This weekend I did a 10 mile tempo run in the dark Saturday morning and then off to an Easter egg hunt.
Sunday an easy 9 miles Sunday morning then off to another Birthday party.
Total Miles 30.2
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Another Easy Week
I didn't do anything challenging this week. It was more of a maintenance mileage week then anything else. A few short runs and some cross training.
This weekend I did a 10 mile tempo run in the dark Saturday morning and then off to an Easter egg hunt.
Sunday an easy 9 miles Sunday morning then off to another Birthday party.
This weekend I did a 10 mile tempo run in the dark Saturday morning and then off to an Easter egg hunt.
Sunday an easy 9 miles Sunday morning then off to another Birthday party.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
R & R & Wind & a Party
After doing 100k last weekend I felt surprisingly well. I did a little stretching and walking Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday I did a hard 3 on the treadmill at 12%. Hamstrings were a little tight and the back of my knees were mildly sore, but that was it.
Saturday I was going to do 6 summits at Tiger but I only made it to T3 and turned around. It was pretty windy and I was by myself so I headed back down. I had already seen a few fresh branches / trees down and it seemed to be getting windier.
Sunday was my son's 2nd Birthday party. So I expected to do Zero miles. I ended up doing 3 workouts.
1st while Jenn was doing a run, I did 45 minutes of the Biggest Loser workout. I worked muscles I never work. It felt good and strange all at the same time. After Jenn got back I had an hour before I had to start rolling my Chicken Enchiladas,
so I went for a quick Tempo run. I got in about 7 1/2 with 3 minutes to spare. I felt much better. My legs and arms got a correct workout (running).
Arthur Jr's party was nice, Shawn was there with her (kid/husband) Seth.
Jenn was set to make a cake shaped like Lighting but they saw this one at Safeway and couldn't resist.
After the party my friend Chris wanted some company running, so I figured I could burn off the cake I ate. We did an easy (he's slower than Jenn) 40 minutes.
Miles this week: about 20
Saturday I was going to do 6 summits at Tiger but I only made it to T3 and turned around. It was pretty windy and I was by myself so I headed back down. I had already seen a few fresh branches / trees down and it seemed to be getting windier.
Sunday was my son's 2nd Birthday party. So I expected to do Zero miles. I ended up doing 3 workouts.
1st while Jenn was doing a run, I did 45 minutes of the Biggest Loser workout. I worked muscles I never work. It felt good and strange all at the same time. After Jenn got back I had an hour before I had to start rolling my Chicken Enchiladas,
so I went for a quick Tempo run. I got in about 7 1/2 with 3 minutes to spare. I felt much better. My legs and arms got a correct workout (running).
Arthur Jr's party was nice, Shawn was there with her (kid/husband) Seth.
Jenn was set to make a cake shaped like Lighting but they saw this one at Safeway and couldn't resist.
After the party my friend Chris wanted some company running, so I figured I could burn off the cake I ate. We did an easy (he's slower than Jenn) 40 minutes.
Miles this week: about 20
Monday, March 19, 2007
Chuckanut - Pac Rim Double
All three of us (Tony, Shawn, Me) made through the weekend. Each of us did 50k x2.
Chuckanut was wet and very muddy. I went out too fast, just like last year, but didn't seem to feel any adverse affects from it. Shawn, surprisingly enough, was right behind me when I hit the first hill right after AS#1. She always goes out slow so she can squash people later in the race. I know because I've been one of her victims. I told her that we were going to fast but she didn't slow down. She jumped ahead of me as soon as we hit traffic and I followed. 8675309. I passed her and she passed me back as soon as I eased up on the pace on one of the climbs. I got ahead of her at a log crossing traffic jam and stayed ahead until AS#2.
At AS#2 she jumped out to a good 100 yard lead while I filled my water bottle. It took me over half the climb to AS#3 to catch her but I did. Six months ago I could have never caught her. I recited all the names of people that were behind us that normally finish ahead of us in an attempt slow the pace. It didn't work. We pulled into AS#3 together and I switched from bottles to my Hydro pack. Last year I ran out of water in this section, and spent some time with GI problems, and bonked, and nearly DNF'd. So I made sure I didn't make that mistake again.
I really like the next 2 miles or so of this coarse. It's more down than up, single track and very technical in some places. We smoked through that part of the coarse passing everybody we saw, except 2 that passed us but we may have passed them back. There are just so many people in this race now. They all start to look the same. After you come off the single track it's pretty boring for a while. It was extremely muddy in this section and that slowed down everybody. I could have gone faster but I was trying to save some gas for Pac Rim. I was doing surprisingly well on the climbs. I offered but nobody wanted to pass. We caught up to three groups of runners on the big climb back up to AS#4 we passed all but 3 of the runners/walkers/staggers that we came across. I was surprised Shawn had not passed or even tried to pass me during this climb. She even fell back a little once in a while but I could still hear her back there.;) I guess the pace was started in get to her. I was trying to figure out how to pass the last three when we ran out of hill.
At AS#4 my plan was to change my shoes and drop my pack. Well it was so muddy I just left the shoes on but I did drop the pack. From here it's downhill to the next AS. I would normally fly down the hill as fast as I could get my legs to turn over but I wanted to save some for Pac Rim. I know I'd been saying that all day but now we were going to finish well under 6 hours and there was really no reason to go faster. At the bottom was AS#5, last stop. Just an easy 10k in from here, mostly flat and we had well over an hour to do it. I was trying to hold Shawn back because we were already going too fast and she wanted to go even faster. I know she had been pushing hard all day, same as me, and I wanted her to be able to run another 50k. Well I could only hold her back for so long and with about a mile to go she left me. We both passed two more people and finished less than a minute apart. Tony finished just 20 minutes ahead of us.
We sat in the creek, then grabbed a quick bite and changed into dry clothes before jumping in the car of the long drive to Pac Rim. After 4 stops we finally got there and started running around 7:30. I quickly ran 10 laps (miles), took a walk break and ran until I got to 1/2 marathon. After that I started a run walk run walk...at 2:45 minutes (10:10pm) and 16 miles into it, I decided to take a break. I napped in the car for almost 15 minutes. It seemed much colder after that. So I bundled up and started running again. Time and laps slipped by and before I knew it Tony was missing, done with 50k and resting in the car. I still had 2 laps to go. After 1 1/2 laps I looked at the time and saw that I was coming up on 7 hours. I shifted up a gear (well 1/2 a gear) and ran to finish out my 50k in 6:57. I went straight for the car and layed down. Shawn kept running because she had 2 more laps to go before hitting the 50k mark. I don't know how long it took her but it seamed like 30 seconds.
After a 2 hour uncomfortable nap, I got up and decided it was time to collect my race shirt and pack my things. I knew Tony wasn't going to run anymore but Shawn kept saying she wanted to do another couple laps. I think she just wanted to run more miles than I did. Her mind might have wanted to but her body wasn't listening!
So we crammed all the wet gear in the back of car and were all our way.
A couple of picture by Glenn T.
Thanks Glenn!!!
Chuckanut 50k 5:54
Pac Rim 50k 6:57
100k time 12:51
Chuckanut was wet and very muddy. I went out too fast, just like last year, but didn't seem to feel any adverse affects from it. Shawn, surprisingly enough, was right behind me when I hit the first hill right after AS#1. She always goes out slow so she can squash people later in the race. I know because I've been one of her victims. I told her that we were going to fast but she didn't slow down. She jumped ahead of me as soon as we hit traffic and I followed. 8675309. I passed her and she passed me back as soon as I eased up on the pace on one of the climbs. I got ahead of her at a log crossing traffic jam and stayed ahead until AS#2.
At AS#2 she jumped out to a good 100 yard lead while I filled my water bottle. It took me over half the climb to AS#3 to catch her but I did. Six months ago I could have never caught her. I recited all the names of people that were behind us that normally finish ahead of us in an attempt slow the pace. It didn't work. We pulled into AS#3 together and I switched from bottles to my Hydro pack. Last year I ran out of water in this section, and spent some time with GI problems, and bonked, and nearly DNF'd. So I made sure I didn't make that mistake again.
I really like the next 2 miles or so of this coarse. It's more down than up, single track and very technical in some places. We smoked through that part of the coarse passing everybody we saw, except 2 that passed us but we may have passed them back. There are just so many people in this race now. They all start to look the same. After you come off the single track it's pretty boring for a while. It was extremely muddy in this section and that slowed down everybody. I could have gone faster but I was trying to save some gas for Pac Rim. I was doing surprisingly well on the climbs. I offered but nobody wanted to pass. We caught up to three groups of runners on the big climb back up to AS#4 we passed all but 3 of the runners/walkers/staggers that we came across. I was surprised Shawn had not passed or even tried to pass me during this climb. She even fell back a little once in a while but I could still hear her back there.;) I guess the pace was started in get to her. I was trying to figure out how to pass the last three when we ran out of hill.
At AS#4 my plan was to change my shoes and drop my pack. Well it was so muddy I just left the shoes on but I did drop the pack. From here it's downhill to the next AS. I would normally fly down the hill as fast as I could get my legs to turn over but I wanted to save some for Pac Rim. I know I'd been saying that all day but now we were going to finish well under 6 hours and there was really no reason to go faster. At the bottom was AS#5, last stop. Just an easy 10k in from here, mostly flat and we had well over an hour to do it. I was trying to hold Shawn back because we were already going too fast and she wanted to go even faster. I know she had been pushing hard all day, same as me, and I wanted her to be able to run another 50k. Well I could only hold her back for so long and with about a mile to go she left me. We both passed two more people and finished less than a minute apart. Tony finished just 20 minutes ahead of us.
