M'kay

2 mile warmup with 0.5 hard.  3.24 miles in 19:16-ish, 5:55/mi, HR 169.  2+ mile cooldown & stretching.

Not an auspicious start to the new year.  ~45 seconds slower than last year.  Conditions were colder this year (~ 18F at the start) but I wasn't fighting a stomach bug.  Didn't taper or take the day prior off though and the course seemed a tad longer this year.  Garmin recorded 3.24 versus 3.15, so perhaps?  Anyway, the first mile felt pretty comfortable (too comfortable), the middle mile was eh, the final hard but manageable and the final .24 on the watch was near a 5/min pace, so a good kick.  

The results?  Good question.  No times posted...evidently the cold weather caused a sticking malfunction on their tracking board.  The announcers called me as 3rd in my AG from their list, but mid-way through their announcements, another list was posted that had me 2nd AG (8th OA).  When I asked about it, I was told theirs was the official list.  When I pointed out that the other list was posted after they'd begun handing out awards, I was told their list of official, for now.  For now?  Really?  Whatever.  

So there it is.  Turning 40 really does slow you down. 

LM warmup, 5.03 miles in 38:07, 7:35/mi, HR 157, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, core workout & stretching.

Aborted an attempt at 6x4 min on/2 min off Fartleks mid-way through the first 4 minutes.  Warmup felt okay, drills meh, and strides fine.  But by minute #2 of repeat #1 my legs were completely dead, lungs out of air, I was spent.  Stopped to collect myself for a few seconds, mentally tried to get back into the game, started back into the repeat and realized it was futile.  Punted on the hard workout, opting instead to finish 8 easy miles but started struggling with those another mile in.  Finally just settled for 5 with a couple of walk breaks.  Guess taking one day off after the race wasn't enough of a recovery, or I'm getting sick, or something is going on.  Hope it doesn't last.

LM warmup, 8.1 miles in 1:01:56, 7:39/mi, HR 156 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

A bit warmer out today....rains to arrive soon and wash the snow away.  Legs still feeling tired and running was an effort....felt uncoordinated and clumsy, especially in the left leg.  Got a bit better towards the end of the run and the hill sprints felt okay.

LM warmup, 12.11 miles in 1:26:33, 7:09/mi, HR 163, w/ 2 mile warmup, 8 miles Steady State (4 uphill, 2 rolling, 2 downhill in 56:58), 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Warmer (40s) & rainy.   41 seconds faster Steady State portion than last week, but slower on the climbs and faster on the downhills, for whatever that's worth.  Still tiring.  Wound up pushing the last 2 miles pretty good too.

LM warmup, 12.07 miles in 1:32:10, 7:38/mi, HR 153, core workout & stretching.

Warmer (48F) & dry.  A comfortably easy jaunt up and down the hill.  Coming on the heels of yesterday's harder 12 miler was a bit tiring, but not too bad.

LM warmup, 7.17 miles in 55:33, 7:45/mi, HR 151 & stretching.

44F with a light rain.  Tired legs today. 

LM warmup, 20.23 miles in 2:45:01, 8:10/mi, HR 149, 2200' elevation change, w/ last 2.23 miles MP, core workout & stretching.

Mid-30s and clear.  Decent run up into Elbe hills.  Intended to go 10 miles over the top via the Ashford route, but after 1 mile of slow skating on the ice near the top, turned around and took a side route to extend the mileage past 20.  Plenty of good steep climbs that I took easy for the most part, so my legs felt surprisingly good by 18 and I decided to push the effort up to marathon pace for the last stretch.

LM warmup, 10.11 miles in 1:16:26, 7:22/mi, HR 153, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, 7 x 4 min on/2 min off Fartleks, 2+ mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

30s & cloudy.  Roads a bit of a mess in spots after snow yesterday, but better than expected.  Only really affected the overall pace in a few spots.  Plan was for 6 repeats but I felt so good (well, okay, not really good, but not nearly as crappy as one normally feels after 5 repeats) that I decided to add a 7th and to push the mileage past 10.   Uphill ones were in the mid-to-upper 6 min range, up and down one at 6:05 and the downhill (last) at 5:35/mi, so I cannot complain.  In fact, the paces were pretty close or better than those I ran two weeks ago on 3 minute repeats.  The last couple of cooldown miles were a bit of a slog though and the legs were definitely tired.

LM warmup, 12.04 miles in 1:34:24, 7:51/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Cool (34F) & cloudy. Legs clumsy and dead.  After 4 or 5 miles they got marginally better but not much.  Then things got worse around mile 9.  Slog to the end.  

LM warmup, 8.05 miles in 1:02:37, 7:47/mi, HR 147 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Drizzle & warm (48F).  Still feeling tired today and legs didn't want to stretch out until after 4 miles or so.  Hill sprints were all pretty strong, but faded on the last couple. 

LM warmup, 12.03 miles in 1:27:17, 7:15/mi, HR 162, w/ 2 mile warmup, 8 miles Steady State (5 uphill, 3 downhill), 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Warm (53F) with some intermittent drizzle.  Nearly aborted this workout after the warmup.  Started the Strides/Drills and the legs were just beat.  Mentally, wasn't there.  Made it all the way back inside before I managed to berate myself enough to go for at least a couple of SS miles.  Took it 2 miles at a time and took a brief (15-20 sec) break between every 2 miles.  Boy, did I need it.  HR was up over last week and body just didn't want to cooperate.  The uphill was the worst, but the final 2 SS miles were still really hard to complete....legs felt like lead.  Pit stop before the cooldown miles.  Now I'm really wiped. 

LM warmup, 8.18 miles in 1:04:13, 7:51/mi, HR 152, & stretching.

Warm again (52F).  Took over 5 miles before my left hip loosened up and the muscles in my left leg quit firing when they should've been relaxed.  Makes for an uncoordinated run.  Need to get the roller out tonight and work some kinks out....hopefully that'll help.

LM warmup, 8.25 miles in 1:05:06, 7:54/mi, HR 151 & stretching.

Tough to get going after 2 days off. 

LM warmup, 10.10 miles in 1:19:06, 7:50/mi, HR 160, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, 4 x 1 mile repeats w/ 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/off repeats, 2+ mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Rainy and cool (38F).   Warmup was slow, strides & drills felt good, but motivation was nearly non-existent.  Mile repeats in 6:38, 6:51, 7:13, and 6:20, with the first three uphill and the last a mix of up and downhill.  3 x 1 min on/off felt good.....short enough that breathing didn't become an issue and fast because they were either on the flats or downhill (5:25/mi, 4:59/mi, and 4:57/mi paces).  Cooldown was necessarily slow.

LM warmup 8.08 miles in 1:04:09, 7:56/mi, w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

HR monitor on the fritz today.  Oh well.  Quick turnover but short stride was the result of yesterday's hard workout today.  Wasn't sure the 1st mile was going to be under a 9 min pace for a while.  Hill sprints were decent but uninspired. 

LM warmup, 12.17 miles in 1:27:51, 7:13/mi, HR 161, w/ 2 mile warmup, 8 Steady State miles (5 uphill, 3 downhill), & 2+ mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Late run again today.  Feeling tired and worn down.  Wanted to quit after the warmup, punted on the Strides/Drills and went straight into the Steady State.  Aside from tired legs/body, not bad.  A slower first mile but the rest were as fast if not faster and did not require the stops every 2 miles.  Legs were getting fried by miles 7 & 8 of the SS portion; otherwise I probably could've pushed through and done 10 SS miles.  But better to leave a bit in the tank. 

LM warmup, 8.13 miles in 1:04:05, 7:53/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

Easy late-day run.  Weather warmer and pretty pleasant.  Not bad aside from the stomach woes from forgetting to take a lactaid dose this morning with my cereal.  Ugh. 

LM warmup, 20.03 miles in 2:38:44, 7:55/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Just plain worn out today but determined to get the long run done.  Spent the morning at puppy kindergarden, so the run was afterwards.  Got 1 mile done then the landscaper showed up unexpectedly to discuss another project that just cropped up.  2.5 hours later, onto the last 19 miles of the run.  A bit flatter than the last long run, but still plenty of climbing.  Fought the general fatigue more than anything.  Glad to be done.

LM warmup, 10.1 miles in 1:17:13, 7:39/mi, HR 154, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides, 7 x 4 min on/2 min off Fartleks (5 uphill, 1 up/down, 1 downhill), 2+ mile cooldown & stretching.

Spent 7 hours yesterday pruning trees, hauling limbs away, raking and doing other yardwork.  We'll call that crosstraining the core and upper body.  Back a bit tweaked but okay.  Warmup slow but decent, drills pretty good, fast strides.  Repeats hurt plenty, more the heavy breathing than the legs getting tired (aside from the last downhill repeat....legs got pretty smoked on that one).  A smidgen faster than the same workout 2 weeks ago. 

LM warmup, 13.03 miles in 1:36:29, 7:24/mi, HR 151, w/ last 6.5 miles moderate (~ MP effort), core workout & stretching.

A good nights sleep.  Decent (shorts & long sleeve tech tee) weather.  Feeling pretty good aside from a small tummy-ache.  Good miles today.  Left hamstring/glute a bit tight for the first couple but things shook out well.  Uphill miles about average but the HR on those was low (mostly in the 140s) so when it came time to push the downhill return I kept the pace in the 6s.  Mostly the low 6s, aside from mile 9 where my concentration obviously drifted (plus, it was flatter than most).  A good medium workout.

