Snow Shoeing!

Rocky Mountain National Park

February 27, 2010

6.2 miles

2.5+ hours

This is a good news bad news post: Bad news - I miscalculated the Winter Series; Good news - We scheduled a snow shoe trip to Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend.

I did not run the final race in the Winter Series this weekend, instead we went snow shoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a good thing. Instead of running 12 miles hard and risking a prolonged hamstring injury, I enjoyed a leisurely snow shoe hike through RMNP with Rick. This was the best overall solution to end this week.

The weather was great, the views phenomenal and what a nice trail up Loch Vale from Glacier Gorge. The trail was slightly uphill the entire way to the lake with just the last portion very steep. Once we crested the steep part, the wind hit us pretty hard and we elected not to linger very long at the lake. We found a spot semi-protected from the wind and ate a quick lunch before heading back down.

The wind was so cold that I got chilled and it took over a mile back down the trail before my fingers warmed up. I still was cool the rest of the way but didn't really pick up the pace until the last mile ... I had to - I was getting colder and I knew there was a bathroom at the trailhead! Now, I'm not usually that modest, wasn't on the way up; however, when there are a lot of people on the trail, which there were, I elected to move a bit and use the correct facilities!

Overall, what a great day - two of my favorite things: National parks and outdoor activities - does life get any better?! Yes, it does, I know that; but I cannot complain, especially with a nice dinner, a glass of wine and a warm, soft bed at the end of the day and thoughts of the future!

Fox Run Hates Me

February 26, 2010
Fox Run Park
1:38 hours
6.51 miles


My beloved park does not like me. It cannot possibly. I have tried to be nice to it; but it just doesn't like me, that is obvious.

After my treadmill day yesterday and no new back pain; I decided to try a nice run. I know I said I was going to take the week off ... yeah, well, I tried.
Today I decided to take a turn around Fox Run Park, this time with my Micro spikes. The last time I was in the park, I didn't have them on and it was me trying not to figure skate across the trails. I wasn't going to have any of that today! I was prepared. Yes, I was prepared for ice ... but wet snow .... nope, not prepared for the Spring snows that are wet.

As soon as I left my drive and headed up the trail, I hit snow. It snowed the night before and I thought, not a problem; however, the last snow I ran on was a light, airy, dry snow. This snow was clumping. Clumping a lot under my spikes; so much so, that even the flat stretches were difficult.

I felt like a dog - I stopped at every tree next to the trail to pay it a visit. I lifted my leg and knocked the snow out of the spikes! It was terrible and frustrating. Again I was not prepared and I hate that.

I cut my run short for that reason as well as my hamstring which began to ache a bit after four miles.

At least I got out and ran!

Back Pain Stinks!

Feb 25, 2010
Treadmill
35+ min
mileage ?

So it snowed on Monday and the driveway was covered. What's a girl to do but shovel it right? I felt good, the back pain had subsided and I'm invincible! Okay, so I'm not - but, that's my belief.

Monday morning and I'm out there in the glorious morning shoveling the wet snow off the driveway. It was my day off and I thought what good exercise. The job was done relatively quickly and I felt great; that is, until Tuesday morning and oh, what pain in my back! Thankfully, I had a chiropractor appointment that day and yes, I confessed my sin of shoveling snow. With a tsk, tsk, tsk, and don't you know better, my doctor proceeded to stretch me, adjust me, and generally torture me until I promised never to do that again with an ailing back.

With the pain back, I decided to let the week go and also tried to get the hamstring on the right track as well. This leads me to my very light week and treadmill duty today.

Once again, the dreaded treadmill and brisk walking on the flattest setting. At least I stretched the legs out a bit and tried to remind them of their primary duty in life.

Soon, I will be back in the saddle and on track!

There and Back Again

Home to Santa Fe; up Santa Fe and back

Feb 21, 2010

15.58 miles

3:10 hours

Snowy morning in the mid 20's and I need to get out and run a long one. Did I mention it is overcast with a wind coming out of the North and I don't have my car? So, what is a runner to do? Why, run down to the trail and go up it into the wind and come back, right? Right!

It took me awhile to get motivated since I did not have to get up and out the door by 7am; however, I finally did. Fully loaded and layered well with an extra hat in my camelback I finally got out the door around 11am.

From my house, it is 3.1 miles to the Santa Fe. Good news; bad news about that - good news: it's all downhill from my house to the trailhead. Bad news: it's all uphill on the way back.

The snow was deeper than I anticipated and there isn't any side walk up where I live; therefore, I played chicken with the cars for about a mile until the shoulder was wide enough and the snow was shallow enough for me to run on instead of the road.