We sat in the creek, then grabbed a quick bite and changed into dry clothes before jumping in the car of the long drive to Pac Rim. After 4 stops we finally got there and started running around 7:30. I quickly ran 10 laps (miles), took a walk break and ran until I got to 1/2 marathon. After that I started a run walk run walk...at 2:45 minutes (10:10pm) and 16 miles into it, I decided to take a break. I napped in the car for almost 15 minutes. It seemed much colder after that. So I bundled up and started running again. Time and laps slipped by and before I knew it Tony was missing, done with 50k and resting in the car. I still had 2 laps to go. After 1 1/2 laps I looked at the time and saw that I was coming up on 7 hours. I shifted up a gear (well 1/2 a gear) and ran to finish out my 50k in 6:57. I went straight for the car and layed down. Shawn kept running because she had 2 more laps to go before hitting the 50k mark. I don't know how long it took her but it seamed like 30 seconds.
After a 2 hour uncomfortable nap, I got up and decided it was time to collect my race shirt and pack my things. I knew Tony wasn't going to run anymore but Shawn kept saying she wanted to do another couple laps. I think she just wanted to run more miles than I did. Her mind might have wanted to but her body wasn't listening!
So we crammed all the wet gear in the back of car and were all our way.
A couple of picture by Glenn T.
Thanks Glenn!!!
Chuckanut 50k 5:54
Pac Rim 50k 6:57
100k time 12:51
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
9 1/2 Summits
My plan for this weekend was 12 summits Saturday (easy) and 4 hours Sunday (really easy).
Saturday
We started off in the dark and ran the extra 1/2 mile to the trail head. (I hate starting and finishing there). We topped #3 in 54 minutes #2 in 1:03 and #1 in 1:13. We cruised down #1 past the Christmas tree and onto the East trail pretty fast. Everybody knows I love to run downhill! At 1:41 we came down onto a road that we were supposed to just run straight across.
We did and immediately lost the trail. We bush whacked for 20 minutes. Well it's still winter so there isn't really all that much bush out there. We couldn't find the trail and I was starting to get cold from the slow pace so we circled back around to the road. We figured it would have to lead somewhere and it was roughly in the right direction. We soon came to a 'T' and turned left because it looked like where we were supposed to be and figured the trail would cross it eventually.
The road made a few turns and we ran past a gate that looked very familiar. We both agreed that it was the way to Middle Tiger but we still needed to hit East Tiger. So up we ran over the a crest and past a wooden gate.
We couldn't say for sure if it was the right way but since there was no other way.
There wasn't any other clear trail and the road was going downhill, so we went through the wooden gate for about 5 minutes before I decided we should turn back and give up trying to find East. We were on the road for a total of 45 minutes.
We went though the metal gate we had past before and headed up to Middle Tiger which put us at 2:55.
Before we got to South Tiger we made one last wrong turn. We went left onto the Artifact trail.
I would recommend everybody take this trail at least once. It's pretty cool! Once we realized it was the wrong way we turned around and headed back down toward the South Tiger stump.
We made good time all way to South Tiger and got there in 3:41 .
Tony and Van were headed up as we went down. Tony got Shela and Rickie's attention with is cougar calls. Funny guy, I expected to have to look for my pack that I felt at the stump. Tony and Van started much later than we did but didn't have to park down at the gate. I wasn't surprised when I saw them considering all the wrong turns we'd made.
We got to the turn around at 3:53, our mileage was about right at 17 miles even though we skipped a summit. I refilled my go juice and grabbed a snack. Shawn had everything she needed on her back. I gave Shela a couple dinner rolls and we were outta there. I was on a tight schedule and didn't have the time for a leisurely lunch like the last time I ran 12 summits.
We skipped the out and back to South because I wanted save time and try to hit East.
We made it over Middle in 5:54 it was right around then I decided to just take the short cut back to the car. We also noticed Rickie was favoring a front paw at certain speeds and if I was going to be carrying a dog out 5 miles I'd need all the time I could get.
We made good time on the road. After going through a couple of blow downs that happened to mark where we needed to exit the road,
we found the trail again and ran until after we got past the Christmas tree. We power walked faster than I expected on the ups and made finished last 3 summits with ease. Standing on top of Tiger #3 I checked my watch (7:12) and thought damn we should have followed TC and Van to East Tiger.
We took the same way down to the trail head as we came up,(section line - nook) instead of what I call Tiger #3 Freeway. I like the challenge of the steep technical trail on tired legs. If I went the other way I might be temped to walk in some spots and I'd be a lot muddier.
We made it back to the gate in 7:46, mileage of the 9 1/2 summits ... 30.5
Sunday
Jenn and I were supposed to do 4 hours at about 12 - 13 m/m average. We slept in, that was nice! and only had time for about 2 1/2 hours. We dropped the kids off at granny's and drove a mile down to the Soos Creek trail. It's paved which will help to toughen up the feet and shins.
We went to the end and back then did enough to get to 10.2 miles. That's 1 mile less than last weekend. Jenn was a little sore from the asphalt so we called it good. We ran into we Patch and Eric as we were leaving. Too bad we had no time, we could have talked Chuckanut strategy. Jenn did 6 more on the treadmill after lunch.
Miles this week. 46
Saturday
We started off in the dark and ran the extra 1/2 mile to the trail head. (I hate starting and finishing there). We topped #3 in 54 minutes #2 in 1:03 and #1 in 1:13. We cruised down #1 past the Christmas tree and onto the East trail pretty fast. Everybody knows I love to run downhill! At 1:41 we came down onto a road that we were supposed to just run straight across.
We did and immediately lost the trail. We bush whacked for 20 minutes. Well it's still winter so there isn't really all that much bush out there. We couldn't find the trail and I was starting to get cold from the slow pace so we circled back around to the road. We figured it would have to lead somewhere and it was roughly in the right direction. We soon came to a 'T' and turned left because it looked like where we were supposed to be and figured the trail would cross it eventually.
The road made a few turns and we ran past a gate that looked very familiar. We both agreed that it was the way to Middle Tiger but we still needed to hit East Tiger. So up we ran over the a crest and past a wooden gate.
We couldn't say for sure if it was the right way but since there was no other way.
There wasn't any other clear trail and the road was going downhill, so we went through the wooden gate for about 5 minutes before I decided we should turn back and give up trying to find East. We were on the road for a total of 45 minutes.
We went though the metal gate we had past before and headed up to Middle Tiger which put us at 2:55.
Before we got to South Tiger we made one last wrong turn. We went left onto the Artifact trail.
I would recommend everybody take this trail at least once. It's pretty cool! Once we realized it was the wrong way we turned around and headed back down toward the South Tiger stump.
We made good time all way to South Tiger and got there in 3:41 .
Tony and Van were headed up as we went down. Tony got Shela and Rickie's attention with is cougar calls. Funny guy, I expected to have to look for my pack that I felt at the stump. Tony and Van started much later than we did but didn't have to park down at the gate. I wasn't surprised when I saw them considering all the wrong turns we'd made.
We got to the turn around at 3:53, our mileage was about right at 17 miles even though we skipped a summit. I refilled my go juice and grabbed a snack. Shawn had everything she needed on her back. I gave Shela a couple dinner rolls and we were outta there. I was on a tight schedule and didn't have the time for a leisurely lunch like the last time I ran 12 summits.
We skipped the out and back to South because I wanted save time and try to hit East.
We made it over Middle in 5:54 it was right around then I decided to just take the short cut back to the car. We also noticed Rickie was favoring a front paw at certain speeds and if I was going to be carrying a dog out 5 miles I'd need all the time I could get.
We made good time on the road. After going through a couple of blow downs that happened to mark where we needed to exit the road,
we found the trail again and ran until after we got past the Christmas tree. We power walked faster than I expected on the ups and made finished last 3 summits with ease. Standing on top of Tiger #3 I checked my watch (7:12) and thought damn we should have followed TC and Van to East Tiger.
We took the same way down to the trail head as we came up,(section line - nook) instead of what I call Tiger #3 Freeway. I like the challenge of the steep technical trail on tired legs. If I went the other way I might be temped to walk in some spots and I'd be a lot muddier.
We made it back to the gate in 7:46, mileage of the 9 1/2 summits ... 30.5
Sunday
Jenn and I were supposed to do 4 hours at about 12 - 13 m/m average. We slept in, that was nice! and only had time for about 2 1/2 hours. We dropped the kids off at granny's and drove a mile down to the Soos Creek trail. It's paved which will help to toughen up the feet and shins.
We went to the end and back then did enough to get to 10.2 miles. That's 1 mile less than last weekend. Jenn was a little sore from the asphalt so we called it good. We ran into we Patch and Eric as we were leaving. Too bad we had no time, we could have talked Chuckanut strategy. Jenn did 6 more on the treadmill after lunch.
Miles this week. 46
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Hills, Hills, Hills
I've been very lax with keeping up my blog. Sorry! Life is unpredictable and finding the time between buying a new house and work and the three kids and birthdays is tough.
Here's what I've been up to (in my running life).
I've only run 1 marathon or longer race, Bridle Trails. It went real well. I thought the frozen ground made it harder than last year’s mud fest but I have not been able to find anybody that agrees with me. Last year the ground was real soft. This year there were a lot of places where the mud was frozen with horse tracks in it. It was tough not to turn an ankle and still keep up your speed. I ran a 5:42 but I think I could cut 30 minutes off that with better conditions.
