Odd week

Well, it was a good end to the week, but it was an odd one. Thursday, I split my time, doing a very lame hour in the morning with Gator to take advantage of the muddy conditions.

Trying to make up for it, I did a run Thursday in Cuyamaca, going up Cuyamaca peak. It was a fun winter climb and super spooky. There was a thick fog and a light mix of rain and snow. Visibility was about 5 feet, and I had to scan my light side to side just to see the edges of the trail and stay on track. It slowed me down, taking 51 minutes to make the climb, but it was good to be back at altitude and the spookiness of the dead and dormant trees looming over the trail with the fog floating through them provided a spooky backdrop.

Friday was a poker game at Greg's, so it meant trying to slip in a run some other time. Fortunately, the office closed early, so I was able to slip out and grab an hour and a half in Penasquitos. Nature's call brought about a handful of leaves and chafing problems, and the single track was very overgrown and difficult. But the flowers were out and the creek was flowing, so it was pretty, if nothing else. A funny sidenote when I got back was I was talking to Kate, a new attorney at work, who asked if I would be interested in running with her friend Ryan when he moved to San Diego. Well, after a few moments of conversation, it turns out her friend happens to be Ryan Hall. Yeah, maybe I'll go show him the ropes, teach him a thing or two. Or not.

Saturday's run went much better. I put the Michigan State game on and took Gator to Mission trails. We did a double ascent of North Fortuna from Oak Creek. The first trip up took 19 minutes, and the second one took 18 minutes. Both of those were encouraging (900 feet over a mile and a quarter on loose DG). My new downhill running is going pretty well too. I like the cycling tip of turning over and gripping the downhill with my feet that I got out of a random trailrunner letter to the editor. It works pretty well for me, but takes concentration. Anyways, spent a total of about 2 hours at the park doing some flat stuff after the up and down.

Sunday was the new modified loop (6 climbs, including Grasslands, Powerline, North Fortuna, Shepardson Canyon, South Fortuna, and Kway Paay). I need to figure out some exact distances, but it seems like its about 12 miles with about 3000 feet of climbing. Did it in about 3:10, and then did 50 minutes of flat running that went pretty well, if a little slow. Didn't feel too sore, so probably had a little more I could have given, but fairly satisfied overall. In two weeks, I'll do a double loop to see how that goes. If I can go 6.5 hours, I'll be pretty psyched. That puts me right on track for a good performance in Jemez.

More soon with some pics, I hope!