Blogiversary

This blog has served many different purposes since its first post.  In 2006, I primarily used it as a way to connect with Matt during our time apart.  He was living in Oklahoma and I studied both in Michigan and Quebec.  He even kept a blog himself.  When we married, posts became more infrequent, sometimes months apart and left more questions than answers.

But on March 31, 2010, the abandoned blog was reborn.  I've been consistently blogging my running adventures since then.  Since then, I have seen how I've evolved both as a writer and as a runner, but yet, somehow I'm still making similar errors in grammar and training as I ever was.

So today, on the two year anniversary of the running version of this blog, I thought I'd recap some of my favorite posts:

4/6/10: Aurora and 20 Mile Run. The first photos and title appeared on the blog.  Woo! I'm so high tech, I know how to add photos!

6/12/10: Angel Rocks to Chena Hot Springs Loop.  This was my first long trail run.  It took just one long day to get me hooked.  Lots of mud, panoramic views and swarms of mosquitoes, what's not to love?

7/2/10:  Rainbow Ridge  What is more fun than everyday adventures in Alaska is getting to drag our friends all over on a whirlwind tour and then dump their limp, exhausted bodies at the airport.  Two college buddies were up for this challenge.

9/17/10: Reality. After a whirlwind meet up with my brother in Germany, we faced the reality that we were leaving Alaska.  Until that day, it was just an exciting trip.  We tearfully began our goodbyes.

11/16/10: Patrick's Point State Park.  Our first hike in California.

12/16/10: Wimp.  Being a "pussy" Californian isn't so bad after all.

1/2/11: Best Christmas Present Ever.  You get to meet our house.  For frugal people like us, it was a HUGE deal to buy our first home.

3/18/11: Canyon Creek, part 1. Maybe California isn't so bad.  We can have snowy playtime AND above freezing temperatures in a single weekend.

4/8/11: Tan 20 Miler.  Did I mention we could have bikini days within a half-day drive of our home, too?

8/7/11: My longest run ever.  Training for my first 50K in Humboldt Redwoods Park.  This is my absolute favorite place in all of California.  Without it, I'd so be outta here already.

9/1/11: Sequoia 50K.  My first ultra. 

My favorite posts:

The best photos: The Sky Parties at Night

 The most emotional post:  There's a tie for this one.

 I'd really like it if we could still be friends...   A recap of our life in Alaska.

Cancer Survivor 
I know I'll never fully be able to write about this part of my life.....

My favorite race, EVER:
Little Su 50K part 1, and part 2.  While we lived in Alaska, I always wanted to try out winter trail running.  You know, on snowmobile trails.  Matt's love of skiing and the short days somehow prevented us from ever realizing that dream.  Finally we made it happen.  Combine that with a return trip to my favorite state and this race was almost 100% euphoria.  While we fumbled through the soft snow, we almost cheered out in excitement.  The novelty of snow and knowing how much worse the weather could be but wasn't, made it that much more fun.

My favorite part about this blog:  
Sharing my adventures with all of you!
Without regular comments from readers, I'm sure this blog would fizzle out as it has in the past.

So even if you haven't commented before, do it for me this once:

What is your favorite post/part of this blog?

Over-achiever? or Headed for a Crash?

Every training cycle seems to incorporate new struggles.  It used to be the long runs. I would dread them and wreck myself trying to hit the pace I thought I was “supposed to” do.  Last time, it was the tempo runs.  Lately, it appears to be my Marathon Race Pace runs.  

Matt hasn't had a haircut since January.  Now that he's tapering for Boston, 

he decided he needs to lose some weight, from his head.  What do you guys think?

When I first began running them, hitting the 8:12/mi was near impossible.  To keep myself from stressing too much about them, I ran based on what the 8:12 pace felt like: medium HARD.  I allowed myself to look at the watch to push the lap button at each mile, other than that, it was on feel.  I’m getting pretty good at pacing myself and that same effort yields faster results.  It seems that an 8:00/mi is what the 8:12 used to be.  Progress, sure, but I need to try hard and not get carried away.  I mean, look at what happened today during my 5 mile MRP run:

8:05, 8:02, 7:56, 8:05, and 8:12.  Total of 40:23, 8:04/mi

2.5 mi with the wind, so I let myself cruise a little bit faster than normal. 2.5 into the wind, and I pushed too hard through the wind for the first half mile back, then settled a little bit more into the right pace.

When you have a time goal for a particular workout, do you let yourself surpass it if you’re feeling good?

I feel like running faster than my paces is okay once in a while, however, on a regular basis it will probably detract from other workouts.

