Running at higher elevation

Josh and I decided to pack up for the weekend and head to his parents' house in eastern Idaho.  Josh had planned on taking Brooke skiing on Saturday and I decided to pass on it because I needed to run and quite honestly, I just wanted to relax for the rest of the day. We arrived to the in-laws' house Friday evening around 8:30 and sat chatted for a bit and enjoyed the hot tub and a few beers.  This morning Josh checked the weather forecast at Grand Targhee which indicated it was going to be -3 degrees with a 25 degree windchill sometime that afternoon and he quickly cancelled the original skiing plans.  I left them at home to figure out what they were going to do with the day and set out for a 7 mile training run.

It doesn't seem to matter how many times I run in eastern Idaho, I always seem to forget that their town sits about 2000 feet higher in elevation than Boise and that, my friends, makes for some difficult running.  Thank goodness I didn't have to run 10+ miles today otherwise it would have taken me forever. Plus, it was chilly (slightly below freezing but don't worry, I had plenty of gear on) and it got especially cold toward the end of my run because the wind started blowing.  Thank goodness that happened at the end of the run and not at the beginning or middle otherwise I might have given up and had someone pick me up.  Ok, I really wouldn't have done that but it would have been tempting.  I was also running on rural highways for most of the run today which means the frozen dirt combined with freezing weather and a bit of snow made for a few slick spots.  I suppose that should also be factored in when picking apart my pace today.  In the end I ran 7 miles at an average pace of 11:33/mile including my walking breaks.  After looking at this site it looks like given my elevation I could potentially log 10 seconds/mile less at Boise elevation which would put me at 11:23/mile, or the same pace I ran 10 last week.  Ok, I'll take it. 

I also ran in my new tights today (these, only womens) which are kind of hideous, but they seem like they might have helped with recovery but who really knows, since I only ran 7 miles...

Anyway, long story short, I did snap this little shot of my rural run today: