Running in the Rockies

AM: 9.75 mi in 9:16 avg pace. Goal was 90 mins with 70 at 160. I actually thought the goal heart rate was suppose to be 170- oops, should have checked my schedule. At any rate, my heart rate was low this morning, so it was a tough run to maintain a higher heart rate. Avg heart rate: 157, Max heart rate: 172. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 715' gain/loss. The heart rate monitor was giving spurious readings at the end up the last hill; 165 to 112 while I was maintaining a steady pace.. I think not. Really frustrating when that happens, but it is also good to run by feel as well. I think I need a couple easy/slow days to give my legs a bit of rest before the trail race this weekend. Looking forward to it!

AM: Easy 5 on trails with pups in 12:27 avg pace. Avg heart: 145, Max heart rate: 167. Avg elevation: 8,500',810' gain/loss. Legs were tired and heavy this morning so I took it really easy. May drop back to only 3-4 miles tomorrow morning to hopefully have fresh legs on Saturday. Also made the mistake of eating banana and peanut butter sandwich about 15 mins before the run. Definitely was hard on the stomach for the first mile or so. I usually have a snack before I run + 1 cup of coffee, but I was starving this morning. First run back with B pup after her spay. We are a day early, but her stomach looks good and she is just a ball of energy (sprinting laps around the house last night), so I took a gamble this morning and figured she could handle an easy run in the woods.

 PM: Easy 2 with hubby and pups. The hubby wants to get back into running so I suggested we start with an easy two mile loop after work every other day for the next few weeks. He will be running faster and longer than me in no time.. he's just one of those people that are even in shape when they think they are out of shape. Insanely jealous of his genetics.

AM: ~hour hike with pups on trails. Legs are feeling okay, but realized that I may be slightly over the total weekly mileage if I ran this morning. Plus, it felt nice to just hike. Unfortunately, we met about 10 trail runners on the trail this morning. This is essentially unheard of. We hike/run these trails nearly every other day and occasionally see 1 other people and maybe his/her dogs. At any rate, L and B pup were TERRIBLE.. really embarrassed me. Now, of course- I know my dogs wouldn't hurt a fly, they are super sweet and friendly, but really excitable. However, I know from my own experience running out on somewhat remote trails that coming upon a barking dog that is obviously happy about seeing me and trying to jump up on me is slightly disconcerting ...and I love dogs! But you just never know. At any rate, I saw the first runner and grabbed L pup, but B pup didn't even turn to look at me when I called her. She was off and running and barking. I yelled out that she was friendly, just young and stupid and he seemed to understand. I got up to them and grabbed her and a couple more people went by. Unfortunately, they didn't mention that there were a few more people coming over the hill, so not seeing any one else I let them go. Stupid me. L and B pup both saw the additional runners coming up on the trail and again took off to meet them- I yelled and yelled for them to come back, but nope- not interested. I felt SO bad and was so embarrassed. I work with them and work with them, but the reality is that we rarely see anyone else that we do not know on the trails, so it is incredibly difficult to train the dogs for these situations. However, this is no excuse. I realized that if they are not 100% reliable 100% of the time, they are not allowed to be off leash. Which means that they can't accompany me on the majority of my runs because they are typically impossible on leash. I'm a bit depressed about this at the moment.

 The other aspect that I will have to contend with is, oddly enough, my husband. I get the feeling that he simply thinks we are just not working with them enough and that if we put the time and effort in, they will become good companions on the trails (and off the trails). It does not seem like he has not been very supportive about finding trainers or even reading books on dog training. Additionally, he usually also does not want to deal with them in social situations (easier to just leave them home). My opinion is that they will never become better behaved in social situations (hiking on well traveled trails or even taking them to a farmer's market) if we do not introduce and familiarize them to these situations. We can't expect them to magically learn the correct behaviors. Anyways, definitely disappointed in myself for not being on the ball and getting them the proper training sooner. But we will be starting today on more basics and hopefully finding some classes/trainers in the area soon. If anyone has recommendations for good books on the subject, please let me know!

