Where's the Donuts?

The new Manette Hills loop, though I needed a pit stop halfway through and couldn't find one, so I had to cut it short and hurry home. So, I ended up with a mile less than planned. Medium pace, didn't really have my head in it but that's fine. Really nice moon this morning. 46:00

supernova glide -- 245

Beat the rain today, which was nice. First time out through Lions Park in quite awhile, turned around on Tracyton Beach Road at four miles because I needed to make a pit stop (which was two days in a row after not having that problem for weeks. Weird). That meant the pace was pushing for awhile, I needed to find a place. Ran back across the Warren Avenue Bridge and stopped at Samudra Yoga/Bakery to use the bathroom (I returned to purchase breakfast after showering, so I *was* a customer). Then back over Manette Bridge and along Shore Drive to the trail, then home. Kind of a windy way through that route, which boosted it to a nine miler. Felt pretty good, although the work day that followed was really lousy. 1:08:55

supernova glide -- 254

A 40-minute run around Green Lake in Seattle. A brisk pace plus 8x100 striders on a turf field puts my estimate a bit over 5. Cool, cloudy morning but a nice leg stretch before heading up to Orcas Island for the 25k. 42:00

brooks cascadia -- 91

Although I ran the Fishline 25k trail race last February, I think this was my first "real" trail race at this distance. Orcas Island 50k has 3,500 feet of elevation gain/loss, including a nasty 1,300-foot climb from around miles 4 to 5. I could have been in for a long day, so I didn't really go in with many expectations; wasn't even sure what time was realistic. It was beautiful outside though, so the sunny clear day promised at least a fun experience outdoors. 

I lined up a little further back than I should have with 150 runners (50k had about that many also, I was told), so the first mile of fairly easy terrain and single track was spent weaving around people to get a decent place. I settled with a pack, then took off from them at 2 or so, just after the first light climb. Had no idea of the mountain waiting for me, so two miles later I'm huffing it up Mt. Constitution, legs burning, convinced I'll be caught by that pack and they'll mock me. But I had two people ahead I was focused on, and after hiking for awhile passed one of them when the hill started to level, and hit the summit at 57 minutes. And actually, I had caught a second wind and had a little energy back (but finishing a hill always does that). Grabbed some aid at the summit, enjoyed a 40-second spectacular view of the San Juan Islands and Canadian Rockies (sorry, no camera, and I'm really, really sorry about that), and hit the trail again.

I chase a guy out of the aid station and we booombed downhill. I've never descended quite like that. Just totally free and letting the legs completely loose, banging away on a soft trail with some tight switchbacks. It was a blast, and I knew I was destroying some quads. Oh well. I caught him and we hung a bit, then I dragged him up some smaller rolling hills and we caught another guy. The second guy and I slogged another hill (nowhere near as extreme as the first hald, so I was trying to maintain a better hike/run ratio then) then I left him. But both caught up to me at the last high point, where we met two younger guys confused by an unmarked T. The five us of picked a route and it turned out to be right (whew, especially at that point).

Another downhill there, the two young bucks split so the three of us stuck together. We weren't bombing quite as much then, we knew we were within five or so and I was feeling beat in the legs. But we were chatty, just enjoying the forest and the day, really fun moment of the race there. We hit the base at a pretty decent clip and could smell the finish about two miles out or so. But my legs said 'enough' at that point, they weren't happy with all the downhill. My energy lagged a bit, but not too bad. The legs were just trashed. So I let the two vets go on, dying to stay with them but wanting to make sure I got in. Last two were a pretty easy jog, that was what I had left. Luckily it's mostly flat by then, a nice loop around a beautiful lake. I hobbled up the last hill then cruised down the grassy slope to the finish, really excited to be done.

The cameraderie was pretty great after that, definitely a different feel than most road races. People hung around a long time (part of that is being stuck on an island, I know), sat in the sun (again, another advantage not usually there in February) and listened to a bluegrass band (let's see that, any race but a Rock N' Roll). Then I worked in the kitchen spooning soup and washing dishes and making pizza dough for a few hours (which kept me loose, but I didn't refuel properly, and felt that around 4 p.m. when I crashed). The party kept up until late, just a great time gorging pizza and cookies and sitting around meeting other runners in the Camp Moran Lodge. Just a wonderful time with this little Northwest ultra community.

