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...
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