I have been running shorter distances and with my wife Jennifer. I did 1 lap at Tiger Fat Ass.
I did 2 laps at pigtails, 1 with Jenn.
My last 4 weekends have been Tiger, Squak, Tiger, and Tiger.
I've been searching for the steepest trail I can find. So far it's the Nook-Section line up to Tiger #3. It came in at 1188 ft gained per mile. There was snow on it this weekend which made coming down pretty dicey.
Here's what I've been up to (in my running life).
I've only run 1 marathon or longer race, Bridle Trails. It went real well. I thought the frozen ground made it harder than last year’s mud fest but I have not been able to find anybody that agrees with me. Last year the ground was real soft. This year there were a lot of places where the mud was frozen with horse tracks in it. It was tough not to turn an ankle and still keep up your speed. I ran a 5:42 but I think I could cut 30 minutes off that with better conditions.
I have been running shorter distances and with my wife Jennifer. I did 1 lap at Tiger Fat Ass.
I did 2 laps at pigtails, 1 with Jenn.
.jpg)
.jpg)
My last 4 weekends have been Tiger, Squak, Tiger, and Tiger.
.jpg)
.jpg)
I've been searching for the steepest trail I can find. So far it's the Nook-Section line up to Tiger #3. It came in at 1188 ft gained per mile. There was snow on it this weekend which made coming down pretty dicey.
.jpg)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
2006 is over.
December was a busy month for me.
Birch bay really slow
Pigtails slow
Last Chance average.
Details later
Birch bay really slow
Pigtails slow
Last Chance average.
Details later
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Seattle Marathon
Last year this race beat me. This year I think I got the better of it. I ran a 4:01, not the greatest time but 10 minutes faster than last year. My first half was 1:54, not exactly even splits but considering the hills at the end, I think I ran as even as I can. And since I've been sick all week and was still sick on race day, just to finish was a win in my book. Plus I had all three kids Friday and Saturday by myself. My kids are pretty easy but they sure do tire me out.
The weather was not a factor for me. Yes it was snowing at my house when I left but I chose the right amount of layers and was not too hot or too cold, other than standing around at the start. Even with the two sections that are dog legs I think I only saw half the maniacs that were out there. It was really great to be able to see so many friends out running this marathon. And those marathon walkers, WOW! To be out there in the cold rain for 7 or 8 hours walking. My hat's off to them.
Today my quads are really sore and there’s a little swelling in my ankle. I didn’t think I was pushing it very hard but I guess I was.
I really like my almost new hat. Thanks Hippo!
The weather was not a factor for me. Yes it was snowing at my house when I left but I chose the right amount of layers and was not too hot or too cold, other than standing around at the start. Even with the two sections that are dog legs I think I only saw half the maniacs that were out there. It was really great to be able to see so many friends out running this marathon. And those marathon walkers, WOW! To be out there in the cold rain for 7 or 8 hours walking. My hat's off to them.
Today my quads are really sore and there’s a little swelling in my ankle. I didn’t think I was pushing it very hard but I guess I was.
I really like my almost new hat. Thanks Hippo!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Ron Herzog 50k
This is a fun but hard race.
Four of us met up and rode to the start arriving an hour early. It was a little warmer but wetter than last year. I started out slow running the flats and downs and doing a walk run on the ups, walking a lot more the running. About 200 yards before we leave the dirt road and finally get to run on trail, Shawn went to water the bushes. So I decided to just walk until she caught up. Once I got to the trail I turned and still couldn’t see her. I decided to head in and take it easy until she caught up. About a mile and half later I noticed my foot pod was gone. I knew it was only about 100 yards back because I remembered my foot got caught on a branch and almost pulled me down. So I turn around and started running back. I passed a guy that asked if I was looking for the girl I had been running with. “Nope, I’m looking for my foot pod.” I thought to myself, self that was strange. Then I come to another guy that asked me the same thing and then told me she was looking for me and that she got some “wrong” information. I guess he must have been the person that gave her that “wrong” info. Then I found the pod and kept going back. I didn’t want someone lost looking for me thinking I was lost. Finally after over 20 minutes of going backwards Shawn comings running up the trail, “there you are” we both say.
So we’re off in the right direction. I figure I lost about 30 minutes to this detour. Running the traps is the most fun part of this race for me. I expected the Tank Traps to be real messy because of all the rain but they were about the same as last year. A tank trap is a steep narrow washout in the road wide and deep enough so a tank couldn’t get across. Well we ran them pretty fast but not as fast as last year. I’m still not getting enough rest in between races. We passed the five people that I passed going backwards. After about 3 miles we hit snow but nothing like the 8” last year. Dang that was fun last year! Last years snow covered a few bogs that were pretty wet this year.
We finally got to the halfway aid station at about 3:35. I figured with the delay and extra 1 ½ miles that wasn’t all that bad. The rest is pretty much downhill so I can make up some time. Well I just could not get my legs to turn over fast enough. I had dropped or lost my bag of tricks, so I had no Salt or Tums or Advil, all of which I needed. The lack of salt was the worse. It made it so my sports drink was going right through me. I had to stop at least every mile to pee. It seemed like it took for ever to get back to the finish. My time was 6:42:49. If I take the extra 30 minutes off that’s faster than last year, but not much. Not enough!
Next year maybe I’ll be rested. Next up Seattle. It’s payback for last year.
Four of us met up and rode to the start arriving an hour early. It was a little warmer but wetter than last year. I started out slow running the flats and downs and doing a walk run on the ups, walking a lot more the running. About 200 yards before we leave the dirt road and finally get to run on trail, Shawn went to water the bushes. So I decided to just walk until she caught up. Once I got to the trail I turned and still couldn’t see her. I decided to head in and take it easy until she caught up. About a mile and half later I noticed my foot pod was gone. I knew it was only about 100 yards back because I remembered my foot got caught on a branch and almost pulled me down. So I turn around and started running back. I passed a guy that asked if I was looking for the girl I had been running with. “Nope, I’m looking for my foot pod.” I thought to myself, self that was strange. Then I come to another guy that asked me the same thing and then told me she was looking for me and that she got some “wrong” information. I guess he must have been the person that gave her that “wrong” info. Then I found the pod and kept going back. I didn’t want someone lost looking for me thinking I was lost. Finally after over 20 minutes of going backwards Shawn comings running up the trail, “there you are” we both say.
So we’re off in the right direction. I figure I lost about 30 minutes to this detour. Running the traps is the most fun part of this race for me. I expected the Tank Traps to be real messy because of all the rain but they were about the same as last year. A tank trap is a steep narrow washout in the road wide and deep enough so a tank couldn’t get across. Well we ran them pretty fast but not as fast as last year. I’m still not getting enough rest in between races. We passed the five people that I passed going backwards. After about 3 miles we hit snow but nothing like the 8” last year. Dang that was fun last year! Last years snow covered a few bogs that were pretty wet this year.
We finally got to the halfway aid station at about 3:35. I figured with the delay and extra 1 ½ miles that wasn’t all that bad. The rest is pretty much downhill so I can make up some time. Well I just could not get my legs to turn over fast enough. I had dropped or lost my bag of tricks, so I had no Salt or Tums or Advil, all of which I needed. The lack of salt was the worse. It made it so my sports drink was going right through me. I had to stop at least every mile to pee. It seemed like it took for ever to get back to the finish. My time was 6:42:49. If I take the extra 30 minutes off that’s faster than last year, but not much. Not enough!
Next year maybe I’ll be rested. Next up Seattle. It’s payback for last year.
Monday, November 06, 2006
UWR Marathon
Well what can I say about this race? It was an hour slower than last weekend. I felt like giving up at around 10 miles but there was nobody around to tell. My legs were dead after about 4 miles. I tried taking short walk breaks but it only helped me to go faster for about a minute each time. I was overdressed. It was warmer and dryer than I thought it would so I was sweating like a pig wrapped in Palm leaves, buried in red hot rocks on a beach in Hawaii (see Luau). I did finish before it started raining. And the only wind was during the last 2 miles along the water. And that Chowder at Spuds was Awesome. I know where Shawn’s going to be hanging out this summer.
I guess I ran a lot harder for that PR last weekend than I thought I did. Hopefully I’ll be more rested for R.H. 50k on Saturday. That river crossing is going to be dicey with all this rain we’re getting.
I guess I ran a lot harder for that PR last weekend than I thought I did. Hopefully I’ll be more rested for R.H. 50k on Saturday. That river crossing is going to be dicey with all this rain we’re getting.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Tri-Cities Marathon
3:51, PR by 6 minutes...
20+ MPH winds ...
10+ hours to get home...
3rd place in age group...
Saturday I checked the weather forecast one last time. It was to be a bit windy but warm. I don’t really like running against the wind but how bad could it be? I guess now we know! I rode over to the Tri-Cities Marathon with Cliff the winner and Mel. I think this was Mel’s 309th marathon. We arrived with plenty of time to get ready to run.
It was a little chilly at the start but I knew once I was moving it would be the perfect temperature. The route was an out and back with 4 crossings of the Columbia River on 3 different bridges. And the wind did show up as predicted. But at least half the time it would be at your back.
