In on the Mesa

50 minutes
easy pace
5:30am - very thin fog, but otherwise sunny, and chilly - same route as last night, but in reverse and without Yuri Pass - ran at a super mellow pace - sort of felt half asleep out there this morning - once up on the mesa the thin fog below looked neat - these morning runs make me realize that I am the luckiest man on Earth - I have my health, a beautiful and wonderful family, a house in a cool place with running trails 10 minutes away, a job that I like; what else could I want?

Home on the Mesa

47 minutes
easy pace
5pm - sunny and cool - usual commuter route home from work (up 9th to Chautauqua, Mesa trail to Bear Creek, fire road, Yuri Pass, Bear Mountain Park, down Table Mesa to home) - went super easy - climbed the hill with no huffin' or puffin' - felt good.

2 Days On - 1 Day Off

feelin' lazy today

Skunk Meander

83 minutes
easy pace
1:30pm - sunny and very warm with light, cool breezes - feeling great (dodged a little bullet with whatever was getting to me on Saturday), so, instead of this week's zippy run, I decided to go a little longer, but very mellow - from the house, ran down to NOAA, up Skunk Canyon, south on the Mesa, stayed straight at Shanahan Ridge, up the the sub station on the knife edge, little singletrack through and down from the knife edge, down the gentle green prairie valley, behind the houses back to the north, up telephone road, down skunk, NOAA, church trail, and home - very mellow with just a few little surges thrown in - was going to go a little over an hour, but I was feelin' great and stayed out a little longer - only watched the Bolder Boulder on tv.

Family Run

58 minutes
easy pace
mid morning - sunny and warm - feeling just fine today (glad I took it easy yesterday) - pushed the D-man in the running stroller down and up the Bear Creek bike path - he had just woke up from a nap so he was awake the whole time - he loves to zip down the bike paths.

21 Days On - 1 Day Off

after pulling the D-man all over town in the bike trailer this morning I started feeling a little ill - slight congestion with body aches - was planning on doing something speedy today, but decided to park it for a day - just hung out on a blanket in the backyard with the boy all afternoon - ate tons of food - had several doses of my herbal immune system activator - had a beer - went to bed early.

Big Blue

52 minutes
easy pace
10:45am - sunny and warm - parked at the South Boulder Creek (west) TH - ran up South Boulder Creek, up Mesa trail, down upper and lower Big Bluestem back to the TH - felt good - nice and mellow.

Cold on the Mesa

49 minutes
easy pace
5:30am - clear and cold - same route as last night but in reverse and without Yuri Pass - wore gloves this morning but my fingers were still cold - it's all relative - a couple of months ago this would have felt warm, but I'm used to running half-naked so this chill is a shock - as the sun rose I could see that the highest couple of hundred feet on Bear Peak had a little snow, and as I ran into town I saw some cars (down from the foothills) with snow on them - super mellow effort today - just couldn't get in the groove with the chill - beautiful crisp and clear sunrise - brilliant blue sky.

Mesa Mist

45 minutes
easy pace
5pm - cloudy, cold, with light mist - usual route home from work via the Mesa trail - chilly out there today - I actually wore a shirt and a hat - light mist falling and the higher I climbed the heavier the mist was - my fingers were cold for the entire run - I was happy with my time considering that it seemed like an easy effort - I guess the cold keeps me movin' along fairly zippy - legs felt refreshed and strong.

Into Work on the Mesa

49 minutes
easy pace
5:35am - sun and clouds, cool and breezy - same route as last night, but in reverse and without Yuri Pass - lovely sunrise through the spotty clouds on the horizon - the morning breeze out of the west felt great; chilly but refreshing - it was so nice out there this morning with the sun reflecting off the dew drops on the wildflowers and the birds singing all over the place - it's these early morning runs that really feed my soul and make me feel alive - I am so lucky to live in a place where I can run out my front door and be on amazing rugged trails in only 10-20 minutes.

Homeward on the Mesa Trail

47 minutes
easy to moderate pace
5pm - mostly sunny, warm - usual commuter route home via 9th St., the Mesa trail, fire road, Yuri Pass, Table Mesa Dr. - legs were still a little sore on the downhills and today they felt a little tired - overall I felt very good though - going uphill is getting easier and easier - hills that used to seem like a long march now don't even get my attention - I just zip up them - I think the key is to just go without thinking about the fact that it's a hill - just go and soon you're cresting the top of it - this weather has been great.

Short Little Recovery from Gregory

39 minutes
easy to moderate pace (closer to easy)
1:30pm - sun and clouds, warm, with thunder around - got dropped off at Gregory Canyon - ran up the Bluebell-Baird, Mesa, dunked my head in Bear Creek, down fire road, Yuri Pass, Bear Mountain Park, and home - I thought my knees would be achin' today, but it was my quads - not too sore, but I sure could feel it on the downhills - that hill up from Gregory gets easier every time I run it - now it's nothing - legs were a little sore and tired, but the rest of me feels awesome - it's summer and I'm in great shape and feelin' super fit - all is well.

