29 January 2013

Howe Street stairs

Another winter of Howe Street stair workouts are in the bag! HUGE thanks to Jim Kodjababian for keeping me company year after year after year. I might walk these stairs alone but run them? Ha! No way. Running takes knowing someone else is suffering as much as you. Heck, sometimes just showing up takes knowing that someone else will be there and that they are depending on you.

ASIDE - Once again my fancy, very expensive, very unreliable GPS watch decided to malfunction! I called Garmin and they said it must be part of a bad batch and offered to replace it with known good stock. That was a relief as I have already replaced this unit once at REI and simply started having exactly the same issues.

I cut it a bit close to get in my planned five warm-up flights but gassed it and got the job done. It seems I can go down and up, walking, in about 3:50 if I'm really moving.

Jim showed up and on the agenda were 15 flights. Go!

We actually did 19.5 together but on the last three which were of the up-two-down-one variety I was getting to the top quite a bit ahead of Jim so would just turn around and descend until I met him and then finish his flight with him. I figure that made up at least the .5 flights that our workout did not include. :)

I did not feel stellar but just like last week I backed off a hair and it helped me finish just about as strong as I started. There is a lesson buried in there somewhere... Far be it from me to learn anything though.

When it was all done we congratulated each other and expressed genuine thanks. Turns out Jim appreciates my company as much as I his. He even said something that sounded like, "Can't wait until next year...!" Really Jim? I can wait just a bit.

We also both commented that this is the first year we can recall in recent history when there has not been at least one week with ice. Or even massive rain! We had extremely good conditions and for that I am thankful.

Here is what my GPS did record.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food bottle w/2 scoops HEED
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 5:40 AM
Workout Type strength/intervals
Weather mid 40s, partly cloudy, dry skies, damp ground
Course Howe Street stairs
Results  
Time 1:27
Distance 20 flights
Pace  
Equipment Brooks Launch
Clothing shorts, Craft Active Classic Long Sleeve Baselayer, Brooks Podium LS shirt
Technorati Tags:

27 January 2013

Squak Mt with Seattle Running Club

Okay, time to start fresh and hopefully put yesterday's suffer fest out of my mind. Ditto for all that heart scaring nonsense... :)

ASIDE - I find it amazing how people can be so selective about what they believe. INCLUDING ME. People sure are stupid at times all the time.

First of all, a big shout out to one of my newest readers: Angel Rossi Mathis. That means at least two people read this blog; if you count me. Angel was in attendance today along with her husband Tim Mathis and not only does she read this blog but she kept up JUST FINE, she also told a very touching story (while running uphill!). Nice.

The story was prompted by me asking her how long she has been running. I'm always curious to see what kind of progression is 'normal' as I am nothing if not super shallow and need to compare myself to others constantly. Turns out Angel has been running for three years almost to the day. THREE YEARS. And she has already completed what seems like exponentially more ultras than I have. Three years ago she and Tim were sitting on the couch watching some triathlon on television (they spent a lot of time watching television apparently) but this particular event was for some kind of special athletes that were not as able as the average guy. As they were sitting there living vicariously through others they sort of turned to each other and said, "We could do that..." Watching these people with challenges that you and I don't have apparently was an inspiration.

How easy was it to get started? Not very. Their first run was like 10 minutes long and it ruined them but now three years later they are entering a 100 mile trail run. Nice.

I had no desire to go fast today so as we left the parking lot I let Win Van Pelt set the lace and I just tucked in behind. We went all the way to the top of the mountain. The pace was very reasonable and I was feeling fine but suddenly on the way down I started feeling empty. Not so good.

I had only brought one bottle and two gels with me today as the max distance was going to be 14 miles but when you take longer than expected to run that distance and when you are tired from the previous day I guess you need more food. When we got to the bottom I knew the climb was going to be hard so I did a prompt about-face and headed back up.

I actually started walking - that's how tired I was - but soon I found myself jogging and if I kept the pace mellow I was able to keep it up so just kept it up. Not much later I heard some sounds behind me and as I glanced over my shoulder I saw Brian Morrison and Kevin Smythe closing fast. Lucky for me the effort required to chase me down was sufficiently hard and once they caught me they were happy to sit on.

We ran up to the last intersection/steep pitch before the summit and then decided to wait for everyone else. Judging by the pace of the group earlier in the day I figured they would only be a couple of minutes back but both Kevin and Brian said that they were walking from the bottom so that did not bode well... We waited and waited and got cold and stretched and waited and finally decided to carry on as Brian had a time constraint and I was starving. Oh MAN was starting up that last pitch hard. Our legs were like blocks of wood.

At the top we looked at the time and opted to take the road all way back down to the cars. Whoosh...! That is one fast descent. I was curious how my thinnest trail shoes would deal with this relatively firm surface at speed and when we got to the bottom I was pleasantly surprised to feel fine! Awesome. I think I just decided what shoes to wear for the Orcas Island 50k.

It was a bummer to split the group up but I guess that kind of thing just happens. And it wasn't like we left anyone behind, both groups had people very familiar with the trails.

Sleep 7 hours
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 5:30 AM - applesauce, banana, walnuts, Udo's Oil, 1 scoop protein powder, 2.5 scoops Perpetuem, tea
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food bottle w/1.5 scoops Perpetuem and 1 Endurolytes, 2 GUs
Injuries Both my left ankle and my right side felt slightly better but I am worried that I am doing too much with my left ankle and not letting it heal as fast as possible.
Therapy  
Time of Day 7:30 AM
Workout Type endurance
Weather low 40s
Course  
Results  
Time 3:01
Distance 13.5 miles?
Pace  
Equipment Brooks PureGrit
Clothing Teko organic SIN3RGI Light Minicrew, Brooks 5" Essential Run Short, Craft Active Extreme Short Sleeve Baselayer, SmartWool NTS Micro 150 Zip T

26 January 2013

Cougar Mt ring trail run

Today I met Daniel Paquette, Jon Robinson and Edgardo Balansay for a lap around Cougar Mountain. I gotta say, for a small park there are a lot of trails up here.

