What we'll be doing this summer!

For those that follow me and remember, my wife is a National Park Service park ranger, specifically a law enforcement ranger.  We've spent each of the last 3 seasons at park sites for between 4-6 months while she works locally and I telecommute / travel for  my job.

The first season was at Ozark National Scenic Riverways, which was nice because it was close to St. Louis and I could split my week between the park and home for work purposes.  Not too great from a health perspective since the local cuisine featured fried water and I wasn't as in to getting better as I am now.

The next two seasons were at Canyonlands National Park, which was an absolutely wonderful and unique experience.  And while sad to leave it, we knew that we needed to get her some additional / varied experience.

I'm extremely excited to say that she has accepted a position this season at Rocky Mountain National Park!  This has a different topography and climate altogether from the Canyonlands and will present some new challenges.  Located near the bucolic town of Estes Park, CO, the elevations range from 7,500 to 12,500 feet!  Considering that we currently live around 463 ft, then it will take quite a bit to acclimate to those altitudes from an athletic performance perspective.  I expect to be sucking wind big time while running, biking, etc. for a few weeks.  And since RMNP is a mecca for area climbers, we hope to improve our climbing skills as well.  Of course, I plan to bring my new recumbent tadpole-trike with me and get in some road miles as well.

And while Estes is sometimes better know for the Stanley Hotel as the filming location of The Shining where it was called The Overlook Hotel, it will also hopefully become know for the place where I ran my first half-marathon!

They have an event on June 17th including 5K, 10K, 1/2 and Full Marathons...with a challenging course that includes some steep road climbs.  Given that we'll only have a month to acclimate, a 10K may actually be more realistic.  Since they'll accept registration all the way up through 6/13, I figure I'll train for the half, but consider the 10K depending on how my training progresses once I'm there.

So...we are really excited and hopeful for this coming park season and I'm sure I'll have plenty of pics and perhaps some video to share while working hard to get even better and better!

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