3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:30. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.
More recovery from Rattlesnake 50k.
Average HR 139 bpm.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 8:17 pm
4.13 mi, 37 ft gain, 30:14. Along US2, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
More recovery from Rattlesnake 50k. I stayed along the highway today.
Average HR 153 bpm.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 7:36 pm
6.34 mi, 263 ft gain, 1:04:40. To WFSP & back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
Feeling better, went a little longer.
Average HR 129 bpm.
Thursday, June 25, 2015, 8:30 pm
4.26 mi, 1138 ft gain, 57:20. Reiter gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
There have been a lot more people at the first Reiter gate than normal, so I’ve been driving out to other gates to run. Feeling a little better. Because of the different starting point, I ended up with more gain than I had really planned. It went fine, though.
Average HR 146 bpm.
Friday, June 26, 2015, 6:19 pm
7.37 mi, 2416 ft gain, 2:41:33. Lake Isabel, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
Feeling pretty much fully recovered from the 50k. I decided I’d try to make it up to Lake Isabel. I took a short cut immediately to the right after the gate on a bermed off road. Then I cut up a boot path under one of the high voltage towers. Both ways, the shortcuts probably shaved off well over a mile.
The rest of the way up the gravel roads was fine. I startled a deer about a half mile from the junction with the trail.
The trail is pretty steep for most of the way. It’s in fairly decent condition for the first half, with a few minor blowdowns and some scattered branches here and there, nothing that significant.
After that, however, the trail is in pretty rough shape. Washouts, very large blowdowns, overgrowth, and just generally difficult to follow trail in places. It’s still just as steep, though.
Then the final 0.2 mi or so gets really steep, 50% grade or better in places. It’s not much of a trail. It’s more of a hint of where other people have climbed up before. Nothing requiring rope or protective equipment, though.
The lake is beautiful. I imagine it would have been even more spectacular a little earlier before the sun passed over the mountain flanking the west side. The basin the lake sits in isn’t really much wider than the lake itself. As far as I could tell, I had the whole lake to myself.
I watched some fish feeding and jumping. I saw a canoe beached on the opposite shore. I went around to the log jam at the outlet, took in the view and took some photos. Then I went down to the small spillway controlling the water-flow out of the lake. There were some old logs across the spillway, but they didn’t look that sturdy. I crossed above the spillway on some rocks and the downstream end of the logjam. I went over toward where the canoe was and saw some oars and flotation vest. There were a few camping odds and ends left at the campsite as well.
When I started back down, I came across a carved stone memorial cemented into place for a young man who died recently. It mentioned something about his love of the outdoors. This must have been a favorite spot.
I was a little more apprehensive and conservative going down the really steep upper section than going up. These shoes don’t have the best traction. They did alright though. I ended up losing the trail briefly in roughly the same area I lost it last time I tried going up there. I found my way back with the help of my GPS, though I would have run into the trail eventually on my own.
The rest of the way down was pretty uneventful. I ended up doing a lot more hiking than I had wanted to, but the terrain and trail conditions dictated my pace. Keeping the effort easier by hiking was probably also a good idea for race recovery.
I’m glad I finally made it up to Lake Isabel. It was beautiful. But I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon. It’s a great hike once you get past the DNR roads and to the trail, but not a very good run.
Average HR 134 bpm.
Saturday, June 27, 2015, 4:56 pm
9.69 mi, 2022 ft gain, 1:51:37. Woody, Upper Falls (30), Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
Maybe I didn’t run hard enough at the Rattlesnake Ridge 50k. I recovered much more quickly than I expected. I’m not complaining, though. I was very happy with my race, and I’d much rather a fast recovery to get back to running than a slow one.
Since I’m writing this a couple weeks after the fact, I don’t really remember any particulars about this run. My time was pretty good. And it was my 30th time to the Upper falls for the year. Twenty more to go for my goal.
Average HR 147 bpm.
Sunday, June 28, 2015, 2:57 pm
3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 24:47. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
I felt just fine, but I didn’t have time for much longer of a run. Also, even though my recovery has gone spectacularly, I wanted to play it a bit safe. It was hot and I felt great.
