Catching Up: Part 5 (final edition)

Monday - Race Day!!!
So, this was the reason we stayed in Boulder. We wanted to run the BolderBoulder 10K race - that is 6.2 miles for those who don't think in the metric system. I had seen it mentioned in a magazine in November or so, and thought, "We are here. Why not do it?" Ummm, maybe because I don't really enjoy running any sort of distance. Some other people in the house got on board, and we thought, "We have plenty of time to train." That was true; however, this training didn't really happen. I had started running some, and was up to two miles when I twisted my ankle during volleyball. I continued conditioning by riding the stationary bike, but that's just not the same. Needless to say, Jeremy, Claire, and I were not really prepared - as in none of us had run more than 3 miles (and that was only Jeremy) during our training. Kendra did run more than us and is a cross country runner, so she doesn't really cound as one of the unconditioned.

Our start time was 8:29:10. We were there in plenty of time. There were over 54,000 registered runners - about 48,000 showed up on race day. Kendra took off with the gun start; she was aiming for about 7 minute miles. Jeremy and Andrea took off next. Claire and I brought up the rear; we were aiming to complete it in under 90 minutes. It is a lot of running. It was a pretty area to run in, and there weren't as many hills as I suspected. We took a fast paced walking break at mile 2 just to pace ourselves. Then, we had a bathroom stop at mile 4. We ran the rest of the time. It is a long ways! Kendra made it - even with the crowd - with about a 7:30 min mile. Jeremy and Andrea made it at about a 9:50 min pace (about 61 minutes total). Claire and I made it (with walks included) at about a 11:50 min pace (about 73 minutes total). We all did better than expected. I don't have a huge desire to run in the near future. Nor do I feel a deep need to run another 10K, but I am glad I finished it. (Claire has a picture of us, but I will have to get it from her before posting it. Stay tuned.)

We showered quickly at the Boulder unit's house. Then, hopped in the car for the 5-1/2 hour ride home. That is a long time to be sitting in the car after running. We still had a little bit of an evening before heading to bed and back to work. That is the end of the catching up blogs. I will start blogging in "real time" from now on (or pretty close to it).

Catching Up: Part 4

Today we ventured to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It is northwest of Boulder about 30-45 minutes. I would say that this place is gorgeous!!!! It really reminded me of my trip to Glacier National Park. I think because of the grandness of it. We were lucky enough to have arrived on the day that the Trail Ridge Road had opened up. The road had been closed due to snow. We drove straight up to the highest point. By the way, the road is the highest elevation paved road in the United States. It was a beautiful drive without to many switchbacks in it because we were mainly traveling along the mountain ridges (hence the name, trail ride road). When we arrived at a visitor center, we hopped out of the car. There was a trail that went up a bit and then gave an impressive view of what was on the other side of the mountain. We were at 12,004 feet. The trail had "stairs" which made it nice, but there was still a lot of snowpack to trudge through as well as many puddles from snowmelt. (You can see the path back to the parking lot in the picture to the left.) It was cold up at the top; I would venture to say about 20 degrees colder than at about 9,000 feet. This is us to the right. I definitely had the most clothes on and was staying pretty warm actually.

On the way down the mountain we stopped at a few pull off areas. At one stop, we saw Longs Peak. It is the 15th highest mountain Colorado at 14, 255 feet. I posted a picture of it to the left. Apparently, it is one of the more difficult hikes ot complete. At a pull-over a little farther down, we had a great view and some fun animals to watch. The chimpmunks are well-fed and a little friendly, but not as friendly as some I have seen. There were also some birds that we watched for awhile. Sometimes they would chase the chimpmunks for no good reason.

After we descended, we headed to another area of the park to do a short hike. You can see us near Bear Lake to the left. Andrea, Jeremy, and I hiked to Alberta Falls. The trail was hard, but not because it was steep. It was partially snow covered, and it is really hard to hike in snow; you feel off balance and slide a lot. We made it to the falls. (See picture to the right.) It was a pretty neat falls, but I think the view of the mountains was even better. I don't have a good picture to post of the mountains though. There were snow covered peaks in the background and evergreen covered mountains in the foreground.

