Where's the Donuts?

Eight with Mike down on Beach Drive. A little drizzly but really warm for January, it was nearly 50 when we started and felt like spring other than the darkness. We pushed the pace a bit, maybe we were just excited to run together and catch up (or it was too dark to check our watches). One quick one to start, then three at 7:10, then a 7 and a 6:48, then back to 7:08 per for the final two miles. Definitely felt like I was pushing by the end there. 

We did begin to discuss the 2010 race calendar. I need to go update now. I'm firm on a 10k up in Mount Vernon in two weeks (Nookachamps, which I'll be able to compare to a 2008 time), then the biggie is the Chuckanut 50k, my first ultra race. That's in March. Also on the schedule is to participate in the Roots Rock trail series as much as possible once it gets started, and likely Bloomsday 12k over in Spokane in May, which would be the "big" race of the spring. Happy New Year, I feel like it can begin now.

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Another mild, cloudy morning. In Seattle, ran the Burke-Gilman Trail from Laurelhurst to Mathews Park and back. 7:30s on the way out (that's an estimate from two little time trials where the path is marked), but I was really feeling it coming home so I let my legs do what they wanted to and got down around 7 minutes. Really felt light and free with my stride, with plenty of energy, even coming a day after another eight miles. Probably time to step into double digits for the winter. 59:00

supernova glide 

Six miles indoors at the Y. Warm enough to run outside, but I hadn't been to the Y in awhile and just felt like going there. I hadn't watched sports highlights in awhile either, so that's the bonus. Started with an eight minute mile, then sped up each subsequent mile until I was running 7:30. So a good brisk pace for indoors, but not too taxing. Really ran free and easy in my legs, especially for the treadmill. Flying to Knoxville tomorrow for work, hopefully I can find a route down South on Thursday.

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Missed my run in Knoxville because it snowed and my body wasn't ready for that 6 a.m. wake up call (my PDT body clock said to me 'You're waking up at 3?'). I ended up in meetings for nine hours plus another five of more-or-less mandatory social time, so between that and travel time I was booked Wednesday and Thursday. 

Friday I flew back, Krissy picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to Discovery Park. Changed in the car and flew out for two laps of the trail in a misty rain. The first we actually ran pretty quickly, I think I had some pent-up energy from sitting on an airplane I needed to blow out. Backed off a touch to make the second more realistic. Still, a good pace overall and 61 minutes of running the trails. (I'm estimating the eight.) 1:01:18

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Skipped Slugs because I really, really needed to sleep in (and none of the other guys were planning on being there). I did my first yoga class instead -- whew. Much more difficult than I was really prepared for, although in a good way. So that got my heart rate up and worked some muscles I tend to ignore. Rested through the afternoon, then went over to Illahee Preserve at dusk with Krissy and ran around with head lamps for awhile. It's really warm and pleasant outside, above 50 and felt like April running in shorts in the dark. So global warming is real, obviously. Easy pace, just getting some miles and working out the muscle soreness from this morning so tomorrow isn't so bad. 29:10 

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After-work quickie at the Y. Started at 7:45 pace for two miles, then three at 7:30. I had a dull muscle pain in my right hip all afternoon at my desk, so I was hoping it would work out through some exercise. It didn't bother me during the run nor is it very painful, but there was some tightness left afterward. Tried to stretch it out, we'll see where it goes. Otherwise a nice finish to the day. 38:20. 

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Another evening run, I slept in. Glad I did, instead of a rainy run or the treadmill, it was a really pleasant evening (for any time of year, but especially in mid-January). About 45 out, no wind, no rain, no cars on the streets of Manette. Really quiet and relaxing out there. Did the loop up Trenton and to the YMCA, which features a few hills. On the way back I cut from Shore Drive back up the Manette Hill on Hayward to add another mile. Trying to add more hills to my schedule in advance of these trail races. Hip felt fine, but a little pain in my left calf. But a great run, kept a good pace through and felt really light on my feet. 37:21

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Four easy (8/min pace) on the Y treadmill. Too soggy outside to get motivated out there, and I've got a big weekend of running coming up (Nookachamps 10k Saturday, 18-mile trail run Sunday) so I just relaxed and got the heart going. Nothing hurts, and it's Friday. 

