The Glorieta Baldy Challenge - Take 2
About this time last year I wrote this post about a run up a mountain I did. Well we are back in the same location this year in New Mexico and I figured I needed to try and better my time. I've been asking around if there's any place where records are kept of previous runs but it seems hard to find. I did talk to a fellow runner who ran it back in the 70's in about 2:20. So if you've run Baldy or want to I'd love for you to leave a comment here with your time so we can keep a record of it. The challenge is to start behind the old firehall, write your name in the hikers book there when you leave and when you return. A break at the top to enjoy the view can be subtracted from your time. I took about 15 minutes up there before heading back down today.
It's a fun challenge to run at 7500+ feet when you're used to living pretty close to sea level. That's part of the draw for me I think. I say run but honestly going up I walked nearly as much as I ran since it is so steep. I plugged my watch in and downloaded all the data and thought it would be cool to share. So below is a screen shot of what my Garmin tells me I did. You can see graphs of the elevation, pace and heart rate changes. Looks like I started out too hard by looking at my heart rate. Will need to fix that next year!
You can see all of the stats across the top of the screen shot. My finishing time was 2:17:52! Better than last year. Can't ask for much more. Although I'll want to beat it again next year.
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2 comments:
Very good, Glenn! Why do you think your time improved so much? Are you more fit, did you acclimate better, did you use a different strategy or what?
I am familiar with mountain trails and know something of the challenges they provide, although I hike instead of run. I am also from a lower elevation. To me, acclimation is the biggest factor apart from general fitness. Going out too fast is a temptation in mountain hiking too, especially when one is used to a fast pace at lower elevation.
We're all getting older, but it's good to see that you are fitter, wiser or both. Congratulations on your very good time!
Hey Carl! Part of the difference was my starting and ending point changed a little. So you can subtract about 6 minutes from last year's time to compare. But my overall pace was about 13 seconds faster per mile this year too. I think I knew the course, what to expect and I had a time goal. So add all those things together and you end up with a decent run! Thanks for being interested!!
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