One step at a time

My achilles tendonitis is responding extremely well to treatment. I was able to jog for 30 minutes twice last week and each time my tendon held up well. It held up better than my calf muscle which, new to the idea of running again after such a long lay-off, stretched itself too far and I suffered a small tear. Back on the treatment table I was now dealing with two injuries rather than one. My aim for the weekend was one long walk followed by another strenuous walk with a little jogging. On Saturday I did 7.5 miles around South Mesa. Last Sunday I toured Flagstaff Mountain from the Arapaho Road in Boulder via Panorama Point.

I have been schooled well in the art of "warming up" and it was needed this morning. I had two dogs with me - Otto and Olivia - and it was zero at the trailhead. I was wearing my lightweight Goretex for protection against the wind and I was really pleased to have this high up.

Settler's Park from Viewpoint Trail

It's a muddy switchback trail leaving Arapaho and we quickly gained altitude. Even though it was freezing, the sun was warming the ground and thick, wet patches of mud made the going sticky and unpleasant. Both dogs became filthy in no time and we had to skirt the worst sections with care. There were some great views across to Settler's park in the early morning sunshine. There were no signs of fresh tracks and we had the trail to ourselves.

After exactly one mile and 500 feet of ascent we reached the road junction at Panorama Point. This afford nice views over town, but we didn't stop. The wind was in our faces and we struck up the hillside over the road and joined the trail coming up from Gregory Canyon. We passed by our first walkers and had fun keeping ahead of a group of cyclists as their longer detours around the hairpins and switchbacks enabled us to get ahead of them with our more direct route, before they left us behind when the angle of the road eased off above the half-way house.

Fresh snow on Green Mountain

Just before we reached the road that leads to the Flagstaff amphitheater we encountered a herd of grazing deer. Livvy was the first to see them, ears alert long before I could see them. There were about 20 of these elegant creatures and they slowly moved off into the trees to our north. Once on the summit we headed for the loop around the mountain to Realization Point. This is a pleasant walk with great views of this high mountains. However, today there were low clouds and heavy snow falling above 10,000 feet so the only sight we had was of fresh snow on Sugarloaf Mountain.

NCAR below and Denver 30 miles away

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with dog owners who allow their dogs off leash but fail to keep them under control. Boulder is famous for its "green tag' permits. These allow owners who can demonstrate control of their dogs to allow them off leash on designated trails. It sounds good in practice, but "control" means different things to different people. I have written before about my running ratio - I come back from a run and declare "that was 3:1", meaning 3 great dog encounters to one bad one. A good dog encounter is when we meet an off-leash dog in perfect control. A bad encounter is the opposite - the dog is off-leash, runs towards us and fails to respond to the owner. In other words, it is out of control. These encounters make me angry...not with the dog but with the owner.

Deer near summit

Descending from Flagstaff summit we had a bad dog encounter. In truth the dog was a lovely doberman-lab cross, about a year old. The woman who owned it was a runner leaving Realization Point with the dog off leash. Of course, it completely ignored her shrieks (yes, she shrieked many times) and headed straight for my two dogs. Borzoi don't like being approached by strange dogs and Otto was becoming agitated. By shouting at the dog i was able to scare it away and keep it at distance, but it was unpleasant and unnecessary. The woman, for goodness sake, had a leash in her hand. She clearly needed to use it and I pointed this out. "But my dog has a green tag" she said. This is a like a driver showing their drivers' license as a defense against the charge of drunk driving. "Yes, it has a green tag," I replied, "but it clearly isn't under control." I ran off with my dogs and the young dog kept following. This looked like fun, so I kept running and the dog kept following. A mile later, with the owner screaming and exasperated, I stopped. "Do you think you have good control of your dog now?" I asked. Having been taken completely off route and almost lost her dog, maybe next time she'll keep it on a leash.

