loops n loops

Swingley Road looking east at Sheep Mountain

I was really feeling apprehensive about this week's long run.  Last week I planned to do a 14 mile long run as a step up from my the half marathon I ran a couple of weeks ago but it turned into an 11.5 mile run when a blister got ugly around mile 10.  I have started running sockless in my New Balance WT100s to decrease the amount of cushion under my feet, the goal being to simulate more of a barefoot running experience.  Running sockless on relatively short runs of 3 - 5 miles hadn't produced any problems but the long run was long enough that quite a few rocks in my shoes forced me to stop and shake them out.  I think I re-tied them too tightly and it was only a couple more miles before the blister started to emerge.  I tried to soldier on but it was too much - luckily I was already close to home and was able to hobble back.  Regardless of the blister's effect, the 11.5 miles was more difficult than I had expected and it took me a couple days to recover.  This had me facing today's run with a certain amount of trepidation.  Sometimes preparing for the pain you are about to endure is harder than actually enduring it.

But it ended up going really well - I finished it exhausted but this was also a harder route than last week so that made me happy.  I did a 6.6 mile loop located just a few minutes drive east of Livingston consisting of Swingley Road, Old Boulder Road and Meyers Lane, twice and then tacked a little more onto the end.  The first half of the loop has three fairly large, rolling hill climbs followed by a nice long decent into a cow ranch all of which I got to do twice for maximum training.  Even though the workout was great, this wasn't the most spectacular loop in terms of scenery.  The highway was visible pretty often, a portion of the ranch property stunk heavily of methane, and for some reason there is some public land along the side of the road where people have decided to dump broken electronics and old couches.  I saw some suspicious looking individuals dragging around what I instantly imagined to be a dead body rolled up in a carpet but it turned out to just be a couch cushion.  Oh well.



week of march.28 - april.03
monday: 0 miles
recovery day from Sunday's 11.5 miles and dealing with the blister

tuesday: 3 mile am town run
got to go into work a little late so was able to run post-sunrise!

wednesday: 0 miles
met up with Lincoln, Matt and Will at The Mint after work and somehow did not make it out for a run

thursday: 6 mile Circle House Run
ran up to the circle house via my traditional street route but once I got up there I decided to go on a little adventure and run off of the hilltop by following the four wheeler trail along the eastern ridge.  it spit me out onto north M street after some minor bushwhacking over a ditch.  definitely more fun to run off of the hill this way, plus it makes the Circle House run a mile longer

friday: 0 miles
this was actually a planned zero day.  since being back in school, I've stopped planning to do any running on Fridays.  Thursday night almost always ends being an all-nighter and by the time I get out of class on Friday at 5:00, I'm making a beeline for the couch with a bottle of wine and a sack of cheese

saturday: 2 miles pm town run
I planned on doing my long run today but got so caught up in doing other organizational tasks that by the time I started to get ready for the run at 3:00, it had started to rain hard.  the lesson I can't seem to learn: exercise immediately upon waking!  the upshot of this afternoon rain storm is that it means spring is finally here - all spring long, it rains between 3:00 & 5:00 every day, no matter what

sunday: 14.2 miles Swingley Road to Old Boulder Road to Meyers Lane (2 laps)
cool, overcast weather with a few snow flurries and practically no wind which made for great running weather.  Swingley is a good dirt road for doing hill climbs

houses I love you

View Vista Dr. & H Street, Livingston

Earlier this week I got in two runs wearing shorts.  I have never run in shorts in February before so thanks global warming!  Today was the exact opposite: freezing cold snowstorm - back to the dead of winter.  But it actually turned out to be pretty fun in an Ernest Shakleton, suffering for arbitrary greatness kind of way.  Tolerating freezing appendages, crusted-over eyelashes, and a burning windpipe for 7.5 miles can turn into a fun game once you start pretending you're a famous explorer on an adventure.  Like old Ernie said, "optimism is true moral courage!"

Today's mission took me through the four neighborhoors of Livingston proper: oldest (turn of the century) which is where we live, sort-of-old (mid-century), my personal deja-vu era (1970s-80s) which reminds me of the neighborhood I grew up in, and new (new)...(pre-recession).  Looking at houses while walking or running is one of my absolute favorite things to do and can remember doing it even as a small person.  This is cheesy but the reason I love looking at houses is because I like trying to figure out what each houses's story is: the people that live or lived there, the historical era it was built in, the decisions made over its lifetime, all the personal experiences that its walls contain.  Its like being at a bookstore and having all those untold stories at your fingertips.  Within a few parameters, my imagination is free to build that story and I find this endlessly captivating.

Now it is time for me to use my imagination for my school project.  Tomorrow is a holiday but my instructor is making us come into school anyways, which of course is awesome.  Spring break, hurry up!

surge 1 commences



West Gallatin & North Main Street, Livingston

 Thankfully I had a 2.5 mile recovery run today to help me procrastinate starting my school work.  The wind has died down, its pleasantly warm and almost feels like spring except for all the exposed dead grass and leafless trees.

