Running in the mountains

We're in the Salt Lake City area visiting my brother and his family this week. They live in a beautiful gated community on the side of a mountain and have spectacular views of the mountains from their house.

Today I decided to run and take in the scenery so I got all bundled up in a fleece, gloves, stocking hat, running tights, and shorts. After just a mile, I stopped to swap the fleece for a long sleeved tee and pocketed my gloves and hat.  It was in the mid-30's, windy, and spitting snow/rain, but it really wasn't as cold as I expected. It was actually really nice.

I took off from my brother's house and was drawn toward the wonderful mountain view.  It wasn't immediately obvious to me that in doing so, I was running up hill.  And the up part got more and more pronounced as I got closer to the large mountains. On the way up, I had to walk quite a bit. On the way back down, I walked just once. As a result, my miles were very erratic:  11:40, 11:25, 13:43, 9:11, and 10:12. 

I'm pleasantly surprised I got in a 5 mile run today - and surprised I did so in about 56 minutes.  Initially I was very discouraged because I didn't realize I was going up a very long hill and I blamed the elevation and poor fitness for my pitiful performance.  It was very discouraging initially, but got much better later.  I'm sure the elevation played some role in my run today, though.  At Ohio State, I run at an elevation of about 765 and the elevation at Bryan's house is about 4,900. 

Tomorrow, we'll be skiing at a local ski resort with a base elevation of 7,700 that rises to11,000.  I'll never get to the top.  As a novice, I'll be on the bunny hills.  And I'll probably be overdressed again.

I think the elevation is messing with my lymphedema. My hand has been pretty swollen since I got here. I wore the custom glove and wrapped an ace-type bandage from my hand to my elbow during my run today. I'll probably do the same on the ski slopes tomorrow.