#ageisjustanumber

I signed up for Quad Rock 25 miler on a bit of a whim, but it ended up being a run with a purpose when I realized that 25 miles is equivalent to 40 km. 40km just a few days before my 40th birthday? Perfect. Even better, the Front Range was draped with a thick fog all morning long, resulting in a drippy, drizzly, foggy cold. In other words, it reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. Even better.

I fully planned on this just being a training run. Really. I know most people say that as an excuse for a less than great race, but I was just coming off of Boston, my foot is still at only 90% or so, and I just started putting in regular runs up/down mountains this season in the last few weeks - I really had no expectations. I barely tapered the week before, and wasn't nearly as careful with food, etc. as I would normally be for a race. Admittedly, this is also partially because in my head, while 26 miles on the road is long, 25 miles on the trail is short.

The knee looks worse that it was.

Just before the start, a woman graciously gave me a pair of hand-warmers -- oh, so happy for the hand-warmers, especially since my options were to either pull my arm-sleeves over my hands, and have them completely fall down my arms (despite the fact they are designed with hand-mitts, they are frightfully short), or have them pulled up enough to cover my arms, but leave my hands (which are super cold sensitive) exposed. "Gear issues" was actually the theme of the day. My running skirt kept threatening to fall down, too. Luckily I was able to use one of the safety pins from my race number to pin the waste band so it was tighter.

The course runs all through the meadows and open forests of Horestooth Mountain Park and Lory State Park just outside of Fort Collins. I happily was able to run many of the ups, and was able to get good speed on the downs and flats. ....and 'happily' is the truth. For the first time in a long time, running hard simply felt good. Admittedly, I did fall once, but that was when I was distracted talking to someone (and also crowded to the side of the trail).

...and when "Let it Go" from Frozen started playing as I left the 2nd to last aid station to start a blissful downhill section? You better believe it that I was signing along.

I finished in 5:06, good enough for 16th woman (of 95) and 80th overall (of 230 finishers). The best part is I feel like I've gotten my trail mojo back. Gnar Runners in Fort Collins put on a great race, and a great barbecue despite the cold and damp conditions. I huge thank-you goes out to all the volunteers who had to stand out in the cold and wet (I was at least generating some body heat to help me stay warm). And, of course, Meghan set me up really well with a great training plan to transition from Boston to Quad Rock.

...but this post is about more than just Quad Rock, because Quad Rock was just birthday run #1. On Friday, my actual birthday, I took the day off from work for what I labeled as "Andrea's fun long run day" on my training plan.

Near the beginning of the Lumpy Ridge loop

As I headed out of Louisville, I treated myself to a "king egg" from Moxie Bakery in Louisville (seriously worth a stop if you are in the area). Picture this: a large muffin cup lined with croissant dough, which is then filled with an egg and a few veggies, and all of that is then covered with cheese, so that when it comes out of the wood fired oven, you get crispy, buttery crust surrounding gooey dough, a perfectly hard cooked egg, and all of that topped with crusty, melty, cheesy, goodness. Serious yumminess. I savored the king egg as I drove up the canyon to the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead just outside of Estes Park - and it ended up holding me through my entire, 3 hour run.

Bridal Veil falls

Gem Lake

Happy runner girl #ageisjustanumber

The Lumpy Ridge area is part of Rocky Mountain National Park, although you don't actually go through one of the park entrances. Ross and I ran this loop last summer when the wildflowers were in full bloom. This time, the aspen were just starting to leaf out at the trailhead and were still bare at the higher elevations along the loop, but it was still spectacular. Magnificent views of snow covered peaks. Relatively smooth trail. Creeks and waterfalls. My legs were still a bit tired from pushing myself at Quad rock, and I was sucking wind a bit as it was my first run of the season above 8000 feet, but the over-whelming feeling was of joy and gratitude. I am so grateful that I am in a place in my life that I can take a day off to just play in the mountains and that I have a body that let's me do so.

So turning 40? Sure, there are some basic biological facts that can't be ignored; but who said 40 is over the hill?!?! #ageisjustanumber