climbergirl blog

On Friday, I left work at 2pm, eager to get out of town for the weekend. Unfortunately, so was the rest of Denver! Travel was hampered by several Road Construction Projects along Hwy 25 (and the biways of Longmount). It took me nearly 3 hours to reach Ft. Collins, twice the normal time.

I was relieved at the sight of Dylan, all loaded up in the camper and ready to go. I was frazzled from the drive, but the thought of joining Ann & Sean up in Vedauwoo soon made me forget my troubles. Dylan helped me unload my camping & climbing gear into the camper, and we battened the hatches for the drive. Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday, I spent 7 hours gardening. It was a fantastic workout. My back and forearms are fatigued from digging. The following pictures show the results of my efforts (with exception of the 1 XL pot-the picture was blurry)…

I planted two hanging containers, 4 M pots, 2 L pots, 1 XL pot, and one 2XL pot (The Big Brown pot above, holds a 25 pound sack of dirt!).

I spent almost two hours at the Denver Nursery, checking out options and weighing alternatives. In the end I decided on planting the following: 3 pepper plants, 3 tomato plants, 1 french lavendar, 4 sage plants, 2 six packs of petunias, 2 six packs of assorted annuals, 6 small containers of ivy, 2 large geraniums, and 4 large annuals (white flowered things).

While working in the front yard, I met my neighbor, Clara. A fellow gardener (although decidedly NOT amatuer!). She was kind enough to give me a lily bush, which was left over from a recent project of hers. I planted it in the front of the picket fence, in a blank spot. How wonderful the front yard is looking, now that spring has sprung! Flowers are popping up everywhere, it’s crazy.

Climbergirl Runs!
On Saturday, I attended the Federal 5K Race in Denver. It was my second ever 5K race; I was determined to improve my outlook on running races since the last disastrous running event seven years ago. It was a very hot May day in Vegas, and it was held on a rubber coated dragstrip. I was almost certain of achieving my goal, under 24 minutes and no dry heaving from heat exaustion the next day.

The Goods: When we got there, I was delighted. The organizers had fresh oranges, bananas, watermellon, water & coffee, a funny emcee, good music, and the temps were lovely.

The Crux: Dennis & I milled about trying to find some folks from my office. There was a posse of 12 or so of us there, some runners & some walkers. We very quickly found Don, Mark, and Greg (the fabulous trio-hot off the Boston Marathon). I was to be the token female in our “coed” team, so they were happy to see me.

Results: I ended up getting 8th place overall in Women, 3rd place for my age bracket, and 51st overall. I’d say there were probably 200 or so competitors running. My time was 23:37, although they recorded it at 23:39. I guess it took them a couple seconds to grab my tab, and look at the clock. It was great to be under 24 (my goal!).

Highlights: The best part about the day was starting off with Dennis. That was exciting to be among a crowd of runners, with another person who is not really a “runner”. It felt good to start off the day with a race, on such a beauty of a day!, and to be among such happy competitors. It’s a very friendly group of people, and as a “non-runner”, I could start to see the appeal of the race.

Humble Pie: At mile 1, I got passed by an amazing 12 year old boy with brown curly long hair. He ended up running the race in 21 minutes and change. NOT BAD!!! Also, in the last 200 yards, I got passed by a 25 year old in pigtails, named Elizabeth, who was at an all out sprint, in good form. She ended up being the 2nd place contender in my age group, beating me by 7 seconds!

Awestruck: The 2nd place overall woman passed me at mile 2. She was beautiful runner, like a gazelle. I’m not even sure her feet were touching the ground. The 1st place girl must have been in front the whole time, as I never saw her 8^)

Ann & I went climbing at Gallow’s Edge on Sunday. We met Lisa, who graced us with her presence after we finished our first warm-up. Lisa had escaped from her wee little tyke, and was happy to be out climbing.

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On Saturday, Ann & I went climbing in White Rock, at the Overlook crag. We had breakfast at a wonderful Mexican Restaurant. I had “Christmas” Chile (green & red) in my Huevos Rancheros. Peter (Ann’s Friend) was great and treated us to breakfast, to get our day off to a jovial start.

We wandered down to the Overlook crag, and there were two groups climbing. A couple, and then a group of students from a local university. They invited us to Top Rope the climbs, as they had set ropes on all of the moderate climbs. Ann & I ended up climbing 5 routes in about 2 hours. We climbed the following:

#38 Unknown 5.6 **(L)
#36 Unknown 5.8 **(TR)
#13 Cholla Crack 5.9 ***(TR)
#26 Captain Smarmbag 5.8 ***(TR)
#28 Box Overhang Left 5.9-**(TR)

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