What I take away is that I'm in pretty good shape for early in the year; much better prepared in terms of fueling than I've ever been; and I'm fairly confident I can tackle the 50k next month and even shoot for a sub-5 hour time. I need a little more hill work, and more long distance runs that pass two hours and maybe get up to three. So there's six weeks of work ahead of me. I'll take it.

Manette Hills loop, I added a few more little side streets and extensions because the other route feels a little short. Should probably map it more closely.

I meant to do a noon run yesterday but got bogged down at work, so this was the first since the race. Legs aren't sore or too tired, my glutes/hips took a mile to loosen up but should be fine now. They almost had to loosen up more when I crossed Perry at Magnuson. A loose pit bull mix was jogging along toward me, and in the pre-dawn those don't look exactly friendly. But he glanced at me, then went on his own morning run. And I went on and finished mine. 51:55

supernova glide -- 261

Quick loop on 11th-Shore Drive, had to cut it short to be at work by 7 this morning. It's going to be a long, long day so I'm glad to get some running in early. 34:06

supernova glide -- 265

Wednesday was as long as anticipated, but incredibly more emotionally involved than planned. Word leaked from another paper in our company that some consolidation is coming (i.e. layoffs), which I got to announce to my employees by forwarding a link to a blog. Fun way to handle things. In any case, swallowing that during a 14-hour day meant yesterday was one to sleep in (or, lay in bed and stare at the ceiling in). 

So today's run was needed. Eight out past Lions Park on Tracyton Beach Road, turnaround at the turn/hill. Medium pace, I'm going to run a 5k tomorrow so that'll be the tempo for the week. Fewer miles this week, but I'll call it recovery from the 25k and be back up next week. 61:05

supernova glide -- 273

A 5k on a rainy morning, what other way to celebrate Valentine's Day weekend. This was one of the races out at the Bangor Sub Base, but a different course from the Turkey Trot I've run there. Smaller crowd, too (probably because they weren't raffling away turkeys, or anything else. Boooo.) 

Looking around I didn't recognize anyone who would be at the top, the high school runners apparently sleep in until track season starts. Good for me, I guess. Mike and I arrive a little late, so we just got about 2 miles of warm-up in. Probably enough, at least I hoped. We kind of chatted right before the gun, planning to hit a few six-minute miles and see what happened.

I took off and got a lead right away, with Mike on my shoulder. We lead the way for just short of a mile, I'd guess, but the course wasn't marked at all (or not accurately, because the two mile markers we did see were so far off -- I know we weren't on four-minute pace -- that they seemed to be for some other event entirely). So one guy moved ahead at five minutes or so, he looked alright so we just stuck within 10 feet of him and let him pull. Felt great though, the first ten minutes zipped by and both of us had plenty left.

I left Mike soon after that point, just slowly crept away to stick with the first place guy. Then on a slight uphill around 13 minutes I felt him tire, so I went for it and separated with 20 steps or something. It went quickly. I felt great, started to push the pedal a little more there to wrap it up, since I knew I was within minutes.

Here's where my guilty conscience is, however. There's a right turn near the end that I took, and a slight hill. Headed up the hill there was a chalk arrow on the right-hand sidewalk, so I figured I was to stay on that side of the street. At the turn I thought was headed toward the finish I kind of noticed marks on the left hand side indicating a small loop around a submarine memorial, but also saw one pointing right, just around the corner. A little confused, I yelled to the Marine who was directing race traffic. He pointed right, so I turned there, headed through the parking lot to the track and finished. Felt great, actually had plenty of energy left when I hit the line. The guy I passed was 20 seconds back.

