Tag Archives: Running

Running, Training Log

July 21-27 Practice Running

I ran more than the previous week. I kept mostly to the logging roads. The ankle is still not quite healed. Going to give it a while longer before getting back to the technical trails.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 8:07 pm
7.6 mi, 825 ft gain, 1:18:59. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
Brief stop at Olney creek for the dogs to splash around. Then I wanted to do a little climbing, so I went up the connector hill to the west end for a view of the sunset.

Thursday, July 24, 2014, 7:35 pm
8.1 mi, 1116 ft gain, 1:22:34. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
It was a little misty and foggy. With the rains earlier, the grass and brush were heavy with rain, leaning over the tracks of the road. My legs and feet were quite wet. Ran over the hill to the gate #2 side and back. Climbing was nice.

Saturday, July 26, 2014, 8:09 pm
8.8 mi, 1174 ft gain, 1:27:52. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5
Sun was back. Stopped at Olney creek then headed over the hill and back. Had some decent times on the climb sections.

Sunday, July 27, 2014, 6:24 pm
13.4 mi, 2286 ft gain, 2:18:27. Home to Upper Wallace falls + 1mi by RR. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5
Wanted to get back out on actual trails, but didn’t want to face too many rocks and roots yet. Decided to run to Wallace Falls then up the trail. Around 3.1-3.2 mi to the trail head. To the Upper falls and back, then added a mile along the green belt by the RR before heading home.
I started out feeling good, going a little faster than I expected. I went through the green belt along US2 rather than on the sidewalk. The uneven grass and mole hills wasn’t great for my ankle. The trail was great. I fell once, just after turning off the railroad grade onto the Woody trail. I saw two little boys sitting on a rock by the trail ahead. I looked up just a little too long and tripped. It was sort of a slow motion fall, dirtying my palms and rolling to sit on the trail. Got up after a couple seconds and kept going.
Not a lot of people on the trail for a weekend. It was a good idea to wait, rather than going midday. Pretty good time going up. Took it easy heading down. Turned up the Greg Ball connecting trail to the railroad grade for the return trip. It adds just over 1 mi.
It’s been a while since I’ve been on pavement. I could definitely feel the difference. I don’t miss living in Seattle and all the road running I did then.

Weekly totals: 37.9mi, 5h47m, 5402 ft gain.

Thoughts:
Might try a little more technical terrain in the coming week. The ankle is slowly coming along.

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I Don’t Need a Race to Run: Missing WR50 for Future Adventures

By the time this publishes, runners will be a couple hours into the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run. I was planning to be one of those runners, but after rolling my ankle three weeks ago and not healing quickly enough, I decided against it.

I made the decision last Sunday, and it kind of sucked. All year I’ve had several different goals to look forward to. I ran 50k races in April, May and June as training for a 50 miler this year, which I thought would be WR50.

Without the goal on my horizon my mood took a nose dive during my run Sunday evening. I might even go so far as to say a little depressed. I briefly lost my reasons for running. Considering quitting to do something else even crossed my mind. Focusing on races obscured my real love for just running.

Often when I’m in a negative mood I end up pushing the pace or vert. I pushed the pace on Sunday, not too hard, but it was nice to run faster than I usually do. It did the trick too. By the end of the run my mood lifted significantly. I was running just to run.

Sometime in the next couple days I realized that my 50 mile goal for the year was not specific to any race. I chose WR50 mostly out of convenience. It’s close enough to home and the date worked for me. Really, I just want to complete the distance in one shot.

Since cutting back mileage a bit after rolling my ankle, I’ve been looking over maps at trails I’d like to do. There are a number of trails I could link up for 50 miles, places that I’d like to explore anyway. A few might be a little longer too.

That was part of why I decided to skip WR50. I think I’d probably be alright to finish, but I don’t want to jeopardize all the other adventures I want to go on this year. I’d rather take the time to heal now than potentially be out longer from further injury.

In the meantime, I’ll be sticking to non-technical stuff for a little while longer. And I’m not giving up on races. I like the community and they make great goals to keep motivated, as long as I don’t get so single-minded.