6.11 mi, 581 ft gain, 1:15:03. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 red #2.
We stopped at Olney Creek for the dogs to take a dip before continuing on towards the hills. I decided to take a different turn this time. The one shortly after crossing the small bridge at the bottom of the hill. I’m not sure I’ve been on that road before, maybe once a year or two ago.
It was fun. There were a couple shorter off-shoot roads that we went on as well. One had some tall grass and flowers growing on it. The dogs had fun running through them. The road ended at a logging landing, but some tracks from heavy machinery continued a little farther.
I wasn’t concerned with pace, with the upcoming race on Saturday. I looked around a bit and let the dogs sniff around too. There were lots of deer tracks on and around the landing.
I felt good on the run back to the car, imagining myself on the final miles of Rattlesnake Ridge 50k, running on the Snoqualmie Valley trail. If I stick to my race plan, the pace should be similar too.
Average HR 127 bpm.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 6:55 pm
4.16 mi, 37 ft gain, 34:55. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
Feeling pretty well today, as far as tapers go. More visualizations of the final 9 mi of the race. I took the pace up a little bit today.
Average HR 138 bpm.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 5:58 pm
4.91 mi, 186 ft gain, 1:12:54. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 & up Olney Creek, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #3.
I’ve been getting kind of bored running the same routes around town and in the tree farm. But I want to keep it pretty easy for the taper. I had an idea recently about running up Olney Creek from one of the bridges, possibly all the way to the next one up stream. Today I decided to check it out.
It was a lot of fun. In the water, out of the water, rocks, sand, logs, fish. The rocks under water are quite slippery, but I managed to stay upright. There were a couple places where the creek splits into more than one channel, and one was completely dry. Some of the “rapids” were no more than a few inches deep, while nearby pools were 3-4 ft deep with that crystal blue colored water.
I went a bit over a mile upstream before turning around. I didn’t have the time, nor the inclination to find out how far it was to the next road today. Travel was relatively easy, with few blowdowns to navigate and only a couple places where the water was over my knees.
I didn’t bother emptying out my shoes before heading back to the car. There was quite a bit of sand and small gravel, but it wasn’t too bad for the short trip.
I wasn’t the only recent human traveler through the creek bed. There were at least two other shoe tracks, probably anglers. I also saw all kinds of deer tracks.
Looking at my track on Strava, it appears to be another 1.5 mi or so to the next bridge.
Average HR 116 bpm.
Thursday, June 18, 2015, 5:54 pm
4.81 mi, 183 ft gain, 1:08:03. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 & up Olney Creek, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #2.
I had so much fun yesterday, I decided to do it again today with the dogs this time. They weren’t sure what was going on at first when I started wading through the water upstream from the bridge. After a little coaxing, they joined me.
The dogs had at leas as much fun as I did. We didn’t go quite as far today, though. They both love the water, but Vida is sometimes tentative to go into water where she can’t touch bottom. Once she’s in or if she’s really motivated to get a stick or something, she’s just fine.
Once back to the bridge, I took short look downstream to see if it was passable in that direction. There were a lot of blowdowns crossing the whole creek bed in the first few hundred yards. I’m not sure about beyond that.
I cleaned out my shoes before heading back to the car this time. I sat by the water, pulled off one shoe at a time, swished it around in the water to try to get the sand and gravel briefly in suspension, then dumped them out. Then I rolled my socks down to my toes (putting wet Injinji socks back on sucks), swished my feet in the water to get the sand off and out, rolled them back up, swished around again to get the sand off the exterior, then put my shoes back on and headed out.
Average HR 118 bpm.
Friday, June 14, 2015, 4:01 pm
3.18 mi, 28 ft gain, 25:30. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
Last taper day. I ate shortly before heading out, so my HR was elevated, probably by about 10 bpm. My lower legs just above my ankles were a little tight. They loosened up before too long.
More visualizations of race day. I felt pretty good besides the early leg tightness.
Average HR 148 bpm.
