Aaron Runs Again

Donovan

2010-05-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Running has been a bit intermittent even with my last post, since Val's membranes ruptured a few weeks ago at 30 weeks.

Last night Donovan was born
4 pounds 7, oz.; 18 "; 32 weeks 4 days

Still Alive

2010-04-06T21:31:00.001-07:00

Lots of working, not a lot of running. :(

Dropped out of Yakima River due to lack of training (they were kind enough to defer my registration), and just sent the email to the guys at Mount SI dropping there. After I downgraded to the 50K.

I'll do a single post of the runs from the last month or so, and then I need to do my review of another Tech4O watch, and then do my first giveaway.

Stay tuned. :)

3/2 Tempo Run

2010-03-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

Tempo Tuesdays are back! After some thinking (that promised future post), and a great article from the Running Times, I've decided to try to be more consistent about targeted training and being consistent. More consistent mileage, more consistent to target heart rates, and more consistent to types of workouts.

Basically I'd like to do a Tempo (no more than 10% of weekly mileage) and a Back-to_back each week (probably 11, 16 like last week). In the future maybe more (some marathon pace running, maybe some intervals), start simple and be CONSISTENT.

So, today was a 4.5 mile tempo, sandwiched by a warm-up and a cool-down, clockwise around the lake. I got a little mixed up in my head and ran this by pace and not by HR. I need to make a decision what methodology I'm using and stick with it for a while. This direction has mostly uphill after a bit of flat, and it makes it VERY challenging to hold the pace in the last mile or so. Especially going up Eastlake.

This was a fairly painful run. As usual, a reminder that I need to get strong and do core work to do speed work. Interestingly running up Eastlake in the last mile or so was EASIER than the flats. Probably because I changed form and was able to use some different muscle groups.

Had to drop the data into Sports Tracks to get out the information for the last hald mile, but it was worth it. Some interesting info in there...

1- 9:48/mile @ 141 bpm <-- Nice slow warm-up

2- 7:46/mile @ 167 bpm
3- 7:49/mile @ 169 bpm
4- 7:58/mile @ 173 bpm <-- Stairs up University bridge almost made me puke.
5- 8:04/mile @ 176 bpm <-- last half of this mile peaks at 179 bpm. Ouch.
5.5 - 7:46/mile @ 171 bpm
TEMPO Average: 7:53/mile @ 171 bpm <-- Right about where I should be. :)

6-9:28/mile @ 167 bpm <-- Trying to cool-down. Not slowing down enough
.44- 10:21/mile @ 159 bpm

Overall:
6.44 miles in 54:46 (8:30/mile) @ 164 bpm

2/28 Long Run

2010-03-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

Obviously my Mom was here to visit, so up at 5 and out by 5:45 so we could spend time with her in the morning.

THIS is why back-to-backs work for me. Longer, faster and at a lower heart rate. (Even if it is the 'easy' direction. I had burned the speed out of my legs yesterday and just settled into my pace. Just like I do most of the time. :)

The 'easy' direction is counter clockwise because except for an initial hill, there's a good few miles at the start on a slight downhill, and then you finish mostly flat. There's some nasty hill i the middle though, so I guess it's a wash either way. :)

Body woke up about 9 miles in, and I had to do some scrambling to find some cover and concealment. One of the hazards of running in an urban area. Glad I carry baby wipes. :|

Ran the same loop as Saturday, did the small loop at the top again to add mileage and then tried to add an out and back instead of doing another loop nearer the house. Apparently I can't do basic math on the run, and what was supposed to be 15 miles turned into 16. :) No sweat.

This weekly mileage (about 45) is what I'd like to try to sustain for the next few weeks. I've pared down my racing, and adjusted some goals (for a later post, but if I forget to do it, Mount Si 50 miler is out. I'm downgrading to the 50K. I just don't have the time to train properly with work and family stressors.)

16.07 miles in 2:45:44 (10:18/mile) @ 141 bpm

2/27 Medium Run

2010-03-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

Up at 5:30, trying to get on the road by 6:15. An extra visit to bathroom meant I defeated the purpose of getting up early since I left 20 minutes late. (but I had nor problems on the run. :) ) Kaitlyn got up to go potty just as I was about to leave, but didn't notice me, and I went out anyway. Val said she got up and came to get her about 15 minutes later.

Clockwise through Mill Creek. I took the double bottle carrier so I didn't have to fight the single, since I haven't fixed it. I found the reduced pace help me drink more. I decided to run this at the heart rate pace because I realized that while my training doesn't have the me "perfect", it should at least be close. All the basic recommendations say long runs should be aerobic. i.e. ~75% of MHR. So between 142 and 143 for me. 145 is a metric boat load closer than 150+ like I have been running. Let's train the systems I'm supposed to be training. We'll see how long my motivation to do this style of training lasts. :)

The watch said 144 bpm, so I don't know why Training Center says 145.

11.33 miles in 1:58:21 (10:26/mile) @ 145 bpm

My Mom came up to visit and watch Kaitlyn for us so we could get a bunch of trim done. Finally. Some of it has been waiting for years! Thanks Mom!

2/25 Run

2010-03-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Thursday's run was gorgeous. If I had thought to bring a short sleeved shirt I would have worn it. I even needed shades. Counter clockwise again, Wednesday was clockwise. About as much variety as I need. :) Run felt like it took a long time though...

My eating was way off today. I was late getting into work since it was Val's birthday, and I ran the 'kids' to daycare, and got breakfast for her before I went in. I don't know what it is about those pink and white Animal cookies, but I just can't resist them. :|

Tried something new for lunch. A bit closer to the ground than i normally eat, and mostly veggie. Can of beans, serving of peas, serving of mixed vegetables, and 4 oz of chicken. Worked pretty well, I' think I'll mix it into the routine. It might need something to add a bit more flavor. Maybe some onion?

6.41 miles in 1:00:35 (9:26/mile) @ 153 bpm

2/24 Run

2010-03-02T20:53:00.000-08:00

Wednesday's run was nice and clear, albeit a bit windy the last two miles. My legs felt a bit more sore than I would have expected for some reason. My right ankle, caught with the toes up, and my foot came down twice in the last three days is a bit sore.

Found out that CLIF discontinued my Nectar bars. Made me grouchy. I actually emailed them to express my dissatisfaction.

Much better heart rate than the last run. A bit slower, but better. Starting to get my legs back.

I've managed to get Born To Run, and Hal Higdon's Marathon (fiction) read, mostly on vacation. Both very good. I really enjoyed Born To Run. Most people seem to be talking about the whole barefoot running thing, but I thought the tale of the ultimate trail race, and all the supporting information to be more interesting. I got it in Kindle format so I could read it on my iPhone. I think I may buy it again in paper for the library.

6.46 miles in 1:00:35 (9:22/mile) @ 154 bpm

2/23 Run

2010-03-02T20:31:00.000-08:00

Getting caught up again. Work is just crazy as we migrate to our new network, and that means now blog posts after runs. :)

Tuesday, counterclockwise around the lake, low 50s. Of course it started to rain just as I stepped out of the garage and started out. Fortunately it was a pretty light rain. I felt super perky for this run. Tried to keep things in the McMillan recommended range, and was pretty close. Only a few seconds/mile off.

the entry to the garage still isn't cleaned. No idea where they cleaned, but it wasn't the problem area. I really need to take a picture. I'll try to remember to bring my camera on the next run.

I've started tracking my food again. 193 is too damn high. I've put 20 pounds back on since the lowest point right around the first Seattle Marathon. I'm starting to chafe in uncomfortable places. :(

6.49 miles in 58:15 (8:58/mile) @ 162 bpm

2/21 Medium Run

2010-02-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

Ran the route from Saturday, through Mill Creek, only counterclockwise. A touch warmer, and the same outfit. Interestingly, a different long sleeve shirt seemed to breathe differently, and work better.

Some hot spots yesterday, but that might have been from wearing Val's Balegas. A touch too small. Wore the Injinjis today, and no problems at all.

Lost the bottle twice this time. That's what I get for getting the cheap knockoff from Freddies.

I used to think this direction was easier. Now I'm not so sure. :) It's the 4.5 miles of uphill in the middle that gets to you. :)

Both of this weekend's runs took an awful lot out of me for 11 milers. Pretty glad I didn't go try to do the Woolley 50K on Saturday. That might have been ugly.

Almost as fast as Saturday's run, and 7 points down on the HR. Starting to get my legs back.

11.34 miles in 1:47:58 (9:31/mile) @ 156 bpm

2/20 Medium Run

2010-02-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Skipped out on running on Friday, just not up for it. Saturday was a nice Medium length run, clockwise through Mill Creek. Some hills, slowish pace. nothing spectacular.

Was able to sleep in till 6 since it was a shorter run, out and moving just before 7. Decent amount of other runners and walkers out. It was ~37 when I got up, so tights, ls shirt, and jacket. I felt like the jacket and shirt got really sweaty, especially in the forearms, which was frustrating.

Almost list the bottle from the single bottle holder once, and did have it pop out another time. I need to find the bottle retainer and sew it back on. Tightening it up caused some abdominal discomfort that felt like sore/strained abs for a but. Probably just pushing things around. Need to resolve the bottle issue or lose some weight. :)

Super high heart rate for the route and distance. 7 days off, and the cold that won't die, I suspect. When I ran this Sat and Sun a few weeks ago it was 153 bpm, then 149 bpm at essentially the same pace. Legs should come back on Sunday, I suspect.

11.33 miles in 1:47:06 (9:27/mile) @ 163 bpm

2/16 Run

2010-02-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Started the day with another morning visit to the treadmill. Got a better spot near the air vent, and for a few minutes I was the only person n the room. I was right near the thermostat. It was comfortable at 66 degrees when I started. 70 or so when I finished.

Played with speed, and comfortable pace, and the only thing that wasn't particularly special was the extra sweat on my knee as the scab cracked. Boo....

~6 miles in 57:44 (9:37/mile) @ 161 bpm

Went back to SeaWorld, still great fun, and more interesting for Kaitlyn than the Animal Park. Which she enjoyed, but not as much as Penguins! and Flamingos! and SHAMU! :)

Played in the pool Wednesday morning, where I managed to get one o the worst charlie horses (muscle cramps) I've ever gotten playing with Kaitlyn. Left calf of course, the one I'd been babying for the last few weeks. Still feeling some twinges as I type this on Friday after 3 days off. We'll see how it feels Saturday morning. I had planned on running the Woolley 50K on Saturday, but decided that since it took till Wednesday to start really getting over the cold from last week, and the physical issues it probably wasn't a good idea.

A trip to Coronado and lunch at the Hotel del Coronado, and then a nap for K and a late flight home, and back into the deep end of the pool at work. :)

2/15 Run

2010-02-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

We took a vacation to San Diego, leaving Friday after work. I was destroyed by a 1230 am arrival at the hotel, and all the work and running stuff so Saturday was nothing but hanging out, and a little bit of time with Kaitlyn at the pool (her first time! Yay! She did great!) So... no running on Saturday. :)

The unshakable cold decided me for Sunday, so I took it off too. We spent most of the day at SeaWorld. A lot of very warm fun. :)

Monday was quite enough of the no running. the condo was just off the freeway, and we weren't sure what the area was like, so I actually ran on the treadmill early, so we could go to the San Diego Zoo Animal Park (very fun. Strongly recommended). In a tiny overheated room. Bleah. But it got done.

Started shooting for 9 minutes a mile, did 3 miles of that, then had to duck out for a call of nature, then dropped it to 9:30, and then 10. Did a half mile at around 8, and then cooled down at 10 again. Sooooo hot!

~6 miles in 58:20 (9:43/mile) @ 165 bpm

2/7 - West Seattle Fat Ass 50K Mini Race Report

2010-02-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

Meant to do this the day of but it didn't happen. Long race report for Pigtails Run and this race to appear soon. :)

No rain for a change. :) We had our doubts at the start, but it dried out nicely.

A double out and back around Alki Beach with amazing views of Seattle and fun, expensive West Seattle neighborhoods.

Pretty sure someone hired invisible gnomes to run beside me and beat my legs with sticks. Feeling beat a bit beat up.

A great run with friends made on the run that made it very enjoyable. Thanks Mike and Ken! Bruce hung around till the end to see me come in (he placed 2nd overall).

Got to chat with Betsy and Matt at the finish and watch some other people come in before I drove home.

Gotta love a fantastic free race.

5:13:34 for the 50K (10:04/mile) @ 151 bpm

Immune System FAIL! afterwards though... :( The cold I thought had gone away caught up with me a few hours after the race. I popped a 100.5 fever for a few hours. It went away quickly, but then my sinuses stopped up and stayed that way for a long time, I haven't completely kicked it now, almost 2 weeks later.

2/6 Run

2010-02-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

A short Saturday morning run to keep the mileage up for the week, and hopefully work out some kinks for the West Seattle Fat Ass 50K tomorrow. I've felt like I might have a cold coming on for the last two days, but the run seemed to help, and I didn't have any problems on the run, so I think I'm good to go.

I think the bigger issue is going to be the 4 hours of painting and trim work as Val and I tried to get Kaitlyn's new room put together.

Did essentially the same route I did on Tuesday, just reversed the bigger loop so I didn't have a mile long uphill grade, just a short intense hill and then done. Not sure if that was the best decision I've ever made, but I survived. :)

A bit chilly in the morning, nothing like the east coast, but jacket and gloves. jacket stayed on, and gloves were on and off depending on the wind.

6.33 miles in 59:51 (9:27/mile) @ 152 bpm

2/4 Run

2010-02-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

Thursdays weather was beautiful. Mid 50s, clear and warm. The run itself wasn't all that great. Slow, but not slow enough to keep my HR down as low as I'd like, and not fast enough to be fun. :)

I left for the run when I felt my jaw and teeth clenching. Much better after the run :)

6.47 miles in 1:01:16 (9:28/mile) @ 150 bpm

2/3 Run

2010-02-05T21:51:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I decided to go for a run at lunch despite time constraints when I realized I was seriously considering clubbing someone like a baby seal. Time to run. :)

Not the ideal day for a run, mid 40s and rainy, but it turned into a good hard frustration expending tempo run. As fast as my 10K PR, at a lower HR for 6.5ish. Doesn't leave a lot of room for anything byt burning it all out. Of course, an hour after I got back into the building the sun came out and it was gorgeous, till I had to walk to the bus, when it started to pour again. :) Went out way too fast, and the last mile or so was a lot of work to keep some kind of speed together.

Only bad part to the run was walking back into the garage. I slipped and fell on a section of algae coated concrete (cleaned after my notification of facilities). Road rash on my hip and calf, and a silver dollar sized patch of missing skin under my knee. And 2 days later my left tricep, which must have caught me, feels like a horse kicked it. Ah, well.

6.49 miles in 49:50 (7:41/mile) @ 169 bpm

2/2 Run

2010-02-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was an evening run. Work has been insane as we work on migrating to our new network, and then Val had a treat and dropped by for lunch (with 3 Pigs BBQ!) and Frost doughnuts for the team. I was even controlled and didn't have too many extra. :)

It was a chilly 50degrees, for a hilly run that I don't do normally, cutting through the back roads off 116th, back to Seattle Hill road, back to the start (~4.8 miles), and then back through a hilly residential area for another mile or so.

My calves were still jangly, either form last week in the Mizunos, or from spending the weekend in old shoes, and didn't finally warm up till like 4.5 miles in.

Oddly, I had a lot of times in this run where running FASTER lowered my HR, probably related to the calves and my form at lower speeds I suspect. I don't think I'll actually see this in the HR/Pace data, but I swear it happened. :)

6.33 miles in 58:44 (9:17/mile) @ 153 bpm

1/31 Medium Long Run

2010-02-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

Another birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, which I haven't been to in decades, on Sunday. No energy to run during Kaitlyn's nap, I wanted to hang out with Val instead. This meant a late night run. The "plan" called for ~20. Not happening at 9pm on a Sunday night, so I just went out for the same loop I did on Saturday.

Not entirely unexpectedly, this run was slightly faster, and at a lower heart rate than Saturday's run. I haven't looked back at the log to confirm it, but I'm pretty dang sure this happens a LOT during my double weekends. It makes me start considering doing a run the day before races. Which I'll get a chance to try Super Bowl Sunday, since the plan is to do 6 on Saturday, and then the West Seattle Fat Ass 50K on Sunday.

Only thing that was bad about this run was the feel of my gorge most of the run, Apparently 2 1/2 hours isn't enough time for pizza to clear the system. :)

This run finishes out January, and this January is the highest mileage of the last 3 years. 148.22 miles for the month. 100.71 miles last January. A nice improvement. :)

11.31 miles in 1:48:13 (9:34/miles) @ 149 bpm

1/30 Medium Long Run

2010-02-05T21:46:00.000-08:00

Saturday's run was a nice early one. A busy day ahead, and no way to move it around. Up at 5, and a slow start finally got me out the door at 6. Apparently Kaitlyn was up at 6:30 like last week, so I lucked out. :)

Low 40s, so jacket and gloves so I had no excuses. Gloves came off quickly as usual, but the jacket stayed on the entire run. I think I'm just finally getting used to wearing it.

A bizarre amount of other runners out, almost all of them in the first 1.5 miles as I headed down 35th into Mill Creek. 2 pairs, and 2 singles in 5 minutes or less. Maybe a running club/group? Hmmm...

The run itself was nothing spectacular. I zoned out through most of it. Pandora was treating me well and dishing out some good music, and I wasn't thinking about anything much at all.

My mom showed up for her visit a bit after I got back, and then we headed to Little Gym. Then a lunch, a short nap for K and then off to our neighbors birthday party at Jump Planet. Jump Planet has a big warehouse spaceful of the inflatable bouncy houses. And the adults get to play too! I think I played as hard as K did. Maybe harder. :) Lots of fun!

11.24 miles in 1:49:28 (9:44/mile) @ 153 bpm

1/28 Run

2010-01-29T21:25:00.000-08:00

Had a status meeting for a major ongoing project a work with Jim. Projected delivery for one of the other teams wasn't till after lunch, so Jim and I decided to go for a run. :) We started together for the first mile or so, then I sped up and worked my way the rest of the way around the lake, clockwise again. Warmer than Wednesday, but not bad at all.

Third day in a row back in the Mizunos, and I'm thinking the Addictions are the best. This last run had my calves feeling like they had been beaten with sticks again, which hasn't happened for weeks. Addictions should be dry from Pigtails, so we'll see it comes back on Saturday.

6.45 miles in 1:00:12 (9:20/mile) @ 148 bpm

1/27 Run

2010-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

Not as fun as Monday's run. A bit cooler in the low 40s, enough to make me consider wearing my gloves. Clockwise this time for some variety, but nothing particularly interesting. It was much warmer on Tuesday. Wish I had the time to run on Tuesday, the weather was spectacular.

6.46 miles in 59:50 (9:16/mile) @ 149 bpm

1/25 Run

2010-01-29T21:22:00.000-08:00

Monday was a spectacular counter clockwise run around the lake. I could have gone out Sunday, but I took a day off after Pigtails instead. I'm glad I waited. Heart rate was way down, everything just flowed.

They apparently finally cleaned the bridge off on 34th. It's nice to not have to fight my way over the mounds of leaves.

Weather was great, low 50s, slight breeze, no rain.

Yay, running!

6.48 miles in 1:00:19 (9:18/mile) @ 142 bpm!

1/23 Pigtails Run 50K Mini Race Report

2010-01-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

Another very rainy 50K down in Renton.

