All posts by Brian

Running, Training Log

April 13-19 Practice Running

Monday, April 13, 2015, 6:00 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 25:19. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

The piriformis issues are a little better today, but I definitely need to work on some mobility, R.O.M. and flexibility.

It was raining pretty good today. The entire front of my body was absolutely soaked. My back was nearly bone dry. I doubt that would have lasted that much longer, though.
The pace was pretty good. I didn’t push too hard. I didn’t really pay that much attention to my HR or pace. I looked at my pace a number of times, but it was curiosity more than for pacing.

I wasn’t really that in the mood to run today, which hasn’t happened in a long time. The weather was part of it. My piriformis issues are probably part of it too, but there was more to it than that. Like always, I felt better after than before.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015, 4:32 pm

6.46 mi, 1573 ft gain, 2:01:29. Reiter dnr roads and abandon trail, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I was talking to on of the women who works at the grocery store today. She mentioned that she saw me running over the weekend. She also mentioned that she used to walk out on the DNR roads off Reiter Rd. I’ve meant to go out there sometime, and this was just enough to finally head out there.

I parked at the first gate with a Discover Pass sign that I saw. Looking at maps and reading about trails, I knew that the trail up to Isabel Lake was somewhere off this road. I hadn’t planned going up there, though.

It was raining when I started. I kind of figured it would, so I wore a heavier long sleeve shirt, gloves and a fleece hat.

When we got to the first intersection just past the power lines, I saw some trails that went straight out toward the mountains. I decided to check that out before going farther up the road around the corner. I found some old camp sites, but not much else.

I made my way back to the road past the switchback where I went into the woods. The road starts to climb some, but it’s not that steep. A little farther up the road, the rain mostly stopped and the sun started to peek through some breaks in the clouds. The views across the valley to Mt. Persis and Mt. Index were awesome most of the way up the road. It was cool to get another perspective of the mountains. The mountains got a nice dusting of snow over the weekend, so they were particularly incredible, even with the clouds obscuring the peaks. The rain and snow over the weekend made the way down the mountain into a lot of little waterfalls over the rock faces and around trees on the uphill side of the road. I kept stopping for photos.

I also looked around quite a bit. When I got to the next switchback, past a big red metal gate, I saw a trail that kept going straight. I decided to go out that way to check it out. At first, it looked like an old 4×4 track going around in the woods. I followed it uphill for a while, then went off trail some. I couldn’t see anywhere else to keep going uphill, so I went back down. When I got back down to the trail, I saw that it kept going out relatively straight from the road, so I decided to follow it for a while.

The trail was certainly not maintained, and probably hadn’t been so in a number of years. It was still relatively easy to follow, though not always easy running, or even hiking. I came across a spot that someone had told me about several weeks ago. There were a bunch of CMU blocks lining the trail, turned with the holes up and down. At least some seemed to be cemented in place. It was about 20-30 yards of the trail on the way down to a creek crossing.

I followed the trail a lot longer than I had planned. But I was really just exploring anyway, and didn’t actually have much of a plan. There was one really steep part, but it wasn’t very long. Going up wasn’t much of a problem. Going down was tough. It was already slippery, but there were fallen branches all over too. Landing on those made it quite difficult to stay in control. I took that section pretty slowly on the way down.

I made it all the way up to another old logging road, where I lost the trail. It didn’t continue straight across, and I didn’t find it within 100 yards to the right or 300 yards to the left, so I turned around.

Like I already mentioned, it was slick and all the fallen branches just added to the difficulty on the way down. I managed not to fall at all, but  I came close several times. There was one spot in particular where I got kind of lucky. I started sliding going downhill just before a log partway across the trail at just above knee height. If I had slid into it the way I was going, it could have been really bad. I took it easy most of the rest of the way back down.

The weather was pretty erratic the whole time. Rain to start, then some sun breaks. While I was in the woods on the trail, it hailed three separate times. Once I got back to the road, there were clouds going up the valley and fog with the sun shining through down the valley. The sun coming through the fog was inspiring. There was no way a photo would have captured it.

I took it easy down the road too. I took a shortcut trail to the other road before reaching the switchback. Usually I wouldn’t take the shortcut and miss out on the mileage, but I’m not too concerned with the distance leading up to Capitol Peak 50 mi.

My piriformis was a little rough today, maybe slightly better than yesterday. I’m sticking with the exercises and stretching.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 6:19 pm

6.32 mi, 261 ft gain, 1:00:34. Through town to WFSP & back, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

It was a little better today. I took it easy again. I managed to keep a moderate pace and not speed up much today. I usually end up going faster on days when I go without the dogs. Today, though, once I warmed up, I settled into an easy pace.

I went out to WFSP. I saw a deer on the gravel road on the left at the bottom of the hill up to the parking lot. I stopped and looked briefly before continuing up the hill. I used the restroom and got some water before I headed back.

There was a second deer about 10 yards above the gravel road in the brush when I got back down there. It appeared to be a yearling. It looked at me off and on while browsing on some new blackberry vine growth. The doe was hiding behind a stump.

Other than going down the hill from the park and the short hill where the sidewalk starts up, I kept the same easy pace on the way home.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, April 16, 2015, 6:34 pm

4.51 mi, 722 ft gain, 1:15:02. Reiter Foothills, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I wanted to do some more exploring in the Reiter foothils today. I parked at the same gate as before. Rather than taking the road out, I turned onto an old road that was closed off with tank traps. I made it a couple minutes before I realize that I forgot to put out my parking pass, so I turned around and went back to the car. Chances are that I wouldn’t have gotten a ticket, but I’d rather not worry about it.

I took the same old road on my way back out again. It turned out to be a shortcut out to the powerline road. I went right on the powerline road, which turns into an old 4×4 trail, big rocks and hills. I actually came across another guy running. Miraculously, the dogs didn’t bark or run up to him at all. I asked if the road he came in on went all the way down. He said that it did, down to Reiter Rd.