20 Miler #2: The Crappy One

 

 The elevation profile looks a little bit like a devil, doesn't it?  Maybe an omen?

We decided to tackle the more scenic of our 20 mile routes.  The perfect sunny day almost demanded it.  Although there was a noticeable constant wind (about half the force of the previous 20 miler), we were determined to run alongside the ocean.

The whole week, I had been plagued by digestive issues, so when I started the run feeling like I’d have to go #2 somewhere along the way, I just thought it was gas and went along my way.  No problem with four possible bathroom stops along en route.

We ran north through the bottoms.  Cows mooed at us along the way.  Bikers were everywhere.  We usually do our long runs on a week day just because they go with Matt’s schedule, but this one was on a weekend day.  It sets a skewed view of how many people actually exercise outdoors here and surprises me when we do go out on a Sunday.

 

Keeping pace with a father and son biking team and into the wind, I felt unstoppable.  My plan was to keep the first 10 miles at a 9:00/mi and then speed it up later if I felt good; I had to keep myself from getting carried away.  The first ten miles went by without much effort, despite that constant headwind.  I farted with nearly every step and the sense of urgency seemed to go away.  So it was just gas, awesome.  No need to stop anywhere.  Except for the fact that I blew snot out my nose and down my face as I ran and drank from my water hose (haha, still haven’t got that down. My nose was extra watery with allergies around too), all was well.  

I calculated five mile splits and was surprised that the first two were just seconds apart in 44:50 and 44:48.  How’s that for consistency?

 

The return trip included a few uphills, but nothing that forced me to slow down significantly.  Soon we found ourselves on the coastal bluffs overlooking the waves.  It sure is beautiful here.  I’m still not in love with the ocean in the same way that the locals are, but I have to agree, it is nice to look at.  We spotted several crab fishing boats out on the water.  It is supposed to be rainy this week, they need to grab those crab pots soon!

We passed the final potty stop at mile 15 and I felt no urge to stop.  By mile 17, it was clear that my farts were no longer just gas.  You know what I mean.  It was like drinking a milkshake through a straw: things flow perfectly until you hit a strawberry that is too big to get through.  I’ll save you from further imagery.  You’re welcome. 

 

The Bottoms has no trees.  No bushes to hide behind and those millions of cyclists passing by.  I stopped a few times during the 18^th mile to settle myself.  I admit, I panicked and picked up the pace a little to get to the car in one piece, probably not the best idea ever as I’m sure it just stirred things up further.

Matt took off and ran the final mile at his own pace.  This is his last 20 before Boston and he wanted to finish it on a fast note.  No problem.  I took full advantage of being alone.  In that final mile, I had to stop several times to compose myself.  A few of them even included me physically smashing my cheeks together to keep it together.  I frantically looked around for bushes.  Now I was in neighborhoods and there were people working in their yards.  I really had no choice but to keep running.  Distraught, I booked it every moment that I could.  And I made it to 20.00 miles on the watch without soiling myself.  That was a miracle.  

 

That’s just one more skill to add to my mental toolbox, right?

I was pretty amazed at how steady my pace ended up being:

20 miles, 2:59, 8:57/mi.

Last Week

It’s interesting to see what keeps us from blogging.  Most of us notice if someone who regularly posts suddenly slows down or stops.   We wonder what happened to them.

I’ve been lacking creative juices lately.  Every ounce of mental power is used figuring out new ways to massage my tight muscles, ways to strap on the ice pack without looking weird.  You know, the important stuff.  I stare at a blank screen and my mind suddenly evaporates.  This is exactly where I’m supposed to be on the fatigue scale, but it definitely wears me out.  

But I have still been running.  Last week was great:

Sunday- I biked 6 miles to Matt’s work.  I stopped for some groceries on the way.  Riding with my iPod in the sunshine that day reminds me how much I really do love bike commuting.  This summer, I think I’m going to make a goal to go one week a month completely sans auto (with a couple exceptions, like band rehearsal that is 25 miles RT on the freeway and end well after dark).

Monday- Run 5 miles.  Untimed and moderately easy.

Tuesday- Run 10 mi, 8 at MRP.  This run was awesome because it has many gradual uphill/downhill portions.  I’m definitely getting better at knowing how to pace myself on more undulating terrain.  Here were the MRP miles: 7:55, 8:02, 7:57, 8:13, 8:05, 8:12, 8:08, 8:10 (goal: 8:12).  You can see which miles were uphill and downhill, but I didn’t let things get out of control and burn out.  That is a pretty huge victory for me!

