Category Archives: Practice

Practice, Running, Trail run, Training Log

December 29 – January 4 Practice Running

Monday, December 29, 2014, 6:39 pm

11.48 mi, 1439 ft gain, 2:01:34. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Starting to feel a little worn down from the streak, but not too bad. Took it pretty easy.

I’m writing this several days later, and unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the run.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 30, 2014, 4:16 pm

11.07 mi, 867 ft gain, 1:35:49. Through town to Wallace Falls RR Grade, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Also writing this several days later.

I gave the dogs a day off. I felt better than the previous day. Had to turn on the headlamp before getting to the turnaround at the Greg Ball trail junction.

I used my new Amphipod reflective safety vest that I got for Christmas. I like the front pocket.

I had a couple small, flat packages that I needed to mail, so I carried them with me and stopped off at the post office on my way out. It’s about a 5 min drive to the P.O., and took about 8 min running.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 6:59 pm

11.06 mi, 1470 ft gain, 1:54:53. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I didn’t have a lot of energy starting out. My right lower calf has become rather tight and a bit sore the last couple days. It’s like my body knew that today was the end of the year end push, and will get to take it easier for a little while to recover.

It was kind of chilly, but not too bad. I had a bit of frost form on my beard and mustache from my breathe. It was noticeably colder on the flat between the main road and the hill. It’s always colder in that section.

I felt a little better after a few miles, though my calf was about the same the whole time. I’m looking forward to some shorter runs for a while, and to see if this stretch of training has had any effect on my fitness after some recovery.

I have an 8 mi race on Sunday, but I’ll take it easy until then and again for the following week until the Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k on Jan 10. I plan to run the 50k at a fairly easy pace and then another 15-20 mi run the next day as my first big back-to-back training for a 100 miler.

Average HR 125 bpm.

Looking forward to more running adventures and breakthroughs in 2015.

 

Thursday, January 1, 2015, 7:23 pm

4.25 mi, ft gain, 48:08. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Took it pretty easy. I wanted something a little hilly, and still not too difficult. I kept it short today after the long streak to finish out 2014.
The trouble spots I’ve had the last week or two felt better today. It’s almost like my body knew I’d be taking it easy for a few days.

I’m looking forward to Sunday’s 8 mi race. I might break out the old New Balance MT1010v2 for the race. It’s supposed to rain and will likely be muddy. They have much better mud traction than my Superiors.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Friday, January 2, 2015, 6:38 pm

5.51 mi, 96 ft gain, 40:56. Through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

That felt so short after my >10 mi streak. It was raining a little but not too bad. I kept the pace a little faster than I’ve been running, keeping my HR in the 140s for the most part, a little slower starting out. I went hard the last 0.2 mi or so.

My lower legs are still a little sore and tight, but getting better. I might do one 10+ mi run next week before the Bridle Trails 50k, but I’m going to keep it shorter and fairly easy until then, other than the 8 mi race on Sunday.

Average HR 142 bpm.

 

Saturday, January 3, 2015, 5:49 pm

4.24 mi, 360 ft gain, 36:50. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Traffic was awful on US2 westbound on the way out to the tree farm. I’m not sure why that is today. It’s usually the end of the weekend when it gets this bad. On my way home, it looked even worse. Glad I was going east home.

I felt like going longer, but kept it short and easy ahead of tomorrows race and after a hard December.

It was really foggy, so I used my flashlight rather than headlamp for the most part. I went without light for a bit as well. Even with the fog, there was enough ambient light for some sections of the non-technical gravel/dirt logging roads. And I’ve run there enough to know the terrain really well.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2015, 9:11 am

1.49 mi, ft gain, 13:37. Warm-up St. Edwards Park, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

Like the other races, my heart rate was a little elevated before the start. I ended up getting a better warm up today than the past couple.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2015, 9:36 am

8 mi, 1109 ft gain, 1:01:08.1. St. Edwards Park Absolution 8mi Race, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I went out too fast again, but dialed it back pretty quickly. Two guys passed me shortly after the start. I let them go ahead, but followed within sight. I’d catch up closer on the downhills and some of the climbs. At the end of the first lap, one of the guys went through the finish line, so I was left with one other guy.

