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December 30, 2006
The 2006 Round-Up
The following is my Top 10 list of running moments in 2006, in no particular order except for the order in which they popped into my brain.
10. Running to the summit of 10,300+ foot Mt. Washburn here in Yellowstone. Mt. Washburn is a popularly visited summit because of its short trail (between 6 and 7 miles roundtrip) and proximity to the frontcountry. As I ran, I received a huge amount of positive encouragement from hikers out on the trail. The summit of Mt. Washburn is used as a wildfire lookout station in the summer by park rangers. Upon my arrival to the station, I was greeted by the lookout ranger. He was wielding binoculars and complimented me on how hard I was running since I emerged from the treeline and into his view. Finally, the view from the top, a 360 degree view of Yellowstone wilderness, was outstanding and breathtaking. It was an incredible experience, on all accounts.
9. Trail running towards the summit of Electric Peak, 10,900+ feet, here in Yellowstone. We didn't quite make it to the summit, turning back perhaps 50 vertical feet from the top as a result of the technical nature of the route. However, the on-trail experience was incredible. It was a beautiful day; I had great company; we even glimpsed mother and cub grizzly bears as we ran.
8. Glimpsing wolf tracks on trail runs. In my mind, wolves are the quintessential representation of wilderness at Yellowstone. In order for wolf packs to survive and thrive, an ecosystem must be healthy and balanced on all levels. Since their reintroduction more than 10 years ago, the wolves have flourished in Yellowstone, and to me this symbolizes how well this land has thus-far been protected. Glimpsing the reclusive wolf and/or and its sign is a tangible representation of ecosystem health. In the last five months or so, I have seen wolf tracks on trails around my house over half a dozen times. Most recently, two days in a row, on two different trails, I saw fresh wolf prints in fresh snow.
7. My high school boys winning the Montana Class C State Cross Country Championship. Coaching cross country for the last 2 years has been a highly rewarding endeavor. One's own running often dives deep into the realm of selfishness, and coaching others brings the subject of running back into a much more selfless place. I will not soon forget the joy and happiness that they felt as they met their ultimate season goal.
6. Trail running with my sweetie. I've spent a lot of time this year trail running with a particular person who I care a lot about. Much of our relationship has developed out there on the trails, talking the switchbacks, mud holes, tripping rocks, and wildlife by. Additionally, my sweetie is a helluva trail runner, so he's a pretty big source of inspiration in that respect.
5. Running from one side of the Grand Canyon to the other and back again, all at once. I think everyone has got a rope that's oh-so-long, in terms of our physical ability. I also think that most of us have a rope that is much, much longer than we could ever imagine it to be. My experience in the Grand Canyon taught me that I have no idea how long my rope of physical ability really is. I didn't even glimpse the end of it!
4. Learning that elk snort in the woods, whether or not people are around to hear it. A friend and I were chatting our way through a summer trail run when we encountered a snorting elk in the woods. The whole situation, including the nearby hikers who'd unholstered their bear spray think that they were about to come face-to-face with a bear, was highly amusing and still frequently remembered.
3. Getting infinitely schooled at the Beartooth Hill Climb near Red Lodge, MT in June. The Beartooth Highway traces its way from the literal bottom of the Beartooth Mountains to the literal top of the same, and this footrace follows a portion of this highway. The views made me as breathless as the hill climb did, and I was humbled by the effort.
2. Hitting my stride just right at the Grand Teton Trail Marathon in September. Just when I thought I was becoming fatigued in the face of a 7 mile or so uphill climb, I reached some sort of plain of acceptance of extended discomfort and just ran, passing several people in the process, and solidifying my place as the eventual second place female.
1. Finding personal strength and power through running. This doesn't really happen all the time. Sometimes, I feel pretty weak or pretty tired out there when I look up at a big hill I'm supposed to climb. However, many times out there running, whether I'm alone or with others, I'm filled with a sense of strength and power that extends far beyond the running realm and into the rest of my life. Yeah, I admit this is rather cheesy and all, but it has helped me survive a particularly challenging 2006.
