kind of whiny training update

i haven't run in 4 days now.  figured i'd just resort to writing about it instead of doing it.

most frightening thing of it all: i am sort of getting used to sleeping in already.

i am sick as a dog.  the pandemic and terrible cold that has struck so many loved ones around me has finally flipped over the rock i was apparently hiding under and sunk it's icy talons into my chest, throat and face.  youch.

TINA!

so anywayz...  it's been a weird month this here January.  i did a lot of long and slow shit-jogging and really kind of sandbagged most of the track and tempo workouts.  i couldn't tell you why but i skipped nearly every hill/strength gig too.  i was really only faithful to jogging workouts. 

and while i am happy that i took advantage of the bounty of free time i had [mostly] on Saturday mornings (with 20, 26, 31, and 25 mile runs) i don't feel like this generally sluggish base-build-o-rama program has done much for me.

once i kick this bug i'ma get me my kick back. 

the local classic Zena Road Run 15k is this weekend and at this rate i'll be jogging the thing with a whitney/tina mixed tape in vs. attempting to chase Oregon Track Club and Bowerman AC's masters extraordinaires.

end rant.

hope you chase a wild dream this year kiddos!  if you don't you won't.

"Goalsies" 2014

Because "goals" sounds so harsh and intimidating i am calling them "goalsies".  so fun, light and refreshing.

Because it seems virtually everyone else is putting them out there this time of year... here's my pocket full of run-related "goalsies" for the new year:

1. 4:5_ mile (road/track).  Not solid on this one yet.  Part of me wants to put 4:50, the other part says 4:54 (looks trivial but from where I stand today this looks like a BIG difference).

2. 16:30 5k (road/x-country).  On the right course with good temps and good competition this seems "totes" do-able.

3. 3:30 50k (trail-flat).  Same thoughts/feelings as 5k goal above, with a nutrition component added in.  Gotta nail that too.

4. Finish Mac50k for the 3rd Time and beat last year's time, so 4:30s.  This course is nasty and it's a bad time of year for me, but it's become tradition of a sort.  I'd be happy to just keep doing a little better each year from here on out (next 5-10 years).

5. Nutrition/diet: I hate "diets" because they seem so cultish/religious with their fanatic Believers all claiming to know the Truth.  But it seems there's some solid "science" and personal testimony out there that suggest I could benefit from less carbs in my day-to-day eating.  I am not going all Paleo-caveman but I aim to apply a little more discretion when it comes to eating.  That said, I will just think of the Kenyan dudes that own the marathon and probably subsist on carbs (cooked grains) when I smell some tasty polenta or homemade tortillas in the kitchen.  Yum.

6. Adventure.  I want to join friends in running adventures this year.  I seldom get in adventurous outings and when I do I can never seem to pull them off with friends.  I got into trail running from a climbing/hiking background.  I simply loved exploring wild lands and had a desire to cover more ground more quickly.  I've crossed over a bit into running's "darkside" and find myself running for running sake--or what I'd consider "training"--all the time.  It's still really fun at this point but I need to mix some more adventure in there if it's going to be fun forever.

7. Organize a running event and donate some money to charity.  I don't care if it's $10 I just want to put something together for a cause and have a blast doing it.

Hey 2014, bring it.

Santa Paws 5k Recap (and New Year's Hangover Run)

If you're ever down in Palm Springs visiting Grandma around Christmas run the Santa Paws 5k.  Lots of fun. 

It's a charity event for Guide Dogs with 5-600 people, each in 5-piece Santa suits, running around some city blocks and a couple weird out-n-backs until they reach the milk and cookies at the finish.  I am not a big themed 5k person (bubbles, mud, paint, glow-in-the-dark, all that crappola) but I am a sucker for all things Christmas (you know Amy Grant's Christmas album, plastic baby-Jesus in the manger scenes, lights, etc.) so wearing the Santa suits and having my wife Kattie there made this race extra fun.

Here's some pics from the trip which also included some great runs in the surrounding mountains (Painted Canyon in the Mecca Hills Wilderness Area, Art Smith Trail off Hwy 74, and a bit of Magnesia Canyon).