A much more challenging course than the Flat Ass, but a lot more fun. spent a huge part of the race running with people and chatting. Thanks Matt and BJ!

Came home with my shoes covered in mud. :) A fun way to spend a Saturday morning!

Final Time: 5:25:43

1/21 Run

2010-01-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Typing this is going to jinx me. :) Another spectacular run at lunch in short sleeves! Counter clockwise this time. :) My HR was all jacked up, but I attribute that to stress and work. I missed Wednesdays run thanks to having to actually work for a living, and then having to go home and work some more. :|

Very good to get out and blow out the carbon. Back is doing swimmingly, and calf is doing nicely. I'm waiting till Friday to make the call about running the Pigtails Run 50K as planned on Saturday. Val is justifiably concerned about the long work week (nights logged in for 2-4 hours almost all week), and then a lot of mileage. I've occasionally been known to overdo it. :) We'll see. I'm still pretty sure I'm going out to run it. Fortunately it's a loop course this time so I can bail early if I need to.

6.47 miles in 58:49 (9:05/mile) @ 157 bpm

1/19 Run

2010-01-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

Another spectacular run at lunch in short sleeves! Clockwise around the lake in the high 50s. No rain, overcast, mild breeze. Perfect day for a run. Planned on going out with Jim, but needed to make a pits stop and then run up to my cube and grab my Garmin. The run was especially welcome, since we consolidated our company back onto one floor on Monday, so I'm back in a cube and trying to get settled back in.

My starting HR is finally back down to where it should be so I think I'm finally getting caught up on my rest, and kicking the lingering cold that's been hanging on with a death grip.

6.5 miles in 1:00:54 (9:22/mile) @ 149 bpm

1/17 Medium Long Run

2010-01-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday (1/16) started normally. :) Up at 6, get sidetracked by the dishes while I try to wake up and convince myself that I really want to go run on what appears to be the coldest morning in a few weeks. Just as I've talked myself into wearing jacket and gloves and sucking it up at around 6:45, I hear the pitter patter of little feet. And the slam of a dresser drawer. Crap. Kaitlyn's up. I wander upstairs and find her harassing Val. Kaitlyn hasn't learned the rule that you don't wake the pregnant woman early, so we head downstairs for some father/daughter time. :) Later in the day, after a 10am nap, and then a nap when Kaitlyn when down for hers, I decided to bag the run for the day. :)

Sunday was a very pleasant run. Not being sure about my back (responding nicely to twiceadays on the foam roller) and calf (also responding well to the foam roller), I decided to do two loops around the block so I could bail early if my body complained, and to only do 2 laps (~12 miles) and take it easy. I'm well behind where I would like to be for Mt. Si prep, but it'll work itself out.

Up at 6 again, out by 6:45. (Kaitlyn woke up at a more weekend normal 7:45. :)) Ground was wet, but no active rain for the whole run. Whee! Temps were back up to low 40s, too which made it much easier to get out. I went ahead and wore jacket and gloves, so I had no excuse. :) Gloves came off early, jacket stayed on all run.

I had planned on running counterclockwise, then switching directions for the second loop, but decided to just keep moving forward. :) I had some motivation problems at mile 5 or so, but the sun finally came up and my calf finally warmed up, so the second lap felt pretty good.

Interestingly, Emory's, a local restaurant that caught fire a few months ago is finally being torn down. Hopefully they will rebuild. Oh, and the "Bikini Espresso Hut" has closed it's doors. :) Other than that, nothing interesting to report. :)

12.32 miles in 1:55:18 (9:22/mile) @ 151 bpm

Pigtails Flat Ass 50K Race Report

2010-01-21T20:38:00.001-08:00

Wow. This is late. I figured I probably better get this doen, what with the Pigtails Run in 2 days, that I'm going to have to write a race report for. :) This race was run 12/19/2009.

I got up at 5 to make sure I would be completely ready. Prerace prep the night before basically consisted of me throwing clothes into one of my bins, making Orange Jello/Cool Whip salad to contribute to the stock of food after the race, and printing some maps.

I ended up taking my single bottle belt with the extra pouches since the longest stretch between aid stations was like 5 miles. Theoretically that's a one bottle distance if I'm drinking at max capacity.

There had been some messages about parking being tight, and I coordinated to pickup another runner (LuvPre) from the Runners World forum. Got to his house a bit late at around 7, and after some phone calls for him to guide me in. :) Thanks to his Garmin Nuvi, we finally got to Landsburg Park in Ravensdale around 7:30, with the race starting at 8:00.

Parking really was pretty tight, but we got the last spot in the main lot, by the start. Got out and picked up our bibs (made of cut up old bibs, cool) and then wandered across the street to the two portasans available and made a pitstop. Walked back, set up my fuel belt, and then dropped off my fee ($5, I gave $10 (It supports a food bank, why not)) and a box of food and soup for the food bank. Saw Bruce, Betsy, and Matt as we were getting set up in the parking lot. Also saw another Berner puppy, owned by the winner, I believe. (I think they're good luck. :)) Saw Katie and chatted with her and Bruce as we walked over the bridge and lined up for the start.

Weather was in the low to mid 40s with a wonderful mizzle (misty drizzle).

For the sake of the race report, please note that AS 1, 4, 5 are the same (staffed), and AS 2, 3 (unstaffed) are the same

START TO AS1 (5.85 miles) :

The start was just across the Cedar River from the finish, on a power line trail that parallels the river and the trail the rest of the race was run on. We all gathered together just inside the entrance to the trail as pigtails gave her race briefing. Then, after an informal "3, 2, 1, GO!" we got started. It was the oddest start I've had in one of these smaller races. It was absolutely packed. the trail was a narrow packed gravel access road, and there were around 100 runners. The first half mile felt like a 'big city' race, until we all sorted ourselves out. I started super slow, just taking my time to get warmed up and settled in. It was going to be a long day, and while breaking 5 hours would be great, I was just going to let it settle out how it would. I ran with Katie and Jessica for a short period until I realized that I had misheard their time goals, and realized I needed to speed up a little.

I realized I had forgotten to start my 'normal' watch at the start, and started it just as Garmin chirped at mile 1. I wanted to use the watch to track splits between, and through aid stations. We ran out through the gate, across the parking lot and back across the little bridge, where someone directed us to the left, past the finish, and onto the Cedar River Trail.

The first leg of the Cedar River Trail is packed gravel lined with trees. A surprising number of houses are within a stones throw of the trail, which felt odd sometimes. This first leg was spent just getting the kinks worked out, and starting to get my rhythm. Average HR for this leg is 149 bpm, right at my original goal for effort, and average pace is 9:20/mile. Pretty comfortable. The mizzle shows no signs of breaking, and I'm soaked through by the first couple of miles.

AS 1 is a shelter staffed by a couple of wonderful volunteers. I had told Val I was going to try not to to pull a Carkeek and spend a lot of time at the Aid Stations. I get through this first one with a bottle refill, a handful of M&Ms and Gummi Bears in 8 seconds. :) Not bad. :)

I did manage to spend some time with another runner during this leg (another former Army guy)(bugger, don't remember his name), but he was shooting for 9/mile and sped up after we chatted for a while.

54:43 total time for this leg

AS1 TO AS2 (5.4 miles):

Shortly after the aid station the Trail transitions from crushed gravel to asphalt. I personally think this felt better, and that I wasn't dumping so much energy in the gravel. I felt like I was able to get more efficient again. What sucked is that at about the same point the mizzle converted to a real rain. A "my compression shorts shed water if I wipe my hands off on them" kind of rain. I was on the edge of getting cold in this stretch. If the rain had kept up it might have gotten unpleasant.

Also, M&Ms may not melt in hour hand, but they do stain. :)

Probably because of the rain, and the change after a few miles to running close to one of the local highways, this was a REALLY long stretch from AS1 to AS2. For some reason I thought the next aid station was going to be closer (probably because I thought AS3 was at the turnaround).

I finally hit a stretch where I couldn't see anyone else in either direction and was able to step to the side of the trail and make a pitstop (ahhh, men... the world is our restroom. :) ) before we lost tree cover.

I would classify this leg as being the hardest of the race. The rain and the cold were a big deal, and for some reason, I just had some serious motivational/head-space problems. I think I just hadn't run long enough to beat my legs and my brain into submission yet. I passed a Tavern (not yet open) on the freeway at around mile 9 and thought it would be a really good place to get out of the rain and make a phone call to get a ride :). Go figure. I think that except for the brief chat in the last leg, running this solo, while getting passed by clusters of chatting runners didn't help, either. I picked up some interesint tips about directing a race listening to some of the conversations though. :)

Finally hit AS 2. It was a very welcome pair of water blue jugs and a gallon Ziploc bag full of Snickers and PayDays. I refilled my bottle, grabbed one of each of the candy bars and got back on the move. Not as fast as the first aid station, but 23 seconds for self serve ain't bad. :)

48:20 for this leg. I've sped up a little, average pace is down t0 9:17/mile, avg HR is up a few ticks to 151

AS2 TO TURNAROUND TO AS3 (4.9 miles):

A few hundred yards after our aid station is an aid station for the Team in Training gang. One of their volunteers gives a cheer as run by. I wonder what race they were training for?

The Payday bar is super yummy, and the Snickers isn't bad either. Certainly better than the Hammer Gels and GU. The last hammer dose I took gave me some stomach rumbles, but nothing that continues. Time to check the expiration date on the bulk bottle.

I've settled in, starting last leg, behind a pair of rabbits. A gentleman in grey a few hundred yards ahead of me, and a gentleman in a red Marathon Maniacs shirt (who looks vaguely familiar, like he runs around Lake Union, and I've seen him) a few hundred yards ahead of him. We've spent miles 'together' with no change in our distances. :)

Shortly after the aid station the rain switches back to mizzle, and I start to warm up again. Something must have changed in the terrain, because I find this stretch much easier, and speed up just a little.

See the leaders after their turnaround. LuvPre is 4th I think, Bruce is next. I tried to cheer for one of the leaders and got the same squawk that I got when I tried at Seattle last year. No more cheering for other runners. I just switched to a thumbs up and stayed there for the remainder of the people I crossed paths with. That and maybe a "Keep it up" or "Kickin' ass"

My first rabbit starts slowing down (or I'm getting faster) around mile 12. I get my half marathon split (2:01:26), and then I catch up to my first rabbit. We run together through the turnaround (13.7 miles down!), and since he mentioned some intestinal distress (he was hoping the turn around was in a park with a restroom) I give him some of my wet wipes and then we parted ways.

I manage to catch up with my other rabbit at AS3. It turned out to be Stevie Ray Lopez from the RW forums. And yes he does run around Lake Union sometimes. We chatted briefly at the aid station, and I left while he was throwing something into his bottle. 33 seconds at the aid station. I don't remember what, if any, fueling I took after I refilled my bottle.

48:01 for this leg, 9:15 is average pace, and HR Avg is up to 153.

AS3 TO AS4 (5.4 miles):

Through the final part of the last leg, and the beginning of this leg, I get to see the other people still headed out. Betsy, and Katie, and I think Bob Dolphin. Lots of groups again in the second half of the group. I pass a number of the clusters of runners that passed me earlier in the run during this stretch too. Soon enough I'm back just chugging along. I think I passed a couple of people this leg as we headed back. It felt faster, even if it took just as long. Probably that whole "returning feels faster" thing.

The rain is still coming down in the same place as we head back. It's at least as wet as the first time, but I'm warmer this time, apparently and it doesn't bother me. It's much wetter after 3 hours of rain and there are more puddles and stuff to avoid.

I recall managing to pass a handful of people on this leg, including a guy pretty close to the aid station. The goal of getting back to the aid station helped keep me moving. I took a bit longer at this aid station. I wasn't quite as mentally organized, and it took a whole 52 seconds. I managed to almost fill my bottle with Gatorade and not water, and snagged a pair of Snickers that I never ate, and a handful of snacks and got back on the move. One of the volunteers asked if I was continuing on through to the 50K or downgrading. I said I was still doing it. "Way to go, daddy-o!". :)

49:30 for this leg. 9:17/mile average pace, 155 bpm average HR.

AS4 TO TURNAROUND TO AS5 (4.9 miles):

The "best" part of the extra section for the 50K is the hill right at the aid station. It's not huge, but it's short and steep and it's at 21.5 miles into the run. The I'm pretty sure it's a very light continuous uphill to the turnaround. The outbound leg was quite possibly the longest 2.5 miles I've ever run. It was just brutal. Despite knowing how far out it was, and where I was thanks to Garmin, I was convinced the turn had been moved at least 3 times. :|
figured the turn had been moved.

The run out was actually quite pretty. We paralleled a lake for a nice section of the run. The only thing 'odd' were the steel underpasses/tunnels. Kind of creepy, and I wouldn't want to be a woman running this trail at night or in the evening. Saw Bruce headed back the other way about halfway through.

When I finally hit the damned turnaround I though I'd cry. I told other runners the distance to the turnaround for the next half mile. Hopefully I wasn't too annoying. I know I would have appreciated it from some of the other front runners. Because of this, I called out the distance to oncoming runners for the first half mile as I came back down. Hope it helped, and wasn't too annoying. Made a pitstop just after I hit Marathon distance. Marathon split was 4:06:02. Not bad considering I was supposed to be taking this 'easy'. Just goes to show what those damned Seattle hills can do to your time.

Chugged my was past a couple and their dogs and hung a right at the aid station without stopping. My bottle was still pretty full, and I just wanted to get done. I was starting to get tired, and feeling my thighs, glutes, abs, and lower back. Apparently I should have checked in, because someone called after me to get my bib number. I shouted it back and kept moving. Doh!

49:37 for the leg, give or take. Average pace is down to 9:25/mile and Avg HR is up to 156, where it will stay.

AS5 TO FINISH (4.7 miles):

A few miles ago I had determined that I was pretty close to done, and managed to convince myself to gut it out to mile 27, and then I could walk for a few minutes. Just after the aid station (~26.45) I passed Katie walking her marathon in. Apparently her Plantar Fascitiis had flared pretty badly. She actually mention removal of the foot. :| Out and back course means you've got to finish it though. :) (98 starts, 98 finishes for this race!) She came in a bit after me looking pretty trashed.

Just around a curve from Katie and Gamin chirped for mile 27, and I walked for the first time. My lower back was starting to go, and I was tired. It felt good to walk, but I tried to keep it to about a minute, and them moved back out at a trot, trying to focus on correcting my posture and run more upright instead of hunching over, which helped my back soreness, and seemed to help get my speed on the run legs back up.

I alternated running and walking for the rest of the race, doing the math in my head to try and finish under 5 hours since that seemed to be in reach. The run walk variations were pretty organic, but I did try to keep the walks to no more than 1/10 of a mile, and then run the rest of the mile. When that didn't work it was 1/10th walk and then .5 or .75 run. Whatever kept me moving and would hopefully get me in under 5. I ran the last half mile, and when I started to recognize the last quarter mile or so, I was able to dig a little and go from 10:30/mile for mile 31 to 8:35/mile for that last little bit.

47:49 for the last leg, Pace Average down to final of 9:32/mile. HR evened out at 156. Course measured out officially at 31.15 mile (just a tick long 31.07 is the 'real' 50K distance)), and Garmin measured out 31.24 miles.

Final time: 4:58:10 (9:32/mile) @ 156 bpm (83% MHR)

Bruce had stuck around and cheered me through the finish, and took the few pictures I have from this race. Including a cheesy staged finish picture. :) I almost fell over on him after I stopped running. He grabbed me to keep me from tipping over, and then I decided it was a good idea to keep moving for a bit. Stopped at the car and changed into dry clothes, then got some soup and snacks while waiting for Betsy to come it. I was getting cold and my legs weren't appreciating that, and LuvPre had been remarkably patient hanging out and waiting, especially given that he finished like 2 hours before I did, so we finally got in the car and headed home.

Great race. I'll run it again, if Pigtails does it again.

1/14 Run

2010-01-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday was not a particularly pleasant run. Another run clockwise around the lake. My left calf jangled early, and then both calves might as well as not have been there. Quads were trashed, back cramped a little about 4 miles in. Just all in all, a bad run. Weather wasn't horrible, just wet. By the time I was done I was pretty sure someone had been beating my legs with sticks. The 800m sprint in hiking boots and work backpack to catch the bus probably didn't help things.

6.48 miles in 58:47 (9:04/mile) @ 155 bpm

1/13 Run

2010-01-15T21:46:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was an absolutely perfect day for a clockwise run around the lake. It was in the effing high 50s! I wore a short sleeved shirt for a run in January! It started to drizzle (very lightly) and get darker with about a mile to go. Running felt good, and the weather was fine.

HR was a bit high, but pace was withing rance.

6.45 miles in 59:07 (9:10/mile) @ 155 bpm

1/11 Run

2010-01-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Monday's run was pleasant, despite the heavy rain. Temps were good, and I think I'm finally kicking the 'cold' or whatever I've had for awhile. My starting HR was down for the first time in a while.

Ran counter clockwise around the lake to save the big puddles till last half of run. It worked, mostly. :) Really needed this run to reset my brain from some work frustrations. An hour on your feet dodging idiots in cars makes stupid work stuff go away. :)

This was Kaitlyn's actual birthday, so we took her to dinner at Azteca. I swear they must have mainlined her with sugar before we picked her up from daycare. She wasn't bad, but she was just extremely pingy. Even for her.

6.38 miles in 59:41 (9:21/mile) @ 150 bpm

1/9 Medium Long Run

2010-01-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a very nice medium long run. The run was the start of a crazy day with Kaitlyn's birthday party and a friends slightly belated holiday party. Started slow and got slower, but unlike Thursday, my headspace was fine. Probably because slowing meant I was fighting hills, and was staying in the McMillan Long Run pace range.

11.16 miles in 1:49:29 (9:49/mile) @ 150 bpm

Despite the plan, no run on Sunday. We got home and to bed after midnight. I was trashed so I deferred the run till lunchtime. After I had napped for an hour at 11, and was still tired I decided to bag it till the evening, especially after I went and napped again when Kaitlyn went down for her nap. Twice during the day. Probably meant I was done. :)

1/7 Run

2010-01-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

Thursday's run was a psychologically painful run, inspired by a rereading of Hadd's theory for low heart rate training (similar to all the others, except he takes the base HR even lower). I decided to go out around the lake and see how running like I did for the base building period in the beginning of the year, and theoretically should still be, would go.

Holy effing crap. Now I remember why I was so glad to stop this the last time I did it. I've been running over 75% MHR for a reason. And that reason is enjoyment! This really is one of those things that if I have to run like that too much, I probably won't run. And I supposedly still get some benefit at the higher pace. I just need to run longer. And I need to run closer to the McMillan recommended paces. I've been pushing the limits on that, especially for normal runs, so just need to suck it up and slow down a a touch.

I think the problem is that all the people who talk about this are using examples of people who are much faster. As in competitive. As in the example Hadd uses is a guy who can do 7:22/mile at ~75% MHR. I've got things to do, and a run to enjoy. :)

This run, and then the brain meandering it inspired was a very good reminder that the training doesn't have to be PERFECT. Perfect in the "sports science knows best" way. Doing something is better than doing nothing. The only perfect training plan is one you'll execute. I really wish I could get this one out of my head and onto paper the way I want. Grrrr. Maybe I'll just try again later. :)

Weather wasn't bad, high 40s, and a mild drizzle.

6.45 miles in 1:05:04 (10:05/mile) @ 141 bpm (75% MHR)

1/6 Run

2010-01-07T09:16:00.000-08:00

The light workout from the baselines didn't leave me sore, but I could tell my abs were a little more tired than normal.

