Week in Review (August 1 - August 7)

Tuesday (12,963 steps) - Can I just ask how is it AUGUST already? Barre with Sasha. Which was a surprise when I signed up because she has always taught at noon. Turns out that Gabi, one of my favorite instructors, is MOVING. Wah! Not that Sasha is bad, I just hate change. Weren't sure when else we would have time, so A and I baked our mini cheesecakes for the upcoming RMRR potluck.

Wednesday (15,875 steps) - Got a FB message that my morning Sculpt class with Kelly was cancelled. I promptly went back to bed. Denver Roost run club after work. A and I actually ran the short Wash Park loop, although it was every bit a struggle for miles 2 and 3. Bah. Spent a bit talking with Milan about Chamonix and his upcoming trip for UTMB. Someday I'll be a strong enough runner for trails like that! Alison was also there for the first time in ages, so we chatted a bit too.
Thursday (13,523 steps) - Barre with Sienna. First, she was "late," she didn't show up until 8 minutes before class. This neighborhood is not the greatest, so I was unimpressed with waiting by myself. I also did not love her class, which is unfortunate with Gabi leaving. We had planned on going to Belmar run club, but traffic was so awful that it just wasn't possible. Actually kind of nice to have a night at home!
Friday (16,454 steps) - A went with a friend and her family to go camping for the weekend, so I headed to the RMRR August 5K and potluck by myself. There were a few people from Belmar that were running with RMRR for the first time, so they didn't have handicap scores and would be starting at 0:00 with me.

The first mile or so went fine for me, but as is the norm, my calves and thighs basically exploding about 15 minutes in and I had to take a zillion walk breaks. The best part of the evening was obviously the potluck! My mini Thin Mint cheesecakes were a hit and I didn't get out of control with all the food.

Paula, me and Ang

Roost teammates post-race

I had a great time with everyone, but headed home around 8:30 since we were way down in Littleton and I had to get my aid station ready.
Saturday (30,156 steps) - Missing A when I had to set up my aid station solo! These 5 gallon jugs weigh a TON. The run was out of Runners Roost Lakewood and was set up for a max of 10 miles. I struggled a bit around mile 2 (which again, is pretty normal). Never really felt great during this one, so pretty proud of myself for doing the full ten miles.

Went home for a quick shower and breakfast and then drove up to the Boulder Reservoir to volunteer at the Boulder 70.3. I think that this was my sixth year volunteering - these are my favorite events to work! I was set up to be at the information tent with Jeannene again, and had a bit of difficulty actually finding it. Spent a lot of the time spectating and cheering, with a few random tasks thrown in. Headed out around 3:30 because it looked like it was going to storm. Took over a half hour to get out of the reservoir because apparently, everyone else left at exactly the same time. Stopped at REI to look at coolers, horrified by how expensive they were, opted to just pick up some Tokyo Joe's and veg on the couch. Finally finished watching Bates Motel - the series finale was just nuts. In bed a bit later than planned.
Sunday (18,025 steps) - Up just after 4 to head to Lisa's house. Got there right at 5, and we headed up to Summit Lake. We had planned on hiking forever (literally the first weekend day ALL SUMMER that we were both free) and we decided on going for Mt. Evans since A was going to be gone. The forecast had looked pretty sketchy all week, but since we were very limited on availability, we opted to head up at sunrise and hope that we could summit and get down before the storm. We were annoyed that the park fee was $15 instead of the $10 that EVERY SINGLE WEBSITE SAID IT WOULD BE. So instead of $10, we had to pay $20, since we didn't have enough change. Arg. On the drive up we saw a fox, the first of a TON of wildlife we would see.

We started the hike around 6:30. It was COLD when we first headed out, and I was concerned that I had not brought enough warm clothes. Luckily, as we got out of the shade, it warmed up. I must have changed my layers 10 times throughout the day though. This was also the least crowded of any hike I think I have ever done, even including local ones. For much of the day we were alone, with maybe just a couple people within sight. It was nice! The Mt. Evans trail was also incredibly well marked, unlike some of the other 14ers we have climbed. The route guides said the route from Summit Lake was five miles round trip, but I measure it at 6.5 miles.

The weird thing about this 14er is that people can actually drive (nearly all the way to the summit) and then just walk up a few tenths of a mile to the top. Even up there it wasn't that crowded, but it is a weird vibe to have been hiking in solitude and then see a bunch of cars when arriving at the top. I did, however, appreciate a bathroom!

On our way down we saw a ton of mountain goats. Lucky got a tad too close and we had a few hairy minutes while a gang of them stalked us. Luckily, they lost interest. The way down didn't take long, and it warmed up substantially.

