What are the best places to train in Arizona and New Mexico?

[Dragonsoul]

We had a similar topic on the previous Dyestat forums about which was the best places in United States to train. I started that topic and was mainly interested in Arizona and New Mexico. Let's restart the discussion. What are the best areas?

Alburquerque, Santa Fe, Flagstaff, Tucson, where else? What do they have in Phoenix? I need ULTIMATE places which would be ideal for SUPER ELITE people like Hicham El Guerrouj and Paula Radcliffe, like Alburquerque. Please post!

:rolleyes::eek:!!!

[KS Roadrunna]

If you wanted better affordability, you might want to look at somewhere like Gallup, (7000ft) or Cimmaron, NM (6000ft+)... Albuquerque, Santa Fe & Taos are all very expensive & I'm sure Phoenix & Flagstaff are up there in the price range too. I've heard good things about Tucson (I'd have to ask my old roommate how expensive it is there).

In terms of SUPER ELITE--- I'd have to say Albuquerque seems to be if not the best place in NM or AZ the 2nd best.

[Dragonsoul]

Also Noureddine Morceli and Khalid Khannouchi have trained in Alburquerque, good post!

[IrishBH]

Flagstaff has an Olympic Development center starting this upcoming summer/fall. Coach Jack Daniels is moving out there to coach some American elites.

[Dragonsoul]

What IS an Olympic Development center? Who will Jack Daniels coach?

[myxomatosis]

Taos, NM. Hardly anyone there runs so trails are never crowded.

[Dragonsoul]

I need hills/trails that are REALLY REALLY difficult! Can I get them in Taos? I don't want trails that are easy. I want ultimate hills that are insanely steep!

[myxomatosis]

I need hills/trails that are REALLY REALLY difficult! Can I get them in Taos? I don't want trails that are easy. I want ultimate hills that are insanely steep!

There are trails along the Taos Ski Valley that are tough enough to jog on, much less run. The ski valley is at 9,000 ft. Acording the book Pre, Shorter took Pre to train in the Taos Ski Valley for Pre's first shot at altitude training. I just so happened to read that part of the book while in Taos, the day after I ran in the ski valley. That was pretty cool.

[KS Roadrunna]

I've been allover the Northern NM moutains. They're plenty steep & plentiful. Like myxomatosis said... the ski valley is over 9000ft & you can get upto 13,163 at Mt. Wheeler. Although.. you won't be running to the top of that trail. The trails are still pretty good to run on.. all the way up in the 12's. Also.. Taos the town... is in the 7000's ... so you could run at a lower elevation... just don't go up towards the ski valley area.

Taos is pretty expensive though... unless you decided to camp there all summer.. then that'd save you some serious cash.

[rippev]

the foothills in Albuquerque are pretty intense.

[lasseviren]

i've always liked the foothills in ABQ, but there are some good biking trails that you could probably run on around taos. however, taos, red river, and angel fire are all tourist type towns and you'd either have to find seasonal employment, be independently wealthy or camp to cut down on cost of living there. cimarron is an interesting town with some backpacking around it and near the carson national forest where they have some extensive dirt roads and the town is at 6400' (i've worked at philmont scout ranch for a couple of summers, 02 & 04, and that's the closest town to base camp). the only thing that would discourage me from running out there (though i've done it before) are the mountain lions that treat anything running as prey and the bears that don't like to be suprised. since us runners tend to run early in the morning and late in the day, primary times for lions to be out hunting, that puts an increased risk. as far as i know there aren't any lions or bears in the foothills of cibola NF in ABQ. i know nothing about AZ except there's a really big ditch out there by las vegas.

[KS Roadrunna]

lasse.... did you ever run/hike that 50miler the rangers do every year?

I've been out there twice & should've worked there back in 98, but was dumb & didn't apply. What is the age cut-off to work there anyways?

[myxomatosis]

the only thing that would discourage me from running out there (though i've done it before) are the mountain lions that treat anything running as prey and the bears that don't like to be suprised. since us runners tend to run early in the morning and late in the day, primary times for lions to be out hunting, that puts an increased risk. as far as i know there aren't any lions or bears in the foothills of cibola NF in ABQ. i know nothing about AZ except there's a really big ditch out there by las vegas.

Right. When I was about to run on a trail in the Taos Ski Valley, some guys said they spotted a cougar earlier in the day but I started out on the trail anyway and ended up turning around after about 10 min. because it was way too taxing and the hairs on the back of my neck kept rising every time I heard a noise. Here's a picture of the trailhead:



http://pic14.picturetrail.com:80/VOL499/2788691/5597939/71787760.jpg

[myxomatosis]

http://pic14.picturetrail.com:80/VOL499/2788691/5597939/71787229.jpg

[KS Roadrunna]

ahh dude... you only went on that trail for 10 minutes.. oh well. That climb goes on a lot longer than that. haha. I think it's 8 miles from the head to Wheeler. & hardly any of that is flat or close to it. It's nearly all uphill.

[myxomatosis]

ahh dude... you only went on that trail for 10 minutes.. oh well. That climb goes on a lot longer than that. haha. I think it's 8 miles from the head to Wheeler. & hardly any of that is flat or close to it. It's nearly all uphill.

I had only been at altitude for less than a week so I didn't think it would've been a good idea to push myself that hard, thus I decided to run along that road. My brother and I climbed Wheeler... I couldn't imagine running up the whole thing--that would make you tough as nails.

[lasseviren]

lasse.... did you ever run/hike that 50miler the rangers do every year?

I've been out there twice & should've worked there back in 98, but was dumb & didn't apply. What is the age cut-off to work there anyways?
it's more like 34-35 miles and i never did it. i wanted to and came real close one time, but one thing led to another and i ended up almost dying of a lightening strike near the summit of mt elbert (highest pt in CO) instead. those moutain storms kind of sneak up on you, lol. also, my first summer was 2002 and the north country caught on fire and was closed until the middle of july, last summer i left in the middle for personal reasons, had i stayed the whole summer i would have done it a couple of times (running and hiking)
as long as you're fit enough you can work out there, just keep the BP low. you don't have to be superfit either, just average health is fine. there's a ranger that's in his 30s and some people that work mainly base camp/admin that are in their 60s and older. but the great jobs are usually college guys that are in pretty decent shape. talk about a great time, too bad i'm not going back this summer.

[azbeachboy1]

In tucson for eliete athletes- you can train with Bernard Legat, Seneca Lassiter, Abdi Abdiraham, David Krumm...., ummmm, Patrick Nudiwama, Robert Cheseret, Coach Murray, and coach Li are some of the best coaches out there. Plus, the 120+ heat always helps with that fatigue training, I mean tucson is at 2000+ elevation as well so. Year round training you cant beat it! WoooHooooo!