Colorado Springs Trails

Finally...

2010-10-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today I finally found the trail that took me to the top of the Rampart Range Ridge that we look at everyday. With the weather cooling, I thought it a good day to head up the hill to see what I could find.

In the past, I lost the trail somewhere in the area of the clearing where the geocache "Scouts Secret Stash" is found. Today, I took more time looking around and found clues to the trail that goes from there to the top. I noticed a couple of plastic bag strips on trees. At this point, there was no clear trail but I followed in that direction and looking for rock cairns and more plastic strips. The strips were not very plentiful but got me to where I noticed a very faint trail. The trail took me more south of where I had been looking for trail signs. This was it...finally after several trips up to this point, I topped out and could look over the mountains to the west of the ridge.

Because this trail is very faint, I found it very useful to use the backtrack feature of my GPS. If you have not used this or are not familiar with how this works, I strongly suggest you take the time to get familiar with this. In sections where the trail seemed to disappear, I just needed to refer to the trace on the GPS to be sure I was heading the right way.

One thing about this route. It is tough. The climb is steep so up and down is work. There is a lot of area at the top that looks to be explorable. I think that the old Palmer Trail comes through there and also I hope to get over to the wreck site(s).

In other news, I have been working on a revised template for the trails on farrunner.com. With the new Google Map API, I can put most of the information on a single map, saving some navigating around. I have a few more ideas that I am working on so keep watching for new things. I have also added several new trails.

With Fall and the cool weather, I am looking forward to exploring more trails and getting them onto the website. The new format has been good in this respect, it takes less time to put together the page.

Silverton 1000

2010-09-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we were up in Silverton to help my daughter in a race. The Silverton 1000 is a new race this year. It is actually a number of races that take place simultaneously. The headline race is the 1000 which is where the runner has to run one mile each of 1000 consecutive hours. Also there were a 6 day race, a 72 hour race, a 48 hour race, and a 24 hour race.

Most multiday events like this take place on a loop course for the sake of logistics. These events have their history going back to the last 18th Century and early 19th Century when "pedestrians" would take bets and compete in multiday events or bet on time to cover distances between distant points (like from Chicago to New York) by foot.

The course here is a one mile loop at Kendell Mt. Ski Area. Unlike typical multiday events, where the course tends to be fairly flat, the course for this one was challenging with a 250+ ascent on the loop. I did a number of loops on the course and it was definately a challenge. Multiply that by 50/100/150/200 times and you have a tough challenge. It is one that would appeal to the
ultrarunner who races the mountain trails. But surprisingly, there were a number of entrants who were there just to enjoy the event and log whatever miles they wanted to do.

The effort put into making this a great event was awesome. A large tent provided the start/finish point for the loop. It was big enough for hold all the timing equipment, food, space to setup for each runner and shelter when needed. It was impressive to say the least. The use of chip timing and the display of your progress every loop was great. I remember at my 6-day effort the timing was manual using people to count your laps. Made me nervous that the laps were being counted correctly but the counters did a great job.

I really enjoyed the down home/family atmosphere of the event. A lot of effort went into making this a fun time for everyone there. I expect that this event will grow over time but I hope it maintains it low-key atmosphere. A good place to test yourself if you are just getting into ultrarunning.

Coleen was entered in the 48 hour event and finished with a 105 mile effort to place 1st in the 48 hour and 3rd overall mileage for all events.

Some links for this are: here and here

Some changes to my website

2010-09-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

With the new API from Google, I have started to think about how to change how I present data on the farrunner.com website. Currently, I have static maps to show a trail in topo, street, terrain, satellite and so forth. I have put out a new style page for the Seven Bridges Trail using a preliminary google map to display some of the trail view types on a single, dynamic map. I hope this can present more data in a concise way than the current methods. Over the next couple of weeks, I plan on refining this page with new techniques. Any comments are appreciated.

Speaking of Seven Bridges, I wandered a bit further south of my normal haunts to check this trail out and it was worth it. There are a number of trails in this area that I hope to check out this fall and get onto the website. I apologize to those who are looking for longer distances, my time commitments have forced me to keep to the shorter trails. For longer distances, there are a lot of trails that can be linked together.

I hope every one enjoyed the summer and are looking forward to fall when the weather is a bit cooler. I find this the best time to hit the trails but watch the higher elevations, weather can change quickly. Several recent deaths in the hiking/climbing community bring home the point that it can be dangerous out there even for the most experienced. Most of the trails that I have mapped for the website are fairly safe but there are a few places where caution should be exercised.

Urban trails

2010-08-01T19:52:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a little wetter than usual around here. The other day I cut through Ute Valley Park and found some decent patches of mud. With this in mind, I decided today to check out a couple of Urban Trails. I thought that the Cottonwood Trail and the Homestead Trail looked like a good bet since I could access them from the same parking spot. Since this was a hiking / dog day and a bit warm, I checked out a few miles of each.

The Cottonwood trail will in the future stretch from the Greenway Trail east for many miles. Right now the section from the Greenway Trail is nonexistant. I parked at Cottonwood park and went east about a mile and a half. It is a nice, paved trail that would be great for running with stroller, roller bladeing and general family fun. At the start, the park offers many amenities for family fun.
I turned around at Woodmen Rd but the trail continues on from there but will require crossing Woodman and Austin Bluffs.

About 1/4 mile into the Cottonwood Trail section, the Homestead Trail branches off to the right. It is also paved but a little further along, the pavement turns to asphalt in good condition but some cracking is evident. Followed this about a mile where it crosses Austin Bluffs and turned around. The Trail is supposed to go all the way to Academy and Constitution but currently it has a couple of breaks. I plan to explore this one on the bike in the near future.

Both trails work are in urban setting, some open green space helps to make it feel like a trail. Nice for times when the dirt trails are muddy. I will need to check out their conditions in winter to see how they would fair for bad days.

Change of pace

2010-07-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Recent changes to my life will hopefully give me more time to spend on my blog and website. After deciding that 40 hours per week in a part time job was a bit much, I found a real part time job that leaves my with weekends free.

Based on this new found time, the past 2 weekends have taken me to the "Monument Preserver" and "Fox Run Regional Park".

I am not sure of the status of the Monument Preserve. My web research leads me to believe it is an evolving area in the town of Monument. There are no real maps or signage but there is a well developed series of trails that would appeal to moderate hikers and families. I observed the trail head when I did the Mt Herman Loop last year so decided to take some time and explore this area. The trailhead was on the way to the trailhead for Mt Herman. I will be documenting this more on the website as time permits.

