Enough With The Wind Already

Two weeks of strongs winds, and it's getting old.


Last Tuesday -- 9 days ago -- after work, I could barely stand up. I had to stand sideways with my feet apart. When I parked my car sideways, it was swaying and it felt like it was going to roll over.

At least it's warm-ish this week so the temperature is not an issue.

Wednesday Run + New Toy

Oddly enough, the 27-mph wind settled down during the precise time I went running, down to about 10 mph. Then it was back up to 30 mph + gusts. I'm not superstitious, so I'll chalk that up to a pleasant coincidence.

I ran mostly on sidewalks and streets. Mid-run I decided to go for a total time, rather than distance. So, I shot for 1.5 hours and took it easy to stay aerobic even uphill.

Wore the NB 890 and they felt great. I think it would be a good long run shoe; good fit, cushioned sole, light.

As I neared Red Rocks Community College on the way home, I heard a group of coyotes starting up: wake-up time. They were howling from the exact direction I was headed, which is a dirt path down a dark hillside, the only path back unless I were to take a big detour. I didn't really want to disrupt them, but I didn't want a confrontation either. I bombed down the path clapping my hands and hollering, and they scattered into the dark bushes. The one-eyed headlamp monster wins again.

Total run distance was 8.3 miles, moving time 1:23, moving pace 9:36, and elevation gain/loss 807 feet.

Yesterday I couldn't wait to pick up my new Canon S95, and spent the evening futzing around with it. It was gloomy out so I didn't get much in the way of test photos. However, I took it running Wednesday and shot this about 45 minutes after sunset:


This was shot in the near-dark with no tripod, with 1/3-second shutter speed at 1600 ISO. I managed to hold my hand steady enough.

My brother has the previous model, the S90, and I was pretty amazed at the low-light images he pulled off with it, so I'm not surprised at how good the S95 does at night. It also shoots in RAW mode (essentially, raw unprocessed image data; the image above was processed from RAW format), and has manual focus and a number of other features not usually found on compact cameras. It's a bit bigger than the smallest Canon ELPHs, but still pretty small.

I have to say it took a long time to gather the courage to buy a $400 device that I know I'm going to put in my pocket, get dust on, drop on rocks, and otherwise slowly destroy. It took me over a year, to be exact.

I shot a few JPEGs and compared to my old SD1100 and was a bit disappointed to find the images from the 1100 had a bit more detail. What? Am I going to have to return this camera?

Then I viewed a RAW image.

I could see nose hairs on ants. Seriously, the detail is phenomenal, even for a 10 MP image. I've been craving something that's a step up from what I've been using, and I think it's a keeper.

First Flatiron Hike

Sunday I did not run because of my long run the prior day and the sense that I should not push it with my tired feet and mild plantar fasciitis, so I did a hike up the First Flatiron trail. It was a pretty energetic hike up, and a run part way down, just because it's fun running down steep dirt and rocks. Didn't run down the gravel road, because it's not.

I stretched the left calf a lot, basically any time during the day I felt a touch of pain in the bottom of the foot. It kept the fasciitis under control.

Looking down on Boulder from Chautauqua trail:


The Second Flatiron:


Looking across the steep vertical faces of rock as you ascend is pretty impressive. In photos they just look like a dark blob, so I didn't include any images here. Some day I ought to hit this trail after dawn to catch the light right on the face from the east.

Interesting rock formations are everywhere, all the way up this trail:


Looking down on Boulder again from higher up. My car is down on the left edge of that brown patch of meadow:


Colorful rocks and lichen near the top:


A rock rib across the ravine towards the Second Flatiron:


Total hike distance was 3.14 miles, total time 1:31, elevation gain/loss 1,474 feet.

Lunch beforehand was at Southern Sun: a Southwest salad and a Dropkick Stout. Actually the Quinn's Golden would have been a better pairing, but... stout!

Monday Van Bibber Run

I ran at Van Bibber Park after work. It was breezy when I started and I wore the eVent jacket, but the wind died down and it ended up on my waist for most of the run.

