Marathoning

Broomfield Trails Marathon

Published November 4, 2018

Broomfield BLUE

Well they all don’t go well. Perspective, lesson learned. Heavy work week = poor prep, excuses/lack of effort. Whether you travel 2 time zones away or kick it local – you put on the bib, you give 110%. Marathon limped into November (after an amazing October). Sad face.

Saturday HOME: laundry, toilets & house cleaning – yep, I do that too. Menial tasks provide an unexpected mental lift. Tasks you start/do/complete without much thinking, almost methodical. Let’s the mind relax: Insta-results. Effort rewarded/job well done, no training miles required.

Time change Sunday, an extra hour of life. Body clock still wired early. Reset all time-keepers (even the Jeep), double-walked Pup, purchased groceries, load of dishes AND ran 26.2 miles.

Broomfield Blue, day’s run theme – only prerace thought put into this week’s long run. Running tights, cap, double shirt’d (blue over blue), everything BLUE (dude: RED gloves). Plugged address into Google maps, 18 minute drive – city parked, pinned my bib, 7 minutes ’til Start. Small urban trail event, inaugural marathon – signed up/registered to support my neighboring Flatirons community. Not easy to organize a BRAND NEW MARATHON: gather permits, address tens of emails, secure volunteers. Gotta support your peeps. Much appreciated Broomfield folks!

Overcast & cold. Season’s first run outta shorts. Regrets none, flurries blew second Half.

First mile asphalt, next 7 trail. Steep elevation climb. Hit it hard, hit it fast. Always go out too quick, I’m a lousy pacer. Posted a 7:43/mile – I don’t run that fast. Assume Strava got hacked.

Most of the next 10 miles, blah. Ran the bike path ‘long Highway 36. Exposed, ZERO trees, big truck fumes. Notta fan. Great support/volunteers every 2 miles – just hard to hide the ugly.

Gut blew before Half. No meds. Self-diagnosed myself cured after 4 great run weeks. Entirely avoidable, super frustrating.

LONG 2^nd Half, THREE long hours. Wind picked up/cold. Notta lotta opportunities to drop. Last 4-5 miles within city o’ Broomfield spotlighted town buildings, manicured parks – unfortunately mentally shot; adverse weather: head down/fought to finish.

Handed a medal, reclused in the Jeep: HEAT cranked up HIGH. Meds, shower, hour nap. Better luck next week.

Frown upside DOWN? Baseball cap, big comfy sweats & a giant Coke. Movie nite solves everything 😊

Broomfield Trails Marathon

Sunday, November 4, 2018

HAGA K R LOUISVILLE 1035 05:05:32

: Westminster EXPO

: week’s ‘long run’

: inaugural marathon

: We ARE Broomfield

Posted in Denver Metro, Marathons/Ultras | Leave a comment

Route 66 Challenge (Oct edition)

Published October 31, 2018

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, aka ‘Michelangelo’: the greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.

October 2018 update: 4 weeks, 4 marathons. Top 2 times of 2018 posted – including a new Canadian PR on Prince Edward Island. Diet on point, training miles met. Never more than 225 previously, this month: 317 – THREE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN miles.

50 State Challenge, down to 9. Canada 2020, on target – 4 provinces remain.

Only 75 days from my BIGGEST RUN ADVENTURE EVER! Funds wired, flights booked, evac insurance purchased. Santiago ✈ Puntas Arenas CHILE ✈️ Antarctica.

DREAM, execute, BELIEVE. ANYTHING is POSSIBLE.

Race ReCap: 4 marathons, 3 time zones, 2^nd straight month both US & Canadian runs.

Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota’s Twin Cities; Canada’s smallest provincial capital: Charlottetown; casino-riddled Atlantic City, New JERSEY; and my 2^nd largest marathon EVER – Marine Corps, 26.2 miles thru Arlington (VIRGINIA) & Washington DC.

Marathoning Streak: 59 months; FIVE consecutive weekends

Mileage ReCap: ended October at 915 miles (24 miles behind GOAL)

Everyone has the same 24hr day. Prioritize. Ruthlessly. @alexisohanian

: ended October at 915 miles

: Mile 915: Hydro, OK

: my postcard journey

: stretch goal met ✅

: IV fail – ouch!

