Catamount Trail

After spending some time looking at trails in the Colorado area, I came across Catamount Trail.  The trail is located in the little town of Green mountain Falls, CO.  Pass. The trail took me 3 1/2 hours to complete the 6 mile round trip only stopping for picture and a snack stop. Elevation gain of 1,700 ft the highest point being 9,200ft at Catamount Reservoir.

The trail was rebuilt in 1997 and rated "moderate".   To get to the trail head you will need to park on Hondo road and hike about 3/4th of a mile to get to the trail head.

The trail head starts out a bit rocky with a few tight switchbacks and scales up the side wall of Slot Canyon.

The first mile up the side wall was a little bit of a work out.  If you can scale up the Incline then this would be just fine for you, but the steps are a little steeper.

You can see Ute Pass just thru the trees right before you get to the top.  Which will slope downwards toward the Garden of Eden. 

There is a little stream that you will pass by just before the Garden of Eden.  I saw little fish swimming down stream. 

Since it is still very early spring, the meadow was not in blum, I would like to go back and see it in full blum.  The meadow is sourded heavy rock walls of granite boulders.  It was windy, but down in the medow the rock walls kept the wind out.

Rock walls in the Garden of Eden

 After you pass thru the Garden of Eden you will find yourself passing thru some large boulders along the stream.

You will approach a dirt path, you will want to take the trail that leads slightly down wards then up to the Catamount Reservoir.

The reservoir was still slightly frozen over but the views were still stunning. You are looking at the back side of Pikes Peak. If you look very carefully you are able to see the house on top of Barr Trail

”I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"

Not On My Face!

So, some of you may know that I have been kicking around the idea of getting another tattoo.

What....GASP, yes Mother I have already permanently marked my perfectly clean body. Not to fret, unless I am a stripper you would never know it is there.

There are many things to consider before you decide to get the all mighty tattoo!

1) What to have "inked" on your body
There are small hearts or butterflies

Or for those that can not decided on which one, there are full body ones, I love Travis, he is a talented drummer:

One of my favorites is the misspelled ones:

2.)Just like reality, it's all about location, location, location!
Most lower back tattoos are called "tramp stamps" so I am leaning away from that.  Between my shoulder blades?  On my hip? On the inside of my ankle? On my forearm? On my Hand? NOT ON MY FACE!


3) Ohhhh on the contrary size does matter!
You go with something dainty like Jessica Alba's

Or large like Kat Von D

  To help me make this very important decision, I like to refer to this very helpful flow chart:

My decision? 

After careful consideration and months of deciding, I want something meaningful.  I love to run and commemorating my marathon seems so fitting.  For those of you that would like to know, I drew this out myself.

Location?
Left rib cage. I have my inside ankle around the ball joint reserved for when I have a child of my own. I plan to the time he/she is born in roman numerals. 

Do you have a tattoo and why did you get it?

If you don't have one, where would you put it and why?

”I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"

Is Hashing for you?

I read an article somewhere online about this thing called "Hashing". No folks, this has nothing to do with the 420 version of hash. Hashing is a running activity.

Hashing has been around since the late 1930's, where it originated in Malaysia. Essentially, the “hare” is given a timed head start to lay the trail using chalk, flour or paper. The “harriers” peruse after the hare following his/her markings thru streets, alleyways, grasses, streams, climbing fences or even exploring storm drains. Reaching the end if the trail is its own reward…for the thirsty harries they would find ice cold beers or soda for those now day health-conscious hashers.


After reading the article I thought to myself this sounds interesting. However the idea of tromping thru storm drains, mud or even climbing things sounded a little out of my comfort zone. I am not the most graceful person, and tend to be slightly accident prone and I really don't need another trip to the operating table. I filed the article away in my memory bank for later.

A friend of mine recently asked me if I would attend a local “hash” to see what it is all about. I thought about it and recalled the article that I had read some months back. Ultimately I decided I would give it a try, after all I love to run!

I was told to bring a head lamp and not to wear new shoes. There was a bit of a chill in the air so I decided to wear pants instead of my normal carpi's, boy was I glad I decided to so that. I arrived at the “hash house” 15 minutes early, but there were no runners in sight. I decided to hang out in the car for a bit and mull over my decision to do this. Finally I pulled together my courage and got out of the car and made my way inside.


Opening the door, I spotted my friend and the other runners. I was introduced to the group and each person gave me there “hash name". Since I have never done hashing I do not have a hash name and was introduced as “Just Tiffany”. You are not usually given a "hash" name until you have completed a number of hash runs.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.


After getting the breakdown of how the hash works and educated on the chalk signals. We were off to follow the hare’s trail. We searched out followed clumps of flour and chalk marking thru sidewalks, parking lots, grassy areas, dirt trails, dried up creeks, under storm bridges, over and under fences, and thru trees. Sounds like a trip to grandma’s house. Finally we found our way back to the “hash house”.

I thought that I was done and now we would just hang out. Oh boy was I mistaken! The group sat around talked about the rout, sang songs, drank some beer, and made jabs at the “newbie” aka me. The group has a rather interesting process of welcoming someone in to the gang. They asked me questions about myself and tried to gather some information about me. At this point I really started to wonder what had I gotten myself into!


After what seemed like an eternity of harassing, I was able nudge my way back to the edge of the circle and relax. After all was said and done I was able to sit and talk with everyone and get to know people.