Mr. and Mrs. Claus, down from the North ready to race.



Victory!  A 17:26 was good enough to be 1st overall in the greatest athletic accomplishment of my life!

Ladder in Painted Canyon, Mecca Hills Wilderness.  Very fun to run/hike.

KT and me in the barren desert hills above Painted Canyon.

I am a sucker for all things Christmas.  This tree at La Quinta--and the mescal I drank at dinner there--made me really stoked.

Yesterday I started 2014 with the New Year's Hangover Run (a 3k) out on a farm here in town.  It started at noon so I was able to sleep in a bit and finish digesting all the food, champagne, and beer from the night's festivities before heading over to the race.  It was really laid back and fun to see a lot of the local runner scene there for the short x-country style race.  Some mud and a handful of dodgey twists and turns made for a fun little dash.  I made a push just a 1/4 mile into things and Mark Robins came with me but never caught up like I thought he would.  A 10:44 was good for 1st place and a good little Wednesday speed workout to start the year.

The Beer Mile was an hour or so later and I am glad I stuck around to witness the course record get smashed by Eric Jeffers with a 6:05!  Cups were used but I am sure that advantage was probably negated by a tricky cross country loop vs. a track.  Dude can pound beers and run!  Fun (in a weird/sick way) to watch the people puking too.  I love beer and running!

Cheers to a bad-ass 2014!  Keep it real folks.

Frozen Trails(?!) Runfest - 50k at Mt. Pisgah

Tough run.

I hadn't been on a good long run since Silver Falls Marathon well over a month ago.  I think I got out for a couple decent 2-3 hr. hilly efforts a couple weeks back and had been pushing things a bit here and there with the weekday workouts so fitness felt fine despite the past 2 weeks schedule being whacked by holidays.  Like too many "runless" days whacked versus lack of miles or something like that.

That said, I think I was in better 15 mile shape than 50k shape.  After 13-15 miles I experienced an early period of fatigue and hip soreness that I'd never felt before and I don't know if it was was my (lack of) preparation or the tough terrain.  With each step needing to be carefully placed to save my ass from a slip maybe I was overworking some muscles?  It was tough going that just got tougher as the race went on.

The various loops that made up the course involved a network of trails around and up and over a hill on the outskirts of Eugene.  These trails consisted of a section of slick as snot ice, a section of snow encrusted "chunky" ice, a section of clumpy grass (to avoid ice), a section of slimey mud, a nice bog of standing water, a section of water running over mud and rocks, and a very short section of buttery soft forested trail and some gravel that was nice but had that shiny look to it like maybe it would send you to the ground if you got to comfy with it.  The loops also involved 4 steep ups and downs that presented some of the finer running surface, which was welcome given the pitch in which you where climbing or descending.

But enough complaining...  I'll try and keep this a happy post.  I went into this thing knowing it'd be messy and that's what was delivered.  I also went into the race with high hopes of breaking the course record time (a local fast dude's training run time of 4:34).  I even thought I could get down to some place significantly below that (say 4:10ish) given the pace I recently did the trail marathon which I thought boasted similar conditions and the same-ish vert. 

I went out a little too gutsy (fast) with all this on my mind and didn't take into consideration how much the terrain and uniquely steep the profile was until I was reminded by my own body's signals and by getting passed by the winner, new course record holder Joe Uhan.  He passed me about 2/3rds of the way around loop 3 and held the pace all the way through.  I am impressed with his run.  I had no idea who he was while we raced but enjoyed a brief conversation with him after the race.  We discussed the trail conditions (the mud was better than the ice... or was it?) and how we were both were anxious to get on the interwebs and geek out to Desert Solstice happenings ( where our friend Pam Smith went on to take the world record for women's track 100 mile!!!)

Anyway, back to the race... after finishing the 3rd loop I almost bogued out.  I'd never run a loop course and it's mentally kind of tough to keep going when the car's right there not to mention hot soup and BEER.  But Kattie was there to remind me that afterall it was just one more loop...  sheesh, what's one more loop?

