Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Ran snow trails; a mix of dead and green trees have been blown down over the last 24 hours. Surprised more people had not been out on the trails over the weekend given that we had lots of sunshine and the temps were fine, but maybe the winds dissuaded.

Checked roads in the morning and everything was closed west of Laramie and also west bound from Cheyenne to Laramie, though eastbound from Laramie to Cheyenne was open. Conditions weren't expected to change for another 7-9 hours. So I could drive up top, but according to WYDOT, could not get back home, at least until later in the day. But in fact, once you're up top, there's nothing to stop you from driving back down. I kept checking highway cameras to see if I could see any traffic heading down and made plans to head up at around noon and figured it would work out okay. Which proved to be the case, and in fact there was sparse traffic driving down when I was going up--good. And the sun was out, so also good.

And the wind was out, too, so good if you like that. Who doesn't like fresh air?

The snowstorm on Thursday/Friday left about 5" of snow behind. As always with big wind snows, it's hard to judge a true average snow depth, because 5" of new snow could mean zero snow in many places and several feet of snow in others. But 5" was my guess.

It didn't take long to come across some freshly wind felled trees. And while I was running I saw a tree come down about 150' away. Not close to being dangerous because of how far away it was, plus you could hear it slowly cracking and coming down, so even if you had been right by it, you could have easily moved away in time if you were paying attention at all.

Saw one skier and one walker, some ski tracks, and a bike track. But strangely, no wolverine tracks even though some wolverines were rumored to be around.

Happy to be able to get out up top after being shut out yesterday.

Hmmm, that's funny, I-80 seems to be closed. Surely it couldn't have anything to do with winter weather?

C • Probably 2

Was puzzled by some strange atmospheric phenomenon this morning and really couldn't figure out what was going on, so I checked some online resources and eventually found a most informative video on Tik-Tok(?): snow.

And no wind--quite a surprising combo and change from what we've had for the past several years (or so it seems.)

I cut out early and went running trails before the effect wore off, in the process scoring 1 mountain biker and 2 cow moose. Excellent. If it snows like this another 4-5 times, there might be just enough snow for some decent skiing.

C • Snow 2

Got all dressed to go out for a bike ride at midday, and then glanced outside and saw all the trees were doubled over. So much for cycling. Instead, changed into running clothes and headed for the trails for a long scouting run, and did a fallen tree count. But after a while I concluded the counting with the observation that it was: a lot. Or, for those who prefer "alot", it was alot.

In the evening I hopped on the trainer to listen to the Cowboys at Arizona. To put the Pepsi gods on the side of the Cowboys, I had a can of Mountain Dew right before the game started. It may have helped me, but it sure didn't help the Cowboys. Probably should have had two cans instead, to really rally the Pepsi gods.

Without my running socks and Mountain Dew can collection, I must ponder the question: is life worth living anymore?

And, as along as I am pondering questions like this, how in the world did Wyoming get ranked #9 in the NET rankings? Bizarre.

Quote of the day:

"You can't go to the Kentucky Derby with donkeys." -- Uche Nsonwu-Amadi

I was too busy in the morning to get out for Tisdags Traning, and by the time I got out in the very short afternoon it was way too windy for Tisdags Traning, plus I didn't have any running socks. So I did it anyway and held up my fist at the sinking sun and the raging wind and shouted: "You can not defeat me!"

And that's the way it went down. So what if it was a little windy and the shadows were 4000 miles long. Tomorrow the afternoon will be longer. 40 minutes of hill running at pace sandwiched by a long warmup and a short warmdown, kind of the opposite of a girl with a short skirt and loooong jacket.

Really enjoyed running in my running socks today, and vs. yesterday, was comfortable despite big wind--helps to be properly dressed. Many newly fallen trees.