No one ever told me that running was such a social activity, I always thought it was just a bunch of self driven people trying to meet or beat their latest goals. But all this running I've been doing over the past few months has turned that view around. Sure, runners are self-motivated for the most part, but it turns out that there are a lot of people to meet and things to talk about while you're out on a trial or meeting up at a bar afterwards!
Just last week I had plans to meet up with my friend Dane at the Irish Snug run (Which is a 5k run every Thursday at the Irish Snug bar on Colfax) but when I got there, Dane said he wanted to run by himself, so if he went, pounding the pavement to the beat of his own drummer! So there I am, not knowing anyone else stretching out my legs before I take Dane's lead and run solo, when up walk Kevin and Deanna, a couple I met playing kickball this summer, who happen to be good friends with an ex-boyfriend (small world, I know). Deanna and I ended up running together since Kevin took off with some of his friends at a pace much faster than we could handle, and we had so much to talk about (a whole 5k's worth). We ended up covering all the topics new friends would: how long she and Kevin had been dating, how I was handleing the breakup with Ryan, how we both got into running, etc. There were even a few laughs mixed in with our strained breathing along the way!
As it turns out, I've developed some impressive skills with all this running, since Dane took off before me he got back before me and felt the need to text me to determine my location, and miracle of miracles, I was able to text him back, even with my stupid phone! It's the little things in life that get us to keep putting one foot after the other.
Once we finally got back to the Snug and had a chance to catch our breath I ended up in search of Dane in the very sweaty basement of the snug, yuck! But Dane wanted to stay down there so he would hear his name during the ceremony honoring the committed Snug runners that make it to their 10th run! Once you get to 10 runs you get a fancy t-shirt, and I haven't witnessed it yet, but I hear you get another one when you hit the century milestone.
While we were waiting downstairs we caught up with more of Dane's friends, Matt (he's the one that is super super tall and hilarious) and Ian (who I'd apparently met before, but needed a reintroduction to). The group of them are all hilarious, a group of young teachers/student teachers, they had all just started the first week of school. Each one of them are so witty and they come up quick quips one right off the other, if you didn't know them you'd probably think it was a skit they'd practiced together before the run.
When Dane's name was called we all cheered and sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" which apparently impressed some of our fellow runners at a nearby table, since they thanked us for our spirit on the way out the door.
Tonight is run number 5 for me with the Snug, and I can't wait to see who I'll meet and what we'll talk about!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Early mornings are the best mornings
Last weekend when I went for my run I thought I was going to die. It was hot and humid and my legs were doing everything in their power to not take the next step. So on Thursday when I went to 'Run with the Snug' I was surprised how functional I was on the trail! 'Run with the Snug' is a 5K that the Irish Snug on Colfax puts on every Thursday at 6pm. It's a good time, a great place to meet up with friends after work because you still get in your exercise for the day and you have an excuse to have a beer or two, since you are already at the bar!
That random detour of last week's runs brings us to the point of today's post, waking up early to take advantage of the cool mornings. This morning, even though it's Saturday, I left my alarm on from the week and woke up 6 to start pounding the pavement. It was perfect! A cool breeze, no body on the trail and this is the best part, I ran farther today than I ever have, from my apartment up the Cherry Creek Trail to Clarkson Street, just North of the Denver Country Club, and back, which Google tells me is 6.6 miles!! By the end my knees were aching, but nothing can make that feel better than the glass of chocolate soy milk I had waiting for me back at home. Yum!
That random detour of last week's runs brings us to the point of today's post, waking up early to take advantage of the cool mornings. This morning, even though it's Saturday, I left my alarm on from the week and woke up 6 to start pounding the pavement. It was perfect! A cool breeze, no body on the trail and this is the best part, I ran farther today than I ever have, from my apartment up the Cherry Creek Trail to Clarkson Street, just North of the Denver Country Club, and back, which Google tells me is 6.6 miles!! By the end my knees were aching, but nothing can make that feel better than the glass of chocolate soy milk I had waiting for me back at home. Yum!
Monday, August 2, 2010
It's been a while
Ok, ok, so we haven't posted anything to our blog in more than a month, it doesn't look so good, but I can assure you that even though were not writing, we are running!
Two weeks ago I took on a new part of the Cherry Creek Trail, which I guess at that point is technically the Platte River Trail, with my new friend Matt. Matt is approximately 12 feet tall(probably more like 6'5" but either way that is really tall), which makes my 5'8" frame next to him look super ridiculous as I am trying to keep up with his strides, which would probably be equal to my height if I were to lay down. But dispite what I am sure would have been a serious of odd looks had there been more people on the trail, we had a good time, ran until we were somewhat lost, stopped at Subway for a very refreshing glass of water, then it was back to pounding the pavement so we could get back home. By home, I mean Little Man Ice Cream, which, if you're ever in the Highlands neighborhood you have to try, because it will change your perspective on all dairy products!
