Colorado trail!

Whirlwind trip from Denver to Leadville back to Denver to Tulsa in less than 24 hrs!  Had a work trip to Denver and couldn't resist the temptation to get to Leadville...to get in the mountains.  I wanted despirately to run some trails around Leadville, but, the trails are typically not runnable this time of year. My hosts in Buena Vista confirmed this, so I resigned myself to running some trails a few thousand feet down in Buena Vista.  After some business in Leadville I hit the coffee shop. The young guy working there asked what I was up to. When I told him and expressed a little disappointment about not getting to run trails around leadville, he excitedly told me that he had just run some of the Colorado trail.  It was ON!  I got on the trail at the same location as one of the aid stations- Fish Hatchery- from the Leadville trail 100 race.  Man, did it bring back memories...minus the cold and snow!  Ran two miles down the colorado trail until it became rediculous to go any further as the trail was less traveled and my feet were sinking up to 6-8 inches with every few steps.  The chipmunks were chattering at me as if to be laughing at how I must've appeared.10059072671?profile=original10059072901?profile=original10059073664?profile=original My heart rate was high, my breathing hard and I was in HEAVEN!!  After getting back off the trail I ran around fish hatchery a bit, reminiscing coming in and out of that aid station during the race.

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  • Thanks for your response! I'm right there with you on the early morning running. Originally I didn't like getting up that early, but I have come to enjoy how much quieter the world is at that time and I feel less guilty knowing my family is sleeping! I run 6 days a week right now, alternating easy/hard days with easy/hard weeks. Wow, training for a 50-miler in 4 months! I took a year to train for just a marathon. It was nice to hear you say that the 50-miler atmosphere is more relaxed than a marathon. I'm one of those runners who's not very fast, but I get into my pace and can go miles and miles! It sounds like that'll work well for a 50-miler. Thanks again for the info!

  • So, it all started with a twinkle in my mothers eye.....ha! Actually my journey to ultras began just under 2 years ago. My base at that time was 4 miles, 2-4 days/week...on a good week. The farthest I had run was a 15k about 4 years ago. I started training at the end of march 2011 for a 50 mile race in July. So just four months. And in all honesty, that 50 mile race seemed the easiest of any I have done since! I was running in the evenings before I started training. I had to move my training to early am as evening runs were guilt ridden with my family anxiously awaiting my return...my 2 year old's nose and hands plastered to the glass window watching me leave and awaiting my return, and everyone else asking "when will you be back?". So began the 4:06 am alarm (yes that additional 6 minutes makes a huge difference by the way!). I feel free to run early mornings as the rest of the house snoozes. My runs were shorter then, 30-60 minutes and I gradually built up distance on my long runs on saturday mornings. The first thing that increased was my frequency of running...less more often. I started running 5-6 days/week and gradually increased mileage. Now my weekday runs are anywhere from 30 min to 90 minutes at the veeery most and my long runs range widely. I don't usually count how many miles/week I run, but my guess is 30-70 most weeks. I just ran my first marathon in April by the way. That's a tough distance race to run!! I much prefer the ultras-far more relaxed atmosphere. I will say, I hate mornings, but have far more energy and feel far more rested with switching to morning runs. It has also been good for the family, everyone goes to bed earlier...because mom goes to bed at 9...whether anybody else does or not! It only took a few 4:30am runs to get me used to going to bed and actually falling asleep earlier than my usual 10:30-11pm schedule.
  • Lori- I love reading your posts! I am very impressed with your dedication/passion for running. I was wondering, when you decided to begin training for ultras, what was your base? And how long did you take to up your mileage? I have only run one marathon (pre-minimalist running) and have come to REALLY love long distance since transitioning to minimalist running over a year ago. I'm always inspired to run ultras after reading your posts, especially since we're both working moms. I realize if you can do, I should be able to, also. Just not sure sometimes where to start... Thanks for the inspiration!! Happy Running! :)

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