Downtown

Yesterday's run was one of the farthest I've done recently, over 13 miles. It basically consisted of running down to Ruston Waterfront, running along the edge for a while, and then heading up Orchard for a few miles, finishing with the tail end of the Scott Pierson trail that I ran a few weeks back. Other than entirely miscalculating the length or severity of the hill heading up out of the waterfront, I have to say it was a successful and enjoyable run. I covered a good deal of ground and even managed to hold a decent pace the entire time.

For this particular run, I used a couple of my Accelgel packs, plus I spiked my water with Elete, which I actually hadn't had a chance to use for a run yet. It seemed to work out pretty well though, and the healthy supply of electrolytes seemed to keep my stomach from doing anything too odd. I also seem to be acclimating to the additive's taste, though it is not nearly as good as some Nuun tablets.

Downtown Run Stats
Downtown Run Map

Today Kami and I found ourselves down at the 56th street farmers market. I'm very pleased that even though there are no less than four different farmers markets here in Tacoma, they still manage to be unique in ways other than just the day that they're held. This one had several cooked food vendors, and more arts and crafts than what we typically find up at the Proctor Street market. There was even a stand selling locally made hot sauces, and so we couldn't resist picking up a bottle of Habanero sauce - tequila and lime flavored. So, definately an enjoyable excursion, although we'll probably stick to Proctor in the future since that tends to offer more of the items that we buy on a weekly basis (fruit, vegetables, bread).

We also went an saw a movie at the Grand Cinema for the first time in probably 3 months or so (at least it seems about that long). We finally saw The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which has been playing at the Grand since the last movie I saw down there. I had wanted to see it then, and really wanted to see it now before it disappeared from the theater. I'm even more glad that we went today, since I found out that the sequel actually hits stateside next month, which looks even better than this one. While I would not recommend this film to everyone (some of its more graphic scenes will definitely turn away certain audiences), if you want a gripping mystery story, and can put up with a fair bit of demented storytelling at the beginning, this film will definitely reward you for your efforts.

Alright, I suppose its time I prepared some food for tomorrow, after which its my weekly St. Mark's Cathedral, and then bed.

Tiger Mountain

So when attempting a run on an unknown path, particularly an unknown trail, it is always a good idea to plan for as many different unknowns as possible. For instance, forgetting your rain slicker on a day that where weather is predicted to be rainy is generally not a good idea. not bringing a towel or bandanna or something else to wipe glasses on when they become fogged up to the point of complete vision loss is also something to be avoided. Not sufficiently checking whether the trail you are traveling is covered in poison ivy is also something that never occurred to me beforehand (it fortunately was not, and the itchy stinging I felt on my legs while running through the brush was most likely the result of nettles, according to my father).

So to summarize: Saturday's inaugural trail run up on Tiger Mountain was wet, cold, itchy, confusing, and generally unpleasant. And I cannot wait to try it again.

Maybe it was when I reached the first plateau and came across the small pond by the trail's edge, or maybe it was when I burst into the first clearing and saw the mist covered hills that sloped off in either direction, but it was a soul soothing experience. I must admit that I spent much of it staring at my feet, but what I did see heartened me, and encouraged me to spend the extra traveling time to reach some trails again in the future. There is an inner peace found out in the quiet trees that even the loneliest city streets cannot provide. Plus it really helps with my hill work.

To be fair, as many things about this run went right as they did wrong. Both the trail running shoes and the special wool/bamboo socks that I had picked up for wet running performed above and beyond the call of duty, and even with my feet being completely drenched after the first five minutes I managed not to acquire a single blister. I also learned that a hydro pack is far superior to using a water bottle when you are trying to fight you way through undergrowth. I am going to have figure out a better way to get to my gel packs though.

So below is my performance review for the run. I didn't track the trail mostly because I wasn't running on streets, so mapping it would be next to impossible. I'm thinking about running the trail above Carbonado next Saturday, so I'll see about drafting a map for that run.

Tiger Mountain Test Run

Pickled Eggs

A couple weeks ago, I made the British Pub-styled pickled eggs that are listed here, and today they were finally ready to crack open and try, after having sat in the back of our fridge for a couple weeks. I am happy to say that they are absolutely delicious, and am looking forward to making more of them in the future!

Seriously, these are wonderful, and especially enjoyable if you've grown tired of eating plain hard boiled eggs like I have.

Tacoma and Olympia

Yesterday was the Sound to Narrows race here in Tacoma, the results for which I have listed below. We were lucky to have absolutely perfect weather, with temperatures in the low 60s at the race start, getting up near 70 by its end. I am also quite pleased to say that running in a crowd had a excellent effect on my performance, as I pushed myself much harder than I had planned on, and managed to complete the race in under and hour. At the beginning of the race I even started to freak out a bit because I was pushing such a fast pace (due to the first mile and half being all downhill), I was a little worried that I wouldn't make it through the park. Fortunately, my hill training paid off, and I even managed to pass a few people on the uphill segments since I didn't have to reduce my speed too greatly.