Then last weekend I went on my normal run, down the Cherry Creek trail until I am so hot I think I'm going to passout, then turn around and come back! Nothing out of the ordinary, but the next day I convinced my brother, Ben, to go on a hike with me! We started at Echo Lake on Mount Evans and went the 3.5 miles to Lower Chicago Lake and back. Sounds easy enough until you realize that from Echo Lake, you go straight down, for a half mile and then straight up for 3 miles. It's not so bad because the whole time you're thinking aobut the fact that the way back to the car will be mostly downhill. But when you get to that last .5 mile straight up you consider setting up camp and summiting in the morning. This of course was not an option for us since I had a kickball game in Denver that afternoon and we didn't think far enough in advance to actually have camping gear with us. We survived, with a few scrapes from our detour into some shrubberies, but that night we were totally beat! You could have tried to call our phones all night and we wouldn't have heard a peep, we were so tired we were dead to the world! The good thing is that Ben agreed to go hike with me again someother time, so long as we had more than 4 hours to get the hole thing done!
Two weeks ago I took on a new part of the Cherry Creek Trail, which I guess at that point is technically the Platte River Trail, with my new friend Matt. Matt is approximately 12 feet tall(probably more like 6'5" but either way that is really tall), which makes my 5'8" frame next to him look super ridiculous as I am trying to keep up with his strides, which would probably be equal to my height if I were to lay down. But dispite what I am sure would have been a serious of odd looks had there been more people on the trail, we had a good time, ran until we were somewhat lost, stopped at Subway for a very refreshing glass of water, then it was back to pounding the pavement so we could get back home. By home, I mean Little Man Ice Cream, which, if you're ever in the Highlands neighborhood you have to try, because it will change your perspective on all dairy products!
Then last weekend I went on my normal run, down the Cherry Creek trail until I am so hot I think I'm going to passout, then turn around and come back! Nothing out of the ordinary, but the next day I convinced my brother, Ben, to go on a hike with me! We started at Echo Lake on Mount Evans and went the 3.5 miles to Lower Chicago Lake and back. Sounds easy enough until you realize that from Echo Lake, you go straight down, for a half mile and then straight up for 3 miles. It's not so bad because the whole time you're thinking aobut the fact that the way back to the car will be mostly downhill. But when you get to that last .5 mile straight up you consider setting up camp and summiting in the morning. This of course was not an option for us since I had a kickball game in Denver that afternoon and we didn't think far enough in advance to actually have camping gear with us. We survived, with a few scrapes from our detour into some shrubberies, but that night we were totally beat! You could have tried to call our phones all night and we wouldn't have heard a peep, we were so tired we were dead to the world! The good thing is that Ben agreed to go hike with me again someother time, so long as we had more than 4 hours to get the hole thing done!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
It's just SO hot!
I've been trying to run as often as possible in preperation for this 26.2 mile nonsense, but the summer is making that difficult. Last week I ended up having time to go out twice, both times I made it about halfway down the trail I usually take, and I was convinced I wasn't going to make it! 95 degrees is just WAY too hot to be able to run in, even if it is afterwork! So on top of being totally beat, I end up super dehydrated and not wanting to eat anything by the time get home because I feel so sick.
So over the weekend I decided to try a new tactic in attempting to train over the summer...early mornings! Monday was supposed to be the first day of waking up at 5 am to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. The night before I set out an outfit and thought up a quick breakfast, I was totally prepared, but let's just say the snooze button was repeatedly abused that morning, which resulted in me not running! So this morning I HAD to go run, and surprise, surprise, I woke up to my alarm and was not mad at the world for convincing me that this was a good idea! I turned on the news as a part of my morning tradition and Becky Ditchfield, perky weather girl on KUSA, (normally much too excited about the weather for me at that time fo the morning, but I can see how some people would like to wake up to that) let me know it was a cool 61 degrees outside. YES! Perfect temperature for a run!
So this morning, I made it 5 miles and didn't feel like collapsing anywhere along the way, both of which qualify as good news! Hopefully this will be a new morning tradition to add to my need to watch the news as soon as I wake up!
Becca
So over the weekend I decided to try a new tactic in attempting to train over the summer...early mornings! Monday was supposed to be the first day of waking up at 5 am to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. The night before I set out an outfit and thought up a quick breakfast, I was totally prepared, but let's just say the snooze button was repeatedly abused that morning, which resulted in me not running! So this morning I HAD to go run, and surprise, surprise, I woke up to my alarm and was not mad at the world for convincing me that this was a good idea! I turned on the news as a part of my morning tradition and Becky Ditchfield, perky weather girl on KUSA, (normally much too excited about the weather for me at that time fo the morning, but I can see how some people would like to wake up to that) let me know it was a cool 61 degrees outside. YES! Perfect temperature for a run!
So this morning, I made it 5 miles and didn't feel like collapsing anywhere along the way, both of which qualify as good news! Hopefully this will be a new morning tradition to add to my need to watch the news as soon as I wake up!
