Boulder Withdrawal

I have been casually searching for a good place to go for a vacation where I could run on cool paths and trails. I never found what I was looking for, until Alison posted a link to her upcoming Boulder adventure. That is the only reason I was able to find out about this place so thanks Alison! My 2-day trip was sort of last minute (I booked it the week before I left). I can't wait to read about Alison's adventures while running with all of those people. How exciting! Meanwhile, I will give the version of a solo-adventure of a not-so-in-shape dude.
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The first day, I ran 7 miles on Boulder Creek Path in the morning (awesome), showered and then hiked up Flatiron #2 (awesome), rested briefly, then walked over to the Pearl Street Mall from my hotel which involved lots more walking. After that, I was beat. I think I was outside for 6-7 hours. Good Times. Coincidentally, it looks like Barb from eliterunning.com hiked Flatiron #2 on Sunday. Weird! I should mention, I forgot about the whole altitude thing. Funky. It made me feel out of shape but thats ok, I pushed through it and the scenery was great. On the hikes, I got winded real fast. As in heaving and panting and huffing and puffing like it was the first time I've ever exercised in my life. It was cool...I would rest for a few seconds and then climb as fast as I could for as long as I could. My heart was pounding through my chest. Funky sensation. Pretty cool.

The second day, I ran 8.75 miles in the morning, then hiked another trail called Tenderfoot or something like that. I forgot to check out how long this trail was, where it led, and how it was shaped. It's like a human-sized maze; you can't see where the correct path leads or where the exit is. I saw 2 people for the entire hike otherwise you see and hear no one. Which is cool but toward the end of this trail I started wondering if I had picked a 9-mile trail and what if a lion ate me? No one would find me. Ha ha. This trail goes down by a shaded stream and I kept thinking, if i was a hungry mountain lion I would totally be down here waiting for stupid hikers wearing sandals.

Believe it or not I actually saw some tracks by the edge of the trail! Hmmm. I picked up a rock just in case I met with danger. Like a rock would help me. I never did see any large animals though. But I heard a woodpecker rustling in a tree and pecking, which had me stopped dead in my tracks for maybe 5 minutes holding my breath. hehehe.

Later on the second day I decided to drive way up Canyon Road to find another cool path to run on. At this point my legs were very fatigued. They felt gooey and I became winded almost as soon as I started jogging. I looked down at my Polar which told me I had jogged 1.1 miles in 15 minutes. I felt like I was going to keel over after running a ~15:00 mile! I was worthless. But the scenery was so great, and I just wanted to run and run and run and run

and run. I want to go back!
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In Two Days:
-# of miles jogged: 18.75
-# of trails hiked: 2 (one took ~2.75 hours hehe, the other was more like 1-1.5 hours)
-# of miles walked around town: tons
-# of hot girls living in, or going to school in Boulder: a cajillion
-the standard uniform for hot girls in Boulder: a white tank top (which I won't argue with)
-# of hot girls that blazed by me on the running trails: 4 ridiculously hot girls running like the wind and not even out of breath.
-# pictures taken: 512 meg worth (includes 2 short movie clips)
-# of snakes that scared the crap out of me: 1
-# of cows that scared the crap out of me: 5
-# of lizards that appeared on a rock while I was day-dreaming: 1

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-and the best part of all, the miracle of the whole trip: # of times my legs/calves/thighs/any part of my body was sore: zero.