A Hard(rock) Weekend...

This past weekend, I had the joy (and pain) of pacing my good friend Scott Olmer at the Hardrock 100 in Ouray/Silverton, Colorado. What is the Hardrock 100 you may ask??? Well, for some reason, some folks think that the marathon distance is not quite enough nor is a 50-mile run. Nooooo, they have to run, walk, trot 100 miles in 48 hours! Honestly, I can't fathom the idea but that's what folks, like Scott, want to do in their spare time. And they enjoy it....

Several weeks ago, I was approached by Bob Rayburn (one of the regulars at our Thursday night Southern Sun Happy Hours) and he quite simply asked "would you be interested in crewing for Scott at the Hardrock this year?" Crewing a runner means that you are a pacer, a motivator, a drill sergeant, a nutritionist, a stop watch - all for the purpose of motivating the runner to the finish line. Being a runner and an avid mountaineer, I was curious and asked what it entailed. Bob's reply..."well, all you have to do is do 2 legs - one is on Friday night and the other is taking Scott to the finish line..." Sounds like fun - count me in! What did I get myself into....

Friday, July 11th, 2:30 PM - Ouray - the little Switzerland of North America. Ouray is probably one of the prettiest places in Colorado with a small town surrounded by majestic peaks. Google it sometime, you'll see... I call Bob to learn that Scott is progressing nicely from his 6 AM start and should be in Ouray around 8 PM to pick up his first pacer of the race - me. My leg with Scott consists of "Ouray-Engineers Pass-Grouse" - 15.8 miles (5785' gain/2775' loss) in about 6:30 hours in the dark...with headlamps...through Bear Creek Canyon...average trail width 3' ...narrows to 1.5'/2'...with exposure...watch your step...or it's down the canyon with a not so good outcome. Apparently, there has been no injuries - serious or mortal in this section. I'm still a bit leery at this section b/c my new flashlight (in the LED section at Target) is not an LED rather it's the old fashioned yellow bulb (like the ones from childhood) and I've got a serious case of vertigo at the moment. While focusing on this one yellow beam, my equilibrium is not cooperating at the entrance to the canyon. Fortunately, Scott has a great LED light to brighten the path and the vertigo goes away. We proceed over up the mountain to an aid station around 12,000' and continue for the next few hours to the pacer hand-off at Grouse. We reach Grouse - it's 2:30 AM Saturday and Bob continues with Scott for his 32 mile leg that will take him until 4:48 PM Saturday...

Saturday, July 12, 3:30 AM - I'm back in Silverton at the cabins Scott has rented for everyone. I'm tired, my feet are wet from numerous stream crossings, and all I want is sleep. I crash hard for 5.5 hours and awake to the noise of Bob's wife, Jana, stirring in the main room of the cabin. We head over to the Brown Bear Cafe for pancakes/sausage/OJ/lots of coffee. We have the rest of the morning and afternoon to follow Scott's progress at "Hardrock Central" as well as play tourist in Silverton. About 3:30 PM, Jana and I decide we better head to Cunningham Gulch for the "pacer hand off" we believe to be around 5:30-6 PM. Much to our surprise, Scott has made up an hour over the day and arrives in at 4:48 PM. Scott and I leave the aid station at 4:49 PM and were on our last leg to the finish line in Silverton. The leg consists of 2700' gain/3840' loss - better than 14 hours ago. We work our way up the mountain - hiking slowly and gain the summit ridge in 2 hours. From there, the race is on - running down 3840' to Silverton! We run on goat trails (even saw one!), we run on Jeep 4WD trails, we run on single track trails, we run through streams filled with snow melt until we hear noise from the motorcycle rally at the old ski resort in Silverton. We're close! We break through the trees - the last 0.5 miles to the finish line! I slow down to run with Scott rather than ahead of him - no need to pull him through, he knows the finish line is there. We chat about being done, about his accomplishment. He thanks me for crewing him. We near the finish line and I slow down to walk into the crowd - the pacer does not cross the finish line - only the Hardrock finisher. Scott finishes another 100-miler in 38:35 ranked #30 out of 98 finishers - damn good!

Sunday, July 13th, 9 AM - the awards presentation at the Silverton High School Gym. There are hundreds of people here for breakfast and the awards program. Family members, volunteers, pacers, athletes - you name it. The breakfast is great - eggs, sausage, fruit, sweet rolls, OJ, coffee - the awards program entertaining. Bob and Scott ask "sooo, now that you've experienced a 100-miler as a pacer, what about as a runner?" My answer - quite simply - no. I enjoyed the experience as a pacer - would do it again if asked. But running/walking/sleep walking 100 miles - nope...I'm interested in altitude, going higher...

