Wednesday (9/7) (12 mi, 2,600ft) – Mesa from the Chautauqua side - I’ve never run the Mesa Trail from this end mostly due to my apprehension to climb that foreboding ascent on the Eldorado side in the middle of the run. Though, I was eager to give this a shot on this particular morning. With the sun rising later everyday, the trail was still fairly dark and indiscernible at 6am. I was excited about the weather – light rain and slightly humid. Once I could see the trail with a certain degree of confidence, I set off. My footwork was so-so, but I maintained plenty of energy and kept my descents fairly conservative as to not aggravate the knees. Once I made it over to the Eldo side, I decided to avoid the unpleasant downhill gravel (and the more annoying climb of the same section) to the trailhead and instead, take a right up Shadow Canyon as I have been more than eager to explore this trail. I only went to the Towhee junction, but from my initial assessments, this looks like a fun future endeavor. I headed back to Chautauqua with a spritely pace (mostly to ensure I could get to work by 9am). I can’t wait for more of this autumnal weather.
Thursday (9/8) (11 mi, 1,600ft)– SoBo Creek Trail to S. Fork Shanahan to Mesa – I’ve really grown fond of this route lately. The Sobo trail provides a nice 2 mile flat, easy warm up to the steepness of the ensuing Mesa and South Fork Shanahan sections. Watching the sunrise once I make it to the Mesa/Blue Stem junction is worth every bit of this run too. I had some good energy climbing South Fork Shanahan – enough so to power on through the Mesa and over to Bear Creek Canyon. Heading back home via Mesa, I am continually reminded of how gnarly the stair steps are just after the Fern/North Fork junction.
Friday (9/9) (11 mi, 1,600ft)- SoBo Creek Trail to S. Fork Shanahan to Mesa – I drearily ran the same route as Thursday, though this run was a bit different. I felt totally undisturbed and made deliberate effort to run a strong, but slow run, concentrating solely on my cadence and paying little to no attention to much of anything else in my life. I don’t know if it’s the new terrain this week or the beautifully cool temperatures, but I have had a very enlightening, introspective few days of running.
Sunday (9/11) (20 mi, 6,000ft)– Quasi-Boulder Skyline Traverse – Too much to write for a summary, so peep the link for the details
Totals for the week:
Miles: 54
Climbing Feet: 11,800
Time: 10:53
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