Tag Archives: practice

November 3-9 Practice Running

Monday, November 3, 2014, 3:15 pm

5.01 mi, 91 ft gain, 47:12. Road through town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I was not ready for the end of daylight savings time. It gets dark so early. The dark clouds didn’t help. Fortunately, it didn’t rain very hard. Ran out to the same empty lot as Saturday. Other than a slower pace, this run was a lot like Saturday’s run.

 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 3:45 pm

5.35 mi, 327 ft gain, 48:39. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I performed some shoe surgery last night, removing the heel cup from my red Altra Superior 1.5s. The second shoe went better. They’re more comfortable without the rigid piece against my heels. They seem to fit more snuggly as well. Without the rigid piece, the heel can conform to my heel better. It’s also softer. I’m hoping this helps with my heel/achilles issues.

I decided to try out the alteration today and headed for the tree farm. About the same level of discomfort as the past few days for about the same amount of time before warming up. The shoes seemed great. I’ll have to see how it feels tomorrow and after a couple more tests.

 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 6:01 pm

3.19 mi, 28 ft gain, 23:59. Road in town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Slightly more discomfort today than yesterday. I’m not sure if it was the shoes or the hills yesterday. But I still warmed up and sped up around 0.7 mi. I saw that I kept gradually going faster by about 1.4 mi. I decided to run some fartleks. I did a couple blocks at about 90%. I did that 5 times with 2-3 blocks in between each rep. I pushed the last one. I might have had one more in me. The last two reps were into the wind too.  Very minimal sprinkles, and the road was wet but not enough to splash up through the soles of my shoes.

Average paces for each rep: 4:54/mi, 4:51/mi, 4:54/mi, 4:50/mi, 4:57/mi

 

Thursday, November 6, 2014, 9:07 pm

4.3 mi, 309 ft gain, 37:31. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I made the same modifications to my blue pair of Superior 1.5s. The test seemed to go pretty well. Less discomfort today than yesterday. Ran the same way around the loop as Monday, but didn’t add the extra out and back this time.

I ordered a Mio Link a few days ago and it arrived today. So I tried testing it out. I downloaded the app on my phone to set it up. I got it to pair with my Suunto Ambit 2 R, but it wouldn’t show any data during the run. The Mio Link flashes different lights for different heart rate zones, which you can adjust, and that worked. I had the same problem trying to use my old Garmin heart rate monitor with my Suunto. It paired, but didn’t didn’t show any data.

As it turns out, I had search for HR monitor turned off in the settings for the watch.

 

Friday, November 7, 2014, 5:47 pm

4.25 mi, 311 ft gain, 38:05. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Another run in the dark. It was a little colder today. It seems to be taking me longer to get used to the cooler weather this year than I remember it taking in the past.

Anyway, I got the Mio Link to work today. But it didn’t seem very accurate. For the first half mile or so, it was reading around 70-88 bpm or so. I had it pretty tight, so I loosened it and it started to show a HR more of what I expected. As I went along and started to sweat, though, it started to read way higher than it should have. It was a downhill section. I sped up a little just because of gravity, but I wasn’t pushing the pace at all and it was showing 180 bpm. I wasn’t breathing hard at all. Once I reached the car, it was still showing way high. I spun the Mio Link around so the sensor was on the underside of my wrist, thinking maybe sweat and my hairy arm was messing it up. Immediately, the displayed HR dropped to the low 120s from the 160s.

The run was pretty good. I found myself adjusting based on my displayed HR. I think I may go back running based on how I feel and just use the HR data to adjust from run to run or over weeks or something.

 

Saturday, November 8, 2014, 3:18 pm

10 mi, 435 ft gain, 1:20:30. Long way around town + Wallace Falls TH + West city limit, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

The Mio Link worked much better this time. I wore it with the sensor on the underside of my wrist, where it’s not so hairy. It took a little while for my heart rate to go up when I started. I guess that’s good. I tried to keep my heart rate below 150 bpm for the most part. I found myself speeding up, going over a few times. I averaged 142 bpm.

I ran out Gunn rd instead of turning on to US2 right away. That way I didn’t have to run close to highway traffic for so long. The first climb on May Creek rd wasn’t bad. Once I got around closer to Reiter rd, the views of Mt. Persis, and Prospect Peak were beautiful in the setting sun. Then when I made the turn staying on May Creek rd past Reiter rd the sunset was amazing through the trees. There was a lot less traffic on May Creek rd today than last Sunday.

