Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

59F, humid w/ low clouds.  Recovery run. 

Sno's Leg Recovery Index: (Scale = 1-5)  Soreness: 2.5, Perceived Leg Strength 3, Monkeys per leg: 2.  Not too bad, but I'm definitely feeling yesterday's workout.  It helped to do quite a lot of walking yesterday afternoon, as we took a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island sans car and walked all over. Links here and here.  

Upper to mid 50s - in that order! (...as fog moved up from the valley).  Fog, wonderful fog!  Easy pace run. 

Easy pace, not easy run.  It took me about 4 miles before I stopped feeling like I ought to just go back to bed.  It's that 2 day muscle recovery fatigue thing. 

To me, fog is not just gray mush, but rather it makes the colors of the landscape pop out brighter.  I've heard the film directors always prefer a cloudy or overcast sky because colors are more vivid then.  

Saw the Great Blue Heron at the duck pond again today. He/she is hunting up here, and is perfectly camouflaged in the gray fog.

Dale (link in my favorites) has a great race report on his White River 50 mile ultra this weekend. Check it out!  

56F, cloudy. G-A run. 

Just now getting around to blogging this morning's run.  Very pleasant run, but I missed about an hour through the juvenile mistake (or maybe a "senior moment") of forgetting to set my alarm. How lame!  I jumped up when I heard Mr. Sno's alarm at 5:20 and it's been rush, rush, rush all day ever since.  Here's to a more responsible tomorrow!  

57F, mostly cloudy w/ increasing fog.  VO2 workout:    ~Four mile w.u. / 8 x 3 min. hard effort w/ 90 sec recovery, on roads w/ some hills / 1+ mi  c. d.   Pace on vo2 reps:  8:07, 8:09, 8:11, 7:59, 8:05, 8:01, 8:20, 8:08.

Very difficult run. During the second or third rep I didn't think I was going to make it through all 8.  Now that I see how consistent the splits were I am amazed; only the 7th rep is notably slower, and that was the one that was a bit more uphill than the others.  Even now, an hour later, my legs feel all tingly and weak.  And I do hate that lung-burning feeling. When the Garmin beeped to give me a 5 second warning that the new rep was starting, I kept thinking "so soon? I can't, I can't..."  But I did.  :)

We had a spectacular thunderstorm last night!  Only a few drops of rain (it's our dry season) but lots of noise.   I would like to personally thank whoever invented silicone earplugs.  Early bedtimes are the key to running success. 

63F, very humid.  Pretty clouds with some clear sky.  Easy pace run. 

I believe we've got some actual rain coming. Imagine that.  In Washington State of all places.  

Mid 50s, rising to low 60s, cloudy, breezy at times.  Endurance run, club run (1.5 mi w/ a new club member who had to turn back since she is a beginner), and Leg Builder Hill. 

I began this run still feeling a little sore from my speed work on Wednesday, especially in my calves.  With the breeze, it was actually chilly at first, while I was still up on the Ridge. In the valley things warmed up, I warmed up, and I got to the club run in plenty of time (for a change). 

I hit the bonanza on the wildlife sightings today. In addition to the usual rabbits and squirrels, I saw the elk herd that is often at Meadowbrook Farm (not really a farm but a county-run nature preserve of sorts). Then there was a beautiful doe that crossed in front of me. After that, I saw two coyotes in a field, occupied with some rodent I think.  Just after that, a bald eagle went right over me and perched in a big tree by the river to watch a little flock of Canadian geese that were down there honking away.  There is always some threat/possibility that Mr. Sno will be offered a promotion to LA or NY, and days like this I think I'd rather just have him retire early and us live in relative poverty than give up our NW paradise.

In other musings, I felt very low today in spite of the nice cool weather. I was doing a couple of faster miles (MP plus 15-20 seconds) around mile 11-13 and just felt no zip, none at all.  Maybe it will help that I did them anyway. But it just brought on some very dark thoughts. If I like running mile after mile at a 10:00 to 10:30 pace, why am I continually working towards getting faster?  Then again, maybe I'd be getting slower and slower without all that work.  Self doubt in every form, with the added negative voice of "why do you even try? why do you even care? how many years are you going to fly this banner ("goal=BQ") over your running life?" I have a 10K in 3 weeks, and a marathon in 7, and I felt so incompetent today. 