So, is hashing for me? Sure, after I got the hang of what I was looking for on the trail, I started to like running like a crazy person, in search of the little clump of white flour. I felt like a child chasing down the ice cream truck on a hot summer day. The hunt and the rush of adrenaline that you get when you realise that you are on-trail made me remember why I love Colorado and why I LOVE TO RUN!


“ON-ON” fellow hashers!

List of hashing terms:
http://7h4hash.com/hashingdictionary.htm



”I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"

Mental Health Day

Today I decided that I needed to take a take mental health day from work. I turned on some soft Jazz made a hot cup of tea and curled up on the couch with my laptop. I can across an article on Mind Body Green called 20 Instructions for Life by The Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama happens to be on my personal top five most influential people that I would like to meet. If I could possess a fraction of this guy’s knowledge I would be set! So listed below are the 20 Instructions for Life and my interpretations.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. This can touch on many levels from running your first race, moving to a new state or country, quitting a job, taking a new job, learning a how to cook a new recipe, ending a relationship, starting a new relationship. Big or small it is a natural human reaction when taking a risk to associate fear. Therefor we never take the leap of faith, but honestly how terrible can something be by trying something new?

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. When you fail at something, there is still a lesson to be learned from that failure. But only when you want to truly see why you failed will you see the lesson to be learned.

3. Follow the three R’s:

- Respect for self, (never stop in the middle of a race and tie your shoe, pull over!)
- Respect for others (never stop in the middle of a race and tie your shoe, pull over!) and
- Responsibility for all your actions. (never stop in the middle of a race and tie your shoe, pull over!)

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. This is one of those truths that it is so true it is annoying. Sometimes when we want something so bad we don't see that while we are fighting for what we want we are pushed towards the direction we needed to go all along.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. Okay this sounds so anti Dalai Lama, but only can you truly understand the rules can you break the rule with the knowledge of why you broke the rule.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship. Acquaintances will come and go in your life, but you will only have a few true friends. They are the ones that train with you on the cold days stop every few feet to get a rock out of your shoes, so if you scuff over where to run, get over it because a good running partner are hard to come by.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. When you are running a race and you accidentally spit or farmer blow on someone quickly say you’re sorry and move on.

8. Spend some time alone every day. Run naked once in a while, no music no watch just you your footsteps, your breath and the road. As a runner it is one of the most natural and humbling experiences. Everyone else thinks it's stupid.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values. Just because you open your arms, to give a hug to a stranger at the end of your big race, doesn't mean you need to lose your virginity.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. I think I answered this on #9 but try running naked, it's liberating.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time. Live life to the fullest, work hard for something you want, fight for yourself, when the time comes and you think you will give up find "it" within yourself and keep going. When the day comes that you have to look back on it all you will be glad that you gave it all you had and you not have any regrets.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. Love your dog, cat, turtle or whatever pet you may have, love your kids, love your partner, love your family because a life with someone in it who does not love you or respect is much lonelier then a life alone.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past. Just because your partner did not bring you a cup of tea while you were on the couch because you can't use your leg muscles after running a marathon don't add insult to injury by bringing up all the other time he/she failed you. It's really not fair.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality. Pace a new runner in his/her first race teach them how to push their limits. Teach them what you know and they will teach others. The best advice I ever heard was "you can do anything for 10 minutes" and that has stuck with me.

15. Be gentle with the earth. Don't leave your GU packs on the ground pick them up. If you feel the need to take a dump on your training runs, do it in the fields, dirt or woods, don't leave it in the rocks!

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before. Find a new trail to run, hike a new place in the mountains.

 17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. My father always told me "Your Mother and I may not be wealthy, we may not take exotic vacations, we may not have all the latest gadgets, we may drive Junkers for cars, but what we do have is love. If we could live on the love we have for each other we would be set for life"

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. When training for a marathon, you give up free time, sex, watching TV, reading a book, walking normal for weeks, and all you get is a shirt and a medal. That is success, to me because not everyone can do that.

 

19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. When you see other people coming back in from their run as you are heading out shout out "good job" or "nice pace" they will nod and smile all runners love to hear good things about their running.

20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion Listening and giving complements makes people feel good about them, and by making others feel good you feel good.

”I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"

Manitou Incline

Today I met up with Kim to do the Manitou Incline. It has been a while since I have last done the Incline and frankly I have been a little hesitant since the last time I did it I couldn't finish it.  When you look up, you see this:

Little intimidatinging huh?

BTW.... there is only one way up once you start.

The base sits at 6,530ft and the top is 8,550ft. The climb up is just about one mile so your quads and lungs get quite the work out.

As I took on the climb, first thing I noticed, is that I was able to keep a pretty good pace, just stopping to take a drink of water and take pictures. I can tell the spin classes and the hill runs, have made my legs so much stronger. That and I am in much better physical shape then I was the first time I did this.  There were some people that passed me on the way up, but thank goodness I did not get lapped like my first time.

Once I got to the top, I was hot and sweaty. As I waited for Kim to finish coming up, the wind started up and that started to chill me. We do our usual photo pose at everything we do.

We decided that we would do the extended loop and run down the Barr Trail. The trail had an icy spot between some rocks that startled me a little, but over all the Trail was pretty clean and free from snow. Few loose rocks here and there but over all a nice jog down.

Time to get up 00:50:18
Total time with the extended loop 1:58:43


”I run in the snow, rain, wind and heat. I run until I cannot run anymore then I run some more. I run thru the blur of tears, the aches and pains and then I keep going. I have more running clothes than some running stores, I know Fartklet does not mean like it sounds. I go to bed at 9pm; I get up early just to do it all over again. Why do I do this? Because I am a runner and that's who I am"