Day 22: Boulder, CO, to Yuma, CO (Sunday, July 6)
Distance traveled: 155 miles
Personal running distance today: 13 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 165 miles
Today's dedications: Aunt Paula Green and Andy Gott
My running buddy: Mae
Weather: Hot, 90s
Although I was fighting it, unfortunately we had to leave Boulder this morning. Watching the mountains disappear slowly in the rearview mirror was heartbreaking. I had to turn around and snap one quick photo when I was running before the Rockies were gone forever.
Distance traveled: 155 miles
Personal running distance today: 13 miles
Total personal miles to-date: 165 miles
Today's dedications: Aunt Paula Green and Andy Gott
My running buddy: Mae
Weather: Hot, 90s
Although I was fighting it, unfortunately we had to leave Boulder this morning. Watching the mountains disappear slowly in the rearview mirror was heartbreaking. I had to turn around and snap one quick photo when I was running before the Rockies were gone forever.
I was in Team 1, so my van started from Boulder. All the runners in Team 1 had gotten in at least 3 miles before…we got a flat tire. The van I was driving had a flat in the back right, which luckily decided to leak out when we were waiting to pick runners up. This put quite a bump in our day, as we had to sit there to change into the spare and then drive back toward Boulder to get the flat tire fixed.
Lucky for us, Zack is basically a pit crew all-star and changed the flat perfectly. In fact, the guy at the tire store said it was one of the best jobs he’s seen in a while. At the tire store, we all waited around for about 30 minutes and were happy to learn that our tire could be fixed. On top of it, they didn’t charge us to fix it! Huge thanks to the Firestone in Westminster, CO. You guys were the best.
I ran with Mae today (when we could finally run), and it was really great. She and I had some great chats and were able to talk a lot since we had 13 miles together today. She really helped me get through all 13, especially since my hip was about to give up on me. I really enjoyed my day with her!
Once the tire was fixed, we headed back to about where we had to stop originally. Everyone got another few chunks of miles in before…the shoulder of the road went away completely. We tried to drive ahead a few miles to see if it would widen again, but alas, no luck. At this point, it was already after noon and it was getting hot. We decided to drive to Yuma, our host city for the night, to finish our miles there. So we set off.
Things were going swimmingly as we passed through tiny little country towns before…we got stopped by the friendly police of Washington County. Evidently the speed limit had gone down 10 miles and forgot to tell us. However, since we genuinely didn’t see the last speed limit sign (and since we’re, you know, running across the country for cancer), the officer let us off easy.
FINALLY we arrived in Yuma around 3:00 p.m. when it was a toasty 97* or so. Mae and I unfortunately still had 7 miles to run because while we stayed to help fix the tire, the rest of the team did out-and-back miles to add on to their total. So we were faced with over half our miles left to run in the hottest part of the day. But we were up for the challenge.
We ran 3 miles at first, took a brief water break, then hammered out the last 4 and felt great once we had finished. Well, not great, my body wanted to fall apart, but we definitely were proud we made it!
This was a hard running day for me because it was so long with so many interruptions, plus we had to run in the hottest part of the day. At first, I wasn’t sure if my hips would let me make it through all 13 miles. I had a lot of doubts, but it helped me to remind myself of the names on my legs today especially, two of my family members. Additionally, this morning at the Boulder church before we left, I noticed there was a sign hanging that said “Faith Family Friends,” which was my Uncle John’s saying. He’s one of the biggest reasons I chose to do the 4K, so remembering that sign was another bit of inspiration to help me push through the pain and the heat today. I’m pretty proud I was able to get through it all, but also hoping my hips won’t hate me tomorrow for doing it!
Today is extra exciting because we are sharing the host tonight with Portland, one of the 4K bike teams! The running team is staying in the gym of a church, while all the riders are divided up into the homes of the local parishioners. However, we were all able to hang out before dinner and share a delicious Mexican dinner together, prepared by the church we’re at. It was a huge undertaking to feed 50 of us for dinner, and they’re doing it again tomorrow for breakfast. They are such wonderful people.