We had estimated the hike would take maybe 4 hours round trip, but it actually took closer to 5, and it was almost noon before we got back to the car. We shed all our layers, switched to flip flops, and drove into Idaho Springs for a lunch and beer at Westbound. I had a delicious lentil salad and small pour of an Imperial Stout.

By the time we got back to town it was after 3, which gave me time to go to the store. I finally heard from A's friend that they had hit a delay leaving, and wouldn't be back until after 6. That meant more TV time!!! Another call from them later was that the drive took even longer than planned, and they asked if I wanted to meet them all for dinner.

We met up at Los Arcos for some Mexican food, and as a result, we didn't get home until almost 8:30. Need a weekend from my weekend.
Monday (13,786 steps) - Most exhausted ever. Cold front came in overnight and it was cold (in the mid 50's!) and rainy all day. We had planned on going to the New Terrain / North Table Mountain run club, but it was cancelled last minute due to poor weather conditions. For the second time in a week we had an unexpected night at home.

Stats:

• 120,782 steps
• 17 miles run
• 2 barre classes and one hike!

Black Hawk Trail Half Marathon (Race Recap)

Saturday, July 29
Golden, CO
Half Marathon #168
Weather - Overcast, misty, perfect

Last year, Heather came out and ran the Black Hawk trail half marathon with me.  We took an early start and tied for DFL. It was a blast.

A few days before the race, Jeff emailed a few of us asking if we could carpool. I offered, since we were headed up anyway, as long as people knew that we would be arriving early and leaving late.

With that in mind, we met up with Chris at 5 am in the shopping center near our house. The drive flew by with someone new to chat with, and were parked at 5:40. That gave us plenty of time to pick up our stuff and get everything ready for the 7:00 start.

Beautiful full rainbow near the start

A began her volunteer shift with running race day registrations from the red barn to the timing guy, and I chatted with Annette, who was assisting with packet pick up. Phil arrived shortly before 6:30, and A and I helped him set up the tent. Before I knew it, it was time to use the bathroom and line up. It was lightly misting, and I hoped it would stay that way since I had not brought a rain jacket.

The race started just a minute or two late, and I was in the back. Since we had done the early start last year, I didn't realize how much bottle necking there would be in the first quarter mile. Didn't bother me though, since I don't typically warm up for a few miles, and I was fine keeping the pace slow. We moved off the single track and onto the road. Quite a few people passed me in this section. When we turned to go onto the jeep trail, I was in second to last place, with only Francesca behind me. She caught me at the first aid station, and we sorta ran together for maybe a quarter mile. About when we hit the first mile marker I stopped to screw around with my shoelaces, and she kept going. I never would catch her the rest of the day.

This section of the course has some pretty views, but I think is actually my least favorite part. There was some decent climbing, and then the turnoff for the 10k, and we kept heading out. The glorious downhill just meant that the uphill would come when we turned around. I managed to pass just one person on this climb.

No, that is not snow on the ground

On the way back, I managed to spot Lynette and Tom as they were taking the turn. Came back through the aid station and then we got into my favorite part of the course. It is the most heavily wooded section and runs alongside a creek. There are lots of crossings, either with the option of a bridge crossing or going through shallow water. In most cases, I went for the bridge.

Then the most challenging section of the course - the switchbacks (which I think is when Heather was threatening to DNF last year). It was "hard," but not as hard as it felt during the Dirty 30 (which a lot of this course mirrored). 

We had some nice downhill, and then when we got to mile 8, I could tell where the additional mile was added in that we had not done last year. Shockingly, it was a climb up, and then we came right back down. I spent a few minutes talking with a girl from Illinois - she was running her first half marathon ever - and what a challenging one to pick!

The course jumped onto the single track near the lake, which is really pretty with all the wildflowers. 

We then had to go down the trail to the road, hit up the aid station, then come right back up. I had seen Francesca at the turn around and she did not seem that far ahead of me. I never did see her again after that, so she must have really been moving up the hill. I chatted for a bit just before mile 12 with a man from Texas - these flatlanders are amazing to run these races! I live here and can barely breathe on thee climbs. Just after mile 12, I tripped over nothing and skidded on my palms. Luckily, nothing else happened. A few tiny climbs, but mostly downhill single track to the finish.

I didn't really have much of a goal in mind since I hadn't really "run" the race last year. I was pretty pleased to come in under 3.5 hours!

