March race: Canyonlands Half Marathon

Published March 16, 2013

3 months down, 3 months to go. Time for a half-marathon.

Left work early on Friday to get a start on the 6 hour haul to Moab. Surprisingly I didn’t mind the drive as much as I had been dreading. With Ro at Camp Bow Wow in Boulder, I took time to take in the view. Nothing like the drive on I-70, crossing the Continental Divide, followed by the winding curves through Glenwood Canyon to Utah. Beautiful.

Arrived in Moab, found my hotel sold out and was given a voucher to the Ramada – where they had reserved a room for me literally feet from Highway 191. ARGH! Luckily I was super tired; put the TV on low to drown out passing 18-wheelers causing my door to rattle & door to shake 🙁 Wake-up call never happened (double ARGH!) but luckily brought a back-up alarm. Ready to flee my Ramada rental space — looking forward to Saturday race day!

Race packet pick-up at 630am then parked at Swanny City Park where school buses shuttled runners to Canyonlands for the start of my first half marathon. A bit cooler than expected but soon forgot the chill. Gorgeous rock caverns made this race by far my most scenic run to date. Hard to peel the smile from my face.

Half marathon didn’t start ’til 10am – so had a few hours to kill. Could have carried a negative attitude about the wait, but looked around – WOW! – & decided to immerse myself in my geo- surroundings. There was time, I am strong, I could do this. Hiked up the canyon wall – the natural rock providing several easy hand-holds. No worries.

Who hikes before a half marathon? I do! What’s the point of a life journey if you don’t stop and enjoy the ride. AMAZING!

Grabbed a hot chocolate & lined up in time for our race gun start. Was placed in the last wave (no pre-qual time) – but on a positive note, passed more than 2,000 people before crossing the finish line 🙂

Overall pace was slower than expected but finished strong, literally sprinting the last hundred yards.

Devoured post-race oranges & bananas, then caught some zzzz’s in the park…soaking up the day’s sunshine.

Hooray my half is in the past – 13.1 miles to go and I’ll be marathon ready!

Got something even bigger planned for April – before my 25K trail race in Colorado Springs. Sky diving for the first time on April 13^th! How cool (& scary) is that? LOVE LOVE LOVE my Colorado life!

Here are your results for the Canyonlands Half Marathon:

Your final time is 02:05:15 at a 00:09:13 pace.
You finished 1379 out of 3189 in the HALF MARATHON.
You finished 75 out of 129 in your class.

Moab Half Marathon (pre-race clip)

: pre-race pic in Canyonlands Nat’l Park

: more than 2 hours ’til race time, decided to climb UP

: quiet reflection time ABOVE the other runners

: last wave (no pre-qual time); so literally passed 2000 runners to finish

: motivated by native drumming at mile 9

: post-race pic in Swanny City Park

: caught some zzz’s in the park before Colorado drive home

: victory dinner at McGowan’s home in Vail

Believe-to-Achieve Thursday: CAN DO

Published March 14, 2013

Just a few days ’til my first half-marathon in Moab — feeling strong, feeling confident, I Can Do This!

Ran 8 miles or more, 8 days of the past two weeks – right on track!
Banged out more than 100 miles in March (so far) AND surpassed the 300 mile mark YTD
Started cross-training on a stationary bike 5 days now – nothing serious, just mixing up my running regimen

Movie(s) of the Week

‘The English Patient’ (1996 Oscar Best Picture winner) – complicated story set in North Africa; the Saharan aerials are inspiring

‘The Constant Gardener’ (2005 Golden Globe Best Picture nominee) – thriller set in Kenya; Rachel Weisz gives a WOW performance

Both Ralph Fiennes flics, both set in Africa…but it’s Fiennes’ female co-stars that make these films worth the watch: Kristin Scott Thomas (Oscar-nominated in ‘The English Patient’) & Rachel Weisz (Oscar winner for ‘The Constant Gardener’)

Old School, New School

Signed for my first library card since high school
- they no longer use card catalogues – who knew?
Joined the iPhone community this week, transferred my landline # to cell