I continued to follow. He went ahead a little more, and I let him go. I was still close enough to see him on some of the more open sections. I was pretty sure I’d catch up a bit on the downhill and probably the last climb as well. I got back to within 10 sec or so after the downhill. Then I let him go a little bit on the flat by the beach and caught back up on the climb. Looking back, I should have made a move on the climb, but I’m still new to racing and wasn’t sure what I’d have left for a kick at the end. Toward the top, he went off again. I reeled him in a bit on the short, steep descent before the last little climb. Once he hit the blacktop for the final flat section, he sped up. I picked up the pace there as well. With about 200-300 yards to go, I kicked hard, but I came up short by a couple steps.

Talking to him later, he didn’t know that I was pouring it on at the end, and he coasted through the finish. Just before that, the short blacktop section goes around a curve with a hedge directly off to the right side, blocking the view up ahead. He used that to speed up when I couldn’t see him. In the end, he beat me by half a second.

This was my first time intentionally staying behind in a race. In the couple races that I led from early on, I spent the rest of the time running scared, expecting that someone would catch me at any time. Running as the pursuer was less stressful, but I don’t know yet which strategy works better for me. Each event is so different, it’s hard to tell.

I’m very happy with my finishing time and 2nd place. And I got more racing experience for next time. I also got a strava segment course record.

Average HR 167 bpm.

 

Weekly Totals: 56.8 mi, 6176 ft gain.

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 22-28 Practice Running

Monday, December 22, 2014, 5:45 pm

10.68 mi, 1390 ft gain, 1:48:25. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop and hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Went at a fairly easy pace. Hit the loop first to warm up. Then I headed over the hill. Some ducks took off from one of the seasonal ponds just after the turnoff toward the hill. The dogs dove in after the stragglers, but they all got away.

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 6:24 pm

10.39 mi, 1541 ft gain, 1:36:48. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I decided to wear a rain shell tonight. I think I need a new one. It didn’t keep me very dry, or warm. I started getting wet after only a few minutes and was completely soaked well before the halfway point. I was actually warmer when I stopped than when I was running toward the end. But I sped up to the top end of my aerobic HR zone to get back to the car more quickly.

I started with the loop, then headed out and up to Wallace Lake. It took me almost 4 miles to get into it. Once to the lake, I went around toward the beach side, but the recent and ongoing rains had the North Fork Wallace River running a little high, blocking the way. I could have easily crossed and continued up to Jay Lake, but I started to get rather cold as soon as I got to the flatter part near the lake.

I kept up a pretty good pace on the descent, and Vida kept up quite well. I think giving the dogs some rest over the weekend helped.

Average HR 132 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 3:49 pm

11.37 mi, 843 ft gain, 1:37:53. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I gave the dogs a rest day. I headed out through town to Wallace Falls State Park and up the RR Grade to the Greg Ball trail junction and turned around. The MR10v2 aren’t that bad in a little bit of mud and rocks. I wouldn’t use them for much more beyond this trail though. There’s very little protection for rocks. With the separate pods of the outsole, though, they do alright in a little mud.

I needed my headlamp for the descent. I made decent time on the return trip. It was raining pretty good for the last 30-40 minutes, and my hands were starting to get pretty cold toward the end.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 25, 2014, 4:41 pm

11.01 mi, 1653 ft gain, 1:58:43. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I started with the loop to warm up, then headed for Wallace Lake. I saw a small Northern Saw-whet owl on a brush pile in a clear cut just before reaching the little bridge where the climb starts. It may have been the same one I saw a few weeks ago. I got another picture, but it didn’t come out very well. I hadn’t noticed that my headlamp had gone to power save mode.

