2020 Year's End Running Summary and Highlights

 Hello all,

Last year I wrote a long post that went back through all my previous years' overall mileage and stats. This post will be like an addendum to that.

In 2020, I ran 1211.7 miles total. I ran on 146 days this past year, which breaks down to an average of 8.3 miles per run.

While this wasn't the highest yearly mileage total for me (that was 2016), it was actually higher than either 2019 or 2018. I'd consider this a pretty big deal, since the pandemic made it difficult for many of us, including myself, to be consistent with running.

Despite the challenges, I still made two marathon-length efforts during the year, in place of races. The first one was an early summer run up Williams Canyon and Rampart Range Road, and the second was a big autumn loop by Mt. Herman and Balanced Rock Road.

I spent a lot of time running through open fields and meadows, and quite a few cool summer nights running when no one was around.

Overall, I made it work, with actually somewhat limited time on the treadmill.

In fact, I wanted to share a few photos from my last run of the year, on December 26th, at Ramah Reservoir State Wildlife Area. I caught some nice photos during the evening golden hour, with the sun's long evening rays.

I ran a little less than 7 miles. I finished the year out by running a few miles on the treadmill to bring my year total above 1200, or a little more than 100 miles a month.

Looking forward to 2021, I'm planning on having to do a lot more treadmill mileage. Especially with the new strain of COVID, and increased transmissibility, I probably won't even leave the house until I am vaccinated. 

Despite this, I have big distance goals for the new year. In fact, putting them down in writing is a little intimidating because then I actually have to commit to them, rather than just kicking them around in my head.

My goal is to have a yearlong running streak, and to run a minimum of 10k a day. It sounds like a huge goal, but not completely unreasonable for me. After all, in 2016, I ran 2171 total miles, which averages out to almost 6 miles per day (even though I ran on only 240 days that year.)

This would mean, if I stuck to a minimum of 10k each and every day of the year, I'd have my highest yearly mileage total ever.

Of course, being realistic, I might not be able to stick to my yearlong streak, although I sure will try. In the situation that I have to break my streak for one reason or another, I'll still aim for running at least 2200 total miles.

And who knows. Maybe I'll be able to pull it off and run 10k or more every day of the year. Amazing things are possible!

I started the year off with a 7 mile treadmill run on January 1st.

I'm hoping that this will be the year that I'll be able to go back to the mountains and see my favorite trails again, like Barr trail. But I'm not holding my breath for it. If I have another year of isolation ahead of me, at least I can make the best of it and get into fantastic shape.

Plus, maybe it'll give me something to blog about. I'll try to check-in at least once a month on the blog to keep myself accountable and to keep everyone else updated.

For now, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope you are excited about your goals for this year as well, running or otherwise.

A quiet winter (so far)

My winter running has been very tame. I actually took about a 3 week break from running entirely, just focusing on cross-training and (primarily) rest. This little break gave me renewed vigor to get back out these last two weeks of the year. I'm now within 20 miles of my goal mileage for the year, so I'm pretty confident that I should be able to knock those miles out before the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

I will share some of the few runs I've been doing in the last couple months since my last update.

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On October 16, I did a short recovery run after my long effort on the 12th. I got a little more than 6 miles at Homestead Ranch Park, a quiet little gem on the prairie. This park features a small mesa with rocky outcroppings, and rolling fields up top. The park itself isn't very big; 4 miles for the whole upper loop.

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On October 20th, I returned to the park for another couple loops of the gorgeous top mesa, totaling 8 miles.

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On October 22nd, I ran 8 miles at the Spruce Meadows loop, with oncoming clouds topping the distant buttes.

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On October 28th, I returned to Spruce Meadows after the snowstorm and tackled another sunset loop for 8 miles.

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On October 31st, I took a pre-sunrise run at Palmer Park, adding 8 miles to my yearly total, and great nighttime views at Grandview Overlook.

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On November 9th, I took a sunset run at Bluestem Prairie Open Space. This was a new location for me, and it was a windy and chilly evening. I finished up my 8 miles in the dark, with my fingers freezing just enough to cause annoyance but not concern.

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After I took my little break from running, I returned to do 8 miles at Ramah State Wildlife Area on December 10th.

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Finally, yesterday, December 14th, I returned to Homestead Ranch Park for 8 miles after our latest snowstorm. The park was every bit as pretty in the snow as it was earlier in the year.

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I look forward to completing my mileage for the year within the next couple weeks, and posting my yearly summary after that.

