Well, it seems that my guess of ozone-inhalation was a bit of a wild guess, as the real cause of my cough revealed itself on Thursday. I've been laid up with a nasty cold ever since then. Of course, the cough may be completely unrelated, but at this point it's rather hard to tell.
Had to skip my long run this morning, which was a bit of a pity, even if it was only going to be 20 miles or less (just something to keep my legs up for next weekend). I've been laying low all day, and hopefully will be in top shape by Tomorrow. Will probably not resume workouts till Tuesday just to be certain. This is a decision made more of resignation rather than acceptance, since I don't even have the strength to stand for very long right now, and just going up and down the stairs at work on Friday almost caused me to pass out. I'd just as soon avoid that happening.
Didn't actually get to see the Jimmy Kimmel Show Live on Thursday (was asleep before it aired anyway), but Kami and I checked out the YouTube clip of Dean Karnazes yesterday, and it meets with much approval. I love how Dean doesn't really say much, he just kinda agrees with whatever the interviewer is babbling about so he can get out of there. Of course, he was probably just there as support for Kelly Ripa, but still, nice that he keeps getting to plug his books and projects. Gotta keep these things moving forward, even if it does mean appearing on the idiot box.
Hmm, that reminds me that I still have a chapter or so left in 50/50. Probably should finish that.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Smog and Shoes
I just finished adding up some figures, and I figured out that in the last 30 days I've put 150 miles on my shoes. Not a huge number in the sphere of ultra-running, but it is definately starting to age my current pair of shoes. I've been thinking that I'll probably try and buy two pairs next, so I can alternate their use and try to extend their life a bit longer that way. However, that plan means twice the expense the next time I hit up RoadRunner. Adding to that, I also need to get myself a decent pair of trail runners some time before Sun Mountain, and that means I need to buy THREE pairs of shoes sometime in the next couple months. Before I know it, I'm going to own more shoes than my wife.
At least I already know what pair of trail runners I'm going to get. I've had my eye on the Salomon Ultra GTX for a while now. If these things can't handle what I've planned over the next six months, then nothing can! I still need to figure out what to do for street shoes though. The Nike Equalon 4 that I've been using so far have treated me fairly well, and they're still being produced, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't check out what else is out there. I'll just have to devote a day to trying on shoes at some point, I guess...
Also, ever since I began my new job I've been having a bit of a nagging cough. It's rather dry and clean, so I hadn't really thought much about it, just figured it was due to getting used to the dusty office conditions again. Then last night I was reading an article about the dangers of ozone inhalation for city runners. The basic issue was that cars cause low level ozone, which when inhaled can accelerate the aging of lung tissue, and leads to various breathing problems like asthma and coughing. This is especially common in city runners because you can inhale up to ten times as much oxygen while running.
Once I started thinking about it, I realized that most of my runs since I started at the office have been in more congested conditions (while I love the Scott Pierson trail, most of it is less than 50 feet away from the freeway), and it seems to have gotten worse after this last Sunday's run, where I basically ran parrallel to the road for four hours of so. Add onto the issue of my being a motocyclist, where I'm basically breathing the exhaust pipe of the car in front of me several times a day, and I wouldn't be suprised if that might not be the cause of my coughing. So, I may have to travel so somewhere a little less congested for my next big run.
Speaking of which, this weekend's run is probably going to be fairly light (as in, no more than 20 miles), but the next weekend is my birthday run. 27 miles all the way from Tacoma to Enumclaw. I haven't exactly set the route in stone yet but I have a rough idea about how I'll get there. I've also been trying to talk a few friends into running it with me, the last mile or so at the very least, but so far no takers. I just need to make more running friends, I guess ^_^
Well, I'm up later than I should be.
At least I already know what pair of trail runners I'm going to get. I've had my eye on the Salomon Ultra GTX for a while now. If these things can't handle what I've planned over the next six months, then nothing can! I still need to figure out what to do for street shoes though. The Nike Equalon 4 that I've been using so far have treated me fairly well, and they're still being produced, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't check out what else is out there. I'll just have to devote a day to trying on shoes at some point, I guess...
Also, ever since I began my new job I've been having a bit of a nagging cough. It's rather dry and clean, so I hadn't really thought much about it, just figured it was due to getting used to the dusty office conditions again. Then last night I was reading an article about the dangers of ozone inhalation for city runners. The basic issue was that cars cause low level ozone, which when inhaled can accelerate the aging of lung tissue, and leads to various breathing problems like asthma and coughing. This is especially common in city runners because you can inhale up to ten times as much oxygen while running.
