Another Easy Rail

53 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:30am - sunny and very warm - another day of runnin' easy on the Rail - nice and easy, just goin' slow, but felt a little more speedy than yesterday - saw more runners on the Rail today than ever before - feeling very good - spring is coming - life is good.

Rail

56 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:15am, sun and clouds, warm - Jeez, do I love the Rail Trail - and, oh, do I love running in the morning - saw the osprey again - nice and easy - kind of stuck in a middle gear lately - not really able to really cook down the trail - a rut in February/March is ok, as long as I work it out by May - mosly dry today (only a little mud) - feeling good.

Big Blue

49 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 2pm, filtered sun, warm - warmest day in a while (60 degrees) - from the S. Boulder Creek (West) TH - standard Big Bluestem loop - easy and mellow - quads not so sore today - felt great - some dog tried to jump on me, but I didn't let it get to me - tons of peeps out on the trail today - had to park on the street - beautiful day.

Cowdrey Trail

52 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 1:30ish - sunny, chilly, steady northerly breeze - parked at the new TH off 66th St., took the Cowdrey Trail west, Community Ditch west to CO93 (including the little ditch loop), and back - easy and mellow - muddy in spots - quads still sore, but better - felt good - lots of people out there today.

The Tank

72 minutes
easy to moderate pace
with NeNe - midday, sunny, warm, windy - started from the TH on Valmont - NeNe ran to the tank, I ran to the TH just beyond the tank - I went at a moderate pace until I caught up to her just east of the tank on the way back, then I went easy with her - felt good to work harder, but I only felt so-so - quads are sore - very windy going west.

Fowler Big Loop

86 minutes
easy to moderate pace
solo - started and finished with NeNe at the Eldorado Mountain TH, but we did our own runs - I headed up the dirt road then took the singletrack to the left of the first right-hand switchback - continued up the trail to the canal road, headed back north to conect with the Fowler Trail, into Eldorado Canyon State Park, then climbed up the Eldorado Canyon Trail for 12 minutes or so (didn't quite reach the highpoint of the trail), turned around, headed down, then ran the road through the park and town and back up the county road hill to the TH, meandered around the TH until NeNe arrived - muddy and slushy and fun - my quads are tired and sore (not use to running) - tricky footing in the sloppy conditions.

Around the Res

54 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 12:30pm - sunny, chilly, and windy - Boulder Reservoir - started from entry gate off 55th St., headed north, did clockwise loop of the Res - super mellow - wore shorts, but should have worn tights - the NW wind was biting - felt great - effortless flying going east with the tailwind - saw a hawk, only 30 feet off the road, on the ground, with bloody guts all around him - we interrupted her meal - we've been getting an up close view of nature's violent side lately - also watched an ice sailing craft zip across the Res at a serious clip - a little snowy, a little muddy.

Another Eagle at BVR

56 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 3:30pm - sunny and chilly - westerly breeze - nice and mellow - wow, it feels great to run - the snow is melting (today the trail was only about 60% snowpacked) - muddy days ahead - from the Boulder Valley Ranch TH, Sage, Eagle, Mesa Reservoir, Hidden Valley, Cobalt - saw a bald eagle dining in the middle of a lake - he had caught something and brought it out to the middle of the ice - when we passed by, he was busy ripping the flesh from the bones - it was probably a prairie dog - feeling very fresh and well-rested - one more slowish day, then I'll ramp up the speed and mileage.

Easy at Boulder Valley Ranch

37 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - Boulder Valley Ranch - first day back - just short and super easy - sunny and chilly with a snowpacked trail - felt great to be running again - hackin' up a lot of snot from the rest days - Degge Trail, Hidden Valley Trail, Mesa Reservoir Trail, Eagle Trail - saw a bald eagle perched in a tree near Mesa Reservoir - feels good to be healthy again.

Last Rest Day

rest day
my body wanted a rest, so it got a nice, long one
I'll be back at it tomorrow

Yet Another Rest Day

rest day
feeling much better - one or two more rest days will leave me hungry to get back out there

Still Restin'

rest day
bitter cold and the tail end of a flu combine to keep me inside

Still Illin', Still Chillin'

rest day
I am having so much fun with the stomach flu - going for a run seems like such a bummer.

Illin' and Chillin'

rest day
flu-like symptoms - nothing too terrible, but I certainly do not feel like running.

Back on the Rail

54 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:30am - sunny, breezy - probably the last day in shorts for a while - Rail Trail from the school - slight headwind out, decent tailwind back - I'm glad the do-something-aerobic-every-day-of-2006 streak is over - I am good about getting out there and running almost every day - I don't need some dumb streak to keep me motivated - it was becoming this weight on my shoulders - now I can still get out there almost every day, but I'll go because I want to go, not because of some silly streak - felt good, but slow - spacin' out today, just zipping along thinking about everything and nothing - cold runs the rest of the week.

Rest Day

The 2006 streak is over - lazy, lazy.

Easy Neighborhood Trot

46 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - from the house - 10:15am - Church Trail, NIST/NOAA property, King, Four Pines TH, behind Green Mountain Cemetery, up Skunk to the top of telephone road., east on telephone toad, Vassar, home - mellow - should have worn shorts.

