MyCOLORADOLife.net

Spring 2018 💐

Published March 20, 2018

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbour:

“Winter is dead.”

“Daffodowndilly” – A.A. Milne (1882-1956)

Spring in Colorado.

Sunshine & 70’s then snow & 20° – even trade, every 3 or 4 days. Global warming? Nah. Happens same way every year. Bulbs push thru the snow. Geese are back on Hecla. Wildlife in my neighborhood explodes. Coyotes, barn owls, prairie dogs, sooo many rabbits. Even my Pup’s mood seems to swing daily. Gotta hike, gotta hike, gotta hike – then back in hibernation mode.

Spring in Colorado. Welcome back friend. Good to see ya again.

: 2nd day of Spring

: Pup’s wintering spot

: haircut & a smile

: gruesome snow-melt find

: Geese back on Hecla

: grandpup Marty

: lil’ Fashionista

: Spring SNOW ❤

Tobacco Road Marathon

Published March 18, 2018

A week from marathoning does the body good.

Saturday morning flight, Southwest direct Denver to Raleigh. Landed 2 hours before final bib pick-up. No car rental this trip, chose the event’s host hotel: Embassy Suites. Came with free airport shuttle – & ya’ll know, FREE is for me 🙂

Evening-in plans: NY style pizza & scripture study. Body, mind AND spirit – elevating all 3 for Bighorn in June.

Early start Sunday morning (for no apparent reason) – 5:15 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex for a 7am marathon Start. Only negative feedback you’re gonna hear. LOVED today’s run. Nothing super scenic but digged the design. Two separate out-n-backs on an old tobacco road. Design allowed [the] opportunity to see runners multiple times on course, never felt like you were out there alone.

Well stocked aid stations – 2 in particular, a Mimosa station (didn’t partake but folks were upbeat/good spirited/having fun) and a backwoods ‘Possom Station loaded with trail race type goodies.

The Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon features over 20 miles of the American Tobacco Trail (ATT). The rest of the course is flat and fast with a downhill finish. Up to 10 percent of our runners qualify for the legendary Boston Marathon! Less experienced runners benefit too as the fast, flat, energy-absorbing course and ideal temperatures (averaging in the 40’s and 50’s Fahrenheit) make it a great setting for your personal record. We even have a bell for you to ring and celebrate at the end. Both races start and finish at the USA Baseball/Thomas Brooks Park. The overall event weekend is organized by an all-volunteer staff and 100 percent of proceeds go to charity. Cumulative charitable contributions will exceed one half million dollars – $500,000+ in 2015.

Combined FULL & Half Start – HUGE number of participants, 10,000+ (this year’s Half sold out). National Anthem (LOVE). GREAT weather too! Rained the night before, nothing in today’s forecast. Cool & overcast. Expected to stay dry all day.

Ran two miles of asphalt before spilling onto Tobacco Road. Marathoners veered right, Halfers left – but BOTH runners would enjoy a quiet tree-lined path. Crushed granite surface, 20+ miles. Felt GREAT under foot.

Mostly downhill past mile 8 to the day’s first turnaround. Bit of a slog the next 6. Low-grade incline/long grinder to mile marker 14. Felt GREAT on the legs – reminded myself: I run 10-12 miles daily…yeah, DAILY. I’ve got this. Training starting to click. Stayed engaged, pushed the entire time. 7^th marathon of 2018, on-track to meet or beat every stat of 2015.

Personal win today? Would run 20 miles without tunes. Stayed mentally checked-in for 3+ hours.

Parade of Halfers on the left returning home, just past 14. Kept my mind engaged. Pushed thru the turnaround at mile 19 (Halfer out-n-back course). FAVE aid station. Pickle juice & crazy backwoods signs. Lotta Appalachia ‘Deliverance’ references. LOL>

Gave away miles 21 & 22. Struggled with my iPhone searching for the perfect playlist, only to put the whole thing away a mile later. 13-minute pace, seriously? Banged thru mile 23 (my personal WALL), didn’t slog ‘til 25. STRONG sprint finish.

Received my medal, then puked. HA! – I call that progress. [Generally I empty anywhere from mile 19 to 23.]

Lyft ride back to the hotel, shower & another shuttle. AIRPORT CAPTIVE for 6 hours. Not much of a reader – 2 movies & whole lotta NCAA Basketball (March Madness). Check, done. Welcomed HOME to SNOW. HOME, sweet Colorado HOME ❤

2018 Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon

18 March 2018

Keenan Haga

Net Time: 04:37:04.350

Race No: 481

Status: Finished

City: Louisville

State: Colorado

: North Carolina’s first-in-flight Wright Brothers

: second 26.2 in Carolina

: year’s fastest finish

: HOME, sweet Colorado HOME ❄️

Posted in Marathons/Ultras, South | Leave a comment

UK Run Challenge (March edition)

Published March 15, 2018

How long does it take the average person to finish a marathon?

Answer: Average people don’t finish marathons – Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man

March 2018 update: 3 more slow finishes. Easier my first time thru 50, achieving Maniac Titanium – every experience was new.

Work, twice/day TRAINING, weekend TRAVEL, repeat. Four more 50 mile/weeks – lotta distance every work week. Body & spirit tired, struggling with BALANCE. Journey, not a Sprint. 50 States x2 tally now 26; THREE months ‘til Bighorn.

Milestones:

February 24th – FIFTH marathon w/ Sis (Indy, StL, Dublin, Hawaii & Phoenix)
March 4th – UK Run Challenge FLIP. Once 63.7 miles, now 8.7 miles ahead – first time all YEAR.
March 6th – Knysna Forest Marathon, South AFRICA (race date: July 7th – registered for my FIFTH continent)

April MANTRA: SHED the WEIGHT

March 30^th (Leesport PA) thru May 6^th (Holyoke MA), my first 6 week marathon stretch since 2015. BIG Highlight: São Paulo BRAZIL. LARGEST city in SOUTH AMERICA – super excited to tag a new CONTINENT, first week of April.

New places, new faces. Haven’t repeated a marathon yet – 111 unique runs.

Race ReCap: 3 marathons, 3 states, 3 different time zones: George Washington’s Birthday Marathon (Greenbelt Maryland), Phoenix Marathon (Arizona) & Acadiana’s Zydeco Marathon (Lafayette Louisiana).

Marathoning Streak: 52 months

Mileage ReCap: ended March at 543.6 miles (HALFWAY thru GOAL)

: ended March at 543.6 miles

: Happy Birthday Mom!

: HALFWAY thru GOAL

Lands End to John O’Groats

1083 miles, the length of Britain

GOAL: 15 June 2018

Ended Month 3 in Sheffield, county South Yorkshire (name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through the city).

After the Norman conquest of England, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, and Sheffield subsequently grew into a small market town.

In the 14th century, Sheffield was already noted for the production of knives, as mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and by the early 1600s it had become the main centre of cutlery manufacture in England outside London, overseen by the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire. From 1570 to 1584, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor.