January 2011

The New Year started with a hike up Lone Mountain with my son. It was a crisp morning that was perfect for a hike like this. The total round trip was about 1.5 miles, but we definitely took our time. Once at the top, we spent some time talking about the different things we could see. The most interesting was the University of Phoenix Stadium which we agreed looked like a giant marshmallow. Interestingly enough, the stadium is about 26.2 miles (as the crow flies) from where we were. Hmmm, I’m trying to improve my running and that beacon on the horizon was 26.2 miles away….foreshadowing? Was a marathon in my future? January only saw one other hike and that was a 4.7 miler with my daughter in a backpack. We spent quite a bit of time looking at the bunnies and quail along the trail. The day after that hike, James and I planned on a 5 mile trail run near our house. Not a couple of hundred yards into the run, my left knee sent piercing pains up my leg that almost stopped me in my tracks. I remember telling James that something wasn’t right, but continued to run through it. Sure enough, shortly after, all was good. Another 5 miles with about an 8:30 pace was in the bag. My next scheduled run was going to be another 5 miler the next day (01/04/2011). I set off from my work and didn’t even get across the street before that shooting pain in my knee was back. This time, however, I couldn’t go on. It took everything I had to walk back to my car. Ultimately, I had to back out of the relay and this was the last time I would run for approximately the next 3 months (when I was forced to run, but more on that later).