Monday, July 28, 2014

July 21st to July 27th

Monday, 7/21--Backyard Loop

4,868', 2:28

Up South Sentinel, down North Pengelly, up Sentinel, up University, down to Pattee Canyon and back.  Foggy conditions below 5,000'.  I love this loop.  I might look into extending it with a detour over to the other side of Pattee Canyon, to get a more comprehensive tour of the Sapphires.  Legs felt good.

Tuesday, 7/22--South Sentinel, North Pengelly, Sentinel

5,032', 2:20

I went out just shooting to get a fast 5k of vertical in.  The legs are definitely feeling good, and they felt really responsive on the downhills.  I know I'm not totally recovered (and probably won't be with my frequency of racing until late fall), but I feel good enough to start pushing it every now and then.

Wednesday, 7/23--Sheep Mt.

4,855', 2:58:02

This was a good effort, and I'm happy to have gotten it in under 3 hours, but I pushed myself a little too hard considering this was in the heat of the day (2:30-5:30).  I coaxed myself into going for a sub three hour attempt after reading Brian Story's account of his run.  I ran without water, and took one GU at the summit, but felt very faint afterwards.  Probably a bad idea to ingest pure carbs without water when I'm already dehydrated.  After chugging a bunch of water back at my truck, the drive home seemed to take forever, and I threw up nothing but water when I got back.  Ugh.  I need to realize my limits in the heat.

Splits were about 1:39:30 to the summit, and 1:18:30 back.  Going back felt a lot slower.

Thursday, 7/24--Off

Friday, 7/25--South Sentinel + Sentinel

3,931', 1:54

A moderately easy pace, and a little shorter than usual.  I had to get back to make sure and pack for the big run tomorrow!

Saturday, 7/26--RatBob! (Run Across The "Bob" Marshall Wilderness)

7,372', 14:58

A wonderful day in the wilderness, with intermittent running, a lot of bad jokes, and friends made.  There were 21 of us in all, but most of the time we were in smaller groups, going at different paces.  I'm still kind of processing this whole run.  Midway through, I was the furthest from civilization I've ever been (26 trail miles and 30 miles on a dirt road).  This is the kind of run that makes me want to quit my job, quit everything, and just go explore.  There's so much I'll never see.

After the run, around the campfire, Ken Ellis recited a poem by heart--The Men Who Don't Fit In, by Robert Service.  The first stanza is still going through my mind:

There's a race of men that don't fit in,
A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest.



26,058', 24:38

Over a day on my feet this restless week.  Usually, I run out of a desire to know the land and myself.  But to cover 50 some miles of new land, and run it with such a large group of friends--that's something rare.  I feel luckier than ever to be in Missoula, and RATBob has spurred me on to try to take this next month before fall semester starts, and use it to the fullest.  I want to be restless.


Fog line at 5,500'


Crepuscular rays over Clark Fork




The Chinese Wall



Mt. Bunghole


Fording Spotted Bear River



A high end production from last year's RATBob:





Sunday, July 20, 2014

July 14th to July 20th

Monday, 7/14--Off

Tuesday, 7/15--Shake Out on South Sentinel

3,039', 1:34

It took about 15 minutes for my calves to loosen up on the hill, but I feel so much better after this run.  A bit of rain, some distant thunder, and heavy clouds.  I also tested out my new running pack for the first time (AK Race Vest)--seems good, but I'll have to load it down and do a long run this weekend to really test it.

Wednesday, 7/16--South Sentinel, Sentinel Gulch

4,000', 2:12

My watch reported nearly 5,000', but I think sometimes it just goes a little crazy.  Legs felt better, but still stiff and sore.  I suppose it will just be easy runs until I recover enough, maybe a few more days.

Thursday, 7/17--Smokejumper Loop w/Matt Flaherty

2,000', 1:06

My watch added on another 1,000 ft. again, so 2,000 is a close guess.  The legs actually felt good!  And just in time to run with Salomon athlete and 5:33 50 miler, Matt Flaherty.  I'm looking forward to watching that guy race the White River 50 miler coming up.  After the run, the legs still felt a bit sore, but recovery is actually happening.