Once up to the lake, I went east toward the falls instead of west toward Jay Lake. I only went to southeast end of the lake where the trail meets up with the Olney Falls DNR rd and the DNR rd to the Woody Trail at the Upper falls.

Vida kept up on most of the descent. I didn’t push the pace though.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Friday, December 26, 2014, 6:01 pm

11.20 mi, 1306 ft gain, 1:52:39. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Around the loop to start again, then over the hill. Nothing remarkable.

My hands were a little cold to start. I thought ahead and brought my pair of wool fingerless gloves as well. I put them on and my hands warmed up.

Earlier in the day, I heard that my aunt was in the hospital and might not make it through the night. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about halfway through. I slowed to a walk briefly, then kept going.
I found out later that she was responding to antibiotics and seemed to be doing a little better.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 27, 2014, 10:15 am

11.07 mi, 820 ft gain, 1:39:31. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I got up early, for me, because we were having a family get together in the afternoon, and I wanted to get my run in before rather than in the evening. Turns out I got the time wrong, so I was way late, but it worked out anyway.

I headed out for the RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park again. I was feeling a little sore and slightly run down. It’s probably a little bit of the miles wearing on me, but more so only getting maybe 4 hours of sleep and not quite recovering from Friday’s run.

I overdressed a little, because I was expecting the drizzle at the start to increase. It stopped not long after I started instead.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 28, 2014, 6:12 pm

11.23 mi, 1587 ft gain, 1:58:15. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

It was quite foggy, but thankfully not rainy. There were a few snowflakes at times too.

I started with the loop. I’ve considered doing the loop on the way back to the car instead, but I think the temptation to skip it and go back to the car the shorter way would be hard to overcome.

Climbing up to the lake wasn’t too difficult. I headed around toward Jay lake, but didn’t quite make it. One of the water crossings was more than I wanted to go through. Vida kept up pretty well on the downhill.

With it so foggy, I used my Fenix E35 flashlight instead of the headlamp a lot of the time. It doesn’t have quite the same.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77 mi, 9139 ft gains

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 15-21 Practice Running

Monday, December 15, 2014, 5:37 pm

11.02 mi, 407 ft gain, 1:44:40. May Creek rd around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Some soreness to my the muscles of my lower legs behind my shins. Though it’s really only there when I push on it. I took it a little easier today. I didn’t see very many cars on May Creek rd.

I felt pretty good for the run. It was pretty windy. I started to go out Reiter rd, but being so windy and the trees in very close to the road, I didn’t want to chance a branch or something coming down.

The wind picked up again on my way west up US2 toward Gunn rd. I had to lean into it a few times. It helped a little bit coming back down Gunn rd. Then when I turned the last corner for the straight away to home, a big gust blew in and just about stopped me in my tracks.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 4:48 pm

11.44 mi, 1369 ft gain, 2:00:32. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 loop & hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Same soreness in my lower legs, but I didn’t feel it at all while running. Even so, I kept an easy pace.

I went around the loop first to warm up like last week. Then headed out over the hill. I went out to the little hill off the gate #2 road, since I was feeling good.

It was pretty windy again on the way back to the car. Going at the slower pace than last week, I wasn’t keeping quite as warm from the activity as usual, so I kept my sleeves down, unlike many runs.

I’m feeling pretty good about hitting 2000 miles for the year. I’m less sure about how I’ll feel for my 10k race this weekend, whether I’ll have the speed I want in my legs if I keep up the 10 mile days. I’m considering cutting down the mileage per run, but doing doubles to still get 10 mi per day. I’ll think about it after tomorrow’s run.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:15 pm

11.01 mi, 1672 ft gain, 1:56:02. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I need to get back in the habit of writing about my runs shortly after I get home, not days later. I don’t remember much about this run.

I started with the loop, then headed up to Wallace lake. The water was low enough that I could go down to the beach. Then I continued up the trail toward Jay lake a little ways, but turned around before getting there.

