Headin' to Colorado

(Monday, 16 February)
Well, I kept forgetting about Presidents day all day today, so I showed up at the gym at 4.15 very surprised to find the track team with the day off. I decided to seize the opportunity and go to the Arroyo instead of doing my planned Lorain. I parked at California and blitzed it straight up and around the bowl, which is about 6.5 I think. I tried to keep myself clipping along at a good pace, and I worked on keeping my chest open and my arms back, although I'm sure I spent more time hunched than looking upright (as usual). It felt good though, the trail was particularly nice on my legs/feet. I think my shoes might be wearing out. I need to get a new pair of shoes... and I should probably have a real fitting one of these days. Perchance I will get fitted at Run with Us sometime. I wonder if Kevin is still working there?

(Tuesday, 17 February)
Today I was thinking about how much I've been working out recently and how I wanted to be fresh for tomorrow's experiment, so I decided to take it easy. I ran down to Lacy with the gang, and then I started the tempo run with them to pace it but only ran a little bit of it, maybe a mile or so hard and then a little over a mile medium-pace. Tried to take it easy.

(Wednesday, 18 February)
Today's Doyle lab experiment was a terrible disaster. It was basically the evil opposite of what we did last week - start out at a really high wattage, then go until you can't go anymore, then decrease by 25 watts, then go as long as you can, then decrease.... until you get to a level where you can hold that for 5 minutes. I don't know if I did it right, because it was goddamned hard and I really had trouble after that first max-intensity. Especially on the later iterations (I think we did 3 or 4) I just could not get my HR down. I mean, it would be up in the 190s all the way down to 175 watts, which is ridiculous. I think my legs just got sapped or filled with lactic acid or something. Max watts (like at the top of the interval) peaked at 312 (5.9 W/kg, turns out I only weighed 53 today.)

(Thursday, 19 February)
Colorado! I went on an easy run today in Washington park (which is beautiful and awesome). All I tried to do was go easy so that I wouldn't feel the altitude. I didn't feel it, but I was also running pretty easy! After that, I rode one of Peter's (well, Megumi's) bike around Denver to explore. It was awesome.

(Friday, 20 February)
Today I took the Ski Train to the Winter Park ski resort. It wasn't cheap ($60) but it was super convenient, and super fun. It went right from downtown Denver to the ski slopes, and came back in the evening. It was a quiet and beautiful ride! When I got there I went snowshoeing, which was really fun. I started with a guided tour where we got to take a ski lift up and then trot down the mountain, that was pretty cool. Then I set out on my own and ran amok. At one point I was jogging down a bunny slope and a guy on a snowboard rode by and yelled at me "Hey, what's chasing you?". I should have replied, "crackerjack snowboarders!" but I didn't think of it soon enough.

Jogging in snowshoes feels very much like doing drills ("bounding") or something. It's like running, but a little bit harder. Going uphill I mostly walked briskly, but flat or down I could get joggin'/boundin' for a little bit. Fun!

The ride back was sweet because I just chatted and drank beers with the guy sitting next to me, who turned out to be a wind-power contractor from Texas. I think he was impressed by my Caltech socks.

(Saturday, 21 February)BTW, the pink fleece you keep seeing was lent to me by Susan... it was perfect. And I'm wearing Peter's pants here :). Hooray for generous friends lending things to me so I'm prepared for anything!

Peter and I drove up to Tabernash to do some serious Nordic skiing (skate skiing). It is really difficult to get the technique down! Fortunately for me, Peter is an excellent and patient teacher. Way better than the one JStan and I had in Tahoe. When I wasn't busy falling all over myself, I got to enjoy the magnificent scenery. It was clear and the weather was perfect, and of course there was plenty of great snow. We skied and stayed at the YMCA of the Rockies, which I definitely recommend, although I'd say it was more appropriate for families and groups. I'd love to get a group of us together and do a trip there some time where we rent one of their cabins for a week or so. It's reasonable to rent a cabin, they have a pool and plenty of trails, and the people were friendly.

We also got to check out the biathletes practicing on the range they have there - that was pretty neat! When we were done we stuffed ourselves by working on this 9+ lb honeybaked ham that Peter had brought from home (we defrosted it on the dashboard of his car while we were skiing. Classic.)

(Sunday, 22 February)
After a huge breakfast and tons of coffee, we went out one more time before I had to skip home to meet my mom in LA. We only skied for maybe 2 hours, but it was so awesome. Maybe it was sleeping on it, or the tequila the night before, or Peter's tips, but the second day was WAY easier. Partly this was because I sent Peter off to go crazy on his own, and I just practiced for a while (especially on flat or slightly downhill with no poles- this really helped me get the "gliding" down). It was SO gratifying and fun! I was super, duper glad that we stayed up there for the second day. I can't wait to go again!