Tag Archives: Running

Running, Training Log

August 18-24 Practice Running

Monday, August 18, 2014, 7:04 pm

3.1 mi, 138 ft gain, 42:00. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

A little stiff from yesterday, so I took it easy today. Olney creek for the dogs. Wandered in the woods a little on game trails. Started feeling better a little before 2 miles. Usually don’t take water on a run this short, but as I said in Monday’s post, I wanted to keep up my water intake.

I usually take the day after a long run off, but I’ve been thinking about running everyday for a while and figured I’d try it out for a while. Good so far after 6 days.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014, 6:48 pm

7.3 mi, 308 ft gain, 1:21:49 . Kellogg Lake Tree Farm #4, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

Legs a little heavy to start, warmed up after a bit over a mile. Ran the roads to the trail through a clearcut, meeting up with road #3. Ran to the trail connecting to road #2, then to Olney creek. The dogs played a bit. On the way back, we passed a family, couple and young son, out for a walk. The dogs were well behaved, which is not always the case when they see people after a long time in the woods without seeing anyone. Sometimes they start to think they own the place. Ran down road #3 the other direction a little ways before heading back. I really enjoyed the run.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 4:14 pm

6.1 mi, 280 ft gain, 1:13:44. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

Legs were kind of stiff. Took about 2 miles to warm up, but they felt good after that. Ran out past Olney creek to the end of the road at the wetland. Saw a large bird of prey in the trees between Olney and the wetland. Saw another one circling over the wetland. Posted a pic of the circling bird on Instagram. Ran up the small hill through the clearcut on the way back. Saw a small white bird along the road in the clearcut. It had small grey or brown markings, but was nearly all white. First white bird I remember seeing in Washington. Post a pic of the white bird as well, though I couldn’t get close enough for a very good shot. Looking online, it looked pretty close to a McKay’s bunting, but they’re very rare and live in a small area of Alaska, so I doubt that was it.

After the first couple miles I felt pretty good. My easy pace has gotten better this year. I might add some regular speed work this fall or winter.

Thursday, August 21, 2014, 7:33 pm

6 mi, 803 ft gain, 1:06:54. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

Legs a little stiff to start, loosened up fairly quickly. Out to Olney creek for the dogs to splash around. Then up the hill for a view of the sunset. The sun was about halfway past the horizon as I got close to the top, but just a sliver by the time I got through the trees at the top to a good view point. I was hoping for a photo before it slipped below the horizon. The view was still worth the climb. The climb was worth the climb too.

I’ve stuck to logging roads this week. After Sunday’s long run, the space between my left ankle and achilles was swollen. It was a little sore Sunday, but not really since then. The swelling was reduced after each run since then, but came back for a couple days. No more swelling today. There is sort of a popping or rubbing between my achilles and something else about an inch above my left ankle when it stretches to near the limit. I generally only reach that point on steep hills, so I’ll wait a little while to get back to more climbing. I could probably use the easier miles for a bit of a rest this week anyway.

Friday, August 22, 2014, 6:51 pm

7.37 mi, 814 ft gain, 1:13:55. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

No discomfort. Still sticking to logging roads. Wanted a little climbing. Felt good. There was a rainbow when I left the house. It lasted about 45 minutes into the run. Then there was a great sunset.

Saturday, August 23, 2014, 6:15 pm

13.17 mi, 2080 ft gain, 2:10:35. Olney Falls DNR Rd, Solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

I’ve wanted to run this road for a while and finally got around to it. Legs didn’t take nearly as long to loosen up as the past few days. The road was more hilly than I expected, but none of it was all that steep. I planned to do about 10 miles, but felt good so I kept going to make it half marathon distance. I saw a big bodied 2pt buck a couple miles in. I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to get a photo though. I also saw a goldfinch around 6 miles out. They’re Washington’s state bird, but I’ve only ever seen a couple. Besides the bugs and the more common song birds, I had no other company on the run.

