Saturday in Denver and Leadville here I come

Hi All,

I thought it might be time for an update.. Above a few shots of a walk I did near Boulder during the past week.

The first picture is the approach to one of the flatiron rock formations.



The second is the view back to Denver



The third is near the summit of the flatiron 3. Was very rough and difficult to run on.



I’m here in Denver and it has been really warm. Up to 90 degrees. I haven’t done any running since I got sick over a week ago. The body has responded well to the rest and I’m pleased to report that I am operating on seven cylinders. Each day I feel stronger. The food is a bit of a worry, all fatty and not particularly healthy. For the next week I’ll probably cut most of the fat from my diet. The conference in Boulder went well. I was in a beautiful old 1880s hotel called the Boulderado. They had me on the top floor and I decided that I would not use the lift. The first day I found that I was out of breath but amazingly after tow days I didn’t notice the thinner air.

It’s 9am Satuday here and I notice it’s 1am Sunday in Sydney. So I have a couple of options. I could rest by the pool or I could go exploring. I like the sound of Leadville.

Leadville is the highest township in the USA at 10,430 feet (3,200 metres) from there I wouldn’t mind seeing If I can climb one of the mountains called the fourteeners. The fourteeners are a collection of 56 mountains that are all above 14,000 feet (4300 metres). Many of the summits are climbs but a few are walks. All of them are covered in snow and ice year round. I did a quick search and It looks like I can get a room rather than rushing back to Denver.

Health wise.
· The coffee has been terrible. So I went out and bought a little stovetop bialetti espresso maker and I’ve just finished my second cup, these little things are such a luxury. I will limit my caffeine intake over the next week so that I maximize the effect of coke in the race. The shop I went to was an international supermarket and had a number of Aussie products. (Bundy ginger beer etc..). I was alarmed to find out that they used to sell Vegemite but it had been banned in the USA by the FDA (Food and Drug administration).
· My left arch is still giving me trouble. I have a strategy to manage it. I will use hard shoes that don’t roll around too much on the descents (inov-8 terroc), will put a pad over the connection of the posterior tibial tendon connection on the medial side of the L foot, I will use voltaren gel on the area, I will take low doses of voltaren tabs but will need to keep an eye on kidney function in the heat for a bunch of reasons, I can now do 70 calf raises (30,20,20), with an ankle flick at the top of the raise and I will also continue to work with the ankle tension bands. And I will use an orthotic that supports the arch for the race
· Headaches are gone. I’m sure they were a combination of the altitude, the jetlag, I was rather dehydrated when I arrived and my chest infection probably didn’t help too much
· As noted I’m still not sleeping so well. This is due to my procrastination and incessant gear tinkering rather than my jet lag

My training schedule for the coming week is a light load.
· Saturday (today) Walking at altitude
· Sunday 1hr easy
· Monday 30min
· Tuesday 10x100m
· Wednesday 45min
· Thursday 30min
· Friday nothing
· Saturday Race WS100
· Sunday Finish WS100

Next week I fly to Reno, NV on Tuesday which is 35min from Truckee where the Aussie team are staying prior to the WS100.

I suppose I should get my gear and head up to Leadville.

CU later..