Saturday, June 20, 2015, 7:33 am
50 km, 6439 ft gain, 5:20:03. Rattlesnake Ridge Run 50k, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I had a great race. I stayed fairly conservative going over Rattlesnake Ridge and back. My split was maybe a couple minutes faster than last year. I made up most of the 11 min improvement over last year on the last 9 miles. I’ll post a more detailed race report soon.
Average HR 153 bpm.
Sunday, June 21, 2015, 6:17 pm
3.62 mi, 944 ft gain, 1:13:37. Reiter gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I forgot about the terrible Sunday traffic westbound on US2, so I didn’t run where I had planned.
It’s getting pretty overgrown with grass and blackberries on parts of this route. Fortunately, the creeks are still running in the area, so the dogs had plenty of water to drink and cool down in.
I found some more old 4×4 trails up the hill. I ended up going much steeper today than I had planned, which ended up meaning a lot more hiking than running than planned as well. That’s ok. Just getting moving and keeping it a relatively easy effort was the goal.
4.42 mi, 265 ft gain, 48:53. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
I felt much better than I expected. I’m very grateful that the pulled muscle I suffered a week ago healed so quickly. I was able to get pretty close to my normal pace for the effort today. We went out to Olney Creek, and the dogs played in the water a bit. Then we finished the loop and headed back to the car.
Average HR 128 bpm.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015, 8:07 pm
5.05 mi, 96 ft gain, 48:57. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.
I felt pretty decent today. I had a little minor piriformis soreness, but not bad. I warmed up fairly quickly. I picked up the pace to fast but comfortable. I ran out for 20 minutes, which happened to be just barely over 2.5 mi.
I picked up the pace a little more on the way back. I saw a friend in front of his house on my way back and stopped to talk for a few minutes. I sped up a little more when I started again. I picked up the pace again over the last 0.3 mi. It was nice to run faster for a change.
Average HR 141 bpm.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015, 8:01 pm
9.12 mi, 440 ft gain, 1:16:09. May Creek Rd around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.
I feel about like I did during the taper before Capitol Peak 50 mi. So I guess it’s probably going well. I wanted to go a little longer today. I decided after I started that I’d hit the long loop around town.
I started out fairly easy, but picked up the pace as I warmed up. I mostly kept my HR in the low 140s bpm. I was comfortable, but moving pretty well.
Once almost around to the “Y” at Ley Rd, I decided to run out to Wallace Falls State Park to use the restroom and add another mi to the run. I used the restroom and got a little drink of water. I wasn’t all that thirsty, but I got a little anyway. Then I headed out for home.
I picked up the pace a little more from there, pushing my HR closer to 150 bpm. Then a little over 1 mi out, I went into the low 150s bpm. I gradually sped up more once I passed the grocery store in town.
Once I turned onto my road, I pushed a little harder. I really cranked it up over the last 0.2 mi. It felt great to move my legs fast and get my lungs pumping hard.
I was imagining the final 9 mi of the upcoming Rattlesnake Ridge 50k for much of today’s run. It has about the same elevation gain, though it’s more spread out over the end of the race than on today’s route. I’m feeling pretty good about my race goals.
Average HR 142 bpm.
Thursday, June 11, 2015, 6:14 pm
6.61 mi, 2514 ft gain, 1:32:42. Lake Serene, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I haven’t been to Lake Serene in quite a while. I lost my Strava CR for the ascent earlier this year and wanted to get it back sometime. I made a go at it today.
I didn’t push too hard for the lower portion to just before the trail to Bridal Veil Falls. I wanted to save some strength for the upper part. It’s much more steep with lots of stairs and quite rocky. I hiked some of the stairs and a few spots that were particularly rocky and tough. I kept the pace pretty hard most of the way. I started pushing harder once past the majority of the climbing.
I wasn’t sure if I had made it when I got to the lake. I started my gps when I left the restroom, and I wasn’t exactly sure what the CR was. I knew I was close, though.