Thursday- Run 5 miles, 3 at tempo pace.  I was feeling a little off all week with digestive problems.  Matt ran with me on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Tempo miles: 7:36, 7:32, 7:32 (goal: 7:40).  My tempo (originally wrote "tempoo" haha) runs have to be on pancake flat terrain (and on a dirt trail to reduce pounding) in order for me to hit those paces.

Friday- Snowshoe on Horse Mountain! (replaced a 10 mile run)

Saturday- Run 20 miles.  I’ll write about it tomorrow, but here’s a preview….in the form of the elevation profile (those little baby hills weren’t the issue though, for the record).

Total: 40 running miles.  

I was a little too fast in both my pace-oriented days.  Gains are being made for sure, but I can’t let myself go crazy and peak too early.  I’m planning on two more 40+ mile weeks with drop-back ones in between, so it is still time to rein myself in a little bit until the taper.

So that’s what I’ve been up to. How are you guys doing?

Record Keeping

We all keep records of our running.  Some records are more loosely organized than others, but we all know approximately what our PRs are and some basic stats about different aspects, right?

Every once in a while, I come across someone that keeps records differently than I do, so that got me curious.  How do you keep your own records?

1     ~    I like to keep track of my monthly and yearly mileages.  I include warm-ups and cool downs in my total mileage.  Races and training runs are included.  Hubby and I go for walks at home or while we travel, I don’t usually include these in any totals.  Ditto goes for hiking and backpacking.  Some people use their Garmin each time they run and can tell you how many days and hours they spend running each year.  Hubby is doing that this year, but I think it is too much work for me. I don’t run with my Garmin every single run either.

2     ~   I keep different sets of “official” and “unofficial” PRs.  If the distance was in a race setting, unless I find out later the course was short, I include them in "official".  Everything else goes in the unofficial.  It is fun to keep track of the unofficial stuff because I never know when a good day will hit and it always keeps me on my game.

3        ~ I know some people that track training runs of certain lengths with corresponding race distances.  For example, while training for a 50K, they run two training distances of a marathon or more.  Those are added to their totals, saying “I ran two marathons while training… so I've run six marathons" (and then don't bother to say that two were training runs, not races).  I think this is ridiculous.  Unless I’m actually racing with others on a course with an official name, it doesn’t count.  I mean really, I’d have like 300 half marathons by now.  They totally don’t compare to the race halves I’ve done.  The only way I could imagine calculating it as a “real” half/full/50K is if I ran an entire race course on my own.  The whole course with no deviations, but even that seems fishy.

So readers, what is your records style like?

1.       Do you track total mileage?  Do you track runs of a certain length? Do you track overall pace?

2.       How do you keep track of your time PRs?  As you age, do you set a new category for each decade or 5 year age group increment to keep from getting discouraged?

3.       If you run 26.2 miles (or 5K, 10K, 13.1 mi., 50K) by yourself one day, do you count it?

4.       I’m planning on a lot of trail running this summer near my parents’ house.  There are two ultras nearby, Keyes Peak 50K and Marquette 50M/50K.  It seems like the best way to skip planning routes for myself.  I don’t think they count, do you?

Horse Mountain Friday

One day last week, the winds shifted.  From the northern wind (typically summer), it came from the opposite direction, how it typically goes in the winter.  Rain fell and there it was: snow on the coastal hills.  Normally, it takes really low snow levels to see any from my home against the coastline.  It can be seen from other parts of town, but not mine.  Every time I was headed home from errands, the snow stared at me.  It was so close, but I couldn’t reach it.

Matt knew of a place that we could go and enjoy the snow.  A place called Horse Mountain.  He was lucky that I didn’t know how to get there, or I would have already gone without him.  I wasn’t sure what I’d find at Horse Mountain, was it one knob covered in snow?  Steep?  Or was it something to admire and build snowmen?  Rumors spread that it was a great place to go for snowmen and sledding, but nothing further.  

We stopped for coffee on the way there.  As we walked down the sidewalk into a swift wind, my hair swirling in a tornado above my head, we could only imagine what it would be like on the hills.  Something near 50mph, surely.

 

Driving the winding Hwy 299, we watched the landscape progress from coastal winter to the inland one.  It seemed that Horse Mountain was just on the cusp of being considered “inland” and bone dry. 

 

Lush trees had moss dangling from their branches while snow clung to the base.    The road was plowed only to a certain point.  After that, it was almost as good as a groomed trail.  The snow was laid evenly across the level road.  

  

We didn’t keep track of how far we went, but when we felt like meandering down a different vein of the fire road network upon this hill, we did.  We were out for almost three hours, so I was more than willing to let it take the place of a 10 mile run.  The Yolla Bollas, mini-mountains on the southern end of the Trinity Alps, were visible in the east.  The light changed as clouds moved in and provided an ever-evolving contrast to the mountains.