Bit disappointed with my overall time on this race. I figured since it was nearly in my backyard and I run trails and hills almost every other day- I could easily finish around 2:30 (12:30 pace). However, this was not the case today. I ended up walking the uphills much earlier than I thought I would and I think I did okay on the downhills (although, definitely not as fast as some people- I really wish I knew how to fly like some of these runners.. wow, they can move!). The other issue that arose was around mile 3-4 my toes started to go numb. Then when I started the big uphill to Windy Peak, I realized that both feet were cramping up near the balls of my feet and first three toes. I'm hurting pretty bad at this point and was feeling depressed about the fact that I was walking and it was getting pretty hot so I kept telling myself that I was being a wimp and I should just suck it up. Well the cramping/numbness continued throughout the remainder of the race- alternating between numbness on the downhills and cramping on the uphills. I've been pretty good about hydration lately and eating well, and I had first endurance EFS drink in my bottles so I knew my salt should be good (and I felt hydrated, not over drinking or under drinking). I've run in these shoes for almost a month now and never had this problem. However, the trail was much steeper on the incline and decline than what I am used to, so perhaps it was just all the pounding. I also felt like my breathing was way out of control when I tried to run up the steep sections. I purposefully switched my garmin so that I couldn't see my heart rate (knowing it would be really high for most of the race). And I was pretty bummed that I felt the need to walk so early and so often. I was wondering if mentally I was slacking off when I saw other people walk. I don't know. At any rate, here's the stats from the garmin:

mile 1: 10:59

mile 2: 9:57

mile 3: 17:25

mile 4: 19:03

mile 5: 9:24

mile 6: 9:56

mile 7: 21:18

mile 8: 21:05

mile 9: 15:01

mile 10: 10:22

mile 11: 16:23

mile 12: 9:38

Total: 2:50:06, Avg pace: 14:10. Avg heart rate: 170, Max heart rate: 183. Min elevation: 7,616'; Max elevation: 9,126'; 3,110' gain/loss.

 The after race was pretty nice. I got the opportunity to meet Stacy from the blog and that was awesome! So glad we got the chance to meet face to face and chat for a bit. Definitely the highlight of the race for me. I grabbed a bit of food, soaked my feet in the river, and bought a new Nathan hydration backpack (proceeds went to a local group that works to get youths out into the mountains- what a great cause!). The waist belt did not work all that well on the fast downhills. I actually lost a gu and feel terrible about littering. I didn't know it fell out until much later.  Oops. I also purchased some compression sleeves for my calves. I've never tried them before and I thought- 'what the heck..' We'll see if they make any difference. I stuck around for the awards and giveaways at the end. As usual though they didn't do the name drawings until almost 2:15, and by that time most people had left. So- like many events, they just started handing stuff out and it was a total cluster! I don't like to be near these situations, makes me feel a little nauseated.. maybe that makes me weird. My hubby came back to pick me up around 3 and we went and grabbed a burger at one of the local bars in town. I was SO hungry- they didn't have much GF food, so I survived on 1/2 gu and small chicken salad for the better part of the day. I do not eat red meat (or any meat) all that often, but the burger (sans bun) was SO delicious. I even had bacon on it.. shameful, I know.

 After I downloaded the data from the garmin, I did not feel as bad about my time. My average heart rate was 170 and that is pretty high for me. It was definitely a tough course and I felt like I worked pretty hard. I do think I can run more sections of the course though and so I'm determined to run a rematch sometime in the near future. Additionally, the numbness/cramping in the toes did turn out to be real. They were numb the rest of the day on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and now it is Tuesday and while they are getting better, the numbness feeling is definitely still there. Weird and annoying to say the least.

AM: 5 on trails with pups + 2 on roads with hubby in ~12:08 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 144, Max heart rate: 175. Min elevation: 8,370'; Max elevation: 8,697'; 1,025' gain/loss. 