It was starting to get dark by the time I turned onto Ley rd towards Wallace Falls State Park. I pulled out my headlamp for visibility to cars. I pushed it a bit up the hill to the parking lot, topping out around 170 bpm. After a quick pitstop at the restroom, I headed back out.

For the rest of the run, I had consciously make an effort to keep a slower pace. I kept speeding up and saw my HR go above 150 bpm. The main reason I wanted to keep it below was to see what kind of pace it translates to.

I turned west at US2 and ran out to just past the city limits to get a little extra distance to hit 10 mi. It was tough to see the dirt “road” on the north side, parallel to the highway when I turned around facing traffic. With the headlights in my eyes, I had to use both my headlamp and flashlight to dodge potholes and puddles. I managed to keep my feet pretty dry the whole run.

I ran past my driveway almost to the property line, I was still short of 10 mi by a few hundredths of a mile. I enjoyed every minute of today’s run, despite being on roads.

 

Sunday, November 9, 2014, 7:30 pm

4.53 mi, 266 ft gain, 41:33. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Another run in the dark. Achilles/heel a little worse than Friday, but loosened up. It took almost a mile and a half to warm up with regards to the cold.

A few hiccups with the Mio Link. It showed a few spikes in my HR that didn’t make sense. It seems to be pretty sensitive to maintaining contact to the skin, which is tough to get right with the wrist strap. Too tight and it doesn’t read right or constricts blood flow. Too loose and it won’t maintain contact. Average HR was 132. Irregardless of the hiccups, it’s nice to see how my perceived effort and HR compare at an easy pace. Apparently I can go faster and still stay in an aerobic zone.

 

Weekly totals: 36.6 mi, 1740 ft elevation gain

October 27-November 2 Practice Running

Monday, October 27, 2014, 5:09 pm

4.02 mi, 127 ft gain, 59:15. Sultan Basin Rd DNR gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I may have to give up on my goal of 2000 mi for the year. My achilles/heel just keeps nagging. It’s not bad, but not really getting much better. And I’ve given up on running the 12 hour race this Saturday. I should probably take it easy for a while, if I can handle it mentally.

Anyway, a little discomfort for about half of the run. I was shooting for 4-6 mi. Couldn’t go to either of the first two spots I wanted to run because of hunters. It’s firearm deer season. So I went out a little further. I ended up running the two single track sections connecting the closed logging roads around to the third single track section that loops back to the road I started on. I found some chanterelles on the first road, a pleasant surprise.

I was a little short of 4 mi, so I ran across to the other gate and out a little ways to get my 4 mi.

I was planning to take it easy for a couple weeks in January before making a training push for a race in March. I guess my schedule has moved up.

 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014, 5:30 pm

4.57 mi, 66 ft gain, 41:29. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Not too bad starting out. Then at about 0.2 mi, left achilles/heel started to tighten up and hurt. By 0.4 mi I could tell it was throwing off my gait, it hurt, and I was seriously thinking about turning around and taking a break for a week or two. I decided to slow down and go a couple more minutes. Then everything loosened up and felt fine for the rest of the run.

Before I started, I was feeling pretty good and thinking of going for about 6 mi. After going for a bit, and with the waning light, I decided I’d just go out for about 20 min, turn around and come back. I kept it at a fairly easy pace. I noticed several times that I was slowly speeding up to Sigurd’s pace as he was lightly pulling.

I hit 20 min and decided to go up to the next street. That, a couple stops for the dogs, a pitstop for myself, and taking the rocky RR access road, which slowed my pace a bit, on the way back make up for going over 40 minutes.

I’ve been sort of dreading going running with the rainy, gloomy weather the past week or so. But I’m happier and feel so much better every time I get home afterwards.

If I do scale back my running this much earlier than I planned, I might have to finally get into a yoga class or something.

 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 5:24 pm

4.58 mi, 66 ft gain, 39:28. Same as Tuesday, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Still some discomfort from about 0.25-0.5 mi but not nearly as bad as yesterday. After that, it was pretty good. Hit the same turn around spot at about the same time. No pitstops on the way back this time, and stuck to the road instead of the rocky RR access road. I think I also kept a little faster pace today too.

Got home and took a look at a couple more small trees leaning over the driveway. I took care of one a couple days ago. I got out the bow saw and took care of two more today. I also got to enjoy the beautiful sunset through the trees while doing so.

Dry and partly sunny today.

