MyCOLORADOLife.net

Divine M’s Happy 26

Published May 18, 2019

Family & faith. My secret power.

Not sure how/when, my next direction – FAITH
Who I am, what’s ‘life’ important – FAMILY

Don’t waste a lotta time wondering what/if. Lucky that way. My core is solid.

Happy Birthday!

Day & a half in Connecticut. Short trip. Time much appreciated, funds well spent – celebrating Michaela on her day, in her surroundings. Nothing like S’mores on Divine M’s outdoor deck. YUM!

Pizza take-away, birthday dinner in Willimantic, walk over the Frog Bridge. Play with the new grandpup, my first gran-DAWG-ter. Zelda. Whatta cutie! 🐾

Awesome watching Mick grow & flourish – and EVERYTHING around her grow too. Kiddo’s got a green thumb. Scallions, pumpkin, cucumbers, basil, spring flower overload.

Late nite finish. SO MUCH food, birthday’d well past bed time.

See ya later alligator for MY birthday in August. Goodbye NOT. Flights/hotel/excursions already booked – a Reykjavik family adventure. Icelandic ponies, geothermal soak. Volcano hike.

Tough letting go – allowing ‘em to escape the cocoon, grow, butterfly away.

Miss ya Misha. You make my HEART full. Happy 26 ❤️

: Willimantic Brewing

: Christmas in May

: Frog Fight of 1754

: evening FUN

: S’MORES!

CT Fur Babies

: Zelda

: new gran-DAWG-ter

: birthday LOVE ❤️

: Dany 🐱

Green Goddess 2019

: Catnip blooming

: Scallions progressing

: Pumpkins peeking

: Cilantro explosion

: Spring Flower overload

Dave-Dave Christmas in May

Posted in Family, Northeast | Tagged birthdays | Leave a comment

Nutmeg State Marathon

Published May 17, 2019

M. Michaela, May and…marathon.

Black Friday sale on Southwest last November – my score? Quick in-n-out airfare to celebrate Michaela’s Happy 26^thin Connecticut. Kiddo’s got her own digs now, whole lotta happenings since holiday season last. SUPER excited to see M’s Coventry home. Country treed & seasonal GREEN.

Post-work flight to Hartford, hotel arrival midnite+, Friday a.m. alarm. Crazy quick turnaround. Shower, change of clothes, bib pick-up in Goodwin Park. the New England Challenge: 6 days, 6 marathons, all 6 NE states. For me, dropped in just for Connecticut Day, the Nutmeg State. 6am start, 5-hour finish goal. Over-n-done, re-showered, Michaela’s by noon. M’s also for Multi-tasking 😊

Two-marathon weekend: CT on Friday, Denver’s Colfax Marathon Sunday morn. Good practice. Registered for my first QUADZILLA over Independence Day break. 4 marathons in 4 days. Sauvie Island, Tigard, Vancouver & Beaverton — coastal communities ’round Portland (Oregon). July summer marathoning, gonna be a challenge. Today however…weather, runner perfect. Forecast’d rain would hold off ‘til 1. Pizza & wing-feasting early afternoon (pie from UConn’s Husky Pizza).

Lap course. Half-mile trail. Handsome city lake, perfect time of year. Leafy tree cover, water birds, wetlands. Path butts up against a golf course. Sunrise, last-minute race instructions.

One hill. Not horrible, I ran UP while others walked (Day FIVE of their challenge). But one hill, TWELVE times. Downhill trail, leafy green stretch, wetlands, golf course, HILL. And repeat 12x.

Birthday party motivated, I kept at it. Finished with a smile. Think I dig running laps. Enjoy the camaraderie of other runners. Feel less isolated, less ‘in my head’, better manages the crazies.

Check, done. 12 laps plus a short loop, that’s 26.2 in the Nutmeg State.

Shower, pizza & Bloody Marys – let the games begin. May is Michaela month. Whoop, whoop! Celebration!

New England Challenge: Nutmeg State Marathon
Goodwin Park & Golf Course in Hartford, Connecticut United States
Friday, May 17, 2019 6:04:27 AM

Place Bib# Name
13 126 K R Haga M 04:52:50.36

: New England Challenge

: CT Day

: City Park wetland

: LEAFY green

: 12 lap REPEAT

: downhill TRAIL

: Nutmeg State 26.2

: May is Michaela Month

Nutmeg State Marathon

Posted in Marathons/Ultras, Northeast | Tagged kyrkan | Leave a comment

50 State 2: 2nd Dozen #tbt

Published May 16, 2019

Bring on the WORLD. BEST thing about cancer is the LIFE REMINDER to LIVE. 3 solid months of chemo, FREED my spirit. No longer sweat the small stuff, allowed me to dream BIG. B-I-G!

