Elevation Changes

Atlanta is known in the running community for it's "heat, hills & humidity".  Over the past 9 days we have traveled from Atlanta to Independence, Missouri, to Lone Tree, Colorado.  While in Independence and Lone Tree, we embraced the opportunity to get outdoors and experience running/walking in those areas.  I don't think we had any specific expectations regarding our performance in these climates that can be dramatically different than our normal environment.  It felt like a great adventure every time we slipped on our sneakers and took to the trail.




Bridge on Little Blue Trace Trail

In Missouri our hotel had a path linking it to a 25 mile maintained, multi-use trail called The Little Blue Trace Trail.  It was awesome.  There were cement stretches, but mostly the path is hard pack dirt with tiny gravel.  It is very soft on both soft tissue and the joints.  Most of the pathway that we were on was relatively flat.  The eastbound trail from our hotel wove in and out of shady areas and among fields for the most part.  Heading westbound on the trail from the hotel the trail wound among more residential areas, we preferred the eastbound route. Our longest jog/walk was a 5.5 mile outing that left me exhilarated.  We also did a 6 mile walk on the trail system and a 4 miler (jog/walk) in between.





When we arrived in the Denver area, we were anxious to know how the elevation was going to affect us.  I had been advised that maintaining proper hydration was key to success in adjusting to the elevation, especially if we were going to do anything active.  So we packed water everywhere we went and began hydrating the evening before we exercised.

Luckily we discovered The Bluffs Regional Park in Lone Tree with absolutely gorgeous views of the mountains, Denver...  Although we were concerned by the signs about wildlife in the area, the trails were a delight to navigate!

Greeting at the trail head...

This trail wound around an area of bluffs and the elevation changes were dramatic for lungs that are not acclimated to the elevation.  Unlike the trail in Independence, this system ranged from hard pack dirt that looked like asphalt from a distance, to fine deep sand, to rocks larger than gravel.  If we were going to run these trails, I would be most comfortable in trail shoes to accommodate the varied surfaces.

From coarse gravel to rock, this was a steep decent portion of the trail system at the Bluffs

Although I don't have a camera that takes great distance pictures, this is a sample of the views that took our breath from the 2.7 mile loop.  We walked this loop both days we were in Lone Tree. I'm happy to say that the second day the trail was much, much easier to manage from a breathing perspective.

Near the top of the bluffs and anxious for the descent

We arrived back in Georgia yesterday afternoon.  Today was my scheduled "long" run.  I decided that I wanted to put in a 6 miler, so we were out the door about 7:30 this morning with the dogs.  We walked them for a mile and a half, then I left to finish the 6 miles with as much jogging as I could push myself to do.  It was very humid this morning and I struggled.  Somehow I managed to average 13-14 minute miles.

A little let down after having such a great time on vacation, I decided to find out what the differences were between my three adventures.  I kept thinking that the fact we walked in Lone Tree shouldn't minimize the impact of the elevation, especially since the trail had such significant elevation changed within the 2.7 mile loop, so I did a little research.  Google is a good thing, I feel a smidge better about my struggle today.

Independence Missouri elevation: 952 feet above sea level
Lone Tree, Colorado elevation: 5,948 feet above sea level
Marietta, Georgia: 1,128 feet above sea level

At the time I began this blog this evening:

Independence Missouri humidity: 42%
Lone Tree Colorado humidity: 11%
Marietta, GA humidity: 52%

Looking forward to my run on Wednesday and hoping I will have re-acclimated to the "hills, heat & humidity" of home, sweet home.

Cross Training and Marathon Preparation

It's summer heat, or nearly hot enough to feel like summer, around here.  The weekend has been lovely, but this past week and a few prior have days peaking at 90+ degrees.  The weather has given me pause to figure out how I'm going to combine my goal of  qualifying for the Boston marathon in October during my maiden marathon in Atlanta with the simple, pure joy I have when I'm out trotting down the road with my dog next to me.

Cooling down after a warm evening run

I find myself beginning to select pieces of training from my years of agility competition, run training, triathlon training and even the sporadic riding lessons I took for a couple of summers, in an effort to incorporate more time with the dogs while measuring my strides toward the "goal".

To answer the weather change, I'm drawing from Mary Bromiley and her book "Fit to Ride".  In her discussion of joint flexibility in Chapter 8 she references walking as passive stretching for joint mobility as a means for warming up.  One of the ways I warm the dogs up is with a head to tip of tail massage (learned from Dr. Christine Zink in "Peak Performance; Coaching the Canine Athlete").  Since it has become so hot, and I'm forced to walk the dogs more than run, I'm using this portion of my run time for their modified summer exercise and my warm up.

