When we last touched base I was struggling with a finicky hip and cancelling my Thursday and Friday runs. I was pretty upset about this until I was struck with what can only be described as an ingenious idea. What not run Saturday?? And that's what I did. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Friday evening we flew into Albuquerque for a wedding. My dad's parents (that would make them my grandparents) lived in Albuquerque while they were still alive. This meant that as a child I participated in many a road trip down south. At the time gas prices were somewhere around $0.80/gallon. Don't ask me why this, of all memories, was frozen into my elementary-school-aged brain. I bring it up only because I find it rather ironic that keeping an eye on the NYMEX gasoline price is now one of my professional responsibilities.
Aside from the inside of gas station bathrooms, my grandparents' retirement home and a Catholic church or two, I didn't really see much of Albuquerque until this past weekend. As it turns out, I wasn't missing much. Albuquerque ended up being a lot of stucco, a few cactuses and a lot of drinking.
A group of our friends were already waiting outside when our taxi pulled up to the hotel Friday night. We took about 10 minutes to check in and headed straight to the bar. I did a pretty good job minimizing my alcohol consumption, but didn't make it to bed until after 2:00 am. I wouldn't say I was hungover when my alarm sounded at 7:00 am Saturday morning, but I did feel "like I drank the night before." Which I suppose means tired and dehydrated. Couple that with an extra 4900 ft of elevation and the idea of running didn't sound quite as ingenious.
But I sucked it up and hit the pavement. The flat pavement. Woohoo! I was pleasantly surprised to find that all my hill training more than offset both the altitude and my dehydration. I finished the 5.08 miles at a 9:40 pace!
Saturday and Sunday were rest days while we partook in the wedding festivities. This one is of me and the bride at the rehearsal dinner.
And this is the best picture I got of Jason and I. (He kept laughing to himself in order to smile more naturally and blowing my hair into my face.) 
The trip was a blast, but those two extra days of "rest" left me even more dehydrated. My hilly, Monday run under the California sun was a lot tougher. But after 3.5 miles at a 9:43 pace my hip was still hanging tough. Which brings me to...I'm actually doing quite well, all things considered.
Yeah, people in New Mexico are always trying to defend it, but there's really nothing to miss anywhere in the state.
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