Ijust returned yesterday from five days out in beautiful Southwestern Colorado visiting my friend Kate. I had to fly out fairly early on Thursday morning, so Fred and I fit in an eight mile run from my apartment (in the freezing cold temperatures here in Boston, although it looks like the 10 degrees we were running in was actually fairly warm considering the temperatures that followed over the weekend). It felt good to get a long run in before a very long flight to Phoenix and then another flight to, my final destination, Durango.
While in Colorado, I had to miss my weekend long run for two reasons. One- the altitude kills me when I am running out there and most routes that I try to plan start on a hill and end on a hill. Hills + altitude are simply too painful and discouraging for me when I am only out there for five days. Two- I was skiing and snowshoeing the majority of my time out there, making it very hard to fit my regular runs into my days.
However, I did manage to log two runs. Saturday, after a full day of skiing at Purgatory right outside of Durango, I headed out for a 3.5 mile run from my friend Kate's house. I was kind of stuck to the side of a major road because I was trying to get my run in before dark and that was the only real option without driving a couple of miles into town from Kate's house. The 1.5 out was mostly downhill and I felt great, like I was cruising along. The 1.5 miles back were all up hill and my pace dropped significantly as I huffed and puffed back up the hill and recognized why I had thought to avoid running while out there...
Sunday I went for a beautiful snow shoe at Deer Hill (the outdoor wilderness camp I used to work for) with Kate. We bushwacked up a hill behind the base camp and sat on top, gazing out at the La Plata mountain range to our Northeast and Mesa Verde to our southwest. It was nice to get an alternative type of exercise for the day.
Monday was another amazing day of Colorado skiing in Telluride.
The ticket prices are either the first or second highest in Colorado ($92.00) BUT the skiing is amazing. We skied all day in beautiful weather (a blue bird day with crystal clear skies and temperatures in the mid 40s to 50s). Definitely more comfortable temperatures than the east coast has been feeling.
Finally, I made it out for a decently long run yesterday morning in Mancos, Colorado before heading back on my flight to Boston. Mancos is where Deer Hill (the old company I used to work for) is located. I have been on many runs in that town during the summer months but never during the winter, when the open landscape is coated in a layer of bright white snow. I headed off for my run before the inauguration (at 7:30AM) up Road G. I did not completely appreciate how it really does go UP the entire way to Road 41... where I turned left on to a few rolling hills before making my way back to Road G and down hill all the way back to where I was staying. The sun was just rising and creating a glow on the La Plata Mountains and shadows along the sides of Mesa Verde. On my way back down Road G (when I really felt that I had my stride because I was essentially running down hill) I could see my shadow as I ran down the open road with the snow covered Mesa and wide expanse of land in front of me. I wish I had my camera because I would have loved to send a photograph of that into Runner's World as one of the "Rave Runs" that they feature every month.
And now I am back and hoping that my two runs, two snowshoe days and two ski days paid off in the end and that I may be carrying around a few extra red blood cells for my run tonight. If not, hopefully the rest from a long run this weekend will not hold me back but give me more energy towards the rest of my training.
While in Colorado, I had to miss my weekend long run for two reasons. One- the altitude kills me when I am running out there and most routes that I try to plan start on a hill and end on a hill. Hills + altitude are simply too painful and discouraging for me when I am only out there for five days. Two- I was skiing and snowshoeing the majority of my time out there, making it very hard to fit my regular runs into my days.
However, I did manage to log two runs. Saturday, after a full day of skiing at Purgatory right outside of Durango, I headed out for a 3.5 mile run from my friend Kate's house. I was kind of stuck to the side of a major road because I was trying to get my run in before dark and that was the only real option without driving a couple of miles into town from Kate's house. The 1.5 out was mostly downhill and I felt great, like I was cruising along. The 1.5 miles back were all up hill and my pace dropped significantly as I huffed and puffed back up the hill and recognized why I had thought to avoid running while out there...
Sunday I went for a beautiful snow shoe at Deer Hill (the outdoor wilderness camp I used to work for) with Kate. We bushwacked up a hill behind the base camp and sat on top, gazing out at the La Plata mountain range to our Northeast and Mesa Verde to our southwest. It was nice to get an alternative type of exercise for the day.
Monday was another amazing day of Colorado skiing in Telluride.
The ticket prices are either the first or second highest in Colorado ($92.00) BUT the skiing is amazing. We skied all day in beautiful weather (a blue bird day with crystal clear skies and temperatures in the mid 40s to 50s). Definitely more comfortable temperatures than the east coast has been feeling.Finally, I made it out for a decently long run yesterday morning in Mancos, Colorado before heading back on my flight to Boston. Mancos is where Deer Hill (the old company I used to work for) is located. I have been on many runs in that town during the summer months but never during the winter, when the open landscape is coated in a layer of bright white snow. I headed off for my run before the inauguration (at 7:30AM) up Road G. I did not completely appreciate how it really does go UP the entire way to Road 41... where I turned left on to a few rolling hills before making my way back to Road G and down hill all the way back to where I was staying. The sun was just rising and creating a glow on the La Plata Mountains and shadows along the sides of Mesa Verde. On my way back down Road G (when I really felt that I had my stride because I was essentially running down hill) I could see my shadow as I ran down the open road with the snow covered Mesa and wide expanse of land in front of me. I wish I had my camera because I would have loved to send a photograph of that into Runner's World as one of the "Rave Runs" that they feature every month.
And now I am back and hoping that my two runs, two snowshoe days and two ski days paid off in the end and that I may be carrying around a few extra red blood cells for my run tonight. If not, hopefully the rest from a long run this weekend will not hold me back but give me more energy towards the rest of my training.
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