Home from School

40 minutes
easy to moderate pace (closer to easy)
solo - sunny, warm, snow melting everywhere - 3:40pm - ran home from the school on pavement - all road, sidewalk, or bikepath - straight down Broadway - GoogleMaps says it's 5.63 miles? - didn't feel great until the last mile - it's tough starting out going downhill - I can feel the pavement in my quads (roads are brutal) - running isn't quite so peaceful with traffic, stoplights, peds, etc. - hard to get into any kind of a rhythm on the city grid - back to nature tomorrow.

Snow on the Rail

63 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:20am - clouds and filtered sunshine - cold - 3 inches or so of fresh powder from yesterday's snow - (the past 5 days or so we have been getting a little bit of snow every day) - slow goin' today, tromping through the snow, but very fun and beautiful - Rail Trail from the school - the trail varied from soupy slush and mud (on the south-facing slopes) to 8 inches of fluffy powder (on the north-facing slopes) - mine were the first footprints on the Rail today - I may have seen mountain lion tracks at the pond today, but it was hard to tell - feelin' great.

Rest

rest day
couldn't get motivated

East Boulder Trail

64 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - midday, cloudy, cold, brisk northwesterly breeze - started from the E. Boulder Trail/Teller Farm North TH (on Valmont, east of 95th St.), East Boulder Trail past the South TH, turned around at Arapahoe Rd., retraced our steps to the North TH, then ran the around the north and east side of Teller Lake to the dead end, retraced our steps to the TH - very mellow and slow - low clouds shrouding the mountains - it's nice to get out in the farmland from time to time - cattle, hawks, eagles, turkey vultures - snow flurries - beautiful winter day.

Treadmillin'

45 minutes
moderate pace
solo (on a treadmill) - 10:30am - on Fridays, I bring the freshmen to the N. Boulder Rec. Center for their P.E. classes - once there, I'm left to do whatever, as they are being "supervised" by the rec. center staff - I had a morning meeting, and my afternoon was spoken for, so a little treadmill running at the rec. was all I could do today - 5 minutes of warm-up at 7:00 mile pace, then 35 minutes at 6:20-6:30 mile pace (I ran 5 minutes at 6:00 mile pace, but backed off - just didn't feel like working that hard today), then 5 minutes of warm-down at 7:30 mile pace - I am convinced that treadmill running is a lot easier (physically) than real running, but mentally it's much harder - so boring - I cannot watch the tv's; that makes the time crawl - I found myself staring at a spot on the floor or a tree out the window, then I'd space out and the minutes would seemingly tick off a little more quickly - (then the only distraction was the occasional old lady asking how much longer I would be using the treadmill - or some of the Frosh trying to increase the belt speed) - treadmillin' is better than doing nothing at all, but it is not running - I ended up "running" 6.7 miles.

More Rest

rest day
just laziness

Rest

rest day
snow and laziness

More of the Rail

53 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:20am - sunny, very warm - the winds arrived just as I finished this run - shorts today, and I peeled off the shirt after the first half mile (oh, do I love being nearly naked in the crisp morning air) - no wildlife to report except a little vole that crossed the trail right in front of me (and the usual prairie dogs, magpies, ravens, rabbits, small birds, pigeons, etc.) - felt tired, stiff, and slow today, but still loved being out there - snow tomorrow.

Back on the Rail

53 minutes
easy pace
solo - 4:30pm - cloudy, but warm - Rail Trail from the high school (about a half mile farther, round-trip than usual) - started out feeling only ok, but finished feeling quite good - I should have taken care of some digestion before hitting the trail, so the run was a little uncomfortable - more fun tomorrow.

Davidson & Marshall Mesas

37 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - midday - sunny, warm (shorts and no shirt - my favorite get-up) - just a little run today - started from the Marshall Mesa TH, ran along Marshall Road, took a right on Cherryvale Road, took the trail that roughly parallels Cherryvale for a while, then took the trail up and over Davidson Mesa, crossed Marshall Road, up Marshall Mesa, then right back down to the TH on the Community Ditch Trail - nice and mellow - beautiful warm and sunny day - lots of people on Marshall Mesa, but not a soul on Davidson Mesa.

Rest Day

Levi's Birthday!

Rail Rail Rail

49 minutes
easy to moderate pace (closer to easy)
solo - 8:20am - sunny, fairly warm - Rail Trail from the school (again) - what a beautiful crisp and clear morning - oh yes, now I'm feeling zippy again - feeling great, in fact - perfect day, perfect easy little run.

More of the Rail

51 minutes
easy pace
solo - 9:30am - filtered sun, warm - a little quicker today, but from the same easy effort - I'm getting my faster gears back (perhaps the "February funk" is over) - it's strange how I never get tired of running the Rail Trail - it's got enough variation in the terrain to keep me from getting bored - feelin' great - this winter has been so nice, warm, and dry (March is the snowiest month here, so we'll see).

Resting

rest day
no other reason other than laziness - oh, the laziness

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.

