Going Higher

Today we had planned on going on another long bike ride with friends, but then Pete had his little mishap so that was now out of the question. It also turned out that Mindy had a rehearsal for the ballet performance of Alice in Wonderland she's going to be a "pearl oyster" in. The rehearsal was going to be right during Elle's nap time, and 2 hours long. This seemed to be perfect because I could leave Ethan and Elle with Pete and he could relax while the baby slept, and I could just take my bike with me to drop Mindy off, then do my ride and pick her up after 2 hours. I had this cool rout all planned out too.

Then, we had to take some laptops (yes, multiple, it was our lucky day) into the Apple store to get them looked at. I kind of thought we would just drop them off then have plenty of time to get home and follow our plan. But then they said they could look at them really quick if we just waited 15 minutes so we did that. It wasn't super quick, and we were getting hungry. I figured we would need to eat anyway so we went and got some lunch. By the time we were done with that and got back to the car, it was 10 minutes past when Mindy was supposed to be at the rehearsal. I was kicking myself for sabotaging my own ride by saying we had time to eat. 

We just hurried home, she grabbed her clothes, I put Elle in her bed (fell asleep in the car very nicely), and I took Mindy to ballet. When we got there, the board of directors was still talking to the parents so I went and listened in on that. They ended up talking until there was less than an hour left so I wouldn't have had time to ride anyway.  

I hurried home, packed up my bike, and a few other things along with Pete, Ethan and Elle, then we picked Mindy up and headed for Heber. When we got there, I just hurried and changed, and went for my bike ride so it wouldn't get dark on me. By the time I got up the hill I wanted to do (the one going up to The Homestead), though, the sun was down behind the mountain and it was getting colder so I headed back. Of course, when I got back to the house, the sun was up again. I had just been "in the shadow of Mt. Timpanogos" as we used to say in my highs school broadcasting class. Oh well. It was a good quick ride so I pushed it pretty hard. Pete said I could trade long rides for hard rides. I don't know if it was that hard, though. I rode for about 45-50 minutes and went 10.6 miles. 

The great thing about riding in Heber is that it is at 5,604 feet, and Couer d'Alene is only at 2,188 feet. Here is a quote I found that explains why training at a higher altitude give you an advantage:

Training at a high altitude gives runners a competitive edge over those who train at sea level when placed in direct competition. Whether the high altitude dweller goes down to sea level to compete in a race or his counterpart at sea level comes to a higher elevation to race, the runner who lives and trains at a high elevation will likely have a distinct advantage. This advantage is likely to come in the form of an increased redblood count which enables the body to carry oxygen more efficiently and more quickly through the body. Runners who live and train at a higher elevation typically have elevated red blood cell counts because there is less oxygen available at these higher altitudes. Therefore the runner’s body generates more red blood cells in an effort to make the runner more efficient at circulating oxygen. This elevated number of red blood cells remains for several days after the runner has left the high altitude location. Therefore the runner may travel to a race at sea level and enjoy the benefits of his increased red blood cell count for a number of days.

Floyd Landis, who won the Tour d'France three years ago but was "striped of his victory" because of a drug test, had made himself a little metabolic chamber that he slept in to get his red blood cell count up. It must have worked for him because he did an amazing job! I don't know if I believe all the hubub about him using steroids, but whatever, he did good.

Anyway, when I was living in St. George, and would come and run in Heber, it was a lot harder. I know that for sure. Also, Pete was surprised by how much easier it was to ride in Coeur d'Alene than Heber so I'm hoping I'll feel that too.

Another great thing about Heber is that it is really beautiful, and I really enjoyed it, other than the biting cold coming down that hill. My fingers were numb by the time I got back too. Sorry, I forgot my camera again. I need to get better about bringing it with me!