LM warmup, 8.5 miles in 1:06:42, 7:51/mi, HR 145 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

A summer's day in January....sunny and 60s.  Nice easy run.  A bit tired so slow going but not too bad.  Hill Sprints not spectacular.  Two stops mid-run, one to chat with a neighbor out cutting up firewood and another so a neighbor could show me a bigger hill to run up.  Added some mileage to the run, but the breaks made up for it.  A bit more concerning is the pain on the underside/outside of my right foot when pressure is applied.  Need to break the ice out tonight. 

Just when things start looking good.......

Hurts to put weight on my foot today.  Managed to talk myself down from what probably would've been an ill-advised and short-lived run.  So here I sit pretty cranky, upset that I'm missing a run on our second unheard of 60 degree sunny day here in WA, hoping that whatever this is heals quickly.

LM warmup, 7.29 miles in 57:27, 7:53/mi, HR 156 & stretching.

After resting foot for 3 days and getting most of the pain to recede, tried to jump back into the schedule with an easy 8 miles today.  Fine until about 6 miles in and then foot started hurting again.  Quit at the house and punted on the remaining .7 to get an even 8.  Not feeling too bad afterwards, so perhaps some ice will help matters. 

LM warmup, 8.06 miles in 1:03:26, 7:52/mi, HR 158 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints, core workout & stretching.

Ah, the wonders of the interweb.  Today, I diagnosed my foot pain as Cuboid syndrome.  Fortunately, when you get a "subluxation" of your cuboid bone, the treatment is highly successful and relatively easy....manual manipulation.  Fortunately for me, I've got a pretty sharp Chiropractor a short 5 minute drive away from my house who's very good at fitting in patients.  After a short phone consult and a quick drive into town, several "ahs" and "hmmms", there was a loud pop (my cuboid subluxation being "reduced") followed by a yelp (me hearing a loud pop coming from my foot) and immediate pain relief.  Unfortunately, the immediate relief was followed by some pretty substantial soreness about 30 minutes later, but definitely better.  

Today's run was done at the direction of my chiropractor.  Well, okay, he said to go try it out and probably didn't mean 8 miles w/ hill sprints, but hey, who's counting?  Decent run, slow turnover on the hill sprints, and very little pain until the end of the run.  Will treat with ice and see if it recedes or if I need another trip in perhaps after a run tomorrow.   

LM warmup, 1.5 miles total.

Foot felt okay before the run but 1/4 mile in was killing me.  Stopped and started the walk of shame back to the house.  About a dozen steps later and it felt fine.  Turned around and got another 1/4 mile before walking back to the house with some lingering pain this time.  Headed down to the chiro, who examined it, did a minor manipulation, then tried a tape job to support the cuboid.  This worked to an extent.....the pain on essentially resolved on that spot and I got about 1/2 mile into a run before the PF started hurting in the center of the foot towards the heel.  A tad over 1 mile total with bearable but not great pain levels.

A work trip over the next couple of days was going to curtail my running anyway, so taking the next 2 days off isn't a stretch.  I seriously hope I don't need more because Boston is looming and I'm not anywhere close to race shape.  Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling that its going to take more than a few days to get this fixed.   

LM warmup, 8.15 miles in 1:04:37, 7:56/mi, HR 160, core workout & stretching.

After 4 days of complete rest, the right foot has now been pain free for 2 days, so an easy run was in order.  Wound up being 2 x 4 mile runs when I stopped to introduce myself to a neighbor I'd not met before at the 4 mile mark.  Foot felt good the entire way, although the typical high HR and felt-like-I've-never-run-before legs were present.   

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:03:02, 7:53/mi & stretching.

Late day run.  Cool but dry.  Legs a bit tired from yesterday.  Garmin's battery was dead so no details. 

LM warmup, 8.16 miles in 1:04:20, 7:53/mi, HR 155, & stretching.

Another late day run.  Chilly outside but dry.  Not quite as laborious as the last couple runs, but the legs were a bit sore in spots.  Maybe tomorrow I'll throw in some fartleks. 

LM warmup, 10.06 miles in 1:15:56, 7:33/mi, HR 163, with 2 mile warmup, Fartleks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1 min on, variable rest, 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Sunny, crisp and dry.  Started off as an 8 mile run where I was planning on throwing in some random fartleks, but I evidently crave structure and after feeling okay on the first surge, decided on an ascending ladder with a fast short one at the end.  Felt good enough to extend the run by 2 miles, so all in all a really good run and perhaps a sign that not all is lost. 

LM warmup, 20.31 miles in 2:41:01, 7:55/mi, HR 159, w/ 2000' climb and descent & stretching.

First long run in a couple of weeks.  Managed a good run in decent weather, although I could've done without the sustained wind gusts of 20-30 MPH.  Decent on the climb outbound, felt tired by the turnaround so the last half was mentally getting myself to maintain a decent clip without dropping into a walk.

At 8am this morning, I pulled over the car (on the way to puppy kindergarden, week 5) to sign up for the Cascade Crest 100, when registration opened.  Good thing I did because *after* kindergarden, I checked and registration had already closed.  So its a good thing that I was able to spend nearly $200 so I can run 100 miles in August.  Yeah. 

LM warmup, 10.01 miles in 1:16:35, 7:39/mi, HR 162, w/ 2 mile warmup, 4 x 1 mile repeats (6:28, 6:01, 6:11, 6:14) w/ 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/1 min off (5:11, 5:21, 5:22/mi pace), 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Spent yesterday traveling from WA to VA, 1 canceled flight, 1 delayed flight, re-routed to a different airport and a long car drive turned a fairly routine flight into an 18+ hour odyssey.  Today, stiff winds blowing off the river made running in certain directions tough.  The first mile repeat was slower because of the winds but because also because I skipped the strides/drills.  #2 was fast with the wind at my back for about 40%.  #3 was mostly neutral, but #4 had about 60% into the wind (average pace for that part was 6:51/mi), 10% wind neutral and 30% with a pusher wind.  All the 1 min repeats were fast and strong and into the headwinds.  All in all given the 2-day sleep debt, the winds, and travel stresses, very happy with this workout. 

LM warmup, 8 miles in 59:19, 7:25/mi, HR 157, & stretching.

Late day in the lab at work, so punted on the longer run and instead ran a progression.  Focused on staying relaxed while really pushing it the last few miles. 

8.5 miles in 1:06:32, 7:54/mi, HR 152 & stretching.

Easy mileage tonight with a co-worker.  Hips, glutes & calves all a bit sore.

LM warmup, 6 miles in 43:21, 7:13/mi, HR 163 & stretching.

Last day of a tough travel week.  Lots of good sleep last night still left me feeling a bit stiff and sore today.  By the time we got out of the lab, it was too late to fit 12 in like I'd planned, so I figured I'd run 8 or so and hit around MP for as many after 2 miles warmup as possible.  That wound up being 4 fairly difficult miles, at which point I called it a night.  Up at 4am to catch and early flight home in the morning. 

LM warmup, 8.08 miles in 1:02:59, 7:48/mi, HR 153 & stretching.

Early morning travel back to WA and a later afternoon run.  Felt okay the first couple of miles but then got a tummy ache and felt a bit nauseous.  Not sure why. 

LM warmup, 12.4 miles in 1:49:42, 8:51/mi, HR 150.

Cut my long run very short today.  No energy to start and I managed to limp thru 12+ miles on the trails but knew more would be futile and I'd be hiking, not running. 

LM warmup, 10.06 miles in 1:17:51, 7:44/mi, HR 157, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, 4 x 1 mile repeats with 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/off, 2+ mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Took yesterday off to try to get over lingering fatigue (and because I couldn't drag myself out the door).  Had a tough time again today.  The mile repeats were pretty brutal.....just no energy for things.  I did manage to force myself through the entire workout.  Lower back tightened up as the workout progressed, so I hope I'm not paying for that tomorrow. 

LM warmup, 12.01 miles in 1:37:51, 8:09/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Abysmal.  No energy.  Took 8 miles to get legs out of first gear and the tranny still kept slipping.  I feel like I've been taking one step forward, two steps backwards for this entire marathon buildup cycle.  

LM warmup, 8.15 miles in 1:04:42, 7:56/mi, HR 148, w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Dead legs again.  HR seems to be reasonable, just no energy in the legs.  Hill sprints were not explosive at all.  Seems like I've lost leg strength that I need to regain.  The snow and cold didn't help much. 

LM warmup, 9.39 treadmill miles in 1:09:53, 7:27/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup (incline 1), 3 x 10 min Tempo Intervals w/ 3 min rest (incline 5), 2 mile cooldown (incline 1), core workout & stretching.

More snow outside so the treadmill was the only option to get a quality workout in.  Plus, I wasn't keen on slipping and sliding in the snow. Turns out the treadmill was actually fairly pleasant......for a treadmill.  Interval 1 was at a 6:32/mi pace, adjusted to 5:48/mi for the incline.  That seems awful fast.  Interval 2 was a 6:27/mi pace, adjusted to 5:45/mi.  That seems awful fast.  Interval 3 was a 6:25/mi pace, adjusted to 5:46/mi.  That seems awful fast.  Notice a trend.  So either the equivalent pace chart I downloaded ages ago from hillrunner.com is skewed, my treadmill speeds/inclines are suspect, gravity isn't directly downwards, or I'm in much better shape today than I was yesterday.  I'm guessing it isn't #4.  But I'll take a good solid workout.

LM warmup, 8.1 frigid miles in 1:04:34, 7:58/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Frosty.  Roads half covered in snow and slush, so ran in my stabilicers.  Felt okay considering. 

LM warmup, 16.1 miles in 2:07:51, 7:56/mi, HR 145, & stretching. 

