Western Wanderer

Daily Run Log May 21-27, 2012

John Martin — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:06:29 +0000

Monday- It was windy, but still sunny when I drove to Novato to get in my second long run of the training week. The target was the peak of Mount Burdell behind San Marin High School. It took me nearly an hour to reach to reach the lookout point at mile 4.3 the pictures below were taken from. That is Stafford Lake off in the distance in the first picture and Novato in the second.

From the lookout, I headed southeast, along a single track goat trail between mile 5 and 6 at a breakneck pace, hoping my tired legs would keep me upright. A spill here would have resulted in a steep rolling tumble, a long way down a steep hillside. Once I reached the Deer camp trail, It fed into the Dwarf Oak trail where I returned the way I had come up. A challenging 1344 ft of elevation gain and loss over 8.79 miles.

Wednesday- Another Wednesday night run along Santa Rosa Creek. The Group moved the start time back to 5:30 so I was late.

Rhonda took the time to fit me with a new pair of New Balance 860 v2′s since my last pair of reliable 760′s (that I stocked up with 4 pair last year) delaminated when I caught it in between a pair of rocks on the Canyon trail. Rhonda quickly swapped them out for these new 860′s and sent me out to run with Eron, a speedy runner who made me keep my pace up a LEEEETLE faster than the recovery pace I was planning.

Thursday- I pushed today’s run back to Friday. Graduations and parties took precedence.

Friday- Despite the afternoon thunder showers I drove to Novato Friday night to scout out a new trail. A section of the Bay ridge trial that I covered from O’Hair park on Sutro Ave, to the Vineyard rd. trailhead, along the Deer camp trail to Southern terminus of the Big Trees trail, and then back to vineyard on the BT, and back to the car for just over 10 miles. Challenging “midweek” run.

Rain clouds threatened but didn't get me wet on the trail Friday.

Sunday- Met up with the Headlamper crew to mark the trail for the first week of the Summer trail group. I was still feeling the effects of Fridays run so I headed home after the first time around. It was the start of a Taper week after all…

When I arrived home I did an inventory of my digits and noticed that my Morton’s toe nail on my left foot was separating and bound to come off. As with all things, I decided sooner was better than later, and with a quick tug of the pliers by my fearless assistant, the nail was off. (Link to photo if you can handle it)

Apparently I was fatigued from the week and it was a 3-nap day.

Weekly mileage 30 miles

Daily Run Log May 14-20, 2012

John Martin — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:38:26 +0000

Monday- After slacking Sunday I put on my running shoes after work and hit the hills around”‘the neighborhood” for 10 miles. Knowing my neighbors would be watching kept me moving. Sure enough three neighbors said they saw me!

Wednesday- traveled for business to Fresno. Didn’t do my usual Wed. four miler.

Thursday- Traffic on Highway 580 was at a standstill when I looked on my Garmin Maps app on my phone and saw a green spot north of the highway. I ducked off at the next exit. Parked at a regional park and got just under 5 miles in on walking paths in Dublin. When my path took me to the County jail, I decided to turn around… The run woke me up and traffic was moving when I got back on the freeway.

Friday- Back to work, I hit the hills in town for one of my faster runs of the week. got some good climbs in and worked on my “hill grind”.

Saturday- Took the horses , my mother and daughter to stash some water for my extended run Sunday. It was a four hour ride to cover 10 miles. I commented that it was only a 2 hour run. So this is how it feels to be in beter shape than your horse?

Sunday- Ran Doug Evan’s route with Liana’s “on the fly improvements” (Drawn in green). It made for a good 2500 feet of elevation gain in three big climbs over 18.4 miles. Probably the best quality miles I’ve had in a long run. Rather than push my luck, I did not add the previously planned 8 mile loop. As it stands, the amount of distance covered in just over 4 hours made it one of my fastest paced long runs over 15 miles.

Weekly mileage: 42 miles

Coming Down Canyon Trail with Pete Liana And Doug. Photo By Patrick Temple.

Daily Run Log May 7-13 2012

John Martin — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:04:49 +0000

Monday- After Sundays less than stellar run (22 miles with 9 of it being a walk), I was apprehensive about a follow up run the next day. Monday night I loaded up the Camelbak with ice water and left work headed for the high point on the West side of town. While I had some calf stiffness, it seemed to work out over the first couple of miles of gentle uphill. When the pitch became more vertical on Hayes street I was able to gear down, but still keep a jog going up hill.
Once I reached Helen Putnam park, I was feeling real good and the trees and hills flew by for 3 miles. I felt strong for the remaining 3 miles back to my starting point. It was a good mental boost after a disappointing Sunday.

Wednesday- Ran with Fleet Feet for my usual Wednesday night recovery run. Four miles along Santa Rosa Creek. Made a point to do it at a conversational pace and chat along the way.

