Category Archives: Practice

Practice, Running, Trail run, Training Log

February 23 – March 1 Practice Running

Monday, February 23, 2015, 3:49 pm

4.15 mi, 160 ft gain, 50:34. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

It was rough starting out. My legs were sore and a little stiff. My left achilles is a bit sore too. I stopped and walked a little on the little hill at about 0.3 mi in. Walking wasn’t really much slower.

I warmed up by about the time I got to Olney Creek. The creek bed has changed a bit due to the flooding this winter. The log jam is gone, more logs moved in on the close side up on the bank, the sand bank in spots has raised about 3 feet and pushed into the brush a bit too.

I spent a few minutes at the creek letting the dogs run around. Then I headed out towards the connector hill. I turned around before getting to the bottom of the hill.

The weather was nice. The sun was out, and I ran shirtless for a while. It wasn’t that warm, but the sun still felt nice.

I was still sore and slow by the end of the run, but I felt a lot better.

Average HR 118 bpm.

 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 5:12 pm

4.54 mi, 38 ft gain, 39:59. In town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

The legs were a bit less sore today. My left achilles is still sore. It got a little worse about half mile in before it started feeling better again.
My pace was significantly better today than yesterday. I ran out about 20 minutes and turned around.

On the way back, some guy hanging out on his front porch cat-called me. Something about my legs. I’d guess that I get about 10 guys yelling things or cat-calling for every one woman.

I had a great run, anyway. Now I’m trying to figure out what race or solo adventure to do next.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 5:58 pm

5.3 mi, 380 ft gain, 56:39. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Again, I didn’t keep up with writing this up until days later, so I don’t remember a whole lot about it.

I went out past Olney creek to where the road meets back up with the loop. I wasn’t sure which way to go. I ended up turning around because the logging trucks made such a mucky mess of the road. Instead, I took the road out towards the hill. I went up the hill a little bit and thought about continuing, but I figured I’d keep it shorter to continue recovering from the race.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Thursday, February 26, 2015, 4:00 pm

8.16 mi, 1119 ft gain, 1:28:50. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

(Writing this days later as well).

I was going to go to the next gate, but there was a car out there. I felt pretty good. I kept the pace pretty easy, though.

I went over the hill and back. I let gravity take over a couple times on the downhills. I enjoy running downhill so much, it’s hard to believe I used to really hate it.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Friday, February 27, 2015, 4:14 pm

8.22 mi, 1264 ft gain, 1:28:50. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

When I pulled up to the gate, I saw a truck coming out, just about to the gate. Before letting the dogs out, I got out and spoke to the guy briefly. I asked if they were going to be logging out there too. He said he was out there to clean up the roads, ditches and such. I got a little more info about where they’re working right now as well.

Feeling pretty good, but still kept an easy pace. I checked out one of the early side roads that’s been grown over for a couple years, and he cleaned up. It didn’t go very far. Then I went out to the little hill before heading over the connector hill.

I still kept it easy over and back, until I got back to the bottom of the steep part of the west side of the hill. Then I turned around and ran hard back up the steep part, about 0.15 mi and 150 ft gain. I setup a strava segment for that climb, but it didn’t calculate it correctly for this effort. It counted the bottom part when I was still going down and the turnaround as well. I guess I didn’t go quite far enough past the start of the segment to “zero out”. I’m pretty sure I did actually set a PR up it, though.

Average HR 130 bpm.

 

Saturday, February 28, 2015, 1:05 pm

11.04 mi, 2122 ft gain, 1:52:48. To Upper Wallace Falls (10) & back, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Feeling good and mostly recovered. Still don’t have all my speed and strength back, but that’s ok. Training a little tired will be helpful experience for longer stuff.

The park was packed and the trails were quite busy. I pushed the pace in places, but I didn’t worry about stopping and slowing down for hikers. I think I yielded more than I usually do too.

According to strava, I had my third best time going up the woody trail to the upper falls. With all the stopping and still a little of the race left in my legs, I was a little surprised.

I took it easier on the way back down. The road back home was good.

I planned a longer run, but I thought I needed to be back home by 3pm for something, so I cut it short. It turned out that I didn’t need to be back until 5pm. Oh well.

Average HR 154 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 1, 2015, 2:01 pm

21.78 mi, 3454 ft gain, 4:05:36. To WFSP, RR grade, Greg Ball, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake, uphill turnoff, DNR rd to Woody Trail & down,solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#1.

The plan was for at least 16 mi, and possibly as much as 24 mi or so. I kept the pace much easier than Saturday. I started easy on the roads to the park. I stopped briefly at the restrooms and headed up.

