Monday, October 6, 2014, 5:46 pm

6.71 mi, 634 ft gain, 1:08:44. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

A little rough going early, but felt pretty good after a couple miles. Went about halfway over the hill, then out to Olney creek. The dogs scared up 5 or 6 grouse up on the hill in the same spot I’ve seen them two other times.

 

Tuesday, October 7, 2014, 5:54 pm

3.2 mi, 28 ft gain, 30:38. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

I think I over did it with the hills yesterday. I was fine after Sunday, relatively. But today my left achilles is acting up again. It’s right at the base where it connects to my heel. It loosened up after about a mile today. It’s not as bad as it was after the 7 hour race. Hopefully it will recover quickly. I’m thinking about a 12 hour race on Nov. 1.

 

Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 5:58 pm

3.98 mi, 38 ft gain, 44:36. Road in town & down to the river, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Achilles still sore. It wasn’t as bad as yesterday. It warmed up by about 1.25 mi, and I had no more discomfort. Ran my normal recent loop through town. Took a side trip down the WDFW access point up the road from me down to the river. The river is really low. One little, easily crossed rivulet on this side, then wide open river bottom. Ran across the rocks on the river bottom. I could hear the main channel of the river on the other side of the island. I’m really jonesing to get up into the mountains more before the weather turns, but not sure it’s really going to happen. I’m grateful to still be running, even if it’s not the kind that I’d like to be doing.

 

Thursday, October 9, 2014, 5:03 pm

4.16 mi, 36 ft gain, 38:57. RR access rd & green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

No achilles discomfort to start, a little after a couple minutes, and gone after about 1.3 mi. Vida was dragging behind the whole time at a pace that is usually pretty easy for her. Not sure why. I may give the dogs a day or two off.

I was going to start using my HR monitor when running. I didn’t remember until I was a few minutes down the road. I’ll have to put it somewhere conspicuous for next time.

 

Friday, October 10, 2014, 5:30 pm

6.36 mi, 261 ft gain, 45:11. To Wallace Falls TH and back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

Moving time 43:08. Left the dogs home to get some faster paced running in. Very minor achilles discomfort from about 0.5-1.5 mi. Tried to pair garmin hr monitor with my gps. It said it was paired, but wouldn’t show any data. I didn’t need as much warmup today as usual. Then I started pushing the pace. I stopped at the TH for a little water. I pushed harder starting at 4 mi, and ran my first sub 6 min mile ever. I had to wait for traffic for about a minute or so to cross the highway on the way back. I pushed the last few hundred yards as well. Strava best estimated times: 1/2 mi 2:53, 1 mi 5:58, 2 mi 12:25, 5k 20:14, 10k 43:27. All of them are actually my fastest times at those distances as well. About 2 minutes faster than my best 2 mi run in the Army.

 

Saturday, October 11, 2014, 11:20 am

3.18 mi, 28 ft gain, 29:16. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Visiting family later in the day. Wanted to still get out for a run. Right calf a little sore for most of the run.

 

Sunday, October 12, 2014, 4:35 pm

17.06 mi, 2479 ft gain, 2:54:00. Olney Falls DNR rd to Wallace Lake out and back, solo. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

Took a while to get warmed up and in to a rhythm. Once I hit about 6 miles, I started to feel pretty good. A teal duck (too fast to tell if it was blue- or green-winged) startled me when it took off from a stream right by the road about a mile in. I saw 4 or 5 grouse over the rest of the run. A rock in my shoe at about 15 mi. I may have to dig out my gaiters. I seem to kick up debris more when it’s wet than dry, and it’s going to be wet for much of the next 4-6 months. I got some practice running in the dark. I think my old Petzl headlamp is good for practicing in low light, but I should probably get something much brighter for more technical trails.

 

Weekly totals: 44.8 mi, 3440 ft elevation gain.

Monday, September 29, 2014, 5:56 pm

4.11 mi, 38 ft gain, 30:01. Road in town, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

A little achey in general yesterday and today. Planned to just keep it moderate today, but I started feeling better and better as I ran. Splits: 8:46 mi 1, 7:19 mi 2, 7:09 mi 3, 6:06 mi 4, 5:54/mi pace last 0.11. Strava estimated best efforts: 5k 21:12, 2 mi 13:01, 1 mi 6:03, 1k 3:39, 1/2 mi 2:56. It’s my actual best 5k, 2 mi, 1 mi. I’m not sure about 1k and 1/2 mi.

 

Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 5:38 pm

4.18 mi, 38 ft gain, 38:34. Green belt in town, with dogs. Alta Superior 1.5 Red.