I was so happy to meet some of the awesome riders tonight, plus to reunite with one of their directors who I met at the director retreat in January. It was a bummer that they were staying in a separate place from us, but we’re looking forward to getting together for breakfast with them tomorrow and doing our dedication circle with them.
This evening, I’m blogging outside because we’re currently having a jam sesh on the lawn in front of the church as the sun sets. We’re lucky to have a few very musically talented people who can play guitar, and when we have a guitar available to use, we jam. The weather is perfect, although I’m getting preeeetty exhausted now.
Tomorrow we’re making our way to a new state! We’ll be staying in Arapahoe, Nebraska. The Portland team told us it was a great city to stay in, since they were there just a couple days ago for the 4th of July. I’m eager to see what it’s like. Here’s to hoping my hips hold it together again tomorrow!
Run happy,
Natalie
I ran with Mae today (when we could finally run), and it was really great. She and I had some great chats and were able to talk a lot since we had 13 miles together today. She really helped me get through all 13, especially since my hip was about to give up on me. I really enjoyed my day with her!
Once the tire was fixed, we headed back to about where we had to stop originally. Everyone got another few chunks of miles in before…the shoulder of the road went away completely. We tried to drive ahead a few miles to see if it would widen again, but alas, no luck. At this point, it was already after noon and it was getting hot. We decided to drive to Yuma, our host city for the night, to finish our miles there. So we set off.
Things were going swimmingly as we passed through tiny little country towns before…we got stopped by the friendly police of Washington County. Evidently the speed limit had gone down 10 miles and forgot to tell us. However, since we genuinely didn’t see the last speed limit sign (and since we’re, you know, running across the country for cancer), the officer let us off easy.
FINALLY we arrived in Yuma around 3:00 p.m. when it was a toasty 97* or so. Mae and I unfortunately still had 7 miles to run because while we stayed to help fix the tire, the rest of the team did out-and-back miles to add on to their total. So we were faced with over half our miles left to run in the hottest part of the day. But we were up for the challenge.
We ran 3 miles at first, took a brief water break, then hammered out the last 4 and felt great once we had finished. Well, not great, my body wanted to fall apart, but we definitely were proud we made it!
This was a hard running day for me because it was so long with so many interruptions, plus we had to run in the hottest part of the day. At first, I wasn’t sure if my hips would let me make it through all 13 miles. I had a lot of doubts, but it helped me to remind myself of the names on my legs today especially, two of my family members. Additionally, this morning at the Boulder church before we left, I noticed there was a sign hanging that said “Faith Family Friends,” which was my Uncle John’s saying. He’s one of the biggest reasons I chose to do the 4K, so remembering that sign was another bit of inspiration to help me push through the pain and the heat today. I’m pretty proud I was able to get through it all, but also hoping my hips won’t hate me tomorrow for doing it!
Today is extra exciting because we are sharing the host tonight with Portland, one of the 4K bike teams! The running team is staying in the gym of a church, while all the riders are divided up into the homes of the local parishioners. However, we were all able to hang out before dinner and share a delicious Mexican dinner together, prepared by the church we’re at. It was a huge undertaking to feed 50 of us for dinner, and they’re doing it again tomorrow for breakfast. They are such wonderful people.
I was so happy to meet some of the awesome riders tonight, plus to reunite with one of their directors who I met at the director retreat in January. It was a bummer that they were staying in a separate place from us, but we’re looking forward to getting together for breakfast with them tomorrow and doing our dedication circle with them.
This evening, I’m blogging outside because we’re currently having a jam sesh on the lawn in front of the church as the sun sets. We’re lucky to have a few very musically talented people who can play guitar, and when we have a guitar available to use, we jam. The weather is perfect, although I’m getting preeeetty exhausted now.
Tomorrow we’re making our way to a new state! We’ll be staying in Arapahoe, Nebraska. The Portland team told us it was a great city to stay in, since they were there just a couple days ago for the 4th of July. I’m eager to see what it’s like. Here’s to hoping my hips hold it together again tomorrow!
Run happy,
Natalie