We are taking care of our neighbor's three pups until Sunday, one of which is our little one's (B pup)  sister (we will call her N pup). N pup is even more stubborn than B pup, so I decided to run with both of them on leash this morning. L pup and Q pup joined us off leash. B & N did pretty well, although they ran a little slower than I would have liked sometimes, so I ran into the back of them a couple times. We occasionally had to stop and check some pee mail or nibble on a flower, and sometimes B & N wanted to go in orthogonal directions- but for the most part, they ran side by side. Pretty cute. Got home and wanted to do another 5, I convinced my hubby to run 2 with me. On the way back from the little two mile loop I realized that my IT band was pretty tight and maybe I should just use the time I had to do some foam rolling. Plus, I skipped breakfast before the run and was starving at this point. Three largest toes on right foot are still numb and second toe on left foot is still a bit numb. They've been numb since the race on Saturday. Definitely an odd feeling.

AM: 3 miles on trails with pups + 9 on roads alone. In summary: 12.13 miles in 10:48 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 159, Max heart rate: 180. Min elevation: 8,250'; Max elevation: 8,703'; 1,129' gain/loss.

B& N pup on leash, L& Q pup off leash. B&N did pretty well, they only really pulled (nice upper body workout) for the first 10 minutes and then we settled into a fairly good/slow pace. L is still being kind of stubborn about coming back when called, don't know what his deal is lately. We turned around near a trail entrance with a small (like 2 cars) turn out where people sometimes park. Well, this guy was flying down the road coming towards us (thank goodness we were not on the road), sees us and then swerves over into the little parking area to allow his fairly large, mean looking dogs bark like mad at us. I know this sounds insane, but he was smiling at me while his dogs were going crazy trying to launch themselves out of the back of his truck- so it is the only logical thing that I can think of.. nice huh?! Some people.. I just don't know. Anyways, Loki acted like he was going to have a go at the dogs (unwise- there were 4 of them and like I said.. not exactly friendly looking)- so I had to scream at him to come back to me.. he's such an idiot sometimes. I'm SO glad that I had the little ones on leash- I am sure if given the chance they would have taken off to case them. Just as we crested the hill heading back the way we came, the guy peeled out of the parking area and took off down the road. Awesome.

Dropped the pups off, changed out of the trail shoes, grabbed a water bottle and went back out for 9 on the roads. The pups were not pleased to be left behind. This was suppose to be an easy run (heart rate ~145ish), but I knew right away that goal was going to be out the door. My heart rate was super high this morning (likely the two large cups of coffee I had with breakfast). I felt like I was barely moving and my heart rate varied between 165-170 on the way out and 160-165 on the way back, with the final uphill 170-180. And my pace was painfully slow. Additionally, I noticed some tightness/soreness in my lower right calf. It only got worse and by the time I got home- it was pretty painful. So, I tried to do something that I have not done since college soccer days- ice bath. I only managed 15 secs x2... I remember why I have not done these since college- so painful! So I foam rolled it for a good while, put the compression sleeve on, and will be icing later. I may try to stand in a bucket of cold water later as well. I may have to work up the ice bath again. I really hope I didn't do any serious damage. That would be such a bummer.

PM: Afternoon run with pups on trails. 3.13 in 12:35 avg pace. Some stopping to meet mt. bikers and to smell the flowers. Avg heart rate: 142, Max heart rate: 169. Avg elevation: 8,500', 560' gain/loss.

AM: 7.35 in 9:24 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 156, Max heart rate: 180. Ran a mile down to the bus stop, then road the bus down to Boulder for run and PT appointment. Heart rate high even in Boulder. Maybe I need to cut back on the coffee for awhile. Sigh.

PT said trail shoes are no good for my feet and are likely the culprit of the initial shin splits/ renewed knee pain. Did some graston on calf/tibia and quad on R leg. IT band was surprisingly good- yay foam rolling!

Visited Fleet Feet and after trying at least a dozen shoes, decided to go with a pair of Saucony progrid mirages and a pair of Brooks Cascadias + red soles, which are still in good shape. I hope this solves some of the lower leg problems. Shoes are not cheap and sadly it looks like I am no longer able to just run in whatever pair of shoes are on sale when I need a new pair.

