Wow....

I'm having a hard time coming to terms with how i felt in boulder....

i arrived on thursday...literally dropped the bags off at the hotel....the st. julien (amazing!!)...had a pit stop...washed my face and ran back down to the lobby to meet Roger, Allison and Dechen to go have some dinner...had a fabulous time over beers and veggie burgers (for me) and a huge plate of ribs (for j) chatting with my newlywed friends and there precocious little guy!

Friday morning i slept in!  6.45am! ha lol....i suck at that...saw j off to his conference planning...and was off to a local cafe for a curry bun and an Americano....Allison swung by the hotel to pick me up and we went out to Indian peaks...and hiked to about 10,000 feet....gorgeous views...and great conversation....but i think the best part was that Al had to park the car and i watch Dechen for like 5 minutes all by my self...it was amazing....i did good.. :D

Friday night was dinner with the IdxA crowd...finally got to meet Kendra...hey girl!...but they all went out to a meet up and i went back to the hotel...and tried to sleep against the background of a Latin band playing at a wedding in the courtyard beneath my window...they finally became unplugged at 10pm....so late i know!!

Saturday morning was long run day...i got up at about 5.30...and ran as far as i could along a path until it stopped...it was hands down the most amazing run i have ever done...i had a huge grin on my face the whole time....and after i reached the top of the trail and was running back in to town...i had a really hard time holding back the tears...(it's tough enough to run at altitude....then try crying, running and altitude all at once!!)...the run was just that beautiful...hard to explain...but utterly crushing and uplifting at once...

after a stretch, ice bath and several cups of coffee i met roger/al/dechen at Lucille's for breakfast...delicious despite the wait...then off to the farmer's market...where i could have shopped for the week...and gotten my knives sharpened!!

then in the afternoon we all went swimming at the reservoir...a 70.3 was being held out there in sunday...so there was a lot of activity out there...but we found a nice spot with some other friends and did a bit of swimming....a little out and back open water action...complete with boat fumes...and chop but overall a fun swim :D

saturday night was dinner at the kitchen...i was giddy...and loved every second of it...prosecco with hummus and flat bread....oysters with a shallot vinaigrette...Colorado brook trout with a fresh corn relish, Allison's duck egg!...roger's hanger steak...and a dessert that was amazing...light and decadent all at once...fresh local strawberries, bits of meringue all folded into some lightly sweet Chantilly...totally yum...

sunday....early recovery run with 3x15 push ups....then shuttle to the airport...and back to reality by 2 sunday afternoon...

hard to believe the mtns are real...hard to believe what i feel is real