Long, Steep, Technical, Loose

120 minutes
easy pace
10am - sunny and quite warm - after visiting the Farmer's Market, Nee' dropped me off at the top of Flagstaff Road (so I got to begin my run at about 7500 feet) - ran Green Mountain West Ridge to the top of Green Mountain (quickly scampered up and bagged the peak), then ran down the E.M. Greenman trail, Saddle Rock trail, and Amphitheater trail to Gregory Canyon (all of that was steep and loose and technical - not really "running", more like scrambling) - then up the Bluebell-Baird trail to the Mesa trail, then up to Royal Arch and back (about 20% of that was power hiking rather than running - those stairs can get steep), then south along the Mesa trail, another side-trip up to Woods Quarry and back, then farther south on the Mesa trail to Bear Canyon Creek (dunked my head in a Bear Creek cascade), then down fire road, over Yuri Pass, through Bear Mountain Park, and on home - can you say "yahoos"?! - there were so many yahoo, tourist-type, lowlander-like, very slow hikers all over those trails today - it's good to see people out there, they just slow me down - my knees will be a bit sore tomorrow from all of the downhill I bet - felt great today - this run was much easier than the last, less-hilly, 2 hour run a couple of weeks ago (long runs are so beneficial) - beautiful summer-like Boulder day.

Family Run

58 minutes
easy pace
10:20am - sunny and very warm - the whole family went down the Bear Creek bike path to Boulder Creek, then back up it - I pushed the little man in the running stroller; Mommy ran alongside - he was awake for the trip out, but slept most of the way home - he tossed his hat overboard, but we found it on the way back - running on concrete is brutal, and pushing the running stroller requires some work - felt just slightly tired today.

Mesa Morning

48 minutes
easy pace
5:30am - clear, cool, and a little hazy - normal commuter route into work (Mesa trail without Yuri Pass) - lots of hummingbirds whirling over me along the Mesa trail - saw a few runners up there - it was a beautiful orange ball of hydrogen shining though the haze this morning - felt great.

Mesa Trail

45 minutes
moderate pace
5pm - sunny and warm - usual route home via the Mesa trail and Yuri Pass - went pretty zippy today but the effort was not much of a strain - felt damn good - starting to see a lot of afternoon hikers up there.

Moist Mesa Morning

49 minutes
easy pace
5:40am - cool, cloudy, and damp from the overnight rain - same route as last night, but in reverse, and without Yuri Pass - usual route into work - went really easy this morning - felt great - rolled my right ankle a bit going down the Mesa trail, but it was fine after another quarter mile - really smelled like spring up there with everything being all wet and humid - feelin' super-fit (but more long runs and more fast runs will get me even fitter).

Home on the Mesa

47 minutes
easy pace
5pm - sun and clouds, warm - usual route home from work (up 9th St. to Chautauqua, Mesa trail to Bear Canyon Creek, down fire road, Yuri Pass, through Bear Mountain Park, and home) - legs felt a little tired today, but my heart and lungs are really starting to feel fit - hummingbirds whirling over my head on fire road - thunder clapping to the west - got home just before the rain started.

Sub-30 Little Blue

49-ish minutes
10 min. easy, 29 min. moderate to hard, 10-ish min. easy
3pm - mostly cloudy, somewhat cool, steady westerly wind - parked at the South Boulder Creek West trailhead, jogged around to warm up for ten minutes - ran the little Big Bluestem loop (up South Boulder Creek trail, north on the Mesa trail, down lower Big Bluestem trail), ran it at a good clip and finally went sub-30 (28:30) - I knew I could do it if I warmed up and gave it a decent effort - didn't need to go all-out to do it - I think a sub-27 is possible, maybe sub-26 - jogged around for about ten minutes as a warm-down - felt good, but not great - new shoes are not quite ready to go zippy yet, so today was the last run in the old shoes - a sub-30 Little Blue was a good way to retire them.

New Shoes on Rollie Trails

77 minutes
easy pace
2:45pm - sunny with clouds around, quite warm - new shoes today (6th pair in a row of Montrail Hardrock's) - got dropped off at the South Mesa trailhead - ran up the Towhee to the mouth of Shadow Canyon (with the short spur to the top of the old Mesa trail saddle above Eldorado Springs - great view up there), last-chance-back-to-the-Mesa trail, Mesa trail north over Shanahan Ridge and NCAR saddle, down Skunk Canyon trail, across the creek, NOAA's southern property line to Broadway, ducked back into the 'hood, up church trail, and home - this run might have been a bit long and hilly for new shoes, as I got a little hot spot on my left heel - but I felt great today - that Towhee hill gets easier every time I run it.