Thursday (thanks to Pete Laskey for the Garmin info)- Immediately after work I wove my way up Highway 101 to the north side of Annadel State Park to meet up with Liana and Pete for a scheduled 10 mile trail run. This Thursday run is described as a midweek “semi long run” . It was about 75 degrees ar 5:50 pm when we headed up the Cobblestone trail. From there we continued up to Rough Go, and followed an unmapped single track over to the Lake Ilsanjo Dam where we hit the 3 mile mark. We followed Canyon trail to Marsh and continued climbing. This stretch had given me trouble on Sunday. I was determined to pace myself and run this stretch smartly. One gel at mile 4.5 was perfect timing as the burst of energy hit me at the final steep stretch.

We had to laugh because we had purposely avoided the 4 mile uphill trail with our route, and ended up running a more technical and steeper 5 miles. With a quick stop at Buick Meadow, we turned up South Burma and I ripped it up on the downhill. Truth be told, I was more jubilant that I has “fuel in my tank” after the climb and my legs still felt good. We followed Richardson back to North Burma and took that downhill to the asphalt road back to the Cobblestone trail head. There I had a Growler of Lagunitas Brewing Co.’s Lucky13.alt. That hit the spot as the sun dropped behind Bennett Mountain and the mosquitoes came out to feed. I lost track of time but it felt like about a 2 hour run covering 10 miles or so.

Friday- Did an easy five miler to finish out the work week. Mostly I just wanted to see 50 plus miles for the calendar week!

Sunday- Bagged my run since we took the Ladies (Mom and Wife) to breakfast. Attempted to run up the coast but aborted that to do yard work when the Tour of California closed the road 10 miles south of my run destination.

28 miles for the training week

Draw Results: Utah

John Martin — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:06:22 +0000

This year I elected to sit out the Utah Season, and applied for points only.
Draw Results are expected soon and rumors of Credit cards being charged have filtered through the internet…

You may check your results HERE:

Draw Results: Wyoming

John Martin — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:53:24 +0000

The Wyoming Non resident Elk results were released February 28th

Wyoming Non resident Moose, Mountain Goat and Sheep results were released May 4th

Wyoming Non resident Deer results are scheduled to be released June 30th

Check your results HERE:

The Western Wanderer crew, consisting of myself, my father, uncle, and brother-in-law, have been fortunate to draw a General Elk License in the February Drawing. We will be headed to Western Wyoming in the end of September to chase bugling bulls in some beautiful country.

Draw Results: Colorado Deer, and Elk PP’s

John Martin — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:42:05 +0000

My first year applying for a Colorado deer tag has us getting back a refund. The upside is that I earned one preference point for next year’s application.

Preference points are showing up for elk for unsuccessful applicants today (May 12th, 2012). Yep gained one there as well.

You can check your Draw results HERE:

Draw results: Wyoming Bison Priority List

John Martin — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:38:33 +0000

In January, I submitted a small non-refundable fee to enter the Wyoming Wild Bison Priority List Drawing. This week I learned I drew priority # 160. While a low number, it will probably not be low enough to get the opportunity to purchase a bison tag. In past years Wyoming has issued 50-75 Bull tags. I will keep applying in future years since I am well acquainted with the Jackson area herd, now eligible for Pope and Young entry.

Gear Review: Badlands Momentum Pants

John Martin — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:54:01 +0000

Ever since I bought my first Badlands pack in 2005 I have been impressed with the new innovations that have come out of this company at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Salt Lake City, Utah. When I heard they were expanding their product line to include hunting clothing my ears perked up. Badlands has not been shy about finding what works in other outdoor disciplines and applying it to hunting equipment. They were among the first to take mountaineering design into a hunting specific backpack in1992 when they were founded. I hoped that this would carry over into their foray into the gear between us and the backpack.

I received a pre-production version of the Momentum pant to evaluate this May. I liked that the fit was snug around the knee and thigh, but the material had enough stretch to move with me. The “articulated knee” design means that the material stretches when you kneel down instead of riding up. I would call it an “athletic cut” in the legs, and it accomodated my large thighs just fine, without being “MC Hammer” blousey.

The Momentum pant is a synthetic pant with Hex-lite inner insulation lining, a Durable Water Repellant finish from DuPont, and a nifty removable gaiter, under a Hypalon lined cuff. The fabric is similar to a soft shell feel with no real “napp” to catch burrs. The Hex-Lite liner is a fleecy series of Hexagons that trap warm air in the air spaces between them. It gives warmth, and breath-ability with less bulk.

One of the first things I noticed was the sturdy belt loops. Six of them wide enough for a heavy duty belt, and reinforced with nylon webbing along the outsides. I really like that there are two belt loops in the back on either side of the spine since that is where my belts want to creep up on me and leave my lower back exposed when bent over skinning on a windy ridge.