Once I started thinking about it, I realized that most of my runs since I started at the office have been in more congested conditions (while I love the Scott Pierson trail, most of it is less than 50 feet away from the freeway), and it seems to have gotten worse after this last Sunday's run, where I basically ran parrallel to the road for four hours of so. Add onto the issue of my being a motocyclist, where I'm basically breathing the exhaust pipe of the car in front of me several times a day, and I wouldn't be suprised if that might not be the cause of my coughing. So, I may have to travel so somewhere a little less congested for my next big run.
Speaking of which, this weekend's run is probably going to be fairly light (as in, no more than 20 miles), but the next weekend is my birthday run. 27 miles all the way from Tacoma to Enumclaw. I haven't exactly set the route in stone yet but I have a rough idea about how I'll get there. I've also been trying to talk a few friends into running it with me, the last mile or so at the very least, but so far no takers. I just need to make more running friends, I guess ^_^
Well, I'm up later than I should be.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Long Haul
So I've made a decision- from this point on, I'm done trying to shave a few dollars off the budget by buying expired running products. I'm sick of powders going stale and gel packs that have thickened to the point of needing to be chewed. The savings are not worth it when I'm 20 miles out and the sudden shock of bad supplements makes me feel like I want to puke. So, done with that.
I am also starting the favor the GU product line. I've been trying a variety pack of their gels, as well as their orange flavored water additive, and I'm quite pleased with what I've experienced so far. A nice mix of electrolytes, a light flavor, and little sugar. I'll have to try it out on a few more runs, but I think I might have found the product line for me.
Today's run was a bit of an experiment, in that I was trying out the 25/5 formula favored by many ultrarunners, which is basically 25 minutes of running, 5 minutes of (brisk) walking, and then rinse and repeat. The idea behind it is that the body tends to peak at about 20 minutes of cardio activity, and it takes the heart about 4 minutes to recover to normal rate levels. So with this in mind, I set off this morning with the plan being to run for about two hours, see where I ended up, turn around and head home.
I initially started out on the Scott Pierson trail, my mind being fuzzy about it's exact length but thinking it to be about 10 miles from end to end. I figured I'd be lucky to get to the other side of the Narrows Bridge before I turned around. Much to my chagrin, I was barely an hour into my run by the time I reached the bridge, so even with it taking about 10 minutes to get from one side to the other, I still had a fair bit of time to burn up. So I crossed over to the north side of the freeway, and with not really knowing where I was going, I set off to the west.
Following a windy country road eventually led to me a T-intersection. Because the turn looked more running friendly than continuing straight (there was a sidewalk), I started up a bit of a hill. At this point I had about 20 minutes left of running, and figured, really how far could I get? Quite far, apparently, since the road immediately sloped back downwards, and I ran along carelessly, until I found myself right in the downtown core of Gig Harbor. This was all well and good, but now I realized I had to turn around and trudge all the way back.
It took me almost an entire half hour to trek back to the top of the hill, and I was sweating pretty bad at that point, despite the fact that it was only about 34 degrees at that point (which was still warmer than the 28 that I had set out in). Howver, after dropping back down to the T I was running in heavy forests for the next several miles, and my sweat immediately began to freeze to my skin. My hands got so cold that I had to keep flexing them open and closed just to move the blood around. I was mere seconds from stopping to pull my gloves back out of my pack when I burst out of the woods and saw the bridge in front of me again.
By the time I had worked my way back down to the start of the Narrows, I was starting to suffer a constant ache in both of my legs, not enough to cause any real pain, but definately a warning sign that I was hitting my limit. Once I crossed the bridge I once again had a fairly steady uphill as I climbed back to 6th Avenue. By the time I got there I was starting to get little shocks of pain when my left foot slapped the ground, a sensation I remembered well from when I ran the Tacoma Marathon. Fortunately it died back down to an ache after a few minutes, but I was having a hell of a time moving forward the last leg of the trip. After I finished my final walking break at 3:30, I just covered up my watch and told myself to simply run slow until I got home, no more pacing myself. The last mile was about half run/half shuffle, but I managed to keep myself move forward at some semblence of a trot until the South M Street hill came into view. Then, with a final bit of energy that I didn't even know I still had in me, I powered up the hill at a fair pace, to basically collapse in my driveway at the top.
Gig Harbor Run Statistics
So, this run was both good and bad. Good in that I managed to push myself to my limits, but bad in that my limit is only about half of what it needs to be about 3 months from now. As I said in my last post, I'm right on track for being ready for Sun Mountain, but I'm acutely aware that even a small mishap could derail much of my careful planning. It's a fine line to walk between training enough and training too much.
That said, you'll probably find me at the gym tomorrow, bright and bushy-eyed!
