Dash N Dine 5K

What the Boulder Reservoir will look like tomorrow

One of my goals for this year is to run a 25:00 5K. Last night I decided to sign up for Dash-N-Dine #3 with the hope that I could run it in 30:00.

My goal today was to run a 30:00 5K. All day I ate good and then I got off work and had too much time before the start of the Dash-N-Dine and got a snack that killed my stomach. I got to the Boulder Reservoir 45 minutes early, grabbed my number, and went on a short warm up run. I felt great on my warm up run and I felt like I was sure to get my 30:00 5k.

I was on my way to line up for the start when I decided that I didn’t want to listen to music. So I headed back to the truck to get rid of my headphones. I stupidly decided to grab my rain coat because I was afraid I would be cold with the wind. Mistake number 2. When the race started my lungs felt like they were going to die, but slowly got better. About the time they got better I started getting too hot and light headed. After the first mile I physically felt amazing, but really light headed. I stopped and walked for a bit. When I started feeling better I picked up the pace and that’s when my stomach started bothering me. I’m not sure what it is with my stomach, but on shorter races I often have a lot of problems with it.

The rest of the race consisted of me running as far as I could before my stomach got too bad and I would have to walk. After about 2.5 miles my stomach started feeling better and I was able to finish the race strong in 33:40. I grabbed some Mad Greens and gave eating an attempt, but my stomach was having none of that.

I was amazed with how good my first mile felt, ran a 9:26. I think if I can figure out my stomach problem I will be able to start really improving my running speed.

And with that we will be saying good morning to snow. Hopefully for the last time.

February Fitness Goal

This month my fitness goal was to run a half marathon. I finished the Ralston Creek Half Marathon on Sunday.

January Fitness Goal

For January my goal was to complete 10 full push-ups. I completed this on January 31st in Pump class.

Random non related picture since I didn’t take a picture in class.

Ralston Creek Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon on Sunday. I was very nervous about this race because I didn’t get to train like I would have liked to. My longest training run was 4.5 miles. No where near 13.1 miles.

The starting area

The week leading up to the race I was checking the weather every few hours. The forecast was for snow and 35. I have no problem running in 35 degree weather, but I was not interested in running while it was snowing. We were out of town Thrusday through Saturday night which was really hard for me. On Saturday my brother told me that it was snowing at The moffit tunnel so I was pretty sure that I would be running on snow packed trails. Thankfully there was only a dusting of snow.

Around mile 2

The first part of the course was covered in snow. Thankfully there was very little ice for this clutz to worry about.

6 miles in and I see a storm over the mountains

I knew that at mile 7 the switch backs started, so when I got to mile 6 I started getting nervous. My knee was doing good, but up hills are when it acts up.

Looking toward the switch backs

About half way up the hill looking out toward Denver

The switch backs went on forever, but my knee was strong the entire way up. About half way up I was really happy that I got to see the Dnever skyline.

It’s hard to see but it was snowing when I got to mile 9

The storm that I saw earlier in the race had caught up to me around mile 9 and it started snowing, but thankfully only lasted about 10 minutes.

So close

I can do this

By this point my legs were like lead. I wanted to walk the rest of the way, but my legs felt better when I was running. The last part of the race is on a road that felt like the longest hill of my life. I actually had to stop and walk with the finish line in sight because my lungs were shot. Being that I decided to start in the second wave I was one of the last people to finish. It was really nice to still have people cheering at the finish line. I got a picture taken of me trying to jump, grabbed a coke and burrito and headed to my truck. I did some minor stratching and headed back to Boulder.

I FINISHED

For a few years I have been dreaming of doing long distance races, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t like them as much as I wanted to. After this race I have realized that I really do prefer longer races. Even though I wasn’t able to run the whole race I had a lot of fun running. I will definately be doing more half marathons.

Splits

mi	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
1	9:51	-16
2	13:37	47
3	14:14	57
4	12:56	54
5	12:23	49
6	14:58	107
7	11:05	5
8	14:16	103
9	10:32	-187
10	11:51	-96
11	13:59	-52
12	12:58	-58
13	13:19	1
14	13:07	6

Totak time: 2:47:16

Checking In On My Goals – January

January was a month of getting my s*** in gear. I have been going to the YMCA 4 days a week, which means packing workout cloths, regular cloths, lunch, and my computer. I have been making a list every night to help make sure I have everything I need. Until today this has worked out really well. As far as completing 2013 goals I haven’t made it very far, but I didn’t set many goals for myself in January.