Posted by Meghan at 9:28 PM | Comments (3)
December 29, 2006
Week of December 25th
Monday- rest (feeling totally exhausted, running-wise)
Tuesday- 1. 45 minutes with 1.5 miles at 6:40 pace on the dreadmill; 2 core
Wednesday- rest (leg hurts, see below)
Thursday- 1. 1 hour flat and easy, dreadmilling in Mexico; 2. core
Friday- rest from running; 1. 1 hour spinning on the trainer; 2. CrossFit; 3. yoga 45 minutes; 4. core
Saturday- rest from running; 1. 1 hour spinning on the trainer; 2. lifting; 3. yoga 45 minutes; 4. core
Sunday- 3:15 hill snowshoe long run, Snow Pass Trail, Glen Creek Trail, and Bunsen Peak Trail loop
I decided to call Monday a rest day as I was just plain dead to the world, running-wise. Then Tuesday, I felt all better again, so I hopped back on the dreadmilll. In the middle of the workout, my leg began to hurt, so I called it quits right away. My leg continued to hurt on Wednesday, aching mostly, so I took another rest day. My leg felt fine running on Thursday, but ached somewhat afterwards.
The pain seems to be soft tissue stuff, I think where a part of my calf attaches near my knee. I think the pain is coming from running so much flat, hard, unvaried stuff this week. I'm going to take the rest of this week very, very easy until that pain is gone. I was planning a rest week this week in any case, just not quite as restful as this week is developing into. I'm not going to sweat it too much at this point, so long as I heal!
As of Saturday, my leg is feeling much, much better. The yoga is making all the difference, I think. I really need to stick to doing yoga when I'm away from home, as yoga continues to solve the little issues that my body throws at me through this training process. I'm planning a low-impact snowshoe run for Sunday, to ring out 2006 most appropriately. It will be a good test for my leg.
My leg felt pretty good on Sunday's snowshoe run. I'm feeling much more confident that it's going to be okay. Note to self: It's not good to run a few dozen miles on a running surface that one's body isn't accustomed to running on. I learned my lesson and hopefully next week's training won't be hindered by this issue.
Posted by Meghan at 3:48 AM | Comments (2)
Utter Exhaustion
Aren't you supposed to return from a beach vacation feeling relaxed and rejuvenated? I don't quite feel like that. Mostly, I feel exhausted. What a week.
Before I go on, I want to say thank you for the outpouring of kind comments on my last blog entry. This ended up being a very challenging week in many respects, and I could feel all of your positive energy. So, thank you!
My vacation got off to a rough start with my flights to Mexico being cancelled as a result of the monster snowstorm that pummeled Denver before Christmas. It took me 2 days, an overnight in Seattle, and an extra $300 or so to get to Mexico. I feel fortunate, though, that I didn't get trapped in the Denver airport, and that I eventually did make it to my vacation destination.
We stayed here. It's so freaking posh I didn't even know what to do with myself. It was really, really nice. I got 2 massages in 5 days! How spoiled am I? It was a great place to spend a few days (Or longer, preferably.). Despite this place's luxury, running was really limited. There was no beach; the shoreline was an unrunable rocky reef-type thing (The hotel built a fake beach along their part of the seashore.). Everything on the property was paved with either concrete or asphalt. Then, there was a gym with treadmills. I mostly ran on the dreadmills, wanting throw myself off the machines each time! Running on pavement hurt so-danged bad, I couldn't do it! Despite being hung up in airports with bad weather and the mental toils of dreadmill running, I only fell short of last week's 11:30 of running goal by 30 minutes (I'll post the details to last week's training entry.). I was proud of this! It took a toll on my body, being travel weary and pounding on pavement and treadmill, so I'm taking a major rest week this week to try and recover. I've got painful spots in my legs that need some down time!
It was an emotional rollercoaster, Christmas week. We spent some time talking a lot about my dad, talking about our old traditions, and remembering other life experiences that included him. We also spent some time trying not to talk about him, to save our emotions. To say the least, it was very, very difficult, I think second only to the month or so of pain after he died. However, I do think we found some respite as a family and Mexico: we remembered old memories, and we also made some new family stories.
Trying to get home from Mexico proved to be almost as difficult as getting to Mexico through Denver's winter storm of last week. The newest storm to hit Denver caused me quite the issue tonight. I was stuck this evening in Denver while flights were being cancelled all around me. By the time I made it out of the airport, probably 3/4 of all the flights had been cancelled. I was simultaneously booked on one flight and on standby on another, trying to get out the airport. Both flights were being delayed later, and later, and later. I was preparing for the worst. Having heard about the nightmare that was last week in the airport, I was trying without success to call the few people that I know in the Denver area to rescue me! Then I was preparing to weather the storm in the airport. Then, miraculously, one of the flights I was counting on came through and I flew out of the Denver airport at around 11 pm. I'm not too sure how many more people were going to get out of there in the near future. There was a lot of snow out there!
