Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Low 40s, cloudy and light winds. Recovery run. 

My legs feel surprisingly good this morning. There is some soreness to the touch in my quads, but it didn't seem to affect my little run at all.  I was able to keep the pace just under 11:00, which is better than the average recovery run by 15 to 30 seconds.  This is good. This is very good.  I wanted to run farther but ran out of time. 

Low 40s, mostly cloudy. G-A run, finished on TM.  Abs & pushups.

 Nice run, though it took me a long time to warm up. 

47F, mostly cloudy, windy.  Easy run.  Bit of core, stretching and strength work.

Nice morning. Late start, but enjoyed the time I had.  It's great to be a runner. :) 

44F, partly cloudy w/ stars, wind 10 mph.  VO2 workout (4 x 1K w/ 3 min recov.).  Finished up on the TM w/ VFFs.  Core & pushups. 

My first rep ended up being a little long, due to "operator error." (Me pushing to the wrong button on my Garmin after a bathroom stop.)   The repeats were done on roads, with wind and hills, so I am not looking at pace - just effort level and breathing.  

I was very interested to see a bit of light in the eastern sky as I was finishing up.  Not enough to remove the need for a headlamp but enough to see the Cascade Mtns outlined.  It won't be long before I've got a bit of daylight at the ends of my runs. And shortly after that, I'll be plunged back into darkness by the accursed DLS time change. 

Mid 40s, raining. Easy run. 20 min. strength work.

This is another "weird week," when I will have to do a long run on Sunday and miss out on my club run Saturday.  Maybe when I get back on schedule next week there will be some new folks at the club and I will actually have someone to run with.  I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow - not missing the run but sleeping more!   

I'm sorry - this is going to be a long post. I have reason to be extremely happy this morning!  This has nothing to do with running, except that I've been trying to solve this problem for even longer than the time I've been trying to get my marathon time down to a BQ.  

After over four years of repairs, wasted money, and endless experimental (and unsuccessful) fixes... we now know what is causing our living room windows to leak.  We have this beautiful wall of picture windows looking out on Mt. Si that has leaked every winter since the year we moved in.  

Since they only leak in heavy rain with a strong east wind, we have had a small window of opportunity every winter to try to find and fix the problem. The first two winters were a Blame Battle between the builder of the house and Milgard Windows, with various ineffective "cures" performed on both sides as proof of the other's culpability.  Since only certain kinds of storms caused leaking, the last fix of each winter would always have to wait for autumn to be tested, and always with disappointing results. 

Just before the third winter, Milgard agreed to reseal every window by hand and the Sno family footed the bill to have all the siding around the windows replaced (with all new flashing as well) and the attic examined and sealed up. Results? Zip.  I won't even bother to list all the subsequent measures we took to find and stop this leak.  The money, the new contractors brought in, the dashed hopes when the next big storm came and we heard drip, drip, drip. 

The gentleman who finally found the problem had all the past failures of others to go on, and I guess it was inevitable that we'd hit on it sooner or later. But I am ready to nominate him for president I'm so happy.  He too tried some unsuccessful fixes. But we tested a new, temporary "fix" on two of the three leaky windows this week and last night the "perfect storm" arrived.  This morning, towels in the windows show our victory: one wet towel, and the other two: dry!!!!

I'll bet you want to know what it turned out to be.  Not interested in waiting 4+ years like I had to do? Well ok.... Weep holes.  Somehow, during the window installation, a "fin," attached to a hollow chamber, underneath a trough for draining moisture -- was pierced on several windows. The specific conditions we experienced during heavy winter storms caused water to be sucked into the weep holes (pressure differential in the house in high winds), filling up the chamber, whose wall was breeched by the fin crack, and flooding over onto the frame of the window below, which then dripped from the top of the frame onto the sill.  

If you stuck with my narrative this long, thanks a lot for listening.  Where else could I tell my tale and shout my joy?  I was beginning to think we might never see the end of this problem, and spend every winter laying plastic wrap and towels on our window sills and saying no to all travel opportunities.   Happy day!!!  

May your troubles find solutions as well. Persevere and keep hope.  :)  

Low 40s, light rain.  Endurance w/ 2 faster miles (9:45, 9:33) just before cool down.

Pleasant run.  I'm off on a (rare) child-free shopping trip to the fabric store...

