Well, THAT Wasn't Good! Part 1

With the last episode being called "The More Things Stay the Same," this last 11 days was NOT what we had in mind. 

Let's begin on Wednesday April 2. I'm teaching a ZOOM Fair Housing class for the Boulder Realtor Association, I finish at 2 pm right on the dot. Knowing my wife, Linda doesn't get off work until 5, I decide to check her on Find My Phone anyway just on some weird hunch. "What are you doing at the Parker Hospital?" I ask. The answer ends up being excruciating pain, a hospital ride from work,  and the discovery of two blood clots.

Thursday, I teach a Pricing class all day and my wife stays home from work to rest.

Friday morning, we are both supposed to leave for Oceanside CA to watch my Son-in-Law, Brian, compete in Oceanside Ironman 70.3. After a long discussion, we decide, I'll go alone. Linda has her youngest daughter at home to keep on eye on her, we don't want all of our tickets to go to waste (she was supposed to leave the triathlon and fly up to NorCal to spend time with her Mom), and Southwest Airlines is very nice when it comes to crediting cancelled flights.

I arrive in San Diego, grab a car, and arrive in Oceanside by 9:30 am. Brian is headed to an athlete briefing at 10, Angela (his wife - my oldest Step-Daughter) has already run, so I decide to get one in myself. I find a trail (bike path, actually) near the harbor and I'm off.

I have a fabulous run. Sea level loves me, and I feel the same. Usually a 13 min/mile guy, I'm knocking off stuff in the low to mid 11's. The trail is semi-crowded with tri-folk on their shakeout runs, and I even got a wave from eventual Ironman winner, Lionel Sanders. Then, it happened.....

The trail was VERY worn. Holes, cracks, and bumpy going were the norm once you were just a little bit from the entrance. I guess I didn't see it, but I hit an uneven section and BOOM, down I went. I've tripped before. In fact, I'm fairly good at it. Usually it's all just a few cuts, scrapes, and a bruise or two. This time, I went down HARD: chest first, head follows. OUCH!

The first person on the scene was a man on a bike who yelled, "Are you alright?" Immediately, out of the blue came another guy yelling, "Are you okay?"

"Don't move," was the command. "No I just need help getting up. I just want to stand up" I said. Then one of them gasped, with a high level of concern/shock and gave me a, "OH MAN!"

It was at that moment I felt the rush of warm liquid streaming down my face, onto my shirt (which ended up saturated - and even came clean three days later - thank you Tide), and in my hands as I checked the damage. Long story short, it just so happened that my two passerby's were both nurses.

After consultation I decided I could walk back to the house (1 1/2 miles, give or take). Within 50 yards, I figure I can jog back..... so i did. I have to tell you, if I had a dollar for every person who asked if I was "okay," I'd have made a boatload. I'm sure I looked frightful

Having been briefed by my nurses, I proceeded to head online to check the symptoms of punctured lungs and the like (as well as determining if stitches were needed). Just banged up, I decided.

I notified Brian I would be late for the Pro panel we were going to attend at 11 (made it at 11:30). It looked pretty ugly, but I figured if that was the worst thing, it would be good.

I slept decently, watched Brian participate in the Half Ironman the next day and even got in a few miles before departing Sunday early. My trip home was uneventful, except for the, "Are you okay?" comments (when asked "what happened," I told the flight attendant that I'd gotten mouthy on my last flight). 

Friday, however, somewhere between the fall and the run, I received a call telling me that my lovely bride was back in the hospital and they would be running tests and keeping her for at least one night At this point stress levels are rising. In the end, she was released Saturday and when I arrived home the next day, we were a sorry looking pair.

She's back on blood thinners after 15 years off them, and I feel like a beat up Monday morning football player, relying heavily on ibuprofen for my face and chest. Linda would no be heading to NorCal. I would be leaving, however, for three days in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

How was that going to go?

Mont Blanc 23k Episode 2: The More Things Stay the Same

Garden of the Gods

The road (trail) to Mont Blanc moves on.

It's a matter of time, a matter of miles. One foot in front of the other, slowly (in my case), but surely. That's exactly where we are 14 weeks out from my trip through the Alps.

Seriously..... almost nothing to report. This last week (ending today) was a back off a bit week after three build weeks in a row. We've run 47, 52, and 54 miles in the last three weeks. This one, then, backed off to 45. 

Had a few semi eventful jaunts. The first was in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Originally I was going to run in the Garden of the Gods on Wednesday after teaching the Military Relocation Professional class at the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors in Colorado Springs. It was 65 degrees and beautiful. Turns out I got to the visitors center and had left my bag back at my classroom. BOO. Came back Friday to retrieve the bag and head for the Garden. Well, the Gods weren’t smiling too much that morning. HIGH winds, snow and cold. Had to run anyway!

