26 June 2015

North Bend Triple Challenge (Mt Si, Rattlesnake Ridge, Little Si)

My friend Martin de Vrieze has organized the North Bend Triple Challenge run for the last three years around his birthday. I was able to participate in the first one but missed last year from some reason. For various reasons like construction, etc. the route has changed each year but it has always included three summits – hence the name.

This is what the day is all about.

01

Invariably these runs include some flat sections, and every year these flat sections just kill me. It makes me laugh because I have several friends that love running flats and I just don't get it. Even while on a 1% decline like the Snoqualmie Valley Trail I had to walk several times. It isn't that physically taxing, mentally I just can't handle it.

Luckily there is also lots of up and down. That I can handle.

Attendance was a little lower this year than in 2013 but we still had an awesome group ready to head out at 7:00. At that time, and still in the shade, I was feeling nice and fresh.

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The first challenge was Mt Si via the old trail. This route is shorter, steeper and much less traveled than the new trail. I have only been up here twice and the first time was at this event two years ago. You can run some of the approach and tiny sections throughout but it's essentially a hike on the way up. Which was okay, hiking is a nice way to get warmed up.

On clear days like this the views from any peak in the Issaquah Alps is spectacular and today didn't disappoint.

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On the way down the same old trail I was struck by how much more runnable it seemed than the last time I was here, perhaps because I was fresher? That can make all the difference.

Back in the parking lot I tossed an empty bottle in the car and grabbed a full one. On hot days like this support is key. In fact, two of the participants had said they stashed some water and Gatorade up by Rattlesnake Lake. I was hoping not to need it but good to know.

From here we ran out on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail just a bit and then on North Bend Way up to Snoqualmie Point Park. As you run you can see the hill approaching; I was with Martin at the time and we both commented on freaking steep hills look as you approach them and that thankfully they are usually never quite so bad once you on them. Although that last quarter mile sure does kick up some.

From here you are on the Rattlesnake Ridge trail and the berries were out! We stopped numerous times to pick salmonberries, huckleberries, and my new favorite, thimbleberries. Yum. As we climbed I was waffling between wanting to walk and finding my granny gear. In the beginning I was walking more than running but eventually I found my pace and was running more than walking.

The descent from the top of the ridge to Rattlesnake Lake is one of the best in the NW.

Obviously I need to get a GoPro camera, My POS is sure showing its age.

Guess what, by the time I got to the lake both of my bottles were empty. Time to find that stash. I went to spot I thought they were and found nothing. For the briefest of moments I considered just going on but then I realized that would be stupid so I looked some more in another direction. And there it was – whew! I filled one bottle for drinking, one to squirt on myself periodically and grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and even washed my hands before taking off. That was awesome!

And on the way down the Snoqualmie Valley Trail I was SO glad I had that water… In fact, I finished both of them by the time I got back to the car!

Like I said above, this part was somewhat torturous. It wasn't hard, there was some shade, but for the life of me I couldn't run more than about .75 miles without walking for a minute. This bridge was one good excuse.

Just as my water an out, about .5 miles from the car, I took one last hit from my gel flask and the top blew off. Rats. Now I had sticky hands, the weather was scorching hot and I had to wait before cleaning them off. In that last half mile I made good use of my tongue and made a mental note that perhaps this flask was worn out and could be retired after today.

At the car I took everything off. I ditched my vest, my shirt and just went up Little Si with my last bottle in my hand. Which I had been able to rinse at the car thank goodness. Man was it nice to lose some clothing in this heat… and it turned out the Little Si trail was mostly in the shade so bonus.

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Martin (if you trust Martin that is) had told me before the start that this last challenge would take, "About one hour." As I glanced at my watch leaving the parking lot I saw that I was at 5:55 exactly. I had only two humble goals going into this run except finishing and having fun but now I had a third; finish in under seven hours. Go!

Ha! Nothing like having a goal when you are wasted. I hardly ran on the way up. But I was not so annihilated that I couldn't do any math and I figured if this trail really was 4.4 miles round trip like Martin said, I only had to average 4.4 mph. Knowing that I walk at about 3 mph I figured if I could make the top in 35 minutes, I could easily achieve my goal. So for the rest of the climb I kept my eyes glued to my watch.