It seems their climate "limitations" are tempering me. I'm learning to reflect back on the lessons I've taken in over the past decade of training in various sports and gather pieces from each that benefit both canine and human in this adventure. I am thrilled that my per mile times are beginning to improve, even in the heat and neither dog nor I am encountering overuse injuries that are keeping us off the road for extended recoveries.

Maddie impatiently waiting for her harness

Tomorrow is another day...

I'm ready for tomorrow already.  Karma kicked my butt tonight.  Somehow, some way, I must have taken for granted that I loved running and that every time my sneakers met pavement my knees, shins, hips and all the connective tissue in between would be energized and synchronized.  I give.  I made a mistake, I really do love this thing called "running" and I love it more than I normally state out loud.  Yep, it's become "what I do".  I love it so much that I've committed to my first marathon in October and have tossed the idea around that I'd like to qualify for Boston as well.  But tonight it didn't feel like the run loved me in return.

After Dave and I brought the girls home from a mile walk tonight, I took out alone to wrap the evening with a quick couple mile run.  As I started up Barrier, I felt light and began to pick up my pace.  I've been reading "Running Within" by Jerry Lynch and Warren Scott, so it seemed like a good omen that I was feeling "lighter than normal" as I breezed up the hill.

About the time I crested the hill, body parts began yelling at me in less than pleasant terms.  I had a pain in my glute, the opposite hamstring was tight, my left knee began to throb and then all of a sudden my right foot began to flop onto the pavement.  There was no "stride" in my step anymore.  You could not hear my left foot touch ground, but the right foot sounded like a clap of thunder each time it struck pavement.

By the time I turn the corner onto Reef,  I'm getting used to the "sensations" of this particular run and have pretty much worked through the issues, (except the thunderous right foot), when I find myself urgently needing to get to a restroom.  I didn't care whose, I just needed one.  Damn the neighborhood without a port-a-john when you need it!  Again, I'm picking up my pace and the thunder that is flailing beneath my right foot is now less bothersome to me than the fact that I'm still a half mile from the only restroom I know how to get into at this point.

Well, there you have it - thundering foot, thundering tum and a run cut in half.  I don't see Boston tonight, I don't even see a 5k in my immediate future.   But then again, tomorrow is another day and the day after that will be another run.  I vow to be grateful for the run tonight, however slighted I may have felt at the time; lest it be repeated as a necessary lesson to the one who didn't "get it" the first time.

When Rain Showers Stop

Rain, rain, rain today.  I've been watching the radar on weather.com to see when I could possibly get my scheduled five mile run in.  We have a gym membership, but I hate treadmills and I don't like to run without my dogs.  For me, being with the dogs is as much of the point of the run as my overall fitness is.

The weather break came close to one o'clock this afternoon.  Mira and I were out the door within minutes of the rain stopping to start my five mile trek.  I knew before we began that this was not a five mile day for her.  Sixty one degrees is a reasonable temperature to run with her, but the humidity was intense, so I decided to take her back to the house after the second mile. 

When I dropped her off at the house, Maddie was not at the door waiting.  Normally, this would make my heart race and my stomach flip to have one of the dogs not anxiously waiting for their turn, they are both very motivated to be out on the road with us.  Dave had just finished painting the bar area and was watching golf with chips in hand.  I was trumped by "Ruffles".  Maddie didn't even look at me when I walked by.  There was a possibility she could sweet talk Dave into potato chips and I was obviously on my own as of now.  The remainder of the run was going to be up to me and me alone.



Back on the road I finished the last three miles solo.  With Mira, the first two miles were finished at an average of 14 minutes each.  These miles included three pee stops and one poop stop for Mira.  Not stellar time, but all in all enjoyable in the freshly rain washed air.

