MyCOLORADOLife.net

Long View Marathon

Published October 5, 2019

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

: grassroots event

: 4:30 pace group

: Fort Collins-to-Loveland

: Colorado #20

: October 10th ❄️

Long View Marathon

Posted in Marathons/Ultras, NoCo/Indian Peaks | Tagged snowpocalypse | Leave a comment

Vienna – Kiev – NYC

Published September 30, 2019

Last day of September, Amazing Race over.

Sis travels on to Salzburg. ‘Sound of Music’ tour. Julie Andrews spinning in the Austrian meadows. Edelweiss, edelweiss… For me – head scarfs & pierogi. Journey home begins.

Ukraine Air bargain: $310 Vienna-Kiev-New York.

Exit row seats. Double the Eastern Bloc meal plan. [Misunderstood UIA’s website & purchased a ‘bonus’ dinner every flight. Pierogi, rice pudding & knish. Double portions please. LOL>]

Long transatlantic flight with four English-language movies.

Long 5-hour layover at JFK, NYC’s mothership (Delta Air to Denver).

22 hours later… Touchdown Colorado. Reunited with Pup 🐾

OCTOBER. First day of a new month. New tales, new adventure.

Home, sweet Colorado HOME ❤️

: $310 bargain

: Welcome to Kyiv 🇺🇦

: pierogi ‘bonus box’

: FOREVER memory ❤️

: Sis’ Filimin colour – she’s BACK!

Vienna – Kiev – NYC

Posted in Europe | Leave a comment

Wachau Marathon

Published September 29, 2019

Hillside vineyards, alpine meadows & die river Danube. Race DAY!

10k, Half & 42k distance. Sis & I would wait an hour to board a marathon bus to Emmersdorf. Rest of the trip family, an 8am start. WhatsApp pics started flooding our phones by mile 12. Family showered & beautiful by the Wonder Twins’ afternoon finish.

High sun, skies warming. Edelweiss AND fish-on-a-stick. Pre-race FISH? PipiBox – check. Kleider bus ‘bag drop’ – check, check. Last to-do’s to-done. Run ready.

Fünf, vier, drei, zwei, eins. Go, go, go!

Keep the heart rate down. Gonna get warm today. Steady even pace.

5k bike-path loop ’round Emmersdorf before darting on Austria’s B 3 river-road (Donau Bundesstraße). Easy flat course – not a Boston qualifier, but a PR for many. Road-run exposed/open to traffic. Comfortable temps early, didn’t overheat ‘til 2 hours in.

Mile 10. PipiBox queue. Managed a legit washroom for Sis at the Fire House (3 semesters of college German/I can talk toilet). Sie ist mein Schwester. LOL> Short, quick stop — oompah oompah accordion music — & on our way. Danke, viel danke.

Where are you from? Colorado, always. Folks know the Rockies. Generally takes politics outta the conversation. One officer wanted to Trump-jabber. No sprechen sie. Danke 😊

Town tour of Spitz. Waved to boats on the Donau. Whatta experience!

Mile 20. Head demons, got quiet, went dark. Notta warm weather runner. Sis tried but even Pollyanna couldn’t quell the Kraken. Was throwing water cups by 23. Took a walk break. Helped turn the frown upside down. Easy walk/jog pace last 2k into Krems.

Could hear German now, half-mile to Finish. push, PUSH, push. SEVEN on holiday, SEVEN wore medals. Well done, us! Check & done. AUSTRIA! Two kids from Possum Holler – look at us now, Ma! ❤️

Train transfer back, my Amazing Race ended. Airport hotel, flight home 5am early.

First Stop: Ukraine. Fingers crossed. Europe on a Budget.