Monday, April 13, 2015, 6:00 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 25:19. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

The piriformis issues are a little better today, but I definitely need to work on some mobility, R.O.M. and flexibility.

It was raining pretty good today. The entire front of my body was absolutely soaked. My back was nearly bone dry. I doubt that would have lasted that much longer, though.
The pace was pretty good. I didn’t push too hard. I didn’t really pay that much attention to my HR or pace. I looked at my pace a number of times, but it was curiosity more than for pacing.

I wasn’t really that in the mood to run today, which hasn’t happened in a long time. The weather was part of it. My piriformis issues are probably part of it too, but there was more to it than that. Like always, I felt better after than before.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 4:32 pm

6.46 mi, 1573 ft gain, 2:01:29. Reiter dnr roads and abandon trail, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I was talking to on of the women who works at the grocery store today. She mentioned that she saw me running over the weekend. She also mentioned that she used to walk out on the DNR roads off Reiter Rd. I’ve meant to go out there sometime, and this was just enough to finally head out there.

I parked at the first gate with a Discover Pass sign that I saw. Looking at maps and reading about trails, I knew that the trail up to Isabel Lake was somewhere off this road. I hadn’t planned going up there, though.

It was raining when I started. I kind of figured it would, so I wore a heavier long sleeve shirt, gloves and a fleece hat.

When we got to the first intersection just past the power lines, I saw some trails that went straight out toward the mountains. I decided to check that out before going farther up the road around the corner. I found some old camp sites, but not much else.

I made my way back to the road past the switchback where I went into the woods. The road starts to climb some, but it’s not that steep. A little farther up the road, the rain mostly stopped and the sun started to peek through some breaks in the clouds. The views across the valley to Mt. Persis and Mt. Index were awesome most of the way up the road. It was cool to get another perspective of the mountains. The mountains got a nice dusting of snow over the weekend, so they were particularly incredible, even with the clouds obscuring the peaks. The rain and snow over the weekend made the way down the mountain into a lot of little waterfalls over the rock faces and around trees on the uphill side of the road. I kept stopping for photos.

I also looked around quite a bit. When I got to the next switchback, past a big red metal gate, I saw a trail that kept going straight. I decided to go out that way to check it out. At first, it looked like an old 4×4 track going around in the woods. I followed it uphill for a while, then went off trail some. I couldn’t see anywhere else to keep going uphill, so I went back down. When I got back down to the trail, I saw that it kept going out relatively straight from the road, so I decided to follow it for a while.

The trail was certainly not maintained, and probably hadn’t been so in a number of years. It was still relatively easy to follow, though not always easy running, or even hiking. I came across a spot that someone had told me about several weeks ago. There were a bunch of CMU blocks lining the trail, turned with the holes up and down. At least some seemed to be cemented in place. It was about 20-30 yards of the trail on the way down to a creek crossing.

I followed the trail a lot longer than I had planned. But I was really just exploring anyway, and didn’t actually have much of a plan. There was one really steep part, but it wasn’t very long. Going up wasn’t much of a problem. Going down was tough. It was already slippery, but there were fallen branches all over too. Landing on those made it quite difficult to stay in control. I took that section pretty slowly on the way down.

I made it all the way up to another old logging road, where I lost the trail. It didn’t continue straight across, and I didn’t find it within 100 yards to the right or 300 yards to the left, so I turned around.

Like I already mentioned, it was slick and all the fallen branches just added to the difficulty on the way down. I managed not to fall at all, but  I came close several times. There was one spot in particular where I got kind of lucky. I started sliding going downhill just before a log partway across the trail at just above knee height. If I had slid into it the way I was going, it could have been really bad. I took it easy most of the rest of the way back down.

The weather was pretty erratic the whole time. Rain to start, then some sun breaks. While I was in the woods on the trail, it hailed three separate times. Once I got back to the road, there were clouds going up the valley and fog with the sun shining through down the valley. The sun coming through the fog was inspiring. There was no way a photo would have captured it.

I took it easy down the road too. I took a shortcut trail to the other road before reaching the switchback. Usually I wouldn’t take the shortcut and miss out on the mileage, but I’m not too concerned with the distance leading up to Capitol Peak 50 mi.

My piriformis was a little rough today, maybe slightly better than yesterday. I’m sticking with the exercises and stretching.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 6:19 pm

6.32 mi, 261 ft gain, 1:00:34. Through town to WFSP & back, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

It was a little better today. I took it easy again. I managed to keep a moderate pace and not speed up much today. I usually end up going faster on days when I go without the dogs. Today, though, once I warmed up, I settled into an easy pace.