The run felt good and I am getting more and more excited to train up for the half marathon as the first stage in a series of successive build-ups.  I haven't been running with much purpose for the past 4 months and have really noticed the changes to my fitness level and in the shape of my body. But this hasn't bothered me as I purposely took some off during these dark winter months as a way to re-energize before starting a new year of focused surges.  Its the old two-steps-forward, one-step-back approach with the dead of winter being a very, very large step back.  I relish the experience of watching your body transform as it gets stronger and leaner and fitter.  This weekend was officially the start of surge 1.

chinook



railroad crossing on Old Clyde Park Road



School has been kicking my ass!  I've managed to continue doing a little running but the blogging became the first victim of my super busy schedule.  Blogging and sleep. 

Today's 6 mile run was the first of my Saturday long runs as I ramp up for a half marathon in March - the Run to the Pub put on by the 317 Pub in Bozeman in honor of St. Patty's day.  This race is the first of 10 races I'd like to do this year...10!  Last year I did 5 races so if I can at least beat that I'll be happy.

Right now the infamous Livingston wind is RAGING!  My 6 mile route took me out through town, heading northeastly for the first 3 miles running with the wind.  Occassionaly the wind would physcially push me forward, like somebody actually shoving me in the back.  It made for easy running and I felt good about myself despite my recent lack of training.  Then I turned around at the railroad tracks on Old Clyde Park Road and headed back home, straight into the chinook.  Instantly my breathing grew heavy and I finally started sweating.  The wind pushed on my chest so hard that it was difficult to breathe.  But it wasn't impossible to continue on, the afternoon was beautiful, warm and sunny and it felt so good exercising in the western outdoors that even this great wind couldn't keep me from smiling and hopping merrily across puddles and mud.

downhill cojones



The Hill at
Yellowstone & Gallatin,
Livingston

 

Another 2.5 miles at 6am.  I'm pretty good for a 6am-er on Monday - not so much on Thursday or Friday.  Today I tried to get a good picture of The Hill but all the ones I took betray how steep it really is...or at least how steep it seems.  Its really not that big of a hill, especially compared to the surrounding mountain scenery, but since I usually run it after only 5 minutes of running, it feels like a monster.  Nonetheless, it was a great morning run and a great start to the day.



I love running up The Hill because it is so fun to truck down The Hill as fast as I can possibly go.  I don't really have any downhill cojones when it comes to biking but I always trust my feet and don't mind opening it up when I'm out for a run.

stomping grounds redux

Wallace & Aspen, Bozeman

I am back in architecture school and that means you get to do fun hypothetical projects with hypothetical money.  This semester's project is hypothetically located in NE Bozeman so today I spent 2.5 hours covering 3.5 miles, run-walking with my friend Alex's super deluxe Canon EOS Rebel T2i.  It was overcast and wet out so I wasn't really looking forward to the expedition but it turned out to be quite fun as I am a neighborhood-explorer by nature.  This is the area of Bozeman which I consider to be my old stomping grounds (back when I was a youngster in my mid-20s).  I've covered a lot of miles in this neighborhood - actually I still run here occasionally after work or on my lunch break - so it was nice to get some pictures of this incredibly eclectic and visually stunning district.  Historically, it is a mixed-use, industrial-residential neighborhood which is now inhabited by artists, skiers, cyclists, blue-collar workers, and environmentally friendly stewards who keep the neighborhood smelling charmingly of wood burning stoves all day long.

In order to maintain consistency, today's posted pic was still taken with the Droid even though I took 258 photos with the Canon (thanks Alex!).  Tomorrow I'm going back for more!

prodigious powder

Incredible Emigrant Gulch snowboarding mission today!

Emigrant Gulch, Paradise Valley

Lincoln and I met up with Grif and JR this morning in Emigrant and headed up past Chico Hot Springs Resort.  Grif brought his ferocious little Kitty Cat to help up get up the old mining road to gain a higher position before we started hiking.  We trekked for about two hours through warm but overcast weather and some snowfall.  I was lagging behind the boys, taking pictures, shivering in the wind, worrying about avalanches, bemoaning my sore hip flexors and wishing I was in better shape, when I began to question my desire to be a backcountry-er.  At one point I came to the definite conclusion that despite how many inspiring and glory-filled climbing books I've read, I absolutely do not want to climb Mt. Everest (now Lincoln can finally relax).  But the descent banished all my foolishly negative thoughts.  Lincoln found a fantastic face which we were able to drop into from a protective stand of trees.  The face opened up into beautiful, untouched, wide open, smooth-as-butter snowfields that had us laying down absolutely glorious turns.  The run fed us into another perfect run, followed by another, and another, and another.  This afternoon, the slopes of Emigrant Peak were filled with our joyful hooting and hollering as we all reveled in the thrill of fresh, prodigious powder turns.

At the bottom, JR, Lincoln and I all grabbed ahold of the tow rope strapped to the back of the Kitty Cat and Grif pulled us back down to the vehicles.  We had a blast being towed behind the snowmobile together, conjuring up all our old waterskiing skills to avoid crashing into one another.

After the day's exertions we stopped at the conveniently located Chico Hot Springs Resort to soak in its restorative waters and drink cheap beer.  On days like this, its hard to deny how sweet life is out here in Paradise Valley and I'm happy to have friends to enjoy it with.