Yesterday, at about 8:15, I broke my toe. It didn’t happen while I was doing something epic. Nope. I was crossing a crowded restaurant dining area, tripped on a step as I was avoiding a table and my toe was wrenched into a bad position. I fell, with my chest hitting a pole and my elbow getting scrapped.
My toe was clearly sticking out to the side. It didn’t hurt too bad, but it started aching soon enough. From previous experience, I know that the best medical thing to do was to buddy tape it to the other toe. I procured some bandages and did just that.
The next day, first thing in the morning, I went to the Urgent Care. This would be my first experience with the American medical system. (Thankfully, my work insurance covered all emergencies.) I got an X-ray and it was discovered that I had completely broken the toe. My past experience was just a crack.
So now I am not allowed to run, or hike, or bicycle.
Of course this means my run streak is officially dead. 1250 consecutive days of running are over. I’ve tried to bargain with it in my head; thinking that if I walked/hobbled 5km every day I could pretend I was still running. But I have to be adult and take care of myself.
This makes me sad on multiple levels. My run streak is over, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it again. If I tried, I’ll always know I’ve done better in the past, and too much could go wrong in the three years it would take to get back up to a the same number. And let’s face it, it is hard on my body. I probably shouldn’t be doing daily runs in the first place. Certainly not at the distance I’ve been doing.
I also eat a lot, because I was constantly burning calories. But my body will not realize I’ve stopped running and will still want to eat. I’m going to have to train myself to eat less.
But running is very core to my identity. If I’m not a runner, who am I? I realize this makes me a boring person because I only talk about running.
On the plus side, my body probably has been needing a break for some time.
This also wrecks this vacation because the plan was to go hiking every day. So today I spent the day reading in the rental, while everyone else went off exploring the wilderness.
2022-7-27 22:51 CDT

Today we looked for a good hike to do. We eventually settled on Mount Sniktau. This would represent the alpine hike that we would be doing this trip. To get there we had to drive over a Loveland Pass which represented the continental divide. So, before we even started we were at significant altitude: 3646 meters.
The trail was very vertical. It took exactly one hour to go the first mile. And then we rested to have a lunch. From there we got to see marmots. I also saw a bird (grouse?) that was camouflaged to look exactly like the rocks in the area.
The trail was mostly along a ridge of several peaks, all leading up to the final top peak. The path was rocky and it was easy to get winded. I’ve been living at sea level for a long time so it was rough on me. The tiredness reminded me of when I used to climb Mount Temple.
Near the summit, half of our group decided to stay behind; they were getting too tired to attempt more altitude. Catalina and I continued up to Mount Sniktau. It was around this time that I started getting a headache. It may have been from altitude, or I hadn’t been drinking enough water, or a combination of the two. I was beginning to have a poor attitude because of that.
The view from the top was great. I discovered that on American mountains, some government service will put a medallion plug into the summit to indicate the top. Or maybe it gives the elevation? I don’t know. The brass plaque was too weathered to read. Conveniently, someone had placed under a rock a piece of paper with the name of the mountain, the declaration of 13,234 feet elevation and today’s date. (My Garmin thought it was 4026 meters.) It was ideal for picture taking of proof of accomplishment.
While we were up there, the other half of the group was practicing their yodeling. The highlight of their whole trip happened: He got a response to his Sasquatch call. He was very convinced it wasn’t human and he kept talking about it for hours. He was very happy.
On the way down, we took a slightly different way. It kept us away from the very vertical trail we had come up, and gave us a more gradual descent. But because it was on a south face, it was very green and covered in wildflowers. I took a lot of pictures.
At the end of everything, we got back to the car and drove home. This was a rough hike for me though. I think the 13km run in the morning may have made it too much for me. I was not feeling well. What did cure my malaise was when I was able to give myself a glass of electrolyte drink. I didn’t feel like I was craving it, but it made me feel much better.
2022–7-25 22:17 CDT

We have decided to go on vacation. We are joining some friends and going to Keystone, Colorado to enjoy the mountains. The plan is to go hiking, bicycling, maybe some whitewater rafting. Actually, the plan is very vague. We are on vacation and will do what we feel like it on each day. We have a condo we have rented in a resort so we aren’t pressed to do anything.
Now, the activities we have nominally “planned” are pretty active. My biggest fear is that it will interfere with my running streak. Hopefully that is unwarranted. But I also worry about my wife; she isn’t as active as I am, so I don’t know if she can keep up. In my defense, this vacation was her idea with her friends, so I’m not at fault for how active it is.
The journey here was hard. But our flight wasn’t. This is my first time flying Southwest and it felt like a throwback to days gone past: two pieces of checked luggage; good legroom in the seats; friendly staff. The only difference was that it was first-come-first-serve seating, which actually wasn’t bad. You get to avoid the crying baby section and if you are on the ball, you can get a good seat. I would definitely recommend flying with them again.
Anyway, the hard journey. Our flight left Houston at 8:30 and arrived in Denver at around 10:30. We picked up our checked luggage and then waited for a bus to take us to our rental car. Once we got the car, it was an hour and a half drive to Keystone. Then trying to get access to our rental in the middle of the night. I think we crossed the threshold at about 1:30 in the morning. We all wanted to clean up after the ordeal. And use the bathroom; there were questions about our fast-food meal in Houston.
But bedtime was elusive. None of us got a good night’s sleep. Half of our party was put out by the high altitude headaches they had gotten. I am complaining about the bad bed we slept in; no head support and very wobbly. It felt like we each got only a couple hours of sleep.
On the first day we did try and sleep in a bit. I’m not used to it; for the past few months I have to get up very early to do my run before it gets hot. But here I can run at 10:30 and it is still cool. After the run, the group of us rented bicycles and went around the paved trails. However, I never got a breakfast so I was not capable of making decisions until we stopped for lunch in Silverthorne. We had empanadas. We luckily avoided a brief rainstorm. After that I was much better, but the group got a little too ambitious. My wife’s energy level dropped precipitously 5km from the end. I had to help her through it, but we got back to the rental place successfully. A bit after the deadline but they were understanding.
I slept better that night because I abandoned sleeping in the bed. I laid claim to the sofa in the living room; it is much more supportive. In theory it turns into an actual bed, but that mattress looks terrible. The regular sofa is long enough and comfortable enough that I slept quite well.
Today, we were wary of the threatened rain. (Around here it seems to consistently rain in the afternoon.) We got up earlier and then went the Ptarmigan trail and hiked that. It was nice and not too strenuous. And at only 8km, we were able to finish before the rain really hit. After a nice lunch, and grocery shopping, we went back to the condo. I rested a bit, and then set out on a run. Unfortunately I left just as the rain was hitting.
I did the run, but I was slow. I am not used to the altitude. I went the same way as the bike ride yesterday, so I didn’t have to risk getting lost. Rain made me soaking wet. The worst part was that by the time I got back, I discovered my key to the place was missing. I’ve never lost a key while running before! I guess my running belt is not good at securing closed with Velcro in the rain. I was able to call for someone to let me in. But it looks like my run tomorrow will be the exact same route and hopefully I can find my missing key.
I don’t want to lose another key, but I’m trying to figure out the best place to keep it while I run. Ideally I could keep it in the same place as my phone, but I’ve had phones erase key cards before, so I don’t think that is an option. Hopefully I will figure something out.
2022-7-24 22:37 CDT