It's definitely been a different year. I hope this update finds you all well and in good spirits. I hope to rejoin friends out on the trails sometime next year. 

My big "fall colors" loop for 2020!

I finally got out of the house!

I've felt pretty stuck the last week as I haven't been out of the house in that time. (Running is just about the ONLY time I leave the house - pandemic still raging.) I knew I had to take a bit of rest before doing an adventure run that would be close to the marathon distance, but it gave me a case of the taper tantrums nonetheless.

I haven't had as much adventure as usual this year, since I'm still basically totally avoiding people, even out on the trails. But I had to get at least one big run in for the fall.

By the way, for those of you who haven't used it yet, Colorado Parks & Wildlife has created their own app called COTREX. This app allows you to see all the trails in the state, and create custom routes that "snap" to the trails. This makes it super useful for accurately estimating distances for adventures! 

I mapped out a loop route connecting Mount Herman Road #320 -> Monument Trail #715 -> Balanced Rock Road #322 -> Rampart Range Road #300 -> Mount Herman Road, and it was estimated to be 23.3 miles. 

Monday morning was the time to go. My husband dropped me off at Mount Herman Road, right at the base of it (the junction with Red Rocks Road, by the overnight parking lot). Mount Herman Road is #320, so I'll use that number to refer to it from now on.

I started out just after 6 am. I had wanted to leave even earlier, but I was glad I waited an extra 30-40 minutes since the sun was just barely beginning to show when I started my run. (Crazy how late it rises in the fall, no?)

The sun shining below the horizon, with Monument city lights in the distance. 

The stars were still showing when I started, even with nautical twilight beginning to give a little light.

As I ascended, you can make out the road that I came up on the left side of the photo. 

Initially, my plan was to go on this loop clockwise (320 to 300 to 322 to 715), but at the literal last moment when I approached the Monument Trail #715 parking area, I changed my mind. And I'm thankful that I decided to do this loop counterclockwise instead, for a whole lot of reasons.

My primary reason for changing at the last moment was my concern that I'd miss the junction of 715 with Balanced Rock Road #322, since I'd never been there and was unfamiliar with the area. My concern was well-founded, because when I popped out from the junction, 715 was a barely noticeable trail that joined a rutted segment of the rough OHV road. I might have missed it going in the other direction. 

I also knew that going clockwise, I'd have a pretty big uphill near the end of 715 right when I was at mile 20 to 21, and I decided I'd rather take it as an early downhill at mile 3 to 4 instead. I'm quite glad I did that.

A third reason was that I figured the trail would be empty this early in the morning. (I was right - I didn't pass a single person on foot the whole day.)

Finally, the deciding factor was that I felt a little bit bored of going up 320 already, and I wanted to experience more trails and adventure early on during my run, while I was still fresh. I could easily run down a road later on in the run when that would be all I wanted anyway - an easy, smooth downhill where I could just tune out and run. (It wasn't quite that simple, but more on that later).

With the light steadily increasing now, and civil twilight strong enough to see without a headlamp, I joined the Monument Trail #715. A short uphill was followed by a long, winding downhill that popped out into the first aspen grove of the day.

Sadly, the first grove was all bare. I was a few days too late for that one. But the leaf cover on the ground was still pretty, and I coasted along in the cool morning air.

The cold mid-autumn early morning light illuminates freshly fallen leaves and aspens prepared for winter.

I kept my hopes up for fall colors, since I knew there were more aspens along this little valley. And soon enough, there they were! Fall colors with cool rocks on Mt. Herman in the background. 

A few of these aspens still have leaves, along with some other fall foliage in the foreground. I just love those "stacked" rocks on the back side of Mt. Herman.

Soon I was leaving the valley, and turned around for a snapshot of the sun illuminating a distant mountain as it began its daily journey. 

I noticed my hands were getting quite cold, as I was spending too much time taking photos and not enough time running. No problem, I balled them up inside my gloves and sped up, and soon they were warm again. It was then that I tried to drink from my water hose, and realized that it was totally frozen! I was surprised the ambient temperature in that little valley was not only below freezing, but cold enough to freeze my hose. I reminisced about all those times at Incline club when our water hoses froze and we all stuck them inside our shirts to warm up enough to drink. Instead, I took a sip from the water bottle in the front of my pack, realizing that the day would heat up quickly and be quite warm soon.

