Old Year New Year

From a running perspective, 2014 was a pretty good year - not great, but pretty darned good.
The numbers:

• Total Miles: 2,240 miles
• 6 weeks with less than 40 miles; 1 week with more than 60
  (something I would like to reverse this year)
• Longest run: 26.2 miles (Monument Marathon)

And many very enjoyable running experiences all along the way. For example:

January: being the first runner on the first Saturday of the New Year to run Bobolink:

Bobolink Trail, Boulder

February: running with the sunrise along the Singletree Trail:

1914 Girls of Central High at Basketball mystery

March:  Birthday month! Celebrating with a delightful birthday run with Taz pup and an amazing present from son Devon:







 April: Participating in my first people-pupster race with Taz at the Canine Classic - way cold but way fun

Canine Classic, April 2014, Boulder Reservoir

 May offered lots of variety:

 a snowy Mother's Day run with Taz,

 the Bolder Boulder after many weeks of training with running buddies Connie and Anita,

 

Post-race smiles, Bolder Boulder, Memorial Day, Connie, Paula, Anita

a glorious long run along the
Flint Hills Trail in Kansas,

Roses in KC's Loose Park - a lovely running venue

KC with Devon and the Stanleys (Kerry, Corinne, Joanne)

and an introduction to Kansas City running where we visited Devon, Corinne and Corinne's family.








 June: began with many-a-run in one of my most favorite places on earth, Petoskey and Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. We camped right along the lake shore where we were treated to Petoskey's Million Dollar Sunsets every night we were there.











July's most powerful experience Boulder's Relay for Life, 12 hours of reflective celebratory running

Sunrise at Relay for Life, Potts Field, Boulder

August: quad deep in marathon training - so lots of trail exploration including a new-to-me trail in Louisville and one of many visits to the Community Ditch-Singletree-Meadowlark trail route.




September: the Monument Marathon near Scottsbluff Nebraska.
A great event near, through and around Scottsbluff National Monument on a particularly hot day this year - but what a fantastic run!

Near mile 13 of the Monument Marathon

Scottsbluff

October:  a visit to Petoskey to help mom celebrate her 94th birthday. There's nothing quite like north woods running in the height of autumn colors!

Running the Bear River Trail, Petoskey, Michigan

Of course, autumn in Boulder ain't to shabby either!

Anita and Connie on our run up Skunk Creek Trail, Boulder

Meadowlark with Anita, Connie, pjv, Randall & Taz

Two weeks later; Kohler Mesa Trail

November: Marathon training is done! It's running-purely-for-fun time!  November in Boulder being what it is, we had some warm runs and some chilly runs.  All good!





December: Training has started up again what with Cross-Country Nationals coming up in February.  Boulder's winter weather doesn't much care about how much training needs to happen between now and then.  One day I try tempo training on the snowpack - and realize it's a lot more fun to just go for a run in the snow with Taz.

Scene of the tempo run

Scene of the Taz run - way more fun

And now we have 2015.  

A lot of single-digit-snow-filled runs so far.  But really quite beautiful.  And that's why I love to run.

Wonderland

Today was one of those days when I thank my lucky stars that I am able to get out and about to enjoy this extraordinary planet of ours.

This has been a heckuva weather week.  The morning the radio announced it was 7 degrees with 7 inches of fresh-fallen snow, I was up and out as quick as could be.  There is nothing quite like running early in the morning of fresh snowfall...a hushed white-blanketed world.  Subsequent days brought more single digit mornings but the snow had turned to ice along the roads, sidewalks and bike paths making running quite a challenge - unless you turned to the trails which is just what I did today.

