Monday, March 23, 2015, 6:15 pm

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

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

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

Average HR 136 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 6:07 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 119 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 6:36 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 123 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 26, 2015, 3:05 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 139 bpm.

 

Friday, March 27, 2015, 6:35 pm

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 118 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 28, 2015, 5:35 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 113 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 29, 2015, 3:54 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 129 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 61.2 mi, 9697 ft gain.

Monday, March 16, 2015, 6:40 pm

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 124 bpm.

 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 5:13 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 147 bpm.

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 4:03 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 120 bpm.

 

Thursday, March 19, 2015, 5:26 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 127 bpm.

 

Friday, March 20, 2015, 4:46 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 148 bpm.

 

Saturday, March 21, 2015, 3:43 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

Average HR 155 bpm.

 

Sunday, March 22, 2015, 5:15 pm

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

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

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

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

Average HR 115 bpm.

 

Weekly totals: 55.6 mi, 9347 ft gain.