Until I Fall Away

Today we took a walking tour of Historic Telluride.  An adventure that was met with varying levels of enthusiasm from different members of the family.  At our friend Jeff’s suggestion, we went out of our way to tour the graveyard.  He said it was fun to read the headstones.  Walking through the graveyard I thought of what a quintessentially Jeff suggestion this was.  There was one headstone that looked like a mini Washington Monument and it marked the day in February in 1898 when triplets were born and they all died.  I thought of their mother in the cold, probably dark.  In pain, afraid and all of her babies died.  Through my tears I saw my babies running through the grass of the graveyard.

The thunderstorm crashed just as we were leaving the graveyard, but held off until we had about four blocks to make it to the Gondola.  Lesson for the day:  Even when everyone else in the family swears they won’t need a jacket, bring jackets for them anyway because, as Mom, you will have to give up yours when it gets cold and rainy.

Good Night, Irene

This cabin in Telluride is all one room.  We can hear every snore and every cough.  The last few nights, I have been getting up in the middle of the night to make Mary some tea to help the cough that keeps us both awake.  Bruce wisely brought ear plugs.  Last night, I was drifting off to sleep, reading a book with a teeny book light and a pillow over my head when Bruce says “Catherine!  Mary!”  It takes me a while to figure out what is going on.  I call “What’s up, Mary?” but she doesn’t answer.  Bruce said he thought she was calling me and a little voice speaks up from the floor “It was me.” 

Mom:  What’s up, Charlie?
Charlie: (very quietly) I need to talk to you.
Mom:  Ok.  Come over here.
Charlie:  (comes to bedside) You know the trail at the top of the gondola where you are going running?
Mom:  Yes.
Charlie:  I have some advice for you.
Mom:  But I am going to see you tomorrow before I run.
Charlie:  (exasperated) I know.  It’s just advice.
Mom:  Ok.
Charlie:  When you get on the trail, go straight.  Don’t turn.
Mom:  Go straight.  Ok.  Is there anything else?
Charlie:  No, that’s it.
Mom:  Thanks, Charlie.  Good night.

After that, I was laughing to myself so hard that I couldn’t get back to sleep for another hour.

Secret O Life

I didn’t run today.  We went for a little walk this morning.  Then the boys and I took the gondola into Telluride - from the Mountain Village Town Hall to Mountain Village, up to St Sophia, then down in the valley.  It’s pretty cool to be staying in a place where the main form of public transportation is a gondola.  http://www.telluride.com/telluride/the-gondola.html We came straight back to get Bruce and Mary and show them what we found.  Also to stop at the St. Sophia Nature Center.  It was kind of a bust because others were bored, but there was a display in which we had to use the birding books to identify all five of the local birds shown in the display.  Cory and I got to three, but the docent was more interested in talking on the phone than confirming our identifications, so we gave up.  Another lesson on the importance of giving learners feedback. 

We brought Bruce and Mary back to the cabin for lunch, then the boys and I took off again.  First we stopped at an open house marked “priced to sell”, but clearly it was priced to sell to someone with a lot more money than we have.  See for yourself:  http://www.telluridemvp.com/7gables.html  We took the gondola over to the village and walked along the river for a time trying to get to Bridal Veil Falls.  Charlie loves to hike, but if the trail is ever so slightly boring for him, he realizes that his legs are tired and he needs an uppie.  We talked about the sadness one feels when they are finally too big for uppies as I carried my six year old like a front pack because I was also carrying plenty of water and snacks in the backpack.

We voted and decided to try for Cornet Falls, http://www.adventurist.net/photos/waterfalls/cornet%20falls.JPG instead which was supposed to be easier, but after a short time, the trail proved too slippery for us.  More than once, each boy called to me for help.  I bravely went to help, forgetting for a brief moment that I was frightened, too.  We turned around before we got to the falls, but the boys want to try again another time.  Cory is already planning a strategy.

I still need to run 14 miles.  I think if I just run for 3 hours tomorrow morning and call that 14, I’ll be ok.  For my readers who are good at math, you know that is a very slow pace, but the elevation changes are extreme and it will be all trail running.

