Wondrous World of White

Yesterday was an ice and snow-covered day, with ice winning out. It really was some bad running (tho' I told myself it wasn't as bad as not running at all!).  More snow fell overnight, which offered up a predominately snow-covered pre-dawn outing, almost eliminating the ice factor.  Woohoo!  As a bonus, thanks to it being a weekend wintry day, the town was very verrry quiet as I set off on my run.  No other person on foot was to be seen for the first two-hours. However, one set of footprints preceded me from the south edge of Boulder all the way to the west edge of Superior...'twas rather nice to have the company of this phantom runner.

Somehow, the slow and strenuous run through ankle-to-calf-high snow, with the occasional knee-high drifts, was one of the most calming experiences I've had in quite some time.  Perhaps it was the combination of the all-white world, the silence, the crisp air, and solitude.  All together, despite setting a world-worst record time for the route, this will go down as a Very Good Run.

A study in white, February 1, 2014

The benefits of slightly crazy running buddies

Connie & Anita at the bottom of NCAR hill already fighting the wind

Wednesdays are hill workout days this winter.  Today's Wednesday workout happens to have fallen after a balmy Sunday followed by a frigid, snow-filled Monday (meaning a layer of ice topped with 4 inches of fine snow which packed to more ice) and a very chilly, then warming, then very chilly Tuesday (resulting in packed snow/ice, melting, then refreezing).

At the top, thoroughly windblown but with a great view

So!  Today's plan.  Given that the temperatures are predicted to reach the 50s today, we (running buddies Connie, Anita, and I) decided to delay our start time an hour to give the sun a chance to work its magic.  And given that the neighborhood streets are all packed snow and ice, we decided to move our workout from our .7-mile neighborhood hill loop to the 2k NCAR hill since that is usually very well plowed.  As I started my run to the base of NCAR I thought we had a great plan given still miserable conditions of the neighborhood streets and the temperatures moving above freezing.  However, as I climbed further west, I began to have my doubts.  Apparently, today was going to be one of Boulder's infamous gusty wind days.  By the time I got the to base of NCAR and met up with Connie and Anita, barely able to make forward progress through some of the gusts, I was questioning our sanity.  But, given that the only reason I had continued my run was because I had two running buddies waiting for me, I figured we should complete the workout.

And what a workout it was!  Uphill into the wind, gusts knocking the breath right out of us and our legs out from under us.  And going downhill barely able to maintain contact with the ground as the wind furiously pushed us forward at break-neck speed (almost 9 minutes faster downhill than up!).  Perhaps you think I exaggerate.  And perhaps I thought I was overreacting.  But a check of the NCAR weather station provides the facts: 44 miles per hour sustained wind speed with gusts up to 77.8 mph during the time we were on the hill!

After the workout, I told Connie those numbers proved we were crazy.  She says it proves we are tough!  Methinks that's a pretty awesome combo!

Fighting a gust at the top

Reason 117 for why it's great to run with a dog

Last week the Monster Cold caught me and knocked me flat on my derriere.  I ran through it, but they were measly runs at best.  During the course of that same week, Boulder's weather improved considerably and I simply could no longer restrain myself. By Friday, cabin fever and bright sunshine threw me out the door with Taz pup at my side.  Westward ho we went climbing hills, wending our way through neighborhoods and trails until my energy was pretty well sapped from my body. 

At that point, I thought it best to head home via the most direct route - which happened to take me through NIST's property, which happened to include crossing an irrigation ditch, which happened to have lost its bridge in September's flood, and which happened to not have yet been replaced.  Oops.  It's a fairly narrow ditch, about four feet deep, with sides of loose dirt and rocks.  I looked at it, I considered how much further it would be to retrace my steps and go around, and down into the ditch I went with now wobbly legs.  Of course, once in the bottom of the ditch, 'tis best to climb back out again.  Easier said than done... That energy that was sapped, had not yet reappeared.  Those legs that were wobbly, still wobbly.  I just wasn't getting enough purchase on the ditch bank and sure didn't have enough oomph to hurl my body upward.  What to do, what to do???

Aha!  Mister Taz, spark plug that he is, had plenty of energy; energy enough for two as a matter of fact.  And, although small, he does have a bit of a linebacker build...nice and solid.  So! I sez "Go on Taz" and he hops up the bank.  I sez "Sit Taz" and he sits.  I sez "Wait Taz" and he waits there sitting like the prettiest anchor you ever saw.  And thus I hold my end of the leash and pull myself right up out of that ditch
.  All the while with Taz grinning away, happy as a lark to be out running with his human...no matter how wobbly that human might be.

Always great to run with a dog!

What's a bit of ice among friends?

Today, Wednesday, is hill run day.  

Yesterday, Boulder was one of the balmier towns in the USA with temps in the 40s.  The day before, and the day before that, and the day before that we had snow (about 10" total) and frigid temps.  What with the snow and cold followed by warm followed by 20s today, most of Boulder's surfaces vary between chunk ice and skating rinks.  But, as I said, today is hill run day.  The key was to find a plowed road...a plowed road with no traffic.  Huh. 