It was nice to turn around based on chosen mileage rather than lack of time to beat the sunset. I didn’t have much more time before dark anyway. Wallace Lake was another couple miles past where I turned around. Another time, perhaps.

I had 2x 20oz handheld water bottles, 2 salt caps and about a dozen blackberries from the side of the road. As I was about to back out of the dirt parking spot at the gate, a WDFW officer (fish and wildlife) pulled up. He was just checking on hunting activity in the area. Spoke briefly. I guess a couple more cars were parked there while I was running. I said that I didn’t see anyone.

The gradual ascent and descent (compared to a lot of the trails in the area), were nice. I don’t get too many climbs 5 mile long climbs. More often they’re steeper and shorter, or lots of little rolling ups and downs.

No discomfort from earlier in the week.

Sunday, August 24, 2014, 6:07 pm

10.1 mi, 2656 ft gain, 1:54:47. Wallace Lake via Upper Wallace Falls, Solo. Altra Lone Peak 1.5

Was planning to run the DNR Rd again. Traffic from weekenders heading west on US2 was terrible. Would have taken at least a half hour to go the two miles to the turn off for the DNR Rd. Went to Wallace Falls State Park instead. Steeper than I had planned. Didn’t quite have my climbing legs today, so I took it relatively easy up to the DNR Rd junction toward Wallace Lake. Some power hiking practice on the steep parts. Once to the top though, it leveled out pretty well. My speed legs were just fine today, however. I pushed the pace from the top of the falls to the lake and then back down to the TH. Had a new PR on the descent from the upper falls.

Weekly Totals: 53.1 mi, 7h54min, 7081 ft gain

Running, Trail run, Training Log

August 11-17 Practice Running

Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 4:05 pm


3.3 mi, 96 ft gain, 31:20. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm burmed road, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Legs were still a little tired from Sunday. Loosened up by the end.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 4:05 pm


1.1 mi, flat, 11:01. Down the road and back, solo. Barefoot

It’s been a long time since I ran barefoot. Thought I’d give it a go. A little gravel on my driveway then down the road and back. The road was resurfaced with tar and gravel. Not as smooth as just asphalt, but not too bad.

Thursday, August 14, 2014, 5:10 pm


5 mi, 1949 ft gain, 56:57. Upper Wallace Falls, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Put in a pretty good effort today. It was wet from rain the last couple days. I took it easy on the gravel road starting out. I pushed the pace most of the way up. Got to the top at 32:40, one of my better ascents. Took about 90 seconds break at the top to catch my breath and drink some water. I took it easy for the first couple minutes down, to get my legs back from the hard climb. Also, the stairs at the top are steep and were slippery from the rain. My legs came back, and I started to let go on the downhills. It’s a little tough to go fast with all the switchbacks in a couple sections. Felt great by the time I made it back to the gravel road. I was running about 6:20/mi pace there, which felt easier than normal, so I sped up for the finish. Back to the trail head from the top was about 22:45, which I think is my fastest descent.  I even managed to not trip at all, which might be a first for this trail. Very rarely fall, but trip up when I look up for and at other people on the trail. There weren’t very many other people today.

I was a little unsure how the Superiors would do on the wet trail, but they worked great. One of these days I’m going to push for sub 30 min to the top.

Thursday,  August 14, 2014, 7:30 pm

2 mi, flat, 15:38. In town, with the dogs. New Balance MR10V2.

The dogs needed to get out and burn some energy, and I wanted to loosen up my legs after the earlier run. It started raining just as we started. I was soaked by the end, much more so than the dogs. Their fur repels water better than mine.