Weekly summary for Mon-Sun

Total 50.89

Mon 3.42

Tue 9.65

Weds 6.1

Thurs 9.29 w/ 4 x 1000m

Fri 5.58

Sat  off

Sun 16.85 

41F, mostly cloudy w/ pretty crescent moon showing through.  Easy & slow run. 

I let myself sleep a little later this morning. It's still really hard to get up, even if I get an extra 15-20 minutes. I've always been confused about what a "morning person" is.  I've been called a morning person because I get up early, but it isn't easy. I have no reason to think it ever will be easy.  Isn't a morning person someone who wakes up naturally and feels good early in the morning?  Then again, I don't feel particularly peppy at night either.  I guess that makes me a later-in-the-morning-once-I-get-going person. 

37F, clear & starry.  G-A run w/ 5 x 10 sec. hill sprints.

Those hill sprints were a bit of a "well, it's better than nothing" experience.  First of all, I let myself space out (why does that happen so often?) and didn't have time to do the 10 reps I had planned.  I didn't even really have time for the 5, but Mr. Sno doesn't worry too much if I'm a couple of minutes late.  Secondly, I should have gone to a steeper hill.  So... all in all the sprints were only fun and not grueling - gee, isn't running a brutal sport?  ;) 

Close encounter... I ran so close to a deer this morning that we were both startled into- well,  doing nothing.  After passing a hedge along a sidewalk, there she was, standing less than 3 feet from me.  She froze in the beam of my headlamp, and I ran past slowly. I could have reached out and touched her.  It's a moment I think I will remember for a long time. 

42F, raining, w/ wind at times.  Tempo intervals: 4 x 1 mile moderately hard (9:00, 8:43, 8:46, 8:43) w/ brief recovery jog between miles.  20 minutes strength work. 

This was such a great workout. One of those perfectly balanced efforts: hard enough to feel effective (ie "when can I stop?!?!?") but still fun.  I even added a mile to my original plan (3 miles) because I had more time and still felt pretty fresh. I feel especially pleased with the consistent splits, since I wasn't on a flat surface the whole time. For a warm up I ran 3 very easy miles and finished with a couple of 30 second hill sprints. 

This workout makes me feel a bit better about missing a run yesterday.  But it also shows me something I've seen before:  more sleep equals better running.  On Tuesday night I had some difficulty sleeping, and then I had cat trouble in the wee hours to take care of.  A little before 4 AM, after some anguish and exhaustion-induced weeping, I decided to turn off my alarm and let go of the Wednesday morning run.  Just. Let. Go.  

So today I feel like it was a good decision, and I am even thinking of having a personal rule about no running unless I get at least 7 hours of sleep.  I am also rethinking my speed work schedule to give myself only one speed day a week.  I am supposed to run hill work and tempo on the same week and then VO2 intervals the next.  I guess I'm feeling old today, in spite of my good workout.  All this stuff is just rattling around in my brain while I decide what I want and the best way to get it.  :)  

Low 40s F, wind 10-15 mph, cloudy, raining last 4 miles.  Endurance run. 

I was a little worried about this run.  Yesterday I had a lot of soreness from Thursday, whether from the run or the strength work I wasn't sure. I did increase my lunges Thursday.  I dislike going into a long run when I am not completely fresh, but it turned out all right.

After being "otherwise engaged" the past two Saturdays, it was nice to look forward to running with the club again today.  And although it was pretty thin attendance, there was a new woman there with whom I could run.  I haven't had a partner at the club runs for a long time.

She and I ran together for about 7 miles. She was just a wee bit faster than I wanted to run, but I figured it wouldn't hurt. Not much...  The last few miles did feel like I may have spent too much on those seven 10-minute miles.

I ran the Leg Builder Hill in miles 14-16 and that felt pretty good.  By 19, I was glancing at my watch a little too often. I had to really force myself to take some detours around the neighborhood to pump the mileage up above 23.  But now it's done! Such a happy feeling.  

48F, light rain. Recovery run. 

Two miles of feeling 90 years old and two miles of feeling great.  I wanted to say "feeling 30" or "feeling 25," but even though I jogged a little in those years, I never built up to an aerobic base where running was effortless.  This is good. This is very good. 

Weekly summary for Mon-Sun

Total 49.99

Mon 4.68

Tue 8.17 w/ hill sprints

Weds off

Thurs 9.82 w/ 4 x 1 mi tempo intervals

Fri off

Sat  23.27

Sun 4.05 

38F, partly cloudy, breezy, dry. Easy run.  20 minutes strength work. 

