30K in Park City

This workout didn't start well. First, it was pouring rain when I awoke at 5:20 am to go out. Um, not good. It does that sometimes in the mountains in the summer. Fortunately, after I waited around for a while it stopped raining and during the 30K it was mostly overcast, with an occasional shower. No biggie. The temperature was OK, ranging from 60-64F (15.6-17.8C). It was really humid, but at least the temperature was cool enough that I didn't feel too terribly hot. The unknown factor was the altitude, ranging from 6460ft (1940m) to 6549ft (1996m) along my route. That's considerably higher than my usual workouts in Salt Lake, which are about 4300ft (1310m).

The first 5K was fine. I took it really, really easy because I knew I had a long way to go. I finished it in 32:36, and it included some gently rolling hills. However, as has been usual lately, km 6-10 were not easy for some reason. I had a bunch of stomach cramps nothing came of them at all, thankfully, but they did HURT) and even stopped at 7.3km for a few minutes to try and let my stomach settle. It didn't. I kept going anyway. But by 10k, it got better, and I was able to go a little faster to 15K. I did a giant loop for the first 15K and stopped at my car to refill my water bottles. I had planned to do the loop twice, but I was worried about being that far out from my car if things went really bad. It seemed like I was doing better, but I wasn't sure how my system would hold up. So, I started doing short loops around the shopping center and Newpark condos/townhomes in Kimball Junction. There was a very nice paved loop around the shopping center and homes, which was about 2.75km. I ended up doing that loop 5 times plus a little for the last 15K.

Interestingly, though my legs were quite tired and heavy (especially from 20k onwards), I felt much better for the last 15K. Maybe part of it was that I was interested in watching them set up for the Tour of Utah bicycle race, which started at the shopping center about an hour after I finished my workout. Each time I went around there were new things to look at. On the back side of the route, by the condos and townhomes, I was right next to a nature preserve, which was really beautiful. After I got to 20K, I thought I could pick up the pace a bit. I felt pretty decent and I wanted to just get done and get my legs some rest. I went just a little faster, and then when I had 5K left I figured I could go a little harder still. I didn't push hard (my HR was about 150 for the last 5K - not very high at all, and I felt comfortable), and my last 5K was the fastest at 31:53. Not bad! I was glad to be done, though, as my legs were very sore. While this was still a pretty slow 30K, the coach did say to take it easy, and so I'm not worried about the time. For the altitude and for how fast we've been increasing my mileage, it seemed about right.

Splits: 5K 32:36, 10K 34:25 (1:07:01), 15K 33:19 (1:40:20), 20K 32:48 (2:13:08), 25K 32:34 (2:45:42), 30K 31:53 (3:17:35).

Totals: 3:17:35 for the 30K (6:35/km) with average HR 139.

Garmin connect data here.