Castlewood Canyon – Run the Rockies Trail Run #1

When I decided to move to Denver, I purchased the book Run the Rockies: Classic Trail Runs in Colorado’s Front Range. Earlier in the week I had wondered aloud on facebook what I should do this weekend, and a friend recommended Castlewood Canyon, to run or hike. It turned out to be in my book, so I decided to go for it!

The trail drops quickly into Castlewood Canyon and stays there until reaching the ruins of the old Castlewood Canyon Dam, which is over 100 years old. The canyon portion of this run affords one an easy cruise through the spectacular canyon walls.

Something important to note is that the Rim Rock Trail can be difficult to follow in places, and also requires a stiff hike of several hundred vertical feed to reach. Rattlesnakes have been found on the Rim Rock Trail.

When I left my apartment, I was a bit chilly, so I had on pants, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a headband, I also had packed a vest in case. But by the time I got to the canyon, it was gorgeous out, so I headed out in just my t-shirt and pants.

The book was good at highlighting the specs of the run: it was rated “easy to moderate”, a distance of 6.7 miles loop. The starting elevation is 6,280ft and the elevation gain is 800 ft, with an estimated running time of 1.25 hours. I will admit I did my best to remember the various turns from the description, but there were a fair amount of trails to pick up and follow and switch to.

It wasn’t long after I started that I shed my t-shirt as well, and became one of those runners in a sports bra. Thankfully there weren’t too many folks out: I saw maybe a dozen people and 4 or 5 dogs. The course was technical, which I like. I will admit I was astonished to come across one point in the “trail” where I had to walk across a boulder to continue on! I was glad I’d brought along a disposable camera, and stopped frequently to snap pics.

This was, after all, a trail run in higher altitude than I’m used to, so the pace was nice and easy, even if my heart rate was reasonably high. I tried my best to remember what trail I was on, so that I could come back to specific points. The River Rim trail was gorgeous, including a view of a waterfall and the ruins of the Castlewood Canyon Dam. It’s the sort of place that I resolved to take my parents to when they come to visit in a few weeks.

Despite the gorgeous day, I came across a small patch of snow (!) beside the path, reminding me that this is Colorado, and I was smart to start my trail running adventures before it gets too late in the season.

With all the photo taking, twists and turns, I was frequently turning off my watch and starting it again. And what is the hazard in doing that? Yes, you guessed it. Just shy of 5 miles I hit the stop button and it was a full half hour later that I realized it was stopped. So I really have no good idea how far I ran.

At one point a father and young daughter ran by me out on the Inner Canyon Trail. This was the point where I was realizing I had deviated from the route the book had laid out. Another young boy ran by me and I followed him for a short while. Then I took a wrong turn and was surveying the grounds to figure which path to take when the father and daughter caught up with me and pointed me to the correct route. I followed them, thinking that going a bit slower than I could was a good alternative to not being sure of the way. After a short while, the father asked if I wanted to pass them, to which I replied that I had been planning to just follow. And of course, runners are runners, so we started chatting. His two kids (aged 10 and 11) had just taken up trail running and were participating in a trail running series in Colorado Springs. With two races down and two to go, the siblings were leading the competition by 2.5 minutes. It was great to hear the pride in his voice, even as he advised his daughter to keep her weight forward or to watch her step over the fallen leaves. We chatted for quite awhile, and despite how much I’d enjoyed running on my own earlier, it was nice to connect with other runners. They were parked at a different lot than I, and so I decided to follow them that way and then take the road to my car. As we approached the West lot, I remarked that I had run up this way earlier. The father asked how far I’d run that day, which is when I realized that I had stopped my watch at some point. They were doing 6 miles and I know I did at least a few more than that.

Based on my first 5 miles, I was doing over an 11 min mile, so I could have gotten just shy of three miles in that “dead zone” time. That would put me in at about 8 miles or so, which I’m perfectly content with!

My knee had been hurting before the run, but it felt ok as I ran. Afterwards, it felt stiff again, but I still decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to Garden of the Gods to walk around. The steady motion helped my knee, and by the next day it was back to 100%. It’s funny, but I honestly do find that I feel better running daily. My knee tends to get stiff when I take that day off. That bodes well for my training cycle!