Category Archives: Training Log

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

Practice, Races, Running, Trail run, Training Log

January 5-11 Practice Running

Monday, January 5, 2015, 6:30 pm

5.17 mi,  539 ft gain, 58:14. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

My hamstrings were a little sore starting out today. Everything else was pretty good. They felt a little better later in the run.

I’m glad I waited until the evening. It was still absolutely pouring down this morning and mostly stopped by afternoon. But the logging road I ended up running on had flooded and was probably still underwater into the afternoon. Olney creek was very high, only about 18 inches from the bottom of the small bridge I ran across when I was there. But the road was covered in silt and all the grass was brushed to the downstream side from moving water up to a couple feet above the level of the bridge deck. That’s about 5 or 6 feet higher than when I was there. It would have been cool to see Olney Falls or Wallace Falls with all that water.

After such a strong December, I felt like I barely got started when I made it back to the car. I still have a little soreness in parts of my lower legs from December, and I have the Bridle Trails 50k on Saturday, so I’m going to continue to take it easy this week and probably most of next week as well.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015, 4:22 pm

5.12 mi, 46 ft gain, 46:57. Town RR access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I finally got out with daylight again today. The alpenglow on the mountains to the north and sunset to the southwest made for some great views on this flat run through town.

Jumped the tracks to the river side about a mile out and ran on the access road. There were some workers who appeared to be staging some things by a couple of the piles of concrete railroad ties.

Lower legs are still a little tight, but better later. It’s getting better, but I’m a little unsure about turning the 50k into a back-to-back this weekend. It’s fairly flat, and it seems to be better on flatter terrain.
It still felt like a really short run.

Average HR 124 bpm.

 

Wednesday, January 7, 2015, 4:27 pm

5.32 mi, 46 ft gain, 47:26. Town RR access rd, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Today was much like yesterday. Pretty much the same route and near the same pace. The sky wasn’t quite as spectacular today, however.

The Mio Link was kind of buggy starting out. It showed my HR way high, in the 170s. Based on my breathing and how I felt, I think it was in the low to mid 120s at the time. It does this occasionally, and I haven’t figured out the problem. It’s probably related to contact between the sensors and my skin, but I wear it in almost the exact same spot at the same tension every time, so I’m not sure. Maybe it’s a low battery issue. Or maybe some ambient radio signal messes with the connection with my Suunto.

I had a weird twinge on the inside of my leg just above my left ankle. I’m not sure what it was. It lasted for a while then disappeared.

I’m both looking forward to the Bridle Trails 50k this Saturday and a little apprehensive. I haven’t had a proper long run since sometime in November. I think my long December streak makes up for it, though.

I’m also unsure if I want to go just to finish and treat it completely as a long training run, or if I want to race and see how fast I can go. From reading about it, it seems flat enough that I could maybe set a 50k PR. But it can also be quite muddy, and it’s supposed to rain, so that might limit my speed. Either way, I plan to take it easier for the first 4 laps, then maybe make a push for the last 2.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Thursday, January 8, 2015, 5:23 pm

4.81 mi, 367 ft gain, 51:21. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1 loop, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Went out for 4-6 mi. The logging roads were really sloppy from all the big trucks. They’re logging somewhere up the hill toward Wallace Lake. My run on Monday was detoured because of it.

It was a little cool tonight, but not too bad. I warmed up fairly quickly. The first mile went by more quickly than it has the past few days. Running was pretty easy tonight.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Friday, January 9, 2015, 5:21 pm

4.56 mi, 330 ft gain, 50:33. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

The logging roads were much less sloppy today, though I didn’t run around the loop, which was sloppiest yesterday. Running was pretty easy too.

I still keep going back and forth over whether to race or just run tomorrow. With all the other runners, it’s always tough to hold back. I guess I just need more practice.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Saturday, January 10, 2015, 3:00 pm

28.18 mi, 1415 ft gain, 3:59:13. Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I started a little further back in the crowd than I originally wanted, but I think it helped me take it easy to start. I might try it again in the future for long races.

My HR was way high early. It started coming back down after the first lap. I have HR, pace and cadence to scroll through on the bottom section of the main screen on my Suunto Ambit 2 R. I ended up switching to pace and leaving it there for most of the race. I checked on my HR a couple times, but it was still higher than I expected, so I paced myself by my breathing instead.

It wasn’t too muddy early on. After a couple laps, the mud got turned up pretty good, but it wasn’t bad. It was kind of thick and not too slick.

I ran with one handheld and my UD SJ Essential belt. Originally, I carried my ziploc baggy of dehydrated bananas and dates in the belt, but switched to the handheld pocket after a few laps instead.

