Breaking Away

Hill Run: 6.3 miles

Weather: Overcast, cool, a bit of a breeze but not nearly as humid as yesterday. 51 degrees, 66% humidity. Gear: FR2s, shorts, long-sleeved T, jacket/vest. Fuel: Cereal and rice milk, coffee. Chiarade before. Carried nuun in handheld.

I felt yesterday's run more than I expected, so I was at a loss this morning about how far to run, and where. Easy? Hilly? Short? Longer? I need to get my miles up, but I also don't want to overdo it.

I left it up to my body to decide once I hit the half-mile mark. If I went straight, it'd be easier. If I turned right, hilly. I was still arguing with myself AFTER I turned right. My cautious side finally shut up when I told it I'd gauge how far I'd run by how it went. I could do 4, or 6. I ended up doing 6, and it felt startlingly not difficult to roll up and down the hills and an easy pace. Sure the big hill was challenging, as always, but the others? They were almost relaxing. I could get used to that.

The route:

Sorry I haven't been around much lately but I plan on being around here more towards the end of the year. Looks like you are really enjoying yourself Mark and I really love those pictures. I have started to slowly convince my wife to go up your way next year. We have friends who live on a little island on the coast (don't ask me which one because I have no idea). If we do end up coming your way I will let you know. It will be during your summer warm months (or should I call it spring/fall weather for us Southerners? ) since my son is now officially in kindergarten.

Tired and cranky...hmm, I know those types of attributes quite well. My wife gets so annoyed at me the few weeks before a race because I just can't seem to get out of the funk. So when is race day, it is coming up pretty soon isn't it?

Joel H wrote:Sorry I haven't been around much lately but I plan on being around here more towards the end of the year. Looks like you are really enjoying yourself Mark and I really love those pictures. I have started to slowly convince my wife to go up your way next year. We have friends who live on a little island on the coast (don't ask me which one because I have no idea). If we do end up coming your way I will let you know. It will be during your summer warm months (or should I call it spring/fall weather for us Southerners? ) since my son is now officially in kindergarten.

Tired and cranky...hmm, I know those types of attributes quite well. My wife gets so annoyed at me the few weeks before a race because I just can't seem to get out of the funk. So when is race day, it is coming up pretty soon isn't it?

Joel! So nice to hear from you! Welcome back.

I think you would LOVE to pay a visit up here. The island must be somewhere near Seattle in Puget Sound. There are a whole bunch of islands there, and they're all gorgeous. It's the sort of place you get to by ferry, and on the way you can see pods of orcas. It's astoundingly beautiful.

On your way up or back, maybe we can hook up! That would be a lot of fun.

Tecumseh still feels a long ways away. It's not until Dec. 3. I have a few more weeks before taper, and I hope to get in two more 20+ mile efforts on the trail.

I'm feeling a little better now. I'm not sure if it was because of extra food, the multivitamin I started taking... or because I might have just successfully fought off a nasty virus that's floored a few people at work. Either way, I'm crossing my fingers and trying to keep my fueling in balance. Is it wrong to supplement fat intake with cookie dough ice cream?

Mark B wrote:

Joel H wrote:Sorry I haven't been around much lately but I plan on being around here more towards the end of the year. Looks like you are really enjoying yourself Mark and I really love those pictures. I have started to slowly convince my wife to go up your way next year. We have friends who live on a little island on the coast (don't ask me which one because I have no idea). If we do end up coming your way I will let you know. It will be during your summer warm months (or should I call it spring/fall weather for us Southerners? ) since my son is now officially in kindergarten.

Tired and cranky...hmm, I know those types of attributes quite well. My wife gets so annoyed at me the few weeks before a race because I just can't seem to get out of the funk. So when is race day, it is coming up pretty soon isn't it?

Joel! So nice to hear from you! Welcome back.