The other area I recently explored was Fox Run Regional Park. I have been there before but not to explore the trails. I was expecting gentle rolling hills but not sure of how long a trail. To my surprise, it was a little more rolling that I had envisioned but all in all a reasonable trail for hiking, running, biking. Included is a pavilion and picnic area where family can play. My initial impression was that the loop was all uphill but even if this IS Colorado, that is not the case. I went the counter clockwise direction from the small trailhead at Baptist Rd and Roller Coaster. There is good signage to help in finding the way around. Only a couple of steeper hills on the course so it should be a good run and ride course. Again I will be documenting this as time permits.

The thing I like about these two courses is that they have trees so for summer, this is a plus to avoid the direct sun.

Winter to Summer in 2 days

2010-06-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like we skipped spring and went directly to summer. Weather has warmed up considerably and most of the trails are quite dry. It will probably take a little while to wear down the ruts created during the wet times but it is time to head out.

I noted in the farrunner forum that the trails around "hole in the wall" have been blocked and posted with no trespassing signs. No indication why or who. I am researching but if anyone has any additional info, please post in the form or comment here at the blog.

Picked up a new GPS the other day at REI because of the sale but was a little disappointed. My Garmin Forerunner 205 and 305 have served well and are easy to use. I bought the GPSMAP 60CSx which is highly rated but for the uses I have here, did not really work well.

The major complaints I have are

1. When you turn it on, it starts collecting data unliked the 205/305 where it starts when you push the start/stop button. Did not see in the manual any way to turn it on/off other that the power switch.

2. It does not come with any high quality maps and the default map is not very detailed. A $125 optional map seems a bit much for a high end device. There are some open source options that can be loaded. I knew it did not come with the map software but was disappointed with the default maps.

3. The computer interface was spotty. It would not sync with TC (garmin's training center software) and interfacing to sports track required downloading Garmins Communicator API plugin.

4. The downloaded tracks were "strange". There were a bunch of small (3-10 sec) tracks along with the main track. Not sure why there were there. I do not think I turned the unit on/off a couple of times at the end of my test hike.

5. The provided software is MapSource does not play well with Windows 7. After loading tracks from the device and then tying to save them in the default directory, it has permission issues which implies to me that it did not setup the directory permissions for Vista/Win7 which is probably because it came out before Windows was released.

The unit was accurate and collected data during the hike while attached at my side via the provided clip. For many, it may serve fine. For my use where I want to be able to define the start and end point of the journey for adding to the website, it was not that user friendly. I may be that my objections because of lack of understanding but I did not see anything in the manual that would clear up my views of how it works.

The 60CSx is on sale because it is being replaced by the 62 series units. These still lack good maps in the unit.

Spring is Here?

2010-05-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

It seems like we have had a lot of false starts for spring this year. Just when you might think that the weather has turned, another snowstorm hits us at the knees. But have faith. The bears seem to think it is spring. I had one pass within 50ft of me a couple days ago and he looked like a well fed 400 lbs. Fortunately he was more interested in some trash (potential food) than me and chose to ignore me as he passed.

Been busy carrying the flowers in and out of the house every day in an effort to keep them alive and blooming.....Think Spring!

I should be ready to start searching out new trails as it looks like most of the trails have shed their moisture and are not a muddy mess.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T08:19:00.000-08:00

A few days late but let me wish you a Happy New Year for 2010.

I hope that among your resolutions, you have one "to spend more time hiking, running and biking.

It is always difficult at this time of the year to get enthused about going out into the cold and/or dark for that workout. One glimmer of hope is that the days are getting longer again so you may gain a little more light on those workouts. I have been blessed to be able to chose my workout times so that I can get the most daylight. Temperature and snow...that is a different story.

Running trails under these conditions require a little more planning than when it is nice and sunny. The trails seem to have a bit more snow and ice on them than in past years. Depending on the trails that you choose, you might want to consider some sort of traction device such as yaktracks or similar product to help you to feel more stable and comfortable while on the trails.

I have tried several types of traction control and in the next couple of posts, will share my opinion about the pros and cons of the various devices available.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is the season to be thankful for all the blessing that we have here in Colorado Springs. It is so nice to be able to go 5-10 miles and be into wilderness / backcountry trails. We have such an abundance of trails to chose from and I enjoy every day and trail that I find myself on.

I hope that my efforts to map and describe the trails that I have enjoyed has created the desire on your part to check out new trails and experience different parts of our natural abundance.

It seems like I go in spurts. I pick a trail then spend the next month or so exploring all the options that the trail presents. I look for different trails in an area and you may be surprised to find some new and interesting views. I know I have found some unexpected gems in my explorations.

On the website (http://farrunner.com), I am always looking for better ways to present the information about trails to make it easier to find and follow the trails. I am thinking about adding the track information to the website so that it can be downloaded into most GPS units. I have found this useful in repeating a trail where is may not be very well defined and for backtracking when I get away from familiar landmarks. I have heard that there is going to be an advanced GPS seminar at REI possibly next month. You might want to check their website and put it on your calendar.

I wanted to give a special high five to Ben who we met on the incline Tuesday. He is 7 and here he is reaching the top of the Incline in fine form. Good work Ben and I hope you enjoy many more climbs in the years to com.

In revising some of my incline pictures on the website, I have tried to include more photos of some of the people I have had encountered on the trails.

I think I will sign off for now. I hope in the coming year I can be more consistent on this blog. Remember the forum where you can post information about the trails you have been on and keep us all informed about condidtions you have encountered to help us plan a more enjoyable hike/bike/run.

The Incline

2009-12-06T19:30:00.001-08:00

I have been avoiding any posts about the incline because officially it does not exist as a trail. Since this "trail" crosses multiple properties, it has been the subject of great debate in the community. I am never sure why such debate takes forever to complete. It is not like there are many alternative uses for the trail. Although I am not party to the debate, I would imagine that there are about 5-10 issues that are at stake here, but it has taken years to debate them and I am not sure why.

Recent news is that all this is close to resolution. All the parties seem to be in general agreement and maybe it will be official shortly. Now this is what worries me. As soon as it becomes official, I can see the "officials" declaring that we need to put together a plan for the trail...in the meantime, we must shut it down to protect the trail and the people. In the nanny state mentality that exists in most govenment agencies, I do not think that this is out of the realm of possibility. I look back to Cheyenne Mtn State Park and how it was closed to the public while it was updated and planned.

I have posted before how amazed I am at the number of people who come out to climb the incline. I expect the hard core runners and hikes but in addition are people of all types challenging themselves against the climb. More power to them. I would be a shame if the "nannies" try to restrict or curtail this. I know this can be dangerous but it is ones choice and that is how it should be.

All that being said, Tuesday was a beautiful day to be on the incline. Weather was near perfect and views were as usual, stunning. There was some icy footing especially at the top 1/3 of the trail where it is shaded. Ice was prevalent on most of the ties and not any places where the ice could be avoided. Today with the snow falling, I am tempted to head over and do it again, the views when there is a fresh snowfall are just awesome. I have posted some pictures on the website taken at various times of the year.