Turns out I must have thought all that Polish food and drink was a little too awesome yesterday  because I did not feel very chipper this morning. I also slept like garbage. Oh yeah, and my left ankle is still pretty suspect and my right side twinges when I go up stairs.

But I had just taken three days off from running and was itching to get out there. Here's hoping it's the right decision.

Right from the gun the pace is quite a bit faster than I wanted. I'm doing my best to hang on but I'm wheezing pretty hard and am way in the hurt locker in the pain cave feeling fat and slow. That first hill was pretty much a sign of things to come.

The plan was to loop the mountain (10 miles), throw in the out-and-back down Wilderness Creek (4 more) and perhaps add Bear Ridge as well which would bring the total up to 18. As we crested the first climb I was thinking there was no way I was going to last at this pace (see below and you'll note my max heart rate is in the first mile!) and all the time Jon and Dan are chattering away up front which made me realize that we probably weren't going that fast, I just felt extra poor.

I managed to cling with these guys to the Wilderness Creek descent and luckily going down felt just fine. But of course at the bottom this long hill you turn around and go right back up. Dan took off first and proceeded to run away from us. Next to pass me was Edgardo. Jon was holding back a bit and actually talking to me (very nice of him) but then I had to walk and he was gone.

Everyone was great about waiting for me but every time I would catch up they would take off the second I arrived. I felt like the little kid hiking with his parents, at least I didn't whine as much as when I was that little kid.

Every time the trail would flatten out or go downhill I would try to pickup the pace and reel these guys in. I managed to do it three times but then as soon as the trail tipped up they were gone pronto.

On one of the longer descents Jon started talking about this study (theory?) that prolonged exercise at extreme intensities can scar the heart. I guess the author of this study claims that exercising in excess of 60-90 minutes per day, especially at very high intensity, can cause damage to your heart and that this damage is cumulative. We all decided this opened up a whole new category of excuses and promptly started compiling them for future use.

  • "Dude, I would totally do intervals with you tomorrow but I don't want to scar my heart."
  • "Damn, that last climb was a major heart scarer!"
  • "I'm going to take it easy today, I think I scared my heart."
  • "You better slow down, wouldn't want to scar your heart..."

And on and on and on until the end of the run. We pretty much beat that horse to a pulp. As we got to the De Leo Wall turn off on the standard Cougar 10 loop Dan announced we were going up the wall. What's one more little heart scar I thought? Today it was just a drop in the bucket. We went up the less steep side today and unlike last week where I ran up 90% of the steep side today I was walking 90% of the time. :(

At the top of the wall Jon asked me how that climb was - so nice of him to check in really - and I replied by asking him how long he had to wait for me. "About 30 seconds..." Right. Whatever Jon. :) I had the presence of mind to scoot to the front and these guys were nice enough to let me stay there and dictate the pace back to the car. I think Jon did pass me with about .5 miles to go but by then I was able to hang on.

Whew...! Today was a hard run. I was essentially solo the last two thirds and felt like I was doing some sort of crazy Fartlek workout where I would let everyone get way ahead of me and then work like hell to catch them again. Repeat.

Kudos to Edgardo for sticking to Dan and Jon like glue! And kudos to Jon for checking in on me throughout the run. And kudos to Dan for marking the trail when I was hopelessly off the back coming back up Wilderness Creek; I would have missed one turn for sure without his ferns on the ground.

On the up side I did not get cold or too hot today. I also think my left ankle needs more support so I switched my shoes up from the uber loose Hokas to my Cascadias. I think it was a good call. I am pretty positive I got those Hokas one size too big. :( For sure they are massively comfy but I also swim around in the shoe which is not so ideal.

Sleep 4 hours
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 5:00 AM - applesauce, banana, 1 scoop protein powder, 3 scoops Perpetuem, tea
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food 7:45 AM - half a Promax bar
run - 1.5 bottles each w/1.5 scoops Perpetuem and 1 Endurolytes, 1 GU
Injuries My left ankle felt okay but my right side is still acting up! It feels like the result of running off balance or asymmetrically but I was so conscious of not favoring one side over the other... it's frustrating for sure.
Therapy  
Time of Day 8:00 AM
Workout Type I was hoping for endurance but it sure felt like tempo today...
Weather low 40s, light drizzle for a bit but mostly dry, calm and cloudy
Course  
Results  
Time 2:20
Distance 14 miles
Pace 9:57
Equipment Brooks Cascadia 7, 2 hand-held bottles
Clothing Teko organic SIN3RGI Light Minicrew, Brooks 5" Essential Run Short, Craft Active Extreme Short Sleeve Baselayer, Patagonia Merino 1 Silkweight Crew, Patagonia Capilene 4 Expedition Weight Beanie, Polypropylene gloves, wind vest

25 January 2013

it's my birthday

So yesterday was utter crap.

I went to the gym to try for a mellow treadmill run and after about 10 steps my right side complained so loudly that I climbed off. No problem I thought, shit happens; I'll just do some stretching. That hurt almost as much! In the end I decided to self-medicate and treated my SAD with a tan at the gym before going home and then taking the bus to work. Sometimes you just need to do what you need to do.

But that was yesterday. Today is my birthday and that meant I got to do whatever I wanted.

On this day that meant starting things off with a massage from Tucker 'the MAN' Roy at Mobility Plus Healthcare. This guy really helps fix me up.

