Running, Trail run, Training Log

March 30-April 5 Practice Running

Monday, March 30, 2015, 5:33 pm

6.5 mi,  ft gain, 1:27:30. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

For the most part, my leg muscles felt good today. My ankles have been a little creeky for a couple days after long runs recently, but they warm up fairly quickly. The muscles just behind my shins on the inside of my lower legs have been sore after hard and long runs too.

Again, starting out today, I wasn’t nearly as stiff as I had been a few weeks back. Of course I was a little sore and slow, but not bad. I took it easy and stopped to check things out quite a few times. I saw a bright green and spotted frog on a stick over some water in a ditch, then a brown spotted frog in another ditch up a ways.

We went out to the seasonal ponds briefly for a look around and a splash for the dogs. Then we went out to Olney Creek for some more doggy play time. They enjoyed it a lot.

Lately I’ve noticed that if I’m feeling particularly sore or stiff, I feel better after I stop for a little while. Feeling better is nice, but having to stop to do so sucks. I need to figure out how to relax better.

From there, we went out to the hills. We took the left through a clearcut just before the road forks, then out that way for a while before turning back.

I ended up going a little farther than I had originally planned. I was feeling pretty good. Unfortunately, that didn’t last on the way back. My lower legs got pretty sore. I tend to push myself a bit when I’m coming up to a mileage milestone or end of a period of time, like the end of March and nearing 250 mi for the month.

I’ve been practicing trying to relax more while running, which helped with my lower legs a little bit. I did pretty well keeping the pace easy and my HR low. The stopping helped quite a bit with the latter.

Average HR 112 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 4:49 pm

11.01 mi, 823 ft gain, 1:48:20. Through Town to WFSP RR Grade, Solo. New Balance MR 10v2.

Feeling a little better today than at the end of yesterday’s run. Still a bit sore just behind the insides of my shins. I worked on conscious relaxation a lot during today’s run.

I started with the thought of sticking to the roads, going about 6 mi or so. But once I got around toward WFSP, I wanted to get a little bit of trail action. I still kept it easy and stuck to the RR Grade. I did very well keeping my HR low again today.

I only saw a few people on the trail. One was an older gentleman running down the trail. He didn’t appear to be dressed in running clothes though, so I think he was maybe just in a hurry to get back.

I went up to the restroom at the Greg Ball Trail junction, made a quick pitstop and then headed back. Going downhill was harder to keep my lower legs relaxed. Just like yesterday, once I got going, today was about hitting 250 mi for March. It doesn’t actually matter, and it’s sort of arbitrary. I’ll end up taking it easy to start April, which will more or less even out the extra effort ending March.

Anyway, I shot a short video to maybe post on YouTube after I turned around. Once I made it back to the TH, I stretched out for a moment, then started for home. The road wasn’t too bad, even though I  was tired and sore. I thought about speeding up to get home more quickly, but managed to keep it mellow. I opened up my stride for the last 200 yds or so to stretch out a bit.

I felt pretty awesome going into the Bridle Trails 50k back in January, and that was only a week and a half after my December push. So maybe more consistency would be helpful instead of going long and hard then short. I don’t know, and it’s probably too close to Capitol Peak 50 Mile for that kind of change to make much difference. Currently, the plan is to recover during the week, go long one more time this weekend, then taper/recover for the 50 miler. Whatever I do, I decided today that I’m just going for the finish and not racing. It might be tough to hold back come race day. I tend to get wrapped up in the race atmosphere.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015, 5:24 pm

3.12 mi, 35 ft gain, 25:02. Along the RR tracks, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Legs were kind of tired, but not sore today. I think I may just need a longer stretch of easy days for a while. I’d like to get one more long run in before Capitol Peak, but I don’t know.

I left Vida home since she’s still limping a little bit. Sigurd was really excited to go. I probably ran a little faster with him than I would have with both of them, but I kept it pretty easy at first.

It was nice and sunny when we started. The plan was to go 4-6 mi. But about 1.3 mi in the sky opened and it started pouring cold rain and hail. Fortunately, the hail didn’t last long, but the rain was pretty cold. I wanted to get at least 3 mi, so I sped up and went to just over 1.5 mi then turned around.

I kept the pace up the rest of the way home. The rain stopped about 0.6 mi from home, but I was absolutely soaked and wanted to get home, so I kept the pace going. Going faster kept me warmer, and my legs handled it ok. They were definitely tired though.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Thursday, April 2, 2015, 5:48 pm

5.62 mi, 50 ft gain, 52:03. Along the RR tracks and service road, with Sigurd. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I left Vida home again, still limping a little.

My right hamstring was kind of tight starting out. I was kind of tired again today. I tried to keep the pace easy like I started with yesterday, but Sigurd got me going a little faster a couple times. I managed to hold back pretty well, though.

I  ran along the RR service road on the highway side, then through the park between the highway and RR tracks until a little over 1 mi. Then we hopped over the tracks and ran on the service road on the river side.

We ran out passed the gate for the service road out to Startup, then out to a little over 2.5 mi and turned around. On the way back, I heard a train whistle off in the distance from the west. It was getting closer. Initially, I sped up to try to get back to the tracks and possibly over them in case the train was going to stop in town. It was an Amtrak passenger train, though, and it was really moving. It went by well before I even got back to the gate. So we slowed back down.

Somewhere between 3.5-4 mi or so, my legs were getting pretty tight. I was having trouble staying relaxed, so I stopped briefly for a couple times and let Sigurd pee. The stopping seemed to help my legs a bit.

