In the Meet the Marmots team page I talked about my favorite run in the Pikes Peak region: a 10-11 mile loop connecting Red Rock Canyon Open Space to Section 16. I've been doing it regularly, especially…

Today I ran in the spectacularly gorgeous Garden of the Gods 10 Mile race, kicking off my participation in the Triple Crown of Running as part of the Mighty Marmot race team. …

Last week I had an AMAZING opportunity to be a mentor for the Knights of Heroes (KOH) summer camp, which is designed to empower boys and girls who have lost their fathers in military service. Through a multitude of outdoor adventures the campers find and exemplify determination, bravery, leadership, and perseverance. Moreover, the campers were challenged to work…

Hi there. My name is Susanna Barnwell. I am doing my second Triple Crown this year and have been asked to blog about my experiences with the running program I am using to accomplish my goals. So why read my musings? Well, we hear from pros and trainers and industry specialists all the time, but not the regular every day runners out there who…

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.” ~ J.K. Rowlings

A couple of months ago I was offered a unique…

The snow is almost gone in the Pikes Peak region, with surrounding mountain ranges still holding deep pockets in their couloirs and shady spots.  As a result, a heck of a lot more people are playing outdoors, exploring new areas, and training hard.  Unfortunately, this also equates to a lot more Search and Rescue (SAR) missions.  For simplicity sake, there are…

My life is like a whirlwind these days, filled with immense projects, impending transitions and decisions affecting me without my control.  Add my crazy dislike for planning beyond a few days, and it’s easy to feel like a backseat rider in a high-speed chase. Running is my release.…

I’ve have always been an athlete ever since I can remember. Which also means I have been on countless teams. Being on a team means everything to me. It’s not only a family, but it’s also a group of people working together to obtain a common goal.  Some of my closest friends are people I met on some of the sports teams I played on.

Growing up I was on the cross-country, basketball, and surf team. But once I tore my ACL playing basketball during my senior year of high school,…

Since the crowning achievement of the Triple Crown is climbing a mountain, it is only fitting and proper to include hills in one's training is it not? So let me introduce you to one of my favorite little places of pain, a little something I call "LRB." It's located in Fox Run Regional Park and comes about 2.5 miles into a 3 mile loop (in the direction I run it). Attaching a video and some pictures (in photos) for your consideration.…

Well, here we go again, a third stab at that great sentinel above Colorado Springs. I mentioned to someone that I was part of a group attempting the Ascent again and this person, a very nice person mind you, never says a bad word about anyone, said "Yeah, I know" and then I distinctly heard them mutter, under their breath "Crazy fools."

Yup, crazy alright, seeing how fast one can haul their butt up a mountain and yet, somehow, in some peculiar way, it just gets in your blood and you…

Wow! There’s a word that’s almost as overused as awesome. However it succinctly sums up all of my feelings in one, tidy, three-letter word. The Ascent was the exclamation point on one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, i.e. participating in all three Triple Crown runs. I can heartily recommend these three runs to anyone who is seeking a…

So my training last weekend consisted of a hike up Mount of the Holy Cross, as I hadn’t yet climbed this 14’er (barely making it into the category at 14,005). The roundtrip was 11.5 miles with 5,600 feet of elevation gain (3,700 net) so it was a good workout. I did not run any portion of it. The 1.6 miles of talus at the end of the ascent and conversely, the beginning of the return trip, makes the 16 Golden Stair on Pikes look like a Legos playground. To a person, everyone who has…

So I’ve had an idea in mind for a different workout and finally gave it a try on Thursday, July 19. Monument Preserve has long been a favorite place to run. It offers varied terrain, some up and down but certainly not killer hills and scenic trails that weave in aall over U.S. Forest Service land. There is a main parking lot for the preserve, right along Mt. Herman Road but I usually park at a pull-off area another half-mile or less up the road, almost directly across from a Forest Service…

I’ve always enjoyed running hills and with one exception I’ve always lived in states where there were ample opportunities to to roll up and down a running course. I seem to recall, many moons ago, reading in some magazine about a runner who said races are won on hills, that hills were the place to exert some effort, to pass and maybe even demoralize your competition. Well, if you’ve been reading any of the previous blogs here you know that I am not really out to win anything but still…