Memorial Weekend rollercoaster

Some highs & lows for the 3 day weekend which started early Friday afternoon when my wife called me with saddening news that her horse was really ill, showing signs of getting worse. 

By the time I got home the Vet had just left and the prognosis was worse case scenario.  There was a chance she would make it, but not too promising.  The horse ("Lady") is about 26 years old - getting up there, been with my wife for over 20 years, well before I came along.  So, naturally - she has a special place in my wife's life, filled with memories.

4 1/2 years ago, my wife's other horse ("Sundance") died - that one was even more special than Lady to my wife and unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly when we weren't even in the country.  That made it even more hard on my wife.

Friday night was a long one, my wife's best friend (whose horse we also have at our house on an extended visit), came over and they stayed out in the barn all night with Lady.  Fortunately they made it through the night and Lady has shown good signs of improvement since then, still not out of the woods - but looks to be okay for now.

The weekend honeydo list took a day off Saturday so I could let my wife sleep, while I hung out with the kids and we kept watch on the horse.  Several things needed to happen - according to the Vet - that would show signs that Lady was improving.  She needed to drink, to start to eat (on a limited basis of once every hour for 5 minutes at a time), and she needed to poop.

Eating was the first thing she started to do, finally by the afternoon she was interested in drinking fluids and then at the end of the day we were never more excited over seeing a pile of crap.  My wife even decided that she would not need to spend another night in the barn - but she still got up several times during the night to check on the horses, to feed them and make sure they were okay - which they were.

Sunday started early - got up at 4:30 as my wife was just coming back inside after checking on the horse.  I drove into Manitou Springs for a Barr Trail run.  Was tired, but ready for a long run.

The Pikes Peak Marathon course (from their website)

Left the Start line of the PPM course at 5:35 am and 2:51 later, climbing up over 5600', I made it up to the A-Frame shelter just below treeline.  I was able to run all the way to past Barr Camp and thought I did quite good between there and A-Frame.

On a positive note - I did the same thing about 7 weeks ago, Sundays run up to A-Frame was about 23 minutes faster than that last effort. 

I was pleased with that - however it still shows I have some much needed work to do - as the time to A-Frame tracks to a 4 hour Summit and a 6:30 overall marathon time.  I am really wanting to be (much) quicker than that.  The good thing is that there is still 80 days away till race day.  Lots more time to get in some much needed training.

Took a nice dive on the way down, (no damage), despite running out of food (but not water as I had 40 ounces in the Camelback at start), I was able to maintain a sub 9 min pace the whole way back and finished for a total time of 4:19 for the 20 miles and total time was about 37 minutes faster than 7 weeks ago.

Got home in time for a brief rest and get cleaned up for a wedding that afternoon.  I am clearly the "unpretty" one in my family.  My son is a handsome dude, but these 2 are going to cause my wife and I grief I'm afraid.

Monday - an improved horse, we all slept in, a good dent in the honeydo list (complete w/ some aching quads), some grilling and a nice way to end the weekend - Apple Pie and Ice-Cream.