I sped up a little bit for the last couple hundred yards to stretch out the legs. They were about as tired as when I started, but I still felt better overall by the end.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Friday, April 3, 2015, 5:36 pm

6.34 mi, 252 ft gain, 48:20. To WFSP & Back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

All these little aches are getting annoying. Otherwise, I felt pretty good. I kept the pace up, but I felt like my range of motion has diminished a little bit. I guess I need to work on flexibility more.

I warmed up fairly quickly, then sped up. At first, I tried to keep my HR below MAF threshold. Once I hit the hill on the other side of town on the way up to Wallace Falls State Park, I stopped worrying about it as much. I ran more by my breath rate.

Once to the park, I got a quick drink from the water fountain, which they just recently turned back on. Then I headed back for home. I found myself speeding up several times and pulled back a little. I sped up a little more over the last mile or so, and even more over the last few hundred yards.

I definitely need to work on flexibility, and should probably work on my form as well. I don’t think my back kick is going high enough. I finally washed some of my other running clothes and wore a pair of shorts from Road Runner Sports. They were some of my favorite last year, but today I had some chafing issues. It wasn’t bad considering I wasn’t running for very long, but going much longer than I did today could be a problem.

Average HR 145 bpm.

 

Saturday, April 4, 2015, 6:31 pm

8.02 mi, 1419 ft gain, 1:28:57. Olney Falls DNR rd, solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I had wanted to go long again this weekend for the last time before Capitol Peak 50 mi, but the muscle aches behind the inside of my shins hasn’t quite recovered enough. I’m hoping it’s at least partially a problem of worn out shoes. Two of my Superior 1.5s have over 600 and almost 500 mi on them and my MR10v2s have just under 500 mi on them as well. Fortunately, I was able to find some MR10v2s online for a decent price, I only have around 150 mi on my current pair of Superior 1.5s and I have another pair still in the box. I went with the Lone Peak 1.5 today in hopes that the extra cushion might make a difference. I’m not sure if it did. It might have if I hadn’t hammered the downhills so hard.

I still wanted to get a little climbing in, but still keep it relatively easy. I stopped several times for photos and to look around a bit.

I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go when I started. I got to about 3 mi and decided to keep going, same thing at 3.5 mi. A little after that, I took a right down into a clearcut to check that area out in hopes that I could find a good spot for a view of the sunset. I found a couple decent spots. I also found some tarps and stuff strung up from an old camp. Due to weathering, I think it’s been there for at least a few months.

I took a couple sunset photos and headed back. I ended up hitting some of the downhills pretty hard. I think I may have been over-striding a little bit. My knees were a little sore Sunday morning.

I didn’t have a light with me. I may have gone longer if I had. I made it back to the car with plenty of light to spare, though.

Average HR 132 bpm.

 

Sunday, April 5, 2015, 6:42 pm

11.12 mi, 1885 ft gain, 2:07:29. Olney Falls DNR Rd, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

My lower legs felt a little better today. I decided to go back to the same spot again. I brought my headlamp and a handheld water bottle this time.

I stopped for photos and to look at stuff a number of times again. I planned at least 6 mi, but possibly more. Once I got going, I mostly felt pretty good, so I kept going. I kind of wanted to go farther, but decided not to.

I saw several deer on my way up. One up high on a hill over the road around 3.5 mi. There were a couple more a little less than a mile later. About 0.25 mi passed the first trail from WFSP I saw a couple hikers.

A little over a half mile later, I saw 2 deer in the road. They let me come up to about 20 yards. I had my camera out to try to get some photos. I took a few, then tried to get a little closer. We started playing red light, green light. They’d start running up the road, and I’d run after them. One ran farther up the road than the other. The closest one would stop, angle off the side of the road like it was about to take off into the woods, but it didn’t. I stopped and we stared at each other for a little while. I snapped a few more photos. Then we did it again, running up the road and stopping. I think we did it about 4 times. It was really cool.

I was trying to get up to another view point for the sunset when I stopped to play with the deer. Once they finally took off into the woods, I sped up a little to try to get to a spot with an unobstructed view. I ended up going a little past 5.5 mi before I turned around. I got a couple photos.

Not too far back down the road, I went off trail on the uphill side for a short pit-stop. There were game trails all over the side of the hill there.

I took it a bit easier on the way down than yesterday. I didn’t pull out my light until about 3 mi to go. I could still see well enough, but I didn’t want to chance it.

At about 2.5 mi to go, I saw something shining on the road in the light of my headlamp. I got a little closer and turned it on burst mode. It was a tiny owl standing on the road. I tried to get a photo, but I couldn’t get close enough, and it blended in just enough with the road that the light wasn’t good enough for a decent photo. It flew down the road a ways then landed. It was almost like with the deer again. I tried to get closer. It let me get about 10 yards away then flew down the road again. The next time it flew off into the trees down the hill.

I love wildlife encounters like I had today. It’s one of the reasons I love trail running.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 51.7 mi, 4993 ft gain

Becoming, Philosophy

Becoming: Dynamic Possibilities

I was thinking about Being and Becoming today. I considered writing something new about it, but for now I’ll post the paper I wrote on the topic for my Junior Colloquium in Comparative History of Ideas back in August 2010.

I’m going to warn you, it’s about 2300 words long, and it definitely reads like a college paper. I was verbose and probably overly complicated some things. I don’t think I edited it back then either.

Enjoy.

 

Becoming: Dynamic Possibilities

“The mind is never passive; it is perpetual activity, delicate, receptive, responsive to stimulus” (Whitehead 9). When I read this passage, I find it problematic in relation to the notion of Being as a basic expression of existence. How can there be “perpetual activity” in something so steady state as Being? And how can a seemingly fixed state, like Being, be stimulated? “A disembodied spirit, or pure mind, has its being out of time, since all that it is destined to think is fully in its being at any and every previous time” (Peirce 490). This may have been Peirce’s idea of the nature of an ens necesarium but it speaks to my argument. Being does not take into account the variable of time. It may only vary in a seemingly predictable manner, but it is change nonetheless. Becoming, however, accounts for change over time. I will use the capitalized Being and Becoming when I am addressing these specific concepts, but as such commonplace words, they will likely come up in their normal usage as well.

