MEET #1
AUGUST 28, 2021
CHERRY CREEK LOHMAN INVITATIONAL
CHERRY CREEK HS
5K - 20:30.20

The first meet of the season was up in Denver at Cherry Creek HS. Emma was a little nervous to run the course since it was all pavement, and she prefers to run on the dirt trail. I'm afraid she got in her head a little bit about the course but still was able to run a good race despite the weather being a little too hot and her calves being a little too tight. She wasn't too thrilled with her time as she wanted to be under 20 minutes. The first meet is not always going to be the best meet, but it is a good time to work out the kinks. Emma's motto after this race was to shake it off and move on.

MEET #2
SEPTEMBER 3, 2021
WIDEFIELD INVITATIONAL
WIDEFIELD HS
5K - 19:17.42 (PR)

Emma went into this meet with nerves as always and a stomach that wasn't feeling quite right. At the beginning of the race, she was in the front pack with five other girls. I yelled at her to stay with the pack. I was really hoping she would be able to do it. As I waited on the trail for the girls to do their out and back, I was floored when I saw the lead bike and the first-place girl come down the trail with Emma right behind. She was in 2nd place!!! She was only a few steps in front of her teammate, but she was able to maintain her position. As she ran up the last hill, Mike was there to encourage her and to tell her how far the girl behind her was. Emma took off like a bullet, running into the track at a 5:30 pace and rounded the last corner to the finish line at a 5:05 pace. She finished the race in an all-time PR of 19:17. She was beyond excited and surprised by her performance. This was a really good meet for Emma. After this meet Emma was ranked #8 in CO for the sophomore girls. 

MEET #5
SEPTEMBER 24, 2021
DESERT TWILIGHT
QUEEN CREEK, AZ
5K - 18:08.10 (NEW ALL TIME PR)

Desert Twilight XC Festival 2021 in Arizona was a BLAST! This was the MOST exciting race I’ve ever watched Emma run. It is the most coveted race of the season because it is a place where these kids who train at elevation can PR big time. And that is exactly what happened tonight. This race which is run late at night is so unique and so fun. Emma came in 1st for her team, 27th overall in the elite Sweepstakes race (23 teams from all over the Southwest) crossed the finish line in 18:08.09 (5:50 pace) and took 1 min and 9 sec off her previous best time. I believe her girls team also came in 4th overall. I’m in constant awe at her abilities and her sportsmanship. She is humble and kind to all her teammates. My favorite part of the night was turning around at the finish and watching Peter just hug her and jump up and down with excitement. He flew in just to watch her run. It was so fun to have Peter here to witness such an exciting time in Emma’s running career.

mandatory study time

warming up before the race

MEET #8
OCTOBER 21, 2021
COLORADO 5A REGIONALS 5
NORTH MONUMENT VALLEY PARK
5K - 18:59.30

There was lots of excitement heading into Regionals. Emma seemed excited and a little nervous about an upset tummy she had been having all week, which made me all the more nervous as I watched her get ready to run this race. The beginning of the race was like most races she runs. She was out in the front pack but not out in front. She was sitting nicely in between four of her teammates as they pushed each other along the course. At mile one she was right where she usually is and by mile 2 I was expecting to see her further ahead but she was trailing by almost 10 seconds behind two of her teammates. I cheered her on at this point and told her to go and catch them. When she got to the top of the hill she told me that she just sprinted to catch up. By the last 800m stretch she and Maddie pushed each other to the last stretch of the race. Emma came in 3rd, only 2 seconds behind Maddie for an amazing finish to a somewhat mentally tough race. Emma ended up finishing in about the same time as last meet but was just ever so slightly faster. All the girls on the Pine Creek varsity XC team ran an amazing race and their team came in 1st for Regionals for the 4th year in a row. All 5 of their top scoring girls on the team came in the top 15, each earning an individual spot in the State meet. What an amazing accomplishment for these super talented girls!
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MEET #9
OCTOBER 30, 2021
COLORADO 5A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
NORRIS PENROSE EVENTS CENTER
5K - 19:07.80

It is always exciting to make it to the State Championship race and all the more nerve racking to run this race in Colorado. Colorado has some of the best female runners in the nation. In fact, two of the high school teams that are in the 5A category are #3 and #6 in the nation (Cherry Creek and Arapahoe). That being said, the Pine Creek girls team held their own in a competitive field of runners. Emma ran this tough course in 19:07.80 which is a new state course PR for her. She cut over a minute off of her time from last year which is amazing. She tied with her teammate as they crossed the finish line as the first two girls on their team. Emma came in 27th place overall. Even though some of her teammates struggled on the course, their team was still able to take 5th place which is the best their team has ever done at a state meet. This truly was a great season for Emma and one in which she will never forget. 

