Tag Archives: practice running

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 15-21 Practice Running

Monday, December 15, 2014, 5:37 pm

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

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

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

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

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 16, 2014, 4:48 pm

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:15 pm

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

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

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

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

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 4:14 pm

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

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

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

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 18, 2014, 10:13 pm

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

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

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

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Friday, December 19, 2014, 5:55 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 20, 2014,  am

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

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

Average HR 132 bpm.

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:15 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 165 bpm.

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

Saturday, December 20, 2014, 9:11 pm

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

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

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 21, 2014, 3:40 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 133 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77.3 mi, 6066 ft gain

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 8-14 Practice Running

Monday, December 8, 2014, 7:17 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 4:54 pm

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

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

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

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

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

 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 3:35 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 11, 2014, 5:32 pm

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 130 bpm.

 

Friday, December 12, 2014, 4:44 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Saturday, December 13, 2014, 3:58 pm

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

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

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

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

Average HR 126 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 14, 2014, 5:22 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 77.1 mi, 9241 ft gain

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

Practice, Running, Training Log

December 1-7 Practice Running

Monday, December 1, 2014, 5:10 pm

5.42 mi, 96 ft gain, 39:31. Through town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I felt great, especially considering yesterday’s 15 miler. I managed a pretty good pace while staying aerobic the whole time. I ran out for 20 minutes, turned around and ran back. It was a great run.

Average HR 137 bpm.

 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 4:08 pm

6.38 mi, 265 ft gain, 58:23. Road to Wallace Falls SP, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Decided to wear my wind breaker today. Glad I did. While I did get a little sweaty, the cold wind of the last couple days was worse.

Felt pretty good the whole run. Nothing particularly eventful on the way to the park. Kept it pretty easy. I looped the dogs’ leashes to the bbq grill at the park and used the restroom, then headed back home.

A little ways down he road it started getting dark, so I turned on my headlamp. I don’t really like running with the dogs on roads in the dark since they’re black. Shortly after turning on my headlamp, I was reminded why. A truck was coming towards us so I got off the road onto the small grass shoulder. Most vehicles give me some space. I turned my head so my light was shining toward the driver, but he didn’t move over at all. If I hadn’t made sure to pull Vida all the way off the road, he would have hit her. I pulled her over well before the truck drove by, but it was still a bit unnerving. I’m not sure if the guy didn’t see me, didn’t care or did it on purpose. I’m looking forward to my new headlamp arriving. It’s bright enough that they would have definitely seen me.

The rest of the run was fine.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 9:09 pm

6.87 mi, 540 ft gain, 1:03:30. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Almost bagged it after the first loop. I didn’t feel that great. I’m glad I kept going, but I only felt moderately better by the end. I settled into a bit slower pace than I have been running.

The weather wasn’t bad tonight, windy and mid 30s. It was so much better than windy and low to mid 20s. It almost felt warm.

Also, I wanted to test my new Fenix E35 flashlight. Even with the cloud cover, the moon was bright enough to go without light. Still tried it out through a couple spots. It’s so bright. I think the medium setting will more than good enough for most of my needs. Looking forward to my new headlamp arriving and getting to use both more.

Average HR 122 bpm.

 

Thursday, December 4, 2014, 3:53 pm

4.47 mi, 34 ft gain, 44:17. Green belt and RR access road, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Felt slow. RR access road to the green belt between the RR and US2 out to the end of the cut grass just outside of town. Then back and hopped over the tracks to run nearer the river a little bit and home.

Average HR 128 bpm.

 

Friday, December 5, 2014, 4:21 pm

4.16 mi, 38 ft gain, 35:41. Road through town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Felt a lot better today than yesterday. Very windy for most of the run, at my back most of the way out and in my face most of the way home. I think it actually blew harder on my way back. There were a few big gusts that I had to lean into. Without rain and cold, I enjoy running in the wind.

Average HR 125 bpm.

 

Saturday, December 6, 2014, 9:30 am

1.2 mi, 50 ft gain, 9:38. Warmup at Redmond Watershed Preserve, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Average HR 140 bpm. For both this race and the last one, my HR was a little high before the race. Anticipation perhaps?

 

Saturday, December 6, 2014, 9:30 am

5 mi, 330 ft gain, 32:58. Redmond Reindeer Romp 5mi Race, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I took off out front at the start, but dialed back a little almost immediately. Another guy caught up and went just ahead of me. I sat on his shoulder for a minute or two before I decided to go. I passed him and led for the rest of the race.

A few of the turns were pretty muddy and slick. The trail was pretty well groomed, not many roots or rocks. The course markings were easy to follow.

After a few minutes, I looked back and couldn’t see anyone. I kept looking back later in the race on just about every turn to see if anyone was closing. I caught a glimpse of someone once, but I saw her again later at the start finish line heading out for a second half marathon lap, and the organizers were pretty sure she missed at least one turn for the half marathon course. She wasn’t running nearly hard enough to be halfway done at that time.

I won, finishing in 32:58. Second was about 30 seconds behind. Third place was a 60 year old guy about 2:39 back. I hope I’m still running like that in 27 years.

Top three male and female finishers won reindeer antlers headbands. I also won some socks with a bull reindeer saying “hey girl” to a cow in the raffle.

Average HR shows as 158 bpm, but it looks like the Mio bugged out for about 7 minutes early on dropping from the 150s down to the 110s. When it corrected, I was in the mid 170s.

Saturday, December 6, 2014, 9:30 am

0.26 mi, 44 ft gain, 2:27. Back to the car post race, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Just a short run back to where I parked my car. Left my HR monitor off.

 

Saturday, December 6, 2014, 4:09 pm

3.21 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:44. Shakeout run through town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I was rather sore for a few days after the Ravenna race, so I thought I’d head out for a short run to try to work out lactic acid and loosen up. I wanted to get the dogs out for a run as well.

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Sunday, December 7, 2014, 5:57 pm

10.45 mi, 1597 ft gain, 1:40:41. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I wanted to get out earlier, but I don’t mind going in the dark. I got to test out my new Fenix HL55 headlamp. It was great. I started on the low setting, but ended up switching to mid to better see my dogs. Low was plenty of light to see where to place my feet. I kept it fairly easy pace, trying to stay aerobic on the climb.

I saw a third pair of eyes ahead of my dogs a couple times. Both just turned out to be deer. They were well ahead of my dogs too. The mid light setting worked out great.

The wind was blowing pretty hard at times. Fortunately, it was relatively warm and dry.

I’m not sure if I like how the front plate that attaches the light to the strap sits on my forehead. When I got home, I saw that I had 2 indents on my forehead from it. I might add some foam or something to it.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 47 mi, 2943 ft gain