I continued following the 4×4 trail. It followed the powerlines for a little while, then went up into the woods. Eventually it winds around to the same trail I followed a couple days ago that went out from a switchback on the road. I decided to turn around and go back down the way I came.

I went back down to the powerlines. I ended up taking another trail up from the powerlines. It connected back to the road down below the gate. I followed the road back down to the bottom. Instead of going back to the car, I followed the road the other way out into the woods to check it out a bit. I went out about 0.3 mi, took another trail loop through the woods, then headed back for the car.

After we got back to the car, I decided to drive farther out Reiter Rd. I wanted to see where the other gates and roads were. I’ve been out there before, but it was at least a year ago. This time I knew what I was looking for too.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Friday, April 17, 2015, 5:47 pm

7.09 mi, 2115 ft gain, 2:12:02. Reiter Foothills & almost Lake Isabel, solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

The weather was great, and I was feeling pretty good. I went back out to the Reiter area. I planned to check out more of the powerline roads.

I took the same tank-trap shortcut road again and continued up and down the same old 4×4 trails. I meant to take one of the other turns to continue along the powerlines, but I missed them. I kept looking for another, but didn’t see anymore once I got into the woods. Once I got up to the trail that goes off the road at the switchback, I debated which way to go. I had already been up to the right, so I decided to take the road up farther.

I went up past the next fork, going straight where there was another switchback to the right. I got up to the next switchback and saw a cairn where another road/trail continued straight. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I thought it was probably the Lake Isabel trail. I thought that I’d maybe go looking for the trail. When I found it, I decided to check it out.

The first half or so was pretty good for a trail that hasn’t been maintained in years. There were some short, very steep sections too. Up higher, there were a lot of blow-downs, and many very slick and moss covered rocks and old logs. Much of the upper portion of the trail is not exactly runnable. I stopped and moved some of the blow-downs off the trail. I slipped and fell once. There were two 3-4 ft long flat rocks coming together in a shallow V-shape sloping downhill. They were wet and slick. I slipped and came down on my left knee right at the V. It hurt, but not too bad. I took a moment to see how it felt. It was sore, but I could move fine. I went slowly until the pain subsided a few minutes later.

Going up even farther, the trail was rather difficult to follow in places. Sometimes splitting into several paths going around obstacles. Other times it seemed to disappear for a short while.

There were a couple creek crossings that didn’t have much water in them, but they were on very steep, uneven terrain, and many of the rocks aren’t very stable. Even without much water, I took it slowly. I was much more deliberate and careful after falling.

Since I hadn’t planned attempting to run up to Lake Isabel, I hadn’t planned ahead and didn’t have a light. I was running out of daylight, and it gets dark quick in those kind of woods, especially tucked away in a draw like that. I kept going until the trail started to get really rough. There wasn’t actually much of a trail at all. I had enough time that if I had trouble with the trail on the way down, I should have still been able to at least make it back to the logging road before dark.

I actually did have a little trouble on the way back down not long after turning around. I lost the trail for a few minutes, but I knew the general direction, down and left. I knew I’d run into it again eventually. I decided to try out the navigation features on my Ambit 2 R to get there more quickly. I was pretty close.

I was careful going over the slick rocks, logs and blowdowns. I opened it up a little more once I got back to the part of the trail in better condition. I still took it easy on a couple of the really steep parts. Even without the slick rocks and logs, traction wasn’t great.

I had a great time going up and down the trail, even if I didn’t make it to the lake. I got back to the DNR road in time for a fantastic sunset. The sun was glowing red low above the horizon. I ran harder downhill to get to a good view point. I managed to get to one just as the sun was passing behind a thin band of cloud. I took some photos. The better ones, zoomed in, were a little grainy. I think I’m going to get an actual camera to take photos. The camera on my phone is pretty good most of the time, but zoomed in and low light photos usually aren’t good.

I continued to follow the road back instead of going back on the old 4×4 trails. But I didn’t take the road all the way. I took the shortcut trail under the powerline tower a little ways down from the gate. The trail was kind of steep and over some slick rock. It came out pretty close to the tank-trap road I came in on, so I took it back out.

Once I got home and saw my GPS tracks, I saw that I turned around about 0.3 mi and 400 ft elevation short of the lake. I kind of figured I was about that close from what I saw ahead compared to descriptions I’ve read online. Oh well. I’ll make it next time.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 18, 2015, 7:18 pm

3.19 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:18. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I was a little achey today. Nothing was particularly sore or hurt, just a general feeling. The stretching and exercises have helped my piriformis quite a bit.

I kept it nice and easy. I’m starting to not like the way the sidewalks are slanted. I end up evening it out on the round trip, but going that long running on a slant in either direction is a little uncomfortable. There’s not much I can do about it running the pavement around here, though.

I saw a nickel in the gutter by one of the restaurants. I left it on the way out. I almost forgot about it on the way back. I went a little past the turn before I remembered. I wouldn’t have bothered, but it looked kind of old. It turned out to be a 1946, one year off from being part silver.

It was a good run. The weather was great, and my legs felt better by the end.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 19, 2015, 6:53 pm

5.47 mi, 1392 ft gain, 1:23:54. Reiter Powerlines, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Vida was limping again last night, so I left her home. It’s strange that she seems fine during the day, but not at night. And it feels weird to only take one dog with me.

I wanted to check out more of the powerline roads today, like I had planned before. On the drive out, I saw 4 or 5 cars parked at the gate where I’ve been parking, so I went to the next gate. I didn’t know until I parked, but there was a creek running across the gated road just past the gate. I went upstream through the brush a little ways to a narrower spot to cross. I’m pretty sure this was where the other runner I saw a while back came up from.