Well what seemed like it would never end finally did.  As I was headed up the final 1000'+ climb a dude named Walker caught up with me and we chatted some.  Nice young guy.  I told him to go for it on the descent as I wouldn't put up much of a fight.  He must have been happy in my draft as he stayed there until we crossed the finish line.  He started the race right behind me as well so he actually beat me according to the chip timing system.  So I finished second and got third, which made no difference to me who was happy to have finished within my goal time with a 4:27.

Soup and beer.  Then Kattie and I headed home with a car full of Christmas presents that Kattie was able to shop while I was out running.

I am sore today but look forward to recovering best I can before the final race in my December Trifecta:  the Santa Paws 5k!  Very serious stuff.

Also looking forward to a flat and hopefully fast 50k outside Eugene in the beginning of February as it is more accessible than any marathon I could find.

Kids, if you don't keep moving forward the race will never end...  so keep going. 

Shellburg Falls Race Recap-a-rama

Living in the PNW means living between 30 and 85 degrees with only a handful of exceptional days.  Saturday was an exceptional day as Friday's snows and a clearing overnight left us at about 10-14 degrees and sunshine for the morning of the race up in the hills just east of Salem.  Definitely running cold for us rain-mongers.

I got there early to help with registration which was sooo cold despite layers.  Lots of people were no shows but at least 10 or so pretty fast dudes showed up so there was going to be a race.  Good, it was worth the trip.

Same course as last year's mudfest but very different feeling as running the frozen mountain bike tracks was like running on some very poorly poured concrete.  Had to keep the ankles on high alert as you never knew what angle (or in which rut) the paws were going to hit underneathe the couple inches of snow on the trail.  Logging road sections were fine and dandy.

It was a pretty spectacular morning for a quick run through the woods.  The light snow that covered the forest and blew down from the trees above was highlighted nicely by a low sun that shown right through the canopy especially on the hilsides.  The falls area was covered in giant daggers of ice and really slick in a couple spots.

Took off with last year's winner, speedster Matt (someone told me he did a 1/2 marathon in 1:08 or something-- that's 5:11 pace type shit) and Thomas (who's fast and has a couple wins another local race at Buck Mtn. that is very similar to this one).  I figured I'd hang with them as long as I could--since it wasn't a 5k or a long race I figured I couldn't get into to much trouble.  My quads felt spent right from the start which was weird.  And that's how it went until the last mile and half or so when Matt built his lead into something substantial (a minute) on the logging roads.  I was running close to Thomas until I decided to push for the last 1/2-3/4 of a mile.  The push paid off and I finished the race in 49:09.

Very fun day.  Stuck around for the awards and had some coffee and a beer with Mike Tyler, Eb Engelmann, Thomas and a few others before making my way back down to the valley for the weekend's Christmas shenanagins. 

I also caught up on the 50 mile race in Marin (holy smokes) and the kid's XC race up in PDX.  The next day I spent a little time chasing results for friends running CIM down south.  Lots of great races!

wine and races galore... it's December

Dearest Reader,

Running's going fairly well these days.  Naggles all over my legs including a shin (or is it both?), a tight high hammy/low glute on the right side (currently loosened back up), and as of yesterday tight upper glute on the left side (work-related).  Other than that running's all good.  Been joining Mike, Rui and Doug for the Tuesday/Thursday thing which is a touch faster pace and starts/ends earlier meaning there is time for homemade lattes and eggs over medium.

Bringing me to another important point: drinking and eating are also going awesome!  Especially drinking.  It's dark at 4:30 (not that one can't drink in broad daylight but darkness triggers something inside me that says drink some more) and it seems there is always an occasion from the weeks prior to Thanksgiving thru the New Year meaning wine intake is at an all-time high with no cutting back in the foreseeable future.  I'll be responsible about it but I am not going to impose any restraints with these things--Tis the season.

Got a series of little races going on the next few weekends: 

The 7th is the 6.5 mile Shellburg Falls Trail Run.  I am surprisingly excited about this race.  Looking to take some time off last year's decent time which could be done by simply not falling 5 plus times.  Is not falling good enough alone to take 4-5 minutes off?  Nope, but hopefully some improved fitness helps with that a bit.