 

Thursday, October 30, 2014, 4:52 pm

4.71 mi, 66 ft gain, 40:00. Same as Tue & Wed, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I didn’t want to go out in the rain—again. But I’m glad I did. Very little discomfort from about 0.35-0.55. Great the rest of the time. I did a quick lap back down the road from the RR crossing at the beginning, waiting for a train to go by. It was shorter than I expected, so I didn’t have to backtrack far.

After that I ran out to the same spot I’ve turned around the last couple days. I got there at about the same time, even with the little extra waiting-for-the-train time. A little slower on the return trip than yesterday, but I think I stopped once more for the dogs to pee than yesterday as well.

The rain wasn’t too bad. The wind on top of the rain was rather annoying on the return trip from about 3.5-4.25 mi.

I’m not running the 12hr. I want to fully recover this time. I’ve pushed it too early, because I felt pretty good, and just prolonged the recovery process. As much as I want to get into the mountains before they get snowed in, I ‘ll stick with flat and easy, so I can keep running.

 

Friday, October 31, 2014, 3:59 pm

3.19 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:12. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I wanted to run farther today, but didn’t have the time before I had to leave for some errands. I thought about going for another run in the dark after I got back, but I don’t really want to run around in the dark on Halloween.

I had a little less discomfort than yesterday at about the same point in the run. I’m looking forward to no more pain and getting back to longer trail runs.

 

Saturday, November 1, 2014, 5:32 pm

5.04 mi, 92 ft gain, 41:28. Road through town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I wanted to longer, but it’s getting dark so early. Maybe I’ll go out later for a few more on my own. I don’t like road running with the dogs in the dark.

Less discomfort than yesterday, happening in about the same section. It was a little colder today. No rain though. Overall a pretty good run. Went faster than the past few days. About 20 min out to turnaround. The dogs took a minute doing their business at the turnaround. I ran past my house just a little bit to hit 5 mi.

 

Sunday, November 2, 2014, 4:03 pm

9.14 mi, 444 ft gain, 1:17:42. Long way around town + Wallace Falls TH, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I wanted to get a little longer run on the roads in today. Less discomfort today starting at about the same point and lasting just a little longer. I started heading east up US2, turned on May Creek Rd, followed it around to Ley Rd and up to the Wallace Falls SP TH, got a little water and headed out again. Then I headed for home on my normal route.

I only had a couple vehicles not give me space while running on the small or non-existent shoulder. I liked the hills on May Creek rd, both going up at the beginning and down a couple miles later.

I pulled out my headlamp shortly after leaving the state park. It wasn’t that dark yet, but I use it more so vehicles see me. I like to carry a flashlight on road runs in the dark as well. I usually carry it in my traffic side hand pointing backwards so vehicles behind me can see me better. Sometime I’ll get some small flashers to just clip to my vest or clothes.

After a few minutes to warm up, I felt pretty awesome for the rest of the run. My effort at this pace was comparable almost 1 min slower pace at around this time last year. It’s great to see progress.
October totals: 215.2 mi, 23,536 ft gain

My personal best monthly mileage total, only by 3 mi, but that’s still pretty good for cutting back as much as I did for the last 2 weeks.

Weekly totals: 35.3 mi, 775 ft gain

 

I’m disappointed that I missed the 12 hour race on Saturday, but I’d rather recover fully for bigger plans yet to come. I guess there’s still time to hit my 2000 mi goal for the year, but I have 481 mi to go. I’d have to average a little over 8.1 mi a day. I’m happy with my year of running, regardless. With the exception of July, when I eased up a lot due to rolling my ankle, I’ve increased my mileage every month from 145 mi in April. I’ve also run at least 3 mi everyday starting August 13th. And I’ve already beat my best yearly mileage. A possible big race in Spring is a more important goal for me, anyway.

October 20-26 Practice Running

Monday, October 20, 2014, 7:06 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:14. Road in town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Achilles were sore most of the run, getting a little better as it went on. Ran in the dark. Used my headlamp and carried a flashlight. When running roads in the dark, I usually use the handheld flashlight for visibility for cars coming from behind me. If I’m coming up to an intersection, I’ll turn the flashlight on pointing backwards to make sure anyone trying to turn coming from behind me can see me.

 

Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 4:57 pm

4.07 mi, 441 ft gain, 1:16:27. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Not bad starting out. Achilles started bothering me about .25 mi in. Then felt better after 1.3 mi or so. The heel cup on this pair of Superiors has worn much softer than the other pair. They also have over 200 mi more on them than the other pair. I also removed a plastic piece off the heel. I might remove some more.

