Spring

Today was one of the more perfect days I have seen in Northern Colorado in some time. Yesterday afternoon's rain and this morning's fog left a wonderous damp earthy smell in the air. The sun and blue skies broke through just as I was rounding the south end of Horsetooth Reservoir. As I dropped off the road on to the Blue Sky Trail, 5 miles in to my run, the birds were singing and spring was definitely in the air.

I ran the full 23 mile March Madness course and took careful notes of turns and mileages which I will post later in the week. My GPS measured the course at precisely 23 miles and just over 2100 feet of vertical. The trail is in great shape and if next Saturday is anything like today, it will be a great run.

Ean, Mindy and Chris ran the 10 mile route which turns out to be closer to 9 miles. The first 1.7 miles and the last 4.5 miles are the same as the 23 and 34 mile routes. The middle 2.8 miles run along Centennial (CR 23) over the first two dams and up a couple good climbs.

I went out for another quick run with Shadow at 7 pm tonight in shorts and t-shirt and no headlamp, just because I could. I love daylight savings. I finished the week with 90 miles that included a 10 x 400 meter workout on Wednesday, a 39:30 ascent of Towers on Thursday night and a 20:10 5K yesterday at Sharin' O' the Green. I plan to run 100 miles next week with a good portion of that at 8000+ feet in Nathrop and Buena Vista, where I will also spend as much time as possible easing tired muscles in the hot pool at Mt. Princeton Hot Springs.

All looks good for the plans for next weekend. Look for more details later this week. Happy Spring!