AM: ~4.5 mile hike with hubby and pups. Left much too late in the morning and was bombarded by mt. bikers. I'm all about sharing the trails, but it's pretty tough to share a trail with someone that is flying down the hills around blind corners. Had to put all dogs on leash because we needed to be able to pull them off the trail in a hurry when the next 5 bikers came around the corner without warning. Don't get me wrong, I love mt. biking- but so far this year, I've not been impressed with the trail etiquette of the mt. bikers I've met.

AM: 16.20 in 10:47 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 157, Max heart rate:174. Min elevation:8,043'; Max elevation: 8,712'; ~1,700' loss/gain. Left around 8:30 this morning and it was already warm. Only brought Nathan handheld water bottle and probably wasn't enough. Wore the compression sleeves on calves and the R calf/shin felt pretty good the entire run. Some soreness in R quad from graston on Friday. Oddly, on some downhills the L quad felt a bit tight. Beautiful run even if a bit warm, definitely need to get out the door earlier next weekend. Saw a bunch of runners out on Magnolia looking strong- wish I looked that strong. Maybe someday. Sat in cold water bath afterwards (we are turning our hot tub into a cold tub for the summer-looking forward to chilly water after long runs). Beautiful day in the mountains.

AM: Early morning PT apt. Stretching and lower back/SI adjustments, then strength, then graston. Ouch.. Legs are already tired! But no soreness from long run yesterday, so that is good. Had planned on an easy 8 afterwards, but as I was walking back to the office to drop my bag off I noticed that there was some wonkiness to my left shoe.. I thought maybe I had stepped in gum or something. When I inspected the shoe I saw that the shoe was completely separating from the sole at the heel through the mid-foot section! What?! Ugh- these are the Asics Cumulus shoes that probably only have ~250 miles on them and are the 'ideal' shoes for my foot strike/gait. So, I am trying to super glue it back together right now- probably will not work, but feel like I have to try. Run will be put off until this evening since I didn't bring a another pair of running shoes down today. Sigh. 

PM: 5 on trails with L and B pups, then 3 more on roads alone. Total: 8.17 mi in 12:06 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 144; Max heart rate: 168. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 1,160' gain/loss. Lots of stop and go on trails with pups today. Met a few bikers and a couple people walking their dogs. Kept B pup on leash the entire time, and L pup when on and off a few times. He did not listen very well when we met people hiking with their dog- totally left my side to go say hello even though I was telling him to stay and/or sit. Ugh. I've got some nincompoops for dogs. Good thing I love them. In other news, my new Brooks Cascadia shoes were super comfortable. 

AM: 5 on trails with pups in 12:11 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 142, Max heart rate:167. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 800' gain/loss. Drizzled a bit at the start of our run, nice and chilly and saw a rainbow. Gluts and quads are super sore from the strength training at PT yesterday. I think I am actually walking a little funny they are so sore. Made it tough to run this morning, but I managed a slow steady pace. B was on leash and L was on and off depending on if he was staying near me or running up ahead and then not coming back when called. Such a stubborn boy. B kept lagging behind, so there was some stopping and correcting going on this morning. Will be nice when I can just run with them and not worry about them not coming back or pulling me off my feet. Someday.. maybe. Foam rolled and stretched afterwards. 

AM: 10.15 in 10:00 avg pace along Boulder Creek Path. Goal was to keep heart rate around 145. Ended up with Avg heart rate: 153, Max heart rate: 168. Got to work on keeping the heart rate down! Much easier to run in Boulder though. Min Elevation: 5,244'; Max elevation: 5,764'; ~500' gain/loss. Ran in the new Brooks Cascadias and things felt pretty good until I hit about mile 2 on the concrete (~8 on the run). The front part of my R foot started to feel numb. Soaked my lower legs in the creek afterwards. The icy cold snowpack melt runoff was painful at first, but felt nice after a couple minutes. The creek is running pretty high and water started going over the spillway at Barker Reservoir on Monday afternoon. 