Still slightly achey joints. Not sure what the deal is. Felt good after warming up. Sped up the last 1.5 mi or so. I heard a train whistle in the distance. The direction would put it in the next town, about 3-4 mi away. I wanted to get back to the RR crossing for my street before it got there. Trains often stop along the stretch of track next to the green belt/park. There are 3 or 4 sets of tracks, and they wait for other trains to go by. The train stopped there today was about 1.15 mi long with 2 engines on each end. I looked up the hazmat placard on the tankers. They were all full of crude oil.

 

Wednesday, October 1, 2014, 4:12 pm

6.37 mi, 740 ft gain, 1:38:14. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #2, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

Out to the little hill, Olney creek, part way over the bigger hill and then some off road wandering through the woods. Felt pretty good mostly. Still a little issue with my left achilles. Logging roads might be OK for now, but I’m itching to get back on actual trails. It might be a little while though.

 

Thursday, October 2, 2014, 4:22 pm

6.09 mi, 634 ft gain, 1:24:31. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm gate #1, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

Some wandering mixed in today. Went off the logging roads uphill into the woods about 2.4 mi out or so. A little mossy forest floor running, but mostly finding my way through thigh high ferns and deadfall. Felt a little stiff to start, but good after warming up.

 

Friday, October 3, 2014, 5:52 pm

6.12 mi, 578 ft gain, 1:01:53. Sultan Basin Rd tree farm gate 1, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

Was going to do out and back on a couple routes on just one side of the road. When I got most of the way around the loop, someone started target shooting near where I’d have to run back by. I decided to finish the loop instead. I knew there was a trail from one road back to the one I started at, but this was my first time on it. Fun little section of trail somewhere between single track and game trail. I still had over 2 more miles planned for the day, so I crossed the road to the other gate and headed out. Found another cool spot for sunset views at the end of the road. Legs felt good.

 

Saturday, October 4, 2014, 6:05 pm

10.24 mi, 1684 ft gain, 1:35:53. Olney Falls DNR rd, solo. Alta Superior 1.5 Red.

A little late start, so I brought a headlamp and flashlight. I saw a smallish cougar about 2 miles in. I came around the corner and it was running up the road away from me. I wasn’t fast enough with the camera for a pic though. Legs were good after the first 10-15 minutes warming up. Climbing wasn’t very tough. I’ve definitely gotten better at extended downhills. Pulled out the lights with about 3 miles left back to the car.

 

Sunday, October 5, 2014, 3:12 pm

19.70 mi, 4037 ft gain, 4:04:26. Road to Wallace Falls, Upper falls, dnr road, Wallace Lake, solo. Alta Superior 1.5 Blue.

I think I’ve lost my climbing legs a little bit sticking to relatively flat runs for the last month +.

I decided to take a spur road off the dnr road before heading to Wallace Lake. I hoped to find a possible route up Mt. Stickney from the south side. More or less went straight uphill. Lots of small blow down, but not too bad. Rather steep though. Came across a couple abandoned logging roads. I’ll have to look at some satellite images again to see if it looks promising beyond where I turned around. Very fun to run back down.

Back to the dnr rd, I continued out to Wallace Lake. Decided not to go around to the beach on the north side. I wanted to make it back to the TH with light left. With leaves on the trail in some technical parts, I didn’t want the added difficulty of darkness.

It probably would have been better if I had brought a water bottle along, rather than just the 2L bladder. I didn’t drink as much as normal and still ran out a little before getting back to the TH. I knew I had enough to make it, but I prefer being well hydrated. Drank a bit at the fountain and added some more to my hydration bladder before heading for home.

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Weekly totals: 56.8 mi, 7749 ft gain

Feels good to get back to some climbing.

September total: 212.4 mi, 13,724 ft gain. Personal Best Monthly Mileage.

Monday, September 22, 2014, 4:22 pm

3.05 mi, 481 ft gain, 38:02. Sultan Basin Rd DNR road W, with dogs. Alta Lone Peak 1.5.

I haven’t run from the gate on this side of Sultan Basin Rd. Didn’t realize it was so hilly. It was pretty rough. Walking was faster up the hills. Felt better at the end, but still quite sore.

 

Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 3:10 pm

3.23 mi, 28 ft gain, 34:37. Roads in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Legs still sore. Right calf and left achilles more so than the rest. Better after the run.

 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 5:31 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 31:14. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Already bored of roads after only 2 days, but I will likely stick with them for a while. Legs less sore, but not fully recovered. Calf and achilles a little better. Rainy run.

 

Thursday, September 25, 2014, 3:47 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 31:13. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Legs getting there. Right calf almost on par with the rest of my legs. Left achilles still going to take some time. It stopped raining, and the sun came out this afternoon. Have to take advantage of the Fall sun when we get it up here.

 

Friday, September 26, 2014, 4:49 pm

3.15 mi, 28 ft gain, 28:34. Road in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

Starting to feel more like normal. Left achilles area was swollen since Monday, but nearly back to normal size today. Still very minor discomfort, so it looks like more short and flat running for me. But at least I’m able to run.

