Monday, December 15, 2014, 5:37 pm

11.02 mi, 407 ft gain, 1:44:40. May Creek rd around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Some soreness to my the muscles of my lower legs behind my shins. Though it’s really only there when I push on it. I took it a little easier today. I didn’t see very many cars on May Creek rd.

I felt pretty good for the run. It was pretty windy. I started to go out Reiter rd, but being so windy and the trees in very close to the road, I didn’t want to chance a branch or something coming down.

The wind picked up again on my way west up US2 toward Gunn rd. I had to lean into it a few times. It helped a little bit coming back down Gunn rd. Then when I turned the last corner for the straight away to home, a big gust blew in and just about stopped me in my tracks.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 4:48 pm

11.44 mi, 1369 ft gain, 2:00:32. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Same soreness in my lower legs, but I didn’t feel it at all while running. Even so, I kept an easy pace.

I went around the loop first to warm up like last week. Then headed out over the hill. I went out to the little hill off the gate #2 road, since I was feeling good.

It was pretty windy again on the way back to the car. Going at the slower pace than last week, I wasn’t keeping quite as warm from the activity as usual, so I kept my sleeves down, unlike many runs.

I’m feeling pretty good about hitting 2000 miles for the year. I’m less sure about how I’ll feel for my 10k race this weekend, whether I’ll have the speed I want in my legs if I keep up the 10 mile days. I’m considering cutting down the mileage per run, but doing doubles to still get 10 mi per day. I’ll think about it after tomorrow’s run.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:15 pm

11.01 mi, 1672 ft gain, 1:56:02. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I need to get back in the habit of writing about my runs shortly after I get home, not days later. I don’t remember much about this run.

I started with the loop, then headed up to Wallace lake. The water was low enough that I could go down to the beach. Then I continued up the trail toward Jay lake a little ways, but turned around before getting there.

I took the downhill a little easier than I had been. Vida usually lags behind on the long descents.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 4:14 pm

4.23 mi, 229 ft gain, 38:12. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 loop, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I decided to try a double before the race on Saturday to see if I’d recover any better. I’m not sure if it helped.

The dogs were looking a little tired, so I took them out for the shorter run of the day. Just the loop and back to the car. It was nice to run during daylight.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 10:13 pm

6.06 mi, 181 ft gain, 46:30. Road through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

This run was a little later than I really wanted, but I had some errands to run. This was just when I was able to get around to it. If I weren’t trying to finish out the year with 10+ mi/day, I probably wouldn’t have gone out on this one.

I felt pretty good, though, and went a little faster than I expected I would.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Friday, December 19, 2014, 5:55 pm

10.82 mi, 730 ft gain, 1:47:04. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I modified these shoes again. This time I cut off the top of the heel where it contacts my achilles. I cut it flush with the rest of the ankle, removing the outer layers and foam, but leaving the inner liner. I then folded the inner liner over the exposed foam, tucking it between the two outer layers, then superglued it in place. I may break out the needle and thread and sew it instead, but I wanted to go out running and superglue was faster.

As for the run, I took it fairly easy… easy as far as a 10 mi run goes. I tried to keep it fairly flat.
I saw another owl in a tree. This one was much bigger than the other one and had horns. I couldn’t get as close, but I still got a picture. I also saw a small buck, and later a doe with a fawn. Thankfully the dogs didn’t see the deer. They like to chase deer.

I felt pretty good for the most part. Some minor discomfort to my right lower leg, but not bad, especially considering that my volume over the last two weeks is pretty significantly more than I’ve ever run.

I opened it up and ran one short burst at around 90%. It felt great. I’m a little less uncertain about whether I’ll be able to give a good effort at the 10k tomorrow.

It’s a too soon to tell, but I think the latest shoe modification might help. I’ve still had some tightness around my achilles to heel connection. It hasn’t been painful like before since I got rid off the rigid plastic heel cup. I’m hoping that without the high back to the shoes pushing on my achilles, that will all go away.

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 20, 2014,  am

1.31 mi, 42 ft gain, 14:10. Seward park warm up, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Just a short warmup before the race. I went out backwards on the course to see the end, so I’d know how far I was to the finish and when to start pushing for it.

Average HR 132 bpm.

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:15 am

6.2 mi, 454 ft gain, 44:49. Seward Solstice 10k, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

The start was sloppy, soggy, muddy grass. My shoes are not great in the mud. Several guys jumped out front right away, and I got a big slop of mud in my eye. Once we hit the gravel, I started picking them off until there were just two guys left in front of me.

