Presents under the tree
Skiing Vail
Lamb dinner with Nicole/Mike, Cathy/Andrew in Arvada
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
A Birthday to Remember in Breckenridge
A lot of things start to change when you hit the big 3 0. Your tattoos start to fade, you can still date hot blonds in their 20s but you can no longer look at high school girls and say they are hot without looking creepy. I'm not alone this year, some of the child star celebrities that I watched as I grew up are also hitting the benchmark including Macaulay Culkin-Home Alone, Ben Savage-Boy Meets World/Princess Bride, Jeremy Jackson-Baywatch(HoBIE), Christina Ricci-Adams Family.
Birthday Horoscope:
Thursday, December 16 2010
Fortunately, your childhood was sprinkled with people from whom you could learn and develop an honorable character. You have become an idea person with a talent for reaching a broad scope of people. It is possible that you will reach many people through your art, but it is also possible that you will lead people with your organizational skills. People accept your ideas easily. In mid-life, you will find your self-expressive personality attracts many rewards. Money, business and domestic problems are solved with your ability to change a concept. Enjoy a bit of reflection this evening, perhaps looking through the photo albums or creating a bit of poetry as you think about the people that made a difference in your life.
A lot of people were calling this my Dirty 30s, and It was unclear to me what that meant so I Googled it.. and here's what I came up with:
Dirty 30-Thirty Pack of Keystone
Dirty 30-List of 30 chemical ingredients that may be linked to cancer
It's said that the average person has up to 7 jobs before their 30th birthday and I add to this statistic, here is my list:
Wegmans Produce Department Stock Person
Cutco Knife Salesman
Landscaper
Town of Gates Buildings/grounds/maintenance
NYS Attorney General (Spitzer) Staff Scientist
YEC Environmental Engineering Project Geologist
CDPHE Water Qual. Control Div. Project Manager
Only 20 more years till retirement (I hope).
I wanted to look at the advantages of turning this milestone age and this is what I came up with...
6. Your first car is now a classic and incredibly rare
7. Hangovers: they're more than just myth and will force you to drink less.
8. You can stopped trying to find yourself and started creating yourself.
9. You get to start anew in my new age range.
10 .You have great experiences from my past and so now I get to add new ones!
11. You can celebrate BIG for this birthday. (check this one off the list)
12. You have years to get use to being called sir.
13. When you get carded it is a compliment instead of them not thinking I am old enough.
14.A ll the life lessons you learned in my 20s, I can now apply to my life.
15. Don’t have to worry about being 30 because I just AM.
16. Get to read all the self help books about surviving your 30’s and nod in agreement with them.
17. Do not have to do it alone, its a new club I can join.
18. A major birthday like 30 means better presents!
19. If you have learn nothing else from Desperate Housewives, 40 is the new 30 and 30 is the new 20.
20. People naturally take you more seriously when you are in your 30s.
21. You get to smile when people can not believe you are 30.
22.No longer have to struggle to be an adult because you have years of practice.
23.5 more years and I can be president.
24. Instead of stressing about acne, I can stress about wrinkles and white hair.
26. Don’t have to wait for Santa to bring me a wii, I can go get my own.
27. You're only 5 years away from your first prostate exam.
28. Turning 30 makes you appreciate your 20’s and look forward to your 40s.
So while we are on the topic of lists I also wanted to take a look back and make sure that im still on track with the things Im supposed to know or have done by this age:
1. Identify my goals: Well lets see here, I wanted to finish college with a degree I could get a job with. Check! attained a great job that actually put me back to school for another degree (thanks). I wanted to be self sustaining, Check!! I started some savings, a retirement plan and paid off all my debts. I own my own car and don't live paycheck to pay check, even when there was no paycheck. I wanted to move to Colorado and live the dream, while it took me a while to make this jump, I finally did and Im glad that I have. Now to make my goals for the next 30 years...
2. Start an emergency fund: Check! I even had to dip into it while unemployed for 7 months so you see they do come in handy.
8. Travel: Sorry I skipped down because the other ones were either mentioned or lame at the same time. Lets see here, on my own I've done a bit of traveling including Mexico, American South, American West, still working on getting to New Zealand.
For my 30th birthday we decided to have a 20's send off party a few weeks prior to the actual birth date up at Breckenridge, CO and make it a ski trip to remember.
After careful searching we finally found a condo that would accommodate such an event which was close to the mountain, Main St. accompanied by an amazing view, and a hot tub.
Friday I picked up a few out of towners from DIA sporting a Shot-Ski in the roof rack as an announcement of the weekend ahead. We then made our way westword to the mountains and Breckenridge stopping at one of my favorite watering holes the Yard House for lunch.
We would have gotten to Breckenridge about an hour sooner if it wasn't for my sister's tiny bladder insisting we stop every 15 mins.
Arriving in Breck around 4PM, we parked in the basement reserve lot and unloaded our party supplies and ski gear. The Condo was set about 5 blocks from the gondola and 2 blocks from Main St. It included 2 rooms, 3 bathrooms, and a loft that had a few bunks and a hid-a-bed. We sparked up the fireplace and relaxed for a bit while the onset of snowfall set the mood and got us excited for great ski conditions.
After a jaunt to the store we cooked dinner in the condo, cracked a open a few cold ones, blasted some tunes and waited for others to arrive. This party/vacation was to bring a diverse crowd of both old friends and new friends. At around 9 people started to roll in, delayed by snow and having to aquire a legal parking spot on the back streets of Breck. Introductions were announced and you could hear muffled conversation from the other side of the complex. We were lucky in the fact that it was still early ski season and the complex wasn't very crowded. We played cards for a bit and bed down around night noon to rest up for a long day of skiing and apre` ski.
Sat. we dawned our ski gear and walked down to the gondola. Jer was gracious enough to lend out some buddy passes to the people without a Breck season pass. The sun shone bright, temps were in the upper 20s and the wind was still. In my experience, an uncommon opposite to regular conditions here. Our ski pack would grow and shrink according to skiing style, ability as we seeked out challenging terrain features and sweet untouched deep powder that you see on Warren Miller films year after year. Jer, Ryan, and I were skiing no holds bar aggressive spending just as much time in the air jumping over trees and gaps as we did leaving our mark all over the mountain with rounded turns. Conditions were perfect and I couldn't help but think of the line from field of dreams..."Is this Heaven?"...Nope its COLORADO!! We rested for bit at the base of Peak 7 to regroup and start of a rousing game of Onzy before it was shut down due to the questionable inclusion of little boys (not naming names).
