Category Archives: Running

Races, Running, Trail run

Lord Hill 50k Race Report

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I’ve waited way too long to start writing this. The race was over 3 weeks ago. I prefer to write about races within a couple days, or a week max, so it’s still fresh in my mind. Anyway, here it goes.

Going into the race, I felt pretty good. I got my stuff all ready the night before. I took three handheld water bottles with dates in a baggie in each pocket. I planned to start with one and swap after each 10 mi lap. I divided the dates up accordingly. Then I was going to drop my bottle for the last 1.1 mi lap.

I got to the park about 50 min before start time. I checked in, used the restroom and went back to my car to stay warm and finish getting ready.

I started a little ways back to try to keep from jack-rabbiting out with the leaders. It worked alright. The first hill starts pretty quickly. I decided that I’d hike the steeper hills to save energy for later. There is about 1700ft gain each loop, and you go around three times. On the first moderately steep hill, my hiking pace was actually just as fast as most of those around me running.

Then came “Oh Lord Hill”, and it’s no joke. It’s not particularly long, but it’s very steep. The first time around wasn’t so bad.

I passed a couple people between the top of the hill and the first aid station. I think one of them was a 20 mi runner, though. At the first aid station I think I was around the top 10, and not too far back.

I pretty much ran alone for the next few miles, though the course has two way traffic in a few places, so I did see people. Then I caught up with a couple more runners on the downhills. It took years, but I finally started loving downhill running over the last year. I can usually make up some time.

I ran with Chris from 7 Hills Running, in Seattle, for the last mile or two of the first lap. We talked a little bit. We came into the start/finish a few minutes before the 5mi and 10 mi runners started. Chris kept going, while I went to my drop bag for a bottle switch, and to drop my hat. I finished the first lap in 1:30. I felt good and was on pace for my reach goal. I was kind of surprised.

The second lap went a lot like the first. I’m not sure I passed any other 50k runners. Going into the next aid station, I saw a few of the same lead guys that I saw the first time around. The aid station is at the end of a short out and back. This time I refilled my water bottle before continuing.

I still felt pretty good for the rest of the second lap. A few 10 mi runners started catching me. It was kind of nice to chat briefly with some of them.

I finished the second lap in 1:35, still well ahead of pace for my primary goal of 5 hours. The sun had come out, and it was supposedly going to warm up a bit. I was sweating in my gloves and long sleeve shirt, even with the sleeve rolled up. So I dropped my gloves and shirt, going shirtless for the third lap.

I still felt pretty good starting the third lap, until I hit the first hill. I didn’t quite bonk, but it wasn’t much better than that. I walked a lot more of the hills, and my running slowed significantly as well.

On the first lap, going up “Oh Lord Hill”, Paul M. Nelson (photographer of the above photo), made a comment something like, “come on, it’s not that steep, you can run it.” My response at the time was that I’d run it on the last lap. That was not happening.

I got to the aid station, refilled my water and asked about salt. They had none. I also drank two little dixie cups of water before heading back out. I don’t know that salt really would have helped anything anyway.

At about the marathon mark, another runner passed me moving pretty well. I was not. It was a very slight downhill. At least I was running instead of walking. I think he was the only 50k runner that passed me after the first lap. He ended up putting about 5 minutes on me by the finish.

I started having a little trouble eating around that point as well. I didn’t really have any GI distress, food just didn’t appeal to me much. I knew I had plenty of energy left from eating before and up to that point during the race to finish. But the little bit of boost shortly after eating might have been nice.

I continued to walk more of the hills and caught myself not starting to run once I got back to relatively flat ground a couple times. I still tried to keep up the pace on the downhills. I was a little slower than earlier, but not too bad.

I finished the third full lap in about 1:56, a big drop in time. I dropped my water bottle, and briefly considered putting my shirt back on before heading back out. It was only another 1.1 mi, and I just wanted to finish.

Leaving the start/finish area for a final time, I picked up the pace slightly. I still walked the couple steeper hills before short loop cuts back around right at the bottom of “Oh Lord Hill.”

I opened up again on the final hill heading into the finish. I think I got close to my early pace going down that hill. It wasn’t nearly as bad, because I knew the finish was so close.

There weren’t many people around the finish. The 5mi and 10 mi races had finished hours earlier, and many of the 20 mi racers had as well.