Official Race Time
Monitored Race Time

To top it all off, there were a number of sponsors offering freebies at the end, one of which is my local favorite, Roman Meal, who happened to be handing out packets of their new hot cereal. I'm sure I've mentioned what high esteem I hold RM bread in, but I'll wax on it once more if no one minds. Whenever I come across a loaf at the store, I always incorporate it into my running diet (nothing quite like an almond butter sandwich before a run). Sadly, locating RM bread is getting to be a harder and harder endeavor. These days I only occasionally come across a loaf at Metro Market, and while I've been told that they sell their bread through other licenses such as Sara Lees, I simply won't accept it if it doesn't have the RM logo. They're about the only bread I'll buy that isn't organic, so forgive me if I'm a bit picky. Oh yes, Bear Naked Granola was also represented at StN, but I'm less pleased about their offering, so I'll say nothing about it.

Since my parents were nice enough to make the trip down from Enumclaw for the race, we all took the opportunity to go to the Farmer's Market down in Olympia afterwards. While there I came across several growers that were offering tomato starts, so I finally got my hands on the Brandywine that I have been talking about growing for a couple years now. Hopefully I'll actually turn out to have a green thumb at it, and can have a nice tomato supply in the fall. Actually, given the fact that my wife seems to abhor tomatoes, I'll probably have more than I can eat, so if anyone is interested in a few, check back with my in a few months.

While on the subject of growing and food, Kami and I watched the documentary Food, Inc. today, and while I was personally horrified by most of what I saw, most of that probably stems from my general aversion to meat. However, I would recommend this movie to anyone wanting to know more about where the food most of us eat comes from. I am definitely going to have to increase the amount of product that I get from local farmers markets though, meat or otherwise.

Finally, I have been reading through a great deal of that Step Beyond book, and I must say that it is a treasure trove of knowledge about running, ultra or otherwise. Many of the sections do only apply for running distances greater than about 25 miles, true, but much of the book has to do with general physiology, about proper diet and recovery techniques, or just fun stories to get you in the running mood. I look forwards to getting through the whole book, just so I can start back at the beginning again! Not often I come across a book like that.

Alright, this has been a very successful weekend. Hopefully the rest of the week will continue to be so as well!

Racoon

Just a quick note- I was out doing a tempo run around the neighborhood this morning, and a raccoon fell out of a tree right in front of me! Quite surprising, apparently as much for him as for me, since he immediately raced towards the nearest bushes.

Beats running into a possum I suppose.

Returning to my Old Routine

Someday I am going be brave enough to attempt one of my runs in the opposite direction than I normally go, but I don't foresee that day being any time soon. Even my short runs during the week are always the same direction. I really am a creature of habit.

I finally returned to one of the runs that had become a personal favorite of mine last year. Its a basic loop that follows one of the country roads between Tacoma and Puyallup, and is typically very quiet other than a few angry dogs (fortunately all behind fences. There are a few spots where several MINUTES can go by before I see a car, and that is truly blissful.

...

Yeah, I really need to start leaving the city for a few of my longer runs, but I don't like having to drive back home when I'm all sweaty. Still, the temptation to head over near Enumclaw and do some back roads there, or even some trails up near Greenwater, is getting hard to resist. Perhaps in a few weekends from now.

Not this coming weekend however, as I bit the bullet and signed up to do the Sound to Narrows. That's only a 12k race, but it should be excitement enough to fill my Saturday. I really would prefer to be doing a race that doesn't number its participants in the thousands, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to be sociable to the running community once in a while. Of course, if I wanted to be less of a recluse when it comes to fellow runners, I could always pony up and join the Interurban Runners Club or the Tacoma Runners, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for that yet. Maybe in a year or two.

I also had a chance to go scout out Fleet Feet today. I was very impressed with the variety of goods they offered (probably because they bill themselves as a "sports" store rather than a running store), but was still saddened by the small selection of different brands. Still, clerks were helpful, and they have a 10% return program (spend $150, get $15 back), which is definitely a big incentive. Saw a couple potentials replacements for my current running shoe, which I'll probably do after the Sound to Narrows. Still gotta check out those two locations I mentioned earlier first though. So much to do.

Alright, that's all I've got going on at the moment. A little more training this week, and then the race!

New Twist Run
New Twist Map

Mid-Week Update

I read about two other running stores in the area that I am going to have to go check out sometime. One of them is The Balanced Athlete up in Kent (near Fry's Electronics apparently, how did I miss that?), and the other is Route 16 over in Gig Harbor. Might have to combine a trip to that one with a run, get my money's worth out of the toll across the Narrows.

I'm thinking about signing up for a last minute race the weekend after next. I've been pondering over either the Sound to Narrows 12k here in Tacoma, or the Beach to Chowder 10k Challenge down at Long Beach. I like the idea of finally doing the StN, given that I've heard so much about it from my dad, and it also has the advantage of not having to travel very far, but I'm rather put off by the sheer number of people that I'm told participate. Something like this Chowder Challenge sounds a lot more low profile, but Long Beach isn't exactly close to Tacoma, and would mean a very early morning drive...well, both have their disadvantages, but either is sure to be fun. I'm trying to talk my wife into doing the 5k version of one of the races too, so that might be a deciding factor. Have to figure out which in the next 48 hours though, or I'm more likely than not to sign up for neither.