Another less than stellar long run.  Tired and dragging at the start.  Been getting up early (not sleeping in) on Saturday mornings to take the puppies to dog training, so the long runs don't happen until the afternoon, by which time I'm tired and hungry.  Not to self.....avoid chili before a run.  Emergency pit stop at mile 14, and I mean emergency. At 16, I packed it in.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:01:32, 7:42/mi, 12 x 12 sec treadmill hill sprints (incline 15 at max speed) & stretching.

Not bad for treadmill miles. The hill sprints were interesting.  I could've gone faster if the treadmill supported it, but the first step was tricky since I had the 'mill at full speed while standing on the rails, then jumped on and into a full sprint for 12 seconds, then hopped back the rails.  Guess it was also a coordination test and I managed to pass.

LM warmup, 10.92 treadmill miles in 1:23:39, 7:40/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup (incline 1), 5 x 1 mile repeats w/ 3 min rest (incline 5) (6:21, 6:21, 6:17, 6:16, 6:11, or incline adjusted 5:39, 5:39, 5:35, 5:35, 5:30 using hillrunner.com), 3 x 1 min on/off (incline 10), 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Another indoor session since the snow never turned to rain and the roads were a mess.  The treadmill was actually tolerable again today and I had another good workout.  Suspecting that the mill was on a slight downhill slope because it seemed so easy the other day with the incline set at a fast speed, I broke out a level and discovered that at 0 incline, its actually a tad uphill.  Nice. 

LM warmup, 13 miles in 1:38:57, 7:32/mi, HR 154, w/ last 6.5 miles MP-effort, & stretching.

Warmer and some light rain today (42F).  The roads were pretty clear so back outside for today's run.  Yesterday's run was fatiguing and I was still feeling some of the effects today, but once I got moving things went pretty well.  Pushed the pace on the back half into marathon-effort....the pace isn't really there yet but the effort was good.  Ideally, I'd have another 3 months before marathon day, but I suppose 45 days or so will have to do.  If I can just manage to stay healthy and complete a couple more 20+ mile runs, perhaps things won't be so bad.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:02:10, 7:46/mi, incline 1, w/ 12 x 12 sec treadmill hill sprints at incline 15, max speed (~9.5-10 mph), & stretching.

Long work day, so the run happened late.  Didn't feel up to the dark and the winds, so onto the treadmill.  I'm almost beginning to like the treadmill.  Definitely easier on the legs and the feet.

LM warmup, 9.11 treadmill miles in 1:06:11, 7:16/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x 15 min Tempo Intervals (2.25 mi, 6:40/mi (5:55/mi adjusted) & 2.27 mi, 6:36/mi (5:51/mi adjusted)) w/ 3 min rest, 2 mile cooldown.

Another late day run.  2x15 min intervals this week instead of 3x10 min last week, run a tad slower.  The conversions still seem like they come from dreamland, so I'll just accept another feel-good workout.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:02:16, 7:47/mi, incline 1, & stretching.

Nothing special. 

LM warmup, 20.24 miles in 2:33:14, 7:34/mi, HR 154, w/ 15.24 road miles (until my left foot started hurting) and then 5 more on the treadmill, with inclines ranging from 1 to 3, pushing MP off and on for the last 5 miles at tempo pace the last mile and a quarter.  Stretching and core workout.

At the 90 minute mark, the nausea started again.  Ate a cliff bar, which helped some.  Left foot started hurting around mile 13 and I decided to finish on the treadmill since the goal was to get the mileage in and save the body for more running next week.  Pushed the pace over the treadmill miles but really felt like crap.  Not sure what gives, but these long runs are still the ones that give me the most problems this training cycle.  

The treadmill is helping me run the higher mileage by keeping my muscles, tendons and ligaments healthy, but my legs and feet aren't getting adjusted as well to the beating they'll take on the road.  I suppose being able to run the mileage is better than being hurt, but at some point I'll need to get some more road mileage or I'll fall apart in Boston. 

First 70+ mileage week in a loooooong time. 

LM warmup, 8.05 miles in 1:02:03, 7:42/mi, HR 147 w/ 12 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Legs a bit sore at first from yesterday but loosened up well and a good run resulted.  Hill sprints were meh. 

LM warmup, 11 treadmill miles in 1:23:11, 7:33/mi, w/ 2 mile warmup @ incline 1, 5 x 1 mile repeats w/ 3 min rest @ incline 5 (6:17/5:37, 6:16/5:36, 6:13/5:34, 6:11/5:32, 6:16/5:36), 3 x 1 min on/off @ incline 10, 2.05 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Woke up tired today and it didn't get any better.  Was dreading the workout so even though it was nice outside today, opted for the treadmill later.  The first repeat hurt but I settled in and got through all 5.  Could've probably squeezed out a 6th, but on the 3rd 1 min repeat I was glad I hadn't because I was toast.  Glad I got it done. 

LM warmup, 14 mile progression run in 1:44:50, 7:29/mi, HR 156, w/ last 6 miles moderate (MP) effort & stretching.

Late day run.  Fortunately, the nasty weather didn't get here today, so I managed to catch a nice evening to run in.  Pushed the last 6 miles, most of which was downhill, so my knees and legs are feeling it. 

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:01:36, 7:42/mi, w/ 15 x 12 sec "hill" sprints (incline 15, max speed ~ 10MPH) & stretching.

Legs a bit wobbly today.   

Spent the day with mild to moderate nausea for some unknown reason.  Decided to give the body a break.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:00:56, 7:37/mi & stretching.

Runs like today's remind me why my occupation (sitting in front of a computer all day long) and running can be incompatible.  I obviously did not get up and move around enough today.  Everything was tight and took about 5 miles to loosen up.  Then I pushed the pace a bit. 

LM warmup, 8.14 miles in 1:05:59, 8:06/mi, HR 141.

What a disaster.  Another long run cut way too short.  Just didn't have the energy to run, much less the energy to run long.  I knew it was bad at the start but by 5 miles I was just trying to get enough for a "normal" day.  Even with stopping when I did, my left achilles was sore.  

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:02:46, 7:51/mi & stretching.

Better than yesterday but not by much.  Still tired.   

LM warmup, 11.14 miles in 1:26:12, 7:44/mi, HR 155, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides, 5 x 1 mile w/ 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/1 min off, 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

Wasn't feeling too into this workout, but I needed to get one in on the roads badly.  The strides and drills helped to perk up the legs, but the mile repeats were still brutal.  4 uphill (6:34, 6:57, 7:14, 6:43), 1 downhill (5:51), all hard.  Even the 1 minute repeats were hard...the last 20 seconds or so of each felt like I was drowning and couldn't breathe while my legs just wanted to fall off.  I have the feeling I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:01:42, 7:43/mi, incline 1 & stretching.

Ran out of time for a longer run, so I moved tomorrow's easy run to today. 

LM warmup, 11.76 miles in 1:26:45, 7:23/mi, HR 160, w/ 2 mile treadmill warmup, 3 x 15 min Tempo Intervals w/ 4 minutes rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

One of those brutally honest workouts where you wish you were in better shape but you're just not.  Hopped on the treadmill for the 2 mile warmup, then noticed the skies had cleared and it was no longer hailing, so jumped onto the roads for the remainder.  First interval has a small overall climb, but I was lagging even on the first downhill part.  Really felt like calling it quits then, but pressed on.  Second interval was almost all uphill and I just tried to survive it in as much discomfort as I could handle.  Next.  Third was better, probably because it had a net downhill after the initial 3/4 mile uphill section, but legs were pretty shot towards the end.  Stumbled home during the cooldown.

Dealing with some persistent gastro issues the past few weeks and they seem to be getting worse.  I may need to go get my gut checked out.  Dunno if that's factoring into my on-off energy levels or my fitness levels which seem to bounce around from day to day.

LM warmup, 12.02 miles in 1:35:23, 7:56/mi, HR 143 & stretching.

Legs very tired today, no energy.  Hips & hamstrings very tight the first 4 miles.  Only managed to dip under an 8 min pace when the last 4 miles went pretty fast on the downhill return.  Cut it 2 miles short to save myself for a solid long run on Saturday. 

LM warmup, 8 treadmill miles in 1:02:51, 7:51/mi & stretching.

Took 5 miles to warm up but then things went from slow to okay. 

LM warmup, 24 miles in 3:07:45, 7:48/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

Finally, a decent long run.  Felt more like taking a nap at the start, but was actually a bit better rested than the last couple of weeks.  Made it to the halfway mark without feeling too terrible, so I started having some thoughts of going 24 instead of the planned 22.  Even at the end, I was tired and hungry but could've kept going for another couple of miles.  None the worse for wear afterwards.  About the only issue was GI related and two pit stops took care of that problem.  Now to get a couple more good ones in.... 

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:02:28, 7:48/mi, HR 140 & stretching.

Flying in an airplane the day after a 24 mile run resulted in a very stiff and sore Dale.  Loosened up at the 3.5 mile mark just enough to dip below the 8 min pace. 

LM warmup, 8.64 miles in 1:08:00, 7:52/mi, HR 148, w/ 2 mile warmup, 3 x 1 mile repeats w/ 3 min rest, 3 x 1 min on/off repeats, 2+ mile cooldown & stretching.

Tired today.  Quantity of sleep was good but quality sucked and the time change and the mileage last week and......ok, so I'm whining but the body was tired.  Since this is a travel week, I figured this would be a cut-back week so I'd try to get at least 3 mile repeats in if 5 wasn't in the cards.  The warmup miles were around an 8:30 pace and the hr was low but the effort higher than it should've been.  An unscheduled pit stop, then into the mile repeats.  First in 6:08....plenty of turns and plenty hard.  Second in 6:07, still plenty of turns and was really feeling fried towards the end.  Third was in 6:19, barely hanging on, knowing this was going to be the last one.  Punted on 4 and 5 and dove into the 3 x 1 min on/off repeats, which went okay (5:17/mi, 4:59/mi, 4:52/mi paces), then onto the cooldown which was slow and I was done.

LM warmup, 8.37 miles in 58:49, 7:01/mi, HR 157, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6.37 miles @ MP/effort (7:01, 7:02, 6:42, 6:40, 6:29, 6:28, 2:20 (6:14/mi)), & stretching.

Feeling the mild nausea that's been plaguing me lately again today.  Decided to push thru to get a shorter but decent workout in.  First 2 MP/effort miles tough and just wasn't clicking.  Then the pace dropped at the same effort level into the low 40s....nice.  Then, unexpectedly, the pace dropped for the last 2+ miles into the high 20s.  Very nice.  Finished up and the nausea returned and settled in for the evening.  after having put up with it for this long, I think maybe it's time to go see the doc. 

LM warmup, 8.03 miles in 1:00:46, 7:34/mi, HR 156 & stretching.

Surprisingly good easy miles.  Legs a bit uncooperative at first but the pace was good throughout.  

LM warmup, 9.38 miles in 1:09:54, 7:26/mi, HR 151, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x 15 min Tempo Intervals (2.28 miles @ 6:35/mi, 2.35 miles @ 6:23/mi) w/ 4 minutes rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Tired today and didn't feeling like running this hard workout.  Cool outside with a stiff breeze.  First repeat felt bad.  Second better but still not great.  The last 2 miles of Tuesday's "medium" workout where I was aiming for MP miles were just as fast/faster than these efforts.  Oh well.  Headed back home tomorrow, so an early 4am wakeup. 

LM warmup, 20 miles in 2:33:06, 7:39/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Still tired from travel and the GI distresses of late are really taking a toll.  So much of a toll that it took over 3 hours to get today's run in.  Wednesday's doctor's appointment can't come soon enough. 

LM warmup, 8.15 miles in 1:03:41, 7:48/mi, HR 146 & stretching.

Not bad for the day after a 20 miler.  More GI woes. 

LM warmup, 11.25 miles in 1:26:26, 7:40/mi, HR 157, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides, 5 x 1 mile repeats (4 uphill, 1 downhill in 6:29, 6:50, 6:56, 6:32, 5:40), 3 x 1 min on/off (4:53/mi, 4:53/mi, 4:46/mi pace), 2+ mile cooldown & stretching.

Good sleep the last few days but still felt like crap.  Nearly bailed again after the warmup but took a pit-stop and got back at it.  Repeats actually better than 2 weeks ago on the same terrain...every one of the mile repeats was 5 to 20 seconds/mile faster.  By the time the one minute repeats arrived, I was pretty spent and really suffered the last 30 seconds of each of the short repeats.  Shuffled back the last 2 miles.  

LM warmup, 8.08 miles in 1:02:22, 7:43/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

A long work day so I didn't get a medium workout in.....had to settle for an end-of-the-day easy run instead.  Worn out enough that I almost let my brain talk me out of heading out at all... 

LM warmup, 8 total miles in ~ 1 hour, ~ 7:30/mi & stretching.

Not my day.  My doctor told me he suspects Celiac Sprue is causing my GI distress, so while I wait on blood test results, I get to start a no-gluten diet.  No way to know if all this GI distress I'm dealing with right now will even subside by Boston.  Then, I made it 6.21 miles on my treadmill when it started making awful noises and the belt started bunching up.  Okay, so I shouldn't have expected this ~ $150 treadmill that I bought at Kmart over 10 years ago to have lasted as long or as well as it did, but now?  Really?   

LM warmup, 11.06 miles in 1:18:51, 7:07/mi, HR 160, w/ 2 mile warmup, 9+ miles @ MP & stretching.

MP miles in 7:26, 7:27, 7:36, 7:42, 6:53, 6:16, 6:16, 6:17, 6:11.  First 4 were uphill, 5 was mix, last 4 downhill.  One GI-induced pit-stop at mile 7, otherwise feeling pretty good Gi-wise until the very end.  Rained the entire time.

LM warmup, 8.29 miles in 1:06:55, 8:04/mi, HR 143 & stretching.

Felt pretty wretched the entire time.  Pace reflected the feeling. 

Just wasn't feeling it today.  Body felt wornout, legs beat, and my right knee had a niggle that I didn't like, so it was really easy to push back today's long run to tomorrow.  Plus, Boston's on a Monday, so shifting everything a day to the right this close to the event is probably a good thing anyway.  Finally, tomorrow is a 20 miler with 18 miles at 10% off MP....in other words, a long hard run (to quote the Brad Hudson book).  Need to get my game face on.

LM warmup, 20.06 miles in 2:23:49, 7:10/mi, HR 158 & stretching.

Was still feeling pretty crappy this morning but after lounging around the house for a few hours, got down to business.  Plan was for 1 mile warmup, 18 miles @ 6:40 + 10% = 7:20/mi pace (terrain adjusted), 1 mile cooldown.   Things actually went better than that.....after lurching through the first mile, the body responded to the increased effort and I wound up hitting the half marathon mark at a 7:14/mi pace overall.  Grabbed some gatorade and a GU and pushed through the last 7 miles (including what was supposed to be the cooldown mile) to bring the overall pace down to a 7:10/mi average.  Felt pretty cooked by the end of the run but satisfied that I held it together for as long as I did, especially given the not-so-flat course.  Starting to feel a bit better about Boston.

LM warmup, 8.09 miles in 1:07:54, 8:23/mi, HR 134 & stretching.

8 slow, rainy, cold miles.  Yesterday's run took nearly everything out of me, so today was truly a crawl.  Under-dressing didn't help.  Neither did the GI pit-stop. 

LM warmup, 0.8 mile run in 7:40.

Started the run outside in a cold, light rain.  In less than 100', the rain started increasing and the wind started to blow.  Another 100' and the rain was becoming horizontal.  Another 100' and the rain was nearly completely horizontal and the wind was roaring.  By 0.4 miles, I'd had more fun than I could stand, turned around, and ran back to the house.  It poured the remainder of the day, which I spent inside trying to dethaw my legs. 

LM warmup, 10.26 miles in 1:19:59, 7:47/mi, HR 154, w/ 2 mile warmup, 6 x Strides, 2 x Drills, Fartleks: 12 x 2 min on/off, 2 mile cooldown, core workout & stretching.

After yesterday's weather debacle, I monitored the weather radar and got myself out the door during the first sizeable decent weather window.  So of course it rained and hailed, but not too badly.  Legs were dragging after a really slow Monday followed by almost no running yesterday.  The workout was supposed to be 10 x 2/2 @ half marathon pace, but I wound up running 12 @ 5-10K pace.  I think I just needed to get a hard workout in the legs today and should feel better tomorrow. 

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:02:25, 7:48/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Took a while to warm up but then things were pretty decent. 

LM warmup, 0.5 mile un-timed, 12.54 miles in 1:32:09, 7:20/mi, HR 164, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 x 4 miles @ MP w/ 5 min rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Ugh.  A gorgeous day with sun and decent temps.  Too bad my legs felt so dead and this workout was such a butt kicker.  First 4 mile @ MP section was in 7:24 (up), 7:38 (up), 6:47 (rolling), 6:13 (down).  I was ready to quit right there.  My legs were tired and I was working way harder than I should've been for the last couple of miles.  After regrouping during the 5 min rest period, I went into the second 4 mile @ MP section and ran those in 6:29 (down), 6:29 (down), 6:31 (down), and 6:41 (rolling).  The last 2 cooldown miles were a real slog.  Compared to the last time I ran this workout in a marathon taper (3.18.2010), this plain sucked.  Time to wad this memory up and throw it away.

Tired.  Took advantage of taper and decent weather to cross-train.  Mowed half the lawn.

LM warmup, 14 mile progression run in 1:43:36, 7:41/mi, HR 154, w/ last 3 miles @ HMP/MP (6:17 down, 6:18 down, 6:36 up) & stretching.

Still feeling very worn out.  2 GI pit stops.  Run went better than I figured based on how I felt.  The last (uphill) mile was pretty rough.  Ready for the taper magic to start so I can start feeling better. 

LM warmup, 8.1 miles in 1:01:20, 7:34/mi, HR 147 & stretching.

Sun, rain and hail.  One GI pit stop.  Tired but run started okay and slowly became pretty good.  Was able to stride out a bit on the downhill.  Garmin decided it doesn't want to upload data for the 2nd day in a row, so looks like its time for a hard reset. 

LM warmup, 9.26 miles in 1:07:30, 7:17/mi, HR 159, w/ 2 mile warmup, 4 x 2K @ MP - 15 sec w/ 60 sec rest, 2 mile cooldown & stretching.

Nice weather again.  The 2K repeats were pretty good, but after #3, I had to make another GI pit-stop, so a much longer rest between 3 and 4.  Plus, I was dealing with abdominal cramping throughout most of the repeats, starting out mild with #1 and growing to severe at the conclusion of 3, back to mild to moderate for 4 and the cooldown.  Later in the evening the cramping got worse again.  Tomorrow is my dr's appointment (finally) with the GI doc.

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:02:54, 7:51/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Made it through the entire run without a GI pit-stop and only mild cramping.  Got some meds from the doc while they run some tests to help with matters, but I'll be testing them the next few days to make sure they don't cause other issues.  Legs were a bit stiff and sore from yesterday and moving a pile of woodchips that got delivered today. 

