Stalking 50

Barefoot Run: 3.1 miles

Weather: Overcast, mild, muggy. 49 degrees, 90% humidity. Gear: Bare feet, shorts, T, jacket. Fuel: Post breakfast.

I actually had (nearly) dry pavement this morning, so I was excited about getting out to do a recovery-intensity barefoot run and remember how nice it is to not run on wet pavement. I kept the intensity low, running with my HR in the mid-130s, which felt good. I worked the kinks out of my quads in the first mile and eased through the next two without trouble.

Funny thing: As I was rounding the corner on my last lap, I peeled off my jacket/windbreaker... and was astounded and thrilled by how quiet it is to run without that incessant swish-swish-swish of nylon. I am so looking forward to warmer weather!

I felt better at the end of the run than I did at the start, so I'd say mission accomplished.

Average HR: 134

Low HR Run: 4.3 miles

Weather: Overcast, mild, muggy. 53 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, jacket. Fuel: Nothing extra, no water.

Since I'm borrowing freely from the UltraLadies Trail 50-Mile Event Training Schedule, this week needs to be a big stepback week. The plan calls for midweek runs of no more than 4 miles at this point in the schedule (with a 6 and a 10 on the weekend). I can't guarantee I'll be able to hold back for all the runs, but I did today -- and I'm glad I did.

I went out targeting about 4 miles. My heart rate was hovering around 55 when I was about to start the run, which is a good sign, and it stayed relatively low throughout the run, which is great. My first mile post-warmup was sub-10, with an average HR of 133 - 5 bpm below my target. Wow! (I've been noticing this lately; my HR is drifting down but my speed is picking up. I can't wait for my next MAF test, because I think some interesting things are going on.)

I reluctantly turned around two miles out and headed back. I slowed in miles 3 and 4, but kept my HR for those miles at 137 and 135, respectively. It felt easy and more fluid than usual. In fact, at one point, when I noticed my HR sneaking up, I started thinking about flexing my leg a little more and the HR started falling off immediately. Cool.

Walked first 5, last 6 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 124

Postscript: My cutting out snacking at the office seems to be working. I was back down to 163 today.

Postscript II: I saw three deer on the run, and discovered another herd of llamas on my route!

Hill Run: 4.3 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, mild, a little muggy. 56 degrees, 80% humidity. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T. Fuel: Nothing extra, carried no water.

The Ultraladies said today's run should be about 4, half of what I have been doing, and I debated all morning whether to follow their dramatic step-back. As luck would have it, I debated so long I left myself so little time I had no choice but run only four miles! Ya'd think I did it on purpose...

The plan doesn't mention the intensity of those stepped-back runs, so I allowed myself to run a hilly four miles instead of the flatter route I ran yesterday. I kept the heart rate level low as I eased up the hills, trying to move smoothly and efficiently, which worked well.

I also (ahem) let gravity take over on my return trip, which included going back down the hill I'd just climbed. I switched my Garmin over to show instant pace, and I saw the pace fall into the 9s, 8s, 7s and 6s before diving into the 5s for about 45 seconds - with a top speed of about 5:16/mi. W-h-e-e-e-e!! I picked a spot to ease back... and flew right past it. Hm. Okay... How about the next mailbox, then? When I finally got throttled back, my HR was about 165. I guess gravity wasn't the *only* thing working...

Here's the elevation profile:



I definitely upped the intensity, but it was for a short distance, and I took it very easy the rest of the way home. When I downloaded the data, I could see that my HR remained low on that downhill cruise until I was at about a 7:20/mi pace, then it started to climb fairly steadily as my speed continued to build. There's probably something useful information in that, but I'm not exactly sure what.

Walked first 5, last 6. Average HR for entire run: 127

ps. Weight back to 162 now.

MAF Test: 6 miles

Weather: Overcast, chilly, a little wind, a little rain. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, pullover, jacket, hat, gloves. Fuel: Grape Nuts and coffee before, nothing during.

Went out for a MAF test this morning, to get a sense of how things are going. Not the perfect morning for it - lots of work stress, the furnace is on the fritz at home (brr!), and I'm still recovering from two hard weeks of training, but it seemed worth a shot.

The results were pretty encouraging. My HR was a couple of bpm higher than I wanted throughout, but at least it was consistent after the initial fall-off. I'll probably do this test in another week and see how it looks in (hopefully) better conditions.

Average HR for entire run (including warm-up): 126

Here's the progression so far:



Getting there... (though I find it funny that I'm still trying to catch up to my MAF time while barefoot)

So why do you think you ran so well barefoot? I mean, what do you think is the reason for a lower HR running barefoot. More in tune with nature or your basic instinct? Running happy? hmmmm. Still...good looking MAF.

