Great weekend Colorado style!

Well, we wrapped up our Colorado weekend with a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning. We got a relatively early start because we were planning on a hike/trail run of several hours. However, that didn't exactly happen. As we were driving through the park looking for where we were planning to start our adventure, I saw a sign for riding stables. Hmm, that sounded interesting. We got a little lost from where we were planning to go, and as K was turning around to start heading back there I suggested checking out the place for the horseback riding. He didn't seem too keen on it initially, but he humored me. We got there shortly before the next ride was going to set out, so we joined in on the fun. Now, K and I aren't exactly riders, so this was a new experience for us. Fortunately, the horses were generally so well-behaved that we didn't really have to do much, although I did have a few issues with mine. Cruella, as she was called, liked to stop and eat whenever possible and I was instructed not to let her do that so I had to continually pull her head up (which was even tied back somewhat so that she couldn't eat). She ran me through a few tree branches and scared me when she stumbled slightly and went down. But, otherwise, it was a nice way to view some of the Park for a couple of hours. The weather was fantastic again, so we lucked out. There's so much to see and do there, so I'm looking forward to going back when we have a little more time.
We had brunch at Mary's Lake Lodge, which was recommended to us as a place that the locals go. It was delicious! Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel to check-out then went into downtown Estes Park to pick up our pictures from our rafting trip yesterday. Here's a couple of them:
So, now we're at the airport getting ready to head home. No sooner will we get back and unpack than it will be time to pack again as we are heading out to San Francisco on Thursday afternoon. I heart Colorado. And, I definitely heart SF. Life is good.

I heart Colorado!

Wedding two in our back-to-back wedding weekends is done. And, it was another one where we just barely made it in time for the ceremony! This time the delay was due to the closure of DIA due to thunderstorms with severe lightning as we were flying into Denver on Friday afternoon. All flights were put into a holding pattern so we spent about 45 minutes circling the area. Despite the delay, we still thought we could make it...until we were diverted from the main road to Estes Park due to standing water on the roads from the previously mentioned thunderstorms. Once that happened, I gave up hope that we'd make it in time for the ceremony...but, thankfully, the wedding started a few minutes late which gave us just enough time to slip in for the ceremony which was held overlooking the lawn of The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park (yes, the hotel that inspired Stephen King's "The Shining").
What an amazing venue with the mountains in the backdrop!
It was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple, Jane and Gareth. The reception was held at the Stanley Concert Hall. I've never seen a bride have more fun at her wedding than Jane! It was a fun time for all.
We started today with a brief stroll through downtown Estes Park for the requisite souvenir shopping. We then headed over to meet our bus that was taking us up to the Cache La Poudre River, north of Ft. Collins, for our white-water rafting adventure. Now, when I told K that I wanted to go rafting (and left him in charge of looking into it and making reservations), I had something more relaxed and scenic in mind. I didn't really have a good idea of what I was getting into until RP shared some stories of rafting from her childhood in CO at the wedding last night - I got the impression that it was highly likely that I was going to be thrown from the boat, and she even indicated that the current may have to "spit" you back out. After seeing how quickly the water was moving and getting an overview of what to do if the worst happens during our safety demonstration, I was definitely ready to back out if I could. We were going to be going through Class III rapids, with the water at its highest point thus far all year. And, that water was COLD! Thankfully, when we loaded onto our boat, I was in the middle which turned out to be the best place to be because the front took the brunt of the incoming water while the back seemed to have a bumpier ride. We rode two sections of the river, and after my initial anxiety wore off, I had fun of course.
To top off the day, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Estes Park called...
The name was enough for me to want to go.

Up next is Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow for a trail run.

The weather is just beautiful here (temps in the 50's-60's with no humidity)! I'm not looking forward to returning to the 100+ degree temps in Austin. I still haven't sold K on the possibility of moving here though (I lived here for a couple of years when I was a kid and for a year during my last year in grad school). I'm already planning a trip back...

O-H-I-O

Wedding one in our back-to-back wedding weekends is done. We headed out to Ohio after work on Friday for K’s niece’s wedding on Saturday. We were scheduled to arrive pretty late on Friday night, but that turned into very late due to flight delays. After getting into bed a little before 2am, I was concerned about how I was going to get my 16-mile run in on Saturday before all the wedding festivities without much sleep. I managed to get up in the morning with barely enough time to get my run done on the hotel treadmill for us to get to the wedding in time (we saw the bridal party outside the Church getting ready to head in just as we arrived!). This was the first Ohio wedding that I have been to, and it was definitely a different cultural experience for me in a lot of ways. I realized just how different our wedding was from what K grew up with and what his family was used to. I wouldn’t have done it any other way though (and K knew that). Thankfully we had a few hours in between the ceremony and reception, so we were able to go back to the hotel for a quick nap which was much needed.

