OFITG 45 Km

Today I ran my age at the One Foot in the Grave 45 Km run, or Rigorous Mortis, as JeffO called it...

The day was cold to start! It was 24 degrees when I left the house and a fog was burning off that left thick ice on the car windows. I drove to Grandview Cemetery and got there at 8:00, and found Jeff O'Reilly checking out the entrance to the cemetery, looking for live bodies.


We drove into the cemetery and found a good place to park, at the halfway point on the one mile loop. After some pre-run snacks, adjusting our layers to the outdoor temperature, and a photo op, we started out on our 28 mile run.

According to my calculator, 45 Km is equal to 27.99 miles, and I told Jeff I hope he didn't mind if I rounded up. One nice thing about being this old is that when you run your age in kilometers, it still turns out to be an ultra.

After just a couple of laps, Ping showed up and ran about 6 miles with us. Dennis and Austin came by and slowed down enough to run about 100 meters with us but they were so fast I didn't get a picture. They promised to join us at the Rio later.

At exactly our halfway point, Felix showed up and ran the last 14 miles with us. We talked about topics ranging from old cemetery stories, to the advantages and disadvantages of aging, how lucky we are to be alive and in good health, and what we want to do with our bodies when we die. I told them I want my ashes scattered over Devil's Cornfield in Death Valley. I used to think I wanted to be scattered over Hope Pass, but as of this date I want to go to Devil's Cornfield, subject to change.

It was so cold in the morning that the snow hadn't even melted by mid-afternoon in some shady places in the cemetery. It turned out to be a beautiful day, even though I stayed bundled up, I think I am permanently adapted to the heat after last year's sauna training.

The only thing I forgot to do was break out my new Sauconys. I'll have to run in those this week. I wore Drymax trail socks and my Addictions. No blisters, no heat rash.

Nick came out when we were close to 20 miles, and he helped us pick up the pace somewhat for a few laps until Dana had to go do an errand and Nick watched Alistair until we were done running. Morgan came out to the cemetery to cheer us on and go to the Rio. She already ran at the Colorado Marathon training run that morning. Felix, Jeff, and I kept going and finished the 28 miles. We all went to the Rio afterwards, where Alistair got a bowl of ice cream as big as his head.

At the Rio, Tom from the running club met us there, along with Austin and Melissa, Dennis, Morgan, Nick, Dana & Alistair, Felix, Jeff and me. We had margaritas and food, and it was the perfect way to celebrate a birthday, with my awesome friends who share my love of running. Felix's slideshow of the day is here.

I passed the test, I can run my age in kilometers. Now I know I can finish the races I've signed up for so far. And Morgan and Dennis and I made a pact to do the Memorial Day Double Double again, so my spring racing plans are coming together. I felt good throughout the run, we took it slowly and did some reasonably short walking breaks, but I ran most of the 28 miles and I felt younger by the end.

Off to plan my next little adventure...