AM did Circuit training workout. PM had a crazy trail run. Right foot hurts, in the ball of the foot- it hurt yesterday too. Maybe bruised it during iron core or on downhill repeats? Anyway today was slow, through a ton of off-trail stuff with snow and 2200 feet of elevation gain: time was 2:37. See today's run description below: Here's a little Idaho Falls trail-running bedtime story for you all: This afternoon at about 430, I set out on a little adventure in the Ammon foothills. I parked off of Sunnyside Road, and I had no plan, except that I wanted to go somewhere I had never gone before. Very quickly, I realized that I was going to be breaking my own trail through 4 to 10 inches of snow for much of the route. The going was slow, and I was heading uphill for most of the early stage of the run. I opted to listen to some music-something I almost never do-and just as the sun began to set over the city, the most beautiful instrumental song came on my playlist, and perfectly matched the moment! It was pretty cool to feel like a soundtrack was playing specifically for me. From this point on, however, the run pretty much went downhill. I unfortunately mean that figuratively, not literally, because truly the beautiful series of my run would prove to be over at this point. As the sun went down, it began to get much colder, so much that my belly began to get quite chilled. I quickly improvised a way to warm up my tummy by pulling my running pants up as high as they would go-offering more insulation for my belly, but also not being super comfortable in other places, in addition to looking ridiculous, not that I cared about fashion at the moment. As I reached the crest of a hill, I saw something moving ahead-And I was able to snap a couple of shots of an enormous Porcupine before it scurried away. At that moment, my phone died due to the diminishing temperatures. I kept running through the foothills, finding deeper and deeper snow, and also noticing a lot of animal tracks. After about 5 1/2 miles, I realized I was next to an unknown road, so I opted to run on the road for a little break from the tough trails. After turning around and getting back on the trail, I had not gone far when I heard the most bone chilling sound-The longest and most frightening wolf howl I could ever imagine. Like, straight out of a Discovery Channel or National Geographic documentary! My first instinct was to pick up the pace, but with my heart-rate already spiking due to adrenaline and fear, I soon realized that moving faster was probably not my best option. I elected instead to stay as calm as possible, and begin building up my courage to fight back against anything that might want to mess with me. I also began praying-I know that not everyone believes in God, but I do believe that hearing that sound, in the dark, alone, will make most people want to pray to something or someone!I began telling myself that there been no documented cases of a wolf attacking a human in Idaho-but then there was also a little voice inside of my head saying, "Has there ever been someone stupid enough to do what I am doing right now? Running alone, in the foothills, in the dark, in the dead of winter?" With these thoughts pressing in, and half expecting to be taken down from behind at any moment, I focused all my energy on finding my tracks in the snow, and checking my GPS often to ensure that I didn't get lost. Creating a few more rolling hills brought me closer and closer to civilization- And as I had not heard another howl since the first terrifying instance, I figured I was not being pursued. Arriving at my truck was a relief, to put it mildly! I have learned a valuable lesson or two from this adventure-- Primarily, I probably shouldn't go up there alone, in the night-time. That being said... Anyone up for an adventure in the foothills sometime soon? :)
|