the golden leaf half marathon

All I can say is, YELLOW. well, that's not all I can say, and I will say a lot more, but I'll start with yellow. Parts of the trail were heavily blanketed with fallen aspen leaves, they were the cheeriest shade of bright yellow. The morning sun glowed through the leaves still on the trees, the scrub oaks were a deep orangy gold, and the sky was deep bright blue. A perfect day.

The race started at the bottom of Snowmass mountain, and the first mile was straight up the ski run. Boring, I walked. There were a bunch of insane people who ran up. There were 650 people entered. That's a lot! Especially once we got on the single track. I was waiting to hear a moo. The first maybe 2 or 3 miles of single track were so crowded. If somebody stopped to walk, we all had to stop. It was pretty annoying. I'm used to trail running with a few friends, and that has a whole other sense of peace and solitude. Mile 4 came quickly. Probably because I was so focused on not giving the runner in front of me a flat tire, or get one from the person behind me.

Somewhere around mile 5 things started to space out a bit. My friends Kristi and Kristina who I was running with stayed together, and that helped to have friends to talk to. It was during mile 6 that we ran through a big open meadow. I wished I had my camera. Grasshoppers were flying all over the place, everything was... well, yellow, and the air smelled like sweet grass and clouds. I was more than half done, and feeling pretty good.

I think I spaced out a bit then. The next thing I knew was we were all bunched up again in the herd, and pounding down steep switchbacks. Every once in a while you'd hear "oof", "shit", "wooow" or "aaagh". (those are the sounds a runner makes when they wipe out.) By then, mile 9 or 10, my knee was hurting, and my feet felt blistery, and I wasn't quite so peppy.

Then we came out of the woods and ran a short distance on the road. ouch. Luckily our friend Jim from work was there with big smiles and Gatorade. That helped. Than we crossed one of the most scenic foot bridges in Colorado, and were back on the dirt. We puttered through the open space outside town and eventually came to the 12 mile marker. One more mile to go. I could run one mile, right?

That last mile went quick, and before I knew it we were running down the sidewalk in town. That was kinda fun because there were people there cheering us on. When I got to the finish line, Gene, Poppie and Cody were there yahooing me through. I almost cried, but didn't.

Now I'm home, cleaned up and in my comfiest clothes, and really hoping both kids take good naps. Phew... that was a big accomplishment for me. I feel tired, and glad I survived

getting ready for the race

On Saturday I'm running in the Golden Leaf half marathon. I'm pretty excited, and starting to get a little nervous. If you want to read the course description (very interesting) google "golden leaf half marathon" you can read all about it. I just re-read it for the third time, and it still is interesting to me. but then again, I'll be living it in 2 days. Gene said he'll meet me at the finish line with the kids and a big cold drink. I'll let you know how it goes!

Like a good western gal, Poppie can nurse her baby (cowie) while riding her horse!

I made a kite but there just wasn't enough wind in the backyard.
So we hiked up the bluff across the street to see if we could fly our kite up there.

This is the view from up on the bluff. Do you see the dirt trough looking thing running down the mountain? That's the newly expanded super pipe at Buttermilk mountain (half pipe for skiing and snowboarding). I think it's the biggest in the state, and maybe in the country. The green apartments in the foreground that you can't really see because of the trees are ours.
And all the hiking around put little guy to sleep.

our new friend

Meet Scarecrow. We made her this morning to protect the one small pumpkin growing in the garden. Poppie and Scarecrow were instant friends. We took her to the grocery store (in her headless state) and she sat at the table with us while we ate lunch.
Here are some pictures of our garden. The plot next to ours is wicked mint... (if you're from Massachusetts you'll get that joke) Oh, and Cody is happy as can be to sit in the garden and eat dirt.

i want my daughters clothes

Getting Poppie dressed is one of my favorite times of day. I love opening the drawer and seeing it stuffed with bright colors and wonderful textures to put together and layer. All of her clothes are cute. I'd wear any of them.

peaches

The Palasade peaches are here. They are so juicy that we have to eat them outside, and every night is a bath night durring peach season. I can't buy enough. Two days ago I bought 8 peaches, and today they are gone. I hope this is a memory Poppie and Cody will keep.