The 14th is Frozen Trails RunFest 50k down in Tracktown (Mt. Pisgah).  This race is new to me.  It's 4 loops that are each different (well 1 and 3 are the same) each with 800-1000 ft. elevation gain.  Sounds relatively flat but times of familiar names don't indicate that.  I guess it's always a mud fest despite it's Frozen name.  So that will be a not so close alternative to doing the warm, sunny, "chapparally" BBT which fell off the plans awhile back, mostly due to a lack of logistical prep.

The 21st Kattie and I will be in the most important race of our lives.  The Santa Paws 5k in Palm Springs, CA.  The name is so cute, isn't it?  All runners are given and required to wear a 5 piece Santa Claus suit meaning we will be setting Santa suit 5k PRs that day.  A Christmas dream come true.

Reports on how these events altered my life are due out soon so stay tuned...

Cheers!

Silver Falls Marathon: Race Recap

Pre-race:

Training went awesome for a couple weeks after the race down in the Applegate.  Just a nice block of pushing things hard.  The speed workouts were fast and the strength stuff was steep and hard.  The long runs were just right.

Then, a couple weeks ago I just got tired and skipped a 30 mile run and opted for 10 ez.  I blazed through a couple more weekday workouts feeling good.  Work got really busy and physically demanding as I placed and planted a 25 acre hazelnut orchard with a small crew.  It was miles of walking and I figure we each planted ~600 trees.  Needless to say I was too beat to run after the day's work so I missed a couple workouts.  Then I skipped a 15-8 mile run and opted for 7 ez on that weekend.  I didn't know what to make of my schedule other than it seemed to be setting up like a mutated form of taper just in time for the marathon I was going to run as a training effort.  A couple days before the event I recognized this and changed to a "race" mindset.  I decided I was going to push to stay towards the front and see where that took me.

Race:

Kattie, who was running this time (in the half), and I carpooled with Justin, Amy and Becca.  We got there plenty early and I mosied about and said hi to some folks.

Start time came and I got a spot towards the front.  We set off on a good clip and held onto it while the course allowed us to.  Soon, one dude broke away and created a bit of a lead for himself while Don G., the eventual winner (Mike?), Jeff Browning and myself worked hard but held back.  Mike eventually left us and Don and I seemed to be losing Jeff.  The light sprinkling rain developed into something more substantial.

Around mile 9 or so Don suggested I lead for awhile and I did so thinking I'd pace things for awhile as we seemed to both be running well that morning.  We talked about our pace briefly and he seemed to think we were making good time.  To be honest, I was more concerned about where the 2 guys in front of us were than the pace.  For this event, I was using what my friend Nick and I had talked about as a "racing" strategy (vs. a "pacing" strategy) so long as things felt "generally within my limits or somewhat sustainable."  The course tilted upwards a mile or so later and Don was out of my site not too much later.  He's a much better pacer than I am but he had a firmer time goal in mind.  I had a feeling I'd being seeing him again.

I caught a glimpse of the guy that was in the lead (now in 2nd) at the 14 mile AS.  He took off when he saw me.  I got a refill of my waterbottle from Jeremy H who was awesome as an Aid Station worker.  He was by far the most helpful person I encountered all day.

Now I was chasing someone which was motivating except it was short-lived.  Not much more than a mile up the line the trail got steepish and all the sudden I found myself jogging past my objective saying niceties while he muttered something about "sticking to the roads".  He seemed really beat and like he wanted out of there.  I wanted to tell him he could turn left at the next intersection and be back at the start area/car much quicker than following the course but decided that might be insulting/offensive so I just wished him well and carried on.

I spent the next hour or so running completely alone.  The leader was somewhere out there (though no one at the aid stations ever confirmed this which made me wonder at one point if he'd dropped or gotten lost) and there were some really strong guys on my tracks but I just moved along as if I was on some training run in the woods.  I slipped and fell quite hard on my side once but the burst of adrenaline and explitives sort of revived me and rattled me out of the trance I was in.