My first solo mile, mile three, was a 13 minute/30 second mile.  It was pretty uneventful.  I finished mile four in 13 minutes and felt great as I began mile five.  The finishing hill on Reef is a killer when you're tired.  It's not long, but the grade is steep enough that I often walk at least part of it.  After I crossed Seafoam and began the flat stretch headed to Barrier, I could see two loose dogs ahead.  They were unfamiliar to me, and I know most of the dogs in the neighborhood.  They were bouncing up trees after squirrels and going from house to house and back and forth across the road, obviously thrilled with a new found freedom.  Weary of unfamiliar dogs, I caught a glimpse of my watch and uttered an unpleasant phrase as I realized I had been, up to then, on target to finish the last mile in 12 minutes, but knowing I needed to be cautious of these dogs I slowed.  Watching them, I had to pause to be grateful that I didn't have a dog with me at that moment, they seemed almost frantic in their obsession to chase squirrels and I was certain I may have been a target if I'd had a dog with me.  Sure enough, when I caught up to them, they came charging across the road to me hackles up, growling and barking.  I slowed to a walk and ignored them as I drew my watch up to catch my time.  Damn dogs, I wasn't sure how I was going to make up the time and I wasn't nearly as concerned about them hot on my heels sniffing me as I was about the clock.  Thankfully after a couple of driveways, I heard a calm female voice call "Maddie, Emma, come on, come here".  Both dogs turned on a dime and headed straight to "Mom" who was calmly standing in the road with leads and collars waiting for them.  I waved to her, and she to I, as I picked up my pace.  When I turned the corner from Reef to Barrier and glanced at my watch, I realized I had plenty of time to finish my final mile in 12 minutes.  I stopped at the top of our driveway with a time of 12:01.

After I got home, Dave decided he was going to run an errand.  Since I told him it wasn't raining, he took his clean car instead of my dirty rental.  I doubt he'd been away from the house five minutes when it began to rain and it really hasn't stopped since.  I think the universe is supporting my quest and running goals! I only need a little time, and Mother Nature was very kind to me today!

The Beginning of the End of a Decade

Yep, today begins the celebration of the exit of the 40th decade of my life.  It's been a great ride and I'm planning on enjoying every minute of the next 12 months before I welcome the next decade.  I'm in my 49th year now, officially, and I hit it full stride this morning.  It was a day off from the office and I decided to hit the pavement with the dogs around 8:00 this morning.

There's more traffic in the neighborhood around 8 am than I would have expected.  Don't know why that came as a surprise to me, since I'm usually one of those exiting the subdivision between 8 and 8:05 in the mornings, but I was surprised at how many vehicles passed us.  Most of them returned my wave and only one cut me closer to the curb than I'd like to be.

Maddie - chillin' after a run

Mother Nature provided a sweet gift with a 48 degree morning today.  Dew was heavy on the ground and in the air, but Maddie was up to 1.5 miles without much concern.  When she did tire to a slow trot and let slack into the line, her pace was faster than a my walk, yet slower than my jog.  We found a comfortable balance for both of us quickly and she proceeded to say good morning to the squirrels and birds.  She will bounce twice to the end of her line when she spots one.  If they don't move quick enough to a tree, she'll give a little woo/yelp combination and hit the end of the line in a lunge.  Typically, that does the trick and they are swiftly up a tree or in flight.  I call it "rodent herding Siberian style".  It causes no harm to them, gives her a great deal of satisfaction and me a lot of giggles.

Mira - waiting to go at the door

I dropped Maddie off at the house and took Mira out for a two and a half mile loop through the neighborhood.  Mira took her time this morning with plenty of  "drive by's" (she darts into a yard, grabs a bunch of grass and munches on it while we run).  If I had a head on picture of her while we run with grass hanging out both sides of her mouth I could start my own "you might be a redneck if..." series.  She's a nut. 


We all sat in the great room and cooled down before we stretched and got ready for the rest of the day.  It was a perfect start to the day and a great way to begin this final year of a fabulous decade!

Healing Sneakers

A normal sight when we are at camp, Mira observing the neighborhood

It's been a crazy week.  I have tried to write every day, but the words I put down were dark, bleak and came from a place of sorrow.  I don't live in sorrow or self pity; it was really uncomfortable in that place, so I left the page blank.  My unusual mood of gloom came about after our vacation abruptly ended the same day we started it this week.  On Saturday morning we left to spend vacation  in Missouri.  Dave, Maddie, Mira and I were headed out in the RV, towing the Enclave.  Destination; home, family and friends.  Our vacation ended late Saturday afternoon in a hail storm in New Baden, IL.  It came up rather quickly as we were driving on I-64 in Illinois. Roadside is not a safe place to be in a storm, especially in an RV - somehow it seems they were designed to fly, and not stay anchored onto the ground during high winds.  I have never experienced a storm of this force from a place that caused every cell in my brain to scream "danger, get out of here, you have to get away from this place".  Thankfully, no funnel clouds touched down and the once the storm passed, we were able to retreat to the safety of the home of dear friends.  Two more storms that night caused us to go to the basement once and watch from a window helplessly the second time as hail yet again slammed into the roof of our RV.  But we were safe now, not sitting on the edge of the freeway, but tucked away in a solid home with a basement.

