Unintentionally took a couple weeks off; the week before the 14er, because of my questionable foot (I fell into a spare tire and bent my foot backwards, and it's been weirdly swollen and my toe was mysteriously purple), and then the week after the 14er. I rode twice in that time - 15 miles, and 20 miles. Running for July was lame. Time to pick the pace back up.
Sunday, I set out at 11 with Skyler, and ran up the path to the elementary school. I sent him left, to go home (he's starting building from a mile) and I went right, to do my route in reverse. Wound up running 5.8 without realizing/intending to. Felt great. Last night, I didn't want to be near all the traffic, so ran on the trail. Hammered out 5 miles, negative splits. Felt great!!!
Tomorrow I resume morning runs with Emily. Looking forward to that!
I have to keep the momentum up so I don't completely fizzle out over the winter. This'll be Winter #2 of my life that I refuse to give in to.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
First 14er
On Saturday (8/2/14), I did my first 14er with Donna. Technically, it was two - but I feel like that's cheating, because we didn't hike from the bottom up of the second peak - we hiked up Gray's, then took the saddle from Gray's peak to Torrey's peak, and then down Torrey's. Regardless, it was absolutely amazing and a total heart-lifting, gorgeous, amazing, feel-good time. I left the house at 3:30 a.m., and met her at the Park N Ride at 4:00 a.m., and then we reached the trail head and started hiking at 5 a.m. It's incredible how many people were already up there - but that dulled in comparison to how many were coming up when we hit the summit. It was like some religious pilgrimage coming up the hill. Crazy! The early start was well worth it for missing that.
A few days prior to the hike, I had asked Donna what to bring. I'm used to running in the heat (for up to an hour or a little longer) and biking in the heat (all day) and hiking in the heat (all day) but have never done a 14er (add altitude and in some spots, more incline than a regular hike). She mentioned a list of stuff she was bringing, and I added a hat and gloves to my pile. THANK GOODNESS she mentioned those things. I didn't use the hat (had a hoodie, and a windbreaker hood) but the gloves...even with them on, my fingers got a little uncomfortable. I can tell I'm going to have to start slowly acquiring appropriate gear. I can definitely get by, but will be better off with sport-specific gear. I did manage to get hiking poles via Amazon - they were $25 and worth every penny, but I can see why it would be worth it to go look for a higher end model eventually. Hiking backpacks are around $100, presumably because they're lighter and stronger than a regular backpack. I'll be using a regular backpack for the foreseeable future, but will keep an eye out for sales and Craig's List. Nothing like having hobbies on a budget! Next time I'm going to bring a backpack and some real food (as opposed to the Clif Bar and energy GUs from bike riding that I brought) and more water. I knew I was skating by on minimal water, but with a backpack, I can do like Donna did and fill a 2-liter soda bottle with water and keep it in the backpack, along with the external smaller bottles. Brilliant!
It would be so great if the other three members of my family would be interested in doing this stuff with me. They are proud couch potatoes. It's a major bummer for me, but I'm not letting that hold me back, as this stuff is so incredibly fun and therapeutic for me. They are perfectly happy to be doing other stuff while I gasp and sweat. Donna and I are grateful for each other, because her husband and son are similarly uninterested. It's great to have a pal to do these things with!
Can't wait till the next one. We're presently trying to figure that out. The only downside is that Gray's and Torrey's are close - only about 90 minutes from the front door - the next 14er that's within our skill level is 100 miles away.
A few days prior to the hike, I had asked Donna what to bring. I'm used to running in the heat (for up to an hour or a little longer) and biking in the heat (all day) and hiking in the heat (all day) but have never done a 14er (add altitude and in some spots, more incline than a regular hike). She mentioned a list of stuff she was bringing, and I added a hat and gloves to my pile. THANK GOODNESS she mentioned those things. I didn't use the hat (had a hoodie, and a windbreaker hood) but the gloves...even with them on, my fingers got a little uncomfortable. I can tell I'm going to have to start slowly acquiring appropriate gear. I can definitely get by, but will be better off with sport-specific gear. I did manage to get hiking poles via Amazon - they were $25 and worth every penny, but I can see why it would be worth it to go look for a higher end model eventually. Hiking backpacks are around $100, presumably because they're lighter and stronger than a regular backpack. I'll be using a regular backpack for the foreseeable future, but will keep an eye out for sales and Craig's List. Nothing like having hobbies on a budget! Next time I'm going to bring a backpack and some real food (as opposed to the Clif Bar and energy GUs from bike riding that I brought) and more water. I knew I was skating by on minimal water, but with a backpack, I can do like Donna did and fill a 2-liter soda bottle with water and keep it in the backpack, along with the external smaller bottles. Brilliant!
It would be so great if the other three members of my family would be interested in doing this stuff with me. They are proud couch potatoes. It's a major bummer for me, but I'm not letting that hold me back, as this stuff is so incredibly fun and therapeutic for me. They are perfectly happy to be doing other stuff while I gasp and sweat. Donna and I are grateful for each other, because her husband and son are similarly uninterested. It's great to have a pal to do these things with!
Can't wait till the next one. We're presently trying to figure that out. The only downside is that Gray's and Torrey's are close - only about 90 minutes from the front door - the next 14er that's within our skill level is 100 miles away.
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