Where's the Donuts?

Wonderful New Year's Day run. Mike and I met Chris Lemke and Shari at Gold Creek parking lot, and ran out the Gold Creek trail until it splits with GM6 road. Rather than head uphill on the trial as usual, we took the lower path and then the wider GM6 forest road. That kept us out of the way of horse traffic and let us run side by side slowly and chat. Chris and Shari were running really easy, and we stuck with them (10 min/miles, probably) most of the way before leaving them closer to the horse camp. At the horse camp there was a pancake breakfast, so we paid and had some pancakes and eggs and a small cup of cowboy coffee, then ran back down via Wildcat-Gold Creek trail. We didn't hit the Vista loop, but when we got on the ridge just below the view was spectacular. We saw a silouette of Mount Rainier and the trees of the Bremerton Watershed sticking out from a sea of fog that was blanketing Puget Sound. Pretty incredible scene, and there I was with no camera. Sun never came out down below today, so I'll savor the memory. 

About 8 miles in 1:20 or so. Felt healthy and we sped up a bit and raced on some of the steep downhill. 

Easy five miles on a beautiful sunny winter day. Warren-Manette bridge loop, with a quick stop at Evergreen to look at the scenery. A number of others out enjoying the weather. 

I'm still feeling a little fatigued around 20 minutes in, but that's likely this cold I have. My abductor was a little sore to get started, Wednesday's trailing may have stretched it a bit. Other than that feeling pretty strong for a comfortable pace. 38:50

Illahee Forest with Mike. Comfortable pace from Almira Lot, north route to south then doubled back on Bootleg Trail. Hip flexor/abductors feel fine, though for the second day in a row my ankle has stiffened up following the run. 39:45

Back on the treadmill at the Y, evening run. I can feel a difference from just a few weeks ago, no need to slowly work into a run and no pain in hip flexor/abdomen that I had been dealing with on warming up. Set the pace about 7:45 and ran strong. 31:00

YMCA treadmill on a rainy evening. Very mild soreness early in my abductor. Abdomen feels fine. 35:00

90 minutes of morning basketball at the Y.

When I hurt myself last fall I made my goal to be healthy by the time Nookachamps came around. In that sense I succeeded. This wasn't a fast race, but it was a good run and I felt healthy. Not completely out of the woods, because my groin did stiffen up following the race, but overall very encouraging. 

It was a wet and windy day, and coupled with Nookachamps' relatively difficult course makes it always more of a race to gauge winter fitness rather than do something fast. (Which wasn't the point anyway.) I started back in the crowd with my cousins Eric and Alicia, who were running the 5k. My first mile was likely in the 8/min range, I really focused on an easy start and didn't rush out. My warm-up wasn't long, so I needed the time to get into it anyway. 

After two miles the crowd was strung out, and other than a fierce headwind when we turned south off Swan Road and up the hill through the dairy, things were ok. I consistenty passed other racers, keeping a good pace but certainly in control rather than "going for it." One young guy passed me at the 5-mile mark (which is on the last hill), so I settled behind him maybe 10 yards for the final mile. We picked up one racer, and I probably could have surged to beat him. But I was feeling sporting, since he didn't know the course and kept shouting questions back at me on the last few turns that weren't marked well. I caught him and kind of pointed him through the last little loops, but then relaxed so he could beat me by two or three seconds. 

At the finish the sky really opened up, so I just jogged right through and straight back to the gym. Grabbed a quick drink, found Eric and Alicia and we drove to my parents' house (a mile away) for showers and pancakes. I felt a little worried without a cool down, but nothing cramped up too badly. So all in all a decent day and it's good to have a race under my belt. On the way to being healthy for 2014. 

Met Mike for what is becoming our new little routine. Evergreen Park to Lions Park, back via Manette and downtown loop. Then coffee at Scout Cafe. 

