50 State Goal Update - Colorado Down, 23 to go!

[big bend gyrene]

Pam and I made a quick trip to Colorado this past Friday to run a marathon in Fort Collins.

Landed in Denver with less than ideal weather... low 30s, gusts around 40mph, and some strange white substance coating the ground...


Thankfully, weather quickly brightened. Race started at 6AM Sunday, and though cold at the start we didn't have to contend with any precipitation and temps warmed up quickly with temps at 60 by 10am.

Course was beautiful and should have been relatively easy (mostly downhill), but Pam and I both were a little over 10 minutes off our personal best times -- almost certain the altitude played a factor. Never seemed to be able to get FULL satisfying breaths, and felt tired earlier in race than in other races (the 20 mile wall seemed to hit about 4 miles too soon ) ... also had stiches in our sides, the first time we've had that happen in our 50 states attack.

Few pics of the Colorado Marathon course...






Finished race, quickly showered, and enjoyed a few minutes strolling in Fort Collins. The stroll served to remind me of one thing I love about the towns we've visited in the West -- many of them have had a great deal of sculpture/art (much of it nature themed) featured in their downtown areas.







After walking through Fort Collins, we hopped in our rental and made our way to Estes Park in order to get a bit closer to snow covered peaks we could see from a distance in Fort Collins. Seemed at each bend of the road, we saw stunning scene after scene of natural beauty...

Ton of McDonald's in the world, but wonder what percentage have views like this one?

Really gorgeous river runs through Estes Park...

Didn't have time to be one of them, but saw hundreds of these folks... bet the snow fed waters were cold!

Saw a sign in Estes Park warning that wildlife might be present in middle of town. Was definitely true... saw few of these...

... these...

... and these!!!


Decided to stop our ride once we reached snow...

Seemed fitting that on such a wonderful Sunday, we found this beautiful church near our turn around point..

Quick picture together and ended a LONG day, with hearts full of thanks to God for such another wonderful adventure

[CATCH 22]

Nice, you're living the "HIGH" life there BBG

[Welby]

Cool trip, Thanks for sharing !

[QueenB]

That is really beautiful. Makes me wanna visit! What a cool thing you are doing with your 50 state goal. How long has it taken you to get 27 down? What states do you have left to do? Great job and keep us updated.

[bman]

Looks like another fantastic trip.
My wife would be happy if I jogged around the block.

The Church photo is idyllic... Did you see any of those guys catch a fish?

[big bend gyrene]

QueenB, Pam and I ran our first marathon back in 2003. We didn't really get the idea for the 50 states effort until 2005, so it's been a bit crazy since then with us averaging a marathon a month the last three years.

We didn't think things out too well, as we did almost all the southeast states first, then the Pacific coast states, before starting to work our way back towards the northeast. Accordingly, we'll be finishing by doing bunch of runs in Yankee land By not mixing them up it also makes things a bit tougher to schedule, as races within regions are scheduled close together to make use of optimal running weather (40 to 60 degrees). Southeast races are usually in late fall, winter, and early spring... further up north you go the more they are run near summer. Accordingly, not sure we can keep up the 12 a year plan but do hope we can finish no later than 2010. States left include: AK, MT,WY, ND, SD, NE, KS, IA, MO, IL, IN, WI, MI, OH, PA, NJ, DE, NY, CT, RI, MA, VT, and NH! Phew, just typing and thinking about 23 more has me tired!!!