After one lap I decided to do an HR monitor check to see how I was doing relative to my max. aerobic heart rate (131), and I was definitely over. I took it down a notch and went for an efficient stride but still had a hard time keeping it under. Damn I seem slow when I'm below it. And I'd forgotten how much even a mild grade affects HR; any significant climb and I'm automatically 20 over.

Based on that, I think I was way over on the uphills last week. On the flats I think I was good.

Spied a coyote running in the grass while running by headlamp; it was apparently retreating on my account from its intended night raids.

Distance 7.74 miles, moving time 1:10, moving pace 9:15, elevation gain/loss 320 feet.

Snack before: 2 Fig Newtons that I bought in Kittredge on my run Saturday. They were my favorite snack as a kid.

Mount Falcon To Evergreen Run

Saturday I ran up to Evergreen for a cup of soup.

Total distance for the run was 27.46 miles, time 6:24/~5:20 (total/moving), elevation gain/loss was 4,036 feet.

I'd been thinking of trying to run from the plains up to Evergreen in the mountains for a while. It requires running on roads through Indian Hills (I'd gone that far before), but I couldn't find a good link from there over to Evergreen without running on Highway 74, so I hadn't tried it. This Saturday morning I thought I had found a way. Point "A" on the map is the upper parking lot at Mount Falcon Park, which connects to the town of Morrison down on the plains. The road under point "B" through Pence Park is the shortcut I found over the hill to Evergreen.

However, I didn't really know if that road was open, or if I could find it. That section of the run could end up being a total wash and then I'd have to backtrack and run on the narrow highway anyway.

Worst case, I figured I'd just run to a halfway point and turn around.

I started the run from the lower lot at Mount Falcon, a about 1 PM (~6.25 hours to run until sunset) in great conditions; it was about 50 degrees and sunny. Lots of hikers and bikers were out and I had to park way down the road rather than the parking lot.

Looking up from the TH
The trail starts right in with a steep uphill, like many foothill trails. It was a bit hot so I took it really easy. Here is the view west down Bear Creek Canyon:


It's about 5 miles up to the upper lot, a pretty steady climb of about 1,700 feet. I ran through the parking lot and started down the long road to Indian Hills and beyond, which is about 500 feet of descent.

A cool thing I discovered: Indian Hills has a 24/7/365 water dispenser, where 25 cents gets you a gallon of water. Sweet! This solves the problem of getting water on a long run through these parts, such as connecting over to O'Fallon and Lair 'o the Bear.

Below is the road down to Indian Hills, with a bit of the Indian Peaks in the very back. Evergreen is on the other side of those dark green hills in the center. There is the occasional threatening dog along the way, but they were either fenced in or didn't come all the way up to me. I carry bear spray on solo runs with a pack, just in case.


However, in the end I couldn't find the shortcut road to Evergreen.

I didn't see a sign saying "Hilltop Road", just some driveways marked by mailboxes and street numbers, and an unmarked road with an electronic gate*. I was only about 1:45 into my run (with a 3-hour turnaround point), so I decided I had enough time to run down to Kittredge and then along the highway to Evergreen. Not my favorite thing to do, but at least it wasn't dark like one other time.

So, running on the highway it was.

It's another 500 feet of descent to Kittredge, and then you can cut left through some town streets to bypass some of the highway. I stopped at the convenience store for a fill up, and tried to get some beta on the shortcut road. The clerk said he could try to explain it, but it was a crazy-quilt of social paths and shortcuts through who-knows-what. I was halfway there by the highway anyway.

The highway was not inspiring, but not terrible; at least the parts with guard rails had faint foot paths on the outside. Obviously I wasn't the first person to travel on foot along the creek.

After a couple of slow miles running "upstream" on a moderate uphill I was in town. That was a satisfying feeling. It was about 12.5 miles from the trailhead.

It was then that I spied Da Kind Soups and thought "Hmm, soup sounds good!" I'd been there before and liked it. Sometimes they have a green chili soup on Fridays... that I keep missing. Some day.

The Evergreen aid station
I was kind of chilly and my hands were clumsy, so I was spilling soup as they let me sample. I wanted something that wasn't too hot/spicy, and settled on the cream of broccoli. I inhaled it and the dinner roll in about 5 minutes, filled my bottles, said thanks, and ran out of the parking lot and headed back towards home.

