Free T-Shirts in 45 kilometers

Tonight we decided to go for our second Coloradan Adventure.

We drove downtown, hopped out of the car, and started running (we were a little late so we missed the official starting point).

The event is put on by Jack Quinn's Running Club, which is an Irish pub and restaurant that hosts a 5K every week of the year. I don't know how many people ran tonight, but last week there were 933 runners. The starting and ending point of the loop is the restaurant. After the run, everyone goes upstairs for free appetizers (spaghetti, salad, garlic bread) and a lot of people drink a cheap pint of beer. (Personally, I don't like beer, but if I did, I can't imagine downing a pint right after a 5K run.) We waited too long to grab food and it was mostly gone, so we went next door to Chipotle, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

Our new goal is to run the loop nine more times so we get a free Jack Quinn's t-shirt. So, we may try to run this on Tuesday nights and the Manitou Incline on Thursday mornings. I was pretty happy with my time, but I definitely felt the altitude more than I did last Thursday hiking the Incline.

We're doing our best to adapt to the Coloradan lifestyle. :)

Our First Coloradan Adventure

View from the Parking Lot.

This morning Michael and I hiked the Manitou Incline with Tim, our brother-in-law.

We didn't really know what we were getting into, except that a hiker died on Sunday from a heart attack as he climbed.

It was tough, but rewarding at the top. What a view! And we were both really pleased with our times. Michael did the climb in less than 39 minutes, and I finished in less than 48. The incline is one mile with a very steep grade (just look at the pictures), and the trail itself was an old cog railway, so there were some steep steps. The trail back down is another four (just a regular path). We're thinking we may join Tim and his co-workers every Thursday morning.


Fired up and ready to go at the bottom.


It's a loooooooong way up there. Plus, the "top" you see here is a false summit. You get to that point and still have another quarter of the trail to hike. Fortunately, Tim warned us or we would have been pretty surprised.


Only a few more steps...


The Summit! We did it!


And now for the decline.


Hiking back down.


If you don't feel like this at the end, you're crazy. Sort of like the people who reached the summit, ran to the bottom, and hiked the Incline a second time. Or, the guy who got to the top and lit up a cigarette.

So, if anyone comes to visit us we know where to take you! We felt initiated into the intense outdoor life of Coloradans.

We're in Colorado

I can't say an exact number, but there have been plenty of times over the past two months when I've thought of a blog post, or thought of an update that I've wanted to write on our blog. It just never happened.

I could try to catch up over the past two months, but I think it would be almost impossible.

Highlights?

Returned from Africa.
Lived with our pastor's family for two weeks.
Moved into our own apartment.
I worked as a substitute.
Michael volunteered at an organization in downtown Portland.
Michael found a lot of odd jobs and applied for jobs all over the country.
None of the said jobs worked out, and we reevaluated our current living situation.
We decided to move to Colorado Springs and live with Michael's sister.
We went to Costa Rica for a week.
After Costa Rica, we decided to push up moving a couple weeks to get here for potential job interviews. We packed up and headed out a week later.

After two days of driving, we made it on Monday night.
We're mostly unpacked and settled in, and praying for jobs.

I guess it wasn't impossible to summarize the last two months. More to come.