Altitude Training

I had to catch an 8:00 AM flight out of Nashville Wednesday morning, which meant that I had to leave my house at 5:00 AM. It crossed my mind to get up before 4:00 AM to run 8 miles and shower before leaving. Luckily, the thought crossed and kept going. :) I did NOT run Wednesday.

I was staying in an unfamiliar part of town in Denver. It didn't feel like an unsafe part of town, but I just didn't know the area. So, I was reduced to choosing between slacking or 8 miles on a treadmill. Ugh. I decided that since I'm pain free and haven't slacked even ONCE in my Mount Cheaha training, I'd go ahead and hit the treadmill. There's no reason to start slacking now. I only did 7.5 miles, though. I quit because I ran out of time.

I was a little pleased with myself for going through with that. Really, after the first two miles, it wasn't that bad. I mean, I'd rather have been on the road or the trail, but it wasn't miserable. I did have to spend 20 minutes talking myself into doing it. Then I spent the first two miles convincing myself to stay on.

The altitude really matters. I ran the first two at a 9:00 pace and it felt like a 7:30 pace. The human body is pretty amazing, though. I adjusted. After the first two, I was able to speed it up and finished the 7.5 miles in an hour which averages an 8:00 pace. I was running the 7th mile at a 6:40 pace and it felt hard, but sustainable. One reason I sped up is that I knew I was running out of time and wanted to get in 8. I just didn't quite get it done.

Wow, that was TMI about a treadmill run. Today, I did a "pull" workout (pull-ups, rows, etc.) and a leisurely 6 miles at 8:20 average pace.

I also got my body fat measured today and learned that I'm only 7.8% body fat. Man, I sure do feel and look fatter than that. I also got my VO2 Max estimated at 42 ml-kg-min, whatever that means.