Winding Down

The running challenge is winding down and for me, it's probably just as well. I started out strong with a minor hiccup on day 15. And then......the holidays. I got my run in the day I was supposed to fly out, but didn't end up flying out. Then I got my run in on the 24th and that's the last time I've run. Instead, I made an executive decision to visit a friend in Aspen and ski. I spent two days on my teles and one day on my new alpine skis. With the temps in Aspen in single digits (and sometimes the single digit was below zero), I opted for hanging with my friend. Besides, I was still getting a pretty good workout all of the days.

After two days on my teles (one at Keystone and one at Aspen Mtn/Ajax), my legs needed a rest and Pdoo (Ryan Pardue) and I decided to head to Aspen Highlands. One of the draws at the Highlands is the bowls, and in particular, Highlands Bowl. However, to ski Highlands Bowl you have to hike about 45 minutes (in your ski gear with your skis on your back). If you blow up the picture below you can kind of see people hiking all the way up to the very top behind the sign.

A couple spots were kind of sketchy and my fear of heights didn't help, but all in all, it wasn't that bad. The views at the top were definitely worth it.

The Maroon Bells are right behind me with Pyramid Peak over my right shoulder. Once we got to the top we enjoyed the views, talked to some people and then, of course, skied down. The snow was pretty good as it was some of the best I've skied so far in this short season. I'm also pretty sure that the hike up was a good substitute for the run I missed that day.

The only downside of the trip, and the reason I haven't been hitting the pavement since, is that I picked up a nasty cold along the way. I spent two days on the couch waiting for my head to fall off. Today I'm finally starting to feel better, but still pretty run down. I don't know if it's because of the cold draining my energy or from not having worked out in a few days, but I can feel the laziness in my legs. If I wake up feeling good tomorrow I'll try and hit the gym to get in the last few days. Nonetheless, it got me more miles than I would have done and will help set me up for some real training starting in January.