Return of the Jedi (or, alternatively, Snow)

It snowed again! Too cool. First snows are the best (even if they technically aren't first snows). One of my favorite things is walking the dog in the morning, coffee in hand, on snow-covered roads that haven't yet been disturbed by cars/other people. Basically, a Hallmark card.

I obviously had to get outside to enjoy the new snow, so pops and I headed out on a jaunt. Honestly, I had actually wanted to go running, but I can't turn him down when he wants to go hiking! I can go run tomorrow.

Views were pretty awesome, even though we stayed at lower elevation:

Derg!

Weird mist stuff. And trees, lots of trees.

We already saw this, but I figured I'd post it again because it was totally necessary for you to see it slightly more close-up. 

Golden grass! That's Anchorage down below

I can't wait for it to be late enough in the season that those damn bears hibernate so I can go running on these trails without worry. They're nice because they're trails with totally reasonable amounts of elevation gain (we did about 4 miles and gained 750 feet-it really didn't feel like we were ascending much at all), you get a decent view, and the dog doesn't have to be on a leash. Wins all around!

So this past week's running was less than admirable. 10.77 miles. Yep. Hardcore.

• 3.77 miles at/up Flattop, 606' gain, 10:45 avg
• 4.5 miles on Powerline, 436' gain, 9:45 avg (incredible run, btw. Powerline's a gem for running. This was also great because I didn't feel like I was running hard at all yet averaged 9:45. For me, that's like breaking the sound barrier)
• 2.5 miles of intervals on the school treadmill, boring as hell and slightly achy shins. Had to call it at 2.5. 9:45 avg maybe? I dunno, who cares? Bueller?

Surprisingly enough, that pathetic number's more than I thought I had run. I need to work more on consistency. I'm able to get out there during the week, but I've been bad about running on the weekend. That's almost entirely due to the fact that in the battle between mountains and running, mountains almost always win out-a totally first-world problem that should resolve itself once more snow falls and avalanches become a thing. I also need to stop being an asshole and running 3 days in a row. Gradually, Jean, gradually.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to head out for a run on Powerline. I did 4.5 miles there a couple of days after my last post and it was sick. This time I won't have to rush back to my place to study for a calc test, so we'll see how far I make it. One of these days I'm making it to the pass. There, I've said it. It's happening. Time and date TBD.

Goal miles for this week? This is based on nothing, but let's say 15 miles. That follows the 10 percent rule, amirite? Well, almost. It definitely follows the 10-50 percent rule I just made up. If the Jean of 6 months ago knew present Jean's weekly mileage... I shudder to think of it.