Given that I'd done a bit of uphill running the prior day, I decided I'd like to do a long run on some flat land. Bear Creek or Chatfield Reservoir?
I ended up on this trail at Chatfield:
There is a structure on the dam at Chatfield that is like one half of a bridge, and which stretches out to the edge of the water and then ends in what looks like a concrete elevator shaft. I have no idea what it does, but it's cool-looking:
That tiny building nestled in the hills in the back is a Lockheed Martin Space Systems facility. You probably don't even want to know what they do there.
About the time of these photos, around mile 13, I was hitting the point where my knees were tightening up, my energy was down, and I was struggling to maintain interest in the run. So, I stopped and tried to take some pictures. To my surprise, squatting down stretched out the tension in my knees. I was still tired though.
Distance was 16.31 miles, time 3:39 (moving 2:58), elevation gain/loss 312 feet, avg. pace 13:26 (moving 10:55), and best pace 7:54.
The bugs are starting to show up. As I was running along the concrete paths, the midges were following me in swarms -- or so it seemed. It won't be long until mosquitoes are in the mix. However, I welcome the spring vegetation and flowers that come along with it, because it's awfully brown out there.
