Running Fool!

One thing about Daddy lately - HE LOVES TO RUN!!!  Much to my surprise (because I HATE running, unless it's for my life, in which case I will most likely die!).  Cam Loves it.  He is addicted to it.  The peace, the rhythm, the competition, you name it.  And his dedication to this sport completely amazes me.  The time it takes to train, the diet, the planning for each race, he doesn't bat an eye.  This year he has already run in a couple of races, but now he's really cracking down on training for his "favorite" race - The Blue Sky Marathon.  This is the one that he chooses to conquer every year!  It is "the one to beat".  The first year he ran it, the race beat him, the second year, the heat beat him, so this year is his year to kick butt!  And he is ready! 

He's been training in the heat, running after work in the hottest part of the day (90-100 degrees almost everyday).  He's been running crazy miles, upping his weekly milage to numbers I can't even fathom, and running intense "training runs" which are huge milestones in themselves! 

A couple weekends ago was a busy weekend for us.  I had my Severance Days booth, and Cam wanted to run in the Severance Days "Nut Run."  I thought it would be great for him.  It was only a 5K, which seems like a marathon to me, but is barely a warmup for him, so he decided to go all out and run it best he could!!  He did awesome!  One of the first people across the finish line!  Of course HE was disappointed though.  Having been training for longer runs, this short run was something completely different for him and he wasn't prepared.  So now he has a new goal too!  (ugh, what have I created!!)  ;) 

Start of the Nut Run

Cam's in the red shirt

The home stretch

Finish Strong!!

THEN, the next day we went to Rocky Mountain National Park for his weekly training run.  He wanted to run up Old Fall River Road in Rocky, AND do a trail run.  I thought he was nuts, but then again this is Cam we are talking about!  lol.  So we did it!  I dropped him off down by the Alluvial Fan, and he ran up Fall River Road.  If you aren't familiar with it, it is a one way, uphill, dirt road that goes up to the Alpine Visitor's Center in Rocky.  It's tighter than Trail Ridge, steeper too, hence the one way only.  He has mountain biked this road a couple times too, but to run the entire length of the 11 miles just blows me away!  He didn't stop once (that I know of).  We stopped periodically to let him catch up and make sure he was doing ok, but he never stopped to chat, just kept on going! 

Near Chasm Falls

Almost to tree-line

9+ miles in and still smiling!

Made it to the top!!  (there's the road behind him)

He took a short break at the visitors center at the top.  Get some water, munchies, take a breather.  About 5-10 minutes tops.  Then he kept going!  There's a trial that goes from the Visitor's Center to Milner Pass, it's 4.1 miles, and he continued down that.  We couldn't follow him on the trail so we just met him at the pass (at the wrong end of the trailhead apparently!) 

Waiting for Daddy at Milner Pass

Potty Break at the pass (the best thing about having boys!)

I'm so proud of all that he has accomplished, but especially this.  This is such a feat.  And he did it like it was no big deal.  This weekend he's running a half-marathon in Lory State Park, the black Squirrel Half, and then in the beginning of October is the Blue Sky Marathon.  I know he's going to do great!  I can't wait to share with you all how he does!  Look for more of Cam's runs coming soon!! 

Oh yeah, then after that run, he climbed the alpine trail up to 12,028 ft. with us!!