I did one of those bucket list activities yesterday, a tandem sky dive and it was an amazing experience. Waiting to jump we watched a couple of other jumpers and seeing the speed at which they fell towards the ground was incredible, in a little under 30 seconds they descended 6,000 feet!

After a short ground based drill from a friendly and confidence inspiring instructor we climbed into the plane. It was cramped and noisy as we slowly climbed to an altitude of 10,500 feet. We were blessed with a great day weather wise, the views were spectacular as the landing field gradually became little more than the size pin pricks below. As we left the aircraft I think I followed natural instinct and looked down causing us to flip 360 before levelling out. The correct poise is to push the hip forward, head and legs back to create a aerodynamic position. Once the instructor was satisfied we were descending safely he signalled the OK. The rush of air matched the rush of adrenaline now coursing through my system. The sensation is in some ways very difficult to describe and I can easily understand why the sport is often said to be addictive. The tug from the chute as it opened started a peaceful descent, we circled a few times before sliding to a halt on the grass a few meters away from the onlookers on the ground. I think it took several minutes for the sh*t eating grin to leave my face!

Ironically the jump altitude was 2,000 feet below the level of Hope Pass in CO that the Leadville 100 course will lead us across next weekend. The long range weather forecast suggests thundery showers during the race with highs in the mid 60’s and lows in the 30’s but being a mountain region it could turn out to be significantly different on the day. Either way running in cooler (and less humid) conditions should be more pleasant, despite the possibility of altitude related issues. My running this week will be a downward taper of easy runs Monday through Wednesday - now, if I could only juggle the need for sleep with the desire to watch the Olympics every night I’ll be fine!

Running through the streets of Kansas City has had an unexpected bonus this week as the area we’re staying in has lots of impressive sculptures dotted around the neighborhood. I wondered what the driving force might have been behind these impressive artistic displays, then I noticed yesterday morning that just up the road from our hotel is the Kember Museum of Contemporary Art. To break up my daily routine of laps around the local park I took a wonder up past the museum tonight which although closed, did still have some displays outside.

Seeing these works of art reminded me of a tail system in an area called the Forest of Dean in England where the agency that maintains the woodland has commissioned a number of sculptures that have then been placed in remote woodland settings. The displays are designed to possess a harmony with the natural environment and generally can only be viewed by hiking to their location. The two sculptures that I found most striking were a wire sculpture of deer leaping out of a pool of water and a stain glass image suspended high in the trees so the sunlight shone through it onto the trail below.

Good job Guthrie isn’t travelling with me. She’s scared stiff of tiny real woodland spiders, I can’t imaging what she’d do if she was surprised by an enormous bronze spider in the woods!

I’m in Kansas City this week on business and after a day setting up a trade show booth I ventured out into the local neighborhood to get some exercise. I discovered that August in the mid-west can be hot! Yesterday we spent 6 hours in an exhibition hall with no air conditioning and the conditions were so bad a vendor at another booth passed out. Today it was much more tolerable but outside when I went running the temperatures were around 96 degrees with 51% humidity. If I thought running last Friday back in CT was sticky, this was like running through quick setting cement. The hotel recommended a local park area which has a foot path around the edge which is covered by a soft rubberised material designed for running. Great I thought, at least it will be away from traffic and a little softer underfoot.

I left the cool hotel lobby and ventured out into the blast furnace atmosphere suitably armed with a small water bottle. The park was about a half mile from the hotel and by the time I reached it I was blowing hard. Once on the track, the two or three tiny elevations (there definately couldn’t be classed as gentle undulations) felt mountainous but I managed to drag myself around the small loop three times. The few people sitting in various shady spots looked on as if I was nuts and the water I has carried was gone within 30 minutes - most of it over my head. One one side of the park I’d run into a gentle head wind that rather than being refreshing just it feel worse!

Where do fried squirrels come into all this? On each lap at the same point, I passed a squirrel. I assumed it was the same one but what was different about it, compared to the ones I’m used to seeing back in CT, was the speed it moved or should I say the lack of speed. Each time I drew close, it would only hop a couple of feet away and continue to forage about. I guess in the hot conditions, it wasn’t going to exhaust itself dashing about. So, as the famous song by Noel Coward says, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun!