Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

October 31, 2024

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Location:

Snoqualmie,WA,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon PR: 4:17 at Portland Marathon, Oct. 2007

5K PR 24:37 2009

10K PR 52:58 2010

Have run 22 marathons to date.

No injuries, ever.   :)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for Boston (4:05 for my age/gender) - or, perhaps, to use my desire for a BQ as a way to get in the hated speed work so I don't just get slower and slower over the years.  This goal is "under (re)construction" right now, until I figure out whether it is truly what I want. :) 


Long-Term Running Goals:

To continue learning about myself and about running, and to enjoy being a fit, happy runner for life.   To always know why I am running and the best way to get the most (both mentally and physically) out of my runs.  To keep a sense of humor and remain optimistic about myself as a runner.  To enjoy running more and more with every passing year. 

Personal:

Baby boomer generation.  Jogged a little in my 20's and 30's.  Started running seriously in 2002.  Low-carb runner since January 2010. 

I love long runs and cold, cloudy weather.  I don't believe in "junk miles."  I am an optimist.  I adore dark chocolate, fog, my family, and knitting -- not necessarily in that order.  

"As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are."  -- Joan Benoit Samuelson 


Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks ST3 Lifetime Miles: 891.35
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 23.77
Brooks ST3 II Lifetime Miles: 965.17
Lunaracers II Lifetime Miles: 198.23
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Lifetime Miles: 104.14
Asics Piranha Lifetime Miles: 536.83
RunAmocs (Softstar) Lifetime Miles: 16.23
Piranha II Lifetime Miles: 219.53
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
23.500.000.000.0023.50

Objective: endurance, with hills.

Weather: mid 40's to 50's F during course of run, mostly clear and calm

A lovely morning, with just enough clouds to keep me from whining about the sunshine as much as I do the rain.  I like that middle ground; a few drops -- of rain or sunlight -- are just fine with me. 

On runs which go over 20 miles, there is always a great debate in my mind about Where To Go.  I prefer not to repeat a lot of terrain, and I usually end up doing a bunch of loops, like a four leaf clover, around the central area of my neighborhood. Each loop is anywhere from 3 to 5 miles long. 

But today, I decided to act on an idea I've had for a while. I had already covered the Heights and Palisades neighborhoods and the retail area when I decided to go... (cue dramatic music)... Down The Parkway.  Snoqualmie Parkway is a curvy, 2 mile hill leading to the older, flatter part of town.  I often go up the Parkway in the other direction, but not for so much distance. The advantage of going down to the old part of town is that 1) it's different from my usual routine, 2) it's nice to see what it would be like to live and run in a flat neighborhood, and 3) it adds a nice chunk of mileage (total round trip for that section of the run today was ~8 miles). 

Those are nice benefits, but ah, the costs!  The Parkway descent/ascent varies between a 3% and a 12% percent grade, with the steepest at the top 1/2 mile.  Going down thrashed me, and coming back up thrashed me again.  I'm sure it builds character and all, but the work-to-fun ratio was way out of balance.  At the top of the hill, I still had another five miles to run and they were painfully slow.  No negative split today.  I have to conclude that, on the whole, the Parkway is not worthwhile in a super-long run.   Maybe in 15 miler though...

Blue Nike Structure Triax 11 Miles: 23.50
Comments
From Carolyn in Colorado on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 16:59:42

It's good that you tried something new, even though the work-to-fun ratio wasn't what you'd have liked.

I find myself constantly thinking of what different places I could run as I drive around town. I was driving a long a street yesterday and remarked to my husband that I haven't run along that street, but it has a really wicked hill. And it's a busy street with not the best sidewalk, so I may or may not try it some day.

23.50 miles is a long way to run. I hope to be able to do that someday when I grow up.

From Metcalf Running on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 17:29:00

Way to go... that is great miles!!

From Kelli on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 17:36:58

HOLY COW!!! Great run girl! I am glad the weather was perfect for you. That is a great temperature once you get warmed up and moving (and if you can keep dry.

From Solemate on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 17:36:58

Great mileage. I, too, get bored with my routes; especially the w/e longer runs. I love exploring. Sounds like your weather was decent, too. Hooray!

Do you have the 'grade' set on Garmin. How and where? Someday I will master this critter.

From haynes on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 20:36:11

Great run. I can't imagine doing multiple loops for a long run. I would get to the 2nd or 3rd loop and quite early. Next week I think I am gonna run down the bike path in my area (15 miles one way) and take the bus back lol. Point to point runs are fun and rarely feasible. I still like how you put objectives to your runs, but my friends made fun of me so I stopped, lol. Ah peer pressure.

From Meadow on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 21:05:53

Great job on your run today. I love my Garmin, I can turn down different streets at will, sometimes it works out but sometimes it doesn't.

Welcome to the tapir ;)

From Snoqualmie on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 21:14:48

Thanks everyone for great encouragement! I took a bit too long blogging and gasped when I saw the clock -- had to try to "move quickly" - ha - to take a shower and get my DD to her 4H meeting. Just now got home.

Solemate: you choose "set up" in the menu mode and select "grade" for one of your data displays.

I actually had a weird Garmin bug today: my autolap counter (set for 1 mile) got way ahead of the mileage display. In those last couple of miles it was ticking off the miles .75 miles early. I wish.

From solemate on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 22:03:46

Thanks re: Garmin. I went to Training 2 to add grade and heart rate since I like time, distance and pace on the default one. Now I just hope it shows up in History.....

From jefferey on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 23:52:17

I like to go down the parkway then go to centennial park, it's about a mile and a half. There is water there as well as another park on the way. The loop at centennial is about a half mile. You are so right about that climb at the end of a long run with thighbuster hill that last stretch is a tough one. Nice Job!!!

From jefferey on Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 23:54:14

Also, the garmin doesn't always reflect the correct mileage on the steeper hills. Go to motion based.com and sign up. I think this site is now owned by garmin. It will update your mileage with the hill corrections.

From Snoqualmie on Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 08:34:23

Thanks, Jeff! I never heard of that. Great to know.

From Snoqualmie on Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 08:38:16

Oops. To what part exactly of the site should I go? It appears to be in Chinese (non-techie, here). Maybe it's too early in the morning. I'll look again later.

From jefferey on Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 10:06:36

Sorry, I didn't type in the whole thing. Here it is. Just glad I didn't send you to one of those "other" sites. My friend Bruce told me about this site. He uses it because he does mostly trail running and it corrects quite a bit on a mtn. trail. http://www.motionbased.com/

From snoqualmie on Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 12:25:04

Thanks, Jeff! I'm all signed up, but I'll have to wait a bit longer. The Garmin Training Center software will be Mac-friendly sometime in the next month or two, but not yet.

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