After that, our brave beginner skiiers joined us for a run from the very top to the very bottom. 45 min runs are why I love big mountain skiing. We took a few lifts and traverses to get up to 12,840'. You should have seen my sister's face! She had never been this high, it was brilliant. We then proceeded down what Breck was calling a double black diamond run (beginners were ripped from greens to this-like throwing them to the wolves), but I disagreed with that classification since it was sans bumps. Eager to lead the pack I launched off the lip that I percieved to be 4' or so but ended up being around 10'. Not touching down when expected I threw in a few window rolling jestures and braced for impact. I landed with a cloud of flury snow and grabbed at anything I could get my hands on as I tumbled. Having escaped the deserved yard sale I stood up brushed off as much snow as I could and welcomed my ski mates down the initial face. No one followed my exact path for some reason.
We threw in a few more runs until our legs got tired and sore. Calling it a day around 3:30 we headed to the hot tub to soak and begin apre` ski. Let the party begin! There was the shot ski, a round of the home made drinking game of Life in Dirty New Jersey, and even a very fitting 80's bar party. Lots of laughs and surprisingly nothing was broken and the cops didn't make an appearance. I know, right, whats a party with no cops?
The morning after included cleaning up the carnage and having a few Bloody Marys, the ultimate hangover cure-all, before parting ways.
In all it was an amazing weekend and I'm greatful that I was able to organize an event with such a great turnout. It was just about perfect and I have no complaints at all. So if you too want a party planned, I do parties and I'm for hire.
"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young."~Fred Astaire
Birthday Horoscope:
Thursday, December 16 2010
Fortunately, your childhood was sprinkled with people from whom you could learn and develop an honorable character. You have become an idea person with a talent for reaching a broad scope of people. It is possible that you will reach many people through your art, but it is also possible that you will lead people with your organizational skills. People accept your ideas easily. In mid-life, you will find your self-expressive personality attracts many rewards. Money, business and domestic problems are solved with your ability to change a concept. Enjoy a bit of reflection this evening, perhaps looking through the photo albums or creating a bit of poetry as you think about the people that made a difference in your life.
A lot of people were calling this my Dirty 30s, and It was unclear to me what that meant so I Googled it.. and here's what I came up with:
Dirty 30-Thirty Pack of Keystone
Dirty 30-List of 30 chemical ingredients that may be linked to cancer
It's said that the average person has up to 7 jobs before their 30th birthday and I add to this statistic, here is my list:
Wegmans Produce Department Stock Person
Cutco Knife Salesman
Landscaper
Town of Gates Buildings/grounds/maintenance
NYS Attorney General (Spitzer) Staff Scientist
YEC Environmental Engineering Project Geologist
CDPHE Water Qual. Control Div. Project Manager
Only 20 more years till retirement (I hope).
I wanted to look at the advantages of turning this milestone age and this is what I came up with...
6. Your first car is now a classic and incredibly rare
7. Hangovers: they're more than just myth and will force you to drink less.
8. You can stopped trying to find yourself and started creating yourself.
9. You get to start anew in my new age range.
10 .You have great experiences from my past and so now I get to add new ones!
11. You can celebrate BIG for this birthday. (check this one off the list)
12. You have years to get use to being called sir.
13. When you get carded it is a compliment instead of them not thinking I am old enough.
14.A ll the life lessons you learned in my 20s, I can now apply to my life.
15. Don’t have to worry about being 30 because I just AM.
16. Get to read all the self help books about surviving your 30’s and nod in agreement with them.
17. Do not have to do it alone, its a new club I can join.
18. A major birthday like 30 means better presents!
19. If you have learn nothing else from Desperate Housewives, 40 is the new 30 and 30 is the new 20.
20. People naturally take you more seriously when you are in your 30s.
21. You get to smile when people can not believe you are 30.
22.No longer have to struggle to be an adult because you have years of practice.
23.5 more years and I can be president.
24. Instead of stressing about acne, I can stress about wrinkles and white hair.
26. Don’t have to wait for Santa to bring me a wii, I can go get my own.
27. You're only 5 years away from your first prostate exam.
28. Turning 30 makes you appreciate your 20’s and look forward to your 40s.
So while we are on the topic of lists I also wanted to take a look back and make sure that im still on track with the things Im supposed to know or have done by this age:
1. Identify my goals: Well lets see here, I wanted to finish college with a degree I could get a job with. Check! attained a great job that actually put me back to school for another degree (thanks). I wanted to be self sustaining, Check!! I started some savings, a retirement plan and paid off all my debts. I own my own car and don't live paycheck to pay check, even when there was no paycheck. I wanted to move to Colorado and live the dream, while it took me a while to make this jump, I finally did and Im glad that I have. Now to make my goals for the next 30 years...
2. Start an emergency fund: Check! I even had to dip into it while unemployed for 7 months so you see they do come in handy.
8. Travel: Sorry I skipped down because the other ones were either mentioned or lame at the same time. Lets see here, on my own I've done a bit of traveling including Mexico, American South, American West, still working on getting to New Zealand.
For my 30th birthday we decided to have a 20's send off party a few weeks prior to the actual birth date up at Breckenridge, CO and make it a ski trip to remember.
After careful searching we finally found a condo that would accommodate such an event which was close to the mountain, Main St. accompanied by an amazing view, and a hot tub.
Friday I picked up a few out of towners from DIA sporting a Shot-Ski in the roof rack as an announcement of the weekend ahead. We then made our way westword to the mountains and Breckenridge stopping at one of my favorite watering holes the Yard House for lunch.
We would have gotten to Breckenridge about an hour sooner if it wasn't for my sister's tiny bladder insisting we stop every 15 mins.
Arriving in Breck around 4PM, we parked in the basement reserve lot and unloaded our party supplies and ski gear. The Condo was set about 5 blocks from the gondola and 2 blocks from Main St. It included 2 rooms, 3 bathrooms, and a loft that had a few bunks and a hid-a-bed. We sparked up the fireplace and relaxed for a bit while the onset of snowfall set the mood and got us excited for great ski conditions.
After a jaunt to the store we cooked dinner in the condo, cracked a open a few cold ones, blasted some tunes and waited for others to arrive. This party/vacation was to bring a diverse crowd of both old friends and new friends. At around 9 people started to roll in, delayed by snow and having to aquire a legal parking spot on the back streets of Breck. Introductions were announced and you could hear muffled conversation from the other side of the complex. We were lucky in the fact that it was still early ski season and the complex wasn't very crowded. We played cards for a bit and bed down around night noon to rest up for a long day of skiing and apre` ski.