There were a TON of school kids out today. They all had on matching t-shirts and in true kid style, they ran down the trail oblivious to whatever was coming up at them. And just like kids, they have not yet learned the habit of moving to the right so other can pas on their left, even if it's oncoming traffic. Needless to say, I had to stop numerous times. I didn't mind, I was getting pretty darn tired by this point.

ASIDE – there were also a lot of climbers out today! Who knew that Little Si was such a rock climbing destination? Now I do. There were scads of people with ropes, rock shoes, you name it out today.

As tired as I felt on the way up, I felt fantastic on the way down. Part of it I'm sure was knowing that I was on the last leg but part of it was also that my body is still healing up and today was my longest run of the year with no pain in my hip. Hooray!

As you can imagine, the descent took much less time than ascent and on the way down I saw first Heather de Vrieze and then Martin. They both had smiles on their faces and Martin gave me a high five – kudos to them both!

Back at the car I had the usual dirt tan.

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And I couldn't stop drinking! I gulped my recovery bottle, a full bottle of San Pellegrino and I wanted more. I can' thank Heather and Martin enough for their foresight because when they got to the finish the first thing they did was rip open their cooler and offer me a Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen-Mix. Oh my GOD was that delicious. And did I mention it was ice cold?

When I got home I drank another bottle of San Pellegrino, drank some water in the shower and then went to a friend's party where I drank lots of light beer. (re)Hydration is key.

Incredibly, my time this year was within seconds of my time in 2013 which was on a totally different course. That's nuts.

Thanks Martin and Heather for including me in another great triple challenge!

Here are all my pictures and video.

Sleep 6
Waking HR 5:00 AM - 48
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast nothing
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition 2 large Water Bottles each w/2 scoops Perpetuem and 2 Endurolytes, 2 bottles each w/2 scoops Hammer HEED, one bottle of plain water, half a bottle of Gatorade, Hammer Bar, Omnibar
Recovery 3 scoops Recoverite
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 7:00 AM
Workout Type endurance
Weather mid 60s at the start, mid 80s by the end, sunny, calm
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Brooks Cascadia 10, Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 2.0
Clothing Injinji Run 2.0 Original Weight Mini-Crew, Brooks Infinity Short III, Hammer Nutrition Men's Sleeveless Running Shirt, Hammer Nutrition JackRabbit Visor

24 June 2015

bike commute | Lake Union lunch run

Summer. Is. Here.

And I am liking it.

Went for a run around Lake Union and was joined for the lake part by Zephyr McLaughlin. When Zephyr peeled off I tried to twist the grip a little bit and was pleasantly surprised by the results. For the last three miles I went faster each mile AND (that's a big 'and') my body (read: hip) did not suffer because of it.

Yes.

Sleep 4.5
Waking HR 4:30 AM - 43
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition commute - water
Recovery  
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day  
Workout Type  
Weather upper 70s, sunny, calm
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment ride - Raleigh Mojave 8.0
run - Brooks Glycerin 12
Clothing run - Brooks Infinity 3" Split Short

23 June 2015

bike commute | lunch run

Had to run an errand on the way to work today so I got back on the bike. And I felt super so taking yesterday off was the right call.

At lunch I went for a run with Thomas Frizelle and again I felt super! I like this feeling. We explored Capitol Hill, the Howe Street stairs and the Interlaken Park trails. We both remarked how fortunate we are to have this resource just one mile from work!

Sleep 8
Waking HR 5:30 AM - 49
Body Weight 1:30 PM – 178 lb.
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition ride - water
Recovery  
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day run – 12:30 PM
Workout Type  
Weather upper 70s, sunny, light breeze
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment ride - Raleigh Mojave 8.0
run - Brooks Cascadia 10
Clothing run - The Balanced Athlete Fitsok CF2, Brooks 5" Essential Run Short

22 June 2015

gym | walk

After a solid weekend of being active I took a break! And it felt great.

Just a quick trip to the gym this morning to work on my hip and then for the first time in a long time I took the bus to work instead of riding my bike. It was really relaxing.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition gym - water
Recovery  
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day gym – 5:15 AM
Workout Type  
Weather  
Course gym – hip and balance stuff
Results  
Time gym – 60 min
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment  
Clothing  

21 June 2015

Snoqualmie Falls ride

Yesterday aggravated my hip just a little so to err on the safe side I skipped running today and got out on my bike. It was good call.

