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November 23, 2005
Happy Tryptophan Consumption, All!
The President did something right today when he granted most of his peon government workers three extra hours off before the holiday for good behavior, including me. And so thus begins the holiday season, wherein the American public launches in to the annual epic endeavor of overindulgence. Whether it's shopping, eating , or drinking to excess, we sure serve everything up in excess during the holidays. That is not to say that I'm a grinch, because I enjoy the holidays as much as most people, that is just to say that I think that the meaning of the holiday season in America has become particularily skewed. Me, I'm going to practice the art of spending time in the company of meaningful people, and eat a little good food in the process. Though I don't eat turkey, so I'll have to get my tryptophan fix from tofu instead.
I crashed in bed at 6:15 am this morning, directly after ending my shift at 6 am. I was awoken 4 times while trying to sleep between 6:15 am and 1 pm. Eventually I just gave up and got up, feeling like I'd hardly slept. 1) An 8 am fire call. It was a false alarm, and I was back home and unconscious again by about 8:40 am. 2) Then the vet called to cancel my dog's surgery and kennelling shorting before 9 am. (She's having surgery for a lump on her side. They don't think it's dog cancer, but they won't know until after it's out. She was supposed to have the surgery on Friday and be kennelled there for the holiday weekend.) So that catapaulted me into a last-minute search for a dog sitter, which took about 45 minutes, but I was successful. 3) Then, oh blessed sleep again, until about 12:30 pm when my phone rang, a call from a friend who "forgot" I work night shifts. 4) Then, then, then, one more time alseep before another friend stopped over to ask advice on her resume.
I spent the afternoon making 2 pies, pumpkin and blackberry specifically. I am officially ready to attend Thanksgiving Dinner now. The good news is, the pies turned out spectacularly. The bad news is, I have to stare longingly at them for 24 hours.
I didn't run today. Tomorrow's logistics are a bit complex, so I had planned to take tomorrow off. However, my body felt beat up today and I didn't get to sleep much, so I decided to take today off instead. I did lift my upper body, as I promised to do. I was sore to start out with, so I'm pretty sure it was moderately unproductive.
On that note, Happy Thanksgiving all! After work in the morning (My last day at the office for 21 days!), I'll sleep a few hours, run 6 miles easy, and then drive to a friend's family's house for the holiday, about 3 hours away. I'm headed to terra ingognita sans computer for a while. I love vacation!
Posted by Meghan at 8:40 PM | Comments (1)
November 22, 2005
Eating Humble Pie
I got my butt kicked today. It was horrible. It happened at structural firefighter training. We were practicing searching a second story building for a victim and carrying them out via ladder. We used a 200 pound, 6 foot tall dummy. I can drag that sucker's butt to kingdom come, I can put him over my shoulder in a traditional fireman's carry and walk out of a building, but I nearly died when I had to lower him down a 2-story ladder with him precariously balanced across my forearms. I did it, though you could say I did it by the skins of my teeth. If it were a real test, though, I wouldn't have passed because I wasn't fast or fluid and it was momentarily unclear whether I was going to be able to do it or not. And god forbid if it was a real life situation, I don't even want to think about that. I've done it successfully before, and I do recall it being difficult, but not so much as today. I was okay cardiovascularly, much better than some of my cohorts in crime, but my arms are now like pieces of spaghetti, so tired! I learned 2 things today: 1) the art of being humble, and 2) that I need to work much, much, much harder on my upper body strength. Not just because upper body strength is good and because it will make me a better runner and all that crap, but because I'm supposed to be helping save people and buildings for my job, not be a liability out there. Can you tell I'm a little fired up and dissapointed in myself at the moment?
Anyhow, before being served the world's largest piece of humble pie this afternoon, I did run for 40 minutes, or 5 miles. It was another gorgeous day out there, sunny and probably 45 degrees. All the snow is melting and everything is muddy. I was filthy when I got home, but splashing in the mud was fun. I did 2 checks on the dirt track for my pace, a 1/2 mile near the beginning and a 1/2 mile near the end of my run, and I was right on 8:00 pace both times. Wildlife sightings on this run were limited to a single coyote. But it was really cute! It's fur was really light colored, thick, and fuzzy, definitely ready for winter!
