I Bolder Bouldered yesterday with 50,000 of my besties.  As a first-timer I was in awe much of the time.  It was an awesome event to behold - from the costumes (including a dude wearing nothing but shorts depicting Michelangelo's David and a girl dressed like a gnome) to the skydivers to the elite runners (I saw freaking Shalane Flanagan run!) to the Slip n Slide.

As you dear and loyal blog-readers know I'm pretty hard on myself.  I say this honestly though - yesterday I ran like…

Like any rational first-time-Triple-Crowner, I'm a wee bit nervous about the upcoming Garden of the Gods 10-Miler.  So, I thought I'd make a sacrifice…

  ...your car serves as both a mode of transportation and a locker room.

... your car also serves as a sort of lost and found - shoes here, winter gear there, water bottles under the seats, bras in the glove compartment, etc.

...you have actually discussed peeing in the woods with your boss.

...entire seasons are planned around races.

...weekends are not meant for sleeping in, they're meant for long runs.

..."splits" have very little to do with…

This is a story of awesome runs and classic mishaps.

I joined two other badass runners for 7.5 miles in the Garden this morning at 7am.  It was one of those runs that restores your faith in yourself as a runner – pure joy backed by a willingness to push hard and throw in extra hills just because they’re there, waiting to be climbed.

By 8:30 I was on my way to the Girls on the Run 5K at North Monument Valley Park.  The important part of that last sentence was the word “North.” …

I took a four day hiatus after my graceful fall on Barr Trail (it was actually more like a fall off of Barr Trail) on Saturday.  It was four days of mind games: am I the only runner on the planet who believes that if I take a few consecutive days off I'll lose everything I've worked toward (altitude training, hard won strength on the hills, etc)?  These were my legitimate concerns for the past 96 hours (four days off sounds like a pretty measly accomplishment when I put it into hours). I…

I have a love-hate relationship with mile markers.  It's great to know where I am, but when I'm running up a mountain it's also disheartening to see just how long I've been at it and how far I've yet to go.

Here's a story about my first run to Barr Camp, mile marker by mile marker:

½. My calves are screaming for mercy. I'm the only person going up Barr Trail, my legs would like to add "with good reason."

 1: Who knew the human calf muscles could do this? Let's not find…

Since the beginning of March I've been lucky enough to coach a Girls on the Run group at Deerfield Hills Community Center.  Ok, full disclosure: "lucky" isn't always the first word that has come to mind, but as the season wraps up it the verbiage I'm choosing. Today my group of 3-5th graders ran their "practice 5K," which gives them a chance to cover the distance before having to do so on race day.  Some practices…

I took 5 miles in the Garden yesterday on a hilly course that would have had me near tears only six weeks ago.  For me a 5 miler is far better than the 5K, but I'm certainly looking forward to the longer races to come.  I am a distance girl, not a speed girl (except for when I'm driving - my family has referred to me as "speed bat baby").  I didn't end the race feeling like I was going to barf or swearing I would never run again - instead I finished happy, only wishing I had pushed harder…

I'm excited to officially announce that I'll be donning the purple and gold of the PikesPeakSports.us Triple Crown Runners race team this summer! This year's team of bloggers/runners includes the following founts of fabulousness: Shelley Hitz, Bill Beagle, Brianne Pierson, Jill Gaebler, Sean O'Day, and Gene Chavez.  I am incredibly pumped for this opportunity to write and run, and then run some more, as part of such a fun group!

 Keep following my blog for training updates, random…