The dimensional difference between Being and Becoming is time. Phillip Thurtle defines time as “the perception that something else could have happened” and “the potential for change in the world” (256). Becoming is a dynamic process. We are in a constant cycle of always Becoming, never just Being. Being does not take into account the changes or movement involved in the passage of time. If time is possibility, without Becoming, the only possibility would be static Being. But, if there is such a thing as possibility and not a predetermined fate or destiny, there cannot be a stagnant Being, only the transitional Becoming.

There is an important distinction I must make. Becoming is neither positive nor negative, which is only a matter of subjective, qualitative reasoning.   It is derived from the entirety of possibility. And according to Bloch, “Possibility is not hurray-patriotism. The opposite is also in the possible. The hindering element is also the possible” (17). Becoming is construction and deconstruction, creation and annihilation, and everything in between. Becoming is a process, while Being is solely one of a binary of states with no in between. But entities are not binaries; they are analogs, always Becoming at any infinitesimal state of possibility in time. For these purposes, Becoming and Unbecoming are one and the same. The qualitative differences through time are inconsequential. It’s solely the fact that there are differences through time. Thurtle quotes Massumi thusly, “Becoming is directional rather than intentional” (234). It simply moves forward in time without any target.

In Invisibile Cities, Marco Polo tells Kublai Khan about his city of Fedora and how he should have two versions of it in his atlas. “The one contains what is accepted as necessary when it is not yet so; the others, what is imagined as possible and, a moment later, is possible no longer” (32-33). Unrealized possibilities never go through the lens of the present, never Becoming, and never reaching the past. But we can’t know which of those possibilities will actually Become by passing through that lens. Our common perceptions of the relative nature of time pose a problem. When I think of the passage of time, I think of three categories, the past, the present and the future. The real problem is the present in that it does not occupy a fixed point or span in time. It has moved through the entirety of the past and will continue Becoming through all actualized, future possibilities.

On that meeting of the present and the possible in the actual, “The new is always a historical category since it is always determined by historical forces, which both bring it about in social practice (including art) and make for new semantic meanings that crystallize the novum in human consciousnesses” (Suvin 80). Whichever possibility Becomes by passing through the present must be historical as it had a cause and will have an effect. Being is only possible in the present, but the present is transitory and fleeting, always between the past and future. Only specific possibilities become the present. All others never Becoming into existence. And the present, being transitory, as it Becomes a future possibility, is already relegated to the past whenever we become aware of it. So we are really not ever Beings in a conceivable present but in a continual state of Becoming between the present and future. Within our own time-spans, points of Being are only really possible in the past or a perception of what the past will eventually Become—future possibilities. In the words of Massumi the perceived present is really “pastnesses opening directly onto a future, but with no present to speak of” (30).

Here’s a short narrative example that should be familiar. You’re in a car driving on a highway. Ahead are all future possibilities, the closer they get the more distinct they become. There is something colorful on the side of the road ahead. You think it’s a flower, but it is still hard to tell much about it at this distance. As you get closer, it’s a tall, white flower. But until you are almost directly next to it, you can’t make out much more than what it possibly is. At that moment, you’ve experienced it as clearly as you ever will. It’s a daisy and it’s swaying in the wind as cars rush past. And you, too, quickly move past it. The present is continually changing and is really only perceived by the exact moment of having Become the past. The present continually marches forward into the possible.

Change and movement are the things that Becoming offers us in a way to understand dynamic existence. Being leaves no room for change, evolution (not necessarily in the Darwinian sense), or progress. There is no possibility of hope without the possibility of change. Bloch said, “Hope is not confidence. If it could not be disappointed, it would not be hope” (16). We can have hope about the possibilities to come, but the nature of the unknown quality of that change leaves a potential for disappointment. It is still change regardless of the disappointment or realization of hope.

The change of Becoming is “perpetual activity.” I’ll use Doing as an example, as it is one of the simplest forms of activity. Doing requires action, and action, by its nature, necessarily leads to change or movement. There can be no Doing in Being, as action requires a time-span, a beginning and end. It is only a property of Becoming; Being is limited to simply existing in an entity’s current state—an existential stalemate. It has come as far as it possibly can by simply existing. There is no action without time, and hence no change.

Since Becoming is not concerned with any qualitative concepts, nor with specific locations or times, the where or when, it is only concerned with the path and time-span, the only points being the beginning and end in both cases. Massumi writes in opposition to Zeno’s paradox about the path of an arrow that will theoretically never reach a target because it only travels in distances of half the total distance left. “A path is not composed of positions. It is nondecomposable: a dynamic unity. … The points or positions really appear retrospectively, working backward from the movement’s end. … The in-between positions are logical targets: possible endpoints” (6). Time is continuous. Our measurement of time can be broken down to infinitely smaller and smaller segments. And space is continuous as well, at least out as far as we have been able to observe. Accurate measure of “points” is only limited by our technology. The further our technology advances the more detailed we can be.

