A few words on Dashers and Santa's Fe

 Slept in a bit and met one of Kate’s grad school friends at dolona’s for breakfast. She was from Salt Lake and just happened to also be in town on spring break en route to the airport on her way home. Kate hadn’t seen her in ~2 years so it was a big deal for her.       Late morning, we meandered around the main square, window shopping and ambling streets we’d yet to see in the older part of town.     We headed out to La Tierra park around noon for a trail run. Gentler slopes than Dale Balls but still quite hilly and technical at times. Kate had initially wanted a long run, which I was less than enthused about after yesterday’s workout, but we ended up reducing the run after not feeling all that good towards the 7-8 mile mark.      Made it back to town for some ice cream at kakawa’s which is a well know chocolate shop. Chris had suggested the mint chip which was great. Back to the room for some downtime and grading until an early dinner ...

     Started the day again with a run, this time on the Santa Fe Rail Trail which starts near our apartment and runs south 20+ miles out of town. The beginning is a really cool rebuild of an old rail yard now turned into a plaza/park stretching a half mile or so and dotted by breweries, boutiques, and an REI. This is also the northern terminus of the New Mexico Rail Runner; a commuter train that runs between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Kind of cool that it dumps you right downtown within a quick walk to the center square.       The Rail Trail was a large improvement over the river trail. It's paved and had at least some underpasses to cross busy roads. I did speed work, which was decent enough, but always tough at elevation in the mountains. The way out seemed more rolling up and downs and I felt pretty good, like I was already acclimated and such. Then I turned around an immediately started to feel like garbage. I'd been consistently losing elevation the ent...

 Up and about for a trail run at Dale Balls this morning. It ended up being much more rugged/elevation gains so we resorted to more of a run/hike for the 90 minutes. Great views though and worth the quick drive across town. Came back and snagged some doughnuts at the Craft(?) doughnut truck. They literally make the doughnuts on order so you need to wait a few minutes as they put them into the frier. Lots of interesting flavors and great quality.  Got back to the Airbnb, showered, graded a little and met up with Katie, Greg, and Chris Anderson for lunch at a place right off the square. Nice to meet him and gain his perspective of the city. Also cool to wander around the main square in the daylight for the first time.        Post lunch we picked up Dash from our place and walked down to the Santa Fe running store to pick up some new trail shoes. It's always nice talking to the running store people too to gain their perspective on good places to run, etc. ...

 Woke up to another chilly desert morning at Palo Duro and headed out for one last trail run. Kate and I ran separate, but both traversed the "Comanche Trails" which are more rugged than the ones we'd done yesterday and the day before, but offer awesome scenery on the edge of the canyon. There's a trail that then connects to the top of the rim that I wanted to do and figured if it was steep, I'd just walk parts of it to get to the top. It was slowish moving, but still run-able and I was able to crest to the rim for a half mile or so before I turned around. Great views from the top. Well worth the trek.      We took off for Santa Fe around 11:15 with the box ratcheted down and also supported by the canoe rack guides. Very windy on the drive, but it held. I-40 is a pretty arid stretch between Amarillo and Santa Fe. Long stretches without services. We did stop at a "route 66" gas station that certainly looked the roll.     Pit-stopped at Pecos National Hist...

  3/29 Well, we gambled that a sleep sack would be enough warmth and even added a couple blankets on from Katie and Greg. It generally held up, but I was kinda chilly by 4 in the morning. Still a good nights sleep though. First one in a tent for the season, which is always a nice benchmark of spring. Enjoyed the standard granola/coffee breakfast and then Kate pounded out an 8 miler while Katie, Greg, and I sat around like bums.  The 4 of us and dash then set out for the lighthouse rock formation which we could hike directly from our campsite. It was an 8 miler, with good views and pretty gentle elevation changes. Nice view up next the the formation after a 5 min scramble up. It was a fairly hot return with a tail wind and none of us are used to the head yet. Not a cloud in the sky though. Beautiful SW weather.  Got back a bit after 2 and Katie and Greg packed up and set off for Santa Fe. Dash and I took a nap and Katie hit the shower. This was dash’s longest hike yet. Kat...

  3/28 Woke up and did a nice run around greenbrush, KS. It’s a relatively small town, made smaller in 2007 when and f5 came through and destroyed 95% of the town. They’ve been rebuilding since and are attempting to rebrand themselves as the greenest town in America. Kate and I pondered what percent of the town was behind that movement. We ran down their small main street, which had maybe one original building and then a rebuilt strip. Then down to their school and track. 360 total enrolled, but they did have a nice track. There’s actually a “state park” on the other side of town that we actually had a little trouble finding, which should tell you a lot about the size of said park. It was a state fishing lake and actually was decent sized. Maybe .75 around the lake on a dirt road. Could have been a lot worse for a morning shakeout. I wouldn’t want to spend the day though. Pounded out some more miles of SW Kansas, which looks like you think it does. Stopped for lunch and groceries I...