so I did not run my miles today. the plan called for a 60 min "hilly run", and I didn't go. I ran hard last week, 46.5 miles, my highest mileage week ever. Over the weekend, when i had a saturday 20 mile run and a sunday 1 hour run, i was also volunteering/judging at a local crossfit competition. more than 12 hours on my feet at the event, during which i took a break to run my miles, then got back on the floor.
I really ran myself down. it feels like i have been fighting off a cold since sunday. my throat felt funny last night, and i was a little congested when i woke up. all over sluggish feeling, and achy. So when the alarm went off, i decided i needed the rest more than the miles. in my head, i realize that missing a day, or even a week, will not likely have any effect on my general level of conditioning. In all honesty, I feel i could run a 50k tomorrow. it would hurt, and it would take a long time, and recovery would be difficult, but i could do it. the next 10 weeks are more about training to perform better, to run faster, to handle the elevation better, and to recover faster. a few lost days will not hurt me.
but i am having trouble letting go of the run. i am feeling guilty, and i am having regrets. i worry about my training plan, and my upcoming 50k. my confidence is a little shaken because i missed a training day.
I am just trying to tell myself that a few missed days to get over a cold are better than running my body into the ground, and facing an even longer recovery. we'll see what tomorrow brings. if i skip tomorrow, then Friday is a regular rest day, and i can jump right into the long run saturday, trail run sunday. i hope i feel better soon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
2015 Bridle Trails Winter Festival 50k trail run, pair relay
Ran the 2015 Bridle Trails Winter Festival trail run on Saturday night. I did the 50k pair relay with my good friend Jess. As per usual, i always get nervous before I run with Jess. It's like she's a real runner and i'm some hack poser runner. I feel the need to work hard to keep up my end of the bargain and not let her down. It was a 50k pair relay, run in loops of 5.2 miles around the state park. it could be split any way you wanted, handing off the bib/chip every loop. One pair team had runner A do 3 loops, then runner B do 3 loops (15.6 miles each, 25k each, total of 50k for the team). Another pair team had runner A do 1 lap, then runner B do 1 lap, then runner A did 2 loops and runner B did 2 loops. We went with every other lap. It was an experiment - we thought maybe having a lap on followed by a lap off would be easiest. 5.2 miles is not that far to run on trail, and having a good 45-55 minutes between laps to recover would be a good thing.
some variables to try and account for included the temperature (low 40s), the weather (mist/rain) the trail conditions (rumored to be wet/muddy/horseshitty), and the fact that the run was at late afternoon into night and it was going to get dark fast. I packed practically as much gear for this one run as i did for my entire week in Berlin. 3 changes of running clothes (T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, socks, shoes), 2 jackets, 1 towel, GPS watch, Ipod, gloves, hat, headlamp, flashlight, buff, dinner/snacks, water, etc.
it was actually a smaller event that i anticipated. looking at the registered bib numbers, there were 97 solo 50k runners, 6 pair relays, and 7 team relays. Jess brought a lawn chair, we set up our gear in a corner of the gear tent. it worked well. Jess took the first lap. it was pretty crowded (the 5 and 10 mile runners doing 1 or 2 loops were pretty thick). i took the second lap, when things really started to open up. it was mostly light for my lap, and i was able to get the feel of the trail. it was not very technical (mostly horse trails through the woods) but was fairly muddy. after Jess took lap 3, my next lap was fully dark. it was a little slower because i hit every bit of mud (no getting around it in the dark at speed). it got pretty lonesome fast as we got down to only the 50k'ers out there. i really felt alone for most of my run. maybe passed 3-5 runners each lap, but never saw anybody in between. for my final lap i chugged a noxplode and tried to open it up. not a lot of gas in the tank, but my 3rd lap was only a minute or so slower than my first lap (when i was fresh and it was light out).
after every lap i ran, i was able to change into dry shirts, eat some food, drink some water, sit in the chair or stand next to the propane heater, and just generally recover. I ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup or so of trail mix, and a Gu Roctane after each lap. i wore one pair of shoes/socks for the first 2 laps, then switched out to the clean and dry pair for the final lap. my new headlamp was just fine, i didn't bother to bring the flashlight.