I went out with Bruce, and as he was going to go back out for a track workout that evening, we just went around the lake. Not as fast as the last time, which is a bit of a bummer. By HR this was a Tempo run, by pace it was out of the McMillan range by 5-8 seconds a mile. I just didn't have 8/mile in me for this run.

I did some talking the first few miles, and then had to shut up, hunker down, and hold on. We got snagged by at least two lights, which was a bit of a blessing. :)

Unlike the rest of the country, we've been having a relatively mild winter so far, high 40s and, yay!, it was dry!.

We had a brief discussion about Michael Pollan's 'In Defense Of Food'. Which I'm finding to be fascinating. We'll see if I can integrate any of his ideas for healthy eating into my life. I'm still trying to internalize the concepts in the book, which made it hard to have an intelligent discussion, because I really had trouble explaining out loud the concepts that in my head. Very frustrating.

6.54 miles in 54:06 (8:16/mile) @ 170 bpm (91% MHR)

1/5 Baselines

2010-01-05T21:43:00.000-08:00

Theoretically tonight was supposed to be the first night back at the gym. In the interests of reducing my embarrassment and not causing others serious olfactory trauma, I elected to stay home.

I was able to do the baseline tests for some of the 'hundreds' workouts, since I'm considering doing them in onjunction with 2 days a week with my normal workout.

100 Pushups: 22
About what I expected given how I've been doing the last few weeks

200 Situps: 25
Much lower than expected. And they aren't even 'real' situps, just crunches.

200 Squats: 50
Probably could have done a few more. Hmmm. Quad dominant much? :)

1/4 Run

2010-01-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't really figured out anything other than some goal 50Ks as I prepare for Mount Si, so today's run was really just a matter of getting out and running.

Counterclockwise around the lake in the rain. The temperature was up at just under 50 so it wasn't too bad. I really need to put my contacts back in for the weather. :) You get to the point you can't see after a while. :)

Loving the brooks Addictions, but I've noticed the little 'wing' back by the Achilles is rubbing sometimes after a run. Odd.

I really wish I could outsmart Office and Open Office and make tame based charts work right!

6.43 miles in 57:49 (9:00/mile) @ 156 bpm

12/31 Medium Long Run

2010-01-03T17:18:00.001-08:00

OK, Medium Long is a stretch... :) A late night 9 miles to finish out the year and get me over 1700 in either one of my logs.

It was ~45, rainy, at least for the first half. I really haven't worn my glasses for a run in a long time. I think the way they fogged up when I lost my head/sidewind was the best! :)

Really wasn't feeling it the first half and wanted to be done. I felt much better the last half, after the rain stopped.

9.01 miles in 1:23:17 (9:15/mile) @ 161 bpm

No run on Saturday, got caught up as I left in Jennifer's Body, and decided to spend some time with Val instead. Really just looking for an excuse to take a break.

Sunday I made a conscious decision not to go run. I've got a 'new' 15 mile route picked, but I'll use it later, or modify it to bump it up to 16. Last night of a nice vacation. Next week starts 3 months of training for the Mount Si 50 miler.

12/30 Medium Long Run

2010-01-03T16:52:00.001-08:00

I had planned to run yesterday, but apparently moving furniture that hasn't moved in years, from 15 year old carpet, raises some NASTY dust. Totally trashed my sinuses, and I finally forced my way out the door after an extra day off.

Decided to go out for 10ish. 10 today, 10 tomorrow and I'm over 1700 for the year. So... out through Mill Creek and around for a late night.

The run started out ominously, with a fairly heavy headwind. I though the jangle in my left calf was back, but it settled out earlier than normal, and I was moving comfortably pretty early in the run. Might actually be healing.

Only a handful of other runners out at 10, but all were friendly. :)

I was running fast, and it felt good. I was trying to just run by feel, with the idea that I'd do some tempo intervals or something similar. It just turned into a nicely hard, fast run. HR was WAY up for some of the paces though, so that dust might actually be something else. Like a cold.

Great run pace-wise, only 4 seconds off half marathon pace. This level of speed really makes you realize how much core work I need. Some lower back, but a lot of abdominal too.

I miscalculated the route and it ended up being a mile and a half longer than I thought for...

11.5 in 1:36:36 (8:24/mile) @ 170 bpm

12/28 Run

2010-01-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

This was a physically painful run. 4 more days off, and for what ever reason I'm just ungodly tight. My glutes and lower back just screamed for most of the run. Super stiff.

Another evening run counterclockwise around the block, at around 42, not too bad, but gloves would have been nice, since it was a touch windy.

6.18 in 54:39 (8:51/mile) @ 164

Logging this run, I realize I have 20 miles to do in 3 days to break 1700 miles for the year... Lets see how that goes.

It's been hard to stay motivated on this vacation. I realized it's not the physical act of running...It's the time commitment. Especially when I'd rather spend the time with family. It doesn't help that I've been fighting something too...

12/23 Run

2010-01-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

First run since Pigtails. I'd never noticed it after other long runs, but by feet were still a little swollen 3 days after. Not badly, but enough that those wonderful veiny runners feet weren't as veiny.

A chilly evening, and after 3 days of rest it ended up being a faster run counter clockwise around the block than I had intended it to be.

6.17 in 51:29 (8:21/mile) @ 157

12/22 Workout

2010-01-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I went for a workout with Val at the Gym. She found it more than a little amusing that the pregnant ladies (her and her trainer) kicked my ass. In my defense, this was a scaled weight version of her normal workout. :|

Exercises included:
Squat Presses @ 90# (Weight Bar_Plate)
Straight Leg Romanian Deadlifts @ 50#
Walking Lunges
Front Raises @ ~12.5
Shoulder Presses @ ~17.5
Bent Over Flies @ ?
Deadlifts @ 135#

Lower back really had issues with the Romanian Deads

12/19 - Pigtails Flat Ass 50K Mini-Race Report

2010-01-03T15:39:00.000-08:00

After 2 weeks, I finally realized that if I want to keep up with the blog, I need to get over having a full race report in the correct sequence of blog posts. :) So, to get back on track...

So a few weeks before Christmas I ran my last race of the year. Pigtails Flat Ass 50K.

Short version; it was 40s, wet, and one if the top 3 races I've done for sheer enjoyment (Carkeek and Beach To Chowder Half being the others).

I managed to pull off a 4:58:10 (~9:32/mile) debut 50K, which makes me just ecstatic.

12/17 Tempo Thursday and "Workout"

2009-12-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

Sprinted down to the locker room to squeeze in a run before a meeting, and Bruce was doing the same thing, so we decided to go out together. As we all know, this means I'm gonna get a workout. This was no exception. According to McMillan, this run ended up within the Tempo range for my 3:45 goal (7:49 - 8:09), so Tempo Thursday, yay!

We went out clockwise, and I actually chatted! I'm not sure how I managed that at this pace, but I was actually able to participate in a conversation, and for the last couple of miles, be the person doing most of the talking.

49 and clear... very nice day for a run.

6.51 miles in 52:26 (8:03/mile) @ 169 bpm (90% MHR)

Pigtails on Saturday. Hopefully this run doesn't cause any problems. I'm not supposed to be racing it, it's just supposed to be a long training run, so no taper.

Splits:
7:54 @ 156
8:02 @ 169
7:51 @ 168
8:04 @ 172
8:06 @ 174
8:02 @ 175
0.51 - 8:43 @ 170

Evening "Workout"
Val was about an hour into Gran Torino as I was leaving for the gym. We hadn't seen it yet, and I got sucked in. Decided to workout at home instead.

Val had me try some of the off balance pushup (one hand on a medicine ball, other on the ground), then I did my step ups and planks. Did a second set of pushups, and then started stepups. My thighs complained about the tempo run, so I just bagged it and watched the rest of the movie. And then went up and logged in to work for half an hour.

12/16 Run

2009-12-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

And we truly are back to Seattle winter weather - 51 degrees and rain
But, 51 degrees means shorts again! Don't mind the tights, but...

I've noticed before, and noticed again this run, that wearing hat, which is great for shade and keeping rain out of the eyes, seems to affect my form. I tent to look down more if I have my hat on. Interesting.

The form affecting hat was of hat off by ~2. I don't remember having to go hatless so often in the beginning. Increased speed == more heat?

It rained to 2.5, took a break to tease us, and then started again at 4.

Good run, but tough. I didn't object to the brief break at the light by Speedy Reedy today.

Tuesday was a "Hey, maybe I can race Pigtails even though I shouldn't."
Today was a "God, pigtails is gonna suck. This hurts!"

6.47 miles in 56:07 (8:41/mile) @ 159 bpm

Had one of those random, post run thought as I was walking back:
Based on someone I read once, the fae (to include fairies) were 'gods' to be appeased, not worshipped as modern gods are. That let to an interesting thought of what would Tinkerbell as one of the fae...

12/15 Run and Workout

2009-12-20T14:54:00.000-08:00

Well, the Seattle weather is back to normal. Went out on Tuesday in the rain. Good solid rain, no mizzle (misty drizzle, the more typical Seattle precipitation). Reasonably comfortable at 45 for a quick counterclockwise loop around the lake.
My left calf was tight again, down near the achilles. Definitely need to keep an eye on this one.
Did some pushups and situps at home Monday night, and my lower abs were still pretty sore/weak. My lower back to a lesser degree. My lower abs mumbled on the run, but nothing serious.

6.1 miles in 56:36 (8:50/mile) @ 155 bpm
(within a second total time of last week, 4 points lower in HR, maybe I'm recovering from Seattle.) :)

-------------------------------
Evening Workout

C2 Rowing Machine - 500 meters on 5.5 in 2:15.
Slow and easy for a warmup.

Initial Pushup Set: 14
what the hell?

2 sets as supersets
Front Planks - 60 seconds
Side Planks - 40 seconds
C1: Stability Ball Crunches (5 second hold) - 10 reps
C2: Stability Ball Forward Rolls (5 second hold) - 10 reps

really felt my lower abs on the ball forward rolls, very tight, still sore. Surely not doing full range of motion on these

2 sets as supersets
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Front - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways Twist - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Jumps - 3 sets - 10 reps

12" PlyoBox Single Leg Jumps- 1 set - 10 reps each leg

2 sets of each superset. One superset cluster at at time. 1 minuteish rest between sets.
SC1: Stability Ball Chest Press - 10 reps @ 25#
SC2: Pushups - 15 reps
pushups were on the knees after the first two or three

SB1: Dumbbell Rows - 10 Reps @ 25#
SB2: Free Motion Pulldowns - 12 Reps @ 25#

SS1: Overhead (Shoulder) Press - 10 reps @ 20#
SS2: Shoulder Abduction - 12 reps @ 8#
on the second set of shoulder presses my left arm started to fail

SL1: Dumbell Squats - 10 reps @ 45#
SL2: Stability Ball Leg Extension - 12 reps

Standing Bicep Curls - Alternating Arms - 2 sets, 10 reps/arm @ 20#

12/12 Medium Long Run

2009-12-19T16:17:00.001-08:00

I had planned on running Saturday in the morning, but decided to spend some time at home instead. Then I was going to run during Kaitlyn's nap, and we got sucked into the new Terminator. Finally forced myself out the door at about 3:40. Forgetting that whole sunset, it gets cold thing. It was ~31 when I left, and got a bit brisker about halfway through the run. :)

The run was a bit faster than it probably should have been, but I sped up to keep warm. Ant then when the sun went down I sped up some more. :) Creating an very pretty 'cut-down' run for the last five or so miles, with the pace dropping 10/sec a mile or so every mile. Good workout! I ran through Mill Creek and added a mile on the trail since I apparently can't add and run at the same time. Goal was closer to 10. :)

11.61 miles in 1:38:18 (8:28/mile) @ 158 bpm

8:31 @ 151
8:37 @ 158
8:31 @ 153
8:22 @ 151
8:40 @ 159
8:50 @ 159
8:35 @ 158
8:39 @ 158
8:29 @ 162
8:13 @ 162
8:04 @ 163
0.61 - 7:54/mile @ 168

12/10 Run and Workout

2009-12-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

Another chilly run at work 31ish when we left, 35 by the time we got back. Actually did without the jacket, but kept the gloves.

Caught Bruce just as he was about to leave, and we decided to run the lake together. As we were walking out of the garage, Bruce said what are some of the most feared words in my running vocabulary. "Want to run Queen Anne?" What am I going to say? No? :)

So after a brutal slog up Queen Anne, to the base of the antennas, which involved more than a little bit of walking, we finally tipped over the top and started on the quad destroying downhill. But I could breathe. So, win! I was also able to use my time honored tactic for getting a few breath's when running with Bruce. Ask an open ended question about a running subject that Bruce enjoys, and let him talk. Grunt at the appropriate times. :)

So I asked some questions about 50 miler training. Starting with the back-to-back vs. single long run question. He's pretty much a fan of back to backs, with the ideal being that your weekend total be close to race distance (say 45 miles total), and about half your weekly mileage. For him, 90 mpw is a good target goal for a 50 miler. Given that the likely hood of that mileage happening in this training cycle borders on negative infinity (I think I might be able to pull off 70 or so)

Just as we finish this discussion, Bruce show me a neat trick to cut back under the Aurora Bridge. We're only 2.5 miles into the run at this point, and I'm already trashed, and suddenly we're on the Ship Canal Trail, about to cross under the bridge. I think "maybe we're headed back to the office, and 'run the lake' was just a euphemism". And then... "Oh, god, we're going up the stairs. Shit. We're really going all the way around." :)

A couple of miles later, we run into Jake, who is out for a flu laden run, and we run with him for a few miles till he heads back to work and we pop up onto Eastlake.

Somewhere in here was more advice about 50 milers and longer runs that appears to have trickled out of my brain. We trotted back into the building and I survived to run another day. :)

7.35 miles in 1:07:30 (9:11/mile) @ 159 bpm

------------------------------------------------
Evening workout

By Thursday I was still thrashed from overdoing on Tuesday. It was actually painful to sleep on my sides on Wednesday night my obliques were so sore... Doh!

C2 Rowing Machine - 500 meters on 5.5 in 2:24S.
lack of core, thanks to soreness, made it hard to row.

Initial Pushup Set: 2, before I dropped to the ground in agony.

Completely unable to do core exercises

Box jumps were excruciating, but I was able to get them done.

2 sets as supersets
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Front - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways Twist - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Jumps - 3 sets - 10 reps

12" PlyoBox Single Leg Jumps- 1 set - 10 reps each leg

2 sets of each superset. One superset cluster at at time. 1 minuteish rest between sets.
SC1: Stability Ball Chest Press - 10 reps @ 25#
SC2: Pushups - 15 reps
pushups were on the knees after the first two or three

SB1: Dumbbell Rows - 10 Reps @ 25#
SB2: Free Motion Pulldowns - 12 Reps @ 25#

SS1: Overhead (Shoulder) Press - 10 reps @ 17.5#
SS2: Shoulder Abduction - 12 reps @ 8#

SL1: Dumbell Squats - 10 reps @ 45#
SL2: Stability Ball Leg Extension - 12 reps

12/9 Run

2009-12-16T21:20:00.001-08:00

After Monday's run, I decided to try running the lake clockwise, on the off chance it would be warmer at the end. Not so much. Not many more runners out that last time either. 28 degrees is pretty dang cold for Seattle. Bleah. Ran straight from the office to stay warmer. LS shirt and jacket, with gloves and watch cap. Watch cap stayed on the whole run.

I swear the sun was on the other side of the city on Tuesday at this time. Very odd.

And, on an oddly obvious note... tucking in your shirt keeps you warmer. :|

6.46 miles in 56:54 (8:48/mile) @ 163 bpm

12/8 Workout

2009-12-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

Finally got back to the gym after something like 5 months. :| The last two races have pretty thoroughly identified the fact that my core is weak again, and that I need to work on some upper body in support of swinging them T-Rex runners arms of mine around.

Decided not to get fancy and just use my existing proven workout for a while again. Dropped the weights a bit and went for it.

Val had mentioned on Monday that there was some sort of alarm going off in the training room that I normally use. It was still going off over 24 hours later. It wasn't too loud, so I just sucked it up and ignored it.

Always nice to get back to the gym and people watch.. :)

C2 Rowing Machine - 500 meters on 5.5 in 2:24.
Slow and easy for a warmup.

Initial Pushup Set: 22
down from 33!

2 sets as supersets
Front Planks - 60 seconds
Side Planks - 40 seconds
C1: Stability Ball Crunches (5 second hold) - 10 reps
C2: Stability Ball Forward Rolls (5 second hold) - 10 reps

amazingly it wasn't my abs that were the limiter here, but my lower back
my left side is still my weakest side on side planks

2 sets as supersets
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Front - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Step and Hold - Sideways Twist - 10 reps each leg
18" PlyoBox Jumps - 3 sets - 10 reps

12" PlyoBox Single Leg Jumps- 1 set - 10 reps each leg

2 sets of each superset. One superset cluster at at time. 1 minuteish rest between sets.
SC1: Stability Ball Chest Press - 10 reps @ 25#
SC2: Pushups - 15 reps
pushups were on the knees after the first two or three

SB1: Dumbbell Rows - 10 Reps @ 25#
SB2: Free Motion Pulldowns - 12 Reps @ 25#

SS1: Overhead (Shoulder) Press - 10 reps @ 20#
SS2: Shoulder Abduction - 12 reps @ 8#
on the second set of shoulder presses my left arm started to fail

SL1: Dumbell Squats - 10 reps @ 45#
SL2: Stability Ball Leg Extension - 12 reps

Standing Bicep Curls - Alternating Arms - 2 sets, 10 reps/arm @ 20#

12/7 Run

2009-12-16T20:53:00.000-08:00

And the temps really are on their way down. Humidity is really low with all the cold, which is doing nasty things to my sinuses, but it's sunny, and 29 feels like 29. :) LS Shirt, jacket, and tights, with watch cap. Cap was off halfway through and my sleeves were up not much later. I considered taking off the jacket, but was really glad I had it when I hit the shaded areas on Westlake. That sun thing sure keeps things warm. :) Maybe counterclockwise isn't a good idea. I'll try it the other direction later in the week and see if it helps.

I was bored so I counted other runners. A whole 13 of us out at lunch today. Seems the cold is keeping people home. :)

6.41 miles in 56:37 (8:50/mile) @ 159 bpm

Official race pictures are finally out, and confirmed something I suspected from Val's pictures. No more white technical shirts for races. It's just not pretty. :|

12/5 Run

2009-12-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

Slept in in the morning, and the afternoon was lazy, so I finally got out late on Saturday. Took a route I haven't taken in a while, down 35th and then up 128th and then back. Fairly flat, just enough hill to shake out some kinks.Short

Temps are definitely coming down, as predicted. 36, feels like 32, with a light dusting of snow on the ground. At least in my neighborhood. There were a couple of spots I ran through that had nothing at all. I've been wearing my watch cap for some of these runs. I'm thinking it's not necessary in the mid 30s. It's nice to have the first mile or so though. :)

I apparently can't use my Garmin properly, and didn't realize it wasn't running until about .75 in. Did some mental waypointing, and did the math once I got back to the house. Data junky in doubt. :)

5.1 miles in 45:40 (8:57/mile) @ 152 bpm

Almost ran on Sunday I was feeling so good, but I had forgotten about the Friday run until I entered this one in the log. I'm right on track for reverse taper and decided not to push my luck. :)

12/4 Run

2009-12-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

Had planned to run on Thursday. Worked from home, having one of those days where you check your work email from the home office in the morning and then can't make it out the door for all the fires. We got home from picking up Kaitlyn and had dinner, and then I almost fell asleep on the couch. I haven't almost fallen asleep on the couch in months. I figured that was a pretty good reason to defer the run, especially given that I'm only 5 days out from the marathon.

