Running in the Rockies

AM: Ran ~3 in 11:47 avg pace with L and B pup. Avg heart rate: 150, Max heart rate: 179. Avg elevation: 8,500'; ~400 gain/loss. Legs felt awesome after the 6 weeks off (more on that below), heart rate was all over the place and I'm wondering if that was me or the heart rate monitor. Maybe a bit of both. The hills felt so easy after hiking all summer so I need to keep this leg strength up throughout the next few months (and hopefully longer). The breathing wasn't so great, but not as bad as I thought it would be. The pups did not do so well on leash on the roads. L pup has gotten significantly worse since I left in June.. not sure what that is all about. Maybe he is emulating B-pup and thinks that is okay? He did better towards the end of our little run though. B pup was just terrible. She's much stronger now than when I left and she does not run in a straight line, pulls terribly, tries to chase cars, and wants to bark somewhat aggressively at other dogs, mailboxes, and sometimes large rocks. I think she's just young and a little stupid yet. I think the hubby allows them both to pull much more since he is stronger than I am, but my form was just terrible with them and I think I may have pulled a muscle in my back trying to keep them from chasing another dog. Ugh. Definitely need to look into some training for them.

I arrived back in CO late Monday night after the hubby drove all the way to SW Montana over the weekend to pick me up. It was a long drive home on Monday, but I'm happy to be back. While it was difficult to be away from home, the hubby, and the pups (and kitty) for so long, I had such an awesome 6 weeks! Great geology, awesome people, I had so much fun teaching again and I relearned so much geology. I also solidified a more permanent teaching position and so we will be making this course a constant in our summer schedule. Definitely not an easy decision, but we agree that it is really great for my career and I enjoy it so much. Other than being away from loved ones, a pretty significant downside is that running alone was prohibited this summer because a student was stalked by a mountain lion just outside of camp last year. I probably could have made an effort to run with some of the students, but I felt a little weird doing that. I also probably could have gotten away with running alone since I was staff, but I thought that would not be setting a good example. To be honest, hiking up and down 200-1000' ridges and hills multiple times a day, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks left me a little tired anyways. The schedule is pretty grueling- up at 6am, field work for 8 hours or more, grading, helping students for a few hours every night meant I didn't get to bed before 11 pm more than a few times. I probably should have done more cross training and strength training, maybe I can work that into my schedule next year.

So, I've obviously had to significantly re-analyze my race schedule for the year. I've decided on the CIM again this year. It is not ideal as I would much prefer to run a new race, but I fear that most races in October and November would be too soon and I would not be in good enough shape to do them safely. The CIM works well with travel to the annual American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco the following week, so that is a big plus.  I've put a few 1/2's in there and a couple 10k's, which I have not done in some time (I fear how slow I will be!).*Side note* Many of these races will be training runs. Especially those I've registered for in the next couple of weeks (e.g., heart and sole 10k, Coal Creek Crossing 10mi, and Boulder 1/2). I figured it was good to at least get some races on the calendar even if they are just for fun. Although, that being said, all races for me are for fun. Some races I just want to run faster than others :)

Hope everyone had a great July/ early August!

AM: 3.15 in ~10:45 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 158, Max heart rate: 182. Avg elevation: 8,500; 329' gain/loss. No pups today; arms are still sore from yesterday and L pup doesn't seem to be feeling well. He didn't eat dinner last night and has been pretty lethargic since yesterday afternoon. Although he ate breakfast this morning. Will see how he is feeling by the PM and maybe go for another short run on the trails with them. If he's not feeling better then I guess we're going to the pup doctor tomorrow. 

 Lower legs were a bit stiff this morning.. so maybe the lower leg strength isn't what I thought it was. I guess that makes sense; I was hiking in boots for the last 6 weeks. Best work on some ankle/foot strength. 

Mid-AM: Stretching and strength exercises. 

Noon: Maya Vinyasa Yoga. Awesome class and only ~1 mile from my house. Yay! I think no PM run. Lower legs are a bit sore from even the short runs the past couple of days. Would like to do 5 tomorrow and maybe 7-8 on Sunday. Fingers crossed. I also went back and looked at some data from after I took some time off this past winter for the IT band stuff. I'm doing better then what I could do back in Feb., so that gives me some confidence that I'll be okay for a December marathon. I'm certainly starting a bit earlier than last year and should have more time (not finishing up a phd and all). Plus, I think I've got a better base and am stronger this year than last year. We'll see. I don't know if I will shoot for a BQ though.. that may have to wait until the spring. Happy Weekend!

AM: 3.10 mi in 13:03 avg pace with L and B pup and neighbor's pups Q and N pup (whom we were watching for them yesterday and last night). Avg elevation: 8,500'; 523' gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 155, Max heart rate: 179. 

 First run back on the trails. Felt slow and the pups didn't help. N and B are now too strong to run on leash without leash training (they pull like crazy!). Q pup is the same as ever.. mostly fine except he lags behind now and again. L pup was pretty bad, encouraging the puppies to run farther up ahead than I would like. Ran with all pups off leash and only met one other runner. B and N pups barked, but no one jumped up on her.. thank goodness! Progress? Maybe.. might also just be luck. 

