Pikes Peak Greenway (South)

15 Miles 1:45:24 7:01 average per mile
7:30 am) Sunny! Nice!
Wanted to run longer and flat so no better place than the
Pikes Peak Greenway. I parked at the Monument Valley Park.
This is very close to my apartment less than 2 miles.
I carried 2 water bottles so I would stay hydrated but had
no gels only a fun size fast break that I ate at the half
way point. I felt good for the most part. My legs felt a
bit heavy from the higher mileage this week. Even so I ran
very consistent. My slowest mile was mile one at 7:17 and
my fastest was 6:54 which I hit a few times. I'm very happy
with this run. This is not much slower than I would have
run in Wisconsin. The only thing in Wisconsin 7:01 average
would have felt easier.
65 Miles on the week! This is by far the most I have run
in Colorado.
Picture above are from my balcony at my apartment. The other
picture is from the entrance to my apartments. These deer are
very tame. They have apple trees here and they are eating
them quite often.

Palmer Park

5 Miles 48:18 9:39 average per mile
8:45 am) 70's Sunny!
Plan was to run with the Boulder Running Company group.
I had seen they had Saturday morning runs at 8:00. I
got there early and waited around no one showed up. So
not sure if they still meet there or not. So I decided
I would finally try running at Palmer Park. It took
me a little time to find the park but I found it. It's
actually not far from my apartment maybe 6 miles.
The park has tons of trails. I didn't know where to go
and was afraid of getting lost so kind of stuck around
the area where I parked. I got on some easy trails GREEN
and 1 BLACK trail advanced. They also have BLUE trails
intermediate. I would like to go back and do more
exploring.
So my problem so far is actually to many trails to
explore. I'm used to having like 2 to pick from and that
made it easy. Now I don't no which ones to do. Good
problem to have though. This is such a great place for
running!!!

Gold Camp Road

9 Miles 1:06:42 7:24 average per mile
11:30 am) Sunny! Nice!
So I did some research and found this road. It's a old mining
road that used to be used in the Gold mining days. It was how
people got from Colorado Springs to Cripple Creek. It's now
closed but open to hikers and mountain bikes. The road has a
3-4 % grade not bad at all. I started at around 7500 ft. and
when I turned around at 4.5 miles I was at 8375 ft. Going
back was nice with the slight downhill. I actually ran some
fast miles! My last mile was my fastest and fastest since I
have been here 6:08.
The road has several tunnels. The first tunnel you in counter
is just over a mile from the trail head. The tunnel is gated
so you can't go through. I found the trail just to the left
and went up the trail and over and then back down to the
road and continued on. I was hoping to see tunnel #2 but
after 4.5 miles decided I better turn around. I will try to
go farther next time and hope to see it. I guess tunnel #3
is in bad shape it had a collapse a few years back and is not
safe. This is a great run when you don't feel like doing
lost of technical running and the surface is soft and forgiving.

Manitou Incline & Barr Trail

4 Miles 50:46
10:20 am) 60's Sunny & Windy
1 Mile Incline 27:32 took another 2 minutes off my best!
3 Mile descent Barr Trail 23:14 7:43 average per mile.
So on the incline I pushed hard and never looked at my
watch until I was done. I wanted to go by effort and
not worry about the time. I was pleasantly surprised
by my time. I guess I'm getting in shape.

6 Miles 1:05:46
5:30 pm) sunny cool
Section 16 & Palmer Trail
First time on these trails and they were tough! Especially
the first 2 miles on Section 16. Lots of rocks and steep
climbs. I hiked all of this. Not really my kind of running.
I like to actually run. Once I got past the first 2 miles
there was some awesome single track.

Colorado Running CO.

6 Miles 45:15 7:32 average per mile
6:00 pm) 70's Sunny!
Ran with Dale tonight. Smaller group this week. I would say
about 15. Starting to wonder if I will ever run as fast as
I did in Wisconsin. I have heard from others that you can
expect to run 30 seconds a mile slower here than at sea level
I was talking to a new employee at the Colorado Running Co.
He moved here from Chicago a couple of months ago and he
said he is running about a minute per mile slower than he
did in Chicago. So maybe I'm not doing that bad. I just need
to be patient and I will get there.

Jack Quinn Running Club

Tuesday 8/31/10
5:00 pm) 70's
6 Miles 43:14 7:12 average per mile
2 Loops
22:07
21:07
Felt pretty good but still feeling the effects from Mondays
run. Signed up for a 50k race. It's October 3 in Lakewood
Colorado. It has a few creek/river crossings like 3 per loop.
I have never run thru water so not sure how that will be.
I will do a drop bad with extra shoes. I think I will run
in my light weight New Balance 100 Trail shoes those should
dry quickly.

Waldo Canyon

14 Miles 2:12:19 2 loops
Loop 1 1:04:39 9:14 average per mile
Loop 2 1:07:40 9:40 average per mile
11:30 am) 70's Sunny & Windy
I bit off more than I could chew today. I guess I'm not
ready for higher mileage yet unless I do it on a flat
bike path. The first loop went pretty good. I started
the second loop and my legs felt like they had nothing
left. I pushed as hard as I could but walked more on the
second loop. When I finished I was very thirsty even
though I carried my water bottle. I drank like 40 oz.
in a matter of minutes.
So what did I learn today. I'm not ready for higher
mileage on terrain that involves climbing. Build my
mileage on easier terrain and slowly build up on the
harder stuff.