Sunday, April 29, 2012

Happy Birthday Mom


Week Summary
Tuesday
Ash Canyon Tracks: 9.0 mi (+1,321 ft); 10:55 pace
Wednesday
Combination Loop: 4.1 mi (+372 ft); 10:05 pace
Thursday
Carson River Flats: 9.1 mi (+51 ft); 9:21 pace
Saturday
Ophir-Bailey-Geiger Loop: 22.1 mi (+2,707 ft); 12:32 pace
Sunday
Geiger OB: 10.0 mi (+1,207 ft); 12:11 pace

Weekly Totals: 44.3 mi (+4,450 ft); 8:2:34 on trail
April Totals: 170.6 mi (+21,408 ft); 33:10:39 on trail


It's Mary's birthday week. So what does the Young Mountain Runner team do? Go running.


Even Darren, who got some good physical therapy news this week, got back in the act with some shake outs testing the IT and beginning his own therapy toward San Diego. Great news. 


In addition to mom's 69th birthday, this was plumbing and paint-prep week topped off by the chaos, noise, dust, and mechanical hedonism that is the VC motocross event. Trying to get the bathroom done and guiding some plumbers excavating our garage to replace the mainline water feed, I missed a couple days training. But the week was quality nonetheless.  


Great hill repeats in Ash Canyon. I'm really liking that place. Again my last and sixth hill repeat is actually all a slight downhill, but I was sub-8 all the way. And happy I kept the five actual climbing intervals at about a 10-minute pace, though I was a bit disappointed to figure out that I'm not quite gaining 200 feet in the 5-minute interval. But it's hard enough and I think it's paying off.


An easy Wednesday base on the Combination led to Thursday good light tempo on the flats of the Carson River. Nice middle half-hour of sub-8 tempo; I'll probably start to extend the interval slightly for the next couple weeks. It was a return to winter day (we had some snow at the house) and the tempo interval coincided with a wind-driven cold rain; rather reminded me of Brooks Falls 50K back in January.


Upper Track in Bailey Canyon

A bit technical - flag for VC100 Equine
A bit more of the descent
Top of Toll Road, toward Mt. Rose
To escape the remodel and the hornet-like motorcycles swarming the blocks around the house (the main pit area is only two blocks north), I headed up Ophir early Saturday morning - a perfect cool day. I climbed well and then dropped into the single-track of Bailey Canyon. That's a fantastic section. Smooth dirt track through pinyon and bitterbrush spaced between technical rocks and cobble-strewn drainages. Perfect quiet with just a little breeze. A Comstock trail highlight among a maze of great trails. I met Tony (my PT guru) at his house at the Foot of the Grade and he kindly re-filled my Nathan pack. I was then up the old Toll Road climb to the Highlands. I was surprised that I was able to "run" most of it. After skirting through the Highlands, I dropped back toward VC from the Geiger Summit. Soon I ran into the motorized mayhem poaching my normally quiet trails. I had to divert cross-country and then wind through the maze of campers, pit areas, beer bottles, and general ruckus until I hit the 22-mile mark just short of my front porch.



Dust over Virginia City
Dust and a constant buzz fill the air again today. It's a weekend we'd rather be out-of-town, seeking quiet or, at least, different surroundings. But we'll turn on the music and get back at the scraping and sanding. I'd wish all these people would seek a less impacting pass-time -- one person's noise and ground-churning seems of crazy proportions. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more runners in the outback and few less ground-up single tracks.



The noisy center, two blocks north
(and a giant finger)
(Right this second, a guy is repeatedly throttling his four-stroke machine from 0 to 100,000 rpm at 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning, thirty feet from my front door. And this scene will be repeated up-and-down our residential streets prior to race-start at 10 AM. I'll get some addresses so that Inside Trail can plan some events that start in their front yards. But runners tend to be considerate, so the effect wouldn't be the same. But it's just one weekend a year; well, until the Harleys show up for their weekend in the fall.)


Back to the remodel where I'm feeling like I'm about 77 miles into a 100. But Dez is pacing me and we'll get there.


Happy Birthday Mom, you provide so much motivation to all of us! I just hope dad didn't get you a motorcycle for your present!  

2 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Mary!

    I am back on the trail after about a month away--felt good though not yet spectacular. A nice 40 min with Lily was a fine fine way to start my Sunday. I am seeking a momentum that will carry me through the summer with teaching 9 credits in 8 weeks (half the length of a standard term). If I can't do the early morning routine, I will have the afternoon options presented by the C Hill, V&T trail, and the tempting rises of Ash Canyon you have been laying before me :-)
    Thanks for the continued motivation. It does work :) Having fun, not dying!

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  2. Don't know...Mom on a motorcycle sounds pretty cool to me!

    Our parents are pretty cool. I hope I can be like them when I grow up!

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