The first half of the course is gravel road grade. The second half is single and double track, winding through the woods, and it was quite muddy in places.

The 10k was three laps, with the 4.2 mi covering two. Toward the end of the first lap, on part that I had seen on my warm up, I slipped as I was going over a rotted cedar log, rolling over the log to land on my back in the mud. I felt a small bump below my left collar bone, but was otherwise unscathed. I quickly got up and kept going.

I could still see one of the lead guys just passing the start/finish area as I came out of the woods, probably 15 seconds ahead of me. I tried to stay in contact for the second lap, but lost sight on the second half in the twisting and undulating single track.

I came out of the woods ending my second lap into the swampy grass, it had gotten even worse with all the other runners churning up the mud. About 20 feet into the field, I lost my left shoe in the mud. I took another two steps in my sock before stopping and going back for my shoe. If it had been the end of the last lap, I probably would have just finished with one shoe and gone to get it after. However, I didn’t think I’d be able to go very fast on the gravel or trail in one shoe and a sock. I saw two guys who I thought I had been ahead of pass me as I put my shoe back on. I think I lost almost a minute trying to get my shoe back on and tied more tightly.
I pushed hard on last lap. Looking back on my data, I was very close to my first lap split. I caught and passed one of the guys who went by when I lost my shoe.

By the last lap, I was lapping runners pretty regularly. Most of them were great about getting over so I could pass, and many even cheered me on. Some said that I wasn’t too far behind the next guy. There were a few people, however, who had their headphones going too loudly to hear me calling out as I approached from behind. Fortunately, the trail was just wide enough to sneak by as I tapped them on the shoulder.

I managed to stay upright and keep both shoes as I finished out the final lap. My final official time was 44:07, good for 2nd place. I figured I could do somewhere around 41-44 min, depending on the terrain and conditions. I was pretty close.

The winner’s finishing time was 43:37. Apparently the other guy that I thought I was chasing/racing was actually a 4.2 mi runner who finished just after I thought he passed me as I hurried to get my shoe back on.

I can second guess and say that without losing my shoe that I could have won. But I did lose my shoe. I didn’t tie the laces tightly enough. I chose to wear those shoes, knowing they didn’t have great traction in the mud, which slowed me down. I don’t know if I would have pushed as hard as I did on the final lap if I hadn’t been trying to make up time for the shoe mishap. I also don’t know if the winner let up because he didn’t see anyone behind him. And I don’t know how he would have reacted if I had come up behind him and really given him a race for the finish. So, maybe I could have won, but I didn’t have that performance, and he might have still outraced me if I did.

I might look into some cross country spikes for the next race, though. It gets pretty muddy as well. I’m signed up for two more of these shorter races. There’s also another that I didn’t sign up for, but I might.

Average HR 165 bpm.

EDIT: I remember there being a little confusion about results on race day. There were so many runners coming in together that it was hard for them to keep track. Looking at the updated official results, I came in 3rd, which is what I thought when I finished. The winner’s time was 41:00. I certainly wasn’t catching him, even if I hadn’t fallen or lost my shoe. I remember him going off the front at the start and never saw him again. I was pretty sure I didn’t catch up to the other guy that passed me when my shoe came off.

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:11 pm

3.32 mi, 172 ft gain, 32:22. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

A little later than I would prefer, again. But I went out with the dogs, since they’d been cooped up much of the day. I didn’t feel like I had much energy starting out. I thought about going about 4 mi. I still wasn’t really feeling it after a while, so I decided to turn around. At minimum, I wanted to hit my 10 mi for the day, and I did.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 21, 2014, 3:40 pm

11.86 mi, 810 ft gain, 1:46:33. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I think the short slow run last night did the trick. I felt good today. I went faster than I expected.

I wanted to check out the new bridges on the recently reopened RR grade trail at Wallace Falls State Park, so I ran out there through town.

The trail could use some new gravel. All the construction trucks made it pretty muddy in places. The bridges are great, very sturdy with no noticeable bouncing as I ran over them. They even smell awesome with the cedar decking.

I ran up to the restroom where the RR Grade meets the Greg Ball trail, had a quick pitstop and headed back down. On the way back down, I got out the headlamp.

There were a few people on the trail on my way up, but I saw no one on the way down. Once I got to the parking lot, I turned on my race prize from yesterday, an Amphipod Vizlet LED Smiley flashing reflector.

I started to get a little tired around 11 mi, but not bad at all considering racing yesterday, or it being day 15 in a row going over 10 mi.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77.3 mi, 6066 ft gain