Leilani politely inquired the other day about my future running plans. Well, more like she was tempting me with marathoning and triathloning ideas, but I didn't really know how to answer her. Basically I told her that I'm running from month to month right now. My immediate goal is to get back up to 50 miles/week, and then to sit there for a while before adding anything else in. I'm itching to run, but I'm more concerned with staying healthy all along. So, I guess that's where my running is going for the moment. Perhaps I will run 35 miles this week, which would be outstanding for me right now.
I'm sore today from doing 800 sit-up-type core exercises last night (It took 30 minutes, but I said I wanted to make myself sore!). And my arms are all jelly-like from fire training. But regardless of how I feel tomorrow, I'm going to the weight room. I think for a while I'm going to keep my upper body the focus in the weight room, at least until I can get a handle on my upper body strength again. None of this ridiculous weakness, no more. It wasn't a good feeling.
Posted by Meghan at 9:42 PM | Comments (3)
November 21, 2005
Time Out, Kids!
Every now and again I still get a sore shin. My past shin injury acts somewhat like a ghost that haunts me every so often. It seems to get sore after bouts of running on hard surfaces or after I've pounded hard downhill. Well, over there in South Dakota I pounded down a paved hill one day and then I pounded down a second hill (albeit on a dirt trail) on another day. And I think those two poundings made my right shin a bit sore.
Because I'm a lot smarter now after such a debilitating injury last winter, and I'm not willing to push the limits of this shin thing anymore, I took 2 days off running, enough to make the soreness go away. So, I took Saturday and Sunday off. I did no exercise on Saturday, and on Sunday I did an hour on the indoor trainer, doing the time trial DVD I've previously mentioned.
Today I was back to running, 4 miles easy. Finally, my Yaktrax arrived! I got the Yaktrax Pro, and I think they're pretty heavy duty. The weather was stupendously beautiful today; it was probably 40 degress while I was running down in Gardiner. I ran in a long sleeved shirt and shorts. Oh, and don't forget that I wore my new Yaktrax! That seems funny to me, shorts and Yaktrax, but the trail I was on stays shaded almost all day, so the snow is still several inches deep on it. I loved running in the Yaktrax, they make a huge difference in stability. However, they feel a little funny underfoot, but I imagine I'll get used to it. Even though there's no predicted snow in the near future, I'm ready to run in whatever Mother Nature sends my way this winter!
Anyhow, back to running. I saw 6 trumpeter swans while I was out, they honk and it seriously sounds like a small foreign car's horn. I was momentarily confused by them, since I was out where no car should be. Also, shouldn't the swans be headed south or something for the winter? I don't know about their migratory habits, but I'm going to have to find out. It was obvious that they were out flying around, enjoying the great weather today as well. I ran 15:55 out to the 2 mile point, and returned in 15:10, without really trying to run any faster. It's so nice to feel strong when I'm just trying to run easy, even if it's for just a few miles. I plan to spin on the indoor trainer for an hour easy tonight. I've been slacking on my core exercises this past week, so I want to do a bunch of those as well this evening. My goal is to make my abs sore tonight!
I'm down to 3 more nights of work, then I will be out of this office for 3 whole weeks! I seriously don't know what I'm going to do with myself. Some of it is vacation, and some of it is work training in eastern Wyoming. I'm so excited (Well, the training in eastern Wyoming isn't going to be terribly thrilling, but I won't be sitting at my desk!), I don't know what to do with myself. My plans are a bit open at this point. Though I'm staying in this geographical area, I've got lots of ideas on how to pass the time and play outside! Wahoo!
Posted by Meghan at 7:24 PM | Comments (2)
November 18, 2005
A Perversely Long Update
Hello, I'm back! It's been a bit, hasn't it? I'm sure you've all missed me. Hah! You've all probably done just fine without me... Here-to-follow will be what I fear may become a behemoth novella. Proceed with caution, and my apologies from the get-go.
Saturday: At my last blog entry, I was debating which run I should do, a shorter 5 miler, or my 8 mile "long run" for the week. I ended up with the shorter 5 miler around the neighborhood at an estimated 8:00 pace. I spent 3/4 mile on the dirt track nearby until I was chased off by a bison. Not literally chased off, but I left because the bugger got too close to the track for my comfort. Anyways, I was on 7:45-ish pace for that 3/4 mile on the track.