As we left the park, we saw some elk lounging in the grass. We also saw the Stanley Hotel. I had no idea the significance of this place. Jeremy knew it though. It is the hotel in I The Shining. Some of you may enjoy this.

Catching Up: Part 3

Saturday...

Jeremy and Taylor went to have fly-fishing lessons at the Bass Pro Shop in Denver. The lessons were free; they had just bought fly fishing poles; and they needed some help. The lessons were about 2-1/2 hours long. I think they learned some things. Jeremy said he learned he needed to keep his elbow in when casting. Andrea and I hung out at the house. She woke up super early; I slept in a bit. Then, we went for a jog - 50 minutes! I will confess that we ran about 32 min and walked the remaining 18. We kinda slowed down after the first 30 minutes. Andrea runs faster than me, so I had to really work to keep up, but she was kind and accommodated me.

At about noon, we headed into Denver for the Rockies vs. Mets game (at least I am pretty sure this is who they were playing). We had bought $4 seats in the bleachers. I thought the seats were pretty good. The only improvement they could make is putting backs on the bleachers so you have something to lean against. It was a beautiful day - warm, but not hot, with a nice breeze, but not wind, blowing. I definitely applied the sunscreen though and was glad I did. The Rockies lost 2-9, but we did see 3 home runs.

In the evening, we just relaxed. We grilled burgers and hung out. We played some Trivial Pursuit, read books, knitted, talked, etc. It was a good day.

Catching Up: Part 2

On Friday, our friend, Andrea, from Ohio came to visit. (Some of you may know her dad, who was the other pastor at our wedding.) She flew into Denver, rented a car, and met us at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The Garden is so beautiful. I have already been there, but each time I am in awe of the rocks. We slowly walked around one area of the park, talking, taking pictures, watching the rock climbers, and enjoying the day. This is Andrea and I to the left in the picture perfect rock. (See the picture of Jeremy and me on the right column.)

We left Garden of the Gods and headed toward Pikes Peak. Andrea wanted to drive up the road, and we were good with that. Last time Jeremy and I were in Colorado, we hiked up to the summit and had a wild ride down (my dad was driving, if that let's anyone know what it was like!) It had been awhile since I had actually driven to the top. It costs money - $30 for a car of 3 people. BUT... when we went to pay, they said the road to the summit was only open to about 10,000 feet because of the snowstorm. Yes, snowstorm! We decided to do it anyway, and it was only half price. So, up, up, up we went. We arrived at the stopping point (where they check your brakes on the way down) and got out. It was snowing and blowing and COLD! (See picture top right.) We went into the small gift shop to look around before heading down. As we were getting back into our car, they got word that the road was opening up to above tree line, about 11-12,000 feet. We headed up to this point. It was even colder and more windy, but we did have a better view. (See view bottom right.) The picture on the left is of us at the highest we could go.

To conclude our day, we headed to the original Chipotle on Evans Street in Denver. (Jeremy and I had visited there about a month ago, but Andrea wanted to go. Jeremy really can't turn down the opportunity.) We went on a great day! The general manager happened to be working. In fact, he was the one serving us our food. When we sat down to eat, we commented to each other that he must love his job because he served with such gusto. Jeremy and Andrea went outside to take a picture while I went to the bathroom. When I came out, they were reentering the restaurant getting ready to start a tour of the first Chipotle! The general manager gave us the history of the building (a former ice cream parlor), took us to the kitchen and told us about the original 6 burner stove with oven that is no longer used (we also learned that the creator of Chipotle was a trained French chef who used braising - a French cooking technique - for the meat served), manuevered us back to the small walk-in cooler, and then led us downstairs through a trap door in the floor. Under the building is where they keep their dry goods and do their accounting. The ceilings were so low, Jeremy had to kneel on the floor during our talk about organic, free range meat that is used at Chipotle, and how Chipotle is no longer connected to McDonalds. In the end, we gained great knowledge, had to work to stop laughing, and received a free Chipotle t-shirt. (Front of the shirt on top left, Back on bottom left.)

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We stayed with the Boulder MVS unit Friday - Sunday night. There are three guys residing in this large townhouse. Boulder is a beautiful location, surrounded by mountains, and very green. More about the weekend in Part 3...

