Monday musings . . . . . .

Ok, I've been reading everyone's plans/goals/race schedules for 2010. It seems to be "tis the season" to dream so I thought I would do my own musing in terms of this year's events. First of all let me admit something - I am a lazy athlete. Always have been, always will be. There, I said it. I like to do the absolute least amount of work and cross my fingers for maximum gain. Too much training structure has me rebelling and digging my heels in. So too, with too much "race" calendar structure. I am generally happy as a lark to skip merrily down the trail for as short or as long of mileage or intensity as I please. I like to make the choice to flog myself on a run on a particular day or choose to do a twinkie workout. No hardcore training schedules, please!

That being said (somewhat tongue in cheek), more seriously, I have to work hard to be a decent runner. Steve is a more natural runner, I am not. Cycling came much more easily for me (years ago, now) so I have to apply MUCH more effort and focus to be able to run with Steve.

Here it goes with the potential event schedule (subject to change on a whim!):

1. April 19 - Desert RATS 25 mile trail race in Fruita, CO
http://www.geminiadventures.com/DesertRATSfestival.html

Steve's going to come home tonight and take my temperature on this one as it is a HUGE stretch. It must be the mate' tea I am drinking that has me feeling frisky. Not only am I not a natural runner, I have runner A.D.D.    LOL! We have kidded with a few of our local running friends that I have running-induced A.D.D. I pretty much lose my focus after about 16 miles. Bored. Big time. This is a good course to remedy that problem - a BIG 25 mile loop, no back tracking, lots of top notch desert singletrack, good scenery, but still a big mental challenge. It's on the list because SOMEDAY I want to run it!

2. May 1 - Greenland Trail 25k
http://www.greenland50k.com/

This one is practically in our backyard. It's fast and would be good training. It's not an especially scenic course (two loops through rolling prairie) so not particularly good for my running A.D.D. It would be very helpful to me if Spruce Mountain was part of the course. It would add to the scenic value.

3. May 29 - Sageburner Trail 25k - Gunnison, CO
http://www.western.edu/student-life/fitness-center/sage-burner

This is a great course. It will keep my attention. We've mountain biked Hartmans and now want to run it. Bonus: meeting up with Renee! (http://pinkcorker.blogspot.com/)

4. September 25 - Golden Leaf Trail Half Marathon - Aspen, CO
http://www.utemountaineer.com/Events/Golden%20Leaf/GoldenLeafdefault.html

This is another course that will keep my attention. Beautiful scenery and fabulous singletrack.  Awesome - I am excited about this one!


5. October 9 - Xterra 21k Trail Race - Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.marathonmajic.com/index.html

Right here in town, the trails are some of our favorites and I need to not cramp and redeem my time this year. I ran it faster in training than I did in the actual race due to the calf cramps. Grrrr . . .

Honorable mentions:

July 18 - Barr Trail Mountain Race - Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.runpikespeak.com/

Again, this is one on my "someday" list. It's right here in town, a great race, I've got a few potential training partners but am picky about courses and not sure I really have the desire to train for it yet. It's 6 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain, turning around for the 6 mile return trip and descending back down that 3000 feet. Ouch.  The practical, common sense part of me will be thinking "What if I trash my knees" all the way down.  Hmmmm . . . .


July 3 - Leadville Heavy-Half - Leadville, CO
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/LT100Races/LeadvilleTrailHeavyHalfMarathon/Overview.aspx

This is another "someday" event.  It could happen.  Or maybe not!  :-)

So there you have it, my short list of events. They all could magically happen or zero could realistically happen. We'll see. Like mentioned before, I am happy to skip merrily down the trail, pause to smell the flowers, without any pressure to perform. Also, LIFE tends to happen. It is fun to muse, though, and be a little silly, too. Please feel free to share any training secrets. Happy Trails and dreaming this week!

Holiday Smorgasboard...

