Rocky Mountain high...

Colorado

I’m crashing hard from the high that I got while I was in Colorado. No, no drugs were taken, but the high that I get from the fresh, dry, mountain air, leaves me wanting more every time.

I didn’t have many concrete plans going into the week. I went in with the intention to see my friends, family, and enjoy running outdoors. I accomplished all of them, and enjoyed them more than expected.

I started off the week with an 18 mile (planned) run with my dad biking alongside me on Saturday morning. We went out on the Highline Canal trail. I have run this trail hundreds of times, but because I haven’t run it in a while, it was a welcome change. I was worried about the altitude for the run, but decided to go out normally, and just see how my body did. I felt absolutely amazing! I was holding a fast pace for my ‘long run’ and really enjoyed the thinner oxygen and the cooler temperatures. Note: When I run in Florida, I usually start my long runs around 5am so that I can get my run finished before it gets too hot. My dad and I started at 9am, and I was actually cold at the start. What a wonderful feeling.

I’m crediting the cool air for my speedy pace. I think my body didn’t care as much about the thinner air, it just enjoyed not having to cool itself as much. Sadly, my leg started hurting around mile 3. This was a pain that I started to feel during my speedwork on Tuesday of that week, then again during my Tempo run on Thursday. Uh oh. Mile 7 I had to stop and stretch and massage it. I got to mile 9, my turn around. I filled up my water at the fountain, and could barely walk when I tried to start running again. This was super no bueno. After discussing with my dad, I decided that it’s better safe than sorry, so I called my mom to come pick me up. No use hurting myself more. I was mega-bummed. On the plus side though, I had a great time running with my dad, catching up with him, and being outside. I got to sit in the soft grass, in the sun, waiting for my mom. Things could have been a lot worse.

My leg stayed sore/injured for the rest of the day. My mom even massaged it out for me. I was RICEing it all day long. Ouch.

Sunday I went to the driving range with my mom. I have never played golf before, or even picked up clubs. However, I am playing golf with my work group this week, and I didn’t want to suck. So my mom and I played golf a decent amount during the week. I ended up being better than I expected… SCORE!!

After golf, I met up with Lauren and her new boyfriend, Eric. We did Sunday Funday at the Tavern and enjoyed some cold drinks and delicious food. It was so great to catch up with her, and hang out. We ended up there for a few hours, then went to the liquor store to bring home 3 different varieties of Pumpkin beer (as well as others) and take it home for our own taste test. AWESOME.

Monday was one of the best days. Ever. It started with a super easy 2.5 mile run [[to pick up the car I left at the bar on Sunday night because I took a cab home. Good life decision. +1 for Sarah]] The run was followed by an amazing yoga class with Lauren and Eric at Core Power Yoga. Wow. I really miss that place. We had an amazing flow, and a lot of energy in the room. Talk about bliss. After yoga, we walked to the neighborhood coffee shop, then walked back to Lauren’s house, changed, and met up with Nicole for lunch. Our 2 hour lunch included a bottle of wine, truffle fries, bruschetta and a delicious dessert (and a lot of other food.) It was great just to hang with the girls. After lunch, we went sailing on Chatfield Reservoir. Lauren’s dad has a sailboat, so the whole gang came (7 of us.) There was sun, drinking, 80s music & little to no wind, but lots of fun. That evening ended with a dinner at Stranahans with Dave, Lauren, Eric, Lauren’s brother and GF – a Colorado whiskey micro distillery—with the BEST mac and cheese ever… then drinks at the Hornet (with MARIO!!!). Yes. Perfect day.

On the boat with Lauren

Tuesday, Lauren and I had planned to go up to Rocky Mountain National Park to hike Sandbeach Lake. My friend Paula had blogged about this previously, and I really wanted to check it out. Mother nature had different plans for us. Unlike the previous beautiful days, Colorado had it’s first true day of fall, and it was cloudy, cold and a little rainy. We decided to hike the Royal Arch in Chataqua in Boulder instead. We brought the dogs, Lauren's dog Odin, and Dave's dog Tommie. They had a great hike, but were exhausted by the end of it. This was followed by another amazing lunch at my favorite restaurant on Pearl St, Centro. Then a little shopping on Pearl.

Tommie LOVES to hike

After I got home, napped and showered, I had a date with Dave at an amazing Latin-Asian Fusion restaurant: Zengo. DELISH! My favorite small plate of the night: tempura asparagus tacos. Mmmm. I also tried a dessert Malbec which was to die for.

Note: Somehow I didn’t gain 10 pounds on this trip, even though I had amazing food at every meal.

Wednesday was another dreary day, but my mom and I had a golf lesson scheduled, so we had to go. She helped me with my swing, and after a few adjustments, I was actually hitting the ball, and in the direction I intended to. This is a huge improvement from the driving range on Sunday. The afternoon included a blissful and painful 2 hour massage from my favorite masseuse: Ed.

Denver folks: This guy gives one of the BEST massages I have ever had. He is great for athletes, and works on a lot of the pro cyclist in the area.

He worked on my legs for an hour. I would love to say that this was the blissful part… but not so much. He did work out a lot of knots and pains, including my pain from Saturday that was still looming. There was a lot of whining on my part, but my legs felt great after. The second hour was the peaceful and blissful part. It was very therapeutic and relaxing. It included a hot stone massage (AMAZING), salt scrub for my hands and feet, and some work with energy flow… I think. Overall, it was another great experience. I just wish he was in Florida to work on me. Bummer.

I met up with my friend Sharon for drinks, sushi and gossip later that evening. 3 of our favorite things J then ended the night with Dave, Lauren, Eric and Mario at a wine bar downtown. Again. Amazing.

