Thursday, August 18, 2011

Leadville Pre-Race Fun (and Mt. Elbert)


Well...I was able to get all checked in and weighed in today.  All that's left to do for the race is to meet up with my pacer, go to the mandatory meeting tomorrow, and organize all my drop bags.  This year I weighed in 16 pounds lighter than in '09...at a very ideal weight of 145.4 lbs.  I was also assigned bib number 322...which also happens to be the highway that runs through State College.  (State Route 322).  There is a racer dinner tonight that I am going to head up to here in a few minutes, so that I can stuff my face with yummy carbs.  Tomorrow is all about doing nothing.


Today was supposed to be a rest day, a day for doing nothing too....but being the idiot that I am, I couldn't resist the beautiful mountains off to the West.  So, I went for a little hike to see how my lungs would do.  I drove to the Mt. Elbert trailhead a few miles outside of town with the intention of just hiking a few miles in and then turning around.  When I hit tree line though, and I could see the summit, I couldn't resist.  Let's hope I didn't destroy my legs too badly two days before the race.  I did surprisingly well at altitude.  Sure, I was a bit tired above 13,000, and with climbing over 4000 feet of elevation, but never got dizzy or a headache all the way up to 14,440.  One interesting altitude side-effect I've noticed, is the bizarre dreams I have at night.  Oh well.....here are some pics from the hike...


Just past treeline

Nearing the summit

Another 14er! (2nd highest peak in the lower 48)

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