An awesome sleep. Hud and I went up to Dry Creek - the city smells like a campfire. Mostly from the re-emerging fire near Fort Collins. The Estes Park fire destroyed 21 houses yesterday but is under control - but at 1am they evacuated the town of Manitou Spring, a town of 5,000 down south at the foot of Pikes Peak
Saw Tumbles who was on the way out and caught up with Dick, Trouble and Sadie. Hud and Sadie played like goofballs the entire 2.1 miles. Hud even had one major wipe-out; he couldn't take one sharp turn so he slid on his side. Looks like he was ok as he kept running
Week ending Sunday June 24
Hudson 8.1 miles - he is 175 miles ahead of last year (year beginning October 1) at this point
Chris 46.2 miles with 4,158' with two summits
SATURDAY - SLACKER HALF MARATHON
After an OK but restless sleep - that ended too early with Hudson walking around on the bed - we left at 5:30am. Arrived at Georgetown at 6:40am and easily registered. Then we stood in line 30 minutes waiting for a shuttle (school bus) to take us to the start at Loveland Ski Area (10,630'). Over the next 13.1 miles we would descend 2,230'
The start was cool - relaxed with water and plenty of port-a-potties (the worst part of races). The first 5 miles was beatiful through shady woods with seasonal streams on a paved path. Was at a 7:15 pace at both the 2 and 4 mile aid stations - this was not sustainable
The next 4+ miles was along a frontage road and there was no hiding from the sun. I left the 8+ mile aid station at 1 hour. I was spending some well invested time at the aid stations as I hadn't eaten enough for breakfast (a muffin and half a cookie) and needed the 60 calories from each cup of gatorade. I did the math - which is always good for passing time - and needed to average about a 7:50 pace to come in under 1:40
The final 3+ miles was along a bike path next to I-70 before turning towards the famous Georgetown Loop (and by some rowdy fans playing AC/DC) before going through town. At the 12-mile marker I had 10 minutes to go - easy. Unfortunately I was spent and the the last part of the race was gently uphill to the finish. Not good. I "sprinted" effort-wise out of fear missing out on a sub-1:40 but no doubt looked something closer to slow motion. Made it though - 1:38:44 chip / 1:38:58 gun - at a 7:32 pace. Good for 76 / 1,333
After getting water, popscicles and my bag of goodies (including nice shirt below) I found shade and waited for Maureen
I expected her about 2:30 and after watching folks finish who were not in as good shape as her I figured something was wrong. Which was true. She had some nasty blisters - including a blood blister - and had to walk the final 4 miles. But, she finished in misery - immediately announcing her retirement from races
The logistics of the race gets an "F". We had to wait 25 minutes in the blazing sun for a shuttle (only one bus was running). We could have walked but at over a mile-and-a-half and Maureen barely able to walk that wasn't an option
It's 112 on our porch and new fire in Estes Park. Brutal June
FRIDAY
Hud did the full 2.1 miles at a mellow jogging pace. Saw Tumbles and Prescott
Tomorrow is the Slacker Half Marathon in Georgetown so kept it mellow and did 5 laps (slow / fast / slow / fast / slow). The fast laps were 1:27 and 1:26 which was nice
THURSDAY
Went to Dry Creek but after 7 minutes of goofing around at a slow pace Hud was done
3.2 miles on Boblink - ankle was good and ran a 7:41 pace
WEDNESDAY
Gave Hud the day off and he was pleased
Met Leadville Chuck early am to do Green Mountain on a much cooler day. A foggy day - here is a pic from the summit
We decided to add on Flagstaff Summit and came upon this guy. He was watching two dogs come up the trail
8.3 miles and 3,464' of gain + another badly rolled ankle on my 5th final step of the day. Another day of ice and compression while working. Duh!
TUESDAY
Dry Creek with Hud. Half-a-mile at 6am - it said it was over 80 so Hud turned around and called it a day
Planning on a half marathon Saturday so did a 12.5 mile run at Teller Farms to make sure I can still run that distance. Good pace of 8:35 with 700' of gain although I should have taken more to drink. 102 on the porch right now
On one hill there was a good view of the smoke from the fire up north. Hard to see in the photo. It's almost at 60,000 acres
MONDAY
Dry Creek with Hud. 2.1 miles at a fast pace then a mile walking with Tumbles. It hit 104 at our house today (on the porch in the sun)
