Day 407 -- Boulder

Boulder is sort of a popular hang-out for runners and other athletes. They can train at altitude, and hang out in a pretty cool University city in between workouts. So why not visit the Boulder Running Company store?

I spent six weeks in Boulder one summer. I was studying the classics, of all things, in a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. We read the Iliad and the Aeneid, and I don't know what all. It was fun. I was going to say that the NEH didn't get their money's worth out of me, but maybe they did. I don't think that the program was meant to turn out new classicists, but more to broaden people like me who were going into other fields. And if today I study ancient mathematics, maybe at least a little of that traces back to my early education in classical literature.

One thing I remember about the program, that makes a lot more sense to me now, is how many of the participants were non-traditional students. Only a handful of us were regular 19- or 20-year-olds. The rest had at least a few years out of school, including at least one woman who had sons my age. I think that was probably a deliberate decision by the selection committee, who probably decided that non-traditional students would get more out of the program, by virtue of being more committed to their studies. So I guess I was pretty lucky to go at all.

I ran eleven miles today. It was a nice cool morning, and the run felt good. It's supposed to warm back up this week, so I'd better enjoy it while I can.