Equinox by Karl Olson

It's hard to believe that fall is already officially here. Today was the last day of summer before the autumnal equinox, and to celebrate I joined about seven hundred other runners for a half marathon down the Poudre Canyon.

We boarded buses at Poudre High School about 6:00am that took us up to Mishawaka. By race time the weather had turned from cloudy and too-cold-to-stand-around-in-running-gear to partly sunny and absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of the run with the sounds of the river, the changing foliage, and even the cheers of campers cooking their breakfast over campfires.

It was only three weeks since my last big run, so I was worried about how my legs would hold up. Thankfully a run down the canyon meant about a 1000 foot drop in elevation, and that meant a lot of people, myself included, earned personal records by the time we reached the finish line at Ted's Place. It also means a lot of us will be nursing sore quadriceps in the coming days.

Now that fall is upon us, some of the options for outdoor activities such as biking, running, and hiking begin to dwindle. And of course with the holiday season just around the corner, nutrition challenges will become even greater. So the scenery on this journey will be changing a bit, but it just means it's time to build on the successes of this summer, and perhaps find some new routines and activities for the road ahead.

- Karl