Official time - 3:17:12

Official pace - 15:03

Overall place - 76/86

Gender place - 33/40

Division place - 16/18

Elevation gain - 2,776'

Garmin time - 3:17:31

Garmin distance - 12.51 miles

Garmin pace - 15:47

Mile 1 - 16:52

Mile 2 - 11:17

Mile 3 - 17:16

Mile 4 - 15:30

Mile 5 - 15:49

Mile 6 - 23:53

Mile 7 - 20:44

Mile 8 - 13:15

Mile 9 - 12:52

Mile 10 - 12:36

Mile 11 - 16:07

Mile 12 - 15:45

Mile 12.51 - 10:58

A, Phil, Francesca and Susan were at the finish line, and we quickly got in our team  picture.

Francesca, me, Phil, A, Susan, Carl

We then headed down to the red barn for the finish line party - this time, there was plenty of Avery beer left. I wasn't hungry (again), but had a beer before heading out. (By the way, the guy we carpooled with ran a 2:06 for his first official half marathon. Holy crap).

Thoughts:

• This is legitimately the most difficult half marathon I've ever done. It is fairly technical, there is a TON of climbing.
• With THAT said, it is also one of the prettiest courses I have run. I will likely run this one again, especially if I start to see an improvement on my climbing/trail times. This is a fun course.
• The course was exceptionally well marked, there are markers at every mile (except mile 4, but that is only because someone stole the sign). Flagging or chalk or a sign anywhere there was a turn.
• Three aid station, which is pretty good considering how remote the course is.
• The finish line party was fantastic, like always. Lots of food, and of course, BEER!
• Cool medal (although I think I liked last year's a little better).

• Run this. You won't regret it.

Week in Review (July 25 - July 31)

Tuesday (11,993 steps) - Braved going to barre with Laura during lunch. Sadly, even with leaving work as late as possible, and sneaking out of class during stretching, it still took me over an hour and a half. The new job is just not cool with that. I guess that's the end of my classes with Laura (sad face).
Wednesday (22,846 steps) - A and I got to go to the DMV! Hooray! We got there about 20 minutes before they opened and we were out the door less than 15 minutes after going in. Really surprised it was that fast! Took A over to Rose's house since she would be taking the girls to Tomahawk for their Wizard Girl Scout camp.

Seriously, how did the girls get so big??

I braved going to FRXC alone! At least when I go with A, she waits for me, and people seem more understanding of my slow pace. I was a minute or two late because my stupid phone routed me to a bizarro location. This week's run was at Matthews Winters, which I have only run one other time. It was overcast and drizzly when we headed out. I was running with a guy named Chuck, who claimed to be "super slow," yet he of course left me in the dust too.

On the downhills I didn't suffer nearly as much, and I almost didn't get totally left behind. We chatted for a bit in the parking lot before I realized it was almost 8, and needed to head home. Not more than a few minutes later, it started POURING RAIN. Thankfully, we weren't out running then. When I got home I had to put the new plates on Lucy, which took a stupid amount of time. Still not sure how the dealer had four screws holding the front plate on, I could only get two in.
Thursday (20,679 steps) - Barre. Surprised to see Nicole, haven't taken her class in a while. Went to Belmar after work and walked the big loop with Dulce and Matilda.
Friday (12,705 steps) - Picked up A at Rose's house on our way home. The end.
Saturday (33,169 steps) - Black Hawk trail half marathon (recap to follow).

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home so that we had food for lunch. Napped for about an hour, then went to Target to get our school supply shopping done. Most obnoxious item of the year was a 3" binder. Did you know those run almost $10??? Early dinner and in bed by 9:00.
Sunday (12,749 steps) - Slept over 11 hours and didn't get up until after 8. A made omelettes and pancakes for breakfast, and then we started our Gilmore Girls marathon. Took a break around 2:00 to take a walk around the lake. Glad we didn't get caught in a storm, the clouds were super suspicious.

Went to barre (for the first Sunday in ages) - it was fun to take a class with A, Ben and Mo.

Dinner and more TV.
Monday (17,075 steps) - New Terrain Brewery run club! There were two other gals there that claimed they would be "hiking" the uphills. We opted to go with them (and they were actually slower than us!) counter-clockwise. A and I both decided we liked that direction better anyway. Maybe steeper climbs, but it's over quicker. Turns out my legs actually felt pretty good, and for once, I was faster than A! That allowed me to take a bunch of pictures... she is pretty photogenic, but the trails don't suck either.

Had to get at least ONE picture of me!

 Stuck around to have a beer and cupcakes for Hector's birthday.

Stats:

• 131,216 steps
• 24.9 miles run
• 3 barre classes!