July 15 - 21

This will be the last week with spotty data for runs, as I just started using the Garmin on my outings. The week went very well in terms of running. Felt strong on climbs and I'm starting to feel more fleet-footed on the downhills. A couple night runs in the 50-80 minute range felt tiring, but I know it was beneficial to my turnover. As I build my weeks up, I'm thinking I'll start to throw in a few two-a-days for the sake of acclimating my legs to the fatigue of longer races. I don't particularly enjoy road running, but I'm okay with doing it a couple nights per week following morning trail-outings with lots of vertical. The two runs I recorded with the GPS on this week are as follows:

(To clarify the format, the first number under each date will be the hours:minutes on trail, while the second will be the amount of vertical gain during a given outing. Time and Climb for short...)

7/16/2013
1:33, 2,800' - Mt. Sanitas x 2
Biked to the Mount Sanitas trail head and did two laps. Ascended to summit via Mt. Sanitas Trail and descended via East Ridge and Dakota Ridge Trail. Strong on the first lap, if not a bit thirsty and labored on the second.

7/21/2013
2:58, 5,250' - Bear Peak > S. Boulder Peak > Bear Peak
From the back door took Skunk Canyon to the Mesa Trail heading South before linking up on Fern Canyon Trail for the first ascent of Bear. Then continued south to ascend S Boulder Peak - took a couple minutes to eat some breakfast and enjoy the view. Doubled back north to hit Bear Peak again before descending the long way via Bear Peak West Ridge and Bear Canyon trails - felt like things were on cruise control coming down. Snappy, confident, solid footing the whole way. Good way to kick off Sunday.

A bit disappointed right now. As I sit here posting this on Monday night (7/22) I'm all too conscious of a calf strain that I acquired trying to recover my footing on some loose rock/dirt during my run this morning. Had been feeling good and was planning on doubling up for some road miles tonight, but I think I need to rest the calf for at least a day. We'll see how knotted up it feels tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't set me back too much over the next week or so. Potentially signing up for NF 50K or 50M while I'm visiting Milwaukee in the beginning of September, but I can't afford to lose much progress if that's going to stay on my radar...

A few shots from breakfast on S Boulder Peak...