Running in the Rockies

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.