Weekly Review: Elevation Gains

View from ~mile 3 on Saturday

Happy day after the eclipse! My wrap-up is a day late, but I'm still joining Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin's Weekly Wrap linkup and Courtney's training linkup. Be sure to visit the hosts if you haven't already!

August 14–20
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 6.7 miles
Wednesday: 3.8 mi with BRC
Thursday: 4 mi
Friday: rest
Saturday: 7.2 mi
Sunday: 1 mi + 1 mi dune hike

Total RUN: 22.7 mi
Total RUN elevation: 2,536 ft

Last week was a pretty good one for elevation and adventure.

Top of Story Hills -- I love this view

I went out Tuesday morning for a 6.7 mi run with my two new running friends (and a dog named Tupelo). I'm really enjoying our outings. They usually pick close by trails and I learn a bit about Bozeman. They're both older with families and such, so we don't do much social hanging out, but I really appreciate the running company. Plus, the hills and conversation force me to SLOW DOWN which was my #1 goal for easy runs this training cycle.

The brewery was crazy packed (even before the runners arrived!)

I had a hard to remember workout on the plan (Hard mile 20 sec-30 sec under goal pace. 3 min rest. 15 min tempo 10 sec over goal pace, 2-3 min rest, hard 800m.), so I decided to use Wednesday night's Bozeman Running Co beer run as "speed work." The course was really 3.8 miles and I ended up taking a few walk breaks after mile 2 ("to simulate the breaks in my plan" aka catch my breath). Even with three breaks from mile 3–end, my mile times were 7:44, 8:22, 8:28, 8:59 (final .7). Not bad! It was a hot night and probably a little lame that I walked during a 5k, but at least I kind of did my speedwork.

Hot and hazy. Terrible conditions for a run.

Thursday's run was silly. I ran around 11am and could see and smell the smoke in the air. Needless to say, getting in 4 miles was tough.

Another great view

This was a cutback week so my long run was only 7 miles. I went to Middle Cottonwood with Alex Saturday morning. He did his own thing and we crossed paths around my mile 2. I ran what I could, but mile 3 was a big climb and I ended up hiking most of it. I need to get better at big uphills, so it was productive! There were a half dozen water crossings, but they didn't slow me down too much and I only tripped twice. I ran back down, then added a final mile on the gravel road leading to the trailhead. It was a beautiful morning. Bozeman was still smoky, but this trail wasn't. I think Middle Cottonwood is Alex's new favorite trail, so we'll be back!

Ready for eclipse camping!

On Sunday we drove to Idaho for the eclipse. We originally intended to go to Rexburg, Idaho with the flexible plan of finding a nearby hike-in campsite. Rexburg's in-town campsites were $75-150/night (3 night minimum) and we saw a hotel listing for $1,566/night (a Super 8!!), so we knew we weren't staying there. On our way to town we saw a sign for St. Anthony Sand Dunes. After we checked out Rexburg (and found a free backup place to stay), we went to the dunes to kill time. Turns out it was a BLM dispersed camping area and the campsites were free!

Our campsite 

There were a few people there, but it was not crowded. There was a bit of a crowd for the actual eclipse, but they came Monday and parked in the day lot. Our campsite was on the edge of the dunes and led to a private trail, so we were able to get away from the crowd to watch the eclipse. It was pretty awesome how it all came together, but I guess I'll hold onto that info for another time... Oh yeah, and I ran a mile, mainly so I wouldn't have to say I took three rest days. ;)