Running in the Rockies

PM: ~ 6 miles on trails in 12:40 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 163, Max heart rate: 180. Avg elevation: 8,500',890' gain/loss.

AM: ~3 miles on roads with pups in 11:15 avg pace. Avg elevation: 8,500', 375' gain/loss. Avg heart rate:141, Max heart rate: 167. L pup was off leash 1/2 the run and did pretty well. Had to go back on leash when he decided to stop and check pee mail every 10'. Sigh. 

 AM: Hatha Yoga

Noon: Maya Vinyasa flow yoga

AM: 5 miles on trails with pups in 12:12 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 147, Max heart rate: 169. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 780' gain/loss. B and L did really well this morning. Met a bow hunter on the trail. Little scary. I kept L pup on a leash after that. I don't know if it is even bow hunting season yet. Guess I better get the bright colors out.

Mid morning: Foundations of alignments yoga.

3 miles on roads with pups in 10:43 avg pace. Avg elevation: 8,500';360' gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 147, Max heart rate: 173. Gorgeous day for a run. Perfect conditions. 

AM: Ran the Boulder half marathon today at the reservoir. I used the race as a training run with the goal of around ~9 mins/mi and/or avg heart rate no higher than 160. The heart rate monitor was freaking out the entire race, yo-yoing from 80 to normal heart rates of 140-170. So, I mostly ran by feel and tried to keep the pace around 9 mins/mi. Really nice day, little warm towards the end. After race was okay, but I think the Heart and Sole race a couple weeks earlier had better food and post-race stuff. 

Final: 13.1 in 9:08 avg pace. Total time: 2:02ish (forgot to stop watch at the end). Avg heart rate: 155, Max heart rate: 184 (I have no idea if this is even accurate). Min elevation: 5,184', Max elevation: 5,475', ~400 gain/loss.

 Feeling okay with the effort. I've only done a handful of 9 mile runs the last couple of weeks and have only been back at running regularly for ~3.5 weeks. Not a bad effort for this early in the marathon training season. The reservoir is always tougher than I expect. For some reason I always think.. 'Oh, I'm heading down to Boulder, where it is flat'. In reality, it is more flat than the mountains, but the back roads definitely have some rollers. Good, honest training run.

Noon: Conscious flow. This class always kicks my rear! Awesome. Feeling some tightness in lower legs so opted for a day off running. Lots of work to catch up on as well. Sigh.

AM: 3 miles with pups on roads in ~11:40 avg pace. Left the house ~5:15am in the pitch black of morning. Ran with my head lamp, but the morning mist that sometimes occurs in the mountains made it beautiful and eerie at the same time. Heart rate monitor still freaking out, so I do not know my heart rate for the run, but it was easy. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 390' gain/loss.

PM: 6 miles on trails with pups in ~12:00 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 150, Max heart rate: 170. Avg elevation: 8,500';900' gain/loss. Pups did really well. L pup was mostly off leash and B pup on leash. B pup has been pulling a little more than usual, which isn't good for my form. B pup mostly stayed behind me on the trail. 

AM: 3 on roads with pups in ~11:30 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 146, Max heart rate: 167. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 390 gain/loss. B pup pulled a lot this morning, not sure what has gotten into her. L pup had to stop and check the pee mail every 100', so I had to put him back on the leash. I guess they have good days and bad days, just like everyone else. 

AM: 6 miles with pups in 12:50 avg pace. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 1,000' gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 147, Max heart rate: 170. 

What started as a wonderful run on a crisp morning in the CO mountains, turned into a MAJOR bummer of a run. I had B pup on leash the entire run and L pup off leash. We had already passed a few mountain bikers and they had done okay. However on our way home we came upon a large fluffy white dog and an older couple. I put L pup on leash and asked them if their dog was friendly, they replied that yes and he was only 1.5 yrs old. So we started to walk towards them and L and B were interested but were not acting aggressively. As we got closer to them, all of a sudden L and B pup both lunged at the dog aggressively barking as if they were going to attack. They took me right off my feet! I slide 5-10' down the trail trying to get some traction and somewhat lost hold of some portion (2-3') of B pups leash- so she was lunging at the dog and owner. I had L pup pinned to the ground and somehow managed to get back onto my feet and yank B pup away from the dog.We separated by about 30' or so and I assessed myself and L and B pup and then asked if they were okay. They said they were, but were just old (I am so ashamed! I am feeling SO terrible.. what if something had happened to them or their dog).. It looked like their dog was fine and I know the dogs never actually made contact for B or L to bite the dog. They said they understood and that their dog used to behave in a similar way. They actually recommended a trainer for me. I told them how sorry I was and that I had no idea that they would actually have been able to take me off my feet. L pup is ~50 lbs and B pup is ~35 lbs, but I suppose with combined vectors and me with unstable footing on rocks, it was a major crash.

 So we separate and they go their own way and we continue down the trail and then it all comes flooding over me. I realize that OMG, I totally have aggressive, mean, and unpredictable dogs. I am that person that has to tell people that my dogs are not friendly.  I have never laid an uncaring hand on any creature and have done the best I can to provide a nurturing and loving home for them and they simply do not obey me and are aggressive. And for some reason, unknown to me, I think they are becoming more disobedient and aggressive. In a wave of frustration, guilt, and depression I start crying right there on the trail. These are not little tears, I am sobbing like a big baby. I can not remember the last time I cried- years probably. I never cry. It is one of those things that stupidly I grew up thinking would show people my weakness and that is just a mortal sin in my family. Anyways, so there I was running and crying- which is actually pretty difficult to do. I run the ~2 miles home crying on and off and when I get home, the hubby asks what happened and I somewhat sob that they pulled me off my feet and tried to attack a dog. He asks if I was okay and I finally made an assessment of myself (I knew I hadn't broken anything right away), but I looked down and my left leg is bruised and bleeding in numerous places and I said I might have scrapped my upper thigh. He takes one look and his eyes bulge. I have a really nasty strawberry that is probably 6" x 8"  on the back of my left thigh/hip and it's bruised and bleeding and has dirt and small rocks lodged into my skin. Awesome. I am used to strawberries from playing soccer and slide tackling, so it was not all that big of a deal to me. It's a bit tight now that it has stopped oozing.

