Running in Boulder

With 300 days of sunshine, Boulder is a delicious place to run!  I was lucky enough to have time for two runs while we were there visiting the college boy.

On Friday I used MapMyRun and found a running route at a local park not far from our hotel. I love how easy it is to look up nearby routes logged by other runners. It's so helpful when we are in a new area ---> which we are often thanks to mrC! East Boulder Community Park was a great place for my interval run.

There was a path that looped around the entire complex. It circled the ball fields, the sand volleyball courts, the playground, dog area, the recreation center and a small pond. In some parts, the path was crushed gravel (my favorite) and other parts it was paved sidewalk. The view of the Flatirons was stunning from everywhere.

The temperature was perfect for this long sleeve and these capris.

After doing two loops around the complex, I veered off to the bike route just to see where it went. The Boulder Bikeways cover more than 300 miles in this bike friendly community. I ran down the sidewalk and through part of a neighborhood. When it looked like the bike route was going to become a paved shoulder, I turned around.

Even though my sea-level body could feel the Colorado elevation, this was by far my best interval run. Even after my 15 intervals ended, I continued running until I reached the car.

While I was running, mrC took pictures (he's the best blog helper) and made nice with the locals.

Interval run - 1 minute run:walk 1:1 x 15 plus about .75 mile finish. Longest run this year!

A couple of days later, on our last day in Boulder, I went to Coot Lake on the recommendation of my friend Jill who lived here for a couple of years. The Coot Lake Loop was even better than the park.

One loop around the lake was about 1.2 miles on a crushed gravel path surrounded by prairie and wetland. In the distance the Flatirons make a stunning backdrop.

The Coot Lake Loop is part of a group of trails at the Boulder Reservoir that overlap and connect extending route options. In the mood for a short run or a long run? It can be done on these trails.

The weather was perfect for an interval run, but I had picked up a head cold since arriving in Boulder and in all honesty probably shouldn't have been running. Like most avid runners, I just couldn't resist getting in a second run. I told mrC I would do one lap and see how I felt. I ended up doing two.

While I was running, mrC walked, took awesome photos (as usual) and chatted with the friendly locals. He said this pup had that happy pep in his step that reminded him of Booney.

Interval run - 1 minute run:walk 1:1 x 14 plus about 2 minutes straight finish. 2.44 miles. Better than I expected.

Boulder is definitely an active lifestyle city and I'm looking forward to exploring more when we visit the college boy again.

First Flatirons Hike in Boulder, Colorado

We've been in Boulder visiting the college boy and now we understand why so many people love it here. It is absolutely beautiful! We've been keeping ourselves busy during the day while he's in class and then enjoying the Boulder scene from his perspective.

One of the must-do things in Boulder is to go hiking in the iconic Flatirons at the base of the Rocky Mountains. You can see them from everywhere in Boulder as they loom up from plains and create a stunning backdrop to the city.

To get up close and personal, we drove about 5 minutes from the hotel to access the trails at the Chautauqua Park (free but limited parking). We stopped by the Ranger's Cottage where we received a trail map and a suggested route from the very friendly staff.

Our goal was to make it to the viewpoint at Woods Quarry and then loop back down. Armed with our map highlighting the route and plenty of water, we started our hike ---> Bluebell Road - Mesa - Woods Quarry - Kohler Mesa - Enchanted Mesa - Upper McClintock

The hike: the beginning was an easy incline on an exposed gravel trail. It was a warm day with temperatures near 70 degrees, so we warmed up quickly in the warm sunshine. It was heavenly.

At the first turn off, the trail headed into the woods. The shade was welcome as the real climbing started. It was easy climbing, although we were not acclimated to the higher altitude of Boulder yet so we were breathing hard.

No concrete here. Sometimes the trail blended in so much that it almost disappeared.

This spot just shouted out to us to take a water break (and a photo) here.

Lots of trail signage ---> here is where we should have realized that we missed a turn and were not on our planned route, but we wouldn't realize it for almost another mile.

While blissfully hiking the wrong trail, I had a little fun showing off my new Eddie Bauer backpack. I actually bought one at the North Face first, but returned it after finding this one because it was a better fit and a lot cheaper. I did keep the hiking shorts though.

Once we figured out that we were on the wrong trail, we backtracked a bit but finally made it to Woods Quarry and the promised spectacular view.

 At the top we enjoyed a nice little break on the rock benches.

Before we left the viewpoint, we modified the rest of our hike because we had plans with the college boy ---> Woods Quarry - Enchanted Mesa - Upper McClintock. I don't know if this really saved us that much time, but we felt pretty good about the fact that we could read the map successfully at this point.

The hike back down was easier. The path was wide and smooth. The descent was gradual and soon we realized that it was a popular trail for runners.

We were just starting to think how amazing it was that we didn't see any wildlife when we came upon three deer.

Our hike was about 5 miles and took us just over 2 hours. We had a great time hiking the trails and are excited to go back and do some more before we leave.


Ever hiked the Flatirons? What is your favorite trail?
Any suggestions for things to do in Boulder that we should know?