Once I hit the Baptist trailhead I had flat, slightly uphill trail to run on; unfortunately, few tracks on it and the snow was about 3-4 inches deep. Just enough snow to make me work harder than I wanted. On the way up the trail, one other runner passed me, he was getting some serious mileage in - he went past me on the way down, then he ran past me on the way up, and then turned to go back down and passed me again on his way home! Oh well, as always, I told myself to run my own race and not worry about anyone else.

It was beautiful, albeit pretty cold and snowy almost the entire time. Past Hwy 105, tire tracks appeared on the trail which was very nice to run in and that made the middle section pretty doable.

7.75 miles and I turned. I had thought about turning at 6.5 but decided to go a little further. The way down was nice and I enjoyed most of it until I left the trail and headed back up to the house. Looking up the hill I came down and I deflated a bit. I decided to be smart and I power hiked the uphills, jogged the flats or downhill portions and finally made it back to the house.

A very long run. My core temperature must have decreased while out there. I wasn't cold while running; however, once in the house, I immediately hopped into a hot tub but just could not warm up. Finally, I gave up on that and crawled under the covers. Whew! Felt so much better when I got warm!

The hamstring was achy the entire time but no pulls or tears or spasms. The legs overall worked pretty hard; especially the last three miles uphill.

Didn't run as long as I originally wanted to for today; however, with the weather conditions (cold, windy, snowy, overcast), I felt pretty good about the 15+ miles I did get in!

Palmer Park

February 20, 2010

Palmer Park

5.1 miles

54:12 minutes

Finally! I get to run with the guys! It's been a coon's age and I was really excited to meet up with them. A wrong turn and a little lost; but I finally made it to the meet point.

Palmer Park is great! It's in the middle of Colorado Springs; yet it is wild and has wonderful trails that are fantastic for running or mountain biking. I guess you could hike them as well!

We started at the Maizeland entrance to Palmer Park and took a series of trails looping the park. F took the lead because he actually got on line the night before to get the trail names. At each trail intersection point, he knocked the snow off the sign to see if we were heading in the right direction. I pulled in behind Dano and Mike, Jeff, and Bob followed.

After a few false trails, unfamiliar snow covered terrain, we managed to loop the park pretty successfully. It was great! Beautiful after last night's snow and it was still cold enough that the trees were encrusted with ice. Absolutely fantastic running -- quiet, few people, up and downs, and great friends.

My back was great. My legs were a little tired and the hamstring twinged a bit at the beginning but seemed to calm down; that is, until I stretched it on a wonderful, long, downhill section that just begged me to run.

After I hit the end of that stretch and started up the next rise, my hamstring told me in no uncertain terms how much it hated me. I had to shorten my stride, even on the downward sloping parts of the trail. Serious pain here; but hey, almost done with the run and it was virtually all downhill. Me, not take advantage of that? Ha!

At the end of the trail, F gave me a serious run for the money and pulled ahead of me until I caught my breath and told my legs to stretch it out. I did have an unfair advantage though over the guys -- I had my microspikes on and they are my "magic shoes" when running snow-covered, ice-encrusted, mountain bike-rutted trails.

At the end of the run, I walked the last tenth to try and stretch that hamstring. It was in the parking area and flat across the grassy field, not on the trail! That would be wrong!

Afterwards, breakfast and serious anniversary gift-giving advice for F who ran on his anniversary with us! If you ask me, dog-house if he doesn't go home with jewelry!

Santa Fe Again

February 18, 2010
Santa Fe Trail
8.13 miles
1:19 hours

Another day trying to stay off the hills. My back is doing great; however, my left hamstring has decided to make itself known in a not so pleasant manner. Really, really, not happy about that.
So, with that in mind, hitting the Santa Fe again ... this time from North gate down and then back up -- trying to spice things up by hitting different portions of this wonderful, long trail running north to south along Colorado Springs. And yes, of course, I did throw in some hills ... call me a glutton for punishment.

I really wanted to get back in time to hit a yoga class -- my chiro says it will be good for my back and I really should try to stretch myself better... unfortunately, I mis-managed my time on the run and missed the class. I'll start on Tuesday!

Good run down from North Gate. After 2.5 miles, you hit a stretch I refer to as the Narrows -- the trail goes from very flat, albeit downward grade to a series of up and down "S" turns down into a canyon and trees. I love this section, although, it usually kicks my butt pretty seriously. Goal was over an hour for the entire run and I certainly achieved that.

At the 4 mile point, I decided to turn around and head back up the trail. The Narrows took their toll on me going uphill mostly and my pace slowed significantly. Finally, hitting the flat (now slightly upward sloping) last 2.5 miles, I was able to marshall my energies, re-group and get a good, constant stride going.

