Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

August 2014 Recap

So much fun has been had since my last update! I kept meaning to get on and update with my races, volunteering and training but time just slips by! Best to just get it all in with a quick August recap.

Some Highlights

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Longest Run: 20 miles at Devil’s Back Bone
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Races: Beaver Creek Half Marathon
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And Breck Crest Half Marathon (supposed to be full marathon but was cut short due to crazy snowy conditions)
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Best running Moment: Watching Rob Krar win the Leadville Trail 100
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**Also it was really cool to get to volunteer at the finish line at leadville
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Coolest Wildlife Seen on a Run: Bison while on a work trip to New Mexico
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Favorite Run: Turquoise Lake in Leadville
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Favorite Spectating: Watching my mom take second in her triathlon and my bother and dad take second in their duathlon at Boulder Sunset
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Best Post Run Meal: High Mountain Pies Leadville
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Monthly Totals:
Miles running: 160.6
Hours training (including some swimming, riding and lifting): 52 hours

Whew! August was a great month but I am ready for some fall fun, this morning I needed my headlamp for my morning run for the first time. I am looking forward to some cool runs, changing leaves and everything pumpkin!

April Recap and May Goals

I know this is a bit late seeing as we are fully into May now BUT better late than never, right? Go with me here.

April went by quickly, time seems to be accelerating towards June 24, I wonder if July and August will go by very slowly. April was a bad blogging month, I posted a total of 7 times, FAIL! I wish that I could look back and say that April was a great confidence building month but it wasn’t. I am trying to look on the bright side and hope this was my chance to get through some difficult situations and that everything will be much easier going into Ironman.

April started out with a trip to Portland for a family funeral and a PR at a half marathon. It was nice to see family and enjoy a race in my favorite city even if the circumstances weren’t great.

My mom turned 60, and asked for events instead of presents. My event doesn’t happen until June but my brother decided to take us up the Cog Train to Pikes peak. Cory and I needed to get in a long run so we got up early, ran 16 miles, took a quick ice bath and got ready to head down to Colorado Springs. We had a great time even though we couldn’t make it to the top because of high winds.

Work was extremely busy, but spring is always our busy time so I should have known.

Then Cory and I drove to Las Vegas. The week leading up to RAGE I was a ball of nerves, I was nervous enough about my first triathlon of the season, but add on top of that it was a half ironman, a really difficult course and forecasted to be in high 90s.

On the bright side, the swim went well and the bike was easier than I thought it would be. The run on the other hand was awful. I was not prepared for the heat, I jog/walked the half marathon and there were many times I wasn’t sure that I would finish the race. I did finish but it didn’t build my confidence that I could double the distance. It was surprising how I wasn’t very sore after this race, nothing compared to the half marathon from the beginning of the month . Goes to show that not being able to run hard and recovering correctly makes a big difference.

After getting home we had to say goodbye to the sweetest dog in the world this was not an easy time for my family but it was time.

Overall April was not the worst month but I am glad to put it behind me and hopefully move onto a better month that will help my confidence.
May is lined up to be an exciting months of Personal Records, most of these will be distances or amounts of time training but I am kind of hoping to PR in a race as well. Here are some highlights I am looking forward to and goals I am hoping to reach in May:
• Starting Peak training and putting in 20+ hours a week swim-bike-run-yogaing
• PR-ing at Greenland 25k (guarantee since I have never ran a 25k before)
• Riding my first over 100 mile ride at Boco Loco
• PRing at the Colfax Marathon, this is not an A race so I won’t be devastated if I don’t but I would like to beat last years time from the Colorado Marathon
• Not IM related but I am looking forward to spending sometime in New Mexico visiting a ranch where we will be doing some conservation research

• Completing a metric Ironman supported by my coach as one of our last big training weekends

• But most importantly I hope to consistently nail my training so that I can go into June feeling confident about my efforts and looking forward to taper

What are your hopes for May?

July Recap

Even though I have been whining lately July was pretty fun here are some of the highlights:

Cory and I continued our 5th anniversary celebration by going to one of our favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot

We went to the Louisville location, it has a mine shaft theme.

The food was great and the company even better. We also had some fabulous trail runs before my knee gave up on me.

I was fortunate enough to travel to San Diego for work where I went to a workshop with the San Diego Zoo’s Conservation department. They put us up in some swanky accommodations

I had the best time

Learned a lot

And met some fantastic people

Cory and I then Traveled to Portland (my favorite city ever) where we visited the Japanese gardens

So pretty, we were lucky enough to get a guided tour so we learned a lot. We then headed down for a quick tour of the rose gardens.

On Saturday we visited Portland’s Saturday Market where I bought some hand made jewelry, the worlds coolest lamp that is being delivered soon and indulged in one of Cory’s favorite things:

We visited family and went to Cory’s brother’s wedding reception (they ran off and tied the knot in Vegas in May) the happy family

Overall it was a good month and I am happy to move on to August. I know summer is fun but fall is my favorite season and I can’t wait for cooler weather, turning leaves, holidays, baking and football. Counting down the days…..

What’s your favorite season?