 

 

We had a relaxing lunch.  Sunshine blast upon us and reflected off every nearby surface.  The snow was about three feet deep beneath our snowshoes and it was impressive that with how warm it was, not more of it was melting.  Even icicles remained on the hillsides where runoff froze overnight.  

Still borrowing a second pair of snowshoes from Alex, we knew that once he heard about or trip, he’d want them back.  Matt reluctantly took them to work with him that night.  A few hours later, I get an email from Matt.  Our REI dividend and 20% off coupon just arrived!  Looks like we might have two pairs of snowshoes to ourselves soon!

Do you use cross training in place of a training run?  How do you determine its equivalent?
I love doing this.  It keeps my mind from getting stale.  If it is to trail running while I'm training on roads, I'll usually go with mileage.  If it is biking, hiking, or something completely different, I'll try to match the time it would take to run them.  This snowshoe trip was almost three hours and a run of 10 miles that I replaced would have taken about 90 minutes.  More than enough to count in my book.

Halfway Doubts

Last week marked the halfway point to my spring marathon, Green Bay, so I thought I’d do a little bit of a recap on the training thus far.

January:  Wooooo!! A new year!  I’m going to be faster and more awesome than ever!  YAAAAAAAAYY!

February: Whew, that was exhausting.  Man, am I tired.  Flowers bloom, pollen swirls in the air. Achoo.  I have to psych myself up for every run.  There were just two runs that I returned home feeling worse than I left, so I guess that’s success?  I hit the Alaska/Susitna euphoria and then crashed hard from fatigue and lack of excitement.

March: Not enough recovery from the Little Su to pull off a PR at Bidwell.  I began to question myself and my training.  Isn’t it always the case: Halfway through a training period, when I still have time to change things up if I want to, that I doubt myself?  It seems to happen for me each time I train for one of my “A” list races.  I begin to question whether I’ve plateaued, whether I’m being too uptight, whether I’m being too lax.

….now I enter the meaty part of my training.  The mileage heavy part.  I combine speed work, pace runs, AND the 20 mile long runs.  Just as my body feels a little bashed up now, I’m going to make it worse.  But honestly, I think that’s exactly how it is supposed to feel right now.  Mix in a little trail running with the road scenery and it always feels doable.

I’ve planned three more 20+ mile runs (my final one is actually the day of the Boston Marathon, in Boston!!  If you’re free on Marathon Monday and live nearby, I’d love some company).  I hope to increase my MRP runs to about 12 miles.  I hope to bring those tempo runs to six miles at tempo pace.  I hope to increase to 10x800m on the track.  Will nailing my paces bring me to my goal?  Nobody can really tell.  Even if I do everything right, I can still come up short.  Maybe I set too ambitious goals for myself sometimes, but I’ve been surprised by what a good day can produce and always expect the best from myself. 

So here is how the rest will go (right??):

April – wooooo!!  I love running. I love life.  Being strong and fast just rocks my socks.

May- Whew! Taper time!  Resting and hanging with my family.

Do you ever hit a certain point in your training where you doubt yourself or your plan?  Do you make changes or trust you're doing all you can?

Four Headwaters Runners

Headwaters trail rarely sees runners.  There are steep switchbacks, tons of mud, and lots of climbing via stairs that are just the right length that they don’t match my stride and I have to walk them.  So when a group of four runners take off down the trail, people notice.  I can’t say that I felt energetic at all when we left for the run.  Before this run, I had already covered 40 miles this week, more than I have in a single week since the Little Su training in December and January.  It wasn’t an over-training fatigue with leaden legs and accelerated heart rate.  It was just the fatigue of a heavier week.

  

When I have this type of fatigue, I go one of two ways: decide that I’m going to go easy and make it fun or push hard to get it over with.  Sometimes it is hard to tell which route I take while I’m out there.  We jumped across puddles and made it to the biggest climb, some 1,400 ft. in about a mile.  My heart was beating crazy hard as it usually does and I lead the boys skyward.  Just as I slowed to walk a bit, I heard a voice behind me.  “I think this is the best I’ve seen you take this hill.  Seriously,” Alex mentioned.  Somehow it felt like he was reading my mind.  Until he said something, I thought I was just having a crappy day.  

One step forward, two sliding steps back is how we finally reached the ridge and less incline.  I caught my breath momentarily while I jogged slowly.  Sunshine flooded through the trees.  There is only one other run that it has been this bright.  When we left the parking lot, Alex, Danny, and I all laughed at Matt’s sunglasses.  We thought he’d spend the entire run wearing them in his pocket rather than on his face.   It looks like the joke was on us.  As the sun fell lower in the sky and filtered through the forest horizontally, it lit us like a spotlight.  