So any news about the race entry?

dot520 wrote:So why do you think you ran so well barefoot? I mean, what do you think is the reason for a lower HR running barefoot. More in tune with nature or your basic instinct? Running happy? hmmmm. Still...good looking MAF.

Thanks, Dot! I think the simplest explanation for the faster time barefoot is that it's just more efficient biomechanically. You land in just the right spot to load the natural springs in your feet and legs, and you lose absolutely ZERO energy to the material in the midsole. It probably helps to have no weight on your feet, too, but I'm convinced that the explanation lies in the mechanics.

Of course, the running happy part doesn't hurt, either.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:So any news about the race entry?

No good news, Michele. The deadline to drop without losing your entire entry fee came and went... and I'm still No. 17 on the wait list. The RD posted that an unusually small number of people dropped out early this year. (Eight, by my count.)

That doesn't mean it's out of the question, of course. There's a lot that could happen to any of the 180 entrants between now and July 13. (Not that I'm wishing anybody ill, mind you.) So I'll keep pressing on and see what happens.

If it doesn't work out, there are a couple of other endurance runs (50k or 50 mile) in the Pacific Northwest that might work... but their registration is filling up, too, soo... I don't know what's going to happen.

One of them is the Siskiyou Out Back (aka the SOB), which is on July 27. It has a 50 miler that's close to filling, but a 50k that seems to have plenty of room. (And I'd be in fabulous shape for a 50k if I spent all this time training for a 50 miler...).

The other is the White River 50 Mile Endurance Run, also on July 27. They accept up to 400 runners, so there's some breathing room there, I think. It also has lodging near the race site built around the winter ski season, so it'd probably be a nice base for the family. That could work.

It's admittedly a kind of a weird situation to be in, but I don't want to register for a back-up race and have the other race come through.

I get it - just keep up the training as it is fun to watch you really progress. You might even have to run a marathon as a training run!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I get it - just keep up the training as it is fun to watch you really progress. You might even have to run a marathon as a training run!

I'm glad you're following along, Michele. I think you'll get a chuckle out of today's run.

I've thought about a marathon in training, but have you seen how much it costs to run those things these days? Yipes!

Low HR Run: 10.3 miles (step-back week)

Weather: Partly cloudy, mild but a little windy. 48 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, jacket. Fuel: Shortly after bean burrito, grapes and bean chips for lunch. MISTAKE! (Bleah...)

So, this was what you'd call a learning experience. It's been a rough day for Casa Bowder, thanks to a balky furnace (62 is nice outside. inside? not so much.) and a freaking out electrical panel (you mean the lights aren't supposed to go on and off at random moments?) that required a lot of waiting around for service guys. Got the furnace fixed (igniter had worn out) but the freaked out circuit breaker is still off. But it looked like I had *just* enough time to eat a quick lunch and get out the door for a step-back 10-mile run. I'd wanted to do it on a trail, but I could live with the bike path in the greenway.

So I had some lunch, got dressed and headed out. My body needs training for running while digesting, right? Urp. Urp. b-URRRRRRRRP! With stomach acid, sometimes. Mmm. Tasty. When I wasn't belching, the gas pressure was messing up my heart rate (really!), so it was impossible to really do anything but try to run at a reasonable effort level, walk when I needed to, not dissolve my esophagus with stomach acid and basically just get through this run.

I'm back home writing this, so I guess I was successful. Sort of like pilots and landings: If you can walk away from it, it's a good one. Sheesh.

Walked first and last 5 minutes or so. Average HR for entire run: 134

Ha, that is funny Mark. I'm lucky I think in that I can eat almost anything and then run. My worst was eating a pile of hot wings right before a double-digit run. Not pretty.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Ha, that is funny Mark. I'm lucky I think in that I can eat almost anything and then run. My worst was eating a pile of hot wings right before a double-digit run. Not pretty.

Ooo. I can feel the acid bubbling just thinking about that, John!

It's funny, because I usually serenade my running partner with a chorus of belches when we're out on our morning runs. But yesterday? A totally different level of discomfort. I even startled a couple walking about 50 feet in front of me. I let a belch fly, and they both jumped, looked right and left... what were they expecting, a bear? Anyway, they were classy enough to not say anything when I ran past.