Runner Log

Fri Mar 1^st – 8 miles

Sat Mar 2^nd – 10 miles

Sun Mar 3^rd – 13 miles

Mon Mar 4^th – 3.5 miles

Tue Mar 5^th – 10 miles

Wed Mar 6^th – 5 miles

Fri Mar 8^th – 13 miles

Sat Mar 9^th – 11.25 miles

Sun Mar 10^th – 8.75 miles

Mon Mar 11^th – 6 miles

Wed Mar 13^th – 13.25 miles

YTD total – 385 miles

Posted in Run Challenges | 2 Comments

blizzard, BBQ & a frozen dead guy

Published March 9, 2013

Friends John & Annmarie drove up from Denver where we met up to attend our first Frozen Dead Guy Days in the eclectic town of Nederland…who wouldn’t wanna join in with this lineup:

WHAT IS THERE TO DO?

Amazing FREE Live Music all Weekend (two tents)
Coffin Racing
Costume Polar Plunging
Frozen T-shirt Contests
Ice Turkey Bowling
The Blue Ball (live band)
Brain Freeze Contests
Parade of Hearses
Frozen Salmon Toss
Snowy Beach Volleyball

Annmarie had just purchased a new camera – so left early in time for parking & the parade of hearses. First snag – Hwy 119 (Boulder Canyon to Nederland) closed due multiple accidents including a fatality.

Wait did I mention the blizzard? Back up, start over – snow is pouring out of the sky & we are driving to Nederland Colorado to see a hearse parade & a guy who’s been on dry ice for 25 years. Seriously. LOL>

Dead Guy Story (from Wiki)

In 1989, a Norwegian citizen named Trygve Bauge brought the corpse of his recently deceased grandfather, Bredo Morstøl, to the United States. The body was preserved on dry ice for the trip, and stored in liquid nitrogen at the Trans Time cryonics facility from 1990 to 1993.

In 1993, Bredo was returned to dry ice and transported to the town of Nederland, where Trygve and his mother Aud planned to create a cryonics facility of their own. When Trygve was deported from the United States for overstaying his visa, his mother, Aud, continued keeping her father’s body cryogenically frozen in a shack behind her unfinished house.

Aud was eventually evicted from her home for living in a house with no electricity or plumbing, in violation of local ordinances. At that time, she told a local reporter about her father’s body, and the reporter went to the local city hall in order to let them know about Aud’s fears that her eviction would cause her father’s body to thaw out. The story caused a sensation…

Highway 119 is closed – how else to get to Nederland? Lucky for me I hiked so much last year that I knew of a back way (not too many road options when you live in the Rockies – mountains get in the way :)). Lefthand Canyon to shanty town Ward and then south on Peak-to-Peak Highway to Nederland.

Prius’ don’t fare well in snow & elevation. Big thanks to John and his 4-wheel drive vehicle. No blizzard stopping us!

Heavy snow coupled with the closure of Highway 119 = plenty of parking available.

excerpt from official Dead Guy Days site https://frozendeadguydays.org/

Behold the Frozen at the 12th Annual Frozen Dead Guy Days®

What goes best with a Frozen Dead Guy? SNOW!
Dress Warm. Drive Carefully.
The show goes on… snow or shine.

NEDERLAND, Colo. (CBS4) – Because of the snow an annual tradition in Nederland was postponed on Saturday. The coffin races, the polar plunge and the parade of Frozen Dead Guy Days will happen Sunday.

ARGH! No frozen dead guy this day – maybe next year. We did do some shopping (bought an official beanie), visited an indoor carousel & a coffee house lodged in a railcar AND shared some laughs & BBQ at Wild Mountain Smokehouse.

Lunch, great conversation & the drive home through Boulder Canyon made the whole day worthwhile.

Next weekend is my half marathon in Moab. That said, itching to go on a hike with Ro. Nothing like feeling small in the enormity of my Colorado wilderness surroundings. Stay tuned.

p.s. Happy Birthday Mom! March 9th is your day!