But, it turns out the Marine screwed up. Me and the top ten or so all turned, when we should have looped the memorial. It would have only been another 75 yards or so, but still, I feel bad. They didn't DQ me, and everybody's Garmin odometers had the course at 3.12 to 3.14. So I'll call it an honest 5k, which feels good because that's the fastest one I've run in years. 2010 continues to offer a lot of promise.

Then a 2.5 cool down with Mike and Justin, it was pouring by that time (rain actually held off during the race). The awards ceremony took like an hour, it was ridiculous.

supernova glide -- 280

Planned to head out for just a few miles with Krissy, she was beat up from a long trail run so I didn't figure we'd run much more than an hour. Through Fremont to Ballard, across the locks and up to Discovery Park. We were both feeling good so we decided to run a loop, and return on Nickerson to the Fremont Bridge. Then we stopped at ate at the PCC in our running clothes. Easy pace, but once we warmed up we were going pretty well. Eleven is a guess, but it was probably close. 1:26:00

brooks cascadia 

Trail run with Mike and Henry at the county land up on Newberry Hill. This is being master-planned as a larger trail system, and it'll be great once that's all complete. We did find some good single track eventually, so you can see the potential.

Parked at Klahowya and took off to the south, not knowing exactly what the trails were like. The fog broke right as we left, beautiful sunny morning in the trees. But the trail early on was absolutely soaked, like flood stage. I've never seen anything like that outside of running through a creek. That's what is was like for the first three miles. Eventually we gave up trying to keep feet warm and just bounded through (where we could, some stretches were really deep). So there's some mitigation needed there. Eventually it lighten up and we hit some forest roads for awhile, wound around not knowing where we were for an hour. A lot of the trail was overgrown, so we went pretty slowly.

After an hour we were back to the starting point, and we took off on another trailhead, heading west from closer to the school. Much nicer trails, still wet but not flood-stage (mostly) and good windy single-track to play on. Again, we weren't sure where we were, so the run turned into a good 90-minute number eventually as we wound around. But we found our way back, got some sense of direction. Fun time on a holiday morning, so who cares if it took a little longer and my feet got wet. Henry had eight on his Garmin, otherwise I couldn't have even guessed what we ran.

My left foot has an odd pain, kind of a structural thing just on the top of the foot. Comes and goes, but felt it after the race Saturday and again today.

brooks cascadia

Out to Illahee State Park, down to the beach, then back to Bachman Park Beach and around on the little Manette trail. Then a few laps around the block to round out 60 minutes. May be just on the shy side of eight, but there are rolling hills that I was clipping along down. 

Still a little twinge on the top of my left foot, but it doesn't hurt when I strike the ground or anything. Other than that felt fresh and light. Seemed like it was light earlier this morning, and even though some low clouds blocked the sunrise, it's nice to see a clear blue sky in the early morning. Great start to the day. 60:00

supernova glide -- 288

Quick five to start a sunny day, it's going to be a bear at work so I wanted to get something in and then be on my way. Wonderful morning to run, the sun is out and mountain ranges on east and west were glowing as I crossed the Warren Ave. bridge. Then through Evergreen to Manette Bridge, Shore Drive and the little Manette trail. Left foot felt fine, easy pace was nice and relaxing. 39:39

supernova glide -- 293

The weekly slug slog with Henry. I figured it would be a great day because our weather is April right now. Past few days in the 50s, completely sunny. Flowers are blooming. 

But it was actually pretty cold to start, 32 out when we hit the road (underdressed, of course). We were planning 16. A few miles in we were warm, and the sun did come up and it was pleasant.

We were both dragging a bit for whatever reason, but that actually really helped slow the pace and get us through without hammering like we tend to. I needed that to back off, since this was my biggest mileage week of the year (48). We started with a couple 7:15s, ran a few right around 7 (but stayed above it), then actually mixed in a 7:30 and 8:00 out by Manchester. Came back at a real conservative, realistic pace, sticking around 7:05 and holding that through the finish. We were tired, but not beaten down tired. Had a gel at mile 8, and snacked on a small Clif between 12 and 14. Overall, 1:56:00.

