Monday, October 6, 2014, 5:46 pm
6.71 mi, 634 ft gain, 1:08:44. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.
A little rough going early, but felt pretty good after a couple miles. Went about halfway over the hill, then out to Olney creek. The dogs scared up 5 or 6 grouse up on the hill in the same spot I’ve seen them two other times.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014, 5:54 pm
3.2 mi, 28 ft gain, 30:38. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.
I think I over did it with the hills yesterday. I was fine after Sunday, relatively. But today my left achilles is acting up again. It’s right at the base where it connects to my heel. It loosened up after about a mile today. It’s not as bad as it was after the 7 hour race. Hopefully it will recover quickly. I’m thinking about a 12 hour race on Nov. 1.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 5:58 pm
3.98 mi, 38 ft gain, 44:36. Road in town & down to the river, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.
Achilles still sore. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday. It warmed up by about 1.25 mi, and I had no more discomfort. Ran my normal recent loop through town. Took a side trip down the WDFW access point up the road from me down to the river. The river is really low. One little, easily crossed rivulet on this side, then wide open river bottom. Ran across the rocks on the river bottom. I could hear the main channel of the river on the other side of the island. I’m really jonesing to get up into the mountains more before the weather turns, but not sure it’s really going to happen. I’m grateful to still be running, even if it’s not the kind that I’d like to be doing.
Thursday, October 9, 2014, 5:03 pm
4.16 mi, 36 ft gain, 38:57. RR access rd & green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.
No achilles discomfort to start, a little after a couple minutes, and gone after about 1.3 mi. Vida was dragging behind the whole time at a pace that is usually pretty easy for her. Not sure why. I may give the dogs a day or two off.
I was going to start using my HR monitor when running. I didn’t remember until I was a few minutes down the road. I’ll have to put it somewhere conspicuous for next time.
Friday, October 10, 2014, 5:30 pm
6.36 mi, 261 ft gain, 45:11. To Wallace Falls TH and back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
Moving time 43:08. Left the dogs home to get some faster paced running in. Very minor achilles discomfort from about 0.5-1.5 mi. Tried to pair garmin hr monitor with my gps. It said it was paired, but wouldn’t show any data. I didn’t need as much warmup today as usual. Then I started pushing the pace. I stopped at the TH for a little water. I pushed harder starting at 4 mi, and ran my first sub 6 min mile ever. I had to wait for traffic for about a minute or so to cross the highway on the way back. I pushed the last few hundred yards as well. Strava best estimated times: 1/2 mi 2:53, 1 mi 5:58, 2 mi 12:25, 5k 20:14, 10k 43:27. All of them are actually my fastest times at those distances as well. About 2 minutes faster than my best 2 mi run in the Army.
Saturday, October 11, 2014, 11:20 am
3.18 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:16. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.
Visiting family later in the day. Wanted to still get out for a run. Right calf a little sore for most of the run.
Sunday, October 12, 2014, 4:35 pm
17.06 mi, 2479 ft gain, 2:54:00. Olney Falls DNR rd to Wallace Lake out and back, solo. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.
Took a while to get warmed up and in to a rhythm. Once I hit about 6 miles, I started to feel pretty good. A teal duck (too fast to tell if it was blue- or green-winged) startled me when it took off from a stream right by the road about a mile in. I saw 4 or 5 grouse over the rest of the run. A rock in my shoe at about 15 mi. I may have to dig out my gaiters. I seem to kick up debris more when it’s wet than dry, and it’s going to be wet for much of the next 4-6 months. I got some practice running in the dark. I think my old Petzl headlamp is good for practicing in low light, but I should probably get something much brighter for more technical trails.
Weekly totals: 44.8 mi, 3440 ft elevation gain.