This is a tiny bit of singletrack on the east side of Parmalee Gulch Road. It's part of O'Fallon Park, and starts right across the road from Pence Park:


Elk were wandering around Indian Hills grazing:

Elk C7 (number on the collar)
The photo below is looking back down towards Indian Hills on the long uphill to the Mount Falcon west lot. I was pretty tired at this point and progress was slow. Thankfully, in spite of the gloomy skies, it never rained.


A second cool discovery on this run was the last trail at Mount Falcon that I'd never tried: Tower Trail and the summit of Mount Falcon itself. Hard believe I've been running this park for years and never actually been on top of Mount Falcon. There are also two structures on this trail: the Eagle Eye shelter and the tower that the trail is apparently named after.

From Eagle Eye shelter
This is the tower (i.e. observation platform) on the top of Mount Falcon:


The view to the northeast from the summit tower, with Mount Morrison on the left and Green Mountain in Lakewood in the middle, which is the tan shape in the center background:


The view to the northwest towards Evergreen:


I then headed back down towards the lot, with about 4 miles to go. The legs were pretty pounded so I was running as lightly as possible. Honestly, I was thinking about a pair of these. Below is about mile 24, looking east:


Along the way added on a bit of distance to push the total distance over marathon length, just because.

Then I was buzzed by a mountain biker, big time.

Bad Biker

On the way down, I passed a young guy (early 20s) pushing his mountain bike uphill. I said hey, he ignored me. A little while later I heard crunching at the top of the hill and turned around to see him speeding down, getting air off rock ledge after rock ledge down the trail that I was on. At the last minute it became clear he had absolutely no intention of slowing down or avoiding me, so I jumped into the brush next to the trail as he screamed by off the last jump and right through where I was just standing. Normally I have choice words for such riders, but I was so shocked at the speed and total disregard for me, I was totally speechless.

Again, that's why I run the Flatirons or on hiker-only trails when I can.

When I got back to the bottom, the parking lot was empty. I ran a cool-down lap around the neighborhood and called it a day. I stretched for about 20 minutes until every bit of tension was gone. Even so, when I got out of the car at the grocery store I was tight again and had to stretch the calves.

The PF Experiment

Just FYI, I did this run in spite of mild plantar fasciitis (PF) in the left arch from last weekend, and lack of stretching for the entire week (because I only ran one weekday and that's when I stretch). I did a long run with PF on purpose rather than doing a short run, as a kind of experiment. A lot of people have wrestled with it this winter, and it's always been my thought that it's muscular tension that causes it, and that stretching while muscles are warm will relax that tension and let it heal. Here was a perfect chance to test the theory. If I can do a long trail run with PF and keep it at bay -- or even get better -- then it will provide some confirmation. I know for a fact that the opposite is true, because if I don't do calf stretches after running I get aches, pains, and PF.

Pain is slightly less a day after the run, in spite of what I put my feet through. On Sunday I hiked the first Flatiron, and when I've felt the slightest pain I stopped and stretched the calf. We'll see how it goes this week.

Yet another good day in the hills.

Update - Monday AM: woke with slight foot stiffness but no PF pain.

*I looked at my GPS track when I got back, and the gated road was the one I was looking for.

On Winter Running

Winter is officially over, and I made a commitment to myself that I'd try running outside through the winter, and I managed to do it.

There was solid month or two that hovered in the 25 to 30-degree Fahrenheit range, and temps went as low as -13 plus wind. I was able to run for about an hour at those temperatures without significant discomfort or trouble.


