One Thousand Thirty-Five

November 22, 2019
8.00 Miles in 1:11:07
Mood: Moving fast and avoiding the drifts
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "Closer Than Together"

So much snow. That was what I was thinking as I got out of bed a couple of minutes before my alarm was set to wake up up so that I could look out my window. I turned off the alarm and got back into bed, and might have just stayed there if the fact that skipping this run would put me dangerously behind schedule for hitting 100 miles in November. Then I thought to myself that I can always run at the Rec Center, and I reluctantly decided to get moving in that direction.

I arrived at Goodson, and headed to the track, and just started running. I felt remarkably good. When you haven't run in shorts for a few months, you forget just how much better shorts are than jogging pants. I also don't know what got into me, but I ran 8:53 miles, which is waaaaaaay faster than I usually go. I also managed to do all 8 miles without stopping once, and this was the first time my running app seemed to track my distance on the track just about perfectly. It's supposed to be 10 laps per mile, and in the past, that hasn't always worked out. However, on this particular morning, every time I hit that 10th lap, the app alerted me that I had just completed another mile. It was astonishingly accurate today. 80 laps, 8 miles. (and zero snow that I had to run through.)

One Thousand Thirty-Four

November 20, 2019
7.07 Miles in 1:12:11
Mood: Enjoying the dark and being confused by construction.
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Vessel"

Knowing I had to leave work early to pick up my daughter after her basketball practice, I woke up even earlier than normal to hit the trail so I could get in a run and also still be able to be at her school when she needed me. As a result, it was super dark when I left the house. The photo above was taken about two mile into my run, and the sun had barely even begun to announce its presence. That allowed me to see these decorated trees. (I'm assuming for Hanukkah, not Christmas due to the color scheme.)

At one point on this run, I saw a bunch of traffic cones up ahead, and I began to worry that the trail had been shut down. However, it was merely construction being done on a road to create an elevated crosswalk to slow down cars in the place where the street intersects the trail. I'm curious to see what this is like once it's fully completed. I only learned what it was later on in the day when a Highline Canal Instagram feed I follow posted a picture of the area that I had seen that day and explained what was going on.

One Thousand Thirty-Three

November 17, 2019
3.76 Miles in 37:17
Mood: Definitely not feeling it.
Soundtrack: Modest Mouse "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank"

I was distracted, unmotivated, and had a slight bit of gastronomic distress going on. I probably should have just skipped this Sunday, but I decided to give it a go and pretty quickly discovered I was not entirely up to the task this particular day. I still managed almost four miles at a reasonably quick pace, but it still felt a bit like a failure. Funny that running nearly four miles feels like I'm slacking. I've been on a very good run of late, so I forgive myself for one morning where it feels like the world is against me getting in a good run. I'll be back at it Tuesday, and hopefully will feel more like myself.

One Thousand Thirty-Two

November 15, 2019
8.08 Miles in 1:23:52
Mood: My camera seemed to be exaggerating
Soundtrack: Milk Carton Kids "Prologue"

Usually I see these amazing things in nature, but when I go to take pictures of them, the photo does reality no justice. This morning was a weird reversal of that phenomenon. The morning sky didn't seem all that glorious this morning, yet when I took a picture, the clouds showed up in the photo as much more dramatic and pretty than they looked in real life. That pretty much never happens.

I took this photo right as I was about to begin my run, and I thought it looked so cool that I didn't bother taking any more pictures and focused on running hard. I tried to stop as few times as possible, and while I did need to stop a handful of times, this run was pretty intense with very few breaks.

One Thousand Thirty-One

November 14, 2019
7.46 Miles in 1:16:28
Mood: Goin' to the dogs.
Soundtrack: Neutral Milk Hotel "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea"

The thing that sticks in my mind from this run is dogs. Particularly two dogs. One was very old and was walking next to his owner without a leash very slowly and he looked to be struggling with walking as old dogs sometimes do. What made him particularly memorable was the fact that on his two hind legs he was wearing boots. They looked like moon boots similar to what I wore as a little kid in 1981. I've never seen a dog in boots prior to today.

The second dog was out for a walk, but was definitely not walking. His owner was wearing a child's rainbow colored backpack, and wearing it backwards so that it was covering her chest, and inside the backpack was a medium sized dog. It's hard to describe exactly how silly they looked, but let's go with this...they looked very silly.

My biggest regret from this run is that I didn't take a photo of either dog.