Hogback Shadow

46 minutes
easy pace (moderate climbing the steps)
solo - 3:20pm - felt a little sluggish, so I decided that, if I was going to go slow, I'd head up and do some climbing - nothing like a bunch of stairsteps to work the kinks out - headed out from the school and did the Hogback Loop - those steps get easier every time (it used to seem like such a task to get up there, but now it's over before I start suffering much) - felt great on the way back - sunny, but I was in the shadow for most of the run - warm enough for shorts - lovely day - saw no one on the Hogback Loop trail.

Easy Rail

42 minutes
easy pace
solo - 3:30pm - sunny, but ended in the shadow - just warm enough for shorts (50 degrees) - from the Fourmile Creek TH, to the Rail Trail terminus and back - just goin' mellow - tail/crosswind out, head/crosswind back - I was not motivated to get out there today, but, once I was five minutes into it, I was glad to be doing it - a quarter mile from the end, I passed Frank Shorter - he was just trottin' slowly (probably out on a twenty miler or something) - wow, was it really 36 years ago that he won the gold? - he's still gettin' out there and runnin' - I hope I can keep it up that long - felt good today - I spent a lot of today's run daydreaming about mountain biking - I saw my riding partner today, and he assures me that he will be in shape come spring - I know I will be - well, even if I'm in good running shape, it will take me a couple weeks to get my riding legs back - the heart and lungs will be there though (never left).

Into Shadow Canyon

77 minutes
easy to moderate pace (moderate climbing, easy descending)
solo - 2pm - sunny, but chilly and windy - (ended up not skiing today) - started from the S. Boulder Creek (West) TH, west on South Boulder Creek Trail, south down the Mesa Trail, westward up the Homestead Trail, continued west on the Towhee Trail, Shadow Canyon Trail to the abandoned cabin (where Shadow Canyon "proper" begins), northeast on the westernmost "last chance" connector back to the Mesa Trail, north on the Mesa, and eastward down the Upper and Lower Big Bluestem to the TH - felt very good - I am becoming quite the mountian goat - the climbing just gets easier every month - rolled my left ankle on the descent (nothing serious, just enough so it will be a little sore for a few days).

Big Big Blue

59 minutes
easy to moderate pace
solo - 1:45pm - sunny with intermittent cloud shadows, chilly, light breeze - Big Big Bluestem loop - from the S. Boulder Creek (West) TH, South Boulder Creek trail, north on the Mesa, west on Upper Big Bluestem, reconnect and continue north on the Mesa trail, South Shanahan trail, Shan/Blue connector, lower Big Bluestem to the TH - saw a fox at the Mesa / S. Shan junction (I don't know if it was directed at me or some hikers' dogs nearby, but the fox barked - I had never heard that before) - I had planned on going farther today, but my legs were tight and a little tired. Going on a long ski tomorrow and I want to be fresh for that.

Osprey on the Rail

52 minutes
easy pace
solo - 8:30am - filtered sunshine, just warm enough for shorts - Rail Trail from the school - mellow pace - felt good - saw that bird again, and I am certain it was an osprey - it soared right over me - if it looks like an osprey, and it flies like an osprey...it's probably an osprey - NeNe ran the same trail at noon and saw it (another?) and she is also sure it was an osprey - just because guidebooks and birders say that they do not winter here does not mean that there are not exceptions - individual birds can break the rules, species have variations (even mutations), and there is plenty of documentation of wildlife behaving strangely in the past decade or so - so I say osprey - I'll betcha a sushi dinner on it.

E/F Loop with the Waning Crescent

58 minutes
easy pace
solo - 7am - chilly, but not as cold as I had anticipated (overdressed) - clear skies - crescent moon hanging out above the southern horizon - sun rose as I traversed the Mesa Trail - I don't know what it is about being on the Mesa Trail at sunrise, but it's special watching the sunlight creep down the flatirons until finally it's on me - mellow tromp - spacin' out - just "being" - felt only so-so (wasn't really awake yet).

Glove Retrieval at Boulder Valley Ranch

60 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 4pm-ish - fifty degrees, filtered sunshine - yet another day in shorts - sun setting as we finished - started at the Foothills / Eagle junction off US 36 just north of town - Eagle trail, down the Cobalt trail, Sage trail, southwest on the Eagle trail, Mesa Reservoir trail, Hidden Valley trail, and the Degge trail back to the TH - nice and easy, but I did one little surge after NeNe realized that she dropped a glove "somewhere back there" - it was only about 300 meters "back there", but by the time I got it, turned around, and caught back up to her, it was about a 3/4 mile surge that I had done - legs were a little tired from yesterday's effort, but felt pretty good overall - I know there will be plenty of nasty weather to endure in the next few months, but next week February comes - spring and summer is right around the corner - if I can just keep up the motivation and keep getting out there almost every day, I will be in pretty good shape to start jammin' again when the weather is nice - What's on the agenda? Lots of mountain biking, tons of trail running, maybe a little trail racing, and a trail marathon.