The canyon must have been 10 degrees warmer than the hilly Perimeter Trail.  Feeling was coming back in my hands which was nice because I actually worried about how cold and useless they felt.  I pushed best I could but without a competitor in front or behind I sort of felt like I was incapable of going faster though surely I could have.  I even walked up a few steeper sections near the last couple falls convincing myself it was faster than running. 

I did finally see Don G. in the rear view as I looked down from near the top of the South Falls.  This inspired me a bit but I also felt like I had a pretty secure lead given the space and the climb between us.  I picked up the pace a bit and committed to jogging up the last little hill.  I was comfortable and cruising down the hill, trying to respectfully navigate a big crowd of cautious half-marathoners when--within a quarter mile or so of the finish--whoosh!  Somebody goes skiing down the mud right by me!  Jeff Browning is an animal, make no mistake about it.  I have no idea where he came from but that was it--within earshot of the finish I traded the silver for the bronze.  I pushed a bit to catch up but such an abrupt reminder that this was a race was more than I could handle at that point in the game.

I crossed the finish in 3:21, five minutes after the new course record was set by the winner.

It was a fun race and I had a blast navigating the nice parts as well as the parts with 6" of mud and running water.

Kattie beat her 27 yr old self by almost 10 minutes and was feeling much better afterwards than she did that year.  She's definitely more fit and that makes the whole ordeal much more enjoyable.  We've been binge eating since the race ended which is the best part of both of us doing a race on the same day.

Justin, Amy and Becca also had fine performances.  Training pal Dan M. took his age division and the one below his by storm in his training effort for an upcoming road marathon.

Cheers!

A Run Amongst Fairies Down in the Applegate Hills

After finishing the Mt. Ashland Hillclimb back in August Kattie and I headed out to enjoy some of the Applegate wine country we hadn't experienced on a previous trip.  We arrived at Wooldridge Creek and really dug not only the wine but the whole atmosphere.  We traded some wine from Kattie's work, got a tour and found out that there was a race coming up there later in September.

Turns out the race is ultrarunner and RD Tim Olson's Enchanted Forest Wine Run.  It's got a 5k around the vineyard and a half marathon that loops around the vineyard a bit and also climbs around in some nearby hillside trails.  It's got a fairy costume theme too which makes for fun spectating even if I couldn't piece together my own sparkles and wings. 

Well Kattie was hooked on the place's vibe and I liked the looks of the course and the idea of coming back down to SoOr one more time this year so I signed up a few weeks later (via snail mail!  something I've been wanting to do for awhile...  same catagory of weird goals as finding a race with popcicle sticks at the finish?  yep.)

Training (mostly for a longer effort this winter) had been going well and I had a few of pretty big (for me, for this time of year) weeks on my legs.  I took Friday before the race off from running and really felt pretty beat from all the miles and effort.  I still planned to give the race a good effort but focused on enjoying the scenery of the area.

As it turns out there would be more to enjoy than wine and a change in scenery... 
around 11 on Friday my buddy Nick shoots me a text from Seattle where he's been camping out with family.  He needs to get out of town and I half-jokingly tell him to come down and race!  Within about 15 minutes he says they (him and Caroline, his wife) are on their way down.  The weekend plans went from great to awesome with a couple of Kattie and I's favorite travel companions now joining in on the fun!

The following morning we jammed down I-5 as fast as a car full of tiny coffee filled bladders can go and showed up to the race about a half hr. before the start.  We got changed, did a sorry warm up jog, lined up and Nick and I took off together through the upper vineyards of the property.  Soon a gravel road gave way to a fast and awkward cross-country style course amongst the grapes.  Lots of sharp turns and quick little ups and downs.  Also lots of good signage but I still managed to miss a turn...  it's hard to read and run!

From there we left the vineyards and headed up a road section that was kind of hot but a nice change in pace from the dodgy vineyard section.  It wasn't long  and I was entering the woods which was refreshing and AS #1 was close.  I stopped and had a couple cups of water.  As I headed up the switchbacks I heard voices just below and hollared at Nick who I could see was still closeby.

