Caught up!!... kind of

Day 10/ June 15/10 Tuesday

Run (Skip to here if all you want to read about is our runs)

7:45 and all five of us are running through campus. The pace is quick but controlled as we weave through the traffic of CU students. The run is not flat but the hills are gradual and last a long time. The good thing about out and backs is that no matter how high you climb you will always come back to your original starting elevation. I follow Wally as our pace settles into a steady 6:50 clip. Wally runs upright and his steps are much shorter than mine however his feet flash upward and outward much quicker. Running with Wally has always been something that I really enjoy. He is a great runner and an even better racer. When it comes down to it in a race we all know we can always count on him to give it his all and practice is no different. A student of running, Wally has read several books on different philosophies of running and has learned the ins and outs of our sport. What ever Wally does during practice I am sure it is well researched and has an important purpose. We are all looking forward to the racing season in November, however I think it is Wally who is the most anxious for his last chance to qualify for Nationals.

Max and I peel off from the group at a split in the path and run two more minutes out before turning back for home. Overall the run is a success for everyone and we all feel good. Our quads take a beating everyday out here but today we feel as though we were able to give them a break. Max and I lift our back muscles along with our biceps. The lift is great and our arms are dead after the effort. We close out our workout with some abs and bike home to enjoy the sun for the first time in three days!!

We wait for T.J. to get out of class and then we all eat lunch and go for an afternoon hike. We head up the trails that Wally, Max, Sam and I found the first day we got out to boulder. The trail we choose goes straight north and over a ridge we see the mountain we want to climb. We cross Canyon road and start heading up. The climb is extremely steep, much steeper than the other mountain we climbed last week. Wally leads and I am on his heels until we reach some rocks that overhang from the mountainside. It looks like a great place to read and chill so we ask if this will work for Sam as he is the one who just wanted to read on top of a mountain. Sam does not reply which means it is obvious that he would like to go higher. Furious Wally and I decide to punish Sam by running up the hill. T.J. is not happy with our decision and sprints ahead of Wally and I. This does nothing to stop Wally and I as we are determined to let Sammy know that we are not happy we are still climbing. Eventually we realize that no one is following us so Wally and I slow to a walking pace.

The summit is not as high as the mountain we climbed a week ago however it is still very high about 6500 ft in elevation. There are several dogs and people at the summit so seating is limited. We stay up at the top admiring the view for a long enough time where everyone else leaves (it also could have been our smell but whatever). We each find a spot to read and lay down. Only a few words in I fall asleep on top of the mountain only to be woken up by a hawk swooping down the mountain screaming its war call. To the south Denver can be seen and stretching out to the east is Boulder. Directly below us in the valley we spot a gravel trail that looks like it would be great to do a run on. We all pack up our things and start the climb down on the other side of the mountain to try and reach the trail. This side of the mountain is even steeper than the way we came up and T.J. slides several time because his Nike Frees lack the traction of our shoes. Also T.J. is just straight up crazy and loves jumping from rock to rock. Eventually we reach the trail located in the valley and realize (luckily) that the trail is on a steep grade which slopes downward in the direction we need to go (south). From here the walk takes no time at all and we arrive back at lovely 811 marine st. apt. 8.

Once we are back at home I call Comcast again because we have all decided that we are fed up with the unreliability of stealing internet from our neighbors. We order the internet and Wally, Sam, Max and I pile into my car and we drive to pick up the router. Max and Sam come along because they need to be dropped off at Chautauqau for work. Tommy has called dumb and dumber to help him set up cones for an hour. Once we drop Sam and Max off Wally starts setting up the internet while I fire the grill up. Wally has decided to take a break from cooking today so I will be grilling steaks. Sam and Max come back with in an hour and we begin cooking. The steaks take a little longer to grill then excepted however they turn out alright. After dinner we all fool around with our new internet and I decide to start filling out this blog which takes all night. It felt good to be in the sun again and I feel accomplished about the day.

