(Oops) Tempo Run

What was supposed to be a relatively easy 5-mile trail run with hills turned into a fairly quick tempo run. The time was 38:23 (7:40 pace), which was about 30 seconds per mile faster than I wanted to be today. On the last 1-mile loop, a high-school girl started running (looked like she could be a cross-country runner) at pretty much the same pace I was. I gradually caught up with her, just running my own pace. She glanced over at me. I apologized (didn't want to be a 42 yr old guy creeping out this poor girl) and picked up the pace all the way up the hill to the end. I was pretty winded when I finished. In hindsight, I should have backed off my pace as soon as I saw her in front of me, but I guess the ego got in the way and took over. So now my week will have to be re-shuffled. I had intended running an interval workout tomorrow. Not gonna happen now. It'll be an easy run, with possibly a scaled back interval workout on Wednesday, bike on Thursday, short run on Friday and medium-long run on Saturday. Hey, stop yawning!

Monday Hill Run

Man, it's FOGGY this morning! It's supposed to burn off, but the mornings are starting to look and feel like autumn already.
I ran my favorite little 1-mile hilly trail around a local park this morning, for a total of 5 miles (40:11). I didn't intend to, but I ran each lap (mile) increasingly faster:

• 8:17
• 8:07
• 8:03
• 8:00
• 7:42

Finishing heart rate was 132. I felt surprisingly strong this morning, especially considering how horribly I slept last night. I felt like I was holding back, even on the last lap. I guess that's a good sign, given how wiped out I felt on Saturday after my 8-miler. This whole week will center around Friday's long run of 12 miles. I haven't run that far since 1991. I'm really looking forward to it!

EDIT: After posting this entry, I noticed in my "official running spreadsheet" that today's run put me at exactly 7,000 lifetime running miles. While that number isn't 100% accurate (I ran some modest miles during 7th and 8th grade track that weren't recorded, and about half of my '95 miles are estimated since I had a hard drive crash that year), it's what I'm officially recognizing. For someone who has run on and off for 26 years, that's a pretty paltry amount. Just goes to show how much time I've taken off during that time due either to injuries or disinterest (mostly the injuries). But it also means, hopefully, that I haven't beaten up my legs and joints that much, relatively speaking. Here's hoping for many thousands more miles of running to come!

Run in the Country, the Trifecta

This morning was our last in Spokane. I was on the road at 6:10am for the same 6-mile hilly run, which I ran in 48:27 (8:05 pace). I attacked the hills a little more than in the last two runs.
We just got home from the cross-state drive. I now have a troubling tickle in my throat and feel pretty fatigued. Hopefully this will pass with a good night's sleep. I also noticed that a tendon behind my left knee is tender. I'm guessing it could be from flying down the hills and probably pounding my legs too much. I need to work on my downhill running technique, I'm sure.
If I feel better tomorrow, I may do some trail running with my friend Arthur, who will be running his 4th Cascade Crest 100 mile trail race in the mountains this coming Saturday.

Brooks Cascadias / Today's Run

Today I ran an easy 5 miles on a local trail (where I did my hill training for my 5k a couple of months ago). I wore a pair of 2008 Brooks Cascadias, given to me by my friend Arthur. They're still in pretty good shape, with little evidence of wear. Not sure how many miles he put on them before passing them on to me. They felt good on my feet, but my knees felt a little sore by the end of the run (the soreness subsided soon after I finished). The soreness may be due to back-to-back runs after not running much the last several weeks. Anyway, the shoes felt light, very neutral and more "minimal" than I expected. They didn't feel like they had as much cushioning as my regular training shoe (Brooks Defyance 2). Just one run in the Cascadias isn't enough to make a good judgment, but I think I'll end up wearing them at least once a week (probably only on trails), just to mix things up.

Amazing Run-Hike to End a Fun Camping Trip

We just returned from 3 days of camping in the White River Camp Ground, near Sunrise (Eastern side of Mt. Rainier). As is my tradition, I get up early on "getaway" day, drive up to Sunrise, and do a solo hike out to 3rd Burroughs Mountain and back. It's a bit over 8 miles, round-trip, from 6400' elevation to about 7900' elevation. I wore my old retired running shoes, strapped on a fanny pack loaded with 2 water bottles and some granola bars, and took off about about 5:50am. The sky was an un-poluted, brilliant blue and the temperature was in the mid 60's. I ended up running all flats, downhills and slight uphills, and speed-hiked the big hills. And there were, indeed, some big hills. As the name would suggest, there are three "Burroughs" mountains total. The third provides an unbelievable view of the Whitman Glacier on Mt. Rainier. Once you've reached 3rd Burroughs Mountain, there's nowhere to go but back. I mostly had the trails to myself and was free to run and hop over rocks as much as I could, unimpeded by traffic. There were some steep downhills where I had to brake myself as I ran, to avoid pitching over the side of a cliff. I ended with a time of 2 hours and 6 minutes...which was nearly TWO HOURS faster than I did the hike the previously (when I was fatter and in pretty sad shape). My quads and lungs responded amazingly well, especially considering that I wasn't used to the elevation. I can tell the hill workouts on the bike have strengthened my quads quite a bit. My calves and hips are a bit sore, though, but that was expected. But I honestly can't remember EVER enjoying a hike more than this one. I can see what draws you ultrarunners out there! It may be awhile before I consider doing that for 50 or 100 miles, but just that taste of it was very cool. No people (almost), no cars, no polution, no noises other than the wind, a few birds, a squeaking Pica, and my feet crunching over the rocky trail. Oh...and I managed to see a small herd of elk (including one huge bull), 42 mountain goats, and 1 very curious ptarmigan.

My original plan was to do a hill repeat workout on my bike tomorrow morning, but given the above story, I'll still ride, but will probably opt for some mile repeats on a slightly less hilly course. We'll see how badly I hobble when I get up at 5am tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Morning run...on a trail!

For the first time this year, I did a trail run. A hilly trail run. The trail is a 1-mile loop around a local park. I ran five loops, alternating easy/hard laps. I pushed the uphills on the hard ones. Overall time was 40:31 (8:06 pace) with a finishing heart rate at 146. It was a tough but enjoyable run. I was surprised I ran as well as I did, given the fact that I woke up just after 3am and hardly slept from then until I got up at 5:50am. A nap will be in order today.
This week and next week I'm cutting down on my mileage but increasing intensity. In fact, this week I'm only doing today's run, a hard bike ride on Wednesday, and another hard run on Friday. Next week, one run and one ride, then my 5k race that Saturday. It's going to be hard to train so little - especially with the weather we're having in the Northwest! But I want to be rested & ready for the race.

New running trail found!

My wife and I had a picnic lunch today at a nearby park I'd never been to. Come to find out, there's a dirt-and-gravel trail that loops around it (through the woods) that's almost exactly a mile in length. It's also relatively hilly. I will be adding this trail to my running courses and using it EXTENSIVELY! I charted it on MapMyRun.com and it does indeed come out to almost exactly a mile. After too much running on pavement, this will be a nice break for my knees. And it's less than 10 minutes from home. Can't wait to run some laps on it!