I sat by my drop bag for a little while, trying to gather myself. I put on my shirt and gloves, and drank some water. I spoke with a couple people briefly. I went to my car to drop off my gear, put on some more clothes and grab a banana. There wasn’t much of anything at the finish area that I could eat. I mistakenly got some electrolyte drink when I tried to get water. I tried a little, but ended up dumping it out.

I would have liked to stick around longer to see more finishers, but I needed some food and to get home to my dogs.

My finishing time was 5:16:31, good for 7th place. While it wasn’t as fast as I wanted, I’m happy with the result and how I did later in the race when I burnt out. I still have a lot to learn about how I should pace myself for these longer races. I did a great job pacing at Bridle Trails, but it had much less elevation gain and was a little shorter.

I saw the eventual winner come by the other way on one of the sections with two way traffic toward the end of my second lap while he was on his third lap. He ended up finishing in 4:17, only a couple minutes off the course record. Chris, who I ran with briefly on the first lap, finished second in 4:38, which was about a perfectly consistent pace from the first lap. He kept it up and I could not.

The biggest lesson I take away from this race is that I still need to build more base to be able to meet many of my long- and ultra-distance goals. I need to build the endurance to maintain the pace required over longer distances. And I need to work on pacing better early in long races. I looked back over my 2015 goals, though, and most of them are for distance and not speed. I do have 1mi and 5k speed goals for the year, but I got very close to them already. None of my other running goals for the year are about speed or time. I haven’t set a time-frame for my long- and ultra-distance time and speed goals yet, so I decided I wouldn’t worry about them until at least 2016.

 

Running, Training Log

March 9-15 Practice Running

Monday, March 9, 2015, 6:33 pm

10.88 mi, 1743 ft gain, 2:17:52. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I cut out the foam around the heel counter over the bump on my calcaneus, like I did with my other Superiors. It seems to work fairly well to reduce pressure and friction, but it makes the shoes feel a little loose.

I was a little stiff in my hamstrings and groin starting out, but warmed up and loosened up before too long. I started out taking a couple previously very overgrown side roads that they’ve cleared. They don’t go very far before they dead end.

Since I felt so good, I headed out the same direction as yesterday. I went a little earlier today, and the frogs weren’t quite as busy. I took a different turn up high today and ended up at the top of a little knob. I hoped that the road ended with a view over the valley and the sunset, but there were trees in the way. I’m glad they didn’t cut them all down.

To get my sunset fix, I headed back downhill. I was not disappointed. The Olympics were bathed and covered in red and orange light.

I had a big grin on my face for most of the run. The weather was awesome, and the views were fantastic. I love running.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 10, 2015, 6:49 pm

8.03 mi, 271 ft gain, 1:03:32. May Creek Rd around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I was a little stiff starting out, but warmed up. My right thigh felt better than it has, but I still had a little bit of a knot in my right glute.

I got up to pace nearing the top of the first hill on May Creek rd after turning off US2. I sped up a little more over the next 10 minutes. I tried to keep near my MAF threshold at 147 bpm. I kept near it most of the time once I warmed up. Until I came to the intersection with Ley rd. Just after turning left towards town, I saw two deer feeding in the vacant lot. I stopped and took a few photos. There wasn’t much light left, so they didn’t come out great. I was able to walk up to within about 15 ft from one of them before it hopped away a few yards. I left them to feed in peace.

I lost a few minutes, so I picked up the pace. My HR went up to mid 150s to 160 or so for most of the rest of the run. I picked up the pace again about 0.2 mi from the end.

I wanted to go under 1 hour. For some reason, my gps read a bit shorter than it has around this route in the past. I went a little farther up US2 past the turn for my house to make sure I hit 8 mi.

Average HR 141 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 11, 2015, 5:42 pm

5.14 mi, 238 ft gain, 59:04. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Still a stiff start. I might need to scale it back for a little longer. I don’t know. I felt good after the first 2 mi.

I went up the little hill and on the trail to the next road out to about 1.5 mi, then turned back. Once back to the main road, I went out to Olney Creek and let the dogs play around a bit. On the way back to the car, I went down both of the recently cleared roads, to the end of one and just a little way down the other to break 5 mi for the run.

I still have a little bit of a desire to sign up for the Badger Mountain 100, so maybe I should just treat now until then as a taper and see how I feel the week before it.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 12, 2015, 4:54 pm

13.83 mi, 1028 ft gain, 2:12:39. Through town to WFSP RR Grade then around May Creek Rd. New Balance MR10v2.

