Tread Mill

Well, my insouciant aura must be fading. I did what I have never done before for more than a minute or two: I ran on a tread mill at Ashland. Set it for 12% grade (PP averages 11%) and ran for 15 minutes at a 15 min./mile pace. Suffice it to say that currently a finish time of around 3:30 is not realistic. Tomorrow I may see if a 20 minute/mile pace is more benign.

Slide Lake Topo

Took Iris, Murdoch, Happy, and Sugar on a run up to Slide Lake.

Slide Lake Topo

It looks like about 3.2 miles from the trailhead as the crow flies, but the crow doesn't fly exactly straight. Let's say it's a bit more. It appears the trailhead is at 10,384' and the lake at 11,700'. That's 1,316' of vertical. Not to put too fine a point upon it, let's say the distance is 17,840'. So--and you heard it here first--I'm saying the run has an average grade of around 7.4%. Not Pikes Peak standard, but not Kansas either. Up in 70 minutes, down in 61.



Took my first fall of the training season. I'm thinking an exposed root--and down I went, hard, on my right side. Amazingly, no broken skin--we'll see about the size and color of bruises--even the heel of my right hand is ok, and the brain pan was unscathed.

I need to go on record about something. The treatment of Sugar and Happy by their owner leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. They are seldom let out of their yard, never walked (except by me), and their food and water situation seems to be catch-as-catch-can. Their owner left this July 4th weekend, to return who knows when. They seemed to want to go back to their yard after the run, so I let Happy in, who kind of prodded with her muzzle at a plastic container, on its side, with an insert that impeded access to a limited amount of dry food of uncertain vintage and quality. I took them back to my place, where Happy ate 5 cups of dry food and Sugar somewhat less. I put them back in their yard, and first Sugar escaped, over the fence in the northwest corner, and then Happy, after a period of insane high-pitched howling, also got out somehow. My neighbor has left no word where she can be reached, and her residence has no answering machine. Sugar and Happy are at my place.