Didn't run at all this weekend. Felt tired and well, just lazy. Did some work and cleaned/organized the house some. Legs were a bit tired- so maybe it was for the best. Beautiful weather today though, so hopefully will make it back out for a longer run (sans pups) this evening.

 Mid-morning: Maya Vinyasa flow yoga. Not as good as last week, but okay.

AM: 8.15 in 11:00 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 171; Max heart rate: 186. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 620' gain/loss. 

 Wow, I am at a loss for words. I am in terrible cardiovascular shape! I wanted to keep my heart rate under 160 and every time I looked down at my watch it said 170-175.. then into the 180's on the last hill towards home. Depressing. 

 Afternoon: Conscious flow yoga kicked my butt. The room got so warm I felt a little dizzy/wuzzy. No good. But a good workout.

AM: 5.05 with L and B pup in ~13 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 157, Max heart rate: 175. Avg elevation: 8,500',723' gain/loss. Nice crisp clear morning on the trails. Mountains looked beautiful. Didn't see anyone out, which was nice because B pup was off leash most of the run. I put her back on when she refused to come back to me.. didn't really seem to phase her much. Right knee felt a little weird/tight in the usual locations. Definitely need to get on the stretches.

Afternoon: suppose to get to a yoga class but meeting ran over. grrrr. maybe will try to hit two tomorrow. (note- I bought a month unlimited class since I have ~2 weeks 'off' before new job starts.. hoping to find a few classes I like so that when the schedule becomes more rigid, I can work those in. It is also fun to just do yoga all the time too.. I can't lie. )

AM: 5.04 with L and B pup in ~11:25 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 154, Max heart rate: 176. Avg elevation: 8,500', 740' gain/loss. I ran the roads around the neighborhood with L and B pup. I thought I could try L pup off leash, that did not work so well. He made it for maybe 5 mins at a time before doing something not so smart, like running into the road and or continually falling behind of ahead, or stopping to 'mark his neighborhood'.. seriously L pup... not necessary. I would give him a C- off leash, but on leash he was pretty good, so maybe an A. B pup however.. well, let us just say that leash training is going to take a good long while. Overall a D-. And she wanted to chase giant trucks.. so I'd make her sit and chill out for a second or two. Wow.. I do not think she would last long if Darwinian theory were the only factor in her life. 

 Missed Yoga again. Boo. 

AM: 3 on trails with pups. Don't know stats since the garmin watch was freaking out on me. This is actually the first time this type of glitch has happened. About a mile into the run, it started beeping at me and continued to cycle through power up and powder down mode. I tried the hard reset numerous times to no avail. When I got home, I plugged it in and it said 100% battery and continued to either power up/down or just beep with a blank screen with a single line across it. I got online and apparently this is a common problem and the hard reset usually does not work (the fix is to just send it back to Garmin for a replacement). I called garmin and got someone that said well, it was probably because the bezel wasn't working because it had gotten wet. Ummmm, no- it was a mile into my run on a crisp clear, COLORADO day.. e.g. there is very little humidity. I have had problems when I've run in the rain or snow melted on the watch, but this was not the problem. He insisted it was. Whatever. Then when I was on the phone with the guy, the watch just reset and came back on. (Of course, this time it said low battery.. not sure how that happened in the course of 2-3 minutes). Anyways, the guy said maybe I needed a software update and tried walking me through the steps of doing that.. thanks, but no thanks.. I can do that on my own. So- I'd say 0% helpful overall. I did the software update and did another hard reset so we'll see how that goes. 

 I have to say, I've not been all that happy with the recent garmin purchases I've made. I'm a pretty tech savvy person (work with GPS and satellite data for Earth and other planetary bodies).. so I should be able to get the software and products to function properly right? Not so much.  I bought a garmin GPS unit before leaving for field work this summer and it has been okay, but the preloaded software is unusable. Terrible- I will not even get into the details. Just don't go there. I think another real let down for the products has been the manuals and information available. It is basically non-existent. For the money you pay, I'd expect a bit more.

Mid-morning: Hatha Yoga.

Afternoon: Maya Vinyasa flow.

AM: 6.2 miles in ~55:30 (9:00 avg pace) at the Heart and Sole 10k down at the Boulder reservoir. Added on another 3 miles for a total of 9. I signed up for this as a training run, so I am sticking to that plan and not entering this in as a race report. The goal was a heart rate no higher than 160, but that totally went out the window about a mile into the race. 160 felt way too easy, so I kept bumping it up a bit every mile. I suppose that qualifies the race as a 'progression run'. I do not know what my final .2 pace was for the race because I forgot to hit the lap reset before heading back out for a 3 mile cool-down. I had a couple 8:40's in there and they felt pretty good. Avg heart rate: 172, Max heart rate: 191 (not exactly sticking to the 160 plan). Avg elevation: 5,175'; 185' gain/loss. 