I am also starting the favor the GU product line. I've been trying a variety pack of their gels, as well as their orange flavored water additive, and I'm quite pleased with what I've experienced so far. A nice mix of electrolytes, a light flavor, and little sugar. I'll have to try it out on a few more runs, but I think I might have found the product line for me.
Today's run was a bit of an experiment, in that I was trying out the 25/5 formula favored by many ultrarunners, which is basically 25 minutes of running, 5 minutes of (brisk) walking, and then rinse and repeat. The idea behind it is that the body tends to peak at about 20 minutes of cardio activity, and it takes the heart about 4 minutes to recover to normal rate levels. So with this in mind, I set off this morning with the plan being to run for about two hours, see where I ended up, turn around and head home.
I initially started out on the Scott Pierson trail, my mind being fuzzy about it's exact length but thinking it to be about 10 miles from end to end. I figured I'd be lucky to get to the other side of the Narrows Bridge before I turned around. Much to my chagrin, I was barely an hour into my run by the time I reached the bridge, so even with it taking about 10 minutes to get from one side to the other, I still had a fair bit of time to burn up. So I crossed over to the north side of the freeway, and with not really knowing where I was going, I set off to the west.
Following a windy country road eventually led to me a T-intersection. Because the turn looked more running friendly than continuing straight (there was a sidewalk), I started up a bit of a hill. At this point I had about 20 minutes left of running, and figured, really how far could I get? Quite far, apparently, since the road immediately sloped back downwards, and I ran along carelessly, until I found myself right in the downtown core of Gig Harbor. This was all well and good, but now I realized I had to turn around and trudge all the way back.
It took me almost an entire half hour to trek back to the top of the hill, and I was sweating pretty bad at that point, despite the fact that it was only about 34 degrees at that point (which was still warmer than the 28 that I had set out in). Howver, after dropping back down to the T I was running in heavy forests for the next several miles, and my sweat immediately began to freeze to my skin. My hands got so cold that I had to keep flexing them open and closed just to move the blood around. I was mere seconds from stopping to pull my gloves back out of my pack when I burst out of the woods and saw the bridge in front of me again.
By the time I had worked my way back down to the start of the Narrows, I was starting to suffer a constant ache in both of my legs, not enough to cause any real pain, but definately a warning sign that I was hitting my limit. Once I crossed the bridge I once again had a fairly steady uphill as I climbed back to 6th Avenue. By the time I got there I was starting to get little shocks of pain when my left foot slapped the ground, a sensation I remembered well from when I ran the Tacoma Marathon. Fortunately it died back down to an ache after a few minutes, but I was having a hell of a time moving forward the last leg of the trip. After I finished my final walking break at 3:30, I just covered up my watch and told myself to simply run slow until I got home, no more pacing myself. The last mile was about half run/half shuffle, but I managed to keep myself move forward at some semblence of a trot until the South M Street hill came into view. Then, with a final bit of energy that I didn't even know I still had in me, I powered up the hill at a fair pace, to basically collapse in my driveway at the top.
Gig Harbor Run Statistics
So, this run was both good and bad. Good in that I managed to push myself to my limits, but bad in that my limit is only about half of what it needs to be about 3 months from now. As I said in my last post, I'm right on track for being ready for Sun Mountain, but I'm acutely aware that even a small mishap could derail much of my careful planning. It's a fine line to walk between training enough and training too much.
That said, you'll probably find me at the gym tomorrow, bright and bushy-eyed!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Mountain Approaches
So after some light debate this week, I've settled on the Sun Mountain 50M for my Cascade Crest qualifying event. The bad news about this is that this will mean running a qualifying a bit earlier than I had intended (the race is May 22nd), but the good news is that I'm currently on track to be more than ready for it when it gets here.
I also got an email from the Cascade Crest organizer, who said among other things that the dropout rate before the race is typically about 30%. I really have to wonder why someone would sign up for such a big commitment, only to drop out before even attempting it. Obviously there are some people who have legitamite reasons such as injury or unforseen conflicts, but I can't imagine that accounts for a full 30%. Given that these races have such high levels of DNF already, giving up just seems strange to me. Then again, the $200 entry is probably a lot more precious to me than it is to other folks.
I don't really have an official route planned for this weekend; rather I'm going to simply run for about four hours or so and see where that gets me (or rather, two hours, then turn around and come home). Hopefully this will work out without me being stranded somewhere far from home. With my wife gone all this weekend, I'd probably have to call my parents to come pick me up if I was to wrecked to make it back on my own. So here's to hoping that doesn't happen.
In the meantime, I've got a dozen or so tax returns to finish.
