Great news! I ran!
Up until Thursday, as you may recall, I have encountered every hurdle in my runs out here; I've gotten cramps, out of breath,...well I guess that's it, but it has happened every time I try to run! I attribute it to the altitude and to my avoidance of running (due to the cramps, I know, it's a never-ending downward spiral). I FINALLY got past that wall on Thursday, but it took some persistence. Here is a summary of my trip, in outline form.
1. Awake at 8am, very small breakfast of water and approx. 22 goldfish crackers. Checking weather and convincing myself that I can run today
2. 9am, drive to Conundrum Trailhead for a trail run
3. 9:30am, arrive at trailhead and wait for the sudden rainfall to stop, temp is 55F
4. 9:35am rain lightens, fellow hiker at the parking lot yells to me to get out my car
5. 9:37am, dodging mud puddles and rocks on my first true trail run in Aspen
6. 9:47am, thunder heard overhead, I decide to stick it out
7. 9:48am, lightening spotted overhead, I decide to turn around if I see more
8. 9:49am, more lightening, I turn around
9. 9:50am, rain and hail. Goody!
10. 10am, arrive back at car. Perhaps I ran about a mile?
11. 10:05am drive to Aspen airport to wait out the rain and get much needed gas for my car. This run isn't over!
12. 10:30am Arrive at Rio Grand trail, unpaved portion at the end of Cemetery Lane. Sit in car to wait for the rain to stop.
13. 10:40am Running!
14. 11:15am Rain again, not stopping this time!
14. 11:55am back at the car, 6 miles in the bank! No cramps:)
So there you have it. That is how mu Thursday went down. I am grateful to have the time and resources to finally achieve a "long" run in Aspen. I attribute my success to a very small breakfast, the early morning, and pure determination. I'm so glad it finally worked! Now I can seriously get ready for my half marathon on September 12!
The next day I left open for a hike up Colorado's tallest mountain, Mt. Elbert. At 14,443 feet it offers 360-degree views of the Collegiate and Snowmass wilderness regions around Aspen and Leadville near Independence Pass. In the lower 48 states, it is second in height only to California's Mt. Whitney, which stands at 14,505 feet tall. Bryan and I got a perfect day of weather for the hike-not a cloud in the sky!! We left Marolt at 4:30AM, drove across Independence Pass, found the trailhead, and started hiking at 5:50AM, just when the sun was rising. The Black Cloud trail is considered the most difficult of the three trails that ascend the mountain, so naturally we wanted to do that one. It rises over 5,000 ft. in about 5 miles. Let me tell you, it was steep!!! In the first mile, I was seriously regretting my 6 mile run on Thursday and wondering if I was going to make it up the mountain. In my hiking this summer, I have learned to keep my mouth shut when it comes to personal doubts I have in my mind. Unless I am in danger, I will only raise concern and give merit to other hikers' doubts if I share my own. Bryan buys into this too, so we are almost always confessing our fears and doubts to each other once we reach the top:)
After a bunch of rest stops to catch our breath, lots of cold wind, and many false summits, we made it to the top 5 hours after we started. The visibility and the view was SO great from the top that we stayed up there for almost an hour!! It was a popular hike, so we had plenty of company. On the way down, we didn't need to stop as much so we got to our car in about 3 hours. It was a FANTASTIC hike, and a great day. I am so glad that I was able to do it. Check out my Aspen photo album on facebook for lots of good pictures from the hike.
http://www.summitpost.org/route/166522/black-cloud-trail.html
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Dudley lessons
I have completed my 3 hours of lessons with Chris, and I have a lot of reflection to do! I played minimally in lessons; I did more absorbing and thinking than playing. I am grateful for these lessons with Chris because it is very much just what I needed. When we talked about books covering the mental approach to playing in brass lit. this spring, I knew that I needed to be more in touch with my inner monologue, including my ability to control and/or free my thoughts. Chris touched on a lot of this in my lessons and master class. Now as long as I continue to work with it, I will make progress in the way that I want. Thanks, Chris!
Friday, July 30, 2010
I'm back!