Snow covered Sugarloaf

In stark contrast, as we descended back down the main trail I saw a young woman running with her dog off leash, but glued to her heel. We stepped to one side of the trail to give her right of way. Her dog was perfect. It never moved an inch from her heel and was under perfect control. Within 10 minutes we had seen the best and the worst of dog ownership in Boulder. The range of experience couldn't have been more extreme. The great pity is that local legislators in Boulder are likely to impose even more trail restrictions on dogs. That would be a pity as there are already too many trails where dogs have been banned. You have to ask whether the first woman realizes that her behavior is what causes this, and that is why I get annoyed with some dog owners.

Back to my injury. Descending from Flagstaff I was able to stretch out a little and jog for a few miles...just gentle steps at a slow pace. There was no point trying to do anything stupid and, anyway, I had two dogs to contend with. I did feel a slight tightening in my calf at one point and immediately slowed to a walk, but it soon eased and I was able to resume jogging again.

We had no more surprises on the way back to the car, except on the final section just after we had passed through the gate on the residential road leading down to Arapaho. Livvy became alert to someone approaching behind. Sure enough I caught sight of the young woman with the impeccable dog. As she passed though the gate she leashed her dog (not that it was needed) and she jogged passed down to her car. It is interesting that the owners of impeccably behaved dogs do the right things, even when they aren't necessary. This was a 2:1 day. I wish I could experience a zero.

Brainard Lake

There was a 20 degree difference between home and the Red Rocks trail on the Brainard Lake approach road. Driving through Ward this morning the 74 degree temperature we enjoyed yesterday was long forgotten as we wound our way through this sorry collection of homes dusted in a fresh fall of snow. On the Brainard road we had snow and thick ice and it was tricky remaining upright in the parking lot as I leashed Otto and Livvy and headed off to the lake.

Hard-packed snow on the approach road

The road was perfectly walkable, although the drifts were between 10 and 20 feet deep in places. This wasn't a problem because the snow was hard packed and we were able to trot across the surface without breaking through. Usually it is very windy up at this altitude at this time of year but today there were just intermittent gusts. This was another rehab walk on the long road to recovery.

A view across the lake to Mount Audubon

Two GOP North Carolina legislators seem to have failed this week in their bid to pass legislation to establish a State religion. Apparently they don't think that the US Constitution, federal law and decisions by the Supreme Court apply to North Carolina. Their proposal, such as it is, would lead to the establishment of the Christian religion as the only legal religion in the state. North Carolina already has legislation that prohibits unbelievers from public office (essentially unenforceable since 1961). I always find it fascinating that diehard advocates of the 2nd amendment have no compunctions about abrogating the 1st amendment.

Mount Audubon

However, the almost weekly examples of jaw-dropping stupidity that flows from local GOP representatives pales to insignificance against this little beauty from my old friend Pat Robertson. On his TV show he was asked why miracles seem to happen with regularity in Africa, but don't happen in the US? You really have to watch this to fully understand cognitive dissonance and outright lying...all in the name of Jesus.

Livvy enjoying the cold

With the GOP and Pat Robertson you have to wonder why there is ever any need for Comedy Central.

Otto

I have my next bout of treatment for tendonitis on Monday. It's going to be another pain trip, but I am looking forward to getting back on the trails again and doing some serious running.

Walker Ranch

An aggressive walk was in order. I got the OK for this after my treatment yesterday. I was excited and apprehensive in equal measure. All my walking to date has been similar - fairly short distances and accompanied by a nagging ache, as though my achilles will fail again and I'd be back to square one. At the end of all my previous walks my tendon would tighten and hurt and my movement would be restricted. All these thoughts were in my mind as Otto and I set off from the trailhead in brilliant sunshine and in a stiff breeze.