I went out to WFSP. I saw a deer on the gravel road on the left at the bottom of the hill up to the parking lot. I stopped and looked briefly before continuing up the hill. I used the restroom and got some water before I headed back.

There was a second deer about 10 yards above the gravel road in the brush when I got back down there. It appeared to be a yearling. It looked at me off and on while browsing on some new blackberry vine growth. The doe was hiding behind a stump.

Other than going down the hill from the park and the short hill where the sidewalk starts up, I kept the same easy pace on the way home.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, April 16, 2015, 6:34 pm

4.51 mi, 722 ft gain, 1:15:02. Reiter Foothills, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I wanted to do some more exploring in the Reiter foothils today. I parked at the same gate as before. Rather than taking the road out, I turned onto an old road that was closed off with tank traps. I made it a couple minutes before I realize that I forgot to put out my parking pass, so I turned around and went back to the car. Chances are that I wouldn’t have gotten a ticket, but I’d rather not worry about it.

I took the same old road on my way back out again. It turned out to be a shortcut out to the powerline road. I went right on the powerline road, which turns into an old 4×4 trail, big rocks and hills. I actually came across another guy running. Miraculously, the dogs didn’t bark or run up to him at all. I asked if the road he came in on went all the way down. He said that it did, down to Reiter Rd.

I continued following the 4×4 trail. It followed the powerlines for a little while, then went up into the woods. Eventually it winds around to the same trail I followed a couple days ago that went out from a switchback on the road. I decided to turn around and go back down the way I came.

I went back down to the powerlines. I ended up taking another trail up from the powerlines. It connected back to the road down below the gate. I followed the road back down to the bottom. Instead of going back to the car, I followed the road the other way out into the woods to check it out a bit. I went out about 0.3 mi, took another trail loop through the woods, then headed back for the car.

After we got back to the car, I decided to drive farther out Reiter Rd. I wanted to see where the other gates and roads were. I’ve been out there before, but it was at least a year ago. This time I knew what I was looking for too.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Friday, April 17, 2015, 5:47 pm

7.09 mi, 2115 ft gain, 2:12:02. Reiter Foothills & almost Lake Isabel, solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

The weather was great, and I was feeling pretty good. I went back out to the Reiter area. I planned to check out more of the powerline roads.

I took the same tank-trap shortcut road again and continued up and down the same old 4×4 trails. I meant to take one of the other turns to continue along the powerlines, but I missed them. I kept looking for another, but didn’t see anymore once I got into the woods. Once I got up to the trail that goes off the road at the switchback, I debated which way to go. I had already been up to the right, so I decided to take the road up farther.

I went up past the next fork, going straight where there was another switchback to the right. I got up to the next switchback and saw a cairn where another road/trail continued straight. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I thought it was probably the Lake Isabel trail. I thought that I’d maybe go looking for the trail. When I found it, I decided to check it out.

The first half or so was pretty good for a trail that hasn’t been maintained in years. There were some short, very steep sections too. Up higher, there were a lot of blow-downs, and many very slick and moss covered rocks and old logs. Much of the upper portion of the trail is not exactly runnable. I stopped and moved some of the blow-downs off the trail. I slipped and fell once. There were two 3-4 ft long flat rocks coming together in a shallow V-shape sloping downhill. They were wet and slick. I slipped and came down on my left knee right at the V. It hurt, but not too bad. I took a moment to see how it felt. It was sore, but I could move fine. I went slowly until the pain subsided a few minutes later.

Going up even farther, the trail was rather difficult to follow in places. Sometimes splitting into several paths going around obstacles. Other times it seemed to disappear for a short while.

There were a couple creek crossings that didn’t have much water in them, but they were on very steep, uneven terrain, and many of the rocks aren’t very stable. Even without much water, I took it slowly. I was much more deliberate and careful after falling.

Since I hadn’t planned attempting to run up to Lake Isabel, I hadn’t planned ahead and didn’t have a light. I was running out of daylight, and it gets dark quick in those kind of woods, especially tucked away in a draw like that. I kept going until the trail started to get really rough. There wasn’t actually much of a trail at all. I had enough time that if I had trouble with the trail on the way down, I should have still been able to at least make it back to the logging road before dark.

I actually did have a little trouble on the way back down not long after turning around. I lost the trail for a few minutes, but I knew the general direction, down and left. I knew I’d run into it again eventually. I decided to try out the navigation features on my Ambit 2 R to get there more quickly. I was pretty close.

I was careful going over the slick rocks, logs and blowdowns. I opened it up a little more once I got back to the part of the trail in better condition. I still took it easy on a couple of the really steep parts. Even without the slick rocks and logs, traction wasn’t great.

