Altitude Running

Wow. It's been a long time. I've been super busy though and I was in Colorado Springs for a conference for the last 8 days. Today was my first day back home in a long time.

I knew that I really had to get some good runs in this past week, but I was a little worried b/c I also knew that I'd be super busy at the NAIS Summer Diversity Institute (SDI). SDI was amazing and really helpful. I'm looking forward to taking much of what I learned back to work to make Riverdale a more inviting, equitable, welcoming place.

As it turned out, I was able to get some good runs in, totaling about 17 miles. I was supposed to run 20 miles last week, the last week of my "base building" phase, but on Sunday I was exhausted and took the day off. BUT I am hoping that my 17 miles at 6000 ft will suffice when I try to run again in NYC.

I didn't enjoy running in Colorado Springs at all at first. The altitude made it hard to breathe, and the dry air made me really uncomfortable. I never thought I'd miss humidity, but I think this was taking it to the extreme! I ran 3 on Tues., and 4 each on Wed. & Thurs. Then I took Friday off, and ran 6 on Saturday. My long run Saturday was actually my best and I look forward to running here at sea level to see if I can tell a difference at all.

Again, I took Sunday off b/c I was really tired both physically and emotionally from SDI, but I think I'll be ok. I am slightly worried, however, b/c this week I have to run 22 miles . . . that's a jump of 5 miles. I'm concerned that I didn't get in enough weeks of 20 miles, but we'll see. My last four weeks (you can check for yourself on the calendar at the bottom) went 17, 20, 20, 17+. So maybe I'm ready for 22 this week. We'll see. On Saturday I have to get an 8 mile long run in. That'll be sort of hard, but I'm excited to give it a try. I just hope it's not too ridiculously hot and humid.

I am also skipping my running class tonight. I'm tired, and I miss Sara, so I didn't feel like being gone tonight. That means that I won't have a speed workout AND a long run in the same week when I'm up mileage a lot. Probably for the best.

So, I'm back and you can expect more posts in the coming weeks as I begin my formal training schedule. It starts today!