Then half way up the Parkway (LB Hill) I got the most dreadful stomach cramps and had to walk nearly a quarter mile to the park bathroom (and thank goodness it was that close!).  So the 1st half of my run today was beauty, nature and joy, and the 2nd half was, literally, "endurance" run.  

Low 60s, cloudy.  Recovery run. 

Nice run around the Ridge.  I'm not accustomed to running as late in the morning as I did, but we were up very late at the opera, Tristan & Isolde. I am not a big Wagner fan but enjoyed it, other than late hour.  

56F, light rain & fog.  General aerobic run.  20 min. strength. 

Lovely morning! I was confused about what to wear, with the warm+wet situation, but a nylon vest and some little gloves were all that I needed beyond the usual skort/tshirt.  I had to use the headlamp for the first miles -- and so the dark season begins.

I am back to my tiny little weight lifting routine today.  We've had some workers at the house for nearly 3 weeks and their early arrival made me feel uncomfortable unless I was showered and dressed long before they came.  The job was only supposed to take one week, but you know how that goes.  So I have my 6:45-7:15 time to myself again. :)

55F, cloudy. G-A run. 

Interrupted sleep, late start, nice run (though too short!).  

56F, mostly cloudy with some clearing.  Hill repeats: 6 x 1 min w/ 2 min recov + 1 mile @ MP (9:15) + accidental fast finish (late!): last .7 @ 8:30 pace.  15 min core & arms.

You know it's a good run when you forget to come home.  

Exactly 8 miles - that doesn't happen very often in Garminland!  

53F, clear.  Easy run. 

You can see why I never really acclimate to warm weather running.  But on Saturday I will have miserable heat if I don't get out early enough.  We'll be having a heat wave, PNW style: high 80s w/ humidity.  

Mid 60s to around 80F, clear. Endurance run, club run and Leg Builder Hill (mi 13.8-15.8). 

It was a great run until it got hot. At the club meeting, there were just a few of us: me and two other guys plus the teenage son of one of them.   I said it looked like I'd be running alone so I was taking off rather than wait around and they said "we'll run with you!"  Knowing what my morning was going to look like (miles + heat) I explained that I wasn't running very fast, probably around 10:30. "No problem!" So off we went and the pace soon crept up to 9:30, over and over again. I kept encouraging them to go on ahead but they were so nice and very gracious about claiming they didn't want to go faster than 10:30.   My Garmin splits show 4 miles at around 10:00, so that was our average.  But I really did enjoy having company for a few miles. 

By the time I finished the LB Hill, there was no escaping the heat. My entire focus changed to: The Search For Shade and Sprinklers. You folks who acclimate to 90's every summer have my complete admiration.  My running that last hour was just pathetic, which of course keeps one out there in the heat longer!   At around mile 20 my cell phone rang and it was a friend whom I will be meeting later today. I was in a particularly sunny street, close to home, when she called and I told her I was "done!"--  that I couldn't handle it anymore.  But then I didn't go straight home!  I am so proud of myself - I can hardly even believe I finished, and slightly exceeded, my mileage goal for today.  It wasn't pretty and there was some extra walking when I felt my face go too hot, but I did it!! 

Low 70sF. Recovery run in mocs. 

 Legs feel pretty good, surprisingly.  We have two more days of heat, then a bit cooler, though still not Sno Weather.  Autumn can't come too soon.

67F. Clear.  Easy run. 

Hanging in there.  

65F, clear.  Progression run: 2 miles slow, 3 moderate, 3 MP, c.d. 

The last day of heat! :)  I have taken to looking in on the Cannon Beach webcam from time to time just to sooth my eyes.  

55F , clouds moving in.  Easy run. 

"There are few greater summer pleasures than an onshore push of marine air after a heat wave." -Cliff Mass, from his Tuesday evening blog post.  

This weather will be great for the 10K on Saturday! Even the sun-worshippers (I will not mention names) have to admit that 85F w/ 80% humidity does not a happy race make. 

A very enjoyable jaunt through the neighborhood.  I went down to the Crestview area for the first time in a long while, where the Snoqualmie TPC is setting up white tents for the upcoming Boeing Classic.  

The weather has totally energized me and I am eager to get going with my day.

