All posts by Brian

Philosophy

Why Would Anyone Listen to Me?

Why should anyone listen to me? Should people only listen to the “experts”, or can I, as just another guy on my own journey, offer something as well?

I often have at least a hint of self-doubt when writing these blog posts or speaking as some sort of authority on a subject, even when people ask me directly. I figure, though, that we all have different gifts, ways of learning and knowledge we’ve gained. Sharing those things with others and learning what they have to offer as well helps us all grow as individuals and as a society.

I also realize we don’t have to listen to everything that everyone says, nor do we have to share everything. We can decide what we find useful or not and whether to incorporate it into our lives or dismiss it and move on. So feel free to ignore anything or everything I’ve said.

Philosophy, Practice

Oscar the Grouch, Eeyore and Me

Oscar the Grouch was one of my favorite Sesame Street characters. I don’t really remember why. What I do remember was that almost nothing anyone did for him made him happy. There were occasions where he’d come out of his grouchiness momentarily, but it usually didn’t last long. He seemed to genuinely enjoy being grouchy, though.

Eeyore, from Winnie the Pooh, was worse. Even when reunited with his oft missing tail, no one could make him happy. Fortunately, his mood didn’t rub off on Christopher Robin or the other 100 Acre Wood residents much, unlike it can in real life.

Happiness is a choice you can only make for yourself. You can’t make others happy. They have to decide how they’ll react. Choose to be happy yourself, and maybe they’ll get the idea.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

August 10-16 Practice Running

Monday, August 10, 2015, 7:58 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:32. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Just a relatively easy run around town. My legs were a little sore, but not all that fatigued.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2015, 6:59 pm

9.85 mi, 1465 ft gain, 1:49:07. RR Grade, Greg Ball, DNR rd, Bike path, RR Grade, solo. Altra superior 1.5 red #4.

The sky was pretty hazy today. I decided to run a different route at WFSP to hope to get some decent sunset views.

My calves were a little tight on the way up. I called a friend on the upper part of the RR grade. They’re able to take the dogs for me during Cascade Crest, which was a big load off.

Once I hit the Greg Ball trail, I ended up vlogging the whole way up. It helped keep the pace relatively easy. I may split it into a couple videos.

I turned left at the end of the Greg Ball trail instead of right to Wallace Lake. There are a few spots to catch a view of the sunset on the DNR rd toward Sultan. The sunset itself wasn’t that great, but the 20-30 min leading up to it were pretty amazing.

I took the bike trail turn off back down to the RR grade.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2015, 7:11 pm

11.08 mi, 864 ft gain, 1:41:18. Town to RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I haven’t quite decided yet if I’ve started my taper yet. I might get in one sort of easy long run this weekend, but I don’t know. On days like this it’s a little more about getting out for the time, not as much the distance. And it’s not really like traditional thoughts about time on feet in regards to ultra training. I’m not sure how to explain it.

About 0.7 mi up the RR Grade, I heard something off the side of the trail, so I clapped a couple times. Then I saw a coyote going up the trail as I came around the next corner. I tried to pull out my phone to get some video or photos while running after it. Then there was a much louder noise from something moving through the brush not too far off trail to the left. It was a bear. It ran a few yards then climbed up a tree. I moved a little bit up the trail and stopped to try to get a good view for some photo or videos, but decided against it. I may not be that familiar with all the things bears do when startled, but I’ve never seen an adult bear climb a tree like that when there’s plenty of room to just continue running away. It didn’t look like a cub though. I kept moving up the trail a little farther when it started huffing at me. Then I heard another huffing sound coming from another tree on the other side of the trail. I wasn’t sure which one was the cub and which was the mama bear, or if they were both cubs and mama was nearby, so I started talking loudly and moved another 30-40 yards up the trail. I threw a few rocks down the trail to make more noise. Just around the bend, I started back to running again, back at my normal pace. I saw the coyote running up the trail again shortly after that. It was quite an exciting experience, if a little nerve racking.

I was quite alert for the rest of the run in the park. I made it up to the end of the RR Grade and turned around without anything else noteworthy. On the way back down, I saw the coyote again, running down the trail the other way. It went off trail into the brush much more quickly than the way up.

