Mosca Pass

Mountain Run day! After munching on a Lemon Zest Luna Bar, I buckled up and headed out with the class to Mosca Pass for my last mountain run. The task ahead of me: 4 miles up, 4 miles down. The first two miles were pure agony. Sharp switchbacks on a bunch of uneven rocks on the side of a cliff. The next two were rolling in a beautifully wooded meadow. And then finally, another spectacular view at the top followed by 4 miles of flying. Literally took me 39 minutes to get to the top (almost 10 minute pace) and 27 minutes to get down (6:40 pace).It was a great way to end my mountain run adventures. After the journey back to campus, I made a big batch of pumpkin chia seed pancakes with vanilla soy milk and hit the sack. I was beat. I haven't really been sleeping too well because it is so hot here. And with no air conditioning...it's not a pleasant sleeping arrangement..but I manage just fine. After my nap Kels and I headed over to the weight room to lift, grabbed some lunch, and then headed out for an afternoon 4 miler. Another 12 mile day for me. Racking up the miles to 70 this week! What does a day of heavy mileage spell? P-I-Z-Z-A! Pizza with pesto, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach! DELICIOUS! We each had a half of the pie! Bet you can guess what I did with my crust.....give up? I DIPPED IT IN HONEY. I'm telling you, it will change your life. ;) Well tonight the boys are coming over to watch Dazed and Confused, so I better run. Have a terrific Tuesday!

Monday Monday Monday

This morning began with a beautiful 8.5 mile run with Zoila! We just did a quick out and back that both of us love. When I got back, I got straight to work on some crosswords and on a powerpoint slideshow for the camp that I work at in July. By the time I looked back up at the clock it was close to noon. (after about 3 hours) I made a quick lunch and took a power nap before my second run. I had 12 miles today, so about 2:30 I headed out for run #2. It was pretty toasty today, but with a slight breeze that helped out some. When I got back, I got a head start on packing... :( sad day. Im not ready to leave this training, but a month had to go by at some point. Spaghetti squash, chicken, and veggies was on the menu for dinner tonight. Pretty delightfully delicious. Until I go to sleep, I'll probably watch a little bit of the Bachelorette and some good ole Gamecock Baseball. Not to mention, the numerous screens of results, twitters, and chat rooms about the track trials up on my computer. It will probably be a pretty early night for me, considering I have my last mountain run in the morning. Happy Monday peeps.

It's a Scorcher

So, today it's hot. Very hot. With about 8 wildfires roaming around Colorado, the weather has been three times as hot and three times as dry. Despite the heat I still had a pleasant morning run with my new friend Zoila. We did 11 miles together and then I finished up two more to the track to do some drills and strides. 13 mile day baby. Boom. I can't believe that I only have a little over 4 days left here :/. I am excited to see my family and to live in air conditioning but I am so sad to have to leave the trials behind that have been so great for training. If any of you ever get the chance to sign up for something like this....don't hesitate. Sign Up. It is well worth it. Well after my big run, I had some delicious Pumpkin Chia Seed Pancakes and then hit up the weight room. Did a quick weight session, then headed to the store to get a few things to help me get through the week. For the rest of the day, I will most likely just do crosswords, read, and stretch. 13 miles, I feel like it's okay if I am a little bit lazy this afternoon ;). Happy Sunday everyone. Say a prayer for your health, heart, and happiness.

Saturday, Back in Alamosa

So today I woke up, made breakfast, laid out, read an entire book, did abs, ate lunch, and wrote my two page paper for class....all before 12 pm. I wish that I had saved some of the stuff for later on because after that I was so bored! Since I only had to run 3 miles this afternoon I felt as if I had nothing to do. Today really made me realized how much I thrive in my sport and how much I love to run. I was going nuts not getting to feel the dirt trail under my feet or the dry wind through my hair. Sounds lame? Well, I live for it. God has taken this past month in my life to show me that he gave me this gift for a reason. If I take the time to put in the work, and believe in my abilities that I have been given, then I will be invincible. Just wait everyone. Wait to see what is in store for this coming season :).

BOULDER!

Sorry for my lack of blogging over the past few days! I didn't have my computer because I was living one of my dreams of going to BOULDER, COLORADO! Here is how my trip went down...

Wednesday: Early morning 10 miler with the boys before class. Quick class and then we hit the road to Boulder. 4 hours later...we arrived on campus. We took a brief hour campus tour taking pictures and being all touristy. We then went to a famous (and by famous I mean, it was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives) pizza place called "The Sink." We were all starving from the long drive. I ordered a personal sized pizza. Pesto, italian sausage, artichoke, broccoli pizza on whole wheat honey crust...and the kicker? They bring out a sweet honey to drizzle over your crust. True life...I am now addicted to pizza with honey. Delicious! Next stop...PEARL STREET MALL! The city was buzzing like crazy that night. There was a farmer's market going on, street performers at every turn, vendors shoving free samples down your throats, and not to mention the most beautiful views of the mountains. Naturally, I was not going to pass up the homemade ice cream stand. After sampling everything from Chia Tea flavored to lemon sorbet...I landed on a waffle cone with Cookie Dough and Cake Batter! DELISH! After all the festivities...we still had to find a place to stay. Lucky for me, going with all boys meant that noone wanted to spend money on a hotel...and the trunk was full of sleeping bags and tents. So, the final solution? We drove up to 8500 ft and camped in the middle of the woods on the famous Magnolia Drive (from the book Running with the Buffalos). I was petrified...beyond belief. But I thankfully survived the night.

