A Long Way To Go

In just a short month I'm going to participate in the Barr Trail Mountain Race in Manitou Springs, CO., so I wanted to spend Father's Day weekend running something similar. When it comes down to it though, running is running, and as long as I've put in the miles and strengthened my legs and core, any 12 mile race should be doable. Yeah. Or so I thought until I started up the mountain in Santa Fe, NM.

The plan was to do "A Long, Strenuous Hike With Great Views" up and around Atalaya Peak, a 9.5 mile route that's part of the Dale Ball Trail system. Thankfully the altitude didn't seem to affect me much, as my resting heart rate of 57 was unchanged (if not slightly lower) the morning of my run. The weather was incredible and I was well rested. So with no reservations, I started out at my normal pace and looked forward to an enjoyable morning. But very early on, I began to question that simple-minded strategy. Because "uhh, I'm not even a half mile in and this is already getting pretty steep. And it's not flattening out."

Oh Toto. I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

The starting elevation was around 7300 ft above sea level which is certainly higher than the rim of PD Canyon (3500 ft), but it's not that significant. After one mile though, I was at over 7600 ft, and I'm used to seeing no more than a 100 ft climb over the course of a mile at home. At two miles, the elevation was over 8200 ft. And after three, the top of Atalaya peak, it was just shy of 9100 ft. Running for no more than 30 seconds felt like a quarter mile sprint. Ugh.

What an idiot I turned out to be. A naive, inexperienced idiot. There's just no running that kind of climb. Not right now anyway. Not in my current physical condition. All this time I thought the "walk the steep uphills" rule applied to the tiny sections of PDC that aren't completely flat. Oh, Jason. Those aren't uphills. Those are speed bumps compared to what you're going to see in Colorado, so you better learn to attack the small stuff.

Well hard lesson learned. I wore myself out on Atalaya, deciding to just head back down and call it a day. Still, I'm really, really thankful for the experience I gained from a mere six miles. Going up hundreds of feet per mile is all about being smart and saving your juice for the parts that don't instantly jack your heart rate up to 160+ BPM. Patience, patience, patience. (Something I need to learn and not just in running.) And as difficult as the climb to the top was, it was equally fun hauling ass on the way down, slowing down only to prevent a nasty tumble or glorious dive off the mountain.

So now I know what it's going to take to complete the Barr Trail race, staying under the allowed time limit and getting my shirt and keychain. Now I know what to expect physically and mentally, and how to better pace myself on both aspects. Now I know that I'm definitely not ready. But I will be.