No, we did not win. For dual teams, we came in 3rd. The winning team was Uli Steidl and his wife Trish. Uli has won the Seattle marathon something like 10 times. The Steidls set the Bridle Trails 50k relay Course Record 10 years ago, and came back to set a new one on Saturday night. They spanked us royally. But the 2nd place team was only 14 minutes ahead of us (only about 30 seconds per mile faster). The next team after us was about an hour longer than us. So I think we held our own. More importantly, though, we both had a blast.
so in retrospect I think the plan worked out as expected. having some recovery time let me run each lap almost fresh. i didn't see any real loss in performance from the 1st lap to the 3rd. but it was difficult. getting cold and stiff after each lap was cumulative. my lower back was really aching by my final lap. i got really stiff and sore, and i really felt it the next morning when i went out for my recovery run. stiff/sore hips/hamstrings/lower back. but in all this was a really fun run, and i had a great time. i think i picked up some valuable experience that will help me pack my gear bags for the gear drop areas of the gorge waterfall 50k in march.
some variables to try and account for included the temperature (low 40s), the weather (mist/rain) the trail conditions (rumored to be wet/muddy/horseshitty), and the fact that the run was at late afternoon into night and it was going to get dark fast. I packed practically as much gear for this one run as i did for my entire week in Berlin. 3 changes of running clothes (T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, socks, shoes), 2 jackets, 1 towel, GPS watch, Ipod, gloves, hat, headlamp, flashlight, buff, dinner/snacks, water, etc.
it was actually a smaller event that i anticipated. looking at the registered bib numbers, there were 97 solo 50k runners, 6 pair relays, and 7 team relays. Jess brought a lawn chair, we set up our gear in a corner of the gear tent. it worked well. Jess took the first lap. it was pretty crowded (the 5 and 10 mile runners doing 1 or 2 loops were pretty thick). i took the second lap, when things really started to open up. it was mostly light for my lap, and i was able to get the feel of the trail. it was not very technical (mostly horse trails through the woods) but was fairly muddy. after Jess took lap 3, my next lap was fully dark. it was a little slower because i hit every bit of mud (no getting around it in the dark at speed). it got pretty lonesome fast as we got down to only the 50k'ers out there. i really felt alone for most of my run. maybe passed 3-5 runners each lap, but never saw anybody in between. for my final lap i chugged a noxplode and tried to open it up. not a lot of gas in the tank, but my 3rd lap was only a minute or so slower than my first lap (when i was fresh and it was light out).
after every lap i ran, i was able to change into dry shirts, eat some food, drink some water, sit in the chair or stand next to the propane heater, and just generally recover. I ate half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup or so of trail mix, and a Gu Roctane after each lap. i wore one pair of shoes/socks for the first 2 laps, then switched out to the clean and dry pair for the final lap. my new headlamp was just fine, i didn't bother to bring the flashlight.
No, we did not win. For dual teams, we came in 3rd. The winning team was Uli Steidl and his wife Trish. Uli has won the Seattle marathon something like 10 times. The Steidls set the Bridle Trails 50k relay Course Record 10 years ago, and came back to set a new one on Saturday night. They spanked us royally. But the 2nd place team was only 14 minutes ahead of us (only about 30 seconds per mile faster). The next team after us was about an hour longer than us. So I think we held our own. More importantly, though, we both had a blast.
so in retrospect I think the plan worked out as expected. having some recovery time let me run each lap almost fresh. i didn't see any real loss in performance from the 1st lap to the 3rd. but it was difficult. getting cold and stiff after each lap was cumulative. my lower back was really aching by my final lap. i got really stiff and sore, and i really felt it the next morning when i went out for my recovery run. stiff/sore hips/hamstrings/lower back. but in all this was a really fun run, and i had a great time. i think i picked up some valuable experience that will help me pack my gear bags for the gear drop areas of the gorge waterfall 50k in march.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
1/8/14. surprise. How about a dual relay 50K trail run on Saturday night?
all right, well sometimes a race just falls in your lap.
my good friend Jess emailed me about a 50K dual relay trail run coming up this weekend. team of 2, take turns running a 5.2 mile loop of trail run, hand off the bib/tracker to your partner so they can run their lap. 50K, 31.1 miles total, 15.6 miles each. 6 laps total, 3 each. it starts in late afternoon so it will rapidly get dark in the woods. a relay trail run with headlamps and flashlights. she brought the idea up tuesday afternoon, asking if i wanted to run with her in this saturday night race. this is pretty short flow, and i'm more of a long term planner (pretty detail oriented). so this is little out of character for me, but i'm gonna do it.
