Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Did some biking around town. With temps in the 40s and sun out, it alternated between being basically pleasant and chilly, thanks to some persistent wind out of the north and west, and the occasional cloud blotting the sun. Heading west with the sun behind a cloud, it was chilly. But I was lightly dressed, in bike shorts and a light jacket, so it wasn't really that chilly.

When I went up to go skiing and running later, I was surprised by how hard the snow had been hit up top. Yesterday the snow coverage on the trails was total, and my impression the coverage was pretty deep almost everywhere. Today, there were many very thin spots about to melt away completely, and several gaps in several of the trails. It felt quite a bit milder up there than down in the valley, and whether it was because of a temperature inversion or just the day reaching its warmest late in the afternoon, I couldn't be sure.

In the end, I cut skiing short and ran longer instead. I'm not planning on skiing tomorrow, and unless we get a good bit of snow Tuesday, maybe now I'm really done for the season. But with our crazy weather, you can never tell for sure. It's like a Rilo Kiley song.

C • done for the season 3

Today was very much like yesterday, except for fine snow falling all day long, it was more scattered, larger snowflakes in the air. And even though ostensibly it was colder still than yesterday, once again it didn't feel the least bit of cold while I was out. And I don't think it was because I was super-heated or anything.

Skied for a while and then finished up with some running on the snow trails. There was enough "give" to the snow to up the work load, but the footing itself was good everywhere I ran. It's funny how much better the ski conditions are now, past the mid point of April, than they were at any time during December or January.

Snow overnight--though not much--followed by light snow all day long. It didn't amount to much in town and was melting on all hard surfaces rather than accumulating. However, it was a different story up top, and based on what I saw yesterday, I elected to get skis back out and ski instead of running.

The trails were soft, but otherwise fine, and not too soft/deep for skating. Most trails had been rolled but nothing more. Skied with Mark and Martha some, and ran into Daniel as well. Supposedly it was fairly chilly out (for April) but it didn't really feel at all cold, probably because there was no wind.

Snow fell overnight again. But much less wind. The roads were open in the afternoon, so I opted to head up to Happy Jack to run ski trails, figuring the old snow would be frozen rock solid and there wouldn't be so much new snow that it would be difficult running.

It turned out there was about 3"- 5" of new snow and that both yesterday's snow and today's had been rolled. So running on the ski trails was kind of "chewy", but it wasn't so deep as to be hard work. There was almost no wind up top while I was running, and snow was falling the entire time--really nice to be out in those conditions. Had I known what it was going to be like, I would have brought my skis up; it might have been on the soft side for skating, but still perfectly manageable.

Out for two hours, and as nice as it was, there were still only 4 other people out there while I was out, and there were only a couple of earlier ski tracks to be seen.

About 3" of snow fell overnight in this ongoing reincarnation of winter (or, as some believe, a precursor to the coming winter). The sun made an unexpected appearance in the afternoon, out long enough to melt off all the snow on roads and such. Of course the interstate was closed for much of the morning. By late afternoon the clouds had moved back in, the wind picked back up, and you could see deep and large banks of fog on the Laramie Range. When I sat down to put on some running shoes I went back and forth several times over whether to run or not. My legs were a little sore from yesterday, but it was really more the way the weather was making it look uninviting rather than anything else. Fortunately(?) while I was getting my shoes on, I could see a couple of people out walking their dogs or whatever it was they were doing and that was enough to stop the waffling and get me out the door--telling myself I could always turn around and cut things short anytime I wanted.

Ironically, my spirits/enthusiasm/determination had changed totally within about 10 minutes, by which time I was leaving the east edge of town and running east up the slope of the Laramie Range in the School Yard, straight into the strengthening wind that had some snow in it. Both the wind and the snow picked up considerably until it became a near whiteout, and by then in order to continue running east you really had to want to do it. Eventually I hit the apex of my intended loop and could begin to tun back towards town, putting the wind at my back. Then it became relatively a piece of cake, and almost too easy once the snow ceased and the wind began to back off again.

Even though it looks and feels like winter out, it's not really winter of course. This is just what spring often looks like around here. And a good thing, too! Otherwise the tundra might be over-swarmed by kudzu and briars and the like and all the sub-arctic animals would have to move off a thousand miles further north.

Did a longish run down Crow Creek, starting at the Visitors Center and turning at the Blair Picnic Area, with a couple of small side excursions. If there was anything going on or noteworthy along the route, I completely missed it.

Some very light snow was in the air, off and on, as a prelude to the main event to come.

It was overcast all day long, with occasional single snowflakes falling by, and temps that never rose above freezing. I decided to leave my bike in the stable and just run instead, and take some of the backslope trails at Happy Jack I hadn't run on since the blizzard. As I was pulling into the parking lot and parking, two skiers came into view, and it turned out to be Evan and Danno. I had no idea they knew each other, but not only did that prove to be the case, they've known each other since the early 80s, and have done a lot together musically. Evan took off after a brief chat while Danno and I talked longer after Evan left.

All the trails were rough, re-frozen in all their pockmarked glory from footsteps left back in the brief mild era we had ages ago. Or maybe it was only last week. Light snow was falling the whole time, and there was already 1/2" of new snow on the ground, which at least improved the footing slightly. It was almost calm the whole time I was running, and so really quite pleasant. I saw nobody else the entire time I was out. So much for those who assert that it is almost impossible to find solitude anywhere in Wyoming any longer.