I took a right on the powerline roads. I wasn’t exactly sure which way to go, but I knew which way took me up the hill, away from the powerlines, so I took a trail going the other way at the base of one of the towers. It was kind of steep, went down to another creek crossing and connected to another gravel road. It was fairly steep going farther up along the powerlines.

There was another down and up with another creek crossing and some water running down one of the older roads. Some of the roads are basically just atv trails now. One section has been cut deeply into the hillside. There are a couple very steep parts too. They were lots of fun.

The trail cut across another couple roads that went off in either direction across the powerline cut. Sometime I’ll check them out too. Looking at a map after I got home, the higher road goes from Reiter Rd out quite a ways. It’s a very nice, wide gravel road.

I continued up a little trail to the very top. It’s a cool little ridge with views on three sides. There’s an atv trail that continues up the ridge into the woods. I followed it for a while. It got narrower and narrower, with more blow-downs. Eventually it was pretty tough to follow. I didn’t really know the area, or I would have continued for a while. There wasn’t much underbrush, so it probably wouldn’t have been too difficult. More looking at the map showed me that I wasn’t that far from the top of the Index Town Wall, or that same really nice gravel road that I crossed. Good info for the future.

I had a lot of fun on the way back running down the hills. And the views of the sunset were great nearly the whole way down. I took a couple of different paths through the maze of atv trails. I also followed one of the roads into the woods out to a switchback. I think the road kept going out as well. Another route to check out some other time.

I made good time on the way back. I really like running out there. There are more other people out there than I care for since I like to let my dogs run off leash, but I’ve only seen that other runner and another guy in the distance in all the times I’ve been out there. I’m sure I’ll run into more people in the future. And they were very well behaved when we crossed paths with the other guy running.

It was a good run, though a little shorter than I planned. I should be in great shape for Capitol Peak 50 Mile next Sunday. And I broke 100,000 ft elevation gain so far for the year. I’m a little behind my goals for both mileage and elevation gain at the moment. I finished much stronger than I started last year, and I have plenty of time.

Average HR 140 bpm. I didn’t feel like I was working as hard as my HR suggests, but I guess the climbing can do that.

 

Weekly totals: 36.2 mi, 6063 ft gain.

Action, Becoming, Books, Philosophy

Don’t Let Other People Decide How You Act

Earl Nightingale tells a story in “The Essence of Success” from Sydney Harris. Harris went to a newsstand with a friend. The vendor was rather unfriendly. Harris’ friend thanked him graciously as the vendor remained quiet and sullen. Harris asks about the vendor’s attitude, and his friend says he’s always like that. Harris asks, “Then why do you continue being so polite to him?” His friend replies, “Why should I let him decide how I’m going to act?”

Letting other people decide how you’re going to act, whatever form that takes, turns control of your life over to someone else, and you don’t know their motives. They’re probably not malevolent, but it’s unlikely that your interests and desires are at the top of their list.

We can take a few lessons from that question, or turned into a statement; don’t let other people decide how you act. First, we can take the particular example in the story. I’ve run into a similar situation at my local grocery store. There is one employee who never said anything other than maybe asking about bags unless I said something first. I always thought she was unfriendly, unhappy, and like she didn’t like her job. I usually left in a slightly worse mood than than when I entered.

Then I realized that an interaction between people isn’t one-sided. If I want something from a relationship with someone, even if it’s just the brief interaction between a customer and cashier once or twice a week, at least half of the outcome is due to my own actions, or inactions. The Golden Rule, treat others as you would like to be treated, is not just a reminder to not treat people badly. It also means that much of the responsibility of any relationship or interaction you care to have falls on your own shoulders. If you always rely on other people to initiate a conversation or take charge of a relationship, you’re going to be pretty lonely.

So I started asking how her day was and making small talk. Her demeanor seemed to improve. Maybe my original perception was a mistake. Or maybe she was mirroring my actions and portrayal towards her. Whatever it was, our interactions have definitely improved.

Another way to not let other people decide how you act has to do with social or cultural pressures. Rollo May said, “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it’s conformity.” Conformity, whether to advertisements, magazines, social media sites, news, or peer pressure, lets other people decide how you act. If you’re choosing whatever it is because you want it, that’s fine. But making choices to fit in is giving up control.

Liking what’s popular is different than deciding to like (or dislike) something because it’s popular. I regret conforming a couple times as a kid. It’s not so easy to resist external influences when you’re still trying to figure out who you are. Anyway, in the mid-90s, I decided that I didn’t like Nirvana, still one of my all-time favorite bands, anymore because of what some other guys said. Fortunately, that didn’t last long.

Neither of those examples are particularly important in the grand scheme of things. It can be a very powerful rule to live by, though, and just as powerful to ignore. Jim Rohn said, “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” Not everyone wants their own business. Some people prefer to work for others. That’s fine, as long as it’s part of your plan, and your decision. Don’t work at a job you don’t like just because that’s what you’re expected to do. If you don’t like your job, look for something else. At the very least, it should be part of your plan for the future, whether it’s advancement at the same company, or as a stepping stone to something better elsewhere. Falling into someone else’s plan is letting them decide how you act, with possibly life changing consequences.

The lesson from the story of the unfriendly newsstand vendor really struck home with me. Don’t let other people decide how you act. I’ve spent the last couple years really trying to work on myself, become happier, figure out what I really want, and how to create the life that I want. Acting in my own interest is certainly part of that, and so is how I react to other people. I didn’t always realize that the way I react to other people, the media, news, etc. can play a big role in my overall well-being.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

April 6-12 Practice Running

Monday, April 6, 2015, 5:59 pm

4.74 mi, 330 ft gain, 1:14:04. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I took it pretty easy today. We went out to the seasonal ponds. The dogs splashed around a bit. Then we went out to Olney Creek. I looked around a bit more than usual. There’s another section of beach downstream just past a big pile of logs deposited in the flooding several months back. I found my way around, back up into the woods a little bit. It was a pretty cool little area with some pools under the logs, and soft, deep sand. The dogs loved running around over there.

