Tag Archives: training log

Running, Training Log

June 8-14 Practice Running

Monday, June 8, 2015, 8:14 pm

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.

Average HR 150 bpm.

 

Weekly totals. 44.7 mi, 4031 ft elevation gain

Running, Trail run, Training Log

June 1-7 Practice Running

Monday, June 1, 2015, 6:14 pm

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.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 50.1 mi, 7669 ft elevation gain

Running, Trail run, Training Log

May 25-31 Practice Running

Monday, May 25, 2015, 6:36 pm

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.
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.
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.

wpid-0529151530.jpg
Mt. Sawyer USCGS marker.
Looking north from atop Mt. Sawyer. Glacier Peak poking up into the clouds.
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.

Running, Training Log

May 18-24 Practice Running

Still catching up. The last two runs are from my trip reports I wrote on WTA.org.

Monday, May 18, 2015, 6:57 pm
7.16 mi, 990 ft gain, 1:30:23. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 123 bpm.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 6:42 pm
9.72 mi, 2067 ft gain, 2:01:22. Woody trail to Upper Falls(20), Upper Grade, Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 132 bpm.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 6:40 pm
9.73 mi, 2172 ft gain, 2:01:02. RR grade, Greg Ball, Wallace Lake Upper Grade to Upper Falls(21), Woody Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 135 bpm.

Thursday, May 21, 2015, 6:52 pm
7.62 mi, 1076 ft gain, 2:04:19. Reiter toward wfsp, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 116 bpm.

Friday, May 22, 2015, 6:36 pm
9.10 mi, 440 ft gain, 1:27:21. May Creek Loop & WFSP lot, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Average HR 125.

Saturday, May 23, 2015, 4:07 pm
18.46 mi, 5878 ft gain, 4:54:13. Woody, Upper Falls (22), Upper Grade, Stickney to ~4200ft, Greg Ball, cutoff to Woody, Upper Falls & down. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 136 bpm.

Sunday, May 24, 2015, 4:34 pm
4.67 mi, 1843 ft gain, 1:39:11. Kelley Creek Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
I was going to try to run up the Kelley Creek trail to Johnson Ridge. The FS website said the trail has not been maintained. They weren’t kidding. It’s probably been at least several years. It was overgrown from the beginning, but still not too difficult to follow. 

About 1.3 mi in, there’s a rotted out puncheon bridge going uphill (a terrible idea). I could still make out the old trail bed most of the way, but in many places the hillside above has reclaimed much of the trail, choking the path down to 10 inches wide or less and significantly sloped downhill, so you’re basically side-hilling much of the way. There were at least a dozen blow-downs in the first 2 miles, but none too difficult to pass. At about 2.25 mi, it looked like an amateur lumberjack went at it over the hillside. It seemed that 90% of the trees in the next 0.25 mi were down. Some trees uprooted, taking parts of the trail with. I made it through a couple hundred yards, then it looked even worse ahead. I turned around and headed back. With everything so wet and trail conditions so terrible, I wanted to make it back to the car with enough time to hit another trail (Beckler Peak, which was fantastic). There is flagging tape marking the trail in the difficult to follow parts up until that point, and I’d imagine the markings continue beyond. 

I wouldn’t recommend the trail unless you like bushwhacking, obstacles, route finding, being soaked from the foliage and traveling half as quickly as normal at the very most. Unless the trail gets some attention, it might not be too long before it’s no longer worth the ink to continue printing on maps.
Average HR 126 bpm.

Sunday, May 24, 2015, 6:58 pm
7.45 mi, 2299 ft gain, 1:30:55. Beckler Peak, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.
After trying (and failing) to run up Kelley Creek trail, the Beckler Peak trail was amazing. I got there around 6:45 pm. There was one other vehicle parked at the trail head, but I passed about 6 on the drive up. 

The trail is in great condition. There was one small patch of snow still on the trail around 4600ft. It was only about 10 ft long and will likely be melted out in a day or two. 

Shortly after crossing that snowy patch, there was a small patch of blue sky overhead. I hoped it would last until I reached the top. It had been grey and foggy all day. It only lasted a couple minutes, though. 

I caught up to a hiker about 100 yards from the top. We chatted a little about the area. There were no views to speak of. Visibility was 50-100 yards at the most. It was still a great climb. After a couple minutes, I headed back down. 

As amazing as the trail was going up, bombing down was even better. There are a couple mildly rocky parts on the decommissioned logging road section that took a little more care, but I made great time back to the trail head. 

I’ll definitely head back sometime.

Average HR 141 bpm.

Weekly totals: 74 mi, 16765 ft gain

Running, Training Log

May 11-17 Practice Running

Playing catch up more. This was a pretty big week for me.

Monday, May 11, 2015, 7:45 pm
5.26 mi, 96 ft gain, 40:10. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Average HR 146 bpm.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 7:24 pm
7.10 mi, 957 ft gain, 1:13:59. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 137 bpm.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015, 6:33 pm
10.80 mi, 2547 ft gain, 1:58:53. Woody Trail, Upper Falls(16), Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 141 bpm.

Thursday, May 14, 2015, 6:38 pm
10 mi, 2152 ft gain, 1:53:46. Woody Trail, Upper Falls(17), Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 140 bpm.

Friday, May 15, 2015, 6:47 pm
10 mi, 2065 ft gain, 1:48:18. Woody Trail, Upper Falls(18), Wallace Lake, Greg Ball, RR Grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 140 bpm.

Saturday, May 16, 2015, 6:58 pm
6.74 mi, 922 ft gain, 1:27:20. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Average HR 121 bpm.

Sunday, May 17, 2015, 4:54 pm
21.21 mi, 4185 ft gain, 4:27:00. Woody Trail, Upper Falls(19), Upper grade, Partway up Stickney, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake, DNR Rd, RR grade, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #3.

Average HR 138 bpm.

Weekly totals: 71.4 mi, 12924 ft gain.