The Lady Adventurer and the Old Geezer spent a couple of weeks visiting national parks in the Southwest. Here’s a brief story about Mr. Geezer’s running during the trip. There wasn’t a lot of it, since we were quite busy and always on the move. The runs were outside the parks, since that’s where we were staying. The exception was Big Bend National Park, where we stayed at the park lodge in the middle of everything.
In order to visit White Sands National Park, we stayed in Las Cruces, NM. I did a little four-mile jog there, but I didn’t do such a great job of finding a good running location. I was mostly on main roads, and the traffic began to build as my run progressed. I’m sure there are nice places to run here, but I just didn’t find them.
In Big Bend N.P., the location was stunning: it was in a basin, surrounded by the Chisos Mountains. There’s only one road, and I ran on it, stopping at times to enjoy the dark skies. I ran up and down a couple of more times in order to get us started on the Lost Mine Trail Hike. Everything was vertical. And slow. With all the jogging and hiking, I did spend over seven hours on my feet that day. Good ultra training for this former ultra runner.
So far on this trip, most of my runs have been “runs.” By that I mean just shuffles. But in Roswell (en route to Great Sand Dunes N.P.), what began as a “run” turned into a real run. I’d been looking for a track at New Mexico Military Institute. I found one, but it was locked up as tight as a drum. But there was another one across the street. Remember cinder tracks? Me neither. But this was similar, except it was dirt and sand rather than cinders, and it was ½-mile, rather than 440 yards. A few circuits later, I was really running. Too bad I only had time for five miles.
Alamosa, Colorado, is the town closest to Great Sand Dunes National Park, so that’s where we stayed for a couple of nights. It’s the home of Adams State University, nationally known for being cross-country champions. Little wonder – the elevation is above 7,500 feet. In the nearby park, it’s above 8,000. Also no wonder that my run here was not all that fantabulous. I did eventually get into a rhythm, although the whole 3 miles were still pretty slow. It was unexpectedly nice however - I found some great trails along the Rio Grande River.
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| Sunrise during Alamosa run |
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| Alamosa run |
I made another pleasant discovery in Montrose. There is a series of trails along the Uncompahgre River, and they start just down the street from the Fairfield Inn that we were inhabiting. Even though I stayed on the main paved trails, I still managed to get a little bit lost a few miles South. There are some nice parks here, and it turns out to be a nice place to run.
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| Uncompahgre River |
In Cortez, Colorado, I started my run on the hotel treadmill. This wasn't a whole lot of fun, but at least I got 5 miles in. Then, it was time to go outside for another 5. Or so I hoped. I wound up running so darn slow that I only managed 4. So I continued to be unable to get up to ten miles. Oh well. Nice sunrise, anyway.
Finding myself on a roll (not as in running well, but in finding good places to run), I found a nice trail to explore in Show Low, Arizona. Once again, it was cool and the elevation was a factor, but there was a nice sunrise. Once again, I ran slow and not very far (four miles), but I enjoyed it.
Our last stop was Albuquerque. After warming up on the hotel mill, I ventured out into the cold. This time, I didn't find any place wonderful in which to run, but the area around the University of New Mexico and some nearby neighborhoods were okay enough. I didn't get lost too much, but if I did, I would have been able to say, "I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque." That's a Bugs Bunny slogan - he would say that whenever he became lost. This turned out to be my only double-digit-mileage run of the trip. Even so, it was as slow as the rest of them.
For the trip, I managed to run in each and every location. Unfortunately, I didn't run very well or very much. Blame it on the elevation. Or perhaps sloth, my favorite deadly sin. Upon returning home, I'll have some getting-back-into-shape to do.
For the real story about the trip, check out the travel blog post about it.