Wandered through the woods a bit. Found some mushrooms. A pretty good run.

 

Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 4:52 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 27:12. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I wasn’t looking forward to running in the rain today. Wore a beanie, gloves, long sleeve tech shirt, and compression shorts. I’d rather dress warmly than wear rain gear. If the run had been much longer, I probably would have taken the beanie off.

Anyway, it wasn’t raining that hard, but more than a drizzle. It was kind of windy several times, blowing the rain sideways. A little achilles discomfort, but getting better. My pace was faster than it has been on these kind of runs. I think it was a combination of subconsciously wanting to finish quickly and my body knowing that I can or should go faster to warm up.

One thing I don’t like about the MR10v2 is that the outsole is not full coverage. There are spaces on the bottom where water was splashing up through from the road. So my feet got wet even avoiding the puddles. After that, I splashed right through the rest of the puddles in my path.

A pretty good run for being so short, wet and starting to get a little cold (at least compared to the summer we had).

 

Thursday, October 23, 2014, 4:30 pm

3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 20:11. Road in town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

I could hear thunder to the west before I started, so I hurried to get out the door. I left the dogs home, because I didn’t want to be carrying their metal leashes if the electrical storm blew in.

It’s been raining all day, not to bad when I started running. Like yesterday, I started faster than usual. My achilles felt decently ok today. Only a little minor discomfort for a minute or two. Also like yesterday, the weather was a factor in keeping my pace up.

After about 1.3 mi, the rain really started to come down. Fortunately, there wasn’t much wind. Just before leaving, a weather advisory came in on my phone, warning of high winds tomorrow through Saturday. I’m not really looking forward to the rain and wind together.

The rain slowed down a little by about 2.2 mi. By then, I was starting to lose a little energy and wanted to slow down. I kept up the pace anyway. I ran negative splits each mile and finished the last .14 mi at 5:54/mi pace.

Strava estimated my best 2 mi at 12:14 and best 5k at 19:42. It also gave me my second best 1 mi at 6:03. With a proper warmup, I think I can still take 20-30 seconds off my 5k time at about the same level effort. My splits were 6:59 for mi 1, 6:15 mi for 2, 6:04 mi for 3, 0:51 for last 0.14 mi. I’m closer to my goal of sub 18 min 5k than I thought.

 

Friday, October 24, 2014, 4:08 pm

3.14 mi, 28 ft gain, 28:29. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

A little discomfort at left achilles attachment to heel from 0.2-0.5 mi or so. Rest of the run was good. A little warmer than expected. Started with hat, gloves, long sleeve. Took off the hat about 5 min in, and rolled up the sleeves shortly after that. No rain and the roads were pretty dry. Supposed to be windy tonight into tomorrow.

 

Saturday, October 25, 2014, 5:44 pm

8.29 mi,  1084 ft gain, 1:20:53. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

It was just drizzling when I started. Minor left heel/achilles discomfort from about 0.2-0.6 mi. It also took about 1 mi for my legs to warm up. Went out to Olney creek. Then headed up the hill. It was starting to get dark before I got to the top of the first climb, but I went without a light for a while longer. I went over the hill out to the point overlooking the houses by gate #1.

I put on my headlamp and got my flashlight before starting up the first climb headed back. I felt good and wanted just a little more mileage for the day, so I did that first steep climb twice. This was about the same time that the rain really started coming down. I had taken my hat off and rolled up my sleeves. I started to get a little cold from the rain, so I got my hat out and rolled the sleeves down. Before heading back to the car I went out to the little hill to break 8 mi for the run.

The run was good. The rain was ok. I was soaked when I got in the car and sat for a couple minutes to let the heater warm up before driving home. I’m still not sure about the 12 hour race next weekend.

As I write this, the power has been out in the neighborhood for about 20 minutes. The heavy rain has kept going, and the wind is picking up too. I’m a little worried about the cottonwood tree out front that I’ve warned the landlord about. A large branch almost came down on the house over the summer and several others have come down since I’ve lived here.

Sunday, October 26, 2014, 4:36 pm

11.04 mi, 2202 ft gain, 2:06:17. Upper Wallace Falls from home, Solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I didn’t really feel like I had much speed in my legs from the start. I took it easy through town to the TH. I had to speed up a little as I got closer, though. I needed a pitstop pretty badly. After a few minutes, I signed the log book and started up the trail.