Sat. we dawned our ski gear and walked down to the gondola. Jer was gracious enough to lend out some buddy passes to the people without a Breck season pass. The sun shone bright, temps were in the upper 20s and the wind was still. In my experience, an uncommon opposite to regular conditions here. Our ski pack would grow and shrink according to skiing style, ability as we seeked out challenging terrain features and sweet untouched deep powder that you see on Warren Miller films year after year. Jer, Ryan, and I were skiing no holds bar aggressive spending just as much time in the air jumping over trees and gaps as we did leaving our mark all over the mountain with rounded turns. Conditions were perfect and I couldn't help but think of the line from field of dreams..."Is this Heaven?"...Nope its COLORADO!! We rested for bit at the base of Peak 7 to regroup and start of a rousing game of Onzy before it was shut down due to the questionable inclusion of little boys (not naming names).
After that, our brave beginner skiiers joined us for a run from the very top to the very bottom. 45 min runs are why I love big mountain skiing. We took a few lifts and traverses to get up to 12,840'. You should have seen my sister's face! She had never been this high, it was brilliant. We then proceeded down what Breck was calling a double black diamond run (beginners were ripped from greens to this-like throwing them to the wolves), but I disagreed with that classification since it was sans bumps. Eager to lead the pack I launched off the lip that I percieved to be 4' or so but ended up being around 10'. Not touching down when expected I threw in a few window rolling jestures and braced for impact. I landed with a cloud of flury snow and grabbed at anything I could get my hands on as I tumbled. Having escaped the deserved yard sale I stood up brushed off as much snow as I could and welcomed my ski mates down the initial face. No one followed my exact path for some reason.
We threw in a few more runs until our legs got tired and sore. Calling it a day around 3:30 we headed to the hot tub to soak and begin apre` ski. Let the party begin! There was the shot ski, a round of the home made drinking game of Life in Dirty New Jersey, and even a very fitting 80's bar party. Lots of laughs and surprisingly nothing was broken and the cops didn't make an appearance. I know, right, whats a party with no cops?
The morning after included cleaning up the carnage and having a few Bloody Marys, the ultimate hangover cure-all, before parting ways.
In all it was an amazing weekend and I'm greatful that I was able to organize an event with such a great turnout. It was just about perfect and I have no complaints at all. So if you too want a party planned, I do parties and I'm for hire.
"Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young."~Fred Astaire
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanks be to giving
Woke up at the crack of dawn to a crisp Thanksgiving morning for an annual tradition among many... Turkey Trot. Kylee was running in the 5k distance along with Ryan and our other Colfax Relay team member Emma was running the 10k distance. I opted out of all present and future cold weather races but just had to see what the fuss was about from an outsiders point of view, oh and I wouldnt miss an opportunity to take a few photos as well.
We got to the scene of the 3rd Annual Anthem Turkey Day 5K/10K in the middle of a well off gated community in Broomfield, CO. The Start/Finish/Expo was at the new gorgeous Rec Center.
The 10K gun (or in this case 1,2,3 go) went off at a lazy 9am (more like 9:10) and the temperature was a soring 22*. Emma did not have great position out of the shoot and I nearly missed her as she trotted off down the hill. Then 15 or so mins later and 400m up the hill within the neighborhood was the start of the 5K. I didn't see Ky or Ryan as they passed by me, but im hoping that the camera (my extra eyes for the day) at least captured their zeal and bravery as cameras often encapsulate so well.
Both races were on looped courses throughout the neighborhood and shared a finish. The 5k having been dubed a short course last year was an official USATF course..key word there..was! The lead biker must have been hitting the eggnog early this morning because even thoug the course maps could be found on the web, in the rec center and at the start, she still decided to lead the mass of runners on her own tour of the neighborhood. In doing so she took them through the finish line chip mats and that stopped everyones time before mile 1. Thats the truth right there, but the race director made up an excuse that the timing system had froze from the cold and that they had to go on gun time. They ran about .2 miles more distance and added roughly 40 seconds to their times, which were still pretty fast if you ask me. Better luck next time I guess, and for future reference, try to avoid any races involving endurance sports marketing group!
Results:
Kylee 18:48.11 9th Female 5th AG
Ryan 19:13.39 19th Male 3rd AG
Emma 37:36.07 1st Female
Kristin Carpenter 19:23.30 11th Female 3rd AG
Patrick Hunt 33:23.22 3rd Male
Coleen De Rreuck 17:54.50 3rd Female 1st AG
Amanda Mcrackin 18:47.40 8th Female 2nd AG
Jonesey Dinner in North Boulder:
After a redue and closely following the high altitude instructions on a batch of brownies we headed over to Ky's coach Steve Jones's home for a dinner of champions. The allstar guest list included: Amanda McCracken, Andrea Viger, Danna Ardrey, Cathy and her husband Tom
The spread was true to its hype and you had to be quick if you wanted any of the appieizors. Dinner conversation transitioned from family to running to British culture. Namely rhyem slang. Finally someone had shed light on my past confusion. When I lived in Hoboken I had 2 roommates from the UK and very often had no clue what they were saying, frankly British english is not english at all and has an overall goal of being confusing anyway.
We got to the scene of the 3rd Annual Anthem Turkey Day 5K/10K in the middle of a well off gated community in Broomfield, CO. The Start/Finish/Expo was at the new gorgeous Rec Center.
The 10K gun (or in this case 1,2,3 go) went off at a lazy 9am (more like 9:10) and the temperature was a soring 22*. Emma did not have great position out of the shoot and I nearly missed her as she trotted off down the hill. Then 15 or so mins later and 400m up the hill within the neighborhood was the start of the 5K. I didn't see Ky or Ryan as they passed by me, but im hoping that the camera (my extra eyes for the day) at least captured their zeal and bravery as cameras often encapsulate so well.
Both races were on looped courses throughout the neighborhood and shared a finish. The 5k having been dubed a short course last year was an official USATF course..key word there..was! The lead biker must have been hitting the eggnog early this morning because even thoug the course maps could be found on the web, in the rec center and at the start, she still decided to lead the mass of runners on her own tour of the neighborhood. In doing so she took them through the finish line chip mats and that stopped everyones time before mile 1. Thats the truth right there, but the race director made up an excuse that the timing system had froze from the cold and that they had to go on gun time. They ran about .2 miles more distance and added roughly 40 seconds to their times, which were still pretty fast if you ask me. Better luck next time I guess, and for future reference, try to avoid any races involving endurance sports marketing group!
