Still Training Away at 6400 feet….

Perry Fields at Palmer Park -image courtsey of RJ Hahn

Palmer Park

I’ve already run up to 9 miles up here at a fast clip. I really don’t need to go any higher than that. And once the season rolls around I won’t be doing any long runs over 50 minutes ( at a “balls out” pace). So yes, the answer is I can run cross country but I hate it. And yes, I will probably race a few 5ks here before I leave. I’m sure I will suffer terribly racing 5k road races but if I can run under 17 up here then I’ll be impossible to beat this year.  I think I only ran 19:30 for a 5k at 5,000 feet the year I ran right at 2 minutes for the 800m.

Now I’m really starting to train like I have no fear and am doing workouts that are stellar. 

And I’m finally old enough (mature enough) to not worry about taking lots of rest. I used to really get down on myself when I took a rest day and now …all I do is rest  in between these maniac workouts.

This week I went to 8,000 feet (up this dirt road) with a friend from Greenville, South Carolina who runs 10k (and soon to be marathon).  She’s been in Denver running for about 8 months now. We ran downhill for 3 miles to 7,000 feet and then turned around and ran straight back up for 3 miles. I honestly had to bend over and catch my breath about 200m up the hill and she pretty much destroyed me. I managed to run the entire thing and felt like I got hit by a bus when I got to the top. I wonder how many blood cells I created that day?

The next day I ran 20 minutes at 9,000 feet and it was a breeze (surprising acclimatization wouldn’t you say?). Then that afternoon I ran 30 minutes (1 min hard, 1 min easy).  Hey I wasn’t even able to do this afternoon workout a week ago!  I was only able to do 6 minutes of this…but I wouldn’t compromise my pace either so I went to 30 sec hard instead. Sometimes you have to concede.

This is what it looks like at 9,000 feet (near Pikes Peak)

That’s an example of my back to back days.  But I’m starting to switch back to the track more this week. It is getting slightly colder but there are a few indoor tracks around here. Today I run 500,400,300,200,100 x 3 (with jog rest, which might turn to walk rest if I try to floor it…which you know I will!).

So far everything is great. My parents just told me that my cat Burgie has taken a walkabout  for 4 days now, which means I might be flying back to SC to go find him ( FAMILY IS FAMILY!). I know he is despressed when I leave, but dammit this is crazy. He never leaves his food bowl (yes, I have a fat cat…believe it!). I can’t have this on my conscious if he’s out looking for me.  

  *My stray cat- Burglar

My friend Kerrie (from West Point) just adopted three dogs from the pound and I still don’t understand how people can abandon their animals like that. Take some responsibilty you assholes! It’s like Hurricane Katrina and people left their animals locked up in their houses. I think they should all be fined and thrown in jail ( and never allowed to have pets again…or kids). Because it’s always people like me who pick up that burden and deal with the aftermath and it pisses me off. I just can’t sugar coat that.

On a lighter note- a few friends of mine visited the Fat Tire Brewery in Fort Collins, so I went along.  Alls I remember is that I got to hula hoop and this lady showed me the secret to hula hoop..but I can’t remember it now.

...later on at the brewery in Fort Collins (It was a rest day okay!)

see I can find SC on the map- Fort Collins, Fat Tire Brewery