28 myles - 5.32:26

Mt Falcon double - 7:30 A.M.
low 20s to start, 40s to finish, clear, snowy trail
mind/body - good
"easy" (meaning slow) effort

Prescribed workout: 5 hours easy effort with elevation

Actual workout: 28 myles 5.32:26 avg. 11:52 - 7500+ ft elevation gain. Loop 1 - 2.48, loop 2 - 2.44

Met Fish and the Gangly one (Brian Fisher and Todd Gangelhoff) this morning for an epic run up Falcon. Freezing rain yesterday made me nervous about all the possible mud but was pleasantly surprised to find a good layer of snow. The snow was cold and slippery to begin with and since Todd only committed to one loop we "let" him break trail. My family is in Utah so I had time for Falcon version 2.0 whereas Todd opted for version 1.0 and Fish version 1.5 (and just in case you were wondering version 1.0 is every trail within Mt Falcon Park). The higher we went, the deeper the snow - what a concept!! At the top and West side there was about a foot of fresh pow-pow.

As I parted with Fish after his 0.5 loop, I started to feel good. I started the day with a handheld of water and one gel for the first loop. Loop two I picked up a flask of EFS liquid shot, some e-caps, and a new water bottle. The EFS seemed to do the trick as I was started to lose energy from only one gel in almost 3 hours. As the sun got higher in the sky, the snow began to melt and become sticky which means I had better traction for increased leg turnover. Feeling good with better leg turnover late is always a good sign. Coming down the front side to finish loop 2 the snow had pretty much melted and left a sloppy, muddy mess - happy to be done.

So with this run I actually salvage the week with a decent long run. Miwok is 4 weeks away and I'm feeling fit.