The Golden Rockies / Week 5

Every runner needs a change of pace once in a while, and what better change than to take to Rocky Mountains in fall when Colorado's quintessential aspen trees are peaking their vibrant golden leaves!  Fall is probably my favorite time of the year in the mountains - I love the cool, crisp morning air, and I am enthralled with the varying shades of golds and yellows the aspens produce.  End of September is the ideal time to witness this gilded spectacle, and I was blessed my friend offered her condo in Keystone for me stay a couple days so I could indulge in a little leaf viewing, bike riding, and even a bit of trail running (thanks, Janet!).  

Off of the Bakerville exit...not sure the mountain peak, I was going
to guess Grays and Torreys, but I think this is only one peak. ??

These pictures are only a small taste of all there is to experience in fall; my time was limited in the two days I was visiting, and I wasn't able to venture off to some of the more beautiful sections, but I made the most of every spec of daylight I could.

A short, easy run around Bakerville

Looking to the North from Bakerville

Just to prove I was actually there and not stealing
the pics from the internet :)

The hills above the condo I stayed at in Keystone

A little chilly up there at 11,900' on top of Loveland Pass.
Did a short hike up on top for about 30 minutes.
Love coming down the backside of this Pass, so pretty.  

Small lake on the backside of Loveland Pass.  Ran about a mile on
the trails around here.

These leaves were the more golden color than most
aspen trees

Lily Pad Lake Trail on the outskirts of Frisco.  

Running up the trail to Lily Pad Lake was pretty tough for me.  My legs were fairly stiff from the Bear Chase race the day before and the first 1.5 miles of this trail gains about 900'.  Needless to say, I "hiked/ran" most of this trail.  I have found that at times running mountains involves walking, sometimes scrambling, at times even sliding on loose gravel, mud or even snow - but isn't that the fun of it?   You’ve got to stay focused on each and every step unless you want a twisted ankle or a shin full of rocks (speaking of which, my knee is healing well from last week's tumble - thanks for asking :)), but it is a wonderful break from city running.  I wish I could somehow provide a "scratch and sniff" picture because wow, the fresh air smells so amazing!

More of the Lily Pad Trail

View of Lake Dillon from Lily Pad Trail

Biking and running around the Lake Dillon area

The old silver mining town of Silver Plume.  Love this little town.
I've done a few trail runs starting up Guanella Pass and down
the flip side, and run into this town before we turn around and head
back.  Love to soak our tired feet in the chilly stream....

....and stop at this bakery to use the bathroom....and get a
small treat.  Again, if you could smell the aroma of fresh
baked bread here....amazing!  Jason's going to buy it
one day .... can't wait for all the free bread and cinnamon rolls!

The landscape behind Main Street in Silver Plume.  Notice
the silver plumes about a quarter of the way down from
the top of the mountain?  These plumes are remains from
the old silver mining days (gold mining remnants are gold
colored plumes.  There's your geology lesson for the week :))

I had a great couple days up in the mountains, wish it could have been longer but I'll take what I can get.  Monday, stopped at several places along I-70 and hiked/ran some trails on my way to the condo.  Later that afternoon, I took my road bike out for a little adventure down the bike path from Keystone to Lake Dillon, and Tuesday was more trail running and a little bit of shopping in town for a wedding I had to go to on Friday.  It’s a great couple days which  allowed me to enjoy fresh air, natural light and the spectacular surroundings. It was also very meditative being on the trails;  there are not as many runners out there than on the roads I run at home and I found a great sense of peace and quiet.


Week 5:
Monday:
Run: 3 miles at 9800' (actually more than 3, but since I hiked a lot of it, we'll just call it 3)
Bike: 15 miles
Tuesday:
Run: 8 miles @ 9:53 pace at 9200'.  
I call this a miracle because the terrain was challenging and the air thin.  I was definitely light headed and slightly nauseous.  Bleh.
Wednesday:
Run: 10 miles @ base with 9x35 sec fartleks between 7:10 - 6:39 sprinkled in. I KNOW - 6:39?  It may have had a slight downhill, I'm not sure anymore.  I felt a lot better on this run than on the same run last week, and added more intervals.
PT mutilation in the afternoon
Thursday:
Run: 5 miles @ base w/7x35 sec hill sprints at 7:31 and 6% incline.
Core: 15 minutes
Friday: 
Run: 8.37 miles @ 9:31 pace.  
Pretty stoked about the pace.  Starting to see VERY slight decrease in the pace thing.  
Weights: 30 minutes
Saturday:
Run: 2 miles WU for weights
Weights: 30 minutes
Definitely feeling the week's schedule.  Thought about swimming, but decided more weights were a better fit for the day.  Very bummed I didn't get any pool time in this week though!
Sunday:
Run: 17.2 miles + 1.3 miles cd
This run almost killed me.  I didn't feel good from the start, had some pretty icky stomach issues (I need to get my "runner's diet" back into the game) and though I felt strong at the start, I faded quickly around mile 13.  Good thing my Garmin died (totally pissing me off!) as I'd be afraid to see what my pace was.  Prior to it dying, I ran a 9:50 for 8.20 miles.  Spent some time in the lovely porta-pottie at mile 11 with my stomach.  Ran with my neighbor, Jim, and he was very patient with me.  Overall I am not upset with the run, I ran the hills strong, which had been kicking my butt the past few weeks.  I just think the demise was a collection of not enough recovery from The Bear Chase and a pretty high mileage week.  


Week 5 Stats:
Run: 55.79
Bike: 15.0 mi
Weights: 1:00:00


September Stats:
Run: 208.39 mi
Bike: 73.78 mi
Swim: 3.95 mi
Weights: 3 hr 40 min


And for those who aren't fortunate enough to be my friend on FB, or saw my last post after it first went up, here's a picture from one of the water crossings from last week's Bear Chase race:  

Overall, I am pretty happy with how well I am holding up with my training.  My left hamstring continues to rear its ugly head from time to time but it is less aggravating than it was when I first started out.  I had a really bizarre, excruciatingly painful, knee issue when I did my cool down today....I couldn't force my knee to go uphill to my house.  I turned around and walked backwards and that helped some but when I got home I tired to lay it flat on my bed to ice it but that made it 10x worse and it was throbbing so I just bent it up to my chest and held it there and suddenly the pain went away.  I then took an ice bath and had absolutely no issues with it since.  So odd - never experienced that before.  My heel, though I do notice it occasionally, it is doing great.  As friends told me the other day: Remember when this spring and you couldn't even walk?  Um...yes, unfortunately, I do!  


I'm reluctantly doing this Stupid (click on the link for a great definition of "stupid") Denver RnR half marathon this weekend - a race I swore I'd never do in my current state of pathetic fitness, but a bunch of my relay teammates are doing it and egged me into it....and hey, beer with friends after at the Cheeky Monk - how could I say no, despite how stupid this idea is!  I have no expectations (hahahah, right!) other than to finish strong.  So, to prep for the race, and because I'm feeling the affects of 5 weeks of pretty high mileage (for me), I am scaling back the running drastically this week, throwing in a couple good swim workouts, attempting to sleep more, and revamping my diet back to where it needs to be for me to run stronger.  Those are the goals.


Until next time....


Run strong, my friends!  :)