April Adventures

 My back is finally starting to recover from a small disc rupture at the end of March. It feels good to get out on the trails again. The snow is melting on some of our local trails, so I've been hitting them a lot. 

Bigalow's Beast X2:

Joyce and I hiked up Bigalow's twice on one of our hill workout days. I felt remarkable good considering I haven't done much climbing. I haven't done much of anything to be honest.

I love that I can look out from the top and see very little snow left on the mountains.

I did a few more runs at Rigby Lake, the Butte, and the Greenbelt that I didn't take pictures of. I've been slowly working my mileage back up.

Cress Creek Area:

Jenn and I got up early and did our long Saturday run mostly in the dark. We snuck in a good 10 miler before I headed out to work the Spitfire aid station.

I loved the moon shining bright on the river.

I love Cress Creek area for sunrises and sunsets.

We saw tons of deer, and these cute horses.

Bigalow's X3:

Joyce and I climbed Bigalow's three times! That's a record for me. It's a one mile hill with exactly 1000 ft of gain. So we went a little over 6 miles, with 3000 ft of vert. Not too shabby for this early in the season. We were trying to get a feel for how we're looking for the rest of our 12ers.

Joyce

I saw this cairn an awful lot this month.

Bigalow's X2 & Little Kellys:

The day after I climbed Bigalow's three times with Joyce, I went back with Ashlee and Becky and did it two more times, and then came down Little Kellys. This time kicked my butt! These ladies are fast, and it's hard enough to keep up with them when I'm in really good shape, but it's extra hard when I'm just getting back into the swing of it. I love the challenge, and I always feel good after a challenging run chasing them.

So many deer!

Ashlee-Becky-Tricia

Little Kellys & Bigalow's:

I had to be in Boise on Saturday, so these awesome ladies were nice enough to do a long run on Friday with me. I needed 12 miles, and I was pushed the whole time by them. In case you haven't caught on to the theme this month, I did Bigalow's for my 6th time in one week on this run. We started up Little Kelly's to check on snow levels. We started up Bigalow's at mile 9, and I was pretty wiped out by that point. I survived the climb, and then it was a nice relaxing run back down Little Kellys and to the car.

Six times up the Beast in one week! 🙌

Ashlee-Tricia-Becky-Ashley

I spy a moose.

The trees are starting to get leaves! 

I've been getting up an hour early each morning to stretch, and do core strengthening for my back, and do IT band stretches and strength exercise. I'm determined to not let those things ruin my summer of running.