Training Log Archive: Swampfox

81F, and so first day of the year it's been above the 70s.

Made the fix at Remarkable Flats that I had planned to do yesterday. There were also some large boulders missing in the same area, so now I am guessing that I was mapping in that area at the end of a day and had intended to return, but forgot before moving on. Or maybe space aliens intervened--yeah, that's probably what it was, space aliens!

Ran at Happy Jack, heading up top via Death Crotch Hill, and checked out the snowfield at the east overlook off of Hqs Trail. Still plenty of snow, if melting fast now. Sat down on the snowfield and ate several gallons worth before heading back.

Also, I signed our operating plan for Labor Daze today, and was told our permit would be issued; all that remains is for the District Ranger to affix his signature.

C • Permit 1

O' at Remarkable Flats. I had planned to go out early and re-survey a very tiny section of map where last year I had noticed one large cliff and several smaller rock faces were entirely missing. (When I first spotted the problem, I assumed I had surveyed the rock, but had skipped over them while drafting. But a check of the field notes revealed the truth--I had simply skipped over this tiny area somehow out in the field.)

A large thunderstorm with hail had other ideas, however. So after waiting out the storm in my truck, I headed straight out for a training course and saved the map corrections for some other day. Pleasant running as the rain/hail cooled things off a bit and made for damp, softer underfooting. The highlight proved to be running past a flotilla of white pelicans bobbing about in Are You Experienced? Bay. 2 dozen+ big white birds--the largest group I've ever seen up there by a wide margin. I suppose they were feasting on fresh water shrimp.

Hillwork.

Ran trails from home. Got sprinkled on and waited out the rain for a few minutes while it was heaviest from behind a convenient limber pine. It wasn't cold and in all the rain will save me from having to shower again for the next few days--so a real time saver. ; )

A crushed gravel trail has been under construction east of the golf course for about 2 weeks now. It's mostly in place now, but the gravel surface hasn't been compacted yet (I assume that will be done) and there are a few gaps not yet filled in for some reason where the new trail crosses old double track jeep trails. It will be a nice addition for walking/running folks, but the real plus to me is that it should serve to dissuade people from driving illegally in this section of land in the future--time will tell--with new signage up and large rocks placed as barriers where these jeep trails begin off of paved roads.

Wow--it's warmer in Laramie than Lawrence, KS, at the moment: 78F vs. 75F. That doesn't happen often, especially in summer.

C • Lawrence 2

Decent training week so far as quality goes, and some of that could be felt in my legs this afternoon--they were on the trashed side of things. Though how they felt could have been also shaped by it being the warmest day of the year so far, plus the fact that I went biking right before running (even though I only biked for an hour and kept the effort easy.)

At any rate, 9.6 kms and 19 controls at Twin Boulders were the order for the day, and I was successful at avoiding campers, cattle, and moose. I also hit all the controls squarely, and as an added bonus I got to through run through kilometers of sage.

Got a very slow leak while riding today (or maybe from yesterday, and my weight was enough to speed up the leaking; I did not that the front tire seemed ever so slightly squishy when I checked it before leaving home), and was able to make it home without having to stop--though I was certainly leaning as much as I could on my back wheel for the last dozen blocks or so.

While running at Happy Jack, I saw three herons sitting in a dead tree up top. I've never seen herons so far from any standing water before. Like all herons seem to do around here, they took off as soon as they spotted me. Somewhere not so so long ago, I came across a heron that did *not* take off right away, and I got quite close before it finally did get up and fly away.

After catching some rain while biking--gotta love it when you get that rooster tail spraying your backside!--I headed out to run at Idonwannabe.

Which turned out to be thronged with cows, so I really did hear cows yesterday.

About 10 minutes into the course I was running--with a compass and using it--I noticed that, hey, there weren't any north lines on the map! I must have been running on the map piece that I had created from the original map in order to merge it into Plains of Despair. Either that, or else north gremlins struck and devoured the north lines. Kind of funny though; I must have been using the lettering and numbering to run roughly off the compass needle and doing it without deliberately thinking about it.