As we chatted and I told him about my ankle woes he suggested an x-ray. He also suggested that I might look into an adjustment from Dr. Michael 'I used to be an UFC ringside doctor' Li. Of course Dr. Li had to see the x-ray results before he could start wrenching with my foot so as soon as I got off the massage table I put in a call to my doctor to see if they could get me a radiology appointment right now. And you know what? They got me in at 1:30. Boom. I promptly scheduled an appointment with Dr. Li for 3:00 PM. My day was filling up!

Did I mention I had to meet the carpet installers at our old house and let them in so they could replace the carpet? Here is what my day looked like.

  • Ride downtown for my massage.
  • Ride up Capitol Hill to let the carpet installers in.
  • Ride to the Polyclinic for my x-ray.
  • Ride back up Capitol Hill to check on the carpet installers - they were not done yet.
  • Ride back downtown to get my chiropractic adjustment.
  • Ride back up Capitol Hill to lock up the house after the carpet installers had left.
  • Ride home.

I got all that done and it only totaled 18 miles! Did I mention that it was sunny out? Damn straight. I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Trader Joe's for some snacks and then went across the street to the Central Co-op to eat, stay warm and read the newspaper.

Then Shelley and I met some friends at the Polish House for authentic Polish food and Polish beer (which comes in .5 liter bottles!). It was awesome!

Not a bad day to turn one year older.

Sleep 7
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day  
Workout Type fun ride
Weather  
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  

23 January 2013

core | bike commute

Rats.

Today my ankle started to ache a bit, got really swollen and my right hip [I keep calling it my hip but really it's my right glute/hamstring.] is acting up again. So I opted for some more active recovery in the form of a mellow bike commute.

Did it help? Nope. Riding actually made my left ankle hurt more. C'mon body, get with the program here!

In an effort to get this shit rectified I went and saw Neal Goldberg at FootWorks PT. Guess what... I have been doing all my core work WRONG. Nice. Of course the right way is 10 times harder. It seems I have been getting super sloppy in my subconscious quest to do this stuff more or faster or something. Something not very productive obviously. I'm grateful for the tune-up and the reminder that you need to remember why you are doing what you are doing.

Neal also advised me to get an x-ray for my ankle as you can never be too careful.

The ride to work was nice but the ride home was wet. At first I was about to throw myself a pity party but then once I hit the road I had a good time for some reason. I did not freeze, I had music and I guess sometimes it's fun to ride in the rain. :)

Sleep 6 hours
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day core - 5:30 AM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather  
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  
Technorati Tags: ,

22 January 2013

Howe Street stairs | bike commute | Fleet Feet run

How about them apples... Days like today make me feel freaking ALIVE. Not because I did any of my workouts at some incredible pace or even that I posted any PRs, but just because I CAN do them. I take way too much for granted and today as I rode home after the Tuesday evening Fleet Feet run I felt awesome. Awesome to just be alive I think.

Then again, maybe all the endorphins had just gone to my head.

I got to the the Howe Street stairs a tad late today so only had time for four warm-up flights before Jim Kodjababian showed up. Whatever, I should not complain. We hammered out 14 flights together alternating walking with running and for a change I held back just a tiny bit and it really helped. Instead of finishing the workout on rubber legs or having to walk the last couple of sections on the later runners I was able to finish each runner in reasonable shape. Bonus.

Turns out I needn't have been worried about missing that one flight... because the Fleet Feet run went right back up the Howe Street stairs! Too funny.

We were heading along on the usual route and for once the leaders were not pulling away from me like someone lit their shorts on fire. As we ran down Lakeview Blvd I suddenly see this guy hold up his hand and point up the hill. Of course I know exactly what was coming. :)

At least two thirds of the group just ran straight past the stairs but about six of us went up without so much as a pause at the bottom. The guy that pointed out the stairs (he had on a cotton t-shirt with 'USA' on the back and a cotton baseball hat turned around backwards) was first to the top but I was second! I just kept passing people as we climbed and I was not completely toast at the summit. Nice.

At the top I thought we were going to continue up and then turn left on 10th Ave but no. Back down we went. So this was just a little bonus climb. :)

By now the entire group was miles up the road but this one guy I was running with (I found out later his name is Joe Creighton) kept saying that we could catch people. I was like no way will that happened but then as we started climbing Interlaken there they were.

ASIDE - as we hit the Interlaken climb Joe turns to me and says, "You're a a trail runner, right?" When I answered in the affirmative he proclaimed that this was good because it meant that we would indeed catch people on the climb. Is there some trail-runners-are-better-climbers-than-road-runners smack talk that I have been missing out on? I obviously need to immerse myself in this running culture a little deeper.

I did okay but was pretty gassed as we crested the hill in Volunteer Park and of course it was then that Joe turns to me again and says, "I'm going to pick it up, you with me Martin?" I was barely able to gasp something about being fully maxed already and that he should feel free to take off. And boy did he. Four blocks or so later Joe was out of sight. Nice.

I rolled in solo and told Joe thanks for the company but then needed to change and get the hell out of Dodge as I was getting chilled. Mr. USA t-shirt was obviously not cold as he had finished way ahead of me and was still chatting it up with everyone. And I had started this run in TWO layers AND with a hat AND with gloves. Sheesh, I might as well hang the old-guy-with-poor-circulation sign around my neck.

The ride home was a blast. I had music, the stars were out and I was not freezing cold. Yes, my legs were tired but I just took it easy and soaked up the 'runner's high' or whatever they call it now.

The only bummer is that since it was cold I stayed inside of the Fleet Feet store as long as possible and when these guys decide to go, they don't mess around. My GPS did not find any satellites right away so the first two miles of this run got lost. Shoot.

