7am race start – woke early & took advantage of free train transit to U of U campus.
Most scenic marathon start-to-date, locale blanketed by the towering Wasatch Mountains (Utah’s Rockies). 6,500 participants, caps off for [singing of] our nation’s Anthem – and pop, we’re off.
My legs felt tight at mile 3 — not sure if caused by running a half marathon 6 days ago or running with my Thursday night group just 2 days prior. Just a twinge but still came as a surprise.
Checked out the elevation map in advance (lesson learned from last month’s Georgia Marathon) – running solid to mile 10. A steady 5 mile climb to mile 15, then one last hill at mile 20. Paced my first half 1:56 & gutted up the top of mile 15. Pushed to mile 17 but that was it – empty, no more in the tank.
Water break.
Started running tandem with a young guy from Ogden. Running, walking, shuffling but ultimately finishing what I started. Along the way Timothy encouraged another runner, Natalie, completing her first marathon. Tears streamed down her face as we neared the finish – only .2 miles away. Super emotional day – I’m a better person for having finished with these folks.
Crashed an hour in Washington Square, showered, then up & off to Temple Square. Gait wasn’t pretty – more of a stumble – but enjoyed showing my friend Matt Temple Square & soaking in Spring. Flowers were colourful, wildly vibrant.
6 down, 44 to go. Next month’s marathon – Maine (Kennebunk to Biddeford, along Maine’s rugged coast).
Salt Lake City Marathon — Saturday April 19, 2014
469 K R Haga Louisville, CO 4:41:23
UPDATE
Early flight on Sunday meant spending Easter at home – just in time to start a new tradition, outdoor dining at Casa Alegre, our first Mexicana holy holiday feast 🙂
TRAINING UPDATE
Signed up for a 25k trail race (15.5 miles) in Larkspur Colorado the week before my next marathon. Then no running or cycling for 6 days, only swimming. And Nutella — it’s baaaack for 3 weeks thanks to Ashton.
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- 30 minutes ’til marathon start
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- chatting it up w/ fellow finisher, Timothy of Ogden
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- FINISHER!
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- spring has sprung in Utah
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- starting new traditions @ Louisville’s Casa Alegre
Working in a small work setting during the season change, means lotta passing of airborne illnesses. Last year I was successful in fending off the germ pool with daily doses of Airborne & Emergen-C.
This year – complete fail. Forgot to start the daily regimen. ARGH! I hate being sick. It’s so much harder for guys (ok maybe that’s just my version of reality).
Weekend camping – didn’t happen 🙁 (In addition to being sick, been catching flack for less than stellar church attendance this summer/early fall.) So…kicked around & did nothing? Wrong.
My friend M offered to drive – today’s destination: Red Feather Lakes, CO. And although I didn’t feel hike worthy, lucky enough to see both highlights on my eclectic Red Feather wish list.
About an hour west of Fort Collins, barreled down a series of county roads to the Shambhala Mountain Center. Buddhist temple built deep in the Rockies – seriously? Got to see it.
friendly warning — Don’t expect this to be a popular viewpoint, but I believe my God loves all his people & works through a series of faiths/religions to develop & activate our spirituality. HUGE fan of prayer & meditation.
Temps dropped & snow started to fly. Coincidence, maybe. But nothing lifts & supplicates my spirit like walking/breathing/hiking in the Colorado Rockies. Add snowfall to the recipe. WOW, I’m a blessed individual 🙂
Followed a trail of Tibetan banners to the Great Stupa – maybe half-mile away. Because of the weather, almost had the whole place to ourselves this day. No I’m not a follower of Happy Buddha, so why go? I challenge you to put your mind in the right place – push out judgment & preconceived ideas – get quiet, close your eyes, breathe, pray/meditate.
Watched a small herd of horses walled in by mountain canyons. Amazing, unexpected experience.
2nd highlight – how ‘bout a complete 180? HA!
Walked Elf Lane – a random dirt road off Hiawatha littered with gnomes, dwarves, angels & action figures. (Thanks Leslie for the heads-up and your office desk tchotchke donation. Much appreciated!)
Big flakes now falling – super fun-day adventure. Gnomes hiding under trees, on rocks, hanging from branches, hangin’ solo, coupled, ganged-up together. Holiday gnomes, summer lawn gnomes – who knew there was so much variety?
Fever & a sore throat – ouch. New snow, mountain temples & lawn gnomes – chicken soup for the soul.
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- Shambhala Mountain Center
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- banners & prayer flags lined our trek to the Great Stupa
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- the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya
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- (another) snowy October day – LOVED it!
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- random dirt road off Hiawatha – odd, eclectic, FUN!
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- token tchotchke offering (office desk find – thanks Leslie!)
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- rosy red gnome
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- grampa gnome
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- Rocky Mtn snow gnome – everything’s better in snow, right?
Back in Reykjavik with 20 hours ’til my return flight to Denver. Rest, relax? Heck, no. Shelled out a fast 5400 ISK (Icelandic króna) – tonite’s my last chance to see the Northern Lights!
Quick dinner, then boarded a bus to Iceland’s western fjords with Stephen & new Aussie friend Maria. Best chance to see the Lights (& first possibility since September 5th) were tonite on Iceland’s western edge.
Clear, cold night; windy & 6 degrees. Waited in pitch darkness, high on a knoll for the Lights to start the dance.
No more than 20 minutes in, folks started to murmur. Faint clouds seemed to stretch, elongate upward, diagonally. Gray to pink – and then, the most amazing greens. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!
Surprisingly almost as soon as these illuminated solar flares began to dance, they would then shrink, diminish, disappear. That said, once the show started, the frequency of light & colour came in rapid succession.
Another ‘WOW’ event off my bucket list. Cannot adequately express how it feels to see this phenomenon in person.
Re-boarded the bus near midnight, mission accomplished. Honestly, I don’t dream BIG enough. I pray/hope/dream on a scale from 1-10, my God blesses me using a scale 1-100. So very blessed!
Quick shut-eye, then used Reykjavik’s local bus service to briefly explore the city before my Colorado return – Highlights: Reykjavik Art Museum & Hallgrímskirkja (Lutheran church).
Goodbye Iceland — land of volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls & rainbows! I leave inspired, forever changed.
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- Northern Lights over Iceland’s Western fjords
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- super cold, windy & 6 degrees — would I do it again? YES!
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- STUNNING solar flares
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- most AMAZING greens – will NEVER forget this night!
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- SPECTACULAR!
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- Reykjavik Art Museum
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- Tomas Martisauskis: Creature (postmodern take on the relationship between sculptural matter and the space)
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- Zilvinas Kempinas: Fountains (pools of magnetic tape waves driven by heavy-duty industrial fans)
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- troll envy
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- Hallgrimskirkja (Lutheran church) — designed to resemble basalt lava flows of Iceland’s landscape
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- Goodbye Iceland! I leave inspired, forever changed.
