The options were sleep in and try and get rid of this cold I ahve had for 3 weeks or get outside and enjoy the outdoors. Guess what one won? I can't resist a Saturday on a Wednesday. Today I went up Providence Canyon with the hope of making it to Logan Peak. I failed once again. The snow was just too deep up high and I couldn't go very fast at all. I made it about a mile past Providence 'Lake'. The weather was gorgeous up top. Sunny and windy and cold. Things went well until I got back to the truck and discovered I had dropped a glove on the trail. I took them off about a mile up the trail and tucked them in my waistband so I knew that it would only be an extra 2 miles to go get it. Bummer. I found it about 3/4 of a mile from the truck. Crisis averted.
Decided to let the body heal (novel idea) from my Flu/cold.
Instead of running I made a short list of highlights/lowlights of 2013 -
Highlights -
Snowshoe hike up Little Baldy and Temple Baldy (nearly froze to death)
Logan Peak Win (always nice to win!)
Bear 100 (I didn't end up in the hospital this time!)
Zion Traverse (incredible scenery, a must-do run)
Peak Baggin (21 unique peaks bagged this year)
High Creek to Green Canyon linkup (epic long run!)
Wind Rivers (backpacking/sick/long run/lost scout)
Bryce Canyon (Under the rim trail - scenic!)
Lowlights -
Winter Inversion running (January stinks)
ITB pain in Feb
Dodgeball Injury (don't ask)
Sick at Speedgoat (and El Vaquero Loco)
More winter running...
PM: Feeling better. Not all better but enough to get out and enjoy some sunshine. I went up to Green and first went cross-country skiing. This time I went all the way to the Yurt. Even passed some people. It was a popular to ski. On the way down I passed some stupid guys on horses. Messed up the trails pretty bad. Jerks.
T-1:43 (127 ave hr) 1000' vert
After skiing I put on the microspikes and went back up for 5 miles (2.5 each way). Awesome to get out even if there were giant pot holes in the trail now.
The 2-3 inches of fresh snow made the run a bit harder than normal but I still enjoyed it. We saw the 50cc motorbike with 8 inch wide tires out grooming the trail. That made it much nicer and about 1 min per mile faster. Thanks buddy!
AM: Cross Country Ski around Logan River Golf Course. Conditions were rough as the icy ground had a fresh layer of 1" of power to hide the dangers. Took it easy as a result plus I was tired from last nights run.
I was hoping the trail had been ridden by the fat tire bikes but I didn't get lucky. I was breaking trail the whole way. Pretty slow. Nice morning though. 32 and light snow.
Trails are a mess so we went for a road run. I took Mike on a tour of River Heights,Providence, Millville and turned around on Hollow Road. We made sure to go up the biggest hills. The second half was a pure sufferfest. The sun came out and things warmed up to 50 degrees. I was cooking in my tights. Should'a worn shorts.
1 mile while waiting for Mike then 20 together. Awesome workout, totally dead now.
Trail was in great shape. The rain and warm weather compacted the snow plus the bikes have been on it to smooth it out. Only an inch or so of powder on top. I like the new trail section on the upper mile. It is now further from the road and feels more secluded. Fewer switchbacks too.
The trail was in much nicer shape than last week when I ran this course. The only bummer was there were fresh horse tracks (again) on the middle third of the trail which made things tricky. Careful or you will twist an ankle.
Escaped the dirty air. Pretended I was cool and lived up on the bench and could run up the canyon from my house. Only, I had to drive to my pretend house first before starting my run.
Attempted a trail run that I figured would quite tough in the winter. Deep Canyon. I started from Downtown Mendon in 5 degree weather. Climbed the approach road since I figured the trail would be rough. It sure was rough. I only made it 3/4 mile up the actual trail before aborting. Icy snow with sugary powder under it. Impossible. Ended up running on a random dirt road nearby to get more miles.
Its true, joe is alive! He was sick for a week and avoiding me for a few weeks before that (or something). Today we went up Dry canyon a few miles then bailed and headed over to Providence Canyon via deer fence for a mile before he headed back. I kept going up the canyon for a bit more to get more miles. Who can resist a buffed out snow trail? Not me!
Decided to FINALLY get it diagnosed properly (sinusitis) and get on antibiotics. I sure am stubborn. It took me 5 weeks of off and on sick to finally go into the doc. Took Friday/Sat/Sun off from running. I will have to see how I feel monday...
