Monday, September 8, 2014, 5:00 pm

4.33 mi, ft gain, 59:20. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Some DOMS in my legs, but not too bad. Went out for an easy recovery run. Took a few minutes for my hip flexors to loosen up again. I took a turn that I haven’t taken in months. I forgot how hilly that road was. Not long hills, but kind of steep. I was rewarded with some chanterelles though. Once back to the main road, I headed to Olney Creek for the dogs. Legs feel better than when I started, but still a little DOMS.

 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 4:36 pm

8.1 mi, 1079 ft gain, 1:29:38. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Hip flexors still a little tight to start. Fine after getting going. Took it easy again. Went up the little hill to the NW and continued on the blocked off logging road heading uphill until the overgrowth was too much. Then went to Olney creek for the dogs. Then up the bigger hill and most of the way over the other side. Went a little farther than I expected, but I felt good.

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 4:16 pm

9.14 mi, 1402 ft gain, 1:38:25. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Legs still a tad bit sore at first. Loosened up after a little over a mile. Took it fairly easy today. Still longer than my regular weekday runs though. Stopped at Olney creek for the dogs. Stopped at the beach on the north end of the lake for the dogs. They were slowing a little on the way back, so we stopped again at Olney creek. They certainly do better now that it’s getting a little cooler out.

 

Thursday, September 11, 2014, 4:43 pm

7.11 mi, 782 ft gain, 1:05:36. Discovery Park, Seattle, solo. New Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I went into Seattle today to pick up some new shoes. Back in July, Seven Hills Running had a contest to guess the finishing times of the Men’s and Women’s winning times for White River 50. I came closest and won a $50 coupon. I finally got around to heading down there today. I got another pair of Altra Superior 1.5, in black/blue/gray this time. That’s just what they grabbed for me, which is fine. I don’t care about the color, but it will make it easy to tell the two pairs apart. My others are red/black/yellow. I also picked up a Nathan Elevation Race Vest. Hoping it’s easier on my collar bones and underarms than my old Deuter pack. It seems to fit well, but I’ll find out on my long run this weekend. I got another handheld bottle as well, an Ultimate Direction Fastdraw 20. I like that the zipper on the pocket opens much more than my other two UD handhelds.

Anyway… Since I was already out there, and the shop is right down the street from Discovery Park, I took the new shoes and bottle out for a test. Ran the loop trail twice, once in each direction, and went down to the beach on the second loop. I switched directions because the trail is canted in one direction most of the way around. I like to try to keep things even. Several years ago I had ITB problems from running the same route in the same direction on the same side of the road when I lived in Seattle. Much like wearing elevated heel shoes can shorten the achilles and calves, continually running on a slanted surface like that can cause imbalances as the body tries to adapt the the stresses.

The weather was great. The trail was nice, with the exception of the stairs down to the beach. Most trail stairs I run are too far apart, these were much to small to run very well. It’s like they were built for people to walk on. The shoes were exactly what I expected. I have almost 290 miles in my other pair, and I think they’ve got at least another 100-200 left in them. I just sent of my registration today for a 7 hour race on September 21. And in what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, I’ll wear my new shoes. Third of four races so far this year in new shoes.

 

Friday, September 12, 2014, 4:36 pm

5.13 mi, 220 ft gain, 53:29. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Took it slow. Left groin is sore. Out to Olney creek for the dogs. Out to the end of the left fork. Added a short out and back on the road to the west nearest the gate. Took a little bit for my groin to loosen up, but felt ok running after a little bit.

 

Saturday, September 13, 2014, 4:45 pm

5 mi, 188 ft gain, 1:04:32. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

My left groin is still sore, but a little better. Out to Olney creek. Played fetch with the dogs for a little bit. Went out further and took the right fork instead of the left. Lots of blowdowns, and more overgrowth than the other way. Was a little slow going. Went out the side road to the west nearest the gate on the way back to get the extra distance to hit 5 mi. Had some big buzzing hornet looking insect follow me back to the car. Hurried to get in without it getting in as well. I wasn’t planning to taper for the 7 hour race next weekend, but I’d like to run it without groin pain, so I’ll stick to these slow, easy runs.

Sunday, September 14, 2014, 4:38 pm

5 mi, 125 ft gain, 1:05:35. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #3, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I rarely run from this gate. If the other gates have cars parked at them, I usually like to go to the blocked road instead. Never seen anyone else on those roads and there is some single track connecting roads there too. I got to go through the shorter section of single track today. Turned around at the other end. Wandered through the woods a bit too. The only water available for the dogs along this road is pretty swampy. They don’t mind, but I’m not fond of the smell on the drive home. Vida really loves to get in the muck too. I hosed both off when we got home.

I didn’t feel very well earlier in the day. Took a while to get into it while running. Started to feel better after a couple miles. Definitely glad I went for a run.

 

Weekly totals: 43.7 mi, 6h 44m, 4290ft gain