My muscles recovered pretty quickly from the Rattlesnake Ridge 50k. My knees were kind of sore most of the week from pounding the descents, but mostly only when bent further than they normally are when running. My form got kind of sloppy and I had to break a lot on the last descent with all the hikers around. I had planned to run both Saturday and Sunday, but decided to take an extra rest day, for my knees and I was feeling a bit run down.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014. 7:03 pm
6.1 mi, 737ft gain, 1:16:36. Kellogg lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

The dogs and I were a bit restless, and I wanted to get out and get my legs moving. Really the only muscle soreness left was in my glutes. I warmed up after a couple miles. Knees felt fine while running. Let the dogs splash in Olney Creek. Left after the bridge. Right at the rock pit. Left shortly after on a road I haven’t been up. Lots of huckleberries along the logging roads in the the clear cut on the south-facing slope. Stopped for a snack a couple times.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014. 7:53 pm
6.3 mi, 330ft gain, 1:06:53. Kellogg lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Took the left toward the connector hill, turned around at the first turn on the hill. Then out to Olney Creek for the dogs to play a few minutes. Legs were feeling pretty good, so I pushed the pace a bit finishing the loop and back to the car. The 2 mile split for miles 5 and 6 was faster than I ever ran the Army PT test 2 miles.

Thursday, June 26, 2014. 8:30 pm
3.3 mi, 34ft gain, 28:28. Short road run from home. With dogs. New Balance MR10v2

Really wanted to get out for a run, but knees weren’t recovering as quickly as I had hoped, so I didn’t tempt myself with hills and stayed on the flat roads/sidewalks. Took it fairly easy.

Sunday, June 29, 2014. 3:45 pm
13.8 mi, 2826 ft gain, 2:33:13. Upper Wallace Falls, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake. Solo. Altra Lone Peaks

Should have warmed up first. Lower legs were a little tight until about 4.5 miles in. It had rained the last couple days. Stopped before I started the run, but the trail was still a little messy. Shoes did well in the mud.

Drove to the trail head. Made it to the upper falls in about 35 minutes. Pushed up that last steep climb, so I caught my breath a couple minutes. Continued up the trail to the dnr road and out to Wallace Lake under an hour. Took some pictures, looked around a bit. Stopped at the “pebble beach” at the north end of the lake and ran into a couple of hikers. Went on to Jay Lake, a little bit more climbing. Some nice looking camp sites around Jay Lake. Didn’t find as nice of a beach though. On the way back, I passed the hikers about halfway around Wallace Lake. Return trip from the Upper falls to the trail head was about 23 minutes.

Brought 2 water bottles, a couple ounces of baking dates. Drank about half by the Upper falls. Sipped the rest of the way, finishing just a little before the end. Had a couple bites of the dates at Jay lake. Had one salt cap there as well.

Sunday, June 29, 2014. 8:11 pm
3.2 mi, 33 ft gain, 30:02. Easy Road and Green Belt. With dogs. New Balance MR10v2

Legs a little tired. The dogs were a little disappointed when I didn’t take them on my earlier run. I knew they’d enjoy it and I wanted to stretch out my legs a bit. My legs loosened up a little after the turnaround.

Last year, the city let the grass in the green belt grow high, only cutting it once, and not very short. They’ve had a bit more work done this year. The grass was short enough today that with the few hours of dry weather, it wasn’t too wet and didn’t soak my shoes. I didn’t particularly enjoy running through wet knee high grass last year.

Weekly totals
32.6 mi, 4h 55m, 3959 ft gain

Even if I don’t run Monday, June 30, I’ve hit a personal best for total monthly mileage at 166.3 miles in 28h 35m, and most gain at 33,423ft.