Clyde's Comeback!

22 miles on the bike right at 3 hours. Well today I took a big bite into craziness. I got on the bike and was going to ride from here up Turkey farm road then then over the trail down into Dameron Valley and then loop around. Only when I got up the road to the trail turn off I couldn't remember which one it was so I took a trail that I knew.... the Broken Mesa/ Icehouse trail back around. I had water with me in a typical bike bottle mounted on the frame and I didn't use any of it until I left the dirt road and hit the trail... so right around 9 miles into it. Then I started up the trail and it was snowy but cold enough that everything was frozen so for the most part I was able to bear down and peddle up to the top of the Mesa. However the higher I got up the more snow I ran into. I thought as I got on top and hit the south facing side that the snow would soon be gone. Wishful thinking. I spent the next four miles or so coming down the mesa in 8 inches of snow. I was pushing my bike and trying to run... The snow was really crusty and in some spots I actually was able to just ride my bike across the surface and then it would suddenly brake and I'd almost go over the handle bars. This whole process took forever and I went for my water - only to find the entire bottle frozen. The wind had picked up and it was now snowing. I'm guessing around 15 degrees colder then down in town. I had climbed from 2,800 ft to over 5,300 ft. I actually started to think that things were getting kind of scary and the thought of spending the night up there pushed me even harder. Finally I got to the end of the snow and was able to push the pace a little more. As I was coming down off the Mesa I came across 3 big (4 point) buck's.  I could have kicked myself for not having a camera. It looked cool with them standing in the snow and the snow coming down in the background. 

Anyways I finally dropped off the trail and opted to go straight into GS and then home. That was enough trails for one day Thank You very much. It's been a long time since I had a 3 hour workout. Maybe years. I ran this trail on March 6, 2007 and it took me 2:40. Today on a bike with the snow I was right at 3 hours. I did go a little farther today (1.8 miles) but not much. 

As I was coming down the steep, rocky Icehouse trail I only stopped and put my foot down once. And at that point I had a big string of snot hanging down across my face. So the stop was useful (so I could wipe it clean) but to that point I had been pushing it like I was running for my life. I'd say on a scale of 1-10 this ride/run/snow/workout hits around 10. Other than Chuck Norris and myself I'm guessing there are only a handful of other people who could have pulled this one off.  

2 miles on the treadmill. Hamstring pain was around 5 out of 10. I may try it again tonight. 

I did some real running today! 

I did an hour of trail riding up by the Red Cliff's recreation area. It would have been a great ride other than I got a flat (slow leak) and kept having to pump it up and then peddle like crazy for about 10 min's and then repeat the process over and over. The good part was that I was in like a tempo mode much of the journey. I was huffing and puffing and must have looked like something else to the people on horseback who were out on the trail too. When I got back to the Jeep I thought maybe I'll try a little run. I wasn't really dressed for the occasion (I had some light weight hiking pants on, old wore out running shoes, shirt and a jacket). I slowly ran up around the campground and back to the Jeep for 2.1 miles of real (unaided by the treadmill) running. It felt really good to be a runner again. The hamstring pain was at a 5 again but a steady 5 meaning it didn't feel like it was getting any worse. So that was sweet! Maybe I'll try another short run tomorrow.  

2.5 miles of real running after the bike ride of one hour and fifteen min's. I went over to the trails behind Green Valley and did an exploring type of ride around the cool trials. I wasn't pushing the pace like yesterday but ended up being out there a while. It was cool to ride out there and see some of the sweet jumps and stuff they have made. I'd like eventually ride all the trails out there to gain a better understanding of the area. 

Then after I got back to the Jeep I ran an easy 2.5 miles up around Sunbrook GC. It felt pretty good. Pain still a steady 5 out of 10. The wether today was really nice- blue skies and no wind. I think it was around 52 degrees or something but it felt like 65.  

90 min's of trail riding today on the "Zen" trail. I've been wanting to ride this since I got the bike and finally got to it. Amazing! What a fun, technical, and beautiful ride. The weather today wasn't as good as yesterday but other than that everything was perfect. 

2.5 miles of running. After the ride I did the same run as yesterday up on the mesa above Sunbrook GS. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the pain was only at a 4 out of 10 today. It's taking a lot of time but I'm slowly healing. Smiley face.  

I got up and went over to the DC at 7 a.m to ride a long side the guys on the bike. We went around the Painters course for right at 13.1ish miles (depending on tangents). I froze to death on the bike. My hands and feet really suffered and most of the time I asked myself why? But in the end it was fun to get out with the guys again after a long spell. Logan came a long too on his grandpas bike. There really wasn't much effort to the bike riding today so no miles rewarded. More of a social event. However  on the bike my hamstring was  like a 1.5 out of 10 for pain... It felt really good today and I decided to leave it alone until next Monday when I'll try running again.