Meeting Up

If online services could help me find my fiancee, I figured I may as well turn to the computer again to build my social network. Things in Boulder had been a little lonely with Ed working diligently in California, so I decided to check out a site I'd heard about before called MeetUp.com. The idea is that you join online groups based on your interests, then attend events to meet people you might like. I joined several groups, including a running group, two book clubs (one of them is a book-and-hiking club, in which members discuss books on the trail!), and a group of women with nothing in common other than the fact that we're all female and all enjoy doing fun stuff. I was/am particularly excited about the running group, but was worried that the other members would all be hardcore runners; since I'm still sort of struggling to find my stride, I opted to wait a bit on that one. But then I saw a meet-up scheduled for the group of women at the Boulder Running Company for their weekly run.

The Boulder Running Company is THE running store here. When I need any kind of gear (on my list: trail running shoes and reflective clothing so I can run at night), this is where I'll go. The staff is friendly and unbelievably knowledgable. They also host tons of events, like last night's run. At 6:00, people meet in front of the store, enter a raffle, then head out for a three- or five-mile loop together. Afterward, there's free beer and pizza at the store, and they draw names to figure out who wins raffle prizes.

I was still a little nervous to run with a group, but the organizer of the women's group posted that she is not a runner and hates running but is willing to try anything with a fun group, and lots of other people posted that they, too, weren't really runners, were slow, or were out of shape. Perfect. I was also a little worried about the kind of people who would show up. What if there was a good reason they had to go online to meet others? But it seemed that most of the people in the group had moved here fairly recently, and I figured that if I didn't like them I had nothing to lose but an uncomfortable hour or so, after which I could make my excuses and leave.

I needn't have worried at all about my fitness level. I think I AM still adjusting (and several of the girls I met said that it took them months, which makes me feel a lot better), but these girls weren't lying about their pacing abilities, and we did the 3.7-mile loop at a slower pace than I've run since middle school. I needn't have worried about the attendees, either. I had a great time and really liked everyone that I met. I talked to six girls at length and all of them were really nice and fun. Most have been in Boulder only a short time. I was the newest transplant, but one girl had been here only a month and others ranged from a few months to a year or two. Some of the girls were distance runners just struggling with the altitude--one girl told me she just signed up for a marathon to get her motivated to run in the thinner air--so it's possible that I'll be able to set up some running dates down the road.

We were among the last to make it back to the store, and the atmosphere in the parking lot was party-like with music, beer, pizza, and candy. There was a Halloween costume contest (none of us dressed up, as we didn't know this was happening) and, of course, the raffle, in which one of the girls in our group won a pair of Smartwool socks. We all hung around in the parking lot chatting until someone said she was freezing and we realized that we all were and dispersed.

I've signed up for another meet-up with this group in mid-November; we'll be doing a dessert cooking class at Sur La Table. And I'm planning a run today. If it goes at all well, I plan to drag myself out of bed in time to meet up with the women's running club for a morning run and cup of coffee tomorrow!

Running in Boulder - The Beginning

One of the things I was looking forward to most about Boulder was the chance to run in this part of the country. Boulder residents are very serious about outdoor sports, particularly those that require endurance, and this area is filled with elite runners who train against a beautiful backdrop. There are trails galore, ranging in difficulty from fairly flat, paved cruisers to trails that require runners to scramble over the occasional boulder.

Based on how I've been feeling just climbing the stairs in our house, I know I'm not ready to tackle anything too vertical yet. But I've been on two mellow runs so far. Let me tell you, it's been awful.

I will not be moving to Peru any time soon. 

Runs like this help me understand why many people don't like running. Sure, there's tons of great stuff to look at. This morning I ran by the Boulder Community Garden, admired the Flatirons, and said hello to a woman all in purple strolling along with four goats on leashes. Even if the scenery wasn't pretty, which it is, it's a relief to be running somewhere other than the West Side Path or Central Park, my only legitimate New York options. And yes, the trails are wide well-kept, and lovely, and the ones that go through town even feature underpasses so cyclists and runners don't have to stop to cross streets. But none of this makes up for the fact that running at this altitude makes me feel like an overweight asthmatic kid in gym class.

Boulder sits at 5,400 feet. That's a very big jump from sea-level NYC, and boy am I feeling it. I arrived here exactly two weeks ago today, and while I was pretty sure I was starting to acclimate, today's run led me to a different conclusion. I, who this time last year was preparing to run the New York City marathon, barely made it four miles.

I'm not sure whether physical activity helps one acclimate faster, or if anything can be done to speed up the process. I suspect not, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing for it but to keep on plugging away with the understanding that it's going to be a very, very unpleasant entry. I hope my adjustment doesn't take too much longer. I'm very much looking forward to joining a running group to meet some people, but until I can make it more than a few feet without huffing and puffing there's really no point. I'm not going to be able to have a conversation with new friends until I'm used the scarcer oxygen around here.

One Week in Boulder!

Ed and I arrived in Boulder one week ago today! So far I've been too preoccupied with trying to get the house in order to do too much exploring, though we're both looking forward to a hike tomorrow and I'm dying to go on a run, too. A friend has recommended some trails, and I think I'll start my Boulder running career on Mt. Sanitas. In the meantime, I'll share some pictures from our move.

First, some pictures of our mostly empty apartment, which are really weird for me to look at. (Our landlord stored some things, like TVs and couches, while we were living there, so the place isn't totally barren.) I took these right before closing the door for the last time, an event that made me well up just a little.

Guest room/office upstairs

Living room 

Our bedroom

Our bedroom, from another angle

Master bath/closet/laundry "room" ("laundry closet" would be more accurate)

Master bath/closet, from another angle

Kitchen/living room

Kitchen

Kitchen/living room, from another angle

 Ed and I loaded Hester until she nearly burst at the seams and took a meandering route to Boulder so that we wouldn't get there too far in advance of the movers. Our itinerary was shaped by people and places we wanted to visit rather than practicality. We drove 4.5 hours to Washington, D.C., 8 hours to Charleston, 4.5 hours to Atlanta, 14 hours (!) to San Antonio, 11 hours to Santa Fe, and, finally, 6 hours to Boulder. (Note that almost every day on the road was a little longer than that, since those are driving times that don't include any pit stops.) I didn't take many pictures along the way, alas, though the one from Roswell, below, is worth sharing.

I learned (through trial by fire) that Ed is a very good road trip companion and that the cats are not. We had a great time visiting friends and family along the way, saw some cool things, and ate some great food--and some not-so-great food. In particular, we both really enjoyed Santa Fe. I visited once about ten years ago and am looking forward to spending a longer weekend there now that it's not too far away.

As well as the road trip went, I was thrilled to get my first view of Boulder through Hester's bug-spattered windshield:

The morning after we arrived in our lovely little red house, the movers filled it with boxes and I've spent just about every moment since then trying to unpack them all and arrange things into our new home. It's hard not to be too exacting about things, as is my nature, since we'll be here for only about a year (we hope) until we buy our own house. Since the kitchen was out of commission until just recently, Ed and I have been exploring lots of Boulder restaurants and have been generally very happy with what we've discovered. We've also met up with several of my friends, and I'm excited to have a small but very cool social group in place already.

Our new bedroom as it looked a few days ago. Can  you find Todd?

I love our new surroundings. I'm dangerous on the roads because I keep getting sidetracked by breath-taking views out the windows; soon they'll be a little less startling, but for now they're delightful surprises. The people here are unbelievably friendly and warm, too. This might be less notable to someone who has not spent time in New York, but for me it's a welcome change.

I'll post some before and after pictures once I can get the house in some semblance of order so that the after shots won't look just like the before ones.