Reaching into an old bag of tricks

Yesterday morning's run left me very frustrated, seeing as how the slip sliding across the ice barely classified as running.  Last night, Kendall and I had a CU Women's Basketball game on the schedule.  I remembered that, in challenging winters of yesteryear, I would run the steps in the Events Center while the basketball team warmed up and music blared through the sound system.  The steps are challenging, but the music is great for knee lifting and arm pumping - sort of a magic wand for making it a manageable workout. 

Off we went to the game, ready to enter the arena as soon as the doors opened.  I dropped my outer layers at our seats, then tackled the steps.  It turns out that running buddies Connie and Ron arrived at their seats while I was huffing and puffing my way around the arena - and Connie had a happy trigger finger on her camera.


I haven't gone back through my running logs since completing two trips around the Events Center steps last night, but I do believe my age was showing on this most recent attempt.  Uffdah!  Two Very Good Things about the workout: it was a hard run successfully completed AND I worked up a sweat - a rare delight during our recent blast of winter!

Perhaps it ain't so bad

As I was stumbling grumbling along over the snow-covered lumpy bumpy ice in my yaktrax (while Taz ran happily ahead), I was thinking to myself "gyah this is sucky running." Then I thought "sucky" doesn't begin to describe how bad the running is right now in snowy icy frigid Boulder and tried to come up with a better descriptor. Then I spotted the lone goose out in the middle of the field. And I amended the thought to myself "at least I'm not spending the day barefoot in a field standing on one leg."  So much for that pity party!

Thinking Inside the Box

Fairview High infield, track & Connie. All those footprints are ours - five miles' worth of going 'round and 'round

Today being Wednesday, running buddy Connie and I had an interval workout on the schedule.
And this being Boulder in the midst of a snowy deep freeze, the streets are darned near impassable for a pedestrian.  Connie and I typically run our workouts early, but today we decided to wait a while to see if the freezing drizzle/mist/fog/snow that was filling the air would eventually become soothing tropical breezes. Yah, right.

However, while waiting, Kendall announced he was heading out to the Rec Center.  I cried Halt! and quick texted Connie to see if she'd like to meet at the Fairview High track.  I was hoping it might have been plowed; at the least, we wouldn't have to worry about cars whilst running 'round its circumference. And! The track is just around the corner from the Rec Center Kendall was driving to so I would be able to get a ride through the worst/iciest of the neighborhood streets.

Connie agreed to the meet up and off we went to the track - which had, indeed, been plowed fairly recently.  It was covered with an inch or so of snow, which seemed to be covering a thin film of ice.  It was certainly runnable; probably little chance of slipping enough to fall, but a tad too slick for good traction and push-off.  Then Connie had a brilliant idea: "Let's try out the infield!"  Perfect!  The same inch or so of snow as the surrounding track - but the thin film of ice was replaced with grippy grass.  The workout was on! 
4 x (60/60, 2:30/60, 60/60).  No speed records were set, but the workout was done in full, in the snow, in the temps in the teens, and with the bonus of a flock of geese offering sideline entertainment. Another entry in the log!

Monday Monday

One of my Monday morning commuter trails along Bear Creek, Boulder

For several years now, my Monday has started with a dawn run to my volunteer job at Audio Information Network of Colorado (AINC), roughly 37-43 minutes each way depending on conditions and general liveliness.  In the depths of winter, this early morning run can be quite a challenge and this winter has been no exception.  As described in my running log:

• Monday, December 15th: Home-AINC - on ice. Yuck. 53 minutes. Got a ride home.
• Monday, December 22nd: Home - Baseline. Too icy. Called K for a ride. 24 minutes.
  AINC - neighborhoods - prez prop trail - home. 48 minutes
• Monday, December 29th: Home-AINC. Horrible conditions. Ice/snow pack roads; black ice sidewalks. 51+ minutes. Decided to bus home.
• Monday, January 5: Home-AINC. 47 minutes. AINC-home 41 minutes. Snow/ice-pack. 
  5 degrees going to AINC, 42 degrees coming home! Warm air ribbons like passing by an open oven

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.