Once at the lake, I spent a few minutes cooling down. I took my UD Fastdraw 20 with my Sawyer Mini in the pocket. I drank a full bottle on the way up. I didn’t really want to carry a full bottle back down, so I used the filter and squeeze bottle. I filled the squeeze bottle in the lake and drank the whole thing. The squeeze bottle that comes with the filter is kind of small, only 16 oz. It’s kind of tough to fill completely, though.
Anyway, I had some water, took a couple photos, enjoyed the scenery and headed back down. It’s so rocky on the upper portion of the trail that it’s tough to go much faster on the way down than on the way up. If it was loose rocks and such, it wouldn’t be so bad. But the rocks are mostly tightly in place and at odd angles. It takes a lot of concentration to go very fast. I bet I could get better at it with more practice, like I’ve done at Wallace Falls.
As it turned out, I did get the Strava ascent segment CR and came 2nd on the descent. I didn’t really push too hard on the descent, maybe next time. I also missed a couple of the shorter segment CRs by just seconds.
Average HR 153 bpm.
Friday, June 12, 2015, 8:22 pm
8.13 mi, 358 ft gain, 1:17:24. O&B to hill on Maycreek rd + WFSP, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go today. I started out on my normal route toward WFSP. I decided I’d turn onto Maycreek Rd toward the loop to US2. I was going to turn around at 3.5 mi, but I was coming up to the short hill, so I decided to run to the top then turn around.
On the way back, I needed a restroom, so I went out to WFSP too. I used the restroom and ended up talking to a guy that I see at the park fairly regularly. I got some water, then headed home.
Right around the time I turned the corner back on to US2, I realized my ID had fallen out of the key pocket in my shorts. My key was still there, fortunately. I’m not sure exactly when it fell out. I remember it uncomfortably digging into my waist out on Maycreek rd somewhere. I adjusted it so it wouldn’t dig in anymore. I felt a brief pressure at the bottom on my upper leg, then it went away. I didn’t check on it or feel it again after that. I’m not sure if it fell out there, or later. Once I got home, I drove along the route I followed. I drove slowly looking for it. I went to WFSP and looked around in the restroom. I didn’t find it.
I called the park the next day and asked about a lost license, but they hadn’t found one.
Average HR 132 bpm.
Saturday, June 13, 2015, 6:44 pm
8.21 mi, 359 ft gain, 1:24:46. Same as yesterday, solo. New Balance MR10v2.
Since I had no luck finding my license, I decided to retrace my route from yesterday. I went slower today, keeping an eye out for my lost license.
I still had no luck, but the run was nice, again, even for road running.
Average HR 129 bpm.
Sunday, June 14, 2015, 9:06 pm
3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 21:46. Around town, solo. New Balanace MR10v2.
I considered going longer today. But I haven’t exactly been taking it that easy tapering. I went out comfortably, but sped up as I went. It was fun running fast.
4.31 mi, 271 ft gain, 48:57. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
Today’s run was rough. My legs felt mostly ok, but my glute was not happy. It was definitely worse today than yesterday. Downhill was worse than uphill or flat. I think it’s the muscle contraction at that angle and the extra force going downhill. Other than that, I could move pretty well.
We ran out to Olney Creek. The dogs splashed around a bit. Then we finished the loop.
Average HR 118 bpm.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 7:24 pm
4.13 mi, 37 ft gain, 40:29. RR access rd, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.
I felt mildly better than yesterday. I still couldn’t go very fast because of the pulled muscle. I was going to run my normal 5k-ish loop or out onto May Creek rd, but I had to pee, so I crossed over to the green belt, across the RR tracks and found a spot in the bushes. Since I was already over there, I ran along the RR access road to a little over 2 mi out.
It’s times like this, dealing with injuries or being really sore during tough recoveries, that start to sow seeds of doubt. I started to think about just not running until the muscle healed, but remember giving up like that in the past and it sucked. Not running sucked, starting again sucked, and I’m not really sure it sped up the healing process that much.
Anyway, other than a sore right butt cheek, it was a pretty good run.
Average HR 124 bpm.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015, 8:41 pm
3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:53. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 White.