Legs felt very good for the day after a race, and nothing lingering from the heavier than usual effort on Saturday. 42:12

Met Mike at Illahee Forest, ran around at an easy pace for 35 minutes. A little cold, but dry and quiet. Left abductor a little stiff the first 15 minutes or so. 

Just an awful week of running, for no good reason other than too much work getting me bogged down and things spiraling from there. I wish I could turn that around, but now I'm flying to Cincinnati for a week where it's 20 degrees or so, with day-long meetings every day. 

YMCA loop on a quiet, cloudy, chilly Sunday morning. A little tightness in my left hamstring following the run. 

Rocky Point run from Mike's house, with his dog in tow. The hills meant we ranged from 7:40s to 8:15s, but averaged around 8 min/miles. Left hamstring was still a little tight from yesterday, but it felt good the times we stretched out the pace a little. 

Hour of basketball, we actually had 4-on-4 this time and got to run a bit.

Short one on the treadmill after work. 

Morning basketball.

Morning basketball, ran full court with 3-on-3 to get a little extra exercise in. Too bad there's no Fast Basketball Blog for me to be entering these on.

11th Street-Shore Drive, easy pace. A little left hamstring tightness near the end. 

Early morning run w/Mike, we met on a very foggy day at Evergreen Park. Up Warren Ave to Lions, then back via Manette Bridge with a detour through Stephenson Canyon (where we took a wrong turn and had to hike a bit in the creek bed). Left hip flexor a little tight at the start. 

At coffee afterward my peripheral vision when blurry in my left eye for awhile and a slight headache came on. It seemed to calm down after I had a few glasses of water, but still kind of an odd thing. 

YMCA Treadmill, 31:00

YMCA treadmill, felt really energized and light and springy -- but that's probably just the 12th Man afterglow from today's festivities in Seattle. What a day for the region, we've never had a party like that before. 31:00

Snow day in Bremerton, but I got myself over to the Y in the mid-morning for a few miles. I ran into Josh who said his soccer team needed extra guys for an indoor game. So I ran three miles at 7:45/min pace, then played an hour of soccer. Pretty good workout. 

Morning basketball, and a little weight lifting.

Met Mike at Evergreen Park for what's become our usual weekend run. Better pace than lately, though my left hip flexor was a little sore to finish. I'm still struggling to get into a rhythm; playing basketball 2x-3x per week is at least helping me feel in shape. But it's not enough and I'm feeling a little frustrated with myself. 

Quick run around the neighborhood before church to take advantage of a small sun window. Two hours later is was POURING and that didn't let up. 

Mike and I met Chris and Sherri at Banner Forest. The night's huge rainstorm left the trails pretty wet and sloppy, so there was a lot of stop-and-go running to navigate puddles. So 7 miles is a total ballpark figure on the mileage. But it was a nice run and the rain let off after we got going. 

Left hip flexor and groin got a little sore after 45 minutes or so, which is a bit troubling. On the other hand, I've been neglecting the stretching/ice/exercises that I should continue doing even though I feel like I'm out of the woods. 

1:25; brooks cascadia 

Quick one on 11th-Shore Drive before work. 

Illahee Forest, just about all alone in there for about 5 miles at an easy pace.

Met Mike at Evergreen-Rotary for the usual early Sunday morning run. That's the last for the usual though, Mike has knee surgery this week then moves to Japan two weeks later. The challenge of getting in shape this spring gets a little tougher without a training partner. 

YMCA loop.

YMCA treadmill after work.

Up in Skagit Valley to visit the folks. Four on the SVC trail in the morning.

Just a quick one around the neighborhood on a foggy, dark morning before work. 

Easy neighborhood run in the a.m.

An hour of basketball at the Y.