Results:
Kylee 18:48.11 9th Female 5th AG
Ryan 19:13.39 19th Male 3rd AG
Emma 37:36.07 1st Female
Kristin Carpenter 19:23.30 11th Female 3rd AG
Patrick Hunt 33:23.22 3rd Male
Coleen De Rreuck 17:54.50 3rd Female 1st AG
Amanda Mcrackin 18:47.40 8th Female 2nd AG
Jonesey Dinner in North Boulder:
After a redue and closely following the high altitude instructions on a batch of brownies we headed over to Ky's coach Steve Jones's home for a dinner of champions. The allstar guest list included: Amanda McCracken, Andrea Viger, Danna Ardrey, Cathy and her husband Tom
The spread was true to its hype and you had to be quick if you wanted any of the appieizors. Dinner conversation transitioned from family to running to British culture. Namely rhyem slang. Finally someone had shed light on my past confusion. When I lived in Hoboken I had 2 roommates from the UK and very often had no clue what they were saying, frankly British english is not english at all and has an overall goal of being confusing anyway.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Warren Millers 61st Film: Wintervention
WM was amazing, like I needed more motivation to ski. Its amazing that after 61 films they can still throw in some ski locations that we never seen before. The comentator isnt WM anymore and that really changes it, he was so naturally funny and in my opinion think it really made the films. I showed up with my adventure budy in tow and we sat with 3 other friends in the balcony (sitting down about 30 mins early). On the way in we were greated with an armful of goodies, raffle prize signup slips and WM pens.
9:30 On with the show. This time they tried a scheme of a help line for people being addicted to powder and it just got old after about half the film. CO skiing was mentioned for at least half the movie, Breck, Telluride, Vail, Beaver Creek... then UT skiing..Sun Valley... along with some great places in Alaska, and New Zeland to keep me almost on edge and ready to carve some turns. All the members of our party were not as impressed and 2 actually dozzed off for a cat nap. I guess the excitement of part 1 was too much.
If you get a chance to attend one of these film unvailings or any other adventure film fest I would highly recommend it. I was just left with one question..
Whats the difference between an addiction to Coke and Fresh champagne powder? The straight lines!
9:30 On with the show. This time they tried a scheme of a help line for people being addicted to powder and it just got old after about half the film. CO skiing was mentioned for at least half the movie, Breck, Telluride, Vail, Beaver Creek... then UT skiing..Sun Valley... along with some great places in Alaska, and New Zeland to keep me almost on edge and ready to carve some turns. All the members of our party were not as impressed and 2 actually dozzed off for a cat nap. I guess the excitement of part 1 was too much.
If you get a chance to attend one of these film unvailings or any other adventure film fest I would highly recommend it. I was just left with one question..
Whats the difference between an addiction to Coke and Fresh champagne powder? The straight lines!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
A-Basin/ Keystone Skiing
http://www.arapahoebasin.com/abasin/Default.aspx
http://www.keystoneresort.com/?cmpid=PPC71491094
http://www.dambrewery.com/
http://www.keystoneresort.com/?cmpid=PPC71491094
http://www.dambrewery.com/
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Denver's Saturday Night at the Museum
Not a bad deal here: 12 museums, 3 free beers and a shuttle for free!
Ky and I met up with Jamie and Patrick to hit up a nice Cafe/Wine Bar called Metropolis http://www.metropolisdenver.com/locations.html
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Warrior Dash
http://www.warriordash.com/register2010_rockies.php
Call me crazy if this doesn't sound like fun: A 3.4 mile race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Colorado. The gun goes off with 2 huge blasts of fire atop towering scafolding. You and 300 other people in your wave are off and running down the entry driveway to the mountain resort and come to the first of 12 obsticals in your path. You jump over 2 parked cars before making a turn up hill. You summit a inclined plywood wall, and then a 15' hay bail pyramid before manuvering through 50 pairs of tires. All that in the first 400', and since you started at roughly 9,000' elevation you are already out of breath. Prior to now as you stood in the start corral you couldnt understand why people were walking up the mountain face as they followed the zig zaging route. Now you know! Your blood is pumping with adrenaline and you gasp for oxygen. Of course you could have walked out of the gates, but Kylee and I stormed off like warriors in battle screaming "GET SOME" down the opening path. By the time we made it past the first 3 obsticles we had a pace set for others to follow..I was leading, My buddy Chris was 200m behind me and Kylee was about 100m behind him as we made our way up the mountain at roughly a 600ft elevation gain in less than a mile. By the time we got to the top Kylee had started to come into view on the switchbacks about 100m behind me and had moved up into 2nd place. Seeing this I knew I had to put some distance in between us so I bombed down the hill as if I were on wheels knowing that Kylee would be a little less conservative on her decent. At the bottom of the mountain there was a crude pond about 8" deep. I crawled in with one realization in mind, im going to get muddy! I had cought my breath for the most part on the downslope but viscuss mud will get you winded in no time... in this case about 50'. Soiled and winded I struggled to get up the 15' slippery incline keeping me from my next obsticle, the tubes.
25/5237 Dan Simpson 77305 29 M 9 25-29 25:31.10 7:48/M
58/5237 Kylee Schuler 77067 24 F 2 20-24 27:08.15 8:18/M
Call me crazy if this doesn't sound like fun: A 3.4 mile race at Copper Mountain Ski Resort, Colorado. The gun goes off with 2 huge blasts of fire atop towering scafolding. You and 300 other people in your wave are off and running down the entry driveway to the mountain resort and come to the first of 12 obsticals in your path. You jump over 2 parked cars before making a turn up hill. You summit a inclined plywood wall, and then a 15' hay bail pyramid before manuvering through 50 pairs of tires. All that in the first 400', and since you started at roughly 9,000' elevation you are already out of breath. Prior to now as you stood in the start corral you couldnt understand why people were walking up the mountain face as they followed the zig zaging route. Now you know! Your blood is pumping with adrenaline and you gasp for oxygen. Of course you could have walked out of the gates, but Kylee and I stormed off like warriors in battle screaming "GET SOME" down the opening path. By the time we made it past the first 3 obsticles we had a pace set for others to follow..I was leading, My buddy Chris was 200m behind me and Kylee was about 100m behind him as we made our way up the mountain at roughly a 600ft elevation gain in less than a mile. By the time we got to the top Kylee had started to come into view on the switchbacks about 100m behind me and had moved up into 2nd place. Seeing this I knew I had to put some distance in between us so I bombed down the hill as if I were on wheels knowing that Kylee would be a little less conservative on her decent. At the bottom of the mountain there was a crude pond about 8" deep. I crawled in with one realization in mind, im going to get muddy! I had cought my breath for the most part on the downslope but viscuss mud will get you winded in no time... in this case about 50'. Soiled and winded I struggled to get up the 15' slippery incline keeping me from my next obsticle, the tubes.