It was a great run. I felt good. I warmed up well after the first 10-15 min.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Thursday, August 13, 2015, 7:07 pm

11.18 mi, 858 ft gain, 1:45:25. Town to RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

Rerun from yesterday’s run. I warmed up about the same. As I came up to the Mexican restaurant, I saw someone had left their headlights on, so I went inside and let some servers know.

I saw some people on the RR Grade today, which isn’t usually the case this late in the evening. There was a group of two women on their way down, followed by another solo hiking woman who I’ve seen in the park before.

Sometime within the next mile there was another bear off the trail on the right side. This one kept running, though, making lots of noise crashing through the brush. There were a lot of birds on the trail as well.

On the way back home, there was a loose dog going near the highway. I walked towards it hoping that it would go back towards its home. It kept barking at me making a half circle around me. It sort of worked. It wasn’t actually very far from home. After a minute or so, a guy came out. It turned out to be his dog.

The rest of the run was just fine.

I felt good. It was a lot like yesterday’s run, beyond just the route.

Average HR 132 bpm.

 

Friday, August 14, 2015, 7:39 pm

3.18 mi, 34 ft gain, 30:16. RR access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2 white.

It rained all day. It let up just a little before we started. I took the dogs out, since they haven’t been running in a while and it finally cooled down.

I ran through most of the puddles, and the puddles were big along the RR access rd. Vida didn’t really like that. She usually loves running through water, but I don’t think she liked being splashed by me. Sigurd was a little more tolerant of it at first, but eventually he started moving as far away to the side or front as he could on the leash.

My legs felt good, the rain felt good, and it was a great run.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Saturday, August 15, 2015, 7:10 pm

11.03 mi, 872 ft gain, 1:22:40. Town to RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I felt pretty good from the get go. It was still a little cooler out too. I started a bit faster than normal and decided to go with it. I kept it comfortable out to WFSP.

I went slightly harder up the RR Grade and back down. I clapped periodically on the trail to warn wildlife I was coming through.

I pushed progressively harder on the way home. It was a good run. I’m still having a little piriformis discomfort, especially during faster runs like this. It wasn’t too bad though.

Strava says I set 10 mi, 15k and 10k PRs. I guess I don’t run fast for that long very often. I know I can certainly go faster.

Average HR 147 bpm.

 

Sunday, August 16, 2015, 5:31 pm

11.45 mi, 3779 ft gain, 2:32:07. RR grade to Upper Falls (55), Woody to Upper Falls (56), with dogs. New Balance MR10v2 white.

One more good hard run before tapering. Well, I might do a fast shorter run sometime this upcoming week. I considered doing three laps, but, like all too often, I got a late start, so I didn’t have enough time before the park closed.

Instead, I extended the first lap by taking the RR Grade up and down, taking the connecting trail to/from the Woody trail.

My legs were kind of sore and tight starting out. The RR Grade was a good warmup. I had a brief pitstop at the restroom at the end of the RR Grade, then headed to the Upper Falls. My legs felt better once I hit the Woody trail, still kind of tired though.

I had some water and raisins at the Falls before heading down. I refilled my water, had some water, and sat on a bench eating some raisins for a couple minutes.

My legs were a little tired and heavy again when I started the second lap. They started feeling a little better as I went, but not great. I visualized myself toward the end of Cascade Crest as I was running, imagining myself feeling that good toward the end of the race. I think it’s possible, especially if the taper goes well.

Maybe instead of back-to-back long runs in the future, I should do long runs the day after a fast run. Might be worth a try, but it will be a while until I’m back to that point.

Bring on the taper.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 60.9 mi, 7874 ft elevation gain.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

August 3-9 Practice Running

Monday, August 3, 2015, 8:27 pm

3.09 mi, 40 ft gain, 28:53. RR access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2 white.

My legs were a little sore, just the muscles, but not all that fatigued. I took the dogs out along the RR access rd and the park. I kept the pace fairly easy.

I didn’t wear my HR monitor.

 

Tuesday, August 4, 2015, 7:23 pm

4.04 mi, 37 ft gain, 38:44. RR Access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2 white.

It was cool again today. I decided to take it easy again to let my legs recover a little more for one last long run this weekend before Cascade Crest. My legs were fine.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Wednesday, August 5, 2015, 4:55 pm

3.17 mi, 28 ft gain, 23:11. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2 white.