Very nice with a tail wind today going back up. That felt good just because it was nippy heading down into the wind.

I can't believe it: checking my pace from Tuesdays run where I went uphill first and today's run where I went downhill first and then up - I had the exact same pace. What does this mean? I'm stronger than I think? Or it takes more mileage for me to get into a groove? Either way, I'm nothing but consistent!

February 16, 2010
Tucker's Tie-In
7 miles
1:08 hours

I am babying my back and therefore, have decided to run on the Santa Fe today. However, I just can't do flats, now can I?! So, with that in mind, I decided to run the Santa Fe from Woodmen up through the Academy and then turn around. This section has some really pretty rolling hills in it that are just gorgeous in the fall.

I had a chiropractor appointment at 9am and thought I would run after the adjustment. Dr. Gwen didn't like the fact I was running after her appt.; she told me next time to run before ... yes ma'am.

Great weather, a little breezy; but sunny and cool. Okay, for all you all non Coloradoans, that means it was about 35-40 degrees out and great!

It was a very nice run. It took me a bit to get all things working smoothly and I needed a pit stop at Ice Lake; however, by the turn around under the South USAFA bridge, I was feeling great and headed back down doing well.

No major aches or pains; however, I did notice my back and now I understand why Dr. Gwen wants me to run before!

Falcon Trail

February 14, 2010
Falcon Trail
13 miles
2:40 hours


Happy Valentine's Day! I love my holidays! My whole family knows what I love to do on holidays ... run! And they are great about letting me do it or we compromise and we have a family hike! Yeehaw! Either way, it's all good!

After a ten mile race, I still wanted to get some distance in today but the doc said no way to the Barr Trail ... hmmm, how about my favorite loop the Falcon Trail? Thank goodness I didn't ask her for permission.

I got out about 10:30 after a great breakfast in bed by Jessica! Love that girl! The temperature was about 19 degrees starting out and ended up at 25 by the time I finished. Yeah, a tad cold and windy too from the north. I started with my jacket on; took it off in the middle, and put it back on with four miles left.

Some flurries while out there but nothing much to speak of. Funny, only saw one person on the trail, a biker who passed me with only a 1/2 mile left for me today; I was expecting more out there today.

I was slower than usual - my legs were tired from yesterday and I didn't feel the need to push anything with the snow and ice on the trail. But what a nice run and since I didn't see anybody, my footprints were the first on the snow from yesterday. Is there anything better than running on virgin snow?

It was a great run; I stopped at the gas station, actually relaxed a bit in my head and stopped on the trail to get things out of my backpack and take pictures. Very enjoyable run and just reinforces how much I love that trail.

And best news of all - no back pain!

3rd Winter Series Race

Winter Series III

Santa Fe Trail

10 miles

1:33:23

I don't think I like the 10:15am starts, especially when the wind kicks up! This was an okay race; but I wasn't expecting much with the back still iffy and questionable. My back was twinging before the race so I took 800mg of Vitamin I and hoped for the best.

Rick and Jess drove me to the start and I quickly saw Tracey there. She ran down to the start (and ran back up after the race!), crazy woman! I didn't find Holly until we were both in the starting corral. She emailed me the night before telling me she would run with me, I emailed her back and told her I wasn't sure she would want to run with me since I was going to be slower than her! She reassured me that yes, she was running with me!

Holly was great! She ran with me for the first three miles and got my pace in the 9:30's, much quicker than I usually am when I start up the Santa Fe. However, poor Holly, she could only take 3 miles of my slow pace before she asked me if she could run along!

Miles 4 - 6 were patchy, snow-packed and I haven't learned how to run on that very well as yet; although Holly gave me some tips after the race. My pace fell off going into the turn and mile 6 was slower than I wanted because of that.

Miles 7-10, all sub 9 minute miles with the last mile the fastest of them all... good! Still in 5th place in my age group - even with the back!!

It was great overall. I had the best time with Rick and Jess along the course cheering me on at various locations! They were the best cheering squad out there and I really can tell a difference in my running when family is there to cheer me on.

This race Tracey started ahead of me and stayed ahead of me! No way I could catch her. Her marathon training is going great and she is getting stronger and stronger every day. I think from here on out, she will consistently be finishing in front of me.

A nice soak with Epsom Salts and a easy night with plans for the Falcon Trail tomorrow!

Very Short Run!

Santa Fe Trail ... again!
Feb 11, 2010
3.1miles
27:52 minutes

I felt good yesterday so why not go out before the chiro appointment, right? Right!

Good short little run up Santa Fe from Baptist again, just to get my feet wet. I felt a little tight in the lower back; however, I have appointment and no worries. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Chiro gave me the thumbs up for Saturday's race!!! However, she nixed the proposed Barr Trail Run on Sunday ... I'll think of something else to do in its place, trust me!