Once I was done there, we continued around the loop. I stopped for pictures a couple times.

My lower legs felt a little better, and no more glute pain. My hamstring was a little better too.

Average HR 108 bpm.

 

Tuesday, April 7, 2015, 6:53 pm

4.05 mi, 747 ft gain, 1:11:00. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

There was another car parked at gate #1, so I went out to #2. My lower legs felt better again. I still took it easy. I stopped for photos several times, and just looked around a lot.

I turned right onto a faint game trail about 0.3 mi in, well before the clear cut. I knew there were a couple roads up on the hill above, but I wasn’t sure which one I’d hit, or where I’d hit it. I also didn’t know if it was even passable the whole way up. But I could always just go back down.

I got to what turned out to be about 200 ft from the road, and it started to get kind of thick in an area they had more recently logged than most of the side of the hill that I came up. Fortunately, the blackberries haven’t taken over too much. I expect they’ll get worse before too long. I found my way through the all the smaller regrowth to one of the roads. It wasn’t the one that I thought I’d hit and a little farther out that I thought too.

The blackberries haven’t taken over the road yet this year either, though there were a couple low vines. I didn’t see one and caught it across my lower leg. Ouch. I paid more attention after that.

From there, we went back out to the hill road and went up the hill. I was more or less biding time until the sunset, trying to time when I’d get back to a good view point. It was looking to be a pretty good one when I first got to the top of the climb. The Olympic Mountains looked like they were floating in clouds.

We ran out to the little swampy area up a couple more little climbs. I tried climbing up on the big slash pile to get a view, but it wasn’t as good of a spot as back by the first climb. So we headed back.

I was just a minute or two too late to catch the sun actually going over the horizon, but the colors were pretty amazing, and the Olympics were still floating on clouds. I spent a few minutes taking it in before heading for the car.

Average HR 117 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015, 6:34 pm

6.8 mi, 902 ft gain, 1:46:45. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I felt pretty decent again. On my way up the first little hill, I saw some animal tracks going up the steep hillside. I decided to follow them. It was really steep for about the first 50 ft up. I really didn’t want to have to go back down it. I knew there were roads up top that I’d eventually run into, but I wasn’t sure what I’d come across on the way. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad. The blackberries haven’t taken over the clear cut on top yet.

I got some different views than I usually get out in the tree farm, though still similar.  I caught the road on top at the very end at a landing for when they logged the hillside.

Once back onto logging roads, I took it pretty easy and stopped a number of times to look around. I wanted to find more off trail climbing to do, but the regrowth on the top of the hill is too thick between the small trees and blackberry bushes. I found one spot where the blackberries weren’t too bad and was able to get a little higher. There aren’t many spots on the hill much higher than the road that goes across the top between the gated roads.

I got to the other end of the hill well before the sunset. I considered waiting around for the sunset, but didn’t want to stop for that long. So I headed back to the other end. I tried to make it out near the end where I came up and first hit the road, but by the time I got there the sunset wasn’t really worth it. I briefly thought about going back down the hillside through the clear cut to hit the road even closer to the gate. I didn’t want to possibly get stuck going through slash piles and blackberry bushes in the dark if it took longer than I thought.

I took the roads instead, and I kept the pace up a bit. I’m very thankful that the muscles behind my shins felt fine today. They’ve still been sore afterwards the last few days, though. I guess I’m glad that I was sort of forced to tapering early for Capitol Peak 50 mi. I should be more fresh come race day.

Average HR 122 bpm

 

Thursday, April 9, 2015, 5:49 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:57. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I got new shoes in the mail today. It was kind of tough to find them in my size and not priced way up by resellers. It seems they’ve been discontinued, or soon to be so.

Anyway, I took them out for a short and easy road run today. I really would like to be going longer, but I guess I’ve resigned myself to taking it easy and recovering for race day.

I found myself speeding up a little more than I planned, but I felt pretty good.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Friday, April 10, 2015, 5:57 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 23:10. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I stuck with the same thing I did yesterday. I felt pretty good, and went a bit faster. I stayed pretty comfortable for the first 2 mi. I did a few short fartleks over the last 1 mi or so. Running fast felt good. I haven’t felt good running fast in a while. It was nice.

Average HR 150 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 11, 2015, 4:49 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:37. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Going hard yesterday was probably a mistake. My right buttocks and hamstring were really tight and sore running today. I did some more research and reading. It seems like it might be piriformis syndrome, or something similar. It’s going to likely take lots of stretching and some strength exercises. Massage and some other therapy might help speed it up. I hope to still be able to run Capitol Peak, so I’ll take it easy until then. But I’m still going to keep running.

My right leg was pretty stiff starting it. It started to loosen up a little after the first 1 mi or so. I definitely felt better by the end, but still sore and tight.

It was raining pretty good when I started, and it was kind of chilly, so I wore gloves and a hat. The rain stopped about 1 mi in as well. I warmed up and took off the hat. I didn’t necessarily like the cold, but it was nice to see more snow in the mountains. The snow level was down to about cloud level too. The summer is set to be a pretty dry one, so any more snow we get in the mountains will definitely help.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 12, 2015, 5:02 pm

4.5 mi, 1009 ft gain, 1:34:55. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 new road, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I was tired of the roads, so I took the dogs out to the tree farm. I saw machinery tracks going up the road to the left about 0.25 mi from the gate a while back. I decided to check it out today.