I took the downhill a little easier than I had been. Vida usually lags behind on the long descents.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 4:14 pm

4.23 mi, 229 ft gain, 38:12. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 loop, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I decided to try a double before the race on Saturday to see if I’d recover any better. I’m not sure if it helped.

The dogs were looking a little tired, so I took them out for the shorter run of the day. Just the loop and back to the car. It was nice to run during daylight.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 10:13 pm

6.06 mi, 181 ft gain, 46:30. Road through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

This run was a little later than I really wanted, but I had some errands to run. This was just when I was able to get around to it. If I weren’t trying to finish out the year with 10+ mi/day, I probably wouldn’t have gone out on this one.

I felt pretty good, though, and went a little faster than I expected I would.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Friday, December 19, 2014, 5:55 pm

10.82 mi, 730 ft gain, 1:47:04. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I modified these shoes again. This time I cut off the top of the heel where it contacts my achilles. I cut it flush with the rest of the ankle, removing the outer layers and foam, but leaving the inner liner. I then folded the inner liner over the exposed foam, tucking it between the two outer layers, then superglued it in place. I may break out the needle and thread and sew it instead, but I wanted to go out running and superglue was faster.

As for the run, I took it fairly easy… easy as far as a 10 mi run goes. I tried to keep it fairly flat.
I saw another owl in a tree. This one was much bigger than the other one and had horns. I couldn’t get as close, but I still got a picture. I also saw a small buck, and later a doe with a fawn. Thankfully the dogs didn’t see the deer. They like to chase deer.

I felt pretty good for the most part. Some minor discomfort to my right lower leg, but not bad, especially considering that my volume over the last two weeks is pretty significantly more than I’ve ever run.

I opened it up and ran one short burst at around 90%. It felt great. I’m a little less uncertain about whether I’ll be able to give a good effort at the 10k tomorrow.

It’s a too soon to tell, but I think the latest shoe modification might help. I’ve still had some tightness around my achilles to heel connection. It hasn’t been painful like before since I got rid off the rigid plastic heel cup. I’m hoping that without the high back to the shoes pushing on my achilles, that will all go away.

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 20, 2014,  am

1.31 mi, 42 ft gain, 14:10. Seward park warm up, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Just a short warmup before the race. I went out backwards on the course to see the end, so I’d know how far I was to the finish and when to start pushing for it.

Average HR 132 bpm.

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:15 am

6.2 mi, 454 ft gain, 44:49. Seward Solstice 10k, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

The start was sloppy, soggy, muddy grass. My shoes are not great in the mud. Several guys jumped out front right away, and I got a big slop of mud in my eye. Once we hit the gravel, I started picking them off until there were just two guys left in front of me.

The first half of the course is gravel road grade. The second half is single and double track, winding through the woods, and it was quite muddy in places.

The 10k was three laps, with the 4.2 mi covering two. Toward the end of the first lap, on part that I had seen on my warm up, I slipped as I was going over a rotted cedar log, rolling over the log to land on my back in the mud. I felt a small bump below my left collar bone, but was otherwise unscathed. I quickly got up and kept going.

I could still see one of the lead guys just passing the start/finish area as I came out of the woods, probably 15 seconds ahead of me. I tried to stay in contact for the second lap, but lost sight on the second half in the twisting and undulating single track.

I came out of the woods ending my second lap into the swampy grass, it had gotten even worse with all the other runners churning up the mud. About 20 feet into the field, I lost my left shoe in the mud. I took another two steps in my sock before stopping and going back for my shoe. If it had been the end of the last lap, I probably would have just finished with one shoe and gone to get it after. However, I didn’t think I’d be able to go very fast on the gravel or trail in one shoe and a sock. I saw two guys who I thought I had been ahead of pass me as I put my shoe back on. I think I lost almost a minute trying to get my shoe back on and tied more tightly.
I pushed hard on last lap. Looking back on my data, I was very close to my first lap split. I caught and passed one of the guys who went by when I lost my shoe.