One Thousand Thirty

November 12, 2019
9.01 Miles in 1:33:09
Mood: Cool things happening! Yay!
Soundtrack: Twenty One Pilots "Trench"

The moon setting can happen at any point in the day, it just so happened that today it set about ten minutes before the sun rose. Something that feels like it should happen more often than it actually does. Watching it go down as the pink rays of dawn were flooding the world in a majestic warmth was pretty awesome. The moon going down behind the mountains was incredible to look at, and (as always) a photo does it no justice. It was just this moment of zen about a mile and a half into my run.

I wasn't done with cool memorable moments on this run once the moon disappeared over the horizon. About twenty minutes later I was right near Littleton High School when a fox suddenly appeared along a knoll that was covered in snow. It was maybe 25 feet away from me, and I just watched its bright reddish orange fur as it contrasted against the white of the snow. It was spectacular. Then, after it had wondered quite far away, I finally thought to take a picture. I was able to get it in the photo, but it was very small looking and far away by then...nothing close to how magical it seemed when it was RIGHT THERE! Still, it was an extremely cool moment, even if I missed capturing it with a camera.

The last thing I need to mention is that I got 9 miles in on this run. Nine! I can't remember the last time I ran that far. It wasn't fast (I looked at my mile splits and didn't run a single mile in under 10 minutes), but I felt good the whole time and put in a great effort. Things are looking good for me hitting 100 miles for the 4th consecutive month, as I'm at 47.77 miles run on November 12th.

One Thousand Twenty-Nine

November 10, 2019
7.46 Miles in 1:13:45
Mood: Happy to see someone decorating for the best fall holiday.
Soundtrack: The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour"

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but finding actual Thanksgiving decorations is almost impossible. This is why I was so excited to see this pumpturkey on a fence as I was running through the Denver Country Club neighborhood. ACTUAL THANKSGIVING DECORATIONS! Wow! It looks like a squirrel was also happy to see it, as you can see on the right side evidence of rodents digging into the squash.

One Thousand Twenty-Eight

November 8, 2019
8.01 Miles in 1:22:24
Mood: Woah, early!
Soundtrack: The Avett Brothers "A Carolina Jubilee" and "Closer Than Together"

I woke up half an hour earlier than my usual before dawn wake up call for this run. I knew I needed to leave work early, but I still wanted to get in a run since I hadn't run since Tuesday, so the best option seemed to be to get up in the middle of the night. I actually woke up even before my alarm went off, and I flew threw my morning routine and so well before six in the morning, I was off and running.

I arrived at DeKoevend Park so early that the lights on the shelter were still on (pictured above), I had never seen these lights before, and mixed with the extreme frost that was covering everything, I thought the glow of the lights seemed particularly warm. I really like this picture, even though it isn't of anything all that extraordinary. I just like how the light works in it.

I also see this couple that I would estimate to be in their late sixties almost every morning when I run north on the Highline. They are more regular than a fiber factory...walking EVERY day (Or so it feels) along the same path. I saw them much earlier in the morning this time, and they were much further north on the road...which makes sense as I was running way earlier than normal, and surely they were on their normal routine, but it still felt weird to not see them in the same general locale that I always see them...even if it was my change that caused it not theirs.

One Thousand Twenty-Seven

November 5, 2019
8.24 Miles in 1:24:51
Mood: Who can remember?
Soundtrack: The Head and The Heart "Living Mirage"

It's been two days since I ran this run, and even in that short time, I have forgotten anything memorable that happened. This was a quality run with very little of consequence for posterity. I do remember that when I took this picture, in the distance it looked misty and hazy and kind of spooky. So that's something, I guess.

One Thousand Twenty-Six

November 3, 2019
7.76 Miles in 1:16:36
Mood: Trippy van, much?
Soundtrack: The Hold Steady "Thrashing Thru The Passion"

This run had many memorable moments including a squirrel that had zero fear walking right up to me and freaking me out a bit because it almost felt like he was going to run up my leg like I was a tree. I think he was just looking for a handout, and had been fed enough times to believe I might have a snack to feed him. Creepy squirrel.

The true moment of this run, however, was when I came face to face with this van. Goats should never have eyes like a humans, and this is why. This van is both amazing and a crime against humanity. I feel better knowing it's out in the world.

One Thousand Twenty-Five

November 1, 2019
7.28 Miles in 1:17:22
Mood: Look at that dog driving that car!
Soundtrack: The Shins "Heartworms"

The snow had stopped, but the streets were still quite icy, so I decided to remain in the friendly confines of the Streets of Southglenn for this run. It was cold, but the crews had rid the ground of most of the slippery stuff, so I was able to run in circles without slipping even once.

The greatest moment of this run came when I went past this car and immediately had to stop to take a picture. The glare on the windshield makes it harder to see than it was in real life, but it sure looked like this dog was driving this car. The idea of a golden retriever driving a car will never not be funny to me. I am a simple man.