I’ve been up there before, but the road ended fairly quickly then. They opened it up much farther in the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, I think that probably means they’re going to do some logging out there soon. I hope it’s not for a while. There are some cool areas out there on that side of the hill. We went off trail, through the woods a couple times. The first, I thought I saw a clearing or another road through the woods. It turned out to be a creek and small beaver pond.

Not much farther up the road, I thought I saw more water, probably downstream from the little pond. It turned out to be a larger beaver “pond”, though it’s not much of a fond. I guess it’s just a wetland with some deeper areas of open water. There’s a good sized beaver lodge about 20 yds from the edge. I didn’t see or hear any animals besides my dogs running and splashing around.

After that, we went out to the end of the road. A little before the end, there was a big tree in full blossom. It almost looked like a cherry tree, but I’m not that great at tree identification. I hope it is cherry. I’d love to go pick some when they ripen. I’ll be going back to check on it to find out.

On the way back, I didn’t feel like I was ready to be done. I kept an eye on the woods to the right, uphill side for a decent looking spot to try going up and connecting to the road over the top. I found a game trail to try following. I made it up most of the way. I stopped because it was starting to get really thick. I wasn’t exactly sure where I would have come out on the road up top, but I know that the regrowth on top in that general area is really thick. The trees are close together and the blackberry vines are pretty nasty. Looking at the map afterwards, I was very close. It probably would have been tough going over the last little bit. I’ll still try again sometime.

I forgot my gps an hrm and didn’t realize until I was almost there. I didn’t want to drive back home to get them, so I used the Strava app on my phone.

 

Weekly totals: 29.5 mi, 2987 ft gain

This was my lowest mileage week since July 14-20 of last year, and my first under 30 mi since then as well. Other than the piriformis problem, I feel great and ready for race day. No more hard efforts until then, and some  so I can recover as much as possible.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

March 30-April 5 Practice Running

Monday, March 30, 2015, 5:33 pm

6.5 mi,  ft gain, 1:27:30. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

For the most part, my leg muscles felt good today. My ankles have been a little creeky for a couple days after long runs recently, but they warm up fairly quickly. The muscles just behind my shins on the inside of my lower legs have been sore after hard and long runs too.

Again, starting out today, I wasn’t nearly as stiff as I had been a few weeks back. Of course I was a little sore and slow, but not bad. I took it easy and stopped to check things out quite a few times. I saw a bright green and spotted frog on a stick over some water in a ditch, then a brown spotted frog in another ditch up a ways.

We went out to the seasonal ponds briefly for a look around and a splash for the dogs. Then we went out to Olney Creek for some more doggy play time. They enjoyed it a lot.

Lately I’ve noticed that if I’m feeling particularly sore or stiff, I feel better after I stop for a little while. Feeling better is nice, but having to stop to do so sucks. I need to figure out how to relax better.

From there, we went out to the hills. We took the left through a clearcut just before the road forks, then out that way for a while before turning back.

I ended up going a little farther than I had originally planned. I was feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, that didn’t last on the way back. My lower legs got pretty sore. I tend to push myself a bit when I’m coming up to a mileage milestone or end of a period of time, like the end of March and nearing 250 mi for the month.

I’ve been practicing trying to relax more while running, which helped with my lower legs a little bit. I did pretty well keeping the pace easy and my HR low. The stopping helped quite a bit with the latter.

Average HR 112 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 4:49 pm

11.01 mi, 823 ft gain, 1:48:20. Through Town to WFSP RR Grade, Solo. New Balance MR 10v2.

Feeling a little better today than at the end of yesterday’s run. Still a bit sore just behind the insides of my shins. I worked on conscious relaxation a lot during today’s run.

I started with the thought of sticking to the roads, going about 6 mi or so. But once I got around toward WFSP, I wanted to get a little bit of trail action. I still kept it easy and stuck to the RR Grade. I did very well keeping my HR low again today.

I only saw a few people on the trail. One was an older gentleman running down the trail. He didn’t appear to be dressed in running clothes though, so I think he was maybe just in a hurry to get back.

I went up to the restroom at the Greg Ball Trail junction, made a quick pitstop and then headed back. Going downhill was harder to keep my lower legs relaxed. Just like yesterday, once I got going, today was about hitting 250 mi for March. It doesn’t actually matter, and it’s sort of arbitrary. I’ll end up taking it easy to start April, which will more or less even out the extra effort ending March.

Anyway, I shot a short video to maybe post on YouTube after I turned around. Once I made it back to the TH, I stretched out for a moment, then started for home. The road wasn’t too bad, even though I  was tired and sore. I thought about speeding up to get home more quickly, but managed to keep it mellow. I opened up my stride for the last 200 yds or so to stretch out a bit.

I felt pretty awesome going into the Bridle Trails 50k back in January, and that was only a week and a half after my December push. So maybe more consistency would be helpful instead of going long and hard then short. I don’t know, and it’s probably too close to Capitol Peak 50 Mile for that kind of change to make much difference. Currently, the plan is to recover during the week, go long one more time this weekend, then taper/recover for the 50 miler. Whatever I do, I decided today that I’m just going for the finish and not racing. It might be tough to hold back come race day. I tend to get wrapped up in the race atmosphere.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015, 5:24 pm

3.12 mi, 35 ft gain, 25:02. Along the RR tracks, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Legs were kind of tired, but not sore today. I think I may just need a longer stretch of easy days for a while. I’d like to get one more long run in before Capitol Peak, but I don’t know.

I left Vida home since she’s still limping a little bit. Sigurd was really excited to go. I probably ran a little faster with him than I would have with both of them, but I kept it pretty easy at first.

It was nice and sunny when we started. The plan was to go 4-6 mi. But about 1.3 mi in the sky opened and it started pouring cold rain and hail. Fortunately, the hail didn’t last long, but the rain was pretty cold. I wanted to get at least 3 mi, so I sped up and went to just over 1.5 mi then turned around.

