Where's the Donuts?

Ran in the new year with the annual Slug New Year's Day breakfast. This year about a dozen of us met at the Manchester Library, ran down to the water at Manchester State Park and back, and then adjourned to Doug Stutz's new house for breakfast. It should have been easy buy guys like Brian and Henry were pushing the pace. But we ran in a nice pack and enjoyed a mild weather morning with a little sun. And then went and enjoyed some pancakes. 40:35

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The usual holiday Monday run with Mike. Met at Evergreen Park, when to Lions and then through Stephenson Canyon, then up to Sheridan Road to Perry and back through Manette and downtown. Then a coffee and muffin at Samudra, bless those women for being open this morning. Good pace but nothing fast, a little shorter than we initially planned, but oh well. Good enough for a holiday and a good start to the year. 1:02:40

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Wednesday. You mean Monsoon Day! No thanks. Y treadmill, I would have run 6 but from mile 5 to 5.5 the machine quite three times. I finally got the point and stepped off.

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A small group from the Slug Club hatched an idea for a group trail run when I was talking to Chris Lemke about Green Mountain last week. He wanted to show me another route to the top, so five of us met at the Gold Creek Trailhead this morning. Thick, low clouds and pretty chilly, with a little rain in the air. Not a perfect day, but it's always nice to run in the woods with friends. 

We ran up the Plummer Trail to the junction with Beaver Pond, then took that trail in the opposite direction from what I usually do. Up to the Green Mountain horse camp, then backwards on Wildcat to the Vista loop (where the "vista" was a sheet of white and grey), and back down the Gold Creek trail. It's a good change of pace, and not too different from my usual route in terms of difficulty. It was a little shorter than what I planned, but when you're with a group you stick with the mileage. I bailed on yesterday's run anyway, so this week fell short of my goal even before today. Knowing the Plummer and Gold Creek trails will help me though, it'll be a nice addition to my usual Wildcat route. And Mike got signed up for Chuckanut this morning, so I've got a training partner for the longer trail runs coming these next two months. 1:38:00

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Afternoon Warren-Manette bridges loop on a peaceful, sunny Sunday. Quiet out there, but a lot of walkers (and a few runners) taking advantage of a wonderful winter day. Medium pace, felt good. 38:00

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Manette hills loop. 43:29

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Rain to start, then a break, and rain to finish. Five on my little 11th-10th-Shore Drive out and back. Yoga tonight to loosen up a bit more. 37:16

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The pink sky at dawn and a view of clouds topping Mount Rainier was worth it this morning. When the view is good here, it's really good. Six out to Lions Park, along the water there, and back home. 44:35

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Four easy, meandering through lower Manette, with 6x30 second striders. Racing tomorrow at the Nookachamps 10k up in Skagit Valley, should be a nice morning for a run. 29:09

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The somewhat-annual trip north for Nookachamps seemed promising early in the week: weather was dry but cold, I was feeling good, my dad was in town to join on the drive and watch. The weather report changed Friday, however, and stuck us with a day that qualified as the race's "winter running" advertisement. 

Temp in the 30s and rain and sleet/slush the whole drive up (at least the organizers have the mercy to start the run at 10). Warmed up for two miles in a sideways rainfall, and I have to admit I wasn't really encouraged. But our old friend Dal Wylie was at the gym, so that brightened things. Dal is 70 or so, he's the old dairy farmer who taught me to run long distances for training in high school. He and his farmer buddies had a running group, and Wednesday evenings they'd do 10-15 around the fields or in the hills. He knew my dad, so he started dragging me along; and look how that turned out.

I stripped down and headed to do a few strides in the rain on Laventure, there was a big field as usual. Ran into Mac Cameron at the start line, he's one of my XC buddies from high school who I haven't seen since then. So at least I had a distraction from the weather.

A group of the 10k runners grouped together from the start (there was also a 5k and half). Five of us or so ran a 5:44 first mile, which ends with 1/4 mile or so of an uphill, then blazed a 5:30 second mile, which has a nice long descent. The pack had broke loose at that point, but I kept a guy in orange in sight, since he told me he was running 36:00-pace. I felt good until he turned off Swan Road to the hill that goes up to Baker Heights. A southern wind blew straight in our face at that point, and it was icy. Then the hill comes after 1/4 mile -- that split was destined to suck, so maybe it's ok I missed it. I still had orange guy in sight at the top, but two others had pulled between us. I got my act together on the 4th mile when the course leveled out, though I was feeling the cold and wet. I'm guessing the splits were 7 (or more) and a little over 6 minutes for those two.

At that point I caught a really small kid, he was 15. Really tough kid, he was hurting but he wouldn't let me go. I thought I'd shake him right away, but he stuck with me to the end until I outkicked him. So it was kind of fun to have some competition for the last miles, especially the Martin Road hill (another steep one) and the cruise through the SVC track. I had lost sight of orange shirt and the rest of the top five during mile 5 and actually stopped looking at my watch sometime in there, so it was good to have the kid keep me somewhat focused so I could finish with a good kick. Crossed the line at 37:40, I think I was seventh and maybe second or third age-group, and of course it stopped raining then.