I forgot my watch, so I thought to myself, self just run strong but try to stay behind people in the beginning that you KNOW you should be behind. For the first 1 1/2 miles there was some dust and sand being blown at us but for the rest of the day was just wind. Except for that leaf that was pinned to the side of my leg for over a half mile. I figured it would fall off when the wind changed direction and it did.
All day the wind seemed to come at us at an angle. It was almost never directly from behind. From mile 2 to 8 it was pushing us pretty good but also a lot to the left. So when I would have my right foot off the ground I had to make sure I didn’t trip myself. And with the left and had to make sure I didn’t kick the guy next to me. After all it was his first marathon. At one point I looked down and saw that my left foot was being pushed out over 3 inches by the wind. I asked the time at 3 miles and it was 24 something. I figured this was too fast but without a watch what choice did I have. I was trying to hold back. At 6 miles I still felt real good, but at 49 minutes I could tell I was going faster than I should have been.
At 8 miles I crossed the river for the second time, this time going directly into the wind. I could barely walk 4 mph let alone run. I tried to draft behind that same guy running his first marathon but then he started going slower than I was. Once I got down off the bridge I was headed west into the wind. Now I was leaning to the left instead of the right. I figured it would all even out by the end of the day.
At about 11.5 miles I got to the turn around. I still felt pretty good, I was just wishing the wind would straighten out so it would be more at my back. This sideways stuff was no good. It seemed to be slowing me down in both directions. At 12 miles I was close enough to another runner to ask her the time. She said 1:39 that’s an 8:15 mile, still too fast. I continued to keep a good pace all the way past mile 15.
Now I was crossing the third bridge and the wind was at my back. I went up the bridge like I was running downhill and down the bridge like I was skydiving. At one point the wind spilt around a pillar and came at me from the both the front and back. I felt like I was floating for about a second and a half. What an adventure. The cables were also singing a nice tune. I’m just glad I didn’t get thrown into them like some of the runners did.
At the end of the bridge it was the start of 8 miles of running into the wind, hunched over and leaning to the left. The wind was stronger than ever and could (and did) push you right off the path without warning. I was passing a lot of people some walking; they must have been early starters and some kind of running. It felt like I was going rather slow myself but I only got passed by 2 people. A couple of other guys tried passing me after I had just passed them but they couldn’t hold on very long. I kept asking the time whenever I passed some wear a mile marker but I don’t remember most of them.
Just before mile 20 my Maniac hat, that had turned around backwards because I was running into the wind, (I kept turning it back and front depending on the wind) flew off like a kite on a broken string. It went at least 50 yards straight sideways before I lost sight of it. Damn it! I love that hat. I thought I can go down that 70 foot embankment and find it but I’ll never get back up again, it’s just too steep. So I started running again, sans hat, cursing into the wind. Like it cared, I’m no Charlton Heston.
At mile 21 I remember the guy said it was 11:03. 11:03? Ahhh AM! So I had to figure out the time. I think we started at 8 so that 3:03. So I have almost an hour to go 5.2 miles. Can I do that? Into this wind? I don’t think so. It felt like I was running slower than that already. With about 3 miles to go I saw Van, she was on a short walk break. I’ve never seen Van this late in a race, even when I started an hour early. She must be having a hard day. Running 40 marathons in 10 months will do that to a person, if they’re still alive. I figured this was a good time for me to take a walk break also. 5 seconds later she started running and so did I. I passed Van with about 2.5 miles to go but I knew she would be passing me back before the finish. If she really wanted to that is.
With about 2 miles to go I got a time of 3:31. Wow 29 minutes to go 2.2 miles. I can do that! So I put the hammer down. Well it wasn’t much of a hammer. More like a feather and with that wind it was gone in a flash. Ok let’s try it again. I just need to make it over the last bridge then it’s just a mile to the finish. It was really tough into the wind and up hill but I knew the downhill would give me back some time. Well there was nothing left for the downhill. Sure I picked it up a little but nothing like I normally do. Now there was 1.2 left to the finish. I splashed some water on my face at the last aid station and gave it all I had. I just continued to do what I had been doing for the past 9 miles. Focus on the runner in front of me and try to catch them. I finished in 3:51, a Personal Best by 6 minutes. How fast could I have gone without the wind? We’ll never know.
After the race the awards were handed out and I ended up taking 3rd place in the 35-39 age group. Wow!
This is normally where the story ends. We got in our car at 2:15 and drove the 3 hours home. Blah blah. I took an ice bath. Blah blah, it was cold. How boring is that? Where’s the adventure?
Well here’s what really happened.
We got as far as Easton where the freeway was completely stopped. The Semi’s were either getting off the freeway or turning their engine off. After sitting for nearly an hour we decided to turn around and head for White Pass. That’s a pretty long detour but since the traffic advisory said the freeway was closed in both directions and would be for several hours we all came to the conclusion that it would be better to drive around. On any other day we would have been home at 9:00 pm which is what Cliffs GPS was predicting as our arrival time. But not today. We came to the turn for White Pass and the sign said Chinook Pass was open, which it should be, after all it only October right. So we took the shorter Chinook Pass route. The first time we stopped was right at the top. There was a pickup sideways against the guardrail. I thought, hey that’s it, it’s all downhill from here. We’ll be home in no time. Well ½ mile later we stop again for about an hour. Then the park rangers clear the vehicle out of the ditch. So we’re off we’ll be home in no time… 100 yards later stopped again. And again we wait for them to clear the obstruction. Now the sheet of ice has a nice layer of water on it from all the engine heat. So even after being parked for 5 minutes, cars are sliding sideways. Poor Cliff, after running a 2:59 marathon with 20+ mph winds (WOW), he can’t even give his foot a brake. He has to keep a foot firmly on the peddle or we’ll end up in the ditch like those other Yahoos.
Finally we made it out of the snow but everybody’s still so paranoid we’re only doing 40 mph in a 55 mph zone on dry pavement. I made it home at just about 1:00 am Monday morning. Good times!
Luckily next weekend it’s only a few miles to the start of UWR.
20+ MPH winds ...
10+ hours to get home...
3rd place in age group...
Saturday I checked the weather forecast one last time. It was to be a bit windy but warm. I don’t really like running against the wind but how bad could it be? I guess now we know! I rode over to the Tri-Cities Marathon with Cliff the winner and Mel. I think this was Mel’s 309th marathon. We arrived with plenty of time to get ready to run.
It was a little chilly at the start but I knew once I was moving it would be the perfect temperature. The route was an out and back with 4 crossings of the Columbia River on 3 different bridges. And the wind did show up as predicted. But at least half the time it would be at your back.
I forgot my watch, so I thought to myself, self just run strong but try to stay behind people in the beginning that you KNOW you should be behind. For the first 1 1/2 miles there was some dust and sand being blown at us but for the rest of the day was just wind. Except for that leaf that was pinned to the side of my leg for over a half mile. I figured it would fall off when the wind changed direction and it did.
All day the wind seemed to come at us at an angle. It was almost never directly from behind. From mile 2 to 8 it was pushing us pretty good but also a lot to the left. So when I would have my right foot off the ground I had to make sure I didn’t trip myself. And with the left and had to make sure I didn’t kick the guy next to me. After all it was his first marathon. At one point I looked down and saw that my left foot was being pushed out over 3 inches by the wind. I asked the time at 3 miles and it was 24 something. I figured this was too fast but without a watch what choice did I have. I was trying to hold back. At 6 miles I still felt real good, but at 49 minutes I could tell I was going faster than I should have been.
At 8 miles I crossed the river for the second time, this time going directly into the wind. I could barely walk 4 mph let alone run. I tried to draft behind that same guy running his first marathon but then he started going slower than I was. Once I got down off the bridge I was headed west into the wind. Now I was leaning to the left instead of the right. I figured it would all even out by the end of the day.
At about 11.5 miles I got to the turn around. I still felt pretty good, I was just wishing the wind would straighten out so it would be more at my back. This sideways stuff was no good. It seemed to be slowing me down in both directions. At 12 miles I was close enough to another runner to ask her the time. She said 1:39 that’s an 8:15 mile, still too fast. I continued to keep a good pace all the way past mile 15.
Now I was crossing the third bridge and the wind was at my back. I went up the bridge like I was running downhill and down the bridge like I was skydiving. At one point the wind spilt around a pillar and came at me from the both the front and back. I felt like I was floating for about a second and a half. What an adventure. The cables were also singing a nice tune. I’m just glad I didn’t get thrown into them like some of the runners did.
At the end of the bridge it was the start of 8 miles of running into the wind, hunched over and leaning to the left. The wind was stronger than ever and could (and did) push you right off the path without warning. I was passing a lot of people some walking; they must have been early starters and some kind of running. It felt like I was going rather slow myself but I only got passed by 2 people. A couple of other guys tried passing me after I had just passed them but they couldn’t hold on very long. I kept asking the time whenever I passed some wear a mile marker but I don’t remember most of them.
Just before mile 20 my Maniac hat, that had turned around backwards because I was running into the wind, (I kept turning it back and front depending on the wind) flew off like a kite on a broken string. It went at least 50 yards straight sideways before I lost sight of it. Damn it! I love that hat. I thought I can go down that 70 foot embankment and find it but I’ll never get back up again, it’s just too steep. So I started running again, sans hat, cursing into the wind. Like it cared, I’m no Charlton Heston.