The solution: tip toe over the ice out of my neighborhood and onto the western bit of well-plowed Table Mesa drive (a major east-west street in the south part of town), battle my fears and run west with (vs. facing) traffic (because that is the side of the road with the bike lane, also well-plowed) up to the base of NCAR hill where I met up with running buddies Connie & Anita.  From there, we took on the challenge of NCAR's 2k uphill climb, a fantastic hill for measuring one's mettle.  When I'm very very fit, I can run three repeats of the hill (starting from the branch library, 1 mile downhill from the NCAR base).  Today, I was quite pleased to run the hill once in the company of good friends, stellar scenery, sunshine, and a gorgeous buck keeping an eye on these two-legged creatures out enjoying the day.

2013 In Review

2013 was one of my most (if not the most) inconsistent running years of my life, with a variety of circumstances derailing running plans.  But! It was not a complete disaster by any means.
First, the numbers:

• total mileage for the year: 2055 (lowest annual mileage since 2005)
• mileage by the end of May: 1071.5 - already 52% of my annual mileage
• highest mileage month: March (258.5 miles)
• lowest mileage month: August (92 miles)
• longest run: 16 miles (January 9th)

hmmmm.... yep, really a rather pathetic year of running.  But let's move on to some of the many many highlights!

A sunrise run, on the first weekend of the new year, on one of the newer trails in Boulder County - a trail that is quickly becoming a favorite:

February: Roadtrip! to Arizona for some CU Women's basketball and a visit with Kendall's cousin and aunt. Bonus feature: warm weather running!

Cousin Martha and her pack of dogs - Tucson

Aunt Virginia

In March I treated myself to a new (to me) trail - Big Dry Creek.  15 miles out and back-ish ending at bro/sis-in-law's house and a lovely brunch.  New trail, lots of miles, can't beat it!

April: the snowiest of months. Multiple dumps of mega-inches of snow - totaling 47.6 inches for the month in Boulder -  made training for Memorial Day's Bolder Boulder very tricky. Kendall and I decided to road-trip out of snowy Boulder and go to Petoskey to visit my mom ....where it snowed on Mother's Day!




The highlight of the May running scene in Boulder is, of course, the Bolder Boulder held annually on Memorial Day.  It was a bright and beautiful Colorado day, which was happily shared with running buddies Connie and Anita putting the frosting on the cake of our spring training regime.

Anita, Connie & me - all smiles after the Bolder Boulder

June had multiple highlights:
Putting up the Little Free Library that Kendall and I had built and which now stands, well-used, by our neighborhood school, through floods, frost, and furious winds.

Picnic at Chautauqua

Cousin John and his wife Marcie visited Boulder during their trip to Colorado for an architecture conference - which meant we had the pleasure of playing tour guide!



My grad school study buddies had our first ever reunion 33 years after graduating!  The reunion, held in Telluride, was great fun - and the running up there wasn't too shabby either.

July was also action-packed, including:
A visit from cousin Dan and his wife Yi Lu - another opportunity to play Boulder tour guide.  Woohoo!

Dan & Yi Lu during a stroll along the Boulder Creek Path

And on one outstanding weekend, the last weekend of July, we had a Miller family reunion (in Tabernash, Colorado) and a wedding of family friends Shahara and Eddie (in Vail, Colorado).  A whole lot of fun in a whirlwind few days!

A passel of Millers

Cousins (Kendall, Martha, Keith, Jack, Andy, Steve, Sarah & James)

All dressed up in go-to-wedding garb: Devon, Corinne, Paul, Paula, Kendall, Dave

 August brought us trails, music, and another visit to the glorious Great Lakes all via a leisurely road trip across the northern plains from Boulder to Petoskey.

Fiberglass model yard - & Kendall

Prairie flowers

Petoskey Steel Drum band - drums at the ready

Sunset over Little Traverse Bay

 

Paula and mom

September was 

The Flood.

October had a highlight that actually included running!  Up the Manitou Incline with running buddy, Connie, to celebrate her 60th birthday.  Here's to adventurous running buddies & birthdays!

Connie at the top of the Manitou Incline

November was a blur, moving mom into Independence Village so she would be able to live in a nice warm apartment this winter surrounded by folks and festivities - and with someone else doing the cooking and company for her meals - followed shortly thereafter by a grand Miller Thanksgiving.

December brought frigid temperatures to Boulder.  This photo was taken at the end of a 9-degree run.  December 4th.  The same day my Aunt Helen, my dad's little sister, died at age 99 and almost one-half years old.

This past weekend we were in Ann Arbor to celebrate her life with my cousins and many friends from all walks of her life.  She was a marvelous woman who lit up every room she walked into with her smile.  She also brought a smile to my dad's face every time he saw her as they would grin at eachother with matching twinkles in their eyes.  I was lucky to be her niece.

