Sunday, March 05, 2006

Barr Camp and beyond...

After a late night last night I got up at 6:30AM to meet up with the Incline Club. Today's run was to be up to Barr Camp and back. I was in somewhat of a hurry as I had an interview for another bartending gig at 2:30PM, so my plan was to run up the hill for two hours and turn around.

Last time I ran to Barr Camp, two hours wouldn't have gotten me there. It took me about 2:05 or so, and it was painful. I must be getting used to the altitude however, as I was able to hit the Camp at 1:45 today! And in fact, I didn't stop. I contunued on another mile up the trail, to the Bottomless Pitt. Trail got very icy above 10,000 feet, and the lack of oxygen was making me dizzy. Hence, I was hurtin' pretty bad. I even took a five minute break at the Pit, trying to catch my breath, but in the low O2 I felt like I was slowly drowning. I went back down to Barr Camp for some water and some home made cookies, and then contunued back to Manitou.

Even with the five minute break at the Pit, and a ten minute break at Barr Camp, I still made it down in 1:45, a pretty good negative split for me as I'm a shitty downhill runner.

I did gain a new respect for all the Austinites who do the Ascent/Marathon/Double. This was a great workout, a combined long run with a near-race effort, much of it up hill in the altitude. The kind of workout that'll get me up Pikes quickly on race day. And the kind of workout you just can't do in Austin. So kudos to all the Austinites who had the balls to sign up!

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