Here are some thoughts on this experiment:

• It's all about the clothing. Dress properly, and the act of running will generate enough heat to keep you warm.
• A corollary: I was able to dress much lighter than I thought.
• My face and hands were the hardest to keep warm on the very coldest days. Even with hand warmers and neoprene ski mask, below 0 degrees it became hard to keep my face dry because my breath would freeze on my eyes and cheeks. I never really found a way around that, and after an hour I was pretty uncomfortable and it felt like frostbite was a real possibility, especially with wind.
• Wool socks. I wore SmartWool Street Hikers, which aren't designed for running, but they are warm and high enough to run in snow. My feet never got cold, and for me, that's unusual. I have ski boot warmers.
• I like running in snow -- a lot.
• Getting out the door into the cold is a much tougher than doing the cold run itself.
• Until this fall I had not run a lot in my neighborhood, in spite of basically moving here because of nearby Green Mountain (Lakewood). It was fun getting to know the local area.
• When I first started to run at night and temperatures were moderate, it could be enjoyable. It was peaceful, and the stars, sky, city lights and occasional wildlife -- such as the ubiquitous howling coyotes -- were great. I kind of like doing things at odd hours anyway.
• Ironically by the end of the winter, the night runs were mentally tough because of the monotony of running the same routes near home in the cold and dark.
• Becoming accustomed to winter running is still a relative matter; many people would not do what I did, yet there is always something colder and more difficult.

In the end, I was able to deal with cold, but what got to me most was the lack of variation. I usually ran the same routes from home, so I could get warm quickly. I've never been a morning runner, in fact last fall I did my first weekday morning run in years. But I found it tough to always shift my sleep schedule earlier. By the end of winter, I was just really craving something different, something warmer, something -- anything (!) -- with a view other than the spot from my headlamp. I don't think I'd do well in the arctic, or in a sensory-deprivation experiment. Right before DST kicked in, I was having a really tough time keeping motivated and just skipped some runs because of it.

For anyone who's interested, here's a rough outline of what I wore. This is based to some extent on wind chill -- rather than ambient -- temperature. Also I wore the wool socks in snow or bitter cold, and just my regular socks otherwise.

25-35 degrees	Knit/fleece cap, wool or regular socks, running pants, short sleeve, light long sleeve, mitten liners.
0-25 degrees	Switch to medium-weight long sleeve, add hand warmers or buff as necessary
Less than 0 degrees	Buff or neoprene mask, eVent running jacket over light long sleeve.

And of course I wore the excellent Kahtoola Microspikes as necessary, such as really icy/snowy days.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next winter. I still probably prefer running in 0 degrees to a treadmill in a rec center, running in place next to someone. I like my solitude and I like the act of discovery that running outdoors can be. But I have to deal with the boredom of night runs, so I think I'll have to get out more in the morning to be successful. We'll see.

NOTE - Just in case the links break, here are the product names/descriptions:
light long sleeve = The North Face Impulse Quarter Zip Shirt
wool socks = SmartWool Street Hikers
medium long sleeve = a medium-weight North Face 1/4 zip that I don't see for sale any more. It's smooth on the outside and fleece on the inside, with venting on the sides.
neoprene mask = Seirus Original Masque
Buff = Original Buff
eVent jacket = REI Airflyte Running Jacket

Friday Green Mtn Lkwd Run

This is my first run in a few days (Green Mountain, Lakewood), for a lot of excuses reasons, not all of which are that convincing: a rest day, taking fire photos, a day with 30-50 mph winds, a day with 20-35 mph winds, and some lingering soreness in my left arch from the mileage this weekend.


What the heck is up with the wind? Four days in a row of wind that varied from knock-me-over to punishingly obnoxious. It was breezy tonight, but bearable. I guess the wind is my next thing to overcome, since I dealt with cold this winter.


It was cool but pleasant tonight, and the sky was full of shredded cotton candy clouds. Really nice. I only saw two other people, an outdoorsy couple and their dog on trail. Fridays are like that; everyone seems to be at home or out partying.


Run distance was 7 miles, moving time 1:06, elevation gain/loss 763 feet.

Where There's Fire...

This panorama I shot on Tuesday evening and shows pretty well how the Indian Gulch Fire had moved west (left in this picture) of Golden by then. There was still a patch of fire visible from the road, seen on the left side of the image.


When I drove up the mountain and to the west, I could finally see the main source of the smoke: an entire triangle of a mountainside was scattered with glowing embers in the dusk, like a charcoal grill being fanned.

