When does Memorial Weekend start?  For Ellie, school ended for summer break Thursday.  For Karen and me, it started Friday evening with a couple’s massage.  We’re currently on an alcohol abstention binge, so it seemed smart to substitute one form of relaxation for another.  Happy Hour for Massage Envy.  It worked out nicely.  Kristy Humes, my registered massage therapist, gave me some tips on the knee pain I’ve had since last fall.  Kristy suggested it is my sartorius which is a two-jointed muscle extending from the outside hip down and across the thigh to the inside knee.  This video shows me how to stretch it.

I ran my longest distance of the last 2 months Saturday – five miles on Eagle Trail.  I included the 200 feet in elevation climb up to Mesa Trail.  I averaged just under a ten minute pace.  That’s a good measure ( 2 minutes per mile) of the conditioning I’ve lost since my surgery.  Adding injury to insult – I chaffed my inner thighs.  Darn it.  Still, I enjoyed extending my distance.  The trail was muddy from all the rain but it didn’t bother me.  I got in another good run Sunday.  Eight miles.  Huge!  I intended to turn around after three but pulled a Forrest Gump and kept running.

Ellie and I woke up early today to walk the Bolder Boulder.  We met up with Amy and the Sebesta girls for the bus ride down to the start.  We jumped in the final wave and joined the party.  The girls wanted to run at times and we ended up finishing quite a bit faster than I expected, in 1:50.  That’s a 17:27 pace which is a few minutes faster than an average walking pace.  Not bad considering the tens of thousands of walkers/runners we had to wade through.  A pattern emerged wherein the girls would run on the downhills.

We met up with Wendy and Chase somewhere in the middle.  They were dressed festive.  This year’s Bolder Boulder reminded me of the last time I walked it about ten years ago with Brittany when she was Ellie’s age.  I don’t know how many runners entered this year but the crowd in Folsom Stadium at the end was as large as for any CU Buffs football game.  We watched the elite men and women races finish.  I don’t think it was a fast day due to the heat, but those elites looked impressive.  Makes me want to get into racing shape.