Six Dollar Running Shoes

Ruth has been dragging stuff out of storage for our neighborhood garage sale this weekend and found a pair of "Sand and Sun" shoes that I bought at Walmart a of years ago. I decided to give them a try. I went for a 3.3 mile pavement run with my running buddy (pictured) and they were fine, much like running in the FiveFingers, although they don't have great traction so I wouldn't recommend them for trails that require good grip.

Bonus Day

I was anticipating a day off from running today, partly because I had already run the past ten days and felt a little spent after yesterday and it was supposed to reach 96 degrees today. We had a quick thunderstorm pass with some rain about 5:30 that cooled things off nicely. It hadn't reached the nineties anyway, but with the rain shower the temperature dropped to about 70.





We had dinner shortly after the rain ended; when Alex works we tend to eat early because he comes in hungry from doing heavy landscape work all day. I went out for a rare post(spaghetti and salad)dinner run and felt rather good so I ended up getting in 8.3 miles by the time the sun slipped behind the Rockies bringing my miles for the week up to 35.8 with Friday and Saturday left to go. I felt like I could have run forever with the lower temperatures, but maybe I'll do that Saturday since it is not supposed to get out of the fifties and be rainy.




The pictures are of:

1. Elliott playing chef on the kitchen floor just before catching his fingers between the cabinet door and the jamb.

2. The blogger mid-run

3. Longs Peak (a fourteener) visible in the single track trail at sunset

4. The plains of north-central Boulder County

Miles are Miles

I understand the concept of junk miles, but I never feel like my miles belong in this category. At fifty-two moving the mass a given distance is work. Muscles move, calories are burned, and joints are jostled. It's all good, as they say. Today I squeezed in miles where and how I could. I had intended to run trails near Eldorado Springs for a couple of hours but my time ran short.

I rode my motorcycle over to a trailhead just east of Eldorado Springs, slipped off my jeans, switched running shoes for FiveFingers and headed out. I climbed about 500 feet over 2.1 miles of single track. It felt great, but on the way down I detected a blister developing on the ball of my foot at the base of the big toe. I was able to favor it the rest of the way down. I decided to switch back to the Asics but realized my time was running out so I got on the bike and rode home.

Ruth had an appointment so I was able to squeeze in 4 1/2 more miles along my old plodding ground of The Boulder Creek Trail. Later, Elliott was needing some time out of the house so I managed to tack on another 3.4 miles with him in the stroller. I ended the day with 11.8 miles pero no al estilo que esperaba. Oh well.

Yesterday's four miles involved pushing a running stroller and wearing running shoes. The day before that saw temperatures of 94 degrees; it was a nice opportunity to sweat a bit and put 7.5 miles in the books with some hill work to boot.

Today was the tenth day in a row that I've run since the rest day on the day before the Bolder Boulder. Maybe tomorrow will be a rest day and I'll be able to go for that two hour run on Friday. I need to locate the inov8s or NB 100 because, although the VFF are a thrill to mogul run up and down in they are not being kind to the bottoms of my feet.

Hot, Inclined, and Crowded

Valerie and I worked our jewelry cart on the Pearl Street Mall today. It was the day of the annual Jewish Festival. At about 12:30 I decided it was sufficiently hot (85 degrees) that I needed to go for a run. Being closer to the mountains than I am at the house I felt that some vertical was in order. Mt. Sanitas was the closest and most accessible so I headed off in that direction. From where I was it was a gradual uphill for about a mile before the rocky trail up the mountain begins.
I ran everything I could and climbed the parts that were too treacherous. I had one misstep, stubbing my little toe that was already purple from a similar incident on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I lost a firm grip on my running companion and he went face first into the rocks; I understand that the iphone glass can be replaced. Total elevation gain on the trail was about 1400 ft. in 1.4 miles. The 2.3 mile run took 45 minutes. Oddly, the return trip was longer by about three minutes, I think because this type of running is somewhat like climbing a tree; it is easier to go up than come down. There were lots of hikers huffing and puffing; they must have thought I was crazy out there in FiveFinger slippers.


I feel some twinges of pain in my spine. I think this type of run, although fun just has too many possibilities for catastrophe. Just before the iphone did a face plant I was wondering if it would be prudent to wear a helmet. Certainly, my toes have been lucky so far. I think I will stick to more fifty-something-friendly trails.





The apparent rockfield in these pictures is truly the trail. Vista photos look over to Bear Mountain and down to Boulder and the University of Colorado.

