Monday, June 23, 2008

Trail run

One thing you really can't do is racewalk on an unpaved trail. I had read about this run in Runner's World magazine, and I wanted to do it, so I decided to RUN, yes RUN, the 6.4 mile round trip. So this morning I ran the Cow Creek trail to Bridal Veil Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was awesome. There were 2 short parts that I had to power walk/hike because they were too steep for me to run, and then the last half to 3/4 mile was also too steep to run. It took me 43 minutes to get to the falls (3.2 miles) and 34 minutes to get back, for 1:17 total. Not bad for a racewalker who never runs, and at high altitude too! It was from 7840 feet to 8880 feet at the falls, for 1040 feet of elevation gain. Of course, I live at 4400 feet or so, and that helps a lot, but this is still at elevation even for me. I didn't notice it so much, though, and the run felt pretty easy for the most part. My legs were more tired than my lungs, as I'm not used to running and it uses the quads lots more than racewalking. But it was a lot of fun, and there are more pictures here if you want to see them!

2 comments:

Hunca Munca said...

Beautiful photos - I'm so glad to see you guys having a good time! Sounds like the trail run was quite a workout, but worth it. Isn't summer great? Just wanted to say happy birthday to Michelle! Is she really already TWO? Give her a hug and kiss from me.
Sarah

Unknown said...

Oh yeah! I forgot that you live and train at a higher elevation than me! That must be why you manage to be faster than me in races! Yeah, that's it..... ;) (If you don't mind I'll just tell myself that's the reason!)

Sounds like a nice run you had today.