Running west from home up up up to the trails beneath the flatirons. As I scrunched along the snow-covered trail through the pines I heard chatter ahead of me - a group of walkers and a dog off-leash.  At that moment I realized that one aspect of the run I was most enjoying was the peace and quiet.  How to avoid the chatter? Two options. One: turn around and head back the way I had come, cutting the run short and giving me an out/back - my least favorite kind of route. The second: take a trail heading south that would lead me to a steep downhill route off the mesa top I was on.  I am quite a tentative, fearful, lousy downhill runner (credit a fall down a long steep narrow flight of stairs when I was a youngster). But today I decided I'd had enough of recent wussiness and that it was about time to tackle a challenge head-on.  So down the steep snow-covered trail I went - and it was glorious.  Quiet, beautiful, and a perfect exit to a trail run through a winter wonderland.  Yes, a very good day to be able to be out and about on this planet of ours!

Exquisite Autumn

Taz relaxing post-run on his bed of autumn leaves

The glorious golds - and scarlets and bronzes and greens - of autumn seemed to be in great abundance this year wherever we turned.  And we turned from Colorado to Michigan and back again.  What a great year, and time of year, for a road trip!  And, as an extra bonus, we got to help my mom celebrate her 94th birthday.  Some highlights:

Birthday mom and her partying daughter

Every morning in Petoskey, at dawn, I got to run along the Bear River to Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. Ahhhh

One of the most spectacular autumn views on the planet: Cut River in the U.P.

Back in Boulder. Amber surprises her cousin Paul with a handmade (by Amber) bench for his newly landscaped (by Amber & Paul) backyard

Anita & Connie during our run up Skunk Creek Canyon on a glorious autumn day in Boulder

The waning days of autumn from the Meadowlark Trail

Monument Marathon - simply monumental!!!

Scotts Bluff

 
I finally got to run the Monument Marathon in Scottsbluff/Gering Nebraska. A great event!  Stellar scenery, superb organization, fantastic volunteers.  If you like small marathons (102 finishers in the full, 315 in the half) in back roads locations this is the marathon for you!

The marathon started at a state park south of town where the visitors' center was open for us to lounge in, peruse the exhibits, use the facilities, and ooh-and-ahh over the wild turkeys poking around the building. After the National Anthem (sung beautifully by one of the runners), we headed north on the highway toward Gering where we wound through farm land and neighborhoods before turning west into the Scotts Bluff National Monument where we were treated to magnificent rock formations, signs of the Oregon Trail, and a course that meandered up and down hills and over packed dirt canal paths through Nebraska Badlands before coming back out into neighborhoods with a bit of zig zagging before pointing toward the finish.

About 18 miles into the Monument Marathon

Hot temperatures (rising into the 80s) provided the biggest challenge of the day- and the organizers went above and beyond to make sure the runners were well-cared for. Aid stations had already been planned for every three miles - fully stocked with water, gatorade, gu., portapots and, further into the race, cut up bananas and oranges.  Because of the heat, the race crew added water stations in between each of the pre-planned aid stations.  As further demonstration of how much they cared for the runners, cyclists and cart drivers went back and forth along the course throughout the day asking each and every runner (staring right into our eyes) if we were o.k.  Phenomenal!  Early in the race, one of the cyclists came up alongside me and we got to chatting.  I thanked her for being out there and said I was really impressed by the volunteers.  She replied that every volunteer had to attend training where they learned the right and wrong ways to do their jobs.  It really showed.  Cups were offered perfectly.  Course marshalls were explicit in their directions for where to cross, what direction to turn, which side of the road to run on.  Truly impressive.  And to top it off, every one of those highly trained volunteers was chock full of enthusiasm, cheering all of us on like we were the most amazing people on earth.  What a boost!

Approaching the finish with Scotts Bluff in the background

As the day went on and the temperatures climbed, two outstanding offerings were made.  Around 21 miles, the aid station had a tub filled with ice water and a fellow with a frisbee ready to fill it up and dump the ice water down your back if you wanted it.  Yes I did and oooh doggies that felt great!  And at 23 miles (the beginning of the only truly shady mile on the course), the cup of gatorade I grabbed was not only my favorite flavor, but also was iced.  The most delicious drink of the day!  (After the race, I chatted with the woman I sat next to on the bus to the start and who finished a couple minutes ahead of me.  She said that, for the first time in a race, she had eaten an orange slice out on the course - and that it was The Best Orange she had ever eaten in her life.)  Yes, 'twas a tough day out there but I'd recommend this marathon to one and all.  One-of-a-kind setting, exemplary organization.