My dear readers, I am so sorry for the long delay. You can be assured that the lack of blog posts has been due to the fact that I've been real busy-and having a great time!! Here is a photo-blog of the past few weeks:
July 16, 2010
Chamber Orchestra Concert with Julia Fischer, violin
Khachaturian Violin Concerto
Brahms 4
July 17, 2010
Komen 5k Race for the Cure
July 17, 2010
Music on the Mountain
Trombone Octet & Quartet Concert
July 20, 2010
American Lake
The next few photos are from our hike to Electric Pass on July 22. Russ and I started hiking at 6am. We summitted around 9am, but not before we ran into cold wind and rain, severe enough to make us both consider turning around early. But we persevered and made it to the top of the pass. I was so happy we did!
At the top!
Russ and I
And then Bill arrived! Even though he was acclimating, he let me take him hiking every day that he was here!
On Sunday July 25 we went to the Grottos Day Use Area, which had a bunch of trails, rock formations, and a creek throughout. Also, ice caves!
The water was a little cold for feet-dipping, but we did it anyway
On Monday we visited the Maroon Bells, a very popular spot for a nice day hike. We ran into a lot of people there!
On Tuesday we explored Hunter Creek/Smuggler Mountain area. This hike a was more flat than the others and we got to soak in the nice meadows and quiet forest, as it wasn't nearly as heavily-traveled by tourists.
And on his last day here, Bill decided he was up to climbing Mount Aspen! I had already done this one, so I knew what he was in for. It is an ascent of about 3,000 ft in a relatively short trail. He wanted to know what we were all talking about when we mentioned the Ute trail, so we started there:
Bill on top of the Ute
And then we continued all the way to the top! We maintained a steady and practical pace, took water breaks, and wore sunscreen. It was really rewarding to get to the top with Bill. Plus we avoided spending the $48 to ride the gondola up!
From the Top of Aspen Mountain, July 28
Then we rode the gondola down, ate at NY Pizza AND Paradise Bakery, and went home to take a nap! Later that night I played on an Eric Nathan piece at the beginning of an orchestra concert. We went to Little Annie's for dinner with a few low brass kids, and came back to Harris Hall to hear the American Brass Quintet give a concert. I was really glad that we got to hear that concert because it was fantastic!!! Bill really enjoyed it too.
Yesterday we drove to Denver to catch Bill's flight. Since we knew it was going to be a long driving day, we planned a few fun stops in Denver: the Tattered Cover Book Store and the REI flagship store! We both had our respective fun at each place. I LOVED the REI store. I wanted to buy one of everything!
I said goodbye to Bill :( and got back to Aspen around 10:30 last night. Now I have 3 more weeks to climb, play, practice, and run! I'm really excited for Chris Dudley (principal trombone with Baltimore) to get here so I can study with him and play in orchestra with him on the Respighi concert!
July 16, 2010
Chamber Orchestra Concert with Julia Fischer, violin
Khachaturian Violin Concerto
Brahms 4
July 17, 2010
Komen 5k Race for the Cure
July 17, 2010
Music on the Mountain
Trombone Octet & Quartet Concert
July 20, 2010
American Lake
The next few photos are from our hike to Electric Pass on July 22. Russ and I started hiking at 6am. We summitted around 9am, but not before we ran into cold wind and rain, severe enough to make us both consider turning around early. But we persevered and made it to the top of the pass. I was so happy we did!
At the top!
Russ and I
And then Bill arrived! Even though he was acclimating, he let me take him hiking every day that he was here!
On Sunday July 25 we went to the Grottos Day Use Area, which had a bunch of trails, rock formations, and a creek throughout. Also, ice caves!
The water was a little cold for feet-dipping, but we did it anyway
On Monday we visited the Maroon Bells, a very popular spot for a nice day hike. We ran into a lot of people there!
On Tuesday we explored Hunter Creek/Smuggler Mountain area. This hike a was more flat than the others and we got to soak in the nice meadows and quiet forest, as it wasn't nearly as heavily-traveled by tourists.
And on his last day here, Bill decided he was up to climbing Mount Aspen! I had already done this one, so I knew what he was in for. It is an ascent of about 3,000 ft in a relatively short trail. He wanted to know what we were all talking about when we mentioned the Ute trail, so we started there:
Bill on top of the Ute
And then we continued all the way to the top! We maintained a steady and practical pace, took water breaks, and wore sunscreen. It was really rewarding to get to the top with Bill. Plus we avoided spending the $48 to ride the gondola up!
From the Top of Aspen Mountain, July 28
Then we rode the gondola down, ate at NY Pizza AND Paradise Bakery, and went home to take a nap! Later that night I played on an Eric Nathan piece at the beginning of an orchestra concert. We went to Little Annie's for dinner with a few low brass kids, and came back to Harris Hall to hear the American Brass Quintet give a concert. I was really glad that we got to hear that concert because it was fantastic!!! Bill really enjoyed it too.
