anotha doubler

I went for an early trail run in the dark this morning. It's been sunny and warmish the last few days and cold at night, so there's alot of hard snow out there. Definitely, MicroSpike conditions. I warmed up with the usual run through the park and up and around my hill loop, then proceeded up to the First Vista behind Whistler Park. The topo map says this is a 400' climb, in about a half mile. As I neared First Vista, I noticed Benihana was not with me. I stopped and listened. I could faintly hear him barking off in the distance, way downhill of me. I knew he had an elk on the run. "Shit. Not again! Asshole." I thought (or did I say it?). I turned around at the Vista and bombed the downhill. Benny will (most of the time) come when I whistle for him but he wasn't listening this morning. I finally caught up to him about 20 minutes later, chasing a young buck, in the yard of one of the Priest Creek mega-mansions. He wouldn't come to me, so I took the liberty of walking through this person's yard, when I see them in the window, working at a desk. Here I am, in winter running gear, with a headlamp beaming, at six o'clock in the morning. They notice me walking next to their home so I felt obligated to knock on the door and assure them that I'm not trying to break into their house, I'm just trying wrangle my exuberant Siberian Husky that I just chased down from a mile away. The guy was cool enough and I leashed up Benny(now that he was tired from chasing) and we raced back home, me still fuming the whole way. The run, plus the side trip, took 1:09. Distance: unknown. Pace: fast enough to catch up to a Siberian Husky and an elk.

After a near full day of work, I needed some redemption and it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Laced up for a fast road run and started running. I had mapped out a five miler a couple days earlier, so I kinda followed that route and added a little to make sure I got the full five. Ended up with 5.33 miles in 40 minutes flat, good for a 7:30/mile pace. I've been feeling stronger lately and it felt great to push the pace the entire run. That's probably the fastest 5 miles I've run in 15 years. I've read several times that speed work has no place in ultra running. Whatever. That shit is fun.

Definitely feeling the second run in my legs tonight. I've got some soreness in my calves and, of course, my right hamstring is tender. I've beeen recovering quicker and quicker from my runs, so I expect to feel great in the morning. Another really positive benefit I've noticed is that my Resting Heart Rate has dropped from an already low 48 bpm, to 39-40 bpm, when I wake up. That is unbelievably low! This is super encouraging for me, as I know that many elite athletes are in this range, and is just motivating me more to push myself to see what I am capable performing this summer once I'm in condition.