 

When we reached the old growth forest, moss crusted Redwoods greeted us.  I’ve been in this grove many times and when I hit one specific place that opens nearly 100 Redwoods in view at once, I tear up a little.  My heart flutters.  I love these Redwoods.  They always look different; no two days are the same.   After a few moments’ pause, my pulse settles.  The frantic gasps for breath are gone.  I reach a state of peace, only footfalls and the sound of my calm breathing punch through the quiet.  Even though there are four of us running today, we are all silent, taking in the majesty.  After a loop through the old grove, we head back down, through the muddy stairs leading to the river.  Running never feels as natural as it does on the swift descent to the river.  I enjoy the switch backs.  I enjoy sliding to a stop in my muddy shoes.  I have no brakes when it is muddy.  One day I’ll fly over the edge to the bushes below, but for now, I stop just short of disaster at each turn.  I love feeling on the edge of control.  My body feels wild; I love it.   

 

As any of my running buddies will tell you, I am chattier on the homeward portion than I am headed up the ridge.  It was the first time Matt and I vocalized our plan.  We’ve decided that 2013 will be the year we explore the French Alps.  It would be awesome to run 10-20 mi a day for a week, stopping at a little village each night for a shower and hot dinner.  Anyone with experience or knows where I could get info on this, please let me know.  Making dreams a reality begins with a single step: admitting it to yourself that it is possible (oh, and planning enough in advance that saving money for it is a reality).

12 miles, 2:03.17, 10:16/mi.

That makes it our second fastest running of Headwaters, and definitely the fastest muddy one.  Our PR is 1:56 and it was the only day that the trail was bone dry.

I haven’t done a run in my trail shoes since the Little Su.  Running in snow returned them to their new color and condition.  I was almost embarrassed to go running in them, they were THAT clean.  Well, no worries, I was sure to put an end to that!

Thursday Track

So yesterday I thought I'd multitask and do a track workout before band practice since we rehearse at a high school and both are literally across a small parking lot from each other.

I wasn't particularly energetic and each of these repeats were tougher than normal, but I hit my paces.  The rain felt really amazing.  I think track workouts are especially awesome in the rain.

1 mile warm-up, 7x800 (with 400m recovery between them) and then 1 mile cool down.
Goal: 3:35.

Less than 20 minutes after my cool down (and yeah, a baby wipe bath in the car), I was playing. Turns out running a really hard track workout leaves me with zero breath control and my eyes gloss over as I read the 16th notes go by and think "huh, those look pretty.....". Big fat saxophone faaaaaaaaaail.  All my mental powers were used up.  Oh well.

 

Anybody else find track workouts to be easier than tempo runs?

Adventures at Home

I can't remember the last time we spent a four day weekend at home.  We usually take that time to catch up on house projects, you know, boring stuff.  But I have to say, this weekend had a lot of fun and unexpected adventures.

Let's start with Thursday.  I thought that maybe changing the air filter on our furnace would help with my allergies.  The furnace is up on a platform and the filter is in the bottom.  There is a large open area in the furnace closet that is opened up when the filter is removed.

 Zoey decided she had to explore.  There was no way for her to get back out.  Your kitty may be agile enough to navigate a small opening, but mine sure isn't.

 Luckily, Matt had planned to remove the air vent in the wall (other side of the wall from the first photo).....

.....and rescued a very nervous kitty.


When the cat ran out, Matt noticed a makeshift cardboard wall.  He removed it and found this baggie:

We've found other drug items in strange hard to reach places in our house, so we were fully expecting there to be something in this bag:
It contained four new ziplock baggies, layers of coffee between them.  Then within the innermost bag was the coffee's original bag, scrubbed clean.  We had stumbled upon someone's pot hiding stash, carefully disguising the smell with the furnace, coffee, and many plastic bags.  For the record, the bag was completely empty.

As we've found bottles of liquor hidden in the garage rafters and this bag, we're assuming the previous owner hid a lot of stuff from his wife.  It also explains some of the shoddy repairs they've done to the house.

Our other adventures of the weekend were less bizarre.

Friday:

 Couch snuggles with Zoey.

 Pasties!!!

 pretzels.

 Eating those pasties! Yummmmmy!

Sunday:

Oh, and we also ran a 10 mile race, placed in our age groups, and helped manage the finish line of the two mile kid race.  We only saw three kids projectile vomit at the finish, so that's a success in my book!

 Monday:
And we ran 20 miles in the wind as a combo recovery/long run day.

It turned out to be a pretty eventful weekend, don't you think?