And so now I've returned, to home, to work. I'm actually glad to be home, though. Perhaps I could stand a vacation to recover from my vacation! I won't complain much because about 36 hours ago I was laying on a Mexican beach, sipping a tiki drink, and letting my worries float away on a humid Carribean Sea breeze. Life is still so-danged good.
Posted by Meghan at 3:16 AM | Comments (1)
December 20, 2006
Merry Christmas, Y'all!
Since I will shortly be departing for a Christmas trip to parts more tropical than arctic Wyoming, I'll leave an official Christmas greeting now. May your holiday be filled with love, happy times with family and friends, and a slew of healthy running. (End cheesy holiday greeting now.)
Back in the day, I believed in Santa Claus just as much as any other kid. My brother and I would nervously convene in the days before Christmas, talking about whether or not Santa had received the letters we sent, whether we had behaved well enough for Santa to visit, and what Santa might bring us. On Christmas Eve, we'd bake a sheet of sugar cookies for Santa, pour him a glass of milk, and cut up some celery and carrots for the reindeer. We'd set all of this on the kitchen counter, head off to bed, and anxiously await the arrival of Christmas morning.
When my brother and I were tucked away, my dad (ahem, Santa) would get to work. By the time Christmas morning arrived, our house looked like it had been visited by Santa. When we woke up, my brother and I would first investigate the leftover snacks. We'd look for cookie crumbs on the counter top and we'd read Santa's thank-you note, "After a long night in the sleigh, these snacks hit the spot!" or something similar. Next, we'd inspect the fireplace. Sometimes we'd find a piece of red felt from Santa's clothes stuck to the edge of the fireplace or a sooty bootprint on the floor. Finally, our family would gather around the tree. We'd all take turns, opening our presents one-by-one. I don't think that we or my dad (ahem, Santa) ever missed a year with these traditions. Well into our teenagerhood and beyond, my dad (ahem, Santa) would maintain that magical part of Christmas.
This year, my mother, brother, and I will weather Christmas on the beach in Mexico. It will be our first Christmas without my dad. We're going to Mexico because the thought of being at home and doing family traditions without my dad is simply unbearable. Is it possible that traditions cease to be traditions when one of the makers of the traditions isn't there anymore? That's an inane statement to make, I know. From a rational standpoint, I know that traditions are created, learned, and passed along among groups of loved ones for the very purpose of perpetuating that which is important to those groups. But this year, this first year, none of us can handle tradition. It all feels so freaking raw and painful, I can hardly stand to think about it.
I think there will be lots of things to do and see as tourists in Mexico. I'm hoping we will find the distraction we need from the obvious fact that we are missing a crucial element of our family. I also think that a beach in Mexico will be a peaceful place to spend a little time. I'm hoping that we will find some solace and peace there as well.
It's almost too easy to fall into a heap of horrible emotion at this point in the holiday season. In my day-to-day life, I've adjusted to the fact that my dad is dead. The idea doesn't surprise me anymore. However, when I think about the holidays, my dad pops into my mind every single stinking time. Each time it's like an awful surprise and I have to momentarily re-live his death.
I refuse to fall victim to sad emotions. I wish to think about and remember my dad every day, and I wish for those thoughts to make me happy and to inspire me. In the 7 months or so since my dad died, he's already managed to do that to me. I feel much inspiration with regards to my own life, especially my running, and a lot of it comes from him. I'm training for a big event right now, and every day I am infused with inspiration from my dad. From a personal standpoint, I want to train on the beach in Mexico feeling inspired and empowered by my dad. He wouldn't want it any other way.
Merry Christmas, Y'all! "See" you in a week!
Posted by Meghan at 2:39 AM | Comments (12)
December 19, 2006
A Real-Life Lassie
This story simultaneously breaks and warms my heart, I think because I identify so well with it, since I run alone on trails with my dog a lot. I hope Danelle recovers as quickly as she can.