25/5237 Dan Simpson 77305 29 M 9 25-29 25:31.10 7:48/M
58/5237 Kylee Schuler 77067 24 F 2 20-24 27:08.15 8:18/M
Monday, July 19, 2010
Roadtrip of a Lifetime
June 17-21, 2010.I am fully convinced Colorado is a dreamland.
Dan and I set off to go on a 4.5 day road trip to various destinations in Southern Colorado and Eastern Utah armed with the America The Beautiful National Parks Annual Pass. Little did I know, that for me, this would be a road trip of a lifetime.
We left on a Thursday night and headed for Colorado Springs, CO to set up camp at a KOA for the night so that we could have a full day on Friday. I had never been to 'The Springs' except for the Air Force Academy, so it was nice to check it out a bit. One of the themes of this trip was breweries, so we broke out my Brewery Map of Colorado (yes, they make those), and made it in to Trinity Brewing Co. as well as Phantom Canyon Brewing Companies before they closed their doors. With close to 120 breweries in Colorado, it is interesting to check out the different beer selections, as well as hear the stories as to how the breweries got started! Checking out different breweries is a hobby, not an addiction.
After a night filled with train noises and an early morning exploratory run, we headed out towards our first national park: Great Sand Dunes. If you have never been to Great Sand Dunes National Park, you must add this one to your list. It is seriously one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Here you are driving along, with a 14,000 ft mountain to your right and all of a sudden, boom! There is a gigantic sand field right in the Rockies, with dunes as high as mountains. As you approach the main sand dune area, there is an area where run-off from the mountains pools in the sand. A perfect opportunity for sand castles, or a great breeding ground for mosquitoes. Dan and I set out to hike to the top of the dunes, which are deceivingly high! But as we crossed the stream and started climbing, we were pelted by high winds and sand blown in the face. It was like getting a facial, but not nearly as relaxing. New plan, head part way up and jump off some of the smaller dunes to get some quality pictures. As we continued to get blasted, I realized that I cant jump worth anything, and Dan (pole vaulter extraordinaire) made me look like an amateur (although it was funny to see him get sand in the face and pretty much everywhere else sand can go). We hung out for a few, but didnt stick around too long. This trip was not about lounging around and was not for the lazy types. As we drove away, we noticed a huge forest fire had started in the background, but decided to detour anyways to take a short hike to Zapata Falls. We reached the falls after a half a mile hike with no problem, but could not really see them unless we navigated our way up the crevasse and waded into fast flowing 20 degree icy snow melt waters. I headed in to take some pictures, while Dan stayed back with a case of frozen foot.
From the Great Sand Dunes, we decided to alter our plans and make camp in Durango, CO. We stopped at a nice little place tucked back in the woods called Lightner Creek Campground. Although it didn't look to be all that spectacular, at least there were no trains around. Dan and I hit up a nice little brewery called Durango Brewing Company---where I had a great blueberry wheat with real blueberries in the bottom. We headed back to camp and got some shut eye---awakened to very cold temps (for the summer) and both headed out on a brisk and beautifully 6 mile run through the wooded surroundings at 9000 feet.
After a quick shower and loading of the car, we headed toward Four Corners USA, the only place in the US where four states touch (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah). I made state name signs, while Dan drove miles upon end. We reached the four corners site, but to our dismay, it was not what we expected. The area was run down and supposedly under construction (I hope so). It looked as though a hurricane had passed through and destroyed the area. We took some sweet pictures which incorporated our B-plan with the signs and then quickly left, heading for Utah toward Capitol Reef National Park.Our drive towards Capitol Reef opened my eyes to the terrain in Utah---red rocks, desert-like conditions, and not much civilization. In fact, there was one stretch where Dan and I drove for 120+ miles without seeing even a gas station (watch your gas, keep it above half way if you can). About 30 minutes from the park, we stopped at a random convenience grocery store for some food, and continued the trek onward. We reached Capitol Reef hoping to make camping reservations for the evening. Unfortunately, we failed to realize that this was a weekend day, and it would be hard to get a camping spot even weeks in advance. We made the choice to see Capitol Reef in a few short hours and then would have to head 1.5 hours toward our next park and closest town adding on to the driving for the day. Capitol reef proved to be smaller than we thought, as we hiked to the sunset point, saw the petroglyphs, and did a four mile hike around to pretty much see most of the park. We headed out early evening, satisfied by what we had seen, and made our way to a random area in the middle of no where called Green River. Luckily, we hit the jackpot, and there was a campsite available at the Green River Campground, more like a community park, than a campground but oh well! We had a great dinner with some Luna de Luna wine and naturally decided to do a little exploring. We took an evening stroll to the actual Green River and down the road toward town where we found a local street carnival going on, which turned out to be more of a high school rage than anything. I hadn't been to a carnival in years, but no joke, this thing was one of the worst I have ever seen. haha. Oh well, it was fun to people watch and watching Dan try to take a short cut and almost end up falling in a water channel that he thought was dried up.
The next day, Dan and I were eager to get to Arches National Park, so we headed out bright and early, and successfully, bright and early. Dan absolutely loves Arches and could not stop talking about it until we finally reached the place. I was awestruck at the beauty of the park and could see why it was considered Dan's favorite. Since we had to spread our time between Arches and Canyonlands, we made our way to Dan's favorite arches, balanced rock, delicate, and window. Two of the arches required decent hikes, and with desert conditions, which we naturally ran, leaving me parched, but it was totally worth it.
Following the arch sightings, we headed to Canyonlands National Park---a little over an hour away. Dan had never been here, so we were anxious to compare it to Arches. The park proved to be beautiful with it's vast canyon system that looked like it would continue on forever. We saw the park pretty quickly and following my episode of sitting on a cactus, we decided to head back to Moab for dinner and to set up camp. Canyonlands, although a spectacular place, was not nearly as beautiful as Arches in my opinion.
We made our way back through Moab and set up our dusty camp at the KOA on the outskirts of town. Unfortunately, the place reeked of trash and it was hard to keep the tent down because of the dust and 40 mph winds, but at least the showers were first class! We grabbed a bite to eat at the Moab Brewery, I got an awesome commemorative glass, and we walked downtown Moab for a bit. The downtown reminded me of a smaller Boulder, and had a great, friendly vibe to it.
After a windy, slightly uncomfortable night of sleep, we packed up and headed out on our trek back to Boulder. At this point, I was doing everything possible to keep Dan awake, since he had been doing all the driving (I can't drive stick), so we decided to make a stop at Colorado National Monument Park. We got to use our parks pass again (a plus) and surprisingly, this place was beautiful, with it's tree and rock formations. We took a bunch of great pictures, and headed out. A pit stop or two later in the mountains off I-70, we finally made it back to Boulder, CO. Exhausted, but totally worth it. Never in my life, had I been on a trip like the one I had just experienced. It was a great feeling, and even more gratifying to know that I had done it with my best friend.
