Monday, April 20, 2015, 7:02 pm

4.5 mi, 771 ft gain, 1:08:22. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Vida seemed ok all day while I was working in the yard and the dogs were outside with me. So I brought both with me on the run today.

I was still just a little achey overall, but certainly doing better. I didn’t notice any issues with my piriformis until about 0.75 mi in. Even then, it wasn’t much of a problem. I only noticed it for a minute or two, then not again until 2.66 mi.

We took the newer road at about 0.25 mi again. We stopped briefly to look at the tree I thought might be cherry. I looked again, and it looks even more like it to me this time. It’s way too tall to be a domesticated cherry tree. It’s probably some sort of wild cherry. I’m looking forward to seeing what it actually is, assuming they don’t log back there before then.

We went out to the end of the road. On the way back, I looked for a decent route to go up the hill off trail. We ended going up about the same place we tried last time. I decided that we were going to go all the way to the top. I’m not sure I’ll do that again. It was fine most of the way, even when it got really steep. But once I got near the top and it started to level out, we ran into the more recent regrowth that I knew was going to be there. The first part wasn’t too bad, lots of brittle, dry and rotten small deadfall and snags. Then came the blackberries. I saw at least 3 different types of blackberry vines. There were lots of Oregon grape too. They’re more of an annoyance than a hinderance though. The last 10-20 yards through last year’s clear cut was the worst.

We made it to the road across the top just near the top of the steep climb near the top on the east side. I briefly considered going out to the other end of the hill, but decided against it. If it weren’t race week, I would have. I’m getting a lot more patient with tapers.

I kept the pace pretty easy, even on the downhill. We stopped for a little bit at the seasonal pond. The water level was up a little bit. It was probably even higher after the rain early last week. There’s more rain in the forecast for the better part of the next week.

I threw a stick for Vida. She didn’t see it land a little behind her when she was running out in the water. Instead, she went for another “stick”, a 10 ft long 3 in diameter log. She struggled briefly to free it from a small tangle, then she pulled it about 10 yds across the pond. I tried to get my phone out quickly to get a photo. I managed to get one before she dropped it, but she was behind some bushes, so it wasn’t that great.

We continued back to the car at a comfortably easy pace. I sped up briefly just to see how my legs felt. They were ok. I think a little bit of the soreness is the new exercises I’ve been doing. They seem to be working too.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 6:28 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 25:31. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I’m behind on my write-ups again, and I forgot most of the details.

I felt alright. My piriformis was a little irritated, but not bad. I ran negative mile splits and sped up a little more at the end.

Average HR 143 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 5:42 pm

4.52 mi, 226 ft gain, 50:28. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Vida seemed to be doing ok, so I took her and Sigurd out on an easy run today. We went out to the seasonal ponds. The water is still up a little. I put the log she grabbed the other day back in the water and threw a rock at it. I had my phone ready for a photo this time, and Vida grabbed the log again. I got a pretty good photo too.

Next, we went out to Olney Creek for a couple minutes. Then we continued around the loop. I haven’t felt very fast, and my legs are still a little off. I felt the same way before the Lord Hill 50k too. I was good on race day, though, at least until I blew up on the third lap from going too hard early.

I kept the pace pretty easy mostly. I picked up the pace a couple times to stretch out the legs a little.

The other day I thought I was good with the taper. Today it’s apparent that I’m not. I’m over the stage of being super anxious to run longer or harder. But I haven’t had the same desire to run. I’m a little short on motivation for these short runs. They just don’t seem to do it for me. Just a few more days to race day. But then I’ll be stuck back to short and easy for a while again. It won’t be too long though.

Average HR 124 bpm.

 

Thursday, April 23, 2015, 6:49 pm

4.17 mi, 33 ft gain, 34:33. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Another day of little motivation. I had little issue with my piriformis starting out, it was a little worse later, but not bad.

I ran out to the road just past 2 mi and turned around. I had started feeling better by then, but kept it short again. The thought of not running in races has crossed my mind, just sticking to adventures of my own. It wouldn’t really change the need for a taper before a really long adventure, though. It would make scheduling and such more simple. If I do things on my own, I can do them whenever and wherever I want. When I run races, I have to find a race that I want to run, make sure I’m free when it happens, and go to the predetermined location. The location usually isn’t a problem. If it was, I wouldn’t sign up. But with something like the Capitol Peak 50 mi, I probably wouldn’t have chosen a race down there by Olympia if I didn’t need a qualifying race for Cascade Crest.

On the way back home, my legs were a little heavy and stiff. I realized that the backward part of my stride might have become a little exaggerated at the expense of the upward and forward motion of my knees. I don’t know, but I had less discomfort from the piriformis issue when I tried a higher knee lift, focussing more on raising my leg ahead of me than pushing off, which was how I ran in the past. I’m not sure about changing something this close to race day, but it’ll be something to think about if I have problems during the race.

When I got to about 0.3 mi from my house, the sun was shining through an opening in the clouds. It had been lightly raining for much of the run, and the rest of the sky looked pretty ominous. The sun breaking through was just enough to cast a rainbow ahead of me. It appeared to touch down in my back yard. It was kind of a weak rainbow, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Average HR 140 bpm.

 

Friday, April 24, 2015, 7:42 pm

3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 24:09. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Another short run to get out and keep my legs moving. I ran a bit faster than normal. But my legs felt pretty good.

Average HR 145 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 25, 2015, 12:41 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:46. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

One more short run around town before the race. I went earlier in the day so I could finish getting things together and drive down to drop off the dogs at their mom’s place to play with other dogs instead of laying around my house all day with a couple short breaks let outside by the neighbor kid.

I think the HR monitor read too high for a little while, so the stated average is high. My legs felt ok. However, I haven’t felt that great for most of the taper. I felt better the couple times I ran harder with some uphills. Apparently, it’s normal to feel kind of crappy during a taper, and I remember feeling like this during a couple previous tapers too.

Average HR 145 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 26, 2015, 6:00 am

50 mi, 7864 ft gain, 10:21:11. Capitol Peak 50 mi, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I’ll write a full race recap soon. The important thing was that I finished and got my Cascade Crest 100 qualifier.

Average HR 142 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 72.7 mi, 8896 ft gain