Dates: 6/20/22 – 6/26/22
Training Week: 29
Miles: 33.8
Lost Souls Routes: 8
Total Lost Souls Routes: 34

Commentary: Monday I got up stupid early, as usual, so I could start a Lost Souls route at first light. The beginning of the route was absolutely beautiful single track with gorgeous views. That only lasted for about a mile or so before I hit what folks call the “rolly polly” section of the route. It’s a straight ATV road that follows a fence line, and it goes straight up and then straight down, over and over and over and over again. I did not enjoy it. If I ever do this route again, I shall do it in the other direction so I end with the sweet single track.

Tuesday was my only planned rest day of the week. But Tuesday night I woke up in the middle of the night and my brain was like, “Hey! Is it time to think?! Let’s think!” And my mind kept going for THREE HOURS. So, Wednesday turned into a rest day as well.

Thursday I got up early, yet again, and did another route. I got a wee turned around and ended up doing an extra mile. Instead of taking it easy, I pushed myself a bit to get my heart rate up. It felt pretty good to run up the gradual inclines and tear down the descents.

Friday morning I did one of the more interesting routes I’ve done so far. It started off going down a dirt road all the way to a creek. The pictures of other folks doing the creek crossing showed waist-high water. I got to the spot where everybody crosses and decided to look for a better crossing. I found a great spot that was only calf-deep. The rest of the route was an old road that was completely overgrown with waist-high grass. But the views from the top made it all worth it!

Saturday another lady and I did two routes. We did a shuttle, so it was mostly downhill. Sometimes I feel like I’m skimping on my training when I skip the uphill, but then I tell myself that like nine miles of my 55k are downhill, so really I’m just getting my downhill legs ready. Anyway, her and I were both grateful to be out there together on a cold morning (temps in the high 30s) because we didn’t see a single rattler on a route notorious for them.

I didn’t want my outside time to end, so I decided to go paddleboarding at the local reservoir. I loaded up all my stuff, drove out there, paid my $5 fee, and started my paddleboard pump. The pump usually only takes about ten minutes, so when 20 minutes had passed I wondered what was wrong. I discovered a hole in my paddleboard! That was a waste of $5. The hole was on the edge, right where it folds when I roll it up, so it took a little bit of ingenuity to get it patched, but I got it done!

On Sunday I got to sleep in until 5am! My running/shuttle partner for the day is not a fan of super early mornings, which I was 100% okay with because I was getting tired of waking up at 4am. Her and I knocked out three routes, and all three were amazing. Two of them I had done before, but only in the winter. The third one I did as part of the Mesa Falls Half Marathon where I forgot my shoes and ran in sandals, so it was nice to run that section in shoes!

After the run I grabbed my fishing gear and started wandering up one of the trails we ran earlier. During the run I spied a few good fishing spots I wanted to check out. I even brought one alcoholic beer with me to complete fishing experience. There were two more routes close-ish by I could have done, but it was much nicer to enjoy some time by the river instead.

The Mesa Falls Half Marathon swag bag came with a coupon for a free huckleberry milkshake at my favorite pizza joint in Ashton. I stopped there after fishing and got my free milkshake and my favorite pizza – the Darth Tater. It’s basically a baked potato pizza. I sucked down my entire shake before the pizza arrived, so I only ate one slice. Good thing I love leftover pizza!

Although I didn’t sleep past 5:20am this entire week, I have no regrets. The Lost Souls routes are great training for my upcoming 55k. Only two more weeks! Eek! When I first started working on them I was so sore afterwards. After a run all I wanted to was an Epsom bath. Now I feel like I could probably knock out another one. Instead of being uber sore the next day, I’m barely sore. I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ll do alright here in a couple of weeks.

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