May has brought big changes. We moved across the country to Colorado. Since the terrain here is much different I’ve added ascent to my Running and Cycling charts below
Running
The problem with racing is that it interferes with training. In May I took some time off from racing and as a result I put in a serious block of training. I took a few days off in the middle of the month for our move, then hit the ground running in Colorado. I ran more miles in May than any other month on record, while at the same time putting in more ascent. While my typical 9-10 mile training runs in Saint Louis contained about 400 ft of ascent, the corresponding training runs here contain about 1000-2000 ft (depending on whether I choose an easy route or a hard route). I typically run more hilly routes on the weekends as well, and that hasn’t changed.
As I prepare to start racing out here I face three big challenges.
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The elevation. I’ve lived my whole life basically at sea level, so running a mile above sea level now is quite a bit more difficult. Each day feels a little bit easier though.
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The uphills. Running uphill is not my strong suit. Now with more opportunities I’m working hard to improve.
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The competition. There’s a much higher concentration of great runners here than there is in Illinois or Missouri (and who can blame them?). I can’t really do much about that, so I’ll have to raise my game to stay competitive.
| Month | Workouts | Total Dist | Avg Dist | Total Ascent | Avg Ascent |
| January | 19 | 192.03 miles | 10.11 miles | 9620. feet | 506.32 feet |
| February | 19 | 227.4 miles | 11.97 miles | 12301. feet | 647.42 feet |
| March | 17 | 192.96 miles | 11.35 miles | 10819. feet | 636.41 feet |
| April | 15 | 155.20 miles | 10.35 miles | 10947. feet | 729.80 feet |
| May | 24 | 252.5 miles | 10.52 miles | 20364. feet | 848.5 feet |
| Total | 95 | 1030.34 miles | 10.85 miles | 65253. feet | 686.87 feet |
Cycling
While the hills are much bigger here in Fort Collins, there is also much more flat ground as well. Nearly everything in Saint Louis is rolling hills, while here it’s at either end of the spectrum. I haven’t been out on my bike as much as I’d like, due to, um, scheduling conflicts with my running.
| Month | Workouts | Total Dist | Avg Dist | Total Ascent | Avg Ascent |
| January | 4 | 64.74 miles | 16.19 miles | 1114. feet | 278.5 feet |
| February | 1 | 15.9 miles | 15.9 miles | 0. feet | 0. feet |
| March | 2 | 51.18 miles | 25.59 miles | 2115. feet | 1057.5 feet |
| April | 6 | 148.91 miles | 24.82 miles | 6250. feet | 1041.67 feet |
| May | 4 | 73.05 miles | 18.26 miles | 2810. feet | 702.5 feet |
| Total | 18 | 372.34 miles | 20.69 miles | 13444. feet | 746.89 feet |
Walking/Hiking
| Month | Workouts | Total Dist | Avg Dist |
| January | 11 | 27.72 miles | 2.52 miles |
| February | 11 | 26.8 miles | 2.44 miles |
| March | 11 | 32.72 miles | 2.97 miles |
| April | 23 | 64.33 miles | 2.80 miles |
| May | 20 | 57.9 miles | 2.9 miles |
| Total | 77 | 213.97 miles | 2.78 miles |
