Back At It

7 around the hood.  Felt like putting in a hard effort so I made sure to take a water bottle this time.  Didn't suffer too much in the 90 degree weather.  A little posterior tib soreness post-run, but felt pretty good other than that.  Hoping to get my butt in gear and start getting up early for some runs at least twice a week.  First test coming tomorrow morning.

AM: Fail.  I got home early last night in order to get up for a run... Then laid awake til 1 am.  Sheesh!  Needless to say I didn't get out.  Will get out for a shake out run on lunch or after work, then an early am run with the crew tomorrow.

PM: Easy 3 around the neighborhood to loosen things up.  Big morning tomorrow so I'm hoping to go to bed early!  Yeah, right.

Had to wake my sorry butt up at 3:00 am for this one.  I live out west of Airport 2, so any trip to the canyon is a haul.  Not to mention the fact that I had to get ready for work since I don't have a shower at my office, and I wouldn't have time to go home first.  If you're wondering, the answer is yes... I'm sitting in my filth for the rest of the work day!  Can you say wet wipe shower?

So after meeting at the Park N Ride, Craig, Scott, Mark, and I headed up to Albion Basin.  We climbed up the Cecret Lake trail then proceeded to tag Sugarloaf, Baldy, and Hidden Peak in succession.  I let the boys go tag the AF Twins since I'm a baby and I'm DEATHLY afraid of heights!  I actually fell 30 feet out of a tree when I was 14 and got really broken up, so I don't feel like such a huge wuss, just a little one.  Still, I really wish I was able to do some of those exposed climbs, but I'd just freeze up and put other people in danger, so I don't.  I'll just live through pictures instead.

After watching the boys traverse the ridge from atop Hidden Peak, I descended down Peruvian so I could get a few extra miles in.  Ended up back at the car about 40 minutes ahead of the boys, which is actually better than I thought.

Excellent day out and really enjoyed getting out with some good buds.

Met my dad at the Butler Fork trailhead at 7am and we headed to the Gobbler's summit.  After coming back down, at Baker Pass I turned on the jets and bombed the downhill on the Bowman trail til I hit the Terraces.  Turned around and met my dad on the trail, then we did the route in reverse.

I've done this run a few times in past years and I always forget how miserably long that climb on Bowman is.  It's something like 4.5 miles long with around 3,700' of vert.  Seems never ending; especially in the heat!  Definitely good training though, which is why I end up doing it every year.  I was on tired legs, but this run was definitely what I needed to get back into the groove.