I hope everyone has a great run down at White River. Maybe I’ll be there next year.

Exercise, Health, Running, Trail run

June 30-July 6 Practice Running

Monday, June 30, 2014, 8:51 pm
4.8 mi, 726 ft gain, 54:06. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

I was going to take the day off, but I was itching to get out and run. I decided to time the run so I’d hit some good view spots at sunset. I was still a little tired, so I took I easy. Still climbed up the connecting hill for a little bit of vert. Brought my total June mileage over 170.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 4:05 pm
5 mi, 1892 ft gain, 57:24. Wallace Falls TH to Upper Falls & Back. Solo. Altra Superior 1.5

I was looking for some climbing, but not a very long run. I didn’t push the pace until the last steep section just before the upper falls. Even taking it easy most of the way, I managed to PR going up, 32:30, 2.5 min faster than on Jun 29. I think my previous best was 33:xx.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 8:17 pm
6.4 mi, 339 ft gain, 1:03:28. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

I kept it shorter earlier so I could take the dogs out for a run after it cooled down a little. Ran toward the connector hill, turning around at the turn just past the 2mi mark. Then out to Olney Creek and let the dogs play in the water for a couple minutes. Finished out the loop and back to the car.

Thursday, July 3, 2014, 5:09 pm
7.1 mi 2680 ft gain, 1:45:34. Lake Serene. Solo. Altra Lone Peak

My brother-in-law, AA, posted a hiking picture a little earlier in the day of an old, very large fallen tree stump. I recognized it from the Lake Serene trail. I hadn’t decided where to run, even as I was about to turn on the highway. Left, I’d go to Wallace Falls. Right, Lake Serene. AA’s picture was the nudge it took to pick Lake Serene. I didn’t feel particularly fast, so I tried to keep a pretty steady effort. I’ve started power hiking steep sections more often. I don’t really slow down much, and it seems to help conserve a little energy. Even so, I set several PRs for segments on Strava. There were probably a dozen or so cars in the parking lot, unlike when I’ve gone on the weekends. It was nice without so many people on the trail. I was completely alone when I got to the lake. I spent about 10 minutes up there looking around. Every other time I’ve gone up there, I’ve just stuck to a very small section of the lake before heading back down. I headed over to Lunch Rock, had a snack and some water. I watched the ravens waiting in anticipation. I sat and shared a few moments with the trees, lake and mountains. Then I headed back down. I passed another runner as he was on his way up on one of the many sets of stairs.

Saturday, July 5, 2014, 1:49 pm
21 mi 4579 ft gain, 4:53:41. Dorothy, Bear, Deer, Snoqualmie Lakes, Otter Falls. Solo. Altra Lone Peak

I’ve been to Otter Falls a number of times. Always from the North Bend side, though. I grew up out there, but I never went there until I moved back after the Army. I’ve wanted to get a little bit higher into the mountains as the snow continues to melt and figured this was a good way to do both. It wasn’t that high, maxing out a bit over 3800 ft. I thought it was a safe bet that the snow from the last trip report I saw from two or three weeks ago would be gone by now. There were a couple small patches on the sides of the trail at the top.

I started at the Lake Dorothy trail head at the end of Miller River Road (fs 6412) off US 2 near Skykomish. The parking area was fairly packed. The trail wasn’t too busy, though. I think most people had already made camp. The first few miles were pretty well maintained. After getting part way around Lake Dorothy, there was flagging tape along the rest of the trail. It seemed to mark spots that needed a little attention. Also after those first few miles, the trail started to get fairly rocky. I like technical trails, so I didn’t mind.

As I got to the south end of Dorothy, the trail ran into a 30 ft wide creek. It wasn’t on the map, but I could see the trail on the other side, and it went in the right direction. The water was cold, and my feet felt pretty heavy for a few minutes.

