Full circle

Made it, mentally refreshed, but awfully sore. As the poet A.R. Ammons so eloquently wrote, "firm ground is not available," as true here, at Mono Lake, as at Corsons Inlet. I'm always amazed, after a good long hike, how apparently different the muscles are one uses for walking versus running. Throw in a lot of additional stabilizing muscles for shifting, boggy terrain, as well as backpack, and you've got the makings for several stiff mornings. A gloss of the trip, with photos, is on its way, in some form.

Yesterday, I ran twice, just to push the blood around. Today, I ventured into town in the late afternoon for a tempo run that went relatively well, considering my hike. I ran 5 loops of about 1.1 mi, starting once more at Mono Cone: 5:33, 5:44, 5:46, 5:44, 5:46 = 28:34. The first was little too fast--the initial stretch, not surprisingly, is downhill--so I backed off a bit. By the end, I was feeling taxed, but was glad to hold it together.

I would have delayed another day, perhaps, but I'm gearing up for a half in San Jose a week from today, and wanted to get this safely under my belt. Won't help me next Sunday--the consensus, of course, is that fitness gains from any particular workout take a couple weeks to materialize. But it won't hurt, in terms of confidence, considering my last tempo (which I neglected to write about, but may still) didn't go as well. I'd call this back on track.

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3 mi, 21 min WU; ~5.5 mi, 28:34 min tempo; 4.5 mi, 31 min CD (13 mi total); Lee Vining

Saturday,9/25: AM: 9 mi, 63 min; lesser Dechambeau loop

PM: 4 mi, 28 min; Mono City sagebrush ramble

Week total: 58 mi/4 days + 45 mi backpack, Circum-Mono

Tempo in town

Late in the day I headed into Lee Vining, intending to do a tempo on Aqueduct Rd. Didn't get that far. Instead, I decide to use the asphalt (in part because of my thoughts earlier this week) in Lee Vining, settling on a box-ish loop that started at the Mono Cone (a burger stand), went north on 395, turned right on the short road to the Forest Service Visitor Center, right again on Mattly Avenue, and right once more 1st, to complete the circuit around the high school back to Mono Cone. I drove it once, before warming up, and the odometer read 1.1 miles, for what that's worth.

I ended up starting at around 7:30 pm and doing 5 laps--5:42, 5:45, 5:44, 5:42, 5:46--each lap noticably darker--finishing in 28:41, under the street light. Probably about 5.5 miles, at roughly 5:15 pace? I'd intended to do 6 miles, but was feeling at my limit after 5 laps. It was windy, of course, heading gradually uphill on Mattly Ave, which I think took a little something out of me.

Still, I was happy with the workout. Only wish the Mono Cone had been open afterward. It was rather tantalizing running past it, again and again.

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3 mi, 21 min WU; 5.5 mi, 28:41 min tempo; 3 mi, 21 min CD; Lee Vining