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When I decided to run a half marathon on my 40th birthday, I also decided to bring the total number of races I ran to a nice even number. In my mind that meant changing my total from 40 to 50. The schedule I’d already decided on had me running 47 races I think, so I just needed to add a few more to hit 50. I added a couple earlier in the spring, but left one for while we were on our road trip.
Because of the elevation difference between Virginia and Montana, I wanted to run a race in Utah or Montana before the half marathon. Schedule wise, I knew it would work best while we were in Utah.
After some googling around, I found a couple options, settling on Millie’s Princess Foundation Run because it’s held near where some friends of ours live and we could stop and visit them after the race.The 5k was also a fundraiser to support a couple children with cancer, so it was definitely for a good cause. The race was held a week before my half marathon, which gave me the chance to see how my body was handling the more rarified mountain air. I also hoped it would give me an idea of how I’d do in the half marathon.
I had planned on running each day as we drove out west, but reality quickly set in and it didn’t actually happen. I did go for a brief run a few days before the 5k and we completed five hikes in the week before the race. So I didn’t run as much as I wanted, but I wasn’t just sitting around, either.
The steep hikes did aggravate my plantar fasciitis, but I was able to run the race without my feet giving me problems. This is generally the case though: the plantar fasciitis usually flares up after I’m done running for the day and over night, leaving me with sore feet after a run and first thing in the morning.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this race, but it turned out to be mostly flat, which enabled me to run my third fastest 5k since I started running again 10 years ago. The first half mile was rough, as my legs felt tired and leaden (most likely from all the hiking), but then I found my stride and I felt pretty good the rest of the race.
Running into the wind for a stretch slowed me down a bit, but not too badly. In fact, I was able to run the whole race without stopping, which doesn’t always happen. The elevation didn’t seem to bother me too much as I didn’t struggle to catch my breath or feel lightheaded. By the time I ran the race I’d been at higher elevations for a solid week, so I had some time to acclimate to the higher elevation.
It was a good race, a good cause, and all the characters the race lent a fun touch to the morning. I finished the race feeling good about my race preparation and excited to officially finish my two year goal.
Because I was curious, I looked up the elevations of the different locations involved:
- Where we live in Virginia ~600 feet
- 5k in South Jordan, Utah ~4500 feet
- Glacier half marathon just outside Glacier NP ~5000 ft to 6000 ft
Have you experienced problems traveling from lower to higher elevations? What did you do to alleviate your symptoms?
