Greetings, Tribe!
As many of you know, I LIVE for our runcations. To pretend for a few weeks that we’re professional runners, sleeping more, eating more, and running at altitude.
I wait all year for this trip, and this year was no different. This year, however, I was sick the entire trip. On the flight to Boulder, Colorado I had a hint of a sore throat and fatigue, but I figured it was just a little cold that I could sleep away.
Upon landing in Colorado, we had brunch at one of our favorite spots in Boulder (Snooze), settled into our hotel and then headed out for a run at Doudy Draw. Since I was feeling pretty strong still we ran just over 7 miles. Not bad for Day 1 at altitude!
In an attempt to ward of impending illness, I went to bed early and slept for 12 hours. Yeah, that didn’t work. As of Day 2 it was official that I was sick. Ugh. After a solid breakfast we headed out to a new trail for an easy 5k warm up and then headed to a much steeper trail for another 5k. To reward ourselves we went to Mountain Sun (fantastic beer list and great food!) and then went to bed. I was still determined to sleep away my illness!
Friday, Day 3, Adam decided to test my navigation skills and had me take us to the spot where he proposed exactly one year prior (we have been making plans for future trail adventures and were assessing our skills, so we had to be sure I too could navigate trail systems as well as Adam). Even in my feverish state, I successfully lead us to “our spot.” I’ll be honest, I was hoping that this year Adam would announce that he got a great job in the Boulder area and we were moving, but that didn’t happen. Wah wah.
Saturday was the absolute worst! I had a fever so high and chills so fierce that I turned the hotel heat up to 77 degrees just to be relatively comfortable. I just wanted to curl up, go to sleep and wake up when the flu was over. The good news about being sick on vacation, however, is that the wonderful hotel staff cleans the bathroom and sheets EVERY day so that the germs don’t have time to get comfortable. Plus, there is a constant supply of tissues. Winning!!
Anywho, my stubbornness lead us to the South Mesa Trail. I had to make the most of our runcation!! I ended up walking, a bit wobbly, up the mountain and then ran back down. (My run streak is still intact!) It was crazy windy, but crazy beautiful. Last year we didn’t make it to this trail and I forgot how much I love it! Next year, when I’m not so sick (hopefully), we will have to explore it more.
As is tradition, we had a meal at Avery Brewing to celebrate the end of our trip. My absolute favorite brewery!! Let me tell you, Tweak 2018 (it’s a stout beer that will rock your world!) is on point!
Sunday was our last day of the runcation and I was starting to feel a little better. Finally!! Before we had to check out of the hotel we had one final run at the base of the mountains. It’s always a bittersweet moment, taking that final run. Boulder will always have a special place in our hearts and am already making plans for our next trip!
Happy Trails, Friends!
In Search of My Running Tribe 