Sleep 7 hours
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food stairs - bottle w/1.5 scoops HEED
bike commute - water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day stairs - 5:40 AM
run - 6:00 PM
Workout Type stairs - strength/intervals
run - tempo
Weather  
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance stairs - 18 flights
run - 6 miles
Pace  
Equipment stairs - Brooks Launch
commute - Raleigh Mojave 8.0
run - Brooks Launch
Clothing  

21 January 2013

treadmill run

Active recovery is a good thing.

I'm not very used to doing it while running but I need to. My brain still thinks that running will be more abusive to my body than cycling or some other lower-impact activity but as my running mentor has told me countless times, my muscles and fitness will adapt way faster than all the connective tissue and if you want to stay injury free you need to gradually build up the strength of your connective tissue. Go too fast and you hurt something like your IT band. Which I have done. Not fun.

The goal of active recovery should be to increase suppleness and ideally you feel better at the end of the work out than when you started. Today I did just that. Half way in I felt like I could have gone faster but I held back and kept it mellow.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I am learning. :)

Sleep 7 hours
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy 20 min of stretching after the run
Time of Day 5:30 AM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather  
Course treadmill, 1% incline
Results  
Time 30 min
Distance 3.7 miles
Pace 8:00
Equipment Brooks Launch
Clothing  

20 January 2013

Cougar 10 + De Leo w/Seattle Running Club

Having blasted myself yesterday I was just looking for more miles today but nothing extreme in terms of effort. The answer? The weekly Seattle Running Club trail run of course! Nice.

And for a change Brian Morrison from Fleet Feet Sports was there to lead us; it was great to finally talk to 'the man'. The only thing that was not so great is Brian is a much better/faster/fitter runner than I am so his leisurely pace was a bit taxing for me. I did hang on but only because he stopped at every intersection (and there were a ton) to mark the route. I did have a highlight which was running about 95% of the De Leo wall. And we went up the steep way. A first for me.

It's funny to me that I thought Brian was a quiet guy. Not so today. :) He talked up a STORM. Blah, blah, blah Scott McCoubrey; blah, blah, blah Scott Jurek; blah, blah, blah Justin Angle; blah, blah, blah hiring at Fleet Feet Sports; blah, blah, blah the pub run. I tried to pretend we were having a conversation but really Brian was writing a novel and I was squeaking in one-word replies/prompts so that he would keep it up and not run any faster... None of what Brian said was boring and I learned a ton, I guess he loosens up quite a bit in his element.

I had a good time. Thanks Seattle Running Club.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 5:45 AM - applesauce, banana, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 scoops Perpetuem, walnuts, tea
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food bottle w/1.5 scoops Perpetuem, 1 GU
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 7:30 AM
Workout Type endurance
Weather upper 30s, dry, cloudy
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Hoka Stinson Evo
Clothing Teko organic SIN3RGI Light Minicrew, Brooks 5" Essential Run Short, Craft Active Classic Short Sleeve Baselayer, Patagonia Merino 1 Silkweight Crew, Patagonia Capilene 4 Expedition Weight Beanie, Patagonia Capilene gloves

19 January 2013

Squak Mt Cougar Mt trail run

Well... today I decided to get back at it; 'it' being trail running that is. I tagged along with Jon Robinson and Daniel Paquette and headed out for the old Squak/Cougar combo. Here is the breakdown.

  • Ouch...! These guys are both much faster than I am and I was OTB pretty quick.
  • We were experiencing a temperature inversion and so it was freezing at the car and relatively warm up on the mountains. Kinda fun to not be chilled at the top for a change, especially because that is when you are the sweatiest.
  • The trails were in extraordinary condition. It has not rained in a week and they were dry yet soft and the traction was excellent. There was very little snow.
  • This route is ALL up and down, holy cow.
  • My left ankle was fine - no issues. I could still feel my right hip but after yesterday's massage it was much better and never got worse.

I met Jon and Dan at the Squak/Cougar cross-over on 900 and without much to do we headed up Squak. This is a pretty good climb and only levels off a couple of times and takes you all the way to the summit. From here we went all the way down to the Issaquah Community Center side which is even lower than where we parked. Not only is this hill longer it's also steeper... Whereas I had been able to hang with these guys on the first climb it took less than .25 miles for me fade on this second climb.

I tried to keep a rhythm and only walked a couple of times near the top when it gets truly steep and even managed to jog the last road pitch to the summit. I'm not sure if he was just trying to make me feel good or not but Dan told me I was only about one minute behind him.

Up here we enjoyed the warmth, had a bite (that means I sucked down a gel) and then it was back down to the car. Did did not go slow on the descent and on the way down Jon remarked that he always forgets to factor this descent into the total effort of the run. I was still feeling okay while we were descending but the effort was taking its toll for sure.

As we crossed the road Dan and Jon shed a bottle and a shirt and then it was up Cougar. This is a stout climb even though it's not as long as that second climb up Squak and this time I was off the back in perhaps .125 miles. Ouch.

This time I had to walk several sections. Oh well. I did what I could but these guys still waited for me; that was very nice.

Thank goodness it's just a nice descent from here back to the car. After catching my breath I was able to hang all the way back.

All-in-all an awesome run! Being out with people who are faster than me is super motivating. Luckily I was good and fresh for today or this would have been a bit of a death march. :) I am also starting to learn these trails a little better which is fun. And the weather was a nice surprise. It's ben so cold in the city which made it even nicer to climb out of the fog and chill into the bright sun.

