"'Til next time, Fort!" - Grey Rock with Neil

Update 2012:

Yes, this is about my friend Neil Brooks of Fort Collins, CO.

I have known Neil for a decade, and in that time I have known him as one of the most generous and selfless people I've ever met. He's helped us move, helped us with projects, helped us with big decisions, and has always been there when needed.

He's donated money and vehicles to numerous causes, and his sympathies lie with those that are suffering or worse off.

He was dealt a bad hand with severe disability. I knew him when he was working, and he's such an intelligent and motivated person, it was a hard blow not to be able to put that to use every day. Yes, some days are better than others. Yes, he's tried to move on through those issues and not make them a readily-apparent excuse. Ironically, this makes people question his disability. It's even more unfortunate because he is/was such an active, adventurous person. When disability strikes somebody who is in the twilight of life, who has seen or experienced it all -- or, on average, who doesn't care to -- it's nowhere near as tragic as when it holds back the very core of a younger person.

I honestly believe that all he is looking for, like many of us, is a smile -- whether it's from true understanding, or pity, or just that common human interaction that binds us -- rather than accusation or anger or fear. I'm not talking about correctness -- it's possible to be on the 'correct' side of something and enveloped in fear and anger -- but taking the high road of calmness and compassion. This is difficult and not an expectation, and people can choose to be angry, as is there right, with some justification -- but the choice of calm, rational discussion, and hearing the other person (without necessarily having to agree) is closer to the optimum decision -- for everyone.

I believe, at his core, and in the long run, Neil is one of the kindest and caring people I know, and it is important for me to explain that he has been a genuinely good guy for a very long time.

Original Post:

So long, Fort! It's been a great 4 years...now it's time to move to Denver.
Looking forward to new challenges and opportunities, but definitely going to miss and cherish people and places in the Fort. This deserves some more reflection and writing when I have time, but I'm happy to be close enough to return often.

Had one last chance to peer down on the Fort from Grey Rock, as I had a great hike up there with Neil.



Not only is Neil and his wife DJ two people we'll miss dearly, but it's also looking like he'll be able to pace me on bike during Lean Horse!



Not only am I happy to have them there when I'll be feeling my best and worst (and often at the same time), but in many ways you can't ask for a better pacer than Neil. This, too, deserves a longer post, but suffice it to say that Neil and I have a solid history together. At the best of times, we're on the same wavelength, and at the worst, he can do the thinking for me! He has the race experience and analytical mind to help me reach my goals, but also the humor, adventure, and "Type B" running that I enjoy so that having fun can still be the main goal.



Finally, he deserves a large share of the blame for getting me into running (and cycling) in the first place, by convincing me to sign up for my first half marathon in San Diego, nearly 7 years ago, as well as my first cycling century: in both cases, cracking jokes and cruising along at ease while I was suffering, in a good way. Now we both live in Colorado, so how cool would it be to have him there for support for my first running century? Unimaginably cool! Who would have thought?

Summer Heat is Here...

Greyrock Hiking

Foothills / Bike Path Run




Finally, we had a weekend on tap with ample sunshine and warm temperatures. J had to work Saturday afternoon, so we thought we'd take a quick trip up to Pingree for a night of camping. This was not to be, as a lousy chunk of metal cut my tire just north of the cement plant on 287, ruining those plans, as we weren't going to risk 20ish miles of dirt/snow/mud in the dark on a donut spare tire. There are few things as disheartening as unpacking a car full of unused camping gear, but c'est la vie.

Speaking of gear, on the way out, we planned a quick stop at the Go-lite warehouse sale. That took us more time than planned, as there were a ton of awesome deals. I bought several things I've been thinking about for a few years, but have been too cheap to buy: a decent daypack with waist straps (half the price of other one's I've looked at); a running bottle-holder pack; a sun visor; and a thicker waterproof/windproof jacket. All of these are nice luxuries, granted, to help prevent the backaches/headaches/hypothermia I've had, respectively, on various trips.

Well, I had planned a light hike on Saturday and long run on Sunday, but changed those up so J and I could hike on Sunday instead. I hadn't thought of much of a route, but I've finally learned a few things year-over-year: the first long hot run of the year is tough. The last couple years, I've gotten excited about good weather right about this time of year, only to be crushed with dehydration, etc. This time, I figured on taking it easy, but spending a fair amount of time on my feet. 7 hours seemed like a good number.

Since I hadn't planned on running Saturday, I still had a bit of tightness from pushing speed on already-sore legs a few times earlier in the week, plus a medium-ish tempo on Friday. Anyway, I kept the pace dreadfully slow, around 9.5-10min miles off the bat, and headed south and then west to Maxwell, Pineridge, and the Foothills trail. I mixed trails with the dam roads, and then dropped in for a loop at Reservoir Ridge, before heading East back into town. I did some extra road miles here and then hit the Poudre trail, alternating with some of the dirt along the way.

Keeping my eye on the Poudre, I thought about dipping in for a bit, but it's blowin' right now with all that snowmelt, and nobody was in it. Finally, I reached the last footbridge before College, where a couple guys were near the rope, getting ready to jump in. I paused and watched a guy drop in, then fight quickly back to shore as the current pushed him downstream. It seamed reasonably safe, and I had company, so I took a few jumps, which felt awesome, and chatted with the guys a bit. One was a newly-minted CSU graduate, ready to travel to Guatemala and Mexico for some volunteer/mission work; and the other just moved here from the Republic of Benin (noted to self to look it up later). I had a great time chatting with them and had some great shared philosophies, and I stalled a good 20-25 minutes before running again.

Headed East to the end of the Poudre trail, tacking on all the optional little dirt loops around the ponds, etc., and headed to the Environmental Learning Center, before zigzagging back home...mostly...but then ran past it, so I could get a Mint M&M Blizzard at Dairy Queen. Mmmmm! I figured I'd walk the last mile home and enjoy the day, but I got too bored with walking, so I ran home while eating my Blizzard, and was happy that I handled that without getting sick. So I was on my feet for a good 7 hours or so in the heat, but I did waste a fair amount of time fooling around, too. Overall, though, I felt better as the day went on, and my legs actually loosened up.

Played a bit of softball/baseball, just hitting around Saturday night -- that was great, hadn't done that in years! -- then got up early for a hike up Greyrock with J.

This is my favorite time of year for that hike, as next month I'll be too anxious to get up to the higher peaks, which are still covered in snow. We were making great time on the meadows trail until we missed a turn somehow after cutting partly into the meadow. We followed a steepening social trail for awhile and thought about dead-reckoning/bushwhacking up to the front side, but the downed timber and boulders just got thicker. Begrudgingly, we turned around and lost a good 45 minutes or so, but headed back down to the meadow and the actual FS trail.



Great views and weather on the top. A good number of people and dogs out already, and even more as we were descending. Saw a couple bull snakes on the way (in addition to a couple yesterday while running)...and at least one (other) guy with a couple Go-lite branded items with him.

Anyway, got a bunch of time outside on my feet this weekend, slow but fun and my legs are feeling even better. Can't wait to camp this weekend, and get up to some high stuff all summer.