12/4 was Friday, and I actually made it to work and ran there. :) A fairly easy run from work to SPU and back. Started the clock from work since the temps were coming down (38 feels like 32), and a warmup walk just wasn't going to happen

Wore my light jacket over and LS shirt with tights and it was tied around my waist after 1.5 or so. It's going to take a few runs to figure out this cool weather clothing thing.

Finally wore my new Books Addictions. Nice. They're like little Brooks Beasts, only in 85% scale. More forefoot cushioning than the Mizunos and slightly narrower, which is good. Good tongue and upper cushioning too. I likey. :)

5.04 miles in 46:42 (9:16/mile) @ 148 bpm

12/1 Recovery Run

2009-12-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was the first run since the marathon. A nice slow and easy run to the Aurora Bridge with Bruce to shake out the kinks. I thought about going out on Monday, but I was still having trouble with stairs. I figured a day off would be a good idea. :)

Started the mileage from work instead of my normal start by the new South Lake Union Park. Bruce likes to get moving earlier, so what the heck...

A nice comfortable 47 degrees. Everything seems to be working OK, but my left calf and right knee are mildly talkative.

3.41 in 31:52 (9:21/mile) @ 140 bpm

Seattle Marathon 2009 Race Report

2009-12-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

A week later than I'd like it to be, but here it is. Finally. Unsurprisingly, another long one. :)

Times are a merger of my watch and my Garmin, with most of them being from the watch. The changes in pace were more obvious with the watch, so I picked that data, and filled in any holes with the Garmin, and used the HR data from Garmy as well. (Yes, I wore a Garmin and a watch. Garmy lost it's mind in the city and the tunnel at RnR. Why take a chance at not being able to obsessively play with race data? :) )

If you want to follow along:
MapMyRun Map (switch to hybrid mode and zoom in. :))
Official Map with water stops, etc

Day Before/Expo:

Thursday was the wonderful carbloading holiday, Thanksgiving. Friday, we dropped Kaitlyn of with Val's Mom, and Val, my Mom and I went and saw 2012. Fun movie. Great CGI. Technical holes you can drive large ships through, but fun. :)

Saturday, Mom watched Kaitlyn so Val and I could have a bit of time to ourselves and go to the expo. After a brief stop in Bellevue so we could have 3 Pigs BBQ for lunch, we drove into Seattle and hit the expo. Val was kind enough to drive, since I really don't like driving downtown.

The expo seemed much more organized (better banners and signage, especially) and much less packed than it was last year. It may have just been the difference between Friday and Saturday though. The expo itself wasn't quite as interesting as last year. I remember seeing more cool stuff last year. The race shirts, nice technical long sleeves, have been panned by a few people I know as being either girly, or garish. They're a BRIGHT green. Hey, it's a really expensive shirt, so I'll wear it. (Val says the color works for me, which is good. :) )

Picking up packets was pretty fast. The teenagers doing their volunteer requirement for HS graduation looked pretty underwhelmed. :) Got to 'meet' John Curley of local TV fame. His daughter was doing the chip check. Had never seen this before, they had a mini pad attached to a computer that she would swipe your chip over so you could double-check your details. Got a nice lowish bib number again (629), someone comments on the fact that I must have registered early.

Just after shirt pickup, is the SPI booth. I didn't know they'd be here, but what a happy circumstance. I'm still debating my final choice of single bottle carrier with extra pouches. They have all sorts of pretty belts on the racks. And they're so small. And only have one pocket. That seems like a dropped set of keys just waiting to happen. The sales guy (from Texas, don't think I got his name :/), comes over as I'm seeing if my iPhone will squeeze in this tiny pouch. It does. He says they'll fit up to 4 of them... Wow. I mention I want to carry my GUs as well as my personal items, and he directs to me to their 2 pouch model. Perfect. Sold. Along with the little clips that turn it into a race number belt as well. An internal pocket in one of these pouches would be nice, but this should work great. A later discussion with Val makes this super perfect; iPhone, keys, and ID in one pouch, and I'll only carry 4 GUs in the other pouch, and get the extra 3 or 4 I might need on the course.

Just a bit further down the aisle were the fine folks from Blue Steel Sports, who were one of the sponsors at Carkeek, where I found it necessary to avail myself of some of their product (they make anti chafing cream). I still do need to buy some. Duh. Probably should have bought some at the expo while I was there. Ah, well :) We stopped and chatted for a while about Carkeek, and Sam and Brock; the RDs, and my 21 laps.

Saw some great shirts and running accessories, but I can't remember the name of the company who was selling them. I KNEW I should have written it down.

We saw some people with Amica Green cowbells this year, but couldn't find any. I'll have to dig the Red ones we got last year out of the box of bits.

The charity groups were over in their own little area, and I wandered over to see if they had any swag (not really). I talked with the woman with the American Cancer Society booth. I'm intrigued. The Team in Training people are great, but they target Leukemia and Lymphoma, and I think my Mom has the right of it here... there are many other cancers out there, and we have personally lost people to those other cancers (lung, etc...). The TeamACS stuff is interesting. Especially since they tie the local fundraising to local research. According to her, the local researcher at the Hutch, was actually part of the team and running. Pretty cool, and very personal. The fund raising part is what scares me more than the running, honestly.

We finally left and drove home. Kaitlyn was down for a nap so the adults could all talk, I could test out the new SPI Belt, and then start laying out gear on the kitchen table. Race gear for me, food for after the race in case the notoriously poor post race food at Seattle was a problem, and a bag of fresh clothes. And the cowbell. :)

I made a comment to Val that I thought I was dealing with this marathon better than last year, nervous energy wise. She pretty much laughed in my face. :)

I relaced the shoes I was going to run in from the box lacing back to traditional lacing. And suddenly they fit properly, just like the other pairs. Who knows, but they feel really good to wear. A good sign.

I managed to get to laying down at 9:30, and surprisingly, was asleep shortly thereafter.

Pre Race:

I checked how the timing worked in last years race report and decided that last year had worked so well that I'd just do the same thing. So...

Alarm went off at 5. A hot shower helps me relax and is better than coffee as far as I'm concerned. Weigh in is high... 190.2. Wow. Higher than Carkeek. Guess that carb loading worked. :| Going to have to address this soon. Downstairs, deal with Toby, get suited up, make a pit stop, grab the bin full of extra clothes and head for the car. Check the weather. It's 51! Very quietly back upstairs to grab a short sleeve shirt in case I want it and out the door at 6.

Traffic is amazingly light compared to last year, and I make it in to work (free parking only a couple blocks from the start. With heated bathrooms. :) who can complain? :)) around 6:30. And realize traffic was so light because I'm here 20 minutes earlier than last year. :)

Spend the next half hour obsessing over temperatures and trying to tape my feet. For some reason the tape doesn't cooperate like it did at Carkeek. It keeps rolling at the edges when I try to put my socks on. I finally give up, and hope they aren't any worse than they were last year. I didn't notice them till the race was over, and had no problems during the race. Decided to just wear a long sleeve shirt and tights, but today's weather would have been perfect for a short sleeve shirt and arm warmers.

Bruce showed up around 7 and then Jake came in to take advantage of the heat around 7:15. We sat around and chatted about races (Jake ran 2:54 and change at Chicago. Bastard. :) ) and race goals and strategies. Jake's advice to me was to start slow, stick at 9/mile until 20 and see how things felt. 9s would get me in well under 4.

Around 7:45 we started to head up to the start. I ran into a wonderful 4 month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy named Bentley on the walk up A good omen. :) A last pit stop and then I wandered over to the 'Ducks' (tours of Seattle on WWII DUKW amphibious landing craft), to try to meet some people from the Runners World forum. Like last year, no luck. Did have a nice conversation with a gentleman waiting for his wife to finish the half, and saw a leggy blonde runner doing high kicks in the parking lot to warm up. Turns out to have been the female winner.

The finally got us all into the corrals and lined up. I tucked in right next to the 4 hour pace group with the goal of keeping my speed down the first few miles. Was kind of cool to not be raising my hand for being a first timer this time. The gal next to me was. I felt much calmer in the corral than I did last year. Less bouncing around and more just waiting. Finally, the National Anthem (take off your hats people, feth...), and then we're off...

Walk, shuffle, stagger-trot, walk, jog, and finally we're over the timing mat to the chirp of the chips and beeps of the Garmins and watches, and headed out trying not to trip over the divider in the road.

Race:
Mile 1: 08:29 @ 154
I'm on the left side of the road, and the 4 hour pace group is on the right. Ahead of me. Wait. What? Gamin says I'm moving faster than I'd like as we work our way down 5th Ave, so I let them get a little bit of a lead. I'll be passing them soon. :) Only saw one person this year taking advantage of the supports for the monorail to cheer and take pictures. That has to be a really neat spot to get pictures as the crowd charges at you and splits around you with only a few feet to spare.

Left calf is really tight, like it has been for the last week, and the front of my ankle hurts a little. Nothing that can't be run through.

The downhill here surprises me a little, since I'd forgotten about it.

Mile 2: 08:56 @ 158

But not as much as the uphill that follows, not horrible, but a surprise, like it was last year. I skip the water station and keep moving.

Somewhere in here is the guy just rocking out the cowbell. He moved around a lot. I remember seeing him at least two more times later in the race.

Still back and left of the 4 hour pace group.

Mile 3: 08:50 @ 163
Up onto the onramps and onto I-90. The road camber doesn't bother me as much this year but it seems more crowded. They did a good job with signage of dividing runners and walkers, but somehow there were an awful lot of walker in the runner space. Kind of annoying. They were all pretty good at not walking more than 2 abreast, but still...

The portasan on the freeway for the mile 3 marker was kind of trippy again. I realized I'd have to hop the k-rail to use it. Not that that would have been a problem, but I didn't notice it last year.

I pass the 4 hour group somewhere in this mile.

Mile 4: 08:52 @ 161

Up and into the Mount Baker Tunnel a little over halfway into the mile. The Seattle Atheists have their aid station again this year just inside the tunnel, and "We Believe In YOU" is still amusing the second time around.

Mile 5: 08:36 @ 160

At the end of the tunnel there's a weaving of runner that sorts the full runners and everyone else into their lanes, Runners to the left, others to the right. Not as much of a cluster as last year with people crossing over. The tunnel wasn't quite as warm this year, but it was nice to get out into the fresh air and breeze again. And this year it's crystal clear, so you can actually see. It was super cool to be running down the Express lanes of the freeway just checking out the view. The downhill off the ramp sped things up nicely. A little bit of tension from my left abs (the strain from a few months ago), so a reminder to dial it back and not get carried away.

Like this year, this is where we see the leaders for the first time. After they blow by, a guys coming up from behind and I decide it's much better to be running where we are. I mean who wants to suck the exhaust from the lead car for 26 miles? :) (Wouldn't you think they'd use an electric/hybrid car for that job?)

Aid station at the next mile marker, so I suck down my fist GU. I figure getting the water in the next mile or so will work OK. SPI Belt is doing it's job and holding things and not bouncing. Good choice!

Saw Bruce and Jake in here somewhere. And the guy going for fastest marathon dressed as Elvis.

Mile 6: 08:48 @ 165

The water stop is under the Mercer "Lid", and the turnaround is just past it. Just fare enough in that Garmin bitches with "Lost Satellite" error for few seconds until it gets its brain back. Two cups of water at the water station, and I manage not to run anyone over.

Then back out onto the bridge, but now the view has changed and it's still really pretty. You can see Seward park, and 520 and Seattle. And it's cool.

A little bit of wind, but just enough to knock the sweat off. I take off my hat for a while to help cool down a little.

Mile 7: 08:41 @ 166

Still running. :) I can see forever and the run is fun. People watching on the out and back, and I think I saw the "Oh Shit! I'd better run faster" trail vehicle bringing up the rear.

I realize at some point here that my calf and ankle stopped talking a while ago and are playing well with others.

I think I saw Betsy, on the third of her triple around here. More accurately, she noticed me, and gave a shout out. I think I saw the guy out for a ruck run here too. There were at least two barefoot runners out for the marathon too.

Mile 8: 08:59 @ 166

As you can see from the pace the uphill back to the tunnel occurs here. :) I'm supremely happy at how my legs felt at this stage. At this point last year I know I was in trouble and wasn't going to hold on much longer. The mile marker here is just under the overpasses of the freeway, and just before the odd little bob and weave down to the residential streets and an aid station.

Mile 9: 08:40 @ 165

Around and down, and water at the aid station and then down onto Lake Washington Boulevard. Snag a GU from the belt after the water (wrong order... taste of GU for miles.) Finally pry my iPhone out of it's pouch and text Val where I'm at. She'd requested a notification, so she could wrangle Kaitlyn, at around mile 7, but that wasn't going to happen with being on the bridge and people, etc...

An internal pocket for the SPI Belt would be nice. I was super paranoid about losing my ID and keys when I took out the phone and prized it from it's Ziploc bag. :)

I get to see everyone at mile 9.5. And here we are. About the same place they were last year. Val's taking pictures, and Mom is pointing out where I am to Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn gets a kiss on the forehead and then I'm back on the move.

Last year I wanted to walk off the course right here. I waited until after the aid station a few hundred feet later and started walking. This year I snag my 2 glasses of water and a GU reload to put in the belt, and just keep moving.

I had spent the last few miles tucked into a pack of runners that included a gal with pictures of her kids on the back of her shirt, and a gal who must own stock in UnderArmour. :) Looking at the pics, the UnderArmour gal has a chip on, but no bib. Odd.

Mile 10: 08:41 @ 163

I think I saw Jake somewhere this mile.

Mile 11: 08:45 @ 163

I didn't realize Iliana was running Seattle, and here she comes out of nowhere headed the other direction, probably her mile 14.5 or so. By the time I realize it's her she's gone. She ended up finishing as 9th female! Go Iliana!

Realize that my legs are starting to get a bit tired. It's a bit early for that...

Mile 12: 08:35 @ 163

A bit of downhill as we head into Seward Park. The water stop is the same place it was last year, but it seems later than I remember it. 2 more glasses of water and a GU.

So nice to run through the park and be able to see things.

Mile 13: 08:55 @ 162

A runner near me meets a friend who seems to have been a pacer for one of the faster groups. Apparently they were switching out every 6 miles or so.

The hat comes off and stays off here. I'm warming up and there's no real wind.

Legs are starting to feel more tired. Nothing left in me at the ~8:45/mile pace. I try to keep the pace but I'm slipping downward a little.

Mile 14: 08:59 @ 162

You can see back to bridge, and see all the other runners on Lake Washington Boulevard. Saw another Berner out for a walk in here I think.

Mile 15: 08:56 @ 161

Now we're officially out of the park and back on Lake Washington Boulevard. Spend the mile carrying my hat instead of wearing it.

Mile 16: 09:15 @ 161

Yay! Family support again at 16.5. Kiss Kaitlyn on the forehead, hand my Mom my hat. Double back and kiss Val and then back on the road.

Legs are officially done with the previous aggressive pace. Now we just try to keep running and hold it together and maybe break 4, since 4:45 has been out of the window for a while. I don't remember my legs giving before other systems at RnR, there it was just total exhaustion by the last few miles. With lots of time to think I think I know what I did 'wrong' with the training cycle. :) Not enough long runs, not enough medium-long runs, and not enough total mileage. The RnR training cycle was just about right. Now we know. :)

Mile 17: 09:17 @ 160

Miles remaining in the single digits!!!! Yay!!

I think I saw Betsy again here.

Mile 18: 09:05 @ 164

Under I-90. Onwards and upwards! :)

Mile 19: 09:19 @ 161

Another GU here, at the aid station that I never see on the map, thanks to a volunteer that went above and beyond. They actually had Chocolate Outrage, so I decided to try to snag one... and missed. It just slipped through my fingers. I had two more in the belt, so I just blew it off. The kid handing them out called out and I waved him off. He ran after me and gave it to me anyway. Thanks, dude. I took it a bit later, and after 5 minutes of warming up in my hand it actually tasted almost good.

Mile 20: 09:47 @ 161
Some 'light' hills leading into Galer/Madison and Interlaken. As with last year they surprise me a little. Longer and a bit harder than I expected

Mile 21: 10:32 @ 161

20.4 is the Galer hill. I don't even try to run it. At the crack where the downhill meets the road I start doing my best to power walk the longest 2 blocks ever.

And then try to start running up Madison. Which doesn't work very well honestly. More walking up Madison, but there was some running here too. Good lord Madison is long.

Mile marker and aid station are at the top of the hill. I miss my split and I'm pretty sure I passed on the water.

Mile 22: 09:26 @ 158

Just as I'm coming down the hill, Eric Sach is headed up the other way and notices me, and gives me a "Go, Aaron!" to pump me up. He's apparently coaching for one of the 'Teams' and I learn later runs each of his runners up the Galer/Madison combo. 27 miles of hill repeats. Holy god. It makes me just want to go find a corner and cry a little.

Saw a GU flask on the side of the road in a pile of discards. The miserly Scot in me wanted to snag it (They're like $5... Don't judge. :)) I didn't grab it... I still can't believe someone threw it away rather than carry it, though.

Another water station as we work our way downhill, so we can start the uphill again. I'm pretty sure I took some water, but no more fuel. The idea of more GU makes me nauseous. My stomach isn't particularly unhappy, but it's pretty clear it doesn't want anything else. I've realized this happened at RnR too. At about 20 I stopped wanting to fuel/hydrate. Not sure if I'm over fueling, or if I need to gut through it and do it anyway. Or change fueling/hydration strategies.

Mile 23: 10:27 @ 161

Interlaken. Fuck. Running. Walking. Running. More running than walking I think. And less misery than last year, but good effing lord this sucked. A lot of people bitch about how the fact that the switchbacks hide the next bit coming up, so you constantly think you're almost done... and it demoralized them. The fact I couldn't see it all was the only thing that kept me moving. I was never had a clear view of how much more pain I had to endure. :)

The TNT gang did it to me again with the 'motivational'/inspirational signs. I read the first one, in tribute to an 8 year old boy lost to cancer and had to stop looking.

Mile 24: 09:20 @ 166

We finally finish Interlaken and at 24.5 is the Krispy Kreme gang again. I pass again. They've go ear splittingly loud music going, and I blow through this Aid Station as well. And slog my way back up a hill. And then a long very slight uphill grade that just never seems to end.

Mile 25: 09:23 @ 166

The Gummy Bears and Pretzels that were down by Galer last year are up here under the overpass. The guy with the pretzels was playing with the runners, running backwards as they were grabbing for them. :)

Another longish shallow hill. I may have walked here. Not actually sure. I was just trying to keep moving and not curse out loud.

Behind me I hear the 'thunder' of a pace group. I know who it is. It's the 4 hour group. An sure enough, past me they come. Not fast, but steadily. I try to tuck in and hold on, but it's not really happening. I try to keep them in sight and hope I can catch them on some of the later down hills.

Mile 26: 09:58 @ 168

Off the bridges and onto the street again. A couple more blocks and then down the steep hill by work, and towards the finish line. I pry out the phone again and text Val. I get everything put away just as we hit the hill. The 4 hour pace bunny is holding steady as we come down the hill. She's lost all but one or two of her brood as they race down the hill, and I pass her about halfway down.