I have started documenting the Incline for my website. Took pictures, captured the GPS data, and starting to writeup the description for the webpage. Hopefully I will soon have this up on the site.

If you chose to challenge the inclie be aware that it can be dangerous. Loose railroad ties, steep terrain, icy conditions and rapid weather changes can exist. But if it was easy, would we be there?

2009-10-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

What's a "Hole in the Wall" you might ask. I became acquainted with this trail last year when Jerry and I stopped by after a run in the Garden and do a quick look over. I wanted to come back to explore more of the area but I never found the time. So this last month, I decided to spend some time here and have been back 3 times now. The more time I spend, the more I discover.

The area is a combination of secluded property between the old Queens Quarry and the Flying W Ranch property. From my studies, it looks like 22 acres of it is part of a small ranch that was bought a number of years back and used to build a private school on the front side. This is now a church. The far west area is part of the Pike National Forest.

Since it is close to where I live and does not get a lot of traffic, I find it a great place to get away with the dog and admire the scenery. The web page at http://farruner.com/courses/CSTRholeinwall.html has detailed information about the trails so check it out.

A lot of the area is accessible on a dirt roadway that forms a large "C" shape. During my first trip around the area, I discovered some small single tracks that cross between the the roadways and offer the option of making the "C" into a loop course. There is a small rock passageway and an impressive rock wall on the single track trails that are not obvious until you wander into them.

The north end of the area ends at the Flying W Ranch where there is fencing that I believe is still used for range land and cattle. I have not explored that area because of the fencing and respect for the implied private property issues.

There is an old roadway that climbs up from where the cattle guard and fencing starts. I did not follow it too far yet but from my looking at google earth, it looks like this could lead up to the top of the peaks in that area. From there, there could be some interesting access to the areas behind the front range. When I have a long day available, I plan to explore this more fully.

Because of the private land involve here, I caution everyone to be respectful of the property. If you follow the dirt road along the higher part of the "C", I think you would be into the National Forest land but the lower trails might be part of Flying W or the church property.

Good MTB area and Hiking area, lot of uphill outbound for runners similar to parts of the Barr trail.

2009-09-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

A week ago, some of us explored the area around Mt Herman. The area is not well documented anywhere I could find but it appears most of the trail that we used is known as the Monument Trail but the last part after rounding Rasperry Mountain back to the trail head is not shown anywhere. There is also some references to the area fronting Mt Herman as the Monument Preserve and it appears like there is ongoing efforts to define the usage in this area. Lots of references to too many social trails and the need to control trail usage.

Aside from this, the trail is narrow and rocky but my main point here is that as we ran it, you could sense that fall was coming quickly. Behind Mt Herman which is Limbaugh canyon, a small furry caterpillar displayed its furryness as to say that this winter will be a colder and snowier one.

Since that day, the temperature has dropped dramatically and yesterday, the rain was mixed with snow. As I look out to the front range, there is a lot of snow in the higher elevations. While an early snow can be a false promise, with the amount of rain we have had, I feel a lot of snow may be in the offing this winter. To look at the bright side, this may mean that I can actually do some cross country skiing and snowshoeing without having to travel up the pass. Cross training without having to travel...sounds good to me.

Typically, we can expect a lot of nice days for the next several months even if we get spells of snow and rain. A perfect opportunity to enjoy our abundance of trails. Happy running...

Random Thoughts

2009-09-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well it has been awhile since I posted here. Been a busy month with a new job and getting up to speed with its demands. This working stuff puts a crimp on my trails exploration big time. Since I have to be at work at 4:30 am, it has also left me wanting to just sleep when I get off. I have managed to get out and do runs or hikes most days but nothing new to report.

As a proud papa, I can announce my Daughter, Coleen's successful finish at the Leadville 100 last month. Check out her blog for a good write up (cynical dirt doll). She is one tough cookie despite here protestation to the contrary.

With fall approaching, I am looking forward to more runs where the weather is cool and dry. Hopefully there are more trails to lurking around the area to discover.

Just got a call from Jerry...time to go out and do a run...will hopefully not be so long til my next post.

Reminder, with the approach of winter, please add comments to the forum with trail conditions so we can all benefit and avoid going over to trails that are not in good condition due to weather or construction.

Cross training

2009-07-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

I was reading a recent article about crosstraining and what it can do for a person. I think because I have been having issues with a sore heel, the article attracted my attention. There are many types of cross training, but I think I am most interested in aerobic training which means bike, swim, fast hike or indoor machines such as a stair climber.

One of the things that struck me in the article was about the fear that seems to be quite prevalent about riding the roads. This has been a concern of mine also but maybe not to as great an extent as others. On my website, I have added a section on bike road courses. My intent is to find good road courses that I would feel that most people could feel comfortable riding. I am looking for minimal traffic and a wide roadway, hopefully with defined bike lanes.

This criteria does not mean that there will be no danger but should minimize the exposure to traffic and allow you to concentrate more on the training. As I pointed out in the previous blog, riding is not as natural as running and you need to pay attention to the mechanics of riding. Gears need to be adjusted, you need to pay attention to object in the road, and you need to work on form to get the most from the ride. It is not much different that mountain running on some of the more technical trails. You cannot just mellow out and get into a rhythm. There is nothing like a nice wide trail to zone out on and just feel the flow but when you are on steep mountain trails, you need to pay attention. The same is true on the bike even when the course if fairly benign. A friend of my recently crashed because he wasn't paying attention and hit a curb...hard to imagine since curbs should be fairly obvious.

One of the thing I read about cross training is that as we age, we lose some of our flexibility and ability to absorb shock. Cross training can help to keep us up aerobically but rest from the shock of every day running. I tend to prefer biking as my alternative since it does work many of the same muscles and some of the opposing ones, it does not require too much in additional gear...ie you can ride from your door step or a close location. It also provides some exhilaration expecially on the downhills around here.

If you are thinking about cross training, consider the bike courses I have mapped out. They are not easy and will challenge your riding if you do not ride regularly and will definitely challenge your aerobic system if you challenge the hills.

Running or Riding

2009-06-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a Bike Ride day. I decided to map out another section of the area that I think would be good for someone who does not feel comfortable with traffic. In choosing these routes, I am looking for wide roads or bike lanes that help to keep cars at a distance.

It was a good ride, the sky had clouded up so the heat was not as intense as it had been earlier. The course I chose met the criteria I had set so all in all in was a good day.

When I was done, I started thinking about runs and rides. A question formed in my mind...why is it that I enjoy running more than riding? The question startled me for a moment. I had never really thought about running or riding in that way before. The more I thought about it, I came to realize that I preferred running. Having answered myself...I let my mind considered what it was about running that made me enjoy it more than biking.