This was an exciting month of training for my upcoming half marathon. The beginning of the month graced us with warmer weather and so I continued to bike outside as often as I could. My running training was solid and focused as I worked on race simulation long runs, hill repeats where I focused not only on running uphill but pushing the downhill sections, track workouts, fartlek runs, and some severe downhill training. I was so lucky that we had such great weather throughout the month. At the end of the month our new Peloton bike came and that was a lot of fun riding on those cooler days. My favorite run of the month was my 6-mile race simulation down Rampart Range Road in Garden of the Gods. My mile splits were spot on for my race and I felt great for most of the run. The most exciting thing I noticed this month was my weight. I finally got down to my lowest weight (108) in 16 years. 

This month was full of school happenings both with Emma at Pine Creek HS and Madeline at Mountain View ES. At the beginning of the month Emma was inducted into the National English Honors Society. Her English teacher for the second year in a row, Mrs. Gefreh, encouraged her to apply. It was so fun watching her become part of a fun group of kids. 

After a year of no indoor concerts, it was really fun to be able to watch Emma play with the orchestra for their mid-fall concert. Since both Andrew and Peter were visiting during their fall break they came and watched her perform and had so much fun seeing Mrs. Margrave after the concert.

At the end of the month Madeline's class had a Halloween party and I went in to take photos and help with the cookie decorating. It was cute seeing all of the kids dressed up in their costumes. Madeline was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood this year. Madeline's favorite part of the day was eating her decorated sugar cookie and recording the song, "Five Little Pumpkins" on her iPad.

​After a long time of not swimming in any meets, Abby participated in the Harvest Festival swim meet with her club team at PPA. She swam in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. It was so nice to be able to be inside the building watching the swim meet this time instead of standing outside watching from the outer windows. Most of the girls in Abby’s heat for the breaststroke missed their heat as it was not announced correctly. Luckily, they were able to jump into the following heat. After feeling a little flustered, Abby still swam as hard as she could and finished her 100 breaststroke in 1:57.04. Breaststroke is not her favorite stroke, but she did her best and for that I am really proud of her. Abby later swam in the 100 freestyle event and finished in 1:20.42 which is a PR by 4 seconds. I loved being able to watch Abby swim again. I can’t wait for more swim meets in her future!

​One of the things that Andrew wanted to do during his fall break was go to the zoo with Madeline. It was a rather cold morning, so we all bundled up in our jackets, gloves and hats and headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Since it was a little cold, the giraffes were inside the giraffe house. We went and fed the giraffes first. It was so fun to watch the giraffes eat the lettuce off Andrew’s hat. Madeline was only interested in feeding the giraffes through the gate. She was cute to watch. We saw so many animals during our time at the zoo. The cold weather didn’t seem to affect the animals being out and about. We saw the lions roaming around and an elephant that looked like it was dancing. I had never seen an elephant move like that before. The highlight of the zoo is always feeding the budgies. The birds were very active, and we had multiple birds that landed on our feeding sticks. One special bird even landed and stayed on Peter’s arm, my back, and Andrew’s shoulder. It was hilarious watching Peter whistle to the bird and hearing the bird whistle back. Madeline loved feeding the birds but was the most interested in feeding the blue budgies. As we left the budgie house, we saw the wallabies and even saw a baby sitting in its mom’s pouch. It was adorable. The fun continued inside the reptile house. For some reason Madeline loves to see the turtles, snakes, lizards, and geckos. She is fascinated by all of it. Then it was on to see some of the bigger animals. The tiger was out just relaxing, the mountain lions were snuggling with each other while they were sleeping, and we finally got to see the grizzly bear. It was only the second time I have seen this bear at the zoo, and it was Madeline’s first time. Then we rode the carousel before seeing the penguins, hippos, and the animals inside the monkey house. The penguins were all inside and they were super active. We got to see them jump inside the water and swim around. One little penguin followed Madeline as she ran along the tank. Every time Madeline turned and went the other direction the penguin followed her. It might have been one of the cutest things I have ever seen and a great way to end our day at the zoo.

Mike took the day off work so we could take the boys shooting up in the mountains. We originally planned on going to our usual spot up in Woodland Park but when we got there it was closed due to some planned burning in the area. So, we headed to Rampart Range Road from the Woodland Park side and headed up to the top of Mt. Herman. At the top we found the most perfect spot not too far from the main road. It was only a short little jaunt down the hill to the best place to shoot in the woods. After setting everything up the boys were quick to know which guns they wanted to shoot with first. The most popular gun was Peter’s rifle that he got for graduation. It was actually the first time he shot with it. We all took turns with his rifle and had fun using his new scope. Then we all took turns with my rifle, the 12-gauge shot gun and the Ruger hand guns. Everyone had some amazing shots, but the most impressive moments were watching Andrew’s shotgun skills and Peter with his new rifle. I’m so glad we found this awesome new place to go shooting. I can’t wait to bring the girls here on our next shooting adventure. 