After the valley, trail 715 comes to a junction. To the west (left in my case) is a short climb that connects to Balanced Rock Road #322, an OHV road that I'd be taking west for several miles. Near the top of the climb, the sun finally met up with an aspen, giving it a golden glow.

The road 322 starts out really rough (how can anyone operate any motor vehicle on something like that?!) But it soon levels out and becomes more reasonable. 

Soon after climbing the first hill on the road, I found an overlook to the valley that I'd come from below.

Somewhere way down in that valley is the aspen grove I spent so much time photographing. It didn't seem like that much of a climb at all!

I thought that road 322 was going to be mostly uphill, but it was actually quite undulating, with some nice downhill segments. The steeper parts were reminiscent of Longs Ranch Road, but they were very short segments.

Soon after another little climb, I came to a ridge that showcased the valley to the north, AND the Pikes Peak massif to the west. I actually gasped in amazement at seeing the monolithic Pikes Peak standing tall in the distance. This road was traveling along a ridgeline with an open view and it was amazing!

Although it's hard to tell from the photo, the valley to the north displayed the sheer area of the massive Rampart Range. And this is only a small portion. All this glorious National Forest that we have in Colorado is a blessing. 

A fantastic view of Pikes, with Almagre to the left. These are the only two major summits in the region that reach above treeline.

I made it a game to find the "Balanced Rock" that gives the road its name.

Is this "Balanced Rock?" It's kind of small.

A more likely candidate. 

I'm not sure I ever found "Balanced Rock," but I did find more aspens!

It was intermittently very windy, so my hair was blowing around a lot!

These aspens were closer to the Rampart Range Road side of 322.

I really loved this view of Pikes with the single rock.

Soon I was nearing Rampart Range Road #300. This is the main "spine" through the Rampart Range, with many roads and trails connecting. I'd be running on it for only a short segment of around a mile, connecting back to Mount Herman Road #320.

When I ran through this section, I was getting a little tired, but for some reason I thought that I was done with uphill for the day once I reached 320 again. At least, the segment below that I was familiar with is a steady descent in this direction. 

Boy, was I wrong. I reached 320 and immediately had a short hill to climb. "Okay," I thought, "it'll just reach the ridgeline and then begin to descend." I went up a bit, and then a short descent. But I could see another uphill in the distance. I kept undulating for one mile. Two miles. I saw an intersection of a OHV road on the map. "Maybe after that intersection, the real downhill begins." Nope. The road kept going up and then down. It was torturous. I just wanted a nice, steady, long downhill.

Furthermore, it was getting downright hot now. I actually forgot to put on sunscreen this morning, and I could feel my skin getting a bit too hot. The shade from trees along the road was super sporadic, with what felt like big sections of hot sun beating down on me.

At least I wasn't so beat down that I stopped taking photos!

This "Balanced Rock" on Mount Herman Road is better than any I saw on Balanced Rock Road!

Finally, after what felt like 5 or 6 miles, the real downhill began. At this point I was in survival mode. At least the downhill made it more bearable. I kept a pace somewhere between shuffling and jogging, but at least I wasn't walking.

The view of the road down below curving around the mountain was a welcome sight.

I kept on pushing at the end, though my shoulders were so tired that it hurt to move my head fully to the side. But I felt a sense of... gratitude for this experience. I wasn't so totally toasted that I was beat down to a walk, and I could still enjoy the repetition of putting one foot in front of the other. I was tuning everything else out and just running. It felt good.

Still, I was happy when Alex arrived to pick me up, exactly at the same time when I came back to the intersection with Red Rocks Road. Perfect! 

My loop ended up being 24.7 miles, just 1.5 miles shy of a full marathon. I knew it would likely be at least slightly longer than the COTREX app predicted, and I did take a few photo detours. I am totally satisfied with that. Not every long adventure run needs to hit the marathon mark!

I feel like I lived a lot of life in a day. I always feel enriched by long adventure runs. They bring back so many old memories, and build so many new ones. And they challenge me in a way that hurts, but I enjoy overcoming that pain and sticking it out to the end. I like to break out of the mindset that says "I just want this to be over." My favorite runs are those when I can finish by living with the pain, instead of fighting against it. It doesn't always happen. Believe me, there are times when I just want a run to be over. But my favorite feeling is having that thought, but then overcoming that mindset and being at peace with running more.

The highs and lows of endurance running are such good training for life.

I miss you all! This low point of me not being able to run with you will come to an end someday. Until then, stay healthy and happy!