I didn’t really know how far I was going to go today. I felt a little stiff starting out again, but warmed up fairly quickly.

I ended up going to Wallace Falls State Park, used the restroom, and headed up the RR grade. I went up to the end, used the restroom there, and headed back down. Another quick restroom stop at the TH.

I was feeling fairly good, so I turned left onto May Creek rd going the long way around. The good feeling didn’t last much longer though. My lower legs and around my ankles started feeling really fatigued. I just rolled over 450 miles on these shoes, and I wonder if that’s part of it. It actually felt a little better to speed up just a bit. I went online to get a new pair, but apparently they’ve been discontinued, and I couldn’t find my size.

I kept the pace pretty easy until about the last 0.2 mi.

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Friday, March 13, 2015, 5:58 pm

5.24 mi, 458 ft gain, 58:53. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I felt pretty fatigued overall today. My legs felt better than yesterday. My arm joints were all sore as well. I’m not sure what’s going on with my joints.

I wasn’t nearly as stiff starting the run today. I took it easy. I felt less fatigued after about 2 mi, still a little tired though.

They opened up another overgrown road, so I checked that out. It went out to near the top of a little hill. Then we went out to the seasonal ponds out a little ways towards the connecting hill. The water has gotten pretty low there, but it’s supposed to rain over the weekend. Hopefully the water level will go up a bit so the frogs’ and their eggs will be OK.

From there, we went out to Olney Creek, and I let the dogs play in the water a bit. We continued around the loop to finish the run. I felt much better from about 2-4 mi, but started to get a little more tired after that. It was still better than when I started.

Average HR 113 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 14, 2015, 3:01 pm

5.02 mi, 95 ft gain, 38:18. Through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Every joint in my arm aches today. I feel a little better today otherwise. My right hamstring was a little better as well. Just a little stiffness starting out, but my legs felt pretty good shortly thereafter.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from today’s run, not sure how far or fast I’d go. I started thinking of somewhere between 3-4 mi. Once I got going, my legs started feeling good. I came around the corner on 1st off US2 and saw another runner up the road, so I decided I’d go out about 20 min and turn around.

I was slowly gaining on the other runner when she started walking. I went by a little before crossing the bridge over May Creek. I ended up going just over 20 min and turned around at 2.5 mi by the vacant lot just past the top of the little hill.

On my way back, the other runner had started up again. We exchanged smiles as we passed.

I saw my 3 mi split at 7:38 and knew I had been speeding up as I went along. I decided to go for negative splits for the next 2 mi. I didn’t want to speed up too much, because I still think I have some recovering to do. I think my 4 mi split was about 7:20. I picked up the pace more for the last 0.5 mi. My final 5 mi split was about 6:53.

I also went faster today so I could get back in time for an auction. I missed a bit of it, but I got the two biggest things I wanted. When I resell them, it should pay for shoes for the year and maybe some race entry fees.

Average HR 150 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 15, 2015, 3:31 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 22:58. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

My arm is a little better, but it still sucks. I wasn’t really looking forward to running in the rain today, but it wasn’t raining too hard when I went. I was still a little fatigued, but my legs felt good.

It was easier going from the start today. I decided to keep it short today for my shoulder, the rain, and to make sure my achilles recover more.

It felt good to pick up the pace again today. I warmed up more quickly today. The rain felt pretty good.

When I made the turn back towards home on US2, the wind picked up. Maybe it was blowing the whole time, but it definitely picked up after that. I had wanted to speed up more then, but the wind was enough to drop my pace even with added effort. When I tried to speed up again for the last 0.3 mi, a big gust came through, slowing me way down. As much as I didn’t like slowing down, it’s fun to run into the wind like that, really having to lean into it.

Average HR 146 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 51.3 mi, 3832 ft gain

Running, Trail run, Training Log

March 2-8 Practice Running

Monday, March 2, 2015, 5:16 pm

5.22 mi, 275 ft gain, 1:00:17. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

It was kind of rough starting out. My legs aren’t that sore from yesterday, but they were pretty stiff, especially my achilles. I really need to figure that out.

Anyway, I warmed up after about a mile. They’ve been doing some work on the logging roads, including opening a couple that have been very overgrown. I checked out some of what they’ve finished so far.