At mile 21 I remember the guy said it was 11:03. 11:03? Ahhh AM! So I had to figure out the time. I think we started at 8 so that 3:03. So I have almost an hour to go 5.2 miles. Can I do that? Into this wind? I don’t think so. It felt like I was running slower than that already. With about 3 miles to go I saw Van, she was on a short walk break. I’ve never seen Van this late in a race, even when I started an hour early. She must be having a hard day. Running 40 marathons in 10 months will do that to a person, if they’re still alive. I figured this was a good time for me to take a walk break also. 5 seconds later she started running and so did I. I passed Van with about 2.5 miles to go but I knew she would be passing me back before the finish. If she really wanted to that is.
With about 2 miles to go I got a time of 3:31. Wow 29 minutes to go 2.2 miles. I can do that! So I put the hammer down. Well it wasn’t much of a hammer. More like a feather and with that wind it was gone in a flash. Ok let’s try it again. I just need to make it over the last bridge then it’s just a mile to the finish. It was really tough into the wind and up hill but I knew the downhill would give me back some time. Well there was nothing left for the downhill. Sure I picked it up a little but nothing like I normally do. Now there was 1.2 left to the finish. I splashed some water on my face at the last aid station and gave it all I had. I just continued to do what I had been doing for the past 9 miles. Focus on the runner in front of me and try to catch them. I finished in 3:51, a Personal Best by 6 minutes. How fast could I have gone without the wind? We’ll never know.
After the race the awards were handed out and I ended up taking 3rd place in the 35-39 age group. Wow!
This is normally where the story ends. We got in our car at 2:15 and drove the 3 hours home. Blah blah. I took an ice bath. Blah blah, it was cold. How boring is that? Where’s the adventure?
Well here’s what really happened.
We got as far as Easton where the freeway was completely stopped. The Semi’s were either getting off the freeway or turning their engine off. After sitting for nearly an hour we decided to turn around and head for White Pass. That’s a pretty long detour but since the traffic advisory said the freeway was closed in both directions and would be for several hours we all came to the conclusion that it would be better to drive around. On any other day we would have been home at 9:00 pm which is what Cliffs GPS was predicting as our arrival time. But not today. We came to the turn for White Pass and the sign said Chinook Pass was open, which it should be, after all it only October right. So we took the shorter Chinook Pass route. The first time we stopped was right at the top. There was a pickup sideways against the guardrail. I thought, hey that’s it, it’s all downhill from here. We’ll be home in no time. Well ½ mile later we stop again for about an hour. Then the park rangers clear the vehicle out of the ditch. So we’re off we’ll be home in no time… 100 yards later stopped again. And again we wait for them to clear the obstruction. Now the sheet of ice has a nice layer of water on it from all the engine heat. So even after being parked for 5 minutes, cars are sliding sideways. Poor Cliff, after running a 2:59 marathon with 20+ mph winds (WOW), he can’t even give his foot a brake. He has to keep a foot firmly on the peddle or we’ll end up in the ditch like those other Yahoos.
Finally we made it out of the snow but everybody’s still so paranoid we’re only doing 40 mph in a 55 mph zone on dry pavement. I made it home at just about 1:00 am Monday morning. Good times!
Luckily next weekend it’s only a few miles to the start of UWR.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Halloween Marathon
It was another great day of racing in the NW. It was supposed to be sunning and warm but for the first half of the day it was cold foggy and windy. I didn't warm up until the second half of the race when the sun came out.
The first 13 miles I ran with Jennifer (the wife). It was her first 1/2 marathon and she did great. She kept an even pace the entire race and only walked the steep hill (freeway overpass). She finished just under 3 hours.
The course was different this year. We took a right at a mile and a half then under the freeway and a couple more rights to the turn around. There's only about a 50 foot elevation difference from the highest point to the lowest point. I guess it’s flatter than before but you still have to run on a cambered road which always bothers my hips.
After I got pictures of Jenn finishing and handed off Shela, I took off to finish the marathon. I didn’t really feel like it but I needed to. It took me at least a mile to shake the bugs out. Running at a slow pace used different muscles I guess. I figured there were a lot of people I could catch (I started the second half in last place). I quickly passed the first person; she was wearing wings like Jenn. I was cruising right at 9 minute miles. It was an easy pace that I kept for the rest of the race. I caught 2 more running before the turn around. I saw 3 more as they were leaving the turn around but it took me a mile to catch them because I took so long filling up. As I went under the freeway I passed another guy. After that I could not see anybody ahead of me for a least half a mile. I could feel that it was taking more effort to maintain the current pace but I decided to keep it up, even though there appeared to be nobody left to pass. Good thing I did because I ended up passing 3 more runners, one of them at the last A/S where neither of us stopped and the last one with about ¾ of a mile to go. He was in bad shape, walking for 10 seconds then running for 10 seconds. After I went by him I heard him try to keep up for about 2 minutes but then I couldn’t hear him. I didn’t look back but I knew he couldn’t catch me. I think I passed two other runners but I can’t remember where. At the finish I got mauled by Shela and hugged by Jennifer, or was it the other way around? ;) I ended up running a 5:05, a personal worst! But it was good training to run a faster second half, which I almost never do.
My hips did bother me some but not as much as they have been. And considering the slant of the roads that’s awesome. I have almost no soreness today. I rode 14 miles this morning with no soreness in my quads. Next up UWR, unless I can find one before that.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Baker Lake 50k
It was another beautiful day at Baker Lake.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a nicer course to run on. But once again this course beat me. I started out Way too fast! I was just running along enjoying the scenery doing 8:30 to 9:30 minute miles. I should have been thinking about how hard this trail becomes on the way back if you go out too fast. I just love to run on this kind of trail.
At right about 5 miles in my hip started to hurt, again. I guess I’m going to have to do something about that. I’m thinking about cutting out UWR, Birch Bay, and Last Chance. We’ll see.
So I popped a couple of Advil and kept running but now at the correct pace of around 10:00 m/m. When I got the aid station I was still feeling pretty fresh and the hip hadn’t gotten any worse. But I was starting to feel some cramps in my calves even though I had been drinking plenty and taking my salt.
I quickly refilled my supplies and headed out. Shawn had left the aid station right in front of me so I figured we’d have a nice run back to the finish. Then the wheels fell off. About a mile out of the aid station I tripped on a root that was hidden by all freshly fallen the leaves. And of course I landed on my bad hip. (What am I, 90 years old?) That hurt a little! I didn’t know it but as I fell I pulled the mouth piece on my bladder 95% off and it soon fell off the rest of the way. Why is my leg all wet? I look down and there’s a yellow stream coming out of my pack. Luckily I found the mouth piece before my bladder had gone completely dry. I get back to running but Shawn is long gone. She went on to have a real strong finish. Good Job Shawn!
I on the other hand was now paying the price for going out to fast. I had plenty of salt, drink, and gel. I didn’t bonk like last year. I just couldn’t run at the pace I wanted to. I could jog along without a problem but as soon as I would try to pick it up my calf would cramp real bad, a total lock-up. I tried over and over. I had so much energy left. I just couldn’t use it. It was very frustrating. I ended up with a 6:09, 23 minutes faster than last year. I’ll be back for another try next year.
There was, as always, great food after the race. Dave Dutton did a great job as race director.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather or a nicer course to run on. But once again this course beat me. I started out Way too fast! I was just running along enjoying the scenery doing 8:30 to 9:30 minute miles. I should have been thinking about how hard this trail becomes on the way back if you go out too fast. I just love to run on this kind of trail.
At right about 5 miles in my hip started to hurt, again. I guess I’m going to have to do something about that. I’m thinking about cutting out UWR, Birch Bay, and Last Chance. We’ll see.
So I popped a couple of Advil and kept running but now at the correct pace of around 10:00 m/m. When I got the aid station I was still feeling pretty fresh and the hip hadn’t gotten any worse. But I was starting to feel some cramps in my calves even though I had been drinking plenty and taking my salt.
I quickly refilled my supplies and headed out. Shawn had left the aid station right in front of me so I figured we’d have a nice run back to the finish. Then the wheels fell off. About a mile out of the aid station I tripped on a root that was hidden by all freshly fallen the leaves. And of course I landed on my bad hip. (What am I, 90 years old?) That hurt a little! I didn’t know it but as I fell I pulled the mouth piece on my bladder 95% off and it soon fell off the rest of the way. Why is my leg all wet? I look down and there’s a yellow stream coming out of my pack. Luckily I found the mouth piece before my bladder had gone completely dry. I get back to running but Shawn is long gone. She went on to have a real strong finish. Good Job Shawn!
I on the other hand was now paying the price for going out to fast. I had plenty of salt, drink, and gel. I didn’t bonk like last year. I just couldn’t run at the pace I wanted to. I could jog along without a problem but as soon as I would try to pick it up my calf would cramp real bad, a total lock-up. I tried over and over. I had so much energy left. I just couldn’t use it. It was very frustrating. I ended up with a 6:09, 23 minutes faster than last year. I’ll be back for another try next year.
There was, as always, great food after the race. Dave Dutton did a great job as race director.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
The End of September
I ended up with fewer miles this month (94) then any other since I started keeping track. Ironically last month was the most ever at 230 miles. I guess that’s a good thing since I want to make sure I am completely healed from CCC.
Most of my runs have been tempo runs in the 7:00 to 8:30 range. My right hip still has some sharp discomfort but compared to how it was 3 weeks ago it’s almost gone.
