Weekly Review: Fall Running

Fall feet!

I'm back with Hoho Runs and MissSippiPiddlin's Weekly Wrap linkup. Be sure to visit both of the host blogs if you haven't already! 

October 2–8
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 3.2 mi
Thursday: 3 mi
Friday: 4 mi
Saturday: 3 mi
Sunday: 5.1 mi

Total running: 21.4 mi
Total elevation: 1,168 ft

Another good week of "going with the flow," although I admit tracking friends at the Chicago Marathon kiiiiind of made me want to sign up and train for something big. But let's just get through the winter, shall we?

My current goal is to maintain my fitness over the winter. I like running in the snow/cold (hardest part is getting outside) and I hope to run a minimum of 20 miles per week. The windchill could send me to the gym with Alex, but I hope not because I hate treadmills.

I always take photos of this park...

Monday was a rest day and Tuesday's run was just an excuse to take mountain photos.

Wednesday's run was during rush hour, so I did loops to avoid traffic. Construction traffic is bad at the closest intersection and there aren't any walk signals out this way, so it's been hard to cross the street. It isn't normally an issue, so I'll be glad when construction is finished. Plus, I'll have two new sidewalks to run. A runner's bliss!

Lower Mt. Ellis looking towards the Bridger Mountains

On Thursday night Alex and I went to the Lower Mt. Ellis trail to run a mile up from the trailhead to the gate and back down. It's a 570 ft climb and I couldn't run the whole thing. Alex ran up ahead and my only goal was to keep him in my sights. He walked twice. I walked... a lot more. Running down was fast and fun, but since I only had 2.1 miles I ran a little bit further down the road to get to 3. My mile splits were telling: 14:35, 9:58, 7:50 (gravel road). Ideally, we'd come back to this trail for a weekly hill workout and go a bit farther past the gate each time. We'll see.

Friday's sunset - not during my run, but after dinner downtown

The only notable part of Friday's run was the number of texts I received. I swear no one texts me when I'm sitting at home.

Alex and I went to a small Oktoberfest at the local ski resort Saturday afternoon where I had a pumpkin beer, brat, and sauerkraut. We felt the need to do something nature-y, so after going home to change I took him to a nice neighborhood trail for a fall run. We were both dead after and I don't think we can blame the beer. Running in Bozeman is still hard. Maybe we're doing it wrong?

Sourdough Trail

Alex tried a new thing Saturday and Sunday. Since he's so much faster than me, he'll stop and do push ups, then catch up. I always feel pressured to run fast with him (before I'm fully warmed up), so it's a good balance.

Cows

I was lazy Sunday morning, but we eventually went to the Painted Hills trail. It's only 2 miles round trip, but a 185ft climb. I wanted a few more miles, so I went across the street to Highland Glen while Alex drove to meet me at the end. There were cows on part of the trail, so I turned around and added a mile. I know the cows don't care, but a few of them were directly on the trail and stared at me, so I didn't want to take any chances. ;) Despite the cows, this was (by far) my fastest run at Highland Glen. Success! Afterwards, we went to a local brewery and watched the snow fall. It didn't stick, but it was fun to watch.

No long run this week, but at least I got to explore a new in-town trail and hit my 20 mile goal.