The clockwise circuit made sense today. A short, steep pull followed by a 2 mile descent to the bridge in Eldorado Canyon. We made rapid progress. The great thing about Walker Ranch...and the reason I came here today...is that you either go up or down. There are no flat sections. I thought this would give me the workout I needed. And rather than being all up and then all down like a typical mountain ascent, this trail undulated and would provide a better test of my mobility. At just over 7.5 miles it was also my longest outing of the year. I feel pathetic even writing such a measly mileage. I normally don't get warmed up by 7 miles...it's a distance hardly worth gearing up for. But I was apprehensive.

Otto on the ridge before the steep descent towards Eldorado

There was much less ice and snow that I expected...and this was welcome. In February 2012 Otto and I broke trail through fresh deep snow on this trail and it was exhausting. Apart from some icy sections through the woods there was nothing to trouble us. We had the trail to ourselves and I occasionally broke out into a short trot and some of the downhill sections. I felt great but was cautious and careful not to exert myself too much.

Even with a brisk walk I had to set myself some time objectives. I can't rationally explain the logic of this but it seems to make it more fun for me. So, today, I wondered if I could get around the circuit inside 2 hours? That would be about 4 miles per hour on very undulating ground. That's a decent pace on flat ground. We'd see.

A chilly climb up the steep trail from the bridge

We were bang on pace after 2.5 miles but they had been mainly downhill and I knew we would lose time on the steep climb from the bridge. We had descended 750' from the trailhead to this point and would now regain 300' in less than a quater mile. It was a cool climb in the shade and with a swift breeze blowing down the river.

We met our first walkers on the long climb up to the Gross Dam Road. They were walking in our direction and we went past very quickly and then left them well behind. We crested the ridge at 7300' and I paused to photograph the spectacular view of the snow-capped Indian Peaks. The thought of running in the high mountains really perked me up. For so long this year I feared never being able to do it. Would my tendon hold up today? Would I be back on track?

Indian Peaks - I love those mountains

Two happy little dogs approached us off leash. I swear that when Otto saw them he imagined two slices of bread wrapped around each one. He could have swallowed each whole and wanted more. I politely pointed out to their owner that a strict leash law exists on this trail, but I must have slipped into French when explaining this because they looked a little puzzled and affronted. I left them pondering the meaning of the sign they were standing next to showing a picture of a dog on a leash with the words "Dogs must be on their effing leashes you idiots". Well, not quite those words.

We descended to the second bridge pretty quickly. It was warm as we walked the river bank trail and I stopped to let Otto have a drink. One mile of uphill back to the trailhead. I expected some stiffness in my tendon but I still felt good. Arriving back at the trailhead I felt very happy. I knew I would get a little soreness later, but this was definitely progress. The idea of light running by the end of April might not be a pipedream. I checked my gps - 2 hours and 1 minute. Not bad for an old crock.

Emerging from darkness

It wasn't the potential 6 month layoff that concerned me the most - it was the thought that I might never be able to run again. And that was a very realistic prospect until quite recently. I can't say I had come to terms with it because I hadn't. The thought was devastating, not just for me but for my canine companions. That early morning routine of driving in the darkness and leaving a mountain trailhead in torchlight with 20-30 miles ahead of us would have to be re-calibrated to a short walk. My mind couldn't get there. I like walking but I love running. So does Livvy and Otto and they know the difference in the routine. This last 3 months has been just as hard for them.

In truth I am a horrible patient and don't always act in my own best interest. My achilles injury immobilized me towards the end of December. I could barely walk and the pain was intense. A regime of regular stretching seemed to create an improvement and on a sunny warm day in January I rationalized that a short 4 mile jog with Livvy would be just the ticket. Three miles later and I was hobbling. My recovery hopelessly set back. It wasn't exactly as though I had broken my doctor's orders - I hadn't even been to a doctor to get diagnosed correctly. The "do it myself" mindset that serves me so well most of the time was working against me. There was a difference between reading about injuries and being treated for them. I needed treatment. The reason for my reluctance was not wanting to hear bad news. Classic denialism.

