Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Ran trails, taking it very easy.

After dinner, I rode the trainer while listening to the basketball game. The Cowboys lost, but I won anyway.

C • Josh Allen 2

Orienteering at Diamond Bay, 11.1 kms. 100% sunny, temps below freezing, air nearly dead calm. In contrast to yesterday, when many people were out and about in the National Forest--including a fair number of shooters, today I didn't hear a single shot or any motorized sound the entire time I was out.

Orienteering at Diamond Bay, 12.2 kms. Nicest day of the week with full sun, light breeze, and temps up into the 40s. Not good preparation for what will be the coldest day next week, but so what. Lots of folks were out shooting, but none of them had a people tag, so it was all good.

Ran an old 8.2 km course at Pelican Bay in backwards order. Several of the control sites were vaguely familiar but I didn't remember anything about the legs in between, and really the whole thing felt new to me. Running legs into the general direction of the sun was interesting, as it tends to be this time of year. Sunny days average warmer, but cloudy days make the navigation much easier!

Only the tiniest bit of snow in very scattered patches out in the forest.

Saw one quite large cow moose while I was warming down and on my way back to the truck. I made a noise to alert her before I got close, and when she raised her hackles and turned to watch me, I gave her some extra space and looked back several times to make sure all was well.

Had a vaguely Possum Trottish dream last night, but not one which was historically accurate because there were no thorns in the forest.

Was wavering between doing some orienteering or the traditional long T-day run. The temps were right around freezing with the sun out, and I vowed that if it was above freezing when I came back from riding, then it would be O'. But by the time I had got back home, the wind had come up, clouds had swept in, and that was that.

I picked the Double Black Diamond trail for the excursion; somehow it seems to have recently been renamed to the Wallis Trail. Same trail either way. 5/6ths of the way around and right before hitting Baxter's Arete, I ducked down to the east on what appeared to be a well beaten side trail that was new to me. It dwindled to nothing right before the road, but so what. 2:48 out in all, with snow falling lightly for the last 95 minutes or so of that. Saw exactly nobody the entire time.

A few days ago while foraying around out at Telephone Song, I spotted a large chunk of jasper sitting on top of a very large and old stump which probably dated back to the days of the transcontinental railroad going through this area. I decided to try to recover the jasper, but to leave the old stump in place for someone else to find in a few hundred years. It seemed to me that a helicopter would not be able to get the job done, and I didn't have ready access to a large dozer. That left only one option: grunting it out by foot.

Today was the chosen day, and so I strapped on a backpack and headed out from where I parked my truck. Luckily the sun was out, and even more luckily there was a stiff wind which would help me back up the hill I would have to climb after collecting the stone. I had guessed I would have to walk back with the stone, but in fact I did better than I thought I might, and was able to jog all the way back. Or maybe it was just the wind. It was probably the wind.

Back home, I weighed my prize, using the standard measurement that professional geologists use, which is of course the Teacup Chihuahua. Why they use this particular measurement I don't know, but I suppose it is the usual thing where the aim is to use various jargon and arcane measurement systems to make it as hard as possible for laypeople to horn their way into a given profession. At any rate, my jasper specimen came in at a hefty 6.2 Teacup Chihuahuas.

Tisdags Träning: 8 x 5 min. intervals, + two giganto bull moose.

Hard to believe that the average house costs $584K in Bozeman, as reported in the NY Times today. Not hard to believe it would be a very attractive place to live, however.

Checking the weather last night, it looked like I could find some decent weather with sun today if I could get out around midday or not too much after, so I set plans to head out to Granite Planite for another test run on the September training course. Of course at this point it's nearly entirely a physical test and not so much a navigation technique test, but you still have to pay attention to what you're doing if you think the seconds matter. (Tip: the seconds do matter.)

For some inspiration, last night I watched and listened to some of the Swedish Long Distance Championships. If you're not paying attention too much here, maybe there is some cognitive dissonance, because the date on the video shows it being from about a week or so ago, and then you're watching the runners in short sleeves running through a green forest full of grass and leaves and flowers and maybe somewhere in the back of your mind you're barely noting that it sure seems awfully green and warm for Sweden in November. And then there is not a mask in sight on anyone and it looks completely normal except for maybe the lack of any numbers of spectators. Maybe it finally clicks in that "oh, wait, this was back from a couple of months ago."

An aside--not really sure how I feel about reklam out in the skog. Kind of like the euro-flop, I mean...well, whatever.

Anyway, it was fun to watch, and I got a useful quote for today when Helena Karlsson said in a Finish interview: "It takes time to orienteer when you''re tired." I like that, and the logical conclusion I took from that as I approached running today was: don't get tired! ; )

When I got on site, I did a thorough warm up, decided on a long sleeved t-shirt for a top, and assessed my chances of running a better time than what I've done so far as not too good--a lot of wind was coming right down the pipe out of the SW, and my legs felt only so-so, not good, not bad, hard to guess how they might be once I got started. So to the start, and off I went.

I had good flow all the way around, never got stuck behind some fallen tree or anything like that on any of the micro-micro route choices, and even if I didn't feel fast on the uphills, I didn't bog down anywhere either. And I finally nailed the next last control--which is harder than it looks, even if you know where it's supposed to be. And at the finish, when I checked the time, I was dumbfounded: 32:37, about 1 1/2 minutes faster than I had done it before. I checked my shoes, and they were still a falling apart, old set of training O' shoes, and not any newfangled Vaporfly style O' shoes. Must have been psyched from watching the stuff out of Sweden.

Began the outside day with some mountain biking up towards Pilot Hill. In the back of mind was a plan to go to the top and follow a Forest Service road for a ways if conditions allowed. However, I was felled by a day that was too nice and sunny, and by about 2/3's of the way up it was either turn around or drown in my own sweat. I would hate to have to read about that happening to someone else: the poor dude drowned in his own sweat, in winter time no less!

Back home, I replenished fluids, and then headed for Happy Jack to run trails. Very early on I ran into an acquaintance who had lost his dog, so I dropped my planned route and started running some loops to help in the hunt for the dog. Happy ending: very late in the afternoon and not long before dark, the dog came back to about the last point it had been seen before it disappeared and a leash was fastened to its collar and that was that! I was out for a little over 2 hours.

Really nice day to be out with full sun the whole time, and just some breeze to keep things moving along. No longer looking at all like November any longer, as nearly all the snow has disappeared except for in the deeper woods and scattered protected areas. And nothing to get your hopes up about for the next week in the forecast either.

There was this in the news today, that the Colorado Governor is weighing ordering statewide lock down in order to reduce wait times at In-N-Out Burger locations. In a press release, Gov. Polis stated: "We can not simply stand by and witness another devastating hit to the state economy as these hamburger wait times exceed 12, 13, and even 14 hours. Colorado citizens need their In-N-Out burgers, and if In-N-Out can't get their wait times down to under 12 hours, we will be taking decisive action, like maybe banning the secret menu for 14 days."

Orienteering at Granite Planite. I ran as hard as I could to see if I could produce some of that righteous, very dark (black?) Giuliani temple sweat, but when I finished up and checked my face, all I had were the usual completely unsatisfactory salty white sweat residue. Damn. Clearly I will have to intensify my efforts.

The six most important events that shaped Colorado history:

6) July 14, 1820 -- Edward James sets the then FKT for the ascent of Pikes Peak, which ultimately leads to the founding of the Pikes Peak Marathon.

5) July 10, 1890 -- Wyoming becomes a state, leading the the surprising discovery that a large land mass immediately south of Wyoming isn't part of Wyoming at all, but is actually Colorado.

