After the BIG BLIZZARD...Mud Season

I got an email from Katy after my run on Saturday asking if I wanted to join her and Wayne, her friend from New Jersey, who was flying in for the weekend, on a trail run Sunday, and she asked if I had any suggestions for places to run.

I mentioned Coyote Ridge, but suggested we start early when the ground was still frozen, because how could you forget, the other day we had the BIG BLIZZARD of 2009...all 6 inches.

Man, you'd think people in Colorado never saw snow before. They all panicked, called off school, sent people home from work, crashed their cars. It was 6 inches. Are you all transplants from Florida? Reminds me of when it rains in Arizona, nobody knows how to drive in it.

The REAL problem with a late snowfall is that it turns all the trails to mud once it melts. And with the temperatures hitting the 50s yesterday and today, it is doing just that.

I met Katy, Wayne, and his friend Marissa, also from New Jersey, at the Coyote Ridge trailhead at 8:00. We started at an easy pace and topped out on the ridge in about 30minutes. I thought it would be icy on the steps going down the other side but it looked like a torrent of dried, frozen mud after yesterday's thaw.

There was a lot of snow past the west side of Coyote Ridge. On the way out we were postholing through drifts of snow, alternating with patches of frozen mud. On the way back, it was a challenge to stay on snow and avoid the shoe-sucking mud. We started to head north on the Blue Sky trail but after about 10 minutes Wayne suggested we go south since it looked clearer.
We got to the road and decided to climb the Indian Summer trail loop. Marissa is new to ultras and this was her longest run so far. She was winded but did awesome at nearly 6000 feet, having flown in from New Jersey last night! She's training for her first 50 miler in Laramie in June.











Wayne and Marissa descending the sloppy, slippery slope of mud coming down Coyote Ridge on the way back. What a nice change from the concrete wastelands of New Jersey!

It was a pleasant 3 hour run with good conversation and blowing off steam. We all felt refreshed at the end.

From deep dust last week on my run, to this week:


Deep mud.








More mud = More fun.

I did it!

I made it snow!

Thursday when I left for work in the morning, there was a dusting of snow that looked like it would turn to rain as soon as the sun came up. The sun never did come up, it got more socked in and by mid-morning they were sending non-essential staff home from work and closing the schools. It looked like a blizzard outside and continued to snow on and off all day.

This morning it looked like this outside.


In the back yard, where I was planting flowers on Sunday, now it looks like this.


So much for riding my bike this week, now that it's off the trainer with road tires on. It's time to dig out the Yak Trax again.


We waited all winter for some snow, and here it is.

I have a hard time getting motivated even with the beautiful clean snow and blue sky. It's my first day off after my work week and I feel trashed. I need a nap and to rehydrate myself more than anything now.

This morning I took the girls to the vet for their yearly checkup and their heartworm pills and vaccinations. They are a handful to get them to cooperate but they always entertain us. Their vet is a runner too, I've known him since the early 90s when I used to take Joanie, my first Australian Shepherd there.

Maybe I can still salvage a run out of this day once I get a few more hours of sleep. Last week I was talking to another nurse at work who tells me there is no way she could ever run. I told her, any nurse who works 12 hour shifts at the bedside can easily do an ultra. I need more recovery from work than any ultra!

I'll try to enjoy the snow while we have it. On the bright side, maybe the trail dust will settle? And it should keep the snakes indoors until it melts. This is Colorado, though, and next week it could be 80 degrees...

Spring Training 2009

The snot rocket disease finally subsided enough to allow me to breathe, so I couldn't go one more day without running. It's been almost 2 weeks!

After taking both the dogs for a run this morning, I decided to take Iris up to the park and do one rock repeat, just to make it official training. Iris is the distance runner, Isabelle likes to sprint but she isn't good at long distances. I left her home to keep Dennis company, he is now sick with the infectious, purulent, snot-producing virulent contagion. It was a warm day and on the way down I was worrying about snakes, but didn't see any.

At the top I was trying to get Iris to sit still so I could take a picture of her, and some hikers came along and witnessed Iris's protest. She has major separation anxiety when Isabelle isn't with her and was having a temper tantrum. Walking 5 feet away from her is a problem if her sister isn't there. One of the hikers offered to take a picture of us together.

It's been so dry that everything is dust. There is snow on Longs Peak but some of the slopes are looking bare, up high. If we don't get some rain or snow soon it will be a bad fire season.

When I got home I felt like planting flowers, so I went to the nursery and got a flat of annuals and started filling the pots on the patio as the girls supervised me.

I'm doing everything I possibly can to make it snow!

Facebook!!?? OMG!

Like, OMIGOD!

How did I ever do this to myself? I was home, innocently cooking a pot of chicken arugula soup and was thinking about adding matzo balls, my grandmother would have been so proud of me doing that...