Pleasant run.  The air felt rather nippy after the higher temperatures we've been having.  I'm beginning a bit of taper now, though this week will not be much different.  I am going to try to make this my first anxiety-free taper (or nearly so), in terms of not freaking out about the lack of difficult workouts and long miles.  Instead I'm going to focus on getting more sleep and keeping my nutrition in line.  

We had some very bad news over the weekend, which I am just now feeling up to discussing openly. My mother-in-law has ovarian cancer. Her husband is still in a care facility from the health catastrophe of  November 08, of which I blogged back when it was happening.  I know this is going to have a big impact on our family. Mr. Sno is extremely close to his mother and I'm sure we will be going down to Phoenix more than once in the coming months.  

(Warning, long rant ahead. I'm more than a little upset. Feel free to skip.)  

This painful event in our lives brings the importance of personal health choices into greater focus than ever.  The medical profession and the ever-growing behemoth of the pharmaceutical industry are not going to save us. The food pyramid is an invention of the agriculture lobby (hint, it was created by the US Dept. of Agriculture) and will not guide you to a long, healthy life.  Each person must take responsibility for their own health.

And by the way, living a long life is not the goal. The goal is to not end up on oxygen, or in constant pain, or immobilized by ill health.  The goal is not to end up broken, and breaking the hearts of everyone who loves you. 

What if you learned today that most of what passes as "healthy diet" advice is based on politics rather than science, and is dead wrong?   There are several books which I wish very much I could give, by going back in a time machine, to my in-laws, my own parents, my younger self, and everyone I know.  They are:  Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, Primal Body Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, and Cereal Killer by Alan Watson.   If you think that bread is literally the "staff of life," or that saturated fats cause heart disease, or that all calories are treated equally in the body, do yourself a favor. Read one of these books, preferable Taubes' but that is the most technical one (dry reading for some). 

I am a runner. I am supposed to love a high carb, low-fat diet.  I don't. I think that kind of diet is unscientific, unhealthy, and illogical from an evolutionary viewpoint.  Guess who believes (or believed, in the case of my deceased mother) in high-carb, low-fat diets?  My mother-in-law (rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowels, ovarian cancer), my father-in-law (necrosis of the colon, triple bypass surgery, numerous coronary events, obesity, and now completely immobile in a care facility taking a dixi cup full of pills 3 times a day), and my own mother (heart disease, bladder cancer, severe clinical depression).   

I know I sound preachy and I don't like that. I will very likely not mention this again for a long, long time.  But someone - actually a lot of someones - have to start saying this out loud.  We need to eat what our bodies evolved to thrive on.  Even runners.  Grass-fed meats, eggs, nuts, lots of vegetables, good fats - and lots of them, very low carbs, omega 3 fats.  Not: sugar, sodas, soy, grains, factory-farmed-corn-fed meats.  There are no ancient cave paintings of wheat fields, folks.  

I have ample reason to think that humans are designed to be runners. I also have ample reason to think that we are not supposed to pack sugar into our bodies in order to run.  Apart from the health issues that started this rant, there is the matter of healthy fuel sources for runners.  You can burn off lots of sugar, but you cannot burn off the damaging insulin.  And you cannot undo the damage of a high carbohydrate diet to your leptin - the most important hormone in your body.  (For references, please see the Gedgaudas book, above.)  "Whole grains?" Every carbohydrate that reaches your blood stream looks and acts like sugar; the pancreas doesn't care where it came from.  Living a carbohydrate (sugar) dominated diet is like heating your home with kindling. You must constantly put more on the fire.  Runners have to carb load, then eat gels during the run, then refuel after the run. And all day long the temperamental blood sugar levels demand more, putting your mood and energy at the mercy of the nearest bagel.  

It doesn't have to be this way. You do have a choice. If you ever considered kicking off your shoes to run barefoot like our ancestors did, could you not consider fueling your body the way they did as well?  They lived well, and contrary to popular belief, they lived long. 

If you made it this far, thank you for reading.  Be well. :)

48F, heavy rain w/ wind.  Easy run. 20 min. strength.

res-ig-na-tion. noun. 1. Seeing a full-on rainstorm coinciding precisely with your run on the hour-by-hour weather forecast and embracing the prospect of total saturation. 

