Not often I register race-week & NEVER EVER a double. Until now.
Plan A. Motor after-work, mountain hotel, Saturday marathon, interstate-commute to Wyoming. Reality. Room-search in Colorado ski country proved crazy expensive (even in September). Plan B? 3am alarm. Road-trip! Run shorts, hydration vest, layers & a V8. Who doesn’t dig early morning tomato? LOL>
I-70 West. Denver ⇨ Continental Divide ⇨ Breckenridge. Same east-west where all the great hikes happen. Same Silverthorne exit where Ash & Tom married two years prior. Notta lotta snow on the peaks this late in summer – but WOW, whatta sunrise! Nothing/nowhere/anywhere, our Rockies. Stunning. Always.
South Gondola parking. 20-minute bus ride. Start temp just above freezing. Race elevation 10,000ft. Lodgepole pines, thin air, sun now a-blazing. First couple miles like a REVEL event – straight DOWN. But unlike REVEL, whole lotta climb thereafter. UP 800ft, down next mile. Another push UP, lungs burning/O2 searching. Colorado-native no big deal, right? Reality. BIG elevation jump – my backyard @ 5500ft vs today’s 8800ft average. Past month of flat-world running also done me no favours.
High-altitude sunshine. Muy bueno scenery. Hills? Oh mama. That last climb at mile 22? Mountain folks are crazy tough. No crocodile tears, no regret. 5-hour finish, all FIGHT, NO FAIL 💪
Gas station cola & a bag of salty chips. Journey on. Day One.
Texted a friend – please find/contact the Race Director in Cheyenne, gonna miss bib pick-up. Burning trailer near Georgetown. Highway accident. Need a Plan B. 6pm Wyoming arrival (thanks Larry).
Hotel, shower, sleeps. Sunday 5am at the Depot (RD bib meetup). Body tight/achy after Saturday’s all-day hill repeats, skin still radiating sunshine. But — I’m here. Wyoming. THIRD time this year. Cap off, National Anthem. Cowboy country & I LOVE it 😊
Day strategy. Hit it hard first Half. Walk/run after mile 15. Elevation similar to home, easy comfortable course. Tunes early. Notta lotta runners. Several miles on an empty military base. Hill at marker 9 or 10…but not Breckenridge hilly, just an incline. Day 2. Perspective. Push, push, push. 2:05 first Half. Sun high, getting warm. Legs like lead.
Walked mile 14. Called it two miles later. Sorry Cheyenne – ya deserved better. Mentally not plugged-in for a March-of-Dimes walk. Montréal next week, Europe week after.
17 miles. Check, done. Colorado HOME by noon.
Lick my wounds, run another day. Well maybe…in two or three other days. LOL>
BRECKENRIDGE ROAD MARATHON
SEPTEMBER 14, 2019
35 K R HAGA 05:23:41 M Louisville
Rodeo empty; fair food finished. Short hour nap & ready for Round 2. Tim McGraw. Tickets in the ‘Party Zone’. First time ‘Best Available’ shoulda come with an age limit. College-age beer, crowded ‘round an outdoor stage. $30 less would have bought a seat 🙂
Stared up at the screen, watched the opening act embrace the elements. AND enjoyed the moment, it’s only rain. Wet, corralled in a sea of cowboy – hats, boots, dippin’ tobacco & solo-cup beer. Stage lights pulsed. Everyone got loud, and there he was – Tim McGraw. For this legend, even the rain stopped. Surrounded by thousands who LOVE him, his music. Down-home lyrics. Catchy hooks. Redneck, yep – and FUN.
An hour in, crazy half-lit Tanya Tucker stumbled on stage. Delta Dawn.
Earlier Saturday, CSU-Fort Collins doctors operated on her dog’s heart. She came/went/asked Tim for money (hefty vet bill). Delta Dawn. Gal’s been around a long time – appreciate that AND empathy for the dog. Surprise glimpse at another legend.
Diana Ross. Shakespeare. Tim McGraw. Next week, Mahler symphony at Chautauqua. HUGE fan of string. Cello — its deep somber resonance, my soul instrument.
Summer break almost over. Go, do, be. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤️
Tim McGraw (Cheyenne 2019)
Tim McGraw & Tanya Tucker
Daddy of ‘em All. Cheyenne, Wyoming. Frontier Days.
After a four-year absence, I’m back folks. America’s largest outdoor rodeo – & later tonite, country legend Tim McGraw. Goin’ BIG – no regrets this summer season 😊
Cowboy’d up with Stephen, Saturday morn. DIA flight from New Hampshire; hour-half highway north on I-25. First out-of-state trek for my BIG FORD TRUCK. Rodeo adventure, bang-on perfect. Have I told y’all how much I LOVE my new truck? HA!
Bronc buckin’, steer wrestlin’ & calf roping. Missed the bulls this year, probably my fave-absolute next to the buckin’ broncs. An event which NEVER disappoints.
123rd CFD Rodeo – older than the state itself. Dig the big-voice announcer, crowd of cowboy hats, parking lot of trucks & horse trailers. My season. Good to be back.
Cowboy up y’all. Rodeo season – mmm, feels like summer.
Cheyenne Frontier Days 2019