Blow through he last aid station and run by work. It's a good sign. Bruce isn't back at the office and in his chair waiting for me. :) The slog up to the turn on Dexter is miserable, and I'm able to hold off waling until I hit Dexter. Then I run again till I hit the underpass on Mercer. An nasty dip and a last insult to tired runners, the uphill beats me down. What was going to be "walk for two lights then run again" turns into "power walk" all the way up the damn thing. And then run when the lane divider ends.

Mile 26.2: 09:12 @ 173
I actually see the marker this year on the left side of the road and get the split. Very shortly after is the turn in the 'alley' that leads to the stadium and the finish. I hear a "Way to go Aaron! " from Bruce (on the sidewalk waiting to get by) and then I'm past him and I'm trying to start the "sprint" to the finish. I can feel my hands and arms tingle as my blood pressure and HR do some odd things and I speed up a tiny bit.

No pause this year as I cross the informational chip mat, and I'm trying to pick off a couple of people in the chute. Clock reads just a touch over 4:00 as I see it, and hear Val and my Mom. A couple more steps and I finish about a half a step in front of the 4:00 pace bunny!

Chip Time: 3:59:38 (-33:20 from 2008)
Overall (Sex) : 659 of 1448 (45.5%) (-25.4)
Division (Age Group): 103 of 209 (49.3%) (-19.1)

Half Splits:
1:55:53
2:04:36 Difference: 8:43 (-14:17 from 2008)

Weight: 190.2 @ 26% (+19.8 # from 2008)

-------------------------------
Last Year (2008):
Chip Time: 4:32:58
Overall (Sex) : 983 of 1387 (70.9%)
Division (Age Group): 154 of 225 (68.4%)

Half Splits:
2:05:21
2:28:21 Difference: 23:00

Weight: 170.4 @ 21.5%

Post Race:

The finish line seems a bit more organized this year, or I know how it works now... Get my medal and my space blanket, grab the biggest bottle of water I've ever seen given out at a race, and wander in to the spectator area to find Val, Mom and Kaitlyn. I'm done. I just want to cry, honestly. The emotions are just floating around at the top. Especially when I look down at my watch and see that I did break 4.

A brief collapse/hug with Val, a hug for my Mom and then I need to sit for a second. K is being a bit witchy, and Mom needs to get on the road, so back up an start moving towards the "Victory Recovery Area". Apparently K was a pain the whole day, from when she woke up till now. I really appreciate that my Mom was able to come because Val says she would have left from spectating and I'd be walking back to the car. Thanks Mom!

Food was marginally better than last year. You'd think people were shopping though with the sizes of some of the food stacks they had. There are still runners coming in people! Sit down and eat some, and then grab my clothes and go change, get Kaitlyn on the move and walk to Val's truck. I'll ride the bus in and pick up my car on Monday.

My legs are thrashed and I'm not a big fan of the stairs, but my headspace is better than previous races. I'm able to make decisions and have conversations. :) I had an odd jangle in my left bicep and forearm for a few days, but I suspect that wasn't generated at the race. :) One blister on the right foot behind the ball of the foot as expected. It hurt more after I drained it than it did running.

Seattle Marathon 2009 Quickie

2009-11-29T20:34:00.000-08:00

Broke 4 hours! Barely! 3:59:38.

A soul crushing run in some ways, things started to get hard at 13, then really got tough at 16. there was some walking starting at Galer at 20.5 and through Madison and Interlaken, and I was just able to eke out sub 4.

Half Splits:
1:55:53
2:04:36

Val and my mom suffered through he 3 year-old from heck all day so I could see them for a grand total of 20 seconds. :) It made my day both times I saw them before the finish, so thanks Val and Mom!

11/27 Run - Last Run of the Taper

2009-11-27T19:06:00.001-08:00

Friday was the last run of the taper. Seattle 2009 is on Sunday.

Went out around 6, Val and Mom watched Kaitlyn, and I ran an easy down and back on 35th. Could make no conclusive determination if my old shoes were going to destroy my legs if I ran in them so I decided to do the right thing and relace my shoes and run in the lower mileage shoes.

Packet pickup on Saturday, then Xmas photos, then an evening of rest.

HR is way out of whack for the first lap. It reported an HR above my max for a while. Second two splits are probably more accurate.

3.11 miles in 28:47 (9:16/mile) @ 156 bpm

9:20 @ 169
9:24 @ 147
9:02 @ 151

Taper Madness - Decision Making

2009-11-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

Not surprisingly, this last week I have been in the throes of taper madness. Ah, the joys of second guessing all of your training and equipment selection. Obsessing about the weather, worrying about every taper tweak you muscles throw at you... :)

After hours of obsessing, I think I've settled a few things out.

Clothing:

The weather today is projected to be 43-51. 10% chance of rain. So... shorts, long sleeve shirt, hat, and my #3 pair of shoes. I considered going for the #2 pair with 480 miles on them because they're a lot more comfortable in the uppers, but I think I'll wear the #3 set instead, simply so I don't damage anything.

I've been debating the tights, and only plan to fall back on them if the wind is extreme or the weather is much cooler than predicted.

Hydration Belt:

I've debated the extra weight a lot, and I think, despite having the bottle fall out the last run, that I'll take the single bottle instead of none, or the double. The bottle gives me some freedom for hydration and fueling timing, and I've trained with it so it's not like I'm not used to it. If I have family spectators at the mile 16 mark, I may dump it there.

Ah, heck, who am I kidding. I'm not sold. I'm still considering getting an SPI belt or equivalent and wearing that instead...

Hydration and Fueling:

Same plan as last year. GU every 2.5 -3 miles, starting at 5 miles. nuun in my bottle, water at aid stations or on refill.

Pace:

And the item that has been chewing up the most of my stress... target speed/pace.

I've been training to McMillans target paces since RnR Seattle, which project to a 3:45 finish (8:36/mile). This is from both my half marathon, and 10K performances. I've actually been running faster than those paces in some case (which is probably bad, but what are you going to do?)

If you use Daniel's VDOT system, it predicts a 3:39:33 finish (8:22/mile). The upper end of my goal is a 4:00 finish (9:09/mile).

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to go for it, and shoot for 3:45. I think I'll try to keep the first 2-3 miles at ~8:40/mile. Once things settle out and I can get a better feel for pace and HR, I'll work my way up to as high as 8:22, trying to keep my HR <= 160 for the first 10 miles. I'll allow it to slip to 163 or so for the next 10 miles, and up to ~165 for the last 6.2.

The last 6.2 are always the challenge, and especially here on the Seattle course with some ugly hills from 21-23. We'll see. The fallback pace is around 9:00/mile. Or whatever it takes to finish.

I'm really not sure about this set of goals. There's been a pretty big lack of speed and tempo work for this training cycle. Long runs were oddly inconsistent, etc...

Any input would be appreciated. I've got 2 more days. :)

11/25 Run

2009-11-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

I took Wednesday off, and got to run at home. Given my complete inability to hold a pace lately, I had what seemed like a brilliant idea. Run on the treadmill...

What a fecking debacle. I must have a poor memory for how miserable running indoors on the treadmill is. Sooooo hooooot! My HR was just a straight uphill climb. At least the scenery and people watching were interesting. I thought I saw a former coworker for a while. Weird.

First two miles at 9:30, next two at 8:20 (the theoretical upper limit for speed for the marathon), last at 9:30. The 8:20 miles were pretty tough. Harder than I expected, actually. We'll see if that's an achievable goal.

One more run, on Friday. 3 miles, nice and easy.

5 miles in 45:25 (9:05/mile) @ 157 bpm

11/24 Run

2009-11-24T15:38:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was the last run of the Thanksgiving week at work. Went out for an out and back to SPU again. No wind, so I wonder if there's a slight downhill outbound. Or I'm just getting tired. A reminder that I need to throw away my first few miles worth of input at the marathon if it looks good, when determining pace and heart rate.

Saw Jake and Bruce out at the track doing a last couple of sets of 400s before Seattle. Overachievers. :) A nice comfortable day, 48 degrees and foggy. Average pace ended up being at marathon goal pace (probably) at a pretty reasonable heart rate.

Two more runs to go.

5.02 miles in 43:20 (8:38/mile) @ 150 bpm

8:35 @ 145
8:27 @ 151
8:42 @ 151
8:43 @ 153
8:42 @ 154
0.02 - 8:47 @ 157

11/22 Run

2009-11-23T21:37:00.001-08:00

I had thought about making this an out and back on 35th to keep it nice and easy, but about a mile in I decided that would just be punishing myself, so I did the loop around the block instead.

A much better run than Saturday.

Garmin hung when ?I got home, but a reboot (hold bot buttons till screen goes blank) worked as advertised and the data was still available for upload.

3 more runs till the marathon.

6.21 miles in 54:11 (8:44/mile) @ 151 bpm

11/21 Run

2009-11-23T21:35:00.000-08:00

Saturdays run was going to be 10 or 11 miles through Mill Creek. I was leaning towards 10, and modified one of my routes to shoot for that mileage. I decided to run the route I normally run 'backwards' for some variety.

As I hit the turn to come home I realized I was only going to be a little over 9. This had been a surprisingly tough run. Not a super confidence builder, unfortunately, so I decided that 9 was good enough, and I could get the taper weeks miles in on Sunday.

Lost a bottle from a hydration belt for the first time on a run. The belt must have been a little loose, and as I was chugging up the hill about 4.5 miles in I could feel it slapping around a little. And then suddenly, I weight about a pound less. :( Fortunately I caught the bottle before it rolled down the hill. :)

9.26 miles in 1:22:44 (8:56/mile) @ 157 bpm

11/19 Run

2009-11-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

Not so much with the rain missing today. :) At least it was near 50. Got out a little late. I forgot there was a Holiday party at work until Outlook pinged me just as I was getting up to go run. I wandered upstairs and grabbed a plate of food for later, and then went for a run.

I talked up the run to a few people. Not to show off, which is what it probably sounded like, but to make sure I got out there and did it. Which I did.

It rained the first 3.5 miles, and then tapered off, and there was some wind, but at least the rain was mostly vertical.

I've got this thing where i have trouble backing off if I start too fast. Evidence this run. I was running a bit faster than I should have been to clear some puddles, and a couple of really nasty splash zones in the street. And then I just kept going, because that's what felt right.

Well, it might have been a 'bit' fast, but according to the guys at Hansens it takes 10 days for a workout to show it's effects. So this was perfect. :) And since I'm in taper, so resting and eating at 100%, I'm all perky. This nice flat 5 mile Tempo run just left me feeling perky. Not wiped out like they normally do. And it was within 2 seconds/mile of my 10K pace, and 5 point lower in HR!

When I got back the gang that I had been chatting with was still hanging around, so we started talking again. Apparently, I'm now doing the running leg of a yet to be determined multisport relay next year. :) This'll be fun!!!

5.06 miles in 39:00 (7:43/mile) @ 168 bpm

7:49 159
7:33 170
7:50 169
7:48 171
7:37 174
0.06 - 6:44 177

11/18 Run

2009-11-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

I lucked out again and beat the weather. 50 and clearish, but very windy. I have to attribute my low HR, high speed outbound leg, and high HR, lower speed return leg directly to the hellacious wind.

It's nice to run a completely different run for a change. I really should mix things up more.

Taper time, so a shorter run than usual. Cutting back to 70% of peak (which was 44), so 31 miles this week, with a longest run of 10ish. Next week will be a whole 30% of peak, so about 13 miles.

5.04 miles in 43:13 (8:34/mile) @ 155 bpm

11/17 Run

2009-11-17T15:49:00.000-08:00

First run of the week at lunch and I manage to miss the rain. It's 50 degrees, and clearish. Wow!

The first mile is a bit of work. HR feels abnormally high. After I blow out the carbon though I feel like I'm just flying, with dreams of surprisingly amazing marathon performance dancing in my head like little GU fairies. :)

The 6 miles on Saturday were 8:39/mile @ 159.

Today was:
6.1 miles in 52:58 (8:41/mile) @ 154 bpm

8:53 @ 161
8:22 @ 153
8:36 @ 153
8:36 @ 152
8:44 @ 154
8:54 @ 155
.1 - 8:57 @ 155

Check out miles 2-4... Where did that come from? Maybe I'm kicking this cold? I hope so!

I got chicked right after mile 4, by a gal who had been just behind me for a few miles. I'm blaming the headwind on the return leg for the degraded performance in miles 5 and 6. :)

11/15 Long Run

2009-11-16T21:42:00.001-08:00

Last long run of the training cycle. And, if you exclude Carkeek and my one 17 mile run (long medium-long run?, short long run?), my only long run. :) Now... taper time!

Got a late start thanks to Toby and a pain in the ass digestive system, so I didn't get on the road till around 6:40. About 30 minutes late. Grumble...

Temp was a bit warmer than Saturday, and the wicking/wet ass thing made me try switching my top for a generic longsleeve driFit. Wore the Outdoor Injinjis again, because, well, they're comfy. :) Started with gloves, but they were off by the second mile. Temps were in the low 40s. It spat a bit for the first few miles, then cleared up nicely.

Really noticed how water resistant the jacket was this time. Felt like I had puddles in my elbows, and it appears that it's the jacket that's dumping the sweat onto my ass. By the time I was done I was soaked about halfway down my thighs. Cold. It keeps the wind off though, and that was a blessing.

Fueling was 5 GUs over the course of the run, and since I couldn't figure out reloading of water bottles, hydration was 2 bottles. which worked out fine since the temp was low. Back to considering a hydration pack again... :) It's more weight o haul, but if I keep going long...

I've been chewing over routes for this run for a few days. I didn't want to do my 14 mile loop with the repeated small loops like I normally do. Just not feeling it. This transformed into modifying the 14 mile loop by lopping off this vestigial leg that it has and doing it twice.

By the time I got on the road and was a few miles in, finishing just one loop was going to be a challenge. The first 8 miles of this run were, even if the speed doesn't show it when I look at the splits, a death march. Probably influence by the fast 6 on Saturday. I tried to use Garmin and keep a target pace for the first 2 or 3 miles, and then stopped looking at the watch and started running by feel. Which seems to have worked out pretty well actually.

Things broke free just after mile 8 chirped on Garmin. Suddenly, I felt like the run was much easier, and I was able to keep a much better pace. I kept running by feel, just checking more on HR (trying to keep it < 153) than on pace.

I decided that with how much of a slog the first third of the run was that doing two loops was excessively sadistic, so I headed towards home to do a loop around the block to get the other miles in. This strategy also had the additional advantage that if I decided that things were horrible at mile 16, I could hang a left and run the .75 miles to home, instead of being trapped 4 miles away.

Streets were very quiet. A handful of walkers, and maybe 2 or three more runners. Saturday must be long run day around here. :)

Pace ended up being much better than I though it would be, but about 10 seconds/mile slower than I'd have preferred for my ego and my head space before the race.

Some mild soreness in the extensor tendons again after the run. Nothing like last weeks pain, but something. After some thought, I suspect that it is the Injinjis. I think that they are affecting the way my feet behave, what with the separate toes, etc. Probably for the better, but not something I want to mess with this close to an 'A' race. Back to regular socks for a few weeks and the race, and then I'll start mixing the Injinjis back in until I strengthen my feet.

20.1 miles in 3:06:47 (9:18/mile) @ 153 bpm

11/14 Run

2009-11-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

The original plan for Saturday was to get up and do my last long run in the morning. A night of the most bizarre not sleeping, I was just AWAKE, and the residue of the cold meant that I rolled back over and went back to sleep instead.

Val and Kaitlyn were both a bit off, so I didn't get out till Kaitlyn went down for her nap, around 2:45. It was really nice to run during the day, with no rain. :)

A chilly, windy, clockwise run around the block at home. It was ~40, but all the weather sites said the "feels like" was closer to 35. I'd believe that. Decided it was good weather to try out the Craft long sleeve in combination with the new jacket, and tights. Also tried out my new Outdoor Injinjis. Mmmmm. Merino Wool...

The jacket is definitely windproof and water resistant. The high neck on the Craft shirt took a little getting used to. Warm shirt, the only problem is the long tail causes the sweat to wick to your butt. Which then gets soaked and cold. :|

The Outdoor Injinjis are super warm and comfy. They're about 4 times thicker than the Performance models, and made of Merino Wool. Breathable and wicking. My only objection is that they are a quarter sock and are probably going to look seriously odd in shorts.

As I've complained about before, I'm having trouble keeping my pace down, so I just decided to make sure I didn't get too carried away and turn this into a tempo run or something brutal. It ended up being within a few seconds a mile of being a marathon goal pace run.

I had considered from the beginning doing 10 and trying to make this a super-duper weekend ala RnR Seattle training, but regained my senses about halfway through and just did the 6.

6.18 miles in 53:29 (8:39/mile) @ 159 bpm (85%)

11/12 Run

2009-11-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

Starting to come down with something. HR is up, and by the end of the race my calves were nice and achy. HR was just totally out of whack the first mile, and then settled out tows a slightly high normal.

Counterclockwise around the lake with my gloves on. I was cold in the office and it was 48 out. Sleeves were up by 2 miles in, and there was no point in taking off the gloves since I'd have to carry them. Oops. :)

Pacing was high as normal, and I decided not to fight it for a change and just tried to keep it under control.

6.1 miles in 53:49 (8:49/mile) @ 162 bpm

11/11 Run

2009-11-13T20:57:00.001-08:00

Foot is still feeling good, so out for a lunch run. Bruce is in the locker room and headed the same direction so we headed out together. Probably a mistake. I tried to go slow, but got sucked in to speeding up a little. And once I've got a pace set I seem to be unable to slow the pace down.

good run though. :) Bruce broke off at about mile 3.5 and ran into Jake just as I was going up the stairs to the University Bridge, and I waves as I ran off. :)

6.09 miles in 53:20 (8:45/mile) @ 157 bpm

11/9 Run

2009-11-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

After a weekend of nursing my foot, I limped into work, bought a bag of peas on the walk in from the bus and started icing in earnest. I had, optimistically, brought in my running gear, but ended up not using it at lunch. After some quality time walking around the office in sock feet, a few Motrin, and a couple of sessions with my 'ice pack', I was feeling more like normal.

I went to the gym in the evening to test things out on a nice level treadmill. No inclines, nothing fancy. If the running didn't work, I was going to switch to the elliptical and see if I could survive that.

BTW, after some research online and thumbing through Runners World, lack of impact on the elliptical means add 30% time to the equivalent amount of running. i.e. 60 minute run ~= 78 minutes on the elliptical.

Also... did you know you can lace your shoes in more ways than just the standard way? Snort. Apparently one of the ways to deal with the rubbing/pressure on the top of the foot is to switch to a Straight (Box) lacing style. I set up the shoes that way for this run and it seems to work pretty well. The spot on my left foot still seems to get a bit of wear, but the newly 'injured' right foot ("Dr." Google says extensor tendonitis). A whole site about lacing

Rana t 0% with now problems at all. Lacing is a bit harder to tightened to a comfortable snugness, but I can work that out. Yay! No pain.

Remembered to put in my HR strap, forgot Garmin. :(

6.2 miles @ 0% in 56:20 (9:05/mile) @ unk. bpm

11/7 Medium Long Run

2009-11-09T12:22:00.000-08:00

Friday the 6th was a rest day , so I took lunch and walked over to REI and picked up a pair of Injinji toe socks. They had been suggested online as a good choice to avoid inter-toe blisters among other benefits, so I thought I'd pick up a pair and try them out. Snagged a basic pair of MiniCrews in white, and a pair of down filled slippers for Val and walked back to the office.

