During the week I run after work. Since it’s winter and I don’t have the Jeep, I stay around our neck of the woods and run along the Cherry Creek trail. Nothing fancy, just a path, river, and crazy people.

Tonight, I thought it would be fun to bring you along on my run. Ya know, share a little of the Denver hood.

So, let’s get moving!

To get to the trail I walk outside our building into an alley way. I spend a lot of time dodging cars in this alley. I don’t know what it is but when people see me they immediately accelerate. Don’t hate, appreciate.

Anyways, I walk through the alley, across a parking lot until I see the bridge, and then head down the entry ramp. This is where it all begins.
When I walk down the ramp I arrive at a fork in the trail. You can either go left or right. I have a NASCAR tendency to always want to turn left when I run, so tonight we’re going left.
               (left)                                                                                                                          (right)
By going left I head south towards Cherry Creek where I work. Mental note: need to bike to work in the summer and not be lazy.
I start with a 5 minute brisk walk to get the blood pumping.
The trail is really quiet during the winter. Nothing but the sound of snow crunching under my feet and the occasional crazy runner or biker passing by. I wonder if they look at me like I’m crazy? Pshh. No way.
I jog anywhere between 1.5 to 2.5 miles out and then turn around depending on how I am feeling. Tonight, it’s 2.5 baby!  I ran on the dreadmill Sunday so my legs were ready to boogie.
There is a part of the trail that irritates me and it has nothing to do with the trail itself or the scenery. It’s the bums. I have no sympathy for homeless people. Okay, before you go all Obama on me, you have to understand that bums in Denver aren’t true bums. My good friend Listy gave a bum on the corner a $3.00 Kashi bar and he immediately tossed it in the trash after she gave it to him. Most of the bums here have nicer backpacks then I do, so no, I don’t feel sorry for them.
Usually, during the run you have to do a little bum dodging. It’s annoying and extremely uncomfortable when they yell at you with their beer soaked breath and try to form words even though they have no teeth.
Tonight, we are lucky. No bums to doge. Okay, back to the run.
After I turn around and start heading back, I finally get in a groove. But as soon as I make it to the Broadway bridge, which is about a mile and a half out from our place, I smell Burger King, Chipotle, and Moe’s BBQ.
For some reason I can never smell it while I am heading out only when I am heading back. It’s very naughty of them to place delicious food near a recreational area.
At this point I am starving and try to hustle back home. I usually make pretty good time going back because I am going downhill and I want to eat my arm off.
The last mile and a half tonight felt great. I just set myself on cruise control, kept one eye peeled for bum patrol, and sailed right into home.
This was probably the most fun I have a had on a run in a long time. Taking pictures of everything really made the time go by fast.
Thanks for tagging along!