I kept the pace up the rest of the way home. The rain stopped about 0.6 mi from home, but I was absolutely soaked and wanted to get home, so I kept the pace going. Going faster kept me warmer, and my legs handled it ok. They were definitely tired though.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Thursday, April 2, 2015, 5:48 pm

5.62 mi, 50 ft gain, 52:03. Along the RR tracks and service road, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I left Vida home again, still limping a little.

My right hamstring was kind of tight starting out. I was kind of tired again today. I tried to keep the pace easy like I started with yesterday, but Sigurd got me going a little faster a couple times. I managed to hold back pretty well, though.

I  ran along the RR service road on the highway side, then through the park between the highway and RR tracks until a little over 1 mi. Then we hopped over the tracks and ran on the service road on the river side.

We ran out passed the gate for the service road out to Startup, then out to a little over 2.5 mi and turned around. On the way back, I heard a train whistle off in the distance from the west. It was getting closer. Initially, I sped up to try to get back to the tracks and possibly over them in case the train was going to stop in town. It was an Amtrak passenger train, though, and it was really moving. It went by well before I even got back to the gate. So we slowed back down.

Somewhere between 3.5-4 mi or so, my legs were getting pretty tight. I was having trouble staying relaxed, so I stopped briefly for a couple times and let Sigurd pee. The stopping seemed to help my legs a bit.

I sped up a little bit for the last couple hundred yards to stretch out the legs. They were about as tired as when I started, but I still felt better overall by the end.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Friday, April 3, 2015, 5:36 pm

6.34 mi, 252 ft gain, 48:20. To WFSP & Back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

All these little aches are getting annoying. Otherwise, I felt pretty good. I kept the pace up, but I felt like my range of motion has diminished a little bit. I guess I need to work on flexibility more.

I warmed up fairly quickly, then sped up. At first, I tried to keep my HR below MAF threshold. Once I hit the hill on the other side of town on the way up to Wallace Falls State Park, I stopped worrying about it as much. I ran more by my breath rate.

Once to the park, I got a quick drink from the water fountain, which they just recently turned back on. Then I headed back for home. I found myself speeding up several times and pulled back a little. I sped up a little more over the last mile or so, and even more over the last few hundred yards.

I definitely need to work on flexibility, and should probably work on my form as well. I don’t think my back kick is going high enough. I finally washed some of my other running clothes and wore a pair of shorts from Road Runner Sports. They were some of my favorite last year, but today I had some chafing issues. It wasn’t bad considering I wasn’t running for very long, but going much longer than I did today could be a problem.

Average HR 145 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 4, 2015, 6:31 pm

8.02 mi, 1419 ft gain, 1:28:57. Olney Falls DNR rd, solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I had wanted to go long again this weekend for the last time before Capitol Peak 50 mi, but the muscle aches behind the inside of my shins hasn’t quite recovered enough. I’m hoping it’s at least partially a problem of worn out shoes. Two of my Superior 1.5s have over 600 and almost 500 mi on them and my MR10v2s have just under 500 mi on them as well. Fortunately, I was able to find some MR10v2s online for a decent price, I only have around 150 mi on my current pair of Superior 1.5s and I have another pair still in the box. I went with the Lone Peak 1.5 today in hopes that the extra cushion might make a difference. I’m not sure if it did. It might have if I hadn’t hammered the downhills so hard.

I still wanted to get a little climbing in, but still keep it relatively easy. I stopped several times for photos and to look around a bit.

I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go when I started. I got to about 3 mi and decided to keep going, same thing at 3.5 mi. A little after that, I took a right down into a clearcut to check that area out in hopes that I could find a good spot for a view of the sunset. I found a couple decent spots. I also found some tarps and stuff strung up from an old camp. Due to weathering, I think it’s been there for at least a few months.

I took a couple sunset photos and headed back. I ended up hitting some of the downhills pretty hard. I think I may have been over-striding a little bit. My knees were a little sore Sunday morning.

I didn’t have a light with me. I may have gone longer if I had. I made it back to the car with plenty of light to spare, though.

Average HR 132 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 5, 2015, 6:42 pm

11.12 mi, 1885 ft gain, 2:07:29. Olney Falls DNR Rd, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

My lower legs felt a little better today. I decided to go back to the same spot again. I brought my headlamp and a handheld water bottle this time.

I stopped for photos and to look at stuff a number of times again. I planned at least 6 mi, but possibly more. Once I got going, I mostly felt pretty good, so I kept going. I kind of wanted to go farther, but decided not to.

I saw several deer on my way up. One up high on a hill over the road around 3.5 mi. There were a couple more a little less than a mile later. About 0.25 mi passed the first trail from WFSP I saw a couple hikers.

A little over a half mile later, I saw 2 deer in the road. They let me come up to about 20 yards. I had my camera out to try to get some photos. I took a few, then tried to get a little closer. We started playing red light, green light. They’d start running up the road, and I’d run after them. One ran farther up the road than the other. The closest one would stop, angle off the side of the road like it was about to take off into the woods, but it didn’t. I stopped and we stared at each other for a little while. I snapped a few more photos. Then we did it again, running up the road and stopping. I think we did it about 4 times. It was really cool.

I was trying to get up to another view point for the sunset when I stopped to play with the deer. Once they finally took off into the woods, I sped up a little to try to get to a spot with an unobstructed view. I ended up going a little past 5.5 mi before I turned around. I got a couple photos.

Not too far back down the road, I went off trail on the uphill side for a short pit-stop. There were game trails all over the side of the hill there.

I took it a bit easier on the way down than yesterday. I didn’t pull out my light until about 3 mi to go. I could still see well enough, but I didn’t want to chance it.

