9,000 Ft.

So today we drove up to Horseshoe Lake to run. Horseshoe Lake is located at about 9,000 feet. I love running up there though because you feel like you are completely alone up there. The scenery is amazing. I'll get some photos of it up soon. This place we run has several large lakes located within a couple miles of each other. So today we started at Horseshoe Lake and ran a loop around it, then ran down the road to Lake Mary. There is a road that loops around the lake and it is a really nice place to run. Today was the first day that the altitude was really hitting me. So far I have been okay but today I was really feeling the altitude. Being at 9,000 feet might have a little something to do with it haha. It took me about 30 minutes of running today before I started to feel good. So, just as I was breathing hard today and feeling the effects of 9,000 feet, the run got pretty exciting. So you guys who have been reading this have heard us talking about this runner, Ryan Hall. Well today while a group of us were running down the road to Lake Mary, we saw Ryan's coach Terrance Mahon biking up the road with cones in his hand. Immediately we knew that he was probably out marking the road for a workout for Ryan. We finished up the run and never saw Ryan, however we saw cones marked out on the road every 1/4 mile around Lake Mary. Once we finished the run, we soaked in the Lake and then drove back to the condo for breakfast. However, we first convinced our coach's wife to drive down the road where we saw the cones set up. So our van full of about 12 of us drove down the road that circled around Lake Mary. As we came around the turn, there he was! Ryan Hall was on the side of the road with his coach in front of him on the bike. For us runners, this was like seeing some famous Hollywood celebrity. As we drove by, he was just fixing to take off for his workout. We all yelled to him out the window, he threw his hand up and waved, and then he took off! We got it on video so everyone can see it. It was pretty exciting to see. As we drove down the road, we then saw Deena Kastor, who is an olympian and the women's olympic marathoon trials champion. She was in the middle of a workout as well. We yelled at her too and she waved back. After that we drove back to the condo and chowed down on breakfast. Well, I'm off to shower now and chill until our second run this afternoon. Hope everyone is doing well back home. Talk to you guys later!

Check the blog later today...the video will be up soon!!

Jared