Monday: ..... 4 miles
Tuesday: ..... 2.4 miles pushing stroller
Wednesday: .....4.3 miles
Thursday: ..... 0
Friday: ..... 2.2 miles
Saturday: ..... 9.6 miles trail w/Jenn
Sunday: ..... 0
Total: ..... 22.5 miles
Since it’s now dark so early (I give daylight priority to Jenn) my running schedule is changing to running in the morning before work. This will also allow me to run twice a day if I feel the need.
See you at Baker Lake!
Most of my runs have been tempo runs in the 7:00 to 8:30 range. My right hip still has some sharp discomfort but compared to how it was 3 weeks ago it’s almost gone.
Monday: ..... 4 miles
Tuesday: ..... 2.4 miles pushing stroller
Wednesday: .....4.3 miles
Thursday: ..... 0
Friday: ..... 2.2 miles
Saturday: ..... 9.6 miles trail w/Jenn
Sunday: ..... 0
Total: ..... 22.5 miles
Since it’s now dark so early (I give daylight priority to Jenn) my running schedule is changing to running in the morning before work. This will also allow me to run twice a day if I feel the need.
See you at Baker Lake!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Couch potato week
After Cle Elum I decided to take some time off. No running this week. All I did was an 11 mile hard bike ride on Wednesday. We’ll see if it did any good this week as I jump back into the workouts.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Cle Elum 50K
Tough race.
I started out this race with a good pace and strong determination to Not take it easy as like I did in my last race. After 3 weeks of taking it easy, my longest run being 10 miles, it left good to be out shaking off the cobwebs.
Well that didn't last.
About a 1/2 mile before the first water stop my hip went from a mild pain that's not even worth a second thought to an all out "oh my god my hip is broken". Ok maybe not that bad. It mostly hurt going up hill and there was 12 more miles of uphill until the top. So for the next 5 or 6 miles I shuffled along trying to run more with my calves and hamstrings. But the walking was getting more painful instead of less. I figured I was going to DNF for sure. After trying different styles of moving forward I found that I could jog up the hills and it would be a little less painful than walking them. I guess I walked too much at CCC.
I finally get to the first AS at 12.5 miles in 2:40, 10 minutes ahead of last year. And I rationalized that I could continue at a slow pace, if I had to, and still beat the cut-offs.
I kept moving forward trying not walk because it increased the pain level by a factor of 2. I got to the top, mile 17.5, windy pass it was windy, in 3:45. Now I could try to make up some time, or so I thought. Not being able to take really long strides on the downhill slowed me down. My calves were cramping from their new workload. I did however realize that I could finish without doing more damage to my hip. I even passed a few people. After making a big splash for the camera, smile , I pulled into AS 2, mile 22.5 in 4:52, 13 minutes ahead of last year, just before the winner crossed the finish line. I quickly changed my shirt fueled up and headed out. Thanks Don for keeping me moving. The next 5 miles of single track was all new to me. Last year we were diverted around this section because of clear-cutting. I believe this added some time, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, to the coarse but I really have no idea how much. I ran the last section hard, running all but 2 or 3 of the steepest hills. I finished in 6:55, 15 minute faster than last year.
After the race I did my mandatory sit in the ice cold stream, ahhhh. That felt good on the hip. I had some great food and won a wool Montrail hat (just what I needed).
The hip is feeling better after not running for 2 day but the hamstrings and calves are still sore from the extra work they did. I’m going to try and take it easy again this week by doing short runs and getting on the bike. Hopefully I can fix this problem before Baker Lake in 3 weeks. See you there!
I started out this race with a good pace and strong determination to Not take it easy as like I did in my last race. After 3 weeks of taking it easy, my longest run being 10 miles, it left good to be out shaking off the cobwebs.
Well that didn't last.
About a 1/2 mile before the first water stop my hip went from a mild pain that's not even worth a second thought to an all out "oh my god my hip is broken". Ok maybe not that bad. It mostly hurt going up hill and there was 12 more miles of uphill until the top. So for the next 5 or 6 miles I shuffled along trying to run more with my calves and hamstrings. But the walking was getting more painful instead of less. I figured I was going to DNF for sure. After trying different styles of moving forward I found that I could jog up the hills and it would be a little less painful than walking them. I guess I walked too much at CCC.
I finally get to the first AS at 12.5 miles in 2:40, 10 minutes ahead of last year. And I rationalized that I could continue at a slow pace, if I had to, and still beat the cut-offs.
I kept moving forward trying not walk because it increased the pain level by a factor of 2. I got to the top, mile 17.5, windy pass it was windy, in 3:45. Now I could try to make up some time, or so I thought. Not being able to take really long strides on the downhill slowed me down. My calves were cramping from their new workload. I did however realize that I could finish without doing more damage to my hip. I even passed a few people. After making a big splash for the camera, smile , I pulled into AS 2, mile 22.5 in 4:52, 13 minutes ahead of last year, just before the winner crossed the finish line. I quickly changed my shirt fueled up and headed out. Thanks Don for keeping me moving. The next 5 miles of single track was all new to me. Last year we were diverted around this section because of clear-cutting. I believe this added some time, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, to the coarse but I really have no idea how much. I ran the last section hard, running all but 2 or 3 of the steepest hills. I finished in 6:55, 15 minute faster than last year.
After the race I did my mandatory sit in the ice cold stream, ahhhh. That felt good on the hip. I had some great food and won a wool Montrail hat (just what I needed).
The hip is feeling better after not running for 2 day but the hamstrings and calves are still sore from the extra work they did. I’m going to try and take it easy again this week by doing short runs and getting on the bike. Hopefully I can fix this problem before Baker Lake in 3 weeks. See you there!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
CCC 100 Recovery .... Done!
I didn't run or walk more than a mile for 5 days. Friday Jenn and I did 1 lap around Lake Youngs in ~2:20. I don't think I could have gone much faster although running was easier than walking. I took Saturday off. We spent most of the day getting ready to go and then driving to Summit Lake.
Sunday morning we went for a run, well she got a 10 minute head start because I had to change a battery in my foot pod. I ran 4 very hilly miles in 35 minutes and Jenn did 3. We finished together. Ahhhh! And other than some minor pain in the socket of my hip everything was great. Later we did some cross training out on the lake. I went water skiing and tubing with some friends. I can't believe after over 10 years, I was able to pop right up on one ski. I forgot how much fun that is. It’s also a great upper body workout.
Next up Cle Elum 50K.
Sunday morning we went for a run, well she got a 10 minute head start because I had to change a battery in my foot pod. I ran 4 very hilly miles in 35 minutes and Jenn did 3. We finished together. Ahhhh! And other than some minor pain in the socket of my hip everything was great. Later we did some cross training out on the lake. I went water skiing and tubing with some friends. I can't believe after over 10 years, I was able to pop right up on one ski. I forgot how much fun that is. It’s also a great upper body workout.
Next up Cle Elum 50K.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Cascade Crest Classic 100
Well I finished in a time of 30:22. And (right behind me) so did fellow Maniac, Renton Resident, and 1st time 100 miler Shawn Lawson, in 30:35.
Way to go Shawn!
At around 10: am the clock counted down to zero, and we were off.
And everybody just sort of starts moving. It's an easy jog at first, about 1.8 miles of flat dirt road. Then the road ends and the real race begins. The trail goes up and up. There is this tan flour like dust on the ground that you’ll see, and breathe in, for the next 95 miles. I reach the first aid station in just over 42 minutes. It’s at about (I say about because I’ve only used this new foot pod gadget once so it might not be that accurate yet) 3054 ft., only 850 ft. up from the start. I saw fellow Maniac Van there taking down names. I grabbed a piece of banana as I ran by and yelled thanks. At 3.6 miles it was too early to stop. This A/S also marked the change from the wide jeep trail to the single track switch back laden trail.
Over the next 2 ½ miles we climbed to nearly 5000 ft. We stayed at that height through the next A/S, Cole Butte. I’ve been out here 2:26 and have only gone 9.77 miles! But now I can let gravity do all the work. It’s nearly all downhill for the first half of this section (to the next A/S) so I’m cruising at a steady 6.7 mph.
After 3 miles of blissful downhill running the trail goes up again and my pace drops to just faster than a snail. 14.73 miles is the distance I’d gone when I pulled into Blowout Mt. and 3:32 was my time. I’m still moving at a pretty good pace and everything seems to be going as planned. I tried one of those peanut butter and Jelly wraps but only got half of it down. I knew I if ate anymore it would all come back up.
This next section into Tacoma Pass has a nice downhill for nearly 2 miles where I re-passed all (and then some) of the runners that passed me on the previous climbs. The whole crew was at Tacoma Pass. My wonderful wife Jennifer, Nicolette Jessica and Arthur my three kids, Stacy my excellent pacer, and I could even hear Shela (my blue heeler) off in the distance telling me to hurry because wanted to run too. I tried to get out of there as quickly as I could but everybody wanted to know what was going on. At 23.06 miles and 5:22 minutes I wasn’t even ¼ the way done so at this time I was still pretty focused on moving. Eric Sach ran a good A/S and every 90 seconds he would bark out “get outta here Arthur”. I finally did after about 4 minutes which turned out to be rather typical of the time it took me at each A/S.
It’s mostly up to Snowshoe Butte, the next A/S and I’m now running neck and neck with the snails. I get there, 28.73 miles, in 7:04. I guess it’s the hottest part of the day but at the time it didn’t seem that hot. I’d been drinking right and downing gels very regularly. It’s a tiny water and small snacks only A/S. This was fine with me because so far my alternating from drink to water was working pretty well. I’d just had a section that was mostly drink so by the time I got to the A/S I was ready for a mostly water filled bladder. I would try to estimate how much water I would need for the coming section and then add about 20 ounces to that so I would be sure to not run out. The only thing I don’t like about bladders, you can’t see them to be able to tell they are almost empty. I did get an upset stomach somewhere in here but it didn't slow me down.