Yesterday we drove to Denver to catch Bill's flight. Since we knew it was going to be a long driving day, we planned a few fun stops in Denver: the Tattered Cover Book Store and the REI flagship store! We both had our respective fun at each place. I LOVED the REI store. I wanted to buy one of everything!
I said goodbye to Bill :( and got back to Aspen around 10:30 last night. Now I have 3 more weeks to climb, play, practice, and run! I'm really excited for Chris Dudley (principal trombone with Baltimore) to get here so I can study with him and play in orchestra with him on the Respighi concert!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Aspen Mountain
I went on a really great early hike this morning! I was limited since I had to work in the office at 11am, and luckily I found a few friends who didn't mind getting up early! I woke up at 6, left Marolt at 6:30 and we were hiking by 6:55. Ironically, we took the route that starts with the Ute Trail, so it was a hard climb from the beginning! I was carrying about 5 bottles of water since Russ's backpack broke, so I felt slower than normal. We got up the Ute in about 40 minutes, took a breather and then continued up the trail.
Top of the Ute
We saw a lot of skiing signs, trail and lifts. It's clearly a mountain made for skiing!
We were climbing altitude fast, and soon we could see a large part of the surrounding mountains, including Independence Pass.
It always looked like we were *almost* there since you couldn't see the top of the Gondola until you got to the top. Oh, the Gondola is a fancy ski lift that people have to pay to ride up the mountain.
BUT if you hike up the mountain, you don't have to pay to go down! This quickly became our plan as we got more tired ascending the mountain...and as the time crept closer to 9:30.
We got a full hour to soak in the sights at the top of the mountain, which became a full 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. It was GLORIOUS!
Since tourists and other wealthy people ride to the top all the time, there was a really nice restaurant and cash bar up there, complete with nice restrooms and water fountains--a rare thing to have at the top of a mountain:) We rode the Gondola down (which is really strange-to put in 2 hours of solid hiking and then get back into town in only 15 minutes!), walked to our car, got a breakfast burrito from Johnny Macguire's, and got back to Marolt by 10:50. I took a REAL quick shower and got to the office just in time for my shift. And here I am now, in the office!
The Gondola Ride:
This week I am playing Brahms 4 with the Chamber Symphony. I'm really looking forward to it because it's a really good group! Also I have performed Brahms 1-3, and this will complete my cycle.
I'm running a Komen 5k Race for the Cure on Saturday morning in Aspen! If you'd like to sponsor me (literally a few bucks would be great!), go to my fundraising page!
http://events.komenaspen.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1006208&pg=personal&fr_id=1030
I have a modest goal of $30. Chip in if you can! It's for a great cause!
Update: Since I have such generous friends and family, I have raised my goal twice: first to $50 and now to $100. Thank you for all of your support!
Top of the Ute
We saw a lot of skiing signs, trail and lifts. It's clearly a mountain made for skiing!
We were climbing altitude fast, and soon we could see a large part of the surrounding mountains, including Independence Pass.
It always looked like we were *almost* there since you couldn't see the top of the Gondola until you got to the top. Oh, the Gondola is a fancy ski lift that people have to pay to ride up the mountain.
BUT if you hike up the mountain, you don't have to pay to go down! This quickly became our plan as we got more tired ascending the mountain...and as the time crept closer to 9:30.
We got a full hour to soak in the sights at the top of the mountain, which became a full 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains. It was GLORIOUS!
Since tourists and other wealthy people ride to the top all the time, there was a really nice restaurant and cash bar up there, complete with nice restrooms and water fountains--a rare thing to have at the top of a mountain:) We rode the Gondola down (which is really strange-to put in 2 hours of solid hiking and then get back into town in only 15 minutes!), walked to our car, got a breakfast burrito from Johnny Macguire's, and got back to Marolt by 10:50. I took a REAL quick shower and got to the office just in time for my shift. And here I am now, in the office!
The Gondola Ride:
This week I am playing Brahms 4 with the Chamber Symphony. I'm really looking forward to it because it's a really good group! Also I have performed Brahms 1-3, and this will complete my cycle.