If we live in an expansionary universe, which scientific observation supports, there can be no stationary state for physical objects or beings. There is only movement; though it may be imperceptible due to the way we measure movement by change in location relative to other objects, rather than relative to the universe itself. The possibility is theorized that the universe may eventually reach an expansionary limit and slow to a halt or even reverse and contract. If it should contract, there will still be only movement. But if there happens to be the perfect balance between the expansion and gravity, causing it to stop, it becomes difficult to imagine what happens. Stellar objects have their own movement on top of the movement of the space that they occupy. This is a problem that I am unsure how to address, as there are also theories that a universal contraction or a static universe may have a profound effect on time itself. This is an example of a limit imposed by reality. But I can’t say whether it is a limit of my conceptual reality or one of actual reality.

Reality is the limiting factor for Becoming, but reality in the sense of the true nature of the universe, not any particular conception of reality. Becoming is open to possibility of what is considered real and what is not yet conceived of as real. Being only conceives of a current understanding of reality.

Coming back to Massumi and Zeno’s paradox, since there are no real points along a path of movement in time, but only a start and end, there are only two conceivable points of pure Being for all of the universe; the moment just before the big bang, before the universe’s Becoming, and the possible moment when, if the universe eventually collapses, it all comes back together.

I’ll now give some examples of Becoming. I’ll skip ahead from the big bang to the Becoming of stellar objects. Gasses coalesce and condense, forming stars, planets and other heavenly bodies. The stars go through life cycles eventually burning out having used up all of their fuel in a nuclear reaction. That nuclear reaction actually creates new, heavier elements. Every element in the universe was created either in the nuclear reaction of a burning star, or in many cases, the final spectacular explosion of dying stars. The elements are spread out to create new bodies. Eventually even our own solar system was formed, Becoming from the remnants of an unknowable number of stellar Becomings. Our sun is going through it’s own process of Becoming, as is the Earth. Life forms, plants, animals and even humans, are much easier to understand in terms of Becoming than many objects that we commonly think of as static or permanent. Rocks are some of the most permanent objects we know. But even they Become over time. Created by various geological phenomena, volcanic action, sedimentation, etc. But once created, they are not permanent. Sure we as humans can destroy them. But those same geological forces can continue the process of Becoming, possibly fusing rocks together, breaking them apart, or reshaping them. Weather can deteriorate them. Water can move them and roll them across each other, polishing or further deteriorating them. Ice can form in the smallest cracks and split huge rocks. Even the most seemingly permanent objects we observe change over time.

We can still, at least, think about Being as a possible state. But to refer to an entity as a Being diminishes its entire existence and entire time-span into a singular state without relation to time. If Being is possible, is non-Being or inexistence also possible? If Being were the only possible state, there would be no beginning or ending of Being and there could be neither cause nor effect to be discovered. Without Becoming there could be no transitional state from inexistence to Being. But, like I’ve already shown, that transitional states are actually a process. It can have conceptual Being as a perceived point in the past. The process is a path, which by Massumi’s statement against Zeno’s paradox, is only divisible into points after the fact.

I will concede Being as possible for one type of thing. That is, only the abstract; concepts, literature and other texts, history, laws of nature (whether discovered or not), can have Being.   They still must have an origination and hence a Becoming in order to come into existence. Some of them can change over time. And they can most definitely Become part of and influence Becoming in other things. But even Being of the abstract is fleeting as it requires the Becoming of a sentient existence to come into Being, or at the very least to be perceived as Being. I include perception here because I do not want to delve into the Becoming of the universe and all of existence itself as that is far beyond the scope of this paper. So by abstract, I mean created or discovered by human thought.

Whether we realize it or not, we use the abstracts constantly. Numbers are an abstract concept. While there are different numbering systems, they have their own being. In base-10, 1 is always the same. Each number has a finite existence, not in a sense of time, but in that they do not change. Mathematical facts are just that, facts. As long as the same system of numbers is used, mathematical operations have the same result. 1+2=3, always. But if you put numbers together, they have a sort of Becoming. Numbers can be used in the Becoming of other things. They can also be the stimulus to which Whitehead was speaking, as they excite our minds to new thoughts and creations.

In short, in order to account for the variation of time in existence within our universe, we must realize that there is no steady state and there are no singular points of Being possible. There is always Becoming as movement or change. Being is really only possible in the mind through abstraction. That is to say, within time, Being is purely an imagined state.

 

Works Cited

Bloch, Ernst. “Something’s Missing.” Utopian Function of Art and Literature. 1988.

Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Javonovich, Inc., 1974.

Massumi, Brian. Parables for the Virtual. 2002.

Peirce, Charles Sanders. “A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God.” Collected Papers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1935.

Suvin, Darko. Metamorphosis of Science Fiction. 1979.

Thurtle, Phillip. “The Poetics of Wandering.” Emergence of Genetic Rationality. 2008.

Whitehead, Alfred North. “Aims of Education.” 1929.

 

Running, Trail run, Training Log

March 23-29 Practice Running

Monday, March 23, 2015, 6:15 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 23:56. Around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I was still a little sore and stiff today. I decided to keep it short today. I warmed up fairly quickly and sped up a bit. Running faster than I have been felt pretty good, greater range of motion.

Like most of my road runs, I sped up towards the end. It was fun to run faster today.

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 6:07 pm

7.28 mi, 867 ft gain, 1:33:32. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I kept it relatively easy again today. I felt a little better starting out than yesterday. We stopped briefly at the seasonal ponds, then headed for the connector hill.

On the way up the hill, I noticed that the other road connecting to the gate #2 road had been cleared. I decided not to check it out until on the way back.

I got up to the next intersection and had to make another pitstop. I tried eating some refried beans with dinner last night for the first time in probably at least a year. I also had a little bit of mashed sunchokes. I’m not sure which of them was the culprit today. Fortunately, unlike when my colitis was active, it wasn’t an urgent matter. I found a spot with a nice view of the valley to the east.