Becca
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Hash House Harriers
Today was officially the most fun I've had in a Red Dress! I went to the Hash House Harriers 13th annual Red Dress Run. This was my first time Hashing, so I didn't know what to expect, but it's easy to understand, everyone, both men and women, dress up in red dresses...and then we run. No one really knows where we're running, it's kind of like a scavenger hunt that way. Everyone is looking for marks made of chalk and flour to give us the directions to find the ultimate prize.
We meet up at the Cap City Tavern and went all over the place from there! Twice we found our way through the gay pride festival (which was great!), we went up the 16th Street Mall crossed through alleys, across several streets until we found ourselves in an empty parking lot with a keg of beer! Now, I'm not a beer drinker, but on a hot day like today, it tasted DELICIOUS!
Once we finished the keg, we started up the second half of the race, where I heard the best sound bite of the day. We were running past a restaurant that had patio seating and a little boy, in a loud voice, turned to his parents as we ran by, and said, "Mommy, that boy is wearing a dress!" Apparently 50 or so grown men and women wearing red dresses and running around downtown in the middle of the day is a sight to be seen, even for a preschooler!
In the end we wound up on an amazing roof top for more drinks and socializing. I had to leave early for a kickball game, but I hear things got a little wild!
I have a feeling that tomorrows run isn't going to be nearly as exciting as today's.
We meet up at the Cap City Tavern and went all over the place from there! Twice we found our way through the gay pride festival (which was great!), we went up the 16th Street Mall crossed through alleys, across several streets until we found ourselves in an empty parking lot with a keg of beer! Now, I'm not a beer drinker, but on a hot day like today, it tasted DELICIOUS!
Once we finished the keg, we started up the second half of the race, where I heard the best sound bite of the day. We were running past a restaurant that had patio seating and a little boy, in a loud voice, turned to his parents as we ran by, and said, "Mommy, that boy is wearing a dress!" Apparently 50 or so grown men and women wearing red dresses and running around downtown in the middle of the day is a sight to be seen, even for a preschooler!
In the end we wound up on an amazing roof top for more drinks and socializing. I had to leave early for a kickball game, but I hear things got a little wild!
I have a feeling that tomorrows run isn't going to be nearly as exciting as today's.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
My goals and other thoughts
So why do I want to do a marathon on my 26th birthday? Well, like Molly, I think it's good to have goals. For the longest time I wanted to be a news reporter, and then I was. But since I figured out it wasn't as awesome as hoped, I haven't had much of a goal to chase after. So I set this goal for myself so I would have something to keep me focused and driven. Also, like I said in the first post, I saw a story about a man who ran 70 miles for his 70th birthday it seems like if he can run that far, I can run my own age too! Finally, my family isn't really known for their athletic prowess, but I know my Grandfather ran a marathon when my older sister Liz, was a baby, so I can follow in his footsteps.
Lately, it's been really hot in Denver. Now, I know what you're going to say, "DUH Becca, it's summer, what did you expect!" But it has been super hot, even for summer. So when I had the brilliant idea to run from my apartment Downtown to my volleyball game in Washington Park, I knew to bring some water with me, but what I didn't take into account is that it was REALLY REALLY HOT! So hot, in fact, that I couldn't actually run the whole thing, approx. 6 miles, I had to stop to walk a half dozen times. And this little nugget will make you laugh, I pulled my ass muscle! So by the time I actually made it to volleyball I'm sure I looked like one hot mess; red in the face, exhausted, and hobbelling along because my ass hurt. I'm sure my team was thrilled to see me! In the end the team won one set and lost the other three, rounding out a solid season of us (our team name was the Grass Killers) working really hard not to be the worst volleyball team in Washington Park! I think it was a success! So, I've spent the past few days with a hot pack to my right cheek in an attempt to prepare myself for tomorrow's big excitement...the Red Dress Run!
More on that tomorrow!
Becca
Lately, it's been really hot in Denver. Now, I know what you're going to say, "DUH Becca, it's summer, what did you expect!" But it has been super hot, even for summer. So when I had the brilliant idea to run from my apartment Downtown to my volleyball game in Washington Park, I knew to bring some water with me, but what I didn't take into account is that it was REALLY REALLY HOT! So hot, in fact, that I couldn't actually run the whole thing, approx. 6 miles, I had to stop to walk a half dozen times. And this little nugget will make you laugh, I pulled my ass muscle! So by the time I actually made it to volleyball I'm sure I looked like one hot mess; red in the face, exhausted, and hobbelling along because my ass hurt. I'm sure my team was thrilled to see me! In the end the team won one set and lost the other three, rounding out a solid season of us (our team name was the Grass Killers) working really hard not to be the worst volleyball team in Washington Park! I think it was a success! So, I've spent the past few days with a hot pack to my right cheek in an attempt to prepare myself for tomorrow's big excitement...the Red Dress Run!
More on that tomorrow!
Becca
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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