Fartlek on the Doudy Loop

94 minutes
easy pace, with fartlek surges
with NeNe - 1:40pm - sunny, chilly, breezy, snow on the trail - started from the Doudy Draw TH, south and east on the Doudy Draw, across CO93, north on Greenbelt Plateau, west along Community Ditch - NeNe ran easy, and I mixed it up (sometimes running easy alongside her, sometimes surging ahead for 1-3 minutes, then either walking and waiting for or jogging back to her) - our new version of this loop includes what we call "extended Doudy", a singletrack south and east of the official Doudy Draw trail - along that section especially, but really everywhere, the footing was tough, as the fresh powder was cut up, soft, and unpacked - the fartlek surges were slip-slidey - seemed like a headwind no matter where we were - beautiful sunny day.

Snowy Half-Rail with Blaine

51 minutes
easy pace
with Blaine - 3:30pm - sun and clouds, 3-4 inches of fresh powder on the trail - Blaine (a junior xc runner) is preparing to climb Mount Shasta in April - very mellow tromp through the snow (his first run ever in snow) - ran the Rail Trail to the pond and back - tricky footing - in the shadow most of the way back - felt only so-so.

And Another Easy Rail

53 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:30am - cloudy, windy, and warm (shorts!) - Rail Trail - felt very good today - I think most of the cob webs are shaken off now - last day of warm and dry (snow coming) - love this trail in the morning.

Another Easy Rail

55 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8am - filtered sunshine - 50 degrees - Rail Trail from the school - I think I am finally shaking off those doldrums that have hung around the past few days - I was actually excited to be out there and did not feel nearly as slow and heavy - after the normal first 15 uncomfortable minutes I was feeling great - I am still moving slowly (a few weeks ago I ran this trail in 45 minutes), but feeling good - rolled the left ankle again-this time not too badly, but I've got to stop doing it or it will be jelly by summer - peeled the long sleeved top off after the first mile - nothing like the crisp morning air on my bare chest to make me feel awake and alive - The last two days of running felt like work, but today the joy was back.

Workin' the Kinks Out on the Rail

56 minutes
easy pace
solo - 3:30pm - sunny and calm, warm enough for shorts - in and out of the shadow on the way back - flet very sluggish and heavy at the beginning, but felt quick and mean by the end - the ankle held up just fine in the more technical sections - I think I need Spring Break to get me onto some new trails - I'm in a bit of a rut - feeling a little uninspired and unmotivated lately - but, at least I'm getting the runs in - just wait until I'm feeling it again - then I'll really be upping the mileage - (thinking about doing the Pikes Peak Ascent in August, among other things) - winter is all about just getting in easy mileage, so I'm not concerned if I feel slow or uninspired every now and then - I'll be ready when April and May arrive, you betcha.

Easy at Boulder Valley Ranch

52 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - sunny, chilly, and windy - 3:30pm - from the BVR TH off Longhorn Rd., Sage Trail, Eagle Trail, Mesa Reservoir Trail, Hidden Valley Trail, Cobalt Trail - felt unmotivated and sluggish today, but I'm glad I did something - kept it on smooth, flat trails to give the ankle some rest - ankle felt ok, just a little stiff - saw a bald eagle in flight - very mellow pace.

Near Plainview Quarry

66 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe, (but broke off solo in the middle for a little exploring) - from the Eldorado Mountain TH - 12:30pm - sunny and chilly - ran up to the "private property" gate (SW of the siphon), then continued south and east along open space boundary fence, cross-country across the prairie grass, then rejoining Siphon Road, and retrace route down singletrack - re-rolled my left ankle (it hurt this time as it was already sore from last week's roll), it is now very sore - awkward today (rolled ankle and twice fell down) - not quite as at peace with the world today, I guess.

Big Big Blue - North Shanahan

87 minutes
easy pace (with a few short downhill surges at moderate pace)
with NeNe - 1pm- filtered sunshine - from the S. Boulder Creek (west) TH - South Boulder Creek, Mesa, Upper Big Bluestem, Mesa, North Shanahan (singletrack lower section), Shan/Blue, Lower Big Bluestem - felt great - the forest was so still and quiet today - I felt very relaxed and at peace with the world - zen.

High School Ski Trip

Friday
Classic cross-country skiing from the Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center with some of the HS girls - an hour and a half at a painfully slow pace - then I shot off for a half hour at a moderate clip.

Thursday
an hour and a half of Capture the Flag in waist-deep snow - hard work - of course, no team won - it was fun just breaking trail/making trenches in the deep stuff - then an hour of tubing at the Fraser Tubing Hill - very windy, so, to keep warm, me and a couple of the XC runners would run all out to the tow rope every time - way fun tubing with kids - then swimming and sauna for an hour followed by an hour of pick-up basketball at Snow Mountain Ranch (where we all stayed).

Boulder Valley Ranch

59 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 3:30pm - sunny and breezy - warm, over 50 degrees (shorts again!) - super mellow cruise starting from the Foothills (east) TH - Eagle, Cobalt, Sage, Eagle, Mesa Reservoir, Hidden Valley, Eagle back to the TH - just chattin' it up - I cannot get over the winter we've been having here - I've worn shorts about 75% of my runs - I know it won't last - homemade saag for dinner - life is good.