We continued up the hill from there, going out to the bottom of the short descent just past the little marsh on top, then turned around and headed back.

I opened it up on a couple of the descents on the way back. Once back to the newly cleared road, I decided to check it out. Right near the intersection there was a 55 gallon barrel turned into a wildlife feeder. I couldn’t tell what kind of animals it was for, but the feed looked like it was probably deer. I looked around for game cameras but didn’t see any. I didn’t see any markings on the barrel either. It was chained to a tree with those chain ratchets they use on logging trucks, then the handles zip-tied.

The road has a gentle downhill grade as far as I followed. They didn’t clear it all the way to the other side though. Looking at a map, it looks like they stopped about 0.25 mi short.  It was fun. I looked around the feeder again on the way back.

Vida got really muddy again, so I got her to jump into one of the relatively clear water holes on the way back. It made a bit difference. She really loves to run in the mud and muck.

Average HR 119 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 6:36 pm

7.34 mi, 1300 ft gain, 1:17:12. Olney Falls DNR rd, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

It was raining a little today. I’ve seen a couple locals out walking on the Olney Falls DNR road, but figured they probably wouldn’t be out with the rain. I like running into people unexpectedly while the dogs are off leash.

I felt a little better starting out today. But my right shoe has been digging into the top of my foot a little. I think it’s the forward edge of the plastic overlay that holds the midfoot tight in place. I tried to adjust it a couple times. It got a little better when I left the lower portion more loose when I tied the shoe.

Climbing was good. For some reason, I can keep my pace low enough on this kind of climb to keep my HR under control better than on trails like at Wallace Falls. Maybe it’s because that kind of trail requires more lateral movement and varied strides.

Vida had trouble keeping up on the way back to the car today, even more than usual. Later in the evening, she was limping more than she occasionally does at night. I’m going to give her some time to recover. I might still take her out every 2-3 days, but only for a few miles.

Olney Falls was roaring and a little silty from the recent rains. It wasn’t quite as big as during the flooding in the fall, though.

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 26, 2015, 3:05 pm

14.74 mi, 4303 ft gain, 3:37:50. Wallace Falls & partway up Stickney, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I felt pretty good today. I didn’t want to run the road to and from the park, so I drove.

I took two handheld water bottles with about 8 medjool dates. I used the restroom and headed out. I took the Woody Trail to the upper falls. I still didn’t quite go as easy as I would have liked on the climbs. My breathing wasn’t as labored as I would expect with my HR.

I stopped briefly at the upper falls to take in the view and ate a couple dates. Then I headed up to the DNR rd above the falls and out towards Wallace Lake. I didn’t go all the way to the lake, though. I thought I heard a waterfall off the trail to the right, on the mountain side of the road, so I went off trail uphill a ways. I found a cool stream coming down the mountain, but no waterfall. I went out to the edge of a boulder field before heading back down. On the way down, I managed to go around most of the devil’s club patch that I went through on the way up.

wpid-0326151614.jpg
The boulder field in the middle of my two off trail excursions.

Next I took a right at the road that goes up Mt Stickney. Just a little ways past the boulder field above where the road turns, I thought I heard another waterfall. This time I managed to find it. It was really steep and slippery. It was a really cool spot, and I’d like to go back when it’s warmer, but I don’t think think it will still be flowing then. After a couple pictures, I headed back down. I managed to slip going over a log and tweaked my left knee a little bit. It didn’t hurt at the time, but it was a little sore the next day. I also slipped and slid down a little ways on my butt.

The seasonal waterfall I found on my 2nd off trail excursion.
The seasonal waterfall I found on my 2nd off trail excursion.

I still felt good, had water and food, and the weather was great, so I decided to check out how far up Mt Stickney I could follow the road. I went around the washed out part of the road. Unlike the climbs on the Woody Trail, I kept my HR under control on this climb. In some sections, the road is completely covered in moss and makes for really nice, comfortable running.

Up a ways farther than I had previously been, the road levels out a bit, and there’s a small pond with lots of logs down in it. I tried to get some photos, but the bugs found me pretty quickly, so I continued moving.

The road was still pretty easy to follow for a while farther. But after a turn or two, it started getting kind of rough. First I ran into a creek that had taken over the road bed. There was some water, but I managed to stay mostly dry on the way up. After the next turn, it was a different story. Then the road was overtaken by salmon berry bushes. A sort of trail though them had been cut by someone, making it mostly runnable for a while. But the farther I went, the more overgrown it became and the more beating my lower legs took. Eventually, the path ahead got worse and my legs had enough.

I couldn’t run very fast, or even run that much on the way back down through the bushes. Once I got back to the creek bed part of the road, though, I had a blast running down it. The mossy part of the road was cool running down too. My legs were kind of tired by the time I got back down to the normal gravel part of the road. I was out there longer than I had planned, though not necessarily farther than I planned.

My lower legs were a little tired on the DNR rd back to the Woody Trail, but not too bad. I opened up a little bit to stretch out my legs. I didn’t stop at the upper falls on the way down. I stopped for a few seconds at the middle falls. It was roaring, and it looked cool the way the sunlight struck it.

I ran out of water a few minutes from the end. I probably could have used a little more water today, but I was fine. It was a great run.

Average HR 139 bpm.

 

Friday, March 27, 2015, 6:35 pm

4.09 mi, 38 ft gain, 52:38 (about 20 min stopped to chat). Through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I gave the dogs another day off today. I was more sore than I expected from yesterday’s run. I wasn’t very stiff starting out, though, so that’s nice.

I took it easy for a while, but when I got around the corner onto 1st, I decided to open it up a bit to stretch out the legs. After I turned onto May Creek rd, I saw someone I know out in her yard. We exchanged brief greetings as I ran past. I went another block to just past 2 mi and turned around. I stopped to chat on the way back. I ended up talking with them for about 20 minutes.