The prize for 2nd place in my age - a framed photo of Scotts Bluff

Am I really going to run it?!?

At the 2012 Bolder Boulder pre-race expo, there was a small booth where a couple of delightful people sat, eager to talk about their new marathon: the Monument Marathon in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  It sounded fantastic! I was ready!  But life got in the way.  In 2012 it turned out that already-scheduled-and-couldn't-be-rescheduled events conflicted with the timing of the marathon.  In 2013, summer training was a disaster and there was no way I was ready for a fall marathon.  Hooray for 2014!  What a great summer of training.  Every hard run, every long run, hills, speed, everything...check! check! check!

Until....two weeks ago. There I was in the back garden, me, a shovel, and YEOW! a rock.  Ankle twisted...or something. Whatever it was, my ankle became swollen and very sore.  I tried ignoring it for a few days - with no success. Since then, my brains kicked in and I backed off training a bit, pulled out the ice packs and opened the Ibuprofen bottle. Today, there are actually periods of time when the ankle doesn't even hurt. We'll call it good. 

Then two days ago, I was on campus for the class I am senior-auditing.  I walked toward the building where the class is held and decided to try a different door from my usual.  As I approached, I noticed a sign on the door about classroom access.  I stared hard at the sign trying to read it as I approach. Whoops! Who put that step there?!?  I went flying, skidded on my knees and crashed into the door with my head.  Oh lordy that hurt. And bled.  But, nothing that a bandaid, ice and aspirin won't fix.  I hope!

Today the packing began.  We're taking Hedwig (our motorhome), and have a reservation at the campground within spitting distance of the bus pickup for the ride to the start and the finish line. I am psyched!  A road trip!  Camping in Hedwig! A marathon in the Nebraska badlands and along the Oregon Trail! Despite the gardening accident and the walking klutziness, I go into this marathon in pretty good shape.  I owe that in large part, once again, to running partners.  This summer in particular, running buddy Connie was ready, willing, and able to accompany me on all my speed sessions, tempo runs and huge portions of my long runs.  The picture below of Connie is from this week's cruise interval run along the South Boulder Creek Trail where we had the pleasure of cruising alongside the tall grasses glowing in the autumn sun.

Wow running in Boulder

As I was running east on a trail just after dawn today, I was passed by a young fellow.  When I got to the point where the trail crossed a dirt road, the young fellow was standing there, having just taken a look at the trail map.  He glanced up and I saw his mouth form the word "wow".  Now I doubt it was "wow, look at that exquisite runner coming toward me" but maybe it was "wow look how those two cyclists zipped from the road to the trail" or perhaps "wow what a lot of trails there are around here."  But as I continued east, I realized he was looking west.  Yeah. Wow.

Sights of the weekend

This past weekend was action-packed!

Saturday:

• a tempo run of repeat 8s and 3s.  The 8s were a challenge - but even more challenging was making sure we didn't stomp on this little critter as we dashed by on the South Boulder Creek Trail!

•  post-run was our first ever block party.  Lots of chatting with neighbors and good food - and thankfulness for our covered porch when the downpour got going in earnest and the thunder and lightning storm decided to hang out directly overhead!

 Sunday:

•  a 3-hour and 10-minute run from home to Longmont, a truly remarkable run for a number of reasons: it started with a tailwind, I discovered a rock art garden that I'd never seen before along the Boulder Creek Path, and, best of all, running buddy Connie joined me for the last 2 hours 15 minutes...the first time I've ever had company when running to Longmont.  It was the easiest 3+ hours I've run in a long long time!
  
