Sparring Partners

Sparring is a form of practice with the aim of training skills and fitness, not to determine a winner.  On Saturday Tim and Tom sparred on the Highline Canal Path by running 10 miles at 6:30 / mile.  Sunday it was my turn to let Tim pound on me.  Our goal was to run 18 miles on the trails around the Bluffs and south towards Daniels Park Road. 

Maybe it was the day – a Sunday.  Maybe it was the hour – 6:00 am.  Maybe it was the temperature – the forecast was for another 100 degree day.  Or maybe the guys are tired of hearing me re-tell the story of how I beat Tim like a piñata at this spring’s RMRR 20 miler.  Whatever the reason, no one else wanted to join us for the merriment.

We met at the Runners Roost in Lone Tree.  Our route started with a steady climb for the first three miles.  I had run 14 hilly miles the day before and was struggling to keep pace with Tim.  I am normally fairly chatty, but today I was too tired to speak.  Our conversation consisted of Tim telling stories with me gasping out “uh huh” or “yeah” or some other mono-syllabic interjection just to let Tim know I was still behind him. 

We ran past the Sky Ridge Medical Center and the new houses being built at RidgeGate.  From there we picked up The Willow Creek trail.  At the top of the bluff we doubled back down and picked up the Bluff Regional Park Trail.  There is exactly one tree on this route and there are a number of signs posted warning of rattlesnakes in the area.

We continued west, then south as we headed towards the East-West Regional Trail.  We crossed MacArthur Ranch Road where the trail turns into single-track.  The original ranch, homesteaded by Edith and Mark D. McArthur in 1919, is no more.  The 700 acres were sold off years ago as ranch-ettes and other subdivisions. 

The running got a little easier once Tim slowed down.  In a few minutes Rock Canyon High School came into view as the trail bent south to parallel Monarch Boulevard.  At that point the run became more of a slog.  I couldn’t help but notice that we were keeping pace with, and eventually passed, a couple of bicyclists who were pedaling along Monarch. 

We stopped at a parking lot near what appeared to be an archery range.  Someone called out to Tim.  It was Randy.  What a pleasant surprise.  A few minutes later Jeff appeared.  We chatted as we ran the two mile loop that leads to the edge of the bluff that overlooks Lone Tree.  After a short break we trotted back to the parking lot.

The trek home was painful.  A skinny dude about half our age shot by us and was out of sight in minutes.  We were both very aware that we still had to climb over the Bluffs again and we had to cover a couple of miles before we got to that point.  Later, I would say that the run was fun and then it wasn’t.  This is when it stopped being fun. 

At the foot of the Bluffs we entered survival shuffle mode.  Willpower got us to the top of the Bluffs and from there, it was all downhill.  Hitting the pavement for the last mile was a real shock to my legs.  We plodded back to our cars and commiserated about what sorry shape we are in.  The total damage was 16.5 miles.  My Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Marathon is in nine weeks.  Tim’s Chicago Marathon is in eleven weeks.  Time to get crackin’.