Holiday and Conference in the US
4.8.14-10.8.14
First half of the week in Lund, then flew out to Austin, TX for ICPS 2014. First thing that hit coming out of the airport was the heat - 35C on the day I arrived :-S Decided to go running only once a day, early in the morning (5-7am) before the sun came up and it was 'only' 25-ish!
Like most US cities, it was impractical to run round the more urban areas of Austin due to the amount of traffic and also the junctions (since having to stop for lights every 100m is not such a nice run). Fortunately, there was a trail right along the river and artificial Lady Bird Lake right in the centre of the city, equipped with toilets and drinking fountains right round the route. This was very much 'the' place to run though for most Austinites, so the paths got somewhat congested in places. The only downside was lack of streetlighting, which again meant morning running only. Unfortunately it often tends to be in big US cities that such areas are a magnet for the local homeless and crazies, which can be a bit of a concern with regards to safety, but I never saw so much of this here - plus there were always a good number of others running at the same time, even at 6am. One has to watch out for the bats though!
I'd decided doing interval training on hol was a bit impractical due to time constraints (and not knowing exactly where to go), so I decided to mix some easy pace running with some hard local Strava segments round the lake as a single run. Many of these were the miles marked out around the lake (around 9 in total) - it's been a good few years since I did mile intervals, having stuck to metric ks since I moved over here. I also had a few trips up into the hills on the western edge of the city, which were between 4-10% gradients for up to 800m at a time. It was pretty easy to get lost in the generic US suburbs however!
Particularly nice was the Barton Springs Pool only 1-2k from the lake trail, a swimming pool made by damming a local creek and fed by a local spring. A great way to finish off a very hot run round in the mornings, especially since it was free before 8am.
11.8.14-17.8.14
From 16.8 - 25.8 we travelled across the US South West, stopping at:
Carlsbad, NM - probably the worst place to run on the holiday. Very much a grim oil, mining and stopover town, with a great big busy road running straight through the centre. The only place I ran here was on the twisty paths round Carlsbad Lake, which was nothing to write home about.
Albuquerque, NM - running in the evening on some of the quieter roads down to the Rio Grande was quite an experience, for the sheer amount of noise made by all the desert insects, quite a difference from Sweden. The altitude really hits here. The city itself is about a mile above sea level and hills become a lot harder. Stayed close to the Intel fab plant (actually in the city of Rio Rancho), where there was an excellent desert trail running along the ridge bordering the plant that gave good views over the city and to Sandia mountain, plus some ok running in the suburbs. If you can find a hotel close enough (not easy), the mountains are definitely good for trail running, although the Sandia Crest trail itself becomes very rocky after 5-6miles (turn back where it says 'don't continue in winter' to avoid the rocks).
18.8.14-24.8.14
Durango, CO - great place for trail running. The town itself - which is very much what I'd expected for Colorado mountain tourist town - is somewhat blighted by a big busy road running though it. But there are many, many running and mountain biking routes up into the mountains on your doorstep. I particularly enjoyed this section: Skyline Trail Ascent with lots of twisty switchbacks. The altitude was brutal however, at 2km above sea level at the lowest, which is nearly 1km higher than some routes I've done in the past in the Alps. By the top, I was usually gasping for breath and tasting blood if I pushed hard. I also managed a somewhat painful fall on the trail: 2 scraped knees, the tip of my thumb taken off, bruised hand and elbow plus a lost big toenail :-S (I've done worse!)
Page, AZ - probably the most scenic place I ran on holiday, right next to Glen Canyon and the big dam there. The best place I found to run was to go into the northern suburbs off the main motel road to the dam. From here, you could follow the trail running round the town up onto the adjacent mesa for some spectacular views down across the flooded canyon. Alternatively, you could head down (N. Navajo Dr is a good hill to run up\down) towards the dam, then turn right along the edge of the reservoir. Down here were toilets and an area where you could swim, just a few hundred metres behind the dam. Swimming above a big, deep canyon was certainly quite an experience! (although I'd not go alone, lots of slippery rocks and a few big waves from speedboats...). I also took a run across the dam bridge itself (there is a footpath), although this is something to do only in the early mornings, given to get there it's necessary to run along the side of the busy interstate for a km or 2.