Hiking up in Mueller State Park during the changing of the leaves has been our annual tradition since we moved here 8 years ago. Last year was the first year we didn't make it to the park, and it's been 3 years since we were able to do it with all five of our kids. With the boys in town visiting during their college fall break, we packed an awesome lunch and headed up to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. We lucked out since the leaves were still vibrant and beautiful. Peter, Abby and Madeline all found great walking sticks on the first stretch of the trail. We all loved watching Madeline copy exactly what Peter was doing. She was his little sidekick for the day. We ventured along the Outlook Ridge trail to the Raven Ridge Overlook and set up our picnic lunch on the big rocks. We love the views from this overlook. In the distance we could still see lots of yellow popping up through the evergreen trees. It was absolutely beautiful. After stuffing our faces full of sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chocolate covered pretzels, and veggie chips, we headed down the rocks to explore a bit like we do every time we come to this place. We were amazed and shocked to see that the teepee we had made 2 years ago was still standing. There were a few more tree branches that people had added which was fun. Madeline was the most excited to play there and in the cave down below the teepee. All the kids were able to squeeze in the open cave for a quick photo. After playing around for quite some time we climbed back up to the overlook, grabbed our bags and headed back to the car. It was great to be able to build more memories together at Mueller State Park.

We have lived in Colorado Springs for 8 years and this was the first time that Mike and I hiked the famous Crags trail. The 5-mile trail started through a beautiful aspen lined meadow with mountain peaks in the distance. After walking through a forest of aspen trees we came to another clearing with the coolest rock formations in our view. As we rounded the corner from this first rock formation, we began to make the climb to the top of the granite dome. As we made our way to the top we came upon some astonishing gnarled ancient Bristlecone Pines sprinkled throughout the rocks. In every direction we saw the coolest rock formations and were amazed at the beauty of these rock formations and at the view of the Rampart Range, Ute Pass, and the Catamount Creeks drainage. We could've stayed up there all day, but the wind was pretty brutal at the top. After eating a quick snack, taking in the 360-degree view, and playing very quickly with an Australian Shepard, we headed back down the trail. This was a relatively easy hike and one in which we will have to do again with our kids.

Madeline's first kindergarten field trip was to the Colorado Kids Ranch Pumpkin Patch. Luckily, it was the same pumpkin patch that she went to last year when she was in preschool. After everyone arrived, we split the class into smaller groups. I was in charge of Madeline and two little boys, Nolan and Joshua. Our group wanted to play on the slides first like most of the other kids in the class. They had a blast going up and down the fast slides. Some of the kids used the burlap sacks to sit on but Madeline didn't want to use those this time and just went down like a regular slide. We spent a good 20 minutes at the slides. Then we ventured over to the animals so they could pet the donkeys, llamas, sheep, goats, ponies, and horses. Madeline just loved petting the animals. The boys in our group wanted to milk the pretend cows and so we did that before heading over to the orange jumping pillows. The kids loved jumping and playing over in that section of the pumpkin patch. After their fill of jumping, we hopped on over to the laser tag arena. With mounds of tires stacked everywhere and a raised fort, the kids had fun running around with their laser guns. Then it was off to the large tube swings, musical playhouses, and finally to the cow train. Madeline's cow was named Cowlick and she just loved this ride. They went around the field twice and in various parts of the course there were little hilly sections. The kids quickly ran from that ride over to the corn box. Madeline didn't stay long in that since the corn kept getting stuck in her shoes. We eventually met the rest of her class to eat lunch. Then it was back to the slides before playing the large Jenna, Tic-Tac-Toe and Connect Four games. We went and fed the ponies on our way to go and pick out pumpkins. The kids each got to pick out their own medium sized pumpkin to take home. We took a class photo and then the kids got back on the bus and headed back to school. It was a successful first elementary school field trip for Madeline!

Madeline joined the Landsharks running team at her school and ran cross country for the very first time. She started a few weeks after school started and had practice twice a week. Talli, the MVE coach, was so good with the kids and just took Madeline under her wing. Every time I picked up Madeline Talli would just tell me what a great job she did at practice. The kids ran and played lots of running games and other fun games during their practices. I love this program because it teaches the kids to have fun and be active at the same time. After a few weeks of practices, they had a meet on 3 different Mondays. The kindergartners were only allowed to run in the 1/2-mile race. The separated the kids into different heats based on grade level, so she only ran with other little kindergartners. The very first meet was a little chilly, but she toughed it out and was all smiles the entire race. With each meet, I saw her get more and more comfortable with the other kids on her team and with racing. The goal was for her to have fun and to not stop during each race she ran. She did such an amazing job. She ran the 1/2 mile in under 5 minutes every meet and didn't stop at all during each one of her races. I am so proud of Madeline for doing something she has never done before. Maybe we will have another runner in the family!