Sunday: I did my 8 mile "long run" for the week today. The weather was rather gross. I went down about 1000 feet elevation to Gardiner for the distinct purpose of getting out of the volume of snow that was falling at Mammoth, and it was sleeting and muddy and sorta disgusting overall! I was covered in mud by the end, as was the dog that accompanies me. I ran 8 miles, again, on the Gardiner railroad bed, the same place I've done my "long run" for the last few weeks. My total time running was right around 62 minutes. I was slower on the return while battling a sleet-filled headwind by almost a minute. I also lifted and did a brief interlude on the elliptical trainer, nice and easy.
Monday: Today I took intentional rest from all athletic endeavors. It was snowy and cold outside, and so I spent it relaxing and enjoying the day from inside. There's nothing like cozying up inside on a day like this! The most exciting running-like activity of the day was attending the local high school's fall sports awards banquet. It was the last time to see my cross country kids and their families in my official coaching capacity. It was really exciting to hand out all their hardware, and even more exciting to honor them in front of their community.
Tuesday: Today we left for our roadtrip (I did get to go as I successfully negotiated my work schedule with my coworker.). Things started off a little slow, though, and we were late leaving. The morning began with an easy 5 miler around home. It was zero degrees (ZERO DEGREES! SO COLD!) while I was running, and everything was icy-slippery (My Yaktrax still aren't here, I think they are lost in the mail!). My dog was the funniest of the both of us, slipping and sliding everywhere! We meant to leave for our roadtrip by about 10 am, but everything was slowed by the fact maintenance folks shut off the water at my house until about noon. So, I couldn't shower and we didn't depart until almost 1 pm. My friends and I headed east, bound for Custer, SD. We arrived there at about 11 pm, and crashed in a hotel.
Wednesday: This morning I ran 4 easy miles around Custer, SD. It was really cold and windy and for some reason it didn't occur to me to wear a hat. My ears were so cold! There's a decent hill climbing out of Custer in one direction, and so I assaulted it on my way out, and then bounded down it on the way back to the hotel. This day was the highlight of our roadtrip. The three of us met up with another friend who works at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. Since we all are National Park Service employees, we had the opportunity to "climb the heads." That is, we climbed a trail up to the top of the heads, and got to stand on top of George Washington. I kid you not! Only a few special people get to do this, VIPs, dignitaries, the President, and, well, us. It was awesome! George Washington has a big, bald forehead. In all seriousness, it was an exciting opportunity and a great honor to be able to do. After our exciting head climb, we headed back into Custer, met up with another friend, had dinner, and had a relaxing evening chatting and drinking a little beer.
Thursday: One of the friends we visited is a runner, and so we went out running this morning. He and I got dropped off 7 miles from his house, and we ran home via a rails-to-trails trail called the Mickelson Trail. I rarely get to run with people, especially since I'm not coaching cross country anymore, and the time out there with him flew by while we chatted. We ran 7 miles in 52:30. After our run, we all went out to lunch, went wine tasting (and purchasing), and went on a cave tour at Jewel Cave National Monument. It all was so exciting! Afterwards, we all went out to dinner, again. We settled in for another quiet evening of sitting next to the wood stove, drinking a few beers, and chatting the night away. I do think this is almost the perfect way to spend and evening!
Friday: This morning began with another run with my friend. We did 5.5 miles in 42:10. This run was a loop through the town of Custer, highlighted by a run up to the "Custer Hollywood sign," which is a white, light-up sign perched on top of a big hill overlooking town. The view of Custer from the sign is this. It was an arduous but short climb up there, 500 feet almost exactly. I worked a lot harder running up the hill with company than I would have on my own. Though the climb was realtively short, I worked hard enough that I was a little wobbly-legged afterwards. It was good for me, though, and having company to run with was heaven (Plus, I think I'd be a much better runner if I had company that challenged me.). And the weather was outstanding, I wore shorts running! The rest of this day was spent driving back home to Yellowstone. Arriving back, it's obvious that we missed a big snowstorm. That's okay by me, though, I think there's more where this came from this winter! It's good to be home but that means I have to go back to work! Eek!
Posted by Meghan at 11:20 PM | Comments (2)
November 12, 2005
Bang, bang!