Tried them on once I got to the office, and they got worn home. The joy of new socks (mmmmm... I'd wear a brand new pair of socks every day if I were rich.) They aren't exactly a sock you just 'slip' on. You actually have to pay attention to the process. Once you get used to feeling something against the webs of your toes they are super comfortable. They ain't cheap, and they're kind of creepy looking, but I'm probably going to get another couple of pairs.

On Saturday, up at 5:30, out the door by 6:15. iPhone and the outdoor thermometer agreed, it was 48, but felt MUCH cooler, and windy. Spent a few minutes debating clothing and ended up running in tights and long sleeve shirt. Threw my gloves in one of the pouches on the belt, along with all the other sundries for a longish run and got on the road.

Thighs definitely kept the wind off, and it was conveniently dry, with threatening clouds promising a drenching later. I probably would have been fine with my shorts, but I'm still getting dialed in to the new default temperatures.

Still feeling good from Carkeek, a little tightness in hamstring and calf from the tempo run on Thursday, but the full rest day seems to have worked it's magic.

Garmin was all over the fricking place as far as reporting pace. Frustrating, but not a lot you can do other than to take a reading when you know how it reads and how you feel match, and try to keep the pace. Lots of runners out for their long runs. Seattle must be in 3 weeks. :)

Wore the Injinji's for this run. Was really nice to be able to wiggle my toes on the move and release some tension in my feet. They're a bit thinner than my other socks so there was a bit of movement, and a potential hotspot in my right foot. I think slightly tighter lacing would handle the problem.

Actually chatted briefly with a pair of ladies that were training for the half. They looked nice and strong. I hope I wasn't committing a faux pas, or being obnoxious. :|

Had my shirt sleeves up by 3 miles and back down by 10 as I hit a cold pocket that had my breath visible in the air. You could feel the temperature drop and see the clouds come in to start their pounce. They held off till mile 12, and then the skies just opened up. And rained the rest of the day. :)

Speaking of tighter lacing... About 7 miles in I felt a pinch on the top of my left foot. Nothing particularly painful, and I knew right away it was the lacing rubbing either the top of my foot or the tendon. Nothing to worry about, since it come sup a lot so I tweaked the tongue of the shoe till I didn't feel it as much, then ignored it and kept moving.

14.21 miles in 2:10:33 (9:11/mile) @ 157 bpm

The rubbing ended up being a bit more serious that it felt. By a few hours later I was suffering pretty significant swelling and pain on the top of my right foot. Some feeling around showed that it was soft tissue, but not particularly fun. I bailed out of my Sunday run in the morning when my alarm went off. The swelling was down, but it was still tender to the touch. By the end of Sunday I was walking around pretty normally, but still had some pain if I laced shoes too tight or put on the wrong shoes.

Monday I bitched about it on Facebook, and 4 hours later, after some ice at work and a pair of Motrin, I wouldn't have known it was there. Of course. Don't know how I forgot to ice all weekend. Doh! I didn't take any NSAIDs since I've been trying to dial back my usage after learning they can actually interfere with the healing process.

11/5 Tempo Run

2009-11-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Didn't miss the rain on Thursday. It was pretty comfortable temperature-wise (58ish), but it was just pouring. I went out anyway. Yay me. :)

It's wet, a bit chilly, I'm not feeling any aches and pains from Carkeek, and I'm having a lot of trouble keeping my speed down. So I figured what the hell, if my body won't listen to my brain, we'll 'punish it'... Tempo Run!

8:38 @ 152

7:51 @ 170
8:10 @ 171
7:55 @ 172
8:00 @ 173 Tempo Avg: 7:59/mile @ 172 bpm

8:55 @ 169
0.13- 8:36 @ 168
6.13 miles in 50:37 (8:15/mile) @ 167 bpm

Probably should have dialed it back after 3, but... Slowest and highest HR Tempo run I've had. The 4 mile tempo block normally looks like 7:52/mile @ 164. I guess I'm not quite as recovered as I thought. :| .

Hamstrings, calves, and Achilles tendons all tightened up, and I went to bed super early. Just trashed. Which, honestly is about how it goes after almost all my Tempo runs. Which will be a point for future discussion... :)

11/4 Run

2009-11-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

I worked from home to take care of Val, and wrangling phone calls for her so she could sleep meant an evening run.

HR was back down where I expect it to be after my warmup walk, which was nice. Started run at like 58bpm. Which, at 8:45pm is lower than most of my lunch runs. Didn't last long though :)

Cool, but I missed the rain again. Clockwise around the block. All the kinks felt like they had been shaken out, and I'm feeling surprisingly good for 4 days after running 40+ miles.

6.18 miles in 54:37 (8:50/mile) @ 156 bpm

11/2 Recovery Run

2009-11-05T14:20:00.001-08:00

I've let the race report sit up at the top of the page long enough. :) Time to get caught up.

I took Sunday off after Carkeek, and ran Monday with Bruce out to the Freemont Bridge and back. Nice and easy, actually using the heart rate component of the Garmin and trying to keep it under 143.

Needless to say, we discussed the race and running the whole time. :)

Bruce had some great advice regarding pairing a handheld flashlight with a headlamp that I'll have to try the next time I run in the dark. Essentially, use both. :) The handheld is more responsive when you want to check things out, and throws better shadows.

Thighs were a little sore, and the small muscles around my ankles seem to have developed a bit of soreness as well. Good run to shake things out.

3.54 miles in 34:58 (9:53/mile) @ 135 bpm

Carkeek 12 Hour 2009 Race Report

2009-11-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

So, I'm coming into what might be my first ultra with a whole 2 marathons under my belt, and what is, in my mind, a completely inadequate training cycle for this next sequence of races (Carkeek, Seattle, and Pigtails Flat Ass).

My longest run since RnR Seattle on 27 June was 17 miles, and that was 8 weeks ago (as part of my highest mileage week since RnR, 43.9).

The last 8 weeks have looked like:
43.9 (14, 17 on Sat, Sun),
14 (abdominal strain),
0 (ab strain recovery),
16.3,
25.6 (incl. 4 laps @ Carkeek),
39.1 (incl. 4 laps @ Carkeek, 14 mile 'long' run),
0 (head space issues + lost a cat. :( ),
and finally, week of the 12 Hour, 18.3 miles.

Needless to say, not exactly feeling prepared.

As the week progressed, I obsessed about the race, alternating between feeling nervous and excited. Preparations posts can be found here: Hydration & Nutrition, Packing.

Finally, after a crazy Friday evening, and a not unexpected night of low quality sleep, the alarm went off at 3:30 on Saturday.

Make a pit stop, weigh in (188.0 pounds)(WAY up from Seattle last year, which was my lowest at 170), take out the dog, eat my now 'traditional' prerace meal of a pair of CLIF nectar bars and 16 oz of water, change into running clothes, cap off the water bottles of nuun that have been sitting all night, load the last bits into the car, one last pitstop and on the road right about on time at 4:40.

30 minutes to Carkeek. Hopefully the gate is open and the good parking is still available. No traffic, no rain, so a nice quick drive down to the park. Gate is open, and I'm one of the first 5 - 10 people, so I get a great spot right on the course and facing the beach.

Sam and Brock are getting set up, fire is getting lit in the fire pit, and people are starting to show up. Tried to help out. Used some of my zip ties to help put up one of the shelters, some of my stakes to hold the aid station shelter down, and set up a table. Then I realized my nervous energy was kicking and that I should just frickin chill out. :) So I got checked in, hung around the fire and waited. Caught up with Nic, Betsy, and Matt and listened to the conversations.

Prerace briefing was short and sweet. Essentially: Course is marked with green chemlites. (Me: Hopefully no one is colorblind. :) Chemlites are on the side of any intersection you want to take. We'll track your laps with candy in your bag. Have fun. :)

Goals for the day:
A: 14 laps (27.02 miles) -- > Marathon
A+: 17 laps (32.81 miles) -- > 50K (31 mi)
A++: 21 laps (40.53 miles) -- > 40 miles

And begin...

To get you oriented, here's a course map:

And a Garmin trace of the course:

Lap 1:
Started with compression shorts, LS shirt, jacket, and headlamp. I was freezing with the wind coming off of the Sound and not moving around while we waited, but that ended fast. Halfway through the lap, my jacket was tied around my waist, and sleeves were pushed all the way up. Too fast. Not really looking at time. Garmin is set to Pace-HR-Distance, so I don't really have any idea how fast the lap was, but it didn't feel like the slow pace I was shooting for.

For whatever reason when he said start it didn't feel like people wanted to get going, so I think I was in the first 10 runners or so for the first few laps. Not sure how that happened. :)

Rapidly discovered that one of my Nathan 22oz bottles leaks from the spout. Had to carry it for a while and play with it till I got it seated enough that it wasn't getting my butt wet. Grumble, grumble. Needless to say that bottle didn't go back into rotation once I finished it.

This race seemed really odd to me in that you never really had a good idea how many people were on the course, or where you stood in relation to people. I had 3 or 4 people who I saw regularly, but other than that it was pretty sparse out there. I'm not sure how people passed me in some cases. I don't remember them doing it. Except for the guy in the witches hat. And the fast woman with the hydration pack. And Linda. And Nic. And Matt. OK, maybe I did see more people than I thought.

But still.... I didn't see Betsy till she stopped, I didn't see Jessica or Rob till their lap 16, my lap 17.

Lap 2:
Started drinking in earnest. Too fast again. Right knee has started to bother me on some of the uphills and upstairs. Nothing serious, but it's there...

Some neat visuals watching people ahead of me illuminated by an arc or a circle of light depending on terrain, and their silhouette.

Lap 3:
Lost my running 'partner', Linda, halfway through lap. Realized I was still moving too fast, slowed down and she lapped me. Having a partner makes a big difference when doing the night laps. That person tucked in 6-10 feet behind you and the extra illumination their headlamp provides makes a big difference.

It was an odd experience to run with someone for over an hour, supporting each other, and only exchange words briefly at the first aid station as we passed through. Hope all you got were DOTS and Skittles!

Linda later commented (like on lap 15) that we were either going to love or hate each other as much time as we spent swapping back and forth on the course. And then I never saw her again. :)

Lap 4:
Sun is starting to come up during this lap. Halfway through you could have probably passed the classic wide thread/dark thread test for dawn. By end of lap it's morning and I don't need the head lamp anymore.

Lap 5:
Started lap with a stop at the car to drop off head lamp and jacket, grab a fresh bottle of nuun and change into a dry short sleeve shirt. Had to find a tree at some point in this loop. A welcome relief, and a chance I wouldn't take later in the day.

Moving too fast on the down hill here. A little hand support to the left abdominal (strained a few weeks ago) makes everything better, but I slow down and the problem goes away. Have to do it a few more times over the day, and always in this stretch of downhill. Time to restart my core workouts.

Lap 6:
Sometime during this lap I realize that the twinges and aches in my right knee are gone. Just disappeared. Yay!

Lap 7:
Cross 3 hours towards the end of this lap. I'm pretty sure that I 'meet' Sara and David? on this lap when I hear Sara mention she is going to take some pics if she grabs her phone. Hope your run went well. Stop and take care of the hot spots on my right foot. No blisters yet, but time for some preventative care. From the two marathons I know I'll blister on this foot at these spots (edge of big toe and edge of ball of foot).

Lap 8:
Forgot camera on this loop. Too busy getting loaded up and dealing with foot issues last time around I suppose.

Lap 9:
Snagged camera and bottle of water, fixed up my left foot (same problems at toe and ball of foot), and thus...finally... course pics. :)

The start/aid station is behind us, and we're headed out:

Hang the right at the information booth and down the stairs:

Follow the easy trail that parallels the train tracks:

And cross the open field. Hopefully the guy feeding the birds won't be there and you won't have to worry about getting attacked. :) Once you cross the field, you're at the base of the Carkeek Crest Hill (aka (to me) as the Hill Of Doom :

At the base of the hill:

Almost to the top:

The post to the left says "Carkeek Crest":

Reminder at the top of the hill:

Hang a left and head down into the woods:

Trail:

An attempt to show how lush the 'valley' was. Photography skills FAIL:

More Trail:

"Optical Illusion Bridge". The first time I saw this bridge I thought the ground literally ended and I'd have to jump down 6 feet. :)

After the sadistic downhill stairs and a set of switchbacks you get a straight downhill to the Hatchery? Water Treatment Plant?

Left at the bottom of the hill, splash through the mud at the base of the hill and onto asphalt and flat for a little bit:

Hang a left at the 'Y', cross the bridge over Piper's Creek and then hang a hard right:

Portasan if you need it, cross the road and you're a bit over halfway done with a loop. Now we get ready to climb again:

Very pretty little stream:

A warning. This little hill always surprises me. It doesn't look steep, but it tears my legs up every time. And that's walking it.

Up the slope:

Hang the left and pass the snag:

Some of the best part of the whole run, leading into a nasty uphill:

The Swingin' tree. Barrel down the trail from the right, grab the tree, swing the 270 degree turn and start walkin':

More uphill:

Trail:

At the top of the last nasty uphill:

You can see the sound just after you turn left at the top of the hill. You parallel a steep cliff, with railroad tracks at the bottom and a view of the sound for a nice part of the last leg.

A view from the lookout on the return leg:

The barely seen runner in the distance is overall winner James Breyfogle. His race report can be found here.

Trail:

Come out from the last downhill and hang a left and you're back at the aid station:

Our esteemed RD: Sam Thompson. And food. Mmmmm. Fooood.

Runners in costumes:

Lap 10:
Some of the course pics above were taken on this lap since I missed them the first time around.

Then I dropped the camera off and asked Sam to take pics of runners if he had the time. Get a puppy fix from a Bernese Mountain Dog, happy, friendly little fella. :) Desmond.

Wish mine (Toby) were cooperative enough to run a few laps here. May have to try it anyway.

Lap 11:
Lap 12:
Apparently I don't remember anything momentous about either one of these laps. :) I remember at some point talking to the runner ahead of me about something and realizing when they didn't respond that they had an iPod on that I hadn't noticed.

I probably started to notice my quads and hip flexors sometime around here. And obviously they got progressively more tired as the next 9-10 laps proceeded.

Discovered that the cheap Beach To Chowder Bottles leak too. Badly. From the neck. Carried the bottle the whole damn loop. Grrr...

Lap 13:
Saw and chatted with Matt Hagen as we climbed the Hill Of Doom.

I realized while talking with Matt that at the whole deal with this race, for me anyway, was Being Present (that ever popular catch phrase). Something I'm not very good at. But the only way to do this race for me was to "Be Present" in on the lap I was in. There were little influences about goals and future laps, but what had already happened didn't matter. I kept track of each lap by telling myself what lap I was on continuously. All that mattered was me and the lap, and how I felt THAT lap. And if it was really bad, me and the six feet of trail in front of me.

Lap 14:
Saw and chatted with Matt Hagen again, going up the Hill Of Doom again. Not sure how we pulled that off.

Crossed the 26.2 mile marker at something like 6:38. Roughly 2:10 slower than my current personal worst. :)

Garmin bitched at me with a low battery warning as I was coming down the hill towards the aid station. Apparently the first battery warning for a 405 is just under 20% battery remaining. When I loaded up after the aid station I grabbed the external battery (Duracell Instant Charger) and Garmin charger cable and started the recharge process.

Lap 15:
I've met my A goal! I'm taking 'lunch'. :)

Got the 'Orange Stuff' (cool Whip/Jello fruit salad) from car and set it out for everyone, and had a nice scoop of it myself. I only brought back a few scoopfuls, and I only had 3 or 4 so at least some other people enjoyed it. :)

Took my second and only other bathroom break for the day - nothing anomalous in urine (Paranoia from reading too many race reports), and despite a lap or two of gas, nothing else to dispose of. Intestinal issues are always a bit of a paranoia thing for me, so...

Finally got back out there after 10-15 minutes, I'd guess. Walked the first third or half of the lap, texted Val and checked in, etc.

Had a friend text me "Your shoelaces are untied" just as I was climbing the Hill Of Doom. Heh. :

Lap 16:
Nic came in from a lap just after I hit the aid station, and after a brief pause we went back out together. Nic was nice enough to stick with me the full run despite my low speed. "Supposedly" he went out too fast for the first 25 miles and was slowing down. I think he was just being nice.

We had an interesting discussion about the fact that endurance athletes have been shown to have higher pain tolerances than the 'normal' people. Which begs the chicken and egg question... did they develop it, or did they have it already and that's what drew them to endurance athletics.

That segued into how mucho fit is physical vs. mental, and my idea that it would be cool to have a 'pain' camera that would show you the pain impulses of someone like Sam or Brock, or you, and be able to compare responses to running and maybe see if it is physical or mental.

Lap 17:
Finally ran into Katie and Rob at aid station (nice costume as bride). Ran the lap with Nic, Katie, and Rob. Katie and Rob had some great race costume/race theme ideas for future races. Go for it guys!

They just about killed me on this lap. All three of them were just so fricking fresh, perky and energetic. I wasn't about to fall off the back so I just tucked in and sucked it up. In retrospect it was probably a good lap to get me back into the swing of things and helped to get me sped back up. Thanks gang!

Felt like I had lost a toenail (first toe on right foot) over this lap. When I stopped at the end of the lap it urns out it was just a blister (probably from the tape on the big toe) rubbing the inside of the toe. Drained it and threw on a bandaid. The little toe on the left foot was bothering me too so I dealt with it as well. Apparently, this almost vestigial toe gets folded under and blisters. Fixed that too.

As an aside, paper athletic tape bleeds adhesive. I had to peeeelllll my socks off the wraps around the balls of my feet because my socks had stuck to them so well. Who knew. :)

Finally Garmin was close enough to charged at 97%. So ~1:30 to recharge 70%. not horrible. Having the cable dangling behind me from the pouch was a bit of a pain, but not unmanageable.

Crossed the 9 hour marker on this lap.

And met my A+ goal of 50K shortly after the start of the lap.

Lap 18:
Dad isn't here yet, went so I went out for my lap. Feet HURT for the first half mile until all the new blister care stuff shook out. OW. Saw a guy with braces on both legs, out with his lady friend doing the hills. Humbling. Made me glad I could run.

Lap 19:
Dad and Karen showed up to say hello on the way to the house. Talked for 5-10 minutes, checked in with Val, and then I went back out, and they headed to the house for Trick or Treating.

Dad got this picture as I was coming in, finishing lap 18. I really need to drop the extra weight and go back to they gym. :( And I look entirely too happy for having just run just under 35 miles. :)

Lap 20:
Noticed a bit of left nipple chafing at some point and realized that the bandaid had come loose. Not sure how long it had been that way, and nothing I could do about it, so I just let it be till I got back to the aid station. Nice ego boost at end of lap when checking in and mentioning that this was my first ultra. People seemed surprised/pleased at my performance. Yay me! :)

Lap 21:
Blue Steel applied to nipple at aid station, and back out for final lap. Might be able to do two with the time remaining , but not sure about pace for the last few laps. Finally decided that since A++ goal is to break 40 miles, regardless of remaining time after this lap, I'm done.

Photo of stairs halfway up Carkeek Crest Hill/Hill Of Doom:

Self Portrait using phone at bottom of said stairs:

Spent most of this lap telling off all of the hard sections of the course as I passed through them. :)

I was in one of those "the only thing that matters is you and the 6 feet of trail in front of you" moments when the Garmin chirped. Looked down to se 40 on the mileage and said out loud: "Holy Sh!t. I just ran 40 miles." And then, because I hadn't realized the endurance runner's emotional sensitivity had kicked in, I spent 30 seconds trying not to sob my eyes out. :)

Texted Val to tell her I was about done, with .5 miles or so to go. Dragged the process out because I saw it was only 11:10 into the race, and I thought I might feel bad about not going for another lap.

