LT100

WOW. Not quite sure how to begin this post, other than stating it will finally bring us up to date with our summer blogging. (Whew, that only took 6 weeks). We just had an amazing weekend. Rob had it set in his mind to run the Leadville Trail 100, an ultramarathon also known as 'The Race Across the Sky'. (For those who've read Christopher McDougall's 'Born to Run', skip onto the next paragraph - you already know what a big event this is). It's known for being very difficult, mainly due to the incredibly high elevation (ranging from 9,200-12,600) and the incredibly difficult vertical (a total of 15,600). Around 50% of those who start actually finish; a lot drop out due to injury, illness, or mental difficulties.

The race began Saturday at 4:00 a.m. Unfortunately, we missed Rob's start. Much to no one's surprise, he still got off to a good start :) Aaron and Jenna crewed for him at the first two stations while Matt and I went back to the campground to get a few more hours of sleep. Matt, Aaron and Jenna all ended up pacing for Rob.

Matt and I joined the other two at Twin Lakes, where Rob was 40 miles in. Here's a quick video of Rob running in to the aid station before we met up with him.



We next saw him about six hours later at the same station, inbound. He had added on another 20 miles since we last saw him, and that 20 miles was also about 60% of the vertical. He was doing awesome, both mentally and physically, considering. Aaron walked him over to us where he iced his ankles, which were sore and swollen.



No more than 10 minutes had passed and he was ready to continue on. It was roughly 7:10 at this point, so keep in mind he had been running for 15 hours straight. Matt joined up with him here, and stuck with him for the next 27 miles.



Aaron, Jenna and I drove to the next aid station. We were probably the worst crew of the whole weekend because of what we pulled here...we were sleeping when they arrived. That's right, sleeping. Not a good move when time is an issue. Thankfully, they were still able to get off within about 10 minutes. Matt was doing really well physically and mentally at this point; Rob was definitely in pain and needed some guidance and mental encouragement.



We continued onto the next aid station, where we met up with them at about midnight. They both loaded up on carbs, then continued on their way.





At the next station, Matt was set to stop, as he had reached his 27.5 mile goal. Aaron started in, here, after doing some stretches you may recognize from 5th grade P.E. class.



While he stretched, the brilliantly organized crew leader Jenna waited patiently.



After Aaron did five with him, Jenna stepped in for the last seven. Keep in mind that it was roughly 5:30 am when Jenna took over, so Rob had been running strong for 25 hours at this point. Meanwhile, Matt, Aaron and I took a quick nap back at the campground. We headed to the finish line around 8:00 am. We were fortunate enough to see Rob cross the finish line. His goal was to finish in 30 hours; we think his time was roughly 29:01.





Here's a shot of Marilee (her and Ken Chlouber are the race organizers) giving Rob his much-deserved medel.



Rob did an AWESOME job in this race. There are a lot of first-timers who set out to finish each year who are unable to achieve their goal. Rob is one of the few who did. He fought an incredible amount of physical pain throughout his entire body, but centralized in his ankles. He also overcame many mental barriers, which he stated was the biggest challenge of the whole event. Matt also did an excellent job of pacing, and was a huge help in the whole process. Aaron's willingness to do whatever task needed to be done (for example, Aaron was not planning on pacing until Rob was at about mile 40...talk about last minute planning) was also a huge help. And, of course, Jenna was very organized and did an excellent job of getting Rob what he needed when he needed it most.

It was an honor for both of us to be a part of an event like this. We saw a ton of people do something they thought was impossible as we sat at the finish line. We were both overcome with tears watching some people cross the finish line. To be honest, I don't think there were many dry eyes near the corner of 6th and Harrison.

Congratulations to Rob on a HUGE accomplishment!

Mile High, Round Two

For our birthdays and anniversary, Dan and Diana gave us tickets to Mile High Music Festival. We were super excited about the line up; it was hard to pick which shows to see. We had gone two years ago, too, but this one was MUCH more mellow than in '08. (It's a bit difficult to get on Aaron's shoulders and squeeze our way to the front of each show with such a large belly).



We saw a lot of great shows. Phoenix, Keane, Slightly Stoopid, Tim Reynolds, Nas and Damian Marley, Matt Morris, Weezer and Train were a few of the shows we saw throughout the day. Here's a shot of the TR3 show.



Jack Johnson performed Friday night, but the highlight of the weekend was definitely DMB. They were phenomenal, as always.





Thanks to Dan and Diana for an awesome weekend!

Mount Massive

The first weekend in August, Aaron, T-Dog, Paul and Kelly set out to hike Mount Massive. It's the second largest 14er in Colorado. The distance matches it's name, mounting up to a 14 mile climb. Aaron started Friday night off with accomplishing a goal of his; he slept in his hammock! Oddly enough, Aaron slept better than T-Dog and Kelly (who slept in the truck), and Paul (who slept in the tent). I think he's on to something.





Aaron was a ways ahead of the others, and got a few shots of them heading up.





Aaron waited for T-Dog to summit; they were about five hours in when they reached the top.





It was a long day for all, and they were happy to have had the beautiful weather they did!

Mount Huron

We headed up to Leadville for a weekend in July. We were unable to find a spot at a campground, so we headed into the National Forest and found a much more beautiful spot, which we had to ourselves. Aaron set up camp while I read, then we relaxed around the fire until Rob and Jenna arrived.



Saturday morning, Aaron and Leroy headed up to hike Mount Huron. He took some beautiful shots along the way.





He summited in about four hours, which was much faster than anticipated.





While Aaron was out, Rob did some training for the Leadville 100 by running over Hope Pass, while Jenna and I hung around the campsite. When both Aaron and Rob returned, they iced their sore legs by sitting in Clear Creek.



That afternoon Aaron successfully hung and test drove our hammock for the first time. He has plans of sleeping in it on future trips; we'll see how that pans out.



Sunday morning we drove back to reality.

Red, White and Blue Up the Wazoo

It's been a while since we last posted. We have a lot to update on...

We celebrated the Fourth by taking our maiden voyage through Brown's Canyon. For those who are unfamiliar, Brown's is the most rafted section of whitewater in the US. Needless to say, it was quite busy that weekend. We left Denver Friday morning; Aaron happily drove us to Buena Vista, where we hung out at the whitewater park for a few hours.



Saturday morning we headed to our put in. Because Amy and I were unable to raft through Brown's with the little ones on the way, the group agreed to put in higher so we could raft for the first part. Here's a shot of our boat going through the Milk Run.



Amy and I got out where we stopped for lunch. Before leaving everyone else, we were able to get a group shot. I think we were successful in being the most patriotic group on the Arkansas that day.



According to some rafting books we have, and locals near the Arkansas, Zume Flume is the most well known rapid in the US. It's also the most technical. Nonetheless, everyone decided it would be best to put all 12 people and two dogs into one boat to go through the rapid. (Mind you, these boats are meant for 3 people). They somehow made it through without a flip.



We then hiked back up to go through again in our own boats. Here's some pictures of Aaron and Brent going through Zume Flume.







To continue with tradition, we drove into Salida that night to watch the fireworks. So sums up our celebration of the Nation!