4) August 25, 1991 -- Swampfox, running under the pseudonym of William Platt, establishes a new Pikes Peak ascent FKT of Pikes Peak (2:33:16) for South Carolinians, en route to running 4:05:10 for the marathon and thereby just missing setting a new marathon PW (personal worst.)

3) August 19-20, 2006 -- the preeminent orienteering championship, the US Classic Orienteering Championships, is held at Buena Vista, Colorado.

2) March 20, 2012 -- the Denver Broncos sign Peyton Manning.

1) November 20, 2020 -- In-N-Out Burger opens its first restaurants in Colorado.

Trail and terrain running at Telephone Song, 2 1/4 hrs.

The plan was to get out in the morning for some fun, and before the (predicted) winds blew up in the afternoon. There was a dark cloud casting the valley into shadow all morning, but just before I got to where I was running, the skies brightened and went over to sunshine as I warmed up. Every so often there were a few snowflakes in the air, but nothing more serious than that until I was pulling out, which is about when a big snow squall passed over the Happy Jack area. Good timing for me!

I set a course using controls to guide me along where I wanted to go, rather than the opposite.

13.7 kms, and 100% Fun:



Never saw a single animal the whole time I was out, not even an ant.

For the past few weeks, the states at the top of the list for daily COVID-19 cases using a 7 day moving average have been upper Midwest and upper Mountain West states--mostly the same states each day, but in varying order. Today they are (starting at #1): N. Dakota, Iowa, S. Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Montana, Utah, Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, Idaho, and Colorado. Most of these states are Republican leaning, if not heavily Republican, but not all of them. And Republicans of course all along been much more likely to not take the virus seriously and be defiant about wearing masks and gathering in groups and so on.

But they were just as much leaning or heavily Republican leaning back in the spring, when a number of these states were being very lightly hit by the virus. So what has changed over the past 2 months or so, or has anything really changed at all? Totally a guess on my part, but I wonder if it wasn't the huge Sturgis Bike Rally back in early August which seeded this immense surge in these states, and not so much any changes in these states from spring to fall.

C • Spring 5

C • Kansas 7

Winds were back up today to the 40+ mph range (could definitely feel the "+" part where I was running) and temps were up a few degrees too, even without much sun. And besides the wind, I could feel yesterday's workout in my legs. The plan was to make an easy day of it, and I followed the plan, doing some very easy running out on the Permian Sins map.

Can't even remember the last time I've run over there, and since whenever it was, the Forest Service has done a good bit: lots of the old trails have been plowed up, wooden fences to block off old trails taken out of use are up all over the place, and a large amount of selective logging has been done on one north slope visible from the interstate. With winter approaching, I bet it will be quite a while before I am back again.

Today was forecast to be the nicest day of the week, and it really was nice:quite mild temps, completely sunny, and just a mild breeze--a perfect setup for Tisdags Träning. I was ready and enthused to get started, in part because the day was so nice I was looking foward to it all, and in part due to some residual excitement from watching the High School XC National Championships over the weekend.

8 x 5 min cruise intervals on the flats, plus 1 uphill 5 min interval.

I'm giving myself decent marks for social distancing. More than 98% of the time I was over 1 km from the nearest person, and for the other 2% of the time I was at least 40m from three moose. Statistically I know that is meaningless mixed apples but so what; I wanted to get the moose in there because they are so cool.

C • meaningless mixed apples 4

Was it going to be windy today, too? ha-ha, of course it was going to be windy today! The highway signs warned of 60+ mph wind. Cool.

But in contrast to yesterday, it was sunny (not even a sminch of sun yesterday) and considerably milder--it reached at least 51F in town, which for this time of year verges on being "summer-like". So my choice was to get out to Pelican Bay as early in the afternoon as I could, but even so I just barely got started running before the clock struck 3.

I ran an 11.7 km course with 38 controls (when I checked Google earlier in the day, I determined my luck number for the 16th was 11.738), and finished up at dusk. It was good (okay, lucky) planning that sent the last few legs of the course out into the big open prairie in the north part of the map, which still had the last bits of daylight to run by.

