On The Loose: Aug. 18th to Aug. 24th

Monday, 8/18--Off

Tuesday, 8/19--Up South Sentinel, Down to Evans St. and Back

4,025', 1:58

A morning run just to test the legs after some long days on Lone Mountain. Pengelly used to seem difficult, but after a couple days going up and down piles of loose rock in Big Sky this trail seems almost laughable. It's still decent training for The Rut 50k, though.

Wednesday, 8/20--Pengelly, North Ridge South Sentinel, Sentinel Gulch, Down Sentinel--Reverse

6,046', 2:56

Same route as last Monday, same effort, 4 minutes faster. I still feel like anything two hours or under allows me to keep recovering. I'm still feeling a little lag from last week, but I'm ready to keep pushing a little longer. Cloudy cool weather, running through dew. I was drenched up to my thighs.

Thursday, 8/21--Over Sentinel and Up University, plus some Gratuitous Up

4,270', 2:02

A cloudy but warm run, feeling a little slow. This was right after a roughish day at work--still, my time up University was about average for a below average effort. I followed this immediately after with 35 minutes of strength and conditioning, and was very fatigued at the end. 35 minutes is normal, but usually I give myself a break between workouts.

Friday, 8/22--Rut 50k Scouting

7,240, 4:50

Up Bonecrusher, around the base of Deadgoat Ridge, up to the ridge, down by Challenger, then up a bit more and back down. The new climb to Deadgoat Ridge is tough! I ran into Mike Wolfe and crew up there making a bit of trail and putting in bolts for a fixed line, which definitely isn't a bad idea considering the terrain. It was really foggy on parts of this run (visibility 150'), causing me to lose track of the right route coming down from Challenger. A day well spent.

Saturday, 8/23--Andesite Mt. Repeats

5,151', 2:49

Ran up to the summit via ski slopes, then took service roads down to the Moose Tracks trail. From the bottom of Moose Tracks, I ran 4 repeats back up to the summit sticking to the 50k course. It's a tricky transition in this section, going from super steep to totally runnable. On the steepest section, I slid back down the hill a couple times with all the rain and muck, but figured out a good way up past this section--going straight up when it's muddy doesn't work.

Sunday, 8/24--Rut 50k Scouting

8,322', 6:18

I woke up to windows covered with snow, and spent the entire morning running around in snow and mud. From Moonlight Lodge, I went up the very gradual Elkhorn Trail, took service roads over to the moraine, and slowly and carefully climbed the snow covered talus field leading to Deadgoat Ridge. From here, I followed the course all the way to Cowflats (summiting Lone Peak), and ran back to Moonlight with only a slight detour. It took me awhile to find the trail going from the first talus field after the descent off Lone Peak to Dakota Lift, but I managed to find it via following some deer tracks, and finally spotting the trail again. The descent off Lone Peak seemed like it could possibly be faster in snow, but most everything else was a good bit slower. This course is doable (and still within confines of safety) if snow covered, but it changes the mountain section of the course drastically.

35,054', 20:53

The bulk of the time and gain this week was on the Rut 50k course, just getting to know more of the terrain and spend time at altitude. Sunday's run was one of my favorites so far this year, and a real awakener to just how difficult the course could be with unfavorable weather. I feel pretty comfortable on the mountain section of the course, but still need to check out the mellow sections if possible next weekend. Fall semester starts tomorrow, which really should hep with this taper business.