It's been a while since there has been a running post here, so we'll catch up a bit on the past couple weeks.  It has also continued to be unusually cold for us, so it has been a bit less than "Happy" on the trails for those of us who would prefer more moderate temps. :)  We had family staying with us for a week, so bloggy-time has been limited.  So here we go - a quick rehash since Christmas Day:

Christmas Day was crispy cold with 15 degrees and a stout breeze.  We bundled up, laced up the screw shoes, and hit the trails at Garden of the Gods.  If you are going to freeze, why not have great scenery?!?!?  We had little traffic on the trails, so it was wide open for running - just a bit slow with the snow and ice.  Here is Kathleen cruising up the Ute Trail.

 

Looking north to the Gateway Rocks.

 

Kathleen cruises down the rocks in front of the Siamese Twins.

 

Is it Steve??  Not sure with 100 layers of clothes, but it was good to be out running in such an awesome spot on Christmas.

 

It looked REALLY cold on Pikes Peak with the wind swirling snow around!  We got in a nice 8.5 mile run and then headed home to prep the house for guests.

Shoes - Asics Trabuco w/screws

Family Christmas Dinner

 

Steve's mom and dad flew in from NY late Christmas night, so we actually celebrated Christmas as a family on the 27th.  We had a lot of fun, had our family tradition of Lasagna (mom's Italian background!!!), exchanged gifts, and even got to meet "The Boy" - our niece has a serious boyfriend, who until recently, has been known only as "the Boy".  He's nice, has a real name, does not seem to have a criminal past, and is on scholarship for baseball.  We always take a family photo, and we got creative this year since we had an extra set of hands to take pics for us.  Photo credit: The Boy.

Happy New Year

 

So New Years Day, we got out for a combo run.  We hit the trails in Ute Valley Park for a bit, then ran the multi use trail around Flying W.  Steve, dashing through the pines.  It was sunny and 30's and the shorts were a wee bit of a stretch, but I am sick of being balled up in a pile of clothes!!!

 

Kathleen is cruising through some nice boulders at UVP.

 

We stopped for family photo - maybe even an anniversary photo, since we didn't bring the camera on our date Thursday!!

 

Every year this little Charlie Brown looking tree gets decorated by local neighbors at Ute Valley - right in the middle of the trail.  Kind of cool to have the trailside Christmas Tree!  We got to run 11 miles and had a pretty relaxed day by ourselves - sometimes that is nice.  OH YES - my Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl too - SWEEET!

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S Nike Triax ESC

Deja Vu

 

It was supposed to be windy and cloudy Saturday, so we decided to run Ute Valley again as it stays pretty sheltered from the wind.  About 15 minutes into the run, the clouds peeled off and we had sun for the duration - nice.  The evergreens always provide a nice frame against the sandstone at Ute Valley - then Kathleen's vibrant colors stand out even more!

 

Cruising the top rim of the park with cloud-capped Pikes Peak towering in the distance.

 

Coming off the top of the ridge and revved up for the descent!

 

It is awesome to have this great park so close to home.  There is enough variety that it never gets old and always provides a strong work-over on the legs.  We were able to get 10 miles of trail running in under sunny skies - then within half hour of finishing, it snowed!  Colorado is funny that way. 

Shoes -  Asics Trabuco

Today - no pics.  Just a pretty boring 7 mile "tempo" run on Santa Fe trail.  Still a lot of snowpack on Santa Fe, so footing is tricky.  Sunny, windy, and cold - therefore the camera stayed put!!!  It was all good though and the legs felt fresh.  Hope that everyone had a great time the last couple weeks - Happy Trails!

The Most Wonderful Time

For those who have not been reading our blog that long, one year ago today I "embarrassed" my sweetheart Kathleen with this anniversary post.  I promised not to do it again, so here we are at Christmas enjoying family and friends.  Hope it does not scare anyone to see us in a non-running scenario!!!  We have not even posted our Christmas day run photos, which was cold but great at Garden of the Gods.  Twenty One years ago today Kathleen and I were married and she is to this day the love of my life and a treasure beyond worth.  Happy Anniversary honey!!

Happy New Years to all and Happy Trails!  Company moves on today, so we'll get some running material up soon!