Great! It snowed tonight on the way home from teaching ... there goes the trail conditions I passed onto Scooter.

Wish me luck on Saturday!

1st Run since back problem

Santa Fe Trail
Feb 10, 2010
5 miles
48:32

I needed to get out. I had not "run" in over 8 days and I needed to get out! Also, I have a race on Saturday and I needed to know how the back would react. Fortunately, the race is on the Santa Fe and therefore, flat ... thank goodness.

Five miles - 2.5 up from Baptist and then return. Very nice trail conditions, no snow or ice; just great. And thankfully my back held up without any huge problems.

Okay, chiropractor tomorrow and we'll see if Doc Gwen allows me to run on Saturday!

Ouch!

Back pain is no joy. I've been under its spell for over a week now and I am ready to either cry "Uncle," just cry, or ignore it and just run.

Since last Tuesday, I've been on the treadmill twice and not for speed work mind you; just to stretch the legs and remind them what their primary mission is.

Yesterday, I finally decided to test the Vicodin, ice and stretching and hopped on the treadmill with fear and trepidation.

Flattening out the treadmill to its absolute flattest setting, I gingerly began walking with a significantly shortened stride. Whew! That worked. Of course, me, being me, I had to take it up to a jog after 20 minutes. Less than 5 minutes of that and I was quickly reminded that backs do not heal overnight, not even in a week. Good news is, the pain the came back was just achy, not a pull or tear. Bad news is my significant other yelled at me. Well ~ what can I say? I have a serious case of the "got to run nows!"

Afterwards, I went to work and voila! No pain sitting or getting up. I am feeling fairly cocky this morning and believe I will try it out on the Santa Fe. Either I will have a decent run and feel great, or I will be hobbling around like Grandma Moses for another week. Wish me luck!

January 24, 2010

Ute, Waldo, Longs Ranch, Barr Trail

19 miles

4.40 hours

What a long run and what a long time since I posted. I'll catch you all up with the last long run and then a summary of the last two weeks.

Sunday after the second winter series run was the Incline Club and the infamous double. Ute Pass Trail was great, icy after half way and then Waldo was pretty good on the way to the loop. The loop was icy and thank goodness I had my microspikes.

After Waldo, I headed up Longs Ranch Road and what a long road that really is. I knew I was one of the last ones attempting the double and therefore, I was out on that blinking long, uphill road all by myself, for a long, long, time.

Tracey told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to look for the third J-pipe, that's where the trail back to Barr Trail was. Holy Cow!! Those J-pipes were further apart than I remembered and it was getting cooler the higher up I got.

Finally, after power hiking most of Longs Ranch Road I spotted the infamous 3rd J-pipe. Once there, I stopped to take a picture and low and behold, a runner and his dog came down Longs Ranch. He had gone up Barr Trail and was making a loop out of it. Thank goodness for me since after on the spur trail a bit, he came back toward me and told me there were two sets of prints and he wanted to make sure I got on the right trail. What a guy! It was the first time I had taken that trail and I would have been lost up there after 4 hours of uphill and ice.

He and his dog led me to safety and the Barr Trail. I was really surprised at myself. After two hours (I think) on LRR, I was able to run on the spur trail and ran down the entire Barr Trail. I decided not to jump trail at Hydro and take the Barr all the way down. Won't do that again. A whole lot of dog legs and some steps actually.

Ruxton and down to Memorial was slow but I was running! Whew. Finally at Memorial park and it was 19 miles and 4 hours and 40 minutes. Really long, long day.

After that long run, I have had some slow weeks. I hit Fox Run Park on Wednesday, January 27. I did not have my microspikes and I really should have, it was very, very icy. It was a slow run for about an hour.

Saturday, January 30 was an hour on the treadmill before 6 am just so I could make my Regis faculty meeting.

Sunday, another slow day with being prepared.

From there, last week was terrible. Lower back pain knocked me out and has kept me side-lined all week. Muscle relaxers are my new best friend! Actually, I have been really bummed this week because I have not been able to run. I know, I know, one week, even two, will not kill me but my body is telling me "I've gotta run, I've gotta run;" but the back says, walk like an old lady. Don't worry, actually called the chiro and my masseuse and hopefully between the two, I'll be back and running before Saturday's third Winter Series run. Hopefully.

There you are, a bad, bad ten days and I'm seriously bummed. Good news, last year, I did not hit 4.5 hours until March so I guess I'm not too far off the plan. I just really wanted to be better and stronger than last year. In the infamous words of Scarlett O'Hara, "AS God is my witness ..." I'll run harder and more this year!