New York City

We just got back from a wonderful long weekend

in New York, where Zach was running a 1/2 marathon.

Here are a few pictures!

Colorado summer

Since we've been back in Colorado

after our Cali & Chicago trips, 

we've had plenty of summertime

going on.

Like racing,

Fireworks with friends at the lake,

mountain biking,

hiking,

and enjoying some time with family!

Long Beach Half Marathon

Z ran the Long Beach Half Marathon

on October 7.

We had to get up super early to leave our

friends' house in LA & make the trek

down to Long Beach to find some parking...

in addition to the half, there was also the full marathon, 

a bike "tour", a 5K, a handcycle race, and a walk, 

so there were over 25,000 people participating, 

plus the spectators.

Here's Z before the sun even came up.

This guy did the bike tour on a unicycle!

Around mile 2

Mile 6

My view at the finish.

Unfortunately they kept all spectators

well away from the finish gate,

so I had a hard time capturing the end

of Z's race.

It's ok, though, because he took 9th place.

Not too bad in a race of over 11,000 people!

14er on the 4th

Z's mother came out to visit us for

the 4th of July.

Among packing in tons of other

fun stuff during her time in Boulder, 

we had a very full 4th.

We started off watching Z 

run a 5k.

Then we drove up to 

Mount Evans,

one of Colorado's 50+ peaks

over 14,000 ft.

We had a great time seeing an elk herd, 

climbing the short trail to the summit, 

(where it started snowing), 

 and taking tons of photos, 

before heading back to a holiday picnic!

Teva Mountain Games

At the beginning of June

Z had a chance to run in the 

Teva Mountain Games.

He did the Vail Pass Half,

 which consists of a near-3,000 foot

elevation gain in 13.8 miles.

Sounds fun, right?

While he ran up a giant mountain, 

I took in some of the other events.

The most fun, of course, is Dock Dogs.

See more jumping canines here.

Bolder Boulder

We got back from Washington 

just in time for Memorial Day, 

which in Boulder, 

means Bolder Boulder day.

It's a 10k with about 55,000 people

that ends at Folsom Field.

The evening before, Z 

did a Blessing of the Shoes.

This was the view just off the starting area.

Here come the leaders early in the race.

(The guys in the red/white singlets are on Z's team.)

This is the view of the A Wave (the first runners out)

just past the finish line.

Notice that the stadium is pretty much empty.

This elite teams race last, 

and they arrive to a very full stadium.

The Fast & the Flurry-ous

Yesterday Z ran in a 4 mile

cross country race

with his running team.

It had snowed the day before, 

(thankfully not too much), 

but it was really cold, 

at least to me, since I was just

standing around watching.

The cold made it harder to get

really good photos

(because my fingers wouldn't cooperate), 

but here are a few that I liked.

Happy November!

Last week's snow only lasted a few days before melting.

It was up to 70 degrees again by Halloween!

And that was great for us, 

since we decided at the last minute to dress up 

& do Fleet Feet's Halloween Fun Run.

That's right, 2.5 miles in costume...

it was so silly & fun!

Inspired by FF's fun run, 

I checked out the Lululemon running group

last night, and did another 4 miles.

It's amazing to me how much easier it is

to keep running when I'm with other people.

But as we've learned, 

the weather changes quickly in Colorado, 

and this is what we woke up to again.

So, happy November to you all;

I hope your month is off to a great start!

Brrr...

On Saturday we went down to Denver.

Z wanted to run in a 5k put on by a 

local Lutheran camp, raising money

to fight hunger.

The week before, Z had run in a cross-country

race in Boulder, and it was hot.

This week, though, things were a little different.

As in, really cold and really wet.

Not far from us it was snowing,

but at the race, it was just pouring down rain.

Z was wearing his shortest shorts.

I was wearing 4 layers of shirts plus a jacket

and was still freezing.

So I told Z to just finish as fast as possible

and I would be waiting with a towel

and warm(er) clothes at the finish.

Evidently that was motivation enough, 

because he. was. fast.

And he won.

Here he is looking miserable waiting to start.

And here he is looking only slightly

less miserable, but with considerably

more clothes on, displaying his medal.

After the race we tried to go watch 

the Clemson game with the 

Clemson Club that meets in Denver, 

but we got the time wrong

(hey, adjusting for time zones can be tricky)

so we ending up hanging out with some

Wake Forest folks for part of their game

before heading home to thaw out.

Even though it was really cold, 

I have to say that the snow-covered

back range is amazing.

I'll try to post a photo soon!

Until then, don't forget to see all my Colorado Fall Color

photos on Flickr.

Around campus

Saturday morning we were at CU for a bit.

Z ran in a 5K that looped wildly through campus.

By wildly I mean that it ended up being more of an 

obstacle course than a regular race.

1. The roads were not closed for the race, 

so the runners had to stay on the sidewalks.

2. There were students/people/golf carts using the sidewalks

who did not know there was a race going on.

3. The course was marked only by chalk arrows, 

some of which had been washed away by the sprinklers.

4. The bicycle that was leading the runners accidentally

took a wrong turn & led them off course.

5. And my personal favorite: It was high school band day 

at CU, so there were marching bands parading

straight at the runners at various places during the race.

As a spectator, all of this was rather amusing, 

but probably not so much for the runners.

Oh well.

Here's a few photos I shot while waiting to see Z running.

And here he is now!

And finally, here's Z heading into the finish, 

catching some serious air.

Oh what a beautiful morning..

For our 2nd Saturday here in CO, 

Z & I decided to explore a bit.

We woke up early & made our way to 

a trail head to catch the sun hitting

the mountains as it rose.

Z, of course, was there to run, 

but I brought my hiking boots &

camera and ventured along a different path.

What I found was mountains, plains, 

floating hot air balloons, deer, flora,

rainbows, cyclists, runners, 

and a train coming 'round the mountain.

Spectacular.

After our morning exercise, we were both ready to eat.

We indulged a bit by having a large breakfast

at The Buff.

Then we realized that the Saturday morning

farmer's market was going on just down the road, 

so we meandered through the tents

drooling over all the produce.

We picked up some tomatoes, mushrooms & cantaloupe, 

but I couldn't resist snapping

this stunning display of jewel-toned beets!

Oh what a beautiful day.