NoCo/Indian Peaks

New month, new adventure – how ‘bout an inaugural run in my own backyard?

Grassroots event connecting two Front Range communities, Fort Collins-to-Loveland.  Six days after marathoning Austria’s Wachau Valley?  Heck yeah, sign me up 😊

45-minute commute on the Diagonal.  Last-minute registration (not on the Maniac calendar).  Bib pick-up, shirt swag.  12 hours later, driving 287 North to Fort Collins.  City Park Field, home of CSU baseball.  Sunshiny skies & autumn CHILL.  FAAANNNTASTIC!

SUPER EXCITED to be HOME.  Five of SEVEN weeks logging miles outside Team USA borders.  Whose life am I living?  Dream BIG, stay prayed up.  Don’t set a bar.

Slow outta the blocks, hanging with the 4:30 group today.  Short-time between marathons, whole lotta travel, Colorado elevation – but HOME.  Using that energy for 15 miles.

Garmin queued.  big SMILE.  Last-minute announcements.  Ready to run.

City street, five miles.  Bike path run-remainder to Loveland.  Not a huge fan of concrete (no bounce/little give) but much appreciated vibes of the happy folks around me.

Porta-potty stop; musta zoned.  Never saw my pace group again ‘til after the Half.  They were BEHIND me.  Huh?

BIG sun.  Super thankful for the chill.  No trees on the High Plains.  Bike-path mix of rolling hills, long stretches of FLAT.  Threw a few 9:30/min miles late in the race.  Wind lucky too.  This close to Wyoming & no headwind or cross-breeze?  WOW day.

Pace-slowed, lapped at marker 23 – but didn’t drop far behind the pack as I rolled downtown.  Finished & finished STRONG.  Geez, it’s good to be back home.  Marathon #165, Colorado #20.  Who’d have thought?  TWENTY marathons in my home state alone.

Keep dreamin’ folks.  Absolutely ANYTHING is POSSIBLE ❤️

 

2019 Long View – Marathon

Fort Collins to Loveland, Colorado, 10/05/2019

Race Scored by: RUNLIMITED LLC

 

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* OVERALL MARATHON RESULTS *

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77     K R Haga    M     4:38:32

 

 

Long View Marathon

 

 

Vanish when you can, it’s good for the soul. ~ Dean Karnazes

 

 

Mountain hike always cures whatever’s ailing.  Mental fix, physical reset.

Hour drive thru Boulder Canyon, trailhead parking in Nederland center.  Backpack, snacks & my best pal Ro.  Super cool [that] Ned provides a free shuttle to Hesse Trailhead (dogs allowed onboard) – no chance of parking my super-sized Ford, even if I did show early.  HA!

Late day start after morning’s a.m. return from Cincy.  Whole lotta folks with the same idea.  Labour Day weekend, elevation/thin air, Colorado sunshine.  Dig our outdoor community.  Busy trail.

Easy 4 miles.  Kicked back at Lost Lake; shared a sandwich with Pup.  Waterfall stop on the hike return.  Water still flowing high late in the season.  Fingers crossed, heavy snow again this year.

One more run-free day, then back at it.  Saskatchewan this weekend.

LOVE LOVE my Colorado life (kinda crushin’ on Canada too 🍁).

 

 

 

So You Had A Crappy Race … Now What?

DAVID ROCHE SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2019

 

If I’m asked what the most important attribute is for an athlete, I have a simple answer: “Belief.”  You put it all on a start line, and you proceed to crash and burn.  Your time sucks.  Maybe you have to DNF.

 

  1. Accept uncertainty.

Races aren’t tests, they’re celebrations.  They are celebrations of life, existence, and yes…uncertainty itself.  So give yourself permission to celebrate no matter how the day actually unfolds.

  1. It’s OK to grieve.

You can know all of that celebration stuff intuitively, but it still stings when a day doesn’t turn out how you had hoped.  It’s healthy to let yourself feel your emotions, even the bad ones. You aren’t being dramatic when you get a little depressed after races.  Give yourself time to get to acceptance.  And it’s no rush either.

  1. Your fitness is your best day, not your worst.

There’s a temptation to use bad races to judge your fitness, thinking that the day gives you a benchmark from which you can evaluate your progress. Bad race? Bad athlete. Bad training.  That’s not how the body works, though.

  1. Bad races can be good training days.

The physiological reason why so many breakthrough races follow poor ones is uncertain.  It could be neuromuscular.  Whatever it is, you can use that race stress to get stronger and faster.

  1. You are heroic.

…the bad races are where the magic happens, where you learn and grow and get the resolve to make a courageous leap of self belief.  So if you can, try to celebrate bad races most of all.  That is when you become a hero in your own story.

 

 

 

Chapter close, new door opened.  Finished 8 consecutive weeks of marathoning yesterday in Mississippi.  Today at 10,300ft, ANTARCTICA training begins.  YES!  #luckyinlife

Post-midnite arrival in a rare Colorado ice storm.  Sleeping in; can’t pick up Ro before 10am from his Fall kennel home.  Surprise awaits when Papa shows – HIKE day!  ‘though Denver suffered a quarter-inch ice, heavy SNOW high-elevation & SUNSHINE forecast’d Sunday.  FAAANNNNTASTIC!

Sunday pup pick-up, day destination: Brainard Lake.

Local altitude, short 45 minute drive.  Boulder Canyon to Nederland, chose Peak-to-Peak highway.  Better to avoid Ward in winter season.  Only one road climbs thru town – UP.

No drama arrival.  Road plowed, parking secured.  Lot FULL with shoers & Nordic lovers.  Lodgepole pine.  Precip base thigh-deep.  Thin air.  Welcome home soldier, marathon season over.

5 miles roundtrip today.  Ever see a dog SMILE?  Off-leash heaven.  Heavy snow kept Pup trail-contained.  Sunk to his neck early on chipmunk patrol, stayed close day remainder.  LOL>

Backpack light, training day ONE.  Need to manage 75lbs comfortably by mid-January.  Paced slower than goal too – but my head, out there/up there SOULFUL.

LOVE LOVE my Colorado life.  Heart SOAR ❤️

 

 

Brainard Lake 2018