I ended up doing another short run. I wasn’t really feeling up to it, but went anyway. It was raining a little when I started, but it got heavier about 5 min in. I considered going about 6 mi or so, but decided to run shorter and faster instead.

It felt good to go faster. Running in the rain was great too. It’s been a while since I had a good soaking rainy run.

Average HR 147 bpm.

 

Thursday, August 6, 2015, 7:46 pm

4.64 mi, 1745 ft gain, 55:57. Woody trail to Upper Wallace Falls (51), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I went out a bit late today. I kept it short again, but not so easy. My legs feel a bit flat and oddly heavy, like they do during a taper. Maybe I’ve taken it easy for too many days in a row.

I started out at a moderate pace for the first 0.5 mi or so, then sped up as I went along from there. I’d say I was running a moderately hard effort from about there until a little past the Valley overlook. Then I pushed a little harder. I made it to the Upper Falls at about 30 min. I took a few minutes to recover up there before heading back down.

I stopped after the descending the first flight of stairs to tighten my shoelaces. After that, I let gravity take over for most of the descent, slowing a bit down toward the bottom due to diminishing light.

It was great to put in a reasonably hard effort.

Average HR 155 bpm.

 

Friday, August 7, 2015, 6:50 pm

9.93 mi, 2:04 ft gain, 2:04:47. RR Grade, Greg Ball, Wallace Lake, Upper Grade, Upper Falls (52), Woody Trail, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

My legs felt a little rough today. My shoelaces were too tight starting out. I stopped once on the RR grade and again on the Greg Ball trail to fix them.

At the top of the Greg Ball trail I saw a “Road Closed Ahead” sign. I decided to head out to Wallace Lake anyway. They still haven’t replaced the bridge. I crossed the Wallace River where the bridge should be quite easily, it’s so low.

I decided to see if I could get down to the lake by the campsites. There was a good trail down there. I passed three women with presumably their daughters who appeared to be coming from their campsite. I didn’t see them again on my way out.

I continued around the lake loop towards the falls. I saw another road closed sign at the fork for the detour and the Upper Grade. It was on the side toward the detour, but there were heavy equipment tracks going out on the Upper Grade. I took the Upper Grade anyway.

The excavator tracks were rather uncomfortable to run on. They only went to the edge of the more thick woods. I continued out to the falls. I didn’t see anyone or any equipment.

I tightened my shoelaces again at the Upper Falls before heading down. My legs were a little tired on the descent. I think I should have eaten closer to the start of my run.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Saturday, August 8, 2015, 6:20 pm

9.25 mi, 3476 ft gain, 2:07:00. Woody Trail to Upper Falls (53, 54), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I felt a little better today than yesterday. My calves were just a little tight on the first time up. There was a woman with a bunch of boys, a teenager and on down from there to about 5 or 6 at the youngest. I think there were 5 kids. The youngest one said, “You’re really skinny.” I chuckled and said that’s because I’m a runner. The oldest said something about running. Then the youngest said, “I mean it, you’re really skinny.”

I had some water and a couple dates, then tightened my laces before heading down. The descent was better than yesterday.

I refilled my water, had a couple dates and took a few minutes break at the TH. I chatted with a guy and his son for a few minutes. They asked about my running and asked something about if I do long runs in the mountains. I mentioned the upcoming 100 miler. They wished me luck when I started my second lap.

Both times up were pretty close. There were fewer other people on the trail, so that was likely part of it. Again, I had some water and dates at the Upper Falls. I left my laces tight on the way up and they pinched a little on the climbs. Even so, I felt better the second time up. I think the difference was being warmed up.

I was pretty close on times for both descents as well. I had fun, and it was a great run.

Average HR 147 bpm.

 

Sunday, August 9, 2015, 4:55 pm

20.12 mi, 5833 ft gain, 5:34:27. PCT to Icicle Creek to Chain Lakes, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 red #4.

I had so much fun on this run. So much that I’ve considered not running races anymore, or at least fewer, so that I can do more adventure runs like this.

I got a late start. I had wanted to attempt climbing up Bulls Tooth. At the very least, I wanted to make it out to Chain Lakes just below the mountain.

My legs were a little tight, especially my calves, on the climb up from Stevens Pass. They loosened up after that. I passed a few groups of hikers heading the other way on my way up. The downhill on the other side of the mountain was a blast. I passed two more groups on the descent, one heading north, the other heading south.

