[mountainmilers] June Progress Report
- From: Terri Rashid <terri@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Mountain Milers <mountainmilers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 22:35:12 +0000
[Apologies if this comes through twice. I saw it come back from the Prescott
Trail Runners list, but not from the MM one, so I didn't know if it posted.]
Continuing my new summer tradition of late monthly progress reports, here is
the one for June! ;)
June has been filled with trail run/hiking in Montana - just the way I had
hoped at the start of this year. I logged a total of 260.5 miles for the
month, which is my highest monthly total *ever*. I had a high week log total
(Mon through Sunday) of 74.6 miles, which I am also pretty certain is my
highest logged week ever, and I had a high 7-day total (meaning some other run
of 7 days - in this case, Wed-Tue) of 81.9 miles. Yeah!!
Lots of the miles are slow - hiking only pace, but there a lots of reasons for
that: high elevation, high ascent, early season conditions (snowfields, high
water creek crossings, wet meadows, slick mud/clay from rain/snowmelt), route
finding on new trails, very brushy / rocky conditions on little used trails,
rutted trails in some meadows w/ high use, etc. But there are plenty of
running miles in there as well. It just depends on conditions. But all of it
is good time-on-feet in preparation for my 100 mile attempt in September. And,
more importantly, this kind of running and hiking in the mountains is exactly
what I love to do, so even if it's not ideal training (in terms of optimizing
for my best chance at finishing The Bear, or my best performance), for me it's
more about that day-to-day experience than it is about any particular event.
So I've met my #1 goal from the end of May, which was to hit as many trails
while in Big Sky as I could, while keeping the paces slow enough so that I
didn't get injured from the increased mileage. I still have some PF and
Achilles tendon insertion area problems, but they have stayed at roughly the
same level of irritation (on average) through the month.
My second goal was to get back to doing my (p)rehab exercises (for PF, Achilles
and hamstrings) so I would become more durable. Nope - didn't do this. I have
been so busy doing trails and other summer things that I can only do while here
in Montana that I've let this one slip, and will probably not do anything about
it in July either. Bad me. Perhaps in August when I get back to Prescott. :)
My #3 goal was to have fun and take lots of pictures. Those of you who are on
FB know that I've definitely managed that! (Although I think sometimes FB does
not post my albums in people's news feeds because I get more comments on single
pictures than I tend to get on most albums.) I've seen (and photographed!) 7
grizzly bears so far while trail running this summer. 5 of those were in ONE
run!! I definitely started to get a bit twitchy on that run! I also have lots
of mountain and wildflower photos. And of course photos of Kiri, my border
collie and #1 trail running companion.
I only did one regular race/event in June - it was a new event called the
Yellowstone Half Marathon, and it was run in West Yellowstone. Rick and I both
enjoyed it and were more impressed with the race management and organization
than we originally expected. I am guessing we'll probably do it again next
year if our schedule permits. It wasn't my fastest half-marathon (2:27:41) but
I was happy with it since it was at altitude and I've been doing more
run/hiking than steady running lately.
I did also do an online event called the Mountain Challenge Series. I signed
up for the 10-day option. They were offering a buckle to anyone who completed
100 miles within their chosen timeframe. I figured it would be a good
incentive to help up my mileage, and since one of the ways they allowed mileage
to be tracked was through a Fitbit, I was able to use my normal walking around
mileage as well as my run/hike mileage to make that goal. I did make it (in
fact, ended up with 127 miles for the 10 days) so I have a nice buckle now.
Not the same emotional value as a buckle for running the mileage all at one
time, but still a nice challenge and fun incentive. There are results on the
blog (http://www.mountainchallengeseries.com/blog/june-results ) and they
included several of my photos in a photo gallery of the virtual race
(http://www.mountainchallengeseries.com/blog/photos ).
Goals for July:
1. Hit as many trails as I can before we have to leave Montana.
2. Make progress on the PF and Achilles issues, while keeping mileage
high.
3. Have fun & take lots of pictures. :)
Hope you guys are having a great summer so far as well! Stay hydrated & take
care of yourselves. :)
.Terri
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