By the end of February I was starting to venture out on short, flat walks on the plains. 5 miles was my max but I would more often do less. The pain grew less and although I could still feel the twinge at least I had confidence that I could walk a reasonable distance and not hurt the next day. Walking did bring one pleasure - I could manage both dogs together and we visited our usual winter haunts - Rabbit Mountain, Boulder Valley Ranch and Eldorado Canyon.

I recently started a program of professional treatment - of which more later - but there is a realistic possibility that I will be doing light running by the end of April. This is a far cry from an earlier prognosis that I would be lucky to ever run again. We'll see. My planned long distance events are shredded this year, but I can live with that if I can get back to serious running. There's always next year!! It's strange, but during this prolonged layoff I couldn't even look at my running gear. My running shoes stacked in the garage haven't been touched. With today's temperature near 70 degrees I did what I couldn't do only a few weeks ago - I went online and checked out the latest mountain shoes in anticipation of the high trails. The transition from winter to spring and summer will come quickly. There is every possibility that I will also be emerging from darkness. It feels good.

Holiday Trail Running

A slight calf strain and more persistent achilles injury has kept my holiday running down. It has been a frustrating few weeks and I've taken to walks with the dogs before gradually easing myself back into some slow jogging. I had hoped to clock about 200 miles in December but I'll now be lucky to reach 75.

Since my last run around Wonderland I've managed to get out 7 times, although nothing was particularly strenuous until a trip to Sourdough yesterday with Otto and around Marshall Mesa with Livvy today. Today was the 16th consecutive day below zero, so it has been a cold snap and the snow on December 24th (8 inches at home) was very welcome.


Rabbit Mountain December 22nd

This is always a nice, short trip fairly close to home. I took both Livvy and Otto for a pre-holiday walk before the snow came.

The Indian Peaks with Meeker and Longs Peak on the right

Livvy and Otto on the west loop of the Eagle Trail

Annual Borzoi Walk, Denver, CO December 23rd

We heard of this event by pure chance. Although Borzoi are a very rare breed, there are a few owners in the area, and each year they meet in Denver for a short walk through town. With Otto and Harvey being a bit unpredictable with other dogs we decided to take Livvy and Lilah. This usually isn't my kind of event, but it turned out to be quite good. We also met Livvy's brother - he turned out to be much bigger than her, although I'd bet on her running endurance every time over any other dog.

Lilah and Olivia in Denver

Livvy in the foreground with her brother at the top

Boulder Valley Ranch, December 25th

It was good to get out of the house on Christmas Day, but with the temperature in single digits it was very cold. BVR is a great place from which to view the foothills and although the snow was quite deep in places the trails were fairly well trodden.

Livvy at Boulder Valley Ranch

Lilah in a rare off-leash moment

Otto, off trail to avoid a bunch of aggressive dogs

Green Mountain, December 29th

I've run Green Mountain so many times I've lost count. However, the route via the Amphitheater to Saddle Rock and then the Ranger trail is my favorite.

Early morning sun on the Flatirons

At the top of the Saddle Rock trail

Livvy on the summit of Green Mountain

I love my Kahtoola microspikes

Sourdough Loop, December 30th

I took Otto on this higher level trail system. I knew the snow would be deep above 9,000 feet but thought that cross-country skiers and snow shoe walkers would have packed it down a little. It was a beautiful day with some great views of the high mountains to the west. The first two miles of this route were along the snow-packed road that leads to Beaver reservoir and we started to climb as we headed south from the Beaver Creek trailhead below.

Otto at Beaver Creek

We reached the ridge at 9,200 feet and the trail was great. But then, at the point where the ski trail bisects the route our onward trail was not broken at all and Otto and I began short-striding through 2-3 feet deep snow until we reached the Beaver Bog trailhead.

