Backing up to Saturday: Early morning, Minneapolis airport, flight to Denver, take 2. In order to get a PCP breakfast at the airport, I became an honest-to-god food super spy. (Cue Mission Impossible theme song.) Poached egg, whole wheat sourdough toast and milk were easily procured at French Meadow Bakery. Vegetables? Here's where I had to use my super spy tactics. Where to find plain veggies at an airport at 6 am? In the food court, I came across a burrito joint that had "add-ons" on the menu, including spinach, avocado, and tomato. Mission accomplished! I got a huge to-to container of these items - totally fresh and delicious. "Dude," I told my husband, "I am the MASTER of this diet!"
We finally arrived in Denver Sat morning and hit the road for Fort Collins to meet up with our fabulous friends Rachel and Bernie and their kids. That same afternoon, all eight of us struck out for camping in the mountains on the northern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a total treat - 2 days of living outdoors, in a splendiforous setting, complete with streams, rivers, rocks and meadows to explore. I love camping - I grew up camping all over the country with my family - but we don't do it nearly enough. Even better than camping is camping with our friends! We all had a blast.
While we were out communing with Mother Nature, I had two days of workouts at 10,000 feet (3048 meters - is that how one measures mountain height in metric??). Experimenting with the jumprope at high altitude was...interesting. The first day, I literally couldn't jump more than 5 times in a row without tripping. I felt like my body was weighted down, like I just couldn't get my feet off the earth. I wasn't extra winded, like I expected to be, just heavy. And slow. I only eked out 900 jumps that day. And the strength exercises seemed to take twice as long as usual. On the upside, I had both Rachel and Dan (my hubby) doing some of the jumping and strength training with me...in the most spectacular setting imaginable:
That's me jumping at 10,000 feet! Kinda badass, right? Rachel took this photo (and those following) with her fancy new camera - thanks, Rach!
On the second day of high altitude workouts, the jumping was marginally easier (in part because I jumped on a dirt road instead of on the uneven turf you see above). I still felt like I was moving in super-slo-mo and did get slightly light-headed once, so I took my time and didn't push it. 1100 jumps accomplished, resistance band stuff done around a tree trunk, push-ups and v-sits attempted in midst of a fragrant mountain meadow...life is grand!
Did I mention that our friends brought their kayaks on our camping trip? As Rachel pointed out, it's great to be near the water, but it's always better to be on the water. Apparently, when kayaking, one should not be using one's arm muscles predominantly, but one's core. Once I heard that, I realized I could paddle a lot faster and easier by engaging my core. Cool, eh? Here's Dan and Milo on the lake:
On Monday, we spent the day in Fort Collins with our friends, relaxing by the pool. It was a heavenly day of kicking back and enjoying. And a little bit of adventuring too:
Getting back to sticking to the PCP while traveling, I need to give a big shout out to Rachel and Bernie (and Dan, too) for being totally supportive of my diet, for making sure I had everything I needed to eat even while camping, and for generally being great cheerleaders. This whole project is SO much easier to accomplish when I'm surrounded by people who are supportive and interested in the details of it - and who don't think I'm a dork for carrying my little scale around with me everywhere. The flip-side of this is that Rachel told me that I've inspired her to think more about how she eats, and to experiment with jumping rope. She's getting all the way to 600 jumps after only a few days! She's a great friend, a fantastic mom, a strong woman, and someone who inspires me all the time just be being who she is - so I'm just happy to do the same for her.
Today, we said goodbye to our friends and drove up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park. Now we're at my parents' house, along with my brother and his family. For the next 5 days we'll be hiking, horse-back riding, exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, and - hopefully - rock climbing. I love vacation!
Hope you're having a good week, y'all. I'm hoping to have some time later to read and comment on all your recent goings on.
XOXO
We finally arrived in Denver Sat morning and hit the road for Fort Collins to meet up with our fabulous friends Rachel and Bernie and their kids. That same afternoon, all eight of us struck out for camping in the mountains on the northern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a total treat - 2 days of living outdoors, in a splendiforous setting, complete with streams, rivers, rocks and meadows to explore. I love camping - I grew up camping all over the country with my family - but we don't do it nearly enough. Even better than camping is camping with our friends! We all had a blast.
