Manitou Incline

I went on another "hike" recently. I think it's really half challenge half hike.

It was WAY to cold and rainy to sit by the pool as we planned so we decided to tackle the mountain. This is the start of the Manitou Incline in Colorado Springs (on the left). Doesn't look too bad from the bottom! The photo on the right is somewhere in the middle of the hike. It was so rainy, we didn't get our phones out much during the incline.

Our friend, who is in excellent shape, said she did the incline in 30 minutes. I think she is mistaken. World class athletes can do it in 25 minutes. I am sure she was fast, but I would plan on an hour to an hour and a half if you have a regular cardio routine (and up to 2.5 hours for then average hiker). We were passed a fair amount along the way up. I'd like to think all of those people were in the Air Force Academy or from the nearby Olympic Training Center. Though, most of the hikers looked like regular people who have done the trail before.

This is the top. Not much of a view! The incline rises 2000 feet over less than a mile. It doesn't sound like much, but my heart was beating out of my chest before too long.

It was too slippery for us to even consider taking the stairs back down. My recently broken foot has made me very cautious. The trail down is about 4 miles on a fairly well marked path.

We had some pretty views along the way down.

We weren't expecting the way down to be so long, but there were a fair amount of switchbacks. 

I think I was delirious at this point. These rocks looked so beautiful in my mind.

Here's the train for Pike's Peak that we took last year. I thought I had blogged about that journey, but maybe not.

It took us about 3 hours to do the round trip journey. I think under better conditions, we would have been faster. I'd like to come back in a year after I've rejoined my regular cardio routine to see if I could get a better time. 

Colorado Springs has so many interesting sites. I'm never disappointed with my visit to the area.

Pumped Up

There are some days when I am working out when I feel like I am really making progress.  

Today was not one of those days.

The workout is called Fran. Only two moves repeated in three cycles. Because of an old shoulder injury, I had to modify the exercises to use about half the prescribed weight for women and I did ring rows rather than pull ups. It still took my twice as long as the elite women.

In case you missed your gym class today, you can read about the workout in more detail here. 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Row, Row, Row

As summer vacation winds to an end, I'm trying to cull my photos to remember just what we did this summer. It was a summer on the go!

We spent a week in San Diego with my sister and tried paddle boarding. 

We got Grandpa up on the board.

Not ready to be shown up by Grandpa, Tucker tried it for the first time too.

It was exhausting work.

Jessica & Uncle K are naturals and paddle with elegant balance.

The rest of us took a little while to get our sea legs.

But, if we had smaller boards & paddles, I am sure Charlie & Greta would have paddled on their own too.

Even Nick found his balance quickly (though the kids were certain he would fall in - he's never going to be allowed to forget his misstep in the canoe).

He got into a groove when the kids starting yelling to him & I heard Nick's stroke pick up.

He found a friend with bad dental work.

Nick was a bit unsure how his friend would react if he fell in the water. The extra motivation worked - Nick stayed dry.

Henry hung around for a bit heckling the boys before swimming off in search of dinner. I can see why this popular sport has taken off. If we lived close to water, I would want a board too - they are a nice aquatic equivalent to a walk along the beach.

March of the {Slightly} Crazy People

Nick checked a big item off his "50 before 50 List" last weekend (in case you were wondering, there are only about 3 items on the list right now).

He decided to take on the Leadville 50 Silver Rush Mountain Bike Race.

50 Miles of tough terrain starting at 10,200 feet. The starting hill would have been enough to do me in. In fact, about 2 hours into the race, I felt the altitude draining me. Thankfully, Nick got in enough high altitude rides that he was fine.

Here is the start to the craziness. In addition to the obvious physical challenges, this race has a huge mental component.

It was interesting to hear/watch the riders as they approached the half way point. There were happy riders, focused riders, grumpy riders & desperate riders. We knew about 7 riders in the race & each one demonstrated a different emotion at the turn around.

This was the hill you had to climb before the turn around. It doesn't look that bad in this photo, but I didn't see any rider make it up on his/her bike.

This is Nick with 10 miles to go. I think it's a thumbs up. His goal was to finish the race. About 800 riders were registered to race, but only about 585 crossed the finish line under the 8 hour cut-off. Though my pictures don't show it, there were 75 women in the - the majority of whom seemed to be trying for the Leadwoman Title (i.e, complete 5 of the Leadville races).

Nick accomplished his goal and got to share his success with friends. That he rode the race with his former roommate/half the reason Nick friend was pretty awesome.

Nick & his training partner put in a lot of miles in the last two months. I'm so glad they were able to celebrate together at the end of a very long day. I am so impressed with his dedication & commitment to his goal. Way to go Nick!

Running Man

Nick completed his first half-marathon this weekend. I say first though right now he might say last. Can you see the balloons in the background?

It was a beautifully sunny morning.

The Albuquerque Half Marathon is a great size - about 600 people joined in.

Nick started toward the back.

I think this was the happiest he was all day.

We waited while all the runners came through & then had a picnic breakfast.

The finish line was at a school so the kids kept busy while we waited for Nick to finish. 

Here he is at mile 3 still looking good.  His training regimen started strong. Then, life/work got a bit complicated, the time changed & it was cold running in the morning & he came up with his own program that was probably a bit light on mileage. Add in a bad virus (no running) and a late return flight the night before the race. He had plenty of good excuses to back out, but he didn't.

The winner crossed the finish line in just over an hour. The kids couldn't understand why it took Nick a little longer. Thank goodness they weren't waiting for me to finish.

His iPod died at mile 4.

His hip flexors were not happy.

But, he finished strong with the kids. They didn't take it easy on him - they SPRINTED!

We are really proud of his great effort & commitment. Way to go Nick!

Farolito Run

Ella's running club sent home an opportunity to do an evening family fun run.

It's darn cold here during the day. I don't know what I thinking about running at night.

It helped that the official starter was somewhat of a local celebrity.

The running path was lighted with farolitos (aka luminaries) which made for a pretty adventure.

Nick had an emergency root canal the morning of the race, so it was me & the kids representing.  I ran with Greta who provided a continuous commentary through the race.

MOM, WHERE ARE CHARLIE & ELLA? I CAN'T SEE THEM.

WOW. THOSE PEOPLE ARE RUNNING FAST. 

PHEW. I THINK I NEED TO WALK FOR A MINUTE.

OK, LET'S RUN AGAIN.

WAIT!!!! NOT SO FAST MOM.

LOOK! I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE.

MOM, I'M GLAD I STAYED WITH YOU SO YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO FINISH LAST ON YOUR OWN.

Ella loves to run & had a good race.

Dad was ready with the camera & battled low light for some action shots.

But, this little dude also likes to run & in the twilight, Dad missed his photo finish completely. The kids all had a great time so I hope we'll have more fun runs in our future (especially once the weather warms up).