LineUpAndWait

Last easy 4 before on the Lake Youngs trail before Yakima.

AP: 8:38

Yakima River Marathon

Epic blow up.  Haven't even bothered to look up my time or check my Garmin.  Should have dropped out.  I hope I didn't injure myself.

First easy run since the Yaima disaster. Stayed in the back if the pack so as to not be tempted to go too fast or do all 14 miles.

Back in the saddle. Lake Youngs Trail in 1 hour 23 minutes plus cool down. No Garmin but AP was just under 9mm with the last 2 miles at about 8:30 to 8:40 pace.

Training plan called for 5 miles.

Ran down to the Soos Creek Trail.

1st mile warm up downhill most of the way in 8:41

2nd mile joined the trail in 8:29

3rd mile in 8:22

4th mile in 8:18

5th mile back up the hill in 8:36. Ran the hill faster going up it than down. Good sign.

AP: 8:29

Kentwood High track. First time since last fall. 6 X 800s. Most not very fast. Legs were tired from running up the hill yesterday. Two that I timed were 3:37 and 3:32.

1 mile easy at 8:49.

Lake Youngs Trail with Ron. Started at Dean's house and ran the steep hill rather than the road so the mileage was 9.5 miles. TT was 1:22:19 with AP of 8:43. Stayed with Ron pretty well except the very last hill when he put the hammer down in preparation for Big Sur in a couple of weeks. Steady rain the entire time. Not a downpour but a steady soaking rain. The trail got pretty wet and muddy especially the last 3 miles on the east side of the lake. I quit trying to miss the puddles and just ran through them. I always feel great when I finish a run in sloppy weather. Which is funny because I was such a fair weather runner before moving to SEA. Did another .5 to make it an even 10.

Hilly Lake Young's Trail.

Started from the parking area on the NW side and ran counter clockwise.

9.34 miles in 1:23:32 AP 8:57

9:35 / 8:35 / 8:59 / 9:13 / 8:46 / 8:41 / 8:54 / 9:14 / 8:47 / 8:18 pace last .34

Beautiful day. Almost 70 degrees and crystal clear. Rainier was out and glorious.

Hilly Lake Young's Trail 2nd day in a row.

Started at Dean's house and ran clockwise.

9.32 mils in 1:23:33 AP 8:58

8:55 / 8:40 / 9:07 / 8:59 / 9:20 / 8:44 / 9:06 / 8:47 / 9:14 / 8:30 pace last .32. Then .7 cool to make it an even 10.

This race was billed as having a series of hills to climb after mile 10 including a very steep section called "snake hill". That was true but actually the entire course was very, very hilly. Constant climbs and descents. Very few and brief flat sections. In fact the only flat section was running under the runways at SeaTac. Probably one of the more difficult half marathons I've done. Not a huge field (thus my age group win) but large enough to keep things interesting. I think the difficulty of the course scared away a lot of runners. If I were looking for a PR course, I wouldn't have chosen this one. Anyway, well organized.

7:30 / 7:47 / 8:19 / 8:55 / 7:27 / 8:40 / 8:17 / 8:12 / 7:30 / 8:38 / 11:35 ridiculously steep sections, all uphill / 8:30 / 8:00

At mile 11 I was running behind 3 guys who had passed me at various points during the race. One guy (green shirt) looked like he was in my age group. Neon green and blue shirt looked to be younger. I was running with the eventual 2nd place female when we approached the last aid station. She and green shirt stopped for a moment. I noticed blue shirt was coming back fast and neon green was matching my pace about 100yards ahead. Also heard green shirt trying to chase me down after he stopped. Focused on catching neon guy hoping to stay ahead of green shirt. Passed blue, caught neon finally but saw green shirt right behind me. Really wanted to beat the guy in green because I thought he was in my age group (later found out he was in the younger age group). Green shirt passed me but then just stayed 5 yards in front with about a mile to go. Legs recovered enough to pass green shirt and keep going. One of the few half marathons where I improved my position rather than faded at the end.

Not a fast time but a good effort.

Lake Young's Trail clockwise from the NW parking lot.

AP around 9mm in 1:24:05

My Garmin is acting up again. I've run Lk Young's at least 30 time and it always measures between 9.3 to 9.5 depending on a couple of route options. Tonight it measured at 9.02. Clearly way short.