Just after the point where the broken trail ended - a half mile of deep snow to Beaver Bog

For the next 1.5 miles we climbed steadily passed the junction with the Wapiti Ski Trail and I decided to take the trail spur directly to the South St Vrain trail. This was really hard going. The trail was not broken and we encountered some deep snow. Otto had a hard time jumping through the drifts but he had a lot of fun. I kept having to pick clumps of ice from his paws.

The views west to the mountains were spectacular

In the deep snow just before the South St Vrain trail junction

At the junction with the South St Vrain trail

After the long, slow section of deep snow we made rapid progress back to the car.

Marshall Mesa, December 31st

I risked a slightly longer run on this last outing in 2012. Hard packed snow on this lower level trail would mean less strain on my calf and achilles. I set off with Livvy at a brisk pace. I was wearing my spikes and these worked well when the trail became icy.

Initial section of the Marshall Mesa

Light flurries of snow were falling from the heavy cloud cover although the sun penetrated through in places. It was a comfortable temperature in the shelter of the lower trail, but I got very cold as I headed to the Foothills Vista trailhead.

At the top of the Marshall Mesa at the intersection with Community Ditch

Descending Dowdy Draw with Eldorado Canyon ahead

It's even cold for a dog. Livvy with iced hair around her muzzle.  It was 20F

Brooding weather in the late afternoon. I was very cold at this point and pushing hard back to the car

Happy New Year to everyone.

An unfortunate misnomer

Context is everything. There was nothing particularly wonderful about running around Wonderland this morning. The dark cloud of shame hanging over the nation was paralleled by increasing cloud cover and fog rolling in from the plains and it quickly enveloped this otherwise pleasant suburb of north Boulder. I was smacked hard with double injuries following my 10 mile run around Hall Ranch yesterday and decided I would take a brisk walk today with Otto and Olivia and try and stretch out the stiffness.

Otto and Olivia heading towards Hogback Ridge from the North Foothills trailhead

Rising early on Sunday - as I do every morning - I needed my "fix" of world and domestic news (in that order). Unfortunately, all news was the same today with domestic networks and international media all focusing on the horrible events in Connecticut. There was nothing new to report from yesterday, just more of the same, but the shift in articles questioning the lax gun controls ("controls"? - there aren't any!) in the US was at least a bright spot. Let's hope Obama seizes the moment.

Tracking south towards Wonderland and fog rolling in from the east

But I was quickly distracted by the jaw-dropping inanity of the faithful and the credulous, seeking to explain the unexplainable in theological terms. First, we had the incomparable Mike Huckabee speaking on Fox news (where else?) telling the world that this atrocious act was the result of a policy of keeping God out of the classroom. It seems that Huckabee, who in one moment explains that the Founding Fathers were Christians (which is certainly stretching the truth), isn't aware that those same Founding Fathers wrote a pesky constitution protecting the State (through its schools) from supporting or advocating religion. If God is being kept out of the classroom it's because either He, or those who claim to speak for Him, can't behave according to the law.

On the Old Kiln loop

Of course, this gives rise to the more obvious point not dealt with by Huckabee. If children were compelled to pray to his Christian God in classrooms, would this have afforded them protection in the face of an attack of this kind? This seems to be Huckabee's contention. Personally, I'm not convinced. I mean, if Pope John Paul II was shot and almost killed in an assassination attempt, was God asleep on watch or was he distracted by something else? If God can't look after his spokesperson on earth, what chance a small group of completely innocent children and their teachers at a school in Connecticut? Or maybe Huckabee thinks that if all children are compelled to pray to his God in schools this will somehow create a more moral and law-abiding nation? But if this were the case he would need to explain why only 0.2% of the US prison population is atheist, whereas this Pew survey of prison Chaplains (hardly known for their independence in religious matters) estimates Christians, Catholics and other Protestant groups to be in excess of 70%. Still, what are mere data points in the face of such unshakeable beliefs?

An icy Wonderland Lake. We would strike up the hillside to the right of the houses

We then have Brian Fischer, of that nasty organization "American Family Association", telling us that "God is a gentleman and doesn't go where he is not wanted". All of this, I am sure, is of enormous comfort to those who are dealing with this tragedy and might never recover.

