11.1 miles.
Later that evening, we took the kids on a walk up in the Pike National Forest.
The lighting was just right to catch all the best colors of the flowers.
The aspens were showing off their evening midsummer glow.
All in all, a very photogenic day.
***
July 18th was a short run day. 6.5 miles in the park with Pippin.
***
On July 20th, I wanted to get some mileage in one of my favorite locations, Rampart Range Road.
Something about this road just draws me back. It's so nice to have a solid, consistent uphill on a soft dirt surface, followed by a coasting, smooth downhill.
The morning light was great as I set out from Balanced Rock.
The streaky clouds in the sky began to shift into small spotty clouds, as I jogged casually uphill on the road.
I ran up the road until past the 4 mile sign. Near this spot, there's a great view of the layered cliffs of the magnificent Queen's Canyon.
Past the 4 mile marker, there is a rocky trail that splits uphill from the road. It is basically a shortcut to a further mile marker along the road. (It skips past the water tank and the trail down into Williams Canyon).
About halfway up the shortcut trail is a swing, high above the city with mountain views.
The swing was my destination for the day. So I sat for a second and trusted the questionable rope, before turning around and returning to the road for a coasty downhill.
As I descended, the streaky clouds from beforehand continued to get more and more puffy and small, until the entire sky was filled with little puffs.
I finished my jog with a total of 8.5 miles.
***
On July 23rd, we caught a great rainbow during our family hike in North Cheyenne Cañon.
***
On July 24th, I met with Sharon for an interval session! Charles also joined us for the first few intervals, so it was nice to see him as well 😀. (He departed before we got our selfie.)
We did our usual short speedwork ladder: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 miles.
We did the full ladder today (without skipping the last quarter lol!), and my times were 1:42, 3:16, 5:27, 3:42, 1:39.
The 3:16 was quite quick and shows improvement in my times, but the inconsistency shows that it was still a pretty hard one-off effort.
This speedwork fulfilled my twice-monthly goal for July, so thanks to Sharon for going with me!
***
On July 26th, my husband and I hiked with a couple friends in North Cheyenne Cañon.
As we started out near Helen Hunt Falls, we spotted a couple of roped climbers downscaling the huge rock face that we'd been at the edge of during our last hike.
We were able to check out some of the newest trails in North Cheyenne Cañon, with the Daniel's Pass trail system. We climbed this new section of trail to the saddle where it intersects with the Sweetwater Canyon Trail.
It was cool to check out some new views!
***
On July 28th, we visited the Denver Botanical Gardens!
We saw so many amazing flowers, and it was part of the enjoyment for me to test the limits of my phone camera.
It's a good camera for macro shots, but sometimes it is tricky to get correct.
I'm going to dump all my favorite photos here... (Warning this will be a long scroll!)
All in all, this was an incredible day. I would like to visit again this season, because it is such an amazing place, and it's difficult to see it all in one day!
***
On July 29th, I decided to do the Pikes Peak Road Runners' virtual challenge for July. This challenge can be done any time during the month of July.
This challenge follows the High Drive Challenge route, which is from Bear Creek Park West, up to the High Drive saddle and back.
It was an amazing day, with streaky clouds and great views. You'll just have to trust me this time, because I didn't take any photos! I wanted to complete this run as a challenge, so I did it as smoothly as possible with no stops or breaks.
Overall, I wasn't too fast, but I felt like I put forth as consistent an effort as I could, considering the challenging course.
***
On July 30th, I did a short recovery run in Palmer Park. I got 6.3 miles.
I really enjoyed the back to back 10 miler/10k for my weekend training this time around. It constitutes a "lighter" weekend rather than a single long run.
And it was nice to sleep in and stay close to home in my local park this time.
***
I'm closing out this month with a little weightlifting on the last day of the month.
I'm cautious as I've been gaining a little weight lately. Hopefully this will balance out once I get more mileage, starting in the first half of August.
I'd like to try to get more speedwork than just the minimum for August, and do at least a few more group runs 😄.
But I think I'm going to prioritize doing a big adventure run soon. (More on this soon!) The summer oil is burning, and I'm feeling the heat! Time to get out on the trails!
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