My dog already knows the standards: come, sit, lay down, play dead, roll over, shake, etc. She's now learned a hilarious new trick! It goes like this: You say, "Bang! Bang!" and you point a finger gun at her and she falls down dead. Hee, hee. Next, I'm going to work on: "Stick 'em up!" wherein she puts her paws in the air.
I just woke up to some more new snow this morning, at it's beautiful. All except for the part that it was warm enough to run in a t-shirt and shorts just yesterday, and now it's freezing and snowy today. A shock to the system!
On Thursday I spent much of the day sleeping, recovering from 7 night shifts in a row. When I first woke up, it was 2:30pm! How pathetic is that? Especially when the sun ducks behind the mountains at 4pm and it seems that dusk is fast approaching. Thursday I ran 5 very hilly miles in 41:00. Hilly is relative here since everything has hills. But I ran a route that was purposely more hilly rather than running the usual path of least resistance. I was pleased to see that, despite even more hills than usual, I was able to maintain a little over 8:00 mile pace for an easy run. After running, I went to the weight room to lift and do the ellliptical. I hadn't ellipticalled in a while, and I only lasted on it for 15 minutes because I got super hungry. Oh well, at least a little cross training.
Yesterday's working out was minimal, as I was busy. Much of the day was consumed by taking the dog to the vet. I think she's probably okay, but she's had a few things going on lately that made me want to get her looked at. I'll find out if she's having any problems next week when the tests come back. I had planned to peruse a few ski shops up in town, but I didn't have the time! So I guess I'll save that for the next trip. I did, however, discover a cute little wine shop that sells all kinds of unique wines. It was fun to shop, but I spent way too much on a bottle of wine! Also, I hosted a pizza party for my cross country team, which was fun, albeit exhausting! Kids have so much energy, and I guess I notice/am affected by it less when we are all outside running. But when the whole team is confined to a small house, it's rather chaotic. We had fun, though, we made pizzas from scratch, had a pizza eating contest (to settle the long-standing argument amongst the team as to who has the biggest appetite), and watched the video a parent had put together from some meets, including state. It was fun, but when all they kids left, my friends (who were there for moral support) and I just sat down in exhaustion, drank a beer, and ate some pizza. I do believe my kitchen remains a royal mess this morning! I don't even want to look at it!
As for working out yesterday, all I did was 3 easy miles. It was a gorgeous day, I was walking around in a t-shirt and jeans up in town, and then I ran in a t-shirt and shorts back at home. I think it was a little cold for just those clothes up here at 6300 feet, but I was only outside running for less than 25 minutes! I saw another guy running and he was bundled up in a sweatshirt and pants. Hee, hee, I wonder if he felt overdressed! It was definitely too hot for sweats!
Today, I'm still undecided as to what I'll do, runningwise. Either another 5 mile easy run or an 8 mile "long run," one I'll do today and the other tomorrow. I have a busy day in front of me, trying to accomplish a week's worth of school work in one day. I'm still planning to go on the roadtrip to Mt. Rushmore next week, but my friend who was supposed to work a shift for me so I could go seems to be bailing. If I can't find anyone to take my shift, I won't be able to go on the roadtrip. Boo! We'll see what happens, but if I can't go, then I'll still have next week's homework done!
Posted by Meghan at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)
November 9, 2005
Paying the Price
I knew my snowball fight-starting adventure of yesterday would come back to haunt me, and I guess it's better sooner than later. I was inundated by snowballs as I ran through the neighborhood today! Well, just from one house where several kids were playing. It was awesome. Lucky for me, I'm quick-moving, or should I say fast relative to the trajectory distances of snowballs thrown by 12 year olds. Ah, fun times, fun times. I'm already planning my revenge.
It's c-c-cold! It got down to 12 degrees last night. I don't know how I feel about that. Well, I know that I feel cold.
I was bundled up SO much while running today, even though it was probably 20 degrees, but how about that wind! I ran for 39 minutes and pocket change, which I'm calling 5 miles. I timed one of those miles on the dirt track, during which I had to cut tracks through all of yesterday's snow, and still came out with a 7:42 mile.