Temps mid 50s to low 60s with partial clouds and NW wind at times, sunny at times.  For August, we got pretty lucky with the weather. At a couple of points we ran with no shade and no cloud cover, really feeling like summer, but were always relieved after a few minutes by a passing cloud or some shade, or the unwelcome (from a racing perspective) wind. 

First, I would like to thank Bonnie for her excellent race strategy notes in the Comments of my last blog post. I'm not sure I followed them well, but I tried. And it certainly gave me something on which to structure the 10K, which is a very uncomfortable and unfamiliar race distance for me.    My time of hair-under-53 minutes was a PR of about 2.5 minutes.  :D 

Warm up - Jogged around the race neighborhood (downtown Snoqualmie) for a while and then added some strides, starting with 20 seconds and going up to about 45 seconds.  The race was late - gr - and also late late: we were told at 9:00 that it would take another 7 minutes because of some issue with the timing system. So I jogged some more, did some butt kicks and a couple of short strides and got back in line.  Actual start time: 9:16.  :(   

Mile 1 8:29  Moral dilemma.  If I start in my "proper place," I am inevitably behind a bunch of ninnies who are walking, or going 12 minute miles or some such.  If I go to the front to avoid the ninnies, then I become one, getting in the way of the fast runners.   I just cannot believe how clueless people are.  First half mile: weave, dodge, weave. Second half mile: one short incline and a huge effort to settle into a good pace. 

Mile 2 8:30 The course has gone west towards the beautiful Salish Lodge (big bucks, lots of celebs, the King of Jordan stayed there a year ago), then turned onto Mill Pond Rd., a lovely shaded country road, and heading east again.  Nice smooth asphalt.  I try to find that perfect pace, try to channel Bonnie. Breathing hard but feeling good. 

Mile 3 8:36  This slowest mile surprised me. I thought it would be worse.  First, there was a short but nasty hill going up and over the bridge (9:30 pace on the Garmin) to get back into  town, then a water stop where I walked maybe a dozen steps to get water down.  In this mile we parted with the 5Kers and the field thinned considerably.  We also had some turns in this mile as we took a lap into and around Centennial Park, where my running club meets on Saturdays.  

One observation a fellow club member made to me after the race was that since the course covered areas where we trained, it seemed to fly past so quickly at the faster race pace.  I really felt that in mile 3. 

Mile 4 8:34  Emotional low point.  I don't want to run fast anymore. I begin to feel a side stitch coming on.  At times I have to breath faster than a 2-2 pattern to keep on my pace. We are running an out-and-back on the worse asphalt imaginable, really broken up with tons of holes and cracks and varying heights.  I think many dark thoughts, like: "No more 10Ks, ever." (A thought which stayed with me for the next hour, until they called my name at the awards ceremony, lol.)  I think how nice a little walking would feel.  I see.... the turnaround!  I rally. 

Mile 5 8:25  Now I have the wind in my face, but if I keep tucking in behind people I can minimize it.  I get out of the bad asphalt section. I see someone ahead who looks like she could be in my age group and tuck in behind some people who are running 8:00s.  I stick to them as long as I can (about half mile) and pass the 50-something rival.  The wind-breaker people leave me behind, but I am filled with fear that the rival will catch up so I go back into the hateful oxygen debt range briefly until I'm sure she can't catch me.   

Mile 6 8:27  This part of the course was not the prettiest area of Snoqualmie, a back road of downtown where there are few trees and many trailer homes.  I "chicked" a guy from my running club here and felt a weird mixture of guilt and elation.  I didn't even notice him but as soon as I was ahead of him I heard him mumble my name and "good job."  There was a lot of math going on in my brain in this mile, since I kept wondering whether I was about to fall apart.  "If I can run a 9:00 pace... yes, still a PR."  But I managed to hold on. Amazing.  

Last .2 8:18  At the 6 mile mark I could easily see the finish line, but it looked so far away.  Not much of a kick here, but I was fighting the wind and exhaustion and was completely out of breath.  Oxygen delivery is definitely my weak point in these shorter races.  The legs felt fine, just a bit tired but I think my form was still good.  

After   I had some water and jogged a little to cool down. Went to my car for sun glasses and a fleece jacket for the inevitable cool-off.   The timing company that brought us a late start had some problem with posting results, and 45 minutes later we all were still standing around wondering how we did.  I hung out with some guys from my running club and didn't know I got a 2nd place AG until the ceremony itself.  