Not particularly pleased to see that a large piece of tracked machinery has gone around parts of Pelican and masticated (that is the term the Forest Service uses, I believe) large numbers of Ponderosa pines up to 12" in diameter. I still have no real idea what it is they are trying to achieve, and in this and other areas this has gone on in, the tree areas getting "treated" were already sparsely treed. Very strange.

If you're into running, and especially if you're into XC, well, today Wyoming really, really shined!

Another big wind day--60+ mph according to the highway signs--so another day where I ducked into the woods for a long run, about 2 1/2 hrs. There was about 2" of fresh snow that fell overnight, and very early in the run I cut across a set of even fresher lion tracks. Glad not to cut across the lion itself!

A funny coincidence: while I was running near the Yellow Pine Campground entrance, I briefly thought about an acquaintance who ran for, and very narrowly won (56 vote margin out of 5000-6000 votes or whatever it was cast), a county position, and all the work that went into it, and all the greater amount of work winning the position will entail. Then it was on to the next thought. But not even 300 meters later, there Sue was, coming down the trail--ha! I stopped and we said hello and I congratulated her, and we chatted briefly about how close it had been and her rather ideological opponent, and a couple of issues that Sue had run on. Much better Sue than a mountain lion, I thought. ; )

Given the forecast (high winds, below freezing temps and dropping during the day), and especially given the road conditions after I woke up and checked (westbound lanes between Cheyenne and Laramie already closed due to rollovers), the proper course of action was to set off for some running as rapidly possible to avoid having eastbound lanes closed before I could get up top. So after some proper strong coffee and a quick look at the news, off I went.

No problems getting up to the Summit, even if blowing snow was melting and refreezing in places in the canyon. I kept my eyes on the opposite lanes and there were no wrecks or stoppages, so obviously the problem(s) were somewhere further to the east.

Plan A had been to run down the Crow Creek trail behind Vedauwoo and do a wrap-around Vedauwoo, but the prospect of running back head into the wind out in the open was not inviting. So on to Plan B instead, which involved running in the Crow Creek drainage trail system closer to the Summit and taking in some stretches of HQs and Summit. Which worked out fine.

In the trees, the wind wasn't bad, and sun was out more than 90% of the time and it was actually quite pleasant. Running up the exposed slope to the HQs east overlook, the winds were able to get at me good, and that was the one place where my face suffered a bit. That particular slope is the place to head to get a really good gauge of what the winds are capable of. But they didn't blow me down and they didn't cast me over the edge up top of the slope and after that it was back in the relative comfort of the woods again for the rest of the run. Was out a while--2 1/2+ hrs--and saw exactly one other person (snow biking Curt.)

The wind was blowing right fair (the highway signs warned of 70+ mph gusts), the sun was out, and the temps were well into the 40s, and accordingly with such perfect conditions I ventured out on my bike. And a good thing: over by the river I chanced to spot a bird, and quickly ruled out the following: hummingbird, ivory billed woodpecker, swan, robin, variegated crow, and ordinary chicken. It wasn't enough, so I concentrated on remembering the details as best as I could in hopes of consulting a bird book and making a positive identification once back home. And I did! It turned out to be a Bald Eagle, verified by the white tail and prominent white head. It's the only eagle I've seen this year, so it was extra neat to see.

Then out to Granite Planite for some late afternoon training, where now "late afternoon" includes anything beginning from around 2 pm. The days are too damn short--ha. No eagles out there, but ample wind. I did two 3 km pieces of orienteering, which plus some warming up and down was about all I had time for before it was dark. Good effort and good work done.

C • Eagle? 7

Wind was back in force today, and temps were back down below freezing, so the orders for the day were to have on a medium weight jacket, and run as much as possible with the wind at my back--which worked well, for a while.

Bumped into Danno on the trails, who was out there with his dog, collecting firewood for his winter beer/song campfire circle.

