Falcon Trail

January 18, 2010
The Falcon Trail
13 miles
2:27 hours

One of the few clear spots on the trail. In the distance is Eagle Peak.

Man, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get out yesterday. I was sore and tired from all the hills I've run in the last two weeks. I told Tracey I was going to run the Santa Fe Trail instead of running with the Incline Club and I just couldn't get motivated. What a bum! The Incline the day before put the icing on the cake for me and my tired body.

So, instead of that, finally, this afternoon, I got out and ran the Falcon Trail. I love this trail for a lot of reasons. It's a loop, not and out and back. It's mostly single track through woods and up and down. It's never up, up, up, and down, down, down; it gives you a variety with it's rolling hills, valleys, doglegs and canyons. Also, it's not used too heavily; however, you usually will meet at least one other person while traversing it.

I was by myself and since I didn't feel like doing a flat 16miles on the Santa Fe alone, I decided to do the Falcon Trail instead. Rick was talking to his mother earlier and I overheard him say, "I told her I would run with her for 3.5 until I realized she meant hours not miles." Yeah, I really wanted to get in over 3 hours today; but the lethargy that crept up on me throughout last week and hit in earnest yesterday, was just too much to overcome.

I parked across from the stadium so I would start up gradually and end relatively flat. I got out and put my micro spikes on. I wasn't sure I would need them and attached a D-ring to the back of my camelback pack just in case. Wow, I sure glad I wore them. I'd say only about 40% of the trail was dry; the rest was slush or slush and ice mix.

I easily jogged the first five miles without stopping and then hit a steeper pitch and power hiked a bit while I got a gel blast out. I eat the gel blasts instead of gus and take one about every 30 minutes. My garmin died on me a mile into the run since I forgot to charge it; however, I've run this trail so much I know what's ahead and where the markers are. Actually this trail is very well marked with new maps at strategic locations throughout the trail. So, instead of every 30 minutes, I took food every 3 miles.

The weather was perfect. I didn't get out until 1:30pm and the afternoon's warmth felt good, as did the slight breeze. despite the trail conditions, I still met 3-5 bikers, around three runners and 2 people on horseback.

At the 10 mile point, I began to run out of steam a bit; however, then it is easy to tell yourself, only three miles left; less than three miles left; and so on. I hit the last mile marker before my car and that was a welcomed sight. Less than a mile left! Less than half a mile!

At the end of my loop, I spotted three bikers. They asked as I came out of the woods if I ran the entire trail. Yes, I did. They had started right before me and they said I finished not too far behind them. As a matter of fact, they were still on their bikes when I pulled in. We exchanged amazement at each other for doing what we each consider impossible or at best, crazy. I cannot imagine taking a mountain bike over parts of what I just ran and they could not believe anyone would be so crazy as to run the entire trail; and in less than 2.5 hours. To be honest, that's not my best time; but for today, given the conditions and how tired I was; it was just fine.