Day 11/June 16/10 Wednesday

Run (Skip to here if you only want to read about our runs)

Usually Wednesday’s are my off days however today I have decided to run 45 min. because my shins have been pain free for four weeks straight. Heading east on the boulder creek the pace feels slow. Yes you heard me correctly the pace feels slow. I usually consider myself a pretty good pacer and it feels like we are running 7:15 pace, then Sam’s Garmin beeps and gives us a 6:44 reading. Huh I guess I’m just getting into better shape, oh and also the way out is down hill but I’m going to attribute this to the fact that I am actually getting into shape. Again my run home is by myself as my assignment is the least out of everyone. The way home is definitely harder but I manage to keep the same pace and finish my 45 min feeling fine. I wait for the others while I stretch outside in our alleyway. It not the most comfortable surface its essentially just a concrete slab but it will do. The others come back and max and I head off to One Boulder Fitness. Today’s lift is chest and tri’s and we both do well. While it is very hard to complete the same number of reps that I am used to back at sea level it is still a great lift as I feel drained after we are done. Max is a great partner because he pushes me to get the last rep instead of just helping me right away; this is a rare thing in the weightlifters community. After weightlifting I say bye to Max and go run some errands. First on my list is to purchase stamps from the post office. While at the post office I mail our first Comcast bill (scary stuff to actually be paying bills now). After the post office it is a quick hop to Chase Bank where I get a statement on my checking’s balance and make sure that my checks are going through. I then ask about my student loans. I have been applying for student loans recently and have been getting piss poor rates and Chase wont even give me a rate because they say I am entering invalid information… whatever. So I ask about the information and the lady says that I can do it over the phone with them and I will just need to tell her the information over the phone.

After Chase I head back home and take a quick nap. After the nap it’s a quick hope to the Safeway on my bike about a mile away. I pick up paper plates for everyone and more cereal for myself. After the store it is time for work, which we haven’t had in a long time. We go to Chautauqau at 4:30 to drop Sam and Max off who are helping the food people move stuff up to the auditorium. While Max and Sam work T.J. Wally and I play Frisbee on the giant grass field which is kind of like Chautauqau’s quad. Once 5:00 rolls around though it is time for work. Michael, a new kid who just got out of school is here today and we are supposed to show him the ropes on what we do. Wally and I take Michael to our stations and show him what we do until Sam comes by in the mule to take him to the east side of the park. The show tonight is almost sold out so there are a lot of cars to direct but Wally and I handle them accordingly and the night goes smoothly. Wally and I both brought the walkie talkies that we used for the car ride up to Boulder so the night is much more enjoyable. Half way through the evening the gentlemen who lives in the cabin next to my station comes out to talk to me about geophysics and what the profession entails. He is very kind and I really enjoy talking to him. His name is earl and he has been coming up to Boulder every summer since 1939. He tells me of how the place used to look and how it has changed over the years. Once Earl leaves me to my duties I notice that Wally is talking to three runners who are stretching by where he is stationed. After the runners leave I use the walkie talkie to ask Wally about who they are. Wally tells me that they are runners from a division one school out in PA.

Wally and I joke around a bit more on the walkies and then before we know it, is time to go. Before I leave Earl comes back and gives me a magazine about geophysics and says that if I’m at all interested that I should come back and talk with him. I may actually take him up on that offer. With the night closed for Max, Wally and I, we head home and wait for T.J. and Sam to be done. At home I write this blog while Max plays around on his computer and Wally hooks up with Musty for some online gaming. An hour later Sam calls and I go to pick him up. The night went just as smoothly for him and he is happy with the day. I wait until 11:30 and then get a call from T.J. He has worked a lot tonight and is very hungry however he says that the nigh went well for him also. With everyone accounted for we call it a night and hit the hay. Get money money get money monay!!!!

Day 12/June 17/10 Thursday

Run

7:45 and I am at the turnaround point of my run, by myself, on a gravel trail that has only been going up from the first minute. Insert lost flashback noise here.