Rail Trail at a Decent Clip

45 minutes
moderate to hard pace (closer to moderate)
solo - 8am - from the school to the Rail Trail terminus and back - chilly, but wore shorts, sunny, light crosswind - I felt like going hard so that's what I did - came back two minutes faster than I went out - It felt great to turn it on a bit today; I had not run quickly in quite a while - felt great - I had some zip in my legs, but, when Spring comes, I'll have to start doing it more often (then it won't feel so foreign). Today, it was a bit of a shock-to-the-system, but a good kind of shock - running is a wonderful thing - I am lucky to be able to do it - I love it.

Boulder Valley Ranch

51 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 3:30pm, warm enough for shorts, sunny, calm - very mellow clockwise loop from the Longhorn TH - Sage trail, Eagle trail, Mesa Reservoir trail, Hidden Valley trail, Cobalt trail back down to the car - lots of flying v's of geese out there - felt great - maybe I will go fast tomorrow?

Backcountry Skiing at Brainard

[backcountry skiing]
2 hours 20 minutes
mellow tour
with NeNe - late morning - cold and windy, but sunny with blue skies - went west on the Waldrop trail to Brainard Lake, around the lake along the road (very exposed and windy), back east on the CMC trail - the CMC is a ski-only trail (no pesky snowshoe people cutting up the ski tracks), a very neat "corridor" through the forest - nice wide-open downhill to finish - beautiful up there - lots of snow along the CMC.

[The running-every-day-of-2006 streak has ended, but the do-something-aerobic-everyday-of-2006 streak lives on.]

Sunrise E/F in the Snow

61 minutes
easy pace
solo - 7am - 10-15 degrees, clear skies - standard E/F loop - I love to get up on the Mesa Trail early in the morning - crisp, clean air - the Earth spun around to show the sunrise just as I got up onto Kohler mesa - stunningly beautiful - mountains rising up to meet the waning moon - only saw one other person up on the Mesa - trail surface was snowpacked and icy with chunky footprints frozen in yesterday's slush - I had a few cocktails last night so I was not feeling particularly super or swift - very mellow pace - just going slow and enjoying the scenery.

SoBo with NeNe

54 minutes
easy to moderate pace
with NeNe - 4pm - sunset shortly after starting - from the S. Boulder Creek East TH - ran easy with NeNe to the E. Boulder Rec Center where she turned around - I continued to the Bobolink TH at Baseline Rd. at moderate pace, turned around and chased NeNe at moderate pace and finally caught her 5 minutes from the car - ran easy with her to finish - cold - trial surface was a mix of dirt, mud, puddles, packed snow, and powder - felt good to go a little faster today - last day in my old (grey) Montrail Hardrocks - they are officially retired as new red ones have been acquired.

Snow on the Rail

50 minutes
easy pace (with moderate surges mixed in)
solo - 9am - cold, light snow falling, low clouds, fog - felt great to get away this morning - about an inch of snow on the trail - mine were the first footprints on the Rail Trail today, except for the prairie dogs (they have interesting tracks - all four feet hit the ground, then about a foot and a half of getting airborne before all four feet hit the ground again within a foot of each other - that must be a prairie dog who's haulin' ass, in full flight) - Rail Trail from the school - felt pretty good - I love running on days like this because (almost) no one else is out there.

Easy Rail

52 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 3:30pm - windy, sun & shadow, warm enough for shorts - Rail Trail from the Fourmile Creek TH - a very mellow tromp, chattin' (bitchin' and moanin' about students / colleagues / parents) with NeNe - I was glad to get out there to blow off some steam (I'll be glad when this week is over - feeling kind of stressed).

Up Linden Again

42 minutes
easy pace
solo - cold, windy, in the shadow (4:15pm) - same loop as last Thursday, but without the wrong turns - very unmotivated and a little tired before going out, but ten seconds out I was glad I was doing it - saw a woman and her dog twice who were doing the same loop in the other direction - plenty of climbing on this loop, but this second time was so much easier than last Thursday.

A Cold Big Blue with NeNe

44 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 11am - cold, overcast - standard Big Bluestem loop (same loop as yesterday with sr/og) - very mellow - reality returned today along with winter - woke up to a half inch of snow in Boulder, just enough to make the trail slightly muddy - I noticed in Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac that today is "Ditch Your New Year's Resolution Day" - the weather certainly had something to do with it, but the New Year's Resolutioners were absent from the trail - too bad for them, but good for the rest of us - with the exception of some occasional nice days, the trails are all ours until early April (when those people creep back out of the woodwork for their Bolder Boulder preparation).

Big Blue with SR/OG

50 minutes
easy pace
with sr/og - 8:00am, sunny, chilly but warmed up quickly - nice and easy tromp of the standard small Big Bluestem loop - saw a coyote truckin' across the prairie and across the Mesa trail - very mellow - visited the FHS track on the way home.

Fowler with the Family

49 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe, KJ, and senior runner/oldguy - from the Eldorado Mountain TH, Fowler trail to the Visitor's Center in Eldorado Canyon State Park - sunny and very warm (shorts, no shirt, knit cap) - I think sr/og liked the views in the canyon - super mellow - fun - beautiful day.