PM: PT apt. more graston and added a 'cookie' to the R shoe under my arch. Hope this solves some of the problems. He said I probably shouldn't do long road miles in these trail shoes. Ugh. Wish I could find a 'good' shoe. More glut/quad/hamstring strength training afterwards. Still sore from Monday's workout so I am sure I will be hurting for the next few days (in a good way).

AM: 5 on trails with pups in 12:44 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 140, Max heart rate: 160. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 770' gain/loss. Might as well start logging these runs as part running and part dog training time. We stopped at least a couple times each mile for correcting/teaching. Met a guy on the trail early on and L pup was not listening to me at all (was telling him to sit and he refused)... and B pup was going crazy barking and trying to jump up on the guy (luckily I had her on leash). He said he would pet them but they were not calm.. Ha! Calm is not in their vocabulary. Sort of embarrassing though. L pup did pretty well heeling but ran off at one point, so he went back on leash. I stepped on his paw as he was running sporadically in front of me- he yelped and it broke my heart.. but no serious damage done. I almost kicked B in the head as she tried to jump on top of L and fell on the ground in front of me.. luckily, I have reflexes like a cat.... not really, but I managed to avoid her all the same. Silly pups and the things we put ourselves through to make them happy.

Yesterday we came home to a 1.5' deep hole dug into the ground right next to our concrete footer for our deck. L pup was filthy, so it was obvious who the culprit was. He knew right away he was in big trouble.. all I had to do was give him the evil eye and say 'Bad, bad boy' and he slithered away like a snake refusing to look at me or the hole. Hopefully he learns- we can't have him undermining the deck. I think eventually we will put down a flagstone patio there so that the pups don't dig and lay in the dirt all day while we are at work. Anyways...They are passed out in the sun now. Legs are super sore and tired from the strength sessions this week. Foam rolled and stretched. House cleaning on the docket for the day as we have friends coming into town for the weekend. Looking forward to spending some time with them and catching up.

AM: PT apt. Lower back adjustment and stretching. Made another insert for my road shoes. She said it was okay, but not great and we may want to consider orthotics when I get back in August. Definitely do not want to do stability shoes as they would not work with my feet, but the difference between R and L may benefit from custom orthotics. We shall see. 

 Afterwards ran 6.18 in 9:23 avg pace along Boulder Creek Path. Had to remove insert at mile 4 because a blister was forming, unfortunately I think I got a small one- hopefully it heals quickly. But before I removed the insert, my knee felt great, so I think adding a little more support under my arch may solve a lot of the knee/hip problems. Goal for run: 145-150 heart rate. Avg heart rate: 148, Max heart rate: 161. Min Elevation: 5,350'; Max elevation: 5,748' ; 390' gain/loss. Beautiful morning. Perfect temperature. Now off to spend the weekend with good friends.

Mid day: 16.27 in 10:36 avg pace. Avg heart rate:171; Max heart rate: 182. Min elevation: 8,431; Max elevation: 9,527; 1,117 gain; 739 loss. Husband and friends dropped me off in Rollinsville and I ran up Moffat Tunnel Rd and then up the old Rollinsville Pass rd until I met up with them (they were hiking up the old pass) and then I turned around and ran down until they caught up with me. Felt pretty good until the downhill started. Pretty bad knee/hip pain at the end- each step hurt. Bonked pretty bad afterwards. Not a great run.

AM: 5 on trails with pups + 5 more on the roads alone in 12:38 avg pace. Avg heart rate: 157; Max heart rate: 177. Avg elevation: 8,500'; 1,410' gain/loss. Pretty tired today. Quad sore from graston- apparently there were lots of adhesions created after the long run on Monday. Not very awesome.

AM: 10 mi along Boulder Creek trail in 10:36 avg pace. Min Elevation: 5,248; Max elevation: 5,773'; 530' gain/loss. Avg heart rate: 155; Max heart rate: 170. Goal was an easy run with a heart rate no higher than 145. Major fail on that front. I felt like I could not run any slower without walking and the heart rate still maintained at 150-155. It was a little warm by the time I got out the door.. maybe I should not have had the iced coffee beforehand either. 

