Running at Altitude

I'm snowboarding in Vail this weekend, (which makes me sound far classier than I actually am - those who know me best will tell you that I'm virtually devoid of class), and today I decided to do a little shake out run after tearing up the mountain for 8 hours. My thinking was I'd flush my legs, follow that with some stretching, and wake up in the morning as fresh as a daisy. Maybe fresher. Like a daisy sprayed with Fabreeze, in a Ziplock bag, that was vacuum sealed, then sprayed with Frabreeze, That was stored in a ziplock back.

Anyway, it worked well last year when I was in Park City - but in retrospect it was also one of the first trips I didn't end every day on the mountain at a bar. I'm no scientician but physical excursion + elevation + alcohol consumption probably isn't the best formula for muscle recovery. Or really much for that matter.

Whatever. Point is that I went running today and OMG. OMG. Running at 8,000 ft is re-dic. It probably should come as no surprise considering I've been getting winded brushing my teeth, but just thinking about the run was exhausting. By the time I'd gone a few feet I was shocked at the difficulty. It ended up easily the hardest 3 mile run in my life. Again, OMG. 3.2 miles, on snow, 8 minute pace, completely spent.

Now I just want to live here so I can occasionally come back to sea level to kick ass. If I ran a 3:23 marathon without training I could stay here for a month, run a marathon, and qualify for Boston without having to do more than a few dozen miles a week. It's genius!