I think I'm going to do the time trial DVD on the bike trainer again tonight. The video claims that if done twice a week, it will help increase your lactate threshold. The video features a 10 minute warmup of easy spinning, with 2x1 minute sprints. Then there are 3x5 minute "power intervals," with 5 minutes easy spinning recoveries. The power intervals are supposed to be executed at an intensity that you can only keep up for 5 minutes, and not much longer (Actually, the video instructs you to calculate a heart rate for these intervals using a funny equation and your heart rate max. So far, I've been too lazy to calculate the appropriate heart rate.). Then, there is 12 minutes of "steady-state intervals," which consist of 2 minutes spinning fast alternating with 2 minutes of lower cadence in a higher gear, all while keeping the power output the same, and at a pace at which you're working hard but that you could sustain for a while (There's also another equation that I haven't done.). Finally, the video ends with 8 minutes easy spinning cooldown, for a total of a 1 hour workout. I kind of feel like this is a good way to get a good workout without the pounding of running a workout while I'm trying to build base mileage. I think I'm going to follow the 2x a week instructions for a few weeks and see if this helps me with my running.
Whew, tonight is my last work shift for the week! I work a funny schedule, 7 night shifts on, 7 days off. So now, I will have 7 days off, starting tommorow. My weeks on are really hard because they are long night shifts, but the weeks off are very exciting. My plans for my upcoming "weekend:" 1) A visit to a ski shop to begin doing reasearch on cross country skis and snowshoes (The winter toys that I plan to purchase soon!). 2) An end-of-season pizza party and awards ceremony for my cross-country team (I coached the local high school's cross country team; their season finished 2 weeks ago.). 3) Visiting the park's interior by vehicle. As of now, all the interior roads have closed because of snow. I have finagled (Is that a word?) a way to "do business errands" in the park so I can drive around and see how much snow is in there already. 4) A short road trip. I won't divulge much more about this right now, as I think we're going to do something really, really, super fun. However, my friends and I are roadtripping to see our other friends where they work at Mt. Rushmore. I think that's enough for one week, though!
Posted by Meghan at 6:44 PM | Comments (2)
November 8, 2005
Snow Chronicles, Part 62
Every day is a new experience, and I'm loving it. This morning, when I went to sleep at 6am (Oh yes, for those of you who don't know, I work night shifts, and generally get off of work at 6am.), it was 40 degrees and raining. However the National Weather Service was predicting the arrival of a cold front that would turn the rain to snow. Indeed, when I glanced out my window at 10am, there was a bonafied snow storm in progress, more snow than we've seen so far this winter. Because I'm giddy about this stuff, I got up, put on some winter clothes, and went for a romp in the yard with the dog.
I wish I had pictures of my dog in the yard. She was prancing around daintily, trying hard to keep as many of her 4 feet off the ground as she could. It was hilarious and cute! I, being the mature 27 year old that I am, made a pile of snowballs and stacked them next to the house, figuring they would be of good use later. After about 45 minutes of fun, I retreated into the house, drank some hot cider, and went back to sleep.
When I woke up for real, the storm was gone, the sky was clear, and the sun was shining. Everything was blanketed with about 8 inches of new snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. I hopped over to the post office to see if my Yaktrax had arrived, this was the perfect day for them, and they hadn't. So, I set out for a run without them.
Hah! I was a ridiculous mess at first, trying to run in the tracks made by cars, sliding around. Then, I discovered that there is much better traction in the new, unpacked snow. So, for the rest of the run, I spent running in 8 inches of snow. It was good, arduous work. I tried hard to keep up my normal pace, and do more work to sustain the pace. It was kind of fun on the way back, following my own tracks and seeing if I could match my own stride. And I stayed upright the whole time. I had intended to run 5 miles today, but my run was reduced to 3 miles because of work emergency stuff. I plan to do the 5 mile run tommorow instead. I also have plans to spin an hour easy on the trainer tonight, and do core exercises.
Funny wildlife experience: I was running down a dirt road, cutting the first tracks since the snow. I came around a corner and there was a bison (at a comfortable distance). Standing there. I'm pretty sure it was sleeping standing up. It clearly hadn't moved all day because it had mad snow all over and around it. It was covered in snow! It simply turned its head slowly and looked at me as I went by. When it moved, some snow fell off its back. I found this unendingly entertaining.
Did I create any plot building with my earlier mention of making a snowball pile in the yard? Yeah, I knew they'd be useful. When the neighborhood kids walked by on their way home from school, I began a war. I shot off several of the snowballs even before the kids knew what was happening. It turned into an all-out snowball fight of fine kind. I think I will pay a price later, probably again and again throughout the winter. But it was well worth it!
