running LOCAL ROCKS – new Coal Creek PR, 34th overall
Hooray for Labor Day! Kicked off the 3-day holiday weekend with my favourite 10 miler, Louisville’s Coal Creek Crossing. Running LOCAL ROCKS! (Glad to be back — last year’s event was cancelled due to extensive trail damage from the 2013 Boulder Flood.)
7am start, near perfect weather. Lined at Community Park – ok, go.
Louisville, like most Front Range communities, hosts a highly competitive field. I came out slow – but well remember Aquarius Hill (mile 4 & 9)…I’d catch folks either out or back, it’s a steep climb.
Used today’s local run to fix my mental before Fall marathon season. Tagged a runner at mile 6, closed the gap on Aquarius Hill. Lost him again on the downhill. A mile from the Finish I generally fade (mental lapse)…but not this day. Half-mile upgrade, stuck close & pushed past. Hitting pavement tenth-mile to go, sprinted to the Finish.
Improved my Coal Creek PR by 5 minutes, 34th overall. Good day 🙂
1428 K R Haga Louisville CO 1:24:07
Quick shower, change of clothes, packed the Prius. Tomorrow’s 14er goal: Mount Massive (3rd highest in the continental U.S.)
Whole lotta traffic on I-70 (holiday weekend parking lot). Arrived in Leadville at 3pm, two hours to see the National Mining Museum. I’m a FAN of minerals & big rocks – add history to the mix & I’m well entertained ‘til closing time. LOL>
Quick walk downtown, grocery store provisions, then 11 miles over dirt road, past Halfmoon Campground to Mount Massive Trailhead.
Pulled out the sleeping bag, downed a tub of hummus, kicked back & counted stars. Goodnight Moon.
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- I-70 holiday parking lot
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- tucked off Highway 24 in Leadville CO
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- dedicated to the three Argall women in mining
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- mining claim, issued when Colorado was still a Territory
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- quartz crystal wall removed from Idarado Mine near Telluride
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- iron pyrite from Colorado’s oldest mine, the Eagle Mine at Gilman
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- built in 1879 by Horace Tabor (Leadville’s Silver King)
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- sleeping bag, hummus & stars
Joined a new running group & ran 15 miles of trail from Tom Watson Park, just west of IBM Campus in North Boulder.
Circled Coot Lake & Boulder Rez, then hit the foothills. Heat kicked up in the 2nd hour, lagged far behind the pack. Typical of most marathon finishes however – “never, never will I ever…” signed up for another run in 2 weeks – a ‘sweet 16er’.
[Super Saturday continues] Met up with Ash, Tom & friend Cliff just after noon on what would be the hottest day of 2015. Overall’s been a mild Colorado summer – but for Lafayette Peach Festival, temps climbed to 107°F. Crazy hot!
Fresh Palisade peaches, peach smoothies, peach cobbler – and a smoked turkey leg, promptly devoured caveman style 🙂 Supported the local artist community purchasing a pig welded from junkyard parts…another front porch addition.
[Super Saturday continues] Home, change of clothes, a second shower, then back to Boulder. Rare when independent films play in mainstream theatres. Took advantage & scored tickets to Meru, a Himalayan climbing flic. Was not disappointed.
Sitting at the headwaters of the sacred Ganges River in Northern India, the Shark’s Fin has seen more failed attempts by elite climbing teams over the past 30 years than any other climb in the Himalaya.
In 2008, three American climbers, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk arrive in India to make an attempt. Surviving a massive storm on the wall and battling for 19 days through sub zero temperatures with only 8 days of food, they are beaten back just 100 meters below the elusive 21,000ft summit. After swearing off the route and returning home, family, friendship, loyalty and the will to continue dreaming of the impossible climb are tested by loss and disasters that conspire to keep them from returning to the Shark’s Fin for one last try.
…the film examines obsession, friendship, dreams and sacrifice, on and off one of the world’s most difficult mountains.
3 more local weekends remaining ‘til Fall marathoning season. I see at least one more 14er in my immediate future 🙂
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- sub-8 pace, heat & hills at 5500ft. Pretty sure these kids were trying to kill me.
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- who says Ash doesn’t eat fruit? cobbler, YUM!
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- peach smoothie on a crazy hot day
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- runners feet are not pretty (3 weeks post-marathon)
Meru
Best way to celebrate Colorado Day? Outdoors of course 🙂
On August 1, 1876, president Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado as a state. Colorado Day was celebrated as a state holiday on August 1 for many years, and then was moved to the first Monday in August. The day no longer became a public holiday, but rather an observance, when the state started observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a public holiday in 1985.
Started the day with an early hour-half drive to Estes Park. Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, my first Half in 18 months. 6am Gun time – something special about racing pre-dawn, settling into pace, then experience sunrise.
Circled Estes Lake. Mile 2 jammed up on the running path – lotta runners, maybe 2 across possible. Picked up pace & caught the 1:50 racers.
Mile 4 thru 8 – UP. Elevation AND incline – but no negativity this day. I dug in, held pace & picked off tens of runners walking the last mile up.
Miles 9, 10 & 11 – big smile. Ripped DOWN (rare for me, generally I pull up, hold back).
UP again at mile 12 to the Stanley, then finished flat to the Fairgrounds. (Kinda weird ending – passed a ‘3’ which we all assumed was mile 13…but that happened another half mile later, then the final tenth mile was actually .3 miles. Not a deal breaker but I went out fast, far too early.)
Good day. 13.1 miles, half the distance – nice to have some gas left in the tank.
Hills & altitude – my new favourite combo. Finding hills to be an age equalizer.
Bib Name City Chip Time Division Place
327 K R Haga Louisville CO 1:52:21 6
Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park – Planned to re-hike Black Lake, hadn’t been in 3 years (2012 challenge: 52 weeks, 52 hikes). 9am in the Park but couldn’t find parking, even RMNP’s Park N Ride advised to come back at 2pm. Seriously? (Easy to get frustrated with summer tourist season but learning to share the love. National Parks are OUR parks as Americans – all Americans, no discrimination.)
Snuck the Prius in Moraine Park campground & hiked the extra mile to Cub Lake trailhead. Not a lotta trees in the meadow (Fern Lake fire burned most in 2012). Temps soon soared near 90, warm day. Last mile forested, blanketed in wildflowers 🙂
Cub Lake – pulled off my shoes & soaked. Lily pads, 2 ducks, dragonflies, small blue fish. Nibble, nibble, BITE. Hey, that’s no fish – pulled off a blood-sucking leech attached to my foot. ‘Nough soaking, hiked back – 4.6 miles total.
½ marathon run followed by a Nat’l Park hike. Colorado Day done? Nope, not yet.
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- a well lived life
Othello
Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Boulder) – 8pm curtain time, biggest concern was sleep deprivation. Half-moon outdoor arena, center aisle seat, Flatirons sunset, temps in the low 70’s – yep, pretty much PERFECT.
From the opening dialogue, was hooked.
Iago couldn’t have been more sinister, nor Othello more tormented. Acting from these 2 overshadowed all other players. Othello a North African Moor, interracial marriage – and Iago’s sheer cunning to drive noble Othello mad.
NOT the Shakespeare of my youth. Far exceeded all expectations – I’ll be back next summer. FAANNN-frickin-TASTIC!
Colorado Day, day after? Sleep 🙂
