Thwarted plans: (bi)weekly rundown

Every time I set out for a long run over the past 2 weeks, it did not go as intended. That makes 4 times…and only 1 long run. Also, the two definitions of biweekly make it a mostly-useless word, except for obfuscatory purposes. Example: I’m currently strength training biweekly. Which definition do I mean? *shrug emoji*

7/15-7/21

Wednesday: 2 miles with Kara and 1.5 by myself. We had family visiting, including a 1-year-old, and it was absolutely necessary to take Kara for a run and tire her out because she gets overexcited around small children. (She likes them very much, but is also a lot bigger than them.)

Thursday: 4.6 trail miles. I planned on 5-6, but…it was warm and buggy and time for dinner, and when I got to a really muddy part of the trail I decided that was my sign to turn around.

Saturday: Went out for a long trail run. Less than half a mile in, I met a woman coming down who said that a minute or two farther up there was a large animal, probably bear (she didn’t get a good look, but it didn’t run when she approached with her dog). I walked up just a bit further to see if I could confirm its bear-ness, but couldn’t see far enough ahead for comfort, so I decided to turn around and drive to another trail.

About 1.5 miles into this trail, I started getting a weird feeling in the side of my ankle. Not really pain, but like a joint was trying to pop and couldn’t. I went about half a mile further hoping it would go away, but when it didn’t I decided to turn around.

Weekly totals: 13.1 miles, 1,225 feet elevation gain.

7/22-7/28

Wednesday: 2.75 miles. I didn’t get out until late afternoon and it was hot.

Thursday: 3.2 miles. Still hot.

Friday: strength workout.

Saturday: 5.7 miles, 2,195 feet elevation. My plan was to run from the Ridge Run starting point to the 2nd cutoff/1st aid station and back; mostly to assure myself that I can make it through the first 2 cutoff points with time to spare. (In obsessively researching the course, I’ve discovered that you almost have to come in well under time at the 2nd cutoff in order to make the 3rd cutoff.)

Right as I parked at the trailhead, it started raining. This was fine for most of the climb, since it stayed mostly at a drizzle and it was almost 60 degrees. The rain had pretty much ended by the time I got to the pass, but the final climb to the peak was exposed and windy.

I came down a bit from the peak to continue on a connecting trail, hoping it would be less windy as I went on. It got more windy if anything, and the windchill was cold enough to make my hands numb. I had believed the weather forecast and not brought gloves and a jacket. The trail showed no sign of moving into a less exposed area anytime soon, so after a bit I decided it was safest to turn around. (And that connecting trail turned out not to even be the correct trail for the race…there’s one that comes down right from the peak that I didn’t see.)

Sunday: 12.2 miles, 2,495 feet elevation. After Saturday’s aborted long run attempt, I decided to come at the same section of trail from the other direction. I learned my lesson and packed a rain jacket and gloves despite the sunny forecast, so of course it stayed sunny today.

There’s a trailhead just 2.3 miles from the aid station location (my planned endpoint for Saturday’s out-and-back), so I planned to run up from there, then do at least 3 miles towards the race start before heading back.

However, the road is unmaintained starting about 1.7 miles from the trailhead. My car handled this section of road okay for about a minute, then I got to a muddy, deeply rutted section and realized my choices were turn around or probably get stuck. So I executed a 15ish-point turn, parked at a lower trailhead, and resigned myself to an extra 1.7 miles each way. Although, when I came back down there was a RAV4 parked at the trailhead, so there was probably a way for my Outback to make it up after all….

Anyway, I ran up the road, up the trail, to the pass. It was super windy at the top again, but the trail quickly traveled to more sheltered areas.

I only ran 2 miles along the race course, since I had a longer trek up and down. But those miles included pretty much all the uphill between the 1st and 2nd cutoff points, so at least I’ve done the hard part for this section.

Weekly total: 23.9 miles, 4,990 feet elevation gain.

Linking up for the Weekly Run Down with Kim and Deborah