Posted by Meghan at 6:43 PM | Comments (2)
November 7, 2005
Tttttttttttthhhhhbbb!
I think that's how you spell the noise you make when you stick your tongue out and blow real hard. That's how I feel about this day in general. Like if I never woke up this morning and just skipped November 7th altogether, life would be a lot easier. The reasons for why I feel this way aren't worth the time worrying about in this particular forum, but suffice it to say I can't wait for the day to end. Ok, I feel a little better now!
I took today off of running, as I had scheduled. As cross-training, I did a time trial DVD on the trainer. My friend gave this to me to try, and I like it. It's SO much easier to work hard on the trainer when someone is telling you what to do and how hard to do it! This came in handy since I was in such a mood that I wouldn't have been interested in/able to commit to working hard in a workout independently. I think I'll do this DVD again, though. I also did core exercises, which discluded back stuff today because I'm sore from lifting yesterday!
I'm toying with the idea of another easy spin on the trainer tonight, because my legs have taken a liking to doing easy spinning, and then stretching a while afterwards in the evenings! I dunno, I'm not super-motivated, though. It would also be okay to just chill. Part of me would also like to ask a friend to make me a big 'ol fru-fru mixed drunk, or two, to take the edge off. I know that won't happen, though, since I'm on call for work. Whatever the case, it's all uphill from here. Things will get mo' betta'.
Posted by Meghan at 8:18 PM | Comments (1)
November 6, 2005
Brilliance... Pure, Sweet Brilliance
Thanks, Jeff, your brilliant advice made my run today so much more pleasant. Lovely even, to be pelted by rain, sleet, snow pellets, and legitimate snow. Because I could see! I wore my sunglasses with their yellow lenses (Which I've used in the past for biking but never thought to wear while running in bad weather!). I'm glad someone out there is smart... It was a cruddy day out there! They said we were going to get a bunch of snow, but it stayed too warm for snow in the inches. Instead, it was a rainy, icy, snowy mix all day long.
I had a super productive day, chorewise and workoutwise. I didn't get everything I wanted done, but I can never quite finish my to-do lists in the alloted time. There's always something more to do. However, instead of doing all of that stuff, I wish I were in New York today, for obvious reasons. And, I also wish I had TV so I could see coverage of the event. Alas, I've just read up on the marathon via the Internet. I must be the last person in the country to find out the outcome! It sounds like it must have been thrilling to watch, especially the last 2 miles of the women's race and the last 400m of the men's race.
My running was miniscule in comparison, 3 miles easy. I also lifted (Finally, the first time in 10 days, I think! Perhaps that means I'll be sore tomorrow.). Tonite I plan to do 60 minutes on the bike trainer and core exercises. Oh, the excitement.
Running wildlife report: There's a huge contingency of wolf watchers that hang out at Yellowstone. Where ever there are wolves, there are wolf watchers. I think that these wolf watchers have seen wolves almost every day since wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone years ago. Their dedication is somewhat admirable and somewhat obsessive, if you ask me. In any case, the point is that it is easy to discern where the wolves are on any given day based upon where the wolf watchers are. Today, as I was running, I saw the wolf watcher contingency nearby, their spotting scopes and telephoto camera lenses pointed in my direction. I knew they were looking at wolves somewhere nearby me, though I couldn't see anything and my dog didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Hmmmn, the wolves are out there...
Posted by Meghan at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)
November 5, 2005
Beautiful Sun!
We hadn't seen the sun in several days, and it was wonderful to see it this afternoon! Despite the lovely radiant heat, it was still rather chilly with a biting wind. By evening, it had become cloudy again with some light snow showers. I'm beginning to get the feeling that winter weather here is just a smorgasboard of unending variety, and that the weather changes rather fast!
The dog (she's a border collie named June) and I went out for this week's "long" run, 8 miles on the Gardiner railroad bed, the same spot as last week's "long" run. We started at the same spot again, where the trail begins in town, and ran out the railroad bed for 4 miles, and then returned, total time was 1:03:45.
The run itself felt great, I think the cinder surface of the railroad bed trail is just about the most perfect running surface ever created, soft and even all the way. As I've previously mentioned, the trail runs though the Gardner river valley, and the views are just outstanding. This view in this area of the valley is dominated by a mountain called Electric Peak. Here's a link to an Electric Peak webcam, which I think is really cool, though I'll refrain from saying any less cool things about the webcam's sponsoring organization.