By the last lap, I was lapping runners pretty regularly. Most of them were great about getting over so I could pass, and many even cheered me on. Some said that I wasn’t too far behind the next guy. There were a few people, however, who had their headphones going too loudly to hear me calling out as I approached from behind. Fortunately, the trail was just wide enough to sneak by as I tapped them on the shoulder.

I managed to stay upright and keep both shoes as I finished out the final lap. My final official time was 44:07, good for 2nd place. I figured I could do somewhere around 41-44 min, depending on the terrain and conditions. I was pretty close.

The winner’s finishing time was 43:37. Apparently the other guy that I thought I was chasing/racing was actually a 4.2 mi runner who finished just after I thought he passed me as I hurried to get my shoe back on.

I can second guess and say that without losing my shoe that I could have won. But I did lose my shoe. I didn’t tie the laces tightly enough. I chose to wear those shoes, knowing they didn’t have great traction in the mud, which slowed me down. I don’t know if I would have pushed as hard as I did on the final lap if I hadn’t been trying to make up time for the shoe mishap. I also don’t know if the winner let up because he didn’t see anyone behind him. And I don’t know how he would have reacted if I had come up behind him and really given him a race for the finish. So, maybe I could have won, but I didn’t have that performance, and he might have still outraced me if I did.

I might look into some cross country spikes for the next race, though. It gets pretty muddy as well. I’m signed up for two more of these shorter races. There’s also another that I didn’t sign up for, but I might.

Average HR 165 bpm.

EDIT: I remember there being a little confusion about results on race day. There were so many runners coming in together that it was hard for them to keep track. Looking at the updated official results, I came in 3rd, which is what I thought when I finished. The winner’s time was 41:00. I certainly wasn’t catching him, even if I hadn’t fallen or lost my shoe. I remember him going off the front at the start and never saw him again. I was pretty sure I didn’t catch up to the other guy that passed me when my shoe came off.

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:11 pm

3.32 mi, 172 ft gain, 32:22. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

A little later than I would prefer, again. But I went out with the dogs, since they’d been cooped up much of the day. I didn’t feel like I had much energy starting out. I thought about going about 4 mi. I still wasn’t really feeling it after a while, so I decided to turn around. At minimum, I wanted to hit my 10 mi for the day, and I did.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 21, 2014, 3:40 pm

11.86 mi, 810 ft gain, 1:46:33. Through town to RR Grade at Wallace Falls State Park, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I think the short slow run last night did the trick. I felt good today. I went faster than I expected.

I wanted to check out the new bridges on the recently reopened RR grade trail at Wallace Falls State Park, so I ran out there through town.

The trail could use some new gravel. All the construction trucks made it pretty muddy in places. The bridges are great, very sturdy with no noticeable bouncing as I ran over them. They even smell awesome with the cedar decking.

I ran up to the restroom where the RR Grade meets the Greg Ball trail, had a quick pitstop and headed back down. On the way back down, I got out the headlamp.

There were a few people on the trail on my way up, but I saw no one on the way down. Once I got to the parking lot, I turned on my race prize from yesterday, an Amphipod Vizlet LED Smiley flashing reflector.

I started to get a little tired around 11 mi, but not bad at all considering racing yesterday, or it being day 15 in a row going over 10 mi.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77.3 mi, 6066 ft gain

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 8-14 Practice Running

Monday, December 8, 2014, 7:17 pm

10.65 mi, 1634 ft gain, 1:44:48. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

First run in the rain in a while. I’m glad it wasn’t very cold. I sort of thought I might go about 10 mi or so, or at the very least 6 mi. I made it around the loop to the intersection where I could continue back to the car and decided to keep heading out and go to Wallace Lake again. I felt pretty good going up. I tried to keep my HR below 150 bpm. I peaked up to about 153 a couple times.

