38 Min Run (push)

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. -- Did some professional elevation work this morning in a memorable run. The scenery in this place is downright staggering. Two mountain lakes near the cabin we rented with a road that runs back down a few thousand feet to the city. Some waterfalls. Wildlife. Nuts.

Took off in the early morning as the sun was hitting the western wall of rock, heating up whatever it touched. Shadows were freezing and ice was everywhere. In the sun, it was very comfy. Went out with the idea of going only 15 minutes downhill as I figured the trip back up would be difficult to predict. It's 2.5 miles down to the town and it was tempting after 15 minutes to just keep going. The scenery was truly among the best I've ever seen on a run. The valley near the mountains in the early morning. Birds. Nobody out anywhere. Visibility of 50 miles. I mean...impressive and humbling. And on top of that, I felt great having gone about 2 miles downhill. Thankfully, I stuck to the plan to turn back.

As soon as I turned around, it hit me that the problem wouldn't be the altitude or my ability to run uphill in thin air (though I was wise to respect this aspect). The problem -- and it was pretty close to a dangerous one -- was the 30 mph wind with gusts of well below the air temperature of 40 degrees. I'd guess it was close to 0 wind chill. But combined with the uphill run, my lack of experience at this altitude and the lack of anybody being around...the run became a bit more thrilling than I was expecting.

By the time I got back, my skin was definitely starting to chap and numb. I couldn't retain any heat. Had I been out another 15 minutes, I'm sure I would have gotten frostbite here or there.

Instead, I got back just in time. And the lakes were amazing. And as some shutterbug hippie with tons of gear and weatherproof gear wandered past...I nodded to him in my shorts and t-shirt and said "Good Morning."

Ha! Fortunately, a nice fire awaited. Normally I wouldn't show skin on my blog, but this was such a great memory, I've got to keep it here to remember.