Monday, December 22, 2014, 5:45 pm

10.68 mi, 1390 ft gain, 1:48:25. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop and hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Went at a fairly easy pace. Hit the loop first to warm up. Then I headed over the hill. Some ducks took off from one of the seasonal ponds just after the turnoff toward the hill. The dogs dove in after the stragglers, but they all got away.

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 6:24 pm

10.39 mi, 1541 ft gain, 1:36:48. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I decided to wear a rain shell tonight. I think I need a new one. It didn’t keep me very dry, or warm. I started getting wet after only a few minutes and was completely soaked well before the halfway point. I was actually warmer when I stopped than when I was running toward the end. But I sped up to the top end of my aerobic HR zone to get back to the car more quickly.

I started with the loop, then headed out and up to Wallace Lake. It took me almost 4 miles to get into it. Once to the lake, I went around toward the beach side, but the recent and ongoing rains had the North Fork Wallace River running a little high, blocking the way. I could have easily crossed and continued up to Jay Lake, but I started to get rather cold as soon as I got to the flatter part near the lake.

I kept up a pretty good pace on the descent, and Vida kept up quite well. I think giving the dogs some rest over the weekend helped.

Average HR 132 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 3:49 pm

11.37 mi, 843 ft gain, 1:37:53. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I gave the dogs a rest day. I headed out through town to Wallace Falls State Park and up the RR Grade to the Greg Ball trail junction and turned around. The MR10v2 aren’t that bad in a little bit of mud and rocks. I wouldn’t use them for much more beyond this trail though. There’s very little protection for rocks. With the separate pods of the outsole, though, they do alright in a little mud.

I needed my headlamp for the descent. I made decent time on the return trip. It was raining pretty good for the last 30-40 minutes, and my hands were starting to get pretty cold toward the end.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 25, 2014, 4:41 pm

11.01 mi, 1653 ft gain, 1:58:43. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I started with the loop to warm up, then headed for Wallace Lake. I saw a small Northern Saw-whet owl on a brush pile in a clear cut just before reaching the little bridge where the climb starts. It may have been the same one I saw a few weeks ago. I got another picture, but it didn’t come out very well. I hadn’t noticed that my headlamp had gone to power save mode.

Once up to the lake, I went east toward the falls instead of west toward Jay Lake. I only went to southeast end of the lake where the trail meets up with the Olney Falls DNR rd and the DNR rd to the Woody Trail at the Upper falls.

Vida kept up on most of the descent. I didn’t push the pace though.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Friday, December 26, 2014, 6:01 pm

11.20 mi, 1306 ft gain, 1:52:39. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Around the loop to start again, then over the hill. Nothing remarkable.

My hands were a little cold to start. I thought ahead and brought my pair of wool fingerless gloves as well. I put them on and my hands warmed up.

Earlier in the day, I heard that my aunt was in the hospital and might not make it through the night. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about halfway through. I slowed to a walk briefly, then kept going.
I found out later that she was responding to antibiotics and seemed to be doing a little better.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 27, 2014, 10:15 am

11.07 mi, 820 ft gain, 1:39:31. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I got up early, for me, because we were having a family get together in the afternoon, and I wanted to get my run in before rather than in the evening. Turns out I got the time wrong, so I was way late, but it worked out anyway.

I headed out for the RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park again. I was feeling a little sore and slightly run down. It’s probably a little bit of the miles wearing on me, but more so only getting maybe 4 hours of sleep and not quite recovering from Friday’s run.

I overdressed a little, because I was expecting the drizzle at the start to increase. It stopped not long after I started instead.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 28, 2014, 6:12 pm

11.23 mi, 1587 ft gain, 1:58:15. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

It was quite foggy, but thankfully not rainy. There were a few snowflakes at times too.

I started with the loop. I’ve considered doing the loop on the way back to the car instead, but I think the temptation to skip it and go back to the car the shorter way would be hard to overcome.

Climbing up to the lake wasn’t too difficult. I headed around toward Jay lake, but didn’t quite make it. One of the water crossings was more than I wanted to go through. Vida kept up pretty well on the downhill.

With it so foggy, I used my Fenix E35 flashlight instead of the headlamp a lot of the time. It doesn’t have quite the same.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77 mi, 9139 ft gains