I had a great time going up and down the trail, even if I didn’t make it to the lake. I got back to the DNR road in time for a fantastic sunset. The sun was glowing red low above the horizon. I ran harder downhill to get to a good view point. I managed to get to one just as the sun was passing behind a thin band of cloud. I took some photos. The better ones, zoomed in, were a little grainy. I think I’m going to get an actual camera to take photos. The camera on my phone is pretty good most of the time, but zoomed in and low light photos usually aren’t good.

I continued to follow the road back instead of going back on the old 4×4 trails. But I didn’t take the road all the way. I took the shortcut trail under the powerline tower a little ways down from the gate. The trail was kind of steep and over some slick rock. It came out pretty close to the tank-trap road I came in on, so I took it back out.

Once I got home and saw my GPS tracks, I saw that I turned around about 0.3 mi and 400 ft elevation short of the lake. I kind of figured I was about that close from what I saw ahead compared to descriptions I’ve read online. Oh well. I’ll make it next time.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 18, 2015, 7:18 pm

3.19 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:18. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I was a little achey today. Nothing was particularly sore or hurt, just a general feeling. The stretching and exercises have helped my piriformis quite a bit.

I kept it nice and easy. I’m starting to not like the way the sidewalks are slanted. I end up evening it out on the round trip, but going that long running on a slant in either direction is a little uncomfortable. There’s not much I can do about it running the pavement around here, though.

I saw a nickel in the gutter by one of the restaurants. I left it on the way out. I almost forgot about it on the way back. I went a little past the turn before I remembered. I wouldn’t have bothered, but it looked kind of old. It turned out to be a 1946, one year off from being part silver.

It was a good run. The weather was great, and my legs felt better by the end.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 19, 2015, 6:53 pm

5.47 mi, 1392 ft gain, 1:23:54. Reiter Powerlines, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Vida was limping again last night, so I left her home. It’s strange that she seems fine during the day, but not at night. And it feels weird to only take one dog with me.

I wanted to check out more of the powerline roads today, like I had planned before. On the drive out, I saw 4 or 5 cars parked at the gate where I’ve been parking, so I went to the next gate. I didn’t know until I parked, but there was a creek running across the gated road just past the gate. I went upstream through the brush a little ways to a narrower spot to cross. I’m pretty sure this was where the other runner I saw a while back came up from.

I took a right on the powerline roads. I wasn’t exactly sure which way to go, but I knew which way took me up the hill, away from the powerlines, so I took a trail going the other way at the base of one of the towers. It was kind of steep, went down to another creek crossing and connected to another gravel road. It was fairly steep going farther up along the powerlines.

There was another down and up with another creek crossing and some water running down one of the older roads. Some of the roads are basically just atv trails now. One section has been cut deeply into the hillside. There are a couple very steep parts too. They were lots of fun.

The trail cut across another couple roads that went off in either direction across the powerline cut. Sometime I’ll check them out too. Looking at a map after I got home, the higher road goes from Reiter Rd out quite a ways. It’s a very nice, wide gravel road.

I continued up a little trail to the very top. It’s a cool little ridge with views on three sides. There’s an atv trail that continues up the ridge into the woods. I followed it for a while. It got narrower and narrower, with more blow-downs. Eventually it was pretty tough to follow. I didn’t really know the area, or I would have continued for a while. There wasn’t much underbrush, so it probably wouldn’t have been too difficult. More looking at the map showed me that I wasn’t that far from the top of the Index Town Wall, or that same really nice gravel road that I crossed. Good info for the future.

I had a lot of fun on the way back running down the hills. And the views of the sunset were great nearly the whole way down. I took a couple of different paths through the maze of atv trails. I also followed one of the roads into the woods out to a switchback. I think the road kept going out as well. Another route to check out some other time.

I made good time on the way back. I really like running out there. There are more other people out there than I care for since I like to let my dogs run off leash, but I’ve only seen that other runner and another guy in the distance in all the times I’ve been out there. I’m sure I’ll run into more people in the future. And they were very well behaved when we crossed paths with the other guy running.

It was a good run, though a little shorter than I planned. I should be in great shape for Capitol Peak 50 Mile next Sunday. And I broke 100,000 ft elevation gain so far for the year. I’m a little behind my goals for both mileage and elevation gain at the moment. I finished much stronger than I started last year, and I have plenty of time.

Average HR 140 bpm. I didn’t feel like I was working as hard as my HR suggests, but I guess the climbing can do that.

 

Weekly totals: 36.2 mi, 6063 ft gain.