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Nookachamps 10k and Half marathon, this is a pretty big one for Western Washington in January. I last ran it two years ago, and it's kind of a special race to me because it's at Skagit Valley College, my "home" course growing up. 

Weather could not have been better. And I mean, weather couldn't have been better if it was April. Probably 50, brilliant sunny skies, mountains were out and it was unreal. At least one runner went without a shirt, everyone else in shorts. I ditched the gloves halfway through. 

A few hundred at the start so I started in the first line. Let a group go as the 5k/10k/half started to separate. Hit the first mile in 5:58, which is a touch fast because that includes a slight uphill of 400-600m. Second mile was 5:39, again kind of fast but that has a nice long downhill. The 10k and half split at 2.5, so I turned the corner to head back uphill in 6th, with everyone ahead strung out in a line, and in view. I focused on the 5th place guy and let him pull me up the one significant hill. I was real happy of how I stayed connected with 5th and 4th through that portion, didn't lose a step. After cresting I surged to catch them both and made up some ground between 3 and 5 (miles were 6:44 and a 12:08 for the two -- missed a split there, but rolling out of a hill with back-to-back 6 min/miles was encouraging). There's a short, steep stretch (maybe 250m) heading into mile 5, where I focused on passing somebody. The plan worked, I nailed the guy right as the hill started to crest and zipped by him into the downhill. Really picked it up there and left him in the sawdust (literally, it's a sawdust trail). I had 4th in sight but he had a good surge as well, and weaving through the woods I lost contact.

Headed into the finish smelling a sub-37, but I misread one of the painted turns on the ground and mis-timed my final kick. When I went for it I was looking for the 5k finish, and the 10k had another 200m or so. So I backed off just a bit, content to finish in that place with a good time.

Legs felt great and light, much better fitness than I expected. I wore the Cascadias, which taxed my calves and achilles because the heels aren't up quite as much as with the supernovas. But no big problem there. Bettered my time from 2008 by more than a minute, so that's a great start to 2010. Hung out with friends from the Slugs after the race, and some people from Skagit Valley I knew from growing up. Just a great, great morning.

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The 18 is a little bit of a guess, but it was a long day out there. Krissy organizes the Chuckanut 50k that I'm signed up for in March, so we stayed up in Skagit Valley and went to run the middle 18 miles of the race course. A crowd of 12 showed up, so we had a good crew, and unexpectedly the rain held off (a little blue sky, even). 

A lot of climbing and rolling back downhill, it's a course with some good elevation and great terrain. The hiccup was that one girl fell way back, and lost from the trail. So we broke up into smaller search party crews for an hour or so. We found her eventually, then took back to the course and ran part of it backwards (still found the signature hill and hiked up it, whew). Good run though.

Even coming off a race day, my legs felt pretty good after the first few minutes of getting the blood going. I did hit a fatigue wall at about 2:30, just didn't fuel enough and was a little lightheaded heading up Chinscraper Hill. But I pounded a few bars at the top and got another wind to finish. I don't think running the 50k will be a problem fitness-wise, given how I felt, but I'll need to pay close attention to fueling.

About 4:30 total, but maybe 45 minutes or more we were stopped trying to find that girl (or come up with a plan to find her). So I'll call it 3:30, probably on the conservative side. 

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Six with Mike around Bremerton. Could have taken a day off after the weekend, but it was sunny outside and I couldn't help it on a day off. And my legs didn't feel that sore either, surprisingly (good sign, eh?). Met at Evergreen Park, up the Warren Ave. bridge and then down for a loop around Lion's Park. Back to the Manette Bridge, then a lap of the breakwater at the Bremerton Marina. Felt good, didn't try to push but we kept an honest pace around 7:30 or so. 47:48

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Came up with a new "Manette Hills" route this morning. My house to Trenton, up the hill, cross at Stone Way then up again at Magnuson rather than down by the Y. Then another up at Callahan and back down by Harrison Medical Center. Then back toward Shore Drive, turning back up Hayward to crest the Manette Hill. Back down, and out Jacobson home. 

