The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind and I have involuntarily missed out on running in the hills on several perfect final days of summer. At 30 weeks gestation, Allison is having an increasingly difficult time carrying twins and we have made several planned and un-planned trips to the hospital over the past few days, where she is now admitted on strict bed rest and being monitored closely. The girls are doing great and Allison is stable, so we'll keep our fingers crossed and take it day to day.
Free time and available time to work on my long and ever increasing list of things to do has been cut significantly short, as I try to balance day to day life duties, taking care of Allison and preparing for the girls arrival. Each day, I naively think that I will be able to carve out a 90 minute slot to go run a peak in Boulder, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to fit in and justify while there are so many other more important things to do and while Allison needs me the most. High mountain trips are most surely a thing of the past, at least until next year (this is very (EXTREMELY!!!) painful on these perfect bluebird final days of summer).
As outdoor adventures decrease over the coming weeks/months, so will my updates on this blog, but, this past spring I started a new blog about our journey of raising twins, so feel free to follow our progress there:
http://www.twinvalliere.blogspot.com/
I have not updated the new blog very often, but hope to when there is more to post (if I can squeeze it in).
Anyways, a brief weekly summary:
Monday: Off due to social/dinner obligations
Tuesday: Green. Up/down front. 39:58 up (legs felt tired and it was hot, so I walked mostly and jogged a few of the flatter sections, maybe 5-7 minutes of total running). Easy down, 29 minutes.
Wednesday: S. Boulder and Bear in the morning with Sierra. Started around 9am and Sierra was already hot on the approach and was busy sniffing/marking, so the pace was pretty relaxed, mostly a hike for her sake, but it was fun being out. 2.5 hours total.
Thursday: Off (spent an unplanned 9 hours at the hospital)
Friday: Off, a no can do, between errands, assembling a crib, hospital trips and stuff around the house, running was not even an option, but being that busy actually provided more of a workout than had I only run Green, then caught up on blogs all day.
Saturday: Spent the morning at the hospital, then spent the afternoon shopping for/picking up a new dresser (then spent an un-planned 2+ hours assembling said dresser (the only work I was spared was actually cutting the trees and extracting/machining the metals)). In the evening, I ended up forcing myself to get out the door and take Sierra up Bear. It was hot to start, but was nice and cool up high as the sun set. I was itching to get over to SoBo also, but knew that would leave me finishing in the dark and I needed to get back to the hospital. Though my legs felt great and I was raring to just rip it up and down, we took it easy and drank plenty of water. 43 up/38 down. I need to get one of those swell Fenix lights as the days get shorter.
Sunday: Green Mountain from Chautauqua via 1st/2nd Flatiron. Pushed a bit on the up, 39:59, then moderate on the down in 26. It was a bit too hot to be pushing and I was drowning in my pflegm.
Don't worry, by spring you'll be able to carve out some time for peak bagging :)
ReplyDeleteBeing there for your family and knowing how much they depend on you will be a deeper and longer lasting fulfillment than any mountain. If it's any consolation to your current stresses, I'm envious. The importance of your daily life right now makes running up a hill seem a little hollow.
ReplyDeleteIt will smooth out soon for you!
Sending some thoughts your way.
ReplyDeleteLike Footfeathers said, I know you realize that the mountains aren't a big deal right now and are just letting some stress off. Stay strong and positive for Allison.
When my kids were really young, I remember thinking that I could get killed on the way to work in a car accident and they would have no true memory of me other than photos. But at the same time I knew I was leaving a finger print on their psyche for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteThe mountains will be there for a long time.