Yesterday Jefferson county released an overview map of the fire, which at that time was largely contained on the eastern (right) edge. I thought this map was interesting because looking at events from below, most of the fire is hidden by mountains, and you don't really have a sense of its overall extent.

The fire/burned area is in pink. The dark patches on the right are the housing subdivisions. There are scattered homes along the canyons and in the hills, but it's relatively sparsely populated. The road on bottom is Highway 6; the road on the top is Golden Gate Canyon Road.

In the upper right of the pink blob is Mount Galbraith, which is a Jefferson County park. That landscape will certainly have changed by the next time I visit there for a run. It looks like the entire upper area of the mountain, as well as all the space behind it, will be charred.

Finally today (Thursday) I saw no smoke over the mountains as I drove to work; a good sign.

Sunday Out Run CF Run

A while back, Dax posted this item about his sister, niece, nephew, and the Out Run CF Virtual Race. It's a benefit event for cystic fibrosis in which each entrant pays a very modest entrance fee, gets a shirt and runs a virtual "race" on March 20th in their respective locations, at any distance of their choice.

My run on Sunday was at White Ranch Open Space on some nice prairie and woodland trails. Such as:


I did wear the official shirt, which I like, but I didn't like any of the photos so I'll spare you. You can see it here instead. I like the winged logo of the Rock CF Foundation.

On race day I had a slight disadvantage because I had spoiled my taper a bit the prior day, but I wasn't going to bow out just because of that.


But it did make ascents such as this one a bit of an oxygen-free zone:


My legs didn't have much in them, and at times my entire body felt like it was screaming for air. Odd how that worked out.

Little house on the (high) prairie
Distance was 10.3 miles, moving time 2:03, elevation gain/loss was 1,645 feet.

I won't lie, I did some walking uphill, since 37 miles for the weekend is not my typical number.

But it was a beautiful outing at one of my favorite parks, I practically had the place to myself, and it was for a good cause. So the virtual race was a clear win-win.

The GZ Door-To-Peak Loop

Recently GZ conceived of a route for an unusually long run from his place to South Boulder Peak/Bear Peak and back. Since he lives out on the plains east of Boulder, it's a 35-mile plus route with significant elevation gain at the midpoint -- roughly a 3,000-foot climb.

I didn't think I could manage the estimated 35-40 miles starting at his house, but I said I'd join him around Marshall Mesa and run from there (for an unknown distance). It would be a fun long run and a chance to meet him and other runners I'd only known online, if at all. I ended up running 27 miles of it.

On the right half of the image below are the two summits at the midpoint of the route, South Boulder (left) and Bear Peaks. The ascent was to be on the aptly-named Shadow Canyon running up the middle:


I parked on 66th west of Marshall Mesa at the trail junction and got my stuff ready.

Problem is, I had never met GZ, his appearance is apparently subject to "seasonal hair variations", i.e. hair and beard growth, and there was group after group of trail runners passing by on the trail because of an organized run that morning. The original planned route was also via the road, but I was watching the trail just in case. But it was like freakin' Grand Central Station up in there.

Bottom line, he passed me and I didn't even know it.

After a quick phone call I changed the meeting point and passed him and footfeathers on my way to the South Mesa parking lot to meet up. After quick intros we got going, with GZ in the lead:


I should mention at this point that I had two goals for the day:

• To run a good number of miles out of the estimated 35-40.
• To keep up.

I can run at an average pace on technical trails, but these guys are in a different league. Heck, I don't even race to speak of. Thankfully, our speed was keyed off of GZ's super long run pace, so I managed. Nonetheless it was probably good he already had 20 miles on his legs when we hit the uphill on Shadow Canyon so I could keep up even at a hiking pace. The guy's an animal.

Part way up the ascent, trailrat also joined us, and continued with us up the canyon to the summits. Here's a 13-second panorama of the scene on top of Bear Peak, with trailrat sitting below, footfeathers standing and GZ in yellow:


Needless to say, it was a spectacular day up there. Just a bit of wind, but otherwise very nice.

Trail running in the digital age
GZ was posting updates on progress, and footfeathers was videographer for the outing. You can check his fine work in his post or in GZ's post.

