2 Month Check-up

It has been almost two months since I moved to Colorado with the idea of bettering our running. I came out here with this vision of me running swiftly down the trails with the sun shining and the sound of wind in my ears, cresting the hills with ease and sipping out of my hand held; and all the while having this giant smile on my face. Let's be real, this is NOT Hollywood. However, I do think my running has/is dramatically improving, and parts of my run do feel like I look that way, but it has been nothing short of a hard transition.

Moving from 25ft elevation to 6300ft elevation is going to have it's obvious effects on my running. Obviously less air to my muscles = more labored running. Of course I was fully aware of this moving here, but it's a totally different game mentally when it's actually effecting you. The fatiguing in your legs is more of a maxed-out feeling than it is a this-f**king-hurts feeling, that I'm used to. It can get a little frustrating, and sometimes discouraging, when I am trying to push myself to go faster and my legs just can't/won't respond! Not to mention, there is rarely a  "flat" place to run out here. With so many different and new trails to explore, we have been hitting up the trail heads for the majority of our runs. Living at the base of the mountains, the trails naturally go nowhere but up. So you can imagine running up a hill, sans oxygen, is not going to produce a decent pace. This is what has been the hardest part of me. (I actually wouldn't even wear my Garmin for a lot of my runs because I didn't want to know the pace.) Now, I know pace on trails is pretty irrelevant but perceived effort is all the same. Feeling that I was working so hard and barely getting up these damn hills was really starting to get to me. I felt like every run was one of those rare, but necessary, runs where you finish and say to yourself "Why do I run again!?" It was more defeating than anything. I actually got to a point where I didn't really enjoy doing my runs. I had very little motivation to get out and do them and even the site of a hill had me frustrated and cursing under my breath. (mostly at Chris for cruising up the hills as if they weren't even there. haha he will usually slow down and wait for me at the top. Which pisses me off even more because then I feel like the weak link! But I don't tell him that =) )

  

I finally took a step back and said no more trails for a bit. We found a paved trail that runs through out Colorado Springs that is relatively flat. I did some runs there and let my legs take a little break. This has helped a lot and I can feel what the hills have done to my strength. My paces on the "flats" have almost gotten back down to where they were at sea level and I  feel a lot stronger all around. I have been  running on the trails again and still feel a little defeated on some of the climbs, but overall I feel like I am really improving. (Which was the goal, right!?) I've decided, along with Coach Dad, that I need to do at least one, if not two, runs a week on the flats. I think I need this more mentally than I do physically. I need it to prove to myself each week that it's the hills and not being fully acclimated to the altitude that has my struggling, and not my level of  fitness. I'm on my second week speed and hill workouts and they have gone great so far, They have really boosted my confidence in my fitness and my ability to run at altitude. I even pulled out a 9 mile trail race last minute ( Hellacious Trail Challenge ) in which I feel pretty good about the way I ran and how I placed. (I even won a little money, again. WAHOO!)

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being here and don't regret the move at all. With that said, don't mistake my feelings for me bitching about being here. Trust me, it's probably worse where you are. ;)

 All in all, life is good! Coach Dad comes to visit next Saturday and I am looking forward to his visit!

Thanks for reading :)