I also got an email from the Cascade Crest organizer, who said among other things that the dropout rate before the race is typically about 30%. I really have to wonder why someone would sign up for such a big commitment, only to drop out before even attempting it. Obviously there are some people who have legitamite reasons such as injury or unforseen conflicts, but I can't imagine that accounts for a full 30%. Given that these races have such high levels of DNF already, giving up just seems strange to me. Then again, the $200 entry is probably a lot more precious to me than it is to other folks.
I don't really have an official route planned for this weekend; rather I'm going to simply run for about four hours or so and see where that gets me (or rather, two hours, then turn around and come home). Hopefully this will work out without me being stranded somewhere far from home. With my wife gone all this weekend, I'd probably have to call my parents to come pick me up if I was to wrecked to make it back on my own. So here's to hoping that doesn't happen.
In the meantime, I've got a dozen or so tax returns to finish.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Chamber Bay Run
So during today's run I attempted to take some pictures while on the move. Suffice to say it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, but I got a couple good shots, which posted up on FaceBook:
Awesome out of focus pictures!
Chamber Bay Run stats
Other than completely blowing my quads out on the last big downhill, I'm quite pleased with today's run. Sure, my legs will ache all day tomorrow, but I made some impressive progress with my hill training. Eventually they may become merely grueling to do.
I did have a bit of a problem with the gel packs that I took along, in that several of them were old enough they had congealed and gotten quite the disgusting flavor. I ended up not being able to eat them, so I had to run the last 10 miles or so without fuel of any kind. I've got to learn to stop buying these things from discount piles and then leaving them on a shelf for a year before using them.
So work has been ramping up lately, as it is wont to do this time of year, but fortunately I've managed to maintain a solid 45 minute workout so far. Soon I'm gonna have to roll my start time back by an hour though, which will mean getting to the gym at 5:30, something I'm not really looking forward to yet.
Also, Saturday morning I managed to successfully register for the the Cascade Crest Ultramarathon, which was more of an achievement than you might think, as this event only have 146 slots, and they all filled up within about 10 hours of registration opening. I'm lucky I happened to be sitting right at a computer when reg went live. Now just the small matter of meeting the pre-race requirements (completing a 50 mile trail run), and I'm set. That however is a problem to worry about once tax season is over. For now, just trying to get through my running one day at a time.
And with that, time to get some extra sleep and let poor muscles recover.
Awesome out of focus pictures!
Chamber Bay Run stats
Other than completely blowing my quads out on the last big downhill, I'm quite pleased with today's run. Sure, my legs will ache all day tomorrow, but I made some impressive progress with my hill training. Eventually they may become merely grueling to do.
I did have a bit of a problem with the gel packs that I took along, in that several of them were old enough they had congealed and gotten quite the disgusting flavor. I ended up not being able to eat them, so I had to run the last 10 miles or so without fuel of any kind. I've got to learn to stop buying these things from discount piles and then leaving them on a shelf for a year before using them.
So work has been ramping up lately, as it is wont to do this time of year, but fortunately I've managed to maintain a solid 45 minute workout so far. Soon I'm gonna have to roll my start time back by an hour though, which will mean getting to the gym at 5:30, something I'm not really looking forward to yet.
Also, Saturday morning I managed to successfully register for the the Cascade Crest Ultramarathon, which was more of an achievement than you might think, as this event only have 146 slots, and they all filled up within about 10 hours of registration opening. I'm lucky I happened to be sitting right at a computer when reg went live. Now just the small matter of meeting the pre-race requirements (completing a 50 mile trail run), and I'm set. That however is a problem to worry about once tax season is over. For now, just trying to get through my running one day at a time.
And with that, time to get some extra sleep and let poor muscles recover.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Quick Post
So not much to report currently. For this weekend's run I'm thinking about taking Kami to run the path around Chamber's Bay Golf Course. Of course, that's only a three mile track, so I'm thinking I'll probably run from the house, and have Kami drive over and meet me at the course later. Hopefully with a roundabout path and about three loops of the course I should log about 20 miles for this Sunday's run.
Even though I've begun ramping up hours at work, my energy levels haven't been lagging; actually, if anything I've felt more energetic lately. Even now as I right this when I should be getting ready for bed, I feel energetic enough to get out and run a couple miles. Not that I will. I may have the energy, but my muscles are still recovering from last weekend. I read recently about using a pair of recovery tights after running to help speed up recovery, so I might look into that at a later point.
Three more days till I can sign up for Cascade Crest.
Even though I've begun ramping up hours at work, my energy levels haven't been lagging; actually, if anything I've felt more energetic lately. Even now as I right this when I should be getting ready for bed, I feel energetic enough to get out and run a couple miles. Not that I will. I may have the energy, but my muscles are still recovering from last weekend. I read recently about using a pair of recovery tights after running to help speed up recovery, so I might look into that at a later point.
