Sunday, July 22, 2018

July 15 - July 21

This week started with a run and a couple of bike rides.  My legs were feeling a little beat up so I decided to do some bike riding to give them a rest from the pounding of running.  That worked pretty good until Thursday when I crashed and pulled my hamstring.  Initially I though maybe I could ride it off, but it only took a few minutes for me to come to my senses and cruise down the mountain back to the car.

Friday both hamstrings hurt a little bit, although the right one was decidedly worse.  Neither one was too awful bad which was good as Dad, Jacob, and I drove to Gold Lake, near Willamette Pass, for the Waldo Trailwork Saturday morning.  As always there was a great group of guys at the Waldo Trailwork which made for an enjoyable day!  As an added bonus, there were very few mosquitoes which made the day all that much better.


The Three Sister from Mt. Fuji

Diamond Peak

Mt. Thielson

Mt. Thielson

Dad and Jacob on Mt. Fuji


Sunday, July 15, 2018

July 9 - July 15

 I got in a bit of running this last week and felt pretty good.  My calf seem to be fully recovered which is good.  I've got a few minor aches and pains from starting to do some real running again, but nothing I'm concerned about.  Its just that when you start doing something different (in my case running again) the human body takes a little bit to respond.

Anyhow, running this weeks was very enjoyable.  I feel like a kid again.  My goal is to just get out, have fun, and do it again tomorrow.  For years that was my philosophy and it worked great.  The last couple years I tried to actually "train" for races by having a very structured routine throughout the week.  That didn't work so well.  And I think why it didn't work was that it was no fun.  Looking back on the last couple years I see that I did a pretty good job of sucking all the fun out of running.  In some ways, its almost kind of humorous.

Running has really been good lately and I know its because I've finally got the right perspective again.  If you have fun and do the best you can, that's all you can ask for.  If you want anything outside of that, you're probably losing perspective on what is all about.

But enough of that mumbo jumbo, here's some great picture from our trip around Three Fingered Jack.  Mom, Jacob, and I circumnavigated Three Fingered Jack on Saturday and it was a cooker.  I think it was 88 when we got back to the car, but you're pretty much in the open (okay in the dead trees) the whole time so you really feel the sun.  I think the pictures stop when we are about halfway done because after that we were just running through the burn and it was hot.

Mt. Washington with the Three Sisters behind


Mom and Jacob climbing through the rocks

Black Butte

It looks like Jacob was too fast for the photographer


Not much snow left now

Three Fingered Jack




Truffula trees


Goats - we saw 5 goats on the slopes of Three Fingered Jack
There's at least 2 in this picture and the third blurry white spot might be one too

Mt, Jefferson



Indian Paintbrush


Mom and Jacob with Three Fingered Jack in the background

Three Fingered Jack

Live trees, with dead trees behind them.  It looked way cooler than the picture does

Another angle of Three Fingered Jack

Heading up to Canyon Creek meadows


Jacob with Canyon Creek meadows below up





The Fingered Jack



Lots of burned trees to run through today

Left to Right: Broken Top, Bachelor, North Sister, Middle Sister, South Sister, Mt. Washington, The Husband (just poking out right of Mt. Washington)



Mom with Three Fingered Jack behind


Thursday, July 12, 2018

June 25 - July 8

Well, it was only a matter of time before I missed a week so here the update on the last two weeks.

Two weekends ago, Mom, Dad, and I went to Hamilton, Montana for a wedding.  It was a fun trip.  The wedding was the first I been to that I was old enough to know what was happening, so that made the wedding pretty fun.  While in Hamilton, I was able to see a lot of family that I don't get to see often so that was great too.

As for running, I was able to explore some new terrain which I always enjoy doing.  I got in a couple run in Libby, Montana where my grandparents live, and a couple more in Hamilton.  Here's some pictures from the trip.

Swede Mountain Lookout

The Cabinets


Looking west from Ward Mountain

North from Ward Mountain








Lupine and Indian Paintbrush



My second run in Hamilton, this time heading up Blodgett Canyon






I saw a bull moose on this run, and here' him footprints.  He wasn't a little guy







Grandma and Dad

Grandpa, Dad, Grandma, and Mom
Me and my grandparents
Last week brought a bit more running and I was able to get in a couple decent runs.  It was sure great to be able to get back on the trails and explore some places I hadn't seen in a while.  One place I was especially excited to see was Mary's Peak.  I slowly watched the snow melt all spring, but when it was gone, that about when I got injured.  It was a long wait to get up Mary's Peak so I was sure glad I got to make it to the top!

An overcast day on Mary's Peak

Tiger Lilies


Foxglove
Outside of Mary's Peak, the other fun run was a long easy day by Cougar Reservoir near McKenzie Bridge.  The run ended up being about 6 hours which was a solid 1/2 hour longer than I intended, but that certainly didn't take away from the fun.  I was lucky to stumble upon some nice trails that had a lot of use from bikers.  However, not all the trails were getting a lot of use, so there was also a fair share of overgrown trails.  Regardless, there was some great views and nice trails which make me want to get back there soon.



I have seen these yellow iris before, but there was a few on this run


Tiger Lily

North and Middle Sister
Overall, the last couple weeks went pretty well.  I got in a bit of running and my calf is feeling almost 100% which is very encouraging.  Provided that I'm patient enough to stay healthy, there should be a bit of fun left in this summer!