Fortnight Ending March 1st.

Week Ending February 22: 29 miles,  about four hours. 

This was the week that winter finally caught up to me. The past week had already been cold, with single digits above and below zero common, and 10+ mph winds consistent. Nonetheless, I managed to get out and increase my mileage that week. 

This week not so much. I ran longish Tuesday, and was all set to head out for a similarly long run on Wednesday. Less than a mile in, though, heading down Summit and into the wind, my fingertips were already getting frost nip and I couldn’t feel  my cheeks. I decided enough was enough, and turned back. 

The rest of the week was a little better, culminating in a 12.5 mile run on Saturday.  I opted for a full River Gorge loop, starting at home, which conveniently made for my planned 12.5 miles. Northbound from Ford Bridge (which I took at a low 5-minute pace) I glanced back to see a couple other runners clearly looking for the drop-down point to the trail. 

This led to me showing them the “ledges:” the portion of the River Gorge north of Ford and south of Lake. Through this section, the trail often has an 80+ foot drop to the left, and no escape up the bank to the right. It’s a place where, even after running in Colorado for so many years, I occasionally worry about the exposure and bad footing. 

One wrong step and you’re in the river, or, since it is winter after all, a red mark on the ice. 

Even so, it was nice to have some company on my run for once. I dropped my pace a bit to run with them, but not too significantly, and it was fun to meet some new people. 

So thank you, David and Terrence. It was a pleasure. 

Sunday was again below zero with a strong wind, and I gave in to the elements. 

I’m not proud, but I have all my digits!

Week Ending March 1: 20 miles. Just over 2.5 hours. 

As should be clear, this was my rest week. I focused on keeping mileage up during the week, knowing that I would likely not get any running in on the weekend. 

The reason for that was that G and I headed up to Lutsen, Minnesota (starting and ending location for the Spring Superior races, and finish of the Superior 50 and 100 in the fall) to chaperone a ski trip for my mother’s church. Since she doesn’t ski, we were the designated on the slope adults. 

Since I telemark, I wasn’t too worried about missing a longish run. 6 or so hours of tele skiing is a phenomenal eccentric strength workout for your legs, which is a great way to train your legs for the downhills in races without the accompanying pounding on your joints that running downhill entails. 

Compared to Colorado skiing, Lutsen is not all that impressive, but it’s as good as it gets in Minnesota, and a more than suitably enjoyable way to spend a day.