Wasn't terrible, it was just difficult to see many of the fabulous views as the snow/wind/clouds made for lousy visibility. Next time, maybe.

The next almost cool runs were to be in Nashville (speaking at a conference). Nashville is essentially, sea level (597 feet). I live at 6100. This should have been three days of oxygen heaven. Turns out, not so much. I went on three runs in Music City and none of them were eventful in any way whatsoever.

Thank God I'm a Country Boy

The highly recommended "fantastic" trail along the Cumberland River was run down and seemed somewhat unsafe. My runs to the other side of the Cumberland were equally uninspiring.

Now, let me be fair, I Ubered my way from the airport to my hotel and was unable to run anywhere, any distance from downtown unless I wanted to pay the ride share world to get there. This probably got in the way of running in some better locations. Nonetheless, that was Nashville.

Upon returning home, my late week runs were the norm: Cherry Creek State Park, my hilly neighborhood, the East West Trail near the Rueter-Hess incline. Today, however, to add a twist, I expanded my 30-60 second "hill pushes" to hill semi sprints, or maybe we'll call them "big hill pushes." 6 x 30 seconds at about 12-15% incline knocked my heart rate to 162 (and according to the experts, that's higher than my max - ha, experts.....). All in all good fun.

So, with a week left in the month, I am at 505 miles. 50 next week will push my first quarter mileage to have my on track for about 2200. That would be fabulous.

Entertained two other thoughts on todays run (before the hill repeats left me delirious). I'm thinking maybe a trail 50k and/or a Rim to Rim Grand Canyon crossing. Eh..... just thinking.

Run on.

Mont Blanc 23k Episode 1: The Countdown Begins!

Here we go..... T-Minus 16 weeks. Yep, a mere 16 x 7 days (that's 112 days, right?) until a race I've wanted to be in for a LOOOONG time.

So I figure I'll document this little journey and this is the best place to do it (cannot imagine anyone watching a video doc). Like my journey to Italy a few years ago, I'm mostly doing this for me. The eight real live people and the couple of hundred bot views I get are incidental (sorry if you're one of the eight - you're not incidental). 

Today, to kick off the countdown to Mont Blanc, I had a stellar day to close a good week.

First, I ran 7 miles in and near Washington Park in Denver. The run brought me to 52 miles for the week. It was a nice, easy jaunt, and one I would have done near home if it hadn't been for event #2: Mason's 7k race.

Mason, (in the first picture) for anyone who doesn't know, is my Grandson. He was an All State runner at Eaglecrest High School and catapulted that to a great career at Colorado State University. He was All Conference several times and the Mountain West 10k track Champion in 2023.

Long story, short, he won the Runnin' of the Green 7k today in what someone said was a course record (not sure as they just moved the course from Lower Down town to Wash Park). He looked strong and ran well especially considering he'd put in a repeated 60 hours a week as a first year accountant (it IS tax season).

Next cool thing was meeting 50 mile world record holder Charlie Lawrence. Charlie had placed fourth in the race (4.2 miles isn't exactly in the wheelhouse for an ultra guy). I've been following his career for a few years and it was a pleasure meeting him (even though he called me SIR).

On the physical front, my knee is still doing pretty well, and many of the items I track are on the upswing. My Garmin sleep score, by the way, would have had an average of about 88 for the week, but then was killed by the time change. 71 last night. Boooo! I realize that most of that wrist extracted data from my watch is, at best, un reliable. What I like is that the unreliability is most likely consistent. Maybe, then, improvement while not accurate, is real. Hmmmmmmm.....

This week the goal is 56-58 miles with a double digit run thrown in for the fun of it. I'm trying to carve out some consistency, get serious about my nutrition and up my strength work to where I am actually getting in my three days a week.

Getting close to making all the appropriate reservations. Probably flying in to Geneva and taking the train to Chamonix. We (my wife Linda and I) will either spend another few days in Switzerland or maybe down in Nice. Not sure yet.

Getting mildly excited.

Run on!

200,000 kilometers, Baby!

It's been a long time from milestone to milestone. It was October of 2012 when I hit the 100,000 mile mark on this wonderful running journey. Today came 200,000 kilometers. If you're wondering about 200,000 miles.... well, I'd have to live to almost 110 year old and still be running strong. Unlikely - you mean there is still a chance?????

Just the same, I've been looking forward to this one for a while now.