Hurricane, UT - quite a nice place, with some great scenery around. Lots of fairly quiet suburban roads in the mornings, plus quite a few trails, especially if you stay in the centre of town. Here I did some hill intervals, up a good 13% road hill I found (or Strava directed me to!) near the back of town. Hurricane is still 1km+ altitude, so it was again quite hard to run, but not nearly as tough as Durango.
25.8.14-31.8.14
Las Vegas, NV - bottled it. Didn't even try running here, stuck to the hotel gym. I think if you get up very early (4-5am), then it is possible to run, if you immediately head off The Strip. The evening - don't even try! With all the traffic and dust (you can see the pollution haze) plus the heat, I really don't think running outside is so good for you here in summer.
For the final bit of the holiday, I stopped over in NYC on the way back. Staying on Manhattan, practically the only place to run is Central Park - but it's certainly a good place to do so! On the road around the park was a separate running lane, so that all day people could run a 10km lap inside the park (with cars completely banned in the mornings and evenings). This was excellent, if a little crowded at times, to run round - and surprisingly hilly in places, such as at the Harlem end. I expected it to be a bit dodgy when it got dark in the evenings, but actually it wasn't too bad (if anything, the couple of blocks to get there were worse), with good lighting and a good few others also running. The main danger TBH were the bikes, racing each other on the cycle lane just inside the running one (one has to question why you need an 8 grand road bike and beer gut squeezed into full TdF cycle kit to take a morning ride round a park, let alone at 3pm with tourists and all there...).
I stuck mostly to the 10km road lap, with a bit of running on the softer inner trails, particularly around the reservoir. On the final day, I also managed some hill intervals up the 'Harlem Hill' which were somewhat easier than those at altitude in previous weeks!
Overall some good running (and great to run somewhere different) - however, I didn't cover so much distance, averaging only 70-80k per week. This I think will probably hurt me, going into racing season again in Sept...
4.8.14-10.8.14
First half of the week in Lund, then flew out to Austin, TX for ICPS 2014. First thing that hit coming out of the airport was the heat - 35C on the day I arrived :-S Decided to go running only once a day, early in the morning (5-7am) before the sun came up and it was 'only' 25-ish!
Like most US cities, it was impractical to run round the more urban areas of Austin due to the amount of traffic and also the junctions (since having to stop for lights every 100m is not such a nice run). Fortunately, there was a trail right along the river and artificial Lady Bird Lake right in the centre of the city, equipped with toilets and drinking fountains right round the route. This was very much 'the' place to run though for most Austinites, so the paths got somewhat congested in places. The only downside was lack of streetlighting, which again meant morning running only. Unfortunately it often tends to be in big US cities that such areas are a magnet for the local homeless and crazies, which can be a bit of a concern with regards to safety, but I never saw so much of this here - plus there were always a good number of others running at the same time, even at 6am. One has to watch out for the bats though!
I'd decided doing interval training on hol was a bit impractical due to time constraints (and not knowing exactly where to go), so I decided to mix some easy pace running with some hard local Strava segments round the lake as a single run. Many of these were the miles marked out around the lake (around 9 in total) - it's been a good few years since I did mile intervals, having stuck to metric ks since I moved over here. I also had a few trips up into the hills on the western edge of the city, which were between 4-10% gradients for up to 800m at a time. It was pretty easy to get lost in the generic US suburbs however!
Particularly nice was the Barton Springs Pool only 1-2k from the lake trail, a swimming pool made by damming a local creek and fed by a local spring. A great way to finish off a very hot run round in the mornings, especially since it was free before 8am.
11.8.14-17.8.14
From 16.8 - 25.8 we travelled across the US South West, stopping at:
Carlsbad, NM - probably the worst place to run on the holiday. Very much a grim oil, mining and stopover town, with a great big busy road running straight through the centre. The only place I ran here was on the twisty paths round Carlsbad Lake, which was nothing to write home about.