Just as I was getting started, I saw another runner on her way back to the TH. Both our faces lit up when we saw another runner. We exchanged waves and greetings as we passed.

I went up the RR grade to the Greg Ball trail, trying to stay below 150 bpm. It’s really easy for me to get excited and speed up in races, with hikers around and just going uphill in general.

Once I hit the DNR road at the end of the Greg Ball trail, instead of the more direct road to Wallace Lake, I took the road to the right, going uphill. It’s one of the few alternate routes to Wallace Lake that I hadn’t done yet. I liked it, some nice climbing and adds a little more distance to the trip.

Once to the lake, I kept going out to the beach on the north side and took a couple photos. Then I continued out to Jay lake. I saw some flagging tape continuing out past the food storage site, so I followed it. A very minimal path has been cut out a ways. I stopped when it ran into some blowdowns and couldn’t see any more tape.

I took the DNR rd toward the falls, but took a detour up the road I checked out a while back hoping to find a possible route up Mt. Stickney. Last time I stopped where part of the road was washed out. It was really wet and looked pretty unstable. This time it’s been dry and didn’t look like much had moved since then. I decided to go around it on the uphill side, where it looked like some other people had done the same. Either that or some good sized bear(s) with the size of the impressions in the small talus. I went up the road a ways further, up to about where my gps said was 2600 ft elevation. Looking at maps and satellite images, it looks very promising. I’m definitely going back sometime. I wanted to keep going but didn’t really want to run in the dark, even though I had my headlamp with me.

A little further down the DNR road towards the falls, I saw a critter scamper down the road ahead of me then head uphill. I stayed quiet until I got within sight. It was a bobcat, my first time seeing one in years of enjoying the outdoors. It stood there watching as I pulled out my phone and took a couple pictures. I stood and watched for a little longer. Just before I kept going, I waved my arms and made some noise to scare it off. Lots of people hike in the park, including with kids and small dogs. It’s better if it stays scared of people. It was an awesome experience.

I hit Upper Wallace Falls for the 11th time this year.

Even though the parking lot was packed and cars were parked down the road about 0.5 mi when I started, there weren’t many people left on the Woody trail on my way down.

Running the road home was kind of rough. Tired leg training was in full effect. I still finished the last 0.1 mi or so strong.

This will probably be my last long run in this pair of shoes. The Altra Superior is just about the perfect balance of ground feel and protection for me. But after over 600 mi on this pair, they’ve lost a lot of that protection. My feet were not happy for about the last 7 mi. I may still use them for short runs.

Average HR 134 bpm. This isn’t necessarily accurate. I forgot to charge my HR monitor. The battery died, and it missed the last 1.5 hours.

 

Weekly totals: 63.3 mi, 8536 ft gain.

February totals: 187.2 mi, 21420 ft gain.

Practice, Races, Running, Trail run, Training Log

February 2-8 Practice Running

Monday, February 2, 2015, 5:11 pm

3.22 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:03. In town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

My legs are mostly recovered from the weekend, except my left achilles is still really tight and a little sore. Just like yesterday, it got worse around 0.4-0.5 mi before it got better.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt a bit down today. The run definitely helped.

I still ended up not going as far as I had planned. It did start raining with a little bit of hail, but I actually kind of enjoyed that.

I’ll probably stick with this type of run for a few days. Maybe I’ll go into the 5 mi race this weekend on fresh legs. I’d like to get one more specific training run in for the Lord Hill 50k, probably this weekend or early next week.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 5:16 pm

4.01 mi, 144 ft gain, 42:48. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

My left leg is even more sore today, but it’s actually my lower calf and not my achilles. I don’t know if that’s any better or not. It was stiff for most of today’s run. It loosened up for a few minutes around 2.5 mi, but tightened back up less than a mile later.

I had hoped to go longer today, but kept it short again. Everything else is fine, though.

I broke out a new pair of Superior 1.5s from my stockpile. I modified them last night. My other red pair have lost a lot of their cushioning ability, which isn’t unexpected with almost 600 mi on them. The treads still have plenty of life, so I’ll probably still keep them in rotation for less rocky terrain. I took some photos of my modification process and will post something about that soon.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 5:33 pm

4.02 mi, 143 ft gain, 43:30. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

Yesterday was pretty rough. After the run, my calf was still bugging me. I broke out the foam roller, did some stretching and some manual massage. I also wore warm socks, used some heat and kept my lower legs under extra covers when I slept last night, all to promote blood flow to the area. Our bodies are capable of amazing things, like healing themselves. The trick is to help the processes.