Thank goodness for iPods.  I think anyone who loves too run can do without it, but when you need one, you really need one.   :)

35F; patchy, thick fog.  ~3 mile warmup w/ hill sprints in last mile, VO2 half mile intervals x 6  w/ 2 min. recovery between, ~2 miles cool down.  Pace on half miles: 8:40, 8:12, 8:27, 8:22, 8:40, 8:10. 

I wish the splits were a little more consistent, but I was not running on totally flat streets, and had a few slow-downs with cars and turning corners as well.  I guess I did ok.  The reps were bit slower than my true 5K pace, even though they didn't feel easier.  I wonder if that's from being bundled up against the cold, or from lack of competition, or ???...  

The lovely fog left me covered with minute droplets of water; I looked all sparkly when I came home.  Finishing runs in dusky light now.

35F, clear, starry, and frosty.  Easy run.  20 min. strength work. 

Lots of frost on cars, and one bad patch of black ice which I saw just in time. I lead such a dare-devil life. 

Mid 30s rising to high 40s, bright sunshine. Endurance run w/ club run, Leg Builder Hill at miles 10.8 to 12.8, and a bit of faster running before cool down mile. 

The faster bit at the end had to be in pieces when I found that even the slightest uphill climb had me panting for breath worse than a 5K.  The "pieces of fast" were: .46 @ 9:02,   .85 @ 9:08 and  .36 @ 8:51.  

Great run. No one to run with at the club, but lots of extra people today, so maybe the slow folks will come back soon as well.  

High 40s, sunny.  Recovery run. 

My quads are a little sore when I get up from a chair or walk down stairs, but the run felt great.  I wanted to go farther, but kept it short and sweet, taper style.  :)  

Weekly summary for Mon-Sun

Total 48.66

Mon 5.29

Tue 7.06

Weds 8.73 w/ 6 x 1/2 mile VO2 intervals

Thurs 5.24

Fri off

Sat  19.2 w/ "pieces of fast" at end of run :)

Sun 3.14

High 30s, Clear, calm and dry. Recovery run #2.  Core & upper body + stretching & Stick.

I've got some serious DOMS going on this morning in my quads and lower legs.  It's good to know how hard I worked on Saturday. Hope to feel stronger tomorrow. 

42F, partly cloudy, wind 10-15 mph.  Easy run.  20 min. strength work. 

Legs are feeling pretty good today, though not 100% yet.   Very enjoyable run. 

If you have a little time, this is a lecture given by Gary Taubes (author of Good Calories Bad Calories) to a group of physicians regarding how body fat is created and stored.  I recommend his book very highly.  I know a lot of people on the blog are interested in weight loss. The information in this lecture, especially the last 15 minutes (starting around 45:00), might be helpful.  

42F, raining, wind ~10 mph.  Easy run w/ moderate increase in pace last 2 miles before c.d.  20 min. strength.

Very nice run.  You really cannot let rain get to you up here.  I am so glad I have found a combination of clothing and gear that keeps me comfortable.  One lesson I have learned is to put all the factors together: the temperature, the wind speed and the kind of rainfall will all have an influence on what I wear, as well as the type of run (ie speed work keeps you warmer).   Of course, in a long, hard downpour the fun-o-meter is going to fall dramatically no matter what I wear. Fortunately we haven't had much of that this winter. :) 

Low 40s, partly cloudy, wind ~5-10 mph.   Easy to moderate run for ~7.5 miles,  2 miles a little faster than MP, half mile cool down. 

Those round numbers (so unlike me) come from the unfortunate need to estimate, since my Garmin was accidentally stopped for a while.  I was locking the bezel and I guess I wasn't precise enough with pressing the buttons.  

But I definitely had the Garmin on board for the 4 laps around Centennial Park, with splits of 8:55 and 8:50.  That is a little faster than I intended.  It's hard to settle in sometimes.  After I finished it occurred to me that I was probably too worried about being too slow, which kept me moving a little too fast.  Not a big deal.  I mostly feel happy that the pace was comfortable. 

42F, overcast.  Easy run. 

Busy day... just now getting around to blogging a pleasant jog this morning.  :)

Weekly summary for Mon-Sun

Total 30.99

(taper week) 

Mon 3.56

Tue 5.71

Weds off

Thurs 7.56 w/ 2 MP

Fri off

Sat  10 w/ 2 MP

Sun 4.16