Easy E/F

54 minutes
easy pace
solo - 7:30am, sunrise - cold - left the house just as the sun crept over the horizon - standard E/F loop - through the hood, church trail, NOAA/NIST property, service road up onto Enchanted / Kohler Mesa, Mesa trail to Bear Creek fire road, Bear Mountain Park, through the hood back to the house - passed a small group of mule deer on the Mesa trail (they stood motionless and just watched me run by) - cold, but the sun warmed things up pretty quickly - only saw two people up on the Mesa - nice and easy -felt great.

Up Linden

44 minutes
easy to moderate pace (closer to easy)
solo - 8am - clouds and sun - chilly (dressed for winter) - windy (first half) - from the school, across Wonderland Lake dam, south to Linden, west on Linden Dr., climbed up the road and continued climbing on N. Cederbrook Dr., Ridge Rd., "wraparound" trail above Lee Hill Dr., Old Kiln Trail, Foothills Trail, Foothills Community Park, back to the school - I was thinking that this run would be much more difficult - maybe that's why it seemed so easy (prepared for worse) - only 5 to 5.5 miles, but a good hill in there - really only 15 minutes of climbing (800 feet or so) - about half roads, half trail - as I descended the "wraparound", I saw, on the slope on the other side of Lee Hill Dr., a fox darting through a small herd of mule deer as a hiker was spooking all of them - that little fox was movin' - always wanted to do that loop and now it's done - felt great again.

More of the Rail

51 minutes
easy to moderate pace
solo - 9:30am - Rail Trail (I do love that trail) - filtered sunshine, warmish (shorts) - windy (head/crosswind out, tail/crosswind back) - nothing special to note today except that I felt better than I have in two weeks, felt great - tomorrow they are calling for colder temperatures, but just for a day - I might actually have to wear tights for the first time in the '06 (I hope not) - getting spoiled with these warm temps - I am feeling the slightest bit of tightness / soreness along my left shin - got to do my stretches (something I've been neglecting to do) - don't want to get a shin splint.

2nd Run Today - Half Rail with Blaine

52 minutes
easy pace
with Blaine (one of the runners on the cross country team) - Blaine needs to be ready for some mountaineering outings that he will be doing as part of his Senior Project, so he wants to run with me sometimes. So, we did a run together at dusk. - We left the school at 4:45pm, headed out on the Rail Trail, got to "the pond" (or "bog", or "oasis", whatever you want to call it) and it was getting awfully dark, turned around and stumbled back. We were watching our moon shadows on the way back, looking at the city lights, and the big herds of mule deer. It really was a cool experience. Plus, he's a very neat kid - I love talking with him - still warm enough for shorts - nice and easy - looking forward to more runs with him - I wanted more mileage, and today I got some more mileage.

Rail and Hogback

71 minutes
moderate pace
solo - 9:00am - filtered sunshine, a little chilly, slightly windy, got to wear shorts again - from the school, ran the Rail Trail, on the way back I did the Hogback Loop (clock-wise like usual) - first time I actually ran all the stairsteps on the Hogback - those steps get easier every time - great views from up on the ol' Hogback - saw a couple mule deer and several hawks - I spooked one hawk as I rounded a corner and he took off only 20 meters or so in front of me - it was nice to go faster and a little farther - felt good

Rail Trail from the Trailhead

53 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - 1:30pm - sunny and a little chilly (shorts, but hat & gloves) - did the Rail Trail from the Fourmile Creek TH instead of from the school - super mellow pace - just chattin' with NeNe - slight tailwind out (hardly noticed it), slight headwind back (noticed it) - pretty nice day for what is forecasted as the coldest day of the week - calm winds for a change - warmer temps later in the week, so that probably means more wind (great - my favorite) - Third Quarter (my busiest quarter) starts next week, so no more sneakin' away in the early afternoons - it'll be all mornings or late afternoons then - but we're getting more daylight every day now, so all will be AOK - I've been doing far too many easy short runs lately - I really need to go faster or farther, or both.

Gregory Canyon to the House

56 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - sunny, windy, and a bit chilly - 10:30am - parked a vehicle at Gregory Canyon TH, Blue-Baird trail & eventually connected to the Mesa trail near the Bluebell / Mesa junction (there are so many trails around there that I cannot keep them straight), Mesa to the mouth of Bear Canyon, east on fire road, Yuri Pass, through the hood to the house. - it's fun doing a point to point run, rather than a loop or an out and back - retrieved the vehicle after a late lunch at the Tea House - lots of people out there on the trails - all of those New Year's resolutioners are still at it (Will they still be out there when the weather turns nasty? I hope not for my own trail experiences and enjoyment, but I hope so for our society in general.) - I think there was a little section of the Blue-Baird that I had never been on before - always good to see new territory - staying in the trees and being close to the hills shielded us from some of the wind - very fun - felt great.

