Training Log Archive: Swampfox

On the program today was a 12 km course at Remarkable Flats. It was partly cloudy out with some breeze and a temperature that felt cool when the sun was behind clouds and "lagom" when it wasn't. As I was getting ready to leave my truck for the start, I couldn't decide if it would be better to run in a light jacket or not, and then thought I would wear it and just roll up the sleeves if necessary. But after warming up and at the start itself, the sun was out, so I cached the jacket and took off. Right before starting, I joked to myself that the main goal would be to not take any falls.

Sometimes just as you should be careful what you wish for, you should also be careful about your jokes, though. Because on the way to the #10 control, one toe bumped against a bit of granite that was sticking up just the tiniest bit above the ground, and down I went. So much for that goal! But besides a small abrasion on one hand, no harm done.

What I was really trying to do was to get in a good workout running off trail, but of course wanting to do the orienteering right, too. I felt like I was moving pretty well until one last hill near the end, by which time I didn't have the same amount of drive as earlier. Maybe it was really a tougher little hill than I thought it was, or maybe I was just getting tired by then.

Once again, I included a control at Remarkable Boulder, and as I was "punching" there I could look up and across a wide stretch "sump prairie" (see sumpskog) and could spot the feature the final control--an easy finish to the course! And I took off from Remarkable Boulder like a fast vizsla! And then, wham!--I went down again.

This fall was more spectacular. There was a small cloud of dust around me (given our so far very dry spring, many wet features are quite dry now), I had bits of prairie turf in my mouth, and I fell hard enough on my right side to knock the wind out of me. So for a bit I just laid there, getting my breath back, and once I was breathing at a regular rate again, I did an assessment. Wind knocked out of me from big blow to right side, painful big toe on left foot, more abrasion and several small cuts on hands, new knee hole in O' pants, dirt in mouth and....compass? Hey, my compass was okay, so basically I was good to go--yay! I jogged the rest of the course, and figured that was that--pretty good outing, and head home for some dinner.

However, as the evening wore on, it became clearer that I really should have paid more attention to the main goal, because all the indications were that I had either bruised or cracked a rib. A small setback, but I really don't think it is going to keep me from doing much, and I'll just take it easier for a couple of days and see how it goes from there.

C • ribs and pants 3

C • ants and pants 1

We are in an extended stretch of above normal highs and lows. Nice if you're out running or biking or even sunbathing! But maybe not so nice for plants that might be tempted to get started too early; for at least the next 4 weeks, there is potential for it to get quite cold out, especially on a cool day followed by a clear night.

To that point, I noticed up top that aspens were flowering, and maybe I'm not remembering right, but I think this is wayyyy earlier than usual.

I also noticed a few mountain bikers out at Happy Jack. There are still snow banks in places, and I think most folks so far have been driving by Happy Jack and continuing to (the lower) Curt Gowdy State Park instead. And besides the snow remnants, the real issue now are the large numbers of beetle kill trees down across single track leftover from the winter. It will take a while for those to get sawed out, I reckon.

While running, I stopped at three different overlooks and took in the views to the south and east. On a clear day, there are some beautiful views. I have no idea how far away the horizon is to the east and whether or not you can see as far as Nebraska, but to the south probably Longs Peak is the thing furthest away that you can see.

Biked for a little over three hours. That was probably excessive, considering I only needed to go down to the Post Office (15 minutes, round trip). But I just kept....going. Along the way, I gathered up three empty Red Bull cans. If memory serves, Red Bull used to be Jeff Saeger's #1 favorite drink of all time, which seems odd to think about. I think I only ever tried the drink once, but the design of the original can was standout, and still is.

C • Red Bull 3

Already 68F out, so the warmest day of the year so far. It must be broiling down in the warmlands (Denver).

I have begun my preparations for the Scottish 6 Day. I expect my preparations will mostly consist of listening to Mark Knopfler and possibly some older Dire Straits stuff. Though I will devote no less than 14% of my preparation time to visualizing moving efficiently and unerringly (ha!) through bracken in search of a control on an indiscernible (in the bracken) feature.

Somewhat hazy again in the afternoon. However, today it was easy to identify what was going on: wind out of the south and southeast was blowing haze up from the Front Range. It's almost always hazy down there, especially when it's dry. Ran up top at the end of the day; a good bit of snow melted today.

Returned to Remarkable Bay and ran an 11.6 km course late in the day. Legs didn't feel fully fresh, probably at least in part because of biking I had done earlier in the afternoon. The orienteering went well. I had to stop twice to read the map more carefully as I was approaching controls--a consequence of eyes that are not improving with time.

It was quite a nice spring day out--mild and sunny. The area felt pretty dry to me for April, even though I suspect I was probably unconsciously drawing too much upon a comparison to last spring (which was the wettest I've seen here) rather than to an average spring. Even so, only one bay (Are You Experienced? Bay) has standing water in it, and most of the marshy areas in the little drainage valleys headed east were possible to cross without getting your shoes wet. Somehow it just "feels" like we are headed into a dry spell, even though "feel" in this context must be a highly unreliable way of predicting an oncoming drought or very wet period.

By early afternoon, the "partly cloudy" part of the day was completely dominating, and that was that for sun for the rest of the day.

When I went out biking, I checked the temps online, and it was supposedly 55F. So I set out with a short sleeve t-shirt and a very light jacket thinking I might be overdressed. After about 10 minutes, I returned and put on a long sleeved t-shirt instead, and a windbreaker. Even with that, it was a bit on the cool side riding. Some generous breeze and no sun combined for the effect.

Easy running up top on trails after that. Not much snow melt today.

Today had a funny look to it, compared to the reality: it *looked* like it could be a typical day in mid-August, with full sun, and quite a bit of haze in the sky--which usually denotes one or more big fires somewhere far off to the west. So looking outside, you expected it to be warm. And yet, actually it was cool, and normally when it's seasonally cool, the air will be crystal clear (or as clear as it gets these days.)

Maybe there are fires going on down in the southwest, though I haven't seen anything about that in the news.

My legs still felt draggy and sore from Saturday, so I did some easy trail running up top, and let it go at that.