Olympian Men Swimmers, Mosquitoes, Elevation, and Vacation Rambles

Gotta admit it, this family vacation is pretty darn awesome in every way but one of the evening highlights has surely been watching the Olympian Men Swimmers before we go to sleep.  Talk about going to bed with sweet dreams!  Who needs dessert when you can watch the after event interviews with Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps?  I had to laugh when I saw the picture below:

Okay, in all seriousness, I really am a woman that finds the intellectual mind MUCH sexier than the body when it comes to finding someone attractive as far as relationships go. But hey, I can enjoy the sights right?

Yup, those Olympic Men swimmers have some pretty AMAZINGLY SCULPTED bodies.   But I have this guy in the picture to celebrate life with every day.  I couldn't have asked for a better start to our nine year anniversary yesterday....Family, Sunshine, Good Coffee, Love, and a promise of a wonderful day together.

Happy 9 years, my love.  It has been the best 9 years of my life without a doubt!

One of the highlights of our anniversary morning was that we were able to head out on a run together while the kids stayed with the rest of family.  It was a little warmer than I would have liked and the 4,3000 ft. elevation compared to our usual sea level definitely seemed to have an impact on my lungs.  But maybe that is just because I haven't done much more than slow easy running since my July 4th marathon.   My workout was listed as:
6 miles.  2 miles easy; 3 miles in 22:15; 1 mile easy.

Yeah, nothing too hard.  Just a little bit of freshening up while still giving my body that month after a marathon to fully recover even if I feel fully recovered already.  I'm trying really hard to
trust,
listen and be patient.
The time will come to run faster.  And  honestly, I am going to have to WANT to be more serious with running if I'm going to get faster....the desire is perhaps the biggest part...desire, determination, and focus combined with trust, patience, and listening....this sounds like a good recipe for some PRs.

It was really hard for me to find that 7:25 pace for the 3 miles.  They ended up being a bit faster and I definitely needed to catch my breath...my breathing was way harder than it should have been for this pace. I'd like to blame this on the 4,000 plus ft in elevation gain but maybe it was just from being out of my best shape.

2 miles easy (but probably faster than easy should be right now)
7:00
7:05
7:09/7:10 (don't have my exact data in front of me).  Took a 30 second or less breather in middle of this one.  A sure sign that I'm either way out of the shape I'd like to be or that the elevation did in fact affect me.  Hmmmm.
1 mile easy home before a....

 4 mile hike that involved dust, swatting wildly at stupid mosquitoes and then getting to our proposed  fishing river only to find a raging white Deshutes River.  We had three disappointed kids who were more excited than anything to fish.  There would not only be NO fishing but also no sitting around due to the vicious blood sucking mosquitoes.  I guess the bitchy Amanda came out at this point and my extended family has now labeled me as "Surely NOT an outdoorsy person."  I would beg to differ.  I'm just a girl that likes "controlled outdoor experiences" and knowing what to expect?  Who knows.  I definitely love the outdoors.  But not when it comes to getting my flesh eaten alive while needing food and rest after my morning run.  Hope they still want to travel with me.  Oh wait, they are family...they don't have any choice.  :)

I have to admit, it was heavenly to come back to the vacation house, shower,  cut off another dead toenail and paint over it, slip on a sun dress and pour myself a glass of wine while enjoying "nature" from the deck.

Now off to run and get my husband to his pick up point for the Cascade Lakes Relays.  He's so excited!

Cheers,
Amanda 

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