13 miles, 1:39
Ran an easy 13 on a combination of roads and flat, paved trails. Took South Avenue past Reserve, up Clements, took Spurgin Rd. to Tower Street, and ended up coming back on Milwaukee Trail to Higgins. No ice! I did see what looked like an artificially made ice tower out by South and Tower, though, possibly a remnant of some extravagant Christmas display.
Tuesday, 2/18, Intervals w/Run Wild Missoula
11 miles, 1:37
5 x 1 mile on Kim Williams with 3 minute rests, with a long warm up, and a long cool down (running to and from downtown). Miles were in the 5:40s.
Wednesday, 2/19, Treadmill Zoning Out
8 mile, 59 minutes
No, the weather was not anywhere near bad. I wanted to practice switching paces late in a run, but felt a lack of mental energy (from overstudying for tests), so I decided to let the treadmill do it for me. Ran at 8 minute pace for the first three, jumped up to 7 for two, 6 for one, 6:40 for one, and then a cool down mile. Hopefully I'll be able to be patient enough that I can switch gears late in the race this Saturday.
Thursday, 2/20, Clark Fork Loop w/Jimmy
11 miles, 1:24
Ran out on Kim Williams, came back on the Riverfront Trail on the other side. We were originally thinking of taking Smokejumper up Sentinel again, but the trails were icy enough that even Kim Williams was a little tricky. Another day in the blowing snow.
Friday, 2/21, Off
Saturday, 2/22, Snow Joke Half Marathon, 4th place in 1:21
13.1 miles, 1:21 (+4ish mile cool down at 8:30ish mile pace) = 17 miles, 1:55
Well, I missed 1:19 by a good mark, but I'm ok with that, since it sounded from other runners like the conditions on the course this year were slower than usual. The first 6 miles on the pavement were pretty fast for me, clipping along at 5:50s with Jesse Zentz, but then the pace fell to 6:20somethings on the soft snow, and Jesse slowly gained over 2 minutes on me in that section. If running on the beach is like extra soft tofu, the second half of this course might have been soft tofu. Not as difficult as beach running, but definitely not firm ground either.
Most were running about 5 minutes slower than their half marathon PRs, so this might equate to a 1:16 half marathon for me, which definitely makes me feel good about getting a sub 2:40 marathon this year. Even 1:21 is a good 6 or 7 minutes off my previous best (I hadn't raced this distance before).
Also, I'm beginning to notice a pattern. Montana runners with a first name that starts with J seem to have a higher likelihood of being fast. The top 4 at this race: Jim, Jimmy, Jesse, Jeff. At least I only lost to other J names.
Sunday, 2/23, Larch Camp Road Snow Trotting
10 miles, 1:31
A nice recovery run out in snowy conditions. I only came across one car on Larch Camp once I got off Pattee Canyon Road, so this could be a good spot to return to, especially once the trails along that road see a little use after this storm. The legs didn't feel like cruising, so I just trotted along, enjoying the silence of the snowfall.
70 miles, 9:05
This is shaping up to be a good year so far. I've only had five top five finishes, but two of them were in the past month. Snow Joke felt like a better performance than my Freezer Burn race, and it was great to have a few guys to chase (and be chased by!). I'm still a little wrecked from Snow Joke, because of all those miles pushing it on soft snow. I'm not sure if there's anything I could do to get better at that kind of running, maybe some balance work. I guess now the focus will be more miles at slower speeds, to see if I can get in shape for the 24 hour run (still tentative).
A peaceful run out on Larch Camp Rd.
Huckleberry, the canine winner in 1:45. He won a treat!
Some of the age division winners swearing in to the Order of the Cheetah.
The pretty much amazing Charlotte Gainsbourg:
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