Friday, 7/18--Off

Saturday, 7/19--Lolo Peak

4,281', 2:44

Legs still felt a bit dead, but it was a good run overall.  I got off trail going down Lolo, and realized that I really need to brush up on rocky terrain--time to start training for the Rut!  Smoke wasn't too much of an issue, and I was able to see over the cloud of smoke below from the summit.  My first run in the Bitterroots.

Sunday, 7/20--Exploring Snowbowl

4,314', 2:14

Such a good outing!  I was really tempted to keep running further, after I spied another big 1,000'+ ft. slope to climb, but am still a little worried about compromising my recovery.  The climb up to Point Six was right at an hour taking a gulch up the a trail up to the road, which felt fast compared to the rest of this week, and I had a good run bombing down a slope at the bottom of TV Mountain.  This is definitely a place to return to, and it seems like proper training for The Rut 50k.


17,634', 9:50

A week on the shorter end of things, mainly focused on recovery.  Each day the legs have been feeling better, but I want to hold off from anything really big until I know it won't delay my recovery.  That being said, next Saturday will be a 50+ mile social run with some of Missoula's finest.  Once I'm recovered, I have a long line of things to go after, and hope to start getting in at least one 5+ hour run a week.

Matt Flaherty cruising down Sentinel




Carlton Lake



Beargrass!


Point Six, National Weather Service Station

Town about 4,500' below

So many steep and grassy hills!



A song I've been hooked on--the guitar bits remind me of Dinosaur Jr., so good--




Sunday, July 13, 2014

July 7th to July 13th

Monday, 6/7--University Mt. Tempo Run

2,687', 1:17

A huge confidence builder, since I nabbed the fastest known ascent at 41:26, beating Jason Schlarb's 41:43.  In Schlarb's short write-up, he wrote that he "kept the effort moderately hard," so I'm sure he could have broken 40 minutes.  Still, this was a good workout, and I hope someone posts a faster time soon because I know at least a few minutes can be knocked off.  Splits were right on 24 minutes to the saddle, and 17:26 to the summit.

Tuesday, 6/8--Intervals w/Run Wild Missoula

3 x 1 mile @ goal marathon pace (5:50), ~45 minutes w/warm up, rests, water breaks

I was able to match my goal pace to within 2 seconds on each mile, so it feels well ingrained.  The heat made it a little tougher than I hope it feels on Sunday, but I'll just start at 5:50 pace and see how things go.  I know I'll do really well on the short 200 ft. hill.

Wednesday, 6/9--South Sentinel/Evans St. Loop

1,851', 1:04

Up the hill, down to Evans, and back via pavement.  The pavement felt okay, but it's going to take a lot of work to get me through 26.2 miles of it on Sunday.  Motivation-wise, this will be my toughest run.  I'm sure I'm physically ready for it, but it's going to play with my mental side.

Thursday, 6/10--Golf Course/Pattee Rd. Loop

363', 25 minutes

A quick run to keep the legs active a little longer.  Easy pace, with mostly flat stuff and a good mile + of road.  I feel ready to conduct the marathon experiment.

Friday, 6/11--Off

Saturday, 6/12--Off

Sunday, 6/13--Missoula Marathon

Flattish, 2:46:55, 11th place

The perfect picture of the blow up, with a second half ten minutes slower than the first half (granted there's one small hill in the second half, but it's pretty negligible).  1:18:27 for the first half, 1:28:28 for the second.  2:40 was out the window by mile 17, and I was really struggling towards the end.  I guess this is what I get for training on hills--the running doesn't translate quite as well as I'd hoped, but 2:47 is a time I can live with.  It's more than a minute per mile faster than my previous PR, and with far less road running in my training.  2:47 is definitely okay, I'm just not sure if I'd want to still hunt for a sub 2:40 marathon.  It would likely mean adjusting my training, and I want to keep the hills in.  I love hills.  Road running takes a lot more motivation for me, so this race was good mental training at least--keeping motivated was difficult.