MEET #1
MOUNTAIN VIEW ES
SEPTEMBER 20, 2021
1/2 mile - 4:54

MEET #2
MOUNTAIN VIEW ES
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
​1/2 MILE - 4:39
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​It has been so much fun switching gears and focusing more on running. After finishing my last bike race last month, I have been focused on training for my upcoming half marathon in November. I didn’t want to lose too much fitness on the bike, so I consistently rode twice a week to cross-train and I was amazed at how much stronger I felt on the bike compared to last year at this time. I was able to get on my mountain bike and rode with Dionne at Red Rocks. That was a ton of fun. I had some amazing runs this month. My top runs were with my running group, the Sunrise Striders, on the 3x8min tempos at Rock Island trail, the Bear Creek tempo run, the MVP 3x1 mile repeats, the 4x400m (4 sets) at the Manitou track, my own personal 4x4 min tempos up in Cordera/Wolf Ranch, and the Rampart Range Road hill tempo where I pushed the pace coming downhill. After focusing so much time on biking I was amazed at how fast my speed came back. I still have some work to do but this month was encouraging. 

It was so nice to sleep in this morning before heading out on our last adventure in Crested Butte. We packed our lunch and then headed out on Gothic Rd. We drove all the way to the Judd Falls/Copper Creek Trailhead, just past the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (which resembles a sort of eerie ghost town). The weather was much cooler than the day before and so we headed out with our jackets. This trail was lined with the most beautiful yellow aspens and the hike to Judd falls was just gorgeous. The falls was magnificent to see from the viewpoint up above and it reminded me of the falls at Salish Lodge in Washington. It was fun to read the history behind this area and how it started as a mining town, then turned to a ghost town, and then to a scientific field station. We decided to continue on the trail and head on the Copper Creek trail towards Copper Lake. As we neared an opening to the vast mountain range, we saw several cows journeying in the same direction. It was fun and unique to see cows on the trail. For sake of time, we decided to turn around and head back instead of trying to push it to the lake. This trail is one we will come back and do again when we have more time. After we got back to the car, we drove up a little further to a small lake and ate our lunch and skipped rocks for a bit. Everyone got into the rock skipping fun and we all took note from Mike who is the ultimate rock skipper. Our trip to Crested Butte was shorter than the year before but we had just as much fun hiking different trails while still enjoying the changing of the leaves. This is definitely one of our favorite places to adventure during the fall season.

Emma and I got up this morning and went for an early run before getting ready for a day of hiking with the family. Running at 9000ft is no small task and I expended a lot of energy just to keep up with her. It was all worth it, though, as we ran through the most beautiful scenery. The leaves were absolutely amazing as they were in the middle of turning colors for the fall season. We all hopped in the 4runner and headed back to Ohio pass to walk the Beaver Pond trail again. Since we were a week or two early from the peak time to enjoy the changing leaves, it was not crowded at all. We essentially had the trail all to ourselves which was amazing. Even though not all of the leaves had started changing, the beauty inside the aspen forest on this trail is pretty spectacular any time of year. At the beaver pond there was a beautiful section of yellow leaved trees across the pond. It was magnificent. We would have circled the pond but since the cows were roaming around we decided to head back the same way we came. On the way back to the car Madeline and I walked a little slower than the others so that I could take some photos of the aspen trees and enjoy the beauty a little longer. She was not disappointed at all to go slower and eat a fun snack along the way.

After leaving Ohio pass, we decided to hike up the Scarp Ridge trail to see the magnificent views of the Maroon Bells and other mountain vistas from the top. It was a brutal steep ascent and the sun was out in full force since it was the middle of the day so we were all a bit warm. The hike was more about the views at the top than it was about viewing the changing leaves so it took some of us a hot minute to be ok with that. The views at the top did not disappoint. It was pretty spectacular. We didn't spend very long at the top since the sun was hiding behind the clouds and the wind was pretty strong. We hiked back down trail until we met up with the 421 loop. We found a nice sheltered area along the ridge line and stopped to eat our lunch. We hung up the hammock between two small trees but only Madeline was small enough to sit in it since the trees weren't strong enough to hold us big people. The 421 trail was really pretty and I enjoyed going back down that way a whole lot better than the trail we took to the top. By the time we got back to our car we were all exhausted. I wasn't surprised since the hike was a little over 5 miles roundtrip and we ascended 1600 ft in the 2.5 miles it took to get to the top. We spent the rest of the night back at the hotel, refueling and relaxing. 
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