January Goals Progress

- 10 full push-ups: Did these in a class on the last day of the month
– Get over my fear of falling: This is likely to be a goal you will see me working toward every month. I have always been a cautious rock climber, but a few years ago I took a huge fall and have been having an even harder time with this fear. I had planned to work on it last year but we never bought a new rope and never made it to the gym. So after a full year off of climbing I am back at it and loving it more than I have in years. I have been going to a gym once a week with friends and already after 3 times I am feeling a thousand times more comfortable in the harness.
– Sewing class: Completed 2 of the 10 lessons.
– Photoshop class: Didn’t watch any of the lessons.
– Start my Etsy shop: Done! I just need to add more photo’s and do some advertising.
– Run with the Boulder Running Company: Done! It was one of my hardest runs, but I ran an 8 min/mile which is a rarity for me.

February Goals

- Run a half marathon
- Read the Scarlet Letter
- Get over my fear of falling
- Sewing class
- Photoshop class
- Run with the Boulder Running Company

 

The Full Moon Desert

We left Boulder on a Thursday with vehicles loaded. Our destination was a nameless road in the desert. J and I were joining 8 other people on a canyoneering trip before heading to Moab for some biking.
The adventure started with the drive and our 2 car caravan. It was snowing in Boulder, so we knew it would be an interesting drive over the Rockies. Soon after Idaho Springs on I-70 we saw a sign saying that the interstate was closed from Copper to Vail Pass. We stopped in Silverthorn to get a bite to eat and figure out what to do. We decided to take Independence Pass to Leadville and down to Vail instead of waiting for the interstate to open. It was slow going but the roads weren’t too bad. Once we got back to the interstate we made a group decision to stop somewhere for the night. We camped just before the Utah boarder at a random recreation area.

The next day we continued our drive and ended up on a nameless road south of Hanksville. We were psyched for the canyoneering but didn’t have a clue what we were getting ourselves into. All I knew about canyoneering was that you rapped down into the canyon and somehow got out. We set up camp and set off for our first canyon called Arscenic. There was one long rappel at the beginning and then we spent the rest of the day making our way to the main canyon where we hiked out. The concensous after the first day was that canyoneering was awesome.

 

The next day we did the same thing except in a different canyon, 4 rappels instead of 1, and 10 people instead of 5. We had a blast and learned that you can really rappel off a rock wedged between the canyon walls. After we hiked out and back to camp we made dinner and sat around the fire having a grand ol time.

We packed up camp and headed to Moab on Sunday. We spent our first day in Moab at the Sand Flats campground. From out site we were able to scramble up a rock and take some amazing pictures of the Sand Flats area and the La Sal Mountains. Once the sun set we headed down the rock and true to Chelsey fashion I stumbled and bruised me knee really good, which made the down climb a little more difficult.

We biked the Slickrock trail on Monday. We chose to not take my camera so all the pictures from the bike ride are from our phones. We had a blast and I was reminded of how much I love mountain biking.

We moved campsites to a BLM campground along the Colorado River. The plan was to bike the Poison Spider trail on Tuesday, but we decided that we were tired and would rather take our time packing up. We spent Monday night taking long exposure pictures and painting with light. This was the first time we had really spent any time playing with my camera at night. The results are some awesome pictures.

Have you ever played in the desert? Did you love it or hate it?

Honeymoon – Wyoming

Wyoming was our last stop (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). The plan for Wyoming was to visit a friend who was working on the Togwotee Pass for the summer. Her work schedule didn’t allow her to come and join us in the Tetons so spent a few days biking around Grand Teton National Park and Jackson before heading over the pass to go climbing with B. For some reason we only took pictures at our campsite in the Tetons.

The essentials. Mountains, good drinks, and fresh creek water.

Filtering the stream water we collected at the base of the hill and hauled up to the top in the truck.

Flying the kite and watching the Tetons.

The Tetons

The Grand Teton. We had planned to climb it but the snow was still in the valley.

My second favorite mountain range.

Sunset over the Tetons

A plane coming in over the mountains

Ever spent any time in the Tetons?