Didn't help kill that much time, and once I hit the aid station I was done. Legs were tired, and I wanted to go spend some time with Kaitlyn. And breaking 40 was enough.

Hit aid station for the last time... And... Stop.

11:20:39 - 21 laps - 40.53 miles - 9030 feet of elevation gain.

My first ultra in the books, and I'm still so proud of myself I could just spit.
Slow but stubborn. :)

Sam draped my cool race medal around my neck, hooked me up and took a few pictures for me, I picked up my dishes and the stakes for the shelters and walked to the car.

I think I met more people walking to the car than I had during the race. :)

My Lake Union 10K shirt got me introduced to Laura Houston, who was the bike borne rabbit for the fast runners at LU10K, and teaches Chi Running at 5focus.

I changed into 'real' clothes in the car, and when I finished met Tony C. as he got into vehicle for some stuff. We chatted about the Carkeek's 'hardest 12 hour out there' appellation (that I, with my lack of ultra experience wondered if it was a bit of hyperbole. After some quality time with Google, not any more.) He stated that he's done 72 miles at a track 12 hour... and did ~50 here.

After:
Drove home and went Trick or Treating with Kaitlyn. Probably good to get the kinks worked out from the drive, and it was great to see my family. I probably pushed a little and should have bailed to rest sooner, but Val was there to kick me upstairs for a shower and make me a big plate of spaghetti and most of a small loaf of garlic bread, so it's all good. :) My biggest pains at this point after the race are hip flexors and upper quads. Feet are a bit sore too.

I got one picture of my feet before I pulled all the tape, as I was standing in the kitchen. The color is WAY off, so no one panic. They were normally colored. Just trying to show all the tape. No toenails lost, and except for my toes (especially in my right foot) feeling like they were waking up from being asleep (which went on for a few days) no major problems.

I drank a 22 oz. bottle about every two laps (starting at the second lap), mostly nuun, except for two VERY refreshing bottles of plain water at some point. I did notice, twice I think, that nuun tastes pretty good when you're running. When you're standing around talking/eating... Not so much.

I sucked down one more bottle on the drive home, had a pair of Mounds from Kaitlyn's stash, and made brief pitstop and weighed in at 185.2. Only down 2.8 pounds over 11 hours and 40 miles. I think hydration was reasonably dialed in.

Fueling was pretty much a GU (or equivalent) on most laps at the halfway point (just before or after we crossed the road) and then something at the aid station. The advantage of using your car as your aid station is that you have all your trash. :)

I know for sure that I consumed:
2 flasks of Orange Hammer: 4 servings used, 3 servings used (in 4 total 'doses')
2 Hammer Raspberry's (these were REALLY grainy. Past their expiration date?)
7 GUs (Lemon-Lime, TriBerry)

The additional fueling at the aid station was pretty light in the first 6 hours or so, and got progressively heavier as I got slower. It also seemed to make the most difference as to how I felt energy wise on the next lap. I had some of the best effing PB&Js I've ever eaten, and the 'Orange Stuff' works pretty well as fuel. :) Boiled potatoes and salt were tasty, but seemed to sit pretty heavy. Peanut M&Ms and Candy corn were just tasty. :)

Next Day:
Mostly moving around well on Sunday. Soreness had moved to my lower quads and has stayed there (I was able to pull out a 3.5 mile recovery run on Monday). And my lats, just above my shoulder blades, are sore. Apparently from swinging them arms around. Surprisingly nothing AT ALL from calves and shins.

Thanks to Sam and Brock for a fantastic race. Great to meet and see everyone I met and saw. :)
Only thing I think I'd add/change would be a 'leaderboard' so you could see how other runners are doing.

I'm almost at the point that next year sounds like a good time. :)
Another day or so. :)

Carkeek Instant Race Report

2009-10-31T20:22:00.001-07:00

Full race report to follow when my brain starts working again.

My first ultra done!

An amazing experience. I'm still dealing with mild brain melt, and emotional sensitivity. Marathon was something like 6:39... So, over 2 hours slower than my current worst. :)

Ran to 11:20:39 of 12:00:00.

Completed 21 laps. 40.53 miles. 9030 feet of elevation gain (and descent).
16:46/mile pace. 149 bpm average

Came home and Trick or Treated with Kaitlyn for a little bit (which was probably good to work out some kinks after the drive). Then came home and had a long shower and most of a loaf of garlic bread and a big batch of spaghetti.

Only lost 2.8 pounds, so my hydration plan worked. Now to drink 2.8+ pounds of fluids. :) And then sleep!

Packing for Carkeek

2009-10-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

Spent an hour or so Thursday night packing for Carkeek. I'm totally overpacked, but better safe than sorry, right? :) It's not like I've got to carry it around on my back... If I get lucky I might even get a good spot and

Of course, now that I have listened to the weather, I'm going to have to add some more short sleeved shirts to the clothing box since they are now saying 41- 60 (60 really!?) with the rain ending early afternoon (making it perfect for the trick or treaters!)

Because this is a blog and I can type endlessly and bore people, here's my packing list. If you think I've missed anything obvious I'd REALLY appreciate a shout out.

+ Change of clothes for after race. Everything from skivvies to sweatshirt. Nice wide toebox shoes for after(my Brooks Beasts)(also alternate wet shoe pair #3). And a nice large towel to dry off with

+ New Duracell USB Battery charger, and charging cable for Garmin. I didn't realize until a few weeks ago that the cable attached to the wall charger for the Garmin was actually a USB cable. This means I can use a portable battery to recharge the Garmin, since it's only rated at 8 hours of battery life. We'll see how that works. Supposedly it still tracks data even if you can't use the display when charging.

+ Day Of clothes, to include headlamp, jacket, Garmin (charged), and Body Glide.

+ Spare/Dry Clothes: including tights, Brooks running pants, socks, extra pair of shoes, shorts, long sleeve and short sleeved shirts, watch cap and wool gloves.

+ First Aid kit, and extra tape, bandaids, instant cold compress. (I had some of this stuff in my box o' stuff and decided to throw it in.

+ Blister Supplies. A new addition. I've blistered pretty badly on both marathons (Right foot, inside ball and bog toe). I figured I should bring along some supplies.

+ Small towel to try off with during shirt changes.

I've gotten all wishy washy and can't make up my mind about what fuel belt to bring. (I'm just twitchy, and obsessing is how it expresses itself. :)) I'm leaning towards the single. With the pouches from the double, and my handheld in my drop bag in case I need/want some variety in fluids, while having the option of both while running. Yeah. That's it. Or I'll just bring both. It's not like I'm not already overpacked :)

Randomness - Web Comics, Quotes, VirtualBox, Other

2009-10-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

I went on Web Comic binge last week. It chewed up some time I probably should have been using to run. :)
Most of them were from the Keenspot network. Here are some I thought were interesting. Quality was a little varied, but it was a nice diversion.

Sorcery 101
No Need For Bushido
Dungeons and Denizens
Dreamless
Sore Thumbs

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Cool quote from an Runners World interview with Gary Muhrcke, winner of the first NYCM (1970):
"But could you imagine if everybody in this country ran one marathon a year? Forty thousand is a lot, but I'm not in awe of that in any way, shape, or form. When you have 100,000 people watching a football game at so many locations in this country, I don't think 40,000 is the right number. It's very, very small. I would love for everybody in this country to run one marathon a year. That's all. And I think we'd be better off physically .... You can see these people coming across the finish line in 4:00, and they are as happy and maybe even more happy than people finishing in 2:15. They're delighted with their achievement. It has to be great for them."

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Race sign quoted on Running Chick in the Orange Hat's blog (first running blog I ever read): "That's not sweat...it's your fat cells crying."

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For my geeky friends, VirtualBox is frickin' awesome! Free, full on virtualization. Perfect if you have a machine with some gumption and you want to try out an new Operating System (LINUX for example, or maybe even Windows 7) without flatlining a machine, or if you want a testbed you can crush and restore on a regular basis.

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How freaking awesome is this? Found thanks to Heidi Swift at The Everyday Athlete

Carkeek Hydration and Nutrition

2009-10-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Talked with Bruce briefly about race nutrition. His recommendation was 200 calories an hour after the first hour. Preferably liquid. Liquid nutrition to avoid stomach upset and the fact that "Most people aren't going to eat 10 GUs if they can help it." He uses a powdered product (can't remember the name) and mixes it pretty concentrated in a secondary bottle, and drinks it with water from his water bottle. I haven't been training with liquid nutrition (when I do use fuel) so I'm not sure this is a completely viable option for Carkeek.

That was a lot less than I had been figuring on consuming, especially if you figure that I'll be moving pretty slowly and burning something between 200 - 300 calories a ~2 mile lap! ~400-600/hr). So I went back to look at my notes; and Hammer has the most solid recommendation and reminder (in their Fueling Handbook) about how much your body can normally absorb. Fluids: 17-28 oz/hr, Fuel: 240 - 280 calories/hr.
http://www.hammernutrition.com

So if this is to be believed, then my standard marathon hydration/nutrition plan is the way to go. So a 22 oz bottle every hour, probably with nuun http://www.nuun.com/ just to be better safe than sorry. GUs (or equivalent) starting at 45 minute (normally ~5 miles), and every 25 after (~3 miles).

I'm having trouble believing that is going to be enough. I'd have to go dig it out, but I remember reading in 'The Lore of Running' that one of the better ultrarunners out there replaced ALL of his calories burned. I don't think I'd go that far, but I think I am going to try for closer around 300-400 calories an hour if my intestinal tract can handle it. It's going to be a great opportunity to experiment, so why not. I'll never be more than a mile from a portasan, and I'll be running in the woods. :)

I'm bringing along GUs, some Hammer Gel in flasks, and some CLIF nectar Organic Bars. The race is providing all sorts of other goodies, including "bananas, oranges, PBJ, grilled cheese, soup, potatoes, salt, Halloween candy, chips, energy bars (probably Clif), some gels, Nuun, Gatorade, water, Caffe Vita coffee". I'm wondering if I should make a batch of "Orange Stuff" (choolwhip/jello fruit salad). Hmmm.....

10/28 Run - Last Run Before Carkeek

2009-10-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Not one of the best confidence building runs I've ever had before a reace unfortunately. Probably thanks to this being the first 3 days in a row in a while. Some random aches and pains, all probably just prerace jitters. :)

The 3 day thing this week has gotten me to thinking about changing my training cycle to a 2 week cycle so I can do 2 on and 1 off the entire time instead of my old 3 on, 1 off, 2 on , 1 off.

Counterclockwise around the lake. Nothing particularly eventful other than the gal with he small dog who thought it was OK to let her dog go out the end of the leash. Across the sidewalk. In front of me. Grrrr....

Carkeek on Saturday. Now I just need to obsess about hydration, nutrition, clothing, and weather quietly for 2 days. Val is at the rolling of the eyes stage. I'm pretty sure she thinks I've lost my mind. :) She hasn't started throwing things so I'm still OK. :)

6.1 miles in 54:42 (8:58/mile) @ 161 bpm

10/27 Run

2009-10-27T20:43:00.001-07:00

I missed most of the rain. It didn't start till mile 5. :)

A clockwise lap around the lake. It seems to have worked the worst of the kinks out of my left hamstring, but my thighs are inordinately trashed for two days of running. One more day, tomorrow, and then two days off, and then Carkeek!

Bruce ran Carkeek last week, and offered up some good advice for running long loops, and the 12 hour in particular:

Be a lazy runner: Be efficient. Minimize time at the aid station and fiddling about. Less time stopped means you can run more slowly.

Set up a personal aid station on the route. Close to the real one so they can watch it, but far enough away to be out of traffic. Load up a box with prefilled water bottles so you don't have to fill them by hand during the run.

Take a minimum of breaks. Plan a break every 3 laps (for example) to replace (not fill) your bottle and snag some fuel.

Plan on a couple of longer breaks (say 3) to change clothes if necessary, get more fuel from the aid station, etc. Just be quick about it.

4 mph == 2 laps an hour. Walk the uphills, run the flats and downhills. The stairs on the downhills are going to suck.

Nic had some other good stuff too:

"The only advice that I have for anyone is to be sure to be prepared as far as wardrobe goes... I know it's obvious, but as I discovered at 2009's Dizzy Daze, it can really make or break a race if there's poor weather. I showed up at Dizzy Daze with 3 sets of dry shirts and socks and the intentions of running my 1st 100K, I left shivering with 3 sets of soaked clothing and a 50K finish (if you can call it that)."

Conveniently, Quadrathon had some good stuff too, here and here

And on a completely random fitness not, I found this pretty cool pair of articles discussing alternatives to the squat for leg strength and power. the premise is that the lower back is the limiter in the traditional back squat. Interesting stuff.
Here, here and here. the comments have some interesting stuff too.

6.09 miles in 54:51 (9:00/mile) @ 159 bpm

10/26 Run

2009-10-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

After a week off I finally got back on the road. I met Bruce in the locker room just as he was about to head out, so we ran together to the Fremont Bridge. The Garmin was bitchy about getting satellites so I ran till just before we parted ways blind. I'm estimating that we ran the first 1.3 at 8 minute pace, but it may have been faster. I was actually able to have a conversation with Bruce at that pace though, so I've definitely improved since last year. :)

My HR was sky high. I think Garmy lost his mind, but [possibly not. I ran the Lake Union 10K at 93% MHR (174 bpm), and I've been feeling a bit off, so it might just make sense, I suppose. Calves were trashed after the first few miles, and finally came back around mile 5. Left hamstring is a bit tight. Some time on the roller and a hot bath I think... Got lucky on the run and missed the rain. We'll see how things look tomorrow. :) Went with the long sleeve shirt to experiment and see if it's going to work for Carkeek since the weather and temp are supposed to be pretty similar.

~6.18 miles in ~53:14 (8:37/mile) @ 171 bpm (91% MHR DOH!)

Not A Lot Of Running

2009-10-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of running this week.

Was going to run Tuesday, abut I was pretty thrashed and down form having to spend a late night with the pet ER with Casey, our youngest cat 96 1/2), who we than had to put down on Tuesday. Wasn't feeling it. :|

Some emotional eating on Wednesday night, and a one day head cold. Not exactly going out for a run with lump of food the size of my fist sitting in my gullet. :|

And I bailed out tonight too. Want to run, thought about it all day. Dinner didn't sit well again. Going to bed early. instead.

10/18 Medium Long Run

2009-10-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Longest run I've had in weeks. Hopefully 17-18 next week. It would be a good way to spin up towards Carkeek. And Seattle. Doh!

Finally got around to customizing one of the workout screen son the Garmin. Modified it to have Current HR,

A pretty good run all around. A little slow to warm up, but good good HR on downhills, and a good finish.
The rain held off until mile 9, and stopped at mile 12 or so.

Had to make an emergency pitstop at mile 7. took a little longer than I would have liked since I had to wait for a pair of walkers to get out of range. Doh!

I finally customized one of the Garmin workout displays after having talked about it for a few months. :) I modified Workout 2 to include Pace, HR and Distance. Much better. All the information that actually matters on one screen. :)

Nail pinch on this run, with blood this time. Oops.

14.43 miles in 2:10:45 (9:03/mile) @ 148 bpm

10/16 Run

2009-10-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

A very fun run with Val. We haven't run together in a long time, and she's finally getting bitten by the running bug. This was her longest run ever so yay Val!

She had explored the Forest Walk trail behind Mill Creek a few weeks ago, and since I was home following up with the vet about Toby, we decided to go run it together, despite the torrential downpours we were having.

We ran at her pace. Full run to the turnaround, and some walking on the return leg. My bpm was way out of whack the first half mile or so since I forgot the gel for the HR strap, but despite that, the bpm indicates a fairly low intensity run. :)

4.78 miles in 1:01:35 (12:53/mile) @ 127 bpm

10/15 Run

2009-10-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

A evening 'recovery' run, clockwise around the block.

Went clockwise so I'd have the longer flat leg to warm up my legs. Only worked for the first 4 miles or so. My calves walked home on their own at mile 4 and the rest of my legs and I ran the last 2 miles and met them at the end.

6.21 miles in 56:10 (9:03/mile) @ 156 bpm

10/14 Carkeek Run

2009-10-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a week behind, and getting more behind. Not sure how that happened. :) Short summaries of the last few runs to get caught up, I suppose.

Wednesday's run was the second take at Carkeek. The plan was for another Facebook driven meetup, but we had an extremely blustery, rainy day, and Betsy cancelled the gathering. I decided to go ahead and go. If nothing else, I needed to try out my shoes in the rain and mud. :) Of course, by the time I got there it was clear and not raining. :)

I had to work from home for the day thanks to Toby, so it was nice to get out and stretch my legs. The beast needed a trip to the vet to check on the constant licking of his front left paw. He probably scuffed himself or something, and the licking managed to give him skin a infection. Cone head, sock, antibiotics, and benadryl for you, buddy!

4 laps again. First lap was a bit fast, even with walking the 'hill of doom' from the beginning. Stopped to move a downed tree off the trail by the snag at around mile 1.5 on the second lap, since I knew I wasn't going to have the energy to go over later. Got my first slug kill too, on lap three. :| Sorry, buddy.

New socks seem to be comfortable, but a lot wetter than I expected. not sure if it's the socks or it's the Goretex in the shoes not breathing like my other shoes. Felt some nail pinching on one toe, but no blood. Probably trimmed a little close.

7.40 miles in 1:34:35 (12:38/mile) @ 165 bpm

10/13 Run

2009-10-13T21:20:00.001-07:00

Another evening run, counter clockwise around the block.

It was a bit chilly, 50 at the start, 45 by end. No cloud cover, so it felt a lot cooler than it probably was.

Whole run was way too fast again. It really feels like the ticks on the pace meter just are set at ~8:50 (too fast) and ~9:20 (slower than I'd like)

I felt really stumpy and stiff till 4, or 5 miles in.

The long 110th hill in the first 1.5 miles had my glutes just trashed and calves really tight for a few miles.

Garmin Center is a couple points different than the watch itself was. I was at 153 on the watch which I was reasonably happy with.

6.18 miles in 54:47 (8:51/mile) @ 155 bpm

10/10 Beach Run

2009-10-10T23:17:00.001-07:00

A perfect day for a run on the beach. Slept in a little, then had to eat and run some errands, finally got out around 12:30. Out onto the beach and a right turn to head North. A completely different experience than Thursday.

Got to see what's left of some crabs, lots of sea, somebody jetskiing in the surf (really, never saw this before). Sand Pipers and pelicans (in the sea!) too.

"On your left, SweetPea" may not be the best choice to warn a horse your coming up from behind. Especially if it turns out the horse has a female rider, after you say it. :)

Tried to keep my HR at 153 or less, since I'm still pretty sore from Wednesday, but i kept getting slower. Decided to keep keep the last little above 10 min/mile.

6.02 miles in 58:10 (9:38/mile) @ 157 bpm
9:14 @ 159
9:21 @ 154
9:38 @ 154
10:05 @ 155
9:51 @ 157
9:39 @ 163

10/8 Night Run on the Beach

2009-10-10T23:16:00.001-07:00

Spent Thursday morning driving down to Portland to pick up my mom from the hospital, and then we drove back to Long Beach to get her settled in. The drive stiffened my legs up a bit, especially after Carkeek, but a bit of walking around worked things out. Sore, but functional, left leg a bit more sore than the right.

