Running Buddy Potpourri

My how times have changed!

Twenty+ years ago I started running with the Satboys - a run every Saturday morning followed by breakfast with lots of jolly joshing throughout. Over the years, folks moved away, others hung up their running shoes due to injury or age or both. Now there are four of us left in town with a mix of walking, easy running, and me who is still running a fair distance at an occasionally fair pace. But each week still has a Saturday, and each week those of us who happen to be in town look forward to meeting up once again.

After retiring and doing my run to Michigan, a running buddy from our pre-motherhood days contacted me to see if I'd be interested in training with her and a neighbor. Thus my gang of women running buddies was born and has since grown to five of us.  But with this group, too, age, injury, and life's demands impact running ability and schedules.

Two running groups, two bunches of unique individuals, and yet here we are united in ever-lasting friendship.  This past Saturday highlighted this miracle bond of perambulation.

Just as the sun was coming up, Connie and I arrived at Davidson Mesa to do a mile-repeats workout. A soft haze to the west and ruby red sunrise to the east greeted us - a simply lovely start to the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 As we started our mile repeats, the differences between me and Connie became instantly apparent:

1. Connie had stripped down to a singlet; I was thinking maybe I should have left my jacket on.
2. Connie immediately put many many yards of distance between us. She is incredibly fit this year!
3. Connie was focused on the workout, the pace, the miles; I was pulling out my phone/camera to get a photo of how darned fast that woman is these days!

 

 

 

 

 

At some point during that first mile, Anita arrived at the mesa. She is rehabbing a swollen knee with strict instructions to avoid high impact activity - so she walked. For those of you who have entertained thoughts of going for a stroll with Anita, you might want to bring your jet packs along. The speedy Swede knows how to cruise! 

 

After the mile repeats, I headed off to join the Satboys: Phil who was walking with his dog, Oliver, and Joe who was going for an easy few miles. I was late to the rendezvous spot (I had warned the guys that this might happen and to start without me) - so I took off running to try to catch up with them. I gotta tell you, seeing a Satboy running toward me always brings a smile to my face - and today it was Joe, cresting a hill along a floral-lined country road. (When he saw the camera he shouted "Ha! Proof that I do still run!")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once again proving that no matter how few or how many of us there are, the Satboys still crown the day with the post-run/walk reward of breakfast with a heaping helping of chitchat and laughter.

 

 Running buddies. The best gift that running has ever given me...

Warm Memories Run

 A couple of days ago, Kendall and I were winding our way back home through the northeast corner of Boulder. As the car turned a corner I realized we were near the north trailhead for the Teller Farms trail - which my Satboys running buddies and I had run darned near a kabillion times in our heyday of running. I asked Kendall if he would mind letting me out of the car so I could hop on the trail while he ran errands then come back to pick me up at the south end in an hour or so. Kendall, being the fine fellow he is, said sure.

This was a much needed run. The senior statesman of the Satboys passed away this week. Patrick was wickedly funny, full of stories, had an opinion on most everything and loved sharing those opinions. A mighty fine running buddy indeed. I had not been on the northern stretch of the trail since the 2013 flood had washed out a chunk of the trail and a rather necessary bridge. This day's run would very much be a run down memory lane.

The highest point of the trail offers stunning views. In fact, the moment I crested this hill during a run in the late 1990s with the Satboys and feasted my eyes upon the magnificent Continental Divide with hot air balloons drifting along above the flatirons I came to the realization that I would be turning down the offer I had just received for a job in New York City. On this 2021 summer day's version of the run, the western view was shrouded in smoke and haze...a rather fitting loss of brightness given my mood.

Continuing my run, I noticed a few changes. 

A bench had been added near the top! I wondered how fast each of the Satboys would sprint to get first dibs at the bench given the strenuousness of the climb they had just completed - and never failed to whine about (after racing each other to the top).

 

 

 

And a microwave/cell phone/communications/whatever tower now stands above the water tower that had always marked our high point - with a fence all the way around both of the towers. This would have posed a serious dilemma for the male members of the Satboys (i.e., usually all but me) who had what one might refer to as a ritual of taking a bit of a pee break behind the water tower. Not only is there a fence guarding the area, hawks were also keeping a close eye on the activity below them.

The temperature marked a distinct difference for this day's run. Teller had earned a reputation as our coldest running venue. In fact, it was Schaef, the leader of the Satboys, who introduced me to the term "carmometer" when he described how he watched the temperature dropping as he drove from Boulder to Teller. We had many a Satboys run at Teller with zero degrees in the air - but never a run with 92 degrees like I was currently sweating through.

Continuing south, the familiarity of the trail began to wrap itself around me - lots of hills (maybe longer?), lots of single track ruts (maybe deeper?), prairie flora,

grasshoppers jumping up my legs, birds singing, prairie dogs chattering, and the welcome sight of the ponds (maybe bigger?). 

 

It was good to be back on an old familiar trail - but the laughter, trash talk, and camaraderie of the Satboys was sorely missed. I was lucky to be brought into the gang - and very lucky to have been the beneficiary of Patrick's friendship.

Satboys and families - a pre-Boston gathering at the trailhead

Satboys AndyE, me, Patrick & Joe after my 60k 60th bday run

Multi-Sport

 I have never had delusions about becoming a triathlete. I am much too timid on a bike and am much more of a thrasher than a swimmer. Besides that, I absolutely love love love to run so if I am going to spend my precious free time athleticizing, then I choose running! (Unless, of course, I am at a beach, then bring on the wave thrashing, the rock & shell hunting, and the boogie boarding - though I will undoubtedly run there first!)

That said, today was most definitely a multi-sport day - actually a quadathlon - but no biking or swimming involved. Today's event stages were:

1. Dog run: run with Taz via a circuitous route to Paul's house where Kendall was to meet us and Paul, K, Taz and Barley were to head out on a walk. I stayed behind at Paul's for stage #2 in my quadathlon.
   
   
   
2. Weed pull: I have a limit on how much bindweed I can stand and Paul's front yard had exceeded that limit. Paul's compost barrel is now overflowing. Stage #2 is done!
   
   
3. Real Run: run an even more circuitous route back home. The challenge here is to convince my legs that they are, indeed, capable of lifting after however many weed pull squats they have just been subjected to.
   
   
4. Apple toss: our apple tree is loaded - and it turns out that apples love to fall off the tree long before they are ready to eat - thus the need to toss them into the compost barrel. My record today for a single toss was 7 apples - three in one hand, four in the other - from 10 yards.  Given the number of apples on our tree, I suspect I will have plenty of opportunities to hone that skill and break that record!