 So, I am at a loss. I love my pups like children and I have tried to do my best in training and nurturing them, but obviously I have fallen significantly short. The hubby tried to console me by saying that all breeds are different and these border collie/ cattle dog and border collie/great pyrenees mixes may just need significantly more and different training than we are used too. He suggested that we just never take them out again, but this is unacceptable to me. I would do that as the very last straw after we have tried everything else in the book. I love running with them and I know they love running with me. So, I decided that first off I would only run with one at a time since I know I can easily out muscle one of them alone and pick them up if need be. Second, we are getting help from a trainer. Third we will ramp up our own efforts in basic training. I do not know what else to do. If anyone has suggestions I would gladly accept them.

Noonish: 12 miles in ~12 min/mi avg pace. Min elevation: 8,214'; Max elevation: 8,711'; 1,345'gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 156, Max heart rate: 171. Really tried to keep heart rate under 160 and that was pretty tough on the uphill sections. At one point I think I was moving at ~22 min/mi avg pace. Wow.. but, maybe I need to run slow to run fast. Legs felt great despite the incident yesterday. Emptied the Nathan handheld water bottle by mile 10. It was cooler out, but still a little warm for my liking. The cold breeze felt good though. 

 I woke up hungry this morning (because I ate like crap yesterday) and opted for breakfast before the run. I made some scrambled eggs and homemade hash browns + coffee. I probably waited at least an hour before running to let my stomach digest a bit. However, this is now at least the 3rd or 4th time that I have run pretty soon after eating eggs and it is just no good for my stomach. I had cramps and heart burn almost the entire run. No good. When I got home from the run, I had 1 scoop Ultragen recovery.. 2 scoops always seems to turn my stomach a bit, and a full glass of water. I showered and then proceeded to prepare tasty things for dinner (we were having my aunt over). At any rate, maybe an hour or so after I had returned from the run, I felt incredibly dizzy and nauseated. I actually thought I may pass out, so I sat down and then I realized that I had not had any significant calories since I had returned and that we had skipped lunch. After eating some cheese and crackers, drinking another glass of water, sipping on some delicious iced coffee, and sitting for another 20 mins, I was back to 100%. This has happened to me a couple of times over the years, but I am not sure what I am doing (or not doing) to bring it on. Sometimes I can go for a much longer run (18-20 miles) on a piece of bread and a gu and not eat for hours afterwards and be totally fine. Weird to say the least. Definitely need to track these occurrences and see what I can do to eliminate them.

AM: 3 miles with B pup in ~12:13 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 146, Max heart rate: 176. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 440 gain/loss.

B pup on leash. I decided that instead of correcting her every time she pulled, I would just stop and make her come back to me. It seemed to work, but made for a very long 3 miles. D- for her this morning.

9AM: Maya Vinyasa flow yoga. Felt really nice to stretch this morning and get some meditation in. Stressful week coming up.

AM: 3 miles with L pup in 12:00 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 144; Max heart rate: 169. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 430' gain/loss. 

L pup was on leash and did pretty well. He still wants to sometimes stop and mark every 5', so that needs to stop. I would give him a solid B for the run. 

I called a trainer (http://www.tenderfoottraining.com/) for help with dog training yesterday. We have our first session with Loki on Thursday. Hopefully it helps. Also learned that B pup has sever separation anxiety when L pup is not around. She was only alone for 10-15 mins between the time the hubby left for work and L pup and I got back from our run. Luckily we had decided not to giver her access to the outside dog run. I could still here her barking from within the house from 1/2 way down our street. Ugh. So, we need to work on that issue as well. It's a good thing that I love them so much!

I also decided to hire a coach for myself. I have decided to work with Sonja (www.gosonja.com) and just had a really great first meeting with her over brunch. I'm super excited to have her help. I have been frustrated over my lack of improvement and I have also had many doubts over how I should be training since I live and train at elevation (~8,500'). I've been following her adventures on and off for the last couple years and really admire the way she approaches training and how she interweaves the various elements of her life to help her move towards her goals. She has numerous running, ultra, and triathlon accomplishments including a second place overall finish at the Moab 100 and qualifying for Kona twice! She's a speedy gal for sure and knows how to train and race the longer distance events. I'm very excited to have her expertise and help as we work together to accomplish my goals.

AM: 45 mins easy with B pup. HR avg: 144, HR Max: 167. Elevation: 8,500', 500' gain/loss. Really nice chilly morning.

PM: hr on bike trainer. Heart rate goal: 120-130, at high cadence. HR avg: 123.

AM: MAF test. 2 mile warm up, 6 x1 miles at HR of 153. 

Mile Splits: 9:46, 9:51, 9:51, 9:53, 9:52, 9:58.

2 mile cool down.

AM: yoga. 

Afternoon: Trail run. 1:40 run, 20 mins walking, hr running with HR Max of 155, followed by 20 mins walking. HR avg: 133, HR Max: 162 (some of the hills are so steep on my usual trail run, that even walking/hiking sends the HR over 162.. sheesh). Avg elevation: 8,500; 800' gain/loss.

Afternoon: 50 mins on bike trainer, goal of HR no higher than 135 with high cadence. HR avg: 122, HR max: 133.