Flagstaff vs Boulder

the430miler wrote:

Marfa

I love it, that Art lovers are on letsrun.com

Bolderdash wrote:

Flagstaff is located at an appropriate altitude for maximum physiological benefits. Boulder is too low. From Flag you can access Sedona, Camp Verde and PHX for more specific sessions at lower altitude.

Flagstaff is also not drama-filled and political like a Boulder.

I disagree with this. Flagstaff is 6909 ft high, Boulder 5,328.

You always want to live in the lower places. Altitude is overrated for training. There is a huge difference if you move for a big training block into altitude for a month or two, or if you actually live there so high. Altitude makes you slower unless you just do high altitude trail races then it can be very beneficial.

The Ingebrigtsen's use Flagstaff a lot (like right now).

FFF wrote:

I'm at 1000 feet and can get to 8000 in 30 minutes. And no snow (at 1000). But go ahead, go to Boulder.

....But can you wake before sunrise, road bike Left Hand canyon to peak to peak, park @ Longs Peak trail head, do a 22 mile run to 14,200 ft and back to trailhead, cycle downhill all the way back to Boulder and drink beers by happy hour?

helpy wrote:

Albuquerque

Why don’t more elites train in Albuquerque? It seems like Flag, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Monmouth Lakes and Park City are the only places elites go to train.

High jacking this thread... wrote:

helpy wrote:

Albuquerque

Why don’t more elites train in Albuquerque? It seems like Flag, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Monmouth Lakes and Park City are the only places elites go to train.

Umm...ever watch Breaking Bad?

good restaurants in boulder are mountain sun brewery, oak on fourteenth, japango. go to pearl street and you cant go wrong

and are you looking for flat or hilly? if you're looking for hilly download the trailforks app, if youre looking for flat go to fleet feet and talk to noah droddy

FFF wrote:

I'm at 1000 feet and can get to 8000 in 30 minutes.

I would absolutely love to see a strava of this!

south of chautauqua theres like a mile and a quarter of wood chip trails

I have experienced the running world in both. I find the atmosphere in Boulder to be more exclusive and less welcoming. It's hard to join up with teams for runs, or jump in workouts, or get an "in". Obviously it also depends on the individuals, but I found that in Flagstaff, people were friendlier and more welcoming. There are social runners, mid-level competitive runners, up and coming runners, and elites. The elites are never "too good" to run with you when they can, and I've been invited to stay for brunch and other events with the elites after runs. Boulder is busy, and most of the tracks the public doesn't have access to anyways. CU doesn't allow non-CU on their indoor or outdoor tracks. A little snobbish in Boulder.

you know it baby

Having lived in Boulder for a few years l would say it's more beneficial to go their for the lifestyle than anything else. l wasn't terribly impressed with the trails. Mags has tire grooves, Dowdy Draw can be a muddy, ruddy mess, and the creek path can seem repetitive after a while. If you like to run trails, then you may like it although they're rocky and narrow. There's no wood chips (it isn't Eugene). I did run to Bobolink trail quite a bit. No absence of tracks to train on. I liked the food scene, but a lot has turned over. Southern Sun and Salvaggios Deli were my favorites. My other favorites went out of business. I enjoyed going to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain NP for day trips. Those were the things that I remember, the running wasn't life altering or anything. I prefer Mammoth trails over Boulder. The most important consideration is that Boulder doesn't build on open space and the cost of renting/buying is astronomical. I would think you'd be in Superior or Lafeyette, but even those cities are probably getting expensive.

Old Mountain runner wrote:

Bolderdash wrote:

Flagstaff is located at an appropriate altitude for maximum physiological benefits. Boulder is too low. From Flag you can access Sedona, Camp Verde and PHX for more specific sessions at lower altitude.

Flagstaff is also not drama-filled and political like a Boulder.

I disagree with this. Flagstaff is 6909 ft high, Boulder 5,328.

You always want to live in the lower places. Altitude is overrated for training. There is a huge difference if you move for a big training block into altitude for a month or two, or if you actually live there so high. Altitude makes you slower unless you just do high altitude trail races then it can be very beneficial.

No argument with living vs training camp at altitude. I don’t think it makes sense to live year round at altitude. For training blocks, living in Flagstaff-at altitudes (7000 ft) proven to be more conducive to training adaptations-and mixing lower workouts into your routine makes more sense than Boulder.

As others have said, Flagstaff offer a more runner friendly environment as well.

Old Mountain runner wrote:

Bolderdash wrote:

Flagstaff is located at an appropriate altitude for maximum physiological benefits. Boulder is too low. From Flag you can access Sedona, Camp Verde and PHX for more specific sessions at lower altitude.

Flagstaff is also not drama-filled and political like a Boulder.

I disagree with this. Flagstaff is 6909 ft high, Boulder 5,328.

You always want to live in the lower places. Altitude is overrated for training. There is a huge difference if you move for a big training block into altitude for a month or two, or if you actually live there so high. Altitude makes you slower unless you just do high altitude trail races then it can be very beneficial.

I always wondered why those Kenyans living in iten were so slow. Thanks for clarifying

No, I can't ride Left Hand Canyon because I no longer live in Boulder. There ARE better rides, and running routes out there, but nevermind.

Old luna tic wrote:

I always wondered why those Kenyans living in iten were so slow. Thanks for clarifying

Good point.

I wish I were as slow as the slowest of them.

I would pick Flagstaff all day everyday and twice on Mondays. Boulder has way too many posers and wannabees.

flag - Jim Walmsley

boulder - Anton K and Sage C ...and a bunch of pro triathletes, climbers, etc.

flag - nau

boulder - cu

that's a lot of xc wins in the past 10-15 years or so