Oct. 20th to Oct. 26th

Monday, 10/20--Off

Tuesday, 10/21--Mt. Sentinel Tempo Run

1,906', 38 minutes

This felt a bit like mountain running!  Rainy, foggy weather, cool temps and some mud.  Mud is really fun when you haven't been running for 20+ hours.  It did, however, make for a slow descent.  Splits were about 24 minutes to the top, and 14 back down.

Wednesday, 10/22--South Sentinel to Evans St. and back

3,760', 1:35

This was a little bit faster than last week, at a moderate pace.  I felt pretty good, but the sun was getting to me.  I pushed more on the uphills, and cruised the downhills.  Beautiful colors out right now!

Thursday, 10/23--South Sentinel to Fire Road and back

2,950', 1:15

Very light rain and cloudy skies, perfect running weather.  It was just a tad cold on the downhills.  I took the downhills pretty easy again, but held a moderate pace on the uphills.  Good day.

Friday, 10/24--Up to Glacial Lake Missoula Marker and back

1,016', 27 minutes

A quick run in between classes.  About 17 minutes up, 10 minutes down at a good-but-not-all-out effort.  Strange thing I noticed: the pumpkin was gone yesterday, but now it's back.  Maybe it was just knocked down and someone set it back up.  I'll continue to monitor.

Saturday, 10/25--Pattee Creek/Maurice Road Loop

303', 20 minutes

An easy run on some gentle terrain, getting a little bit of everything in except for steep or techy terrain.  Feeling rested.

Sunday, 10/26--Sentinel Hill Climb (7th place, 22:40) + Smokejumper

1,934', ~1:00 (stopped my watch at the summit)

That hurt.  My lungs took more of a toll than my legs, and I had an okay race, catching several guys between the M and the summit, but was pushed really hard at the end by Dan Mazza, managing to stay just over a second ahead of him at the finish.  I was hoping for sub-22, but ended up with 22:40, which I'll take.  It's only a 6 second PR from trailhead to summit, but a 90 second PR on the race course (it's faster to go to the left and avoid the switchbacks).  I didn't really feel good after the finish until I started running down Smokejumper with a bunch of folks (Steve Brown, KT, Nicole Hunt, and a few others).

Jumbo to Woods Gulch to the Neighborhoods w/Nicole and Scott

2,729', 1:53

This was a long cool down through a bit of rain and wind.  It's really nice to get out running with new people.  I also managed to see some new trails, and part of the Elk Ramble course which is in less than two weeks.  Hamstrings felt a little sore from the race.


14,598', 7:08

A winding down week.  This is the first of three straight weeks of racing (all short races), and I felt good about resting enough and racing well.  Besides The Bear, I've still only been passed by one person this year (Andrew Miller), but had some trouble holding off Mazza at the end of the hill climb.  Next weekend's race sounds like it could be pretty tactical, even to get in the top 30 (my goal), so hopefully I can keep my streak of not getting passed.  These short races take more strategy for me, since I'm not very fast.

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