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Races, Running, Trail run

Lord Hill 50k Race Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Practice, Races, Running, Trail run, Training Log

February 2-8 Practice Running

Monday, February 2, 2015, 5:11 pm

3.22 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:03. In town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

My legs are mostly recovered from the weekend, except my left achilles is still really tight and a little sore. Just like yesterday, it got worse around 0.4-0.5 mi before it got better.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt a bit down today. The run definitely helped.

I still ended up not going as far as I had planned. It did start raining with a little bit of hail, but I actually kind of enjoyed that.

I’ll probably stick with this type of run for a few days. Maybe I’ll go into the 5 mi race this weekend on fresh legs. I’d like to get one more specific training run in for the Lord Hill 50k, probably this weekend or early next week.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 5:16 pm

4.01 mi, 144 ft gain, 42:48. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

My left leg is even more sore today, but it’s actually my lower calf and not my achilles. I don’t know if that’s any better or not. It was stiff for most of today’s run. It loosened up for a few minutes around 2.5 mi, but tightened back up less than a mile later.

I had hoped to go longer today, but kept it short again. Everything else is fine, though.

I broke out a new pair of Superior 1.5s from my stockpile. I modified them last night. My other red pair have lost a lot of their cushioning ability, which isn’t unexpected with almost 600 mi on them. The treads still have plenty of life, so I’ll probably still keep them in rotation for less rocky terrain. I took some photos of my modification process and will post something about that soon.

Average HR 121 bpm.

 

Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 5:33 pm

4.02 mi, 143 ft gain, 43:30. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

Yesterday was pretty rough. After the run, my calf was still bugging me. I broke out the foam roller, did some stretching and some manual massage. I also wore warm socks, used some heat and kept my lower legs under extra covers when I slept last night, all to promote blood flow to the area. Our bodies are capable of amazing things, like healing themselves. The trick is to help the processes.

It was still a little bit sore and tight when I woke up today, but much better. When I started my run this evening, it was fine, loose and not sore at all. My right hamstring is still a little tight, so I’ll do some work on that tonight.

Even though I felt better, I still kept today short and easy. I’d like to go into the 5 mi race this weekend with fresh legs. It’d be great to win one more, but I think I’m already guaranteed top 3 for the series. I know there are lots of people who could have beat me, even locally. But they weren’t racing. And it’s still a big confidence booster.

There wasn’t really anything remarkable about today’s run. It was still great, though. A little rain, no pain, and I felt like I just got started at the end.

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Thursday, February 5, 2015, 4:12 pm

4.22 mi, 38 ft gain, 38:13. Green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

The legs were a little heavy today. But it was still pretty nice to get out. Originally I was considering only about 3 mi, but felt decent so I pushed it out to 4 mi.

I stuck to the grass in the park mostly, with a little bit on the gravel access road on the highway side of the tracks.

I picked up the pace toward the end to try to get my legs going ahead of the race on Saturday. It wasn’t great.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Friday, February 6, 2015, 3:52 pm

6.33 mi, 265 ft gain, 51:29. To WFSP TH and back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

My legs felt a lot better today. I didn’t know how far I was going to go until a little over a mile into the run, and I decided to head out to the Wallace Falls parking lot.

It was much easier running today, and I ended up going a little faster than most of my runs.

My HR was a little elevated, though. I either caught another head cold, or the last one has come back. It’s just a mild pressure on the left side of my head around my eye back to my ear, and it mostly goes away later in the day.

Even so, I’m pretty happy with today’s run. I opened it up down the hill from WFSP, reaching close to 4min/mi. I sped up for the last little bit to home as well, not quite as fast, but it wasn’t downhill either.

Bring on the race.

Average HR 143 bpm.

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:04 am

1.17 mi, ft gain, 19:18. Frost Eagle Warmup, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I ended up parking nearly 0.4 mi away from the parking lot. Lots of people and a small parking lot. I didn’t really have much time for that great of a warmup, but it was better than nothing. I forgot to stop my watch, it was much less time than 19 minutes.

Average HR 134 bpm.

 

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:45 am

5 mi, ft gain, 35:57.8. Frost Eagle 5 mi Race, solo. New Balance MT1010v2.

I took the lead from the beginning. Another guy I know passed me for a brief period just so he could say he had the lead. There was a pretty good pack of guys right behind me. I dropped the hammer on the first downhill, and I don’t think many people followed.

The half marathon was started 7 minutes prior to the 5 mi race. The two races shared a good portion of the same course, with the half marathon turning off about 1.5 mi in. I ended up catching and passing quite a few half marathoners. Most of them were great about moving to the side, but a couple weren’t paying attention. When the rest of the people in the group they were in moved over, they decided to take the opportunity to pass right in front of me. It didn’t slow me down much though.