On my way home, I kept the pace up a little bit. Then with a little less than 1 mi left, I sped up a little more, and again with 0.3 mi to go.

I didn’t have the legs for all out top speed, but mid 6 min/mi was fairly comfortable. I definitely felt better after the run than before.
Stretching and manual massage seems to be helping a bit with the tight spots. My right glute isn’t a problem anymore, and my right hamstring is slowly getting better. I think some of it also has to do with how I stand at my standing desk. I seem to favor standing on one leg with my hips tilted to the side. I can’t tell if I do one side more often than the other, but when I notice that I’m doing it, I try to switch to the other for a while, go to both feet, or try to keep my hips more level while remaining on one foot.

Average HR 118 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 28, 2015, 5:35 pm

4.47 mi, 383 ft gain, 58:14. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Still a little sore from Thursday, but not too bad. I took it easy anyway. I started going counter-clockwise around the loop today, which I haven’t done in quite a while. I wanted to see if I could find Upper Olney Falls.

Just before the bridge over Olney Creek, I saw the faintest hint of a trail off into the woods. It got a little difficult to follow, but not hard to find the general direction to the falls. I was surprised at how cool the woods on either side of the creek were. Not far beyond that were clear cuts on either side. In that little hollow, though, there were old growth trees, moss and fern lined forest floor and an incredible waterfall.

With the recent rains, Upper Olney Falls was pretty impressive, even at only 28ft or so tall, throwing off mist over 50 yards away. Unfortunately, signs of “civilization” are scattered around down there, glass bottles, styrofoam, and plastic bottles.

After some photos and taking it all in for a while, I made my way back out to the road and continued the rest of the way around the loop. It started raining rather hard with just over 1 mi left. It was already a little cool, so I sped up a bit to stay warm. Another 0.4 mi later the rain stopped.

The plan is to go for a long run tomorrow, approximating the average climbs at the Capitol Peak 50 mile race. I looked at the course profile and compared it to some of my runs on Strava. It turns out that the Olney Falls DNR rd up to Wallace Lake is a very slightly steeper grade than the climbs at Capitol Peak. I’m not sure, though. I don’t feel like I’ve recovered completely from hard and long efforts over the past couple months before going into the next one. I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Average HR 113 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 29, 2015, 3:54 pm

20.16 mi, 2806 ft gain, 3:53:20. Olney Falls DNR rd to Wallace Lake & Jay Lake. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

I wasn’t sure what this run was going to turn into. I planned at least 17 mi to Wallace Lake and back. But I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel. I was a little bit sore starting out, but not bad, and I warmed up after a couple miles.

This was a good run. From about 3 mi to 14 mi or so was the most relaxed I’ve been on a run in weeks. The climbing was fun and fairly easy. I ran into a couple groups of people. The first was three guys just above the first trail from the RR grade. They asked how far it was to the parking lot, and I told them they were close to the trail back down there. The next group was a couple just a little ways up the turn off the DNR rd toward Wallace Lake.

Wallace Lake, about 8.5 mi into a 20 mile run.
Wallace Lake, about 8.5 mi into a 20 mile run.

I got to the lake and found a good spot for photos. I still felt good, so I decided to continue out to Jay Lake. I almost kept my feet dry the whole way to the lake. I think I had one misstep on a spot where a stream had taken over part of the trail.

I had a pitstop at Jay Lake before heading back. Running back down to Wallace Lake was good. On the way down from Wallace Lake, I saw 8 deer in a 3 mi stretch below the Greg Ball Trail. The first one surprised me. There were 4 singles and 2 pairs of does with yearlings. I only managed to get a photo of one.

Right about the time I saw the last deer, my lower legs started to get pretty sore. Maybe it’s all the long, hard efforts I’ve done this year and not quite enough recovery, or maybe it was using the Lone Peaks today instead of my Superiors. I don’t know. I’m going to try to take it easier for a few days.

I chose this route after comparing several of my past runs to the course profile of the Capitol Peak 50 mile. This and the race’s climbs in the first 25k or so are fairly comparable. This route up to Wallace Lake might be about 10 ft/mi more gain, which isn’t much.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 61.2 mi, 9697 ft gain.

Running, Trail run, Training Log

March 16-22 Practice Running

Monday, March 16, 2015, 6:40 pm

5.45 mi, 415 ft gain, 1:03:44. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Another day taking it sort of easy. I went out to look at the the seasonal ponds to see if the water had gone up at all, maybe a couple inches.

Then we went back out and down the newly cleared road opposite to the one I was just on. It was opened up, but not extended any farther than I’d been down before.

We stopped off at Olney Creek for a little bit before heading out to the hills. I wanted to go up a little, but not too much. I took one of the earlier spur roads looking for a good sunset view. I found a pretty good one.

I let go a little on the way down the hill. It was a pretty good run.

Average HR 124 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 5:13 pm

8.11 mi, 278 ft gain, 59:40. May Creek Rd CW around town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I haven’t had much of a plan for my running lately. I don’t really like not knowing what I’m doing, but sometimes you have to play it by ear.

The foam roller hasn’t been working for the twinge in my hamstring or glute, so I took one of the dogs’ tennis balls and rolled around on it last night. I woke up this morning and my glute was sore. It loosened up a bit on today’s run, though, so I guess it’s working. I had trouble getting it to work on my hamstring. I couldn’t get enough pressure to go deep enough. I might have to get a proper massage.

