All posts by Brian

Practice

I Practice Failing, but I’m Not a Failure

In the past, when I gave up on something because it was hard, I got lazy or it just didn’t work out, I took the failure as a sign of personal defect. A lot of the reading, audiobooks and other info I’ve consumed over the past couple years, as well as being more mindful of my experiences has taught me that it’s not the case.

If humans took failures as personally in childhood as many of us have learned to do as adults, things like walking and talking would be pretty uncommon.

It took me many months to change my food habits to where I am now. I failed over and over and over, giving into cravings, thinking it was just too hard and listening to my own negativity. It took several attempts to get back into running after I got out of the Army as well. The first attempt was absolutely miserable. I didn’t try again for over a year.

Failure is a result of an act or event, not a state of being. I am not a failure. I may fail at doing particular things, though. Now I learn what to do next time, rather than let the failure prevent me from even trying again.

Health, Hydration

Water and Responding to the Body’s Feedback Systems

Water saves the day again. I’ve gotten used to the refreshing feeling I get shortly after drinking 1 quart of water after I wake up for the day.

Because of my PSC diagnosis (briefly discussed in my about me post), I like to keep hydrated and eat low fat. Every once in a while I find myself eating what is probably too much fat for me. Staying well hydrated keeps the increased flow of bile in my liver from getting too sludgy and blocking things up, which can be extremely painful.

Today, I had a large avocado, a bunch of pistachios and pumpkin seeds, way more fat than I usually eat. I guess I wasn’t drinking as much water as normal either. I started to feel the earliest stages of a possible PSC related problem. Half hour earlier, I had about 8 ounces of water, but it wasn’t enough. I immediately downed about 24 ounces of water. Within minutes I felt the water absorb into my body and the discomfort disappeared. I’ll be sure to stay on top of my water intake the rest of the day, but experience has taught me that I should be OK. Of course I’m probably done with fatty foods for the day too.

I’m still heading out for a short run to work out some tightness from yesterday, but I think I’ll take a water bottle with me.

The body has great feedback systems, and I love learning how to be aware and respond to it.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

August 11-17 Practice Running

Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 4:05 pm


3.3 mi, 96 ft gain, 31:20. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm burmed road, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Legs were still a little tired from Sunday. Loosened up by the end.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 4:05 pm


1.1 mi, flat, 11:01. Down the road and back, solo. Barefoot

It’s been a long time since I ran barefoot. Thought I’d give it a go. A little gravel on my driveway then down the road and back. The road was resurfaced with tar and gravel. Not as smooth as just asphalt, but not too bad.

Thursday, August 14, 2014, 5:10 pm


5 mi, 1949 ft gain, 56:57. Upper Wallace Falls, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Put in a pretty good effort today. It was wet from rain the last couple days. I took it easy on the gravel road starting out. I pushed the pace most of the way up. Got to the top at 32:40, one of my better ascents. Took about 90 seconds break at the top to catch my breath and drink some water. I took it easy for the first couple minutes down, to get my legs back from the hard climb. Also, the stairs at the top are steep and were slippery from the rain. My legs came back, and I started to let go on the downhills. It’s a little tough to go fast with all the switchbacks in a couple sections. Felt great by the time I made it back to the gravel road. I was running about 6:20/mi pace there, which felt easier than normal, so I sped up for the finish. Back to the trail head from the top was about 22:45, which I think is my fastest descent.  I even managed to not trip at all, which might be a first for this trail. Very rarely fall, but trip up when I look up for and at other people on the trail. There weren’t very many other people today.

I was a little unsure how the Superiors would do on the wet trail, but they worked great. One of these days I’m going to push for sub 30 min to the top.

Thursday,  August 14, 2014, 7:30 pm

2 mi, flat, 15:38. In town, with the dogs. New Balance MR10V2.

The dogs needed to get out and burn some energy, and I wanted to loosen up my legs after the earlier run. It started raining just as we started. I was soaked by the end, much more so than the dogs. Their fur repels water better than mine.

Friday, August 15, 2014, 6:49 pm


5.2 mi, 2246 ft gain, 56:10. Upper Wallace Falls, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Legs felt a little better today than yesterday, so I decided to head back to Wallace Falls. Put in a pretty good effort. Saw a couple, mother and young son, and a lone hiker on my way up. Beat yesterday’s time going up by a couple seconds at 32:38, and I even stepped off trail to pee. Took 1:42 at the top before heading back down. Legs weren’t as tired starting back down as yesterday. Still took it easy on the steps at the top. Then let it go. Managed to not trip at all again. Definitely easier when I’m not worried about running into other people. Down time was about 21:50, almost a minute faster than yesterday. Shoes were great. Sometimes my feet slide around in them on steep descents, not as much when I’m going with gravity rather than braking. Opened up a bit on the gravel road back to the trailhead. Went sub 6/mi for a bit of it. Bettered my times on several Strava segments.