I recognized the 1st place lady from my AG. She passed me easily about halfway through the race, and finished a little less than 2 minutes ahead of me, I think.  Looking at her in that moment, I insanely and irrationally wanted to run another 10K.  What the?  I hated running this race! I did not have any fun. It was 100% medicinal and 0% recreational.  But the green monster of jealousy or the natural competitor within, or both,  looked at her and thought "I could beat her. If only I ...." What?  No idea.  Became anorexia-thin?  Miraculously start enjoying speed work?  Grow a new, less hedonist personality?  Those are long odds.  But I am amused by the impulse, so I will add that amusement to my small pile of rewards from this morning.  

With all the delays, I did not get some extra miles after the race as I planned to. And no running tomorrow as I have somewhere to be very early in the morning.  So, a low mileage week, but a high achievement one too!  :) 

Hope this reads ok - I've got to scoot before proofreading!  :)  

55F, clear.  Objective - Recovery run. 

My legs are very sore, with the full squadron of monkeys reporting for duty.   I spent about an hour hiking and climbing around the bluffs next to Deception Pass yesterday, and felt almost no soreness at all. But last night around 7 PM the DOMS hit me.  I hope to recover fast; I can't afford to lose more workouts right now. 

55F, clear.  Objective: easy pace, sort of a 2nd recovery run...

The legs are still sore.  It's amazing how much that race took out of me.  I guess I did it right, but I'd like to move on now please.  ;)  

I noticed a lot of disturbed trash cans over on Cottonwood Dr.  One house had garbage all over its front lawn.  I thought of dogs. But when I got to the little cut-through trail to get over to Stellar Way, a lady came out with a towel on her head and said, "be careful, there's a bear in there!"  Just then the cops pulled up too. So, I did an about face and took a moment to feel glad that I hadn't shown up 10 minutes earlier, before the bear was discovered. 

In addition to the blog, I have always kept a paper journal of my running.  This morning, I filled up the last page of my current book. This one lasted from April 09 until now.  It's very satisfying to see the full pages, and know that I have been living my dream of being a runner.  I adore corny self-help books about goals and motivation, and here is one area of life where I actually made it happen.  I think I'm going on my 5th journal book now. 

54F, clear at 5AM (but clouds moved in by 9:30 AM). Easy run. 

Short and sweet.  Legs have come back to life. :)   I just wanted a short, easy run in lieu of a day off; I'm going to try for a long run tomorrow morning. House guests arrive tonight and both Saturday and Sunday are booked solid, though I might manage an hour or so of running on Sunday morning.   Does life interfere with running or running with life?  

Low to mid 50sF, cloudy, showers in miles 12-14.  Endurance run w/ 7 x (1 mi hard, 1 mi easy), on the hills of Snoqualmie Ridge. 

I'm calling this workout "push/pulls,"  just push the pace to marathon effort for a mile then pull back and take it easy for a mile.  Very enjoyable, though my legs didn't feel very good the second half. I figure they are still working on their recovery a little.   My sister is visiting this weekend and lots going on -- gotta scoot! 

51F, partly cloudy, windy (~10 mph).  Objective: easy run.  

Really beautiful morning; the air is very fresh and full of good smells.  Pleasant slow-n-easy run around the neighborhood.  

50F, cloudy & breezy.  I'm not even sure I can call this a run.  There was a lot of whining walking going on.  Sometimes it's hard to tell what's up when things aren't clicking.  My sister was visiting me from Thursday until  last night, and I'm pretty tired from fitting in all the stuff we wanted to do, plus a little sad that she's gone now. (I don't get to see her very often.)  I woke feeling absolutely wiped out and considered going back to sleep.  About 1.5 miles into the run, I wished I had gone back to sleep. And I'm not sure if my runny nose was from the slightly chilly air or if I am actually fighting a bug.  After about 3 miles, I decided to play it safe (or wimp out, depending on your point of view), and come home.  

55F, windy (~10-12 mph), cloudy, w/ light showers starting around mile 4.  20 minutes strength work. 

Big difference today, with more sleep.  My run was still a bit lackluster, but much better than yesterday.  May the trend continue!