It is 7:30 and we are heading out the door to do our run. I have the shortest assignment today with 30 while the others have 50 to 65. I have elected to do today’s run by myself so as to truly recover and rest my shins. While the rest of the group turns to head south on 9^th I run north to the trail head that we found yesterday on our hike. Our house is located at the bottom of the hill that boulder sits on, so no matter what direction we run from our house we are going up hill. I run conservative for the first couple of minutes and slowly build into a 7 flat pace. The entire run is uphill and when I hit the trailhead the grade increases. I feel like I am handling the hills well however I cannot wait for my watch to click 15. I go past 15 and turn around at 17 because the return trip will be all down hill. I reach home feeling great and my shin has minimal pain. I feel very comfortable about today’s run and look forward to pushing myself on Saturday’s long run.

I eat breakfast while I wait for the others to run. Once Max gets back from his run we go to lift at one boulder fitness. Today is shoulders (my least favorite day) and the lift goes smooth. We return home to eat lunch and wait for T.J. to get back from class. While waiting Wally sees a local commercial on T.V. for a Pizza joint that offers a free 14 pound pizza for whoever can eat it. Upon hearing this Wally makes one of his faces like really and then proclaims, “dude 7 pounds of bread… we could nut on that!!” Looks like we have found a free meal that is sure to fill us up! T.J. comes back from class and we all pile into the Maxima and drive an hour to Rocky Mountain National Park. The whole drive is up hill and we have quickly reached 8000 feet in elevation. The park is located west of St. Estes, which is this little one street town that has cable cars to take you up some of the peaks. A mile outside the St. Estes the road dead ends at some tollbooth looking buildings. The guard asks for the 20 dollar entrance fee and while Wally is talking to him, Sam who is sitting shotgun starts talking to this really hot guard in the booth to our right. It turns out that she is also from Illinois and we stay to talk to her for a little while before continuing on our journey.

While the whole ride has been up hill, the climb really begins to steepen while the road switches back up the mountainsides. We pull over for a quick break at one of the many pull offs and we go to explore the forests that line the mountains. We are already at 9000 feet elevation and are nowhere near any of the peaks. The temperature has dropped dramatically and snow can be seen in the shade here. We explore the forest for enough time that we find a log, which acts like a bridge over a small creek. Once we have all proven to ourselves that we can cross a creek on a wobbly log we head back to the car and continue our climb to the snowy peaks. Stopping a couple of more times to take some epic pictures, we eventually work our way up to 12,000 feet. It is extremely windy and as we open the car doors this fact becomes extremely apparent to us. No trees grow here and the only other color besides gray is the white of the snow. My brain cannot comprehend what I am seeing as I look out for the first time. Forever to the west are mountaintops, some much higher then where we are standing. Back to the east lies the gentle downward slope of the forest (which isn’t that gentle at all, in only 45 miles from boulder we have ascended more than 5000 feet). A little bit further down the road (literally downward as we now make our way back down the mountain) there is a log cabin, which sells food and souvenirs. Wally and T.J. both get Elk meat and comment on how good it is.

Back in the car we turn around and head back up the mountain and then back down the side we came up. Before we leave the top however we stop to build a snowman. We get the ratios wrong as each of the three parts are the same size, however it is still a decent snowman. He does not receive arms but we do find enough rocks to give him eyes and a smile. With our snowman complete there is only one thing left to do, stand back and throw rocks at him until he is destroyed. Each of us score hits, but Wally decides to take matters into his own hands and tackles the remains of our snowman. With the destruction over we make our way back down the mountain and back into St. Estes.

In the town we find a place to park and Wally stays with the car to take a nap. The four of us explore the one street town and discover it is nothing but candy shops and out door gear stores. We still manage to spend more than a half hour there and Max, T.J. and I all end up getting something from one of the candy stores. I buy Wally a cookie and we all head back to wake sleeping beauty. Back on the road T.J. asks for us to pull off at a spot he heard was good for running. The spot turns out to be just a look out point however it is not a waste of time. Here at the lookout point are a ton of little chipmunks that have no fear of humans. They climb all over us and we feed them some chips.

The rest of the way home goes uninterrupted and the day ends early for almost everyone in our group. After dinner T.J., Max and Sam only stay awake for a little while before calling it a night. Wally and I decide to go walk around down town and check out the nightlife of Boulder. We get home late but had a good time on the town. Another busy day that flew bye, I am loving Boulder!