Went to a 1.5 hour yoga class after breakfast, which was a great way to loosen up and work the kinks out of my legs. That'll help with recovery, and may I'll get a good run in tomorrow now.

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A few more miles than I planned, but when April shows up in February you don't hold back. Took an early ferry over to Seattle and met Krissy and a few other folks at Discovery Park. Three laps around the outer loop in 1:56. We stopped each lap, and ran a pretty easy pace so it wasn't too taxing on the legs. I actually felt fine energy-wise, but my back was pretty sore from a.) yoga yesterday or b.) mowing the lawn yesterday. Hammys were a little tight also, not noticable during the run but definitely when I went to stretch. But a real productive run otherwise, and on another gorgeous morning in the Pacific Northwest. Who cares that the Spring Olympics are getting screwed with this weather, move 'em to Siberia next time. 

The back-to-back high mileage days seems like a good sign for the coming 50k, just four weeks away now. I'm planning to add more hill repeats this week and next to get some of that into my training, and hopefully a few more 2+ hour runs. But I'm feeling confident about it, and downright springy in the legs most days.

1:56

brooks cascadia -- 139

Tracyton Beach Road to the four mile turnaround and back. Easy-to-medium pace, legs a little tired. Glad to take yesterday off. 1:01:37

supernova glide -- 317

Hill repeats on Jacobson. Two mile warmup along Shore Drive, then 8x the 275m (or so) hill on Jacobson. It's not a real steep incline, but a good grade to run hard. Most between 63 and 65 seconds, I lost my head on one in the middle and ran 68 seconds. Felt good to push for a while though. Mile cool down.

47:29

supernova glide -- 323

Didn't really intend for two rest days there, but it turned into one of those types of weeks. I chose to get a few more hours of sleep after some late nights. 

But back on Shore Drive this morning. Drove through a pretty good rain to get there before dawn, then received Henry's text that he wasn't coming. Oof. At least I was already here. I took off alone and did an easy first 1.5 (7:15 pace). 

After that I got into a little groove, working things out in my own head and relaxing my legs. But I wasn't minding pace, and I really got going. 7:03, then two sub-7, then three between 7:05 and 7:10. Decided to keep going to the 8-mile turnaround, the rain had stopped by then and I was enjoying the view of Rainier and downtown Seattle. So I climbed the hill out of Manchester in just under 8 for the mile, and took a quick break to gel up.

Turned around and started quick, definitely felt stronger at that point than a week ago on the same run. Did a 6:49 then a 6:59. Then Henry came along to meet me, wimp. We did another sub-7 mile, then a 7:08 and two more under 7 (one a 6:43, whew). Then another 7:02 to wrap up.

So a pretty quick 16 overall, three minutes faster than a week ago (1:53:08 overall). Not by design, but when those weeks come I guess I take them. I'll count it as a positive sign for my fitness and strength, because I really never broke down or felt winded. Actually finished with quite a bit of energy, probably should have done two more.

Legs and feet good otherwise, and my head is in it. Three weeks to Chuckanut, I'll try to pile some miles on tomorrow for a good back-to-back. Another good week though, 44 miles and had I not skipped yesterday could have had 50. Maybe next week.

supernova glide -- 339

Burke-Gilman Trail from 45th/Sandpoint out toward Matthews Beach, my usual run from Bryce and Bonnie's. Usually Sunday mornings are quiet on this part of the trail, but today I had *competition*. A guy moving pretty well wearing a 'North Central XC 1999' shirt, which means -- if his North Central is North Central College and not North Central High in Spokane -- we may have run against each other in college. Long shot, but maybe. 

Anyway, I really felt pounded in the quads from yesterday's run. That or babysitting a two-year-old last night, maybe that did it. So I was pretty tired, went kind of easy for 25 minutes and stopped before the beach to enjoy the view and stretch. Then returned at a better pace, felt a little more comfortable. Since I cut it short I'm not completely sure of the distance, but six makes sense for a 48-minute run. 

Good start to the week, and a great finish to February. The running year is off to a good start.

brooks cascadia -- 145