Long past are the days of Personal Bests, age group placings and the hunger of the race. Present instead, is the joy of the run and the pride of longevity. That, of course, does not mean I have no goals.

First, there's 2000 miles a year. That has always been one of two strict guidelines I've held in my adult running. A year isn't a serious running year unless I cover 2000 miles. Today, at months end (and a short month too) I am at 338 miles and that projects to about 2020-2060 miles. By the way, the other strict guideline is that any run less than 3 miles does not count (could be altering that when I'm in my 80's - who knows).

Then, most certainly is the Mont Blanc 23k race in June. Now don't get me wrong, my "A" goal in the Alps is to finish under the cutoff time of 6 hours. When I break down the miles, seems like that should be easy. Looking at the terrain, the elevation and the distance, maybe not so easy. Nonetheless, that's the big goal.

While I no longer have "streak" goals, it is of note that I have, so far, run everyday this year. Shhhhhhh, don't jinx it. Would like to see that consistency be duplicated in stretching, lifting, and some of the other essentials to remaining healthy. Would also love to get back to the weight in the 100,000 mile picture. That might be the biggest goal of all (biggest?).

Just the same, I've been on a nice little "run" lately with very few knee issues. Oh, it's not pain free but it's also not popping and buckling like it used to. We keep on ixing, bvuzzing, massaging and so forth.

On the 100,000 mile blogpost, I wrote this (and you can see it all here - http://runspittle.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-100000-mile-report.html :

"And upon reaching the 100,000 mile mark, I am grateful for what this simple aerobic activity has done for every facet of my life and being.

Running was/is a simple activity, cyclical in its nature. One foot placed in front of the next in order to move forward: to cover ground, to open my mind, to allow me opportunities to escape my troubles or celebrate my triumphs. Mostly, to connect me to and strengthen my relationship with this planet upon which I exist. For that, I am ecstatically, humbly grateful.

John Parker Jr. said it best in his epic story, Once A Runner, “Running to him was real; the way he did it the realest thing he knew. It was all joy and woe, hard as diamond; it made him weary beyond comprehension. But it also made him free.”

I am proud to be a runner."

Still goes.

New Kitchen, New Start!

I know it's almost February, but finally, the new year begins. And with the new year, comes the new "watch what I eat" me.

In a normal year, the holidays pass, Linda stops making her world famous fudge, and it's easy to focus on a better, healthier, dietary regime. This year, unfortunately or fortunately, we're getting the kitchen remodeled (Linda is a kitchen designer by trade) and have basically been without one for several weeks. We've been out to eat, like, a million times or grabbing take out. Result: calories. Thursday, however, it all changes.

Thursday, the countertop is installed. With that comes the sink and real live running water and an almost fully functional kitchen (still need backsplash, paint, and some electrical work). Then, my friends, thing change. Or at least I hope so. Eating/Taking out has expanded my waist and reduced my wallet size.

By the way, I am fully aware that all of this dialogue sounds like rationalization/excuse making. I'm okay with that. Very okay.

With the new year has also come January weather. Our "new" house (it'll be three years in June), is on the moon. At least that's what I call it. We are a few miles east of Parker and another 800 feet of altitude up on the mesa (roughly 6100 feet). With that, comes odd weather, very odd weather.  Last year from January till the end of March, it literally snowed every 5 days. No sooner than the melting of the previous dropping, the fresh one made its way from the heavens.

Now, I don't have a problem with snow. I grew up in Michigan where the winters can be harsh. When the snow drops in the Great Lakes, you can wait a LOOOOONG time before it finally melts. And the Wind...... and Humidity........ I'd rather be in 20 degrees below zero here in Colorado than 20 above in Michigan. I digress.

The running, too, has been challenging. AND..... here's the big news: last week I actually wore tights on a run. 

Generally, tights do not enter the picture until the temp drops below 15-20 F (several family members have declared me crazy for running in shorts in those temps....... jealous, I'd say). Last week, one day shorts and 25, the next day tights and -6. 

The mileage has been acceptable: 36, 38, and this week will end around 43-45. The prohibitive factor has not been the weather, it's been the kitchen construction. Between Winston, ZOOM classes, and workers, it's not so easy to get out the door at the usual times.

During this time, I've managed a couple of double digit runs, AND some 800 repeats at lactate threshold (something we haven't done in a very long time). Felt like a fish out of water.

So far, we are on track for the two major goals of the year: 2000 miles, and finishing before the cutoff at the Mont Blanc 23k (received a special Christmas gift for that - more later). All in all, I'd say it's all good.

Run on, my friends.