As I was climbing up Cougar huffing and puffing here come these two young boys hauling ass down the trail in jeans and high-top sneakers. They were having a BLAST bombing the trail. A couple of minutes later I met the dad and remarked how fast the boys were going and he was like, "Yeah...!" How cool, I rarely see children enjoying a hike this much.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 5:45 AM - apple sauce, banana, Udo's Oil, 1 scoop protein powder, 2 scoops Perpetuem, tea
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food 2 bottles each w/1.5 scoops Perpetuem and 1 Endurolytes
Injuries  
Therapy I could feel my right side but it was not debilitating and never got worse.
Time of Day 7:30 AM
Workout Type endurance
Weather low 30s and frosty/foggy at the car, relatively warm (mid 40s?) and sunny and dry up top
Course  
Results  
Time 3:19
Distance 18 miles
Pace  
Equipment Hoka Stinson Evo, 2 hand-help bottles, Garmin Fenix
Clothing Teko organic SIN3RGI Light Minicrew, Under Armour boxer briefs, 2XU Compression 3/4 Tights, Craft Active Extreme Short Sleeve Baselayer, Patagonia wind proof fleece shirt, SmartWool hat, Patagonia Capilene gloves

18 January 2013

bike commute

Oh man is Tucker Roy good at what he does... I finally got that massage I was longing for and it was uncomfortable (my body is messed up) but oh so good for me. Before and after was like night and day. Thank you Tucker.

ASIDE - this guy has some heavy hands and if you are an athlete looking to get fixed be prepared to feel it. So worth it though.

Otherwise I just rode to and from work.

Actually, I managed to get in a little detour on the way to work. I cruised down Post Alley past the Gum Wall and continued all the way south through the Harbor Steps and down the stairs. I had to slow down a little so as not to throw my chain off (my single speed just has a chain tensioner) but still, good urban riding times for sure.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food  
Injuries  
Therapy 10:00 AM - 60 min massage
Time of Day  
Workout Type fun ride
Weather upper 30s, cloudy, dry, calm
Course  
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  

17 January 2013

bike commute | core

Yesterday's run discouraged me quite a bit. :( In hopes that it would help, I just rode to and from work today.

On the upside my weight has been going DOWN which is awesome. Do I sound like a girl? Shelley says I do. But hey, in my defense I had let myself slide just a bit during the holidays and all I'm trying to do is get back to where I was.

On the way home I had to run more errands which was again super fun on the bike. It was FOGGY and DARK and my headlight was reflecting off of the water droplets that were suspended in the air. Very cool. For some reason riding home today felt incredibly liberating... Probably because I was on the road, on the sidewalk, total urban freestyle. Did I mention it was fun? It was. :)

I did forget to turn my GPS on after one stop coming home. Oh well, what should have been 10 or so miles was only five. I even re-created the route on MapMyRide but the file I exported from there I was not able to upload to either Garmin Connect or Strava. Bunk.

Core was not easier today but I am more prepared for the effort if that makes any sense.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 180 lb.
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day core - 12:00 PM
Workout Type endurance, some efforts on the way home
Weather mid 30s, super foggy, calm, dry
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side -12 lb.
push-ups 17
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
hip adductors 3 x 30 - 80 lb.
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  

16 January 2013

treadmill run | bike commute | core

After two days off of running [Stairs don't count as 'running', right...?] I figured it was time to give it a go again.

Not.

Oh man, my right hamstring/glute/IT band was one big shooting pain. I started off relatively mellow and came this close to walking but managed to run through this. At the end I felt better than when I started but I did NOT feel good. I obviously need to get help so once I got to work I promptly scheduled a massage and an appointment with my PT.

On a humorous note, when I was about 20 minutes into my run the guy from the front desk at my gym comes up to me and wants to say something. I had my iPod in and it was cranked so I had to take the ear buds out to hear what he had to say. "Hey, I'm really sorry to ask but I think your treadmill isn't balanced or something and we just had a guy from another building call to complain about the noise... would you mind moving one to the left or right?"

Oops.

I did notice the treadmill was not as solid feeling as I am used to and it kinda rocked when I landed on it but I had no idea it was making so much noise. I shut it down and moved left for my last ten minutes. Sorry everyone...

Core was still just as hard as Monday but I checked the box. Progress.

On the way home I had to run some errands and it was a blast to be able to do them on the bike.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 182 lb.
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day run - 5:15 AM
core - 12:00 PM
Workout Type endurance
Weather low to mid 30s, super foggy, dry, calm
Course run - treadmill, 1% incline
plank 3 min, 2 min each side
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 15
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
hip adductors 3 x 30 - 80 lb.
Results  
Time run - 30 min
Distance run - 4.2 miles
Pace run - 5 min at 7:30, 25 min at 7:00
Equipment run - Brooks Launch
commute - Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  

15 January 2013

Howe Street stairs | bike commute

Sometimes you just know the scheduled workout is going to suck and today was one of those days.

I think I went harder than I thought last Saturday and two days of easy movement was not sufficient to let me bounce back. Did I take the day off? Ha! Nope, I plowed through the workout anyway. I mean c'mon, I had Jim Kodjababian depending on me for company and just can't let your friend down.

Needless to say I was shattered at the end of this stair session. On the last runner I had to walk the flat sections between the flights after I got half way up. That has only happened to me once before.

What doesn't kill you... or something like that. Here's hoping anyway.

My one consolation was that Jim got there a tad early so whereas I usually get in five warm up flights before he shows, I just got in four today.

I thought that my ride into work would feel good but it just felt ungodly slow and laborious.

At lunch I did make it down to the IMA for some more stretching. I gotta say, it feels really good when I'm finished.

Sleep 7
Waking HR  
Body Weight 12:00 PM - 183
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food stairs - bottle w/2 scoops HEED
commute - water
Injuries  
Therapy 12:00 PM - 30 min of stretching
Time of Day stairs - 5:40 AM
Workout Type intervals/strength
Weather mid 30s, dry, calm
Course stairs - Howe Street
Results  
Time stairs - 1:16
Distance stairs - 17 flights
Pace  
Equipment stairs - Brooks Launch
commute - Raleigh Mojave 8.0
Clothing  
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14 January 2013

bike commute | core

What with my left ankle not being healed up all the way and my right hip (glute? hamstring?) acting up way more than I wish it would I figured a nice bike ride was just what the doctor ordered.