Up to the Mesa

56 minutes
easy to moderate pace (moderate on uphills and flats, easy on downhills)
solo - 2:15pm - sunny and 65 degrees, light winds - summer garb (shoes, socks, shorts, skin) - from the house, west through the hood, up and over Yuri Pass, Bear Creek fire road, north on the Mesa, down McClintock and Enchanted Mesa trails, past Chautauqua Auditorium, zig zag through the hood to the Four Pines TH, little trail behind Green Mountain Cemetery, across Skunk Creek, NOAA/NIST property to Broadway and Dartmouth, through the hood to the "church trail", back to the house - felt pretty good, not super - the trails were full of people - as I descended the McClintock I passed some fifty-something woman hiking and she said, "God, you are an inspiration. Wow". I just smiled and laughed, but I thought, "Geez, you're easily inspired". What's so inspirational about a guy letting gravity yank him down a trail? Besides, there are easily 500 faster and fitter runners in this town. It was a little weird, but, of course, the compliment made me feel good. - Unbelievably nice day.

Easy Rail

53 minutes
easy pace
solo - Rail Trail - 1:45pm - sunny and fairly windy ("the rail" is usually a better choice of trail on windy days, as it is right along the foothills - gives a little blocking protection) - I had planned on going farther and faster, but once I got out there I just wasn't feelin' it - nice and mellow - one of those days when I space out and all of a sudden I'm done - that's fun - effortless.

Easy Meander with Dan-o

35 minutes
easy pace
with Dan-o - 9:30am - easy meander around Foothills Community Park and Wonderland Lake - sunny and chilly, light breeze - wore shorts - shot some hoops in the gym as a little warm up - feelin' good - it's hard for Dan-o and I to go slow, but we forced ourselves to do so.

Back to Work - Rail Trail

51 minutes
easy to moderate pace
solo - Winter Break has ended - back to work today - so, ran the Rail Trail from the school - 9:30am - mostly sunny - probably a little too chilly for shorts, but I did it anyway - also wore winter cap and thin gloves (and a long shirt) - only a gentle breeze, which was very nice indeed - my cold is almost gone - feeling pretty strong, almost all the way back - I love this trail; if the city ever turns it into an "officially designated" city trial, they will ruin it by turning the perfect singletrack into a freeway - I'm glad I can enjoy it while it is still sweet.

Fowler - More Wind

47 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - Fowler trail - 10:30am - sunny, but windy (I am getting very tired of this wind business - I'll welcome the return of cold temperatures if it means some relief from the wind - it's difficult to relax, even indoors, when the wind is howlin') - start and finish at the Eldorado Mountain TH - up the Fowler to the visitor's center in Eldorado Canyon State Park, and back - it's good we ran when we did, as the wind got much worse later in the day (did I mention how much I dislike the wind? - if I ever commit some awful crime, it will happen on a windy day - makes me crazy) - I was pretty wiped out after my run with Dan-o yesterday, so today it was nice to just go mellow - shorts, winter cap, thin gloves

When Seniorrunner/Oldguy comes to town, I think this is the trail I'd like him to see - (spectacular views of the canyon) - after the initial climb (5-10 min.) it's pretty flat and the views are awesome - he has some "clock cleaning" on his agenda - the clock to which he refers must be his own - ha! - but, we'll do something else if it's icy - as of now, it's dry.

Left Hand/Rail - With Dan-o

56 minutes
moderate pace
with Dan-o - Left Hand/Rail loop - 3pm - Eagle, down Cobalt, north on Left Hand, west on Beech, cross US36, Rail trail, Foothills trail, tunnel back under US36 - moderate pace but very windy, so effort was more than moderate - felt good to work hard - it really is fun running kind of fast with Dan-o - warm enough to wear shorts, but had on my winter cap to keep the wind out of my ears - sunset as we finished - feeling better (my cold) every day, but still hackin' up some pretty stuff

Buffalo Ranch

46 minutes
easy pace
with NeNe - Buffalo Ranch - 3:30pm, start and finish at S. Boulder Creek East TH - Buffalo Ranch (CU cross country course - Jawbone Hill gets easier every time I run it), berm trail, Tantra Park - sunny, sunset as we finished - not as warm as past few days, but not as windy - not as congested today, but hacking cough - feeling a lot better today - felt blah at the start, great afterward - running was the best thing I could have done - a boxer/pitbull dog ran along with us for a while - well, not really - he would run past us , then stop and sniff some stuff, then pass us again, and on and on - cute dog, ran sort of sideways - saw several "New Year's resolutioners" out there.

"Extended Cow Paddies"

Noonish - met Dan-o, of Earlham College Cross Country and Track, for a little jaunt. Warm (shorts), but windy. Warmed up 12 minutes solo before meeting him (I need that - He's 20, so he can "just go". I need to ease into it). We ran what he calls "extended cow paddies" (from Fairview H.S., through the "hood" to the East Shanahan TH, south on the Shan-Blue connector, up lower Big Bluestem, south on the Mesa, east on S. Boulder Creek, to the TH on Hwy. 93, frontage road back into town, Greenbriar to the H.S.). 48 minutes at moderate pace (for me - easy for him). Even though I'm feeling blah today, it's good to turn the legs over more quickly, felt great on the run. It's good to see ol' Dan-o. I'll be trying to run more with him before he goes back to school for spring semester. Then ran solo for 4 minutes of warm-down afterward. 64 minutes total.