I made good time and arrived at Stampede Pass, 34.29 miles, in 8:23. From what I heard there were already some drops. Wow I guess it was hotter than they expected. I saw my crew again and grabbed my lights. My stomach, feet, legs were all still holding up well. The only thing that was not so good was my ability to go uphill. I was mostly eating pretzels and gels. I would eat a half a bite of something they had at each A/S but none of it looked good. Around 7:45 pm I had some Exercise-induced hematuria that came and went until around 10 am.
I got to Meadow Mt. mile 41.62 in 10:18 (about 8:18 pm). In the 4 minutes I was at Meadow Mt. the last bit of light was gone. So I strapped on my head lamp and grabbed one of my flashlights lights and off I went into the darkness. The cool air did feel good but I heard the A/S workers talking about blankets and how cold it was getting. That reminded that I needed to keep moving at a good pace. I got into the rhythm of night running very quickly and it felt like I didn’t loose that much speed but my watch now tells me I was topping out at only 5 mph on the downhills. I passed a few people so I guess comparatively I was going fast. It felt like I was 10 years old and running at a speed just under the point at which you loose control and crash. That is until the trail went up again.
I cruised into Olallie Meadows mile 47.73 in 12:13. At this point that’s only 13 minutes behind where I wanted to be. I passed 1 or 2 more people and I don’t recall getting passed by anyone. Scott McCoubrey was running this A/S and they had real good food and music. He said I looked good and was doing great. I had a plate of food and got outta there.
The next stop would be Hyak. But I had to find it first. Turns out that would be hard to do. I tried to find it Friday 3 times but could not. Jennifer tried to find it Saturday morning without me but with Stacy who had been there before and with exact, Correct Directions, from Glenn and Tony but she couldn’t find it then either. It turns out that the side road which wasn’t even in the directions was washed out. I guess nobody thought to check that before race day??? Without a place to park our trailer Jennifer had to drive all the way home and drop it off. Then drive all the way back in time to meet me at Tacoma Pass. And then do it again after I left Hyak so the kids could get some sleep in a bed instead of a car seat.
So I had left Olallie headed north on the PCT. I got to the turnoff where I had to bushwhack down to the John Wayne trail. This is a road that is now impassable because of a landslide or least that’s what it looked like in the dark. I had to take this abandoned road, and then turn off the side of the mountain. There were to be three ropes to help you down the steepest parts. I came across a girl sitting down on the trail she said she was just resting and seemed to be fine. So I continued whacking my way through thick Alder spouts. I came across an orange flag telling me I was still on the road. It was just on my right. Unfortunately the brush was so thick I didn’t see the other flags further to the right telling me it was time go over the cliff. So I kept going through the bush until I couldn’t go any further. The girl that had been resting was not too far behind me. I guess she also missed the flagging. She said she had not seen any flags in a while. So we headed back up the trail and came across that some flag but I immediately saw two more of to the right. And with wreck-less abandon I ran off into the woods. Maybe next year they’ll put a ribbon all the way across so you can’t go past the turn and maybe they’ll clear some of the Alders also. The first two ropes weren’t hard to get down but the last one was a bit tricky so I decided to go down backwards. The detour had only cost me 20 minutes so that wasn’t too bad. I just got a bit scratched up trying to make good time. From here to Hyak it was all roads some dirt some paved. I went through “the tunnel” which seems to go on forever! Probably because it’s uphill and I did get a little cold from the headwind.
Finally after running for a little while on the pavement I came across the new Hyak A/S mile 54.01 in 14:14, that’s 45 minutes behind where I wanted to be. Make that an hour by the time I left. Here I would pickup Stacy and Shela. I changed into a long sleeved shirt, got some new supplies, and then heard about all the adventures and misadventures of the day, and 16 minutes later I was on my way. We would spend the next 2 hours on the road going up and getting passed by countless people.
Keechelus Ridge is at mile 61.53. I made it there in 16:48 only 1:03 behind schedule. I’ve never run this far or for this long! This road section just seems to go on and on but it would be worse if you could see that it really did go forever. Thankfully the night hid that from us. Shela was being pretty impatient because of the slow pace. That would be a theme for the rest of the day. The next 6 miles would be the opposite mostly all downhill. I passed most of the people that passed me on the uphill. We still only averaged only 4.5 mph but that’s better than the 2.7 mph on the uphill. Finally we got down to Kachess Lake, now we could get off this road! Time 18:18 distance 68.51.
This is the start of the trail from Hell. For me it was the trail from Heaven! I loved going through the woods jumping over downed trees and around sharp corners. It took Stacy a little while to get into the grove of night running but I think she picked it up pretty fast. My extra enthusiasm helped me keep a good pace for about half the lake then I ran out of gas again and had to slow down. Just before the end of the lake it was light enough to turn off our lights.
We made it to Mineral Creek, mile 74.52 in 21:09. Here I had some soup and retrieved supplies from the drop bags. I had to borrow a short sleeved shirt from James because mine was not in my bag. I started to get some chaffing so I used some Vaseline they had and started up the road. This road goes up for 6.96 miles. We didn’t make very good time going up and by the time we got to the top it was already getting warm. Once again I was passed by a number of people on this uphill section. No Name Road water stop was at mile 79.18 time was 22:31. No Name trailhead was mile 81.48 at a time of 23:43.
I saw Shawn’s brother waiting for her at No Name trailhead. It sounded like she was an hour or so behind us and doing well. I hoped she would catch us but that never happened. It was nice to be trails again and off the road with no name. I think I can come up with some good names for it! The ups were getting harder but the downs were still ok. The next A/S was at 25:42 (the 2nd time), the total miles so far, 86.52. This is where you branch off for an out and back. I got my lucky number at the top. According to my watch, this is the highest point of the course at 5732 feet and the time was 25:28. We stopped just long enough to snap a few pictures and back down we went. I had twisted my knee a few miles earlier so I was taking it easy on the downhill sections in order not to further any damage and to keep the pain at a manageable level. I’m such a wimp! In just over an hour we were at the French cabin Mt. A/S. Time 26:53 and 89.28 miles.
They had some ice water there for Shela but I think she was more concerned with the 2 dogs she had to share it with. From this A/S there was one more climb then it would be downhill all the way to the finish. By this time it was pretty hot. We eventually made it to the saddle at the top of Silver Creek. I told Stacy that this was it no more climbs. She liked not having to go up anymore hills. I was really hoping to have more left to be able to cruise this part of the course but we were all real tired. And since we were well off my target pace I decided to be conservative on this long downhill section. The side effect of that is that it seemed to take forever. When we neared the bottom, maybe ½ mile or so out, the temperature felt like it jumped 20 degrees. The Silver Creek A/S guy said it was 100 on the road but I’m going with the 91 degree reading from the car. Either way it was hot and I was glad to only be a few miles from the finish. My crew wasn’t at the last the A/S because once again the directions were faulty. I also heard this from other first timers. So I had to keep the same pair of shoes and socks I’d been wearing from the start. Which would have been ok but I had stopped a couple of times to cool off in the creeks we ran by. It was the first time my feet had been wet seen Friday. I always forget that dust and water make Mud. Miles so far, 96.07 time 29:06The last section was on a hot dusty dirt road, then onto pavement and across I-90 and through Easton. We finish where we started at the Fire Station.
Time 30:22, estimated mileage 100.03
Unofficial results.
http://www.pbase.com/image/65878238
Race Photos by Glenn
http://www.pbase.com/gtach/raccce
I have some statistics for those that like them.
Start 2204 feet
A/S 1 3054 feet 879 up 42 feet down
Etc.Etc. Email me for a copy.
Today I feel great. My feet are little bruised and my toes are tingly. My calves are sore along with many offer smaller muscles. My Quads feel like I didn't even run this weekend. My head is still a little foggy. I expected to have problems staying awake and losing my mind but I didn't.
Special thanks to Jennifer and Stacy!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Vegas Baby!!!
As many of you know Jennifer planned a surprise trip for our anniversary this past weekend. This made me change my running schedule from Grey Rock 50K to CCC 100. Well I didn’t mind that at all. I know that I’m ready for it. Well the trip was to Vegas. We had a great time. I only got about 3 hours of sleep both nights. We went to the Phantom of the Opera and The Battle of the Kings. Both were great. And other than the lung cancer from all the second hand smoke, it couldn’t have been a more perfect trip.
We decided, instead of running on the hotels treadmill (not open 24 hours a day), we'd run the stairs. And I didn’t want to leave her behind as I ran out in the beautiful 97 degree heat. I normally don't like spiraling up and down stairs but the stairs in the Luxor were fun! They go up at an angle so you zigzag up the side of the pyramid instead of going straight up. If you ever get a chance, try it. I dropped a few pennies over the side of the catwalk and they slid and bounced 27 flights all the way to the bottom.