Three more days till I can sign up for Cascade Crest.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sore Legs
So anyone who has been following my sporadic posting here may remember mentioning a book I was looking for way back in December '09 called "Phenomenon of Man" by Teilhard. I have been casually looking for it ever since then, but had never managed to procure a copy. I probably could have jumped on Ebay or Abebook and found an obscure copy somewhere, but I just couldn't bring myself to put that much effort into the search. Just the other night however, I was reading some novel or other on my Kindle, and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet checked the Amazon marketplace. Thirty seconds later (maybe less) I had myself a copy. It was so quick and simple it almost hurt my head. Amazing what we can do in this digital age now...
So Kami followed me out on another run this morning, this one taking us all the way to the other corner of Tacoma, along Schuster Parkway, and then finally home by way of cutting through Wright Park. I've run the route the other direction by myself before, but this was the first time I had attempted it in reverse. The hill coming out Old Town back into Tacoma proper proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated, but otherwise the run was enjoyable. Not that my aching calf muscles would believe that now.
Downtown Run Statistics
Well, that about sums up the day. Pretty much more of the same for the coming week- elyptical cross-training tomorrow, hill running Tuesday, recovery run Wednesday, weights Thursday, Tempo run on Friday. Not sure what I'm doing for this weekend's run yet, but probably something involving hills. Both Kami and I need more hill training.
So Kami followed me out on another run this morning, this one taking us all the way to the other corner of Tacoma, along Schuster Parkway, and then finally home by way of cutting through Wright Park. I've run the route the other direction by myself before, but this was the first time I had attempted it in reverse. The hill coming out Old Town back into Tacoma proper proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated, but otherwise the run was enjoyable. Not that my aching calf muscles would believe that now.
Downtown Run Statistics
Well, that about sums up the day. Pretty much more of the same for the coming week- elyptical cross-training tomorrow, hill running Tuesday, recovery run Wednesday, weights Thursday, Tempo run on Friday. Not sure what I'm doing for this weekend's run yet, but probably something involving hills. Both Kami and I need more hill training.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Returning Again
Well hello. I have returned to updating this blog once again following a severe bout of the running blahs brought on by injury, lack of employment, and my having gotten distracted with other interests. Not that I've really stopped running over the last several months, I just couldn't bring myself to take the time to actually write about it. I'll try to correct for that going forward.
A couple things have changed in my routine lately, the first being that I've introduced Udo 3-6-9 oil into my diet as a replacement for the fish oil tablets I've been using for years. I finally decided to cut the fish oil after I determined it was what had been upsetting my stomache recently. So far the only noticable difference with Udo is that I have to take it straight rather than in a pill form. I doubt it's as bad as Cod Liver Oil, but I keep imagining the taste to be about the same. Hopefully with imbibing it on a daily basis, I'll get used to the taste eventually.
Another item of note is that my wife recently purchased a bicycle, so she has been following me on my longer runs. This adds a lovely bit of companionship to my runs that had so far been lacking, but it certainly is a different experience having someone else along, and certain adjustments have had to be made. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
My running schedule currently is comprised of three 5-mile runs during the week, with a fourth longer run on Sundays (currently up to about 17 miles). Tomorrow I intend to introduce Kami to the experience of running through Downtown Tacoma, not to mention the waterfront, which should make for a nice change of scenery.
Alright, longer report after tomorrow's run, as well as some reflections on the reading I've been doing lately.
A couple things have changed in my routine lately, the first being that I've introduced Udo 3-6-9 oil into my diet as a replacement for the fish oil tablets I've been using for years. I finally decided to cut the fish oil after I determined it was what had been upsetting my stomache recently. So far the only noticable difference with Udo is that I have to take it straight rather than in a pill form. I doubt it's as bad as Cod Liver Oil, but I keep imagining the taste to be about the same. Hopefully with imbibing it on a daily basis, I'll get used to the taste eventually.
Another item of note is that my wife recently purchased a bicycle, so she has been following me on my longer runs. This adds a lovely bit of companionship to my runs that had so far been lacking, but it certainly is a different experience having someone else along, and certain adjustments have had to be made. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
My running schedule currently is comprised of three 5-mile runs during the week, with a fourth longer run on Sundays (currently up to about 17 miles). Tomorrow I intend to introduce Kami to the experience of running through Downtown Tacoma, not to mention the waterfront, which should make for a nice change of scenery.
Alright, longer report after tomorrow's run, as well as some reflections on the reading I've been doing lately.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)