http://www.seattlerunningclub.org/Events/Bridle/bridle.html
I'm really excited, this should be a lot of fun. its a little hard to plan for (and not much time for planning). i have experience gearing up for a marathon. i have plans on how I will equip my drop bags for the gorge waterfall 50k. but planning for a 50k dual relay (25k each) where i will likely run an hour, rest an hour, run an hour, and so on, is kind of strange. get real hot and sweaty, then stand around in the dark and cold for an hour, repeat 3 times. I guess in addition to my headlamp and flashlight, I will need a gear bag with food, warm/dry clothes, 2nd pair of shoes, blanket, maybe even a camp chair. since its going to be 3 separate runs, I'm actually thinking of maybe not wearing my camelbak or even carrying any water on the trail. maybe I'll just stockpile some food and water at the waiting area. but i couldn't resist going and buying a new headlamp last night. i had done some comparison shopping back before christmas, and then decided i didn't really need it. i had selected Black Diamond as the manufacturer, and then reviewed the Cosmo, the Spot, the Storm, and the Revolt. I considered brightness vs weight vs projection distance vs battery life. No one product is the best at everything, but I selected the Spot as the best compromise. 130 lumens (on max), 70m beam distance (on max), 50 hr run time (on max), 3 AAA batteries, 3.25 ounces. Ran over to REI last night and picked one up. It's awesome. i went into a dark room and compared the beam to my old headlamp (TJMaxx special). it was like day and night. I wore the Spot on my 8 mile run at 5am this morning, just to make sure there were no issues. I used the light a few times, but mostly turned it off to save the batteries. i was really just wearing it to see how it felt, adjust the strap, make sure i could stand it, etc. You never want to try your new gear on race day. The Spot seemed like it will work out fine.
this is going to be so awesome. I'm getting really stoked just thinking about it. 50K trail dual relay at night, in 2 days...
my good friend Jess emailed me about a 50K dual relay trail run coming up this weekend. team of 2, take turns running a 5.2 mile loop of trail run, hand off the bib/tracker to your partner so they can run their lap. 50K, 31.1 miles total, 15.6 miles each. 6 laps total, 3 each. it starts in late afternoon so it will rapidly get dark in the woods. a relay trail run with headlamps and flashlights. she brought the idea up tuesday afternoon, asking if i wanted to run with her in this saturday night race. this is pretty short flow, and i'm more of a long term planner (pretty detail oriented). so this is little out of character for me, but i'm gonna do it.
http://www.seattlerunningclub.org/Events/Bridle/bridle.html
I'm really excited, this should be a lot of fun. its a little hard to plan for (and not much time for planning). i have experience gearing up for a marathon. i have plans on how I will equip my drop bags for the gorge waterfall 50k. but planning for a 50k dual relay (25k each) where i will likely run an hour, rest an hour, run an hour, and so on, is kind of strange. get real hot and sweaty, then stand around in the dark and cold for an hour, repeat 3 times. I guess in addition to my headlamp and flashlight, I will need a gear bag with food, warm/dry clothes, 2nd pair of shoes, blanket, maybe even a camp chair. since its going to be 3 separate runs, I'm actually thinking of maybe not wearing my camelbak or even carrying any water on the trail. maybe I'll just stockpile some food and water at the waiting area. but i couldn't resist going and buying a new headlamp last night. i had done some comparison shopping back before christmas, and then decided i didn't really need it. i had selected Black Diamond as the manufacturer, and then reviewed the Cosmo, the Spot, the Storm, and the Revolt. I considered brightness vs weight vs projection distance vs battery life. No one product is the best at everything, but I selected the Spot as the best compromise. 130 lumens (on max), 70m beam distance (on max), 50 hr run time (on max), 3 AAA batteries, 3.25 ounces. Ran over to REI last night and picked one up. It's awesome. i went into a dark room and compared the beam to my old headlamp (TJMaxx special). it was like day and night. I wore the Spot on my 8 mile run at 5am this morning, just to make sure there were no issues. I used the light a few times, but mostly turned it off to save the batteries. i was really just wearing it to see how it felt, adjust the strap, make sure i could stand it, etc. You never want to try your new gear on race day. The Spot seemed like it will work out fine.
this is going to be so awesome. I'm getting really stoked just thinking about it. 50K trail dual relay at night, in 2 days...
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
1/7/15. wed. just another "hilly" run...
