Bull Moose Video

Here's a short video of the Bull Moose I ran into last week on Moscow Mountain. Enjoy :-)

First race of 2012!

My first race of 2012, my first real race since my crash at Xterra Worlds in 09, is coming up in three short days. The Orcas Island 25k has a reputation of being a tough race with over 3,500 ft of climbing, but I'm ready. Ready to race. Ready to test the shoulder. Ready to put my crash behind me and move forward with my athletic endeavors...Ready to move forward with my life.

I started running again in late October. Not with any consistency mind you. I took it day by day and let my shoulder dictate the distance and duration. But by January the consistency came and as I write this I have logged 15 runs for 115 miles with 24,000 ft of climbing this month.

My body feels strong, but I'm not ready to race...not just yet. My muscles are tight and heavy and lack the suppleness and elasticity they need to race. So as I taper down over the next 3 days I'll shift my focus to mobility and flexibility work. For me this means 1 1/2-2 hrs of foam rolling, mobility work and static stretching daily. I'll throw in some short runs with a couple strides to keep the legs open, but for me it's all about the soft tissue work during the taper.

Speaking of soft tissue work...I need to head out for my massage!

Week of January 16th-22nd.

Below is a photo essay of this weeks runs on Moscow Mountain. Scroll down to my review of last weeks training and compare the above image with the one from a week ago. Winter has finally hit!

Monday: Fresh snow decorating the trees at the base of Headwaters trail. 6 inches at the trail head and over 12 inches at Paradise.

Tuesday: Another dumping of snow covered my tracks from the previous day. This shot was taken at the top of Deep V. 14+ inches of fresh snow at Paradise.



Thursday: Yesterday we received another duping, but overnight freezing rain came in leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch of ice covering 12+ inches of snow. This made for a slow and painful run. My shins are bruised and cut from breaking through the ice with every step.

Friday: Above freezing temps left the snow wet and heavy. Made for a slow snowshoe up the road to the Headwaters trail junction. However, blue skies and sunshine made the effort worthwhile :-)

My Dion 121 racers and Brooks Pure Grits. There's not a better combination for winter training in North Idaho!

My week by the numbers:

Monday:
Paradise (12+ inches of fresh snow)
1:43 hrs, 8.7 miles and 1900 ft

Tuesday:
Paradise (14+ inches of fresh snow)
2:05 hrs, 8.7 miles and 1900 ft

Wednesday:
Off

Thursday:
Headwaters (1/4-1/2 inch of ice over 12+ inches)
1:44 hrs, 5.3 miles and 1,100 ft

Friday:
Headwaters trail jxn and Paradise Rd (snowshoes: heavy, wet snow)
1:26 hrs, 6.2 miles and 1,200 ft

Saturday and Sunday:
Off-Heavy fatigue in left calf.

Total:
6 hrs 58 min, 28.9 miles and 6,100 ft.

I was hoping to log 45-50 miles with another 8,000 k of climbing this week, but it just wasn't in the cards. I woke up early Saturday morning to a throbbing left calf. Unfortunately this meant I had to abandon my plans for a snowshoe run up to Paradise on Saturday (sorry Scott and Damian) and a 15 miler on Sunday.

The calf itsself isn't injured, just fatigued from the training in heavy snow this week. I've had this happen once before and after 2 days off I was as good as new. Just a matter of listening to the body and taking time off when it's warranted.

This coming week will be fairly light as I'm racing the Orcas Island 25k this coming Saturday with my wife and a large group of my athletes. This will be a great race to gauge my current level of fitness after almost 6 months off due to shoulder surgery.

Bull Moose!

Less than 5 minutes into my run this morning I encountered a bull moose just a few hundred yards from the Headwaters trail head. I gave him his distance and he didn't seem to mind me following him as he meandered up the road, stopping occasionally to snack on some road side shrubs. After about 15 minutes he dropped of the road towards Pond 9 and I headed up the mountain for my run.

While not the largest moose I've come across on the mountain, he wasn't small by any means and I'm thrilled that I had the opportunity to see such a beautiful animal. He's the first moose I've seen down low so the snow must be getting pretty deep at higher elevations.

Week of January 9th-15th.

Monday:
Off

Tuesday:
2 loops of Headwaters
1:34 hrs, 9.05 mi and 2000 ft

Wednesday:
Paradise
1.56 hrs, 9.88 mi and 2100 ft

Thursday:
Off

Friday:
Paradise and a 2nd loop of Headwaters
2:30 hrs, 13.69 mi and 2700 ft

Saturday:
Marie Creek w/ TRIFORMANCE team
1:54 hrs, 7.73 mi and 1600 ft

Sunday:
Off

Despite logging only 4 runs this week. I still managed a respectable 7:54 hrs of running for 40.35 miles and 8400 ft of climbing. What made this even more rewarding was that each run was on snow covered single track!

Overall my body seems to be adapting well to the climbing and I'm looking forward to seeing how the legs do at the Orcas Island 25k in two weeks.

My run in photos

A series of 15 photos from my run on Moscow Mountain yesterday.