While the leeks were sauteeing in the pan, I decided to check email and got yet another Facebook invitation from a friend. I keep hearing about this Facebook thing, and I always resist the latest thing...

I got curious, and decided since I'm home and have no running plans and don't have much energy for anything more than rolling matzo balls and chopping onions, I'll check it out.

Oh sure. Five hours later, I have over a dozen friends including people I haven't seen since high school, I find out you can chat on Facebook too, and there are groups, and ways to comment, e-mail, look at photos, and I realize that this new toy has the potential to widen my butt even further...

I think it's great though. I actually spent nearly an hour chatting with my best friend from high school, we haven't kept in touch very much lately but it was good to catch up.

Forgot one more thing. Interesting fact: I share a birthday with Osama bin Laden. Another reason for me to be on the no fly list. Maybe there's a list for that on Facebook, too.

I REALLY need to get over this cold and get back to running!

Pain is Temporary

What an interesting day I had. After exploring Facebook and chatting with my friend from high school, we realized that both of our lives have undergone huge changes in just the past 4 years.

We realized that the last time we really spent some quality time together, it was 4 years ago and she was still living near Santa Cruz, in the process of going through a divorce, trying to figure out what was next and she was feeling very much adrift, and in a lot of emotional pain. Now she's planning a wedding, she's enjoying snowboarding, pursuing her photography, and enjoying life.

At the same 4 years ago I was just weeks away from starting nursing school, and my life was not in good order either. Things were not good in general in my life. Dennis and I had seen better days together. I'd been in a bad place for several years, trying to get my thyroid stuff figured out and I'd only been on medication that worked for less than a year.

I knew going into nursing wasn't going to be easy, but it seemed like the most practical thing to do at the time, and I was still concerned about whether I was physically ready for the challenge of intense studying and long days in clinicals, plus trying to hold down a part-time job in addition to my personal training clients.

What I was most afraid of was the fatigue coming back. In the back of my mind I knew that if I wasn't up to it, I would quit and try again later. But I also knew I had to try, and even when it was difficult, I had to push through the fatigue at times. My biggest fear was of finding out that my days of having normal energy were over and that I'd always have to deal with mind-numbing fatigue, and never be able to run ultras again.

As we chatted today we talked about how 4 years ago seems like a million years ago and another life. And how much better things are now.

You have to pass through the pain when it's there. I learned that at Badwater again last summer. The thing about pain is that you get through to the other side of it. Even if that other side is death. For some people, they go through horrific pain, physical, mental, emotional, or otherwise.

To be on the on the other side of the pain, being able to look ahead, to a day when it subsides, even if it seems like from one's perspective at the time, it will never end and never let up. Even if it's unimaginable to see the painful situation as having an end. Even if what could be on the other side of the pain could bring an immeasurable and unimaginable amount of happiness.

Today I am so grateful for and so appreciative of all the amazing, exceptional people in my life, and for my good health, even with this little annoying cold that is temporary, and for the love in my life, and for my ability to run and think and create and live with so little pain, really just the inconvenience of having to deal with occasionally unpleasant people at work. Every day I see people who are at their lowest point in life, and it's important to look into the future for them, and look at the contrast with what is now.

There are people out there who are hurting materially, having lost a lot lately, and other people who are dealing with horrific emotional and physical pain in their lives. I hope they soon pass through the pain, and see the other side, and I hope that what is on the other side for them is happiness. Even if it's unimaginable today, immeasurable and infinite happiness.

Green Stuff

Theme for St. Patrick's Day.

I have not a drop of Irish blood in me, but I am full of green today, as I have been for the past week. I caught the crud that's been going around.

For the past week, I've been coughing up green junk and blowing my brains out to the point where my nose and upper lip are so excoriated that it will take another week for my skin to heal. I'm a human snot factory.

I wish I could borrow some suction from work and suction myself, because I could probably fill up one of those liter-sized canisters. It would be a lot easier on my face.

The day before my birthday run, I was thinking I had allergies because I was sneezing, with watery eyes, and it happened after I gave Isabelle a hug, then found she was digging in the yard. I didn't feel too bad and did my birthday run, and it continued for a couple of days, until Tuesday, on my birthday, I started to feel really bad. Then I went back to work Wednesday morning, and felt like crap. I suffered through the day, which turned into a 13 hour shift, and then called in sick for the next day.

I made a big pot of tortilla soup, and I went back to work over the weekend, feeling better but I still can't breathe. I'm not sleeping well as a result. This morning Dennis woke up with it. I'll be prepared for him.

So I'm off to the store to get more stuff to make another pot of soup, a few boxes of tissues with lotion in them, some cough drops, and I'll check my supply of Nyquil because last night was the first night I didn't wake up with a coughing fit.

I haven't run a step since the birthday run, but I'll get there. I'm not in a hurry. Taking the dogs for a walk today seems overly ambitious. Maybe tomorrow.

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...