Catching Up

I think what I'll do is post a couple different entries about our past week. I don't have the time to post it in its totality right now. So, here is the first entry.

Mennonite Voluntary Service National Retreat

May 20-23

Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp

Divide, Colorado

We headed to the camp about 1pm on the 20th. We made a stop at the Boulder Running Company to pick up our race day packets. Then, we dropped by REI (because, really, who can resist?); I bought a camel back cleaner with drying rack and two pairs of hiking socks. We arrived at camp around 6pm (a little late, oops). We had a great burrito dinner. Let me say this - the cook, Mary, at camp is one of the most amazing people ever. My mom is an excellent cook, but it does take a special talent to cook 3 big meals a day for 80+ people many days in a row and have the food taste amazing! After dinner, we could choose to do some contra/square dancing. I, of course, opted to join the festivities. Claire was the only one from our unit to join me. It was a lot of fun. I actually caught on to the various dances after the first practice round or so. I had many dance partners that night because my dance partner (Jeremy) was not feeling well - probably exhaustion, sun, and heat from the bike ride catching up with him. We stayed in Emmintal again.

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The next day (Wednesday) we had a speaker, Anton Fisher. He was pretty good, and I appreciated his thoughts on community/simple living. In the afternoon, I went jog/walking in the camp; Jeremy went fishing (caught another small one!). Then, we went to an afternoon session also led by Anton. After supper, we had a sharing night. Each unit shared about their unit in whatever way they wanted. For example, our unit brought pictures (on a flash drive) to share about different aspects of unit life in La Jara. Other units chose a few stories and maybe acted them out. Others thought of other creative ways to give us a picture of what their life was like. It was really cool to hear about each location; I think there are 18 different MVS units across the US. I was encouraged by the way that the units were interconnected with the supporting congregation in their area - being invited over for dinner, asked to do activities with families, swapping vehicles, and finding general support. We don't have that here in La Jara because the church kinda fell apart right before our arrival. Hopefully, the unit will find a church to be more connected to.

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On Thursday, we had a session in the morning with Anton again. We had small break out groups that talked about what any community/relationship needs to be: 1) passion/vision, 2) intimacy, and 3) commitment. As a unit, we talked about how these needs are/aren't being met. It led to good discussion. We decided, out of this, to try to have intentional unit worship on Sunday mornings two Sundays a week. What we envision it to look like is something like... singing worship, sharing and praying with/for one another, and joining another church via the internet. It should be good. In the afternoon, David, Emmy, Jeremy, Matt (from the Boulder unit) and I hiked Old Baldy - in the snow!!!! Yes, it was snowing, and quite heavily at times, most of the day. When we got to the top, the wind was absolutely frigid! I included a picture of Jeremy seeking shelter (bottom left), the hike up (featuring Emmy, top right), the view from the top (top left), and the camp director's house as the snow falls gently from the sky (bottom right). In the evening, we had a worship time led by volunteers. It was nice to sing hymns, have guitars, pianos, and mandolins, and worship together. We played a crazy game of Catch Phrase before heading to bed.

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On Friday, we ate breakfast and packed up. We left camp around 10:30am. We met up with Andrea, our friend from Ohio, at Garden of the Gods. You will have to wait til part 2 for pics and info on this...

Weekend in Santa Fe

Friday night, Jeremy and I were doing laundry and packing stuff to be taken to Santa Fe for the big weekend out.