Once to the lake, I decided to continue toward Jay lake a little bit. I wanted to try the short section of single track just past the foot bridge with my headlamp. Plenty of light to navigate the roots, rocks and turns, even on the mid setting. I made a brief pitstop off the trail and headed back down.

I felt like I took it a little bit slower on the descent than yesterday. Looking at the data on Strava, I went slower for the first 2/3 of the descent and a little faster for the final 1/3.

My quads were slightly sore, not nearly as bad as they were after the Ravenna 8k race though.

The Fenix HL55 worked great in the rain. I stuck with the mid power setting. I’m still on the same charge of the 18650 battery I’ve been using. I plan to run it until it dies to see how long it lasts. I bought two KeepPower 3400mAh 3.7V rechargeable batteries. From looking around online, they seem to be one of the longest lasting brands for 18650 li-on  batteries. The HL55 is rated at up to 10 hours on mid power. I’m up to about 3.5 hours so far.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 4:54 pm

11.02 mi, 311 ft gain, 1:38:32. May Creek Rd around town to city limit back up to Gunn rd and home, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Decided to hit the roads today. Legs were a little tired from the race and back to back hilly 10+ mi days. I felt pretty good today. My left calf toward the lower inside was kind of tight for the last couple miles.

My new headlamp seemed to make a difference with cars giving me a wider berth when they passed. I think they may have been a little unsure about a bright light heading toward them on their side of the road. A couple cars slowed way down.

I ran up Gunn rd, US2 east to May Creek Rd, around to 1st St, west on US2 out to a little past city limits, turned around and headed east on US2, turned onto 17th St and ran around that little neighborhood (never been in there before), then east again on US2 to Gunn rd and home. I ran past the house just a little to break 11 mi.

I kept the pace pretty easy, HR mostly in the low to mid 130s. Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 3:35 pm

10.04 mi, 1683 ft gain, 1:39:46. Olney Falls DNR Rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

My ankles were a little sore when I went to bed last night. They were still not quite normal when I started running today, but quickly felt better.

I planned to keep an easy pace today, but with an unplanned pitstop and the dogs misbehaving, I was running short on time. I needed to get out to Monroe by 6 pm to drop some things off, so about 3 mi in, I sped up and pushed harder than I would have for the rest of the run. That meant HR in the 140s on the downhill and flats rather than 120s-130s and up to about 160 bpm on the uphill instead of up to about 150.

Even considering the harder pace, I felt great. My quads were still mildly sore early, but that went away just like the ankle discomfort.

I turned my headlamp on just after an hour. It didn’t work too well in the fog, so I switched to the Fenix e35 flashlight a couple times.
The weather wasn’t bad starting out, a little bit of a drizzle and low 50s. The temperature stayed pretty much the same the whole time, though I did go through a nice warmer microclimate about 4.5 mi out. The rain picked up a couple times, not enough to cause visibility issues. I was completely soaked, though.

That makes four straight 10+ mi days. To hit 2000 mi for the year, I’d have to average about 10.6 mi a day for the rest of December. I’m considering making the push then taking a couple easy weeks to start January.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 11, 2014, 5:32 pm

10.91 mi, 272 ft gain, 1:38:35. May Creek Rd around town to Family grocery then out and back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I left the dogs home to give them a day off. I’m pretty sure they’d just keep going and going until they couldn’t, and I don’t want to be carrying one or both of them miles back to the car.

I headed east up Gunn Rd to minimize running along the shoulder of US2. Running was pretty easy. There weren’t very many cars.
The weather was pretty good.

I had to make a pitstop, so I went into the grocery store to use the restroom. From there, I headed back the way I came out to the road where I’ve turned around several times when running out 20 minutes and back with the dogs.

I definitely feel it a little more in my lower legs when I run 10+ mi on the roads and sidewalks than on trails or logging roads. It wasn’t bad though.

Average HR 130 bpm.