Next two days are forecast to have some extra vigorous winds as the continuation, so much to look forward to!

With the remonstrations by the ever vigilant Mr. Goop freshly in mind, I will attempt to reign in my more grandiose claims and attempt to adopt a more humble character for these musings. And yet note still, that it seems highly probable that I was the only one orienteering this afternoon within a circumference of not less than 500 miles of my partially revealed location in the Laramie Range.

It was a more pleasant outing than yesterday's, the wind having slackened off somewhat and the temperature rising to at least several degrees above freezing, and the sun making a welcome, if occasional, appearance. For more than 10.5 kms I was disengaged from all other worldly concerns other than the task set before me at Pelican Bay. Each control location presented itself as neatly as if I had been borne there unerringly by delicate moth wings--perhaps Luna, perhaps some other. My running was at all times in balance, and each step sure no matter whether confronted by fallen beetle tree or clumps of sage and bitterbrush. As I was nearly about to finish, the sun vanished entirely, and for good, replaced with driving snow and swiftly gathering darkness.

The entire effort was so sublime that, once concluded, I celebrated with a perfectly composed '20 Peaks de Dew. Ahhh! So fine.

C • remonstration 5

Lucky me--Tisdags Träning featured some god a mighty 60+ mph steady wind and it was below freezing as well, which meant that the adjusted wind chill was something like -473F, which in turn meant darned if I was going to run anywhere out in the open (never mind hop on a bike) and so that meant heading for some trees. It was still chilly, especially since even with the wind I was of a mind to run some intervals, and dressed lightly for that. The trail I chose was snow covered, but mostly just a thin skin of snow with only a few deeper, uneven spots that required some degree of sniggling. But so what--I showed up, I did it, and got it done. And for anyone who might be out there reading this, I therefore claim the trophy for being hardcore today, unless you can fairly top this.

C • sniggling 5

My plan was to head out for some O' at Pelican Bay, but when I was rolling up the interstate and the warning sign read "fog ahead" and then I could see the fog ahead, I made a command decision (or called an audible, if you prefer football lingo.) I would leave Pelican Bay to the elk hunters, and I would run at Happy Jack instead. Saved some driving as well, so there was that, too.

It ended up being a run very much like yesterday's, as far as what I did, with some different trails run but still something over 2 hours out. But the other part--seeing lots of other people--was completely different: I didn't see another soul the whole time I was out.

It was snowing lightly most of the time I was out, with maybe a quarter thimble of new snow already on the ground.

Settled on a longer run at Happy Jack, and ended up going for a little over 2 hours, with about 1" of fresh snow underfoot that fell overnight. Ground is getting closer to being frozen and ready for the next big snow, whenever that should come.

Lots of people were out, including a number of folks I hadn't seen in a while.

Funny thing to hear the news of the election being called. Hard to describe how I felt, but maybe I shed a tear or two. From relief, I guess, or perhaps what felt like a lifting of what has been a pall too long in place.

In the early afternoon I headed out to Remarkable Flats for some running. Of course after the Day of Doom you *have* to head out early--either that or have a head lamp along. Thanks to a fairly thick cloud positioned just so, it got dark about a half hour earlier than it normally should have, so before 5.

Very fine to be out, and I had a fun time through or right by Accelerate and Positively Bays. It was very dry out there and even Are You Experienced? Bay (the pond) was dead dry. 10.7 kms went by fast.

First task up for the day was a visit to the skin dude. They must have seen me coming, because they had a needle device filled with some sort of truth serum/numbing agent waiting for me. That's the problem with spending so much time outside--sooner or later, you might get called upon to pay a price. The good part was they were so friendly, and I will probably get to see them again!

Did something later for exercise, but don't know anymore what it was.

Naah--I did some biking, and then headed up to the hills to take in a few of my fave trails. Finished up well after dark, meaning for the last 20 minutes or so I had to be watchful to not trip over any of my fave rocks on said trails. The skies were overcast, so there was little night light to work with.