55 min "hilly" run. I think i hit all the elevation change mukilteo has to offer. it was as tough of a training run as i have ever done. It was chilly (37 degrees), and it was really dark and foggy. so dark and foggy, in fact, i had to slow down my downhill runs because I couldn't see the ground. I was afraid I'd trip and sprawl into the road.
i ran down the big hill from my house to the lighthouse park boat launch (and dipped my fingers in the Puget Sound), just so i could say i hit zero elevation (sea level), then i ran all the way up the speedway. this is a long haul. at the mukilteo lodge i turned left and ran up the hill I used to do my 400m hill repeats on (this is a really steep .25 mile, probably the steepest in town, worse than a 12% grade). after an upper loop and down, i even ran up the hill by OV middle school. my avg pace was *so* slow, due to all the uphill. this was so hard. Now I'm ravenous, and my entire lower body aches. even the bottoms of my feet hurt, maybe from the downhill impact?
in retrospect, 740 feet of elevation gain doesn't sound like all that much. but this was hard. so hard. looking at the elevation data, my long haul up the speedway was basically 600 ft of elevation gain in 2 miles. just brutal. wednesday runs (hill repeats alternate weeks with "hilly" runs) are really a workout. fast becoming the day I worry about the most. when wed goes to 70 minutes, all bets are off.
i ran down the big hill from my house to the lighthouse park boat launch (and dipped my fingers in the Puget Sound), just so i could say i hit zero elevation (sea level), then i ran all the way up the speedway. this is a long haul. at the mukilteo lodge i turned left and ran up the hill I used to do my 400m hill repeats on (this is a really steep .25 mile, probably the steepest in town, worse than a 12% grade). after an upper loop and down, i even ran up the hill by OV middle school. my avg pace was *so* slow, due to all the uphill. this was so hard. Now I'm ravenous, and my entire lower body aches. even the bottoms of my feet hurt, maybe from the downhill impact?
in retrospect, 740 feet of elevation gain doesn't sound like all that much. but this was hard. so hard. looking at the elevation data, my long haul up the speedway was basically 600 ft of elevation gain in 2 miles. just brutal. wednesday runs (hill repeats alternate weeks with "hilly" runs) are really a workout. fast becoming the day I worry about the most. when wed goes to 70 minutes, all bets are off.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
1325 in 2014
so i was reviewing my data from 2014. I ran 1325 miles in 2014. and 4 of those months were not even training months (avg'd less than 20 miles/week in Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov - the 2 months before and 2 months after Berlin training). I remember every step of every mile. distances, elevations, temperatures, miles. From short runs to long runs, hill repeats to sprint intervals, peaceful relaxing trail runs to angry elevation mask grinds. from Long Beach WA, to Mukilteo, to Myrtle Beach SC, to Berlin, Germany. From early spring running on the foggy beaches of the OR/WA coastline, to late fall miles along the River Spree between East and West Berlin. from cold and rainy and snowy to hot and humid. midday broiling shirtless runs to 5am freezing trail runs with headlamps and flashlights. It was a long, eventful year. I'm proud of how it went - i set a goal to run in the Berlin Marathon, I ran my miles per plan, and I traveled alone, farther than i have ever gone, and ran it.
now i am about 4 weeks into my ultra plan, with 12 weeks to go. things are settling into a rhythm, and i can kind of see the patterns. every tues morning i run 50 minutes. wed alternates hilly or hill repeats, and the duration increases each week. every thurs morning i run 75 minutes. every sat is the long run, right now it inches up by 2 miles a week. every sunday is an hour on the trail. I still hit the gym Mondays and Thursdays. like i said, settling into a rhythm. by my best estimates, my weekly mileage will top out at week 12 with about 50-55 miles. that is just unbelievable. I can't wait to see if I can keep it up.
so far so good.
now i am about 4 weeks into my ultra plan, with 12 weeks to go. things are settling into a rhythm, and i can kind of see the patterns. every tues morning i run 50 minutes. wed alternates hilly or hill repeats, and the duration increases each week. every thurs morning i run 75 minutes. every sat is the long run, right now it inches up by 2 miles a week. every sunday is an hour on the trail. I still hit the gym Mondays and Thursdays. like i said, settling into a rhythm. by my best estimates, my weekly mileage will top out at week 12 with about 50-55 miles. that is just unbelievable. I can't wait to see if I can keep it up.
so far so good.
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