Friday, August 15, 2014, 6:49 pm


5.2 mi, 2246 ft gain, 56:10. Upper Wallace Falls, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Legs felt a little better today than yesterday, so I decided to head back to Wallace Falls. Put in a pretty good effort. Saw a couple, mother and young son, and a lone hiker on my way up. Beat yesterday’s time going up by a couple seconds at 32:38, and I even stepped off trail to pee. Took 1:42 at the top before heading back down. Legs weren’t as tired starting back down as yesterday. Still took it easy on the steps at the top. Then let it go. Managed to not trip at all again. Definitely easier when I’m not worried about running into other people. Down time was about 21:50, almost a minute faster than yesterday. Shoes were great. Sometimes my feet slide around in them on steep descents, not as much when I’m going with gravity rather than braking. Opened up a bit on the gravel road back to the trailhead. Went sub 6/mi for a bit of it. Bettered my times on several Strava segments.

Saturday, August 16, 2014, 6:47 pm


5.2 mi, ft gain, 1:14:47. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Took it slow and easy. Went out to Olney Creek to let the dogs splash around. Wandered through the woods a little. Followed some game trails. The dogs scared up a hen grouse and 4 youngsters that I’m guessing were spring chicks.

Sunday, August 17, 2014, 5:40 pm


15.3 mi, 2937 ft gain, 2:52:05. PCT Section K from Stevens Pass, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

My beloved Garmin Forerunner 305 died completely last night. Bought a Suunto Ambit 2 R to replace it. Fairly easy to use, but will take some time to get used to it. My only complaint so far was that after it appeared to get full satellite signal, it didn’t start recording my route until about a half mile later.

And about the run. I got a late start, like all too often. I wanted to make it to Lake Janus. Instead, I decided to go as far as possible by 7:00 pm. I also wanted to go at least 15 mi. I was close when 7 came around, so I kept going. I ran into the only other person on trail right where I turned around, which was still at least 3 miles from Lake Janus.

I didn’t feel that great the whole run, just a little weaker than normal. I think it was at least partially the two hard efforts up Wallace Falls. It was still nice to get out, and the scenery was great. The part of section k I ran today was not as scenic as the part of section J I ran last week, mostly because of the first couple miles that parallel US2, in earshot, though not in view.

After not tripping at all this week, I managed to trip and fall on a pretty flat and smooth section just a mile or so into the run. I didn’t fall hard. I got a little trail rash on my left hip and forearm. I managed all the really technical sections just fine though. They require more focus, so I pay more attention to foot placement.

Weekly Totals: 37 mi, 6h10m, 7723 ft gain.

Running, Training Log

August 4-10 Practice Running

I never got around to writing up my training for August 4-10. I’ve started writing about runs the same day instead. Easier to remember that way.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 6:02 pm


5 mi, 1947 ft gain, 59:17. Upper Wallace Falls, solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, 8:24 pm


3.4 mi, 112 ft gain, 36:24. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
Shake out from earlier run.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014, 5:04 pm


5 mi, 1961 ft gain, 1:02:36. Upper Wallace Falls, solo. Altra Superior 1.5

Thursday, August 7, 2014, 7:58 pm


4.1 mi, 411 ft gain, 48:45. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Friday, August 10, 2014, 4:22 pm


21.1 mi, 5271 ft gain, 4:44:29. PCT section J Stevens Pass south, solo. Altra Superior 1.5
The plan was to go at least 15 miles total, and possibly all the way to Trap Lake or Trap Pass, which would have been a little over 25. I wanted to get back to the car before it was dark, so I kept going until about 6:30. Time came and I decided to push to 10.5 mi and turn around. The last 20 min or so were starting to get kind of dark. I didn’t have much run left in my legs going up the last 2 climbs. So I power hiked a bit. Got some good photos and posted to Instagram. Great run.
Started to feel a little nauseated on the drive home. Stopped at the gas station at Skykomish for some apple juice and salted pistachios. Felt better after that. I’ve been trying to cut back a little on eating and salt during runs. I think I’ve found the lower end of what works. I felt better when I ate more, so I may go back to that.