Next was the climb up to the saddle and highest point. Then down to Bear Lake, and a short distance later was Deer Lake. The descent continued to Snoqualmie Lake. I managed to trip on one of the smoothest sections of the day going around Snoqualmie. With just a small abrasion to my left knee, I got up and kept going. Another mile later, I realized that most of my food fell out of my pack when I tripped. I still had enough to finish, but I’d be pushing it, so I decided to continue and look for it on my way back.

The trail continued to descend down toward the Taylor River. On the descent, I rolled my left ankle and felt a small pop. It was a little sore, but didn’t hurt too bad. It was a little tight for a couple minutes, so I took it easy. After a little while, it felt fine again.

Sections of the trail along the Taylor River were a bit overgrown. I passed a few more backpackers. I hadn’t been to Otter falls from this direction, so I started paying closer attention starting at about 10 miles according to my GPS, to make sure I wouldn’t miss it. I wasn’t sure what kind of marking there would be for the turnoff, if any. There’s no official trail up to it. People have marked it with cairns and even homemade signs in the past. There was a cairn and large arrow made of stones. I sat on a log for a couple minutes and ate some food.

I found my food on the way back. That made me happy. I was hiking a little more of the steeper sections as well. I ran out of water between Snoqualmie Lake and Deer Lake. I decided to use my filter and pump some water at Bear Lake. I ran into a group of three backpackers part way around Lake Dorothy. I very vaguely remembered passing them on the way out, but they remembered me. I stopped and chatted for a few minutes before finishing the last few miles.

The trail was more technical than I was expecting. The views and scenery along the trail were awesome. I’ll definitely head back in the future.

I took my hydration pack, an older deuter I’ve had for 6 years or so. I don’t like to wear it usually, but wanted to carry more water and not have iodine flavored water all day. I also experimented with dehydrated food. I dehydrated some bananas, peaches, and instead of my usual “dateorade”, made it thicker and made fruit leather with it. The fruit leather was what fell out of my pack. I liked it a lot. I plan to make more and use it in the future. I’m going to work on portioning it, so I can keep track of calories better.

Sunday, July 6, 2014, 8:02 pm
6.3 mi 815 ft gain, 1:20:24. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

The plan was to do 10-15 miles on trails, but my ankle was sore from twisting it on Saturday. So, I took the dogs out for an easy run. Started slow to let the ankle loosen up. Legs weren’t at all sore, but a little heavy. Let the dogs play in Olney Creek. Headed up the hill towards Wallace Lake, but turned left in the clearcut. Stopped to pick and eat some huckleberries. The dogs found the remains of a predator killed grouse. Just wings, backbone and a couple feathers. Lots of scat along the roads. The ankle loosened up fine, but it will probably still be a few days before I get back to bigger climbs and technical trails.

Weekly totals
50.6 mi, 9h 23m, 11,031 ft gain

Only my second time over 50 miles in a week. Most vert in a week by about 300 ft.

Health, Running

Practice Meditation

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The first time I remember meditating I was about 18 or 19. I was a little late to the teenage angst party, though misanthropy might be a more apt description. I spent a lot of time playing video games, wandering around the neighborhood in the middle of the night with friends and not sleeping.

I can’t remember the exact first time I meditated, but my first meditation memory is a blissful island in a sea of self-inflicted, pseudo misery and the unremarkable around that time.

I had been awake for about 30 hours. I believe it was late spring, and the sun was just rising. I was sitting at my computer desk listening to some random guided meditation .mp3 that I found online. A subtle wave flooded my senses through my open window. A chorus of morning birdsongs carried in on the morning dew by an ever so gentle breeze. While subtle and gentle might not seem like much of a flood, my mind was still enough that, outside of the little world of my bedroom and my open window, there was nothing else.

I believe I had recently read about belly breathing, also called diaphragmatic breathing. As the belly expands on inhalation, the diaphragm contracts creating a small vacuum in your lungs drawing in air. If you watch an infant breathe, you’ll notice their belly rise and fall as they inhale and exhale.