Saturday, August 16, 2014, 6:47 pm


5.2 mi, ft gain, 1:14:47. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Took it slow and easy. Went out to Olney Creek to let the dogs splash around. Wandered through the woods a little. Followed some game trails. The dogs scared up a hen grouse and 4 youngsters that I’m guessing were spring chicks.

Sunday, August 17, 2014, 5:40 pm


15.3 mi, 2937 ft gain, 2:52:05. PCT Section K from Stevens Pass, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

My beloved Garmin Forerunner 305 died completely last night. Bought a Suunto Ambit 2 R to replace it. Fairly easy to use, but will take some time to get used to it. My only complaint so far was that after it appeared to get full satellite signal, it didn’t start recording my route until about a half mile later.

And about the run. I got a late start, like all too often. I wanted to make it to Lake Janus. Instead, I decided to go as far as possible by 7:00 pm. I also wanted to go at least 15 mi. I was close when 7 came around, so I kept going. I ran into the only other person on trail right where I turned around, which was still at least 3 miles from Lake Janus.

I didn’t feel that great the whole run, just a little weaker than normal. I think it was at least partially the two hard efforts up Wallace Falls. It was still nice to get out, and the scenery was great. The part of section k I ran today was not as scenic as the part of section J I ran last week, mostly because of the first couple miles that parallel US2, in earshot, though not in view.

After not tripping at all this week, I managed to trip and fall on a pretty flat and smooth section just a mile or so into the run. I didn’t fall hard. I got a little trail rash on my left hip and forearm. I managed all the really technical sections just fine though. They require more focus, so I pay more attention to foot placement.

Weekly Totals: 37 mi, 6h10m, 7723 ft gain.

Running, Training Log

August 4-10 Practice Running

I never got around to writing up my training for August 4-10. I’ve started writing about runs the same day instead. Easier to remember that way.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 6:02 pm


5 mi, 1947 ft gain, 59:17. Upper Wallace Falls, solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 8:24 pm


3.4 mi, 112 ft gain, 36:24. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
Shake out from earlier run.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014, 5:04 pm


5 mi, 1961 ft gain, 1:02:36. Upper Wallace Falls, solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Thursday, August 7, 2014, 7:58 pm


4.1 mi, 411 ft gain, 48:45. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Friday, August 10, 2014, 4:22 pm


21.1 mi, 5271 ft gain, 4:44:29. PCT section J Stevens Pass south, solo. Altra Superior 1.5
The plan was to go at least 15 miles total, and possibly all the way to Trap Lake or Trap Pass, which would have been a little over 25. I wanted to get back to the car before it was dark, so I kept going until about 6:30. Time came and I decided to push to 10.5 mi and turn around. The last 20 min or so were starting to get kind of dark. I didn’t have much run left in my legs going up the last 2 climbs. So I power hiked a bit. Got some good photos and posted to Instagram. Great run.
Started to feel a little nauseated on the drive home. Stopped at the gas station at Skykomish for some apple juice and salted pistachios. Felt better after that. I’ve been trying to cut back a little on eating and salt during runs. I think I’ve found the lower end of what works. I felt better when I ate more, so I may go back to that.

Weekly totals: 38.5 mi, 7h21m, 9599 ft gain

Running

Practice Breathing

I love running uphill. Recently I started changing up my breathing while climbing. Usually, I’d just stick to my normal pattern, 4 steps in/4 out, down to 2/2, or however fast I can breathe for really tough efforts. Breathing that way, I end up at about 3/3 at the start of a climb and gradually increase my breath rate. What I don’t like about it is that I feel like I’m not getting enough air before my breath rate increases.
Last week I started doing what I can best describe as anticipatory breathing. I anticipate the pending increased use of oxygen during a hard effort and consciously increase my breath rate accordingly. During a tough climb, for example, rather than starting with my flat effort breath rate, which is usually 3/3, I start at 2/2 or maybe 2/1.
I’ve mostly done this on the trail at Wallace Falls State Park, which I’ve run quite a few times. I haven’t done enough experimenting yet, but I feel better at the top of the same climbs than before as well as during the climbs. I can’t say for sure whether it’s made any difference in my speed or actual effort.
Just speculating, but I think it may help some with maintaining speed or effort longer. There will certainly be diminishing returns at some point. I also expect it might help moderating effort over longer distances as well.
I’m sure I’m far from the first person to realize this. It’s still cool when I make a discovery to improve at something I enjoy doing.