The temperatures around our area had been averaging in
the high 90s for the past days. We scheduled a trip to Donner Lake for high
altitude and pavement training. Donner Lake being at the elevation of 5,936’ it
was certainly a cooler place to be in the summer. I am thankful to Cindy and
Hassan who hosted this training run for my benefit. There were several other
training runs scheduled today – June 30th but we made a good choice
of location. Temperature hit a 102F and there were many unhappy runners.
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| Roadside & lakeside running |
Donner Lake is a fresh water lake in the Northeast,
California on the Eastern Slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is about 11 miles
Northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. We parked at the area nearest the
entrance to the beach from there we ran on a clockwise direction around the
lake. First, we were on pavement until we reached the end of the fence. We turned
right and followed the interpretive trails running the side of the lake. This part
was shaded with different type of pine trees around the lake. It was heart-warming
to see groups of friends and families enjoying the beach and the public piers.
It was also very motivating to see such scenery specially as the temperatures got
warmer as the morning progress. We went over some hills, running up them for
training and catching our breath as we reached the top.
Running on elevation has his challenges with a total
ascent of 190 feet and a total elevation of 6,126 ft. asl. Tips from Runners’
World in running in altitude: 1) Include a longer warm up. 2) Run a slower
pace. At high elevation with thinner air, you tend to run slower. 3) Get plenty
of sleep. 4) Increase your intake of fluids. 5) Avoid alcohol and sodium.
At the first 2 miles, like always I was catching my
breath and trying to catch up with the rest. After a couple of miles, I felt
stronger and went up ahead from the group. I wish I felt this way most of the
time. The last time I felt this strong was at Magnolia Ranch.
After finishing the 1st 7-mile loop we took
a short break to go to the bathrooms, eat chilled watermelon slices, and refilled
our water containers. We ran our 2nd loop in the reverse direction
to make it more interesting. Towards the end of the loop we could not help but take
pictures. Enjoy!
Movie: The Log at Donner Lake
Link: Run Donner Lake
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