Busy July

The month of July is more than half over, and I have to admit that I'm thankful for it. Ben and I have had such a busy month thus far and sadly with no relief in sight. Don't get me wrong, a lot of what is happening is positive, fun even, but throw in a few exams, long work days, appointments and lengthy to-do lists and the joy is wrenched right out of the summer month.  This weekend we just had to say no to some friends who we've been meaning to see all summer, and instead of camping-goodness we stayed home to try and catch up on those to-do's: Ben shopping for appliances and tile while I am left studying for my summer class and filling out my CASPA application. For our sanity (well, maybe I'm the only one bordering insanity), we did sneak in a few hours of relaxation and fun:

A yummy home cooked meal on Friday night: pasta sauce with veggies and a little lemon basil that my coworker gave me from her sizeable garden (I'm not jealous at all...), arugula salad with home made dressing and a little vino. 

Farmers' market goodies.

Sunday breakfast including another farmers' market treat, but this one coming from the Green Bay market.

And, finally, this morning (after watching Le Tour, of course) we set out for Winter Park area for some altitude training. I ran for two hours and Ben rode for the same time. We've had a little heat wave here in Colorado, and despite the elevation, we still struggled with stifling heat and bright sunshine. 

I pulled out my phone once I began my descent and took a few photos - a good excuse to stop for a few seconds. :)

Alright, so I ran just shy of two hours. This is only the second run in about 1.5 weeks I've managed! I felt alright, but the break did not do much good for my training.

Post-run snack time. Higgins sports a pretty sweet mustache with his duck breast treat. These are two tired pups.

Bvanberg after his ride. 

I might be silent here, in my space, for the remainder of the month and possibly through August. To keep you up-to-date with our oh-so-exciting life, here's what we have on the docket for the remainder of the summer:

I will finish my microbiology class over the next three weeks. Three exams, one project. Oy vey.

Remodel (2.0) will pick back up this week with the help of some contractors. We should have a new bathroom and kitchen in a couple of months!

Ben has a couple of mountain bike races and functions over the next few weeks.

My college friend, Amanda, will be coming to visit for a week at the beginning of August (yay!).

My CASPA application is due September 1, and my goal is to submit before my next big trip.

In August, I'm going to Honduras to visit my sister for 9 days!

That brings us to August 21st when I return from Honduras. If you know me well enough, you might have noticed that I made no mention of my birthday, which is coming up this week. Well, that would be because I do not intend to celebrate until September. Yes, September. I have an exam on my birthday and as you see we have things going on from now until...next year... OK, I'm being a big complainer. Blame it on the exam prep I am currently procrastinating. Alas! I will return, in time, with pictures and details of our travels and adventures.

Wishing you all a pleasant summer. 

Off to the Midwest We Go

To Mama's garden:

To Grandpa Lee's cottage:

To "The Good Land". 

I love summertime in the Midwest.

Walker Ranch

Sneezeweed

White Fairy Trumpet

Penstemon

Pink Fairy Trumpet

Columbines

Looking over Boulder from Flagstaff Mountain.

Vail Hill Climb Race

Earlier this week, I received an email from Colorado Runner Magazine letting me know about a trail race series in Vail. The second race in the series just so happened to be a hill climb race at altitude and over the upcoming weekend. Thus far, my altitude training for Imogene has included one run above 9000 feet. Period. Needless to say, I need a lot more high altitude training under my belt before I attempt 17.5 miles and over 5500 feet of elevation gain. This run seemed to fit perfectly into my training schedule with a little over two months of training left: a 7.5 mile hill climb starting at 8,250 feet and ending at 10,335 feet (gaining 2100 feet). So, on Saturday morning Ben and I woke way too early and drove up to Vail so I could run the race. 

The day was ideal for racing: a cool 50 degrees and a little sunshine. I was surprised to hear that there were a little over 400 competitors, including some of the top trail runners in the state, signed up for the race. Not knowing how I would fair on the course, I was comforted knowing there would be plenty of competition to help me up the mountain. After a five minute delay due to moose (a mama and baby) on the trail, we left Vail Village to climb to the top of Vail Mountain.

I sat back from the lead pack, unsure of where I should be racing but very sure that I did not want to start off too hard only to be found later wandering off the side of the mountain, delirious from oxygen-debt, altitude sickness and exhaustion. In retrospect, I probably should have started off a little stronger with a pack of girls I was about 100 meters behind when we started the ascent. 

Ben was able to ride the gondola up to the finish line while I raced. He had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery before the first finishers came through and snapped a few pictures including Mount Powell and Mount of the Holy Cross while he waited. Meanwhile, I was crawling up the mountain watching the mile markers as I slowly moved passed them, praying for that last turn to the finish line. The course was pretty tolerable in that along with the hill climb came a few level sections of road leaving some room for recovery. My goals for the race included 1) finishing, 2) running the entire course, and 3) not to develop any altitude sickness symptoms (or pancreatitis, which unfortunately happened to me once during a trail run in La Crosse). I guess I had little, if any, control over the third goal, but I knew that hydration and self-restraint (pace!) would help. Fatigue came in waves and presented itself in many forms. There was the general cardiovascular fatigue (lungs) which, admittedly, I didn't experience all that often, the leg fatigue including a little cramping in the calves and hips (I felt like a PAD patient), stomach cramps, dizziness and plain old exhaustion. The worst of it was the leg fatigue: I just couldn't turn them over after 6 miles. I let two females (probably both in my age group) pass me in that time with no hopes of catching them again. The last mile and a half dragged on and on as we climbed up and up. Of course, the trail was generally more difficult at the end because of the high altitude, but I'm also fairly certain the hill grade was the steepest in the end. Many, many people were walk-running intermittently and I gave in on one of the very last climbs to the finish and walked. I was dizzy and near complete exhaustion. Those are my excuses, anyway. I walked for about 30 seconds and started back up the final stretch. I had nothing left to give and you can see that in my finishing photos. 

I took a very long time to recover after I finished, but I did it! I ran the 7.5 mile race in 1:12:34, which is 9:40 pace. It seems so slow to me, but to put my pace into perspective, the winning female (who you can read a little about here) ran 8:46 min/mile pace. The results show that I was fourth in my age group and the 12th overall female. After the fact, I'm cursing myself for letting those two females get so far ahead of me at the end of the race. Easy to say now that it's over. 

Overall I'm very pleased with my performance. With zero high altitude race experience, I think I managed to keep myself in the competition fairly well. I was never all that cardiovascularly fatigued - in fact, most people around me were breathing much harder than I - which tells me I just need a little more training at altitude and stronger legs and I'll be pretty competitive. If I'm still in Colorado next summer, I'd like to give this race another go and compete with the top females.

Finally recovered enough to move around again:

You can see the results here.

Higgins is 7.5 Months!

Neighborhood Walk

Ornamental Sweet Pea

Slim Scurfpea

Prickly Pear Cactus Plant

Coneflower (Mexican Hat)