While we sat at the top enjoying the weather and taking a breather, Homie showed up sporting the new La Sportiva kicks won here.

Homie (left) and GZ
Below is the view south. My little bump of a home mountain/hill, namely Green Mountain in Lakewood, is shrouded by haze in the upper left. The vertical gain to the top of Bear is about 2.5 times that of my route up "Mini" Green. You can still see patches of snow in the trees, even though it's been getting pretty warm lately.


On the way down Bear we ran into Brandon who also knew the run was in progress and stopped over, and we chatted for few minutes.

That made 5 Boulder-area runners whose blogs I'd followed for a while and never met until Saturday, which was pretty cool.

Then it was descent time, and trailrat parted ways with us at that point. We survived the steep Shadow Canyon trail intact (some of it is in footfeathers' video). After a stop for water at my car, we commenced the roadside slog up Eldorado Springs Drive to the Marshall Mesa TH on 93 where footfeathers' car was parked. By the time we arrived at the lot, I had only run about 7 miles, so I was looking to add some mileage and opted to continue with GZ for as long as I could.

We ran prairie trails through Superior to McCaslin, crossed and headed through Rock Creek towards 36. I felt really good going downhill (!), remarking that this was my "forever pace" (as it turned out, "forever" = 7 hours), but right where 88th Street crosses 36 I rather abruptly started to feel my energy receding. This was at 17 miles, and with 8 miles to run back in midday heat, I thought I'd rather be near my car if I bonked. As much as I wanted to continue, I parted ways and sent GZ on his way, which was a distance of about 5 more miles.

A long way back to those peaks
What I did not entirely expect was the dive in focus and motivation I experienced after I turned back on my own. Holy cow, I was tired! Having someone to converse and match pace with really helps keep your mind off the negatives. I felt deflated. I hope GZ fared better than I did.


Miles 18 to 21 were tough physically and it seemed like I had zero energy. I had a full bottle of water left at first, but as I think GZ may have suspected it was not enough; I ran out by 66th. I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated, because later when I got some liquids in me, my energy came back a bit.

Water... water!
I was glad to make it to the hippie mart at 93 & Eldorado Springs so I could buy a huge, cold bottle of anything to refill my bottles. I stocked up on Gatorade, swigged some water and hit the road for the remaining couple of miles to the parking lot. Not the fastest miles of the day. Often it wasn't even running.

My Forerunner 405's battery also gave out right round Highway 93, so at the parking lot I didn't really know how far I'd run, and after going that far, I wasn't going home with less than 26.2. With some liquids in me I started to feel better, and ran a very slow lap around Towhee and Homestead to make sure I had the mileage.

Once I got home I pieced together the missing GPS data. Distance was 27 miles, total moving time ~6:07 hours, and elevation gain loss 4,685 feet.

Looking back, I probably could have done the 35, even if some of it was walking. I had this goal stuck in my mind that I only wanted to do what I could run. Maybe that's a bad thing and I should just do it.

Oooh, that would be a good slogan.

A note on my effort to combat cramps: I had zero cramps and nausea after 27 miles. Although there were liberal stops along the way, I attribute this mostly to some combination of water and hourly S-caps. If I'd kept drinking enough water at the end, I'm pretty sure I would have felt better and had more strength during the last 5 miles. This is pretty cool because I've run 10-15-milers where I've cramped up. I like these experimental results.

Anyway, glad I could join GZ and these guys to share some conversation and miles. Great day.

The Indian Gulch Fire

I'm taking a temporary diversion from run-blogging to post about the fire in nearby in Golden.

Sunday I woke up late (no doubt because of Saturday's long run), did some reading, grabbed a bite to eat and headed right back out for another run (more on both later).

As I was passing through Golden, I parked up near Castle Rock and snapped some photos of the Indian Gulch Fire. I was shocked at how close it is to the city of Golden. There was a helicopter dropping water between the fire and homes that are out of view to the right of the photo.