Good morning for it, rain held off again and it's really warm. Nice March we're having. Legs felt good, kept the pace honest, even pushed a little on the hills. 48:40

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Quick lunchtime run; 11th Street-Shore Drive loop. Pretty good pace, 7:30s or so. 

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Met Henry down at Annapolis, drizzly morning but warm enough for shorts. Lot of Slug cars in the parking lot, which is great to see.

We started right in quickly, Henry has a way of pulling me along at the start like that. Two 7/min miles to start, then 7:08, 7, 7:02, 6:57 (with the last 400m or so uphill), 7:09 (consciously trying to back off, since that one's downhill), then back to a 6:48 and two 7:05s. 

Pretty fast pace for just a mileage run, but we'll get used to it. Finished one bottle of water and a mini Clif bar during the hour, I'll use these runs as fueling practice. Henry said he could feel the breakdown when we were at 8 or so, but I felt strong all the way in, which is pretty good considering it's the highest mileage week I've had in months. Another encouraging sign for 2010. 1:12:08.

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The new Manette Hills loop, this time all the way to the Episcopal Church on Callahan and down to Lebo from there, to add some distance. The hills aren't real taxing, but they are consistent so I think it'll help. Legs felt good and rested, although a little tight, after two days off, on a damp, foggy morning. 

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Foggy, damp morning run out Trenton Avenue to Illahee State Park. It was so foggy that once I got to the park that I just turned off the headlamp, feeling my way through the misty pre-dawn was better than being blinded by the light on fog. But most of the run was on unoccupied roads, so the darkness was fine. Went all way down to the beach on the road, then climbed out on the trail, which has more steps than I thought it would have. Good pace on the roads part, especially the downhills. Body felt great, though I'm a little tired now to start the day. 59:11

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Perfect morning to run: dry, mild, I even started a little later and got to see some light at the finish. No one outside except the garbage man, I ditched the headlamp after getting past Jacobson. But just a shorter, mid-week restful run. I wasn't beat up, but just a little tired from yesterday so I took it easy. Nice pace, 7:30s or so. 37:55

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Beach Drive with Henry and Mike, pushed it up to 12 today. Big crowd of Slugs at Annapolis at 6:30 a.m., which is pretty cool. Mild, rainy morning, high 40s.

Henry, like he tends to do, was out like a shot. We made fun of him -- but the pace stayed where he set it. My watch conked after mile 1 so I don't have splits, but all that he called out (he didn't say every one, couldn't interrupt good running conversation) were sub-7. Based the total time (about 1:22 or so), we averaged around 6:50/mile. Just clipping along this morning, we were really moving well and the pace felt fast but not uncomfortable. I felt fantastic and not really taxed at all, Mike said he was a little drained on the way back but we stuck with it. Finished one water bottle and a small Clif during the run, and my stomach loves me for it. 

That's the end to another really good week for January, if I get a good long run in tomorrow (trail run planned) I'll be within a few of 150 miles for the month, which wasn't supposed to be on my radar until March or so. So a good start to 2010. 

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Finally, what I'd call a true easy, recovery day (but still with some good mileage). I was in Seattle and Krissy and I did a morning run from her house. Burke-Gilman trail east to the UW campus, then up through Ravenna Park to Green Lake. Once around the lake then back to Fremont. We started talking to the woman randomly before the lake, then ended up in conversation and just joined her for the lap, which made the run longer than planned. Thus the nine miles. But, the stranger was slow so it was great to lock in a really easy, conversational pace (8/min or so, maybe a touch over even). Very pleasant outside, and TONS of folks out on the roads. 50-degree weekend mornings are for runners what rainstorms are for earthworms. Legs felt good other than a little twinge in the right achilles, but it loosened up after a stop to stretch. 1:17:00

This concludes my best January since, probably ever. Helps when it's mild every day, Utah didn't offer me that (probably still doesn't). Just shy of 150/miles, so I'm pleased at where I'm at and hoping to pile some on in February to keep this year going well.

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