For the rest of us:
It's impossible to expect that we will always be able to run/hike/backpack in the company of others. Further, there is a certain unreplaceable joy obtained from moving through the backcountry independently. However, we must remember that, in the event that an accident occurs and we are alone, we are truly alone (Unless you have an incredible real-life Lassie.). Bring things that will help you survive should you have an accident like a rain jacket, a warm piece of clothing, some extra calories, extra water, and/or matches. Tell people where you are going and when you will return every time you go out alone. If you can't tell anyone, leave a note at your house. It's a wonderful thing to be self-reliant and independent when you are "out there." But you never quite know when your self-relianace and independence will be tested to an extreme.
Posted by Meghan at 6:39 PM | Comments (2)
December 18, 2006
Week of December 18th
Monday- 1. 1:30 rolling and easy, Yellowstone River Trail; 2. CrossFit workout (about 1 hour, including warmup and cooldown); 3. yoga 45 minutes
Tuesday- 1. 1:00 hilly and easy, Old Gardiner Road; 2 yoga 45 minutes; 3. core
Wednesday- 1:30 rolling and easy, Yellowstone River Trail
Thursday- 1. 1:30 flat and easy, dreadmilling in Seattle; 2. CrossFit workout; 3. core
Friday- rest (stuck in airports!)
Saturday- 1. 2 hours varied in terrain and effort, dreadmilling in Mexico; 2. core
Sunday- 1. 3 hours long run varied in terrain and effort, pavement and dreadmilling combined in Mexico; 2. 30 minutes very, very easy, dreadmilling in Mexico
I felt so awesome on Monday. I cannot adequately describe how strong I felt out on the trail today. If my running partner hadn't kept us reeled in to a nice, easy pace, I'm sure I would have taken off. At the end of 90 minutes, I hardly felt that I'd worked out. If only one could feel this good all the time. On the other hand, the CrossFit workout kicked my butt, but I liked it! It was an arm workout and now my arms are jelly.
I'm on an early Thursday morning flight to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a week. I'll update the rest of this week when I return, but you can see I've got a lot of work to do still to hit my weekly goals. I hope I can do it!
Pre-week bantering:
I haven't yet done a workout this week, but I'm already creating a weekly post. That's because I want to publicly state these goals so that my readership will hold me accountable for them. The goals themselves are not outstanding. However, getting all my workouts done while on vacation for part of the week is going to require some determination.
The goals:
1. 11:30 hours of running, inclusive of 1 tempo run, 1 progression run, and 1 long run
2. yoga 3x
3. isolated core training 3x
4. (unmodified and modified) CrossFit 3x (see below for more)
5. whatever else comes along in Mexico!
I'm also entering into a 5 week cross training experiment. Anyone ever heard of CrossFit? For the next 5 weeks, I will do 3 to 4 (unmodified and modified) CrossFit workouts per week. Basically, CrossFit is high-intensity, fast-paced, whole-body strength training. Each workout's goals are to build strength in one, two, or a few muscle groups while simultaneously increasing aerobic, and occasionally anaerobic, fitness. The workouts are organized randomly such that targeted muscle groups change with each workout and the whole body is reached over the course of several days of workouts.
Why am I doing this? While I appreciate the fact that my endurance is well developed (And, for this I am extremely happy.), I also appreciate the fact that my muscle strength, while improving, is lacking. Some people have told me that CrossFit seems counterintuitive for those in the endurance running community. However, I don't really think that CrossFit workouts are too different from runners doing strides, hill workouts, plyometrics, and traditional strength-training. The program just takes a non-traditional route towards the same destination.
I am an infant in learning about CrossFit, and I wish to learn more. With the help of a friend who knows just a bit more about this than me, herein begins the experiment. The journey may or may not be a success, but the ride will be fun (and very challenging!).