LM warmup, 6.08 miles in 47:36, 7:49/mi, HR 151 & stretching.

Not quite as easy as I would've liked.  Lousy rainy and cold weather.  GI distress was back. 

LM warmup, 5.08 miles in 37:20, 7:20/mi, HR 160, w/ 2 mile warmup, 2 miles @ MP (6:31 - down, 6:55 - up) & stretching.

Blah.  HR way too high for the effort.  Effort a bit too high for MP.  Just feeling a bit whipped, but on the way to Boston tomorrow, so between taking tomorrow as a rest day and keeping things low-key on Sunday, perhaps I'll perk up by Monday. 

LM warmup, 4 miles in 31:44, 7:56/mi & stretching.

Easy run before raceday.  Pleasant weather felt warm and humid.  Effort higher than it should be at this point.  Believe it's a combination of health, fitness, and medicines I'm taking for the GI issues.  Tomorrow will be interesting.  Need to remember that it should be fun too. 

LM warmup, 6.31 miles in 51:38, 8:11/mi, HR 155 & stretching.

First day back after vacation following the Boston Marathon.  Appropriately easy.  GI issues remain. 

LM warmup, 4.03 miles in 33:36, 8:20/mi, HR 153 & stretching.

Rainy.   

LM warmup, 8.11 miles in 1:01:33, 7:35/mi, HR 162 & stretching.

Rain again.  Actually a decent run.  Still a bit sluggish on the uphill but not quite as bad.  Pushed the downhills a bit and the effort was a bit higher but decent.  Quick pit stop at mile 5.5 but otherwise fine. 

LM warmup, 8.18 miles in 1:03:45, 7:47/mi, HR 161 & stretching.

Managed to out-wait the hail and snowstorms.  PS @ mi 7.  Feeling yesterday. 

LM warmup, 8.1 miles in 1:02:26, 7:42/mi, HR 161 & stretching.

Sunny and pleasant.  No pit stop needed today.  Perhaps its because I skipped lunch. 

8 hours of grass cutting and bagging.

8 more hours of grass cutting and bagging.  Tired of yardwork.

LM warmup, 8.26 miles in 1:03:39, 7:42/mi, HR 157, w/ 10 100-250m Fartleks & stretching.

Felt pretty decent despite fasting for some tests tomorrow.  Pit stop at mile 3 but then threw in some fast short fartleks.  Those tired the legs out for a decent short workout. 

LM warmup, 8.09 miles in 1:03:14, 7:49/mi, HR 157 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (63F).  A bit labored but not too bad.  Evidently the prep for yesterday's procedure managed to reset my GI system since I made it through the run without so much as a burble. 

LM warmup, 10.07 miles in 1:15:12, 7:28/mi, HR 155 & stretching.

Late day run.  Felt like crap. 

LM warmup, 8.3 miles in 1:04:24, 7:46/mi, HR 156 & stretching.

Rainy.  GI forced pit stop at mile 3.25.  More cramping later in the run. 

LM warmup, 14 miles in 1:45:26, 7:32/mi, HR 163 & stretching.

Ran up to Forest Road 8 and back in a mix of sun, clouds and drizzle.  Pushed the effort heading uphill, especially the last two miles.  Threw in a couple of early short fartleks up the steeper sections to prime the engine.  Focused on good form, decent stride length, and push-off, so I was working.  Pit stop at the turnaround, then kept things honest headed back downhill.  Legs really started wearing out by mile 9-10 but I managed to keep the effort and pace up through the end.  Probably a good call to run 14 instead of 12 today, but doubt I could've handled much further without falling off pace.  All in all, felt like a good tiring solid workout.

LM warmup, 8.28 miles in 1:05:56, 7:58/mi, HR 144 & stretching.

Feeling the effects of digging 8 42" post holes for a minor fencing addition to the property.  It was easy keeping things easy today, although despite being tired and aching in places I don't normally, the legs felt pretty decent overall.  

LM warmup, 10.14 miles in 1:17:36, 7:39/mi, HR 154, w/ 2 mile warmup, 16 x 30 sec repeats every 1/2 mile & stretching.

Tight to start.  Left ITB and hip were the most problematic but once I started the fast repeats, they loosened up.  The last 2 miles were a real grind....repeats were short enough to stay in good form though.  Time to go mow the grass. 

LM warmup, 12.04 progression miles in 1:31:53, 7:38/mi, HR 154, w/ last 5 miles moderate & stretching.

Sunny and warm.  First several miles were a slow, stiff, uncoordinated struggle. Managed to warm up a bit and push the last 5 miles into the moderate range.  Good run on tired legs.

LM warmup, 8.08 rainy miles in 1:03:45, 7:53/mi, HR 151, w/ 6 strides & stretching.

Did I mention these were rainy miles?  Legs pretty dead tired the whole run.  Managed some pep during the strides but it didn't last long and the pace quickly slowed.  Pit stop mile 6. 

LM warmup, 12.16 miles in 1:31:53, 7:33/mi, HR 156, w/ 4 mile warmup, 6 miles @ Moderate (Steady State) effort, 2 mile cooldown and stretching.

Sunny and warm.  Pit stop at mile 2...new GI symptom today I won't disgust anyone with but I considered bagging the run.  Decided that was the tired me talking and went anyway and managed 6 decent but not great moderate miles, 3 uphill and 3 downhill.  2 mile cooldown was a trudge.  Hope this new symptom disappears quickly or it may lead to a lack of energy very quickly.

LM warmup, 8.27 miles in 1:06:51, 8:05/mi, HR 152 & stretching.

Slow and tired miles today.  Just surviving 8 miles was hard.  The blister on my right big toe is getting worse with every run, so I need to really work on protecting it. 

20.03 trail run miles in 3:17:11, 9:51/mi, HR 150, 3000+' elevation gain & stretching.

Sunny & pleasant day.  Trail run in UW Pack Forest.  Hit some very muddy horse trails, a muddy falls trail, flat & gravel Weyerhauser road, steep Hugo Peak Trail, a previously unexplored 1401 trail (very muddy and very steep downhill), Regeneration/Resevior trail uphill (steep), Windy Ridge Trail (steep and mostly hiking by now), then back out.  3 major climbs topping 3000' of climbing and descending total.  Since I'd only planned on 16 today, I definitely overachieved.  Truly not worrying about pace, dropping to hiking on the steep/muddy parts, and enjoying the day made it all possible.  Was definitely ready to be done at the end.

LM warmup, 8.25 miles in 1:07:57, 8:14/mi, HR 137 & stretching.

Rainy.  Recovery day today....actually easy to keep the pace and effort easy today, no guilt.  Starting to think about lead up races for the Cascade Crest 100.  Also starting to try to figure out where and when to do my trail work. 

LM warmup, 11.02 miles in 1:27:44, 7:58/mi, HR 149, w/ 3+ mile warmup, 8 x 1/4 mile Hill Repeats (~1:35-1:40) w/ walk/jog down recovery, 3+ mile cooldown & stretching.

Day turned sunny and nice.  Been a while since I've done hill repeats and still had some soreness in my legs from Saturday.....but they went pretty well.  Focused on maintaining good form throughout, even when the legs got tired and the air in my lungs ran out.  Not the fastest set I've ever done, but maybe the most productive?  Good workout. 

LM warmup, 14.13 miles in 1:51:44, 7:55/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (60F+).  Ran up into Elbe Hills and back.  Slow going uphill and legs felt pretty wasted by the halfway point.  Managed to beat the 8 minute guy back but not without pushing.

Cardio is feeling good.  Leg strength and endurance needs a bit of time to catch up.  The leap back into 70-80 mile week(s) is putting a load on that's slowing my easy run paces down a bit (and probably my hard workout days too for that matter), but despite a twinge here or there, everything feels good and tired and I know they'll come around stronger for it.  All I need to do is hang in there.

LM warmup, 8.23 miles in 1:05:11, 7:55/mi, HR 153 w/ 10 Strides & stretching.

Sunny and warm again (63F).  Legs still pretty dead but the strides came out okay.  The "heat" is taking a toll, but at least I'll acclimate now.  Hope I've got a real workout in me tomorrow.  Another marathon teleconference at work tomorrow.

GI issues have settled the last few days.  Hate to declare victory too early, but the antibiotic seems to be working.  Wonder what kind of a nasty bug I've had growing in me for months now? 

LM warmup, 12.09 miles in 1:32:23, 7:38/mi, HR 156 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (67F).  4 miles easy, 6 miles moderate (~ marathon effort, 3 uphill, 1 rolling, 2 downhill w/ 10 sec pauses every 2 miles), 2 miles easy.  The heat was something of a factor today.  More of a factor was the nice cooling breeze.....it was also a headwind that seemed to shift directions anytime I did.  Always a headwind.  Surprised this run went as well as it did, considering the poor quality and quantity of sleep last night.

LM warmup, 8.27 miles in 1:08:11, 8:15/mi, HR 149 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (68F).  Slow and easy today, not much more than a jog which was tough enough.  Unless something goes awry tomorrow, topping 80 miles this week.

LM warmup, 24.03 miles in 3:35:31, 8:58/mi, HR 143 & stretching.

Cloudy & intermittent drizzle (52F).  Ran into Elbe Hills and explored some trails.  Memorial to Memorial East to Upper Elkspur (E) to Anvil Loop and back out on FR 8.  Trails ranged from good condition to muddy to downright gnarly....found myself backtracking to pickup the trail more than once, climbing over or crawling underblown down fir trees, crossing streams, avoiding roots and logging debris.  The 4 measley trail miles took quite a while but made the 9 road miles and the 11 fire road miles worth it.  Definitely overachieved on the mileage this week....that is good.

