Kate Runs Colorado: Running Slump / Wrights Lake

My last few weeks have been a little discouraging. The week after I hiked Mt. Elbert, I was just feeling "off". I couldn't get myself to get up early and go running, or any other type of working out, and then Saturday morning I had the worst training run for Imogene Pass Run yet. I'm only a few weeks out from race day, so it was a big blow to me!

My plan was to run Camp Bird Road (the first part of IPR), and then instead of going up to Imogene Pass, I would head into Yankee Boy Basin and up to Blue Lakes Pass, and then back down. Well, I don't know if my body just needed a break or what, but I was just not feeling this run, and was not doing well. I walked WAY more than I wanted to. I mean, I barely ran AT ALL! And then, I didn't even make it to the top of Blue Lakes Pass. I still made it about 6.4 miles, one-way, but that's still only 12.8 miles total. IPR is going to be 17.1! The worst part about it was that those 12.8 miles took me 4 hours. I was hoping to do IPR in 4 hours.

So needless to say, it was a bit disheartening. Sunday, I was planning on trying for another run - Sneffels Highline, with some fellow runners. Sneffels Highline is a trail accessible from the Telluride side of the mountains with gorgeous views of the Sneffels Range. I was really looking forward to this, but ended up with a headache Saturday afternoon that lasted thru Sunday morning, so I ended up skipping it. As much as I wanted to go, I'm now thinking it was probably better that I skipped it, as I'm wondering if my body just needs rest. This summer has been a bit on the crazy side. I love summer, but I just feel like I've been trying to cram as much as possible into the weekends (running Saturday, hiking Sunday - both almost all-day activities since they require driving into the Mountains), and then during the week, trying to get up early and run before work so I miss the afternoon heat, and it's just been non-stop!

Taking Sunday off didn't mean a completely lazy day unfortunately. I spent the day thoroughly cleaning the house (which needed to be done, so while it wasn't fun, it felt good to get it done), and then I did end up going for a short 3 mile run - which also didn't go well. In addition to just not having much energy, I've been getting a lot of side-stitching/cramping lately. On Saturday's run, when I would normally run all of the downhill sections, I ended up walking a lot as well due to this side-stitching problem. So just another discouraging issue I've been dealing with. I've been researching it, and have found focusing on my breathing to be helping a little.

This past week hasn't been too bad. I decided I would let my body rest a little more than usual, so I've only ran twice this week, but both times have seemed to go okay. Tuesday I ran 5 easy paced/slow miles, and then last night I ran 4.7 fast miles. I did start to feel the side stitches coming on in my faster run last night, but I started to concentrate on my breathing and managed to push through them without them getting bad.

So anyways, kind of a boring post, but it's just been a little frustrating to be having issues this close to Imogene Pass Run. I've been working my butt off all summer for it, and I want to be able to really go out there and do my best. I'm just hoping that adding a little more rest will help and not hinder my remaining 2 weeks of training!

A few pictures from Saturdays run:
(It was still a beautiful day, despite my running issues, and I ended up making it to the beautiful "Wrights Lake" - an alpine lake on the way to Blue Lakes Pass)