Easy at White Rocks

Noonish, with NeNe, chilly start, rather warm at end. Sunshine, a little breezy. 65 minutes at easy pace, from the the East Boulder Trail / Teller Farm North TH to "the tank" and back. Coughin', hackin', and snottin' the whole way, but on the road back to full-on good health. Saw a bald eagle at the trailhead.

Illin' and Chillin'

Yesterday and today (Wed. & Thurs.) were rest days. Caught a little cold and have an achy back and neck. Using that as my excuse to lay low - try to get back at it tomorrow. I don't need much to declare a rest day this time of year. I knew something was funky on Tuesday, when that easy run wiped me out. I'll be good-to-go in the '06 for sure.

Big Big Blue

Midday, with NeNe. 84 minutes at easy pace, but the elevation gain kept it from being super easy. From South Boulder Creek (West) Trailhead, up S. Boulder Creek Trail, north on the Mesa, west on the upper Big Bluestem, reconnected with Mesa and ran north, east on North Shanahan Trail, south on the N-S Shan connector, east on South Shanahan, south on little fenceline trail back out to the lower Big Bluestem, back to the TH. Uphill headwind out, downhill tailwind back. Warm - wore shorts. Love gettin' up on the Mesa Trail - in the forest. Felt tired today.

Near Buena Vista

62 minutes with NeNe on Chaffe County Road 304, just southeast of Buena Vista. Out and back. Warm, uphill tailwind out, downhill headwind back. Cool old road through several man-made "canyons" blasted for the road. Started at the picnic shelter near US 285, ran south. Nice overlooks of the town. Mt. Princeton looming large - that's one big chunk of earth. Easy pace - did a little downhill surge coming back.
Soaked for an hour and a half at Valley View Hot Springs an hour before the run.

Sunday - Saguache County Roads

Midday, with NeNe on the dirt roads near Saguache, CO. 66 minutes easy (but I could feel the extra altitude), mostly on county roads Y and 48.7. County road 48.7 north of US 285 led to a lovely informal shooting range with a well pick-over deer carcass. I don't know if those ranchers down there had ever seen people actually "running" before. Saw a big ol' jackrabbit scurry away along county road Y. Warm and sunny.

Saturday - Kenosha Ski

Catching up on the log after a weekend in the San Luis Valley, near Moffat. Saturday we stopped along the drive and did a little backcountry ski at Kenosha Pass. Headed west from the pass along the Colorado Trail, but only skied out (mostly up, but gentle) about 50 minutes before we ran out of snow. Where we did ski, there was barely enough snow to cover the trail. 10,000 feet, but not much early season snow. Turned around at a nice little rock outcropping and zipped down - the trail slalomed through big aspen trees - a little scary but super fun.

Big Blue

12:30, from South Boulder Creek - West Trailhead, with NeNe. Warm (wore shorts), but gusty. Dry trail. 44 minutes at super-easy pace. Short and mellow. Up the South Boulder Creek Trail, north on the Mesa, east on the lower Big Bluestem.

[Planning to ski Kenosha Pass tomorrow and Monday, and do a run in the San Luis Valley on Sunday. I will try to remotely blog, but I may have to catch up on Monday.]

Warm EF Loop From The House

10:30am, from the house, with NeNe, warm (shorts and long top). We ran the EF loop - the "E" stands for Enchanted Mesa (even though we only actually get close to it) and the "F" stands for Fire Road (the fire road connecting the mouth of Bear Canyon to the neighborhoods). Cut through the "hood" to get to the NOAA/NIST property along Broadway, along its southern border, up the service road to Kohler Mesa, connect to the Mesa Trail, south on the Mesa to the mouth of Bear Canyon, down the fire road, up and over Yuri Pass (down via a little singletrack), through the "hood" and down Table Mesa Drive to the house. 71 minutes of easy effort with some fartlek surges mixed in. Feelin' good.

Eldo Today - Nap Yesterday

[Yesterday - Tuesday Dec. 20 - Rest day. Intended to run in the afternoon, but watched Nene head out on a run and took a hour-long nap. Sometimes that's what you need.]

Glad I took yesterday off. Sunday through Tuesday I was feeling blah (scratchy throat, tired), but all is well now. Plus today is the solstice, so it was good to be out there today, feeling good, appreciating nature. It would have been nice to actually be running when the exact solstice occurred (11:35 Mountain), but we were still filling up our water bottles - 25 gallons of the best water in the world. At least we were outside. Ran from the Eldorado Mountain trail head at 11:45. Fowler trail, super-warm day - 60ish degrees - got to intermittently wear my summer get-up (shorts and no shirt), but had a long-sleeved top on sometimes - gusty warm winds - snow melting like crazy. Ran easy with NeNe on the Fowler to the visitor's center in Eldorado Canyon State Park, she headed back and I ran up another 10-15 minutes, up the Eldorado Canyon trail, then off to the left in North Draw on a little singletrack trail that was obviously a climbing access route (several bouldering areas along the trail - RV-sized actual boulders resting in the grasses with chalk clinging to the handholds) - trail got a lot steeper and fainter (need to explore here more) - turned around and ran at a good clip back to where NeNe and I met to cool-down the last half mile to the car. 58 minutes. Great views of the canyon today - Low sun lighting, frozen waterfalls in South Boulder Creek - lovely.
Dinner at our sister city's teahouse.