This is from near the corner of Highways 58/93/6. Highway 6 was closed. You can just barely see a couple tiny spots of orange fire if you enlarge the photo:


After my run it was already dark and orange flames dotted the hills as I drove by on Highway 93 and through the same intersection. It was pretty dramatic, and I ended up spending most of the rest of the day watching it.

I drove way around the southwest side of Lookout Mountain (because cars were mobbing the road on the east side) and stopped at a park high up and looked directly across Clear Creek Canyon at the fire. It was like something out of medieval painting of Hell. I'd never seen a wildfire at night from so close.

I didn't have my tripod so the images were blurry, and I was beat, so I got something to eat at home and then drove back around 10:30 with a full-size Bogen tripod (one of the best-built products I've ever purchased, I might add). This is from Ulysses Park in Golden:


I think the 10-15-second exposures exaggerate the size of the spots of fire slightly, but they're close. I don't photograph a lot of wildfires in action.

Since it was late, traffic on the road up Lookout Mountain had subsided a bit, so I drove up and took photos from closer (using zoom of course -- it was still about a mile away across the canyon). Below is the full view of the fire about 20-30 minutes later (it had already changed shape -- the big flare-up in the above photo was gone). The lights at the bottom are from car headlights; the road is right below me, and people are lined up all along the road watching the fire. To the right is the city of Golden, to the left is state park.


This is a close-up of just the right section:


Below I zoomed in a bit more. If you click on the image you can see burning embers dotting the mountain in between the actual flames:


As of Monday morning the fire is 15% contained, but unfortunately it's supposed to be warm, windy and dry for several days.

Although the fire is 5+ miles away from me as the crow flies, and it seems unlikely it could ever spread over here, I could see the fire from high spots in my neighborhood, glowing orange on the mountainside. Pretty scary. For everyone's sake, I hope firefighters can keep it under control.

Update - There was significantly less smoke on Monday morning as I drove in to work.

Fri PM Van Bibber Run

I did a super-short run at Van Bibber Park after work on Friday because it was nice weather. I also had the New Balance 890s in the car and tried them out. They were comfy, light, with a bit too much heel for my taste (designed for both midfoot and heel strikers) but I can deal with it. All in all they felt good. I think they'll work as a light trainer. They gripped fine on dirt trails too.

My camera captured the golden light just after sunset pretty accurately in this picture. I love that time of day. In the background are the low mountains just west of Golden and Arvada.


Looking the other direction the sky was cool blue, the grass was warm orange and ochres. The moon was just rising.


Looking back while descending towards the parking lot:


Run distance 2.85 miles, moving time 0:25 minutes, elevation gain/loss 111 feet. Told ya it was short!

Off for a long run...

Fresh Snow

It was snowing last night starting at about 8 PM so we have a light coating of snow this sunny morning. I envy those who get to go out and play in it. Good skiing/riding in the mountains today (up to 9" fresh at nearby ski areas), and I saw people headed up there as I was driving in to work.

A ridge on Green Mountain, Lakewood
I had not gotten enough sleep the prior two days so no running yesterday. I'll be joining a long run early on Saturday, so it will be a light day today if I run at all. Not sure about pace or how I will handle it, so it'd be nice to be rested.

Update - I just realized while looking at this picture on my desktop that the two ravines on either side of that point in the middle of the picture are the routes I run to the top. The right ravine is the one I call "Lion Gulch" after the sighting near the elementary school farther downhill (they sent the kids home), and has a natural spring in it. The ravine on the left is in these pictures.

Objectivist Round Up

This week's Objectivist Round Up is hosted by Rational Jenn. The Round Up features posts by bloggers who advocate Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

Fairmount Trail Run

The after-work run of the day on Wednesday was on the Fairmount Trail, just east of North Table Mountain in Golden (in the background below). The trail starts on Easley Road and goes behind neighborhoods on what seem like old farm roads up to 64th street in Arvada.

It's not exactly a wilderness trail, since it passes behind homes of every shape and size, from humble farms to mini-mansions with huge picture windows. But it's dirt and rock and it's off the streets. I'll take it.