I think you would LOVE to pay a visit up here. The island must be somewhere near Seattle in Puget Sound. There are a whole bunch of islands there, and they're all gorgeous. It's the sort of place you get to by ferry, and on the way you can see pods of orcas. It's astoundingly beautiful.

On your way up or back, maybe we can hook up! That would be a lot of fun.

Tecumseh still feels a long ways away. It's not until Dec. 3. I have a few more weeks before taper, and I hope to get in two more 20+ mile efforts on the trail.

I'm feeling a little better now. I'm not sure if it was because of extra food, the multivitamin I started taking... or because I might have just successfully fought off a nasty virus that's floored a few people at work. Either way, I'm crossing my fingers and trying to keep my fueling in balance. Is it wrong to supplement fat intake with cookie dough ice cream?

Puget Sound rings a bell but all I know is that most of the people they have become friends with are involved in the military. Anyways, I will let you know.

Dec 3rd is quite a bit a ways off but it will be here before you know it and YES supplementing your fat intake with cookie dough ice cream is TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE!!!! At least you are it off right now. I haven't run since my 1/2 marathon last Sunday and I have eaten pretty much everything in site...OOPS!!!

Damn, that hill at the 1.5 mile mark doesn't last long but it looks like you need to climb it using your hands as well as your feet, and than slide down on your butt on the way down!

Joel H wrote:Puget Sound rings a bell but all I know is that most of the people they have become friends with are involved in the military. Anyways, I will let you know.

Dec 3rd is quite a bit a ways off but it will be here before you know it and YES supplementing your fat intake with cookie dough ice cream is TOTALLY ACCEPTABLE!!!! At least you are it off right now. I haven't run since my 1/2 marathon last Sunday and I have eaten pretty much everything in site...OOPS!!!

Whew! That's a relief, Joel. And don't worry: you're just replenishing your stores.

Seth Harrison wrote:Damn, that hill at the 1.5 mile mark doesn't last long but it looks like you need to climb it using your hands as well as your feet, and than slide down on your butt on the way down!

Hi Seth! Yeah, that's quite a hill, isn't it? Here's what it looks like from the top (though a wide angle cell phone camera doesn't quite do it justice.).



It's a great hill for training. It's steepness gets me breathing every two steps about 2/3 of the way up, every time. But maybe more importantly, it's too steep to sail down freewheeling. You HAVE to learn how to control your speed - and that skill comes in very handy out on hilly trails.

I can only imagine what it'd be like after a snow or ice storm.

Yeah looks like one hell of a hill. As for after a snow storm, I think you should take the special source sled out and grease it up like Chevy Chase did in Christmas Vacation and it will be all good!

Schuey wrote:Yeah looks like one hell of a hill. As for after a snow storm, I think you should take the special source sled out and grease it up like Chevy Chase did in Christmas Vacation and it will be all good!

Good point, Schuey! Of course, if we had one of those ice storms like we get sometimes, no sled would be needed. Ambulance, yes. Sled, no.

Easy Run: 10.25 miles

Weather: Overcast, cool and muggy, turning to rain. 51 degrees, 99% humidity. Gear: FR2s, shorts, long-sleeved T, jacket, hat. Fuel: Oatmeal w/chia, coffee. Carried nuun.

A sorta-long run with my buddy on the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail. I dressed a little too warm for the conditions at first, but the long-sleeved shirt under the jacket and the hat came in handy when it started to rain with about 3 miles left. We kept the pace nice and easy -- I'm running long on the trails tomorrow -- and it felt pretty good.

I agree; that hill looks like a bitch. We've got one road that's similar in Auburn... well, I'm sure there's more than one... but I hate running down that thing. Totally destroys my legs.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I agree; that hill looks like a bitch. We've got one road that's similar in Auburn... well, I'm sure there's more than one... but I hate running down that thing. Totally destroys my legs.

Yup. Early on, when I tried to hammer down that bad boy, it'd kill my feet and ankles. I just can't get my leg turnover fast enough to have a lighter impact. So I adapted and use it as practice for downhill speed control. I've been known to run it like a slalom, too.