Weekly totals: 38.5 mi, 7h21m, 9599 ft gain

Running

Practice Breathing

I love running uphill. Recently I started changing up my breathing while climbing. Usually, I’d just stick to my normal pattern, 4 steps in/4 out, down to 2/2, or however fast I can breathe for really tough efforts. Breathing that way, I end up at about 3/3 at the start of a climb and gradually increase my breath rate. What I don’t like about it is that I feel like I’m not getting enough air before my breath rate increases.
Last week I started doing what I can best describe as anticipatory breathing. I anticipate the pending increased use of oxygen during a hard effort and consciously increase my breath rate accordingly. During a tough climb, for example, rather than starting with my flat effort breath rate, which is usually 3/3, I start at 2/2 or maybe 2/1.
I’ve mostly done this on the trail at Wallace Falls State Park, which I’ve run quite a few times. I haven’t done enough experimenting yet, but I feel better at the top of the same climbs than before as well as during the climbs. I can’t say for sure whether it’s made any difference in my speed or actual effort.
Just speculating, but I think it may help some with maintaining speed or effort longer. There will certainly be diminishing returns at some point. I also expect it might help moderating effort over longer distances as well.
I’m sure I’m far from the first person to realize this. It’s still cool when I make a discovery to improve at something I enjoy doing.

Running, Training Log

July 28-August 3 Practice Running

Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 8:28 pm
4.4 mi, 237 ft gain, 39:10. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Felt pretty good. Pushed the pace a bit.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014, 8:32 pm
6.0 mi, 731 ft gain, 58:51. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5


Ran up one of the steeper roads in one of the clear cuts. Watched the sunset and three common nighthawks flying and diving through the air. They were flying pretty close, squawking at me.

Thursday, July 31, 2014, 3:56 pm
6.0 mi, 2750 ft gain, 1:41:31. Heybrook Lookout Triple. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5


My legs craved some climbing, so I headed out to the Heybrook Lookout. It’s about 1 mi and 900 ft elevation gain to the top. Two cars in the parking area when I pulled up. Saw one person coming down on my second trip up. Both cars gone when I got back down. My legs, calves especially, are usually a little tight during the first climb of most runs. This time was no exception. The second ascent was kind of rough. I’m still not sure why. The third ascent felt great though. I had a few huckleberries and salal berries at the top. Finished one 20 oz water bottle each round trip. Swapped out for a full bottle at the car between trips. The ankle held up great on the technical sections.

Thursday, July 31, 2014, 8:08 pm
4.6 mi, 190 ft gain, 46:27. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5


Went out for an easy shakeout run with the dogs. They needed to get out and I like to move rather than sit around and let my legs get stiff.

Saturday, August 1, 2014, 5:36 pm
7.7 mi, 2418 ft gain, 2:38:59. Barclay Lake, Eagle Lake, Townsend Mtn. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

I wanted to run to Surprise and Glacier Lakes. I waited for intermittent thunderstorms to pass over, but when I got closer to the trail head I saw lightning over the area. So I turned around and went back for another shot at the Barclay Lake to Eagle Lake trail, which I didn’t finish a while back.

The trail to Barclay is a pretty easy 2 miles. It gets steep right away after that. I still managed to run the first half or so of the climb. Then there is a boulder field that requires a bit of scrambling and route finding. I followed a couple wrong cairns going more or less straight up, when I should have followed the ones going off to the right. It then continues upward. Then there’s a small stretch of boot path through some brush before another smaller section of boulder scrambling. After that, it’s still steep, but I kept running instead of hiking. The climb from Barclay until you reach tiny Stone Lake is about 0.8 mi and 1400 ft gain. After Stone Lake, there is another little climb up and over the saddle until you reach Paradise Meadow. It was a lot of fun running through the meadow. It’s not too much farther to Eagle Lake.

I had planned to go up Townsend Mountain from Eagle Lake, but it was getting late and I wanted to get back to my car before dark. I decided to go up Townsend a little way to scout for next time. The path up is pretty easy to follow, but not really at all runnable. The rocks are smaller than those coming up from Barclay, but still big enough to require intentional foot placement, 1-3 ft instead of 3-10+ ft. I got up to just below the rock face where descriptions say to go around. I turned back and stopped a few times on the way down to take in the view.