 

Saturday, September 27, 2014, 12:19 pm

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

Still a little discomfort in achilles, barely noticeable. Legs felt good. I would have liked to go longer, but was heading to visit family.

 

Sunday, September 28, 2014, 5:43 pm

12.04 mi, 1936 ft gain, 1:57:16. Olney Falls DNR road, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Legs feel back to about 95%. Took a little bit to warm up. Felt pretty good after that. Descending was great. I’m getting better at going faster downhill. I had to slow down the last couple miles because it was getting dark. Still a pretty good run.

 

Weekly totals: 31 mi, 2557 ft gain

I’ve already broken my highest monthly mileage with 204.1 mi. About 35-55% of the elevation gain of the previous 4 months. Not bad for running through groin and achilles issues though. My run streak is up to 47 straight days.

Monday, September 15, 2014, 4:27 pm

6.45 mi, 262 ft gain, 1:01:26. Road to Wallace Falls State Park TH & back, solo. New Balance MR10v2.

It was around 92 degrees when I started and very little shade on this route. Too hot for a road run with the dogs. My groin loosened up more quickly than the past few days. Settled into a relatively easy tempo.

 

Tuesday, September 16, 2014, 4:16 pm

6.44 mi, 293 ft gain, 1:12:13. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Took it pretty easy. Was looking to get about 5 mi. More bad running math. For some reason adding 1 mi each way out and back to a 4 mi loop made sense. No harm though. I felt pretty good with the groin better than Monday. The out and back was on the road connecting to the gate #2 road, just to the beginning of the hill. Then a stop at Olney creek. It was warm and I could tell the dogs could use the cool down. Then around the loop and back to the car. Just about no matter how far into a run I am going clockwise around this loop, I always feel good for the last .75 mi or so of the loop. It’s not particularly scenic and the road has a pretty good crown. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.

 

Wednesday, September 17, 2014, 3:26 pm

3.1 mi, ft gain, 29:28. Green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

No groin issues during the run. Decided to dial back the mileage on my runs leading up to the 7 hour run on Sunday. I’ll keep it pretty flat until then as well. Grabbed a large apple from a tree in the park on the way back home. Finished about half of it by the end of the run. Pretty tasty.

 

Thursday, September 18, 2014, 4:19 pm

3.17 mi, 33 ft gain, 28:52. Road through town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

No problems at all with the groin today. Still a very slight soreness pushing my left leg inward, but almost gone. My legs were a little heavy today. I’m not sure why. It rained earlier, but held off during the run. Finished the last 100m or so reasonably fast to stretch out the legs. Felt good and sort of surprised at the pace I hit briefly given the effort.

 

Friday, September 19, 2014, 3:32 pm

3.16 mi, 35 ft gain, 31:05. Green belt in town, with dogs. New Balance MR10v2.

It was warmer today than expected. About a mile into the run, Vida was already lagging behind a little. She seems to be more sensitive to the heat. They’re both black, so neither does great in the heat in direct sunlight. So I went across the RR tracks to the river side. Trees line the river, so there was plenty of shade. Vida did a little better there. After the turnaround, I took the dogs down to the river for a quick dip. Almost hit a sprint the last 100m, but couldn’t get the dogs to turn up the speed anymore. These short runs through town are getting old. One more before race day.

 

Saturday, September 20, 2014, 3:45 pm
3.19 mi, 33 ft gain, 32:17. Green belt in town, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Down to the river for the dogs on the way out this time. A little warmer today than yesterday. They held up fine though. Let them off leash for the last little bit so they wouldn’t slow me down for my sprint finish. Kind of cool to outrun the dogs. If it were cooler out, and/or there was some little critter they wanted to catch, I have little chance of beating them.

 

Sunday, September 21, 2014, 8:02 pm

43.77 mi, ~500ft gain, 6:58:23. Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 7 Hour Race at Magnuson Park, solo. Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

Had a great run. Personal best distance and length of time run. Officially 42.784 mi, but GPS said 43.77. Full report to follow.

 

Weekly totals: 69.3 mi, 1190 ft gain.

As well as my single longest run ever, I beat my previous best weekly mileage by a little over 9 mi. Looking forward to getting back to the trails and running up mountains soon.

Monday, September 8, 2014, 5:00 pm

4.33 mi, ft gain, 59:20. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Some DOMS in my legs, but not too bad. Went out for an easy recovery run. Took a few minutes for my hip flexors to loosen up again. I took a turn that I haven’t taken in months. I forgot how hilly that road was. Not long hills, but kind of steep. I was rewarded with some chanterelles though. Once back to the main road, I headed to Olney Creek for the dogs. Legs feel better than when I started, but still a little DOMS.

