What I've Been Doing Since Colfax

After finishing the race and getting the nice ride from the lady on Elm Street back to the hotel; which thankfully happened because the fact that they didnt have any late check outs left (I still don't understand this), I had an just under an hour and a half to get upstairs, shower, eat something, blah blah blah..


I wasn't happy about having to rush, but it was what it was and I made the best of it!  Thanks to my super duper short hair now and the whole no make up thing ;o), its a lot easier to just shower, dress and go these days.  

Low maintenance > High maintenance  

That 2.5 hour drive back to Nebraska was loooooooooooooooong and man was I so wanting to pull over and take a nap about halfway home!   So there was that...   I took Monday off completely (from running/physical activity), and then went back to regularly scheduled running etc.  

So the whole Run Every Day in May was missing a day!  :O)   I ran 4 miles both Tues and Wed, another Step class (no more through the Summer tho!  Boooo!), walked 45 min before that class on the treadmill, ran 6 miles the Saturday after the race, 3 on that Sunday, did a 5K on Monday (Memorial Day) along with a crazy ass CrossFit WOD, ran Tuesday, Wed (twice, plus a CrossFit WOD), Thurs...and its back to 10 milers on Saturdays for the next couple of weeks, and theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnn................time to ramp up long run mileage for training for:

October 13, 2013

 
I've actually been getting up around 5am to get a run in in the morning, since its in the 40-50's here then and then it can get quite warm and A LOT windy here as the day goes on, so I've been making it a real effort and priority to get up when the weather is ideal.

It's full on daylight here by 5:10am (still don't understand that), so its very easy to get the run done, showered and at work by 7:15 easy...(again LOOOOOOOOOOOVING the low maintenance lifestyle I have adopted)

So I think its not until the last Saturday in June before I hit 13 miles for a long run which as I said I will keep doing 10-11 miles up until then.  Who knows maybe I will throw in a 13 miler next Saturday.

My plan is to run the 5-6 days a week, CrossFit or weights twice a week and possibly Kick-boxing on Tuesdays...

All the hard work is paying off, I can tell even from March pictures at NYC to ones from Colfax...nice that I am back to feeling like myself again.

I mean come on...I have that BIG...GIGANTIC...MILESTONE of a birthday coming up in just over a week...and honestly I still get mistaken for someone mid 30's and I think I look pretty damn good for someone about to be...well...Golden  :O)

Things I'm Loving Right Now - Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream

For a couple of years now, I go from 5pm Friday to 7am Monday without make-up. I hate, hate, hate wearing it.

I remember for so many years you wouldn't catch me dead out in public without it.  Cue low self esteem.

Then as I got older and started caring less and less what others thought, coupled with the fact of how many compliments I got on my skin when I wasn't wearing it, and especially after not wearing it even for just a couple of days, I started wishing I had the nerve to just go without make-up every day, even to work.

Oh the horror!  :O)

A few times I tried those tinted moisturizers when they would come out, but I just could never get over the lack of full coverage that I felt like I had to have to look 'good' or 'professional'.

So I just always went back to regular, horrible foundation.

That when you get the least bit of color other than 'winter white', your foundation on your face just looks like a mask.  No matter how hard I try if I got a darker shade it still looked awful.

So last week on our trip to Cheyenne I mentioned to E that I was wanting to give another 'tinted moisturizer' a try because I hate wearing make-up foundation.  I want a more natural look because not only do other people think I look good with a 'naked' face, I kinda like my face that way too!!

Ah...the freedom of getting older and loving yourself; your true self!!!

So she told me about the BB Cream and showed me the brand she liked:  Maybelline.  So I figured why not!?

I was off work until Wednesday, but I've worn it now 3 days in row to work and I love love love it!  It looks completely natural on me; just kinda evens out my skin tone, and the shades are made to blend in with your natural color and taking on that color so that there are no lines or looking fake whatsoever!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

Plus it has SPF in it as well.  And as hard as I try, its hard to avoid getting color on my face since I am outside so much, and honestly this year I am allowing a bit more than I have in past Summers, but its solely for the reason that I like not wearing makeup and a little natural color from the sun acts as my make up for the most part.

A little blush, powder, mascara and gloss and I am ready to go!!!

I would use the phrase 'Easy breezy' but that's for another brand :O), and Maybelline has a hit on their hands as far as I am concerned.

Do you wear more or less make up in Spring and Summer?  The same?  Never wear make-up?  Tinted moisturizers, yay or nay?




Colfax Half Marathon - 2013

Well its been what? A week since the actual race down in Denver?

Ugh.

I'm so horrible at blogging these days.  Who would have thought that I would be too busy doing life instead of wasting time blogging?  LOL.

So let's just jump right into it, and I won't make this long (famous last words).

As I stated I had walked over 2 miles to the Start, and that was a big mistake on my part I guess.

Once I got into the corral, it was only a short time before we were crossing the Start line.

I don't remember how far into it it was, but in the first 3 miles, we ran through the Denver Zoo.  I loved this part because all the animals were out, still cool and probably feeding time as well.  There were elephants, rhinos, flamingos, baby geese (running along the path with you), and many more.  It kept me distracted which I wish we could have ran the whole 13.1 through there :)   There were some slight little roll-y type of 'hills' but I was moving along pretty well.  Remembering that I was running probably a bit too fast so early on, well, just another factor that would make this not so great of a race for me.

I know that probably to most in Colorado this was indeed 'flat' but not to this girl.  I don't recall where the long inclines were for the most part.  EXCEPT for mile-ish 9.5 through 10.  We were headed back towards the Finish, the clouds had parted and the sun was out and hot.  Thankfully it was at my back and not beaming directly into my face.

