This last week I was in Denver visiting family, friends and going to my 20th high school reunion. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a planner and that I love to have a schedule and for it to be full. My grand plan for this visit turned out to be over-scheduled and even disrupted by altitude! Unfortunately, I did not get to do everything on my plan.
This included my running schedule. Since I grew up in Denver I never appreciated how thin the air is. Coming from Spokane which is at 1,843 feet above sea level (to be exact) to Denver which every one knows is the mile high city was a little bit of a shock to my system. I had headaches everyday and higher fatigue than normal.
The altitude really presented itself as I went for a hike with my friend in Evergreen, CO (elevation 7220). Halfway through her planned hike she chuckled and said, “I forgot about the elevation difference. I was wondering why you were huffing and puffing!” At this point I was getting dizzy and realizing I think it might be better to turn around than to continue. (Picture above taken on our limited hike in Evergreen.)
Needless to say I did not run in Denver. I had the best of plans. My father was set to watch Jack one morning so I could get my long run in. However, my fatigue and lack of air made his help unnecessary.
I did get my weights workout in however. In fact, I visited the place where my training career began in 1998, the Colorado Athletic Club Monaco. By a fluke I was hired here after taking my first certification. In fact it was plain luck. The new manager did not care that I did not have my college degree yet but all the other trainers did care. For the most part they were all highly qualified and with four year degrees. The first couple of months were rough and I believe this was the time I adopted the term – toughen up buttercup!
Toughen up I did. I ignored the snide comments and dug into learning what all these highly qualified trainers knew. It was through a couple of these folks that I was sent on the path of owning my own studio and working with some great people. I am forever grateful for the knowledge learned and the guidance that these trainers gave me.
Enough of memory lane – on to the workouts. I got two weight workouts in. One at my old stomping grounds and another at the closet sized workout room at the hotel. Literally max capacity of two people. Thankfully they had dumbbells and medicines balls. What else do you really need?!?! I performed a 3 circuits of 10 reps of the following:
- Medicine ball Squat Push Press
- MB Revese Woodchoops
- BW Push up
- Plank Dumbbell Row
- Dips
Followed by 2 sets of side planks and 1 set of prone cobras.
A pretty good little travel workout! While I would have liked to get more cardio in I don’t think my running schedule suffered. I got back and did my planned two runs on Saturday (4 miles with Sprint work) and Sunday (9 miles steady run.)
Favorite Recovery Shake: Diane Sanfilippo Cherry shake (minus the stevia. Stevia is not my favorite!)http://balancedbites.com/content/cherry-vanilla-protein-shake/
Favorite Running Song: Since I went back to Denver for my high school reunion I thought going back to the 90s was needed. One of my favorite songs from high school was, “Little Ditty” by Paper Boy.