 

Tuesday, September 9, 2014, 4:36 pm

8.1 mi, 1079 ft gain, 1:29:38. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Hip flexors still a little tight to start. Fine after getting going. Took it easy again. Went up the little hill to the NW and continued on the blocked off logging road heading uphill until the overgrowth was too much. Then went to Olney creek for the dogs. Then up the bigger hill and most of the way over the other side. Went a little farther than I expected, but I felt good.

 

Wednesday, September 10, 2014, 4:16 pm

9.14 mi, 1402 ft gain, 1:38:25. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #1 to Wallace Lake, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

Legs still a tad bit sore at first. Loosened up after a little over a mile. Took it fairly easy today. Still longer than my regular weekday runs though. Stopped at Olney creek for the dogs. Stopped at the beach on the north end of the lake for the dogs. They were slowing a little on the way back, so we stopped again at Olney creek. They certainly do better now that it’s getting a little cooler out.

 

Thursday, September 11, 2014, 4:43 pm

7.11 mi, 782 ft gain, 1:05:36. Discovery Park, Seattle, solo. New Altra Superior 1.5 Blue.

I went into Seattle today to pick up some new shoes. Back in July, Seven Hills Running had a contest to guess the finishing times of the Men’s and Women’s winning times for White River 50. I came closest and won a $50 coupon. I finally got around to heading down there today. I got another pair of Altra Superior 1.5, in black/blue/gray this time. That’s just what they grabbed for me, which is fine. I don’t care about the color, but it will make it easy to tell the two pairs apart. My others are red/black/yellow. I also picked up a Nathan Elevation Race Vest. Hoping it’s easier on my collar bones and underarms than my old Deuter pack. It seems to fit well, but I’ll find out on my long run this weekend. I got another handheld bottle as well, an Ultimate Direction Fastdraw 20. I like that the zipper on the pocket opens much more than my other two UD handhelds.

Anyway… Since I was already out there, and the shop is right down the street from Discovery Park, I took the new shoes and bottle out for a test. Ran the loop trail twice, once in each direction, and went down to the beach on the second loop. I switched directions because the trail is canted in one direction most of the way around. I like to try to keep things even. Several years ago I had ITB problems from running the same route in the same direction on the same side of the road when I lived in Seattle. Much like wearing elevated heel shoes can shorten the achilles and calves, continually running on a slanted surface like that can cause imbalances as the body tries to adapt the the stresses.

The weather was great. The trail was nice, with the exception of the stairs down to the beach. Most trail stairs I run are too far apart, these were much to small to run very well. It’s like they were built for people to walk on. The shoes were exactly what I expected. I have almost 290 miles in my other pair, and I think they’ve got at least another 100-200 left in them. I just sent of my registration today for a 7 hour race on September 21. And in what’s becoming a bit of a tradition, I’ll wear my new shoes. Third of four races so far this year in new shoes.

 

Friday, September 12, 2014, 4:36 pm

5.13 mi, 220 ft gain, 53:29. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

Took it slow. Left groin is sore. Out to Olney creek for the dogs. Out to the end of the left fork. Added a short out and back on the road to the west nearest the gate. Took a little bit for my groin to loosen up, but felt ok running after a little bit.

 

Saturday, September 13, 2014, 4:45 pm

5 mi, 188 ft gain, 1:04:32. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #2, with dogs. Altra Lone Peak 1.5.

My left groin is still sore, but a little better. Out to Olney creek. Played fetch with the dogs for a little bit. Went out further and took the right fork instead of the left. Lots of blowdowns, and more overgrowth than the other way. Was a little slow going. Went out the side road to the west nearest the gate on the way back to get the extra distance to hit 5 mi. Had some big buzzing hornet looking insect follow me back to the car. Hurried to get in without it getting in as well. I wasn’t planning to taper for the 7 hour race next weekend, but I’d like to run it without groin pain, so I’ll stick to these slow, easy runs.

Sunday, September 14, 2014, 4:38 pm

5 mi, 125 ft gain, 1:05:35. Kellogg Lake Tree Farm Gate #3, with dogs. Altra Superior 1.5 Red.

I rarely run from this gate. If the other gates have cars parked at them, I usually like to go to the blocked road instead. Never seen anyone else on those roads and there is some single track connecting roads there too. I got to go through the shorter section of single track today. Turned around at the other end. Wandered through the woods a bit too. The only water available for the dogs along this road is pretty swampy. They don’t mind, but I’m not fond of the smell on the drive home. Vida really loves to get in the muck too. I hosed both off when we got home.

I didn’t feel very well earlier in the day. Took a while to get into it while running. Started to feel better after a couple miles. Definitely glad I went for a run.

 

Weekly totals: 43.7 mi, 6h 44m, 4290ft gain