You didn't mention anything in your TR about altitude issues - other than slowing a little once you were above 12K'
I spent a week in Boulder with the family a week before the Whitney hike; we spent a couple hours above 10,000 feet one day, walking around a lake.
A week above 5k provides significant acclimatization.
Gary, didn't you go to Colorado on vacations, and basically didn't have altitude issues either?? Staying at 5k surely helps.