It was still a little bit sore and tight when I woke up today, but much better. When I started my run this evening, it was fine, loose and not sore at all. My right hamstring is still a little tight, so I’ll do some work on that tonight.

Even though I felt better, I still kept today short and easy. I’d like to go into the 5 mi race this weekend with fresh legs. It’d be great to win one more, but I think I’m already guaranteed top 3 for the series. I know there are lots of people who could have beat me, even locally. But they weren’t racing. And it’s still a big confidence booster.

There wasn’t really anything remarkable about today’s run. It was still great, though. A little rain, no pain, and I felt like I just got started at the end.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Thursday, February 5, 2015, 4:12 pm

4.22 mi, 38 ft gain, 38:13. Green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

The legs were a little heavy today. But it was still pretty nice to get out. Originally I was considering only about 3 mi, but felt decent so I pushed it out to 4 mi.

I stuck to the grass in the park mostly, with a little bit on the gravel access road on the highway side of the tracks.

I picked up the pace toward the end to try to get my legs going ahead of the race on Saturday. It wasn’t great.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Friday, February 6, 2015, 3:52 pm

6.33 mi, 265 ft gain, 51:29. To WFSP TH and back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

My legs felt a lot better today. I didn’t know how far I was going to go until a little over a mile into the run, and I decided to head out to the Wallace Falls parking lot.

It was much easier running today, and I ended up going a little faster than most of my runs.

My HR was a little elevated, though. I either caught another head cold, or the last one has come back. It’s just a mild pressure on the left side of my head around my eye back to my ear, and it mostly goes away later in the day.

Even so, I’m pretty happy with today’s run. I opened it up down the hill from WFSP, reaching close to 4min/mi. I sped up for the last little bit to home as well, not quite as fast, but it wasn’t downhill either.

Bring on the race.

Average HR 143 bpm.

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:04 am

1.17 mi, ft gain, 19:18. Frost Eagle Warmup, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I ended up parking nearly 0.4 mi away from the parking lot. Lots of people and a small parking lot. I didn’t really have much time for that great of a warmup, but it was better than nothing. I forgot to stop my watch, it was much less time than 19 minutes.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:45 am

5 mi, ft gain, 35:57.8. Frost Eagle 5 mi Race, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I took the lead from the beginning. Another guy I know passed me for a brief period just so he could say he had the lead. There was a pretty good pack of guys right behind me. I dropped the hammer on the first downhill, and I don’t think many people followed.

The half marathon was started 7 minutes prior to the 5 mi race. The two races shared a good portion of the same course, with the half marathon turning off about 1.5 mi in. I ended up catching and passing quite a few half marathoners. Most of them were great about moving to the side, but a couple weren’t paying attention. When the rest of the people in the group they were in moved over, they decided to take the opportunity to pass right in front of me. It didn’t slow me down much though.

It was pretty muddy and really wet out there, with lots of standing water and some flowing water. I just plowed right through the mud and water. I may have accidentally splashed a few half marathoners.

I came up to one more group just as got to where the race courses diverged. From there out I was pretty much alone. I had put some time on 2nd place, one of my 2 competitors for the series win. I had backed off on the pace a little bit. At about 3 mi I looked back and saw that he had regained a some ground, so I attacked again.

I didn’t attack that much on the climbs, but opened up on some of the descents. I also tried to maintain speed through the turns, mud and puddles. I nearly crashed a couple times pushing the pace. About a mile from the finish, there was a pretty good hill that I tried to bomb down. The trail was fairly straight, but my legs were going all over the place from the mud. I just about did the splits trying to stay upright. I slowed down a little bit at the bottom briefly to make sure everything was alright. I was fine, so I pushed on.

After that, at nearly every turn I’d look back to see if I could see anyone gaining on me, but I didn’t see anyone. When I finally hit the gravel pipeline trail near the end, I saw the runner who wanted to say he had the lead. Apparently he took a wrong turn, and his knee was banged up pretty good from a fall. I asked if he was alright. He was, so I pushed on to the finish.

I won the race, and clinched the series win. Second place was about 45 seconds back, who ended up 3rd in the series. He also pretty handily beat me at the race when I lost my shoe by enough that my shoe didn’t make a difference. The half marathon winner ended up 2nd in the series by 3 points, just 5 points behind me.

I decided not to worry about my HR today and switched to view current pace, and I only looked at that a few times, once at the beginning before the first hill. I saw I was going around 5:40/mi pace and backed down a little. I looked a couple other times just out of curiosity.

