Pikes Peak Greenway - Long Run

I wanted to find a new place for my long runs because there are so many hills where I live. I found out about a long bike/foot path that goes all the way through Colorado Springs - it's called the Pikes Peak Greenway. One of the places that connects to it is the America the Beautiful park - when the half marathon starts. I thought it might be nice to do a run down there to familiarize myself with the location. I found what I thought was the path - but it was actually a branch off of the main path. It abruptly ended after about 1.5 miles and I was pretty confused since I thought the whole thing was supposed to be 16 miles long. Then I realized that the main path runs north-south just east of I-25 and I had been running west and had gone under I-25. I ran back to the beginning. Part of the reason that I was confused was that the main path was not paved and the one that branched off of it was a nice wide paved path. Also, the trail that went north (the way I was planning on going) was blocked off with a detour sign - and the detour went through the streets of downtown. I ended up going south. It was a very nice path that ran along side a river. Part of it was paved and part of it was gravel. It crossed over the river several times and there were quite a few little waterfalls. I took this picture with my cell phone - so the resolution is not very good, but it was beautiful.

Down by the river were also some tents where I assume homeless people lived. It was a little unnerving, but there were quite a few people on the path, so that made me feel a little better. I needed to do a 10 mile run (my longest yet). At one point I had stopped my watch - when I was trying to figure out which way to go and I forgot to restart it. Luckily I noticed after about half a mile, so I actually went 10.5 miles. I was exhausted by the end and pretty much walked my last mile. Sometimes I wonder if I will actually be able to do 13.1 miles. By the time I got to my car I felt like I could hardly walk and was really beat for the rest of the day.

I think if I try the Greenway again I will go a park a little further north and run the north part of the path. All in all it was a good experience.



Garmin Connect Data