We've had several days this week flirting with record highs (means upper 60s), and today was to be another such, and my planning was to take advantage of the warmth by heading back to Granite Planite for another crack at the September training course. Besides the sun, there was also some decent wind out of the SW.

Warming up, my legs felt pretty good. In contrast, once I got underway, they felt a little boggy on the hills. It's usually the other way around--feeling maybe not so fresh while warming up, and feeling much better once started. Possibly the wind had something to do with that. I did a little bit better than last time out, even with the wind, by about a half minute. Not much snow left on the ground. If nothing else, a good workout.

Legs wanted an easier day after the last few days, and after some brief negotiating, compromise was worked out: some easy running today, but it would be up in the snow and mud at Happy Jack. So there.

Biked some too, and enjoyed immensely some fine 30+ mph wind. Fun in the sun!

The most astonishing thing today was looking out my front windows and observing a tiger salamander crawling along a concrete step in the middle of the day. In November. In the sun. Maybe some female tiger salamander was beckoning?

C • Wow! 8

Tuesday, and therefore Tisdags Träning. The plan was to do some intervals, even if my legs were on the tired side of things. But so what? Sometimes you go to a race and your legs aren't dead fresh either--deal with it. And sometimes you're in some kind of alternate universe where you can't even be sure if there will ever be more races again (too bad, all you ELO kiddies!).

But first as I was headed out, I made a stop at the grocery to pick up several vital items, and while I was there I spotted two obvious basketball types. One was Kenny Foster, and the other I determined was Eoin Nelson. Not everyone knows how to pronounce Eoin's name, but it's so simple: it's pronounced "Nelson", just like the ordinary "Nelson."

I said hello to them, but with a mask on, it came out as something like: "aolshfludfhfovunrty". Eoin asked Kenny: "whowoushflsrtinsd?", which I translated as "what did he say?" Kenny answered: "asljsotjrn," which I recognized as being: "Pretend you didn't hear him, I think he might be a Tisdag's Träning type." And that was that.

Cruise intervals, 10 x 5 min, over some rolling dirt roads, and some nice breeze that sometimes pushed and sometimes pulled.

Came home and had a calzone whilst listening to The Run In, which is my secret weakness.

You could say the day was brilliant, but for November, you'd really have to go beyond mere brilliance. High of at least 65F, picture perfect blue skies, light breeze, and the subliminity of it all was enhanced by the lack of yesterday's ATVs running endlessly back and forth along the same 500m stretch of road.

I ran the Granite Planite training course set for Labor Day Weekend, and came close to Grizzly Mountain Man's time and not so close to BigWillyStyle at something not quite race pace with a 35:02. Maybe if the snow melts out I can "git along" a little quicker. Completely enthused for the day and to be out orienteering!

A funny thing: about 2/3s of the way to #5, the beeline passes just to the left of a large boulder, with another large boulder a bit further to the right. Both of which were missing from the map. So either (during the training) folks didn't notice, or else they did notice but didn't care, or else they noticed and cared but were too courteous to mention it to me. Or maybe they all figured out the secret to going well at Granite Planite is to ignore all the black stuff and focus hard on the yellower bits.

When I got home, I checked my field notes for the map. The boulders were there, but just didn't get drafted by whoever the clueless drafter was. Why can't they get those things right!??!

C • Boulders 2

Utterly magnificent day--fully sunny, blue skies as far as the eyes could see, a mild breeze sweeping up from the south, and no sign whatsoever of discord in the Kingdom of the Gem City. I spent most of the midday biking with Tyler, including a foray up to the tip-top of Rogers Canyon, and then changed gear(s?) and did an O' run at Granite Planite.

Some might complain and ask: "What about the Day of Doom, what happened to it?" It was still the Day of Doom, of course. But surely they didn't really think it was going to get me down. You just deal with it.