Tony Epps is doing pretty heavy weekend trail mileage for upcoming 50k and 50 mile races, so I joined him on his short day at Newberry Hill park. Left in a rainstorm in the dark and felt our way through the trails east of Klahowya, including a series of four pretty steep hills I'd never been on back there (and won't again soon, since he led me there in the dark). After 6 miles we crossed to the west side, found some pretty deep overflows by the beaver pond and got wet, and wound around Wolf Ridge. Really nice run overall, we started slowly but for portions of the last four miles we were hitting 7:30 pace, which surprised me. 

I was pretty wiped by the end, and my hip flexor and groin were fatigued. Stretched and iced at home and they weren't a problem during the day. Good to have a nice long run like that. 

Illahee Preserve, 35:00

Morning basketball

11th-Shore Drive. 24:00

Morning basketball

Warren-Manette bridge loop. 37:00

After a year or something, it's time to resume the blog and see if this can help with a little discipline. I've become a 3-4 times a week runner who doesn't race; I'm hoping maybe I'm not that guy just yet. 

Illahee Preserve loop on a quiet Sunday afternoon (everyone else was indoors watching the Seahawks lose; Bears fans had the trails to themselves). 30:00 

Monday morning basketball at the Y. This has been my main exercise the past six months. We have a good twice-a-week game going. Usually 3-on-3 for an hour; sometimes we get fours and can run the floor, which is fun. 

Late morning run because I'm working a later shift. YMCA loop, then a little additional time looping around Shore Drive. I tried to stop at the bike shop and get my bike after its tune-up, but the guy was out running errands. 33:30 

Struggled to run for a few days, had to shift to some nights at work and other obligations that ate up my schedule. But the rain stopped this morning and it was a party sunny and warmer day than I expected. I ran the opposite direction on my old bridges loop, doing Manette first and then Warren, back home on the new sidewalk construction on Old Wheaton and then up 11th. Felt fine, though my fitness is not where I'd like it. 35:17 

Easy run from my parents' house in Mount Vernon before church. Pretty warm morning, even though it was still cloudy. Must have been 65. Ran the old SVC trail loop, which is full of nostalgia from high school XC. But it's a short loop, and I added a little tour of one of the new developments, the neighborhood is packed with them these days. Legs felt great, good to be getting into some kind of rhythm. 25:05 

Really good morning of basketball. After months of struggling to find 3-on-3, we've got a full group. We had our first big court, 5-on-5 game today. Ran one that way, lost one guy then three games of 4-on-4 on the smaller court. Good run. 

Early morning basketball at the Y. No full court this time, but almost an hour of 3-on-3. 

Finally back to Port Orchard on a Saturday, it had been months. Met Chris Lemke in the dark at Banner Forest, and we wound around the trails in there until the sky started to lighten. The ran held off, and the canopy helped, until the last few minutes we got a little wet. Slow starting becasue of the darkness and a lot of roots on the initial trail, but we managed a decent pace once it lightened up a bit. Legs really felt good, I noticed my hip flexor but I think that's more my lack of trail running, with stepping to the side and irregular steps, etc. Didn't hurt or anything. 59:46 

Then breakfast at Hi Joy, saw some people I haven't seen in months, which was nice. 

My first attempt at starting a Sunday morning run group among my co-workers fell a little flat. Maybe it was last night's wind/rainstorm, but only one other person showed at Evergreen Park. And it was a wonderful, crisp sunny morning! Oh well, we'll try again next week. 

But mission accomplished as far as getting me out there (which is kind of secretly the actual goal, along with some team building). Ran Warren Ave Bridge, took a little detour on the Harrison trail, then came back Manette Bridge and a loop of downtown. 32:00 

A week after running 5-on-5, we didn't even have one side of that game back. So 40 minutes of 2-on-2, which isn't quite as much running. 

Just a few dawn patrol miles (probably short of 3) on a rainy morning. Pretty wet, but not too cold. Daylight savings will be nice, it's really dark this week. 21:00

Basketball at the Y, just 2-on-2 today.