At about 2.5 mi to go, I saw something shining on the road in the light of my headlamp. I got a little closer and turned it on burst mode. It was a tiny owl standing on the road. I tried to get a photo, but I couldn’t get close enough, and it blended in just enough with the road that the light wasn’t good enough for a decent photo. It flew down the road a ways then landed. It was almost like with the deer again. I tried to get closer. It let me get about 10 yards away then flew down the road again. The next time it flew off into the trees down the hill.

I love wildlife encounters like I had today. It’s one of the reasons I love trail running.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 51.7 mi, 4993 ft gain

Becoming, Philosophy

Becoming: Dynamic Possibilities

I was thinking about Being and Becoming today. I considered writing something new about it, but for now I’ll post the paper I wrote on the topic for my Junior Colloquium in Comparative History of Ideas back in August 2010.

I’m going to warn you, it’s about 2300 words long, and it definitely reads like a college paper. I was verbose and probably overly complicated some things. I don’t think I edited it back then either.

Enjoy.

 

Becoming: Dynamic Possibilities

“The mind is never passive; it is perpetual activity, delicate, receptive, responsive to stimulus” (Whitehead 9). When I read this passage, I find it problematic in relation to the notion of Being as a basic expression of existence. How can there be “perpetual activity” in something so steady state as Being? And how can a seemingly fixed state, like Being, be stimulated? “A disembodied spirit, or pure mind, has its being out of time, since all that it is destined to think is fully in its being at any and every previous time” (Peirce 490). This may have been Peirce’s idea of the nature of an ens necesarium but it speaks to my argument. Being does not take into account the variable of time. It may only vary in a seemingly predictable manner, but it is change nonetheless. Becoming, however, accounts for change over time. I will use the capitalized Being and Becoming when I am addressing these specific concepts, but as such commonplace words, they will likely come up in their normal usage as well.

The dimensional difference between Being and Becoming is time. Phillip Thurtle defines time as “the perception that something else could have happened” and “the potential for change in the world” (256). Becoming is a dynamic process. We are in a constant cycle of always Becoming, never just Being. Being does not take into account the changes or movement involved in the passage of time. If time is possibility, without Becoming, the only possibility would be static Being. But, if there is such a thing as possibility and not a predetermined fate or destiny, there cannot be a stagnant Being, only the transitional Becoming.

There is an important distinction I must make. Becoming is neither positive nor negative, which is only a matter of subjective, qualitative reasoning.   It is derived from the entirety of possibility. And according to Bloch, “Possibility is not hurray-patriotism. The opposite is also in the possible. The hindering element is also the possible” (17). Becoming is construction and deconstruction, creation and annihilation, and everything in between. Becoming is a process, while Being is solely one of a binary of states with no in between. But entities are not binaries; they are analogs, always Becoming at any infinitesimal state of possibility in time. For these purposes, Becoming and Unbecoming are one and the same. The qualitative differences through time are inconsequential. It’s solely the fact that there are differences through time. Thurtle quotes Massumi thusly, “Becoming is directional rather than intentional” (234). It simply moves forward in time without any target.

In Invisibile Cities, Marco Polo tells Kublai Khan about his city of Fedora and how he should have two versions of it in his atlas. “The one contains what is accepted as necessary when it is not yet so; the others, what is imagined as possible and, a moment later, is possible no longer” (32-33). Unrealized possibilities never go through the lens of the present, never Becoming, and never reaching the past. But we can’t know which of those possibilities will actually Become by passing through that lens. Our common perceptions of the relative nature of time pose a problem. When I think of the passage of time, I think of three categories, the past, the present and the future. The real problem is the present in that it does not occupy a fixed point or span in time. It has moved through the entirety of the past and will continue Becoming through all actualized, future possibilities.

On that meeting of the present and the possible in the actual, “The new is always a historical category since it is always determined by historical forces, which both bring it about in social practice (including art) and make for new semantic meanings that crystallize the novum in human consciousnesses” (Suvin 80). Whichever possibility Becomes by passing through the present must be historical as it had a cause and will have an effect. Being is only possible in the present, but the present is transitory and fleeting, always between the past and future. Only specific possibilities become the present. All others never Becoming into existence. And the present, being transitory, as it Becomes a future possibility, is already relegated to the past whenever we become aware of it. So we are really not ever Beings in a conceivable present but in a continual state of Becoming between the present and future. Within our own time-spans, points of Being are only really possible in the past or a perception of what the past will eventually Become—future possibilities. In the words of Massumi the perceived present is really “pastnesses opening directly onto a future, but with no present to speak of” (30).

Here’s a short narrative example that should be familiar. You’re in a car driving on a highway. Ahead are all future possibilities, the closer they get the more distinct they become. There is something colorful on the side of the road ahead. You think it’s a flower, but it is still hard to tell much about it at this distance. As you get closer, it’s a tall, white flower. But until you are almost directly next to it, you can’t make out much more than what it possibly is. At that moment, you’ve experienced it as clearly as you ever will. It’s a daisy and it’s swaying in the wind as cars rush past. And you, too, quickly move past it. The present is continually changing and is really only perceived by the exact moment of having Become the past. The present continually marches forward into the possible.

Change and movement are the things that Becoming offers us in a way to understand dynamic existence. Being leaves no room for change, evolution (not necessarily in the Darwinian sense), or progress. There is no possibility of hope without the possibility of change. Bloch said, “Hope is not confidence. If it could not be disappointed, it would not be hope” (16). We can have hope about the possibilities to come, but the nature of the unknown quality of that change leaves a potential for disappointment. It is still change regardless of the disappointment or realization of hope.

The change of Becoming is “perpetual activity.” I’ll use Doing as an example, as it is one of the simplest forms of activity. Doing requires action, and action, by its nature, necessarily leads to change or movement. There can be no Doing in Being, as action requires a time-span, a beginning and end. It is only a property of Becoming; Being is limited to simply existing in an entity’s current state—an existential stalemate. It has come as far as it possibly can by simply existing. There is no action without time, and hence no change.