Rail Trail Beauty

Noonish, filtered sunshine, light snow on the trail. Rail Trail, 52 minutes, solo, easy to moderate pace. The snow was just starting to melt - if I had started an hour later, I likely would have been dealing with mud. Beautiful. Snowflakes, still balanced on the seed heads of prairie grasses, glistening in the sunlight, and prairie dog tracks in the snow all over the place.

Brainard Lake Ski

Backcountry skiing at Brainard Lake with NeNe. Midday, light snow, a mellow 2 hour tour. Took the Waldrop trail to Brainard Lake, then back on the road for a mile before retracing the Waldrop back. Tons of cars at the trailhead, but not so many people out on the trails. Super fun - getting more comfortable with the new skis.

White Rocks Run

2:30pm, cold, snow flurries. 51 minutes, easy pace, with NeNe. My fingers were freezing for most of the run from handling a video camera - see the video over at toxic toxins. First day in my new shoes. They are new, but not unfamiliar, as these are my third pair of Montrail Hardrock's.

Another Rest Day

I don't feel too good about it, but it is what it is. Let me list some sorry excuses: very cold out there today, very busy today, running the lights in the play tonight, slept very little and very poorly last night, etc. But, the real reason is that I simply didn't feel like it. Two rest days in a row is quite wimpy, I know, but I'll be making up for it tomorrrow in running shoes, Sunday on skis, and throughout winter break. "An object at rest remains at rest unless acted upon by another force." That other force never arrived.

Rest Day

[Rest day - Although the idea of running under the full moon at 7pm sounds like fun - and it would be, once I got out there - I cannot fool myself. I know how motivated I will be when the time comes.]

Rail Trail Mapped

Boulder Running has created a Google Maps mashup called Google Mapper that allows you to use your mouse clicks to plot your running route. It plots your course and calculates the distance. I plotted my favorite run - the Rail Trail - 6.5 miles out-and-back (use the "satellite" or "TS-UA" view to see the trail). It appears that it only is available for the Boulder area, but Map My Run will let you do it anywhere. It's a fine tool to estimate distances if you cannot afford one of these.

[Those Polar watches may be great heart rate monitors, but their distance function does not use GPS; they use "advanced sensors" to calculate each stride. Sounds like a glorified pedometer to me - no thanks. How 'bout a real GPS running watch. I wonder if these watches can upload data to a computer to plot maps.]

Rail - Left Hand - Cobalt Loop

8am, solo, sunny with a cold wind. 80 minutes of easy to moderate effort (closer to moderate). From the school, Foothills Trail, north on the Rail Trail to its terminus, then down to and across US36, Beech Trail, south on Left Hand Trail, up the Cobalt, Eagle, back under US36 on the Foothills Trail. What a great loop. Feeling very strong this week. It's wierd; I get to the tops of hills before I even realize I'm climbing them. Hills have always been fun for me, but this week they feel flat.
[Tomorrow it will be tough to get out there - I will have no time while the sun is up. It is a full moon tomorrow, but will I actually go running at 7pm? - We'll see.]

Rail Trail ..... Again & Again

Today - Rail Trail again (oh, do I love that trail). 8am - cloudy out, sunny back. Mud was not a problem today as I left early enough that the mud was frozen. Temperature was chilly at the start, but was getting quite warm at the end (50's forecasted again today before we're back in the cold tomorrow). 53 minutes, solo. Easy to moderate pace. Felt great.

[Yesterday, Monday, Dec. 12 - B-day. Met NeNe at the Fourmile Creek Trailhead at 1pm and ran the Rail Trail. Warm - wore shorts! Mostly sunny. Some snow and a lot of mud - not the splashy type of mud, but the sticky kind that clumps on your shoes so each shoe weighs five pounds - weight training. Super mellow pace, easy effort, about an hour.
Sushi dinner (magic food) - had my first beer since September - tasted good.]

First Day On New Skis

Today was sweet. NeNe and I went up to Peaceful Valley for a bit of backcountry skiing on our new skis. Midday, warm west wind, mellow tour up the gentle grade of the Middle St. Vrain Creek valley along the Buchanan Pass Trail past the Camp Dick Campground and farther west. Perfectly cloudless blue sky. Not too many people there for a Sunday. The snow was a little thin in some spots; we could always find a snow-covered route to travel, but had to leave the trail and go into the trees to stay on snow a few times. Climbed for 1 hour 45 minutes, then found a snow bridge across the creek, and descended via the Middle Saint Vrain Road (45 minutes). I love the skis. Good for backcountry, off-trail, breakin' trail, controlled descents with the metal edges, but light enough to feel pretty good on the groomed stuff. Whenever I ski at a place with groomed nordic trails I'll likely be renting skate skis and leaving these at home, so these Rossignol BC70's are perfect for what we'll be doing most of the time. We had to get back to town by 2pm, so we had to leave the place wanting more - eager to ski farther west into the Indian Peaks Wilderness. We will be back there soon.