He and I left on Saturday morning about 7am with a car full of wood, tents, luggage, and therma-rests. We made it to Albuquerque to pick up Mike from the airport by about 10:30am. It was great to see Mike again. We ate at Chile Wind (or something like that) in a very small town between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We met an interesting woman at the table next to us. She was in one of the "cowboy pictures" on the wall. She told us all about Sass Ranch - a place where you dress up like the old west, ride a horse, and work to shoot at targets with a muzzle loader shotgun. I don't know about it, but it was interesting to hear about. She would randomly jump into our conversations... it was like having a fourth person at the table :) We went to Mellow Velo to pick up the road bike that Mike rented for the century. From there we went to the Plaza in Santa Fe where it was Community Services Day. This meant that there was free parking, live music, lots of people, and many non-profits with booths. The Plaza has good character, but expensive shops that weren't worth shopping in for me. They also have a hotel named La Fonda. (That may make some of you Napoleon Dynamite fans chuckle.) We met up with the rest of the group, who left about 1pm, at the campsite in Hyde Memorial State Park. We set up camp in a short time, stood under a shelter for a brief rain shower, and then climbed in the car to return to Santa Fe. We walked around the Plaza one more time before heading to the Olive Garden to "carb load" before the big ride - yes, even Claire and I, the non-riders, carb loaded! The Olive Garden is delicious and a somewhat expensive treat. We returned to camp in time to build a fire and roast some marshmallows before turning in for the night. Campsite featured below right. Just a note: It is still cold at night. My sleeping bag kept me pretty warm, but the lack of a mattress, or much of a cushion, from the concrete we were sleeping on, made the night a little longer than necessary.

Sunday... The riders awoke early - don't ask me how early because I didn't awake. They packed up their stuff and took off for their pancake breakfast. They said they started the ride later than planned at about 8:30am. Claire and I were up and headed out of the campsite at about the same time. While they worked on biking 100 miles in the blue, blue sky, Claire and I started hiking the Hyde Circle Trail. This trail boosts amazing 360 views of mountain ranges and valleys. At the trailhead there is a sign that says please stay on trail. So, we walked right past it and "stayed on the trail" until I said, "Man, this is really steep. It reminds me of where the water would come down the mountain. Do you think this is the trail?" Claire said, "Yeah. I don't know. Maybe that sign meant 'don't go here, stay on the trail'" So, we hiked back down (about 10 minutes or so) to check it out. Sure enough, we were supposed to head to the left and not straight up the mountain side! (See pic of the confusion at the upper left.) It was about 1000 foot climb to the top (8400 feet at the trailhead, 9400 at the top). It was pretty tough; I was breathing pretty hard; my hamstrings and butt muscles were definitely working! The view from the top was blocked by the evergreen trees on the mountain because we weren't above tree line. (See me at the top on the left with the amazing view.) Oh well, still okay and good exercise. We continued the circle around and took about a 1/4 mile trail off to the left to see a waterfall (gushing falls to the right) before heading back to the car. The hike was about 4 miles and took about 2 hours. The sky was still gorgeous, but the wind had started to pick up - not a big deal to us, but I felt bad for the bikers who were going to have to fight it on their ride. We then headed to Santa Fe to lounge in the park by the large Catholic church and wait for the call that the bikers were done. So, we read, napped, snacked and did nothing from about 12:30 - 3:15 when the call came... "Hey, we are at the last restaurant stop and still have about 20 miles to go. It will be at least 5 or so." Uhhhh, we do we do? We debated for about 30 minutes about our options (laying around was getting a bit boring) and decided to fill the van up with gas and then find the finish line. It took forever for us to find the finish line! Santa Fe is a very confusing city. As we waited for the bikers to arrive, we cheered for the other participants coming in. It was a beautiful day and a pretty fun wait. They made it in around 5:30ish, I think. They all completed all 100 miles of the ride - I am very proud of them! See finishers to the left! We loaded the car (Claire, Jeff, Kendra, and I) and headed home. Mike and Jeremy went to a hotel to hang out before Mike had to go the airport on Monday. Our car, with me driving, somehow managed to get on the wrong road at some point and take the longer, more scenic route home. So, we didn't get home until 10pm! We did see a beautiful sunset over the mountains and the mighty Rio Grande.

So, that's it. Hopefully, Jeremy will blog about the actual bike ride because I know nothing. I will post pictures of our trip as soon as I get a chance, so please revisit this entry. We leave tomorrow around 1pm for Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp where we are going to the MVS National Retreat through Friday. Then, we go to Boulder through Monday where we will work to run the BolderBoulder 10K on Memorial Day. So, this may be my last blog until at least the beginning to mid next week. Hope everyone has a great week.

Really Quick

Hey! Just wanted you to know that we went to Santa Fe, had a great time. We did some hiking. Jeremy completed all 100 miles of the century bike ride. I know we have pictures to post and more to say. I probably won't get to it until late tonight or tomorrow morning. Hope everyone had a great weekend.