Who sets their alarm for 6am on a Saturday?
Anyone who plans to run a 5k, hike a 13er, then play 2 hours of tennis – talk about a jam-packed SUPER Saturday.
The intention is not to run and hike every remaining week of 2012 – just dumb luck last week’s 10 mile run in Louisville was scheduled back-to-back to the Waneka Classic 5K Fun Run in Lafayette (one of Ro’s regular weekly walks). ALSO, today’s race supported Centaurus High School’s cross-country track team…so came out for a mighty good cause (local youth). And come on…how many races are so close that you can walk there from home? Absolutely no excuses this day.
I competed in the local Citizen’s Race (which kept all varsity track kids out of the field :)). Stayed close and followed a guy named Dale before I blew past him at the 2-mile race marker. Overall, finished 19th!
Ran home, showered, and packed for my next Saturday activity – week 36’s hike challenge starting at Loveland Pass.
Don’t expect another road race out of me again until early December – the ‘ColderBolder’.
Utahan friend Kimberly flew out for Labour Day weekend – arriving soon after my 10 mile road race finish on Saturday. Weekend plans included lunch on Pearl Street in Boulder, dinner at Empire in Louisville, church (received my first church calling – Young Men’s), an all fresh/all homemade/all Mexican birthday dinner (LOVE LOVE fresh veggies, herbs – and everything guac), movie night at the Pypers (where Kimberly stayed w/ Annie, Ted & baby Anders), followed by… my week 35 hike, James Peak 🙂
Since dad had play friend activities over the 3-day holiday weekend, Ro was more than ready for this week’s hike challenge. (Ro did visit the McCaslin dog park Sunday morning so he wasn’t completely neglected.)
James Peak, our 2nd 13er of the year, is located a few miles past St. Mary’s Glacier in Alice (near Idaho Springs). I’m a bit apprehensive when planning hikes with non-Colorado visitors because our high altitude climate generally zaps their strength. Honestly, I want to ‘show off’ my Colorado – not have folks leave [our state] feeling nauseous & exhausted. Kimberly said she was a hiker and wanted a challenging trek. After this day not sure if a 13er was enough…she was SUPER hiker. I’m re-inspired!
Took one shot near the top of St. Mary’s Glacier, then sped past treeline across tundra grasses & willow thickets yellowed by the impending fall season. Winds blew cold this day so pulled on a thermal Henley early and packed gloves – just in case.
Pushed past multiple switchbacks until SUMMIT SUCCESS! Snapped some pics while enjoying our survivalist-style lunch (really gotta beef-up my lunch prep skills when I have guests…argh!) Kimberly checked the time ‘cause she could (ya’ll know I gave up my cell phone last February). We would have to make double time down – Kimberly’s plane leaves at 3pm.
Cairn curse…again. Rock piles just aren’t great trail markers past treeline. Luckily on today’s hike, I had a good navigator along when we needed to bushwhack through a quarter-mile of thicket (ouch – but could’ve been much worse).
Back on trail, hiked down & over a section of melted glacier, then safely/quickly back to the Prius.
Time check – 1:30pm…with an hour drive ahead to Denver. Maybe cell phones aren’t so bad after all – certainly helped Kimberly when she needed to reschedule her return flight to Salt Lake 🙂
No regrets. AWESOME hike day!
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- top edge of St Mary’s Glacier (approx 8 feet deep here)
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- above treeline; Mt Bancroft (just left of today’s hike destination)
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- Utah native Kimberly mastering this 13er hike
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- Steuart Lake (at the foot of Mount Bancroft)
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- cold wind blowing this day – LOVED IT!
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- steep gorge between Mount Bancroft and James Peak
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- SUMMIT SUCCESS!
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- this week’s W-O-W shot
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- pretty colour but tough on body when bushwhacking thru underbrush
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- missed her flight home; no worries SHE has a cell phone
Not sure if I was inspired by my sister’s aggressive running regimen or whether I simply missed the excitement associated with running in an organized race…but on Saturday September 1st, I competed in my first road race since 2009.
As a kickoff to the Labour Day weekend, my town holds an annual 5k/10M road race named Coal Creek Crossing. Sure I only started running consistently again in July…but with me it’s always ‘Go Big or Go Home’ — so sign me up for 10 miles. LOL>
With such an early start, was able to snap a shot of our Blue Moon followed soon after by a pic of the Saturday morning sunrise.
The race wandered over local trails in both Louisville & Lafayette — very little of the running required on paved road. Kept my pace slow & consistent, really enjoying the experience. THEN came mile 9. Ok, strike that. Rather I saw the 9 mile race marker ahead — high high UP on Aquarius Hill. Can’t say I had ever heard of Aquarius Hill previously, but I will remember it now.
I survived of course, completed my race and headed over to the pancake breakfast pavilion. FAAAANNNTASTIC finish!
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- ‘blue moon’ still visible at race start
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- bib pick-up
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- 7am sunrise start
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- ‘Go Big or Go Home’ – local 10 mile road race
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- pancake breakfast finish — FAANNNTASTIC!
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- road race booty — why we really do this
Fast forward 2 days. I received an email detailing my race results (which I thought had been halfway decent). Talk about humbling. Ouch! These Coloradans are machines. Ok, ok — just wait ’til next year.
Thanks for participating in the Coal Creek Crossing 10 Mile.
Results for K R Haga:
You placed 96th out of 132 finishers in a time of 1:36:57 for a pace of 9:42 per mile.
Out of 67 men you finished 56th. The winning time for men was 59:19.