According to Strava I was not moving for about 12.5 min. But as I was heading back to the car, I saw that I could maybe come in under 1 hour on the clock, so I picked up the pace a bit for the last 0.4 mi. Then with about 0.2 mi to go, I sped up some more. Sigurd was running out in front of me and kept speeding up to stay in front. I kept going faster until just before the gate. I had him for a brief moment. My watch said I was going around 4:20/mi pace when I checked. I felt good, much less stiff but a little more sore when I was going fast.

I forgot to charge my Mio Link HR monitor, so I went without it today.

 

Tuesday, March 3, 2015, 5:03 pm

3.17 mi, 28 ft gain, 30:06. Around town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Kind of stiff and achilles attachments still sore. Legs weren’t really feeling that great. They finally started feeling ok around 2.5 mi. I finished strong. I let the dogs off leash a little early and tried to beat Sigurd home. Almost, but I don’t think he knew we were racing.

Average HR 116 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 5:04 pm

4.15 mi,  ft gain, 58:09. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#1.

Less stiff than yesterday. Achilles attachments still sore. I made another modification to my shoes. I don’t think it made much difference.

I ran out to Olney creek. My legs were mostly warmed up, but I really wasn’t feeling great. I hung out at the creek longer than I normally would. The dogs enjoyed splashing around.

When I started back the other way, I still wasn’t feeling it. I took a detour wandering into the woods for a while, just looking around and taking a couple photos. I probably spent 10 min or so wandering a bit. I felt a bit better once I got back to the road.

On my way back, I went up the hill to possibly catch the sunset. Just around the small bend at the beginning of the hill, I saw a good sized raptor flying overhead. I couldn’t tell what kind. A little farther up the hill, the dogs stopped and got all excited about something they saw on the side of the hill. I looked up to see a doe with a yearling. I pushed hard on the upper steep climb. I fixed the segment after last time, which did turn out to be a segment pr 1:28. I managed 1:20 today. I was rewarded with a great view of the sunset over the Olympics.

I went harder over the last 0.25 mi again. Sigurd kept pace no matter how fast I tried to go.

I definitely felt better by the end of the run.

Average HR 114 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 5, 2015, 4:47 pm

5.10 mi, 101 ft gain, 1:05:17. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm #4, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I suspect my achilles issue might be Haglund’s. I read about things other people have done yesterday. I massaged the painful areas quite a bit, which helped a lot. It actually helped almost immediately. I also started some stretching. I haven’t done much stretching in a long time, maybe a little bit when I had specific problems. I guess I figured I didn’t really need it. I also cut out some foam in my shoes that sits over the affected area. I only had a couple minor twinges during the run today, unlike the usual starting stiffness and gradually warming up.

Cars were parked at the first 3 gates, so I went to the bermed off road instead. I took one of the early turns that doesn’t go very far, but followed a very minimal trail out near the end. I’d call it halfway between a boot path and a game trail. It was pretty fun, but kind of slow going being pretty overgrown. Fortunately, it was mostly just salal and ferns. I turned back when I lost the trail.

From there I went out to the single track cutting through the clear cut. Lots of twists, turns, little logs and fun. I hooked up with the next road and then some more single track through the woods that leads to the closed grassy part of the road from gate 3. I went out until just past 3 mi and turned back.

I caught some nice views of Mt. Persis, Mt. Index and Baring mountain. Right around sunset, the alpenglow on Persis and Index was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to an unobstructed view for a photo in time.

It was a great run.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Friday, March 6, 2015, 4:50 pm

8.09 mi, 271 ft gain, 1:12:27. Around town on May Creek Rd, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I was starting to feel pretty good and wanted a little longer, but still fairly easy test. So I decided take the loop around the outside of town. I started heading up US2, so I wouldn’t have to run on the shoulder later if I was still out after the sun went down.

I kept the pace fairly easy. I had a couple minor twinges, but overall, it went pretty well.

Average HR 131 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 7, 2015, 5:10 pm

7.28 mi, 1291 ft gain, 1:19:07. Olney Falls DNR rd, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

My achilles were still stiff when I woke up, like they have been for quite a while, though not nearly so bad. More massage and stretching today.

I headed out to the Olney Falls DNR rd. I checked out the falls, then went out the powerline access rd that I found a little while back. I followed it until I came to a private property sign and headed back. I still wasn’t done, so I went up the DNR rd some more.