Happy Birthday

Last night we all slept in the same room.  Lately I have been waking up at 4:30, just a few minutes before the alarm.  This morning I laid in bed in the dark thinking “Well, I might as well get up so my alarm doesn’t wake up the kids.”  I stretched a long waking up stretch and got up to go running.  Only then did I see the clock.  2:05 AM  For the next two hours, I tried really hard to get back into restful sleep but it didn’t work.  When I finally did go running as the sun was considering lighting the red rocks of Sedona, I felt like I could run forever.  I held back to stay with Bruce who didn’t feel like he could run forever and was struggling a little bit with a virus, but I could have run a marathon this morning.

Packing up took some time, but I was successful in getting everyone to agree to go to the Navajo National Monument.  We took a little hike and the kids got to see where I froze in the cliff dwelling 15 years ago.  A story that has grown much greater through the years.  Cory was a bit disappointed to see it.  He thought it would be much more scary.  We watched Pauline Begay, who is in her 80s, making a traditional Navajo basket entirely out of sumac.  Tucked in her kit with her traditional tools and extra sumac, I saw a cell phone.

Now we are in Telluride.  The kids are very excited and it is beautiful, but tonight I am feeling somewhat worse for wear.  I am tired.  But all day I couldn’t shake the idea that I really like these people in my family and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  Now that is a nice way to spend a birthday.

On the Road Again

We are finally on vacation!  It was a little nuts getting out of the house and we were 15 minutes behind schedule, but we done good.  The drive out of town was fine – not the mobs of traffic we expected.  We took a back road, which was lovely.  But I am not going to tell what it was in my blog lest everyone start to use it.

There was quite a wind, rain, and lightening storm once we got on top of the mesa near Sunset Point.  Charlie was afraid of the lightening, but we talked about what lightening was and how it was made and that seemed to calm him down.  In our hurry to get out of town, we left the maps packed in the back of the car, so we kind of went on feel getting to our hotel in Sedona.  Charlie asked “Dad, why didn’t you get them out when Mom came in to pick me up?”  They are so logical at that age.

We passed a sign just outside of Camp Verde that said “Jesus is Lord.”  Someone, I forget who, read it out loud.  We all said something like “Aww.” and Cory said “Everybody is happy!”  And Mary replied “Everyone except all those other candidates running for Lord.”  We all broke up laughing!

Tomorrow, we wake up to run a few miles, then drive to Macy’s in Flagstaff for breakfast, then on to Navaho country… Ending up in Telluride. 

Rabbit Run

It’s tough to run in the hot, dusty smog.  It’s tough to get excited about working out when you consider the risks.  On Wednesday night, I ran up South Mountain.  It was 111 degrees Fahrenheit.  I started having trouble just a mile and a half into my 7 mile run.  I knew I was too hot.  I was drinking fluids and munching my Sports Beans, but I was dizzy and light headed and nauseous just the same.  I kept thinking “I am never going to make it.” and “So this is what ‘red lining’ feels like.”  If I turned around, I had no where to go.  The car was at the top of the mountain.  And my buddies would worry about me.  At one point, I was passed on the lonely road by a cyclist.  I hatched a plan to give the next cyclist a message to take up to my buddies not to wait for me, that I was turning around.

But when I got to the water stop, there was Bill.  Waiting.  He said defensively “I wasn’t waiting for you.” And after engaging me in a few words of conversation – checking my coherence level, I think – he continued his run up.  The water stop helped.  I had stashed some frozen Gatorade there and now it tasted better than ever.  The temps seemed to have cooled and now it was probably below 110.  I passed my buddies running down who said things like “Looking good!”  Liars. But I felt inspired.  I developed a plan.  With my iPod in my ears, I would walk one song then run one song.  That worked well, so I ran two songs and walked for one.  I saw Bill just ahead and knew I might be able to catch him.  I wasn’t, but it was worth a shot.  He applauded as I lumbered into the parking lot at the top.  I wanted to throw up.

Yesterday I took Buddy to the movies.  He ran down the stairs of the parking garage and feigned impatience at the bottom.  I said “Hey.  I am old.  And I am slow.”  He smiled and said “You ran Boston, Woman!  You aren’t slow.”