However that long, long, slow incline up just about did me in.  I hated it. HATED.  And again it just flattened out, like all the rest.

Once we got to mile 11ish, there was some shade, I think I remember this was through sorta like a residential part?  The only thing about mile 11 I remember is this:

NOT my photo, but one I copied off of Becka's Twitter.  Thanks Becka!

Colorado Firefighters (Calendar men)!

I do miss some of the good stuff by not carrying phone/camera :)  I was clear on the other side of the street but the runners were spread out enough that I could see what I was approaching :)  I hightailed it to the other side just to get an up close gawk at them...SO hot.  :)

The rest of the way it was just run and walk, run and walk.

While it wasn't my worst finishing time, I'll say it again, this was my worst (experience).

I completely misjudged the effect of the high altitude would have on me.  It took a lot out of me and once I got to about mile 7 I was 'Am I ever going to finish this thing?'

When I did I was covered in salt.  The low humidity will do that to you.  Because of the salt, I had a bit of chafing but nothing that made me scream in the shower.  LOL.

The one thing I will say about this race is the nonsense of corraling you through all that crap after finishing.  You just couldn't find your way out!  I was hot, tired and just wanted to make my way out of there and to the main road so I could HOPEFULLY find a cab.

The thought of having to walk over 2 miles BACK to my hotel made me want to just burst into tears.

But once I did make it out and onto Colorado headed back in the general direction of my hotel, no sign of a cab anywhere.  I just walked and walked.  When I finally did see a cab it had someone already in it.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

I was walking directly into the sun and I made the oh so smart decision to turn down one street so that I could be in the shade at least for a while.  By now I had resigned myself that I was walking the whole way back.

Suck.

But then just as I turned, I turned to the left as there were some kids out playing and a woman on the porch waved.  I stopped and she asked if I had run.  Um.  Duh.  :)

I then asked her if I could borrow her phone to call a cab.

She was like, what?  I will just drive you.

Oh happy happy happy day!

I didn't even hesitate when she said that.  I just kept thanking her over and over again. 

So nice to know that there are some trusting folks still out there and I like to think I would have done the same thing for someone.  Typing this now I just realized I haven't sent her a card to thank her.  BAD!  Must get that done this week!

I don't know that I will ever do another race in Colorado.  I might.  Stranger things have happened.

:O)

Through the Denver Zoo

Approaching the Finish

Done.  Thank the baby Jesus

Trying NOT to puke :)

2013 Colfax Half Marathon - Denver - May 19 - Part 1 (Sorry It's Gotta Be in Phases)

Twas not a good day to be running.

At least not for me.  But it got done and it wasn't a PW.  I'm actually shocked.

This was by far the hardest half marathon course I have ever run.  Ever.

That's not to say that I wasn't trained OK enough...but I grossly underestimated the difference in elevation between where I live in Nebraska to the elevation there in Denver...they don't call it the Mile High city for nothing I can tell you that much.

Maybe I have figured out that its OK to not be so hard on ones self, and that times at any given race just aren't that darn important. Once I got injured in early 2012 and with the move, and all of that, I got tired of judging myself all the time and not celebrating the fact that I am soon to be 50 years old and I feel grateful that I can still do what I do.

Attitude is everything.  Shift from a place of its never enough to a place of I have everything I need.

In a way I am a bit disappointed but not terribly bad. A year or so ago, yeah, but again I didn't estimate the diff AND the fact that while this course is touted as flat, it's not. There were just little types at the beginning but man once you hit a certain spot in the course, its worse; at least for someone like me! It was like Central Park is but for the whole way it seemed.

And normally you think oh an uphill, I get a downhill? Nope. It would just flatten out before it started again.

The worse was once we turned to head back towards the finish, around mile 9; the sun had come out and it was hot.

It would have been so much better if the skies had stayed cloudy! It was warm at the start...55ish I guess...

Jeez that's a whole lot of nothing; random thoughts put together to form a blog post?  I think not...

Let's start over...

**********************************

As in let's start back at the beginning shall we??  (Note:  due to time I am going to have to split this thing up into sections; otherwise no one may ever know about the race :O)

I had booked a hotel 'close' to the Start/Finish, and while it WAS close, it wasn't as close as I thought.  So that morning after 2 cups of coffee and a Pop Tart, I headed out. 

To walk to the Start.  I left about 10 min to 6 and the race (half) started at 7 (the full started at 6).  Based on where I thought I was in connection to the Start, I figured this gave me plenty of time to get there, potty and get in my corral.

 Wrong. 
Wrong.
Wrong.

As I was walking along I could hear the hoopla off in the distance and it kept me thinking 'Oh I'm close'.

Wrong again.

I could hear the makings out of the Star Spangled Banner and then the gun signaling the Start of the marathon.

Kept walking.

Then after a while I started to think I had somehow missed the turn.  There was only one so I was confused.  Maybe the locals knew one street as being named something else?  Finally I saw a lady sitting on her porch and asked her. 

Nope still had a ways.  I looked at my Garmin. 
It was almost 6:30.

Shit fire.To make a long story short instead of the other way around, I ended up walking 2.5 miles BEFORE the actual race.

I got there with barely enough time to stand in the lines to potty.  I knew that each corral was about 1.5 min apart and I was in G.

I just made it.  I didn't actually make it to G since getting through the crowd was hard without making anyone mad but I did make it to H.  :O)

In the back of my mind I was concerned about the long walk there beforehand but figured, eh it would be OK.  And of course I had brought my debit card with me to use for a cab after...

To be continued...