: movie season begins 🙂

: 75 days ’til Antarctica

: 50 States x2 Challenge

Marathon Calendar:

11/04/2018 Broomfield Trails Marathon (Broomfield, Colorado)
11/10/2018 Nashville Marathon (Nashville, Tennessee)
11/17/2018 Magnolia Marathon (Meridian, Mississippi)
12/01/2018 Falls 100 Trail Marathon (Falls of Rough, Kentucky)
12/08/2018 Kiawah Island Marathon (Kiawah Island, S Carolina)
12/29/2018 Run for the Ranch Marathon (Springfield, Missouri)
01/01/2019 Texas Marathon (Kingwood, Texas)
01/15/2019 White Continent 50k (King George Island, ANTARCTICA)

Posted in Run Challenges | Leave a comment

Marine Corps Marathon

Published October 28, 2018

Saturday flight, Saturday Expo – landed hour-half before bib pick-up end. Lyft from Reagan, 20-minute drive ‘cross the Potomac. Marine Corps Marathon. Oorah! I’m in!

Registration lottery, May drawing & my lot was pulled. 30 THOUSAND participants, nicknamed ‘the People’s Marathon’. After New York [Nov 2015], never thought I’d run another MEGA-marathon. Feel caged in with BIG crowds. Gotta/hafta/must run Marine!

Hotel check-in, convenient digs two DC stops from tomorrow’s Start. Left outta the Americana, 3 blocks to the Marriott/left inside the lobby, long underground shopping corridor to the Metro entrance. Ticket pre-purchased. I got this.

Food, sleeps, predawn alarm – marathon morn. Indian caretaker downstairs asked if I was walking to the Pentagon. Right outta the hotel – talk, talk talk – let his words drift/thanked him for the banana. Never deviate on race day, not my first rodeo.

Crystal City-Pentagon City-Pentagon. Tens of runners Blue Line bunched. Quick trek, mere minutes. ‘The Pentagon’ – words we generally only TV-hear, today run reality. Long walk/multiple security stops. 2 MILE trek. No worry ‘bout the distance, time concern. Sea of marathoners stopped at bag security. Focus, push through. I’ve got nothing. Push, push. Corral start, 7 minutes to spare. Elites made their way, my wave advanced forward. Sooooooo many flags, military craft overhead – Oorah, I’m here!

PERFECT cool morning START. Sunshine, lite breeze & a whole lotta company. Mylar-unwrapped even before I tapped on the Garmin. Out quick/caught the 4-hour bunny, then slowed & just enjoyed the ride. No PR plan, too many runners for an amazing finish – photo journaling today’s adventure.

Blue mile, mile 12. Pics of fallen soldiers, both sides of our path. Every 10 feet a photo, another soldier – FOR AN ENTIRE MILE. Female runner stopped ahead, talking to a placard. Husband, brother? Haven’t teared/outwardly lost it since St Jude’s. Important to remember, be thankful for our freedom.

Regrouped at the Half (meds, hydration). Goodbye Virginia, hello DC. And the tour began…

Washington Monument. On my right, thru the trees, straight ahead, then ran the field surrounding. Museum of Natural History. U.S. Capitol Building. Senate, House of Representatives. Sooooo many selfies. LOL> Never realized we would pass so close.

My run, my day. Same medal whether I four-hour finish or 4:30 end 🙂

Revolutionary Washington on horseback stared across the National Mall – at HIS Monument/pillar of remembrance. Few minutes outside Smithsonian Castle. Another selfie. More water.

Skies greyed, wind gusted, insta-chilled from early marathon moisture. East Coast humid. Marker 25: one last selfie, one last Marine Corps ‘Oorah’ – military FINISH 15 minutes later.

Marathon 133, 28^thFINISH of 2018. THANKFUL, prayerful, USA PROUD 🇺🇸

Results from the 43rd Marine Corps Marathon

K R Haga   BIB 15357   Louisville, CO   04:35:16

HALF   02:04:05

30K 03:11:52

FINISH   04:35:16

START TIME 07:57:29 AM

TEMPERATURE 59 °F | 15 °C

HUMIDITY 91%