Cross Training.  Set and cemented 7 4x4 fence posts about 40" deep in the holes I dug last week.  Ran out of time on #8.  

Ran out of time to run today.  That and GI distress back in full force.

LM warmup, 8.31 miles in 1:06:10, 7:58/mi, HR 152.  

Felt like starting all over again.  Not feeling too great. 

LM warmup, 14.41 miles in 1:52:15, 7:48/mi, HR 144 & stretching.

First 3.5 miles felt uncoordinated and just plain lousy.  After that started feeling better, so much better that instead of turning around for 8 as planned, I kept going.  Aside from the cold, windy rainstorm I ran thru at miles 11 & 12, finished off feeling good.  One of those runs where you get the runner's high going and don't want to quit.  Much better than yesterday. 

LM warmup, 12.04 miles in 1:28:27, 7:21/mi, HR 157, w/ 4 mile warmup, 8 miles marathon effort & stretching.

Cloudy and cool w/ some light rain.  Decent effort today....2 GI pit-stops.  Hurried the faster portion, especially the downhill return miles needing to get home by a certain time to make a meeting.  Can't complain, especially after yesterday's long-ish run.

LM warmup, 8.27 miles in 1:05:14, 7:53/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Just okay.  GI issues thoroughout the day and I can't find my meds.  That strange uncoordinated leg muscle contraction thing happened the entire run. 

Yardwork cross-training again.  A real butt kicker.

Decided a few days ago to jump into this trail 50K in Portland, OR.  Figured with Cascade Crest 100 a mere 13 weeks away, I really need to get my climbing and trail legs quickly.  Heck, I needed a race to give my training a swift kick in the pants.  I also wanted to try out some of the new gear and food I'd received the other day....the TPL-028 vest, some shot blocs and honey stinger gels....everything you're not supposed to do (i.e. try for the first time on race day).

So up at 4:45 so I could drive down to Portland for an 8:30 start.   Took a couple of "preventative" immodium on the drive down hoping to prevent one of "those" runs (and it worked).  Laced up my one and only pair of trail shoes (which are in dire need of replacement as the outsole nubs are nearly worn away, which I would pay for later) and was off with a large group.

The course was an out and back on mostly single-track trails, with a 10K loop at the far end.  What wasn't advertised was the level of mud on the trails.  The first/last 10K were okay, but the middle 30K were fields of mud in many places.  Glad I didn't decided to just wear some road shoes or I'd still be out there.

First 10K passed reasonably quickly......about 900' of climbing if the race materials were to be believed.  I settled into a decent gear and ran the whole stretch to the first aid station, passing a few folks but content not to exert too much effort.  I wasn't feeling great and was worried about the amount of yard-work I'd put in yesterday.  Downed some of the one handheld bottle I was carrying but not the entire thing, took a gel (mmmm, I like the honey gels!), and chewed on the shot bloc thingies.  The hardest part was getting the package open.

The second 10K was much nicer people-wise.....not nearly as crowded as many were running the 20K and made the turn.  More (mostly) gradual climbing but very muddy and slick in spots.  The trail was a bit more overgrown in areas and I've got the stinging nettles itches to prove it.  Put away the entire bottle, took an S cap, and more shot blocs.  Arrived at the 2nd aid station at the 20K mark, refueled and headed out on the "loop".

Up to now I'd been feeling pretty bleh.  Felt really crappy for the first few minutes out of the aid station due to over-salting a boiled potato.  After I got enough water in my stomach so it was happy again, my legs started feeling better.  This loop was pretty tough.  The downs were pretty steep and the ups likewise.  And they had a mud-slide for us to navigate.  Probably a 40-60 deg slope down that was all mud.  Needless to say I went down 3 times on the descent, and I wasn't alone.  Glenn Tachiyama was at the bottom taking pictures....I sure they were good ones while the mud was still fresh.  Fortunately for me, despite the difficulty of this leg, this is where I started really picking people off.  Leaving the 20K aid station, someone announced I was in 19th place.  I think by the time I made it back to that aid station (now the 30K aid station), I was in 14th or 15th, and I took down 3 more people in the next mile.

The last 20K was mostly downhill....hadn't realized how much climbing we'd done in the 10-20K section, but it was nice not to climb, because by this time my climbing gears were pretty well shot.  The mud wasn't so bad on the way down, aside from the steep stretches, but my hips were really tiring and my feet started really twisting in the mud.  Somewhere in here, my left knee started singing occasionally.....nothing too bad but it was letting he know I'd done something.  More blocs and stingers and water....I was really going thru the water now, as well as popping S-caps every hour.  

At the last (40K aid station), I marked the next 2 runners to pick off.  One was pretty easy...he was close and I nabbed him just as we made the turn from the brief section of fire-road back onto the single-track, but the other had a sizable (4-5 minute) lead.  I spent the last 8.5K or so just keeping up the turnover and trying to hold a decent pace in hopes of catching him.  As I hit the mile-to-go mark, I was just about to concede that I wasn't going to catch him when I looked down a switchback below me and spotted him (finally).  So the last mile was a 6:47 mile on some really rocky downhill stretches where if I'd wiped out it would've done me in good.  I pass him with about 1/2 mile to go but didn't dare let off the accelerator since when I passed I could tell he tried to hang on.  I kept my foot on the floor thru the last 1/4 mile at the end too, and as it turns out wound up a minute or so ahead of him (but it felt like he was on my heels).  4:40:18, good enough for 6th place.

Automatic PR, since this was my first 50K.  Race info said the elevation gain was around 3100'.  Sure felt like more than that.  Garmin said 6438' (I know, unrealistic) but Garmin Connect said 5129', which sure felt more accurate.  In any event, I definitely got some climbing, descending, rollers, and single track running in.  Even got to bomb down about a mile of fire road.  I'm happy with the effort and the result.  A fun race, even if it was a bit muddy at times.  I'm sure I'll be feeling the effects for the next few days.  Since their computer went down sometime during the day, I didn't find out about age group placings before I left, so maybe I'll win or place in my age group.  In any event, a nice training run for my summer buildup. 

More yardwork cross-training, this time cutting grass and planting 2 trees.  Tree #2 was a royal pain, since it was over what was originally gravel driveway.  Whoever laid the driveway base is to be commended....it took about 4 hours to break thru 8" of a 2' x 2' square with a breaker bar.  Yes, I was literally breaking rocks.

LM warmup, 15.19 miles in 2:00:54, 7:58/mi, HR 143 & stretching.

Cloudy with some sunbreaks, a bit humid.  Left for an 8 mile run and wound up with over 15....guess that about says it all.  Took about 5.5 miles to warmup but then just felt like going and going. 

LM warmup, 8.4 miles in 1:06:42, 7:57/mi, HR 141 w/ 12 Strides & stretching.

A very wet 8+ miles.  Never really loosened up and had that uncoordinated leg feeling the whole way.  

LM warmup, 8.33 miles in 1:10, 8:25/mi, HR 146 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (67F).  Slogfest.  Unsure why, but legs were lead and stiff, hips were sore, and energy was completely lacking.  Very unsatisfactory. 

25.54 miles in 4:17:47, 10:06/mi, HR 152 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (76F in the shade and the finish).  Ran up into Elbe hills, Memorial Trail East to Upper Elkspur, west to mysterious Diamond trail, turned around and back to Memorial Trail West back home.  Stopped to refill bottles twice at Little Mashell river headwaters....hope they're clean but no choice in the matter because of the heat.  The trails were pretty gnarly....older clearcuts and older forests were okay to rough, but newer clearcuts had logs and residue all over the place.  Trails are in desperate need of some TLC in many spots, so when I return I really need to contact the organization that maintains them to get my trail hours in on them.  Death march return, barely managing 8 minute miles downhill.  Overall about 9 paved miles, 8.5 trail miles, and 8 fire road miles.  I think this might be good prep for the "Trail for Hell" portion of the Cascade Crest 100.  Too bad I'm so beat up after only 25 miles.

Yardwork cross-training all-day warmup.  8.12 miles in 1:03:31, 7:49/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Warm and muggy (72F).  Poor sleep since the power was out from midnight until about 8 and every little noise kept waking me up.  Spent all day working in the yard, then went for a decent 8 miler.  Now time to finish packing and catch a red-eye to VA.  Good times.

LM warmup, 14.04 miles in 1:51:24, 7:56/mi, HR 150, w/ 20 Strides & stretching.

Hot and humid in VA (85F).  2 total hours sleep on the red-eye so I was very tired.  Went out for 8 but decided running while tired would be good practice for the 100 in August.  The heat and humidity was a bear too. 

LM warmup, 16.12 miles in 2:08:22, 7:58/mi, HR 150 & stretching.

Hot and humid again (87F).  Better rested today but definitely feeling the longer run in my legs from yesterday.  So today I went 2 better.  Now my legs are really tired.  Thank goodness for the water fountain at the pool in the development I ran thru.....at about 11 miles in, my water bottle was empty and I was dehydrated.  Got some water and took a break chatting with the lifeguard on duty.

LM warmup, 8.12 miles in 1:06:55, 8:15/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

Sunny & hot (96F).  A "survive the heat and humidity" run.  I'm actually pretty amazed my pace wasn't slower given the conditions and the fact that my legs are pretty tired.  My only real problem at the moment seems to be some pain in my left foot at the base of the big toe joint.....probably the mileage and the asphalt/concrete around here.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.  Ugh.