Yuck! I'm like John and can pretty much eat anything and then go run, and I have . As for the "price" of marathons, I'm sure you can find a pretty inexpensive one in Washington as they seem to have them just about every weekend. Sorry to hear about the furnace - I had to replace mine back in October.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Yuck! I'm like John and can pretty much eat anything and then go run, and I have . As for the "price" of marathons, I'm sure you can find a pretty inexpensive one in Washington as they seem to have them just about every weekend. Sorry to hear about the furnace - I had to replace mine back in October.

I haven't ruled a marathon out, Michele... I'm just hoping it's not necessary.

Sort of lucked out on the furnace. The igniter is easy to replace and not hugely expensive. The electrician came today and discovered that our electrical problem was an improperly secured wire going into the breaker switch itself. It kept coming just a little bit loose and breaking the circuit. Fixed now. Whew!

---

Now, on to today's effort:

Walk: 3.86 miles

Weather: Overcast, breezy, a little rain. 51 degrees.

A walk to the old Kaiser Shipyards and back. I was racing an incoming rain system and didn't *quite* make it. Luckily, I'd brought my umbrella with me. I tracked myself with my Nike+ app on my iPhone, which was sort of neat, though it sucked batteries and slightly annoyed me by hearing Shalane Flanagan heartily congratulate me on my fastest 5K time ever... after I went for a walk at a 17-minutes pace.

Walk: 3 blustery miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, windy (gust to 28-39 mph!), 52 degrees

We had a kitty medical emergency this morning (turns out one of our cats has an overuse injury from us playing with her too vigorously), so I had to skip my barefoot run. I managed to make it out at lunchtime for a walk over the Interstate Bridge, over to Portland and back to Vancouver.

It was a blustery day, with gusts somewhere in the 28 - 39 mph range (depending on the reporting station). It's not usually windy around here, so it was quite a change from the norm. I got pelted with rain briefly but missed a bigger shower that was on its way as I hustled back to the office.

[quote="Mark B"] (turns out one of our cats has an overuse injury...), /quote]

My favorite line of the day!

Seth Harrison wrote:

Mark B wrote: (turns out one of our cats has an overuse injury...),

My favorite line of the day!

Thanks, Seth! It's weird, but true. Turns out that Callie's hip sockets aren't as well developed as they should be, so she's going to be a little more prone to soreness there. We'd been playing with her vigorously, with lots of jumping around, and she suddenly started acting as if she was very weak in her hindquarters. She could barely walk. It worried us a lot, so the vet's verdict was actually pretty good news by comparison. We'll just have to leave the acrobatics to her fluff-brained brother.

Funny bit out of all this: The vet said that cats have an uncanny ability to shut down all activity when they feel something wrong with their body. She said dogs can't/won't stop at pain/discomfort and end up hurt worse. Hm. That sounds uncannily familiar...

Hey Amigo -

I couldn't read your FB post for some reason so I'll just ask here - are you running White River 50?

Sounds like it's going to be REALLY hard with all the climbing. However, I'm expecting smooth trails? Probably not very technical?

Ben Z wrote:Hey Amigo -

I couldn't read your FB post for some reason so I'll just ask here - are you running White River 50?

Sounds like it's going to be REALLY hard with all the climbing. However, I'm expecting smooth trails? Probably not very technical?

Hey, Ben. I tried to reply but it didn't work.

I'm considering the White River 50 as a backup in case I can't get in to the Mount Hood 50. I'm also looking at the Siskiyou Out Back (S.O.B.), which has a 50K and a 50-miler.

I'm hoping neither is necessary, though. I sent the MH50s race director a note yesterday and he replied that he's going to remind those who've already registered to go ahead and drop *now* if they've decided to not run to let those of us on the wait list have a shot at it. We'll see what happens in a week or so. Crossing my fingers!

As to the White River course, I didn't really look at the elevation gain until just this mom--- HOLY CRAP! 17,000 feet!?!?

Low HR Run: 6.26 miles

Weather: Rain, wind, sun, hail. Yup, it's spring. 42 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts, shorts, T, pullover, jacket, hat, gloves (off and on). Fuel: Nothing extra, no extra fluids.

Boy, is it spring. I had just about every condition on my relatively short run this morning. Rain, warm sun, cold wind - and even some hail! Definitely the day to wear layers... and a hat!

The run felt pretty good. My heart rate stayed low in my warm-up mile and let me crack 10 in miles 2 and 3. There was some falloff as the run progressed, but my HR stayed where I wanted it. I broke my usual tradition of taking water on these shorter runs as an experiment, and it might have had a small effect on speed, maybe.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 134.

Mark B wrote:

Ben Z wrote:Hey Amigo -

I couldn't read your FB post for some reason so I'll just ask here - are you running White River 50?