Hitting on Anton Krupicka's Mistress

I was waiting for the Bolder Boulder to be history before I began more adventure running. I decided to get acquainted with Anton Krupicka's mistress while he was resting on level ground somewhere. I decided the gentle approach was indicated so I wore my Vibram FiveFingers. In hindsight she is more the steel-toed hiking boot type. A helmet would even be prudent. She is hard and unforgiving. She has some impressive curves though, mostly of the 20% incline variety. It took an hour and fifteen minutes to summit Ms. Green. OK, enough of the mistress metaphor. From my starting point at Chautauqua Park to the summit was 2.73 miles with 2411 of rather technical vertical. I started out at an elevation of 5666 ft. above sea level and reached the summit at 8077 ft. above sea level. The descent was just as challenging and was slightly steeper because I took a route that was only 2.52 miles. (The highest point of the mountain in the background is the summit)

(Photo taken from about half way up looking down toward Boulder)
I am truly amazed that someone can run this up to four times a day and do each trip two and a half times faster than I did. Anton also often adds up to 25 additional mountain trail miles sometimes day after day.

(Photo taken from the summit looking over to the summit of Bear Mountain)













I was fortunate to just hyper-extend my big toe slipping on a large flat rock on the ascent and receive a rather curious bruise on my little toe which I didn't notice until this evening when I submerged my feet in an ice bath. I think this occurred when I momentarily glanced away from the trail. The balls of my feet feel as if they could have become one big blister if I had gone much farther. Although I came away relative unscathed and I had fun barefootin' this highly technical trail I consider myself lucky; more serious footwear is definitely indicated.

Bolder Boulder Report 2010

Monday was a beautiful Colorado day for the 32nd Bolder Boulder. I believe this was the 20th time I've participate since 1983. The sky was sunny and clear and the temperature was in the high 50's at 7AM. Like it is for so many of the 48,405 finishers, the Bolder Boulder is a Memorial Day tradition for Alex and I. As one can imagine, getting to the starting line with 50,000 people converging at one point and wanting to use a port-a-potty, although spread out over a couple of hours, can be a challenge, but Alex and I have it down. We drive to a little-known side street half way between the start and the finish and jog about a mile to the start leaving ourselves a handful of minutes to make sure bladders are empty and find our respective start waves. Alex started in the fifth wave and I began in the seventh wave so the starting pistol fired for us shortly after 7AM.

The Bolder Boulder is a good excuse for a morning party for anyone who lives along the race route. Runners are entertained by multiple amplified live bands along the course as well as belly dancers, bacon fryers, folks offering free beer, and even medical marijuana bong hits. I just took advantage of cups of water to dump on my head to keep refreshed.

My first two miles were right on target for pace but I let the third mile go 14 seconds over the goal somehow. The fourth mile was on target and they last two were a combined 45 seconds slower than anticipated although I thought I was cruising nicely. I ended up crossing the stadium finish line at 49:11 which was 37th out of 313 for 52 year old males. With so many runners in the Bolder Boulder, each age is an age group. Alex (bib # BB133 as pictured) finish in 45:36 and was happy with his time and reported that he had an enjoyable run.


We sat for a few minutes in the Folsom Field stadium taking in the scene and then headed down on foot to Le Peep for our traditional post-race breakfast although neither of us had the appetite we usually have. After omelets, buckwheat pancakes, and sausage we ran back to the car to reapply sunblock and then decide to drive home to check in to see if we were needed; Valerie had been at a sleepover and we didn't know whether she would need a ride.

We returned to the race about 10:45 and watched some of the final walkers head up to the stadium. We decided to watch the female and male elite races from the street and then run up to the stadium to observe the finale activities from inside. An Ethiopian woman was about two minutes ahead of the next closest runner at kilometer nine and most of the other runners were even farther back than that. In the men's race, three Ethiopian runners passed by shoulder to shoulder with only one other runner (from the Colorado team) in sight. As a team, the Colorado runners finished second, nicely beating out the Kenyan team.


Some people criticize participation in the Bolder Boulder as a self-indulgent Boulder-type diversion on Memorial Day, but it is when I feel most patriotic. Along the way I say many runners run with the names of fallen veterans pinned to their backs. Once in the stadium, most people are much more connected to their emotions after forty-five minutes or in some cases two hours of exertion. They are primed then to hear the song "I'm Proud to be an America" and of course The National Anthem, as well as listen to an elderly Congressional Medal of Honor recipient speak. Skydivers also paraglide into the stadium, each with a banner of a branch of the military with the last one trailing the American flag (as pictured). Air Force jets fly over timed to the end of the National Anthem performed powerfully by a selected local.

I did not feel as spent as I have in past years after the race. I think all the miles I put in this year helped in that regard. I think a little more goal-oriented training would have helped me run another ninety seconds faster, but I am content.

my split times

mile 1 7:30
mile 2 8:00
mile 3 8:14
mile 4 8:02
mile 5 7:52
mile 6 8:00
last .2 1:33

I was 3354 out of 22554 males and 4149 out of 48,405 finishers
Alex was 1811 out of 22554 males and 2098 overall

Elliott se divierte

Elliott enjoys his Pearl Street Mall animal sculpture inauguration.
Elliott took off his red pants and tried to put them on his head, so I helped him stretch the pants over his big noggin.