Saturday, September 7, 2019

Race Recap:Fort Collins Human Race 1/2 Marathon

On Saturday, July 27,  I completed my third half marathon for the year which was the Fort Collins Human Race Half Marathon in Fort Collins, Colorado. The race was the first time race run in a different altitude however this didn't really impact my running experience. Here is my outfit laid out the night before the race.



Running using 4/1 intervals (run four minutes and walk one minute.) has worked well for me and the course was pretty flat except for a little section of running on unpaved road. I enjoyed this half marathon because of the beautiful scenery on the race course. I finished in a time of 3:06:51 and am happy to check off Colorado from my list of states to run in. Below are photos from race day.

Me before the start of Fort Collins Human Race 1/2 Marathon

Half marathon scenery

                        Half marathon scenery


Half marathon scenery

Me after the 1/2 Marathon

Me post race with race medal


Fort Collins Human Race 1/2 Marathon Finisher Medal

Friday, September 6, 2019

Anniversary Trip to Colorado and Attending Vegfest Colorado

     This past June, me and hubby celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary by taking a trip to Colorado to attend the annual Colorado Vegfest in Broomfield, Coloardo. Here's a photo from the airport at Grand Junction, Colorado 



 Since I'm a librarian, no trip to a new state would be complete without a visit to the local library. The library employee was friendly and I was able to get a souvenir library card.


 As we drove to our hotel in Broomfield, I used the Happy Cow App to locate vegan options nearby and was surprised to discover Brothers BBQ which offers bbq tofu sandwich as well as the impossible burger.

Brothers BBQ in Broomfield, CO

BBQ Tofu sandwich with fries

Broomfield, Coloardo was also home to another source of yummy vegan food at Ganesa Thai Restaurant.Below are photos from the restaurant as well as the food we ate while at the restaurant.

Ganesa Thai Restaurant in Broomfield, CO

Vegan tomyam soup with vegan seafood

Vegan pad see ew with tofu

Freshly made mango smoothie

Veggie spring rolls with sauce
 The second day of our trip, we attended the annual Vegfest Colorado vegan festival in Broomfield, Colorado on July 27. Below are photos from our day at the Vegfest.

Roadside sign for Vegfest Colorado

Me at Vegfest Colorado

Lemon coloche


Vegan philly cheesesteak

Vegan mozzarella sticks with sauce 

My favorite food from the Vegfest was veganized Taco Bell food made by the Vegan Van food truck which is shown below of nacho fries, a crunch wrap and gordita crunch.
 





Me and vegan chef JL Fields have been online friends since 2009 so it was a fun to surprise her by coming to the see her in person at Vegfest Colorado. After she finished doing a vegan meal prep demo, I surprised her, gave her hugs. I was lucky enough to have been chosen to be a recipe tester for one of her most recently cookbooks "The Vegan Air Fryer" so I had her autograph her cookbook for me as well.


While at Vegfest Colorado, I also met Kitten the Vegan Pirate, a woman who lost over 300 pounds by adopting a vegan diet.


Before leaving Vegfest Colorado, I stayed for the closing talk given by former German strongman Patrick Baboumian. Patrick was funny, engaging and interesting. During his talk, he spoke about his upbringing as well as what lead him to become vegan and how veganism has impacted his athlete pursuits. After he finished his talk, I purchased his new book and took a photo with him.






Vegfest Colorado was fun, informative and entertaining. I can't wait to attend my next out of state vegan festival!

The 52 Book Club's 2024 Reading Challenge

Each year, I take on different reading challenges as a way to get outside of my reading comfort zone. For 2024, I plan to read a total of 10...