Tuesday, 10/28--Hill Intervals w/Run Wild Missoula
~500' (guessing), 50 minutes
Ran three different sets of hills, 3x each. This workout hurt, but not quite as much as the hill intervals two weeks ago, and definitely not as much as the Sentinel Hill Climb. I felt pretty good, and remained consistent throughout the workout, but there are a few guys who come to the workouts that I just can't touch on the short stuff (less than a mile).
Wednesday, 10/29--Crooked Canyon-Crazy Canyon-Sentinel-Fire Road loop
2,215', 1:26
Moderate pace, flatter running. I stuck mostly to the mellowest grades I could make a loop out of in the Sapphires, running down Sentinel the least steep way, and running down MO-Z at the end. It's been awhile since I've done a longish run with much turnover. Legs felt a little wonky running on so much flat, but not too bad. Saturday's race will be flat and fast, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's closer to 8k than 5k (won't know until race day).
Thursday, 10/30--Pengelly to Sentinel, back via Fire Road
2,179', 1:11
A moderate run on a beautiful day. Running down Sentinel, I came pretty close to a large buck climbing out of Sentinel Gulch, and stopped to watch it for a bit. It came up to the trail, and stood there for several seconds before continuing its ascent. I love having this backyard! Run felt good, getting more used to flat terrain.
Friday, 10/31--Pattee/Maurice/South Ave. Loop
303', 19 minutes
An easy quick run, same as last week. I ran fast on the pavement just so I could get back to grass and dirt. Looking forward to tomorrow!
Saturday, 11/1--Montana Cup!, 36th place? (not sure, since unattached, collegiate runners aren't listed)
6k, 21:23
This isn't my forte, but I was happy with the results. I ran a stronger race than last year's Montana Cup on less favorable conditions (flat, shorter distance). It's amazing that we can have a race with this kind of depth mostly on the basis of regional pride and bragging rights. Missoula had a strong men's open team, and I was mostly just trying to stay with some of the Missoula middle pack--it didn't seem like we'd have a chance at losing. There were three guys that passed me in the last minute, which was a disappointment. I still don't know how to put in a good kick. I slowed in the last third, but came out averaging about 5:45 miles. That's speedy for me, especially on cross-country terrain. Missed my goal of top 30 by 7 seconds (so close!).
Sunday, 11/2--Blue Mt. w/Jimmy Grant
3,716', 3:17
It's amazing how 21 minutes of hard running can make the body so sore the next day. It took a little while to wake up, since the run began just after 6 am, but it was great to get up into the snow! This was my longest run since The Bear, roughly 20 miles. For the last half hour or so I felt pretty worked. Racing yesterday was the hardest I've ever run.
8,913', 7:24
This week didn't have much vert., but I feel like it exhausted me more. Working on turnover takes far more effort for me than powerhiking a steep hill. I felt good about MT Cup, but it makes me want to work on speed more. I finally ran a sub 18 minute 5k partway through the race, but I'm sure I'll be able to go faster per mile at my next road race, probably the Turkey Day 8k--it'd be nice to get 27:xx there. Feeling sore.
Fresh tracks at sunrise
Plus some photos from last week's hill climb
Photo credits Myke Hermsmeyer
Fighting Dan Mazza off all the way to the end
A small but deep field--Nearly half the field ran at sub-6 minute pace
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