I came to the conclusion that running was a matter of me and the run whereas riding added the element of the bike between me and the ride. Sounds a bit strange but I realized that when I am running, I am concentrating on the run, on me, on the sensations that arise as I am in motion. I do not feel this same oneness when riding. The bike adds a mechanical element to the equation that seems to prevent me from feeling the oneness I get from running.

I guess this is also why I have never been able to carry a radio or mp3 player while running.

It would be interesting to hear what others have to say about this. If you feel like it, add to the comments.

Sunday Delight

2009-06-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

It was a nice Sunday morning so I decided to head up the foothills to the west of Blodgett Open Space area. I have been pushing further up the ridge with each trip and then looking to see where I have been on the map.

Starting from a small trail head on Coldwater Drive, the trail climbs and climbs and then climbs some more. I have been trying to discover the best route to the top of the ridge. Up there is a spot knows as lone pine. From the other side, there is a jeep road that ends at that point. It is also an alternate route to Blodgett Peak.

Today's journey ended when the weather started to get bad. Clouds were building rapidly and I decided it was time to head back down. Later, the lighning and thunder is the area confirmed my decision as being the prudent course of action.

But in the beginning, the weather was great, the wildflowers were in full bloom. Plenty of bluebells and paintbrush with many other varieties. The terrain was steep enough that it was mostly a fast hike on the upward trip especially after the first mile.

There were several things that I learned today.

First, I had loaded the locations of some of the geocaches in the area so I could see if I could find them. This means that I had to learn some of the navagation features of my forerunner 205 which I knew existed but I had never tried to use.

In the watch I could see a little triangle where I was located at the point indicated the direction I was moving. There was a light circle about at a set distance. As I got near a geocache, I could tell about how far and in what direction the cache was located. It is kind of funny to look at the GPS track of trying to figure out how to use this to find the location of the cache. Since it was the first time for me, I was literally all over the map....

Of course once you have located the approximate area of the cache, it does not guarantee you will find the cache. There are generally hidden in some manner and the trick is to figure out how. I will not go into any detail as that I think is part of the fun of geocacheing. If this sounds interesting, go to http://www.geocaching.com and join the fun.

I met a mountain bike rider in the area of the geocache who also is an experienced geocacher so it became a team effort to find the cache. He, for some reason did not have this cache loaded in his unit so by using mine, we found the cache. Thanks "OLDATBPRO"...

From this point on, there was no clear indication of where the trail to the top went so I started just bushwacking. Some people have indicated that there is not a regular trail after this point.
I almost made the top but it was getting pretty steep and rugged with lots of fallen trees and scrub. And with the weather starting to get bad, I decided to head back down.

This is where the second part of my learning took place. As I was bushwacking up, I knew that it was be impossible to find my way back down by the same route so I remembered that the GPS unit has a "breadcrumb" feature. When I was ready to head back down, I just kept my little triangle in the area of the "route" line that was my track coming up and lo and behold, I returned to the cache site with no problem. From there I could just follow the trail back down.

Learning to use the navigation features of the watch has inspired me to follow other lesser know paths having the confidence that I will be able to backtrack and not get lost. I use to go up the Hitezer trail out of Cascade into the resevoir area but could never seem to find the way back and would end up on the Pikes Peak Tollroad and have to hitchhike back to my car. I think this will solve that problem.

On my next trip up, I plan to angle a little north from the area of the , it look like there may be a better route to the top in that direction I was so close today...and would really like to crest the next time I do up.

One small step...one giant injury for running

2009-04-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of days, I have encountered links to an article that is trying to make the case that high quality running shoes are the source of many of the injuries suffered by atheletes.

As with all things found on the web, I try to approach these things with an open but skeptical mind. Even if the conclusions were faulty (not saying that they are) there is some lessons to be learned from this article.

To read the whole article, go to this article at the daily mail website. It brings up some interesting points.

There seems to be some presenting of examples and opinion where there seems to be a link between injury and running shoes. In my experience, running shoes can be a source of injury but maybe not for the reasons stated. Choosing the correct running shoe for you foot is a hit and miss proposition. And as soon as you find the right one, the shoe manufactures manage to discontinue or change it. I was very lucky in that the Asics GT series performed very well and for about 10 or so years, I used that shoe. Last year, the shoe did not work the same. Looking at comments from other runners, the consensus was the shoe behaved differently. I ended up with plantar faciatis. The latest model seems to go back to earlier performance characteristics.

So in evaluating the claim that the shoes cause injury does not follow from the anecdotal evidence given. Even the statistics do not have the rigor of proper testing. I would be the first to admit that this sort of testing might be quite hard to design and execute. I would also not throw away the studies completely but become more aware of the effect of my shoes on my injury. Remember we are an experiment of one.

With all that having been said, I think there is something to be learned from this article.

I have to agree that spending time barefoot could offer benefits to the runner. The explanations about how the foot molds and grabs when running barefoot reminds me a bit of ball exercise. The premise is that the extra effort to maintain balance exercises small muscles that do not get worked properly. I can see if we always encase our foot in a rigid shoe, it might prevent proper exercise of small muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the foot and ankle. This is speculation on my part but for me, it seems worth adding some activity barefooted. I does not at this point say I am throwing away my running shoes. It might be that I have not suffered the injuries as noted in the article because I am very aware of my feet and try to adjust when I sense something is not right.

In my early running years, I did experiment with running barefoot and as near as I can recall, I did not have any issues. In those days, shoes were not as sophisticated and more like than not, I probably had an old pair of converse sneakers as my "running shoes". I generally ran on grass at the high school but did try to spend some time on the cinder track to toughen my feet.

If I start adding some barefoot adventures to my training, I will be sure to post here what I find out.

One last gasp for Winter

2009-04-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

At least I hope it was the last gasp. Seems even that little flower did not know what Colorado weather can have instore... 12+ inches of snow and even more in the high country. I guess winter is not going to leave without a fight. This was probably a good time to practice active rest.

Even though I feel that you can run through just about any weather conditions, there are times when a little prudence goes a long way. This recent snow storm was not too bad in this area so it was possible you could run. I don't think though that the streets would be where you would find me for this one. The snow being very wet and the streets were mostly slush so unless you have a full gortex or other water sheding suit, you would probably come back from the run a bit bedraggled. Such a suit is a very nice thing to have and if you are into trails on a big time basis, I would even say a necessity.

The mountain trails can be dangerous even in the height of the summer. Fast moving thunder storms and low temperatures are the receipe for hyperthermia. When ever I am going up into the higher trails where civilization is more that a mile or so away, I alway take my full gortex suite. In addition, I have what I call my backup in the form of a 55 gallon plastic trashbag.

