Keeping It Cool

The Highline Canal Trail

Autumn Is Here

The morning was cool enough to pack a jacket. Lauren and I made the trip down to meet our temmates at the First Nazaren Church today to link into the Highline Canal and go. Coach Rick suggested I limit the run today to 15 miles so I don’t put too many miles on my legs for the week. I was glad for the cooler temperatures that were comfortable for exercising in, and ran along contented with the crisp air, the clear skies, and the dry leaves of fall dropping from the branches of the cottonwood trees that line the path. The workout went by quickly, my arrival at my turnaround point at the tunnel under University Avenue coming before I expected. As I headed back, I saw many other runners out on the trail, some of which were also preparing for the Marathon coming up. Some were running on their own, with their own sole focus, the experience a solitary one. Others were in groups, wearing team shirts and engaging with teammates in familiar ways. Running definitely offers anything one may be looking for, be it simplicity, challenge, dedication, friendship, meditation, or adventure. As I came within about six miles of the finish I saw a high-school cross-country team out for a weekend practice enter the trail ahead of me. I passed the girl’s team, running in one large, chattering group. One runner among them split off, caught up with me, and then passed right by. I had been encouraged to increase my pace near the end of the run and being passed by a high school girl helped motivate me to pick up the pace then and there! keeping up was manageable, but hard work. I finally came alongside her and asked what team she was on. She was a sophomore on the Cherry Creek Cross-Country Team and expected to do well that season. I ran with her for a bit, and then came to her turnaround point, where I continued straight. The visit reminded me of my days running on the Homestead High School team: the camaraderie of the team during long runs around the city, the cool fall mornings, the absolute quiet and palpable tension of hundreds of runners at the starting line, the firing snap of the starters pistol. Good times. I finished the last five miles at race pace and still felt fresh at the end. I’ll take this as a good sign that I’m preparing well and with only a couple weeks left of hard training, I hope that’s the case.