This was my third and final run at Lake Tahoe. Today I decided to head west up Ward Valley. I immediately questioned my decision as I steadily climbed from the start for a total of a little over 3 miles to just over 7000 ft. The total ascent was about 1800 ft. I almost made it above the tree line, but today I stuck to about 6 miles instead of pushing to 8 like the two previous mornings. I think my average pace up of about 11:20/mi had something to do with that decision. I managed mile splits of 7:25, 7:12, and 7:50 on the way back down, averaging 9:21/mi overall for 6.4 miles. I ended up not regretting my decision to run up the valley. In my three days of running in Tahoe I explored north, south, and west of our cabin (the lake was east) and it was all absolutely beautiful. We had an awesome trip to Lake Tahoe. All nine of us (parents, 6 kids, 1 fiance) got along well, we all
enjoyed most everything we did, and everything went smoothly...most of the
time. It's odd, but a line from Ursula's song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in the Little Mermaid (one of many songs listened to on the very long drive home) sums up the trip for me, "Yes, I've had the odd complaint. But on the whole I've been a saint". We had a couple of car issues, some tired and hungry kids now and then, and some annoying sunburn (thankfully not me) but overall it was a nearly perfect trip. I feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity.
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