Where the wild things are...

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Kim, a young lady I coached during her high school career, is quite a runner. She competes with the big dawgs in Division One for the University of Akron and her team’s lead runner. She really doesn’t know what it’s like to run slow…until now.

She’s spending the summer working at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado, which is somewhere around 10,000 feet above sea level. We talked a little about acclimatization before she left and she’s been at elevation before, but never to run. She went on her first run yesterday and wrote this about the experience in her blog: “I went for my first high altitude run today. It was 20 minutes, but I was gasping for air and breathing like a fat kid…while running 9 minute pace.”

You know…I’m happy that she’s going through a living hell. I mean I’m 55 now and every run is at 9-minute pace – so too freakin’ bad for you. I was fortunate enough to run and ride at altitude on a business trip to Denver, but that was only a mile high. It truly does suck, but she’ll likely acclimatize over the next 10 days and will be a better runner upon her return to sea level. I, on the other hand, will remain mediocre.

She also brought up something that anyone who enjoys the wilderness finds disturbing. Apparently, the black bear population in that part of the country has had their way with human trash for a number of years and has completely forgotten how to forage for food in the wild. A recent attempt by the state to remedy this situation – requiring residents to use only bear proofed garbage containers – has left the bears malnourished and looking for human food. They can be very persistent and are extremely clever. Unfortunately, they also become very bold and a danger to humans. One such bear was euthanized and there will be more before the animals re-learn the art of finding food in their natural environment.

I see the issue all the time in the back country of the Adirondacks. Campers come in under the mistaken impression that they can hang their food in trees, as they were able to do in years past, and it will be safe from bears. They can’t. The bears have caught up and the only way to keep food from them is by carrying everything in a bear canister. They are a little pricy and somewhat bulky – but they’re the law now and with good reason. Still, morons insist on not using them and the bears continue to invade camp sites looking for their, and my, food.

I only bring this up because I continue to encourage people to head into the back country as part of their fitness routine. I will be taking some first-timers out at the end of this summer and I insist upon complete compliance to the food rules. Though I kind of like having the bears around – it makes it much more interesting – I am aware that bad things can happen with too much interaction. We’re the visitors. It’s their habitat. More on this as I get closer to taking a trip.

I was quite tired heading into tonight’s run. I had been planning on doing a ride with John, but the rain changed that plan. I only had time for about a 40-minute run…and that was fine. Once again though, I got going and it felt pretty easy. By the time I was finishing up, I wished I’d have had more time so I could have done another one-hour effort.

Run duration: 43 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 140.

Calories burned during workout: 725.