Running through Paradise Meadow. Townsend mountain ahead.
Running through Paradise Meadow. Townsend Mountain ahead.

I made it back to my car just before sunset. My legs felt better than I expected after such steep climbing. Maybe it was partially the easy 2 mi back from Barclay.

Sunday, August 2, 2014, 5:07 pm

~14 mi, 4275 ft gain, 3:52:31. Surprise Lake, Glacier Lake, Pieper Pass. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5


The weather was nice, so I made it out to the Surprise Creek trail head. It starts climbing right away. I found pretty much the whole trail to be runnable. A few steps were a bit high and required some extra help grabbing onto rocks or trees. I passed a couple pairs of hikers and a backpacking family on their way down before reaching Surprise Lake. GPS lost satellite reception a couple times, lots of trees and tall mountains.

There are a few flat sections every so often, but it’s mostly uphill until the short descent to Surprise Lake. I stopped there for a couple minutes. There was a group of friends hanging out by the lake. I chatted briefly with them. They said they were just up for the day. Then I continued on, intending to go to Glacier Lake.

There’s another climb up and short descent to Glacier Lake. The trail links up with the PCT. It’s fairly flat for a while by Glacier Lake. I ended up skipping the lake and heading on up the valley.

I wanted to go up to Surprise Gap, but the trail was abandoned and I couldn’t follow it. I didn’t spend a lot of time looking, though, and decided to go to Pieper Pass instead. The small meadow at the head of the valley is pretty amazing, surrounded on three sides by Thunder Mountain, Surprise Mountain and an unnamed peak across Surprise gap. The trail up to Pieper is pretty rocky until it gets back into some trees and brush up higher. Lots of switchbacks. There’s a small tarn of snow melt about 0.5 mi from the top. The views to the north from the top are amazing. The views to the south are mostly obscured by trees on the south side of the mountain. Pieper Pass is about 5900 ft elevation. I hung out for a couple minutes and headed back down.

Surprise Mountain on the right, Surprise Gap center, Thunder Mountain left. Pieper pass just out of frame right.
Surprise Mountain on the right, Surprise Gap center, Thunder Mountain left. Pieper pass just out of frame right.

I stopped for a couple minutes at Glacier Lake on the way back down. I didn’t beat the sunset back to the car this time. I pulled out my headlamp for about the last mile. The tree cover was too thick to let in enough of the remaining light of dusk to see all the rocks and roots. I tripped a couple times, but managed to stay upright the whole time. I didn’t see any other people after leaving Surprise Lake until the last couple hundred yards when I came across the same group of guys that I saw at the lake.

I ran out of water just before I got out my headlamp. I was thirsty when I got back to the car, but it wasn’t too bad. On the drive home, I started to feel a little nauseated. I haven’t felt like that after a run in several years. I took a couple salt caps during the run, but should have maybe taken a little more salt. Maybe I should have eaten a little more as well. I had 5 medjool dates and 2 small 2in diameter apples for the whole run. I had a little more water and felt better by the time I arrived home.

These trails lived up to the descriptions I’ve read online. I’m glad I continued up to Pieper pass as well. Throughout the day, I stopped for photos and just to admire the scenery quite a few times. I certainly could have run it faster, but I don’t think it would have been nearly as enjoyable.

Weekly totals: 42.7 mi, 8h0m, 10601 ft gain

Ankle is still a little tender, but is holding up great. I’m paying more attention to the trail so I don’t misstep. I’m also running less often in my Altra Lone Peaks. I just feel a lot more stable in the Superiors with the lower stack height. I wish the Superiors had a little more aggressive tread, but they’ve been great so far. I decided to put the removable rock plates back in. Without them, my feet were starting to feel the cumulative effects of the rocky terrain I run. The rock plates add just enough protection without taking away too much proprioception and ground feel.