The Imogene Pass Run is in two weeks, so tomorrow is my last planned long, steep hill run in training for that.


       


Last week (as I reported on Monday ) I tried to run from the base up to Upper Camp Bird and back, which would be a 15 miler, but I got lost.

This week, I'm planning on running from the 2.5 mile mark up to the top and back - a 15 miler - and this week, I have printed maps and course description : )

(The astute observer will look at the above elevation profile and realize that there is only one little bitty stretch of flat/downhill on the whole Ouray side, and will see that - by starting at the 2.5 mile mark - I'm denying myself that one bit of respite. Well, that's the way the schedule works out - I need a 15 miler tomorrow, and this is it : )

This is going to be a difficult run, and not istake - I'm under no illusions about that. For one thing, tomorrow is the end of another 60 mile week, so I'm not exactly "fresh" (all of my miles these days are above 8700 feet, at least, and almost all of them involve long, steep chunks of mountain).

So I've run a lot of miles this week, so I'm tired. However, none of the  miles that I've run in training since this silliness started have been above 11,000 feet, and up there the air gets thin indeed - and I'm not prepared for it.

So tomorrow is scary.

So I've set up some rules for this run, rules which I hope will keep me from getting hurt, or from "leaving my race in training" - i.e. wearing myself out so bad during a training run that I can't recover before the race itself.

One of my long-standing rules is that I am not allowed to walk during training runs. And one of my normal rules is that when I'm running uphill, I can only stop for administrative purposes - potty stops, pulling off my camelbak to get supplies, etc - there are times when I stop on uphills, but that's when I reach a place where I simply cannot continue without a rest.

Well, if I enforce these rules tomorrow, I might get hurt - there are a lot of place on the Imogene course to fall down and hurt yourself, and there are no Urgent Care centers at 13,000 feet - or, if not hurt, then I might overdo and wear myself out. When I think about that top 2000 feet of climb, at 14.1% average grade with less than two-thirds of the normal oxygen partial pressure, it's just plain scary.

So - FOR TOMORROW ONLY - here are the rules:

1) I can stop at any time and rest - in fact, I WILL stop and rest, often. I will carry my phone with me - of course, for emergencies or to keep on track with Ethel, but also just to take pictures, which will force me to stop. Stopping tomorrow is a GOOD THING - it will probably help me to keep going in two weeks.

2) I am allowed to walk uphills, as long as I keep my GPS going and track my walking distance, and then tag that distance on at the end of the run - an uphillI at the end of the run, just to keep myself honest, even though it probably won't be as steep, and certainly won't be as oxygen deprived.

I'm hoping that these rules allow me to complete the run without injury, and without wiping myself out. But, since I can't be sure of that, I'm adding one more rule -

3) I can turn back at any time.

Currently the plan is to run to the top and back down to the 2.5 mile mark - however, if I make it to the top, and I feel okay, and if I have cell coverage, then I'll call Ethel, and - if she wants to drive to Telluride - then I'll go down the other side.

Maybe.

If this goes well, and if it seems that I can still benefit from more steepness, then I might run Kendall Mountain in Silverton next Tuesday or Wednesday. But that's "if this goes well".