Anyway, my legs felt ok today. My right shoulder is a little better too. My starting pace was a little better than it’s been recently. I went a little faster once warmed up as well. At first, I tried to keep my HR below 147, but I also wanted to make it 8 mi in under 1 hr. I kept pretty much the same effort until just past Reiter Rd, where the road starts to go downhill. It’s mostly flat or uphill until then.

I took advantage of the downhill to make up some time for the warmup and uphill. I ended up having to speed up more for the last 1.6 mi or so. There was a train going though the crossing for my street and I was going to be a little short of 8 mi, so I ran up Gunn rd a little bit. I didn’t have to go far before the end of the train was in sight. The train was going quite slow, however, as it was getting ready to stop in town for other trains to pass.

I still had to wait very briefly for the train to go by. It was still slowing down. Once it passed, I took off down the road. I was going to beat 1 hr, but now I wanted to make it the little bit extra home under 1 hr. I picked it up again for the last 0.25 mi and made it.

It was a good run. I almost felt like taking the dogs out for a short run, but I decided to give them a break again today. Vida seems to start limping seemingly out of nowhere when she gets up from lying down in the evening, especially from the floor. And Sigurd did something to his left rear leg earlier today jumping up at a tree with a squirrel in it. I didn’t see anything, so he must of just landed wrong, but he yelped and wouldn’t put any weight on it for about a minute. I got him to lie down, took a look and felt over his leg. I didn’t find anything. Then he got up and was moving around like nothing happened.

According to Strava, I had my second fastest 10k during today’s run at 45:00. I’ve never actually raced a 10k, so I don’t know of what I’m capable. Maybe I’ll add that to my goals next year.

Average HR 147 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 4:03 pm

7.57 mi, 969 ft gain, 1:36:19. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Another stiff start today. The tennis ball doesn’t seemed to have worked. The tight spot in my right hamstring has been there for probably going on a year, now that I think about it. It wasn’t as bad until the last couple of months though, and it wasn’t a problem at all while running until then. I’ll keep stretching and try to get a massage soon.

It took almost 2 mi to warm up. By 3 mi the hamstring and glute had loosened up too, though they seem to be better going uphill than downhill.

Once I got out to the first clear cut, about 0.75 mi in, I took my shirt off. It was sunny and warm enough for me, probably only the low 60s. It was nice to get some sun. We went out to the little hill to start, then out to Olney creek and let the dogs play in the water. Then we went partway up the connector hill, taking the right a little before the switchback. I saw a garter snake back in the deep shade of the woods. I was just wondering when I’d see my first snake of Spring about 10 minutes earlier. I got a couple photos. It had a scar about where I’d consider it’s tail and body to meet.

After going up the short, steep hill out there and a short wander in the woods, we went out the road they cleared right at the switchback. It went a little ways out, but there wasn’t much interesting out there. Then we continued up the connector hill.

We went out to the little swampy area. There were tiny tadpoles swimming around, no larger than 1/4 in long nose to tail. They even appeared to have started growing hind legs. Then Vida decided to lie down in the water.

On the way back down the hill, I tried to get the dogs to go into some clear water to rinse off. They proceeded to go through the mud climbing out of the water. So I took them to another water hole just a little ways down the road I saw the snake on. There’s no mud around that hole, and it’s a bit deeper, so they got rinsed off fairly well.

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 5:26 pm

6.75 mi, 576 ft gain, 1:07:13. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

Not quite as stiff starting today. I’m getting tired of the hamstring and glute thing. Later in the run, I lengthened my stride a bit to stretch out and noticed that my strides seemed to be a little uneven. More stretching, a massage and maybe a sports DR or chiropractor if it doesn’t get better soon.

We went out to the two seasonal ponds. The water was up a little bit. Then we went out a little ways up the mountain, up to the intersection by the older rock pit.

On the way back I wanted to check out the roads going out into the clearcut down on the flat from last summer/fall. At the end of one of them, I kept going along the tracks left by one of the big tree cutting machines. It makes a decent trail. It went over to a second road in the clear cut. No such luck with tracks past the end of that one. I checked out one more short road after that, then continued around the loop to finish out.

The far corner of the loop has a little bit of a hill. Nearing the bottom of the other side going this direction, there’s often water in the ditch on the side of the road. Vida loves to jump into water. The mud at the bottom was just as deep as the water on top. I was hoping to make it back to the car without her getting filthy, which she loves to do. Fortunately, there are several more puddles on the way back, and I got her to go into one and mostly rinse off.

It was a pretty good run. I drizzled a little at times, which felt nice. I kept it pretty easy. My legs didn’t feel that great, though not bad either. I opened it up for a couple short bursts later in the run and didn’t have any problem with the speed.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Friday, March 20, 2015, 4:46 pm

11.31 mi, 2466 ft gain, 2:02:29. WFSP woody trail to upper falls (11), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Legs felt a little better today than they have, and I felt better overall as well, not nearly as fatigued. I also didn’t have much hamstring or glute discomfort for nearly the entire run.

It was a little cloudy and looked like it was threatening to rain, so I went with my Baleaf long sleeve compression shirt and gloves. I rolled up the sleeves pretty quickly and took the gloves off shortly after that. The rain didn’t come until well after I got home.

The roads on the way to the park went ok. I had a bit of a hard time keeping an easy pace going up the trail. My HR was a bit higher than my breath rate would have suggested, but I guess that can be expected going uphill. I haven’t really paid that much attention to my HR on extended climbs, and I haven’t been using a HR monitor for that long, so I still have more to learn.

I spent a minute at the top, then ran up to the DNR road above. I went partway down the road to look at the new bridge. It looks done, but I didn’t get that close.

I made pretty good time on the way down. Apparently, it was my 2nd fastest time of the year, according to Strava. I didn’t really go that hard, but I haven’t done a hard effort down yet this year either.

