the magic

Last night was a no-drop ride with our triathlon club. Well, only me and Mr. Scandinavian Mullet showed up to meet our club's coach! To everyone else's credit, it was HOT, it was an afternoon ride out in the foothills (not central) and it looked like rain was going on out that way. So, I understand the low turnout. Sort of. But with such a tiny group, it was definitely no-drop! 

Patrick and Charley in
Bear Creek Lake State Park

We showed up miraculously on time. And even though it was just us three, off we went. Coach Patron had picked a really great route, one I'd never ridden, through a really nice neighborhood then down to a bike path and into Bear Creek Lake State Park. Mr. Scandinavian Mullet was thrilled we got to ride up the dam. And then we dropped in to a tour of the park, while we threaded our way through the edges of the late afternoon thunderstorms. Climbing out of the park and onto the C-470 trail, we had a brilliant rainbow shining over our start/finish point off in the distance, so we got to chase that beauty for the last five miles. It was a really great night - the photo here shows some of the magic we experienced. 

Since completing IM70.3 Oregon, I've been a little out of sorts. I know it's common to feel a bit of a let-down after finishing A Big Thing, but it's also annoying. I'm not one to wallow, but I definitely had a day of that this past week - one day. And then I went to a track workout at the end of the day. And the next day, I went on this bike ride. And, boom, I feel like ME again. I really think I just needed to grieve the end of my Season of Fun. 

Leadville Trail 10K (at 10K!)

Speaking of... the end-of-season event happened this past weekend, I ran the Leadville Trail 10K on Sunday with Johna and hundreds of other crazy people. It's pretty awesome, though I hadn't run at high altitude, well, EVER, so that was interesting! (Leadville is 10,152' above sea level.) And it was the first longer run I've done since my half IM. The first three miles were downhill, beautiful views, and totally manageable. Then you turn around and run back to town, so the last three miles are uphill and, well... at least it's pretty coming back into town, too! I finished in 1:07:59. I was running 9:32/mile pace for the first three miles, but for the whole course I'm at 10:52/mile, so you can see how that back half went! But I ended up finishing well inside the top 50% for my age group and for my gender overall, so I'm pretty happy about that! And I got to meet the Macy family - they're an amazing group, and Mace ran his 25th run there with his whole family - kids, grandkids and many friends. Overall, this 10K at 10K was a super fun thing to do - five stars, highly recommend! 

I can forgive myself for my day of sadness. Yes, this season was magic, but the magic still comes. Go do the workout, go do the ride - it won't always be there, but the magic will come.