Posted by Meghan at 1:35 AM | Comments (4)
December 15, 2006
Week of December 11th
Monday- rest from running; hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Tuesday- 1. 1 hour rolling and easy on the Maah Daah Hey Trail, Theodore Roosevelt National Park; 2. hiking in the park
Wednesday- rest from running; 1. yoga 45 minutes; 2. core
Thursday- 1. 2 hours hilly including 2x Kama Sutra Hill Climb, Eagle Creek and Travertine Roads; 2. lifting
Friday- 1: 1:30 hilly and easy, various trails around Mammoth; 2. yoga 45 minutes; 3. core
Saturday- 1. 1:50 flat progression run, Yellowstone Railroad Bed; 2. leg strength/plyometrics workout; 3. lifting
Sunday- 1. 2:15 hilly snowshoe run, Snow Pass and Upper Terraces Trails; 2. yoga 45 minutes; 3. core
As elsewhere mentioned, this week is starting off a little slow running-wise, but watch me pick it up as the week progresses! I've talked about the Kama Sutra Hill Climb Workout before in this blog, but since then, I've changed this workout a bit. These days, 1 hill climb effort equals 10 minutes of hard uphill running on a trail, then 5 minutes of even harder uphill trail running such that you reach and stay just below the point of going anaerobic, then 5 minutes jogging recovery (either uphill or downhill, whichever is preferred). Then you repeat this process for each effort. This workout has evolved a bit from how I learned it last summer, but I love it!
This week turned out exactly how I wanted it, though it began with a slow start. It was a rest week, just a little over 8 1/2 hours of running. However, I did two quality runs, a hill workout and a progression run, and both went very well. I'm happy to report that I did ALL of the other cross training that I had intended to do: yoga 3 times, core 3 times, lifting 2 times, plyometrics 1 time, and even some hiking (which is more challenging to accomplish in the dead of winter). And, I feel great. Did I mention that I love snowshoe running?
Next week, onto the bigger and the better.
Posted by Meghan at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2006
Reaching One's Boiling Point
You know when you're standing over the stove, staring at a pot of water, waiting for it to boil? First, bubbles begin to collect on the pot's bottom. Then, the bubbles begin to grow. Soon, they release from the bottom of the pot and make a quick trip to the surface of the water. Little by little, more and more bubbles are released and, finally, yes, finally, your water pot boils.
I'm reaching my own boiling point.
I was running today on the Eagle Creek Road in the Gallatin National Forest above Gardiner, MT. It was a brilliant winter afternoon for running, cold, cloudy, a bit breezy, and some light snow. 26 minutes into my run, 2 loud, very close shotgun shots interrupted the absolute silence that was previously present in the Eagle Creek drainage. The gunshots came from just downhill, and presumably out of sight in the brush and trees of the creek bottom. I jumped; my dog took off uphill in a full sprint; even the bald eagle in a nearby treetop took off flying. A short series of gunshots followed the initial two shots in the next few minutes, and then quiet returned to the wilderness.
There were no cars parked anywhere along the route, indicating that hunters were out and about (I saw only 1 car out there headed uphill, with telemark skis on top, containing a man presumably going up the road to ski.). I searched the drainage for hunters clad in bright orange but could see nothing. I literally had no idea where these hunters were. During this, I stood out in the open, on the road, as visible as I could make myself. I was minutes away from beginning a workout, and I didn't know what to do. If I climbed higher and out of the drainage, I would remove myself temporarily from the danger zone. But I would also dissapear into the low-lying clouds and I would eventually have to come back down again. If I headed dowhill and back towards my car, I would be putting myself directly in the area of the gunshots. But I would also be getting out of the area as fast as possible. I decided on the latter, to get back to my car and go somewhere else to do the workout.
It was a nervewracking descent back to my car, and I kept my eyes and ears alert as I ran. I never saw or heard another thing. I returned to my car, drove to another location, and finished my run. But, wow, was I ever scared and angry.
The bison hunt is on now, so it must have been hunters taking down a bison. Bison hunting is a pretty obvious activity. Usually it involves the person with the hunting permit, a full infantry of his closest buddies, and all their respective pick-up trucks. They all drive around until they find a herd of bison in a legal hunting area. Then, a few of the guys wander up to the herd and slowly, gradually cut their victim off from the herd. It's usually easy to convince a bison to walk in the direction that you want it to, typically back towards the road, the waiting infantry, and their pick-ups. As soon as the bison wanders close enough, the permit holder shoots. Hopefully, the bison falls in place, next to the road.
Then, the cadre of infantry men set in on cleaning the bison. The head is severed from the body; it is later made into a nice wall piece for the permit holder's home, a permanent, daily reminder of the fun of the hunt. Then, the creature is skinned; the bison's coat will later be converted into a rug that the permit holder's dog, Fifi the Miniature Pinscher, will lay comfortably on next to a warm, cozy fireplace. Finally, the meat is removed in a fairly arduous process as, quite frankly, there's a helluva lotta meat. The permit holder will take home a bulk of the meat, but he generally shares generously with his infantry. After all, these guys deserve a little reward for coming out and bloodying themselves up to their elbows in bison gore. They typically get a 30 or so pound hunk of bison meat to take home with which they might impress their wives. Thus, I would have expected to see a flurry of activity along the Eagle Creek Road during a typical bison takedown.
