So today was the big day!!! I woke up early at 3:30 am anxious and ready to depart for Colorado. I left Richmond International airport at 6am eastern time and stopped for a layover in Chicago. I then departed from Chicago and arrived in Denver at 9:40am mountain time. Up until this point things were going smoothly and according to plan. Once to picked up my suitcase I then headed over to pick up the rental care that I had reserved online. The price I was quoted online was $394. I had to pay $120 upfront and the rest when I arrived to pick up the vehicle. Well the scam artist was trying to pull somethings and told me the total was $590. I didn't know what to do so I paid the total amount but soon realized something was wrong. When looking at the receipt, I saw that $260 worth the charges were optional. I was really pissed at this point and went back inside so ask what the charges were for. A new receptionist was very friendly and explained that these were charges for extra insurance... She apologized, voided the charges and my new balance was $280. Woooh, that's more like it. I then tried to hook up the gps in order to find my way to Golden. The outlet was broken in the car so the gps wouldn't charge. This was starting to become comical. The friendly representative from advantage gave me an upgrade for free!!! I was now on my way to Golden, one of the places I'll be staying and training over the next two weeks. I've never been to Colorado before and as I was driving I saw one of the most amazing sites I've ever seen. In front of me, getting closer and closer was the Rocky mountain range. I arrived in Golden at 12pm Mountain time and was immediately scoping out places to run. I know there are so many but I want to maximize my experience during this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Running for the first time at Altitude-
A local was telling me about some of the trails in town, so I decided to drive about 5 minutes away to a trailhead of the biggest mountain overlooking golden. Hell the view from the top of this mountain was overlooking the world. I literally jumped out of the car and started running straight up for 6-7 minutes to the top. I was told once at the top, lots of trails will take you around the mountain. The pace I was running to the top was rather pathetic... To be honest I almost stopped to walk. I don't think it was the altitude, rather the grade of the incline. If your interested in what I'm talking about, next time your at the gym put your treadmill on the highest possible grade and run. This was twice as steep. The one nice thing was the gravel road leading to the top was very soft, without snow. Once I was at the top I found a comfortable breathing rhythm and made my way around the top. The paths at the top were a mixture of mud, snow and ice... Not the greatest for running. They did however lead me to the opposite side of the mountain. The view was absolutely breath taking! I felt as though I was in a airplane; I could see Denver in the distance as well downtown golden and the beautiful Rockies in the background. As far as the run went I decided to come back down and try to find some paths with less ice and snow. Coming back down was nuts!!! It was so steep I just about fell flat my face. I got back down at 40 or so minutes and ran for another 18 for a total of 58:00 with 6 strides following. My pace was all over the place due to the inclines and rough footing. The altitude didn't seem to affect me at a consistent pace but once I hit an incline, even a short one, my breathing was rather heavy. My foot and hip have been bothering me since I've started my new cycle... It's crazy how that works. I didn't feel my hip so much today but my foot has been bothering me since I finished my run. It's done this before and as long as I take care of the details everything will be fine. I'll try to keep everyone updated daily. I'm not to crazy about writing, but I feel as though I need to write down my thoughts and share my experiences with others.
Day #1- 8.5 miles/6:20-7:00 pace W/6 strides
No comments:
Post a Comment