Whitetail deer and pronghorn were out in full force today, I guess they've climbed down from the mountains for the winter. I don't blame them, it looks snowy up there! However, I have heard that when the prey herds come down from the mountains, so do the predators (wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions). I haven't heard of any sightings in this area yet, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open.
I also did a little spinning on the bike trainer, for 45 minutes, and core exercises.
Just a regular day in paradise...
Posted by Meghan at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)
November 4, 2005
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Yes, I'm letting it snow. Well, okay, it's not as if I can do anything about it, so mostly I'm just embracing it.
But, I am having two snow/running-related problems:
1) Seeing in the snow.
2) Staying upright in the snow.
I used to be a cold country dweller, Minnesota precisely, it's just that I've spent many years in Texas, and I forgot about all of winter's intricacies! A few years ago, I was looking at pictures of myself running in high school. At the time, I couldn't remember why on earth I would wear a ball cap underneath a winter hat while running. I mean, it looked ridiculous! Today I remembered why. When the snow is blowing horizontally and the wind is fierce, the brim of a ballcap shield's one's eyes from the biting snow. I recall this now, and I'm going to use that tactic on future runs. Today it was really difficult to see anything for the blowing snow and wind. Additionally, I fell today. Yes, I'm a klutz and, yes, I'm embarassed. Luckily, I was running through a campground that currently has very few occupants. One man did ask if I was okay; I told him just my pride was wounded. It didn't hurt, but my butt got all wet! Harumph. I should have ordered those Yaktrax on express delivery.
My run today was 4 miles. Whew, I'm exhausted. Kidding. I also did core exercises and I spun on the bike trainer easy for 90 minutes. I've slacked a little in the lifting department in the last week. Well, specifically, I haven't lifted at all. I will get in the weight room this weekend, not sure which day yet.
Notable wildlife on today's run: A young bull elk bugling his heart out even though the rut is over, the big bulls have moved on, and the cow elk are out of heat. Bugle on, young one, bugle on!
Posted by Meghan at 6:09 PM | Comments (1)
November 3, 2005
Camping in the Snow!
I don't know what I've done in previous lifetimes or so far in this one to deserve the life that I'm currently living. But, I'm very greatful. At the moment, I'm curled up in a chair, eating warm chili and sipping hot apple cider, perched next to the warm wood stove, watching the snow fly outside. Could it get any better? Yes, it gets better because I was just out there playing in the snow.
I went camping in the Gallatin National Forest, specifically up a road into Mill Creek Canyon. There's a forest service campground up there called Snowbank Campground, but it was closed for the season. So we explored the road and found a nice little flat spot off the road and next to Mill Creek. It was a beautiful spot, though tucked into the black spruce and juniper trees a little too much to see most of the view. However, by climbing up the hillside from camp, we saw that we were surrounded on all sides by fantastic mountains.
We spent yesterday afternoon exploring the area. We did a short hike to what said "springs" on the map, and it turned out to be some mostly dormant springs. It appeared as if previously these were hot springs, but they weren't much more than bubbling muck now. Then we hiked up and down the Mill Creek Canyon Road, a windy, dirt forest service road. We were a bit intimidated to do any trail hikes in the forest because it's hunting season right now, and there were a lot of hunters up there. The highlight of our hike, though, was seeing a Great Horned Owl sleeping in a tree. It was facing away from us, but our presence woke it up and it turned it's head 180 degrees to look at us. We watched it curl its ear feathers up to listen to us and we saw its big yellow eyes watching us. I attempted to take a picture of it with a flash since it was almost dark out, and the owl flew away then. I felt really bad, and worse because the picture didn't turn out!
After that, we went to a place called Chico Hot Springs for dinner and to soak in the hot springs. We had perused the website beforehand, but we were surprised by how developed the place was. On the plus side, their restaurant was excellent and they have an amazing wine list. On the down side, the hot springs consists of a hot pool and a hotter pool, both very much like swimming pools. The hot water felt excellent. You had the choice of sitting under a roof or in the open air, and sitting in hot water while snow (well, it was kind of sleety) fell was just awesome. The other cool thing was that you could drink while you were in the pool, so we drank a couple beers as we soaked. This place would make a great spot to stay at if you wanted a little luxury and pampering after a big camping trip to Yellowstone National Park. And, now that I've visited, I know I'll be back to to soak in the hot water when it's cold this winter.