Near the top of the hillside and the fog begins to thicken over Boulder

The problem of evil is religion's achilles heel. If the God of religion (and I'll not get into the different competing Gods who all have mutually incompatible versions of the truth) is all seeing , knowing and loving, it does raise the question why He is so unable to act to prevent these cases? After all, if God is all knowing he could have done something to prevent this yet chose not to. Whether the disasters have natural causes, such as a Tsunami, or are man made, such as Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, or Connecticut, they all happened under His watchful and protective embrace. Never have I been smothered by such ineffectual protection. It must surely be crossing the minds of victims' families that as some of them pray for their children's safe passage to heaven, what does it mean to believe in a God that permitted this to happen in the first place? And I really don't think that "God works in mysterious ways" is quite sufficient an explanation. Most people of above average intelligence know this to be the case yet find comfort in perpetuating the pretense. Like parents clinging to the last vestiges of the Santa Claus myth in the face of awkward questions from the children, they find it difficult to break rank. Social pressure is so strong. Let's hope that, as they reflect on the enormity of what has just taken place they get nudged a little closer to rationality.

Wonderland Lake

Fog quickly covers the hillside

You would think that rather than expose their stupidity to the world, Messrs. Huckabee and Fischer would show some restraint. But it is clear that the 8 year long embarrassment of a President who exemplified low intelligence and a high degree of certainty is but a superficial speck of neural circuitry in cavernous, echoing skulls usually occupied by a fully functioning brain. Shame on those media outlets giving these idiots airtime.

From clear skies to dense fog in about 30 minutes

Where not to live

If the news reports today are anything to go by it is not a very good idea to live in random cities in America. Now I know that isn't very helpful advice, but at some point someone is going to have to decide that mass shootings aren't "random" (except for geography) and that they really are a pattern. As Jay Carney, the White House spokesman said earlier regarding raising the issue of gun control, "I think that day will come, but today's not that day, especially as we are awaiting more information about the situation," Well, if today isn't the day, when is it? When the Aurora shootings occurred in July the President also said that wasn't the time to debate gun control. Well, we haven't had that debate in the four months since, so when is the time?

But I digress, because it wasn't the issue of which city in the US to live that I wanted to write about today. No. I've made my peace with Boulder and, mass shootings or not, I'm here to stay. I did come across this nasty little article. Well, it's not the article that is nasty...just the content it is describing. And it is clearer to me now than it has ever been that there are some countries where it is simply unwise for me to visit.

I've written before about the problem of being an atheist in America and how I am part of the least trusted segment of society...even worse in public perception than being a rapist. It makes me proud. This report has just been published, and it is definitely worth reading. While the report mentions America, its main purpose is to highlight the abuse and persecution of atheists and non-believers around the world. It provides a list of shameful examples of countries who legislate against non-belief and it is an outrage. It should come as no surprise that the states where atheists can be put to death or imprisoned for their beliefs are all muslim countries.

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia

Iran

Afghanistan

Sudan

Mauritania

The Maldives

Is religious belief so fragile and tenuous that it requires those who reject it to be put to death or incarcerated? But the benefit of the report is in how it demonstrates how so many countries attempt to shackle unbelievers. From countries like Italy, where you can be imprisoned for blasphemy. Even in the US it lists those states where an atheist is prohibited from holding office or any elected position. 

It also casts light on the attempts of many Islamic states to impose blasphemy laws through the UN and bind every country in genuflection towards Islam. This is thought crime and it has no victim.

I have to admit that the list of countries that would execute or imprison me for my non-belief isn't exactly full of my "100 places to visit before I die" itinerary. But they represent to final drop off the slippery slope that starts with legislation to make criticism of religious belief a crime. Ideas, however distasteful, can never be a crime. Only actions are criminal.