LM warmup, 8.01 miles in 1:09:46, 8:43/mi, HR 147 & stretching.

Scorching hot (97F).  A two water bottle run.  Felt like an oven just stepping outside.  Punted on any form of a hard workout, the initial goal was just to survive for 12 miles.  Even with the slow pace, kept needing to drop to a short walk to catch my breath and cool down.  Went thru the water like it was going out of style.  By 6 miles, started battling some light nausea and knew it was time to pack it in.  8 total. 

LM warmup, 15.04 miles in 1:59:11, 7:56/mi, HR 147, w/ 20 Strides & stretching.

88F & humid.  Cloudy and thunderstorms.  Fortunately, the thunderstorms stayed ringed around my running area but didn't really move over my route.  At times I had to change direction to run away from an encroaching cloud or lightning, but overall the run went well.  Made up for only running 8 of 12 yesterday by running 15 instead of 8 today.   

25.01 trail miles in 3:42:06, 8:53/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Mostly sunny, hot and humid.  Started run at ~87F and it was 95F at the finish.  Ran mostly on a mix of dirt bike path and single track trails, with a smidgen of pavement in Newport News park.  Fortunately, most of the run had some shade and there was an occasional breeze.  More fortunately, I ran 3 loops total and was able to stop by the car to refill water bottles and rehydrate.  After the first loop, I stopped in the camp store to buy some bug spray so I wouldn't be eaten alive again.....forgot how nasty the bugs and mosquitoes could be around water in VA.  Was feeling pretty tired for today's run and was really ready to pack it in by about the 10 mile mark so I'm very pleased that I persevered for 25 total, pushing my 2 day total to 40 and my weekly total over 90.  I did go down once, tripping on a root....a nice tuck and roll recovery.  

I'm pretty certain this is the biggest standard mileage week ever, and while the elevation was negligible the heat and humidity was not.  Going to try to get some mid-range mileage tomorrow too, so I can go into the work week with some miles in the bank.

LM warmup, 16.13 miles in 2:21:29, 8:46/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Sunny and blazing hot.  Started at 87F and crawled back inside at 93F (105F heat index), out of water and completely zapped.  Finished the last 4 miles on the treadmill in blissful 70F air conditioned comfort.  Much worse today as there was little shade and I was running on asphalt or concrete for most of the 12 outdoor miles.  That makes 57+ (slow) miles in 3 days.  I think tomorrow will be at easy day.  Fortunately, the weather is supposed to cool a bit and I only have to survive 4 more runs before I get back home.

LM warmup, 8.43 miles in 1:06:57, 7:57/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Cooler (78F).  Welcome relief from the heat.  A second run in the MT 101......really like these shoes, but 8 miles is about all my feet can take currently, and that was running on mostly grass/dirt and avoiding pavement/concrete.  Legs felt surprisingly good after 57+ miles over the past 3 days.  Managed to sneak under the 8 min/mi pace by the end. 

LM warmup, 16.05 miles in 2:06:32, 7:53/mi, HR 145 w/ 8 Strides, 8 x 1 min Fartleks, 8 x 30 sec Fartleks.  Stretching afterwards.

Sunny 78F.  A mid-long run.  Starting at mile 3, ran strides every half mile for 4 miles.  Then alternated 1 min/30 sec fartleks every half mile for the next 8 miles.  Then limped the last 2 miles back to the hotel for a cooldown.  Legs feel pretty cooked. 

8.03 miles in 1:05:40, 8:11/mi, HR 140 & stretching.

Sunny (80F).  Still having trouble getting out of first gear.  First 2 miles were 8:30s, next 2 8:20s, last four finally into the 7:45-8:05 range.  Can't seem to stride out, like all the muscles are tense even when not in the active stage of a stride.  I'll try to stretch some more later tonight. 

LM warmup, 2.75 miles in 24:15, 8:50/mi, HR 138.

Today the mileage and workload hit.  Couldn't get out of the 8:30s for the first mile and by the second had slowed to the 9s.  Just plain tired.  Okay, time to get some rest, fly home tomorrow, and absorb the recent training instead of pushing my luck. 

Up early to fly back home today.  Felt like crap by the time I got back home....tired with a travel headache, so even though the weather was beautiful, I took a nap instead of going for a run.

LM warmup, 16.54 miles in 2:23:02, 8:39/mi, HR 142 & stretching.

Traded heat, humidity, and no elevation change for cold, wet, and lots of elevation change.  Managed a semi-long run and 1500+' of climbing before I started getting too cold. The climbing and descending muscles atrophied from the 2 weeks in flat VA.

8.09 miles in 1:05:37, 8:07/mi, HR 144 & stretching.

Cardio fitness is fine.  Muscular fitness is lacking.  At least I think that's my conclusion, since my legs were tired holding an 8+ pace while my HR and respiration rate were low.  When I finally convinced my legs to "go", it was in the low 7s range, my HR and respiration were still down and my legs were working.   

LM warmup, 12.06 miles in 1:35:38, 7:56/mi  HR 155, w/ 3 mile warmup, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides, 18 x 1 min repeats every 1/2 mile over 9 miles & stretching.

65F.  A real butt kicker today.  Tackling my perceived neuromuscular deficiency and hip tightness with some additional stretching throughout the day and the reintroduction of drills, more strides, and shorter, faster speedwork that focuses on full strides instead of turnover (which I seem to have plenty of).  Legs were already tired after the warmup, the drills/strides helped loosen them up some, then the 1 min repeats really worked them hard.  Its been quite a while since I worked my legs this hard on a workout.  The 1 min repeats didn't really tax me cardiovascularly.....I was breathing hard but in control.....but my legs got tired and I didn't let them slack off any.  I'm sure I'll feel this one in the morning.

LM warmup, 8.04 miles in 1:07:20, 8:22/mi, HR 144, & stretching.

75F & sunny.  Not sure what to make of this run, so I won't make too much of it. Typical first couple of miles where the legs were tight and uncoordinated.  Then they seemed to loosen up some but were very very tired.  Tiredness persisted through the run, but I did manage a decent closing mile given the downhill trend.  Whatever.

LM warmup, 4.54 miles in 37:58, 8:22/mi, HR 138, 2 x Drills, 6 x Strides & stretching.

62F & humid.  Legs felt tired pretty quickly again, along with the uncoordinated muscle contractions.  Managed to get a set of strides/drills in, but when I launched into the Steady State portion, I (barely) managed a mile before I was through.  Legs are just toasted.  Maybe I need a couple of decent days off where I only stretch and do core work.

Trip to the chiro today.  Leg hip was rotated a bit, so perhaps the adjustment helped.

LM warmup, 8.22 miles in 1:04:39, 7:52/mi, HR 152, w/ last 3 miles moderate, stretching and core work.

Cooler  & cloudy (61F).  The rest day helped some but still 1/2 mile into the run the left leg/hip uncoordination returned.  The hip flex muscles felt weak and seemed to be straining at a 8:45/mi pace.  The adductor muscle was tight....feet kept hitting the opposite (planted) leg on its way back to take a stride.  And my left leg strides didn't seem to have any power.  Muddled through that for a couple of miles, stopping to stretch a couple of times.  It got a bit better around the 4 mile mark and by about 5 miles felt pretty good, so I started pushing a bit.  Last 2 miles downhill were in the mid-upper six minute range so I have some good turnover and strides going.  Seems like once I finally warmed up and shook everything loose, things were decent.

So, focus on stretching, hip and core work, especially the left, and see what happens. 

LM warmup, 24.46 miles in 3:45:11, 9:12/mi, HR 141 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (68F).  Late day run today after spending the morning cleaning carpets.  First 3 miles was out and back to the bathroom, then up Scott Turner into the Elbe Hills for some trails.  The forest road got regraded and some quarry spalls spread......so instead of fairly compact roadway, I was dealing with large loose rocks.  Not so much fun.  Discovered a new trail today....Looking to intersect Memorial East instead I found Snoey.  Snoey to John R. (?) to Anvil Loop to Upper Elkspur to Memorial East and back home.  Ran into the guy who spends all his weekends maintaining the trails, so I stopped and chatted with him for quite a while getting the scoop on the trails, got a map, and got a phone number so I can report trees blocking the trails.  He likes maintaining them, but often has difficulty finding the blowdowns......sounds like the perfect job is for me to report the ones I find while out running.  Almost like its not work at all....

Legs pretty spent after today's effort. 

Spent the day doing trail work on the West Boundary Trail inside Mt. Rainier to fulfill my volunteer trail work requirement for Cascade Crest 100.  Aside from the hike into and out from the work site, most of the work was strength training, not cardio.  

LM warmup, 8 miles in 1:09:08, 8:38/mi & stretching.

Left leg/hip still getting tight after about 1/4 mile.  Didn't really loosen up until about mile 6 today, even with stopping to stretch for the first few miles periodically.  Stretching would help for about 100 meters, then the tightness would return.   I guess the good news is that I can still run and things loosen up eventually, but eventually seems to get farther and farther by the day.  I think I need to reboot my leg.

LM warmup, 12.09 miles in 1:36:15, 7:58/mi, HR 152, w/ 3+ mi warmup, 10 x 1/4 mile hill sprints with walk/jog down recoveries, and 3+ mile cooldown.  Post run-stretching.

Cool (68F) and humid.  Stretching and rolling helped last night.....still got tight around the 1/2 mile mark but managed to keep the warmup (uphill) miles under a 9 min/mi pace.  Stopped to stretch a few times and things were definitely better but also definitely not fixed.  Actually, it seemed like my hip flexors and adductors were quickly tired, which seemed to cause the other muscles to start contracting when they shouldn't normally, so maybe this is also muscle weakness and others are compensating.  Likely a mix of both.