Mileage this week
Monday... zero
Tuesday... 9.5 Lake Youngs
Wednesday... zero
Thursday... 9.5 miles Lake Youngs
Friday... 90 flights of stairs, 6 hrs of walking around (4 miles)
Saturday... 60 flights of stairs, 8 hrs of walking around (5 miles)
Sunday... Zero
Total 28 miles, 1173 ytd
We decided, instead of running on the hotels treadmill (not open 24 hours a day), we'd run the stairs. And I didn’t want to leave her behind as I ran out in the beautiful 97 degree heat. I normally don't like spiraling up and down stairs but the stairs in the Luxor were fun! They go up at an angle so you zigzag up the side of the pyramid instead of going straight up. If you ever get a chance, try it. I dropped a few pennies over the side of the catwalk and they slid and bounced 27 flights all the way to the bottom.
.0.jpg)
Mileage this week
Monday... zero
Tuesday... 9.5 Lake Youngs
Wednesday... zero
Thursday... 9.5 miles Lake Youngs
Friday... 90 flights of stairs, 6 hrs of walking around (4 miles)
Saturday... 60 flights of stairs, 8 hrs of walking around (5 miles)
Sunday... Zero
Total 28 miles, 1173 ytd
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Cougar Mt. 13 miler
As I'm tapering for CCC I decided to run the Cougar Mt. 13 miler. My reasons For this were; so I could get in a speed workout and then do another one the next day since it was so short, the technical trail is great training and lastly and most importantly so I could compare it to where I was a year ago when I ran it. Last year I ran it in 2:42, this year in 2:13. 29 MINUTES FASTER!!! That's more than 2 minutes per mile! I was pretty happy with the results. My avg. heart rate was 165 with a peak of 179. That's compares to an average of 140 for 12 Summits and 152 for White River. I was very surprised I could keep up the faster pace for that long. I followed that up on Sunday with what I thought was an easy run around Lake Youngs but only took me 1:36.
Mileage this week
Monday... zero
Tuesday... zero
Wednesday... 9.3 miles flat
Thursday... 9.6 miles Lake Youngs
Friday... zero
Saturday... 13 miles Cougar Mt.
Sunday... 9.6 miles Lake Youngs, followed by 4 hours of walking at the Zoo.
Total 42 miles, 1147 ytd
Monday, August 07, 2006
12 Summits
After White River I took it pretty easy this week. Although I did do a loop around Lake Youngs in the dark to refresh my leg and ankle memory.
On Saturday I was treated to a tour of the 12 Summits run this by tc. This is a Must do for anyone training for a mountain Ultra. It's over 10,500 feet of elevation gain. There is a good variety of trail and some great views of Mt. Rainier. It was a perfect day for running, sunny but not too hot. We finished in just over 8 hours which too me seemed like a nice pace. Here are Tony’s pictures.
http://tinyurl.com/k4k4d
Mileage this week
Monday... zero
Tuesday... 5.5 miles
Wednesday... zero
Thursday... 9.5 Lake Young at night
Friday... zero
Saturday... 34 miles 12 summits
Sunday... 3 miles
Total 52 miles, 1105 ytd
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
White River 50 Mile
I was looking forward to running in the heat but it turned out to be cold. I used my pack instead of bottles so I would always have about 20 oz. more than I needed to get to the next AS. I really hate running out of water and you never know maybe it will get hot. I did the early start (58 minutes early) so that even if things went really wrong I could still do a death march to the finish and continue my “never DNF’d streak”. I staggered out of the tent trailer at about a quarter to 5:00 for the 5:30 start. I didn't get much sleep from the kids having to go to the vault toilet to the dogs barking at people driving by to the Porto Potties being dragged right past us because they were delivered to the wrong spot. Every hour and half, just as I was getting to the good stuff something would wake me. Jennifer says it is good training for CCC.
After getting checked in and doing all the rest of the preparations needed to run, it was just light enough to see and we were off and I was already tired. It was only 3.9 to the first AS which is pretty flat and 3.91 to my first trip into the woods. Time 42 minutes. There would be 2 more pit stops in the woods, which is not like me. It must have been the Oatmeal. I didn't have my usual half a pizza the night before nor did I have my usual pre-race breakfast.
The race went very well all day. I took it easy to the 2nd AS. I did a run until it got too steep, walk until it leveled off which took 2 hours to get to the 2nd AS where the race leaders started to catch me, about 11 miles in. Time 2:42. They started pulling me along about 2 miles later. The out and back was great because I got to see everybody but it's dicey in stops where it's "less than a single track". At the third AS I took about 5 minutes to refill my pack and change shirts and grab some food. WAY to long. Total time 3:48, 1:05 for that leg. The first uphill to the turn around seems to take forever as does the downhill through the woods back to the start. I didn’t stop at AS 4 because I had plenty of drink. Total time 4:52, 1:03 for that leg. I continued to cruise down the single track, trying to save some leg for Sun Top Rd., to AS #5 where I got to see the family and change into my third shirt. Again I took way to long talking with the kids and consoling the dogs. Total time 5:50, 58 minutes for that leg. I started out the day in my NODM shirt which was perfect, long sleeved and turtle neck then changed into a short sleeve at AS #3. It was still cold but I knew it was the right choice with the sun starting to come out. And then a cutoff short sleeve at AS #5 which kept me more than cool all day but would and did give me a nice rash from my Hydro pack. So off I went again to another climb that again seemed to go on foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I was definitely feeling the hills by the time I came into AS 6. My run walk the ups had become mostly walk. Total time 7:03, 1:13 for that leg. After filling up my supplies and not being able to talk James Varner out of DNF’ing I was off. It had turned into a nice day but still not as warm as I would have liked. I walked pretty much all the ups in this section. My up hill muscles were done for the day and both calves had been cramping for a while (not from lack of salt). I get to AS 7 and it feels like my legs are done but my mind is thinking Fly! Total time 8:35, 1:31 for that leg. Now all the long climbs are out of the way, I'm at the top, 38 miles down and a couple of easy 10K's (actually they updated it to 7 miles each) to go. My plan was to fly down Sun Top Rd. as I did at the end of the training run which was only 25 miles then, some how, stagger the last 10K to the finish. Well as I'm changing into my light soft road shoes TP comes into the AS and is gone before I could get my calf and hip un-cramped from sitting and changing shoes. He got about a 200 or more yards head start and it looked like we going the same pace. Well I've never run with him before so I tried to speed up. It took me what seems like 2 miles to finally catch him, but it was worth it. We chatted for a while, all the way down to the bottom, passing 4 or 5 maybe 6 runners. I don’t know it's kind of foggy now. But as soon as the road flattened out at the bottom he was gone and I was left wondering how I was going to make it the last 8 1/2 miles to the finish. Soon after that I came to the end of the road and my "crew". They were in the van watching a movie. I got my bag of goodies back that I had left in the van at AS #5 and I was off, into the woods, paused at the last AS to grab a couple a GU's and some coke. Total time 9:36, 1:01 for that leg. I was able to go at a good pace but I got passed by a few people. I don't know what it was, maybe I got a second wind or maybe it was that I was smelling the finish or maybe it was the light Kayano's that were giving me a boost. I picked up the pace and passed three or four people some of whom had just passed me. I would say "don't worry about me; you're still 58 minutes ahead of me". I ran most of that section even the ups. Some people don’t like this part; it’s kind of technical especially when you’re tired. I ran it on fresh legs two weeks ago and it was great. I guess in my mind I was remembering that run which gave me the extra speed. I finished strong at 10:51, 1:15 for that last leg. After the race everybody hung out and ate and talked and would cheer on the finishers as they came in, some just making the cut-off of 7:30 pm.
Mileage this week
Total 62 miles, 1053 ytd
Monday, July 24, 2006
week of 7-17
Mileage this week
Monday...7 miles
Tuesday...6.25 miles downtown w/SRC
Wednesday... 3 mile
Thursday... zero
Friday... 1 mile
Saturday...10 miles pushing stroller @ Lake Youngs Fund Run
Sunday...7.5 miles
Total 34.75 miles, 998 ytd
Monday, July 17, 2006
White River Training run
I rode down to white River to meet up with the Seattle Running company. They put on a 25 mile training run which was the second half of the 50 mile course. I carpooled with fellow maniac Shawn Lawson. After waiting around an extra 1/2 hour, we started out on 6 miles of flat. It was fast for me but I figured there would be time to rest because this was just a training run. We did that section in exactly 1 hour. We stopped for about a minute as Scott gave us directions for the rest of the course. The next 13 miles was pretty much all uphill, climbing 3000 feet. We averaged 13 m/m. Scott's wife set up an aid station at the top. Shela and I grabbed some food and filled up on water. We then had a 6 mile steep descent on a fire road. We flew down that at about 7:30 minutes per mile. 4:36 for 25 miles was a lot faster than I had in mind. It sure did feel good.
Mileage this week
Monday...2 miles
Tuesday...6.25 miles downtown w/SRC
Wednesday... zero
Thursday...5.5 miles
Friday... zero
Saturday...2 miles pushing stroller
Sunday...25 miles
Total 41.25 miles, 936 ytd
Monday, July 10, 2006
Seafair Marathon
Well the new course was supposed to be easier. They had all kinds of high-tech graphs and charts. I think it was a lot harder! The hills weren't steep but they sure were long. I finished about 2 minutes faster than last year. Considering how hot it was, I'm pretty happy with that.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
CCC training Run 7-2-06
It was another great day of running.
Nine of us started out at 1000 trails and ran the last 32 miles of the CCC 100 course. It was sunny and got pretty warm. This was a good training run because it's the hardest part of the coure and 10 miles will be at night. I felt strong all day but it showed me that I have a lot of work to do before race day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
