First two weeks of August 2023

For the first half of August, I did a fair amount of strength work. I did several good core workouts, and some lightweight dumbbell work as well.

A good bit of exercise was also yardwork (I built/completed our backyard patio project). Lifting patio bricks for the yard, one by one, was like bonus lightweight deadlifts. 😂

So far, I have 75.6 miles for the month, which is on target.

As it is more than halfway through the year, I wanted to briefly review my goals for the year and see how I was progressing.

* So far, I've met my goal of speedwork twice a month.

* I've been having a blast running with friends and seeing people in the mountains, which was another goal.

* I have not yet run a 50 mile route! - Still a goal for this year.

* A final goal that I did not initially list for 2023 is to run a total of at least 1800 miles. I don't want to be too obsessive about month to month mileage, but I would like to at least meet this minimum goal for the year.

Here's some summaries and photos for these last two weeks:

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On August 3rd, I set out for a little jaunt on Rampart Range Road.

This would be a practice/ trial run for a longer run later in the year.

The smooth dirt road was the perfect soft surface for today's run. Last night's moderate rainstorm left the road slightly damp; not enough to leave visible footprints but just enough so that the road wasn't shedding dusty topsoil.

I jogged casually up the first 4 miles, and then I took the shortcut trail.

This trail skips up past the water tank, gaining altitude more quickly than the road.

I ran up the trail to where it rejoins the road before the mile 7 marker. Then, I continued uphill just around the next couple curves, to where there is a magnificent view down into Williams Canyon.

This was soon my turnaround for the day. Now, I could easily enjoy the jog back downhill.

This time, I didn't take the shortcut trail, wanting the additional downhill mileage. The clouds were beginning to get streaky in the sky already by the time I arrived at the overlook by the water tank, indicating the gradual development of afternoon thunderstorms.

I wrapped up my run with the nice coasty downhill, getting a total of 13 miles.

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On August 5th, we took a nighttime walk through downtown Colorado Springs. It's interesting how the city has changed. Many improvements to the downtown area have been made just within the last few years.

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On August 6th, I ran 10 miles in Palmer Park and saw this cool bug:

I was impressed that my camera was able to get such a detailed photo of this little guy. You can even see the segments in the antennae.

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On Tuesday, August 8th, I joined the Sunrise Striders for an interval workout on Barr trail!

The sun was just coming up as we climbed up the early reaches of Barr, doing 5 x 5 minute hard pushes, with a 2.5 minute recovery in between each.

I pushed the last interval harder, and then took my recovery on the uphill, as I had enough time to head to Barr Camp today after the workout!

It was a comforably cool and breezy day on the trail, with small cool winds coming off the mountain, despite the heat already building in the city below.

I stopped in to Camp for a few minutes and had a snack, but I didn't want to linger too long as I wanted to take a short side trip for a rock scramble on my way down.

Half a mile below Camp, I scrambled up this small, exposed rock outcrop, and got some awesome views of the summit! The train arrived at the top, and I could see clearly right up the mountain.

What a really cool and beautiful place to scramble around the rocks 😁.

Then, I did my best to zoom downhill, although the last few miles were getting pretty hot already! My total mileage was 15.8 for the day.

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Wednesday the 9th, I did 8.7 miles on the flats.

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On the 10th, I joined the Striders again for intervals on Iron Mountain!

We did 12 x 90 seconds uphill sprints, with an easy jog back down each time. This was such a good speedwork for me!!! I enjoyed it, and it's nice to have those repetitive uphill pushes. 😃

Afterwards, I did Red Mountain for a little bonus mileage and elevation.

My total for today was 11.1 miles.

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On Sunday, August 13th, I started early from the Pikes Peak Ascent start line by Memorial Park in Manitou Springs.

The sunrise as I joined Barr Trail was fantastic.

I wanted to make a consistent effort all the way to Barr Camp.

I ended up feeling a little sluggish in the last half-mile before Camp or so, coming in at around 2:25 to Camp.

Here I sat for a few minutes and ate a recovery snack before heading back up in the warm sunlight and clear blue skies above.

As I came to treeline, it became apparent that there was a lovely cloud inversion again today, with low-lying clouds covering the north side of the city.

A few of the rolling clouds steamed off from the summit, submerging just the very top of the peak in thick fog for only a couple minutes at a time.

Meanwhile, the rolling sea of clouds to the north thickened like a down-padded blanket.

The clouds and fog rolling off from the summit were non-threatening and I was making good time.

The top mile before the summit was the most fun!! The Incline Club must have just arrived on the summit for 3-2-1s, because it was a blast to see many people who I knew.

It was encouraging and gave me an extra push for the top!

I arrived at the top in 4:46 moving time; meaning I'd taken 2:21 from Barr Camp to the summit. I'm happy to take a negative split from Camp upwards, even though my overall time wasn't very quick, and I'd taken some of the parts more casually than I could have.

Still a wonderful day and it was worthwhile to spend a little more time socializing and seeing friends on my way up!

I got a ride back down, and a total of 13.5 miles on the day.

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Tuesday the 15th, I took a short recovery run with a friend in Palmer Park, adding 3.4 miles to the logs.

Later, I did supplemental weightlifting with standing dumbbell curls.

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So far, so good, for this half of the month! 😊

My mileage is right on target and I'm having fun in the mountains 😁. So nice to see so many of you out on the run these last few weeks!

Let's go explore the trails 😀!