Albuquerque, NM - running in the evening on some of the quieter roads down to the Rio Grande was quite an experience, for the sheer amount of noise made by all the desert insects, quite a difference from Sweden. The altitude really hits here. The city itself is about a mile above sea level and hills become a lot harder. Stayed close to the Intel fab plant (actually in the city of Rio Rancho), where there was an excellent desert trail running along the ridge bordering the plant that gave good views over the city and to Sandia mountain, plus some ok running in the suburbs. If you can find a hotel close enough (not easy), the mountains are definitely good for trail running, although the Sandia Crest trail itself becomes very rocky after 5-6miles (turn back where it says 'don't continue in winter' to avoid the rocks).
18.8.14-24.8.14
Durango, CO - great place for trail running. The town itself - which is very much what I'd expected for Colorado mountain tourist town - is somewhat blighted by a big busy road running though it. But there are many, many running and mountain biking routes up into the mountains on your doorstep. I particularly enjoyed this section: Skyline Trail Ascent with lots of twisty switchbacks. The altitude was brutal however, at 2km above sea level at the lowest, which is nearly 1km higher than some routes I've done in the past in the Alps. By the top, I was usually gasping for breath and tasting blood if I pushed hard. I also managed a somewhat painful fall on the trail: 2 scraped knees, the tip of my thumb taken off, bruised hand and elbow plus a lost big toenail :-S (I've done worse!)
Page, AZ - probably the most scenic place I ran on holiday, right next to Glen Canyon and the big dam there. The best place I found to run was to go into the northern suburbs off the main motel road to the dam. From here, you could follow the trail running round the town up onto the adjacent mesa for some spectacular views down across the flooded canyon. Alternatively, you could head down (N. Navajo Dr is a good hill to run up\down) towards the dam, then turn right along the edge of the reservoir. Down here were toilets and an area where you could swim, just a few hundred metres behind the dam. Swimming above a big, deep canyon was certainly quite an experience! (although I'd not go alone, lots of slippery rocks and a few big waves from speedboats...). I also took a run across the dam bridge itself (there is a footpath), although this is something to do only in the early mornings, given to get there it's necessary to run along the side of the busy interstate for a km or 2.
Hurricane, UT - quite a nice place, with some great scenery around. Lots of fairly quiet suburban roads in the mornings, plus quite a few trails, especially if you stay in the centre of town. Here I did some hill intervals, up a good 13% road hill I found (or Strava directed me to!) near the back of town. Hurricane is still 1km+ altitude, so it was again quite hard to run, but not nearly as tough as Durango.
25.8.14-31.8.14
Las Vegas, NV - bottled it. Didn't even try running here, stuck to the hotel gym. I think if you get up very early (4-5am), then it is possible to run, if you immediately head off The Strip. The evening - don't even try! With all the traffic and dust (you can see the pollution haze) plus the heat, I really don't think running outside is so good for you here in summer.
For the final bit of the holiday, I stopped over in NYC on the way back. Staying on Manhattan, practically the only place to run is Central Park - but it's certainly a good place to do so! On the road around the park was a separate running lane, so that all day people could run a 10km lap inside the park (with cars completely banned in the mornings and evenings). This was excellent, if a little crowded at times, to run round - and surprisingly hilly in places, such as at the Harlem end. I expected it to be a bit dodgy when it got dark in the evenings, but actually it wasn't too bad (if anything, the couple of blocks to get there were worse), with good lighting and a good few others also running. The main danger TBH were the bikes, racing each other on the cycle lane just inside the running one (one has to question why you need an 8 grand road bike and beer gut squeezed into full TdF cycle kit to take a morning ride round a park, let alone at 3pm with tourists and all there...).
I stuck mostly to the 10km road lap, with a bit of running on the softer inner trails, particularly around the reservoir. On the final day, I also managed some hill intervals up the 'Harlem Hill' which were somewhat easier than those at altitude in previous weeks!
Overall some good running (and great to run somewhere different) - however, I didn't cover so much distance, averaging only 70-80k per week. This I think will probably hurt me, going into racing season again in Sept...