  

Paul, Audrey, Steve, Cullen, Tara, Kitty, pj

• Niece Tara showed up in Boulder for a hike and lunch to celebrate her birthday.  It's always a festive occasion when the Miller clan gets together.  Cheers to Tara!  A perfect ending to a delightful weekend!

Poking around

I sure did wake up excited today! I had laid out a route for my long run that took me to paths and trails I had never seen before.  My kind of day!

The first hour or so was on a road I've often run: concrete, cars whizzing past, and a lot of uphill.  Ah well, one must work for one's reward, eh?  Upon reaching the top of the last hill on this road I kept a sharp eye peeled to the north where what looked like a bike path on gmap pedometer was supposed to appear.  Sure enough, there it was!  And a most excellent path it was: a) it got me away from traffic whoohoo!; b) it put me behind houses and pointed out towards a view of the plains and foothills I'd never seen before; c) it took me right to a most luxurious portapot which I desperately needed having drunk loads of liquids yesterday in prep for the run; and d) it brought me around to a view of the eastern horizon where seven hot air balloons were floating along.  Splendid!

Eventually it turned out that the path I had planned to follow was actually a railroad track so there was much zigzagging, backtracking, coming out onto main roads, and more zigzagging before I got back over to the planned route - but even that showed me new neighborhoods, soft running paths, and quiet streets I'd never had the privilege to run before.  All in all, a lovely run!

Relay for Life: Relay yes, Life certainly.

This past Friday and Saturday Boulder hosted the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.  I was honored to be one of over 140 participants at this amazing event, held at the University of Colorado's Potts Field (track).  From the cessation of rain just as we arrived to set up our site, to the closing ceremonies where it was announced that over $24,000 was raised this was a truly memorable experience.

Just a few of the highlights:

* hearing about promising research,
* experiencing the survivors' and team lap,
* running to the beat of the band under dancing rainbows,

* sharing the luminaria ceremony with friends,
* strolling around the track with my son Paul as Friday turned to Saturday,
* running the midnight 5k, my first midnight race ever (note to self: never again eat an apple fritter minutes before running a 5k!),
* walking hand-in-hand with husband Kendall under the light of the morning star shining ever so brightly in the night sky,
* running my Saturday morning workout with friends who appeared at Relay just at dawnbreak



All of this happily done with the company of 21 Relay teams joined in the battle to beat cancer, the disease that never sleeps.

Relay by the numbers:

• 21 teams, 142 participants
• $27921.65 raised (updated 7/29/2014)
• Top team fundraiser: Boulder Balvihar, $2,773.36 (updated 7/29/2014)
• Top individual fundraiser: me! $1,440 (updated 7/29/2014)
• Relay hours: 6 p.m. - 6 a.m., but there were breaks from circling the track for opening ceremonies and survivor ceremony (~1 hour), and for the luminaria lighting ceremony and reading of names (another ~1 hour), plus a couple hours that I spent napping after the midnight 5k and 1 a.m. pizza.
• My midnight 5k time: 29:52
• Most laps reported by an individual: 100
• My total number of laps: 84 (21 miles)

4th of July

If I were to have to choose a day when I most miss living in Petoskey, it would be the 4th of July.  I am a sucker for parades, marching bands, open air concerts, festivities at the waterfront - all done with small town enthusiasm.  And the Great Lake. And the beach.  And the million dollar sunset that needs no fireworks to evoke the oohs and ahhhs.  But then there are the fireworks shot off over the bay - both Petoskey's and Harbor Springs'.  Yep, Petoskey - and all of the surrounding towns - does the 4th of July up right.


But if not in Petoskey nestled in the Great Lakes North Woods, but in Boulder nestled up against the Rockies, well, what's a runner gal missing her hometown to do but run the trails and revel in the Colorado blue sky, wildflowers, flatirons, hawks and butterflies.
 

 


Of course, being the 4th of July, it must be cherry picking cherry pie time.  You can take the girl out of northern Michigan but you can't take the northern Michigan cherries out of the girl!