Wow running in Boulder

As I was running east on a trail just after dawn today, I was passed by a young fellow.  When I got to the point where the trail crossed a dirt road, the young fellow was standing there, having just taken a look at the trail map.  He glanced up and I saw his mouth form the word "wow".  Now I doubt it was "wow, look at that exquisite runner coming toward me" but maybe it was "wow look how those two cyclists zipped from the road to the trail" or perhaps "wow what a lot of trails there are around here."  But as I continued east, I realized he was looking west.  Yeah. Wow.

Sights of the weekend

This past weekend was action-packed!

Saturday:

• a tempo run of repeat 8s and 3s.  The 8s were a challenge - but even more challenging was making sure we didn't stomp on this little critter as we dashed by on the South Boulder Creek Trail!

•  post-run was our first ever block party.  Lots of chatting with neighbors and good food - and thankfulness for our covered porch when the downpour got going in earnest and the thunder and lightning storm decided to hang out directly overhead!

 Sunday:

•  a 3-hour and 10-minute run from home to Longmont, a truly remarkable run for a number of reasons: it started with a tailwind, I discovered a rock art garden that I'd never seen before along the Boulder Creek Path, and, best of all, running buddy Connie joined me for the last 2 hours 15 minutes...the first time I've ever had company when running to Longmont.  It was the easiest 3+ hours I've run in a long long time!
  
  

Paul, Audrey, Steve, Cullen, Tara, Kitty, pj

• Niece Tara showed up in Boulder for a hike and lunch to celebrate her birthday.  It's always a festive occasion when the Miller clan gets together.  Cheers to Tara!  A perfect ending to a delightful weekend!

Poking around

I sure did wake up excited today! I had laid out a route for my long run that took me to paths and trails I had never seen before.  My kind of day!

The first hour or so was on a road I've often run: concrete, cars whizzing past, and a lot of uphill.  Ah well, one must work for one's reward, eh?  Upon reaching the top of the last hill on this road I kept a sharp eye peeled to the north where what looked like a bike path on gmap pedometer was supposed to appear.  Sure enough, there it was!  And a most excellent path it was: a) it got me away from traffic whoohoo!; b) it put me behind houses and pointed out towards a view of the plains and foothills I'd never seen before; c) it took me right to a most luxurious portapot which I desperately needed having drunk loads of liquids yesterday in prep for the run; and d) it brought me around to a view of the eastern horizon where seven hot air balloons were floating along.  Splendid!

Eventually it turned out that the path I had planned to follow was actually a railroad track so there was much zigzagging, backtracking, coming out onto main roads, and more zigzagging before I got back over to the planned route - but even that showed me new neighborhoods, soft running paths, and quiet streets I'd never had the privilege to run before.  All in all, a lovely run!