4,901', 6:18

An actual taper week.  Not too much to discuss here.  I'm mainly looking forward to the now snow free trails around here, and just bought $85 dollars worth of maps.  There's a lot of exploring to be done.

                               
                              Lolo Peak, finally drying out
 
I ran with Gary Krugger for 10 or so miles, the guy's run a sub 3:00 marathon in every state

With my parents after the finish




Another great show to look forward to on Wednesday--Modest Mouse:




Sunday, July 6, 2014

June 30th to July 6th

Monday, 6/30--Backyard Loop

3,313', 2:13

I basically ran to Pattee Canyon via Crooked Canyon, up University, across to Sentinel, down to the "M", and back across on the Fire Road, making a big square, with only one big climb and a lot of flat fast stuff.  The legs are feeling good, with just a slightly tight right calf.  I'd like to do this loop again, maybe including another climb and descent in somewhere.

Tuesday, 7/1--Intervals w/Run Wild Missoula

2k, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 @ 10k pace w/a cool down run, ~1:15

This was the first really warm day Missoula's had, with temps in the high 80's during the workout, and a hose showering runners off in lane 2.  I hovered between 81 and 84 second quarters, except for the last 400 in 75 seconds.  My 2k split felt easy at 6:56 (5:32 mile pace), which was a good start to a confidence building workout.  And the heat wasn't too bad, but I went through a lot more water than usual.

Wednesday, 7/2--South Sentinel, Sentinel

5454', 2:22

My first good hill workout in awhile.  Also, first snake sighting of the year!  I was out running before 7 AM to avoid the heat, and it still felt hot by the end.  I can't wait to hit the hills everyday after I'm done with the marathon, but it's probably wise to take a few hill days off a week right now.

Thursday, 7/3--Pattee Canyon NRA (the other kind of NRA)

1,755', 1:07

A late evening outing exploring some new trails.  I didn't realize Pattee Canyon actually had some good sized hills!  I skirted off onto a minimally used trail heading up a ridge line towards Mitten Mt., but had to turn back before hitting the summit since it was getting late and I had no idea how far I had to go.  I'm realizing there are a lot of trails around here that aren't labeled on any map.  I was already overwhelmed looking at all the trails on the map.  Now I'll be trying to imagine where more surprise trails might exist.

Friday, 7/4--Stuart Peak

4,345', 3:10

The alpine is finally opening up, but the last mile to the summit still had a good bit of snow.  I'm excited to start doing some big runs in the Rattlesnake Wilderness now that snow isn't covering the trails.  I'd also like to do this run again, and see how far below 3 hours I can get it.

Saturday, 7/5--Off

Sunday, 7/6--Sheep Mt. via Woods Gulch TH

5,014', 3:28

Another long day in the Rattlesnake!  I'm looking forward to getting really familiar with this area, but right now it's big enough and untraveled enough and still obscure enough in my mind that I still feel the need to have a plan and a route in mind before I head out.  This will be my last long run before the marathon, but I can't wait to do some really big runs in the Rattlesnake.



19,881', 13:35

A moderate week spent exploring some new trails, and getting some flatter running in.  I'm not sure if this was good preparation or not for the Missoula Marathon in a week, but I'd rather spend time exploring new terrain than run a few minutes faster on the road.  I feel pretty good about sub-2:40, and that's good enough for me.  The marathon is still kind of short and fast for me, but I need to work my weaknesses (flat road running).






New perspectives--University Mt. from Mt. Mitten ridge line



Upper Twin Lakes, below Stuart Peak

Mosquito Peak, something for the next trip

Town over 4,500' below


Rattlesnake Canyon (and Stuart Peak on the left)


St. Vincent's new album is my favorite yet (and my favorite of the year so far):