Monday; May 9: A late arrival into Missoula and a light all night drizzle forced a sleepy head til about 8am. With 2 cups of Wolfgang Puck coffee, out the door for a beautiful 12 miler in the 45 degree drizzle. The first 8-9 miles of the run was easy enough on the flat paved/dirt/rock trail along the Clark Fork River trail. During the first hour, the ole legs were cranking out some nice miles then the next half hour was a reduced effort. Opting to avoid the homeless creature along a remote section of the trail, I took off up hill on the Hellgate Canyon Trail. Oh wow!!! This was a wonderfully steep haul up to the top of Mount Sentinel; the trail was quite technical being covered in lots of small rocks but the surrounding edges were nothing but trees and very thick moss. The whole run was pungent with the sweet Cottonwood trees in bloom smell, but on this particular trail, the aroma was most intense. I call this the "sweet Alaska smell" since it is very common in the Anchorage area in the early spring. Even after the 20 milers over the weekend, the legs were able to tackle this climb quite well, but I could also feel they were tired and a bit sore.......all good news since this means improvement.
The view from the top of the Hellgate Canyon Tr. Clark Fork River in the center and Missoula in the background.
The open portions of the trail were nothing but rock while the tree covered portions were nothing but lots of moss!
A runner's dream trail.....a somewhat flatter section of Hellgate Tr. with no rocks......this was just about Heaven.
Hard to see, but the sides of some of this trail were covered in nothing but moss!
One of my favorite flowers was just coming into bloom. A shooting star flower.
Tuesday; May 10; A 5:55am (ouchy) departure out of Missoula and then the commute home yielded a day off from running.
Wednesday; May 11: The dogs kicked the ole bones out of bed at 520am...which is actually late! A slow start and Traysen and I ran in the midst of the blizzard. Yes, I said that correctly...Blizzard!!!! Complete with a cold stiff wind and blowing snow! After about 5 miles, Traysen's ears and whiskers were frozen and he was done. Unfortunately, I am not that smart and opted to drop him off at the house and go back out for 6 more miles of joy! Honestly, it wasn't bad; just kept telling myself it was January and to get over it. Running in bad weather is often a matter of having the correct gear (clothing, hats, gloves, etc) and the right frame of mind....and a hot shower at the end of the run is always helpful. A total of 11 miles today; not a hard effort, but not too bad either.
It's May 11th for crying out loud!!! And I was going to get petunias this week!?
Thursday; May 12: It seems as though this was a good time or just the day for a sloppy run...or more like a slog fest, walk the uphills, the ole bones just won't get movin' kind of day! As I have mentioned, some days are like that for no distinct reason and the key is to just get through it, knowing better running days are ahead. After 8 miles, Traysen told Mom to call it a day.
Friday; May 13: Friday, the 13th! Many, many years ago, a boyfriend (or whatever you call it in the 8th grade) took me to see the original movie, Friday the 13th. I slept with my mommy for 3 weeks! Not a horror flick kind of girl...more like Bambi movie type.
Even after Traysen was dealing with a tummy issue throughout the night (and getting Mom up three times), it was a very nice 13 mile outing. Instead of actual hill repeats, I opted to run "nonstop" hill repeats. As each hill (nothing but hills around my house) was approached, I picked up the pace and pushed until the top or somewhere below the top, then pulled the pace back to a steady trot. This means the recovery from the hard effort was done while still running a good pace, verses walking, stopping, crawling or turning around and trotting downhill. The lungs/body are forced to recover while still continuing a good effort.
I finally took the plunge today and got a massage from Leah, an excellent therapist in Divide, CO. For about a half hour, she worked on the upper back and the legs and it was well worth the $$$$. Almost immediately, the neck/upper back was much better and the soreness from hills/weight lifting was gone. I have always considered massages a luxury but as the body ages, it is becoming clear that more recovery is needed. This recovery can come in the form of rest (a nap every day and less life stress), stretching, yoga and yes, massage on areas that are stiff, tight or sore. So, hopefully these lovely treatments can continue at least through the race in July.
Saturday; May 14th: Sleeping in til 5am, it was quite a daylight start at 6am. Traysen and I headed out for a nice 8 miler and after dropping him off at the house, it was down to Vicki's driveway for some actual hill repeats. OUCHY! Running 3/10 mile hill repeats at 8500' will put hair on your chest!!! Oooppps....I am girl, but you know what I mean! A decent effort on the hills to round out the day at 10 miles.
On the walk back through the meadows in front of the house, I found a "prize."
One of the many great reasons to live out in the boonies! These are plentiful throughout the spring and summer. Finding them often requires wandering through the woods with eyes wide open.....
Sunday; May 15: Well now, old man winter just will not leave ...or is that he finally arrived? A cold misty drizzle was blanketing the Pikes Peak region this morning as I headed out for a very long run. Starting in Manitou, the climbing began up Ruxton Ave, up Barr Trail to No Name creek and then back down to meet Lynne after the first 2:30 of running....that's two hours and thirty minutes. That first portion of the run went very well, the climbing was easy and the heart rate stayed at a comfortable level. Barr Trail was wonderfully muddy and the higher the trail, the colder the temps and the more snow on the surrounding trees/rocks.
Once meeting up with Lynne, we ventured into Garden of the Gods for more mud sliding. Of course, we had to run a short section on the far eastern side of the park where the black mud clings to your shoes and adds a weight lifting segment to the run. Otherwise, the trails were perfectly runable with plenty of mud and "horse apples." After 3:15, we ended up back in Manitou....that's three hours and fifteen minutes. Lynne had run a really nice day and decided that was enough. Throughout the run I kept mentioning to her that she should enter a race....like the Leadville 50 miler! Told her it would put hair on her upper lip!!!! Luckily, she has some common sense and indicated that if she ran that race she would have to write a book titled, "How to train for a 50 mile while running one day a week." Okey dokey...but she is really running well!
Being determined to round the day out with 6 hours of running or 30 miles, which ever came first, I launched into an additional 25 minutes of running and rounded the day out with about 28-30 miles. (Didn't measure it on MapMyRun, but this is a good estimate based on previous runs on these trails.)
Pikes Peak shrouded in the mist. The cloud layers started just above the cog railway this morning.
One of the highlights of the run: the wild clematis flowers are just starting to bloom along the dirt road section above Ruxton, leading to Barr Trail.
Summary: Wooo Hoooo.....what a great week of running! Plenty of miles, plenty of hills, and a few quality runs in some favorite places! Should a person really have this much fun running? Yep, my husband calls me psycho and I consider that a compliment.!
Total miles for the week: 82.0; Total miles for the year: 1137.0
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