4.5 days. 1300 miles. 5 national parks later.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Bolder Boulder 10K
Memorial Day:
When I originally heard about this race and how many people it draws I thought it was going to be a shit show. I mean it cant be easy to organize such an event. However the more and more I heard people talking about it, it turned into a must attend event, and im so glad that I did it.
On Sunday the night before the race I volunteered and helped set up the start line and sound system. It was a little labor intensive moving huge speakers and taking a ride on one of the sketchiest scissor lifts ever in order to get those speakers up on top of the towering scaffolding. All this to earn free entry into the race.
Since I dont have a huge history of road racing, I didnt have a qualifying time to get me into a qualifying wave. To be honest, I did the 2000 Fathers Day 5k in Rochester, the 2008 Montclair 5k and a few sprint triathlons and thats about it! The rest are track meets where I pole vaulted. That's how new I am to racing. That aside I was extremely excited to make my 10k debut and get a time on the board to work off of.
Race Day morning:
I got out to the start line, which is conveniently located less then a block from my house, @6:30 to watch the starting waves and to try to get pictures of Emma and Kylee in the seeded waves A and AA. It was a mad house, I didnt see anyone I knew. They announced that @56,000 runners had signed up for the race, a record year.
There were a few logistical issues that needed to be worked out. First off, I wanted my camera with me at the finish, and Kylee needed her keys in order to grab her car and hit up the post race parties. So, I waited in the mobile locker line for about 30 mins to check the gear that would be transported for me to her at the finish line. Little did I know that they wouldnt even allow her to pick it up even though it was in her name and bib number.
After about an hour of waves going off every 5 mins, It was my turn. I had a short 10 min warm up and stretch and then waited in the mass of bodies for about 20, so that was somewhat useless. I was a little nervous but had rehearsed the race (riding it on my bike a week earlier) and felt rested and ready.
Joining me in my wave was the Denver Nuggets Mascot and 2 CU grads in their cap and gowns. There were a lot of people dressed up and for the most part it was more of a party then an actual race.
The start was announced by bugle and gun and like fox hounds, we were off! The first mile was downhill and it didnt take me more then 800m to catch up with the slower runners from the sequential wave. I started weaving and cutting in wherever I could, aided by a group of polished shirtless runners who lead the way.
At @2 miles was the first water station, I didnt drink but I lost my pack of guys in the mass of people and I was going to have to break through on my own from there. The side lines were strune with fans offering everything from Bacon and Doughnuts to Beer and tots. There was Elvis and other live bands belting out fantastic classic tunes. You couldnt help but feed off all that energy and march on. The Colfax Marathon Relay was sort of like this but not at this magnitude. I mean they had slip and slides, sprinklers, and kiddy pools for those who needed to cool off (Scott took a dive).
My goal for half the race was actually to try to catch up to Chris who was in the first of the G waves (about 15 mins ahead). Mile three down 19th street was my favorite but then getting into all the following turns, the crowd started to bottle neck and I got slowed down considerably. I then heard this pick up line from a hs cheerleader..."how long have you been modeling?" Mile 4 concluded at the course's highest elevation and my plan was to take off at that point. I didnt really reach that point with as much energy as I thought I would have left and I was about 1 min off pace already. I did pick it up coming down the hill but once again with the turns near Pearl St., the crowd began to bottle neck. On top of that we were nearing the later parts of the race an more and more people began walking and not keeping to the sides, nor single file. Yea its safe to say that I worked for my finish time.
Folsom street was inspirational, I started passing out high fives and it really did increase my energy. With the stadium in sight I tried to open up my stride as much as possible, but all the weaving didnt really help. When I got into the stadium there was a huge roar but also familiar voices from the stands. Kylee and Scott were there and I threw up a quick gang sign before turning on the after burners and beating as many 11 yr olds to the finish as possible. They are going to need to get used to disappointment.
Post finish I was happy with my effort, not so much the time but I know I could have at least matched my goal and will definitely get it next time out. By far that was the most fun race I've ever experienced! We were corralled up the hill to tag drop off and snack pack pick up. I downed about 4 cups of water and then walked around for 20 mins looking for any familiar faces, it was a mad house at CU's Folsom Stadium. It reminded me of Penn Relays.
Here are the results:
Dan
Wave: GL
overall place:
1280
division place:
38/481
gender place:
1131/22554
00:43:15.82
*I had passed over 600 people in 6.2 miles and still broke 45 mins.
Kylee
Wave: AA
overall place:
691
division place:
1/686
gender place:
58/26494
time:00:40:47.21
The post race party included a BBQ picnic at Emma's where we had a reunion of the Colfax Marathon Relay team D.I.R.T. that lasted into the night. I survived my first 10k and plan on getting into the seeded waves next year and bettering my time.
When I originally heard about this race and how many people it draws I thought it was going to be a shit show. I mean it cant be easy to organize such an event. However the more and more I heard people talking about it, it turned into a must attend event, and im so glad that I did it.
On Sunday the night before the race I volunteered and helped set up the start line and sound system. It was a little labor intensive moving huge speakers and taking a ride on one of the sketchiest scissor lifts ever in order to get those speakers up on top of the towering scaffolding. All this to earn free entry into the race.
Since I dont have a huge history of road racing, I didnt have a qualifying time to get me into a qualifying wave. To be honest, I did the 2000 Fathers Day 5k in Rochester, the 2008 Montclair 5k and a few sprint triathlons and thats about it! The rest are track meets where I pole vaulted. That's how new I am to racing. That aside I was extremely excited to make my 10k debut and get a time on the board to work off of.
Race Day morning:
I got out to the start line, which is conveniently located less then a block from my house, @6:30 to watch the starting waves and to try to get pictures of Emma and Kylee in the seeded waves A and AA. It was a mad house, I didnt see anyone I knew. They announced that @56,000 runners had signed up for the race, a record year.
There were a few logistical issues that needed to be worked out. First off, I wanted my camera with me at the finish, and Kylee needed her keys in order to grab her car and hit up the post race parties. So, I waited in the mobile locker line for about 30 mins to check the gear that would be transported for me to her at the finish line. Little did I know that they wouldnt even allow her to pick it up even though it was in her name and bib number.
After about an hour of waves going off every 5 mins, It was my turn. I had a short 10 min warm up and stretch and then waited in the mass of bodies for about 20, so that was somewhat useless. I was a little nervous but had rehearsed the race (riding it on my bike a week earlier) and felt rested and ready.