If the weather gets really bad, the gortex is great but in the worse conditions where I might have to hunker down for a while the added layer of the grarbage bag provides the barrier to wind and rain even gortex can sometimes not handle. The nice thing about the garbage bag is that it is light and compact. Since it is alway in my waist pack and I never go without the pack, even when I don't think I will be far enough out to need my gortex, it is there for an emergency. I have even given it away at times to people on the mountain who did not plan ahead and were in danger due to the weather.

I am bringing this up now because as the weather starts to warm, the urge to head up the mountain will grow. The mountain is not forgiving and if you don't respect it, it will win. Always consider the worse might happen and plan accordingly.

Another reason to bring this up now, is that gortex or the now similar fabrics will go on sale for the end of winter. Good time to buy. I saved over a $100 the last time I bought one because it was spring.

Check out the website at farrunner.com. I have been busy adding some new features and trying to improve the presentation of the material. With the advent of spring, I plan to take new pictures and gather more GPS data to put on the site. I have been reworking the format in hopes that it presents the information in a more usable manner.

bob

Me and a cast of thousands

2009-04-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

The other day, it was one of those warm sunny days that call for action when they first appear in the spring time.

My running partner called and made a case for heading over to the incline after work for a bit of a climb and run. Well it seems like him and 10,000 of our closest friends, neighbors, and others decided on the same thing. I actually found this somewhat amusing and interesting.

The incline is not the sort of place you would expect to be a popular gathering spot. It is steep, dangerous, unmaintained and 2 degrees short of a cliff and of course, private property...but what appears to be, is the most popular place to go on a nice spring day in Colorado Springs.

I had to marvel at the people that were there. Everyone from training atheletes to family groups all making their way up the incline at their own pace. I kind of had a vision of the "if they build it, they will come" senario. Since I shouldn't have been there, having a serious cold/flu, I was taking it easy so I could observe what was happening.

Men, women, boys, girls, short, tall, skinny, overweight, solo, couples, friends, and some families
all taking on the challenge of one of the more difficult climbs in the area. I had to wonder at what it was that brought them here. Some I can understand as training for some race but others, it was not so obvious as to what their motivations were. The thing that really stood out was the chatter and support everyone gave to each other and the sense of enjoyment and accomplishment they seem to show for their efforts.

Even now, it is difficult to find parking and when the incline is officially open to the public, the situation can only become worse. I know parking is one of the main factors holding up the opening of the incline. I hope a good solution can be found.

I think that maybe I should post a few blogs about the incline that talks to the best way to enjoy it and some safety considerations. Sounds like a good idea for future posts...

It's Official

2009-04-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Well despite the calendar, spring has not been knocking on our door with any regularity. Sunday during a small trip up into the high country, nature announced that spring is here. The discovery of these small mountain flowers has always meant that the worst is over and better weather is ahead. Unlike the woolly caterpillar, these flowers seem to pop through the last of the winter snows. After the blizzard like conditions a few days before, I hope they are right.

So put away the tights and gloves and be ready for warmer runs, longer days and the upcoming races season!

What I said...

2009-03-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

I guess I was right about false spring. With a foot or more of snow in the area, nature reminds us that the calendar is not to be depended on. This is probably a good time to talk about weather and trails. Although we got a lot of snow with this storm, it looks like the residual moisture will be minimal.

In many areas, spring means wet and soggy trails. As good trail runners, we should pay heed to
the trail conditions and avoid trails that would suffer from use in such times. While romping through the mud sounds like fun, please avoid those trails until things dry. Running to the side of
the mud is NOT and option as it leads to trail erosion and in the long run..more mud.

There are a lot of trails that you can use without fear of damage in the area. In real bad weather, I usually run south from woodmen as this is mostly paved and the park clears it quickly. The SantaFe trail in general is composed of a base that is ok for use in wet times. There are some
areas that get some mud but the trail is usually wide enough by design to avoid these patches.

Mostly it is the developed trails that are usable during this period.

False Spring is in the Air

2009-02-22T12:47:00.000-08:00

One of the nice things about Colorado is the mid winter thaw. In may years there are a couple of periods where the weather gets up into the 40's, 50's and even some 60's..but beware because there is still some heavy winter weather ahead. So with this being the situation, I took the dog and header out to find a trail that I have not been on. With GPS unit, Camera, and Dog...we header over to Pulpit Rock to find some trails. Some of my research and examination of maps gave me good hope that this would have some good trails to follow and I was not disappointed.

The Pulpit rock area is dominated by a large rock formation and surronded by a lot of open space. Pulpit Rock is similar to Palmer Park, Garden of the Gods, and Red Rocks just not as well known and developed. It does have some improved trails and a host of smaller trails to choose from. I intend to check out more of them as time goes on.

Running at the right time

2009-01-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

The next part of my winter running thoughts has to do with what time do you want to run.

I am by inclination an afternoon/evening runner. I find it quite uncivilized to run early in the morning and I guess that is why I really do not get real enthusiastic about many of the races. For example, the Leadville 100 starts at 4:00 AM...most uncivilized. I will admit though that there is good reason for this in many cases such as avoiding the heat of the day or afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains.

However, in the winter...I want to enjoy the heat of the day. If you have a schedule that is flexible enough to be able to choose your running time, I would recommend noon runs. For the past 8 years I have been fortunate enough to be able to choose my running time and like today's run it is real nice to enjoy the sunshine and warm breezes on a January afternoon.

Early morning runs are good in the summer since this is generally the coolest part of the day but in the winter, it is also the coldest part of the day in most cases.

The most difficult part of morning and mid-day runs is you are limited on the time available. If you hit a good patch and want to go further, you may run up against time constraints in getting to or back to work.

It may make sense to do 2 workouts on some days to get more mileage with a nice run at noon and another one either morning or evening.

It's in the shoes..ouch

2009-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

During my run Sunday, I became acutely aware of one of the problems of running trails. The Sante Fe trail is one of those hard packed trails built with crushed gravel and other small materials.

I found I was having a lot of problems with small rocks and sand in my shoes, more so that I normally encounter. I realized at this time that because the surface is damp due to snow melt and just wetter conditions, that these pebbles and sand cling to the shoes and get thrown off during foot turnover. This is more the case than in summer when it is dry and the sand does not cling to the shoes. Note that the picture is the ultimate test of the gaiters...although it is kind of hard to see them under all that mud. Picture is of Coleen giving them the test at the Psycho Wyco race in Kansas City. The other picture is what it looks like without the gaiters courtesy of myself.

It look like it is time to drag out the gaiters. Since there is not any snow of depth, I will be using my gaiters from Chrissy. These gaiters are nylon, thin, and light and mainly serve to keep stuff out of the shoes. For more serious snow conditions, I would use my OR gaiters.