The photo is from my turnaround point, looking back at North Table Mountain. It was great to be outside with temps just below 70 degrees at dusk:


As usual, there were plenty of fenced-in dogs along the trail that didn't seem to share in the joy of running. Those dogs and I have conversations that go something like this:

• Dog: "Rar! Rar! Rar! Rar-rar-rar! Snork! Growl! Rar! Rar! Rar!"
• Me: "Oh, my God! A human running on a public trail, something you've seen every day, all year long, for your entire life! Rar! Rar! Rar!"
• Dog: (unfazed by sarcasm) "Rar! Rar! Rar! Rar-rar-rar!"
• Me: (something threatening which I won't repeat here)

I love animals. I really do.

Well, the ones that don't want to bite me.

I tried to run relaxed, and did a bit better than Tuesday when I was trying to rush back to my car.

Being solo and nearly in darkness, with the mad farm dogs, coyotes and the occasional lion about, I ran back on roads rather than trail, squinting against headlights, running by headlamp.

Earlier in the day, I saw the first flowers of spring: some yellow crocus outside a nearby office building. In the evening, I also saw -- and swallowed -- my first first flying bugs of the season. Black gnats were swarming over the trail in the woods near Easley Road (they tasted like tiny chickens). I'm guessing riverside trails are going to be gnat-infested for the next month or so.

It was dark when I ran the last stretch through the woods to the Tony Grampas complex parking lot. I clapped to scare any critters away, and then noticed the dude drinking beer alone in the dark leaning against the bridge. So as not to further startle him, as I ran past I said, "Hey, just clapping to scare anything away, so I don't get trampled...". He chuckled as I ran past him and his 40-oz.

Distance was 7.45 miles, moving time 1:08, moving pace 9:07, elevation gain/loss 273 feet.

By the way, although I ran in the Cascadia 5 this time, my New Balance 890s arrived, and they are light and foamy. They weigh 10 3/8 ounces each (size 11), compared to 13 7/8 ounces for my Cascadia 5 (size 11). They feel good on the feet, and they are form-fitting without any hot spots. I am hopeful they will make a good sidewalk/road/path shoe, maybe for some faster workouts.

Standley Lake Run

I ran at Standley Lake after work on Tuesday, since it was nearby and I knew I could get a decent run in before dark. I am so glad to have that hour of daylight after work now, and to celebrate DST I decided to run around the whole lake.

I didn't know the exact distance, and it looks pretty big from the shore,

Photo from last May
(there's a thin dam on the far side, which makes it look like an ocean when it's really only 1.5 miles away) but worst case I figured I could run after dark on sidewalks. And I've gained a bit of confidence in my ability to bite off a little more than I used to and know I can do it. So off I went.

I should note at this point that I debated whether I should mention an instance of total obliviousness I exhibited during this particular outing, but it is what it is.

For now let's just say I missed something important before I left the parking lot.

About 1/3 of the perimeter of this route is on rural roads because the property adjacent to the lake is a off-limits eagle habitat (I'll have to check that out later). But it's not that busy and it's farm land, so for roads they're not bad. It's a bit like running the roads near Boulder Reservoir, but these are paved.


Sometimes the views were not too shabby:


At about the halfway point, I left the road and entered the park at an official entrance on the north side. A metal sign on the open gate said "Gate closed to car traffic at sunset" or something like that. Hmmm. That was a bit worrisome. I still had to run halfway around the lake, and my car was in a parking lot that may or may not have had a gate on it -- I didn't notice, because the Jefferson County parks I usually run at don't lock up at night, and I was in a hurry to start running. I sped up my pace a bit.

The twinkling lights on the other side seemed pretty far away. My car is over there somewhere:


I was getting kind of nervous at this point. Would a ranger beat me to my car and lock the gate? Would my car even be there?

When I got within sight of the lot, I could see my car. Good. And the gate was locked. Damn. There was no other way out, without dismantling the rather beefy log fences or cutting the chain. The sign was right there in the parking lot, but I was preoccupied and missed it. Duh.

Just FYI, Yellow Cab in Denver is 303-777-7777.

Distance 7.5 miles (so little?), moving time 1:07, moving pace 8:50, elevation gain/loss 468 feet.

My car was there in the morning, too, in good condition.