Another NCAR pavement trot before work. Felt better than yesterday, but still not stellar. This week was a tight schedule for us, but we squeezed in the runs where we could and I’m pretty happy to have put in 25 miles of pavement during the busy work week. Ready for the weekend.

This time with some snow. We got about an inch of the white stuff overnight. It stopped just as I headed out a few minutes before 6am – had to do it early this morning ahead of a thrilling day of jury duty (I was excused after a few hours). It was kind of fun running up the dark pavement covered in slushy snow, but I felt pretty lousy. A little nausea and a hacking cough (both of which seem to have disappeared now). Maybe my body didn’t appreciate the early start? Anyways – got it done – nice & slow.

Just squeezing it in with what little time I had this morning before work. The wind was howling, so that would add a level of difficulty to this little trot. I rolled up the pavement again up to NCAR and back. The wind ended up not being much of an issue. I was expecting headwinds on the way up and tailwinds on the way down, but the winds ended up being the swirling around type – shifting all over the place. My lower legs were blowing all over the place, but I was on pavement, so it really didn’t matter much that my feet were landing six inches to the side of where I intended to put them. Didn’t feel super today, but far better than yesterday.

Some days I feel fantastic, other days not so much. I guess this was one of those not-so-much days. Woke up like a zombie and didn’t feel much more alert when I got out the door. Did my usual trip up the pavement to NCAR and back. The chill and the fresh air really woke me up, but I had some waves of feeling nauseous. Nothing too bad, but just didn’t feel 100% today. My ankle was sort of bugging me as well coming back down the hill. Still got this one in and tomorrow is another day.

Got moving this morning a little late and had to get to work, so it was more of the same – 5-miles-of-pavement-up-to-NCAR-and-back. I dig this little run. It’s short, it’s pavement so I can just space-out completely, it gets my body sort of ready for the day, there’s a little hill to keep me honest, and the 5-miles-a-day seems to be doing a good job of keeping me fit and sharp. Plenty of time to add super steep and super long in the months ahead.

Time to do something in the hills. I joined Jay, fresh off his 22-miler, at mid-morning to run this thing today. Strapped on the spikes at the edge of the open space and headed up Bear Canyon. We were taking it pretty easy – just talking and shuffling our way up the canyon. I had a plan to maybe hit the top section for time so I started ramping it up a bit on Green Bear to get the motor warm. I hit the 4-way and started the watch – let’s see if we can snap that 3:02. I eased into it fairly conservatively, bounded up the first couple sets of steps, then settled into full-on hands-on-knees, power stomping. It was a good effort, but it felt controlled, so I was a bit surprised when I hit the watch to see 2:50. Nice! Twelve more seconds off that PR. Jay got up there just a moment later and we and my freshly inflated head hung out on top for a good twenty minutes chatting it up with Kendrick, who we happen to see up there all the time, and two dudes with big boots and packs doing some very light training for their Everest attempt this spring. I feel pretty good about the 2:50 even if it’s not really a good or fair assessment of one’s mountain abilities. I mean, sure it’s easy to get a zippy time for the top 10% of the mountain if I tank it on the lower 90%. But I’ll take it. Conditions weren’t prime for a good effort for the whole climb anyway. Gotta leave something for later. We headed back down – me at my normal pace, Jay at his slower-than-usual downhill pace (he was finishing up a big week). About halfway down Green Bear I re-rolled my left ankle again! Not horribly, but some sharp pain for sure. It gave me a shot of adrenaline, but it also got me a little bit pissed off. The combination got me moving – I bopped down the canyon faster than I have in a long time. Ankle seems no worse than usual. Running downhill faster than normal felt good as well. All in all I must say it was a pretty good run. Feeling fit – getting tougher.

I was having too much fun hanging out today, so I just squeezed in my minimum run in the middle of the afternoon – my little 5-miles-of-pavement thing up to NCAR and back. Easy as pie.

Trying to keep it short and simple before heading to work today. Just rolled up the pavement from the house up to NCAR, did the little nature trail (getting pretty iced up), and came back down the road. Just jogging easy. I must have been awakened from a deep sleep, because I felt like an absolute zombie and was really not feeling it as I headed out the door. But the run was the perfect remedy. By the time I was heading down the hill I was awake and alert and feeling good. It was a little warmer this morning, but the wind was a little something to contend with. My weekend plans are pretty loosey-goosey, but I’ll probably end up squeezing in some longer stuff.

Did my usual 5-miles-of-pavement-on-the-bike-paths-into-work thing, but today it didn’t feel so blah since I got out on some trails last night. I was jogging it this morning, sort of spaced-out – all of a sudden I was at work. I thought I might feel a little tired today since I’ve become fairly unaccustomed to longer and steeper. But I felt strong and sharp – maybe more of that stuff is what I need. I have to admit that, while the pavement is the quickest and “easiest” way to knock out the 5-miles-a-day, the pavement does beat me up a bit and I think seven or eight on trail/snow is much easier on my legs than five on concrete. Feeling great.

I actually got off my duff and did something more than not-very-much this evening. I jogged the Boulder Creek Path west, up to Eben G. Fine Park to hit the Viewpoint trail. I strapped on the spikes and ran the perfectly snowpacked trail traversing the frontside of Flagstaff Mountain. Just got up to the junction with Flagstaff trail, where I hung a left and descended to Gregory Canyon. Then it was up Bluebell-Baird to catch the start of the Mesa trail at Bluebell Road. My sweetie got me some warmer running gloves and they were awesome tonight. The rest of me felt a little cold at times when I’d catch a breeze, but my fingertips were AOK. It felt so good to be cruising along the snowpack in the dwindling twilight. I cruised the Mesa trail southward, with a little side trip up to Woods Quarry, then came down Bear Canyon fire road. Then I decided to go out and back telephone road to add on another mile, then just dropped through the ‘hood to the house. I had my headlamp just in case, and it was getting pretty dark on telephone road, but I kept it switched off for no reason other than stubbornness. Damn it felt good to do something longer and with more trail and climbing. It was so peaceful on the mountainside, the snow and the darkness, pretty serene for a trail right above a town of 100,000. Should have brought gels – getting a bit shaky near the end.