Check out http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com/ for a source of excellent gaiters for this kind of situation. These are especially good in the summer too as they do not cause heat buildup that you would get for heavier gaiters. Although I tend not to wear them that much in the summer, I will use them in races so I do not have to empty the shoes. For training runs...it give me an excuse to take a short break (hehe)

Running indoors

2008-12-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

One of the options I mentioned in the previous blog entry was moving indoors for training in the winter.

This may makes sense if you live where is difficult to train outdoors. I would still recommend that you spend some of your training outdoors even if it is only when the weather cooperates. To get the most out of your indoor training, I think there are several strategies to try and adopt.

1. It is a good time to recover from a hard summer/fall training to racing season. Cutting back on the running makes sense to allow the body and mind to recover and rebuild. This is especially true of the mind since the mental effort needed to sustain a hard training routine is high but we tend not to notice it.

2. Adding some strength training can go a long way to regaining balance between muscle groups that have gotten out of wack. I think we tend to forget or forgo some of the alternate training when we are in the final phase of our race season or just end of summer for those who have been building on their training over the summer.

3. Adding some flexablility training such as yoga or palates might be a good thing to help relax the mind and stretch muscles that have tightened up.

4. Some running in necessary during this time since it can be a real chore to regain that running rhythm if you take of entirely from it over the winter. Indoor track and treadmill workouts, while boring can be the way to start working on the push to spring after a month or so of easier runs. What I strive to do is to take one day a week and start building a steady state running focus by taking a pace and running increasing distances at that pace. In keeping with the rebuilding mode, strive to run relaxed while doing this. This would mean that as you get into the run, relax...if you find yourself getting tense and can't relax, this may be the limit you want to go but over time you should be able to increase the distance. Once you have reached 4-5 miles at this pace relaxed, you might then pick up the pace 10 sec per mile or so and back off on the distance a couple miles and repeat the pattern.

5. It is very difficult to run hard and fast outside in the winter. The cold air can bother the lungs in many cases and the footing is not always good to allow a full stride. This is where the indoor running can help by letting you run faster and maintain a proper stride. Doing this at least 2 times per week will help you to regain your rhythm in the spring.

6. Other aerobic activities should be added into the mix at this time. Spinning is one such activity which under a good instructor can yield tremendous aerobic workouts. One caveat on this is to watch out for routines that put undue strain on joints and ligaments. Some routines have been known to cause problems but if an instructor is not up to date on the current thought, they may not know to forgo these routines.

7. Other aerobic workouts may also be good. I cannot in this case speak from experience since I have not done any of these. However, I would only caution someone to pay attention and if the workout seems to cause undue strain or stress, I would proceed with caution. I think many of the bad raps some of these get is not because the routines are necessarily bad but the instructor may not know the proper form.

...Bob
http://farrunner.com
have a good run

Thoughts on Winter

2008-12-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

I remarked on my website about the fact that winter is well upon us. I think it useful to talk a bit about how this affects our running.

The thinks about running in the winter are first the shortened daylight available and second the weather. Unless you don't work or have a job that allows you time during the daylight hours, you have to contend with running in the dark.

There are several strategies that come to mind when I think of this.

1. Move indoors. The availability of a club with a decent indoor track or treadmills is one way to tackle this issue. The upside of this strategy is that you have light, warmth, and peer pressure.
The downside is you get bored going in circles or nowhere on the treadmill, and peer pressure can overwhelm common sense. I have been there and can say that one year where I had a good training partner and we trained on a small indoor track during the weekdays in the winter, I had my best marathon that March. The key was controlled training indoors and a good long run on the weekends.

2. Move to a better part of the day. This is good especially if you can adjust your hours or use your lunchtime for training. The upside here is daylight and warmer temps. While the downside is you may be limited on how long you can run because of having to get back to work. It is definately a plus to run midday when temperatures are likely to be the highest for the day. It seems like the same temperature when it is dark, feels colder (at least to me)

3. Train in the dark but move your training courses is another strategy. I have noticed that there are areas that are well lit by street lights that could be used for training after dark. The downside of this is that you will probably have to contend with vehicle traffic and pavement. The upside is that it will probably be plowed. This is a really tricky option. If you follow this strategy, you need to be aware of the dangers that are involved with mixing with traffic especially after dark. I will probably talk more about this in another session.

4. Train in the dark but stay on your favorite trails or move to better trails. Running single track trails in the dark can be done with proper equipment. Moving to a wider trail such as the SF Trail is a step up in trail conditions that can help. Again there are safety conditions that need to be considered here and again I will elaborate in another session

5. Stop running and cross train. This is an option that I never would consider for myself but if it makes sense, then consider it. I have used cross training during the winter to supplement my running and it has benefits. Spinning is a high intensity way to keep your aerobic levels up and provide a good workout. Climbing workout on the spin bike seem to help my hill running so I felt it did provide some positive benefits.

There are probably other ways to approach this and of course you can mix the types of workouts in a way that makes the most sense for your situation. I did this when I would do spinning especially when the weather was not good for any kind of outdoor work. At times, I even did an hour of spinning followed by an hour on the treadmill and some weight work for upper body strength.

More Rubber on the Road

2008-12-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

It been a few runs since I bought my new pair of Asics 2140's. Since other options have not been that good, I decided to take a gamble at the 2140's since they were just released.

So far, I have mixed results. My first few runs were OK. I noticed less problems that I had with the 2130's. Since my feet are not recovered yet, I am not sure about the impact effect. I think I will need to rest the feet a few days before deciding if there are still problems.

I ran them in a 1/2 marathon race Saturday and the result were pretty positive. I still had soreness from impact but I did push them quite hard. I was about 45 sec per mile faster than I had run it 2 years ago and a faster avg pace that most of my runs in this distance range this year so I know I put a lot of stress on shoes. I did not have some of the aches and pains of the previous models in other areas like the hips and the top of the arch.

More testing needed...but looking positive so far

Where the rubber meets the road

2008-11-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

Usually I look forward to winter running. This year, I seem to be a little less enthusiastic that usual. I think after the 1/2 marathon next week, I will need to back off a bit. I think this has a lot to do with having issues with shoes.

For many years, I have been fortunate to be able to depend on the Asics GT line to provide a fairly stable progression of shoes. The last 2 models tho have not provided the same level of performance for me as they have in the past. That coupled with getting a bit older, has made running a little more of a chore than in the past.

I have to wonder why the shoe companies bring out new models every year. I know that they say there are improvements and I don't have a problem with that. However, when the improvements change the characteristics of the shoe, I think that they are doing a disservice to those of us who depend on a shoe that does not vary much in its running characteristics from year to year. Since I go through 2-3 pairs a year as do many runners I know, it is not like they need to get us to throw away to old and buy new just for the sake of a new model.

