Week 8: Day 6

Staying up in Wildernest this weekend which is situated around 10,000 feet and B. and I were both looking forward to getting in a solid run or two at the high altitude! Well, that only happened for one of us (and being selfish, I'm glad it was me). B. was sick all day Saturday - so sick that he couldn't really move from the bed/chair that he laid/sat in all day.

I, on the other hand, ventured out to a trail that was just a half mile or so from our condo, ignoring B.'s cold and envious stare as I left him behind. The trail is listed here and although it was snow-covered, it was still teeming with life (hikers, skiers and snowshoe-ers, that is!). I haven't run at this altitude since B. and I planned to run the Continental Divide. We weren't able to do so thanks to seven foot snow drifts closing Trail Ridge Road, but we did play around for a few hours in RMNP just below Longs Peak. Anyway, a pretty interesting run! Now, it should be said that I do not do well at altitude when it comes to running: my lips turn purple, I get dizzy and slightly confused. Knowing this, I really have no business exercising up there in the first place. Do you think that would stop me? Nah.

I started off running up a pretty decent incline and my lungs cried out right away! Eventually my body adjusted to the change and I decided I could handle it. The run, though rather short, was a fairly challenging one with steep inclines and declines all along the way. The trail was really busy so a few times I was forced to step off the trail when skiers chose to ski through (whether or not I planned to let them through) and I found myself sinking into knee-to-waist deep snow! "Oh, sorry!" was always echoing my efforts to climb out of the sinkhole.  I did have that dizzy feeling a couple of times during the run and once I even stopped for fear of passing out. My pace was fairly quick as running those rolling hills will keep you from settling into a pace.

The whole run (out and back) took me 44 minutes and I'm betting it wasn't much over 4-4.5 miles. :) I ran out to Lily Lake which had really beautiful views surrounding it. I hoped for a clear night and crossed my fingers that Ben would feel a little better so we could hike out to the lake together. Unfortunately it was cloudy and I didn't feel well in the evening. The run was awesome. My altitude sickness can't stop me! I love the feeling of the trails under my feet and the knowing that most people wouldn't even think of attempting what I accomplish while I'm out there. I'm reminded that I want to plan more high altitude runs in the warmer months. Maybe we can make that Continental Divide run happen this summer.

Total:
Running: 146 minutes