Rocky Mountain High

I'm still alive, just busy, busy, busy...

I missed my long run this weekend because I was outside of Denver visiting my nieces and nephew. Their father (my brother) in serving in Iraq and their mom is swamped trying to take care of three kids so my mom and I went out for a visit.

Here is a picture of my brother with the kids before he shipped out in June.


We had a good time. Played a lot of games, went swimming, jumped on the trampoline (my childhood dream finally came true).




I had never been to Colorado before and it was beautiful. The view from their back porch was amazing and the sunsets were out of control!



I did manage to get in two short runs while I was there (4.9 miles). I was concerned with the elevation so I decided to take it slow and just see how I felt. I mapped out a run around their neighborhood and compared the elevation in Colorado to the elevation to my "highest" run in Miami (our "hill" workout over the Rickenbaker).

Miami:

Highest point 30ft above sea level.

Colorado:

Highest point 6040ft above sea level.

Hmmmm...

I was pretty worried since the first night I got there I could barely make it up their stairs without almost passing out, so I decided to be a little conservative. But when I got out there an amazing thing happened. All my humid Miami runs actually paid off because the altitude was nothing compared to Miami in August (or July, June, May...). The weather was beautiful, sunny and cool at 7am with no humidity at all. The only thing that got me a bit was the first 1/3 of the loop I ran was all uphill, so that sucked. Oh and the sun felt like it was resting on my face since the atmosphere is non existent. Nothing a hat couldn't cure though. My shirt was even dry as a bone when I was done. Amazing. I can't remember the last time my running clothes where dry after a 5 mile run, even in February. It was a nice change of pace. And running the hills were cool since I knew in my head I would be returning to flat land soon enough.

Other than that, not too much going on. I did get new kicks!



They are the same as my old ones that had over 450 miles on them (yikes), but the newer version. I also decided to go up another size. I usually wear between an 8-9 and my running shoes where a 9. They never bothered me until recently, when the longer mileage combined with the higher temps caused my feet to swell like water balloons. J convinced me to go up to a 10, and I thought he was nuts at first, but I've gotta say, he was right. They are sooo much better to run in. I actually have room to wiggle my toes. And my toenails and heel have not been bothering me at all since I upped the size.

Moral of the story: Listen to the people at the shoe store even if you think you will look like bigfoot.

Wednesday, 8/7 - 5.65 miles/55:54 - 9:53 pace
Thursday, 8/9 - 5.65 miles/56:191 - 9:58 pace
Saturday, 8/11 - 4.88 miles/53:57 - 11:03 pace (scared of heights, no wonder I felt so good!)
Sunday, 8/12 - 4.88 miles/50:24 - 10:19 pace (picked it up a little)
Wednesday, 8/15 - 6.11 miles/59:57 - 9:48 pace

Total Weekly Mileage: 27.17