 

Friday, December 12, 2014, 4:44 pm

10.30 mi, 1349 ft gain, 1:42:01. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop and over the hill, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I decided to go around the loop to warm up before heading over the hill. It worked out pretty well.

On the way out on top of the hill, I caught a glimpse of something glowing in the beam of my headlamp. I got closer, and saw that it was a small owl. The owl hung out long enough for me to get my phone out of the ziploc bag and snap a picture. Without using the flash, my headlamp was plenty of light for a photo. The owl was still sitting in the branch when I left it, but it was gone when I returned.

My Fenix HL55 finally got low on batteries. It went into power save mode, cutting back to low power after about 8h 25m use in mid. I also used burst a handful of times in that time and eco a couple minutes before and after runs outside of that time. I had extra batteries with me, but I wanted to continue the test. It was another 17 min or so back to the car on low power. It was plenty of light to see my footing. It might be a little dim for going fast on technical trails though.

There was supposed to be a big storm. There was just a sprinkle here and there most of the run. It started pouring with about 1 mi to go. Thankfully, it only lasted a couple minutes, but I kept the pace up in case it was just the beginning of the storm.

Average HR 124 bpm for the first 15 min or so. Mio battery died.

 

Saturday, December 13, 2014, 3:58 pm

13.27 mi, 2153 ft gain, 2:21:39. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 over the hill and out toward the lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I went with a little easier effort than I have been. I could have kept up the same effort I’ve been running, but I didn’t feel like it.

There wasn’t anything particularly memorable tonight. Once I warmed up, I felt great. I considered going longer, but since I’ve been doing over 10 mi a day, I decided to stick with the plan.

With this run, I went from needing a little over 10.6 mi/day to exactly 10.5 mi/day to hit 2000 mi by year end. I’m holding up better than I thought I would. I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising, considering I leveled off after a pretty good build up earlier in the year, and dropped back a little for the last month or two. This week and the race next weekend should be interesting. If I make it to the end of the month, it’ll be just in time for a two week taper for a possible 50k as a training run for potentially doing my first 100 miler in the Spring.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 14, 2014, 5:22 pm

10.91 mi, 1838 ft gain, 1:55:48. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I was going to run at the same tree farm gate as yesterday, but there was a minivan parked there, and I didn’t want to run into someone else with my dogs off leash, nor did I really want to run with them on leash.

I felt better starting today than I did yesterday. I still kept the pace easier than earlier in the week.

Even picking this route because there weren’t any vehicles parked at the gate, I ran into a hiker about 2.25 mi out. She was using her phone as a flashlight and asked how far it was to the entrance. A few minutes later, I thought that she might have taken a wrong turn and wished I had asked about it. I figured that if she was waiting at the gate when I made it back I’d give her a ride to where she parked. She wasn’t there though.

Not long after passing the hiker, I saw a glow in my headlamp’s beam off the road in the brush. The dogs were up ahead and missed it. I stopped and looked closer and it was a pretty large blacktail buck. It was hard to see how many points in the dark, but they stuck up well above and outside his ears.

It was a little colder tonight than the last couple nights and a little windy, not bad though. There are a few spots along the DNR road with very noticeable microclimates, a couple cooler and a couple warmer. I like the warmer ones. I made a pitstop at my turnaround point with a great view of the lights in the valley.

I took it easier on the downhill, for the most part, because Vida has been lagging behind when I bomb downhill. She always catches back up. I still let loose on a couple steeper sections.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77.1 mi, 9241 ft gain

My highest mileage week, and I feel a lot better than some lower mileage weeks.

Goals, Philosophy, Practice

Fear of Failure

Fear of failure is a powerful thing. It keeps many people, including myself, from attempting  things that could potentially change their lives.

The trick is figuring out that the fear of failure worse than the actual failure. That doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to overcome.

In the last few years, I’ve overcome many fears that kept me from living the life that I want. There are still a couple big things that I’m working on step-by-step. Maybe it’s time to jump instead.