Training Log Archive: Swampfox

O' at Pitcher Hill (and the Pitcher Hill sage/bitterbrush), timed to coincide with an early football game against Utah St. I figured the hunters would all flock to the football game, and maybe I was wrong and maybe I was right, but whichever it was nobody was out where I was while I was running.

I did hear two rifle shots at one point, well off in the distance. Assuming either a single shot or two shots would be from a hunter, I tried to estimate which case would more likely have meant an animal was taken, and in the end I concluded there was no way to be sure, though I was leaning in the direction of a single shot.

It did not take me two shots to hit any of the controls; like Elvis C. said, my aim was true. Since I was out in the middle part of the day, the sun was high enough that I could see well no matter which was I was heading. Running through sage in the direction of the sun when the sun is low is a lot harder than might be guessed.

As I was driving out of the area, but still on the Pitcher Hill map, no fewer than three pickups loaded to the gills with hunters headed into Pitcher Hill passed me. Since I didn't see a thing the whole time I was running, I guessed that in the end they would have to settle for hunting each other. There is a dish called Hunter Stew, after all.

C • Hunter stew 3

Lovely day with more lovely weather. Ran easy, with more emphasis on riding today. The best thing about the bike ride--aside from the valley views--was having a group of 13 cranes fly almost directly overhead. Or maybe they were backwards cranes rather than regular cranes, as they were flying north.

Today was so nice--full sun, quite mild, small breeze--and stood out in stark contrast to winter's early appearance on Sunday. Running in the mid teens and all bundled up on Sunday to 50s and a t-shirt today! It was warm enough in the sun (and little enough wind) that there was a distinct scent of pines in the air. It reminded me of the pine forest around home when I was growing up.

I ran an old course at Pelican Bay, getting started a bit before solar noon, so sun was as strong as it was going to be today, and the shadows as short as they were going to be. There were scattered patches of snow on the ground. It really felt more like an nice early spring day in April, though with less snow on the ground, and no deep drifts anywhere.

It wasn't just any old course--it was the "chase" course from the last prologue/chase race we ever did. I'm not sure why we haven't had any of those races since then. An oversight rather than a deliberate choice. That can be rectified.

My legs were 1000 times better today than yesterday. I full night's sleep and an added day's distance from Tuesday's workout undoubtedly made big differences.

Easy running at Plutonic.

Temperatures continued to recover/sore will into the 30s and beyond, but already if it is above freezing, with little wind, and full sun, it feels warm. Bring it on, Winter, we are ready for you now.

Hopped over to the Forest Service via bike and paid our permit bill for the year, and then hopped out to the Forest Service forest via truck and ran intervals under the beautiful blue sky. The dirt road I was using was a bit sloppy with mud and/or snow slush in spots, but basically it was delightful. After a while summer gets boring and you start to dream the slush and mud... 8 x 5 min. cruise intervals was the dose.

Once again, no hunters, no rifle shots Very weird. Maybe there were very few tags issued for this game area for this season this year.

It became massively cold yesterday (for October), and I believe there are decent chances new lows were set for both yesterday (late night) and today (early morning.) When I arose, it was 5F, which is not exactly usual fare for this time of year.

The cold brought along with it about 3-4" of snow, which means we now have snow on the ground that won't fully melt out until April or May. When I was running, I saw the first set of ski tracks for the season, but I never could come across the actual offending rock skier. That's okay, as it would not have been a Hendrixian anyway. There will never be another Hendrix.

Funny how you forget how the winter winds rip away your face any chance they get. But you remember so quickly! And already summer seems very, very far away.