Denver Run with Matt aka The Dump Runner

In addition to Jeff and Diane, I was also looking forward to meeting and running with Matt, host of the Dump Runners Club podcast. We arranged to meet at my hotel after my meetings ended and Matt got off work. I didn't have any particular distance or pace in mind I simply looking forward to seeing the city. We past Coors Field (home of the Rockies) early on in the run. We then hit the Platte River Rec Path. There were plenty of runners out so I asked Matt if this was Denver's version of New York's Central Park. He said that this was a popular spot to run but Denver had many parks in which to run. He pointed out portions of the Colfax and Denver Marathon routes and took me past Pepsi Center (home of the Nuggets and Avalanche) and Invesco Field at Mile High (home of the Broncos). Passing the sports venues reminded me of my run to Yankee Stadium run in August of 2009.

I definitely noticed the thin air. We ended up running about 6.5 miles at 8:22 pace. This is the pace I ran my last marathon at and at which I've been doing my long runs. This pace at altitude felt hard. I had to ask Matt to slow it down more than once. By the end of the run I was sucking wind. It was great to meet Matt and to put a face to the tweets and to voice of the podcast.

I don't know about you, but I think the map on Garmin Connect from a new city run is a much better memento than any trinket I could buy in an overpriced souvenir shop. My Denver run provided an added bonus, usually I don't pay attention to the elevation because most of runs are run at this elevation:

but Tuesday's run definitely got my attention