Week ending Apr 28

Monday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1500ft of gain; 4 miles, Foothills trail, 750ft of gain. Threw in a two-a-day to see how the ankle/shin felt. There is still swelling but the pain level has dropped to about a 1/10. I can't feel it running uphill or on flats which is great.

Tuesday: 12 miles, Foothills trail, 2000ft of gain. Went out to Reservoir Ridge and back this morning since I had time. I'm moving later this week so I thought I'd get a medium-ish run in while I can. Ankle was fine until I finished the run, at which point it started swelling a bit.

Wednesday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1500ft of gain; 4 miles, Foothills trail, 750ft of gain. Much less swelling today, in fact it was only noticeable after my afternoon run. Hopefully this is on its way out.

Thursday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1500ft of gain. Still some swelling but there isn't any pain, which is awesome. It seems like the tendinopathy has healed, and all that's left is some latent swelling. Running in 55 degrees in the morning - spring has definitely arrived.

Friday: 8 miles, Foothills trail, 1000ft of gain. I got up super early as I needed to deal with random meetings sprinkled throughout the day, and handling my move to my new condo. It is unfortunately half a mile farther from the trailhead as my old place, but I'm much happier with it overall. The extra distance at the start and end of the run is a nice way to force me to warm up and cool down.

Saturday: Off. Went all out today getting the new place in order and working on projects.

Sunday: 25 miles, Quad Rock course, 5500ft of gain. I did this in 4 hours - that meant no power-hiking, which was tough on Mill and Spring Creek. I also did the reverse loop, starting at Soldier Canyon with the climb up Timber, so that I'll be a bit more comfortable on that second lap. This is a brutal course, with little reprieve - only the stretch in the meadows at the start and end is a break from either rough terrain or steep hills. I enjoyed opening it up on Towers-Stout-Sawmill on the inbound portion of the loop - hopefully it feels just as good in the midday heat after running 40 miles.

Totals:
Mileage: 77 miles
Elevation: 14,500ft of gain