White Ranch Open Space

We headed out to White Ranch Open Space (WROS) today with Rob and Jenna. It was a lot sunnier in Denver when we left, but when we arrived out by Golden, it had become overcast. It was still nice to get out into the hills since it has been a while.

We haven't been out to WROS yet, it was great to see new hiking trails nearby. It was quite a bit bigger than I imagined, with many more miles of trails than expected.

Also, this is the first time we got to use the new (to us) baby carrier backpack that was given to us by Jenny's parent's old neighbors. It worked out great, we're excited to use it again. We had gotten Elias all situated in the carrier and someone had to use the bathroom. Guess who? It wasn't Elias, but he did have to accompany me. I guess he didn't like the smell too much.



Here are a couple more pictures of Elias in the carrier.





He was a bit fussy right away.



We didn't go too far on the hike as we weren't sure how Elias would take to it. He must have liked it pretty well, he slept the whole time, only fussing when we stopped for a moment. Elias was dressed pretty snug and didn't seem to mind the cold weather.

The hike was really nice, we saw some great sites of the whole city. If you look close, you can see downtown Denver in the background.



We hiked about 1.7 miles out and then turned around and headed back, 3.4 miles total. With just a little mud and snow on the trail, it turned out to be a great day.

Here are a couple more shots of Elias in the carrier. The way his face is situated in the pictures is how he slept the whole time.





A quick video of us finishing the hike.



Once we put him down and unfastened the buckles, he was a pretty happy kid.

Weekly Training Review: Jan 24 - 30

1/24/11
Nothing Today
Had indoor soccer training tonight.

1/25/11
A.M. 6.7 Miles
Ran around the golf course before work with LB. Great morning, once the sun started coming up.

1/26/11
P.M. Gym
I started a 24 hour fitness 7 day trial today. We used to be members of 24 hour fitness, but hated all the meat heads that were there. Unfortunately, I have one two blocks from work and one two blocks from home, so it may work out pretty well.

1/27/11
A.M. 6.7 miles
It is supposed to be 50 degrees today and the morning run before work was great. LB got quite the workout
P.M. Gym

1/28/11
A.M. 16.9 miles
Headed out to Hidden Mesa again this morning. Got in the car at 6:20 a.m. and was excited as the weather was supposed to get into the 60s today. I started running and one thing led to another and I just kept running. Once the sun came up, it was absolutely gorgeous. I could see all the peaks around me and there was hardly anyone on the trail. I think I saw three people while I was running. LB did great keeping up and headed off to patches of snow to grab a drink when he could.

1/29/11
A.M. 1.1 miles
I took a run with Jenny and Elias this morning. It was Jenny's first run of the year. She pushed through the 1.1 miles like a pro though. Elias, well he slept in his jogger like usual.

1/30/11
A.M. 8 miles
Got out the door around 7:30 a.m. this morning. I had Elias with me today as Jenny wanted some extra time to sleep. I guess Elias wanted some extra time to sleep as well, he slept the whole time in the jogger. He wasn't great company, but I'm excited to get him out more in the jogger. We headed around the golf course.
P.M. 3.4 miles hiking
Headed to White Ranch Open Space. Check out our on post on the hike.

TOTAL:
Week: 39.4 miles
YTD: 64.1 miles

Jenny YTD: 1.1 miles
Elias YTD: 9.1 miles

Weekly Training Review: Jan 17 - 23

1/17/11
Nothing Today
Had indoor soccer training tonight.

1/18/11
Weight Training

1/19/11
Nothing Today

1/20/11
A.M. 4.8 miles
About two inches of snow fell last night. The sky was blue and the wind was not blowing so it turned out to be a nice run. Ran the long route around the golf course.

1/21/11
Gym
Had about 2.5 hours at the gym today. Biked, rowed, stair climber, arm bike and weights. I'm hoping hitting the gym several times a week will help my knees.

1/22/11
4.8 miles
Cold and windy, but turned out to be a great run. No one out and the sun was just setting. I can't wait for daylight savings time.

1/22/11
8.8 miles
Headed out to Hidden Mesa trail again. Beautiful day, high 40's low 50's. Ran the lollipop twice today. Once I actually looked at a map of the run, it is not as far as I thought. But HM is a great, fun run.