[Yesterday, Saturday, ended up being a rest day. Got busy, distracted, lazy.]

Snow On The Rail Trail

8:30am, chilly (but felt very warm compared to the last few days), cloudy out, sunny back. Solo. On cut-up powder / packed powder snow. 57 minutes at easy pace. The footing was a bit tricky, but I always enjoy technical footwork. It stimulates me - keeps me from getting bored. No wildlife of note to report (other than the usual rabbits, prairie dogs, magpies, ravens, and small birds - those creatures are so common that it can be assumed that I see them on every run).

Cold Wonderland Loops

8:30am, cold (5 - 10 degrees), sunshine (which makes a huge difference). 40 easy solo minutes. Early in the morning was the only time I had to run today - just wanted to get something in - didn't want two consecutive rest days - that would start affecting my mental health. (I know - insert joke here - I need a lot of help in that department.) 4 easy laps of Wonderland Lake on the packed powder snow. Beautiful. Warmer days coming - longer runs coming.

Rest Day - That's Fine

Since it is not even ten degrees, I am totally cool with calling today a rest day. I am not going out there. (Sure glad I ran on Monday.) Those snowy trails will still be there tomorrow - when it is at least twenty degrees warmer. (3- 5 inches of snow fell in the last day.)

Pre-Snow Hogback Loop

[UPDATE: OK - After researching a bit in guidebooks and on the Internet, I am fairly certain that it WAS an OSPREY that I saw this morning. It was in flight, 10 meters to my left and only 3 meters above me. My gut told me that it was an osprey, but I was thinking that Colorado was not part of their range. After some reading - I guess we do have osprey here - and I am pretty sure that I saw one. How cool. (But it's almost winter. Would these birds still be here this late? Where's a birder when you need one? What else could it have been? What I saw looked remarkably similar to the osprey in this photo.)]

8am, overcast, solo, 44 minutes of easy to moderate effort (moderate going uphill, easy everywhere else). They are calling for snow today (just started as I type this), so I figured this was my last chance for a while to do some hills and some technical without ice everywhere. I did the Hogback Loop from the school and back. It was chilly but pleasant on the way out, and cold and windy on the way back (but nothing compared to yesterday's wind). Saw a small herd of mule deer (four does and a buck), a Northern Flicker, and some bird I've never seen before. I will be trying to figure out what type of bird it was - it looked like miniature Osprey, but I'm certain that's not what it was (little help here, bird experts?).

Rail Trail With The Bora

This is going to be a tough week weather-wise (Boulder forecast). Today it was the wind. Boulder is notoriously windy, and today furthered the legend. The wind woke me up at 5am and, as I write this at 6pm, it's still howlin'. At 6:50am, NCAR's Mesa Lab Weather Station recorded a gust of 88.1 mph (that was the one that ripped off 5 fence panels in our yard as we ate breakfast), and NCAR caught an 89er in the afternoon. That's hurricane force, people. Granted these wind speeds are not sustained, but merely gusts. But still - those are some mighty gusts! Normally, Boulder's winds are the Chinook type, which are warming winds, but today it was the Bora type - a very cold wind. As weather goes, we in Boulder cannot complain about much, but the wind here can be awful.

I almost bagged the running today, but the forecast, while less windy, calls for crazy-cold temperatures this week. So, since it's all going to be tough this week, I went out there and did the Rail Trail in the Bora gusts. 53 minutes of moderate effort, solo, in the early afternoon. The pace was easy to moderate, but just being out there in those winds takes it out of you, so the effort was more difficult. I had to keep it moving fairly quickly just to stay warm with the wind chill, and the gusts were knocking me around a lot. A couple of gusts almost took me down. It really wasn't that bad once I was out there - kind of a challenge. I'm glad I wasn't a wimp today, as I must leave myself a little breathing room to be a wimp later in the week.

SoBo Creek - Towhee - Lower Blue

2pm, chilly, filtered sunshine, breezy. An easy 55 minutes with NeNe from the South Boulder Creek Trailhead (west). Up the SoBo, south on the Mesa, west on the Towhee, northwest to reconnect to the Mesa, and down the lower Big Bluestem. Nice and easy. Saw a Northern Flicker in the Shadow Creek valley.

Doudy Loop In Fresh Snow

9:30 am. An easy 85 minutes with NeNe on the Doudy Loop (From the Doudy Draw trailhead, up the Doudy - SE portion extended - Greenbelt Plateau, Community Ditch). A touch of snow fell overnight; the snow depth on the trail varied from zero snow (under the trees) to about 1.5 inches (on the north faces). Chilly and - sunny for the first half, cloudy for the second half. The snow was starting to melt, so it was rather muddy the last mile.

(I intended to run yesterday, but, when the decisive moment came, tapas at a colleague's house sounded like more fun than running in the wind and the shadow. And it was. And, rest days are important too - right?)

North On The Rail Trail (And Back)

Chilly, but sunny. 8:15 am. Solo. Appox. 53-54 minutes of easy to moderate effort from the school to the terminus of the Rail Trail (aka North Rail Trail or North Foothills Trail) and back.