Monday, July 27, 2015, 7:14 pm

4.02 mi, 36 ft gain, 38:34. RR Access Rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Still a little achey today. With the weather still a little cooler, I took the dogs out. They really enjoyed it, like always. The aches mostly went away about halfway through.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015, 7:02 pm

11.03 mi, 824 ft gain, 1:36:00 Town to RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

My left calf/shin is still a little sore. It felt better as I went along.

I ran fairly easy on the way to the park. I had a little water and signed the log. I went a little harder up the RR Grade, but not that hard.

The run back down to the TH was fine. I had a little water and signed out before heading home.

I picked up the pace a bit on the way home. I thought I might make it back under 1:38, but as I got closer, 1:36 looked possible, so I went faster.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Wednesday, July 29, 2015, 7:22 pm

9.94 mi, 3266 ft gain, 2:05:32. Woody to Upper Falls (45), R/T on Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

First run in a new pair of shoes. They arrived today. I cut them up to my liking. I forgot how much breaking in the uppers need. The lower portion is just fine. The uppers have so much padding that in order to get them tight enough for my foot not to slide around, I the padding can cause pressure at flex points. It was really only an issue on the uphills. Since I run on the balls of my feet going uphill most of the time, the flexing at the forefoot put pressure on the outside of my foot. It caused the front outside part of my right foot up through my pinky toe was a little tingly. It went away shortly once on the flats or downhills.

Other than that the run was pretty great. My right calf was a little sore on the climb up the Woody trail. Sore like the burn from really working the muscle. My left calf wasn’t as bad. I think they just took a little longer to loosen up due to the little break from climbing.

I stopped briefly at the Upper Falls before continuing to the Upper Grade. Unfortunately, there was a road closed sign at the post for the “leaving state park” sign. I considered ignoring it, but decided not to. I’m not sure if it was closed due to the bridge construction, which doesn’t seem likely for that part of the road, or if they finally started logging at the timber sale area that has been signed and marked for about a year. It sucks that the state park doesn’t own that land, at least along the routes from one spot to another in the park.

I felt pretty good going down the Woody trail. I turned at the cutoff for the Greg Ball trail and ran up there. I felt much better going up the Greg Ball trail than up the Woody trail. Once to the DNR road, I ran up to the bridge and the fork for Wallace Lake or the detour to see if there were any signs about the road closure. There weren’t.
I put on my headlamp for the run back down. I didn’t go too hard, but it was fun.

I took the RR Grade down to the TH.

I saw three small groups of people on the first half of the Woody trail when I started, but then didn’t see another person for the rest of the run.

My left calf/shin was definitely better today.

Average HR 144 bpm. I didn’t charge my HRM, and it died just before I made it to the Upper Falls.

 

Thursday, July 30, 2015, 7:23 pm

9.4 mi, 2794 ft gain, 2:07:17. Woody to Upper Falls (46), R/T on Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

The shoes were a little better today. I made it to the Upper Falls at about the same time as yesterday. I turned around there today instead of continuing the loop due to the road closed sign yesterday. My right shoe was still pinching my foot today. I think it might be the overlay band pushing into the top of my foot. I had the same problem with another pair of these shoes. With those ones, I just skipped the lower eyelet on the band on that side. It helped with that pair, so I’ll give it a try.

Again, the pinching went away on the downhills.

I turned up the Greg Ball trail again today as well. I also went out to the fork for the detour and the road to Wallace Lake.

I pulled out my headlamp for the descent down the Greg Ball trail and the RR Grade. The Descent seemed a little easier today.

Average HR 140 bpm.

 

Friday, July 31, 2015, 6:24 pm

9.33 mi, 3726 ft gain, 2:16:14. Woody Trail to Upper Falls x2 (47, 48), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I changed the lacing of my right shoe like that on an older pair. It helped a bit. The excessive padding in the upper is going to take a while to break in.

My right calf was tight on the first time up, a little less so than yesterday. I made it up slightly faster than the last two days. I had a couple dates and some water, rested for a couple minutes and headed back down. The descent was as fun as ever. I made the round trip in about 1:05. I refilled my water, used the restroom, had a couple dates and water and started off for another trip.