I'm running a Komen 5k Race for the Cure on Saturday morning in Aspen! If you'd like to sponsor me (literally a few bucks would be great!), go to my fundraising page!
http://events.komenaspen.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1006208&pg=personal&fr_id=1030
I have a modest goal of $30. Chip in if you can! It's for a great cause!
Update: Since I have such generous friends and family, I have raised my goal twice: first to $50 and now to $100. Thank you for all of your support!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Plugging Along
This morning marked my fourth ascent up the Ute Trail! We're not racing up the mountain or anything, but our time was the quickest yet today: 35 minutes. It's a really good workout, mostly for my lungs apparently, because I'm not sore afterward. Running, on the other hand, has been really rough. I just cannot catch my breath, even for a 30 minute run. I guess I will have to work my way up to it. I'll try again tomorrow morning.
So far, I'd say I am on track with my goals for the summer. I'm practicing a lot every day, playing lots of different types of music with various groups, and getting better at the trombone! Plus I am biking, hiking, or running almost every day! The cool thing about being at Aspen is I don't have to make myself do any of those things. The program is designed so I have multiple musical outlets, and I am surrounded by great players and great teachers all the time. Plus when you look out the door and see Aspen Mountain, how could you resist climbing it? :)
Last night a combination of luck and persistence got me a free ticket to see Gil Shaham and Lynn Harrell play Brahms! It was a "special event" in Harris Hall, which means that since the hall is pretty small, they don't open it up to students. If I wanted to go, I would have to buy a ticket for $65 or wait in line before the concert and hope that the box office would give me a leftover ticket. My friends who worked box office hooked me up and gave me a ticket just before the show started. It was fantastic! Gil played the violin sonata no. 2 and Lynn played the cello sonata no. 2, then they played a piano trio together. All Brahms, all written in 1886. Here is a bit about Gil from www.pittsburghsymphony.org:
Violinist Gil Shaham is internationally recognized by audiences and critics alike as one of today’s most virtuosic and engaging classical artists. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with celebrated orchestras and conductors, as well as for recital and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.
Mr. Shaham’s 2006-07 season highlights include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, Houston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and U.S. tours with both the Chicago Symphony and Orpheus. In addition to recital tours in Europe and Japan he will appear abroad with the orchestras of Berlin, Copenhagen and Moscow, and with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their 70th Anniversary concerts.
Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel where at the age of 7 he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music and granted annual scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he has worked with Ms. DeLay and Hyo Kang. He has also studied at Columbia University.
I actually omitted about 3 paragraphs from his bio since it's so long...there's much more online about him, especially on Youtube. There's a lot online about Lynn Harrell too. It was cool/weird to be part of the exclusive crowd that had subscription tickets to the concert. Everybody is so wealthy! It's an older, retired crowd with lots of money in their pockets. I'm not used to it! I'm accustomed to lots and lots of poor college students occupying every concert hall and restaurant that I'm in. If it weren't for the people of Aspen, this festival wouldn't be possible, so I'm really glad that they support the music as much as they do!
I've been working parking crew every few days, and I am looking forward to my first paycheck tomorrow! Once I cash the check, I'll be able to go out without feeling the guilt of using my credit card. Can't wait!
Lessons with Per are going really well. I'm learning a lot.
So far, I'd say I am on track with my goals for the summer. I'm practicing a lot every day, playing lots of different types of music with various groups, and getting better at the trombone! Plus I am biking, hiking, or running almost every day! The cool thing about being at Aspen is I don't have to make myself do any of those things. The program is designed so I have multiple musical outlets, and I am surrounded by great players and great teachers all the time. Plus when you look out the door and see Aspen Mountain, how could you resist climbing it? :)
Last night a combination of luck and persistence got me a free ticket to see Gil Shaham and Lynn Harrell play Brahms! It was a "special event" in Harris Hall, which means that since the hall is pretty small, they don't open it up to students. If I wanted to go, I would have to buy a ticket for $65 or wait in line before the concert and hope that the box office would give me a leftover ticket. My friends who worked box office hooked me up and gave me a ticket just before the show started. It was fantastic! Gil played the violin sonata no. 2 and Lynn played the cello sonata no. 2, then they played a piano trio together. All Brahms, all written in 1886. Here is a bit about Gil from www.pittsburghsymphony.org:
Violinist Gil Shaham is internationally recognized by audiences and critics alike as one of today’s most virtuosic and engaging classical artists. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with celebrated orchestras and conductors, as well as for recital and ensemble appearances on the great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.
