Finishing My Twenty

Santa Fe Trail

June 29, 201o

7.51 miles

1:12:10

9:37 min/mile pace

Rick gave me the idea to run the rest of my 20 miles today that I didn't get in yesterday and I decided to do it. I have a long run planned tomorrow with Tracey (Rampart Reservoir - 15 miles) so I didn't want to over-extend myself after Elk Park yesterday and elected to run the Santa Fe Trail from Monument up to Palmer Lake and back.

I got started 10:30 am and the temperature was already 76 degrees. I ran with just my shorts and running bra since I knew the temperatures would just climb higher as the hour passed. A nice tailwind for the uphill first leg and I came into Palmer Lake with a 9:30 pace before I hit the bathroom and stretched for my 3.5+ miles back down.

That nice tailwind turned into a strong headwind on the way back. Here, where I live in Colorado, there is virtually no wind early in the morning. Then it gradually picks up midmorning to a rather brisk wind (20-25knots) in the afternoon before evening when it finally subsides; that is, unless you have stormy weather then all bets are off. One of the reasons I like Fox Run Park so much is that the trees protect you from the majority of the wind. If I see the trees swaying a bit at my house, I know the wind is pretty brisk a thousand feet below where the Santa Fe Trail is. There aren't many trees on the Santa Fe. But I digress and now back to my mid-morning run.

At the end of my run, I hit the garmin and am not surprised that although I ran downhill on the way back, my pace was slower due to the wind. The wind is my friend, the wind is my friend ...