Even not worrying about my HR during the race, I still wore the monitor to look over the data afterwards. My average HR was 181 bpm. I’m not sure how accurate this is. It looks like the reading dropped suddenly for a little bit early, then spiked over 200. Even if it is off, It’s probably not by much. My HR hovered around 180 bpm most of the time. My most recent bout of head cold has gotten better, but my HR is still a little elevated because of it. Running by feel and not by HR, I think I was also able to push harder than if I had looked. I may have backed off seeing it that high. I’m starting to get the feel for that edge between uncomfortably fast and blow-up fast. But I have lots more to learn.

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 4:29 pm

3.18 mi, 28 ft gain, 30:04. Around town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I took the dogs out for a little spin around town before dark. It started raining as soon as we started, but it wasn’t cold, fortunately.

Man, my legs were stiff. They loosened up a little by about 1 mi, but took until about 2 mi to feel ok. The same little spot in my right hamstring that’s been a little bothersome for over a week finally got to the point that I decided I’d do something about it.

This evening I sat my hammy on the foam roller, going back and forth for about 10 minutes. That was not pleasant.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Sunday, February 8, 2015, 3:36 pm

11.21 mi, 2307 ft gain, 2:07:03. Upper Wallace Falls via woody trail from home, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

My legs were a little stiff today but not quite as much as yesterday afternoon’s run. I loosened up a couple miles in. I was pretty sore as well, and that didn’t really go away. It wasn’t quite so bad later in the run, though.

This wasn’t exactly what I had planned for today, but it worked based on how I felt after yesterday’s race.

The trails were a little bit busy, but not bad. Most people were on their way back to the TH as I went out. The muscle soreness slowed me down a little. I made it to the Upper falls from the TH in about 33 min. I spent a couple minutes up there watching the waterfall, drinking some water and snacking on some raisins and a couple dates.

Since my legs were still sore, I took it extra easy down the steep, slippery steps near the top. I kept it pretty easy going most of the way down. I just wasn’t quite as surefooted with tired legs and didn’t want to push my luck with the wet conditions. It didn’t rain today, but there was quite a lot of rain over the last several days.

Once I hit less than 1 mi to the TH, I was feeling good again and picked up the pace. On the short road grade section at the end, I even hit 6:40/mi pace and felt good.

I passed 3 guys in the last little stretch who I had seen on my way up just below the Lower falls view point. As I went by, one of them said in a seemingly joking tone, “I hate you”. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Running the roads back home wasn’t too bad until I turned onto US2. I spent the last 1.5 mi running into a pretty stiff headwind. It only died down briefly a couple times. It was mostly steady, though, and even picked up enough to slow me way down. That’s part of the experience of running outside.

Average HR 143 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 42 mi, 3311 ft gain

Philosophy, Practice

Time for Some Changes

I’m not sure why, but I was kind of depressed for most of yesterday. Nothing bad happened. I was a bit sore from recent training. That’s pretty normal, though. I had some strange dreams last night, but I have strange dreams quite regularly and none were bad.

It wasn’t until a couple hours after I got up that it started. I think I was in the middle of packing some things that I sold on eBay over the weekend when it came on. To go along with that feeling, I had an overwhelming sense of needing to change something.

For immediate action, I started tackling one of the many things on my to-do list, going through all of my stuff and getting rid of things. I only spent an hour or so at it, but made a little bit of a dent. I have four boxes so far.

The biggest thing that helped with this little bout of the doldrums was my afternoon run. I almost always feel better after a run. To paraphrase Tony Robbins, your mental state follows your physical state. To change your mental state, make a physiological change, like exercise. Even smiling can cause a positive change in your state of mind.

While my mindset has improved, I still feel the need for change. I don’t know what it will be yet. In the past, cutting my hair or shaving my beard have both worked, but that’s not going to do it this time. For now, I’ll continue purging stuff while I figure it out.

Practice, Running, Training Log

January 19-25 Practice Running

Monday, January 19, 2015, 3:59 pm

6.04 mi, 988 ft gain, 58:37. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Yay for running during daylight again. Although, I thought I had more daylight left when I started. I still got about the mileage I was looking for today anyway.

I was a little bit tired from the last few days and the cold, but not bad. I started feeling better after about 10 min.

The weather was a lot better today as well. I had some great views of the sunset on my way back to the car.

I started feeling pretty good on the return trip and opened it up pretty fast going down the last couple hills. It’s good practice for both downhill running and faster turnover. Other than that, I kept a pretty easy pace. Vida was lagging a bit at times. At other times she was running up ahead to see what Sigurd was up to. I think part of her hanging back might be her protective instinct. Sigurd is out front, so she takes up the rear.