Mr. Shaham’s 2006-07 season highlights include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, Houston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, and U.S. tours with both the Chicago Symphony and Orpheus. In addition to recital tours in Europe and Japan he will appear abroad with the orchestras of Berlin, Copenhagen and Moscow, and with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as part of their 70th Anniversary concerts.
Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel where at the age of 7 he began violin studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music and granted annual scholarships by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. That same year he began his studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen. In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at Juilliard, where he has worked with Ms. DeLay and Hyo Kang. He has also studied at Columbia University.
I actually omitted about 3 paragraphs from his bio since it's so long...there's much more online about him, especially on Youtube. There's a lot online about Lynn Harrell too. It was cool/weird to be part of the exclusive crowd that had subscription tickets to the concert. Everybody is so wealthy! It's an older, retired crowd with lots of money in their pockets. I'm not used to it! I'm accustomed to lots and lots of poor college students occupying every concert hall and restaurant that I'm in. If it weren't for the people of Aspen, this festival wouldn't be possible, so I'm really glad that they support the music as much as they do!
I've been working parking crew every few days, and I am looking forward to my first paycheck tomorrow! Once I cash the check, I'll be able to go out without feeling the guilt of using my credit card. Can't wait!
Lessons with Per are going really well. I'm learning a lot.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Week 1, complete
Wow, what a busy week! The Aspen Music Festival has a LOT of stuff going on all the time--it's amazing! There are concerts everyday, many of them with world class conductors and/or performers. I played in the 4th of July band this weekend. It's a free concert for the community, so the crowd was huge, and very excited to celebrate their country! They were literally cheering on their feet at least three times during the concert! (We played a bunch of marches and other patriotic tunes.) We only had two rehearsals, which was nice. This week I am playing in the Contemporary Ensemble. We are playing "Khorovod" by Julian Anderson, performance at 4:30 on Saturday. It's a tricky part.
I got placed in a brass trio with two great musicians; Xavier on horn and Rachel on trumpet. Our coach is Kevin Cobb and we have coachings every Saturday. I think it will be a fun group! We have trios picked out by Beethoven, Nelhybel, and Sanders. We will play a fanfare at intermission on one of the Festival Orchestra concerts, and perform on the "Brass Bash" later in July.
Also taking Warren Deck's section master class, which has already proven to be fantastic! He will coach us on low brass section excerpts from the orchestral repertoire every week. This week I am playing 1st on Bruckner 8.
Apparently Bill Clinton was at the Festival Orchestra Concert last night! I didn't see him, but there was a sighting.
Happy Birthday, Bill!
(Kloppenburg, not Clinton)
I got placed in a brass trio with two great musicians; Xavier on horn and Rachel on trumpet. Our coach is Kevin Cobb and we have coachings every Saturday. I think it will be a fun group! We have trios picked out by Beethoven, Nelhybel, and Sanders. We will play a fanfare at intermission on one of the Festival Orchestra concerts, and perform on the "Brass Bash" later in July.
Also taking Warren Deck's section master class, which has already proven to be fantastic! He will coach us on low brass section excerpts from the orchestral repertoire every week. This week I am playing 1st on Bruckner 8.
Apparently Bill Clinton was at the Festival Orchestra Concert last night! I didn't see him, but there was a sighting.
Happy Birthday, Bill!
(Kloppenburg, not Clinton)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Recent hikes
We went on two great hikes this week. The first (Tuesday) was called "Difficult Trail" (although not that difficult). It followed Difficult Creek, and started on Difficult Lane (not making this up).
JJ, Bryan, Russ and Xavier, my hiking buddies!
Lots of pretty flowers on this trail...
This morning Bryan and I went up the Ute again--38 minutes! Next time will be even quicker. I'm glad I brought my camera, because we saw a rainbow at the top!
Downtown Aspen (above and below)
Can you see the rainbow?
Clearly, I wasn't the photographer here...just imagine my eyes open, and the picture is complete:) (I <3 Ithaca!)
JJ, Bryan, Russ and Xavier, my hiking buddies!
Lots of pretty flowers on this trail...
This morning Bryan and I went up the Ute again--38 minutes! Next time will be even quicker. I'm glad I brought my camera, because we saw a rainbow at the top!
Downtown Aspen (above and below)
Can you see the rainbow?
Clearly, I wasn't the photographer here...just imagine my eyes open, and the picture is complete:) (I <3 Ithaca!)
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