Running in the Rockies

~10 miles in ~9:55 avg pace. Avg elevation 8,500'.

Been awhile since I've logged any miles on here. But since I turned in my dissertation last Wednesday, things should get back to 'normal' or at least hopefully I will have a bit more time to run/work-out/ and log the training. I set a new record for myself last Tuesday/Wednesday- I was up for ~43 hours working to put the final touches on the dissertation. Needless to say, I pretty much crashed afterwards and am just now feeling normal again. Now all I need to do is; 1) make any revisions to the dissertation that my committee may give me, 2) put together a ~45 min defense talk, 3) fly to hawaii and defend successively (Oct. 20), 4) go through the exit interviews, 5) complete any final revisions to the manuscript after the defense, and 6) turn in the dissertation to the graduate divsion by Nov. 5. Seems doable.. fingers crossed- I'm so ready to be done.

I think I may have to adjust the training significantly. I've been running, but haven't managed to get as many long runs in as I would have liked too-  but I am still thinking I would like to try to run the CIM on Dec. 5th. I think it's possible if I am smart about training in the weeks left and can stay healthy and injury free. Training at ~8,000' should count for something right? And as long as my legs are strong and fit, I think I should be able to complete a marathon near sea level even if my cardio fitness isn't quite what it could be. Albeit, I'm not hoping for any PR's at this point and I will be happy if I can have fun running it and finish.  We'll see how it goes. Thinking about putting the bike back on the trainer this evening so I can log some extra cardio time without adding stress on the knees (or at least, less stress on the knees).

Forgot the watch again today, but it felt somewhat liberating running without it. I did ~3 miles at recovery pace and then stretched by Boulder Creek. Very pleasant.

I realized that when I fly back to Hawaii to defend in a few weeks that I may have time for a race while I am there and I found that there is a 30 K the weekend following my defense. So- I was thinking it would be a nice 'test', since the CIM is also a slightly rolling, sea level course. Then I remembered how hot and humid it is in hawaii... so much so, that in fact they are starting the race at 5am. Getting up this early shouldn't be a problem since I'll still probably be on CO time (4-5 hours later than HST), but I'm more worried about the temp and humidity. Unless the trade winds return, it could be 80 F by 8 am.. yuck. Therefore, I decided that maybe I should try to do a couple runs later in the day to better prepare myself for ~18 miles at ~70-80 degrees (instead of the nice 50-60 F at 6-7 am in the mountains). So I had planned on running yesterday after lunch.. However, after walking back from lunch, I wussed out- it was near 90 in the blazing sun. oh-well.. perhaps I will work my way up in temperatures by running later and later in the day.

7 miles at ~9:34 average pace on boulder creek path. Stretched near the creek afterwards. Nice temperatures even at 10:30 am.

 On the soap box: What is the deal with these double-wide strollers? First off, are they really necessary? When I was growing up- we had these little fold up things that probably weighed 2-3 pounds (these new SUV type strollers look really heavy) and they were completely sufficient for the purpose of getting from point A to point B. Albeit, perhaps there are better designs now days for dirt trails and more comfortable seats for the kiddos- but still, a double wide? I'm pretty sure that alternating which kid gets the 'front seat' on different walks is a great lesson in sharing. Furthermore, some of these kids are big enough that they could easily be walking alongside their parents- it's no wonder we have such an obesity problem in the states. But, assuming a double-wide SUV style stroller is necessary, why does everyone else have to accommodate? I was forced off the trail at least three times due to these SUV's simply because the 'driver' refused to move over. sheesh. I know it's not all parents/people- but it certainly seems like selfishness is on the rise and common courtesy is on the decline.

 Second thing I noticed on my run that was a little disturbing: Some parents (maybe ~50%) whom were out with their kiddos (in both non-SUV and SUV strollers) were yapping on their cell phones, while the kids sort of sat there listlessly in a daze (or, even worse, had some sort of an ipod/gaming thing they were glued to). None of my business really (except when people yap loud enough on the phone that they can be heard for at least 400 m away), but maybe talking to the kids might be nice? I don't have kids and don't plan on having them, but it just seems like good parenting to interact with them.. I don't know, maybe that's not recommended anymore.

I guess this is why I enjoy running alone on trails and mountain roads.. you see less people that may depress you about the state of humanity. Sigh. Off soap box.

~3 miles in ~10 min avg pace with the hubby.

 He's not fond of my 3 mile loop (lots of tough hills) and he wanted to do his usually 2 mile loop (only slightly less hilly), but I convinced him he could do 3. I also made him wear my heart rate monitor and as I suspected, his max heart rate was ~20 beats per minute lower than mine and his average heart rate was ~30 bpm lower, despite the fact that I run significantly more miles per week than he does (he hasn't run in weeks and has never run longer than 3). Although, he's one of those lean guys that has great blood pressure, cholesterol, and a low heart rate, even though he doesn't work out all that much (but we eat relatively well- not that it would probably matter for him.. lucky guy).  I'm not sure if I should be concerned about my seemingly high heart rates during my workouts or not...I don't feel pain and although sometimes my breathing becomes very rapid (when climbing steep hills), usually I feel fine for the most part or even feel like I could give more effort. Hmmm... I guess I'll just keep track of it and see where the fitness goes over the next 6 months or so.