Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Ran the middle Green again at Granite Planite. The sun was warm and it felt warm when the air was still. But most of the time there was some breeze that had a hint of some cooler undertone which helped. Still massive amounts of grass seeds. I ran at the best speed I could manage, and felt pretty good with the effort. Easy running day tomorrow.

I mountain biked up Pilot Hill late in the day, and had the trails almost to myself. At almost the very end, I ran into Frank B, who was just starting up the hill.

Still plenty of murk to enjoy.

O' at Remarkable Flats, 12 kms at race pace. Not a single deer fly or mosquito the whole way around, which surely must be attributed solely to the incredible speed at which I moved, faster than even a Bezos rocket ship. Or maybe there just weren't many of the flies and mosquitoes about today, for whatever the reason. Most likely is in fact that the season for these biting thingies is well waning.

In the middle of one of the legs a nighthawk started up from underneath a pine tree. It was only the second nighthawk I've seen so far this summer flying off from the ground. The other one just flew away. But this one only flew off about 25', and then it landed and broke a wing. Of course it didn't really break a wing. But it was acting like it did, and so I knew if I looked carefully, I might be able to spot some eggs or chicks. I walked over carefully to near where the bird flew up from and then started eyeing the ground very carefully and methodically. I didn't want to walk right into the area because the eggs and chicks are so hard to see it would easily be possible to step on them.

I didn't find anything, and I was just about ready to step away and resume running when I spotted an unusual looking blob--much larger than what I had been looking for. It turned out to be a large chick, probably getting close to being ready to fledge.

Did a medley of biking, mountain biking, and trail running. Picked up some big iron while mountain biking, for recycling.

Seemed appropriate to visit Plains of Despair today, and so I did. 9.7 kms of lots of Needle and Thread grass seed glory--really doesn't get any better. At one point I was starting to get kinda dirty, so I rang up a small thunderstorm, and that took care of that.

Campers (meaning ultra extra large RVs that put ordinary houses and even unordinary houses to shame) were everywhere. Can you tell that it's nearly time for CFD? I can.

Happy news for Happy Jack orienteering and surrounding happy orienteering lands: I've just confirmed there is an existing LIDAR data set covering the Pole Mountain unit of the National Forest east of town, and I believe I am going to be allowed access to it. I don't know what the resolution is yet, but it was flown in 2015, so I am optimistic it will be good.

Mountain biking in the afternoon, followed by a short run at Happy Jack.

Tuesday Training: 4 X 10 min, 2 x 5 min uphill, 1 x 10 min downhill, in warm sunny conditions.

Had planned to get out early this morning, but today the markets had other things in mind. So I didn't get started until well past mid-morning, by which the sun was already warming up the grasslands nicely. Ran Granite Green again, this time with no over-eager pit bull to urge me along, and was about a minute better than 2 days ago. Still well off my best from 2 years ago, and of course extra years aren't exactly helping matters anymore. But we'll see what is possible once the cows have clipped the grass and with temps down 15-20 degrees.