Friday Faves

It’s been one of those busy after vacation weeks trying to find our groove so here is my Stop to Smell the Roses Friday Favorites.

5. Beautiful trails to run on. Colorado is one mighty fine place to live, I’m not gonna lie. There are miles upon miles of trails to choose from just outside my back door. But when I go on vacation I always try to find a good spot to run instead of the treadmill. This last trip home to Clarksville TN to visit my folks, after some close calls on busy country roads (they weren’t busy when I lived there), I took suggestions from local runners and found some fabulous trails. It makes me excited to go back! This one is called Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail. It is an old rail bed converted to trails following the Cumberland River.

4. Concerts in the Park. I live in the burbs of Denver. I hated it at first, but now I love it because of the trails that are in my backyard, my awesome neighborhood and friends, and that I can go out for a sunset jog with Noah and end up in this. At Highlands Heritage Park (just 1 mile from my backyard), they show movies, have concerts and host festivals here. Last night the Nacho Men were playing. Lots of dancing!!

3. Friends having babies. Our good friends and neighbors, Jed and Jess welcomed Baby Zoey Marie into the world on Wednesday night. They are coming home this afternoon to a house obnoxiously decorated in pink balloons and whatever else I can find, courtesy of yours truly (they are sooo gonna regret giving me their security code)

2. Garden Gnomes. My running BFF Nina Machina gave me this little guy for good luck before the Colfax Marathon. It is also my reminder that the Slacker Half Marathon is TOMORROW. At the awesome post party, they raffle them off. I’m telling you, hundreds of people stick around for hours in hopes to get one. Nina got one last year. This is my year (please?)!

1. The Slacker Half Marathon. This will not be a PR producing race for me but it will be fun! I finished in 1:43 last year and managed to smile in all of my race photos. HERE is last year’s race report. It is supposed to be 100 degrees in Denver Saturday so I am looking forward to heading up the mountain a bit to cool off. The race starts at 10,630 feet at the Loveland Ski Area and we finish in historic Georgetown at 8,400 feet.

Thanks for all of the encouragement about running a fall marathon. I’m pretty sure I’m going to make a go for it and add in some fun stuff along the way to keep my legs feeling fast and my body strong!

Related articles

• To marathon or not to marathon (kandjcolorado.wordpress.com)
• Half Sauer, Half Kraut… All In! (dishranawaywiththespoon.com)
• Runner’s Diary: Finding Myself one Race at a Time / Insights from a Half Marathon Runner (courageousandremarkableself.com)