After that, we went back to our campsite, uphill, and into the snow. When we went to bed, we realized that it was going to be pretty snowy in the morning.
And right we were! It was c-c-c-old and snowy, and I loved it. The tent was covered in a layer of snow, and everything was blanketed and white. I was sort of scared that I was going to be cold, but I was bundled up good. Since my move from Texas, I've been slowly acquiring warm clothes. This morning, I was wearing: a hat, thermal shirt, polypro shirt, fleece jacket, soft shell jacket, hard shell jacket, gloves, thermal pants, thick jeans, liner socks, thick socks, and boots. Whew! And I think it was only about 28 or 30 degrees out.
But, we built a campfire and stood around it for a while, walked around and took some pictures of the snow and mountains, and built a miniature snowperson. Then we packed up all of our gear and headed back to the park.
Here at home, the snow is still flying. I'm in dire need of the Yaktrax that several people use and/or have recommended to run today. The good news is that I ordered them and they are on their way. The bad news is that I'm going to have prance around delicately on the snow this afternoon to run. Yesterday I ran 4 miles around my neighborhood before we went out camping. I should have brought running clothes to run up in the national forest, but, in thinking about it, I'm not sure if I would have gone since I was so cold. Now that I'm home and warmed up, I'll be able to bundle up and go back out to run. And, I'll get to return to a warm shower afterwards. On tap for today: 5 miles easy (all my miles are easy right now) and core exercises. Not too much working out. I may spin on the bike trainer later this evening, but I'm not holding myself to it!
Posted by Meghan at 1:34 PM | Comments (3)
November 1, 2005
The Joy of Water
I don't think that we can fully appreciate the presence of good, clean water until we are temporarily deprived of it. Cases in point:
1) I worked and lived at a field camp in northern Tanzania for 6 weeks. It was the dry season and water was scarce. We were alotted 1 gallon of water per day for drinking, cooking, and bathing. I sure appreciated adequate water supply after that.
2) In my travels throughout the developing world, having to brush my teeth with bottled water rather than dip my toothbrush under the faucet taught me to value functional water treatment systems.
3) Backpacking trips in the desert at Big Bend National Park were always a challenge in carrying enough water or planning one's trip so that you passed by one of the scarce desert springs. Moving to Wyoming and finding trickling streams and raging rivers everywhere are akin to a hiker's/backpacker's heaven in comparison.
4) Being cut off from the water system in my own house for 2 1/2 days was a challenge in its own right. Life was reduced to its most simple state, being unable to shower, cook, or even drink a glass of water.
Suffice it to say, I'm happy to report that my water is back on today and I'm a happy camper.
Yesterday's workout plans were reduced to running only. Many of you know that I work in emergency services, and when a call comes in, I have to work, no matter what time of day or night. I spent most of the afternoon on an emergency call, and didn't get back until almost dark. I put in a quick 3 mile run in the neighborhood. I ran 2 miles of it on the dirt track nearby. I always time my miles on this track because, well, I'm curious. My 2 timed miles were 7:24 and 7:23. This pace is well beyond my usual easy pace, most definitely, but it still felt ungodly easy. I'm pretty sure that I was still pumped full of adrenaline from working that emergency. But hey, I'll take what my body gives me!
After that, I spent a few hours handing out candy to trick-or-treaters (and worked my core exercises in between knocks on the door). But I never got to spinning on the bike or lifting, oops!
This afternoon I ran 5 easy miles in the hills of the neighborhood, dodging 2 herds of elk in the process. Oh, the joys of the wilderness!
We've reduced our backpacking trip to car camping, because there seems to be too much snow for backpacking without snowshoes. Tomorrow we're going to car camp in the national forest, and go visit some hot springs. It sounds to me like a good alternative to backpacking!
When I woke up this morning, I opened my shade and there was a bison staring in my window. This 800-ish pound creature was close enough that his breathing was steaming up my window. He just kept staring at me nonchalantly. If it had been a human, I would have called him a peeping tom. Should I call him a peeping bison?
Posted by Meghan at 1:44 PM | Comments (1)