Finding some Consistency

We are enjoying life in Colorado and trying to get to know more people. In an effort to get some consistency in my life (I'm a creature of habit) I started exercising every morning before anyone in the house wakes up. I got a job at 24 hour Fitness and right now I'm just subbing classes there until they open a class for me. I also got a job at the YMCA where I will be teaching 1 class 2 mornings a week. On Mon/Wed/Fri I run with a neighbor,Michelle, or I try. The elevation here has me feeling like such a wimp. I get breathless really easy and I feel like I run at a tortiose pace. Michelle is really fast and she usually ends up leaving me at some point in the run. Lucky for me she injured one of her legs so she has slowed her 7 minute mile pace to almost 8. She asks me at least one time every morning if I can run a little faster. For most people running with someone like her just wouldn't be fun, but she is one of the first friends I have made here and I figure maybe I'll get a little faster if I run with her. Michelle took me on a hike up the Incline (it is the initial climb up to Pike's peak). It is 1 mile almost straight up. I think it is a 60% incline, then we ran a 4 mile trail down. The next 2 days my quads were dying. I felt like I had done lunges all the way up the mountain. The view was beautiful and next time I'll take a picture.