Sunday Morning Run in Dover, Idaho

Up in the hills above Dover Bay Resort Community

Got in a nice 14 mile run on Sunday morning. We ran a loop through the Dover Bay Resort Community and looped over to the Bike Path across Highway 2. From there we went into the Ravenwood Trails/Syringa Trails from the Blue Gate off of the bike path. All in all an absolutely beautiful morning. Funny how those long runs seem much shorter when running with good friends.

Today I ran Fartleks up in the Syringa Trails near my house. I am enjoying mixing some speed into my workouts. I feel like all the trail running over the last few years has given me a bit of a "trail shuffle". Will be running the Athol Half-Marathon in two weeks. I also plan on hitting a few road races as well in the next six months. Snow will hit soon and I need some motivation on the calendar to keep me running through the cold winter!

Swiftwick Pursuit - Compression Sock Review

I wore compression socks for the first time on a long run at the Wild Moose Chase Trail Run up at the Mt. Spokane Nordic Trails a week ago. I haven't run without them since. I was having some terrible calf and foot cramps, along with general achille and calf pain in the weeks leading up to the race. I took the week off before the race and decided to give the Swiftwick Pursuit Compression socks a try on race day. I was expecting more pain, but was pleasantly surprised that I did not cramp up at all during the race and experienced only minor discomfort. A far cry from where I had been just a few days ago. 

I am guessing the compression kept the swelling I was having at bay during the race. Race day was freezing, so the full length socks helped keep me plenty warm. If you haven't ever worn Merino Wool socks, you are in for a surprise if you try the Swiftwick Pursuit. The comfort is awesome and on a 2.5 hour run they did an amazing job keeping my feet dry. This is the first long run I have had in months without any blisters.

The crazy thing is that I am going to buy a pair of these to wear to work! They actually can pass for dress socks and will be good to wear on the mornings I do my long runs before work. I definitely recommend these socks and will be checking out the other Swiftwick Products. 

Swiftwick Pursuit 12"

Wild Moose Chase 25K

Good times at the Wild Moose Chase 25K up at Mt. Spokane last weekend! We went up there with our friends Matt and Angie Brass. They are pictured above after collecting their awards for winning the race. They ran unbelievable races. The temperature at the start was around 35 degrees with cold rain and wasn't much warmer at the finish! Thankfully there was a wood stove blazing up at the Selkirk Lodge.

The race was a killer. Especially since I haven't been running enough to justify trying to run that far with that kind of elevation gain and loss. I was surprised at the number of long climbs, but I was happy to finish. Looking forward to running it again next year, with more miles and better training.

My wife Michelle won her age group as usual and ran an excellent race. I was impressed with how much steam she had up the last climb. It felt more like a scramble than a run for me at that point. Next up is the Athol Trail of Terror Half-Marathon!