JENNY FROM THE BLOCK: November 2013

Well folks it's Annika Ruth taking a break from all my play to report in on the latest news....

Guess what? I learned what "Epic" means...Apparently it means a weekend away.....

Sans child!

And when my parents are away, they will play!

I showed up to story hour this past Monday morning and there was a hush, a whisper, and a where were you last Monday. Followed by a giddy "Oh didn't you hear Jen had a fabulous weekend a way, with her husband and Annika stayed home with the Grandparents" ...and then there was a cheer. Get that? A cheer amongst the SAHM (Stay at Home Moms) the PTSAHM (Part time stay at home Moms) and the SAHD (Stay At Home Dads) . Yes. A cheer. Amongst all of them. H-E- double hockeysticks even the few nannies cheered. Now get this they said "and she did something really fun, but we'd be excited if they took a trip to Skandia, 5 miles down the road. Do you hear that? Really seriously? How could one get excited about that when I'm in town?

I mean really. I keep busy. I entertain myself. I "hardly"need any supervision. OK, that was a bit of a fib.

Anyway, my Dad was gone for 2 weeks to the Olympic training center and when Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit do you think my Mom stuck around? Nope! She headed for higher ground. And I do mean higher ground.

There was a Friday flight. A Saturday acclimatization run

OK, there may have been a bit of walking and scrambling on the first mile of the incline.

A mile of steps up turns out to equal 3 miles of a fun flowing trail down.

After a total of 10 miles of testing out the altitude my parents decided they would climb to the top of Pikes Peek the next day.

So the next morning they started up the incline in the dark and at the top saw the sunrise.

I'm sure they'd describe it as 'Epic" but that word is so overused and so 2012.

By running everything they could soon they were at the "half way" point

Feeling pretty good.

From what I am told Barr Camp is an awesome place and most sane, non acclimated people spend the night here vs doing the ascent in one day. I do believe they have a jolly good time. However, when you have only a weekend away you have to move a little faster than that.

So onward!

Hmm! It appears my Mom is looking pretty good here, despite her statement that she gets ugly in places where trees refuse to grow. This photo is around 13,000 ft.

Likely just before the post whole-ing through the snow began. The air is thin, the head feels achy, and each step is a bit slower and more wobbly than the last.

This is how my Dad looked/felt a week prior on his first ascent. He promised her she would feel absolutely giddy on the way down.

She believed him or at least kept her calm, kept moving on ...and at least did not have an "Epic breakdown" verbalizing with great despair "Why? Why? Why can we not take vacations like normal people and ride our bikes on pavement?" Ok that was after the 5th time her bike sank into mud higher than her bottom bracket.The bike stopped and her mud caked pedal did not release allowing her to tip over sideways into the mud. The mud that smelled like duck poo. Perspecitve is...

See how happy my Dad looks with 2 weeks of acclimatization and how my Mom looks as if she isn't sure her chicken soup is going to stay down but feeling good again was just a 5 K away.

5K away = 2,500 ft of defending via post whole-ing. At this elevation (above 12,500 ft) bringing up the winning time of the Pike Peek marathon would not be wise. She would tell you, they are professional runners who weigh 100lb, live at elevation, and probably use EPO....and she would say ungraciously to stick it where the trees don't grow.

But guess what? At exactly 12,500 ft the trees where growing, joy returned and my Mom got zippy again a was basically able to run the rest of the descent, making the 25.6 mile journey into...well still a whole days affair. A really, really good one.