Overall, the race was well organized and run by the Boulder Running Company. The after-race party had great food and the T-shirt is neon green/yellow.. sweet! I needed some more early morning reflective gear. Oh and the Saucony mirage shoes were very comfortable. I like running in lighter weight shoes.

AM: 3.04 on trails with pups in ~12:00 avg pace. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 500' gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 147, Max heart rate: 171. L and B pup did pretty well off leash. Although, we did not see anyone, so there were no real tests. Towards the end of the run, B pup refused to come back to me, so she went back on the leash. R knee a little sore today. 

 Mid-morning: Maya Vinyasa Flow yoga

Afternoon: Slow flow yoga

AM: 3.08 on trails with pups in ~12:00 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 145, Max heart rate: 172. Avg elevation: 8,500', 530' gain/loss. R knee pain this morning- need to foam roll today. Also some lower back pain. Not sure what it is from, maybe too much yoga? I've been sitting a lot lately working on manuscripts, maybe sitting too much? I suppose my lower back/abs are not used to sitting for long periods of time coming off the 6 weeks of field geology. L and B pup were pretty good. It was a warm morning, so they were pretty tired at the end of the run. They are passed out on the floor now.. hopefully they will let me work for a few hours. 

AM: 5.08 with pups on trails in ~12:11 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 147, Max heart rate: 171. Avg elevation: 8,500',816'gain/loss. L pup didn't come back to me for about 5 mins during our run this morning. I actually had to stop my watch and walk back along the trail to find him. I called and called and started to get worried that a lion had gotten him (although, I knew I would have heard something if that was the case). He finally came running around the corner, his face covered with dirt. Looks like he was just ignoring me while he was digging up some critter's home. Needless to say, I wasn't happy and he went back on the leash for awhile. B pup was really good this morning, stayed mostly with me once she got a few good sprints in early on. She does have a tendency to run directly behind me and I've kicked her in the mouth a few times. I feel bad, but I figure she will learn that she shouldn't run so close to my heels. Glad to see that my heart rate is coming down slowly (although, sadly the pace isn't coming down any!).

AM: 6 miles in ~9:40 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 158, Max heart rate: 171. Min elevation: 5,350', Max elevation: 5,578' (~430 gain/loss'). Ran along Boulder Creek Path this morning after dropping the pups off for a play day with their friends (neighbors). They will get plenty of exercise today, so I do not feel too guilty about running without them. It was a bit warm around 9am when I started my run, tried to keep the heart rate under 160 and was pretty successful. Legs are feeling okay today, lower back still a bit sore. 

 I got on the scale today and I think I need to cut down on the calories a bit. I'm still eating like I'm hiking 6-8 hrs a day, every day,which is sadly not the case. 

Late AM: 5 miles on trails with pups.  Avg heart rate: 152, Max heart rate: 171. Avg elevation: 8,500', 820' gain/loss. Rather warm for a run..somewhere in the 80's. B and L pup were hirrible. They took after a man that we see fairly commonly with a huge german shepherd whom he always has on a leash because apparently he is not a friendly dog. They were maybe 10 yards ahead of me and flew like the wind towards him barking and wagging their tails.. they were more than mildly obnoxious and I was calling at the top of my lungs for them to come back. Yah.. they didn't even look my way. I ran up to them (they were at the top of a hill- so I wasn't exactly quick) and they finally came back to me. The man didn't seem too upset, I think he would just worried that there would be a fight. His dog could have easily eaten B and L pup if they had gotten much closer.. maybe would have been good for them to get the smack laid down. The guy also had a younger looking smaller black dog- probably a pit bull mix. He said it was only 1.5 yrs old and he had found it tied to a tree in the middle of the national forest so he rescued it a few weeks ago.  (What kind of people do these things- terrible and shameful! Makes me SO angry). I am so glad the guy rescued him. After I had my pups back on leash, his dogs looked like they wanted to play.. go figure.

 Anyways, I obviously felt horrible about my dogs behaviors and probably sound like a broken record. They are just NOT trustworthy with free roam. I know they probably wouldn't hurt a fly, but they refuse to come back when called. This is just unacceptable. Until I can get them into some classes, it looks like leashes for them (my poor arms).

AM: 9.02 in ~9:44 avg pace along Boulder Creek Path. Avg heart rate:156, Max heart rate: 171, Min elevation: 5,350', Max elevation:5,762', 630' gain/loss. Nothing to report.. nice morning and not too hot. Busy week ahead. Starting new post doc and consulting job. Have a million things to finish/start.

AM: ~3 miles on trails with B and L pup in 11:49 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 148, Max heart rate: 169. Avg elevation: 8,500',400' gain/loss. Slept in today and was just exhausted this morning. Feet felt like they were dragging and I stumbled more than once. Not sure what the deal is. B was on leash and L ran behind me 95% of the time. They both did really well, of course, we didn't see anyone on the trails this morning to test them. May try for some yoga this afternoon.