The glute is slightly better again. I didn’t feel it much at first, but when I tried speeding up some, it let me know. My legs are still a little bit tired in general too, not bad, though.
For some reason the muscle along the outside of my right shin was compensating and working overtime. It was really difficult to try to get it to relax. It started to loosen up a little toward the end of today’s run. I did notice early on that my right foot was turning inward a little, so I was much more mindful of my form. Going slightly faster helped a little too.
I’m hoping it’s good enough this weekend for one more long run. I ended up with a 3 week taper for Capitol Peak 50mi due to minor injury as well. I don’t want to taper that long for Rattlesnake, or for any other race for that matter.
Average HR 127 bpm.
Thursday, June 4, 2015, 8:01 pm
6.16 mi, 822 ft gain, 1:13:14. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
My glute is a lot better, but still has a little ways to go. My right shin muscle was tight again for the first mile or so. I took a couple breaks, concentrated on relaxing, and it loosened up. My right piriformis is acting up a little too. That should be alright though.
Once to the bridge at Olney Creek, the dogs decided to take the trail down to the creek. To keep from letting them think they’re in charge, I kept going over the bridge. Rather than go back up the trail and cross the bridge, they crossed the creek and scrambled up the bank on the other side.
We took a left after the bridge towards the mountains. I took the turn towards Wallace Lake, but stopped well short of it. There were a couple huckleberry bushes with berries starting to ripen.
This was a much better run than the last few days.
Average HR 133 bpm.
Friday, June 5, 2015, 7:34 pm
9.15 mi, 2014 ft gain, 1:50:11. Woody to Upper Falls (27), Upper Grade, Detour, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
My right glute felt ok, maybe just slightly sore. My lower legs, mostly the muscles on the inside between my calves and shins, were screaming at me for the first 3 mi or so. After that, they started to calm down pretty quickly. My right outside shin muscle was tight again for about the first mi.
I was kind of slow on the Woody trail, I stopped a couple times to try to stretch out tight lower leg muscles. I hiked a little as well. I usually try to run the whole thing, except maybe some of the stairs. I spent a minute or two at the Upper Falls trying to get my lower legs to calm down, then hiked most of the rest of the way to the Upper Grade.
I was still not feeling very good for a while after that. I walked a little bit, then took a brief pitstop in the woods. I started to feel better after that.
I didn’t have a lot of daylight left, so I turned at the detour road and didn’t go out to the lake. I had my headlamp just in case, though. I found myself a bit tentative going down the Greg Ball trail. It was kind of dark in the woods, and I had the trip and pulled muscle from Sunday on my mind. I was careful about foot placement and paid very close attention to the trail.
I kept the pace up a little bit on the way down, then kicked it up over the last 0.25 mi, and again over the last 100-200 yards. I managed to finish before needing to pull out my headlamp.
I am feeling kind of slow and tired, even though I finished quite fast. I hope the taper works out well.
Average HR 140 bpm.
Saturday, June 6, 2015, 7:06 pm
11.15 mi, 2082 ft gain, 2:18:25. Roads to WFSP & Woody to Upper Falls (28), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
After having such a rough time yesterday, I decided to run from home and use the 3 mi to the park as a warm up. It worked much better. My lower leg issues didn’t last as long and weren’t as bad.
I ran along the green belt instead of the sidewalk along US2. I tried to hit the grass and side of the road as much as possible the rest of the way. I felt good when I got to the park. I made a pitstop and refilled my water bottle then headed up the trail.
I felt better on the climbs than yesterday and walked less too. There was a little more foot traffic this late in the evening than I expected, but not too bad. I took the time letting people pass to rest a little. It didn’t really affect my time going up. It was pretty much the same as I’ve been doing recently. I took a minute or two to rest at the top before going back down. I also tightened my shoelaces.
I didn’t push the pace on the descent. Sometimes it seems a little easier to go faster on the descent. It went well.
I felt better on the road home than I did on previous similar efforts.
I didn’t take my phone, which I kind of regretted as I crossed the bridge over May Creek before getting to the park. There was a deer standing in the middle of May Creek with a duck in the still water nearby. It would have been a great photo. But it was also nice not having my UD belt around my waist or my pack on.