So the whole birthday afternoon was kind of a bust - our local El Pollo Loco went out of business in the past few days, and I burned a pass to the Nike Employee Store only to find the they don't have their rain gear in yet. Argh!

Still, there are little things that can make up for it. As we were about home, I noticed a doe crossing a side road. I idled as close as I could get... and saw that there was a 4-point buck following her. As we slowed to a stop, two fawn (fawns?) popped their heads up on the other side of the road. I killed the engine and we all watched as the two little deer crossed over and went up a gravel driveway, with dad watching them like... well, like a buck deer.

I only had my cell phone camera with me. This is the best shot.



The buck is in the middle, on full alert.

Kind of helped compensate. If things hadn't gone wrong, we'd have probably missed them.

Silver lining! Maybe a nice bottle of wine/beer with dinner will do the trick to fully recoup the losses of the day.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Silver lining! Maybe a nice bottle of wine/beer with dinner will do the trick to fully recoup the losses of the day.

Chandon California Brut Classic.

With chicken and shell pasta with a creamy garlic-parmeasan sauce supplemented with tarragon. Toss in some petite peas and some sourdough whole wheat bread and you're talking a very happy tummy.

Except now I need to zip over to Coldstone to get an ice cream cake. For the kid, you know....

[quote="Mark B"]

Mike MacLellan wrote:For the kid, you know....

Ha! Cool pictures too - I've seen more and more deer around here as well as the weather cools down. It is sort of funny when running or riding a bike - they let you get pretty close trying to figure out what the heck you are before freaking out and running off. One runner actually got taken out by a stupid deer at a 5K race here last weekend....

John Kilpatrick wrote:One runner actually got taken out by a stupid deer at a 5K race here last weekend....

Runner gets taken out by a deer... and you're calling the deer stupid?

Yum. Even the vegan can appreciate such a meal.

Seen the video of the mountain biker getting flattened by the elk/buck/whatever it is yet?

Mike MacLellan wrote:Yum. Even the vegan can appreciate such a meal.

Seen the video of the mountain biker getting flattened by the elk/buck/whatever it is yet?

You mean this one?



Yipes!

Are you sure Nike just didn't have any more rain gear in stock, not that they hadn't put it out yet for the season...because if I remember correctly it is "rainy" season pretty much year around there, correct?

Beautiful looking deer, and a guy got taken out by one in a 5k? On a bike I can kind of understand but a human running, I would say the deer wasn't "stupid" in this case.

You are definitely a kid at heart though Mark, you can even tell that on the internet.

Joel H wrote:Are you sure Nike just didn't have any more rain gear in stock, not that they hadn't put it out yet for the season...because if I remember correctly it is "rainy" season pretty much year around there, correct?

Beautiful looking deer, and a guy got taken out by one in a 5k? On a bike I can kind of understand but a human running, I would say the deer wasn't "stupid" in this case.

You are definitely a kid at heart though Mark, you can even tell that on the internet.

Hey, Joel!

Good point about the rain, but the guy checked the back... they hadn't received their shipment of the latest-and-greatest-super-cool-stuff. I went too soon! Ah well. There will be other chances, and if worse comes to worse, I'll get something else.

I think whatever it was that took the mountain biker out did it on purpose... as for the 5k? Well...

As for the "kid at heart" - well.. let's just say I have to tone it down around my 10-year-old sometimes.

Yeah I am pretty sure whatever took out the biker was "gunning for him"...it was pretty crazy to watch.

I am pretty sure my wife would say the same thing about me and once my kids get old enough I believe they the will do the same. I love being a "kid" even if it is only at heart now.

