Tacos in the Wind: Birthday Urban Adventure Run

March 10th is my birthday, and it happened to fall on a Saturday this year. I was able to round up a few diehards to run with me for tacos. The plan was, 54 kilometers for my 54th birthday, with at least one taco stop. Again, the distance was perfect. It is about 17 miles from my house to the southernmost point on the course, a little dive of a restaurant called Rancho Taqueria Alegre. I'd never been there before, but when I was mapping the course, it was conveniently located.

Cathy, Jen, Alicia and I started at Torchy's Tacos after I ran there from my house. Jen and Cathy were doing shorter runs so each turned around early, and Alicia continued on with me into Loveland. We took the new connecting trail between Fort Collins and Loveland that drops you off at Boyd Lake, avoiding almost all traffic. I love the new bike paths that are being built- it makes running so much easier without having to deal with cars. Felix met Alicia and I just south of Boyd Lake and we continued on the bike path until it dropped us at a spot half a mile north of the restuarant.

I had a taco and refried beans, Alicia was eating shot blocks and skipped the tacos...

and Felix had a burrito.

It was perfect fuel for the trip home.

Sasquatch (aka Dale Perry, aka Richard Cranium) met us south of Boyd Lake and Felix and Alicia peeled off there. The wind was starting to pick up, and it wasn't because Sasquatch joined us or because of eating the taco and beans.

This was pure, Colorado, out of the north, unadulterated wind. The kind that blows the breath out of your mouth and the sand in your eyes.

Sasquatch and I continued north toward Fort Collins and the wind was blowing the dirt across the trail, leaving dunes in our path.

As we approached the lower Power Trail, Sasquatch turned around to head back to Loveland, and I continued north.

The wind was getting stronger. I was making slow progress and I wanted to make sure I got done in time to shower and meet everyone at the Rio for margaritas and more tacos by 4 pm.When I hit 30 miles I realized I wasn't going to make it home in time, so I called Dennis and he picked me up. Thirty miles was enough, and I banked a few extra miles last year on the donut run, so I used those to credit myself.

I wanted a taco.

What I'd been waiting for all day!

Last taco of the day.

The best part was having Dennis and everybody join us at the Rio. Plenty of margaritas and food and fun.









Dennis took the picture, but clockwise from lower left: me, Felix, Amber, Serena, Colin, Steve, Leslie, and Jen.

And what would a birthday be without dessert? Coconut flan. Great way to wrap up a perfect day of running, wind, tacos, friends, and celebration. Now I have to start planning for next year.

The Big Launch

Just a quick post for now, the big news is, I am now an author. I announced the release of my book, Navigating the C: A Nurse Charts the Course for Cancer Survivorship Care, yesterday. It's sort of a slow leak, I've let small numbers of people know and I'm still in the process of spreading the word through next Tuesday, then I will begin beating the bushes to let everyone I can possibly reach know about it.

I don't even know if I feel like writing about the process. It's been a learning curve, sometimes exhilarating and sometimes exasperating, like when you find out your books that you carefully pre-ordered to arrive in time for your first book signing event are delayed in production because they are backed up from the holidays! (it's almost February!!) and they might not arrive in time!!

AAARRGH!

Anyway I am just really glad to be at a place where I can start working on something different. The marketing aspect of this is a learning curve too. But I look forward to it.

Since I got back from Across the Years, I was sick for two weeks with some kind of upper respiratory crud, not sure if you could say it was the flu. I did have a slight fever- 99.8 is what I got, and I felt like crap, and even this week I'm not quite 100%. I only ran twice this week, Donut Friday and bagel Saturday, 3 and 5 1/2 miles respectively. No donuts for me, but I did have a bagel today. Not a very good plan for someone who wants to lose 20 pounds. But I pretty much wrote this week off since I've been so busy and it was cold. I am such a cold weather wimp!

I also planned my birthday run this year, which will be a taco theme. I plan to hit at least 4 or 5 different taco joints on my 54 km or so run on my birthday. I'll end up at the Rio, for the margaritas. I have been so much better since the new year about avoiding beer and margaritas, which were my downfall. I blame it partially on the Trump effect, but I am finding I enjoy a cup of tea in the evening too. Not quite as much as a strong margarita, but I am determined to lose this spare tire.

The thing I did do this past week was to get together with my boxing instructor, Alyssa, and she made up a program for me to build my upper body, mostly, but a little bit of power for my legs too, to prepare for doing longer runs again. I need to get back in gear next week and start working out again, and moving.

I guess in a way this year is about starting over and renewal. I'm switching gears from writing the book, looking for opportunities to reach out and speak and get the word out, I'm involved in a few different exciting pilot projects of my own work and of some other people. My girls are growing up and they are running with me, not as demanding as they were as puppies, and I'm already looking at some travel plans like Washington DC and Las Vegas for various endeavors- more about that later- not running-related, but I will share eventually.

I did sign up for a marathon (Revel Rockies) and I'm considering a second one (Leading Ladies- did that one in 2014). And I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an ultra opportunity or two, maybe a 50 and a 100 mile or 24 hour run, we'll see. I do plan to run the 48 hour at ATY at the end of this year. And I am having fun with my running buddies, Fridays and Saturdays.

I hope to blog a lot more frequently, run a lot more, and sell some books...more about the book soon.

photo credit: Pixabay