Hi all! Yes, I am procrastinating on my post on shin splints!! I couldn't resist posting this quick post about my run this past Saturday. I have read about Magnolia Road ("Mags", as it is said to be called by locals), in several books but sadly I have never gone over there even though it is in my own backyard. Runners travel from all over to run and train on Magnolia Road. I have had access to it all this time and have never gone. Shame on me! This past Saturday my friend Eric and I decided to go check it out. It is a good thing I was meeting him because I probably would have been lazy because it was cloudy and raining. I decided I didn't want to be a big pussy so I crawled out of bed and headed out to Boulder.
The road is paved and then becomes dirt. The dirt part of the road is where the runners generally start their run. The paved portion of the road is very curvy with 180-degree switchbacks, no shoulder, and very steep inclines. I would not advise running on that portion of the road. The dirt portion of the road does not have much traffic and is a mostly residential area. If you park right where the paved portion of the road ends it is 8000 feet above sea level. The road climbs further but Eric and I only ran to 8300 feet according to the app on his phone. Surprisingly, we did not feel the altitude that much but we did feel the hills! We kept our pace slow (mostly because of me) and just enjoyed the workout and the scenery. Eric got some great pictures but they do not do it justice. It is more amazing than these pictures show.
At the bottom of the road it was cloudy and raining slightly but when we got to the top where we parked our cars it was blue skies and sunshine. I am going to post some pictures that Eric took below. I highly recommend checking this road out to get some altitude training or to just get in a great, peaceful run. You will need to reserve some extra time on your schedule because you need time to drive up to the top, do your run and get back down. Expect to see some runners that look seriously kick butt. I felt so pathetic when they went running past me as I struggled up the last hill! Here is a link to a website about the road.
On a completely different note, I picked some things out of my garden this morning and it looks amazing. Check out my veggies below.
I hope you are having a great start to your week!!
I really will post on shin splints next post!! They just suck and it sucks to try to figure them out and what to write about them also!!!
Have a great week!
Kristi