Since that first meditation memory, I’ve had a handful of similar experiences both in and out of practiced meditation. Once, a good friend and I climbed up the side of a very steep hill to a little ledge that we saw while driving some forest service roads. Sitting on that little ledge, looking out over the valley, above all the trees, I felt all of it. I don’t just mean everything that I saw. I felt everything, like I was not just one in a universe of many, but the entirety. I was in the only perfect spot for me at that moment. My friend disappears from my recollection briefly, but he’s there before and after.

After I joined the Army, I didn’t really meditate for several years. I guess I didn’t start again until I got out and moved back to my home state of Washington. I was diagnosed with PTSD just before I got out, but that’s a story for another time. As part of trying to heal, I saw a VA counselor who specialized in mindfulness meditation.

Initially, I got frustrated when my mind would wander, I’d have an itch, or something else broke my concentration. The PSC itching was the worst. Whatever the issues were, I couldn’t seem to meditate how I thought it was supposed to be done.

Anyway, there was one session with my meditation counselor where I brought up my frustrations. After the typical therapy back and forth, she finally told me there was no right way. If my mind wandered, notice it and bring my attention back to the object of my focus, which was generally my breathe and body. If I had an itch, go ahead and scratch if I felt the need.

It was a difficult thing to do. Not only had I been treating it like a challenge to be conquered, but I had several perfect moments like before that I almost desperately wanted to reach again.

We had a shed that a friend and I insulated for a music space where I meditated. I didn’t have the same kind of external experience as before. With practice, I got to where I no longer felt where my body ended. I was my soul, a form of pure energy, or a shape of light. I was not my body or its limitations as it seemed to disappear. I’m not saying that I had a true out of body experience, that’s just how it felt.

For the past several years, I haven’t regularly done much mediation. I’ve done the occasional guided meditation before falling asleep. I’ve also meditated when ill or injured, concentrating on whatever the affliction and thoughts of healing. It seems to work to some degree, and whether it’s a direct effect or similar to a placebo effect doesn’t matter to me. It’s also helpful just as a relaxation technique in those kinds of stressful situations.

Running is my main meditation practice now. The same skills and concentration I learned in mindfulness meditation are incredibly useful while running. I can concentrate on keeping as much of my body relaxed as possible and make necessary adjustments. It also keeps me present in the moment, not thinking about how far I have left to go, which makes a big difference on long runs when I’m out there for 3-4 hours or more. When I’m really present in the moment, I don’t notice much difference between 1 and 4 hour long runs, besides the more worn out muscles.

There are rhythms to our bodies. The circadian rhythm for sleep. The steady rhythm of our hearts beating. Inhaling and exhaling as air passes through our lungs, and oxygen transfers to our blood. There’s even a ratio between our heartbeat and breathing. At rest, the average person’s hearts beats 4-5 times per breath.

When I’m running, I focus on the perceptible rhythms of my body. I’ve developed a cadence of about 180 foot strikes per minute. The swinging of my arms keeping time on the off beat. I match my breath rate to my cadence. For an easy pace: in, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3, 4… A little harder: in, 2, 3, 4, out, 2, 3… Up to running hard: in, 2, out, 2… I even find myself inadvertently marking cadence with my breaths in a slight staccato beat with my foot strikes, rather than a smooth in and out.

With my rhythm section established, my mind constantly scans my body and mechanics. Head straight. Pelvis neutral. How are my feet landing? Step over that tree root, between those rocks. Relax my shoulders. Try to use only the minimally required muscles and relax everything else.

It seems like a lot to keep track of, but it’s become nearly second nature. Then I can start to go over plans, come up with ideas, admire the mountains, relish the sun on my skin, wrangle my dogs, and when I’m truly lucky, have another little perfect moment. Several months ago, I chased a rainbow on a Sunday evening about 14 miles into a 20 mile run. Nearing the end of an 8 mile combination hill and tempo workout, I had about a 5 second burst of very potent “runner’s high.” A couple years ago, I was running on the side of a mountain on an old logging road with a sheer rock face on the uphill side and a very steep drop to the downhill side, with the sun on my skin, bits of snow hiding in the shadowy crooks and crannies of the draw above, to where I was heading, mountain goats up higher still, and the aroma of the sunbaked duff filling my nostrils.

