Bleh, just a quick post and then I'm off to bed.
I haven't had many opportunities to post lately (well, I have, but when the choice is to write here or to sleep...), but hopefully that'll get better in another month here. So close to the end of tax season! Of course that hasn't stopped me from logging some miles, as you can see below.
Point Defiance Run
In other news, I have been reading several new books lately (well, "new" being a relative term- one of them was written in the 70s), and I finally managed to pick up some new running shoes this weekend, a pair of New Balance 993s, and those Salomon XA shoe that I had been eyeing. Hopefully they'll prove to be worth the investment.
After taking a hydrostic measurement test the other day at the gym, I've come to the startling conclusion that I'm not getting enough protein in my diet given the number of miles I've been racking up. Hence our kitchen has been rapidly filling up with various sources of protein-goodness. I've actually been keeping track in a log to make sure I'm getting enough over the course of a given day. Also started taking a protein shake right after one of my workouts, something I used to do on a regular basis but then fell out of the habit. I can't remember the reason why. In any case, we'll see if it helps at all.
Alright, this post was quick and dirty, but I'll try to get some more up there soon. Just a little over two months now until Sun Mountain, still so much training left to do. Time to start hitting the trails!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Road to Recovery
So ran for the first time in almost a week this morning. Managed to log a solid 7 mile hill workout in before heading off to the office, which I find rather impressive considering that I still can't really breathe out of my nose.
Still hoping that the weather will cooperate with me this Sunday for my run. Most likely it'll be off and on showers, gettting more frequent the closer I get to the mountains. Well, a little rain won't be too bad, so long as the temperature stays at what it's been the last several days.
Alright, and that's it. These 10 hour work days really cut into any spare time I have in the evenings.
Still hoping that the weather will cooperate with me this Sunday for my run. Most likely it'll be off and on showers, gettting more frequent the closer I get to the mountains. Well, a little rain won't be too bad, so long as the temperature stays at what it's been the last several days.
Alright, and that's it. These 10 hour work days really cut into any spare time I have in the evenings.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tales From a Bed
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.
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.
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!
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