After work Jens (on his bike) and I headed up to the fire roads. I had him leave early, since he's slow going up the hills, and the first mile is all uphill. I should have sent him earlier, or he needs to get into better shape. We got up to the road above the reservoir, and it was pretty smooth sailing for a while. We were up there at the perfect time of day. It was still warm, but late enough in the afternoon that the sun was setting in a brooding, cloudy sky. The streaks of color and light were incredible. All the leaves have turned in the foothills, most of them have fallen, but the valley floor still looks amazing, with lots of vivid yellow, red and orange, intermixed with still vibrant green trees. After 4.5 miles diving in and out of washes and canyons, we abandoned the trail to come home on pavement. Jens was glad, since his hands were tired from braking, not to mention being sick of climbing out of said canyons and washes.
The two fast miles came at the end. I was able to hold pace around 6:45 for those last two miles. My medial right ankle area flared up, and is sore this morning, but the run felt great last night. I spent all day at work looking forward to it. I'm so glad I got it in before the snow came and reclaimed that route for the next few months. | 