Ideal Conditions

From an outdoor training angle, the weather that I have grown accustomed to over that past few weeks has been nothing short of spectacular. As an exercise enthusiast who workouts almost entirely outdoors; dry and 70s in Denver, 80s in Phoenix and 60s in Durango allowed me to take full advantage of each day. Then I started thinking that maybe I was getting a little soft. Sure, I now had a nice tan from 6 days of shirtless running, but what would happen during a race if the conditions turn south.

Would I curl up on the side of the trail at the first sign of rain? How do you I continue without the sun? Don't get me wrong, I ran to work this winter when it was 10 degrees below zero, put nearly 300 miles on my YakTrax run spikes in the snow-pack and rode my bike with 2 pairs of gloves and mittens many times since December. But as we edge closer to summer in Denver, it never rains and the noon temperature are almost always perfectly hot. You can't help but get soft during these great days. But anyone that has spent time at altitude, knows that it is never summer above 10,000 feet.

I have at least 3 and maybe 5 races this summer that will spend an inordinate amount of time above timberline or contain a cruel finish line of 14,000 feet. So when I pulled up Sunday's forecast and saw that the morning temperature called for mid 60's with a cold front coming in around lunch time, I had to seize this opportunity to do something dumb. A combination of calling Mother Nature's bluff and continually trying to challenge myself, I laced up at noon and headed west into the heart of it.

At first I was a little warm wearing shorts, a long sleeve undershirt, a short sleeve tee and thin gloves. Feeling good and settled into my tempo, I was staring down the eye of this particular Sunday storm, she was not pretty. It would have been so easy to turn around and hop on the spin bike, but not today, this beast was mine. Of course the wind really picked up and the sleet took force right at my mile eight turn around of Sloans Lake. No other way to get home now. I was roaring down the streets of Denver to the Cherry Creek Path and back to Congress Park in record time. Not only was I going to smoke this run from a mental toughness view, but I was also going to PR the loop. My spirits high and only three miles from home, the snow kicked in and my already soaked clothes instantly froze to my body. This miserable trek home was not fun and I needed all of Nicole's assistance to just remove my clothes and shuffle to the shower.

I grew a little on that run. Gutting it out on frozen streets and running a sub 7 minute mile with frozen legs and other parts has to be good for my soul. Right?

Road Trip

Getting away from town with the family is so much fun. We love our road trips with the boys no matter how many Disney classics we have to listen to from behind our heads. This week we loaded up the family truckster and headed south to Arizona. Driving through the night got us to Phoenix in a shade over 12 hours. Welcomed with an 80 degree day right out of the gates, we knew our week was heading in the right direction. My only real worry was how could I manage finding "Joe Time". I know, rough times.

The worries were soon alleviated when I realized our resort was 0.3 miles to the northern most trailhead of South Mountain. The network of trails within this mountain park was simply amazing; miles of gnarly trails just out my backdoor, sweet! Armed with trail and street runners, hiking boots, my mountain bike and swim goggles, this was the place to bring the family. The Arizona Grand Resort had something for the whole family.

My best hope for getting some huge trail runs and mountain bike rides in was to run the boys ragged each morning and light up the trails during nap time. Easier said than done, most days I was just as tired after an early family hike and a couple hours at the pool. But this was my chance, let's lace 'em up.

The first run was amazing, the constant up and downs in temps above 80 was just what the coach ordered. The whole week of trail running was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. My muscles were tired and I could not have been happier. Combined with some short swim workouts and a couple mountain bike rides, this family trip was a great training getaway. We were also able to take in a great railroad museum, a Rockies spring training game and lots of pool hours.

On our way back to Denver, we spent a couple of days in Durango and loved everything it had to offer. Great trails, beautiful scenery, tasty tacos and more trains. We had an awesome reconnaissance hiking mission to the Colorado Trail. The CO Trail from Denver to Durango is where I plan to ride 480+ miles, over many 13k peaks with my boys in 2021! Had to get Nicole familiar with our pick up spot.

This will not be our last southern road trip and we are looking forward to the boys being able to do more and more activities each year.