Since Becoming is not concerned with any qualitative concepts, nor with specific locations or times, the where or when, it is only concerned with the path and time-span, the only points being the beginning and end in both cases. Massumi writes in opposition to Zeno’s paradox about the path of an arrow that will theoretically never reach a target because it only travels in distances of half the total distance left. “A path is not composed of positions. It is nondecomposable: a dynamic unity. … The points or positions really appear retrospectively, working backward from the movement’s end. … The in-between positions are logical targets: possible endpoints” (6). Time is continuous. Our measurement of time can be broken down to infinitely smaller and smaller segments. And space is continuous as well, at least out as far as we have been able to observe. Accurate measure of “points” is only limited by our technology. The further our technology advances the more detailed we can be.

If we live in an expansionary universe, which scientific observation supports, there can be no stationary state for physical objects or beings. There is only movement; though it may be imperceptible due to the way we measure movement by change in location relative to other objects, rather than relative to the universe itself. The possibility is theorized that the universe may eventually reach an expansionary limit and slow to a halt or even reverse and contract. If it should contract, there will still be only movement. But if there happens to be the perfect balance between the expansion and gravity, causing it to stop, it becomes difficult to imagine what happens. Stellar objects have their own movement on top of the movement of the space that they occupy. This is a problem that I am unsure how to address, as there are also theories that a universal contraction or a static universe may have a profound effect on time itself. This is an example of a limit imposed by reality. But I can’t say whether it is a limit of my conceptual reality or one of actual reality.

Reality is the limiting factor for Becoming, but reality in the sense of the true nature of the universe, not any particular conception of reality. Becoming is open to possibility of what is considered real and what is not yet conceived of as real. Being only conceives of a current understanding of reality.

Coming back to Massumi and Zeno’s paradox, since there are no real points along a path of movement in time, but only a start and end, there are only two conceivable points of pure Being for all of the universe; the moment just before the big bang, before the universe’s Becoming, and the possible moment when, if the universe eventually collapses, it all comes back together.

I’ll now give some examples of Becoming. I’ll skip ahead from the big bang to the Becoming of stellar objects. Gasses coalesce and condense, forming stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. The stars go through life cycles eventually burning out having used up all of their fuel in a nuclear reaction. That nuclear reaction actually creates new, heavier elements. Every element in the universe was created either in the nuclear reaction of a burning star, or in many cases, the final spectacular explosion of dying stars. The elements are spread out to create new bodies. Eventually even our own solar system was formed, Becoming from the remnants of an unknowable number of stellar Becomings. Our sun is going through it’s own process of Becoming, as is the Earth. Life forms, plants, animals and even humans, are much easier to understand in terms of Becoming than many objects that we commonly think of as static or permanent. Rocks are some of the most permanent objects we know. But even they Become over time. Created by various geological phenomena, volcanic action, sedimentation, etc. But once created, they are not permanent. Sure we as humans can destroy them. But those same geological forces can continue the process of Becoming, possibly fusing rocks together, breaking them apart, or reshaping them. Weather can deteriorate them. Water can move them and roll them across each other, polishing or further deteriorating them. Ice can form in the smallest cracks and split huge rocks. Even the most seemingly permanent objects we observe change over time.

We can still, at least, think about Being as a possible state. But to refer to an entity as a Being diminishes its entire existence and entire time-span into a singular state without relation to time. If Being is possible, is non-Being or inexistence also possible? If Being were the only possible state, there would be no beginning or ending of Being and there could be neither cause nor effect to be discovered. Without Becoming there could be no transitional state from inexistence to Being. But, like I’ve already shown, that transitional states are actually a process. It can have conceptual Being as a perceived point in the past. The process is a path, which by Massumi’s statement against Zeno’s paradox, is only divisible into points after the fact.

I will concede Being as possible for one type of thing. That is, only the abstract; concepts, literature and other texts, history, laws of nature (whether discovered or not), can have Being.   They still must have an origination and hence a Becoming in order to come into existence. Some of them can change over time. And they can most definitely Become part of and influence Becoming in other things. But even Being of the abstract is fleeting as it requires the Becoming of a sentient existence to come into Being, or at the very least to be perceived as Being. I include perception here because I do not want to delve into the Becoming of the universe and all of existence itself as that is far beyond the scope of this paper. So by abstract, I mean created or discovered by human thought.

Whether we realize it or not, we use the abstracts constantly. Numbers are an abstract concept. While there are different numbering systems, they have their own being. In base-10, 1 is always the same. Each number has a finite existence, not in a sense of time, but in that they do not change. Mathematical facts are just that, facts. As long as the same system of numbers is used, mathematical operations have the same result. 1+2=3, always. But if you put numbers together, they have a sort of Becoming. Numbers can be used in the Becoming of other things. They can also be the stimulus to which Whitehead was speaking, as they excite our minds to new thoughts and creations.

In short, in order to account for the variation of time in existence within our universe, we must realize that there is no steady state and there are no singular points of Being possible. There is always Becoming as movement or change. Being is really only possible in the mind through abstraction. That is to say, within time, Being is purely an imagined state.

 

Works Cited

Bloch, Ernst. “Something’s Missing.” Utopian Function of Art and Literature. 1988.

Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Javonovich, Inc., 1974.

Massumi, Brian. Parables for the Virtual. 2002.

Peirce, Charles Sanders. “A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God.” Collected Papers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.

Suvin, Darko. Metamorphosis of Science Fiction. 1979.

Thurtle, Phillip. “The Poetics of Wandering.” Emergence of Genetic Rationality. 2008.

Whitehead, Alfred North. “Aims of Education.” 1929.