Hill sprints went pretty well.  The first 3 were slower....1:38-1:40.  Next was 1:33, but the last 6 were all 1:29-1:31, so I managed to knock some rust off and get some good work in.  The wheels really felt like they came off for the last 2, but the numbers showed consistent times.  The cooldown was a bit of a death march.  On one hand, my legs were shot.  On the other hand, I wanted to get my overall pace beneath the 8 min/mi mark, so the closing miles were all in the low 7s, which was really tough.  No left hip/leg tightness during that stretch, so evidently its just a warmup thing.

LM warmup, 8.07 miles in 1:07:48, 8:24/mi, HR 146, 10 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Rainy (61F).  Left leg/hip got tight and tired again at 1/2 mile mark, more tired than tight.  Labored through that for the next few miles and it got marginally better, but the tired hip flexor/adductor persisted and the pace showed.

Time to add hill sprints back into the mix.  Boy, were they miserably slow.  Okay, I definitely have a muscular fitness issue I need to fix. 

LM warmup, 8.34 miles in 1:08:37, 8:14/mi, HR 151 & stretching.

Waited too long to record this run so I've forgotten most of the details, but the early paces indicate that I'm still having issues with my left hip.  If I recall correctly, I ran for about 2.25 miles and nearly quit, stopped for a potty break, then resumed the rest of the run.

LM warmup, 8.4 miles in 1:12:51, 8:40/mi, HR 148, w/ 3 x 1/4 mile Hill Repeats & Fartleks throughout the run.  Stretching and core work.

Sunny and hot (78F).  Left hip/leg still tight and weak.  Combined with a 3 day no-running break and the sun, today was a run-walk day. Ran a few shorter fartleks during the warmup to try to get the hip loosened up, which worked a tiny bit.  Punted after 3 hill repeats when the left hip really started getting tired and my left hammy started whining.  Threw in a few more 1-1.5 min fartleks on the cooldown headed home just to compensate for the walking/stretching periods and to get it over with faster.

The 3 day break was a check to make sure I wasn't overtraining, causing the hip issues.  Nope.  Actually, not much actual rest, as we spent the 3 day holiday weekend working out butts off spreading about 35 tons of gravel, stretching no-climb wire for fencing, excavating some areas, and all kinds of other work around the house.  Exhausting. 

LM warmup, 14.13 miles in 1:57:15, 8:18/mi, HR 163 & stretching.

Sunny and hot (78F).  Felt much warmer than 78.  Did some extra hip strengthening and stretching this morning, then took some extra time to do a longer warmup with some more hip work before the run.  Marginally better, meaning still tight but mostly just weak, so I spent the early miles concentrating on running relaxed and steadily without stopping to walk/stretch as I've been doing lately.  By the 3.5 mile mark, the legs started gradually loosening up, and while the speed didn't increase much, I did manage the entire 7 mile climb and return without a walk break (aside from a quick 2-step to down some water without choking).  Legs eventually got tired all around and the body followed (especially the shoulders).  Tried to speed up to something resembling a sprint for the final .13.  More stretching and strengthening afterwards. 

LM warmup, 8.08 miles in 1:04:06, 7:56/mi, HR 153, 10 x 12 sec Hill Sprints & stretching.

Mostly cloudy (62F).  Substantial improvement over yesterday.  The left hip tightness was significantly reduced, as was the muscular fatigue and improper muscular contractions.  By about 3 miles, the residual was nearly gone completely.  Even managed to keep the pace under 9 minute miles.  My turnover is still high (188 steps/min) so I focused on reducing that a tad and taking longer strides.  I even managed to get back to a semi-normal pace on the return and snuck below an 8 min/mi average.

Gotta give DLTheo a shout out.  Dunno if it was his suggestion of incorporating the Myrtl routine, or the addition of Hill Sprints, or the increased stretching, or the hip exercises with weights I've added, but whatever it is seems to have me on the path to recovery.  Finally. 

Myrtl/LM warmup, 6.21 miles in 52:39, 8:29/mi, HR 148 & stretching.

Sunny and warm (64F).  Well, 64 felt warm in the sun.  

Two steps forward, one step back.  Left hip was tight again and the gluteus medius muscle was almost immediately fatigued.  Not too worried.....instead of doing the Myrtl routine earlier in the day, I did it right before running and may have over-worked that muscle.  Or perhaps it was moving more gravel early this morning to get the barn stall leveled.  Whatever the case, not too worried about one day.  I did look back through my logs and found references to this tightness as far back as May, and recall my heels knocking the back of the opposite leg as far back as March, so this has obviously been going on for a while and won't get fixed overnight.  

Call me crazy, but I'm going to get up at ~ 2am tomorrow and drive 4 hours to go run a 50K, billed as the toughest in WA state.  At worse, it'll be a good, supported training run on nice single-track with plenty of climbing and descending.  At best, I'll have a good race and it'll jump my fitness up a notch or two.  We shall see....

Decided a couple of days ago to run this race as prep for White River 50 and Cascade Crest 100, since it has a ton of climbing and descending (6800'), is mostly technical single track, and my legs needed to get beat up a bit.  It definitely lived up to its billing as the toughest 50K in the state.

Up at 2am, out the door by 2:30 to drive across the mountains to the Ahtanum State Forest near Tampico, WA.  Made good time (very little traffic, imagine that).  A bit tired since I didn't really taper much, wound up moving gravel yesterday, and only got about 4.5 hours of sleep.  Oh well.

The course follows the Grey Rock trail up and over 2 ridges.  It starts off at about 4600', climbs to 6200' then descends down to 4200' to hit the first aid station at mile 8.  Then it climbs to about 6400', rolls up and down for a bit to the turnaround aid station, then the climbs/descends occur in reverse as we retrace our steps. 

Race started a few minutes late as the briefing ran a tad over and some people showed up late.  New race director this year and evidently one call he made was to move the start line a few hundred meters from the trailhead to give the pack a chance to thin a bit.  He also split the 50K, 25K, and 12K starts.  I whole-heartedly applaud both moves as it made the start fairly reasonable.

First climb was pretty brutal.  Calves were screaming pretty quickly and I don't think my heels touched the ground much.   I was pushing a bit early, pretty much like everyone else, but I actually had a purpose.  My time in this race wasn't so important, but I wanted to push things early a bit to get the legs beat up a bit and to suffer.  I know, sounds crazy, but with a difficult 50 miler and then a still unfathomable difficult 100 milers on the schedule, I really need to get used to suffering.  And if my legs bounce back stronger, it'll all be worth it.  After cresting the first ridge, I let loose a bit on the descent and managed to pass some folks and was doing well until the GI issues hit and I had to make a pit stop.  Discovered later I lost about 4 places there.  Hit aid station #1 at the bottom of the next valley over in 1:22.

The second climb was seriously brutal.  First, it was longer, since the initial descent was longer than the climb.  Second, the rocks were everywhere.  They really should've named this grey rocks 50k because rocks were everywhere.  At times, it was difficult if not impossible to run.  My legs were already feeling pretty beat-up and I was tiring quickly.  I wasn't thinking this at the time, but really, that's what I was aiming for.  Dropped into the run all flats and downhills and reasonable uphills and power-hike the rest mode pretty quickly.  Hit some mud and then snow towards the top, but got rewarded with some nice views.  Finally broke out and hit the short dirt-road section out-and-back to the aid station and here's where I got a chance to size up the competition.  I was 7th when I hit the aid station and 6th when I left at 2:54.

The descent was definitely easier than the climb but the rocks really made things treacherous.  Took a couple of stumbles which made me really cautious since I didn't want to get seriously hurt.  Unfortunately, I had #7 & 8 hot on my heels and I really didn't want to give up a placing, so I pushed pretty hard.  It was warming up and I was putting away the water, but the stinger gels were starting to give me a nauseous feeling.  The boiled potatoes at aid #2 helped, but the feeling really returned on this stretch.  Very glad to hit aid 1/3 again so I could tackle the last climb and descent, but I was surprised (and skeptical) to hear that I was in 5th.  4:06.

As I left aid 1/3, #7 (now #6) came in so I knew lollygagging wasn't an option, but my climbing gear was shot.  I was basically running the rare flats and then running short stretches...a dozen paces here, 1/10th mile there, any time my HR dropped to about 145, even though I was really sucking down the O2.  This climb really hurt, but at least the really bad rocks were gone.  I caught and passed another runner and moved into 4th towards the top, then spotted and nearly caught #3 as we crested the hill.  Unfortunately, he still had a descending gear and mine was slipping badly.  I managed 8 minute miles on the last 2 miles down but I was really risking a wreck as my legs were just shot.  Fortunately, it was enough to hold off the pursuit, so I crossed in 4th place (3rd had me by at least a few minutes....said when he heard me come up from behind at the top of the ridge, he woke up and got busy holding me off, so at least I'm good for something).

So a successful (and pretty painful day).  My feet really got beat up by the rocks, and I was wishing I had a pair of those Hoka One One Bondi B shoes one of the guys was wearing for about 25 miles of the race.  A 10 minute stint in the 40F stream nearby helped, but the 3+ hour drive back home did not.  Time to rest up, heal, and get ready for WR50. 

Recovery day.  Already feeling some pain in the quads and some other leg muscles from yesterday's poundings.  Ran thru the Myrtl routine, which was painful but helpful as it stretched out tight muscles.  Then did yardwork around the house.