Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Maybe yesterday was the first day of spring, but today is the day it *feels* like the first day of spring. Already I have had to dodge several fearless, dive bombing robins in engaged in an enthusiastic search for worms. There's almost no snow left around town, except in shoveled and plowed heaps, and a few more protected areas. Of course, that could easily change with the appearance of a spring blizzard.

Totally spring conditions. The current year crop of pine beetle trees are now changing over to show more yellow and brown-yellow needles. Soon they will all be rust red.

It did not feel very much like spring from the vantage point of a bike, and that's for sure. Instead, it felt like the Laramie Valley would be a remarkably excellent location for a mega data center that needed to keep cooling expenses to a minimum.

Coverage on the trails remains great; no sign of any rocks anywhere yet. Pine needles, on the other hand...

Ran snow trails at the Summit. Solid footing as long as you stuck to the snowshoed parts.

Event: Gateway Grunt III
 

Winds were mighty big right from the git-go today, leading to scratching plans to go biking somewhere in the morning. Instead, I headed up for the be-needled ski trails, where I saw only one other person. The sun was mostly held back by thin, high clouds during the day, but even so the trails were exhibiting some classic signs of wilt.

Ran downhill and downwind from the parking lot, and must have turned around at the *perfect* point, because without intending to, I ended up running for exactly as long as I skied. Still some banks of snow across the national forest dirt roads in all the usual snow prone spots, but it's going fast.

Time for the O' run of the year--with this year's opening venue being the always nice and highly exposed Crow Marsh. What made this as especially auspicious selection was the wind today, which was at proper full blown Wyoming gale strength, the type of wind where when you try to start warming up by jogging into the wind, you go immediately anaerobic. No telling how much higher the Nebraska Sandhills were getting today, what with all the fines from Wyoming that was being propelled that way at the speed of wind. "The Wyoming Sandhills" really would be the more apt name, considering the source of origin of the material making up the Sandhills region.

Afterwards, I stopped by the store to buy some new socks. Orienteering is hard on socks, and I plan to go through a lot of socks between now and whenever the first snowfall arrives at the end of the summer, whenever that is--late July, early August, whatever.

Afternoon ski; a number of the trails had only one track showing on them, and that was *after* I had skied down them.

Pretty warm out--approaching 48F or maybe even hotter--and combined with a decent wind and much sun, the snow here in the valley is getting pounded pretty good. If clouds hold off, there will be a lot less snow around town than we started the day off with.

I checked out the standard interval loop I use in the Flats, and it still has a good bit of snow and mud, and not much dry ground, but that is now likely to change quickly for the better.

Surprisingly, there were no sub-moron vehicles mired in any of the more massive mud puddles, but given that the puddles are there, and the near irresistible temptation they pose, that could change quickly, too.

I did not see any mice.

C • In Soviet Russia mice see you 3

Nice amounts of wind, and nice out in general, too!

All the evidence is that there remains at least a little bit more wind power that could be tapped in the future.

Trails were soft, but held up well otherwise despite the heat.

It soared to 50F today, making the pre-spring Ides of March haircut mandatory. Now I look like a short haired whippet!

The sun did what it could to the ski trails today, which was not much. Not yet. But it's coming.

On snow trails. With it getting so warm today. I had to pay attention in the more sun stricken areas of trail, mindful of the possibility of post-holing. It would not do to sustain a post-holing injury right before March Madness gets underway!