Thursday: Early morning wake up 6:30 am. We headed down to Boulder Creek to do a 9 mile run. It might have been my favorite run all summer. Winding through the town of Boulder and along the mountain passes of Canyon Creek. Incredible. After a few quick strides and drills, we walked on up to the bagel shop where I got a delicious Whole Wheat Bagel with...wait for it....HONEY drizzled on top.  Told you I was obsessed. Next we went to the Boulder Running Company...as any crazy runner kids would do on a trip up there. Then, we drove to the top of Flagstaff road to pay our respects to Adam Goucher's falled teammate Chris Severy "Sev" (in Running with the Buffalos). Then it was down to the park for a nap under some trees. I needed it. Sleeping on rocks and roots the night before did me in. So, after an hour or so, we got up and ran three more miles. At this point...I was cranky. I had run 12 miles, eaten one bagel and an apple and was disgustingly dirty. So what did I do? I went to the Boulder YMCA and payed $5 for a shower. It was worth every cent. So after we got all cleaned up, we were all starved so we hit up the Walnut Brewery. There I indulged in pecan crusted salmon over lemon rice and fresh vegetables. Woah. We took a quick trip down Pearl again where I had to stop at my new favorite ice cream stand to get some NUTELLA flavored ice cream. Um yes, delish. Then, we boarded up in the car to find a new place to camp. We came across a place called Sugarloaf mountain. We pulled up to the parking lot, got out, and asked a couple where the best flat place to set up camp was. They said, "You have to make it to the top. It is the best view of Colorado." We got so excited..until they told us that it was a mile hike. Yay...I had rainbows on. But I was not about to pass up a view like that. So we grabbed all of our gear and started to climb. Once at the top, I felt like crying. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. Wanna know the funny part though? There was a sign...NO CAMPING ALLOWED. ALL CARS FOUND AFTER SUNSET WILL BE TOWED AND FINED $300. ouch. Well, needless to say..noone was willing to risk it, so we climbed back down. We got back in the car and made our way back up to Magnolia (our previous campsite), set up camp, and crashed.

Friday: 7 am wake up and off to run. We drove to the Buffalo ranch, which houses the CU home cross country course. It was gorgeous as always but very hot. I was only planning on going 7 miles, but it was too pretty to resist. I went 9. Don't regret it even for a minute. Afterwards we hit up the famous Village Coffee House for pancakes the size of my face. They were absolutely delicious and extremely filling. They put me in a food coma for the 4 hour trip back. Now, I am back in Alamosa. Boulder...will be my home one day.

Pinos Creek

Mountain run day! Today we drove about an hour out to Pinos Creek. It was a beautiful run and the hill was not terrible to be honest. Probably because nothing could be worse than Rock Creek form last week! I only had to run about 6 miles on it this morning though because I have a 3 mile shake out and weights this afternoon. The full trip from this morning was bout 4 hours so we just got back. I'm pretty beat, so I will most definitely be taking a nap in the next few minutes. Tonight should be pretty calm. The boys are coming over to watch game 4 of the NBA finals and we are going to start to plan our weekend excursion to Boulder starting tomorrow! I cannot wait! I have been dreaming of Boulder for years now and in less than 24 hours, I will be on my way! I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Taking The Necessary Steps

Today was an early day for me. Up at the crack of 5:30 am to run with Zoila! Ran a beautiful railroad loop of about 7 miles to begin the day. After that I headed over to class. Today we discussed ideal conditions for racing and how to calculate your VO2 max. (For those who don't know, VO2 max if the amount of oxygen that you can inspire in one minute per kg of body weight) Scientific stuff. Anyways, class ended early today so I have had a lot of time to do pretty much nothing. but you know, that's what living like an elite running looks like sometimes. You head out for a run in the morning, fuel up with a good meal, nap, and then get up and do it again in the afternoon. Anything else that I do outside of training wastes my energy for my next run. Aside from the daily core sessions in front of the TV, and weights and drills twice a week, I don't do much to stress my body....well the occasional excursions that we go on out here don't count because I would be crazy not to go enjoy Colorado! Most of my afternoons, like today, involve countless crossword puzzles and reruns of Greys Anatomy or Say Yes to the Dress. That is, if I'm not off sleeping. Recently I have begun my book for the month of June. Running the Edge by Adam Goucher and Tim Cataland. It's fantastic. If you love a good running book, go get it. Run to it. I am about to head to do a quick shake out and some drills followed by a pleasantly freezing ice bath. On the menu tonight? Baked Swai fish (I had never heard of it either) with a side of cous cous and cooked carrots. yum diddly. Probably will try to go to bed early tonight too. We have a big boy mountain run early in the am. Something like 6 miles straight up the hill to start before it ever levels off. Yikes. Can't wait! Go big, keep the fire burning.