The weather is quite cold and I honestly have not been out in these temperatures in some time so figuring out how to dress took me a while. It took me so long I was late to work. :(

Core was really hard - everything from the plank to the hip abductors/adductors. Ouch. But I need to get back in the grove as my back was fully baked after the Bridle Trails run.

Sleep  
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast  
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy 5:30 AM - 20 min of stretching
Time of Day core - 12:00 PM
Workout Type commute - active recovery
Weather  
Course
plank 3 min, 2 min each side
back extensions 3 x 40
clam knee lifts 100 each leg
side leg lifts 100 each leg
leg scissors 100
twisters 50 each side - 12 lb.
push-ups 16
hip abductors 3 x 30 - 100 lb.
hip adductors 3 x 30 - 80 lb.
Results  
Time  
Distance  
Pace  
Equipment  
Clothing  

13 January 2013

cardio

Oh man am I moving slowly today after my run yesterday... My back is still very tender and my quads are really tight.

Usually I have taken a day or two totally off after a hard effort (mostly due to laziness) but I firmly believe in active recovery so this is me trying to practice what I preach.

I hit the elliptical trainer and then did some stretching. And I feel MUCH BETTER. Not great or anything but I'm very glad I did this.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight 10:00 AM - 178
Body Fat 6
Breakfast 9:30 AM - Smoothie 2.0
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food water
Injuries  
Therapy 20 min of stretching after cardio
Time of Day 8:30 AM
Workout Type active recovery
Weather  
Course elliptical trainer
12 incline, 12 resistance
Results  
Time 30 min
Distance  
Pace mid 140s rpm
heart rate started out in the teens and was in the mid 120s when I finished
Equipment  
Clothing  

12 January 2013

Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k

Good grief... as I sit here with my warm tea and pajamas on the morning of the Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival I don't mind admitting that I am extraordinarily nervous about this stupid race! Not that the run itself is stupid, I feel stupid for getting so worked up about it.

Last weekend I sprained my left ankle something fierce and that really put a damper on this week's training. That, and this is only my second 50k ever. Did I mention the forecast is for mid 30s at the start and for upper 20s at the finish? And the reason it will be getting colder is that the race starts at 3:00 PM so we're also going to be running in the dark most of the time.

To top it off I had a time goal before I hurt myself, that being to go under five hours.

Bring it. [He says meekly...]

P1000057
This race is put on by the Seattle Running Club and Northwest Trail Runs and from what I hear it's somewhat of a NW tradition. The course is a 5-mile loop over fairly very flat, not-so-technical trails (which I guess is good if you are going to be out there in the dark). In past years it has been wet and at times incredibly muddy so I suppose the cold this year is a bit of a blessing in disguise.

Driving to Bridle Trails Park from my house is a breeze. I-90, I-405, get off the freeway, go down a road and turn left into the parking lot. Nice. And because a Discover Pass is required to park in this lot it wasn't even half full. I put on my hat and gloves, got my number, did some cursory stretching and then because it was freaking freezing went back to my van and turned on the engine to stay warm.

Holy cow was I cold. And it was only 2:00 PM! What was I going to feel like once the sun went down?

If there is one symptom of aging that has made itself more prominent than any other it's that I just can't maintain any body heat when I am sedentary. Once I get moving/exercising it's usually okay but sitting still? No dice. I had the heater on 11 and was dreading going back outside. Finally, with 15 minutes to go before the start I sacked up and walked over to the start wearing only what I was going to run in.

After one last visit to the porta-potty (nothing like a race to make you need to pee five times in 60 minutes...) I walked up to the start just in time to hear them say, "Any questions?" Nope, let's get moving already.

ASIDE - it seems no matter what the temperature or conditions, running races will always bring out some dillweed who insists on wearing a tank top. Today I saw three of them and two more people in just short sleeves. At least one singlet-sporting super star was also wearing arm warmers. C'mon people...

GO.

Within three strides my right hip had flared up. Shit. Ever since I sprained my ankle on Tiger I must have favored my other leg too much and it caused some tightness that I have not been able to work out. I have been on Ibuprofen all week and have stretched twice and have taken it easy all week but I guess this is still an issue.

Before the start Steven Kent said hi to me. This is the same Steve that paced me, then coaxed me and finally practically carried me to the end of the Loop The Lake Marathon two weeks ago. I was thinking about asking him what his time goal was then thought it was probably better not to know as he is faster than I am and I really wanted to run my own race today. Still, super nice of him to say hi. Of course as I limped down the start/finish chute, around the first turn and onto the trail I'd be lying if I said I didn't look up to see where Steve was... he had on a really bright shirt so was easy to spot.
needless to say I was SO bummed about my hip acting up. On the treadmill I was able to run through the tightness so I resolved to just take it easy, be as fluid and symmetrical as possible and hopefully I would come good. Or at least les tied up.

Lap #1
It was fast. I knew it was too fast and I still didn't slow down. I think that all the rest this week plus seeing Steve up the road was the cause. :) As a good friend has told me many times, you can't bank time in a running race like you can in a cycling race. Obviously I still need to ingrain this factoid. I tried to keep sipping on my bottle and never felt stressed so just ran it in.

Lap #2
I pulled into the aid station, threw back a GU and since my bottle was only half empty took off pronto. Steve had put a little bit of time into me but as I pulled in he was just pulling out and he said hi again. That was nice.