TOTAL:
Week: 18.4 miles
YTD: 24.7 miles

Weekly Training Review: Jan 10 - 16

No posts for trainig before Sunday the 16th. Just starting to update my progress.

01/16/11
Sunday: 6.3 Miles
Out to Hidden Mesa Trail loop. It was snowy and muddy, but a beautiful day out.

Collegiate Peaks 50 Mile Run, 2 Triathlons and a 1/2 Ironman

With the Collegiate Peaks 50 mile race on May 7th, training is beginning. The Collegiate Peaks 50 goes through some of the highest peaks in the US, including Mt. Harvard, Mt. Yale and Mt. Princeton, all 14ers.

I will also be competing in at least two triathlons and a 1/2 Ironman. One of the triathlons will be a sprint and the other will be an olympic triathlon.

I will be updating my training on here to keep myself on track, and to also let others know of my progress.

I have big plans for training:
Full day runs
Weight training
Sprints
And I also plan on doing days where I run a 5 mile route, take an hour off, run the route again, take an hour off and so on. Hopefully, I can increase the number of times I run the route each week.

So I have a race each month from May through August with hopefully more to come. It is going to be a busy summer.

Elias Jayne

We welcomed the greatest gift into our lives on Sunday, October 17 at 8:44 pm.

Elias Jayne joined us after a wonderful, long labor. My contractions started very sporadically at 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. I first timed them around 4:30, when they were 12 or so minutes apart. We labored through the night at home, went into the hospital at 11 Sunday morning, and went up to the labor and delivery room later in the afternoon. I spent most of my labor sleeping in between contractions, bouncing on the birthing ball, and relaxing in the jacuzzi. Misty (our ever-encouraging doula) and Aaron were incredibly supportive throughout the whole day. It was a long, hard labor, with various unexpected challenges thrown at us, such as Elias being posterior and having his arm on his head when he came out, being stuck between 9 and 10 cm for nearly three hours, and puking far too many times to count. Thankfully, however, we were able to go through the entire process free of any medication. The whole thing was beautiful - all of our hard work and preparation paid off. The setting for his arrival was perfect; the lights were dimmed, Coldplay's 'Fix You' was playing in the background, and everyone in the room was silent, except for Elias, when he let out his first cry.

My First Ultra

My first ultra-marathon was about what I expected...hard. Running the Bear Chase Race was a blast. The length of the course was 50 kilometers, or around 32 miles. Before starting the race, I didn't really know what to expect. I had trained for about three weeks prior and had never even competed in a running race before, nonetheless a 32 mile race. I've actually never ran over 18 miles at one time until this day. Luckily the weather turned out to be great.

The race started before dawn, so most people were using their headlamps to navigate around. Excited and nervous, I walked around with no one to really talk to except Jenny. I stretched and drank some water. Here's a picture of me prior to the start of the race.



The trail I was running took me through some great single track running, up a couple of small mountains, around a couple of lakes and we had to run through six rivers. Here are a couple of shots of the lake near the starting line and one of the mountains I would be running up (or walking).





The race started and I trotted in the back as we got into single track running. I wasn't out to break any time or win anything; my only goal was to finish, whether that was in four hours or 10 hours. The trail was absolutely gorgeous and well maintained. About 95% was on hard or soft sand, which was great for my knees. Running through the rivers was probably the highlight of the race, other than finishing. They helped cool my body and legs off as the day started to get hot.











Here is another picture of the course. This is about 15 miles in. They had some great shade running through the dense trees.



They had aid stations throughout the whole course where I could get food and drinks, but I was only able to see Jenny twice throughout the race, once at 13 miles and another time at 26 miles. Here are a couple of shots of when I got to see Jenny, eat some gels and shot bloks.





And then I was off again.



And in my final six miles, it got hot. Especially without the shade.







Miles 28 to 32 got pretty tough, but I managed to finish the race in 5 hours 45 minutes. I made it within my goal! I cramped up pretty quickly after the race ended, grabbed a beer and headed to the massage tent.







In the end, I was tired, but so glad I tried and finished the race. Definitely something I plan on doing again. Hopefully I can train longer than three weeks beforehand. Up next, a 50 miler.