Running in Denver

This post will not be completely about running in Denver, but I will talk a lot about that. I wanted to have fun in Denver, but I also did not want to completely neglect my running. Since I had three full days in Denver, I altered my running schedule to get two runs in out there. I definitely had an interesting week of training.

August 13, 2003

This is the best run I have had in a really long time. Everything just seemed to come together for this one. When I started running I started a little slow, but once the second mile happened, my body felt super light. The last three miles were negative splits and I am always happy when that happens. Maybe the cupcakes I got promised made me run faster.

When I got to my friend Jenny's, I had a couple of really good cupcakes she made and relaxed. We had an unexpected Los Angeles theme night when we decided to watch a couple of 30 for 30's; the Raiders doc Ice Cube produced and The Marinovich project. They are both very good and I would suggest them. Shortly after that, I headed home to get some sleep.

August 15, 2003

Normally I run Tuesday-Thursday and then Saturday or Sunday. This week, knowing that I would be in Denver for the weekend, I decided not to do my mid-week long run before work and altered my scheduled. Running twice in Denver seemed ambitious, but I like to challenge myself while running. The extra day seemed to help my running.

I had another run with mostly negative splits (my split went up six seconds between miles five and sex).  This is another run where I felt really strong. I am excited to say I finished the last mile with a pace of 6:54.  I felt like I could run forever. Maybe my body will be nice to me and feel that way on the day of the marathon. When I got done running, I hung out at work for a bit and then headed home because I would have to pack clothes for the trip eventually.

August 16

Flying into Denver

I left my place around 3 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. flight from O'Hare. I know that sounds extremely early, but traveling with drama seems to be thing. The flight went surprisingly really smooth. That could also be because I think I slept through most of it. Once I got to Denver, I ran into my college friend Vicky and her friend Mo. They rented a car and we headed to Boulder.

                                        

         Mountains! Driving to Boulder

We had breakfast at this great place called Snooze. It is very touristy, but it is also very good and the portions are large;I had a huge tasty burrito. We split up after that and while they went for a hike, my friend Miranda and I walked around Boulder for a bit. A hike would have been fun, but my legs were really sore for some reason.

Boulder

Miranda took me to Nederland, Co after walking around boulder and we had a few drinks on the patio of a place called Wild Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery. We had great service and good beer. The weather could not have been better. It is definitely a great way to spend part of a Friday afternoon. We headed to her place after that.

View from Wild Mountain

 
I relaxed for a little bit while we watched Orange is the New black. When we got done watching that, despite my sore legs, I decided it would be run time! I definitely had been nervous because I did not know how I would react to the altitude. Sloan's lake would be my destination for the run.

So many Geese!

One lap around the lake is around 3.1m. I read a lot about running at altitude and tried to run slower than I normally do. That did not seem to challenging at the time, but once I got started, I could feel the difference immediately. Here we go.

People enjoying a nice day on the lake

My breathing felt shallower than normal during the run. I never felt like I had to stop, but I would take and deep breath feel like I did not take any air in. I probably could have pushed it some, but decided it would be best to keep a similar pace. Four miles is usually a short run, but this is probably the most challenging four miles I completed.

I stopped to take a few pictures
 

I ended up with a time of 32:16. That felt really good because I never felt particular great during the run. When I got done running, I made sure I drank a lot of water and got a good meal in afterwards. My next decision would be when or if I would complete my long run. Saturday would be a really long day, so if I did it any day, it would have to be Sunday.

August 17, 2003

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a huge music fan. I just wanted to throw up a quick picture of one of my friends bands I saw at Chipotle Cultivate Festival.

Cold War Kids

Blitzen Trapper and Allen Stone were also really good. The Chicago Cultivate fest is on September 7 and I hope I can make it.

August 18

I woke up on Sunday morning and decided that I would feel really bad if I skipped my long run. Multiple people recommended that I run at Washington Park. I hatched out a plan to run to Washington Park from my friends place and once again had to pump myself up for a run. I hoped I would not get lost.

The beginning of the run started pretty slowly because I could no find the street I needed to get my run started. Once I discovered that one street turned in to another, things went pretty smoothly from there.

I got stopped by a train a couple of times on the run

One piece of advice I would give to runners running in a new place is to be very careful with google maps directions. I never use to take that warning seriously about there possibly not being sidewalks, but I encountered that a few times during my run to the park.  I never felt like I would be in danger, but it important to be safe. Back to the regular scheduled blog.

One of the things that made me nervous is that I forgot the Cliff Bar I bought in Denver for the run. I figured I would be ok without it for a while. Once I got to Washington Park, the plan had been to run three laps and some change to complete my 17-miler. My legs were starting to get really tired when I reached the park.

When I got the park, I had about nine miles to go. It could be that I am unfamiliar with the park, but I could not find any water fountains. A hot day, dry climate and no fuel can make for a disastrous run.
My friend Miranda showed up around mile 12 of my run and I got my Cliff Bar from her when I got to 13.1. The Cliff Bar and water she gave me reenergized me. I no longer felt the last four miles would be the death of me.

The last four miles were not easy but I pushed myself to get it done. I drank lots of water and stretched pretty throughly after I finished. It is not the first time I have completed a 17-mile run, but it is probably one of the most satisfying, difficult runs I have ever done. Whoo!

It will be interesting to see if I notice any benefits of running at altitude this week. We will not know until I try. That is all I have for now. I hope this has been an enjoyable post.

Keep working hard!