In the aid station I glanced at my watch and could not believe the time! As I ran past the finish line I looked over at the clock and sure enough it said 38 minutes. THIRTY EIGHT. And here my goal was sub five hours going in. I would have to blow a mile high to not make that so I checked my watch again and the distance said 4.93 miles so given that my watch is usually a bit short I figured this was all true.

Should I reevaluate my goal? Nah... I was going to wait one more lap and see what happened.
The tightness in my hip was not gone but it was bearable and I no longer felt like I was limping, just running with discomfort.

Lap #3
After lap #2 I grabbed another GU and this time filled up my bottle as it was empty. I also got my light from my drop bag and put it on over my hat. For just a second I thought it would be doable to run lap #3 with no light then I thought why be stupid and risk injury. it's a good thing I took it.
I looked at the clock when I ran past the start/finish again and nothing had changed, I was still smoking. I had run two laps in 1:18. As scary as this sounded to me I decided to just maintain and see what happened. I was not breathing super hard and I was running the entire course so I was guardedly optimistic about the outcome.

About half way through lap #3 I had to turn on my headlamp. I was psyched! Today was my first day using this Black Diamond Icon Headlamp (200 lumens) and it was comfy and in spite of the relatively big battery pack on the back of the strap it did not feel heavy. And it was bright! In fact, throughout the course of this run I would have no fewer than three people remark that my light appeared to be the brightest one on the course. Nice.

Lap #4
In the aid station after lap #3 I ate another GU and again did not fill up my bottle as it was still roughly half full. I thought it was pretty cool that my times were what they were as this made for an extremely fast transition in the aid station. If my times had been any longer I would have had to eat more and fill my bottle after each lap.

Passing the clock after lap #3 I saw I was sub 1:20 and honestly this was blowing my mind. I started to entertain a sub 4-hour time but didn't let myself get carried away as I know the second half was going to be slower. How much exactly was the question.

Throughout the race but especially during the first two laps I had to thread my way through groups of runners. Usually it was no big deal but sometimes I was doing the old tightrope walk along the edge of the trail when there was not much room. Exciting stuff. :) On lap #4 the traffic started to taper off and now in addition to catching fewer people I was getting lapped by the fastest teams. Damn... some of these guys were flying along. It was impressive.

During this lap I could feel myself slowing down for sure. But I was still running the entire course and managing the effort so again I decided to carry on and see what happened. I think I assumed that when the hammer was going to drop it would be a controlled drop. Again, I have lots to learn.
The course was really well marked including glow sticks which was super cool at night. That plus my bitchin' light and I was still having quite a bit of fun.

Lap #5
I pulled into the aid station after lap #4, got my GU and filled my bottle and took off.
And then my back seized up. Okay, not totally obviously but there was a big spasm as I started to move again and I got worried. I took me about 300 m to get back up to speed this time but I noticed that when I made an extra effort to keep my upper body really upright my back felt incrementally better. Whew.

Lap #5 was even slower but I still ran the whole thing. I could absolutely tell that I was dogging it on the climbs and did not have the same lightness on the flats and couldn't quite coast as fast on the descents but I was still running! I resolved to make that my goal - run the whole thing regardless of my time.

On this lap I caught some guy named Will and we ended up running the whole thing together. Turns out his wife has just started running and so they did this event as a two-person team. How cool. Based on our conversation it sounded like he was quite a bit more experienced than I was but he was willing to go my pace. At the end of lap #5 I had to slow down just a bit and he did likewise. That was very nice. Company at any time but especially at night is great.

About half way through lap #5 I saw Glen Mangiantini who was wearing shorts. I didn't really feel 'cold' but I was slowing down and tying up so I suspect the cold was in part responsible for this. I just can't do the shorts thing anymore when it's this chilly.

I finished lap #5 on what felt like fumes. Oops...

Lap #6
As I pulled into the aid station Eric Sach was there and asked how I was. "Gee Eric, not so great I think..." He encouraged me to find someone to run the last lap with and wished me luck. At this point was SO sick of gel that I ate two small pieces of boiled red potato and washed them down with some Coke. Then I pulled out of the aid station and my back felt like it was exploding!

Throughout the race people had been recognizing me and encouraging me. I had Win Van Pelt, Eric Sach, Angel Rossi Mathis (who was helping in the aid station) and Rory Muller and Deanna Muller from BuDu Racing (who were handling the timing) all encourage me while I was running. Thanks so much guys! As my body started to shut down on me I tried to channel this encouragement. :)

Not only did my back feel like crap as I started lap #6, not more than 200 m into this lap my right forearm started to cramp! WTF? At first I thought it was from holding my bottle all night long but then I realized this had never happened before and suddenly got worried as I figured if some ancillary muscles like my forearm were on the way out, what about my legs?

No sooner had I fully formulated this thought in my mind when both of my hamstrings cramped.
Guess what Martin had forgotten to do - take electrolytes. Yes it was cold as hell but I was still sweating a lot and the 2.5 bottles of sports drink I had consumed were obviously not up to the job of keeping these cramps at bay. Rats.

This was probably my low point. I still had about 4.5 miles to run and I was scared I might have to walk and/or stop to stretch.

Then I started remembering some things much more accomplished ultra runners had said; stuff like, "It's not about the goal, it's about embracing the journey." and, "You don't have to run fast, you just have to run all day." So I tried to relax and not worry about stuff like my time or whether or not I had to walk and I slowed down.

Incredibly, I was able to run through this and my hamstrings did not bother me again. in addition to slowing down I also drained my bottle in short order.

Did I mention that when I was in the aid station after lap #5 I had told the guy filling bottles to just give me 3/4 of a bottle? It seems I had drunk slightly more than half during lap #5 but I figured for sure I would not need a full bottle during lap #6 so why carry the extra weight. Hahahahaha... I am an idiot.

