I’ve always enjoyed running hills and with one exception I’ve always lived in states where there were ample opportunities to to roll up and down a running course. I seem to recall, many moons ago, reading in some magazine about a runner who said races are won on hills, that hills were the place to exert some effort, to pass and maybe even demoralize your competition. Well, if you’ve been reading any of the previous blogs here you know that I am not really out to win anything but still…

Upward! Upper Barr Trail, July 15

It has been an eventful few weeks. I've got to get back in the rhythm of writing here; since the fire, the words don't flow like they used to. It put things in perspective. Nature doesn't care about human life. (Actually, anyone who has hiked the upper reaches of Barr Trail knows that nature doesn't care about…

This is where I was when the Waldo Canyon fire started. Eight miles of hiking and a four-hour drive away from home. Miles and miles away from cell phone signal. Utterly alone except for the one person I hiked in with. LB and I both had hectic weeks, so it was nice to get out in the woods and breathe.

When we turned on our phones on Monday after reluctantly driving the…

Me, Sharon, Sharon's dad, Don, Don's doughnut, and Bill at 14,115 feet on Father's Day.

I feel good about my training from the past weekend. On Saturday, a few Attack Packers and I ran from Soda Springs Park, up the Incline, past No Name Creek a little ways into the Experimental Forest, then back down Barr Trail. It took us right around two hours to do the…

Ran the entire GOG 10 mile course on Friday, June 1 for the third and final time. A good, former long-distance running friend said “You know you should start tapering two weeks before any race.” Oops, I’m kinda inside that timeframe aren’t I. I’ve taken a couple of runs, just under 5 miles, with the great group of people who meet in the Garden every Tuesday and Thursday morning. For me, that means getting up at 5 a.m. but boy is it worth it to watch the creeping sunrise gradually paint…

Here are a few photos of the miscreants I spend my Tuesday, Thursday, and occasional Saturday mornings with,…

Oh yeah. Cross training. I feel like I used to be better at it. But when I was training for my last "regular" marathon (the Tobacco Road Marathon in Raleigh, NC, on March 18), I settled into a groove: four runs a week, three yoga classes a week, rest day (or maybe two). I used to lift weights or swim laps or go to…

This is me on my first trip to Barr camp for the season this past Sunday. (Please excuse the overexposure. With my pack loaded up with avocados for Neil and Teresa, the caretakers of the camp, I had no room for a camera besides my cell phone.) I went with Josh, Ramsey, and Brian, three…

Me captured by Tim on my way to coming in first in my age group (25-29F) in Saturday's Run to the Shrine 5k. Yay! Way to not show up, fast ladies in my…

The Ascent looks even farther away from here, atop Spruce Mountain just north of Palmer Lake. As mentioned before, this is one of my favorite places to run (5.3 mile loop) and this is just one of the great views this trail provides. This vantage spot is called Windy Point, with Mt. Herman in the foreground and Pikes Peak behind. This visit…

Coach Nicole Drummer of NEO Endurance Sports & Fitness will be leading a Triathlon Training Group specifically for the HITS Triathlon Series races in Fort Collins, CO, July 28-29, 2012.

We are several weeks into the New Year and you have been going to the gym faithfully every day.  You started out gung ho and now you are getting bored with your routine.  You dropped a couple pounds and you are not noticing anymore coming off.  What is going on?  There are a few things you can do make your workout more effective and see results longer than a couple weeks. 

Here are some tips:

• Enjoy your time at the gym.  Find activities that are fun and push you beyond…

For some of us, that means jumping on the treadmill or elliptical, sweating for an hour and calling it a day.  Why don’t we see the results we expect?  Possibly because the workout routine may be missing one key ingredient and that is muscle development.

Do you think you could take your workout to another level just by combining that cardio component with some strength training exercises?  Absolutely!

We live in a fast paced world and it’s often difficult to…

I made a quick post on my personal facebook page about finishing a spin. One of my friends replied:

I've taken ten or so long breaks from exercise since I have known you and you've taken maybe one day off. How the heck do you stay so motivated!?

Instead of writing…

"When those women leave the gym, they are still burning a third more calories than they did in the workout -- and this goes on for hours!" he says. "Once you build muscle, muscle burns more calories [than fat], so you continue to burn more."

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You can try a Circuit workout…