I drank one full bottle about every 2 laps. At the end of lap 2 I stopped at the aid station to refill my bottle and ate a piece of banana dipped in salt, stopped to pee, and got in my drop bag to grab my headlamp. I didn’t turn the headlamp on until about halfway through lap 3. I was going to grab more food at the end of lap 3 but I forgot. It wasn’t a problem, as I ate pretty good before the race. At the end of lap 4 I refilled my bottle, had another chunk of banana with salt, grabbed more food from my drop bag and dropped off my hat. I got a little more dehydrated than I prefer to be. I wanted to limit restroom stops, and it worked. But I finished off the bottle by the end of lap 5, grabbed another banana with salt, refilled the bottle about 1/3 and downed that before getting to the start/finish area, where I tossed my empty bottle with my 2nd empty food baggy over by my drop bag. Then I went off for the final lap.

I felt better than I expected later pretty much all race. I think my big December streak and the taper made a difference. I felt great until about the last 1.5-2 mi, when I had to put in more effort to keep up my pace. I still felt better than the end of pretty much all my other 50k races.

My lap splits were pretty even the whole night, right around 40 min give or take a little. I came through the halfway point at about 2:00:15, so I met my first goal of 2015 and ran a negative split for the second half of my first ultra of the year, though not by much. That’s all including time stopping at the aid station, toilets and drop bag. I did pretty well not stopping much. According to Strava, my moving time was only 3 minutes less than total time. And while I did go sup 4 hrs, I’m not counting it as a 50k PR or as meeting my sub 4 hr 50k goal, because the course was a little short, probably more like 46-47k.

I was passing people pretty regularly the 1st lap, still quite a few the 2nd lap, a handful on the 3rd lap, a few less on the 4th lap, just one or two on the 5th lap, and I don’t know if I passed anyone on the final lap. That’s not including lapping people. There were a couple guys that re-passed me when I stopped for aid/restroom/drop bag, but I caught back up and passed them again not too far down the trail.

The only person who passed me and stayed away was the 2nd runner of the winning pairs 50k relay team, Uli Steidl, who flew by me (lapping me) about halfway through my 5th lap.

I managed to not get lapped by the 3 guys who finished ahead of me. Looking at the early results before I left, 2nd and 3rd place were pretty close at the end. The winner finished in something like 3:33 and change. Something to work towards in the future perhaps.

I ate about 700 calories and drank about 70 oz of water. Both were lower than I’m used to, but it worked out great. For this weather, distance and time, I think that probably works better than eating and drinking as much as I have in the past. I could probably have done with a little more water, but it worked out. I had 2 more bottles worth of water and the last baggy of food by the time I made it home.

I really enjoyed the race. The trails were great, with excellent marking. Seattle Running Club and Northwest Trail Runs did an awesome job. If it fits in my schedule, I’ll be there again next year.

Average HR 157 bpm.

 

Sunday, January 11, 2015, 5:49 pm

10.61 mi, 1173 ft gain, 2:02:45. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

This run was really rough starting out. My legs were sore all over. My left achilles tight and achey. I think from the heel counter on the MT1010v2 pushing into it during the race. If I’m going to wear those for more muddy races, I’m going to have to do something about that. The Superior 1.5 just doesn’t have enough traction in mud, and I’ve probably got 1000-1500 mi worth of them left in the two that I’m currently rotating and the two extra pairs I have in waiting.

Back to the run. I started to loosen up a little by about 0.5 mi, and even more by 1.5 mi. I headed straight out toward the road to Wallace Lake. I planned to go up to the lake and add on enough more to make 10-15 mi. But I very quickly decided to keep it closer to the low end. I forgot that they were logging up toward the lake and had to change plans. I went up the other road at the ‘Y’ to the end, then out to the end of the next road lower.

On the way back, I turned toward the connector hill and ended up going out about a mile. It’s 1 mi from the gate to that intersection, so 2 mi from where I turned around, which is the first turn at the very start of the hill.

I felt pretty decent from about 4-8 mi considering how bad I felt at the start. I don’t think I refilled my glycogen stores enough after the race and before this run, and my energy levels were pretty low for the last couple mi. It wasn’t terrible, though.

I saw my friend the northern saw-whet owl again and got some photos. A couple turned out ok.

My original plan weeks ago when I signed up for the Bridle Trails 50k was to use it as the first of back-to-back long runs. I felt really good during the race and decided to go after it, which I paid for today. I have a feeling I’ll end up doing the same at the Lord Hill 50k next month. I also planned to use it as the first back-to-back long run that weekend. I’ll probably be recovered enough for about 20 mi next weekend, but might do 15 and 10 b2b instead, or something like it. Then in 2 weeks hit a couple b2b long runs, which will give me 2 weeks recovery from Bridle, 2 weeks recover until my last short race of the winter, and 2 more weeks until Lord Hill. Then if I go b2b long runs 2 weeks after that, I’ll have 3 weeks to recover if I decide to do another big race.

Average HR 114 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 63.8 mi, 3915 ft gain

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