It was pretty muddy and really wet out there, with lots of standing water and some flowing water. I just plowed right through the mud and water. I may have accidentally splashed a few half marathoners.

I came up to one more group just as got to where the race courses diverged. From there out I was pretty much alone. I had put some time on 2nd place, one of my 2 competitors for the series win. I had backed off on the pace a little bit. At about 3 mi I looked back and saw that he had regained a some ground, so I attacked again.

I didn’t attack that much on the climbs, but opened up on some of the descents. I also tried to maintain speed through the turns, mud and puddles. I nearly crashed a couple times pushing the pace. About a mile from the finish, there was a pretty good hill that I tried to bomb down. The trail was fairly straight, but my legs were going all over the place from the mud. I just about did the splits trying to stay upright. I slowed down a little bit at the bottom briefly to make sure everything was alright. I was fine, so I pushed on.

After that, at nearly every turn I’d look back to see if I could see anyone gaining on me, but I didn’t see anyone. When I finally hit the gravel pipeline trail near the end, I saw the runner who wanted to say he had the lead. Apparently he took a wrong turn, and his knee was banged up pretty good from a fall. I asked if he was alright. He was, so I pushed on to the finish.

I won the race, and clinched the series win. Second place was about 45 seconds back, who ended up 3rd in the series. He also pretty handily beat me at the race when I lost my shoe by enough that my shoe didn’t make a difference. The half marathon winner ended up 2nd in the series by 3 points, just 5 points behind me.

I decided not to worry about my HR today and switched to view current pace, and I only looked at that a few times, once at the beginning before the first hill. I saw I was going around 5:40/mi pace and backed down a little. I looked a couple other times just out of curiosity.

Even not worrying about my HR during the race, I still wore the monitor to look over the data afterwards. My average HR was 181 bpm. I’m not sure how accurate this is. It looks like the reading dropped suddenly for a little bit early, then spiked over 200. Even if it is off, It’s probably not by much. My HR hovered around 180 bpm most of the time. My most recent bout of head cold has gotten better, but my HR is still a little elevated because of it. Running by feel and not by HR, I think I was also able to push harder than if I had looked. I may have backed off seeing it that high. I’m starting to get the feel for that edge between uncomfortably fast and blow-up fast. But I have lots more to learn.

Saturday, February 7, 2015, 4:29 pm

3.18 mi, 28 ft gain, 30:04. Around town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I took the dogs out for a little spin around town before dark. It started raining as soon as we started, but it wasn’t cold, fortunately.

Man, my legs were stiff. They loosened up a little by about 1 mi, but took until about 2 mi to feel ok. The same little spot in my right hamstring that’s been a little bothersome for over a week finally got to the point that I decided I’d do something about it.

This evening I sat my hammy on the foam roller, going back and forth for about 10 minutes. That was not pleasant.

Average HR 135 bpm.

 

Sunday, February 8, 2015, 3:36 pm

11.21 mi, 2307 ft gain, 2:07:03. Upper Wallace Falls via woody trail from home, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red#2.

My legs were a little stiff today but not quite as much as yesterday afternoon’s run. I loosened up a couple miles in. I was pretty sore as well, and that didn’t really go away. It wasn’t quite so bad later in the run, though.

This wasn’t exactly what I had planned for today, but it worked based on how I felt after yesterday’s race.

The trails were a little bit busy, but not bad. Most people were on their way back to the TH as I went out. The muscle soreness slowed me down a little. I made it to the Upper falls from the TH in about 33 min. I spent a couple minutes up there watching the waterfall, drinking some water and snacking on some raisins and a couple dates.

Since my legs were still sore, I took it extra easy down the steep, slippery steps near the top. I kept it pretty easy going most of the way down. I just wasn’t quite as surefooted with tired legs and didn’t want to push my luck with the wet conditions. It didn’t rain today, but there was quite a lot of rain over the last several days.

Once I hit less than 1 mi to the TH, I was feeling good again and picked up the pace. On the short road grade section at the end, I even hit 6:40/mi pace and felt good.

I passed 3 guys in the last little stretch who I had seen on my way up just below the Lower falls view point. As I went by, one of them said in a seemingly joking tone, “I hate you”. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Running the roads back home wasn’t too bad until I turned onto US2. I spent the last 1.5 mi running into a pretty stiff headwind. It only died down briefly a couple times. It was mostly steady, though, and even picked up enough to slow me way down. That’s part of the experience of running outside.

Average HR 143 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 42 mi, 3311 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 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 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