20 Mile Run. Saw a Bear.

Trail head 5:30am

I had plans to attend the Rockies game in Denver this afternoon which meant I'd have to get my run in pretty early.  I left the house at 5:00am and arrived at the trail head around 5:30.  I'm not a big fan of running that early in the morning--physically I'm fine but it takes me a while to wake up mentally.  However, about a mile down the trail something happened that instantly woke me up.  It was still dawn and I couldn't see anything really well in the low light but out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement just off the right side of the trail about 20 yards ahead of me.  It was a medium-sized brown bear that I had startled and he sprinted across the trail.  There was a train going by on my left so I knew he was pinned between the train and the trail (I couldn't see him because he had run behind a small hill).  I slowly backed up and waited until the train passed.  I then hiked up onto the tracks to see if he was there--he wasn't.  I waited a few more minutes to give him a chance to get out of the area before very slowly continuing down the trail (making as much noise as I could to avoid startling him again).  After cleaning my shorts I was wide awake and ready to continue to the run.

About another mile down the trail I ran into two older women with their dogs that were heading towards the bear.  I stopped and told them, "I saw a bear about a mile back.  I'm sure he's long gone by now but just a heads up."  To which they simultaneously responded, "Awwwwww how cuuuuute!  Was it a momma bear with her cubs?!?!"  I wanted to respond, "Oh, I don't know, I was to busy taking actions to make sure my face didn't get mauled off." but I just continued on.

The rest of the run was uneventful (although mentally draining because I was on high alert after the bear spotting).  It was around 30 degrees when I started but quickly warmed into the 50s with the rising of the sun.  My legs are sore but not too bad at all.

I got home, ate some food, stretched, showered, and headed up to Denver for the game.  Great Day.

Sun Rising

Sun Rising 2