Thankfully my friend Bradlaugh Robinson gave me a call, that always makes it easy. Brad is always looking for new routes so I opted for Snoqualmie Falls since I had not ridden up there in ages.

On the way past Duthie Hill I noticed that they had made some major improvements… like a giant parking lot. This has got to be a good thing as that place is busy, busy, busy these days.

We rode, we chatted we ate and drank. A perfect ride in other words. This over-the-top weather Seattle is having sure didn't hurt.

Sleep 7.5
Waking HR 5:00 AM - 49
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition 3 large Water Bottles each w/2 scoops Perpetuem and 2 Endurolytes, Hammer Bar, Omnibar
Recovery  
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 8:30 AM
Workout Type endurance
Weather 60-mid 70s, sunny, dry
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Ti Cycles Hyak
Clothing bib shorts, sleeveless undershirt, sleeveless jersey
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20 June 2015

Seattle Stairway Foot Tour

Oh yes! The Seattle Stairway Foot Tour is one FUN event.

Normally I prefer to run in the dirt but when someone puts this much time into curating a route and incorporates lots of green spaces and the company is this good I make an exception. Plus I like stairs. I believe it was conceived of by Michael Yadrick (who I will henceforth regard as THE Seattle Stairway Authority) and I think this was the third annual edition. To sum it up, this is a running tour of ALL the 100+ step stairways in the Seattle area.

I know, mind blown! We live in a hilly town.

Last year I wanted to participate but injuries prevented me. This year I wasn't 100% but gave it a shot anyway. I lasted 29 miles and will definitely be back in 2016 to do the whole thing. It was awesome. Did I mention that the route gets tweaked/improved each year? Nice.

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This event is run (literally and figuratively) on or near the longest day of the year because it takes a heck of a long day to complete! It starts promptly at sunrise (5:11 AM this year) and ends when you finish which for those that toughed it out this year was freaking 10:45 PM. Boom!

On this day Michael's family provided mobile support and so the runners were met roughly every 15 miles by a van full of food and fruit and drinks – amazing! Since I knew I was not going to last the whole way I loaded up on my favorite Hammer Nutrition products, put some water in my pack and was pretty self-sufficient. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy some of the icy cold watermelon that was available…

The pace was very leisurely. We probably ran between 8:00-9:00 pace while we connected the stairs and we always waited for the group to reform and we took lots of pictures. Naturally there were plenty of bathroom stops as well and later on there were plenty of food/coffee/drink stops too. No worries. Most of the stairs were walked by the group but I did run my fair share. In part because I felt really good (aside from my injury) and because I knew I didn't need to save myself for the last 30 miles. Smile

The run started no more than 100' from the first flight of stairs in SW Seattle and luckily we didn't have to go up each one to count it, down was also good enough. So the run went something like this.

  • run to a flight of stairs
  • take a quick picture
  • run/walk up the steps
  • remark how cool that particular flight was
  • run to the next flight
  • take a quick picture
  • run down
  • repeat

There were some very fun ups, like this one that started as a super steep sidewalk.

And this down that twists and turns.

There are too many pictures to post them all but here is one that puts this event into perspective, it's the total route. Wow!

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Congratulations to Steven Kent and a couple of others that ran the whole thing.

This event also got a mention in the Ultra Runner Podcast!

Here are all my pictures and video.

Sleep 5
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast nothing
Lunch  
Dinner  
Nutrition 3 large Water Bottles, each w/2 scoops Perpetuem and 2 Endurolytes, Hammer Bar, Omnibar, watermelon, water
Recovery  
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 5:11 AM
Workout Type long, fun run
Weather 60 to start, upper 70s by the time I pulled out
Course  
Results Fun!
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Hoka Stinson Trail, Ultimate Direction SJ Ultra Vest 2.0
Clothing Injinji Trail 2.0 Midweight Mini-Crew, Brooks Infinity Short III, Brooks Podium SS shirt, Hammer Nutrition JackRabbit visor

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