From the bottom of the descent, there was another smaller climb up to the junction with Icicle creek and a little more up and then down around Josephine lake. The sign for the Icicle Creek trail was easy to spot, as was the trail.

Once down into the Icicle creek drainage, the trail was a lot less rocky. There were some roots, but it was pretty smooth for the most part.

I had little trouble finding the next trail, mostly because I was looking for it. The sign for the Chain Lakes trail is on the other side of a tree facing the other direction. The trail is fairly apparent, though.
The Chain Lakes trail is quite steep, especially the first 0.6 mi or so, about 1000ft gain. It was about 1800 ft gain total over 1.8 mi. It was fun climbing. I practiced my power hiking.

It was absolutely beautiful when I got up to the lakes. I was going to make my way around to the third lake, but the path I followed sort of just disappeared up on a little knob. I had a view of the third lake, but ended up turning around. I had wanted to at least see if I could spot the route up the mountain. It was too late for me to attempt going up, though. I didn’t want to be scrambling in the dark. I also wanted to make it back down the steep trail to Icicle Creek before sunset. I went back to the second lake and went down by a campsite. I chatted with three guys camping there for a little bit and refilled my water. They were heading to Doelle lakes the following day.

As tough as it was going up the Chain Lakes trail, it was a ton of fun going back down. I made it to the Icicle Creek junction about 13 min before sunset. I went for quite a while before breaking out the headlamp. I was a little low on energy for a little while. I started eating a little more often and stopped to snack on some trail-side huckleberries on the final climb up the backside of Stevens Pass. The huckleberries were amazing. I ran out of water somewhere around the top.

I felt pretty good on the final descent to the parking lot. Even with all the rocks and stuff, I got into a pretty good rhythm. There were a lot of frogs and salamanders out on the trail in the dark. I had to watch my step to keep from squashing them. There were also quite a few trails of ants crossing the trail. They stopped moving when my headlamp was shining on them.

Like I said at the beginning of this, I had such a good time on this run. I didn’t run too hard and kept the effort pretty even. The trails were fantastic and tons of fun. The scenery was gorgeous. I wouldn’t call it a runner’s high. I never really understood what people meant when they said they were “high on life” until this run. I must do more of this.

Average HR 133 bpm. HRM battery died after about 4 hours.

 

Weekly totals: 54.1 mi, 13,162 ft elevation gain

Becoming, Learning, Philosophy

Looking Without Seeing

“I can’t find my glasses,” says the seemingly absentminded sitcom character. “They’re on top of your head,” says their levelheaded spouse/friend. It’s a common trope in tv and movies for a reason. I know I’ve been looking for things and not found them, even though I looked right at or past them. I’d imagine most people have had a similar experience.

Thoreau said, “Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray, i.e. we are not looking for it. So, in the largest sense, we find only the world we look for” [Journal, 2 July 1857]. The other day, I thought I was looking for my battery charger, all the while telling myself “I CAN’T find it.” How am I supposed to see something when I’ve convinced myself that I can’t?

He also said, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see” [Journal, 5 August 1851]. I’ve looked right at things without actually seeing them. It’s frustrating, but not surprising.

Zig Ziglar used to have his audience do an exercise to illustrate the point. He tells people to describe their watches without looking at them. Most of the time, they couldn’t say much more than the brand and analog or digital; their own watch that’s on their wrist. What do each of the buttons say? Are there roman numerals or numbers? What’s at the 12-o’clock position? And so on. Next, he has them look at their watch to see how much detail they’ve missed with something that they likely look at many times each day. Last, he asks what time it was, and most people couldn’t say because they were too focused on everything else.

The only watch I wear is my gps watch, and only while I’m running. I look at it quite often while running —probably too often— but I still find myself having to look again right away because I didn’t see something that I wanted to know. Without looking, I also couldn’t tell you much about any text or markings on the bezel, even after I’ve looked at it probably thousands of times.

The reason was that even with all that looking, I wasn’t seeing. It was certainly all in my “visual ray”, but most of it was outside of my “intellectual ray” at the time. That’s not always a bad thing, though. If we were perfectly aware of everything within our field of view, it could quickly overwhelm the mind. So our minds have to try to decide what’s important, what’s worth actually noticing.

All we can try to do is to be more aware of what we’re looking at to truly see it.