The First Day of Spring and 63!

Oh how I love having a birthday on the first day of Spring! 

And dreaming up that short-term goal last week of running 63 miles in the week culminating in the first day of Spring made this year's Vernal Equinox even more entertaining!

As the day approached, the miles mounted. Putting in our first speed work of our 2015 Bolder Boulder training cycle yesterday certainly helped: 11 miles starting with a Taz run followed by a warmup run before a three-mile time trial and ending with a warm down. Quite the run. Quite the eye opener to how much work is ahead of me if I want to run a decent Bolder Boulder!




Today's run was all fun. Taz and I took off in 29 degree weather, heading east around his ya-ya loop then through neighborhoods to easterly trails and back, finishing in 40+ degree weather and bright sunshine. A glorious first day of spring in Boulder, Colorado and a glorious culmination of my 63-mile (+1 for good measure) 7 day stretch of running.







Let the season begin!

Approaching 63 miles and spring

I am making steady progress toward my 63-miles-in-a-week-by-the-first-day-of-spring goal - however my schedule was thrown off a bit today by this 'n' that so I thought I'd do a short morning run, followed by a run to work/campus and back in the afternoon. But as I got going on my morning run, the day was so lovely I just kept on going and going. When I walked back in the house a little over 90 minutes later, Kendall (who had thought I was doing a short run) exclaimed "You made it!" My reply probably would have made our family's Quote-of-the-Week board back when the boys were still at home and we were doing Quotes of the Week: "It was too nice for a short run."

The current totals: 46.5 miles so far, 16.5 miles to cover in the next two days.

Feeling a bit tired.  So's Taz (who, no, has not been running every step of the way with me but has been covering a bit more mileage than usual...).

early to bed this night...

Daydreaming

That was me today - daydreamer - at least for a while on my way back home from my volunteer job, a run I've done almost every Monday since the fall of 2007. There I was, cruising along when it dawned on me that I was approaching a golf course. Say wha'?! Shouldn't have been there!  I corrected course and began meandering back toward home, a tad more alert. 

A good thing too! First I spotted a hawk, then I heard the hawk and turned to get another look at it when I discovered it was two hawks swooping through the sky - toward a tree where, amidst a flurry of feathers appeared a third hawk. What a sight!

Then, within a half mile or so I spotted a deer with a beautiful set of antlers nibbling away at its breakfast on a neighborhood lawn. So glad the daydreamer's fog had moved on.  And as a bonus, when I turned away from the deer, I noticed - for the first time after 100s of times down this road - a little sculpture tucked in the bushes.  Yep! A good time to be awake!

Those daydreamy, eventually wakeful miles have now brought me to 34 miles on my way to my 63-miles-by-the-first-day-of-spring goal. Four days to go!

Signs of spring

 

Signs of spring are popping up all over

• birds are chirping
• critters are randy
• a hint of rain wafts through the air
• bulbs are peeking up - including our first daffodils of the year!
• I've set a running goal for the first day of spring

But the most definitive sign of spring: Taz gets a bath!  Oh the lucky water-hating fella; an entire cup of salmon treats was gobbled up whilst coaxing him through the process. He is now one fine fluffy looking pup!

Treat bribery to get him in the tub

Soaping him down - such patience

What?! You didn't want me to roll in the grass to dry off?!

Taz, the beautiful, freshly washed cattle dog . Aren't I dry enough to come in now, say hey?!

And speaking of springtime running goals and the quest for 63 miles between yesterday and the first day of spring: 24.5 miles down; 38.5 miles to go in the next five days.

A new goal! Short-term but still a goal!

This morning I had the pleasure of starting my run before sunrise. Bright moon, birds awakening, critters rustling in the fields...quiet, calm...the loneliness - and  peace - of the long distance runner.

An hour or so into my run, I passed by a cyclist who had set his bike down by the trail and was gazing off to the west. I made a comment about the lovely morning and he replied with a comment about the beautiful sunrise. Seeing as how I was running east (sunrise blocked by hills) and he was facing west, I thought I should turn around and take a look at what had captured his attention.  Stunning! The sun coming up in the east was shining off Long's Peak and the peaks of the Continental Divide to the west. Brilliant!

