I Keep Posting

Two posts in two days? This must be some kind of record for me. I'm out of control.

My legs are feeling good. Sadie and I hit the trails for 20 miles this morning. That puts me over 50 for the week. I could add to it tomorrow but right now I'm thinking it would be a good day to take off. I'll see how Sadie feels in the morning. (She just barked that she's fine and that she could go running now...but I think she's just showing off because she really looks as tired as I am.) Okay, so I just made a deal with Sadie about tomorrow: If she's limping more than I am in the morning then we'll stay home. If I'm limping more then I assume that means I'm a wuss so I'll suck it up and go for a run.

I don't want to jinx myself and say that my knee is 100%, so...I'll just say that right now my knee is performing at an A level. Maybe even an A+. No, I may be pushing my luck by saying that much, so...I'll just say that my knee is still attached to my body and it moves in all the proper ways a knee is supposed to move. I can even do the knee glide. In fact, I was doing the knee glide when Jeanie and I first met. She asked me to marry her that same night. Yes, it's that awesome. Just in case you missed the link from four sentences ago, here it is again: the knee glide.

No decision yet about the Lake Youngs Ultra in a couple weeks. The only thing holding me back is the length of the drive. It would be a 4-5 hour trip (one way). I hate that gas prices force me to make travel decisions like this. I wouldn't have thought twice about it before. Phooey.

Well, here are some photos from today's run. We ventured to the north side of Moscow Mt. for the first time this year. Even two weeks ago there was still a couple feet of snow that made
it non-runnable. There are some great trails on that side and we've been looking forward to running it. There's still some snow left but it's almost 100% gone. Enjoy.

Sadie smiling and happy. This was around mile 5
when we both still had some energy.

Sadie on the trail.

Close-up of Sadie. Deep in thought.

This part of the trail looked like a stream.
Cool snow bridge.

On a warm day like today, Sadie loved these little patches of snow:



Keep running, and practicing your knee glide!

Scott

A Run with a Dog - and other exciting news

Exciting news, Part I

Sadie has returned at full throttle. She's running me into the ground and I need to take a day off (maybe today).



"Exciting" news, Part II

Iceland Rocked by Earthquake

Hmmm, this isn't the kind of excitement that I was hoping when preparing for my Iceland trip. Although, I must admit that it would make for an awesome story if there was an earthquake during the race. "I ran an ultramarathon through an earthquake and even survived the resulting projectile spewing of boiling mud." That might be hard to top.



"Exciting" news, Part II

Shasta got a summer buzz ---

(before - hairy, but hairy)



(after - ventilated, but homely)

Okay, you talked me into it. I'll go for a run tonight.

Searching for my inner Energizer Bunny!

Scott

Dogless Running

It's been rather lonely on the trails this week. Sadie's healing okay, it seems. Earlier in the week she wasn't putting any weight on her paw and was bouncing around the house on three legs. I'd put my running shoes on and she'd run to the front door on three legs, tail and tongue wagging, acting like she was just fine. We've been playing catch with the ball today in the house and she does look like she's doing much better. I'll give her a few more days off before we test it on a run.

This week's a cutback week. I feel very strong. Like bull. I'm reexamining my possible participation in the Lake Youngs Ultra next month. I originally dropped it from my schedule so I wouldn't push my knee too hard in my return. I'm putting in good miles but I'm being a lot smarter about it than last summer. Anyway, the Lake Youngs Ultra is a 29 mile dog-friendly event and would be a good build-up run for my July races. The negative is that it's a long drive. I'll see what Sadie thinks when we get closer.

The weather is beautiful in the Inland Northwest. It's going to be a great spring/summer.

This week in photos:



Isn't it great to be a runner?

Keep running!

Scott

Poor Sadie

Just when we started getting in our groove...

On our short run yesterday morning, poor sweet Sadie ran over something and cut her paw pretty bad. We were about two miles away from the car and she was bleeding pretty bad. But the border collie in her let her tough it out until we got home. I cleaned it up and there's a fairly ugly gash. She's been keeping weight off it since - hopping around on three legs like a poor unfortunate soul.

I don't think it's so bad that she needs a visit to the vet. I'll keep an eye on it to see how it looks and how she's feeling. Her heat blisters last summer were a bit worse than this and she was out of commission for about two weeks. Hopefully this time she won't be out as long.

I put in over 40 miles last week, my highest non-race week total since October. My knee is feeling stronger and stronger. Temperatures are getting higher and higher. My Iceland trip is getting closer and closer. Man, I hope Sadie gets better fast.

The top photo is her paw this evening.

The second photo is Sadie in a good mood rolling around today.

In the bottom photo she is taking a nice little break on our 15+ mile trail run Saturday. I suspect she'll get herself better so she won't miss this weeks trail run. :)

Keep running!

Scott

10 km on the 10th Virtual Club Run

Nancy has done a great job putting together another virtual race. Go Nancy!

Sadie and I are getting back in shape. My knee is feeling the best it has since October. Sadie is glad that we're back to doing long trail runs. And it is finally springtime!

My first graph of the year. Awesome. Race results - the first 10 km of today's run was done in 1hr 25min. Then we went on for a little longer. Two months from today I'll be running in Iceland. I'm starting to get just a tinsy bit excited.

Here's my first graph of the year.

And some pics from the run.

Keep running!

Scott

I Like the Sun and How it Melts the Snow

The lower trails are snow free. Sadie and I ventured to higher elevations yesterday and though there is still some snow near the top of Moscow Mt. it is melting fast.

Here's a video of Sadie playing in the snow:



The eleven miles we did were the longest Sadie has been since October. She's been very patient with me and my recovery.

Keep running!