I generally point to shoes when friends have compaints about feet, knees or hips as the first place to look for the problem. I have many times given this advice but I forgot to think about it myself since I was so use to the GT line being dependable. When I finally realized that I was probably having a shoe issue, I hit myself in the head for not heading my own advice.

To test my hypothesis that the shoe was the problem, I took out an old pair of Asics from the '80 era. They were brand new, still in the box. When I ran in them, I was struck at how different they felt when compared to the newer Asics. The pair I had was the Epirus, the last of the non-gel Asics before they move to the GT series and gel. I felt like I was running on a cloud, the shoes were light and responsive. I remember now how I would refer to them as my "magic" shoes (eat you hat..err heart out, john kerry) since putting them on in the later stages of a 50 or 100 mile race seemed to help to improve my pace by 30 sec or more per mile.

Based on this, I compared the GT 2130 with the Epirus and was amazed at how wide the forefoot of the shoes had become. I guess over time, in the interest of stability, the base of the shoe has widened. This lead me to trying a "performance" training shoe and these felt similar in that they were more responsive and lighter however, they did not seem to last as long 300 miles vs 500 miles.

So what am I trying to say here? First, look to your shoes if you start having problems. It may be that they have finally worn out. If you just got them, maybe they are not the right ones...
Second, stick with one that works for you. If you know that a model you like is being changes or discontinued, buy a couple extra pairs to help while trying the new models. Mixing the old and new could help you determine if the new performs the same way without a major breakdown. (I bought about 10 pairs of the Epirus in those days). Lastly, don't get caught up in the hype about a new shoe or what someone else likes ... your foot may be different. I did notice while researching changes to the GT line, that a lot of runners who had used the GT series for a long time were complaining about the 2120 and 2130 models but I did not just take their word for it.

Wild West Relay Race Report

2008-08-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend (Friday and Saturday) I participated in the Wild West Relay (http://www.wildwestrelay.com). A new experience in running for me.

I have always considered running pretty much an individual thing and never really considered running in something like a relay. Maybe I even look down a bit on such thinks...after all how hard is it to run 5 miles every 12 hours....did I ever have an awakening. It was an experience.

I am totally blown away by the team...what a great group of people. Take 12 people from half a dozen states, many who did not know each other and watch with awe as everyone performed above expectation. I am truly proud of them.

The relay is interesting...each leg is anywhere from 3-8 miles or so and that is probably dictated by the availability of a place along the way to allow the team vehicles to park and prepare for the next leg. Teams had 1 or 2 vehicles per team depending on the number of runners in the team. We had 2 vans / 6 per van. One van would track to each exchange point as each of its runners ran their leg and the other van would go ahead to the point that they would be starting from and take the opportunity to catch some rest or sleep (if possible).

The course start in Ft Collins and make its way up to Laramie then back into Colorado to Steamboat Springs. Just shy of 200 miles in all. We were running on highways, something I have not done is a long time. I switched to running trails 10 years ago and rarely venture onto the streets anymore. My legs will attest to this quite loudly.

Our first set of legs was the hardest to face. It was a mostly uphill leg and the temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees. It hurt and everyone really showed their meddle on this leg. The uphill is bad enough but add the temperature to the equation and any sane runner would have gone home..but then we are runners and sane runner is an oxymoron. That being said it was "onward and upward".

The second set if legs treated us a little better. It was around midnight so the temperature was a balmy 40 degrees. It sure felt good after the 1st leg, I would have even been happy with snow but lets get too crazy.

The 3rd and last set of legs which took us into Steamboat and the finish was a mix of uphill early on and downhill. Temperatures were less of a factor but still running in the low to mid 80's and maybe a bit warmer that that for the last leg. The worst climb was in this set of leg but our flatland trooper Coleen gave it a tremendous effort. Having a lot of downhill helped here since we were all pretty tired and running on minimal sleep but downhill also beat you up as payment for leasing a little gravity to help you.

For myself, I must apologize to my team for taking this lightly in the time leading up to the start but that view changed about 10 seconds into the lst leg I ran and was driven home painfully in the last leg. I hope I performed to their expectations. I know I gave it all I could. I will be sore and tired for a few days.

Special thanks to Kelly for organizing this and our volunteers (volunteers are the unsung heros of running) and thanks to everyone for a fun (runner has strange sense of fun!) time. I could almost be convinced to do this again but I will be stopping by the local bionic shop to be fitted for some bionic legs first.

I will post any pictures that I receive on my website at www.farrunner.com so send away...

Bob
http://www.farrunner.com

Bobcat Alert...Lions and Tigers and ...bobcats oh my

2008-07-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning as I parked at the trail head for Blodgett Peak Open Space, I noticed an animal crossing the street and up onto the trail about 100 yards from me. When I first noticed it, I thought to myself..."self, there is something different about that animal". It did not look and move like a typical dog and was too big for a cat.

Fortunately, it stopped for a moment and turned its head my way and it became quite obvious that his was a bobcat. I got a good look and it looked me over too... I was not fast enough with the camera to get a pic before it turned and sauntered up the trail and into the trees.

It is always interesting here in Colorado. You never know what you may encounter. The newspaper has been carrying a story about an unknown sighting of what appeared to be a large cat (of the African Lion large) on the eastern plains a short time ago. There has been no confirmation of the sighting and a search has not turned up any clues as to what it might have been.

Mud Babes need not apply

2008-07-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday I decided to run somewhere different. As I complained about the other day, I have been feeling a bit bored by the same old runs. With the Wild West Relay and pace duties at Leadville looming in the near future, I decided to go up in altitude to get some higher altitude training.

I chose to go to Rampart Resevoir, site of the Pony Express Run in the fall. This is my report on the trail.

Getting up to trail head at an early hour was the hardest part of the run...the weather had cooled somewhat and the bed sure felt good. If it were not for mother nature giving me a wakeup call, I might have opted to snuggle a little deeper in the bed. Once up and getting the coffee (magic elixer) going, I decided I could probably do this. The temperature was good for a long run and the forcast was for moderate conditons....sorry Trail Nerds and Mud Babes....no rain in sight.

It is an hour drive to the resevoir so I headed out with coffee and muffin in hand.

Thing were quiet at the trailhead, only 4 cars so plenty of parking (better than trying for parking at the Barr Trail trailhead!). I decided to wear the full pack with water in case I needed a lot to drink, and I wanted to test how it did on a long run before I used it at leadville.

The trail starts with a 1 1/2 mile downhill to the resevoir then at a small bridge, you can opt to go right or left. Going left is the harder direction. It will be almost 10 miles to the dam and this part contains most of the up/down hill terrain. I prefer getting the work over with early.

It is deceiving at the start as you can see the dam across the water and it really does not look all that far...and it isn't if you can swim....but the trail follows a bunch of fingers that add miles to the course. Don't believe your eyes even when the dam looks only a 1/2 mile away...you have several miles to go.