Joining me in my wave was the Denver Nuggets Mascot and 2 CU grads in their cap and gowns. There were a lot of people dressed up and for the most part it was more of a party then an actual race.
The start was announced by bugle and gun and like fox hounds, we were off! The first mile was downhill and it didnt take me more then 800m to catch up with the slower runners from the sequential wave. I started weaving and cutting in wherever I could, aided by a group of polished shirtless runners who lead the way.
At @2 miles was the first water station, I didnt drink but I lost my pack of guys in the mass of people and I was going to have to break through on my own from there. The side lines were strune with fans offering everything from Bacon and Doughnuts to Beer and tots. There was Elvis and other live bands belting out fantastic classic tunes. You couldnt help but feed off all that energy and march on. The Colfax Marathon Relay was sort of like this but not at this magnitude. I mean they had slip and slides, sprinklers, and kiddy pools for those who needed to cool off (Scott took a dive).
My goal for half the race was actually to try to catch up to Chris who was in the first of the G waves (about 15 mins ahead). Mile three down 19th street was my favorite but then getting into all the following turns, the crowd started to bottle neck and I got slowed down considerably. I then heard this pick up line from a hs cheerleader..."how long have you been modeling?" Mile 4 concluded at the course's highest elevation and my plan was to take off at that point. I didnt really reach that point with as much energy as I thought I would have left and I was about 1 min off pace already. I did pick it up coming down the hill but once again with the turns near Pearl St., the crowd began to bottle neck. On top of that we were nearing the later parts of the race an more and more people began walking and not keeping to the sides, nor single file. Yea its safe to say that I worked for my finish time.
Folsom street was inspirational, I started passing out high fives and it really did increase my energy. With the stadium in sight I tried to open up my stride as much as possible, but all the weaving didnt really help. When I got into the stadium there was a huge roar but also familiar voices from the stands. Kylee and Scott were there and I threw up a quick gang sign before turning on the after burners and beating as many 11 yr olds to the finish as possible. They are going to need to get used to disappointment.
Post finish I was happy with my effort, not so much the time but I know I could have at least matched my goal and will definitely get it next time out. By far that was the most fun race I've ever experienced! We were corralled up the hill to tag drop off and snack pack pick up. I downed about 4 cups of water and then walked around for 20 mins looking for any familiar faces, it was a mad house at CU's Folsom Stadium. It reminded me of Penn Relays.
Here are the results:
Dan
Wave: GL
overall place:
1280
division place:
38/481
gender place:
1131/22554
00:43:15.82
*I had passed over 600 people in 6.2 miles and still broke 45 mins.
Kylee
Wave: AA
overall place:
691
division place:
1/686
gender place:
58/26494
time:00:40:47.21
The post race party included a BBQ picnic at Emma's where we had a reunion of the Colfax Marathon Relay team D.I.R.T. that lasted into the night. I survived my first 10k and plan on getting into the seeded waves next year and bettering my time.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Colfax Marathon Relay
http://www.coloradocolfaxmarathon.org/
http://www.coloradocolfaxmarathon.org/CharityPartners/CharityPartnersProgram.aspx
Colfax Marathon Relay D.I.R.T
Got up @5 after not getting much sleep. I guess I was anxious for my first road race in 2 years (not counting Triathlons). I had a bowl of oat meal and a banana for breakfast.
Left the house in Boulder for Denver at 5:45 to drop Emma and Kylee (leg 3 and leg 5) off at their respectable transition zones.
The marathon started with Chris as lead off (3.8 miles) at 6:05am. He made sure to get there early and was rewarded with a great front of the pack starting spot with the 7 min mile pace racers and was accompanied by Full, half and Relay loonies.
Soon after the start I arrived at my T zone which I thought was probably the coolest one. We had 2 live bands playing and a guy in a gorilla suit running around.
Chris handed off to Scott for the 2nd leg of 5 miles after 26 mins of glory and as one of the top 10 teams. Scott had a boring straight shot down Colfax Ave., but wasted no time in collecting colored bib numbers and improved our positioning, set the tone of D.I.R.T with his 33min shift. So fast in fact that Emma was not even ready. She was expecting him 10 mins later and didnt have time to warm up let alone get her warm ups off to show her unique uniform. She jumped to the line and sped away under stress. When she passed my transition zone I hardly recognized her because I was looking for her in blue. We call her leg "incognito" since she passed 2 more teams that didnt even know she was a relay runner (due to the hidden bib number and D.I.R.T uniform). Emma had a leg that would choke a pack mule..7.4 miles out and back with about a 300ft elevation gain. Poor planning by the race committee on that one. Miraculously though she was able to finish in just 47 mins, right on the time I was expecting her.
It was hard for me to see the runners since they had to come into a parking lot to reach the transition. I waited at the road and then ran back to the arch when I saw her. The plan was to hand her the keys to the truck and for her to trade me with a watch (somehow I forgot my watch at home, huge freshman mistake), and I was also supposed to tell her where the truck was while I stomped down on my way. I pretty much went out at the same pace that Emma came in, which was 6:30-7:00 min pace approx.
It was a smooth transition and Scott actually could have been there for it but the race officials told him to walk the wrong way to catch the bus back to the start/finish at City Park.
I passed 2 full marathon runners in the first mile and held one of them off until the conclusion of the second. This is where my calf tightened up and pretty much shut down. My shins also locked up and I ran in the grass for a bit to see if that would help. Leg 4 was included a majestic lake (Sloans Lake) where I could see the next leading relay team of women (I really wanted to pass this team-Team Boulder Express), but she was half way around the lake, and I had no concept of pace or time, so I kept it conservative for probably longer then I should have. I ran from mile 18 to 21, the point in the race that kills the full marathoners, I passed 2 more who just about had it. However with a mile to go I planned on kicking some Lycra and striding out to the finish. I was hindered at that point by a hill that pretty much broke my stride and made me second guess how much I had left in me. The view of Mile High Stadium and the Aquarium summoned what im good at.. kicking a great finish. I guess it didnt hurt that it was mainly downhill either. I passed a member of the Denver Road Runners. 4.7 miles never felt so long!
I saw Kylee rearing to go, I guess after a 2 hour wait you would be that ready too. Not knowing my time exactly but I knew we were still on pace for our goal time of breaking 3 hours. I high fived our anchor leg and she was off after handing me her bag of warm up gear. The Marathon started at 41* but by this time the sun was high (only about 8am still) and more like 46*. Kylee had a smooth 5.3 mile journey about downtown Denver. She got to see all the sights.. city hall, Broadway, and some really sketch areas of dead quiet. What she didnt notice (and what we found out later) was she ran through a gas leak that later on at 9am the fire fighters were called to action for. Race officials were faced with a decision to either let the racers run through it, or divert and add to the course at mile 22. They decided to put the racers in danger. Kylee gunned down an impressive 31 min leg, passing 2 relay teams and finishing us up with a time of 3:54!! Go D.I.R.T!!
