Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Returned to Superfly Marsh and picked up where I left off yesterday with revisions, and finished up the job. Superfly Marsh is nice, but the High Coast would probably have been nice, too.

At one point I stopped on a bluff-like area above a beaver pond, and was outlining the area of the pond for my notes when I realized there was beaver activity underway. I had to stop what I was doing and just watch for a while, because two of the beavers were gigantic--by far the largest beavers I've ever seen. It was like they were football team beavers.

Could it be things might be looking up for the Cowboys this season???

Spent some time doing light revisions to the Superfly Marsh map (Day 6 of the O' Fest) before multiple rain showers began sweeping through the area.

Quite warm out today--or so it felt, in spite of some decent west wind. I think it was warm. Biked late in the day, then came home and waited a while before going running, partly to drink some cold water and cool down some, and partly to let the temps cool down some, too. Got started running at about 6:30, and it was still warm in the sun, but pleasant once I was out of the sun and in the forest. Took the running easy, and the time passed fast, probably because there were dragonflies on every twig and patrolling every glade. Didn't see a single mosquito.

I think tomorrow averages as the warmest day of the year locally, and today must have been a little jealous.

Intervals were the order of the day--and a set of cruise intervals in the amount of 50 minutes was the dose. A picture perfect summer day from start to finish, and even though it was warm, it didn't bother me as I was running--must be finally getting acclimatized to a bit of heat. Funny to think that snow could be flying in as little as 8 weeks, but it could be (even if unlikely.)

When I got back home, I drank 2 liters of cold water.

We had an inspiring deluge in the afternoon, enough to even create some modest flooding in some of the local drainages around town. I'm losing track, but I think now we've had good rains on 5 out of the last 6 days. Fire bans are still in effect nevertheless. It's been super great for gardens however, and that's for sure.

Got some good stuff done today, including laying out and getting the One Cowboy Relay maps ready for printing. Most people will not know (or have any reason to care, either) how the One Cowboy Relay came into being, but one of the precipitating factors was having thousands of small maps left over from previous events, and no real idea of what to do with them that would also be useful. How about a race with a bunch of loops for each runner, with a new map for each loop?

This year's race will be the first where we will be using all newly printed maps; the old stockpiles of maps having been all but exhausted.

Biked some after the storm, and then did a long trail run up top, where, to my surprise, it had done little but barely sprinkle. So trails were mostly dry and only slightly damp in a few places. The air was wonderfully clear, there was a light breeze, and the temps were perfect. It felt like being in Scandinavia on a nice summer day.

C • Trails 2

Set and streamered the One Cowboy RIelay. Moved several controls slightly, made a few small map revisions. And I dropped one control/leg altogether, when it turned out that the leg to the next control went through an old burn area that was once white--and was white when I mapped it now--and is now a luxuriant growth of young aspen. It didn't look like something I would relish running through, the map certainly didn't reflect present conditions, and so the easy thing to do was to remove the leg.

The final loop goes through a mapped area that has never been used or seen before by anyone other than me, and the motala section is basically confined to a corner of the map that has either never been raced through before or else has only just been brushed by--at least as well as I can recall. I will guess for 99+% of folks at this year's race, it will be 100% new to them.

It's an interesting area, it looked and felt fun to me as I was working through it, and hopefully the racers will experience it that way, too.

Saw one moose while I was out; I didn't get a good line on it, but I thought it was probably a bull based on shape, and also because I didn't see a calf with it..