The cold is getting better, no more sore throat, nose isn’t running so much and reduced malaise. I think my HR is still a little bit elevated because of it though.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Tuesday, January 20, 2015, 5:43 pm

8.16 mi, 1140 ft gain, 1:25:55. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

My legs were just a little bit achey to start, but not really that fatigued. They felt just fine after 10 min or so.

The logging roads are drying out just a little bit, enough that I didn’t have to wash Vida down when we got home. I still headed for the less used roads and over the hill.

Since I was feeling rather mediocre today, I wasn’t sure how far I’d end up going. I wanted to go at least 6 mi, but as I got up the hill, I felt good and decided to keep going. I kind of wish that I had gone a little farther, but I’m thinking about back-to-back long runs this weekend and want to go into it feeling pretty fresh.

I’m really happy that 8 mi has become a relatively short run for me. I remember when I first hit 5 mi for my weekly long run. It felt like an amazing accomplishment. I still think it was.

I took it easy on the downhills on the way out. After a brief pitstop at the other end of the hill, I headed back.

I ran the climbs with my HR in the 140s. My legs felt great on the climbs. On the way back, I let go on a couple of the downhills, hitting around 5min/mi pace for brief periods.

I picked up the pace a little on the final relatively flat 2 mi, HR in the upper 130s to low 140s, still aerobic.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 3:49 pm

11.21 mi, 2252 ft gain, 1:59:19. USPS package drop off on the way to Upper Falls, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I had one small package to send out today, so rather than drive to the P.O., then back home to get ready for my run, I just took it with me and dropped it on my way. The P.O. is just shy of a mile from my house and on the way to Wallace Falls.

Like most days when I go out without the dogs, I ran faster than with them. I made it to the TH at about 27 min or so, including the P.O. stop. I stopped briefly in the restroom. Before heading up the trail, I took of my fleece hat and windbreaker. I was sweating pretty good with those on. My windbreaker stuffs into it’s own pocket and then fits nicely into the front pocket on my reflective safety vest, which is a lot lighter than my Nathan pack. I had my headlamp in the pocket of my UD Fastdraw 20 water bottle.

I took it easier on the way up today than either trip last week, trying to keep my HR in the mid 150s or lower. I think I went up to 160 or so on the really steep steps. I made it up in about 35 minutes. I took a minute or two to take in the view, and get my hat and headlamp out.

I made it back down to the TH in a little over 25 min. The trail was drier, and I could see obstacles better than last time, so I went a little faster down some parts. I still took it fairly easy though.

I made it home from the TH in about 24 min, keeping the pace up and my HR in the low 140s. I sped up for the last 200 yds or so.

It was a great run. I love having such awesome trails so close to home.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Thursday, January 22, 2015, 4:23 pm

5.33 mi, 821 ft gain, 57:18. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I felt good today. Because I’m thinking about b2b long runs this weekend, I took it easy anyway.

I was still going to go a little longer than I ended up doing, but I forgot my headlamp. I didn’t realize until I was already halfway there.

The climbing was pretty easy again. I pushed the pace a couple times, once on a relative flat and once on the little hill up to where I turned around.

I ran out for 25 minutes then turned around and headed back. I took a couple short detours to check out some things on the way back.

Average HR 117 bpm.

 

Friday, January 23, 2015, 4:13 pm

5.07 mi, 53 ft gain, 54:32. RR access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I felt pretty good today, but took it easy anyway. The plan was 6 mi, but I kept stopping for the dogs and photos.

Fortunately, the heavy rain had stopped by the time I headed out. I went along the RR access rd. The clouds had parted to the south and it made for some pretty great views with the sun going down.

I might give Vida a couple days off. She’s been a little slow. She also might have a very slight limp, I can’t quite tell. She’d keep going until she absolutely couldn’t, though.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Saturday, January 24, 2015, 2:02 pm

20.02 mi, 2567 ft gain, 3:32:20. To WFSP, Rd grade, Greg Ball Tr, Wallace Lake & explore, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

B2B day 1 went great. There was a little bit of a drizzle off and on. I’m glad it didn’t rain much.

I wore my Nathan Elevation pack with about 1.5 liters of water in the bladder. I didn’t quite drink it all, though I probably should have. I had to stop to urinate several times throughout the run, so I guess I wasn’t too dehydrated. I’m sure the water I drank before I left the house made a difference.