While we were out communing with Mother Nature, I had two days of workouts at 10,000 feet (3048 meters - is that how one measures mountain height in metric??). Experimenting with the jumprope at high altitude was...interesting. The first day, I literally couldn't jump more than 5 times in a row without tripping. I felt like my body was weighted down, like I just couldn't get my feet off the earth. I wasn't extra winded, like I expected to be, just heavy. And slow. I only eked out 900 jumps that day. And the strength exercises seemed to take twice as long as usual. On the upside, I had both Rachel and Dan (my hubby) doing some of the jumping and strength training with me...in the most spectacular setting imaginable:
That's me jumping at 10,000 feet! Kinda badass, right? Rachel took this photo (and those following) with her fancy new camera - thanks, Rach!On the second day of high altitude workouts, the jumping was marginally easier (in part because I jumped on a dirt road instead of on the uneven turf you see above). I still felt like I was moving in super-slo-mo and did get slightly light-headed once, so I took my time and didn't push it. 1100 jumps accomplished, resistance band stuff done around a tree trunk, push-ups and v-sits attempted in midst of a fragrant mountain meadow...life is grand!
Did I mention that our friends brought their kayaks on our camping trip? As Rachel pointed out, it's great to be near the water, but it's always better to be on the water. Apparently, when kayaking, one should not be using one's arm muscles predominantly, but one's core. Once I heard that, I realized I could paddle a lot faster and easier by engaging my core. Cool, eh? Here's Dan and Milo on the lake:
On Monday, we spent the day in Fort Collins with our friends, relaxing by the pool. It was a heavenly day of kicking back and enjoying. And a little bit of adventuring too:
Getting back to sticking to the PCP while traveling, I need to give a big shout out to Rachel and Bernie (and Dan, too) for being totally supportive of my diet, for making sure I had everything I needed to eat even while camping, and for generally being great cheerleaders. This whole project is SO much easier to accomplish when I'm surrounded by people who are supportive and interested in the details of it - and who don't think I'm a dork for carrying my little scale around with me everywhere. The flip-side of this is that Rachel told me that I've inspired her to think more about how she eats, and to experiment with jumping rope. She's getting all the way to 600 jumps after only a few days! She's a great friend, a fantastic mom, a strong woman, and someone who inspires me all the time just be being who she is - so I'm just happy to do the same for her.Today, we said goodbye to our friends and drove up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park. Now we're at my parents' house, along with my brother and his family. For the next 5 days we'll be hiking, horse-back riding, exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, and - hopefully - rock climbing. I love vacation!
Hope you're having a good week, y'all. I'm hoping to have some time later to read and comment on all your recent goings on.
XOXO
What an amazing, wonderful, awesome week you're having! I am especially impressed with your airport-food-procuring skills. I've been in a few airports over the last few days, and I basically decided not to eat while there, since I had a hard time finding what I needed. You have totally inspired me for next time!
ReplyDeleteWow, Sarah!! The high-altitude stuff is interesting, and good for you for getting thru the workouts in a smart and thorough way despite the conditions. Also, this post is so wonderfully positive and bright. I have a feeling that's how you are as a person - you're probably inspiring people alllll around you to be more healthful.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I really enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great vacation you're having.
High-altitude jumping is really amazing !
And Kayaking!!!! I am a Sea kayaker and I used to go kayak camping trip to Vancouver Island. So I know what you mean by using core muscles. Mmmm I should go kayaking more often since I have my kayak and I live near the sea.
You inspire me a lot, too!!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Jumping with the mountains as your backdrop is sooo awesome! you look like you're catching serious air. My legs felt like lead on Tuesday and I'm at sea level. Maybe, it's just the point we're at in the pcp?
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to consider camping this weekend. A bunch of friends are going but they just want to hang out and get wasted so I said no. Seeing your pics makes me want to be in nature.
Good friends. Keep them around in your life.
ReplyDelete