The road on the way back home never goes as well as the way there. It wasn’t bad, though. I finished the last

Average HR 148 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 21, 2015, 3:43 pm

9.32 mi, 3832 ft gain, 1:58:26. Wallace Falls Double (12,13), solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I felt pretty good today. I wanted to run at Wallace Falls, but I didn’t want to run the 3.2 mi there and back, so I drove. It wasn’t too busy. I even got a parking spot in the lot.

I took one handheld water bottle with a baggy of 5 dates in the pocket and my UD belt to hold my phone. I sort of tried to keep the effort under control, but didn’t really do that great of a job at it. At least I didn’t go hard. My breathing wasn’t that labored, but my HR was higher than I wanted. Oh well.

The trail was in good condition, and most of the other people were friendly. I made it to the upper falls in about 32 min, spent a couple minutes up there, and headed back down. I made the round trip in about 57-58 min. I got into my car and refilled my water bottle before heading off for round two at just over 1 hr.

I got some comments and looks on my second trip. I was about 1-1.5 min slower on the second trip. I spent about the same time at the top before heading down again. My second time going down was faster, and my fastest down time for 2015 according to Strava, just over 23 min. I finished the whole thing in just under 2 hrs, which was what I was shooting for.

I seem to have a pretty good sense time and pace. Maybe that’s why I didn’t try harder to go more slowly.

Average HR 155 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 22, 2015, 5:15 pm

7.04 mi, 811 ft gain, 1:37:29. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red #2.

I was more stiff than I expected from Saturday’s Wallace Falls double. I warmed up by about 2 mi. The rest of the run was pretty good. I still took it easy, though.

I had to make a couple pitstops, so I checked out a couple side roads just a little ways. One past the seasonal ponds and another on the other side of Olney Creek. I got some sunchokes on Saturday and had some with dinner. They don’t quite agree with me, lots of gas and stuff. I don’t remember having this trouble when I had them before. It’s unfortunate, because I really like them. Extended cold storage and very long cooking times supposedly help some.

Other than that, the rest of the run was good. I got in some decent uphill after that. It was too cloudy for a sunset view, and it started to rain just after I turned around at my high-point. It wasn’t too hard and didn’t last very long.

Average HR 115 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 55.6 mi, 9347 ft gain.

Food, Money

How I Save Money Grocery Shopping for Fruits and Vegetables

Eating high-carb, plant-based whole foods, mostly fruits and vegetables, can get expensive depending on what I’m eating. Here’s how I save money on fruits and vegetables.

First, I keep my shopping lists flexible. If grapes are on sale, I might buy grapes instead of melons. If you’re heart is set on something, by all means, buy it. But take advantage of sales when you can.

Also, keep an eye out for marked down “overripe” or “blemished” produce. Bananas are often marked down when they start to get a few brown marks, or are just starting to spot. In actuality, they’re barely starting to ripen. Lots of other fruits and vegetables are marked down similarly, sometimes deeply discounted. As much of a cliche as “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is, people still don’t practice it. Food has to look pretty, and unfortunately, a lot of the prettiest looking food in the supermarket is the most bland and unripe. Look out for produce markdowns.

It’s hard to rely on markdowns, though. They’re fairly sporadic. The best money saving strategy, especially if you can plan ahead and have even a little storage space or go through large quantities is buying in bulk. If you’re in a large metro area, there might be a wholesale produce terminal. There isn’t one in the Seattle area, unfortunately. But to get an idea of what to expect if there is on in your area, here’s a video by John Kohler about the Los Angeles produce terminal.

Even without a produce terminal, there are probably produce wholesalers in your area. Not all of them sell directly to the public, though. If you can get a commercial account, that’s great. Otherwise, give them a call and ask if they do “cash and carry.” Generally, you place an order, and you pay cash when you pick up your produce. Prices change, so make sure you get updated price lists.

There’s a great produce wholesaler in my area, but it’s a bit of a drive. The local grocery store, less than a mile from my door, gets their produce from them and orders for me. There’s a small price markup, but it’s worth it to me not to spend the time and gas money driving out to the wholesaler. And it’s still much cheaper than full retail. The produce manager lets me look through the price lists for what I want.

Buying directly from local farmers is great too. Some things may be cheaper through the wholesaler, while others are cheaper through the farm. Buy in bulk from the farm and usually get a discount as well.

Whatever you choose, get to know the people you’ll be dealing with. Most importantly, treat them very well. People are more likely to help those they like. The farmer I buy a lot of my vegetables from over summer and fall will often hold things for me, or let me in on some awesome deals. At the end of the season, she let me go out into the field and pick whatever collard greens and brussels sprouts were left that I wanted.

End of season collard greens and brussels sprouts.
End of season collard greens and brussels sprouts.

The same thing happens with the produce manager at the grocery store in town. A while back, she saw that I was looking at the markdown produce and mentioned that she had a big box of stuff still in the back that she hadn’t put out yet. She gave me an amazing deal on the fruit in the photo below.

All of this marked down produce for $14.99 - 12 organic navel oranges, 15 organic grapefruit, 8 organic opal apples, 16 pacific rose apples, 3 lbs "sweeties", 9 lbs honey tangerines.
All of this marked down produce for $14.99 – 12 organic navel oranges, 15 organic grapefruit, 8 organic opal apples, 16 pacific rose apples, 3 lbs “sweeties”, 9 lbs honey tangerines.

Don’t go too crazy if you’re not used to buying produce in bulk. You don’t want your savings to disappear into the compost bin from your produce going bad. Buy what you can use or process for storage, store it appropriately, and eat up.

A Wandering & Wondering Life