I took the road grade up to the Greg Ball trail. I don’t know why I hadn’t been on the Greg Ball trail yet, after all the times I’ve been out to Wallace Falls State Park. It’s a pretty awesome trail, lots of twists and turns, good climbs and nice tread, even when parts have standing water. The mossy trees and creeks make it even better.

It was about 8 mi to Wallace Lake from my house this way. The lake was quite high with the outlet, the Wallace River, nearly reaching the bottom of the foot bridge. From there, I headed on the DNR rd toward the Upper Falls. About 0.25 mi from the lake, the road is flooded by a stream for about 200 yards. I stopped, took a couple pictures and thought about whether I wanted to get my feet wet. They were already a little damp, and I wanted to check out another spur road, so I went through the water. Most of the way it was about ankle deep. The main channel of the stream washed about a foot deep section of the road out. My feet were pretty cold for a minute or two, but felt pretty good after that.

A little further past the flooded part, I took a left on an old logging road that goes up the western side of Mt. Stickney. I only made it about 0.5 mi up the road, though. A slide took out a 100 ft section of the road. I considered going around on the uphill side, but it was quite steep and didn’t look very stable. Thwarted again in my quest to find a route up Mt. Stickney from the Wallace Falls side.

I headed back toward the lake. Once there, I calculated that I was going to be short of my planned 20 mi, so I headed the other way around the lake to possibly go out to Jay Lake. However, the Wallace River on that side of the lake was running so high it was over the steps. I was still going to be a little short, but I could make it up later.

Going down the Greg Ball trail was even more fun than running up. I had a hard time holding back and keeping an easy pace. I might have to start doing loops to the Upper Falls on the Woody Trail, out to Wallace Lake, then back on the Greg Ball Trail, or the reverse.

I made it back the trailhead a little after sunset, not that I could see it through the clouds, but it was still light out. I turned on my Amphipod reflective led flasher. Then a little down the road I pulled out my headlamp.

Once I hit US2, I turned away from home to get the little extra distance I needed before heading home. My legs were a little tired the last couple miles, but not too bad. I’ve definitely felt worse at the end of long runs.

I think I only ate about 300 calories from the dates and raisins that I brought along. I ate 5 bananas about an hour before I started, and ate a lot yesterday.

Average HR 140 bpm. My HR was a little high compared to usual at the same efforts. I didn’t sleep that well and my stomach didn’t feel that well this morning. I was fine while running.

I feel pretty good, but tomorrow might still be a little tough.

 

Sunday, January 25, 2015, 1:54 pm

20.21 mi, 3233 ft gain, 3:53:50. To WFSP, rd grade, Greg Ball Tr, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake, DNR rd to Upper Falls, Woody Tr to TH, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Back-to-back day two. The flat 3 mi or so through town to the trail head wasn’t actually that much slower than yesterday, but definitely felt a lot slower. Legs were a little heavy, and my HR was up a little.

My HR was still a little elevated once I hit the road grade trail. I don’t think I was actually that much slower though. I still felt slow on the Greg Ball trail, but my time on that section was actually faster than yesterday and good enough for a segment CR on Strava. I think my HR calmed back down somewhere on that section.

The weather wasn’t bad yesterday, but today it was great, sunny and upper 50s. I think I was slightly overdressed, but it got a little cooler in the shade, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be out or if I’d still be going when it got dark and cooled down. It was really just the skintight undershirt that I could have left behind. The long-sleeve shirt was fine.

I had my Nathan pack with about 1.8 liters of water in he bladder and some raisins and dates. I think I only had about 300-400 calories during the run. But I ate before I left too.

Wallace lake had dropped a little bit compared to yesterday. I went around the other end toward Jay lake and the Wallace River flowing into Wallace lake had dropped enough to expose the steps. Two of the steps were still under water, so I tossed a couple foot size rocks into them. The steps are sort of 2-2.5 ft diameter buckets filled with rocks. The next inlet channel has a steel grate foot bridge crossing it.

The trail up to Jay Lake had some water flowing over it in a couple places and some washout damage in a couple as well. I had Jay lake to myself. It was amazing with low hung mist over the water and the sun breaking through the trees on the hill to the south. I got a pretty good picture that I posted to Instagram.

Once I made it back to Wallace Lake, I decided to head out on the DNR rd toward Upper Wallace Falls. First, I wanted to check the flooded section of the road. I was going to need a little more distance to hit 20 mi, so if the water hadn’t dropped, I would have gone around another way that I haven’t been yet. But the water was down, and I could just barely get around it.