With a few more hours of sleep on Saturday night than Friday night, I was able to get up without too much difficulty on Sunday morning for a quick 6-mile run back on the treadmill before we had to check out of the hotel. I think it’s pretty funny that I have run more on the treadmill in the past month due to all of our traveling than I ever have because I have always been afraid of falling off and never really tried it beyond once several years ago. At least I’m getting all of my runs in! We spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon with K’s family before heading back to the airport for our evening flight. We got home relatively late and didn’t make it to bed until about midnight, so I decided in advance that I was going to run in the evening today instead of getting up at 5am to run 12 miles with our unofficial Monday morning run by Carolyn. That’s just not enough sleep for me to run and have a full effective day at work.

I’m happy that this is a short week since we are taking off early on Friday to go to Colorado for Jane’s wedding. And, next week is another short one too because of the 4th of July. Gotta love that. K actually goes back to work tomorrow after a month sabbatical (he took his first one in September for our wedding and honeymoon). Must be nice, huh? It’s been nice to have him home though to take care of chores and errands for the past couple of weeks.

Resurrection...

K declared my blog dead earlier this week, with good reason when you look at the stats…28 posts so far all year – 13 in January, 4 in February, 6 in March, 5 in April, 0 in May, and 0 thus far in June. I’m intrigued that he has continually observed the recent lack of postings and perhaps even expressed some level of concern about it? During our discussion this week, I noted that I think the appropriate question to explore (rather than just commenting on the lack of activity) is why I haven’t posted. Now this is something that I have thought a lot about lately. K attributed it to lack of time and energy, but it’s more than just that. As I indicated in one of my last posts, I have been keeping to myself a lot lately and just haven’t felt like sharing. I am still struggling with this, but feel like I have made small steps to reconnect a bit more. I have also enjoyed the protection in some ways of not putting myself out there for others to react to, in part because I have observed my own sometimes very strong negative reactions lately to the blog posts of others. But, at the same time, that prevents me from getting support from others when I want or need it. I was reminded today by someone important to me (thanks, P) of why I started this blog in the first place – yes, it started out as a way to manage my running neuroses but it was also meant to be a means for me to keep my friends updated on what’s going on. Sometimes I think I forget the scope of who may read this – it’s more than just my Austin running peeps, it’s also my friends from college and graduate school who are spread all across the country that I miss sharing with on a regular basis. So, let's give this a go again...

Well, what's new? Geez, where to start. We've done quite a bit of traveling in the past few months - in fact, we have been out of town more weekends than we have been in town since April. And, we're not done yet. We will be attending weddings out of state this weekend (Ohio) and next weekend (Colorado). I still haven't unpacked my big suitcase from our Singapore trip, which is laying in the middle of our living room. Not sure when I'll get to it either, especially since I have a smaller suitcase to use for these next two trips. :)

(Rather than a long, delayed recount of our Singapore trip, I'll just post the pictures when we get them all uploaded.)

My running has come full circle from trail running back to road running with the goal of qualifying for Boston. For a multitude of reasons I had been falling out of love somewhat with trail running during our training for Jemez in the Spring. With the reintegration of speedwork and road running during the 5k/10k PR group, I found myself ready to go back to the road (at least for now). I was ready to run faster again and be accountable to my watch (which is exactly what drove me away from road to trail in the first place). I'm training with Carolyn's Wednesday morning group right now, and I'm making a serious effort to become a morning runner this summer (although the early morning humidity seems to be even more oppressive than the soaring afternoon temps). I have been committed and focused on getting all of my runs in (about 50 mpw for the past few weeks), even while we were traveling. I have no idea who this girl is getting up at 5am to run as I have never, ever been a morning person. I know some of you are just flabbergasted by this new behavior. Me too.

I have felt like I have been slogging through my runs in the past week or so, which is okay I guess since we are in the base-building period and I'm not supposed to be concerned about pace. But, damn, I've been struggling with the humidity in the mornings and seriously seem to be running slower than ever on my easy pace runs. During our MGP workout this week, my only goal was to keep my pace under 9min/mile, which I was able to do without too much difficulty - but getting it down to 8:30ish in this weather is going to be a struggle. I did have a major confidence boosting run on our last day in Singapore about two weeks ago. After a week of running on a treadmill outside in weather conditions quite similar to Austin, I did a 16-mile run on a treadmill in air conditioning at 8:34/mile pace which felt amazingly easy. And then I got on a plane for 20+ hours but that's a different story...

I am bracing for a downward spiral at work, as one of my key employees will be leaving next month. This means that I will essentially be doing the work of 4 people, which is obviously totally manageable. HA! It also means that I have to take back over the primary supervisory responsibilities of my staff, which is not something that I am looking forward to. And, unfortunately, with how slowly the wheels of bureaucracy work, I am unlikely to get any relief by the end of the year. Seriously. So much for our fantasy trip to Paris for Christmas!

K and I have been enjoying our lives as DINKS (dual-income no kids), and still have no plans for kids (or pets) anytime soon. However, we are frustrated by the higher tax rate we are suddenly responsible for now that we are married. And, to make matters worse, K still hasn't gotten the mandatory pay cut removed at work, and it looks like I won't be getting any salary adjustments (not even cost of living) for the upcoming year because of budget cuts due to the economy. So frustrating.

But, all in all, we're good. I'm good. And, I'll make an effort to start sharing more of that again.