Back to reality
My trip to Colorado was nice. Lots of visiting, eating, and R&R.
True to my word, I gained 3 pounds on the trip. Too many late night eating binges with sis (we always get into to trouble like that)
It was very different traveling and living with 2 children under 3 years--I enjoyed them for sure, but I was also thankful that I am over that bit with raising younglings. My daughter made the best of her time there--even though I knew she would rather be home.
I swear my mom never appears to age. She's 67 and still looks great. Her key to youth is that she is VERY active. She's up at 5:30 every morning and after coffee and the internet (yes 21.6k connection still), she's out on her little ranch feeding the animals. She's always been extremely physically active. Not an exerciser, just a do'er.
And the running? Well, we did do all our scheduled miles and it was hard. Why you ask?
a) My mom lives surrounded by dirt roads that are not packed down well. Most of the time it felt like running on top of 2 inches of sand. The soil there is like dust--and very hard to run in.
b) It was also very windy most of the time. At worst, we were running against a 30 mile per hour headwind. We felt as though we were running in place. We were laughing at the absurdity of running in this wind.
c) Humidity. It was humid. Not used to that at all.
d) Hot. It was in the 90's most days. Although we tried to avoid the heat peak, the lack of shade and the reflective surfaces made us hot!
e) Rattlesnakes. Never saw one, but Mom gave us a stern lecture to watch for them on the road--we were always on guard
f) Scenery, or lack of one. It just all looks the same. The only thing that changed was the sky (which was pretty dramatic)--so I just kept focusing on the horizon.
g) Elevation. From 50ft above sea level to 4500. Don't know if it made a difference in our runs, but it did psychologically.
I did a 6 miler this morning (back home) and it was nice to be among the mountains and the trees. Can't say I ran the whole thing...Let's just call it a scenic stroll.
We've got 12 on Saturday. I'm trying to re-hydrate, re-nutritionalize myself for it. The weather promises to be mild and hopefully it will go just fine.
Can't wait to catch up on all your blogs!!
True to my word, I gained 3 pounds on the trip. Too many late night eating binges with sis (we always get into to trouble like that)
It was very different traveling and living with 2 children under 3 years--I enjoyed them for sure, but I was also thankful that I am over that bit with raising younglings. My daughter made the best of her time there--even though I knew she would rather be home.
I swear my mom never appears to age. She's 67 and still looks great. Her key to youth is that she is VERY active. She's up at 5:30 every morning and after coffee and the internet (yes 21.6k connection still), she's out on her little ranch feeding the animals. She's always been extremely physically active. Not an exerciser, just a do'er.
And the running? Well, we did do all our scheduled miles and it was hard. Why you ask?
a) My mom lives surrounded by dirt roads that are not packed down well. Most of the time it felt like running on top of 2 inches of sand. The soil there is like dust--and very hard to run in.
b) It was also very windy most of the time. At worst, we were running against a 30 mile per hour headwind. We felt as though we were running in place. We were laughing at the absurdity of running in this wind.
c) Humidity. It was humid. Not used to that at all.
d) Hot. It was in the 90's most days. Although we tried to avoid the heat peak, the lack of shade and the reflective surfaces made us hot!
e) Rattlesnakes. Never saw one, but Mom gave us a stern lecture to watch for them on the road--we were always on guard
f) Scenery, or lack of one. It just all looks the same. The only thing that changed was the sky (which was pretty dramatic)--so I just kept focusing on the horizon.
g) Elevation. From 50ft above sea level to 4500. Don't know if it made a difference in our runs, but it did psychologically.
I did a 6 miler this morning (back home) and it was nice to be among the mountains and the trees. Can't say I ran the whole thing...Let's just call it a scenic stroll.
We've got 12 on Saturday. I'm trying to re-hydrate, re-nutritionalize myself for it. The weather promises to be mild and hopefully it will go just fine.
Can't wait to catch up on all your blogs!!
posted by Taunya at 5:40 PM
10 Comments:
Welcome back home and back to "normal". I hope you get lots of sports drink and water in before your long run.
Sounds like a great break. Running in new places is always a challenge. My half next week is at about the same elevation you mentioned and I am at sea level. It'll be interesting for sure!
Sounds like some new & interesting running, and under some tough conditions. Can't even imagine that elevation, whew!
The change of your running environment will help you and make you a stronger runner. Welcome back.
Oh my. I am all too familiar with that terrain. I lived in Oklahoma for 8-10 years (total) I'm sure are so happy to be back in your own surroundings.
Love your profile ("Want one?" in reference to you 16 year old! Made me smile...I have a 19 year old and hope she gets an apt. with firends...soon!)
and the pix of your legs/feet-how did you do that? Very clever!
Good for you for visiting mom even tho it sounds as if she doesn't live in the best place to run and sight see...! I bet she appreciated having you and the rest of the family there!
Glad to hear your trip went well. It is always fun to spend time with the familyl
Glad to hear your trip went well. It is always fun to spend time with the familyl
I have seen this part of CO (I'm originally from Denver); few people realize that much of CO is like OK, KS, and NB -- all they envision is mountains. Every time I land at DIA, I have a little laugh at those who are there for the first time and seem clearly disappointed to not have landed smack dab in the middle of Aspen.
Sounds like a wonderful trip! Welcome back.
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