But I saw nothing, so I expected nothing. And all this scared the crap out of me. I was way over my boiling point today. The deer and elk hunts have finished for the season, but the bison hunt will continue through February 15th. I don't know how much longer I can maintain any semblance of patience for this nonsense. National forests are supposed to be shared use and shared recreation areas. However, during hunting season, I don't feel like I get my share of the national forest pie. I feel limited in where I can recreate, and I certainly don't feel safe out there.
Afteword: Upon inquiring with coworkers, I learned that some Native Americans are currently in the area for the bison hunt. Their bison hunting habits are often different from your typical white-guy-hunting-blaze-orange-ten-pickups-thirteen-buddies style of bison hunting. Perhaps it was them in the Eagle Creek drainage this afternoon, being all traditional and stealthy and stuff. It still doesn't make me feel much better.
Posted by Meghan at 6:44 PM | Comments (2)
December 13, 2006
Proof
This is for the friend who jokingly emailed me about whether I really ran in the Grand Canyon, or not.
Proof #1:
This is me, about 37 or so miles into this run. I am in "The Box," the canyon on the North Kaibab Trail just above Phantom Ranch that houses Bright Angel Creek. If it looks like I'm running slow, that's because I am! In one hand is my camera, for taking pictures on the fly. In the other is a bag of cashews, upon which I was munching (The salt on those cashews never tasted better than in those moments!).
Proof #2:
This is a link to the trip report of the guy we saw doing the ultra, ultra long run in The Canyon. He ran 100 miles that weekend in the Grand Canyon. I'm the girl he mentions near the end of his trip report (I don't know why he thought I was running in a group of four people, though.). As an aside, this is a really good read of a crazy run.
Proof #3:
This, this, this, this, and this are all links to photos of me in The Canyon. They were taken by another party of rim-to-rim-to-rim runners who were out there that day.
Please note, I do not look cute in the third photo. Also, if you look way downhill in the fourth photo, you can see the bridge that is in one of my photos!
Posted by Meghan at 9:24 PM | Comments (6)
Filling the Dreaded Blank Screen
I returned to my computer today after a bit of a hiatus to realize that my blog was sporting a blank front page. Normally I'm verbose enough that this doesn't occur, so I could hardly believe my eyes. I had some crazy work days, then some company, and then I went on a spontaneous 4-day trip, all which kept me from spending time on the computer (Aside from the crazy work, all of this was a happy diversion).
I had a great training week last week running-wise, and was only 15 minutes shy of my goal of running 10 hours. I let my cross-training endeavors break down a little bit in the face of being busy, which I'm slightly less excited about. According to the maps of where I ran, last week was over 60 miles of running. I consider this to be pretty good since 4 hours of this time was spent running on snowshoes, which slows one down in distance covered (but certainly not inputted effort). This week's training was supposed to be a down week by a bit, I think 8 1/2 hours of running. My spontaneous travels have cut my running training short so far this week, but I think I can still reach this week's time goal with ease.
A few notes:
1. I went on a 3-hour snowshoe run last weekend. This was an interesting and lovely experience. It feels pretty strange to be tired but to not feel like one's legs have been beat up, if that makes any sense. That is, my leg muscles were fatigued, but my joints didn't ache. Snowshoe running is an animal of a sport. We spent about half our time on a compacted snowshoe trail, and the other half of the time diving through untracked powder. Running through untracked powder was very, very challenging, but I loved the idea of being able to run anywhere, anytime (Okay, one must consider avalanche danger and all that.). On this run, we saw a cow and calf moose, which was also outstanding.
2. I went to visit 2 friends who just recently moved to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Now this is some open, barren, cold, but beautiful country. Winter was in full effect there; the wind blows bitterly through those badlands! I didn't do much running, but we did do some decent hiking, bundling up in 5 or 6 layers of clothing!