I don’t meditate in a typical manner too often anymore. Running has become my mediation practice.

Exercise, Running, Trail run

June 23-29, 2014 Practice Running

My muscles recovered pretty quickly from the Rattlesnake Ridge 50k. My knees were kind of sore most of the week from pounding the descents, but mostly only when bent further than they normally are when running. My form got kind of sloppy and I had to break a lot on the last descent with all the hikers around. I had planned to run both Saturday and Sunday, but decided to take an extra rest day, for my knees and I was feeling a bit run down.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014. 7:03 pm
6.1 mi, 737ft gain, 1:16:36. Kellogg lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

The dogs and I were a bit restless, and I wanted to get out and get my legs moving. Really the only muscle soreness left was in my glutes. I warmed up after a couple miles. Knees felt fine while running. Let the dogs splash in Olney Creek. Left after the bridge. Right at the rock pit. Left shortly after on a road I haven’t been up. Lots of huckleberries along the logging roads in the the clear cut on the south-facing slope. Stopped for a snack a couple times.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014. 7:53 pm
6.3 mi, 330ft gain, 1:06:53. Kellogg lake Tree Farm Gate #1. With dogs. Altra Superior 1.5

Took the left toward the connector hill, turned around at the first turn on the hill. Then out to Olney Creek for the dogs to play a few minutes. Legs were feeling pretty good, so I pushed the pace a bit finishing the loop and back to the car. The 2 mile split for miles 5 and 6 was faster than I ever ran the Army PT test 2 miles.

Thursday, June 26, 2014. 8:30 pm
3.3 mi, 34ft gain, 28:28. Short road run from home. With dogs. New Balance MR10v2

Really wanted to get out for a run, but knees weren’t recovering as quickly as I had hoped, so I didn’t tempt myself with hills and stayed on the flat roads/sidewalks. Took it fairly easy.

Sunday, June 29, 2014. 3:45 pm
13.8 mi, 2826 ft gain, 2:33:13. Upper Wallace Falls, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake. Solo. Altra Lone Peaks

Should have warmed up first. Lower legs were a little tight until about 4.5 miles in. It had rained the last couple days. Stopped before I started the run, but the trail was still a little messy. Shoes did well in the mud.

Drove to the trail head. Made it to the upper falls in about 35 minutes. Pushed up that last steep climb, so I caught my breath a couple minutes. Continued up the trail to the dnr road and out to Wallace Lake under an hour. Took some pictures, looked around a bit. Stopped at the “pebble beach” at the north end of the lake and ran into a couple of hikers. Went on to Jay Lake, a little bit more climbing. Some nice looking camp sites around Jay Lake. Didn’t find as nice of a beach though. On the way back, I passed the hikers about halfway around Wallace Lake. Return trip from the Upper falls to the trail head was about 23 minutes.

Brought 2 water bottles, a couple ounces of baking dates. Drank about half by the Upper falls. Sipped the rest of the way, finishing just a little before the end. Had a couple bites of the dates at Jay lake. Had one salt cap there as well.

Sunday, June 29, 2014. 8:11 pm
3.2 mi, 33 ft gain, 30:02. Easy Road and Green Belt. With dogs. New Balance MR10v2

Legs a little tired. The dogs were a little disappointed when I didn’t take them on my earlier run. I knew they’d enjoy it and I wanted to stretch out my legs a bit. My legs loosened up a little after the turnaround.

Last year, the city let the grass in the green belt grow high, only cutting it once, and not very short. They’ve had a bit more work done this year. The grass was short enough today that with the few hours of dry weather, it wasn’t too wet and didn’t soak my shoes. I didn’t particularly enjoy running through wet knee high grass last year.

Weekly totals
32.6 mi, 4h 55m, 3959 ft gain

Even if I don’t run Monday, June 30, I’ve hit a personal best for total monthly mileage at 166.3 miles in 28h 35m, and most gain at 33,423ft.