Finally got out to run at about 9:20. Dark and overcast, so no moonlight, but I really didn't want to run through town, and wanted to run on the beach, so what the heck. Snagged a flashlight from my nightstand, that I swear my mom has had sine I was a kid and got out there. The back light on the Garmin was throwing a lot of light too.

It was a pain trying to see with the flashlight (weaker batteries than I thought) as I started on the gravel trail to the beach, so I turned it off, and then the Garmin back light. By the time I got to the beach (about .5 from the house) my eyes had pretty well adjusted. Except for one scare when a pole with a bunch of net buoys festooned from it looking like something from a horror movie, I was doing well.

It was dark enough that all you could see was the pixilated outlines of the world, and the light pollution from the houses and towns. It was overcast so no moonlight to help. Took a visual from the beach and a distance from the Garmin and ran until I hit 3 miles and turned around. It was a little nerve wracking at the end looking for an unmarked gap in the dunes, hoping that the Garmin wasn't off, but once I saw the 'scary' post I was fine. :)

It was a run that you narrate for the blog in your head, tring to capture it for yourself, and to descibe it for others. (As cheesy as it sounds.) :) I wish I could have recorded it when I was running. I wouldn't try to replicate it all here because I just can't, but I'll dump what I can. :)

Seeing the landing lights of someone's path to the beach, looking light a saet of runway lights. Having the only way you can gauge your speed be if you look directly at your feet, and if there's something there to reflect what little light is there. Having the horizon never get any closer like a dream of running forever, or a nightmare if you're getting tired. Feeling like you've run for hours and checking the Garmin for one of the few times you do and realizing you've only gone 5 minutes since the it chirped for the last mile marker. Feeling like you've run for a few minutes and having the Garmin chirp for the last mile. Having the light change when you turn around and being able to see better. Glossy parts of the beach that must be slightly wetter sand. Spongy sand that feels good to your legs but means you're too high on the beach. Whitecaps that you can't tell for certain are 5 feet off the beach or 50. Windows of a beach hours that looks like something from a movie. One where you see either a statuesque silhouette, or a murder, or both, and then they see you.

No one else out on the beach until the return leg. At some point I realized the light ahead of me was getting close, and it eventually turned into a pair of headlights of a truck. I turned the flashlight back on so they'd notice me, and they were polite enough to stop until I had passed. Seemed odd to me, but Val pointed out it was probably them just being safe.

It was 55ish, but I figured that since we I was running right off the ocean I should try the tights and a long sleeve. Should have stuck with the normal outfit for that temp. Wind off the ocean was mild and light. Had the shirt sleeves pushed up by halfway through and considered taking it off for a bit. Glad I hadn't once I saw the truck. :)

Some muscle soreness and tiredness from the hills, thighs, hamstrings and the small muscles around the ankles. Went as fast as I felt comfortable, only checked Garmin for distance, never looked at pace, just dialed it back when something started to complain, legs or core.

6.01 in 55:34 (9:15/mile) @ 159 bpm
9:48 @ 154 << Half is warmup, trail, and soft sand
9:12 @ 155
8:57 @ 160 << Note normal 3 mile HR change
9:00 @ 161
8:56 @ 164
9:34 @ 165 << half is soft sand and trail

10/7 First Run at Carkeek and BBQ

2009-10-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

Betsy and her husband, Matt, sent out an invite on Facebook for a slightly earlier than normal (starting at 5pm) run at Carkeek followed by a BBQ, on Wednesday. After a brief discussion with Val, especially since I was leaving to go to Portland on Thursday to pick my mom up from the hospital (hiatal hernia repair), then drive back to Long Beach, I decided I was in.

Showed up at the Park and drove a round a time or two since I realized I wasn't sure where we were meeting. Stopped and checked FB for what Betsy's car's looked like and then made another pass. Stopped when I saw a 26.2 bumper sticker and people dressed like runners.

None of the runners were Betsy or Matt, well one was, but a different Matt. :) But, they were the group I was meeting up with. The other Matt left for a lap just as I finished getting my new trail shoes set up, and Katie offered to lead and show me around the course, with her husband, Rob, and another runner, Renee. (Thanks for the correction Betsy.) They had just finished an absolutely brutal sounding hill and core workout. Despite that she managed to let me talk her ear off the first lap.

Forgot to turn on satellites on Garmin for first lap, and turning it on late appears to have flummoxed the HR info too, which is frustrating. All laps were roughly 1.85 miles. Laps were slightly short of the official course volume because we walked to the start for the stop each time. 430 feet of elevation gain per lap.

This was an entirely different experience from any other run I've ever done. Not just the terrain, which was really trail running, but just attitude. We ran each lap. Stopped, chatted, waited for other runners, decided year or nay, and then went back out or not. Very cool. VERY fun.

Katie dusted me on the second lap when I went out with her and her husband. I went back out for a third lap with the other Matt, and then let him at the top of the hill of death. (Sorry.) Nic, a Facebook friend, and fellow blogger showed up and we went out in the dark (thanks to Matt Hagen for the headlamp) for my last lap. Good conversation, and cool as hell running on a trail in the dark.

Splits:
26:25 @ ?
22:27 @ 167 bpm
22:54 @ 166 bpm
25:21 @ 161 bpm

7.4 miles total @ say 165 bpm avg, 1720 ft elevation gain.

Need to get some good pics of the course. It's very scenic, and one of the bridges over a stream is a really cool optical illusion, that makes the world look like it just stops. Also realized I need to get an SPI Belt or equivalent to carry my keys with the Skins, what wit them having no pockets and all. :)

Betsy and Katie were working hard to keep me on target for getting the Marathon Maniacs, and suggesting marathons. Between them and Nic trying to convince me that Lumberjack Endurance Run and 100 in the Hood are a good idea. :) It was nice to hear he thinks Mount Si is a good first 50 as well as all the other people who have recommended it.

10/5 Run

2009-10-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had planned on running on the weekend, and I just didn't make the appropriate time for it. It turned into a I'll get some extra sleep, I'll run at lunch. Val's not feeling well, I'll run after dinner. It's late and I and to go to bed kind of day.

Monday was the first run in my new Skins compression shorts. I think I'm sold. I hauled myself out the door around 9 and did a lap counterclockwise around the block. Temp was in the 50s, but hey, no rain!

The Skins really did seem to work well as far as keeping my thighs fresh. I actually felt the run in my calves and lower core (back, abs) instead of my legs.

Too fast again, I really need to get a handle on my speed. Don't know if it was te Skins of 2 days off, or what. Seemed like the net tick down on the speed meter was 9:15 and that was slower than I wanted. I let my speed stay up coming own the long hill in 132nd, but kept an eye on my HR, keeping it t around 153, which seemed about right for the run I was trying to do.

6.19 in 54:57 (8:53/mile) @ 154 bpm avg.

10/2 Run and a Shopping Trip

2009-10-03T09:47:00.001-07:00

I actually felt good enough to run around the block on Friday. Another chilly evening ~50 when I left at 9:15, and if the church is to be believed, it was 46 when I was a mile from home.

I really didn't want to go out. Not as bad as the inertia of not running for 9 days that I felt on Monday, but just that "It's late, and chilly and I want to hang out with my wife" feeling. I mentioned that I'd love a treadmill, and Val was like: "Then go to the gym". :) Not quite what I had in mind. I just didn't want to leave the house. but I did. :)

A little fast, which I think shows that I'm getting back into the swing of things, and that things are healing. I really had trouble keeping pace under control, and was constantly trying to adjust. Goal pace was 9:04 - 9:34.

Really nice run. Great temperature until I got back down onto 35th around 4.5 miles in. 35th just asks like a wind tunnel sometimes, so just a bit more chilly.

6.21 miles in 55:48 (8:59/mile) @ 159 bpm

Saturday, my Mom came over in teh morning, we went to Little Gym and then lunch at Azteca, and then we took advantage of the extra body to wrangle Kaitlyn, and trekked down to Kent to visit The Balanced Athlete.

As usual they worked their magic. I got a new pair of road shoes, to complement my not yet retired pairs of Mizuno Wave Alchemy 8s. They ended up being a pair of Brooks Addiction 8s. According to Eric the Wave Alchemy 9s are simply an upper modification over the 8s, not a complete rework like the debacle when I switched out my foundations, so I could have used them, but they were out of my size. The Addictions seem to have more forefoot support than the Alchemys, which is one of the only thing that's been off with the Alchemys.

Tammy, the new guy (didn't catch his name, oops), and Eric worked me, Val, and some other customers with grace and style. I managed to get my first pair of trail shoes too, a pair of Vasque Blur SL GTXs (wow, what a name. :) ). They feel completely different that road shoes, bigger, higher toe box, much stiffer rear end. And they're GoreTex so I might even keep my feet dry. I'm really looking forward to trying them out. Guess I need to stop procrastinating and find myself a nice local trail. :)

Somewhere in there Val got fitted a new pair of shoes too. A very pretty pair of pink ASICS. :) Finally, I was able to finish out my winter wardrobe as well as getting some stuff to fill some holes. I got a REAL pair of compression shorts (apparently my Nikes are just fancy Spandex shorts), a pair of SKINS. Eric had an interesting comment about the efficacy of compression clothing. Apparently, if he wears arm and leg sleeves he gets a 5 point reduction in HR. That's like 20 seconds/mile for him. I'm sold. :)

So, forthcoming reviews for a long sleeved Craft base layer, a Brooks Rebel Jacket (so I have something to wear other than might eye melting Brooks Nightlife jacket), a pair of Pearl Izumi Phase compression tights, and a really comfy looking pair of Features! socks (merino wool and bamboo).

Now, I'll stop babbling and go sit in front of my fire and watch Wolverine. :) Have a good weekend!

9/30 Run

2009-10-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's run was an evening double out and back on 35th. Doing it on 35th keeps it nice and flat while I'm checking things out. Boring, but good. Starting to get chilly. ~50 at 9:15. I've had to upgrade to short-sleeved shirts from sleeveless. :)

No big problems on the run. The weakness in the left side of my abs seems to be gone, which is great. Any twinges were expected. I was a little more tired than expected on Thursday, but I think that's related to whatever cold-like thing I seem to be starting to get.

6.1 miles in 56:23 (9:14/mile) @ 156 bpm

9/28 Run - And On The 10th Day He Ran

2009-09-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

I had originally planned to get back on the road and test out my abdominals on Thursday. By Wednesday, I decided to push it to Saturday. Not due to any aches or twinges in particular, but just the realization that if I went out early and aggravated things I'd be deadlined for longer.

I slept in Saturday and then spent 6 hours on a ladder priming the north side of the house. It was enough of a workout I deferred this Sunday. Then slept in again on Sunday and then spent another 6 hours on a ladder painting the north side of the house. :)

Finally got out about 9 on Monday. ~50 degrees, and drizzling as I warmed up, rain stopped in the first half mile though. Rainy season is back. Going to have to get used to it again. :)

No twinges, or anything that concerned me during the run; which was a nice easy out and back on 35th (so as flat as I can get) for 3 miles and then a slightly hillier out and back for a 4th mile. Left side of my abs was definitely tired by the end of the run, which I tried to run at 143 bpm (75% MHR) or under to make sure I kept the intensity level down. Abs felt stiffer than usual, kind if like a healing muscle I guess...

I'll only run every other day this week while I see how things are healing, then start trying to add some mileage next week. Wednesdays run should be between 4 and 6, depending on how things feel.

4.02 miles in 40:53 (10:09/mile) @ 143 bpm avg.

And, before I forget again, I must thank Johan, with Archie Grand, for an absolutley fabulous new notebook. These are really fun. Drop by the site and take a look!

It's An Abdominal Strain, Yay!

2009-09-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Got a quick visit to the doc (ARNP, actually) yesterday, and she says it's just a mild abdominal strain, no apparent hernias. For paranoia's sake she's going to do some blood work. Apparently the pancreas is in there on that side, for example. I was super worried that since I had had a hernia already that I might be predisposed to more, she says that's not the case.

When she palpated the abdomen the super sore spot was the spot in the upper left that wigged out on the run. Some mild soreness in other places but nothing serious.

She said "take it easy" and to "use my best judgement" as to when I start running again. I'm going to try to be a mature adult, and not just an endorphin addict. :) I'm going to try a slow 3 miler on Thursday. I seem to be getting better each day, so better safe than sorry.

Trying not to plan the rest of the year until I know better how long this is going to take to heal. I'm thinking that if can run Thursday, I'll spend some as yet unknown amount of time running every other day, possibly increasing my mileage as it progresses. We'll see what that means for Carkeek and Seattle. It may mean that I place my speed goals on the back burner and simply finish each one, assuming my abdominals cooperate.

9/18 "Run" - aka Holy Crap, what the hell is that!

2009-09-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Last run before Tunnel Medal Marathon on Sunday. I've had mildly sore abs all week, between the tempo runs and the Workout at Work program, so between that and the shin thing, I took Thursday off and decided to run Friday.

9:30 run, low 60s, and the first 1/4 mile is just fine, then the ab soreness starts to kick in. By 3/4 of a mile I'm sore but working through it, by 1 1/4 I'm wondering where the eff the knives came from. By 1.6 I'm walking the 1.5 miles home, and trying not to take deep breaths.

Most of the pain was high in my left abdomen, above the belly button, but below the ribs. It's pretty much gone, but I'm pretty sore, and I get some aches and pains lower on either side. I'm hoping it's not another hernia, but that's probably just me being paranoid.

After a sanity check from Val, I'm bailing out of Tunnel Medal Marathon. Better to listen to my body, and baby it a little. If everything heals up and it's nothing serious, we'll see if Pigtails offers her December marathon and try for that instead. I'm bummed since I was really looking forward to a low key, 'social' marathon. Better safe than sorry, and I hadn't paid for it yet.

1.6 miles in 15:50

9/16 Recovery Run

2009-09-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Another not so great recovery run on Wednesday. A little faster than it should have been, since it felt better for my lower legs to run faster than it did slowly.

Noting spectaculary interesting to report about it.

Counter-clockwise around the block, comfortable temps, about 10:00 at night.

6.17 miles in 57:30 (9:19/mile) @ 147 bpm

9/15 Tempo Run

2009-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Same route as the last two, clockwise around the 'block' starting at 110th.

Got out very late, 10pm-ish. Val and I were talking about her health, and fitness, and Biggest Loser, Kaitlyn, etc. All over the pace. :) I had to force myself out the door, as I have had to do for all of these tempo runs, but was glad I did.

My shins finally seem to be healing and cooperating again, no major aches or pains, during the run or after, only some minor stuff coming down the hill on 100th (which just confirms I need to work on my hill running form).

Pushed hard, and was able to pull the average pace for the tempo component only 2 seconds off the max I'm supposed to be running these. Good improvements in just a few weeks. I think another few weeks of this, and them maybe add a mile to the distance for the tempo run.

Which begs the question: when do I increase my pace? I've picked the pace range based on McMillan's recommendations from my last 10K time. If I don;t want to race to check my 'settings' when do I bump the pace? As usual, more research required.

6.19 miles in 51:04 (8:15/mile) @ 158 bpm avg

9:09 @ 140

7:51 @ 161
7:46 @ 163
7:50 @ 165
7:48 @ 168
--7:49/mile @ 164 average for tempo

8:58 @ 154

0.19 - 9:09/mile @ 162

9/13 Long Run

2009-09-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

I know I've asked myself this before, but when am I supposed to consider a run a "long run". :) I don't have the energy to dig through my archives and see what I said last time. I'm going to say this one was. :) Not at 3 hours yet, but it was a lot of work.

Out on the road at around 6:15. I thought the temp was a little cool, and confirmed that when I passed the billboard at the church declaring it was 50 degrees at mile 1. It was 64 ~2:20 later, on the way back in. (The temp for the day maxed out at 84 that I saw, glad I ran early. :))

Ran this unfueled again, and it went much better than last week, even with the longer distance. I think I was probably towards then end of my reserves at around 16 or so, but was able to push on through it. Don't know if I'll go much further unfueled. I think I've proved to myself that I can do it, and established a sane distance for it. I need to work on fueling at the new pace too. I had no interest in GUs and water consumption was a challenge again. My stomach just didn't really 'feel' it.

Really felt the last few miles in my larger muscle groups, quads, hamstrings, glutes, and especially my core. I'm glad I've started the "Planks at Work" program. I think it will help. Skipped doing them on Monday since I was still sore from the run. Really had to push through to keep the paces up for these last few miles.

Val brought up the idea of BCAAs for aid in recovery again. Need to reexplore that. I vaguely remember that there was some thought that it should help endurance athletes, just like it does weightlifters. More research required. Again. :)

How long is normal for a horses tail? I passed a horse property, and one of the horses had the longest tails I think I've ever seen. (Not that I've seen a lot.) All the way down to its 'calves' (whatever the correct term is...). Well groomed, but long.

What is it with kids and fashion these days? Saw a girl crossing the street, in 84 degree weather. In short-shorts and flip-flops. And a sweatshirt. Zipped up. WTF?

Interestingly the heartrates for this run were clustered in 3 very distinct ranges that I don't think correlate exactly to paces. I noticed a similar behavior on Saturdays run. The fact that the first 5 miles averaged 143 bpm @ 9:16/mile is amazing. I couldn't have come close to that pace a few weeks ago at that HR. It's probably a good thing that I've increased the intensity a little, I think it's encouraging some improvements. My best pace at that HR range when running <=143bpm was something like 9:45/mile.

HR/paces
miles 1-5:9:16 @ 143
miles 6-13: 9:12 @ 152
miles 14-17: 9:05 @ 159

17.34 in 2:39:07 (9:10/mile) @ 151 bpm avg

POM

2009-09-15T13:44:00.001-07:00

The fine folks a POM Wonderful offered me a case of their juice to try a few weeks ago, and I'm a little behind. :)

POM wonderful is a 100% Pomegranate Juice. It has all sorts of wonderful anti oxidant effects, loads of vitamins, etc. Their site covers it all. It was a hit with all three members of the household. The flavor is very unique, and for me the only way to describe it is something like a blend of strong Grape juice and Cranberry juice. but not quite. :)

Very tasty, but we've knocked out almost all juices from our diets as we try to control the calories. Kaitlyn liked it, but it's not a swap for her favorite, apple juice. :) Thanks POM. Great product, and once we work through what we have, we'll probably buy some more. :) If you're a juice person, get a small bottle and give it at try.

Cholesterol and Running

2009-09-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

I had my annual with my cardiologist on Friday, and that made for a very good day. It was nice to see some confirmation that all the health benefits that running, exercise, weight loss, etc... are supposed to give you are occurring.

I can only quote the doc on last year's number (after only a few months of running) but then my HDL (good cholesterol) was 139 (> 140 is desired). This time it was 54!!!! Running and 6 Fish Oil horse pills a day, apparently total cholesterol was 145 (well under the 200 maximum), and LDL (bad cholesterol) was 79. Admittedly this is with the help of Vytorin, but I've got some pretty crappy genetics to fight here.

This stuff will save your life. I got off blood pressure meds after 6 months of running. Hard to argue with that. Hard to argue with the following numbers, too.

The numbers are before I started running and losing weight ((8/27/07), and Friday (9/11/09), both with Vytorin.

target 8/27/07 9/11/09
Total Cholesterol: <200 148 145
Triglycerides: <150 146 63
HDL (good) >40 37 54
LDL(bad) <100 82 79
Risk Ratio <4.0 4.0 2.69