As I ran along, I thought back on all the fun I had at the psycho-wyco and the freestate marathon and realized that all you Trail Nerds and Mud Babes would be totally devastated by the lack of the one thing that they groove on...MUD!!! But all is not lost, as I did find a small mud patch at about 6 miles that they could cavort in so that it can be consider a real run...

Reaching the dam at about 9.5 miles, you have about a 1/2 miles of pavement to cross then pick up the tail on the other side...the good thing is that you are 2/3 of the way done and the hard work is out of the way. The worse part of the return is the 1 1/2 mile uphill from the bridge to the trail head.

Anyone out there coming to Colorado Springs should check out my website at http://farrunner.com for trail and map information on this trail. I know it does not sound exciting to the Trail Nerd because of the lack of mud but maybe mid winter we can offer a foot or more of snow to make up for it.

Boring...time for a change

2008-07-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided that I have been stuck in a rut. Hiking and running the same trails everyday, so I decided to go somewhere different. Diane, Zeke and I went over to Red Rocks Park of Hwy 24 and did a short hike. The hike was limited because of the heat which had Zeke panting like a locomotive climbing Pikes Peak...

I took a lot of pictures of the area we hiked on and I can see why a lot of people wanted to preserve the area from development. There are great views and awesome rock formations. I would recommend it as a good hike for anyone. The trails we followed were easy to moderate in difficulty so that most people would be comfortable on them. I am sure that there are more difficult ones in the area which I will be making an effort to explore in the coming weeks and document on the Trails webpage (http://farrunner.com).

Has Spring/Summer Arrived?

2008-05-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like we may be done with Winter for a few days or more (hopefully). I have been up in Denver all week but the nice thing about this is that I can stop at the Greenland Trail Open Space on the way home (and not have to drive extra miles) and get in a good run. The trail is in excellent condition, and the temperatures seem to be a bit lower that in Denver (5-10 degrees). This is good since there is not shade to be had on the course.

That being said, I took one day this week to explore a part of the High Line Canal Trail in Denver. I was somewhat familiar with it from the far past where I use to meet some of my Denver area running friends for a longer run. Back then, I was running the section farther to the east and north than my current location.

I did a short 5 miles run on the Canal Trail Tuesday and I can see where this section on the Greenwood Village area has a great feature going for it...it is well shaded by large trees along the section that I ran on. Nice on a hot sunny day in the late afternoon. There is a nice parking area on Orchard Rd, west of I25 about 2-3 miles to start the run from. Also, it is a gravel/dirt trail so the trail itself does not hold the heat as much as other surfaces. If you are in the area and looking for a place to run, this is a good choice. There is another trail area not quite as far west and the High Line Canal, located in a park area that also shares the shade characteristics as the canal trail.

The High Line Canal Trail is a very long trail and I think if I am in the area and have the time, I will explore more sections of it (maybe) on a bike to allow more exploration time and map it on the website. I did some searches for more info on it but did not find good maps and descriptions so I think it worth documenting.

Website issues

2008-05-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

I noticed that I have a few links messed up on the website (farrunner.com) getting back from the various map pages, I will try to get those corrected this week. While I was out running, I came up with a way to setup those pages so the navigation is better.

New Webpage Design

2008-05-07T08:11:00.001-07:00

I have put up a new version of my webpage at http://www.farrunner.com. This has kept me busy for the past couple of days.

Today looks like a gloomy/rainy day. The plan calls for a day of surges on a flat/paved surface so I guess that will work out ok. I think the trails will be a bit soggy since the rain was fairly strong and lasted for an hour or so. This will soak everything and produce some mud (all those KC trail nerds know mud..hehe).

You know that old saying about when all you have is a hammer, everthing looks like a nail. Well the Trail Nerds have add a new dimension to that. When all you have is mud...start classifying it into different kinds... A recent exchange in the yahoo group finds them talking about mud with regards to color, texture, aggressiveness...who knew.

Free State Marathon Report

2008-05-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

Ran the Free State Marathon in Lawrence Kansas this past Saturday. This was a trail marathon in the true sense of the word... a little mud, some streams to cross, lots of hills, and a great group of runners and volunteers.

I did not have any real goals for the race other than to have fun and be there for my daughters first marathon. She did fine. Training with the Trail Nerds prepared her perfectly for the run and she cruised through the race.

I on the other hand was a little light on my training and depended a bit on having done this many times in the past. My longest run before the race was about 17 miles of hills. I think a couple of 20 mile efforts might have been a good thing. Had a few cramp issues in the last couple of miles which I need to think about and figure out whether is was the distance, hydration, or electrolytes.

The race itself was well organized and staffed. There were sufficient aid stations of which some were staffed and some were unmanned water. Carrying a water bottle was required but since I never run without my hip pack and a bottle, this was not an issue. I would suggest all runners who plan on doing long races, get used to some hydration pack. What you train with will help when it is race time.

The race started with a 3 mile or so loop which I liked so I could warm up and then shed extra clothing as we passed back through the start line. I know in my mind that I will warm up after a couple of miles but hate the chill feeling of starting with the correct clothing. The rule of thumb for this is that if you feel a bit chilled waiting for the start, you probably have the right amount of clothing on.

During the first 3 miles, I tried to keep my daughter from going out too fast but I know she has seen so many races that it should be second nature but still, there is the tendency to get excited when the pack bolts out of the start. After a few miles, she was gone and I settled down for the trail ahead.

Most of the race, I followed my plan which was to run downhill, flats, and some of the shallow hills. I tiptoes through the mud and some of the water crossings (not sure why) and enjoyed talking to some of the runners and took glances at the scenery. Too long a look would have probably been the receipt for a crash...

The people at the aid stations were great and the food was spot on. I can remember finding Coke at one station (my favorite replacement drink) and just draining the cup...great stuff...got my motor running again. I think I tend to be a sugar junkie during the later parts of a marathon because it seems to hit my system faster than other food sources. I did partake in the PBJ also for a slower hit down the road.

Like my daughter, my GPS was not very accruate on the course however from her telling me that this was the case during her training runs out there, I was expecting it. The downside was that I did not know when I was close enough to make the final push to the finish. I agree, some signage in the last 3 miles would be a great help.

I guess I am ready to pass the baton to the next generation... and just run for the sheer fun of it.
(yea right).

I highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a good race on the trails. Any of Ben's races are good (especially if you like mud).

Getting Started

2008-04-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

A quick introduction to myself should be in order to start this blog underway.

I have been running for about 50 years of which 30 of them have been at the marathon and ultramarathon level. I will be using this blog to extend my website and forum to include my comments about everything running.

See http://farrunner.com and http://farrunner.freeforums.com where I try to document running trails in the Colorado Springs area.

Bob