Tuesdays workout (9/6)

The temperature the past few days have been great. Several weeks of nothing but upper 90's, was brutal. But this past week has been a sure indicator that fall running weather is right around the corner. Temps for today were in the upper 60's, overcast, with a slight drizzle. I cant remember the last time I ran on a cool, drizzly afternoon. Nonetheless, this is a recipe for a prime run on the trails.

As noted in a previous post, I have yet to purchase a parks pass this year, as I am fine with jogging an extra mile or so to the trailhead (main or Soderberg) if it saves me some cash. Although I think I will cave, and buy the pass before the winter (and several feet of snow) arrive into town this winter.

I started my run at the Horsetooth liquor/convienence store and jogged the 1.3 miles (roughly) to the Soderberg trailhead. This traverse over to Soderberg is an easy flat/gently rolling and smooth "trail" or gravel/dirt bikepath. After arriving at Soderberg I decided to head out for a somewhat short loop, with a some vertical climbs here and there. From Soderberg I took the following trails: Nomad - Sawmill - Stout - Towers - and then back towards the trailhead and the extra 1.3 miles to my truck.

The first few miles of this loop is an easy gently rolling, smooth trail. After getting onto Sawmill the trail grade picks up and is filled with several short but steep climbs, followed by short steep descents, with some patches of smoother stuff inter-mixed. There are also several rocky sections (ankle twisters, if your not paying attention)
Once on Towers, its all downhill back to Soderberg.

Ankle today felt good. A little tight at times but overall it felt fine. Just need to get in some good stretching later today. It felt good to get in some more vertical stuff as well. The downhills, I am still slowly working my ankle back into the footwork required to cruise through (on and over) the more technical sketchy rocky sections of the trail. As the downhills are easily my favorite part of trail running, having to hold back and take it easy is still somewhat of a bummer, as I naturally tend to open it up and let it rip!
But the smart thing to do is ease back into it and take it one downhill step at a time.

Total Time : 1hr 8 minutes