Challenging the altitiude

Courtesy of www.matttrailer.com

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my younger step-sister got married in Albuquerque.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and seeing my family was great, as was our cross country road trip. 

Going back home for a week was very cool but I was probably most interested in how the altitude would affect my running.  Atlanta, my current hometown, has an elevation of approximately 1100ft and pales in comparison to Albuquerque which is nearly five times that.  Would that difference really affect my running? I mean I have been training hard (30-50mi/wk) for the Chattanooga Stage Race later this month.  Nothing can slow me down...right? 



Courtesy of wwp.greenwichmeantime.com



Prior to heading out West, I did a bit of research.  Many websites, blogs, and research papers mention that running at elevation is more difficult and it should affect your time. Obviously, there is less oxygen higher up which, if you are not used to, will affect your breathing.  That all makes plenty of sense but does this hold true for longer distances? 



During my trip I went for three different runs; dirt track, road, and sand trail. In all three cases, my pace was either better than or right at my average pace.  Perhaps you want to play the rest card?  But all 26 miles took place within a four day period.  So it was not like I was spacing runs out all that much. 



Courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

Overall, who really knows what impact the altitude plays in running but I do know that I can drink more at the lower altitude...which is a good thing. 

On a side note, in my adventures around town I did manage to see a group of runners (each of who weighed less than my legs)  chasing their coach who was riding a bike.  I also ran shirtless in the sand but not Mitch Buchannon style, I ran along the mighty Rio Grande rather than on the beach. 

See you out there,

TF

Back in the saddle

Well it has been quite some time since my last post, my apologies. 

My March was fantastic and I hope your March was the same.  My brother got married in San Diego, I set a distance PR, and my New Mexico Lobos made it out of the first round of the NCAA tournament.  But sadly it is now April and time to get to work.

April should be quite interesting.  My stage race is about two months away and I am starting to get nervous about my training.  While I hit 125 miles in March, the majority of it was on pavement and unfortunately that does not necessarily translate to trail miles. 

That said, efforts have been kicked up.  Today I started Tuesday/Thursday 2-a-days, which consist of a 3-4 mile run in the morning followed by a faster track or group run in the evening.  I figure that pushing my body to the limit should help me battle 60 miles over a three day period. 

Dieting.  Yeah, this part sucks.  I have an incredible sweet tooth and often nothing makes me happier than ice cream...but I have decided to cut ice cream, and dessert in general out of my diet until after the race.  Additionally, soft drinks and beer have to go too.  Hoping this can help me get to a good fighting weight by race day. 

These next two months should be very interesting and I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress. 

See you out there,
TF