Green love on valentines day

Not much to say here.. I just took a lunch break run and decided I'd go for a PR on the Gregory Canyon to Ranger trail. My mileage has been moderate lately, as I have been trying to get into the "quality" training mode versus high miles(which I never do anyway). Since I raced 5 weeks ago at the Bandera 100k, I have been swamped with school and work, so I havent taken any long runs. That works fine for me, as I want to be fully recovered going into the spring. I decided that American River 50 fits nicely into my spring schedule, so that will my the next race. I doubt I will have much time to be properly trained for it, but there is little I can do about that.

Jeff Valliere and I had a discussion recently on regarding which route was quicker getting to the top of Green Mt; Amphitheater/Greenman vs Gregory/Ranger. I think Gregory Ranger is faster, as it is more runnable than Amphitheater/Greenman, and roughly the same distance. Jeff said that Jason Schlarb had recently run about a 33 minute time, which I thought may be a moderate effort on his part, as I remembered running faster than this at some point years ago quite easily (I may be wrong though.. getting old here) Most people who read this probably haven't run either route, but you should when you do come out to run in the Republic.

Today turned out to be not the day to go for PRs, as it had snowed and then went through a freeze/thaw cycle a couple times, which means slicker conditions. I'd put about 8 hex-head screws in my Hoka One One Bondi B , and over a few runs lately I found this to be the perfect number for any icy conditions around here. However, to run uphill times fast you really need dry trails.

My splits were the following.
Start Gregory 0
1st Gregory Canyon Bridge 5:31
Top of Gregory (at signpost where the dirt road comes down from the right, just after the creek); 14:48
It was pretty good footing in Gregory up to this point , but above this I lost alot of time, as each step slipped back an inch or two ~~ %20 loss of efficiency.
Splits above Gregory..
19:54 Junction of Greenman trail going to the left off Ranger trail
34:05 4 way junction
37:55 Top off summit rock

So anyway.. something to write about.. think I will have a crack at sub 33 when it dries out a bit.

Oh and by the way, Jeff Valliere had a cameo in Aron Ralston's recent 3 hour show with Tom Brokaw. I don't have the link to Jeff''s 15 minutes of fame, but it is quite substantial, and they filmed Jeff and Aron running up Gregory Canyon. Good on ya, Jeff!

Okay time to go kiss your sweetie.