I took a short detour up the old logging road that goes out toward Mt. Stickney. Once I got out about 0.25 mi, there was a spot that looked like it could be possibly doable to go up the mountain. I made it up to the next sort of level spot about another 0.25 mi, which was about 400+ ft of gain. Unfortunately, I didn’t go back down the way I came and ended up going off trail a lot farther than I wanted, a lot was over and around windfall as well.

I wasn’t worried about getting lost. As long as I went away from the mountain, I would hit either the old logging rd or the DNR rd. I hit the old logging rd quite a ways back down toward the DNR rd.

Once I got to the junction with the Woody trail down to the falls, I wanted to check out the bridge construction that I saw a sign about down the trail. Apparently there was a bridge over the river above the Upper Falls in the past. I went and looked and it looks like they’re pretty much done with a new bridge to replace it. I’m pretty excited about all the possibilities on the other side of the falls. I hope there are some plans for more trails, maybe even one going all the way out to Lake Isabel.

Anyway, I made it to the valley overlook viewpoint just in time to experience another amazing sunset across the valley, with views all the way to the Olympics to the west.

I finished out the Woody trail without pulling out my headlamp. I probably could have gone a little faster if I used it, but it’s good practice and I wanted to keep it at an easy pace.

I did pull out my headlamp once I got back to the trail head, so cars could see me on the road as I ran home. I still felt pretty good most of the way home, but tired. My legs started hurting a little about the last mile, pretty comparable to the last 1-1.5 mi of the Bridle Trails 50k.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 76.1 mi, 11,053 ft gain

Practice, Running, Trail run, Training Log

January 12-18 Practice Running

Monday, January 12, 2015, 4:37 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:17. Around town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

My left achilles is still achey and tight. When that happens, it always seems to tighten up even more in the first 0.5 mi or so, maybe my body trying to protect it. Then it starts to warm up and loosen up. It took almost 2 miles for it to loosen up all the way.

My legs are still sore, but not as bad as yesterday. I definitely felt better after today’s run than before. Looking forward to getting back to some climbing, probably next week.

Average HR 124 bpm. I don’t think this is at all accurate. At one point glanced down and my HR was supposedly over 190 bpm. Most of the rest of the time it was around 115 to low 120s.

 

Tuesday, January 13, 2015, 4:44 pm

3.19 mi, 38 ft gain, 28:41. Around town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I felt much better starting today than yesterday. My left achilles is still a little tight, but not bad. It loosened up much more quickly today as well. I only have a little minor muscle soreness left as well. I almost felt back to normal and was nearly running at my normal pace for this kind of run with the dogs.

I’ll probably go a little longer tomorrow.

Average HR 130 bpm. I think the Mio Link was wrong part of the time. I looked a couple times and it said my HR was in the 140s bpm, but I felt more like the mid 120s.

 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015, 6:08 pm

8.14 mi, 1136 ft gain, 1:16:47. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Very minimal left achilles soreness today. My legs felt great, nearly fully recovered. It was a little chilly, mostly because of the wind.

I warmed up within the first 0.8 mi or so. The logging roads were kind of sloppy from the trucks again, so I decided to go over the hill instead. So it was only muddy the first and last 0.8 mi, where the road forks. The intersection for the hill is another 0.2 mi from there. It’s just under 1 mi from there to the beginning of the hill.

The climb up on both sides felt pretty easy, which is awesome and will definitely help with some of the races I want to do this year. I felt so good that I might hit Wallace Falls for the first time this year. I’m going to have to get after it sometime if I want to make it up 50 times this year.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Thursday, January 15, 2015, 4:08 pm

11.14 mi, 2134 ft gain, 1:59:20. Through town to Upper Wallace Falls #1, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

A little tired today. I decided to get up a little “earlier” than yesterday and try to work my way toward sleeping and waking earlier, so I didn’t get a full night’s sleep. I’m also coming down with some sort of bug, runny nose, and a little bit of a sore throat.

My legs felt good the whole time. It was rather windy through town, but I didn’t really notice once I got back into the trees.

I pushed a little bit going up. I ended up getting my 2nd best time up. I used my headlamp starting a little over halfway up. There was still a little light from dusk, so I didn’t need much from the headlamp. For the descent, I switched it to medium (165 lumens). It was plenty of light. I didn’t push very hard on the way down, but still got my 2nd best descent time as well.

The rain held off until about the time I hit the roads on the way back home. I brought my new Outdoor Research Helium II jacket, folded up in its pocket, carried in the front pocket of my reflective safety vest. The wind and rain picked up a bit once I got back to US2 heading home. I stopped in at the grocery store to use the restroom and put on my jacket. I was so much warmer with the jacket.

Average HR 140 bpm.