I felt better on the second time up. I think I was slightly slower. I had 2 dates and water at the top before heading back down. It was starting to get a little dark on the descent. I took it sort of easy. I made it back to the TH at just about the time of sunset.

Average HR 142 bpm.

 

Saturday, August 1, 2015, 6:26 pm

9.65 mi, 3940 ft gain, 2:22:30. Woody Trail to Upper falls x2 (49, 50), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I went back for round two today. I felt better for most of today’s run than yesterday. My right calf was better, and the shoe pinching wasn’t quite as bad.

I made it to the upper falls about a minute faster on the first lap than yesterday. It’s not that fast for me, but it’s a fairly comfortable pace. There were two couples up there taking photos. I spent a few minutes resting, drinking water and eating a couple dates. They left a couple minutes before I did.

On the way back down, I took the Greg Ball connector to use the restroom at the end of the RR Grade. It added a couple hundred feet of elevation gain and 1/3 mi.

At the TH, I refilled my water, had a couple dates and talked to one of the park hosts. I asked about the road closed sign on the Upper Grade. She didn’t know but said she’d ask the ranger and let me know next time I see her. She mentioned that there had been a fire in the area, so that might have been it, but she wasn’t sure. I asked about a few other things, the trail from Reiter, and the trail extension to Shaw Lake. She said they’re getting worked on, but didn’t know when they’d be finished.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Sunday, August 2, 2015, 4:55 pm

13.79 mi, 4654 ft gain, 4:16:11. Surprise Lake, Glacier Lake, Surprise Gap, Surprise Mountain, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I wanted to get some good vert in today. I wasn’t exactly sure where I’d go, but I wanted to hit at least one peak. I settled on the Surprise Creek trail. I ran on the same trail last year up to Peiper Pass. I enjoyed it then.

I stopped after about a mile to change the lacing on my left shoe. It was pinching my foot like the right one had been. I skipped the lower eyelet on the outer overlay band like I did on the right shoe. The pressure was immediately relieved.

I passed about half a dozen groups of hikers on their way out before Surprise Lake. I took a wrong turn at Surprise Lake and ended up crossing a boulder field at the south end. After checking my map again, I decided to just go off trail nearly straight uphill and rejoined the trail. It was very steep going.

I continued on to Glacier lake, where I filled up my water. I probably had enough to make it up the mountain, but wasn’t sure if I had enough to make it back down. There was a couple camped by the lake.

Last year I had trouble finding the abandoned trail up to Surprise Gap, which was why I ended up going to Peiper Pass. I found it quite easily this time. As I came up to the trail, I saw a hiker coming down from Peiper Pass. I didn’t wait around long enough to say hi, though.
For an abandoned trail, it was in quite good condition. Lots of loose rocks, but that’s to be expected in an area like that. The view from Surprise Gap was great. The trail from there to Surprise Mountain was easy to follow and in pretty good condition.

The views from the peak were even better. I could see Glacier Peak to the north, Mt Daniel and Mt Hinman to the south. I thought I remembered reading about a boot path from Peiper Pass to the peak, but I couldn’t find evidence of it.

I would have liked to go down the south side from Surprise Gap and then back up around to Peiper Pass, but as it was, I was already going to be running in the dark a bit.

I think I need some more practice on trails like the abandoned one up to Surprise Gap, a mix fixed and loose rocks surrounded by boulders. I like some technical downhills, but this was a bit much for me to go very fast. Just a loose talus field would have been easier. It was fun though.

A little past Glacier lake on the way back, I stopped and tightened my shoe laces. My foot was sliding around a bit on the steeper descents with a more firm footing. It was good after that.

I pulled out my headlamp for the last 1.5-2 mi.

I hiked a lot more than last year, but I still made good time. I definitely want to go back and attempt some of the other peaks in the area.

Average HR 130 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 67.1 mi, 19,239 ft elevation gain.

July totals: 279.5 mi, 55,042 ft elevation gain.