Newest Triathlon: Ironman Boulder Announced

Published August 15, 2013

I heard the announcement of Ironman Boulder on June 20^th. Had just traveled from Boulder County & same day my Colorado community was mentioned on the evening news in Anchorage Alaska. How crazy! So I suppose the seed was planted.

2 days later, flew home after my Alaska marathon with a bum right knee – and advised not to run again for 4-6 weeks. Ok, no problem. Honestly I had hit a wall after training so rigorously for 6 months straight.

Ironman still in my head – IMPOSSIBLE. Another day would pass – CRAZY, completely impossible. A guy at my age? Absolutely no way I can do that. Swim, bike more than 100 miles and run a full 26.2 mile marathon – & at altitude?

I don’t endurance swim or bike. I put it to prayer.

Still cannot imagine how I will complete a full Ironman but I got my answer.

Dear K R HAGA,

Thank you! You are now registered for the 2014 IRONMAN Boulder – IRONMAN Foundation.

Registration Details

Registration ID:	R-06RK05F2
Participant:	K R HAGA
Date:	8/3/2014
Location:	5565 N. 51st Street Boulder, Colorado 80301
Category:	2014 IRONMAN Boulder – IRONMAN Foundation

My 3^rd consecutive year of inspired goal setting locked & in place. SUPER excited!

Welcome to IRONMAN Boulder. Anything is POSSIBLE!

Ironman Boulder

The newest addition to the IRONMAN circuit will take place on Sunday, August 3, 2014.

Nestled at the foot of the imposing Flatirons, Boulder, Colorado is already a wildly popular home-base and vacation destination for world-class triathletes. The city’s health-conscious culture, near-perfect weather and breathtaking natural environment means its destined to be an instant favorite on the IRONMAN circuit.

Boulder’s robust downtown, with its famous pedestrian-only Pearl Street Mall and idyllic Boulder Creek, will provide families and fans an unforgettable race day as they wait for their loved ones to cross the finish line. From five-star hotels to James Beard award-winning restaurants, Boulder’s hotel and dining options are some of the best in the nation.

The race will start at the Boulder Reservoir with a single loop 2.4-mile swim. Once finished in the water, the first transition will will start the athletes on a beautiful 112-mile one-loop bike course in the city’s vast open space. The bike will loop around Carter Lake and along the eastern plains of the Front Range before ending downtown at Boulder High School.

The two-loop run course is almost entirely on Boulder Creek Trail, winding along the creek and through city parks. Spectators will have multiple opportunities to cheer on the athletes and the last few steps of the day will take athletes up Pearl Street for a triumphant finish.

Posted in Ironman Boulder | 3 Comments

Louisville ranks No. 2 ‘Best Places to Live’

Published August 12, 2013

Super proud of my Colorado hometown – AWESOME place to live!

Money Magazine – Best Places to Live (America’s best small towns)

2. Louisville, CO

Top 50 rank: 2

Population: 18,924

A two-time no.1, Louisville comes in strong yet again. It’s a great place to raise a family, with well-regarded schools and a safe community.

Louisville’s housing market has been on the rise since 2008, and its place in the technology-rich Denver-Boulder corridor has kept the job outlook solid, despite recent setbacks like Phillips 66 pulling the plug on a much-anticipated renewable-energy campus.

Locals say the work-life balance in Louisville is hard to beat. Come summer, residents can look forward to weekly events featuring food trucks from local restaurants, beer gardens, live music and much more. Then there’s the Colorado sunshine, 1,800 acres of open space, and, of course, the Rocky Mountains, just a 20-minute drive away. –Pieter Van Noordennen

Louisville ranks No. 2 on Money magazine’s ‘Best Places to Live’ list

City has topped the list twice in recent years

By John Aguilar, [Boulder Daily] Camera Staff Writer

Louisville has been in the top five since Money magazine began publishing its list of best small communities in 2005, a list that comes out every other year.

