Can't believe the trail is totally dry. Its totally frozen solid, but free from snow. What a crazy winter we are having. I am not complaining though. Except about Providence Canyon though. That trail is bulletproof ice right now. Horrible conditions. I digress..
I enjoyed a brisk morning nearly alone on the trails. There were a few deer to keep me company and even 2 random runners. The guy was in a t-shirt and the girl was bundled up properly. Not sure if he was being stupid or trying to show off to her how tough he is. Seriously? T-shirt, no gloves in sub 20 degree weather. Whatever.
I woke up to a few inches of snow with more on the way. I modified my plans to head from the house since the roads were soft and inviting. I went up to Providence Canyon and tried out the trail. The few inches of snow did nothing in the way of traction over the ice sheet that is the trail. After a quarter mile of slipping and sliding I bailed and hit deer fence over to Dry. It was much better. The only downside of the run was the journey home was on wet and slushy roads shared with cars. Not fun. The sidewalk was the best option as it was a cushy plush surface.
T- 2:19:00 (8:59) 1500' vert
** This week was a great week for running. My injury has all but disappeared. No issues all week. I even nearly hit 70 miles for the week. I plan on keeping it there for the next month (plus or minus 10).
AM: 8 Providence Canyon Trail - Good to be back on the trail again. Wore microspikes and had a great time. Upper mile was pretty lumpy, but the rest was sweet.
AM: Deer Fence Loop - House to Dry to Prov to House. I was treated to 2 fresh deer carcases on the trail today. I was mildly concerned that I was interrupting someones breakfast and moved along quickly. You know when winter has finally hit when the bodies start to stack up.
Joe joined me for an easy run on the River Trail this morning. The canyon headwind was not nice this morning. Once we made it to the cover of the trees, I knew we wouldn't freeze to death (its always a worry here in Logan). We went just past third dam chatting and having a great time. Time passed quickly and I dropped Joe off before heading back up to do it again. I quickly checked my phone to see the status of the Marathon Trials. All they had was the first 8 miles but things looked good for Paul at that point.
Back up the trail for the second time. This time was a bit slower and a bit more work. I tired to surpress a bonk with a fun size snickers and milky way. Mmmm. I think it helped. I tried to run the same speed as our first lap but just didn't have it in me today. End of a long but productive week.
T- 2:30:30 (8:23) (1:14 first lap) (1:16:30 second) 1800' vert
** Weekly Summary - 70.5 miles, 595 mins, 6700' vert. Great week. I got to hit the trails this week due to the lack of snow and was having a blast. Not bad for January.
AM: Braved the whiteout and headed up to Providence Star. Instead of the left turn to the star I headed up the trail for a ways. Sure was a peaceful morning. The snow battering my face was not pleasant though.
A busy day with lots happening left little time for myself. I did find some time while in SLC to get outside. Too bad the conditions were not great. Windy and rainy, but not too cold. I left from my parents house and headed towards Snowbird. I made it to the "sign" and then ran on the Temple Quarry trail for 3/4 mile before heading home. I was pretty bummed that my right leg started to give me fits on the way home and for the last mile I was babying my right IT band as it locked up tight. Grrrr! Seriously? This isn't even the one that was hurt all of last year. Today (Sunday) it is still sore and will be for hopefully only 12 more hours then it will magically heal. Here's to hoping!
T-1:32:00 (7:40) 1150' vert
** Crappy end to a crappy week. I was sick for 2.5 days this week and then the painful end to Saturday's run put the cherry on top. Lots of bike this next week and then we will see....
43 miles - 9.5 trail - 3 bike - 30.5 road - 4150' vert - 362 mins
AM: 4 mile run followed with 30 mins on bike. Things were getting tight at 4, but no pain yet. Very slight improvement. I can't believe I am back doing rehap again!
I knew my IT band would not allow for a traditional long run today so I came up with a run/hike backup plan. I drove to Providence Canyon (of course) and first checked out Deer Fence heading North. It was bullet proof ice. I quickly bailed and headed back to the car. I grabbed my microspikes and figured as long as I was running on ice I might as well enjoy the canyon. I headed up the trail to the quarry. The second half of the trail was not broken in so I headed up the road. Once I hit the quarry, the run turned to a hike and I wandered around a bit before heading up the road towards the Welches Flat jeep trail. The trail wasn't bad as it was packed down and relatively smooth due to the snowmobile traffic. I did start to worry that at any time my leg would start to hurt and I would be far from the car so I headed back down the canyon. First 5 miles covered in 1:15 (15 mins/mile ave). I decided that the road was in better shape than the trail so I took that all the way down. 3.5 miles in 25 mins.
Still no pain or any tightness at this point so I decided to execute part 2 of the plan and do a little hiking. For me hiking is boring unless it is steep uphill. I decided to head up the west face of the mountain. There was little snow at first, but before long I was trudging up the hill in mid shin to knee deep snow slowly freezing to death. My feet were quite cold. 1.5 miles covered in 50 mins and nearly 2K feet climbed I had had it. 18 mins down as running wasn't a great option in the deep snow. Finally back to the car. Tired, but not sore. Success!
T- 3hrs (15:00 pace) 4250' vert
** Weekly summary - 63 miles - 26 miles running - 370 mins on bike - 662 mins total - 4250' vert (all today). Rough week with the injury. I am glad I can at least ride the bike with no issues. I am hoping that next week I see improvement...
PM: Ran right after work on the Planet Walk (4 miles). Yep I wore shorts in January. Why not it was close to 40 degrees. Sweet! Came home, ate dinner then jumped on the bike for 30 mins while watching a show with the kids.