Average HR 134 bpm. The battery died after about 20 min. I forgot to charge it.
Sunday, June 7, 2015, 6:36 pm
12.04 mi, 2442 ft gain, 2:32:51. Woody to Upper Wallace Falls (29), Upper grade to detour to Wallace Lake beach +, down Greg Ball & RR grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I felt even better today than yesterday. I needed 12 mi to hit 50 for the week. I don’t know why it mattered that I hit 50.
Anyway, I was about as fast to the upper falls today again, even with a short pitstop off the trail. I also didn’t have any of the lower leg issues I’ve been having. There was a little soreness from the effort, but nothing else. I only stopped for a minute at the upper falls before heading up to the Upper Grade.
I find myself going kind of slow at first when I hit the Upper Grade, recovering from the climb I guess. Then I gradually speed up over the next 5-10 min. I stopped at around 3.5 mi when I saw a creek. I had my Sawyer Mini water filter and squeeze bag in the pocket of my Ultimate Direction Fastdraw 20. It took two bags to fill the bottle, with a little left over to drink before going again. I really like the Sawyer Mini. I prefer using my Platypus 1 liter soft bottle, but it won’t fit in the hand-held’s pocket.
I headed out to the lake, then around to the beach. It’s very tranquil and relaxing on the beach in the evening. It wasn’t quite far enough to hit my 12 mi mark, so I continued on the trail toward Jay Lake. I turned around once I had gone far enough.
Once on the Greg Ball, I went with gravity a little more than yesterday on the Woody trail descent. It was fun as always. I kept the pace up a bit on the RR grade and finished off the last bit hard. It was a great run.
I left my phone home again. Again, it was nice not having the belt or pack.
5.5 mi, 1219 ft gain, 1:30:55. Reiter, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
Legs were a bit tired, but I expected them to be after the last couple weeks. I forgot about end of the holiday weekend traffic, and didn’t want to deal with it, so we ran at Reiter instead of the tree farm. I realized I forgot my Suunto after I parked, and I didn’t want to go back for it, so I used the Strava app on my phone. None of this really helped get my head into it.
My legs warmed up reasonably quickly. We went up the 4×4 trail out to the trail that I originally thought was to Lake Isabel, but is actually to the east. I wasn’t feeling it, so we turned around after a while. Once back to where the 4×4 trail splits off from the powerline road, we went east on the powerline road.
I considered going up to the ridge, but something moving about 0.25 mi away, about halfway up, caught my eye. I stopped and watched for a little while. A smaller black spot moved into the brush while a larger black spot stayed still, watching us. Then the bigger spot moved. I figured it was a sow with at least one cub. I decided we’d keep going for a little while, and I’d keep an eye on them. We didn’t go much farther before I decided we’d turn around.
Once back down to the road we came in on, I decided we’d head the other way on the powerline road to make up the rest of the distance I wanted. We went up the short, really steep trail with all the loose rocks, then just a little farther. I wanted to get in 6 miles, but I finally just threw in the towel and headed back to the car. My legs were feeling fine, but my head never really came around and just wasn’t into it.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015, 6:35 pm
10.41 mi, 2100 ft gain, 1:59:16. Wallace Falls (23) Loop, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
My legs felt really tired for the first 3 mi, especially my lower legs and feet. Then I made a pitstop in the woods. Shortly after I started going again, I started to feel pretty good. My legs were still a little sore, but I had plenty of energy.
The normal lake loop is closed. They’re tearing out the old foot bridge over the North Fork Wallace River as it leaves Wallace Lake. There were signs up, but I still went out to see what was going on. I spoke to one of the guys tearing out the current bridge for a minute. He had the hand railings down and was working on the posts. He said they’d be working on the footings for the new bridge tomorrow. However, the new bridge was being built offsite by another company and might take up to two months. It seems silly to tear out the old bridge so far ahead of the new one even being ready to be put in. He said I was welcome to cross over the bridge, but it might be down by the time I came back. I said that it was OK, I’d go the other way around.