Pop and Aunt Helen, 1995

Me and Aunt Helen, 2005

Cousins Dan, Jim, Kathleen, Carolyn & John Murphey

Why take on those frigid temperatures?

Another cold day. Another lack of gumption. Yet again I bundle up and go out into the frigid world to log a few more miles.  Why oh why?  Well.... perhaps to see the magic spun by the frost giant during the night:

Our Little Free Library - offering a warm read on a frosty day

:

And now it's shorts weather!

After our deep freeze, the temperature pendulum took a big swing.  Today, 'twas shorts running weather!  Because I've been skimping on my weekend long runs, I decided to go big with today's midweek run.  First up, a hill workout with Connie and Anita.  From there I ran about 4 miles to an appointment and from there, another roughly 3 miles to a haircut.  From there, a leisurely walk home completed my outing.  Upon arriving home...but what did I see?!  Santa?! Putting on a chimney cap?!  Say wha?!

Once the chimney project was completed,  we moved on to some real decorating - and tonight we have this!

14

Layered up while volunteering at the Colder Boulder on Saturday. -3 at the start, +7 at the end. Note the ice columns in the pond behind me!

14: the number of articles of clothing I don when going out for a run in this multi-day "deep freeze" that Boulder is experiencing.  Today's run to my volunteer job was done in an absence of degrees - a nice round zero was proudly displaying itself on our thermometer this morning.  I must say, the novelty of this frigidness is wearing very very thin.

The clothing, bottom to top:

• trail shoes (a tad warmer than road shoes and definitely grippier on what are now snow-packed-so-hard-and-cold roads that slick is the word of the day), 
• socks (one pair if one of my two extra warm pairs are clean, two pair if not...today my smart wool socks were at the ready), 
• one pair of underwear (Paul didn't think this should count as a layer but can you imagine how cold you'd be 'down there' without the undies?!), 
• two pairs of tights/leggings, 
• a jog bra (see underwear note), 
• two long-sleeve running shirts, 
• one LL Bean made-in-Canada-so-it's-gotta-be-warm-right? warmer layer athletic shirt,
• one neck warmer - one of the best winter running clothing  purchases I have ever splurged on,
• one polypro running hoodie and boy that hoodie makes a difference
• one LL Bean jacket that is the warmest jacket I've ever run in - pretty much only wearable if below 10 degrees. My folks got it for me.  I'm guessing when they ordered it they told the person they needed a warm running jacket and the person saw they were from Petoskey, Michigan and - voila! - warmest running jacket on the planet was shipped out.  Although I seldom wear it, I am oh-so-glad I have it on these below 10 degree days!
• one pair of Saucony two-layer mittens, the race giveaway for the Fast and Flurryous cross-country race a couple of winters ago and the warmest hand-wear I've ever run in,
• one Colder Boulder roasty toasty hat (if it's windy, I also wear a thin winter hat under the Colder Boulder hat - today all sun, no wind - weehaw!).

A Run for the Vaughans

Pop & Aunt Helen 1995

My dad was one of six kids of a coal-mining father - and the last of those kids, my dad's little sister Helen, died this week at the age of 99 and nigh onto 1/2 years.  She invariably had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye - and brought that out in anyone she happened to be with, most particularly my dad.

All the Vaughan kids were full of life, ready to take on an adventure and find the joy in most anything they did.  (In the case of my Uncle Porter, maybe a little too much adventure.)






Today as I ran, reminiscing about my dad and aunts and uncles, I was thinking I'd do a fairly routine loop in deference to the 6 degrees and ice/snow-packed roads.  Then I saw the view and just had to follow it.  'Twas up on the trails for me - the first time since the September floods - and it was glorious.  Up up up over snow and rocks and through trees.  Living life to the fullest.  Like a Vaughan.

Skunk Canyon, December 6, 2013

Plan versus Weather

Just back from my nine-degree run

Running reality has been following the running plan quite well lately.  Easy days are easy, hills are climbed repeatedly once per week, and long runs highlight the weekends.  Best of all: feet, joints, brain and spirit are all happy!  Then, after a number of balmy days - including a run in shorts a few days ago -  the weather took an extreme turn.  Yesterday's run was in snow and a temperature all of nine degrees.  Today's run was in very welcome brilliant sunshine which made every one of the six degrees feel all so toasty (ha!).  But ya' know, with enough layers, the cold temps really are quite manageable.  I also recently treated myself to a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline trail shoes which have proven to be nicely grippy over the packed snow.  I did skip this week's hills, though...the shoes aren't quite that grippy and I didn't think the huffing and puffing that typically accompanies our hill workouts would be particularly beneficial to my lungs given that the huffing would be of extraordinarily frigid air.  So - it's been loopdy-loops of quiet neighborhoods as we hunker down within this deep freeze.  The mark of a good plan is its flexibility, eh?!