So now I get to the first 'hill' which is about .5 miles into the loop and I'm still running. I recalled my goal of running the whole thing but half way up this hill there is a lull in the grade and suddenly I'm walking.

From previous experience I know that once I start to walk (at least when I'm trying to run) I start to walk a lot and today was no different. That first walk was like Hans Brinker pulling his finger out of the dyke and I walked about five more times I think.

I was also alone. At first I thought this would be a bummer but it was perhaps not so bad as I could go as slow as I wanted. :) And slow is exactly what I went. Damn.

My 'run' had turned to a jog/shuffle as I was trying to save my back and my hamstrings. Finally, with about 2.5 miles left I somehow caught this guy who was also doing the 50k solo. It kind of blew me away. And then just after I passed him, he passed me back. And then dropped me! People are interesting. Sometimes the motivation of beating the other guy - even if it's for 30th place or whatever - will spur you on. We chatted for just a bit but then in very short order he started to run away from me as I walked up yet another riser.

Another really cool thing about my headlamp is that the light goes waaaaay down the trail. Some people were wearing these running jackets with reflective piping and I could see them way before I could hear them. As I was plodding along I saw yet another such jacket and it motivated me to speedup just a little. I finally caught this guy but promptly had to walk again; at which point he passed me back! When I started running again I passed him back and it was obvious that my natural stride and speed was faster than his - it was just a mater of whether or not I could keep running. :) I think I walked one more time but this time I had put a big enough gap between me and him that he did not catch up. Another tiny, insignificant victory was mine!

The last .75 miles of this loop are really fun. Just after you crest the last climb you turn left off of the gravel freeway of a path onto some super single track. When you pop out of this you have the longest descent of the loop back to the finish.

By now I had almost memorized the loop and so each time I got to this single track I knew I was close and probably sped up. Lucky for me I still had some vapors left in the tank and so this last lap was no different. I resolved to not hit the brakes on the last descent and as I bombed down who should I see but the guy that had dropped me earlier! I caught him within 100' of the start/finish chute and in a very small way it made my day as he had been out of sight for at least two miles.

As I rolled across the finish line I glanced up and saw something like 4:15. Wow, I had really blown up on that last lap... But I made it! At the start Eric Sach had said that the course was fast and boy was he right. This was no mud fest, in fact I'd venture that the course was faster today than in the middle of the summer! The only thing that was going to slow you down was the cold.

I crossed the finish line and went straight to my van where I took off all my soaking wet clothes and put on some dry stuff. Then I hobbled back to the aid station and wolfed down two cups of turkey chili, lots of potato chips and a giant shortbread cookie. Man did that hit the spot. Did Martin eat enough on this run? Nope. Did Martin drink enough on this run? Nope. Should Martin worry more about electrolytes while on long runs? Yep.

I had gotten incredibly cold just walking from my van back to the aid station. And now, even though I had a hot cup of chili in my hands and in my stomach I was starting to shake. Badly.

Soon I realized I had to get the heck out of there and made a beeline for the parking lot. When I got back to the van I realized I was in a pretty bad way as it took me about 15 seconds to muster up the coordination to get the key in the door. :( I had the heat maxed out all the way home and only just stopped shivering when I pulled up to our house. Yikes.

My fancy, new GPS watch once again let me down! It recorded four laps perfectly and then simply stopped! I recall looking down during lap #5 and seeing the dreaded 'cannot connect to satellite' message and my heart sank. The glass also gets covered in condensation any time the temperature dips below 40 degrees. Not good. Obviously it's time to talk to Garmin and/or get this thing replaced.
When I got home I could barely walk up our stairs, my back was completely torched. It has not felt this bad in at least a year. If nothing else it gives me more motivation to stop slacking off on the core work. I was also still frozen and stood in the shower for ages just letting the hot water warm me.
This run was amazing. The conditions were pretty near perfect for a really fast time. It was so professionally run, the aid was fantastic, the results were prompt, the volunteers were numerous and awesome, the course markings was good and plentiful, the course was fun and running in the dark was a blast. I need to pace myself better and do some tempo running to survive this distance it seems but learning is always good. As long as I really do learn and don't quickly forget. :)

Thanks also to The Balanced Athlete, Northwest Trail Runs and Fleet Feet Sports for supporting this run.

My GPS files below is messed up but you can at least see my first four laps. I love how mile 21 took me 1:30 to complete. It was so slow Garmin didn't even offer a pace for that. :) The splits from the results tell the whole story.

results

Here are all the pictures.

Sleep 6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast 7:00 AM - tea
8:00 Am - Smoothie 2.0
Lunch 1:00 PM - banana
1:30 PM - 3 Perpetuem Solids, tea
Dinner 8:30 PM - 2 cups turkey chili, lots of potato chips, giant shortbread cookie
Workout Food just before start - GU
race - 4 GUs, 1 bottle w/2 scoops HEED, 2 bottles w/some kind of Gatorade, 2 pieces of boiled potato, 2 small cups of Coke
Injuries My left ankle did fine!
Therapy
Time of Day 3:00 PM
Workout Type race
Weather mid 30s at the start, upper 20s at the finish, dry, calm
Course 5-mile rolling loop, with 2 extended flat sections and 3 'climbs' (50' hills really) of note, about half of the loop is on a wider gravel path and the rest on dirt single track
Results 6th - 50k solo overall
official results
Time 4:15:50
Distance 50 km
Pace 8:14
Equipment Hoka Stinson Evo, hand-held bottle, Black Diamond Icon Headlamp
Clothing Teko organic SIN3RGI Light Minicrew, Under Armour boxer briefs, Mountain Hardwear tights, Craft Active Classic Long Sleeve Baselayer, SmartWool NTS Micro 150 Zip T, Patagonia Capilene 4 Expedition Weight Beanie, Patagonia Capilene gloves

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