Day 4,511—High Altitude Training #2—

 

        I crossed the street and noticed the pavement had just been laid, and it was still hot; my shoes stuck to the ground as I jogged to the sidewalk on the other side. I turned my altitude mask to the next higher setting and decided I would keep it there until it started to bother me. I noticed I couldn’t breathe only through my nose, so I kept adjusting my mask to help it fit better on my face. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as it was yesterday to regulate my breathing. I knew where I usually needed to be careful, which is what happened yesterday. Normally, when I was able to push up a hill or go faster on a straightaway, those extra efforts made it harder to catch my breath yesterday, but not today. Today I was more selective with my effort, and I almost forgot how bizarre I must look in my altitude mask until a car was trying to back up in a neighborhood. I waved at it to go ahead as I ran onto the sidewalk. I wondered where they were going so early in the morning. They were the only vehicle on the street in the neighborhood, but then I noticed that they were watching me. They turned incredibly slowly as they headed towards the light, but I am confident I must have scared them, and now they were gazing at me through their tinted windows, curiously wondering what I was up to. I looped around so I would be out of sight before I turned. 

I don’t know how much I am going to wear the mask when it is light outside, but running with it in the morning on weekdays has worked out perfectly so far. I think it is going to help me with the high altitude. Still, even if it doesn’t physically make a huge difference, mentally I am already feeling like I know how to deal better when I cannot seem to catch my breath, which makes me feel a billion times more confident approaching the race.