 

Friday, January 16, 2015, 4:32 pm

10.08 mi, 1411 ft gain, 1:52:07. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

The cold has taken hold a little more today. Nose isn’t quite so runny, but throat is slightly more sore and a little more general head cold type discomfort. I think it had a little bit of an effect on my performance today, but not too bad.

The roads were sloppy again, though not at all once I turned off the main road. I didn’t want to deal with the mud, so I went over the hill. Once to the other side, I decided to go out and up the little hill on that side.

I was shooting for 10 mi. The extra out and back on the little hill didn’t quite do it, so I did a repeat on the steeper part near the top on the east side. It still wasn’t quite enough, so on the way back I went up the hill about 0.25 mi from the gate.

Other than the cold, I felt good. I’m hoping it doesn’t last too long though. While it hasn’t been too hard on my running, it’s taken a toll on my energy and will to get other things done.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Saturday, January 17, 2015, 3:05 pm

10.32 mi, 1668 ft gain, 1:40:43. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I waited too long to get out for my run today. It wasn’t raining earlier today. It was just starting a little when I started my run. I broke out the OR Helium II jacket again. I also took a handheld water bottle, which I haven’t been taking.

The plan was to do about 12 mi or so. I almost turned around and bagged it between 2-3 mi out. The head cold was bothering me. I usually feel better throughout the day. The wind and rain weren’t all that pleasant either. I wasn’t cold at the time, but I wasn’t sure how I’d feel later.

I’m glad I stuck it out, because I started feeling better a little past 3 mi. I went over the hill again today. I was going to maybe go over and back twice.

The OR Helium II kept me fairly dry for about an hour. After that, I was pretty wet, especially my arms. Maybe I keep my forearms above vertical. I had the hood on the whole time, but my body still got wet. It did keep me fairly warm though, and drier than without the jacket. The last 25 minutes or so, I started to get a little cold, mostly because my gloves were soaked through and the wind picked up blowing in my face.

I ended up going back up the hill far enough to break 10 mi by the end. I didn’t take a light with me, and I didn’t want to be out after dark, so that’s about all I had time for before the light went as well.
I think I’ll be looking for some waterproof gloves.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 18, 2015, 3:48 pm

11.03 mi, 2262 ft gain, 1:57:36. Through town to Upper Wallace Falls #2, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

This cold has me a little unsure about how much energy I have and how well I feel running. I’m past the sore throat and faucet for a nose phase. Now it’s just general malaise in and around my sinuses, and a little bit of sneezing. It’s not really slowing me down though.

The weather was pretty nasty overnight and earlier today. I got up around 9:30 this morning, hours earlier than I have been getting up for quite a while. I thought about getting out for my run and getting back in time to watch the Seahawks, but the weather was still pretty crappy. There were breaks in the rain and wind, but then it would start absolutely pouring. It even hailed like crazy for about 5 minutes, then slowed down. I’m glad I wasn’t out in it. So, I ended up waiting until after the game to head out. I almost left in the middle of the game, but glad I didn’t. I got some things done during the game as well, so it wasn’t wasted time. I may write a post about that.

Anyway, I always seem to go a little faster when I don’t have the dogs with me. I felt pretty good from the get go. I hit the Wallace Falls parking lot at about 26 min, had a brief pitstop in the restroom, signed the register and moved out. I took it a little easier than a few days ago. I think it was about 34 minutes to the Upper Falls. I spent a couple minutes there. I didn’t push myself that hard up the last climb, so I didn’t need the rest, but I wasn’t in a rush. I took a picture of the falls. They were roaring pretty good from all the rain. I got out my headlamp and headed back down the trail.

I also took it a little easier on the downhill than the other day. With the trail so wet, all the colors on the trail were pretty close, so it was a little harder to make out obstacles. I managed just fine, though. I’m not sure why I had so much trouble rolling my ankles last year. Maybe it’s just taken more practice.

I made it from TH back to the TH in 63 min. I finished off my water bottle and refilled in the restroom, then headed for home. A little over 25 min later, and I was home.

I felt pretty good the whole time. I had a little tightness up the inside of my lower right leg from the top of my foot over my arch. My shoe was a little tight across there, so I think that may have been at least part of the problem. I didn’t notice when it stopped, but it was fine by the time I got home.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the 50k was a couple weeks ago rather than just last weekend from how great I feel. Maybe I didn’t race it hard enough, maybe my body’s gotten used to it and recovers quickly, and maybe it’s a little of both.

Average HR 138 bpm.

 

Weekly Totals: 57.1 mi, 8611 ft gain