Over in Redmond for Halloween at Eric and Alicia's house. Saturday morning I left with Alicia and ran over to Bridle Trails State Park. Foggy and damp, but no rain. She turned around soon after we got to the trails, and I headed west across the forest. Got to one end then found a power line trail and took that back. Picked up the pace some after leaving her, it's not a hilly trail network so I could clip along pretty well. Legs felt great. 46:00 

Gray fall morning, but no rain and not cold either. More people gathered for this fledging work running group I'm trying to start, I think we had six, plus three dogs. (Though apparently one woman tripped on a sidewalk a mile in and cut her knee up, so numbers may be dwindling again...). I stayed with the group for a slow mile across the Manette Bridge, then took off down Shore Drive and backtracked to Wheaton, then crossed the Warren Bridge and went back to park. 30:44 

3-on-3 at the Y, got four games in.

Quick one around the neighborhood mid-day. 29:00

Couple days off for other things, back to it in Seattle on Sunday morning. A little wet and windy out, ran the B-G trail from Bryce's around Husky Stadium. Nice, medium pace. 

Basketball, only had twos and played round robin for 45 minutes or so. 

Evening treadmill run after work. Started with one around 8/min, then worked down to 7:30. Felt really good, and I'm very pleased to be so healthy in my legs/feet. Spent plenty of time stretching and some hip flexor exercises/abs. 31:00 

3-on-3 at the Y.

This morning I volunteered for a run-a-thon for the local chapter of Girls on the Run. So at 8 a.m. I jumped on a treadmill at Route 16 Running in Gig Harbor to run for an hour. I ran 7 miles even, though I'm not sure I trust the treadmill's mileage. I ran the first mile around 8 minutes, then moved it to 7:45 and stuck there for the hour, cranked it up just a bit on the last two. I thought I'd move down to 7:30 earlier in the run, but felt a little sluggish from too much Ethiopian food last night. I think she blew the whistle on the hour about 2-3 minutes early on the hour, but I was tired and it was for a good cause -- raised more than $4,000 today! ($140 by me.) 

Sunny and cold morning. Met work group at Evergreen Park, I ran with Rachel about a mile, maybe a mile and a half, and then picked up the pace a bit up Old Wheaton. But still an easy pace. A little stiff afterward, but that's probably just the cold. No watch.

Treadmill at the Y, maybe a little faster than I should have with a sore back. 

Morning run at Illahee Preserve, I rested Thursday/Friday because my back was really tight. But after running trails easily and stretching, it seemed to come out of it, and by Sunday I felt right again. 

Easy miles from Bryce and Bonnie's after staying there following the UW game. Through the bird marsh and around Laurelhurst. Back felt fine, seemed to be back to normal. 

Morning basketball at the Y. 

Just a shorty for Thanksgiving morning, I slept in longer than I planned. 

Morning basketball at the Y. 

Way, way too cold for an early morning run in the dark, so I did a 45-minute dawn walk at Illahee Preserve with a friend, then waited until the sun came out to get 5 miles on the bridges loop. But in between the two I ate a bunch of pancakes and took a nap, so I was dragging a bit through the run. 38:10 

Morning hoops; 3s. 

Y treadmill after work, 7:47-7:41 pace, felt really nice and easy. 38:30 

Y basketball, 3-on-3 today.

Real easy around Manette, 11th-Shore Drive. My left foot had a sharp pain on a step as I finished coming up Jacobson. Walked a bit and then it eased off, but something to watch for.

A few people from work decided to run the annual Jingle Bell Run in Port Orchard as a group, so I joined in. I figured any time around 18 minutes would be very good, considering I've done no training for any kind of tempo. 

It was a relatively nice morning, a little drippy and cool but nothing extreme. I parked at SKHS, anticipating a big crowd downtown, and jogged a mile to the start line. Met up with co-workers and milled around with some other friends I found, checked in, warmed up another mile. I thought the race was a 1 p.m. start, so I was ready to go. But they held everything after the kids' race, and waited until 1:30. Oh well. Tucked into the second row, smaller field than I expected. 

