Leslie: I need to talk to you about altitude sickness!! ya can't b.s. your body!

Oh no, I have no misconceptions about altitude sickness. However, I am encouraged by the fact that when we ran in the Trinity Alps last August (total elevation approx. 6,000) we did pretty good. That was straight up and then back down. We definitely felt the lack of oxygen on the way up, and that, combined with our loaded packs, left us a bit breathless. The SOB is up, down, up, down, up, down . . . It'll be interesting!

K, its set have an MRI on the hip scheduled for tuesday morn, official x-ray read was negative, just going to make a big ol week of it as I have hopefully my last round of oral surgery on my teeth recon thing friday, and farmer continuing ed on wednesday.

Farm - Good Luck with all that.We are all really pulling for you.I'm sure you'll be back out on your farm roads before ya know it. Btw,that last pic that you put out of the sunrise/set,is still the background on my display.Beautiful. Leslie-more questions on the race.I was google mapping Ashland Or,where that race is.The trails seem to be real wide?They look like dirt roads,very defined.Maybe the pics were just in a dry summer. ps:if you guys want to hear a great running story,jump over to this thread: http://runningahead.com/forums/post/4b3e22a1bb854f6392a19bf95371f6b8#focus

r2, you really know how to have a fun week! Oh well, good to get it all outta the way. mtnchk, sounds like a plan re: running a race in the flatlands! Got a question fer ya. If someone reacts badly to the altitude once, will they forever more do so? Hubby felt pretty lousy as we visited some friends at about 8600 feet several years ago. Since then he hasn't tried staying above about 6K feet. He seems to be able to go higher during the day, as long as we stay lower at night if that makes sense. Any tips or tricks to help him enjoy the mountains more? leslie, glad you are getting aggressive with that cold. Bet you're getting really excited about your trip, and all the work you are going to leave behind howdy to arla, joe and everyone else on a previous page that I may have missed (sorry, the short term memory is not so great and I don't know how to review the previous pages from here). Speaking of missing....I don't think we've heard from Tamara lately. Hope we didn't lose her in our latest move. And remember Oxfordmom? I fear she will never find us. As for running, had a nice 5 mile run yesterday with decent splits (10:25, 10:48, 10:19, 10:18, 10:46). The last mile has lots of uphill, so I was pleased to have enough gas in the tank for that. I also contacted the local running group that hubby signed us up with, and heard back from a few others running around 11:15 pace, so think I may give that a try this Saturday. Mom wants to run the "Bold in the Cold" 5K on 1/19, and I think I'll do that with her. Was originally planning to run in the 15K, but I don't think that would be smart since I haven't run anything over 6 miles since my hip issue. Seem to have had a relapse with my cold last night, so will see whether I feel up to lifting weights later today. Happy humpty dumpty day!

Carol: Ref the altitude ?....not necessarily. Firstly, our bodies are ever changing complexities....Secondly, I don't know what all may have been going on internally w/him for that particular trip...but if I assume approximately sea level for where you live (640'), that's quite an elevation change! If you're the least bit sleep deprived or a little dehydated (didn't drink enough water, had a couple of beers...) or have a cold/flu coming on...that much barometric pressure change would most likely kick your butt regardless! The absolute best thing that you can do in prep is get plenty of rest & hydration - think marathon prep!! & on the subject of hydration, pay attention to diuretics! Avoid coffee, or switch to decaf, chocolate, cold meds, alcohol, etc. can dehydrate you more than you think! Eliminating them as much as several days in advance can make all the difference in the world! Also beef up your antioxidants ~ boost your bright/dark colored fruits & veggies &/or take a supplement (yes limited red wine counts before you go up! Once you get there, take it easy for the 1st day or two & see how you feel before doing anything very athletic...Also, there are medications that can effectively help w/acclimatization! As well as most mountain hotels have "oxygen bars!" Then there's always: "Climb high, Sleep Low" Hope this helps Cindy

I did 30 slow, easy minutes on the TM tonight. Probably will be the last run before the marathon on Sunday. I have severe taper madness don't know how the folks at work are going to stand me tomorrow

I have severe taper madness . . .

I don't have taper madness, but I do have "if this one client calls me one more frigging time today, I will hunt her down and choke the life out of her. Aaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!