Sounds like it's going to be REALLY hard with all the climbing. However, I'm expecting smooth trails? Probably not very technical?

Hey, Ben. I tried to reply but it didn't work.

I'm considering the White River 50 as a backup in case I can't get in to the Mount Hood 50. I'm also looking at the Siskiyou Out Back (S.O.B.), which has a 50K and a 50-miler.

I'm hoping neither is necessary, though. I sent the MH50s race director a note yesterday and he replied that he's going to remind those who've already registered to go ahead and drop *now* if they've decided to not run to let those of us on the wait list have a shot at it. We'll see what happens in a week or so. Crossing my fingers!

As to the White River course, I didn't really look at the elevation gain until just this mom--- HOLY CRAP! 17,000 feet!?!?

Yeah, I know. 17,000' of gain AND 17,000' of loss since it's a loop. Not sure what I'm thinking...but I'm going to give it a go.

Have you ever run on the race trail(s)? Wondering how technical they are?

Ben Z wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Ben Z wrote:Hey Amigo -

I couldn't read your FB post for some reason so I'll just ask here - are you running White River 50?

Sounds like it's going to be REALLY hard with all the climbing. However, I'm expecting smooth trails? Probably not very technical?

Hey, Ben. I tried to reply but it didn't work.

I'm considering the White River 50 as a backup in case I can't get in to the Mount Hood 50. I'm also looking at the Siskiyou Out Back (S.O.B.), which has a 50K and a 50-miler.

I'm hoping neither is necessary, though. I sent the MH50s race director a note yesterday and he replied that he's going to remind those who've already registered to go ahead and drop *now* if they've decided to not run to let those of us on the wait list have a shot at it. We'll see what happens in a week or so. Crossing my fingers!

As to the White River course, I didn't really look at the elevation gain until just this mom--- HOLY CRAP! 17,000 feet!?!?

Yeah, I know. 17,000' of gain AND 17,000' of loss since it's a loop. Not sure what I'm thinking...but I'm going to give it a go.

Have you ever run on the race trail(s)? Wondering how technical they are?

I did a little research. It's actually 17,400 feet TOTAL elevation change (up and down). Elevation gain only is 8,700. So not quite that insane.... Well, no, okay. That IS still insane. It'd probably be biting off more than I could chew as my first ultra. Probably.

Trails in the Pacific Northwest vary a lot, and I've never run on this one. I'd search for race reports if I were you to get a sense of the terrain. I didn't get the sense that the trail was extremely technical. But hey, I didn't check the elevation gain, so I wouldn't trust me on this one.

Hill Run: 8.26 miles

Weather: Chilly, damp. Some rain, some sleet/snow. 34 degrees. Gear: Altra Instincts, tights, T, pullover, jacket, hat, gloves. Fuel: Grape Nuts and coffee before. A little water during.

No school for the rest of my family today (conferences), so I moved my run up a few hours and went out just before sunrise. We've had some wild weather lately (even an EF0 tornado yesterday), so I dressed for anything. Good thing, because that's what I got. Started with frost forming on the roof and penetrating cold dampness, turning to sleet/snow, turning to steady rain and finally easing up. Ah, early spring.

The run itself was pretty successful. I went out on my hilly mid-distance route, easing into granny gear on the uphills and coasting the downhills. It meant for slow mile splits but a constant effort level. My average HR stayed at or below my low heart rate target overall, despite a couple of HR spikes when I accidentally surged up a steep spot. I only had to walk once to get the HR back down.

It's a fun route, and pretty, as long as I don't rubberneck and not notice a car sneaking up behind the next hill.



This distance and elevation change felt easier today than before. It's starting to feel natural, which is exactly what I'm hoping for.



Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 132

Wow, those roads and that run look just like where I get to run every summer except that my elevation is 1200'. You are making me miss it as now I only have the flat west side of Cleveland in the snow. I'll post a picture of my area in western NY in a few months when the 3' of snow there has melted.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Wow, those roads and that run look just like where I get to run every summer except that my elevation is 1200'. You are making me miss it as now I only have the flat west side of Cleveland in the snow. I'll post a picture of my area in western NY in a few months when the 3' of snow there has melted.

Sounds nice, Michele! I'd love to see a photo.

If you're curious, I took this photo at about Mile 3.6, looking back on my route. I was just about to plunge down that steep slope before climbing back up to my turnaround point. The nice thing about this route is that some of these hills are pretty steep, which gives me good practice on the downhills, which I think my quads will appreciate in a few months.