Thursday I got to sleep in a little bit, then had a lunch date with my co-workers from the Denver Siemens office. It is always so great to see everyone, and so tempting to just stay and work with them in Denver… not going back to Florida. Thursday nights in Denver= DTR –Denver Trail Runners. This is a weekly running group that meets up for trail runs every Thursday night. I got to see some of my favorite runners as well! Paula was planning on going anyway, and got stoked when I asked her if she was going.

I met Paula last year at DTR, and we realized we are basically the same person. Same majors in college, love to be outside, Colorado girl at heart… etc etc. LOVE her. It was great to run with her. She is doing her first marathon in October as well, CHICAGO! She has always been a super strong runner, she’s going to rock her 26.2.

Courtney and Luke were also there. They are, hands down, my favorite running couple. Luke recently proposed… so it was great to see them, hear the story and see the ring!! Courtney is also doing her first marathon in October, the same day as Chicago, but in Portland. She is also an amazing runner and is going to rock her marathon.

The trail run was a 6 miler that was ‘flat’ according to Luke. I’m sorry, I don’t consider a 1.25 mile uphill ‘flat.’ I ran the whole time with Paula, and felt amazing on the trail. There were some amazing views, especially at sunset :P There was a pot-luck after the run. This meant some delicious food, and more time with my friends. So sad I can’t do this every week.

Friday I played golf with my mom and her friend Kathe. This was my first game of golf…ever. It was REALLY fun! They taught me the rules and courtesies that come along with the game of golf. I had some awesome drives too! 2 of them ended up on the green! WOOT!! After golf, I met up with Lynne for a long lunch. We caught up on everything from her long road trip driving her fiancée back from Florida, to her wedding, to life. This trip I really appreciated my friendships. And no longer HOW long it’s been since I’ve seen them last, we were able to pick up and chat like I never left. I love my friends!!!

Saturday brought my longest run yet for my marathon training. I met up with Paula and Courtney at the REI downtown, and we set off for our 22 mile run. I was in heaven running through Denver, so I had to bring my camera. We ended up doing 4 laps at Wash park, with Erica, then heading back on the bike path. My leg was still bothering me, so I wore my compression sleeves. Leg hurt more at mile 8, so I moved both sleeves over to my right leg for more compression. Then at mile 14 I literally fell down in pain. It felt like someone grabbed my calf and was giving me an Indian burn from hell. OUCH. Fortunately, Erica’s car was parked in wash park, and she had a trigger point massage system thing in it. I had NO idea what it was, but she insisted it would help. After running back from her car, she pulled out something that looked like a yoga block, a dumbbell and a ball. Don’t be fooled by these ‘simple’ items. This is an intense system that triggers specific points on your leg (hence the name). Erica was an angel and massaged out my Achilles/calf. It hurt SO bad. Paula and Courtney hunted down some pain killers for me. I had been asking a lot of people if they had Ibuprofen, everyone said no. They found someone with Motrin, she gave them like TEN! I took three Motrin, one of Courtney’s salt tabs, and a gel. I was ready to go again. THANKS GIRLS!!!! We pushed it in toward the end, encouraging each other. When all was said and done, we finished 22 rockin miles, with a 9:30 average (including a few walk breaks.) Freaking awesome. Post run included Starbucks and an ice bath in the creek.

Pre-run picBeautiful REI Downtown

And we're off!

Met up with Erica in Wash Park Oh hello Mr. Fireman... will you take a picture with us? Erica taking care of my leg.... thanks girl!

Post run, we look pretty damn good!!Ice bath in the river

We said by to Courtney and Luke (who met us at Starbucks) and Paula and I walked to the car. She realized that she had lost her key on the run. Damnit. Shitty thing is we SAW the key on the trail. So we knew where it was. After flagging down a couple cyclists to go look for the key, it was nowhere to be found. I helped Paula try to track the key down and see if it was turned in anywhere. No dice. Sad. Fortunately, she has AAA so she was eventually good to go.

I had a haircut in about an hour, so I enjoyed some Starbucks in the sun, and pouted over my injured leg. One rockin haircut and glass of wine later, I was off to go home, pack and get ready for Carrie’s wedding that night. My mom *rockstar* helped me pack up all my crap. I got a lot of my winter clothes and shoes out of storage, and was taking it back to Orlando with me. (apparently it gets cold here….we’ll see). She packed everything up perfectly for me while I got ready for the wedding.

Dave had helped plan the wedding, so I met him there. I didn’t even recognize him when I walked in. Seriously, I looked straight past him. He has lost over 60 pounds in about 6 months. He’s also running his first marathon on the same day as Paula, Courtney and me, but in Denver. Amazing what marathon training can do to your body.

The only pic of me at the wedding...

Anyway, the wedding was absolutely beautiful! Jen and Dave did an amazing job planning every last detail. After the ceremony, Dave was able to take off the ‘wedding planner’ hat and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening with me, as a guest. J We had a ball dancing, hanging out with friends and talking. The big news of the night, other than Carrie getting married, was that I invited Dave to come live with me in Florida. He’s been wanting to do this since day 1, and I am finally letting him. J He’s coming down the week after our marathon. Nothing says marathon recovery like a 30 hour car ride. My flight back to Florida was early the next morning. Sad day.

Overall, it was a phenomenal trip. I was so happy to be able to see all my friends and spend such quality time with them. I didn’t get to see Gabrielle, which really really bums me out, but she is in Florida this weekend. I’m really hoping I get to see her then. Denver will always have a special place in my heart, and will always be my ‘home.’ Thanks for the great trip everyone. See you soon!

If you ever get sick of the cold and the snow, come visit me in Florida! It’s going to be a very nice winter!