2017. Travell’d both North & South islands of New Zealand in March. Marathon’d in Hamilton, my 3^rd continent. Later in October, celebrated FINISH #100 in DUBLIN with Sis, husband Paul & Stephen. The ‘FU Cancer’ tour. Sis designed ‘Survivor’ shirts, wore a ‘FU’ visor. And…concurrently, completed another dozen States. Wouldn’t officially catch the Round 2 bug ‘til Sis’ January (2018) birthday.

Grand Rapids Michigan on Groundhog’s Day. Absolute COLDEST marathon ever completed. MINUS 9 Fahrenheit. 6 laps of snow & ice princess trees. In-n-out a warming tent between laps. BESTEST winter marathon of all 50. Same month, ran another 26.2 miles in Fort Worth. Know we’re supposed to love love Austin, but I dig Cowtown more – personal fave of the Lone Star State. Texas!

East Coast family (& marathon trips) Spring 2017. Savin Rock, minutes from my old New Haven digs in Connecticut. Gate City (Nashua), minutes from Stephen’s New Hampshire home. Sprinkled in between, OKC – Oklahoma City. Thousands of runners, well organized, most emotional USA-built Memorial commemorating lives lost to domestic terrorism. Add to your bucket list.

Selfishly chose REVEL Rockies as my Round 2 Colorado race, so I’d have one single sub-4 result this go-around. True to REVEL fame, another ALL DOWNHILL run. (18 home-state medals, my choice.)

Marathon Streak: every month since December 2014. July’s find? U of Okoboji in northern Iowa, H-O-T. Ran around a lake, no trees. Polar opposite experience, my October run in Portland (Oregon). Digged the ‘Rose City’ & their ‘Keep Portland Weird’ mantra. Fun fact – only paper bags here. Town abolished plastic. Green (& liberal).

December. Cheap flight to Phoenix, Saturday 26.2 in nearby Buckeye Arizona. Dusty, desolate. Destined to stay a local club run. Charity-ran my second Washington marathon, 30 minutes outside Seattle. the Big C. Folks raising $$ to support a run-club member battling cancer. Guy lost his battle days before, literally. Best friend pre-race spoke. Emotional. 12 months prior, my sentence.

New Year, same HEALTHY me. Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham. Alabama’s run redeemer. Well done ‘Bama (& Mother Nature). Gladly take BUCKETS of RAIN over Deep South heat & humidity any day. Sweet Home experience. Thanks y’all.

Fave of my 2nd Dozen: Hilo to Volcano 50k. Race course itself, a snoozer. Tropical Hawaii but ya trek along a forgotten 2-lane state highway, huh? Crazy DIFFICULT. Ocean to 4000ft. PLUS it’s 32+ miles (an ultra-marathon). Some of the darkest conversations EVER with Sis. Never ever ever will I forget her Girl Scout Poop moment. Holding to vines, squatting downhill. Don’t look, don’t look! OMG funny! Bestest ROAD CREW: every 2 miles, Paul & Stephen. 7 ½ hour finish! We almost missed cut-off – yikes!

Umbrella drinks, a birthday LUAU, cards – & LAVA. We walked over RED GLOWING LAVA. FOREVER memories ❤️

#	State	Marathon	City	Date	Time	Bib #
81	MI	Groundhog Marathon	Grand Rapids	2/4/2017	4:39.13	74
83	TX	Cowtown Marathon	Fort Worth	2/26/2017	4:29.02	581
85	CT	Savin Rock Marathon	West Haven	4/1/2017	4:39.26	192
88	OK	Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon	Oklahoma City	4/30/2017	4:17.20	816
90	NH	Gate City Marathon	Nashua	5/21/2017	4:39.30	1095
91	CO	REVEL Rockies Marathon	Morrison	6/11/2017	3:58.25	1238
92	IA	U of Okoboji Marathon	Arnolds Park	7/15/2017	4:59.31	679
99	OR	Portland Marathon	Portland	10/8/2017	4:41.25	1570
104	WA	big C Marathon	Puyallup	12/3/2017	4:46.35	10
105	AZ	Buckeye Marathon	Buckeye	12/9/2017	5:00.42	124
106	HI	Hilo to Volcano Ultra 50K	Volcano	1/6/2018	7:22.51	65
108	AL	Mercedes Marathon	Birmingham	2/11/2018	5:09.37	278