I headed back the way I came and took the DNR rd that connects to the other one at the bridge just above the Greg Ball Trail. I met another guy on the bridge crew there. They had a camper setup and backhoe parked on the side of the road. We talked for a couple minutes.
I headed down the road for the Greg Ball trail, keeping the pace up a little. I didn’t bomb down the trail, but kept a good steady pace. Once I hit the RR Grade, I considered connecting back down to the Woody trail, but decided against it. I thought I might be able to make it back to the TH under 2 hours. I kept pushing the pace a bit, but I was still pretty comfortable. Once I hit the last half mile, I stepped it up a little, and again over the last few hundred yards.
It’s amazing how much better I felt today than yesterday. What started as another subpar run with me almost deciding to just head back down once I hit the Upper Falls instead of finishing the loop, turned into a great run.
Average HR 137 bpm.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 6:10 pm
10.72 mi, 2471 ft gain, 2:15:59. Woody, Greg Ball, Wallace Lake beach, Upper grade, Upper Falls (24), Woody Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
Average HR 135 bpm.
Thursday, May 28, 2015, 3:37 pm
7.19 mi, 75 ft gain, 1:00:45. Green belt & RR access rd, solo. New Balance MR10v2 White.
I wanted to take a relatively easy day before the big day on my birthday. I ran though the green belt along the RR tracks, then crossed over to the river side on the access road. I went out to an open gate and sign farther out that I had been before. It turned out to be a no trespassing sign. Maybe I won’t run out that far on that road again.
Average HR 137 bpm.
Friday, May 29, 2015, 9:19 am
8 mi, 3526 ft gain, 2:28:14. Rock Mountain Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I haven’t been able to find any info on trail conditions for this or the higher elevations of Nason ridge, so I based my decision to give this a shot on a recent Round Mountain trip report. It didn’t work out that well.
The plan was for a long run going up the Rock Mountain trail, maybe up Rock mountain depending on snow conditions, east on Nason Ridge and maybe some other connecting trails.
Looking back down at switchbacks on the Rock Mountain trail.
The trail is steep with so many switchbacks. There are some rocky sections, but it’s mostly good. There are a couple easily crossed blow-downs. Snow patches started around 5500 ft. They were easy enough to cross. Above 5700 ft the snow was covering the trail with a couple patches of trail for the next hundred feet or so. I put on microspikes and kept going. I made it up to about 6200 ft on the ridge. There were tracks leading up to the ridge of Rock Mountain, but there was too much snow for a good trail run. Rock mountain and the Rock Lake basin are completely covered, as is Rock lake.
I headed back down the trail and went with a backup plan instead.
Average HR 138 bpm.
Friday, May 29, 2015, 12:21 pm
18.21 mi, 4644 ft gain, 5:42:01. Deception Creek to Tonga Ridge to Mount Sawyer, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
Long run day. There seems to be a pattern lately. My first trail choice doesn’t work out, so I head for my backup.
I started at the Deception Creek TH. I passed a couple on their way out just past the bridge over Deception Creek. A mile or two later, a fighter jet flew down the valley overhead at a low altitude. It was incredibly loud.
The bridge over Deception Creek.
There are a few minor blow-downs in the first few miles, but not bad. Starting around 4-4.5 mi, there are more blow-downs. There are some significant ones within the last 0.25 mi or so of the junction with the Tonga Ridge trail and Fischer creek crossing. There is beginning to be wear from foot travel a good ways off the trail to get around them.
I refilled my water at Fischer Creek before heading for the Tonga Ridge trail. It’s a little overgrown in the first mile or so, but not bad. Once up to Sawyer pass, where there are campsites and several trails convene, I could only find one sign pointing back down to Deception Creek. There were more trails than on the map, but two just go to campsites.
I continued out to Mount Sawyer. The trail up the mountain is narrow, steep and rocky in places. It was a lot of fun. I ran into snow and three hikers at around 5400 ft. I saw remnants of the old trail up the north side and headed that way. It was almost entirely snow covered, but I made it to the top without breaking out the microspikes. The views from the top were worth it. There are trees on top, so you don’t get the full 360*, but you can move around to see it all.