The trail was wet and had some mud and water in a few spots on some of the flatter sections. Fortunately, the steep parts weren’t too slick. Thanks to the trail designers, builders and maintenance crews for good drainage.

I still didn’t feel particularly fast, but the climbing didn’t feel too difficult. As it turned out, I had my fastest ascent yet and took the CR on two of the Strava climbing segments. I think it helped my total ascent time with there only being 3 or 4 groups of people on the trail, and they were all on the flatter, wider first half.

The middle falls was absolutely roaring from all the rain recently. I didn’t stop for photos though. When I ran by the valley overlook, the sun was barely breaking through the clouds, lighting up the valley, clouds, fog and mist from the waterfall. I didn’t stop on the way up, though. I figured I could get back down there before sunset. The upper falls weren’t quite as impressive as the middle falls, mostly because you can’t see the bottom from the view point.

I rested for a minute or so, drinking water and eating a couple dates, before starting back down. I took it slow for the first 0.25 mi down or so. It’s the steepest section, the stairs can be quite slippery when wet, and my legs were still a little fatigued from the climb. My legs recovered after a couple minutes. I still took it fairly easy on the descent. It was wet, leaves obscured some of the rocks and roots, and I was losing light.

When I came around the switchback and caught a glimpse of part of the view from the valley overlook, I had to stop. It was gorgeous. I wrote previously about being completely absorbed by the moment in regards to meditation and running. This moment goes near the top of the list. It made my weekend and quite possibly my whole month.

Not only did the sunset light up the entire valley, clouds, and fog, the overlook seemed to float on the glowing mist from the roaring falls. I took some photos, but there’s no way to fully capture the beauty of the scene or the moment.

I couldn’t stick around for too long, however, as the same sunset that created such a beautiful scene would also be making it progressively more difficult to see obstacles on the trail. So, I headed off down the trail.

I could still see glimpses of the sunset through the trees for a little while. While still amazing, the light would also get in my eyes and make it harder to see the trail. I managed anyway, going a little slower than I would have otherwise.

I didn’t see another person until I was back on the RR grade about 0.3 mi from the TH. I made it back to the TH a few minutes after the sun had set. I managed to keep my footing the whole time. I only slid in the mud a little bit a couple times. Slick mud and slick rocks seem to be just beyond limits of the Altra Superior 1.5’s traction.

I signed back out in the log book and had a sip of water from the fountain. I still had plenty of water in my Nathan Elevation hydration bladder, but the cold water was nice. I ate my last two dates before heading down the road for home.

The 3.2 mi home seemed a little more difficult than would normally expect. But it was certainly inline with my experience on the way to the TH earlier. I just didn’t have much speed in my legs. It was still pretty light until the last mile, but I pulled out my headlamp before leaving the State Park, for visibility’s sake for traffic. There wasn’t much traffic, even on US2, which was a little surprising for a Sunday evening. That’s OK by me. It’s easier to cross the highway with very little traffic or bumper to bumper. Lots of traffic that’s still moving makes it tough.

Parts of the run were completely unremarkable, other parts were great, and just a few amazing views elevated my enjoyment exponentially.

Weekly totals: 36 mi, 3728 ft gain.

Practicing the Way: I am the Tao

I’ve read the Tao Te Ching several times in the past. Lately, I’ve been reading a couple sections before bed when I need a break from whatever else I’m reading at the time.

A few weeks ago I read sections 4 and 5. The first paragraph of section 4 and second paragraph of section 5 stood out to me.

Section 4 paragraph 1:
The Way is a void,
Used but never filled:
An abyss it is,
Like an ancestor
From which all things come.

Section 5 paragraph 2:
Between the earth and sky
The space is like a bellows,
Empty but unspent.
When moved its gift is copious.

In Taoism, the Way is everything and nothing. It’s empty and without form, but everything comes from it and is contained by it.

Reading it this time, I had a different thought. The Way could also stand for all of human potentiality, everything that you, I or we could ever possibly do, become or achieve.

I get a glimpse of this when I exceed my own expectations running, going faster or farther than I previously thought possible. I realize even more of this looking back on other past accomplishments.

I am not complete until the end. My life is not filled. My past has created my present self. It continues to create my future self as the past keeps pace with the present, my becoming. It’s not enough to be incomplete, though. I have to remain open to possibilities, and actively engage.

There is no real limit to my capacity to achieve, only my ability at any given time to see what’s possible. When I open myself to opportunities and harness the unspent energy of my past, in the form of skills, knowledge, training, experiences and more, I can create my own copious gifts.