Glued the inserts into my shoes today at my PT apt. Pretty big, painful blister has already formed. I hope the skin toughens up quickly. Undecided about July marathon at this point. Ugh.

Missed a few runs this week and today was no exception. After I slept in a bit this morning I realized that I needed to run B pup into the vet this morning to see about some sedatives for the car ride tomorrow. She is still not able to ride in the car without vomiting and drooling all over herself and L pup. I really hope she grows out of this. I may try to squeeze a short run in this afternoon if it isn't too hot (unlikely) and will probably try for a medium long run tomorrow morning early. Definitely a low mileage week for me, but I guess that is okay. I ramped up the miles somewhat quickly and maybe some of the recent knee/quad issues are the result of that. Need to focus on some strength in July. Jury still out on marathon in July.. really unsure about it. We're leaving tomorrow for Rapid City where the field course starts. Will likely be MIA on the blog until I return but will be keeping track of miles the old fashioned way in a running log. Nervous about leaving for 6 weeks but excited to get back into the field and teaching. 

 Happy July!

~2pm: 12 miles in ~9:52 avg pace in Rapid City, SD. Min elevation: 3,233; Max elevation: 3,413; 784' gain/loss. Much more O2 down here- but still some topography! Rolling hills for 12 miles isn't necessarily easy even if there is twice as much O2. Plus, I waited until after I had checked into my hotel room and checked e-mail, did a bit of work, had a pity party for myself before I finally got out the door. Started in low 70's and felt like upper 70's along the main highway sections near the end of the run. R knee didn't feel great and blister from new insert on R arch tore away somewhere around mile 9- got the squishy/yucky feeling for about 3 miles.. Hope it heals up quickly. Not sure what I will do if not.  Also realized I forgot my heart rate monitor at home so hopefully the hubby can throw it into the box of food I packed for myself to be shipped out to the field station (mostly gluten free stuff and extra calories). Overall run was okay. I always think it will be SO much easier to run when I come down in elevation, but it is not always the case.

The pups did pretty well yesterday, last night, and this morning. We stopped by Cheyenne to see some friends and their newbie. B and L pup had fun playing with their dog for an hour or so. We actually ended up giving B pup a mild sedative from the vet and she didn't puke, but drooled nonstop. She finally passed out somewhere around hour 3 of the trip. Decided to stay in a hotel in Hot Springs, SD that allowed dogs. B pup fell asleep okay but was scared to be in a new place with odd noises, so she would bark at almost everything. I figured that was pretty uncool to our neighbors so I took her out to the car and slept with her out there all night. The car was actually more comfortable than the bed and luckily I am short enough to fit into the back with the seats down. It was kind of scary staying the night in the car- heard some drunks out and about and some shouting.. of course B pup slept right through all that ruckus. Only managed a few real hours of sleep though. Got to Rapid City around 9ish and had breakfast before the hubby had to head back to CO. Tougher than I thought it would be to say good bye. I know it is only for 6 wks, but I got all choked up. Silly. I think it is maybe a bit more than just not seeing him for a few weeks. I know I will miss him but I also think maybe I'm enjoying the comforts of my life a bit too much these days and I am more weary than I used to be about stepping outside my comfort zone. I think I've become much more of a control freak in the last few years and knowing that I will not have much control over my daily schedule or even eating options is maybe more difficult than I was originally willing to admit. But I am determined to make the best of the next 6 weeks and I am sure once the course is in full swing the time will fly by. Of course, I will still miss the hubby, B &L pups, and P kitty.. and CO.

AM: 10.20 in 9:48 avg pace. Min elevation: 3,108'; Max elevation: 3,345'; 285' gain/loss. Much nicer run in the AM this morning. Blister is still getting worse and may take the Soles + insert out for tomorrow's run. Suppose to get blazing hot the rest of the week so I am not sure if I will make any PM runs after field work for the day. Hopefully I can manage to get up early and get a run in before we leave for the day.