The time was slower than I wanted, but still a faster race than two years ago on the same course, when the weather was gorgeous and sunny. So I'll take it as a positive sign for where I'm at. I do need another 10k this year though, I'd like to see what I can do on a course without so many hills, and maybe on a sunny day.

Mile cool down around the college, then went for some chili -- they scorched it, and ran out of coffee. Boo. So we bagged the awards ceremony and went for burritos.

I stayed in Seattle Saturday night and woke up to a pretty good snowstorm -- so I passed on a recovery run -- but Bremerton was untouched and this morning Mike and I hit the road for a long run. Met at Evergreen Park, went out to Tracyton Dock and back on the Stephenson Trail and then across the Manette Bridge. Added a loop through downtown to get over 10 miles. In the low 30s, but we had dry footing and ran a pretty good clip. The first half of the run was at 7/min. pace according to Garmin, then we backed off some but still finished pretty strong. 1:20:15

I've got a little foot pain on the right, the big toe's metatarsal bone is kind of sore when I step or lift that toe. It's more annoying that truly painful, and I don't feel it with every step. Seems like I've had this before, so I'll wear loose shoes to keep the pressure off during the day (tight shoes seemed to bother it yesterday), and hope for the best. 

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Five or so inches of snow on the ground (which is like two feet anywhere else), 12-hour workdays since Tuesday, and this nagging metatarsal soreness have kept me off my feet most of the week. Yesterday I did break out of work for a bit and went over to the Y, the schools are all closed but the Y stayed open. So I got five on the treadmill. 38:40 

My foot doesn't hurt while I'm running, it's tender on the top of the foot when I have shoes on. Not constant pain, just here and there I'll notice it. So I think it's more like a deep bruise.

Snow is melting slowly now, the city is still more or less shut down but maybe I'll go slog through it for awhile. Hopefully the streets are dry enough for a long run tomorrow, so I can salvage the week.

Five easy on the slushy streets of Manette. Didn't turn out to be much of a week, with the crazy weather and long hours. But that gave my foot some rest, it's still sore and a little tender on top, but I can stride and step without real pain. And the rain has now stopped, so it was nice to get fresh air and a bit of dim sun through the clouds. Mike and I are planning to run longer tomorrow, so that'll hopefully get things back on track. 

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Met Mike at Evergreen Park at 8 -- and it started raining at 8:02. It was one of those cold, icy rain mornings and we really just slogged through the run. We were both sluggish and tired, and complained to each other most of the time. Out to Tracyton dock, then back through Stephenson Park Canyon with an extra little loop through the trail (we skipped the usual creek crossing because neither of us felt like wet feet, which put us on a steeper climb we'd never found before). Then back by Harrison/Manette Bridge/downtown. Foot started hurting on the Lower Wheaton Way downhill, when we picked it up and pounded a little. Other than that not bad, and it hasn't been too sore through the day since. Even though it was a rough run and I've been tired today since, a good start to the week. No watch.

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Post-work five on the Y treadmill, 7:35 pace. No pain in my foot during the run, or after it (so far). 38:10

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Four easy miles on the Y treadmill, then I hooped it up for 30 minutes. It was ugly, but my team won. 

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YMCA loop (not treadmill). 31:20

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Dawn patrol on Beach Drive with Mike, and Brian met us on our way back for extra company. The weather cooperated on the early start, it was cold but the roads were nearly ice-free and we didn't have any rain. We probably pushed the pace a bit in the dark and I wasn't watching all the splits, but we went out to Manchester with most just over 7/min. pace. Coming back we dialed it back some. 1:45:08

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Foot felt fine, and my legs felt much better than during Sunday's longer run. So I think the sluggishness then should be blamed on the snow week. I compared the past month to last January's blog and I feel much more confident for Chuckanut now. I really was a turd last year. There's a trail 25k in two weeks to use as a check in, but this was a good week to get back on track.

Last, I've got to get this one off my chest. I try to always act respectful and keep my mouth shut when people rave about those ridiculous five finger shoes. I don't if I've met someone who wears them who isn't a zealot, and I think it's annoying (plus they are so ugly). So there was a new girl at our club today, and she's a minimalist. Which is fine, I'm not judging her, I'm glad she can get out there. But somehow Mike engaged her about her shoes (she's one of the people who have eight different pairs for every possible activity). She really, truly, used this as an explanation of their worth: "What if there's a zombie apocalypse and you can't get into a Nike store, and you need to run away? Are you going to be able to do it without your running shoes?" Everyone at the table kind of bit their tongue, but holy smokes. I think I'd rather be among the living dead than join the Cult of Vibram.

Five on the Warren-Manette bridges loop. 39:48

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Manette Hills loop. 43:50

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