Test Drive

Twenty three miles at the lakes today. It was fairly pleasant for running, cool in the morning, and occasionally the wind would pick up and freeze me but by the end it warmed up into the high 40s and it wasn't bad at all. This was my longest run again, since last July. I felt good in the last 10 miles, which surprised me. I thought I'd be dragging. I did take yesterday off, which helped.

Today I took this "vehicle" for a test drive. I actually only ran with it for the first 2 miles, because my traps were killing me after that much time. The handles are too high for me.

I borrowed it from my friend Kristin, who is a lot taller than me and it was too short for her. I'm trying to find something to take with me on my adventure run this summer in case I end up doing it mostly solo, which I think is what's going to happen. I might be able to get minimal crewing in parts of the run, but I will need something to carry my gear and ice if it's hot and I'm on my own.

Other than that, I liked it, it felt stable, and even on the dirt my water bottle stayed in the holder, and stuff didn't bounce around. I piled it up with rocks to make it more realistic- I think they weighed about 30 pounds. If I could rig something up so that I had handlebars below the existing ones, I think it would be perfect. I'll be looking into that, and smaller used baby joggers next.

Yes, I'm being secretive about my plans. It's not going to be as long as last summer's run, and it's not connected with any race, but I'm not telling any details until I pull it together.

Today was one of those runs where ABC rules applied. For new readers, ABC means Always Bring a Camera!

The first lap around the north lake was with the baby jogger, but then I ditched it in my car, and took off with my camera. The lakes were partially iced over, but I could hear the "glug-glug-glug" sound under the melting ice. We've had such mild temperatures for the past few weeks, there's almost no snow in town.

After a few laps I saw this bald eagle in the tree halfway around the loop. The bird stayed there for at least an hour, I took pictures on two of my laps.

I was only planning on running 18 or 20 miles but I ended up with 23, I felt so good. And I was treated to this view at the end.

Now that I'm home, the wind has picked up considerably. The weather gods must have liked me today! Tomorrow, hills at Horsetooth.