Well, at least I picked the wrong place, wrong day for 9 miles. I found a state park east of Denver that had a 9 mile trail around a lake and included a wildlife preserve. Sounds perfect, right? Flat, lower altitude (about 5000 feet). Ha! The weather gods decided I should suffer with my MM friends even though I wasn't in Mississippi. What an awful trail and it was HOT! Of course, thinking it was going to be pleasant and shady I didn't start until 11 and by the time I finished I was whipped. There was absolutely NO shade, no breeze and it was 95 degrees. I suspect the humidity wasn't as high, but it was there, and I was miserable. I ran out of water with one mile to go, and that was the longest mile of my life. (Longer even than the first one in Bellhaven!) There was a very long dam on the trail and I guess that's my punishment for missing some of the reservoir runs. Didn't see much wildlife, either -- except one buck wading through a bog.
So I am trying to figure out the 20-miler in the mountains. I don't think I"ll actually go 20 miles, probably won't even go 10, but at altitude and with a lot of climbing, I think I'll get the training in and be on my feet, moving forward for 6 hours or more. The weather up in the mountains is really nice, so I think I'll stick to altitude and suffer being out-of-breath rather than then heat.
So here are some pics from the party. I only got a chance to take a few.
Also posting a pic of the lake I walked around. Nine miles looks really long when you walk all the way 'round something this big!
2 comments:
Shucks, sorry it wasn't cooler for you in the mountains. But maybe you weren't far enough up into the mountains for it to cool off!
I think you are wise to do less mileage because of the increased difficulty with the altitude. I don't guess I can come up with a reason like that here in MS! See you in a couple of weeks.
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