Mt. Sawyer USCGS marker.Looking north from atop Mt. Sawyer. Glacier Peak poking up into the clouds.
I found the newer trail on the south side on my way down, which was completely clear until it goes back around to the east. There were a couple small snow patches to cross.
I headed back out the way I came in. I had thought about going out to Fischer lake as well, but not far off the Tonga Ridge trail it became more overgrown, muddy and covered with water than I wanted to deal with.
I also considered heading farther up Deception Creek when I got back down. A thunder storm had been coming in and was getting pretty close, so I decided against it. Then the storm stopped a couple miles later. Oh well.
On my way out, not too far from where I saw the couple earlier, there was another couple with two small children in packs.
Average HR 136 bpm.
Friday, May 29, 2015, 8:42 pm
8.31 mi, 1131 ft gain, 1:37:16. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
After getting home from Deception Creek. I took about an hour and a half to rest, drink water and eat some food. Then I took the dogs out to finish my Birthday Miles. As tough and long as the day had been to that point, I could still hold a good pace.
We went out and over the connector hill. I kept my headlamp off as long as possible. I had forgotten to change the battery. I also didn’t bring my pack, just my UD belt.
Again I walked a little of the steeper parts of the hills. I picked up the pace a little for the last couple miles once I got back over the hill, and it wasn’t so bad.
I finished my Birthday Miles with about 34.5 mi and 9301 ft elevation gain. It was my biggest day training ever, and longest non-race day. It was tough. It took a lot longer than I expected, partially due to changing locations and trail conditions. But I felt much better than expected when I finished, as miserable as I was a few times.
No HRM.
Saturday, May 30, 2015, 6:58 pm
3.19 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:55. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.
I thought about running the Wallace Lake loop, but decided against it. My legs feel pretty good, not much muscle soreness. My ankles and achilles are sore. It took the a little over the first half mile for my achilles to loosen up. My ankles took a little longer. Then I was almost up to a normal easy pace. Maybe it was all the hiking on the hills yesterday, keeping the pace conservative, doing three separate runs, or a little of all of it. Staying hydrated certainly helped. I might be back out on the trails again tomorrow.
Average HR 133 bpm.
Sunday, May 31, 2015, 5:25 pm
12.43 mi, 4780 ft gain, 3:11:45. Upper Falls (25), Greg Ball, Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, Upper Falls (26) & down, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.
I wanted to finish a big week strong. It was pretty rough going, though. My legs felt ok, just tired. I ended up hiking some of the steps on the first time to the Upper Falls.
Then I headed back down and took the cutoff to the Greg Ball trail. I noticed while going up Greg Ball, that my pace to keep my HR down was slowing way, way down going uphill. I started to hike the steeper parts. After a while, I started to feel a little better and could run some of the uphill again. Once up to Wallace Lake, I found a spot to go down to the lake and walked out on some of the old logs. I watched the fingerlings swim around and feed for a few minutes.
I headed back down the way I came up . On the way back down, I tripped on something little and stumbled. I managed to stay upright, but in the process I tweaked something. I was falling forward, bending at the waist to try to keep my legs under me. I landed hard on my right leg bent way over and pulled a glute or something. I walked a little to test it out. There was a little soreness, but not too much. I stopped couple times and swung my leg back and forth to check range of motion and how it felt. There was more pain going forward.
Once back to the Woody Trail, I went back up to the Upper Falls again. It was rough going back up the second time. I hiked more of the stairs and really steep parts. I went to the upper grade above the falls. I took it easy on the way down, paying extra attention to foot placement. I’m a lot more prone to tripping or misstepping when I’m tired, and I was tired.
I was surprised that I could still run fairly quickly on the flat at the end. I guess it’s a sign that training is paying off.
Average HR 138 bpm.
Weekly totals: 84 mi, 19947 ft elevation gain.
This was my biggest week of running ever, most miles and most elevation gain.
