A few words on Dashers and Santa's Fe

 Travel day today. Up at 5:45 and on the road by 6:30. Swung by Starbucks on the way out for subpar Luke warm coffee. So it goes with travel days. That said, the first few hours of the drive was outstanding. Gradually watching the sun rise over the Rockies was absolutely incredible. Stopped for breakfast at a rest stop just outside of Las Vegas. Kate had smartly suggested to get Dolinas yesterday for today’s breakfast so we had quiche and almond croissant. Not too shabby for the road. Last views of the front range as we trekked across the plains      Wound up I 25 to Trinidad CO, which looked nice. Then split and began hacking across the plains. This is always the worst part of any road trip, but still not without its charm. It never ceases to amaze me just how many hours of exactly the same scenery you pass through before you even begin to see corn.      Stopped for lunch at something springs in Kansas, then dinner in Kearney. Kearney was absolutely h...

 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. ...