Las Vegas AANP Conference!

AANP Conference June 19-22, 2013:

I was fortunate to attend the American Association of Nurse Practitioners national conference with Maggie. It was like nursing school all over again ;) The best part of the conference was spending 4 days with one of my closest friends. Hopefully we will be able to attend another conference together in the future.

The Pallazzo- our hotel

The Venetian - Conference location

The front entrance of The Palazzo

Our room

The view from our room

One of our dinners at the Venetian

Fun night out at ROCK OF AGES!  Thanks Maggie :) 

Bellagio Fountains

Last Big Training Weekend (June 15th and 16th 2013)...

Training for Leadville Marthon:

In one week I will race in the Leadville marathon. I will run 26.2 miles up and down a mountain, gaining 6,000 feet in overall elevation gain, and running up to 13,185 feet along Mosquito Pass. (http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com) I would say this race is up there with Ironman intimidation.  I am excited, well-trained, but still have some apprehension as I approach race day. One thing that I always enjoy about signing up for very challenging races is that you get so much more than fitness out of your training. I would say this training experience has given me many positive experiences:

(1) Strength - both physically and emotionally. I think I am the strongest I have ever been in running. My city running times have improved and my trail running has significantly improved. One year ago I could not run up most of the mountain climbs we ran and now I can run up majority of the mountain trails no matter the elevation profile or altitude. Emotional strength - I had to become much more independent with running alone on trails than I ever anticipated. With Evan training for both the 50 mile trail run and 50 mile mountain bike 'Silver Rush' he has been mountain biking a lot during my training.  And if we were both running the trail I had to get used to allowing him to go ahead of me by an hour or more since we are at such different paces. Even though we were separated on the trail Evan always made sure I was comfortable with the trail system before he went ahead. I would not have been able to train in the mountains without him! Throughout the last 6 months I had to reduce my anxiety as I approached a trail by myself.  I primarily feared animals (both humans and mountain animals) and figuring out trail systems on my own. I now value this experience and feel much more confident in the mountains. It has been an amazing journey. After every trail run I would feel such personal accomplishment by tackling a segment of a mountain.

(Thanks Evan for turning around on many of the trails! Top of "Windy Peak" in Golden Gate Canyon)

(Evan running back on the trail in Leadville)

(2) Experiencing the beauty of the mountains- I have to say that having a lot of your training in the mountains has truly been beautiful. I thoroughly enjoy every time I am on a trail with all of the amazing views around me. I feel so fortunate that we live in such a beautiful state that allows us to do all of the activities we love in amazing places. Most of my trail running training was at Mt. Falcon, White Ranch, Golden Gate Canyon, Apex, North Table, Lair of the Bear, and Leadville.

(3) My dog Ozzy is the best! I have to give Ozzy a shout out. He helped me train for this race and I felt much more safe with him by my side.  He was with me on every one of my training days except for my longest run in Leadville leading up to the race.

(Ozzy after our longest city run, 20 miles! He had a few dips in the river to keep him excited)

(Ozzy in the river at 'Lair of the Bear' after a long trail run)

(Friday evening run at 'Apex')

(Last long trail run at the top of Mt. Falcon)

(Mt. Falcon trail)

(At the top of Mt. Falcon - Last long trail run for Ozzy for a while)

(Thanks Ozzy!)

Love Visitors!

Week of June 9th, 2013: 
Evan and I had a nice week with family coming into town. Mid week my cousin Lauren was able to come over for dinner.  We have been lucky to have her over 2 times in the last few months due to her business travel.  I keep forgetting to get an updated picture of the two of us! But, it sounds like she will make it back to Denver at least one more time this summer. It has been so great having her in Denver and spending time together!

At the end of the week Conor flew in and we had a fun weekend with a trip to Leadville.  Both Conor and Evan are doing the 50 mile bike race in Leadville so Conor came into town get in a great training weekend, which I think they accomplished. I was able to get my last long training run in before the Leadville Marathon (see next post).

(Downtown Leadville)

(Scenic view on my run)

 

(Great stop in Red Cliff at Mangos before heading back to Denver)

(Fun Sunday night 'Game Night' at a Denver Brewery - Renegade)

Evan's Birthday Weekend!

For Evan's 31st birthday we decided to go to Salida for the weekend. We stayed overnight in an open space area by the river and camped.  Evan was able to get in mountain biking while I ran.  We also enjoyed downtown Salida for some great eats and beer.

Drive to Salida

Birthday boy + Scenic view

Our camping site for the weekend

Our super happy dog off the leash and close to the river

We stayed next to a historic spot (first Christmas tree from Colorado taken from this site)

Trail running

Evan's mountain biking photo 

We both got caught in storms while we were out but at least the storms were brief!

End of The Week Date Night...

Our new end of the week routine is going to the foothills for a trail run and then having a beer at the Cannonball Creek Brewery while usually eating something delicious from one of the 'Food Trucks' . It is one amazing way to finish up a week!

Green Mountain

Cannonball Creek Brewery 

My hot date :)

Memorable Mother-Daughter Marathon!

When my Mom said she wanted to do another marathon before she turned 60 I said that I would love to run with her!   On Sunday, April 21, 2013 my Mom and I ran in the Lansing Marathon and we met her goal race time of 5 hours. I will always remember the race and crossing the line together.  I am truly impressed that my Mom ran a marathon at 58 years old and afterwards looked like she ran an easy 5k Sunday run.  She is my inspiration! 

The marathon was also memorable due to having the tragic Boston Marathon bombings occurring a week before we ran the marathon.  Like all of the other runners racing we thought of those affected by the bombings before, during, and after the race. 

Day Before the Race...

Packet Pick Up

We also fit in a great shopping morning after we picked up our race packets.  After, Kent, Leslie, Anabelle, and Kaia arrived and we had a fun afternoon. 

 Fun at the park

Race Day...

The start line

 Running for the finish line!

 Finished!

My Dad was very helpful during the race. He road his bike and cheered us on at many different points of the race and we were especially happy when he had Coke at mile 20.  John and Nancy also came to cheer us on at the end of the race and then we all went out for a nice lunch at Clara's.