Climb On my friends!

Meet Karen...

Okay, I know I've been REALLY slack on my outhiking blog - I think I need to set an Outlook reminder once a week to write something new - note to self - set reminder on Monday AM...

Here it is almost summer in Colorado and to say it's been a busy 2008 would be an understatement! Between traveling for work in April and May, teaching Denver classes in June, and attempting to start the 14er season with all the snow STILL in the mountains, I decided I would write this update to share with you someone who is very important in my life these days, my girlfriend Karen.

I first met Karen in 1998 as part of a Colorado Athletic Club "How to Climb a 14er" group that a mutual friend had formed. Basically it was 10-12 folks from the club who were interested in hiking easy 14ers and we "trained" over 4-6 weeks with progressively higher mountains culminating with my first 14er on Mt. Bierstadt. During the "class", my former spouse and I got to know Karen and her former spouse. Over the next 3-4 years we double dated with them - catching a flick sometimes, watching the Nutcracker Suite at Christmas and dinners out in Denver or Fort Collins.

About 4 years ago, Karen and her then husband moved to Albuquerque, NM for a business opportunity and as sometimes happens, we lost touch with them. Fast forward May 2007, an ESRI business trip takes me to ABQ to teach classes. Remembering they lived there, I emailed the only email address I had (Karen's) to meet for dinner and catch up on news/life. Well, life had changed f0r Karen as I came to find out during my visit. We had a wonderful meal, I met her son Ethan, and we caught up on 4 years of news. My connection with Karen had always been platonic but now the connection felt different for some reason. Towards the end of my week in ABQ, I posed a hypothetical email question "If I asked you out to dinner, what would your answer be?" Creatively, I received a hypothetical "Yes." I was nervously excited and interested to see where this could lead. I had no expectations - heck, I was in the midst of my divorce as was Karen. But for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could open myself up to another person again.

Fast forward June 2008, Karen and I have been dating for a year. We have a wonderful relationship (even if it is long distance for now) and our connection with each other is strong. We see each other at least once a month - twice a month if work takes me there. We have similar interests in some things and others are individual pursuits (i.e. my climbing "addictions" for example). I am a friend to her son and we sometimes plan my visits to coincide when he's there too. It's a kick, Ethan is totally into Star Wars, as am I, so we run around the house sometimes with light saber battles and shooting down Imperial Star Destroyers!

We all see each again end of June for a music festival - Karen, Ethan, and me - I'm looking forward to it!!!

Return to Posting....

Whoa - I realized that I've been neglectful in posting anything since February 17, 2008!! Either I've been incredibly busy or pretty much slacking off from my once a week ramblings - I tend to think the later myself. So what has been going on you may ask? Well, winter in Colorado has slowly been transitioning to Spring with warmer daytime\nighttime temperatures and truly bizarre spring weather patterns during the day. For example, Thursday started off with a dusting of snow mixed with rain, nice sun/blue skies around noon, snow squalls blowing sideways at 3 PM and blue skies to wrap up the work day. Spring is a fun time of the year where the weather is schizophrenic at best leaving one to decide whether to wear a t-shirt or fleece...

So what's been going on in my life??? Easter was spent was friends at the Fowler-Hilliard hut near 11,000. The trip was complete with ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, wine, and 3 flavors of cheesecake! The Easter Bunny made his presence known as well by leaving plastic eggs along the 5-mile trek to the hut - the eggs were filled with candy and pocket shots of liquor. Apparently the Easter Bunny has started drinking excessively due to the numerous baskets he has to deliver to children... Beyond the hut trip, I spent a great weekend with Karen watching UNC basketball, eating wonderful gourmet pizza, hot tubing at Betty's Spa, and enjoying our time together.

April is proving to be incredibly busy with a 5-day teaching assignment in Albuquerque followed by a 4-day conference in Cedar City, Utah. Somewhere in the midst of this, I am volunteering with the Colorado Mountain Club's "Wilderness Trekking School" as an assistant instructor. And training for a 1/2 Marathon in May...

My good friend, Alan Arnette, has left for Nepal and his quest to summit Mount Everest. If your interest in following his trip, check out http://www.alanarnette.com

That's about it for now - I promise to be more diligent with the updates! Until then - Climb On!