3. One could do some pretty cool trail running at Theodoore Roosevelt. There are a lot of trails, and the topography is such that one is continuously rolling up and down through badlands. The scenery is outstanding; there are fossils popping out of the ground everywhere; the trails are rarely flat. I got a tiny taste of it running on a trail called the Maah Daah Hey Trail. This trail is about 100 or so miles long, and it extends through the different units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I only ran it for an hour, but it left me entirely intrigued about the rest of it. It planted another little idea seed for a future visit to this area (I have a love/hate relationship with these little seeds of ideas these days. I lose sleep over them and then I dream about them when I finally fall asleep. They exhaust me and energize me to no end. However, this topic is worth a whole different blog entry.).
4. I'm going to write something later this week about the relationship between Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the nearby coal mines, oil rigs, and natural gas pipelines. All of this lives in pretty freaking close proximity, and this part of my first experience to this national park bothered me.
5. My life isn't going to slow down anytime soon, which I'm perfectly content with. I have 7 days here at Yellowstone, then I'm off to Mexico for Christmas. Since I need to run a lot while I'm there, I'm seeking advice for off-pavement running in the Playa del Carmen area down the coast from Cancun. Anyone out there run anything good in this area? Dirt roads, trails, beaches, anything?
That's all for now. Back to the regularly scheduled program, at least for a week.
Posted by Meghan at 7:34 PM | Comments (1)
December 4, 2006
Week of December 4th
Monday- 1. 1 hour snowshoe running, hilly and easy, Bunsen Peak Road; 2. plyometrics/leg strengh workout; 3. yoga 45 minutes; 4. core
Tuesday- 1:31 hilly, hard effort on the uphills, cruised easy on the downhills and flats, in my dark neighborhood
Wednesday- 1. 1 hour hilly and easy, in my dark neighborhood; 2. core
Thursday- rest
Friday- 2 hours hilly progression run, unknown forest service road in Tom Miner Basin
Saturday- 3 hours snowshoe run, Woody Creek Trail in Cooke City
Sunday- 1:15 hilly and easy, Beaver Ponds Trail
Here we go, again. This week's goal (as long as my calves hold up): 10 hours of running, concentrated mostly in challenging 3-day weekend. Life is relegating me to running in the dark on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I'm hoping I don't run into any bison. Calves felt great on Tuesday's run. I want more time for the "other" stuff besides running, but I'm so busy! My schedule is all crazy and it's all I can do to fit in a single run. There's nothing I can do (I could sacrifice sleep, which isn't going to happen, since I already sacrifice enough of that.), so I'm going to try not to fight it. Wednesday calf update: still good to go.
Posted by Meghan at 5:11 PM | Comments (0)
Closer To Home
Some days, one's inspiration comes from far away places. Other days, it arrives to you from much closer to home. This photo was taken just a few miles from my house, really in my neighborhood almost, at about 7,500 feet elevation. Winter has been in full force here for quite some time. In the background, Electric Peak looms high, topping out just above 10,900 feet. It's a different world up there, I'm sure, from my running/grizzly encountering adventure upon Electric Peak last summer. Often enough, I still cannot believe that I am lucky enough to call this place my home.
I didn't write much last week after posting everything on the Grand Canyon extravaganza because I didn't have much to say. I was running very little, and that which I was doing wasn't proceeding that comfortably. There are only so many ways that you can write, "I trashed my calves in The Canyon and now I can barely run." and I think that I exhausted all of them.
In all that quiet time, I tried to rest well. This week, I'm cautiously ramping up again. My calf muscles aren't yet perfect (but so much better than they were), so I will proceed as long as I don't hurt them. If all continues to go well, I have 8 challenging weeks of training ahead of me before the next "big thing."
Today I took my new snowshoes out for their first adventure. I'm already in love with snowshoe running. The snowshoe tails flip powder around with each step, and so I felt like I was running in my own snowstorm. I was moving silently in the snow except for an almost silent "whumping" as the snowshoe decks hit powder; gone was the persistent and annoying crunching and sqeaking noises of snow underneath rubber running shoe soles. When it was flat, I felt like I could move at a good clip. On the uphills and downhills, I was moving a lot slower that in running, but I felt solid and stable on that white slippery stuff. I can't yet decide how one hour of snowshoe running equates to one hour of running normally, but I can so far tell that the difference is minimal.
After a quiet running week and a week where I think my senses were somewhat dulled by the discomfort in those muscles below-the-knees, I'm running again and I'm again inspired by this place called Yellowstone.
Posted by Meghan at 4:56 PM | Comments (0)