POCKETS – 8
Below the hips and above the thigh on each side are TWO vertical slit zipper pockets with welded seams. a good place to separate elk calls, cartridges, a pocket knife, matches, and a compass.

The butt pockets openings sit just below the bottom of the belt line. One zips closed horizontally to keep your wallet or hunting license secure, while the other is an open top for quick access.

The left leg pocket has a welded seam around it and a horizontal zip pocket big enough to accommodate a smartphone and/or Powerbar. The right thigh pocket zips vertically. A great place for an elk diaphram call or 3.

MOST UNIQUE FEATURE: Built in, Removable Gaiter.

With the Hypalon cuff turned up you can see the lace hook and the zipper of the built in removable gaiter

I’ve become a fan of gaiters in my running and my early season hunting. They keep debris out of my shoes, and protect the laces from being snagged by brush. The Momentum Pant has a unique gaiter that wraps around the ankle portion and is held tight to the boot with a grippy rubber elastic cuff, combined with a hook that hooks into the laces. Snap two snaps on the outside edge of the gaiter, zip the outer pant leg zipper and no snow will get up between your pants and boots. Don’t want to mess with it? No problem. Unzip them and you have a reinforced Hypalon cuff and 12 inch long vertical lower leg zips to accommodate your high rubber boots or pac boots. Very handy.

a view of the gaiters snap on the outside, and the vertical 12" leg zips.

I see the Momentum Pant becoming my pant of choice for my October or November hunting seasons. Where rain, wind and snow might make sitting on a hillside glassing across basins a challenge, the DWR should keep my bottom half drier. The leg zips and gaiters will accommodate more boot options if we hit snow. The numerous pockets will securely hold a variety of essentials. It has all the ingredients to be a functional part of my archery and rifle hunting pursuits.

California Online License Application System- Thumbs up!

John Martin — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:32:28 +0000

This week I submitted my California Hunting applications. It was the first time I have used the online service at https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales .

I was pleasantly surprised at the speed and ease of navigation through the site. I was fortunate that I knew what hunt choices I wanted to make thanks to the worksheet sent out by California Fish and Game, earlier this month. It detailed my current preference point totals to date. I could look at hunt drawing statistics and see what hunts I had a chance of drawing with my number of points.

First time applicants, note:

To purchase a hunting license online, proof of the customer’s hunter education must be entered into the Automated License Data System (ALDS) prior to purchase. If hunter education is not on file in ALDS, you must present proof of hunter education at a license agent or DFG license sales office prior to purchasing a hunting license.Alternatively, you may contact DFG via fax at (916) 419-7587 or e-mail LRB@dfg.ca.gov and provide your personal identification and proof of hunter education so your hunter education can be updated in ALDS.

The deadline for applying in California is June 2nd, 2012.

The Big Game Hunting Digest is available online at : http://www.dfg.ca.gov/publications/digest/ .

Daily Run Log April 30 -May 6 2012

John Martin — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:45:11 +0000

Monday -After a week of NON-running, I snuck out late one night for a quick five mile road run that I had not done for over a year. It felt good to get out and move and bomb the downhills.

Wednesday- Ran Four miles along the Santa Rosa creek with Friends from Fleet feet Sports Santa Rosa. FF alumni Chandra Farmnam was there representing Saucony, and joined us for beer and pizza after.

Thursday- Ran “around the Block” for 7.2 miles. According to my records it was my 2nd fastest time on this route. Took a nap and a meal before I felt up to tackling it this evening.

Friday- Bagged it today. Celebrated Natalie’s belated birthday instead.

Sunday- Joined the “Headlampers” Doug, Pete, Jeff, Liana and Ericka for a long “time on feet run” . The plan was to run the Annadel Half Marathon route twice from Parktrail for a roughly 6 hour/26 mile run.
I started off strong, but the speedy group I was with kept lengthening their lead on the uphills, and I would catch them on the downhills. At 11 miles, Leigh Meyer joined us for about four or five miles. At this point I started to tire. My mental state deteriorated to a more negative mindset as I found myself hitting the wall, despite good, frequent fueling. The day was growing warmer and I was feeling fried. With about 14 miles done I committed to walking the rest of the time. I managed to walk the 4.5 miles to Buick Meadows for the second time before I turned back. I walked most of the way back with about a mile and a half of shuffling on the down hill. I ended with about 5:45 of time on feet, although not in a fashion I was proud of. I’m calling this 22 miles for the day. (I will re attempt 26 miles on May 20th. )

On the First loop at Buick Meadows I felt more Chipper. From L to R: Doug, Pete, Me, Jeff, Ericka, and Liana.Photo by LianaDoug Powers up Marsh Trail. Photo by Liana

Doug Powers up Marsh Trail. Photo by Liana

Weekly mileage: 38.2 miles