The course was hilly but super runnable and nothing that seemed to go on for too long.  I really enjoyed it.  I had no watch and therefore no clue where I was at in terms of time or distance, kind of unusual for me these days.

I was in 3rd place and figured the two guys (Hal Koerner and another shirtless dude) that were leading were long gone.  Then, to my surprise I caught up with #2 dude as we re-entered a woodsy section from a grassy, exposed slope.  His name was Bob and he was a really nice guy.  We ran together for a bit before I felt like I could do more on a climb section.

I finished loop #1 and I knew that #2 had much of the same trail as #1 but didn't know which parts.  I kind of freaked out at an AS as it seemed/or I had a strange feeling that I was going the wrong way.  It was a really busy intersection with runners all over the place.  I asked the station crew if they had seen Hal and the guy said no...  That's when I got really flustered and sort of resorted to waiting a bit for Bob to come into the station.  He knew the way better than I and so I followed him hoping we were on the right track. 

After a minute I'd calmed back down and realized were I was headed.  I liked the parts of the trail that lie ahead and knew I could get back to the vineyard in one piece even if I pushed the pace a bit more.  Things came pretty easily and I didn't ever really push things too much as I winded around the hillside trail and eventually exited the forest for the road back to Wooldridge.  I caught a glimpse of Hal going through the vineyard and I was surprised, I figured he was done already.  It wasn't long after and I too was winding through the vines one last time before crossing the finish line in 1:41.

Kattie was all jazzed and I was pretty psyched on the performance.  I ate and drank water and waited for Nick who came in shortly after.  We all walked down to the road and cheered Caroline into the finish.  We enjoyed some food, wine and Nick and I even had a flash of cold sweats and gut sickness.  Weird.

We got some sweet prizes including a bunch of Injiji socks, shirts, shorts, and $100 bones at The North Face.  Then we gathered our wine and drove home into the eye of a nasty storm.

Really awesome day.  I wish I could make some comments about mediocrity as has been the theme of this blog lately but this one was above that in many ways.

movin to the finish in the vineyard.  photo: shahid ali.

dull training post mid-sept

Training's going well!

Got a half-marathon, Enchanted Wine Run down in the Applegate Valley, and a full marathon, Silver Falls just outside of town, on deck but my sights are set on the Backbone Trail run I'll be doing in December. 

We're between seasons workwise and it's still pretty busy but I've managed to ramp things up just as much as time allows.  Still getting quality (speed/hills) work in as I did pretty much all summer.  It's the quantity work that is tough to make time for.  Just a week or two more and I should be able to make the most of weekdays and have more flexibility on the weekends.  Looking forward to that but I hope I can contain myself and not over-do things.

BOORRRIIIINNNG post!  I know.  Sorry.  Go somewhere else!

Fast Mexi Running - Que Paso?

Dearest fans I am sorry but this isn't another gem of a post regarding some mediocre performance by yours truly.  It's not even about me.  It is about something I am fascinated with:  Mexican Running.  Mexicans have a long tradition of running places and have an entirely different perspective than most of us Northerly neighbors do.  I could go on about it but I'll save that for another post, or the book I someday author on the subject.

Anyway, I came acrossed a couple articles that more than anything else solidified my thoughts that Mexican running has fallen by the wayside.  These hombres used to kick ass on an international level and then just dissappeared.  Not sure about things on the trail/mountain running front but when it comes to the streets and track they aren't even a shadow of the powerhouse they once were.

Here are links to the articles that attempt to explain que paso con los Mexicanos:

Part Uno

Part Dos

Really interesting stuff.  Probably mostly has to do with $$$ as both articles point out.  The comments are worth reading as well.  If Mexico can recreate the training programs that once pushed legendary performances or if the running bug spreads organically as it has in the US (particularly trail stuff) look out--there will be a slew of muchachos pushing the pace from the South.

A brief sidenote from running but Mexico's national soccer performances seem to also be lackluster these days too.  Come on Mexico!  Ponte trucha!  Echale ganas!