After a close evaluation of both vehicles Sunday morning and heart to heart talks with my parents (who are also RV'ers), we determined that it was in our best interest to head back to Georgia and begin the repair process.  Damage is significant to both the RV and the Enclave.  We know how much worse this all could have been and we are grateful that everything can be put back together.  There is no loss, other than precious time with my family.  That is the place that continues to grow dark within me.  I have been stirred to tears every day this week knowing that I never was able to get home, to embrace my parents and sister or see our friends as we had been planning for months.  That loss has been what has driven my mood this week.  The business of making claims and coordinating the process of repair and rebuild have probably helped me to keep my sanity this week.

Some of the softball size dings

It will be two weeks before the repairs can be finished on the Enclave and it will likely be over a month on the RV.  They are replacing the roof and hood on my truck as well as repairing hail dings on the other areas of the vehicle. The RV body came through pretty well, but both the rubber roof and the underlying wood roof must be replaced as hail shattered through both layers.  We began the claims process first thing Monday morning on both vehicles, today we received notice that the reviews on the RV have been completed and approved.  The repairs on the Enclave were started Thursday after extensive inspection and a damage audit was completed.

Physically, we incurred no injuries.  Although, the speaker covers falling from the ceiling of the rig during the storm could have caused a bump or bruise, there were really no other potentially harmful occurrences.  There was an incredible amount of force behind that storm, we are so lucky to be unharmed.  Mental damage, well there's another story.  Sudden loud noises make my stomach flip and my hair stand on end from my neck down my arms.  Thunder gently rolling in the distance yesterday evening brought tears to my eyes. 

I have said before that whatever ails me can be cured by a run with my dog.  I am right, even this can be cured with the freedom of being on the road with Mira or Maddie next to me.  Striding over speed bumps and counting mailboxes between walk breaks somehow takes my mind to a place of peace, and all the crazy thoughts that race through it otherwise are left behind.  It is the only time that I can completely lose myself in the moment.  All I see when we are running are the mechanical movements of the run and the antics of the dogs.  I breathe the air, and my senses dance, (or gasp, depending on allergies), to the surrounding landscape.  Each run this week has left me feeling lighter, maybe it is coincidental because time heals, but I believe my sneakers and dogs are helping me move beyond the disappointment and fear.

If I could run enough, I could heal this thing and leave it behind me.  Tomorrow is another day and another run, another tear dried.

Maddie is our greeter when you open the door to the RV

Traveling Sneakers

We leave Saturday for vacation.  Dave, Maddie, Mira and Me.  All piled into the RV with the SUV in tow.

I'm excited to be going home - back to my roots with my people, my relatives, my blood.  All I am, good or bad began in this place we are traveling to.  All that I hope to be was born there.  I am grateful that I can step back in time to a place where I can be grounded in my roots.  I don't return as penance, or because I want to be different from who I have evolved to be.  Going back home to me is a way to retrace the steps I've taken along this journey we call life.  It is good to know where you came from, not with praise nor blame, just a place of knowing what is that allowed me to create what I am and design who I will yet be.

Having Dave with me will be especially sweet   He hasn't been home in four years.  I've made this trip alone those years.  His family isn't there anymore; his daughter is away in a home of her own and his sister is on the opposite coast from us.  He's bound to this place only by his own beginnings and that it is the peaceful resting place of his parents.  For him, my family is what remains to be experienced in this place.

The lake we are camping at has miles and miles of trails to run and roads to cycle.  For me, being in the RV with the dogs makes it easy to maintain a schedule of running and cycling.  The only exercise the girls get when we are on the road is when they are with us, so you just get out and go without any question, there are no other options.  Many people say they don't want to be "chained" down to a routine like that and they don't have a dog for that reason.  This extra demand on my time is one of the reasons I have dogs.  I find the structure and pace somehow frees me.  Nothing cures an ailment like a pair of sneakers and a dog trotting along next to me.  All my cares are lifted as my heart rate climbs and tapers and climbs again and again until I've moved beyond the stress and fatigue and  into a state of pure relaxation. 

Pavement, sneakers and a dog by my side; life is fabulous! I'm filled with the anticipation of new trails to explore and roads to follow next week.