A couple of quick photos later, I continued east and discovered I had been inspired.  I've a birthday coming up with no big running celebration in the works, which just doesn't seem right. So! Birthday is 7 days away counting today and the birthday day.  In that week, why not run the miles to match my age? Why not indeed! So that's the plan: 63 miles for the week ending on the first day of spring. I shall post my progress here. Stay tuned!

The working retiree. Ha!

Who in the world thought it would be a good idea to add a job on top of my retirement schedule???
Oh yeah, look in the mirror.  Silly me!

A little while back, I agreed to help out with a special project at my old department at CU.  It is a really great project and I'm delighted to be involved with it. It's the whole keeping up with the job plus keeping up with the retirement activities plus keeping up with life equation that is presenting a challenge.  But we shall just keep on keeping up until we can keep on no more!

Today, the keeping up with the retirement activities was especially rewarding. One of the retirement gifts I have given myself is to wait to go out for my run until it is light out (as opposed to my working days, leave-the-house-for-my-run-at-4:45-a.m. routine).  Wanting a bit of a hill workout, I first ran to Boomerang Hill behind NIST which was beautiful but tough running as there was no good track to follow. So from the big curve in Boomerang I ran to Skunk Creek.






Beautiful, simply beautiful.  A grand way to start my work day!

Just where did that February go?!?

Taz the weather dog - yes, it's snowing!

My blog seems to have leapt right over February.  I've been a busy girl. 

Mom, settled in at Rehab. (She has since returned home. Yahoo!)

After my last post, I got an emergency call from Michigan that prompted a frenzy of booking flights, renting cars, many phone calls, and a trip to see my mom in the hospital.  I am happy - and very much relieved - to report that all is well.  As her baby brother reports of his 94-year-old sister: "She's a tough old broad." Apparently I have inherited my stubbornness from both of my parents!

Little Traverse Bay near sunset, January 2015

While in Michigan, I treated myself to a few pre-dawn runs along Bear River and the lake shore.  No sun to brighten the run - but the snow along the trails and the ice out on the lake lit my way. And, unlike Boulder, Petoskey knows how to deal with the snow: roads were cleanly plowed and trails had tracks packed both for skiers and runners/walkers.  Beautiful!

We also happened to be in Petoskey

while a snow sculpting competition

 was taking place.  An excellent diversion!

This photo is of an ice sculptor from

Longmont, Colorado who was taking

part in this competition in northern Michigan!

Boulder Road Runner teammates

After life settled down in Petoskey, we returned to Boulder where training for the USATF Cross-Country Championships resumed.  The race was quickly upon us.  What an amazing experience to be part of a team competing in a national championship - on home turf!  

pjv mid-race

 Icing on the cake: I ran a race I'm really proud of.  6k in 34:06, quite even splits for me (2k's in 11:14, 11:33, 11:20), passed two runners on competing 60+ teams during the 2nd loop and held off a mighty charge by one of them to cross the finish 3 seconds ahead of my competitor. (I was lucky she had so many teammates cheering along the sideline - it helped me keep track of  how close she was getting.)  Rumor has it I even had a kick!  If true, I'm sure it made its oh-so-rare appearance only because of my determination that I was not going to lose a point for our team. And, speaking of our team, we finished second for the 60+ women and I placed fourth individually for 60-64 year-old women.  A very satisfying day indeed!





With the Big Race behind us, our training could be a bit more free-form.  Just my style! And, given that February brought the most snow that February has ever brought in Boulder, it's been a good thing that we could be somewhat loosey-goosey with our running.  I'm still running every day but where and how fast has frequently been dictated by snow, ice, cars and plows.  Runners in Boulder are a lucky lot, though: the trails have provided a spectacular venue for getting out on foot.  Today, for example, I spent most of the morning out there, seeing just one other person as I high-stepped and post-holed my way up over down and up again on the trails on the west side of town.  A most glorious way to bring in the month of March!

View of flatirons from CU XC course, mid-February 2015

The westward view from the Bobolink trail, February 21, 2015

Low clouds over the flatirons from South Boulder Creek-Bluestem

Special treat waiting for me after today's run.  How did Kendall know I was dreaming of waffles?!?!?!