Colorado Running

Sunday:  A Day of Rest!

We arrived in Breckenridge, Colorado at about 4am Sunday morning so there was about zero chance I was gonna do my long run at 6am!  I thought about running in the afternoon but that thought quickly faded when I realized how difficult it was for me to just breathe at the high altitude.  (The elevation where I normally run is about 550 feet and Breckenridge is about 9600 feet!)  I was literally gasping for air just walking around town.  So I swapped my Sunday long run with my Monday rest day.

Monday:  What Goes Down Must Come Up!

Sir Isaac Newton probably wouldn't like this logic but it was definitely the case for me.  I scoped out my running trail and was very excited to get out and run in Breckenridge.  The sun had just come up and I got on my running gear (shorts and a tank top of course) and headed out.  And then it hit me ... BRRRRR!  OMG it was COLD!  WTF?  It's August!!!  Well, I'm used to it being low 80's when the sun comes up.  Not so in Colorado.  It was low 40's!  But no worries.  How can you complain when you get to run on this beautiful paved trail next to a little stream?  Just look at the mountains.  I was pretty much in awe and warmed up fairly quickly (except my fingers which were so numb I couldn't even feel them).

So what did I mean when I said, "What goes down must come up?"  Well, the first  4 miles of the run were so easy.  The last 4, not so much! Why?  Well, I did an 8 mile out and back and the whole first half was downhill.  And that means the second half was ALL uphill!  Beginning elevation was 9,611 feet and mile 4 elevation was 9,255 feet.  Check out this elevation chart (my watch died at 6.87 miles but you can fill in the missing part).

And there ya have it ... my first Colorado run.  I was beat when I was done.  The hills, the lack of oxygen.  Ugh!  Split times were 9:57, 9:50, 9:46, 9:32, 10:40, 10:56, 10:48ish, ? (not sure on the last mile because my watch was dead - I'm guessing somewhere around 11:00).  But look what was waiting for me when I got back.  This is the view from the hotel.  So pretty!

Tuesday:  The Worst Run of All Times!

This was supposed to be a 4 mile 8:45 pace run.  Umm... didn't quite keep the pace.  In fact, this was probably the worst run I have had in years.  Colorado killed me.  I could barely even run at all much less keep the pace.  I felt it was a great victory that I even finished.  Really, really, REALLY wanted to quit at mile 2.  Had to take several walking breaks.  The altitude got me and both of my legs just hurt!  I started doubting that I even could run an 8:45 pace.  Here's me faking a  smile while taking a running break.  At least I was smart and wore a jacket the second day so I could keep my hands warm.  :)

 

Split times were: 9:17, 10:44, 11:36, 11:39 ... OMG!  Just 3 minutes off pace.  LOL!!!  Last 2 miles were uphill but still. That's just pathetic.  I had to laugh when I saw this painted on the running trail cause slooooow was definitely the word of the day.

But at least the scenery was still beautiful.  This was taken at the stream on yet another walking break.

Wednesday:  A New Appreciation For Treadmills!
I have always said how much I HATE treadmills.  Well ... I'm gonna eat those words for the last 3 days of our Colorado trip.  Outside running just did me wrong!  Maybe if I was there longer and could get used to the elevation and had proper running gear.  But I threw in the towel.  But here's a real smile cause I was having a good run.  :)

And the view wasn't too bad from the weight room.  :)

Split times: 10:00, 10:00, 10:00, 9:31, 8:57 (9:38 average).  Was supposed to be an 85% effort steady run and I felt it was.  I ran it slower than my 85% run last week in Texas but I was still having trouble breathing.

Thursday:  5 Mile Steady Run

Started the morning with my first training injury.  I was putting on my water belt and pinched my finger really bad.  Ouch!

After the appropriate first aid treatment (put finger in mouth and suck off the blood), I headed to the treadmill.  Finally felt like I had a good run.  It was supposed to be a 9:00 pace run and my split times were 9:05, 9:05, 8:57, 8:57, 8:57.  Finally kept the pace but the last mile was extremely difficult!

And I was still trying to tell myself how awesome treadmills were.  Just look ... you get to watch Sponge Bob while you run ... and you get a nice and neat workout summary when you're finished.  :P

Frazier Friday!

My training schedule called for a 6 mile fartlek run.  I just decided to run 6 miles at a slow pace because my breathing was pretty labored again.  So I set the treadmill on 10:00 pace and started running.  An episode of Frazier had just started so I unplugged my iPod and plugged my headphones into the TV.  While I was watching that, I saw the sun coming up over the mountain.  It was cool because it was an overcast day but there was a break in the clouds and where the sun was shining it looked like a fire on the mountain.

Then a second episode of Frazier came on so I watched it and when it was over, I was bored and stopped running.  I was at 5.5 miles.  Just couldn't do it anymore.  I go back to my previous statements about my hatred of treadmills.  But they saved me in Colorado!  Here's me after 5.5.  If you're keeping track ... yes ... I wore that same running shirt every single day.  ROFL!  What?!  I washed it once.  Didn't stink THAT bad!!

And that leads me to today (Saturday).  I was supposed to run 4 easy miles this morning.  However, we drove home yesterday and didn't get here til after 2am and didn't go to sleep til 3:30am.  So when my alarm went off at 5:30 I snoozed it.  I'm gonna swap Monday's rest day with the 4 I was supposed to do today.  Then I'll be caught up and didn't miss any runs at all while on vacation.  Tomorrow is a slow and easy 8.  Back in Texas and back outside!!  YAY!