In the last few years, Louisville’s downtown shopping and restaurant scene has become the envy of towns and cities across the country attempting to recapture the bustling and charming community core of a long-ago America. The city’s Main Street is lined with a variety of casual to finer dining choices augmented by a popular summertime outdoor patio program, in which on-street parking is sacrificed so that diners can enjoy a meal outside.

Louisville has run out of large parcels of developable land, [Mayor] Muckle said, and can only add housing through infill developments. That alone will ensure home prices continue to rise in the city — good for current homeowners but a challenge for those trying to enter the market.

“Prices are definitely rising because there is not a lot for sale,” Wood said. “When they come on the market, they go really quickly.”

Some of the city’s new housing types can be found in Steel Ranch and North End, while Coal Creek Station is proposed for an 11-acre site at the southwest corner of Colo. 42 and South Boulder Road. It calls for 51 homes — and 34,000 square feet of commercial space. A little farther west, 111 high-end apartments are planned as part of the redevelopment of the old Safeway site on South Boulder Road.

Louisville No. 2 ‘Best Places to Live’

hike #59: Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln & Bross

Published August 10, 2013

One, two – nope. How ‘bout climbing FOUR 14ers in a day? Heck yeah, that’s a worthy challenge.

Mt. Democrat Elevation: 14,148 ft.
Mt. Cameron Elevation: 14,238 ft.
Mt. Lincoln Elevation: 14,286 ft.
Mt. Bross Elevation: 14,172 ft.

Elevation Gain: 3,524 ft.
Round-trip Mileage: 7.25 miles

Ro & I met up with hiking pal Cammy at a Park n Ride off I-25 at 330am (yep, another early start time). Just a week earlier I was viewing posted pictures of the McWatters family who summitted 3 peaks in a day. Super inspired! Then lucky me, Cammy sends out a hiking invite for the same high altitude adventure – awesome Colorado life, huh?

Quick stop just past Fairplay (TV’s ‘South Park’) to bag a summit sandwich & burrito, then made our way down the dirt road to Kite Lake Trailhead. Sun peeked over Mt Democrat as we started our hike – gorgeous day.

Wait, back up – today’s weather forecast: Rain & 54 degrees. Ok, ok – I did say ‘ugh’ but followed that with a quick ‘I’m in’. Not missing this hike. Packed layers & a rain jacket. Beautiful views as we slogged up Democrat (most difficult of today’s climbs). An hour fifteen later, wow – we had already summitted the first of our 14ers. Trip log stated today’s roundtrip hike was only 7.25 miles – but seeing is believing. What a nice surprise 🙂

Photo opportunity, then down a 1,000ft & up again to Mt Cameron – which technically is not a ‘14er’.

The official definition is a mountain peak that is at least 300 feet higher than any connecting ridge or saddle. In other words, two mountains may be over 14,000 high but only the taller one is the true 14er.

Cameron was our windiest summit shot of the day. Ro’s beard blew into his eyes from strong gusts over this super flat mountain plateau (crazy cold wind but made for a fun photo – HA!). From Cameron, traveled 30 minutes more over the saddle through residual snow – yes SNOW! 🙂 — to Mt Lincoln.

[Fair n balanced hike day – Lincoln was a Republican president; started our climbing trek on Mt Democrat.]

Caught a nice wind break on Lincoln – favourite peak of the day. Enjoyed half a sandwich & some of Cammy’s Inka Corn (HUGE fan). 9:30am summit – beautiful sunshiny morning with only one more peak to go! (Ro snacked on Milk Bones Trail Mix & Pup-peroni. LOVE my dog!)

Another hour half (along with 15-20 other hikers) we summited Mt Bross. Technically there is ‘no legal access’ to this peak. Not sure if they swoop down with patrol choppers — but for the record, we followed a well-defined trail & posed with a wooden ‘Mt Bross’ sign provided at its summit. Hmmmm….

How to get down? Well there’s the trail (boring) or there’s Cammy’s way – a trail run down the side of Mt. Bross. SUPER fun! Highly recommended (watch your ankles while barreling 3,000ft fast).

Ended the day with a vegan burrito at Chipotle (ok, only half a burrito – they’re HUGE).

14er climb count: K* 13, Ro 11