I let the high school kids scream out ahead, made the start comfortable. By a mile in I was about 5/6 place, and working a good comfortable pace. I more or less held the position and held the pace the entire race. I never felt like I was falling apart, but the extra gear clearly is not there right now. It's a very flat out-and-back course, so it's simple in the mind and as I returned I was ejoying cheering and giving high fives to people on their way out. Cruised in a few seconds behind the fourth-place finisher. 

So it was an excellent day for having not raced for so long, and great for the confidence to know I'm not too out of shape. And nothing hurt, which was a real success and makes me feel good. 

Stood around for a bit cheering the Girls on the Run kids, then jogged back uphill to SKHS. 

Y ball, 3-on-3, but one of the more intense games we've had in awhile. Guess everyone was awake today. 

Y treadmill, ran a 7:47-7:41 pace, nice and easy. Everything felt good, stretched and did some core for awhile afterward.

Y ball, and we had enough to run one game of 5-on-5. But it's a little disjointed when you aren't used to it, and the subsequent 3s was more fun. 

Dropped my car at Bremerton Auto Repair mid-morning (no work), then ran out Perry to Illahee Preserve. One backward loop from the Riddell parking lot, then cleaned up a few branches from last night's windstorm. I felt really sluggish to start but was running free by the end. Rachel met me and we walked for another 45 minutes with her dogs, and then drove back to get the car. 42:00 

Started at Evergreen Park, only Marit was there from our work group. We went different directions. Across Warren Bridge, loop down around Lions Park, then back via Manette Bridge and downtown. Easy pace, felt good on a quiet morning. 41:00 

Y treadmill after work. 7:45ish pace. Watched GSW-Memphis. Good game. 31:00 

Y treadmill after work. 31:00 

It was dark, and really dumping rain at Banner Forest this morning. Chris Lemke and I met up and ran around (and eventually through) the muddy and puddly trails this morning. Pace is pretty hard to predict when it's that sloppy, but it was a nice run and by dawn the rain eased a bit. And it was warm (50), at least. 52:00 

My left foot had a funny shooting pain on a few steps, it's something I notice from time to time. I worry it's a small stress fracture in there, nothing that bothers me day to day but if I'm cold or step wrong I'll feel it. 

Played a little basketball with Josh at the Y after having breakfast, just some bump to get the heart pumping again for 30 minutes or so. Felt the foot a few times then as well, so I was very careful. 

Mild (50s), partly sunny afternoon in Illahee Forest, and it was beautiful for a December day. Ran really lightly and easily around the preserve, not too many people in there, felt good. Left foot was fine more or less, though I felt a little funny cramp on my left calf as I finished that hung around through the evening. 31:00 

Y basketball. 2-on-2, a little ragged but it felt like we really exhausted ourselves after an hour. 

Short little run in Illahee Preserve with Timm, who flew down from Alaska for Christmas. Real easy and light pace, and didn't run long because we had to get to the airport. 28:00

Broke up a really, really lazy Christmas Day with a run to the Skagit Valley College trail from my parents house. Cool and drizzly, did a loop at SVC then an extension through the new neighborhood being built nearby. Ran with Timm so the pace was very relaxed and convesational. 31:00

Woke up at my parents house in the dark and then picked up Krissy, who was in town to see her folks, and we drove up to Fairhaven. We ran from downtown to the Interurban Trail, essentially the start of Chuckanut 50k. Went out the trail for 30 minutes and back, at a pretty decent clip. Very quiet day, cloudy and mild morning. 

My left foot had just a touch of the pain I've felt occassionally, came about midway on the return, but didn't last long. Otherwise felt very nice to be up there. 57:00 

Easy 4 miles in Mount Vernon, ran slowly with Timm. One loop at SVC, then out Francis Road to 30th and back to Martin through the new developments. No watch.