My achilles were good today. My right hamstring is getting a little better too. It still just has a little tight spot that’s been there for over a month. I keep meaning to get a massage to have it worked on. I can’t seem to work it well enough with my foam roller.

It was a pretty good run. As much as I wanted to go long again this weekend, I’ll probably give it a while longer to let everything recover more fully.

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 8, 2015, 6:47 pm

10.24 mi, 1674 ft gain, 1:56:12. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Less stiff waking up today than yesterday. The weather was beautiful as well.

I went the long way around the loop. The logging roads have finally dried out, so they’re not all sloppy muddy. I felt good, so I headed out to the road up the mountain toward Wallace Lake.

I turned onto a side road before making it through the clear-cut. They only left a few trees surrounding the stream down the hill. On the bright side, they cleared some roads that were very overgrown, so I have more areas to explore.

The frogs serenaded nearly my entire run, and horizon was lit up by the setting sun for well over an hour. With the low light obscuring the scarred mountainside, it made for one of those perfect moments, one that lasted much longer than most. One of those times that remind me how much I love running and being outside.

The turns that I took up the mountain took me to a landing just the other side of the ridge from Jay Lake. I plan to go back and find my way over to the lake another time.

I didn’t need a light until nearly an hour after sunset. I had my headlamp with me, but I ended up using my handheld flashlight instead for practice. It worked great. My only complaint is that the button can be hard to find wearing gloves. It’s on the side and not very prominent.

My legs seem to be mostly recovered from Lord Hill 50k and last weekend’s long run. The climbing wasn’t hard, and I still felt great at the end. I’ll still give it a little longer for my achilles and hamstring.

Average HR 131 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 43.3 mi, 4089 ft gain

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.

Running, Training Log

February 16-22 Practice Running

Monday, February 16, 2015, 4:40 pm

4.79 mi, 84 ft gain, 39:13. In town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Legs still a little sore/stiff starting out, but warmed up by about 1.5 mi. I really wanted to go longer, and still ended up going a little longer than I planned. I went out for 20 min, then turned around and headed back.

HR was a little high again. I ate shortly before running again too. Maybe it’s good practice for longer races, running with a full stomach.

Average HR 143 bpm.

 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015, 5:08 pm

3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 26:01. In town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

The weather was great again today. It was cooling off a bit with the sun heading down, but still not bad. The forecast is for about the same on race day, Sunday.

My upper legs were just a little sore starting out again, but felt better pretty quickly. The pace was faster than I expected, and felt pretty easy. It was only 2 sec slower than yesterday, but much lower HR.

I’m already over these short runs, but I want to be ready on Sunday. Fortunately, the nice weather has given me a little motivation to also get outside for some yard work. I have a lot of yard work to get done.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 4:24 pm

4.09 mi, 199 ft gain, 39:44. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I modified my Lone Peaks like I’ve done to my Superiors. This was my first test run with the modification. It went alright.

Another easy taper run. A little sore starting out again, and quickly warming up again. I went up the little hill, followed a couple game trails and went out to Olney Creek.

I don’t particularly feel like my taper has been going that well, but my “easy” pace has sped back up to at least what I think it should be at my level of fitness. My HR was pretty good today as well. It helps to have some time to digest between eating and running.

I picked up the pace for the last 200m or so again. I ended up around 6:30/mi pace for that part.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Thursday, February 19, 2015, 5:52 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 22:39. In town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Just a quick spin around town today. It was raining a bit, but not bad. I went with a comfortably fast pace, which hovered around my current marathon goal pace and a little faster at times.

My right hamstring was still a little sore when I started, less so than the last few days. I finally feel like the taper is working. I could tell from my pace and effort the last few days that it was working, but I didn’t physically feel much better until today. I might still have a little more to go to physically feel ready. But I didn’t feel that great early in the last 5 mi race on the 7th and ended up doing great.

Average HR 144 bpm.

 

Friday, February 20, 2015, 4:16 pm

3.16 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:37. In town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Feeling pretty good. Bored with the taper.

Average HR 131 bpm.

 

Saturday, February 21, 2015, 5:04 pm

3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 28:53. In town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

More of the same.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Sunday, February 22, 2015, 8:02 am

31.33 mi, 5290 ft gain, 5:16:31. Lord Hill 50k. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

Not quite the race I wanted, but happy with my performance anyway. I’ll post a separate race report in the next couple days.

Average HR 149 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 52.8 mi, 5573 ft gain.