Emma picked me up at the Aquarium and we all met up at city park for some BBQ, free beer, energy drinks and good times. For a few of the members of the team this would be the first time they would meet, knowing only that they wore the same shirt. Its great when running can bring people together.
In all the organization of the event wasnt the best and the Colfax course takes a lot of imagination to battle though (pretty boring).
We placed 6th of all 450 relay teams and 1st of 150 teams in the Co-ed/Charity division. We received the great honor of the Colfax cup with a pair of complimentary Native Shades for each member. I want to extend my gratitude to all the volunteers, including the nice old couple at mile 20 that took it upon themselves to set up and fund their own water station. And to the team for getting the job done and coming away with our goal realized and a well deserved win. See ya'll next year when we defend our title, and better our time.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Denver Zoo
http://www.denverzoo.org/
giraffes tongues
camera skills
cold day
Great Divide Brewing http://www.greatdivide.com/
giraffes tongues
camera skills
cold day
Great Divide Brewing http://www.greatdivide.com/
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
We were going to hit up Winter Park to ski but the road conditions were very poor and we had to make a game time decision...It was either spend the day in a ditch or go and have fun in Denver. This is the B-plan we came up with:
We turned around just outside of Morrison (past Red Rocks), and stopped off at the Colorado Mills mall to change out of our ski gear. We searched the map for an educational outing in the area and decided on the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This was going to be my first time in a museum of science in years and id be a liar if I said I wasnt getting excited about it. We jumped out of the car and nearly pushed a group of tots out of the way to get into the ticket line. Well actually Kylee went to the museum ticket line and I went in the wrong one which ended up being the body worlds exibit. It was 9:30 by this time and we had 3 levels to search through and explore. We started with the insects, taking a look at the largest most colorful butterflies I've ever seen. I think they were from Chili. We should probably check out the Butterfly Pavilian some time. Next we boarded a space ship and headed out into space. We were in our own element, having more fun then the kids surrounding us were.
href="http://www.yardhouse.com/default.aspx">The Yard House
We turned around just outside of Morrison (past Red Rocks), and stopped off at the Colorado Mills mall to change out of our ski gear. We searched the map for an educational outing in the area and decided on the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This was going to be my first time in a museum of science in years and id be a liar if I said I wasnt getting excited about it. We jumped out of the car and nearly pushed a group of tots out of the way to get into the ticket line. Well actually Kylee went to the museum ticket line and I went in the wrong one which ended up being the body worlds exibit. It was 9:30 by this time and we had 3 levels to search through and explore. We started with the insects, taking a look at the largest most colorful butterflies I've ever seen. I think they were from Chili. We should probably check out the Butterfly Pavilian some time. Next we boarded a space ship and headed out into space. We were in our own element, having more fun then the kids surrounding us were.
href="http://www.yardhouse.com/default.aspx">The Yard House
Friday, March 5, 2010
BANFF Mountain Film Festival Boulder
Humble beginnings:
I moved to Boulder at the end of Jan. 2010, jobless in unfamiliar territory. I had a few friends in Denver and was slowly building my acquaintance list in Boulder. My days consisted of a daily regiment of job applications and rigorous triathlon training blocks. With my sister I had signed up for a Half Ironman 70.3 in Syracuse 9/19/2010 on a whim but had plenty of time to become an endurance athlete. One of the first road blocks I ran into here in Colorado was the altitude. I had thought I was an athlete before I moved here but the altitude is debilitating and on top of that you are surrounded by other extremely fit individuals. I would get on the treadmill at the gym at 8 min pace and only make it 800m until I had to call uncle. I think my buddy Chris said it best, "I hide it, I dont tell people im a skier or a runner, I just say that I sometimes hang out at the mountain and join the occasional nightly run club." The standard here is much higher. The bar having been raised, I tried to go out on runs forcing myself into uncharted waters on routes over 3 miles. I was running 6 min pace for a mile in NY but out here I couldn't even better 8 min pace. I loved the fact that I was able to run outside in January as I took to a bit of trail running/photography sessions. A goal setter, I wanted to reach the goal of 2:30 or better for an Olympic Triathlon and @4:30 for my first Half Ironman. These are ambitions goals as it turns out and I needed help from someone who knew what they were doing. I had never been a distance runner, frankly I never understood it, I always got bored with my thoughts after 20 mins and in order to reach my goal of becoming an Ironman I had to indulge in this new culture.
I began to look into those run clubs that Chris mentioned. Fleet Feet running store in Boulder had a team and a night group run. Its a chain running store, and I was familiar with the name at least. I tracked down Kylee who was a legit runner in college and broke contact with her. I think right away she understood what I was up against and immediately took me under her wing. She was just as eager as I was to meet new people to run with so we met a few days later for what would be my longest run to date 5.8 miles. I knew ahead of time that this was going to be a death sentence, that she was going to show me up and run me into the ground but I did it anyway. No not out of desperation, but out of the same love for the sport that we later found a commonality.
As predicted, her "easy" pace almost killed me. It definitely brought me back to reality, however the endorphins must have been spiking for this coed post run because after running my ass into the ground she asked me if I would like to join her to the film festival in Boulder. We agreed to a drink prior to that as well. We parted ways for a few hours, I got in a nap to recoup and we met up at the Mountain Sun Pub.
I greeted her out front with, "You clean up nice" which is a great quality to have as a female athlete. MSP is sort of like a brewery, in that it only sells craft beer and up till now I had not experienced much of the local tastes. I soon found out that Kylee was a Stout girl (stout month at MSP is in Feb.)
After some introductory conversation (since I couldn't really talk that much on our run) we headed down the street to the BANFF event. Being in a room with so many other outdoor enthusiasts both men and women alike justified my move halfway across the country in search of like minded people in one fail swoop.
This stunt was unvailed and had us all in awe
At the conclusion of the film I was overwhelmed with feelings and ideas of jumping my car over or off something. I was excited and my adventurous spirit had been reawakened. I was home, that home where your heart was waiting for you to find it. I realized this after watching more then half the crowd mount their bikes parked out side and ride home into the night. This wasn't necessarily a date but it was definitely the beginning of a beautiful friendship and partnership that is very fitting for the first entry in this blog.
**This video epitomizes the thinking that will undertone of my adventures with my adventure buddy. Now get out there and have some fun.
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