Trail Run: 20.72 miles

Weather: Chilly but very humid (98-99%), low to mid-40s. Gear: Peregrines, shorts, Capilene T. Started off with pullover, jacket, gloves and hat but quickly built up so much body heat I started sweating profusely and had to shed them and carry them the rest of the way. Fuel: Cereal and rice milk, coffee. Chiarade. During: 4 or 5 gels, granola bar, Odwalla bar. Endurolytes before, then with increasing frequency during (started at 60 minutes, then backed to 50, then to 45. It seemed to help.)

The day after a 10-mile road run and a day celebrating my birthday and a tight schedule didn't make me enthused about the run today. (In truth, I really didn't want to do it.) Still, my plan for Tecumseh was clear. If I was going to match or exceed my 21.72 mile run from two weeks ago, it had to be today. %$#@*! schedules.

As it turned out, I was slow getting out of the house and ended up at the trailhead a half hour later than last time. That meant I ran out of time and had to cut about a mile off the total distance. Which, of course, is fine. An extra mile wasn't going to make any difference - unless I hurt myself doing it. I got it done and got home in time to meet the school bus, etc. But wow, was I sore! It might not have helped that I ran out of fluid with several miles to go (my 1.5-liter Camelbak is too small for 4.5-hour runs when I can't refill it - I just checked and the Camelbak website recommends that size for only a 1+ hour run!). Anyway, I needed to get this run in, and I did it. I'll be glad when I can simply run as much as I want to and not have to worry about imposing a schedule on my body.



Update: I guess I should add another mile onto my total for the day... I escorted our young werewolf and some friends around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Good thing, too. Alec had no peripheral vision whatsoever in that mask. He took himself out on a tree once, missed a few porch steps and almost flattened somebody on the sidewalk! It was also probably (?) a good thing to keep my legs moving after my run, though I was glad to be done.

Oh, here's the costume:



Looks like the days of cute little knights, PowerRangers and even ninjas are behind us now. Cool.

My legs feel recovered from my big weekend, but my body was not talking to me this morning. I felt tired and sluggish, and my guts were giving me problems. I decided that heading out for even an easy run wouldn't do much good and could make it worse, so I grabbed a book, laid down and read for a while.

Still, it was difficult to tell myself "no" - I was dressed and just needed to get my shoes on when I gave in. Even after burning myself out, I have to force myself to listen to my body. Sheesh. (Glad it's a step back week...)

Easy Run: About 4 miles

Weather: Overcast, chilly, damp. 41 degrees, 95% humidity. Gear: FR2s, tights, T, pullover, vest, gloves, hat. Fuel: Cereal and rice milk w/coffee. Granola bar, S-Cap, Chiarade. Ran without fluid.

I felt somewhat better today, so I decided to try a short, easy run on the flats. It felt pretty good, though my legs felt a little heavy and my body wasn't fully on board. I'm not sure if that has to do with the 31 miles I ran on Sunday and Monday, some lingering dehydration and electrolyte depletion, some bug I'm fighting off or something else altogether.

I noticed this morning that my skin tented when I pinched it and that I was little lightheaded - both signs of dehydration - but that I wasn't very thirsty. So I took an S-Cap (just got them as a higher-sodium replacement for Endurolytes) and tried to down some more fluid. It seemed to help, a little.

I'll be looking into getting a higher volume hydration pack for unsupported long-long runs in the woods. The Camelbak Fairfax I have now holds 50 ounces, which isn't enough when the runs push beyond the 4-hour mark and I have no place for a refill.

Any suggestions for larger hydration packs? A little cargo room would come in handy, too.

So I got to the local running store to check out their hydration packs and was a little surprised when they didn't have any.

But not as surprised as when I asked about them.

"We don't sell them," the guy said. "We're concerned about the spinal area. It's where the body dissipates most of its heat, and it's not good to block it with anything like that."

Um. Really? That's a new one on me.

I say, "Well... okaaay... but I do unsupported trail runs of more than four hours. I need something to carry fluids."

"Well," he shrugged, "you might want to try REI."

I know there isn't a huge ultra-running community around here, at least compared with the rest of the runners around here, but still... sheesh!