June 25, 2011

Forest Park Loop Number 6

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Forest Park Loop Number 6 at Garmin Connect – Details

This morning, for the first time in over two years(!) I made it out trail running. I’ve been trying to build my fitness back up after a couple of years of, well, distractions. Or laziness. Call it what you will. I’ve been busy.

I figured I had about six miles in me. So far this year that is about my longest run. Looking through my Forest Park map pack, Loop Number 6 is around six miles long. Perfect. I pulled on my Vibrams, grabbed a bottle of water and my camera, and headed out the door.

It was a perfect morning for a run – blue skies, and not too chilly. And I loved every minutes of it. At times like these I have to ask myself, why don’t I do this more often? I regret doing so little running through the fall and winter. I wish I was in better shape now so I could run further and longer. Hopefully this year I can focus a bit more on running and training and general. I still really want to try an ultra.

 

March 12, 2009

Eagle Creek Trail Run

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Early part of the Eagle Creek trail. Beautiful, even on a grey, rainy day.

Early part of the Eagle Creek trail. Beautiful, even on a grey, rainy day.

Last Saturday I went for a run with Jessica of Portland Trail Runners on the Eagle Creek trail in the Gorge. This is one of my favorite trails to run. If you live around here and you have never hiked or run up Eagle Creek, you are really missing out. The plan was to run to Tunnel Falls and back; a 12 mile round trip. Recent reports said there were a few blowdowns, small slides, and patches of snow to contend with, but overall the trail was pretty passable. We were going to find out!

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March 1, 2009

Randomness

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Am I out of shape? I got to thinking last night about the Hagg Lake Trail Run from last Saturday, and the Timberline “Half Marathon” from last September. The former race was about 15.25 miles. The latter about 14. Hagg Lake had 3400 feet of elevation gain. Timberline of 3500. (If we believe my Garmin Forerunner 305. I think it overshoots the elevation, but since I used the same device for both events, the numbers are comparable.) Hagg Lake had a lot of mud, but wasn’t too bad. Timberline was completely dry and warm.

I ran around Hagg Lake in 2:39:23, a 10:17 min/mile pace. I ran the Timberline Half Marathon in 1:50:28, about a 7:52 min/mile pace. And I won that race. What a difference a few months, and some very haphazard training makes! In thinking about my experience at Timberline though, I know where I can get fitness wise, and I know what it takes to get there. I’ve even got a plan. Now all I have to do is execute…and hopefully not get injured!

 

February 24, 2009

First Run after Hagg Lake

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I made it out for a run yesterday morning, preceded by some light strength training, and followed by almost 30 minutes of stretching. Overall I didn’t feel too bad. An area on the outside of my left leg, below the knee, hurt a bit, just like it did after the race. It actually felt better after the run/stretch, and I fully expect the next few days, with no run training, will heal it fully. Otherwise I was just sore and tight. The pace/HR were both ok. I definitely felt slow, but during the faster part of my run I averaged a 9:11 mile with my HR barely into zone 2. The stretching at the end definitely felt nice, and I seem to be recovering well from Hagg Lake.

Just hoping now that I can continue training without further interruptions! An upcoming tooth ‘extraction’ (next week?) could take me out for a few days, but that remains to be seen.

 

February 21, 2009

2009 Hagg Lake 25k Trail Run

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After not running for almost three weeks (I actually ran about 3 miles yesterday :-) I went out and did the Hagg Lake 25k Trail Run. I originally registered for the 50k run, but clearly I wasn’t ready for a 31 mile run today. In all honesty I wasn’t really ready for a 15.5 mile run, but I registered, I needed to get back to training, and I needed to get out and run. So I went, figuring I would just take it easy.

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February 21, 2009

On Again Off Again (Again)

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I don’t really recommend anyone train this way, but it has been unavoidable for me lately. On again off again is how things have been for the past few months. After the Portland Marathon I made plans to do a 50-miler in July and my coach got me started on a training program. (more…)

 

January 26, 2009

I Registered

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I finally registered for the Pacific Crest Trail 50-miler that will take place on July 25th. I had really started training for this late last year but Sun’s plans to reorganize, shedding 6000 jobs in the process, really derailed me. I’m still not 100% certain my job is safe, but I seem to have made it past the first round of layoffs.

Now I’ve got to come up with a strategy to actually train for it! A couple of books are going to help me along. I’m confident I can get there and make it happen!

 

November 6, 2008

PCT Ultra Training Days 13, 14, and 15

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Day 13

This past Monday morning I felt incredible – tons of energy, and a very positive mindset. So I figured it was the right time to get out on my run. It turned out to be the best run I’ve had so far in this training cycle, and the best I can remember for a long time. The plan called for just 30 minutes, with a couple of sets of strides. After doing a typical warmup routine I headed out, and decided to just run easy, however I felt, for 15 minutes before starting my strides. It turned out that “however I felt” was great! I ran 1.7 miles during this warmup at a 9:21 average pace, at a low average HR of 136. This, for me, is pretty incredible. Only a year ago I would have been running more like an 11 mpm pace at that HR, so this is a pretty dramatic improvement. (more…)

 

November 2, 2008

Hagg Lake 50k

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I just registered for the Hagg Lake 50k Ultramarathon. This will be my first ultramarathon. Registering for my first 50k (31 mile) race is a bit daunting. The race is February 29th, and it seems so soon for such a long run. The reality is though that the race is about 4 months away, so as long as my training goes well, being ready shouldn’t be a problem. Wish me luck!

 

November 2, 2008

PCT Ultra Training Days 8, 9, and 10

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Day 8

I missed my workout on Tuesday – some drills on my indoor bike trainer followed by upper body strength training – because I had a horrible headache by the time I left work. Normally when you miss a workout the right approach is to forget about it and move on. Trying to squeeze in the missed workout along with whatever is scheduled for the day you are trying to do the makeup is rarely a good idea. In this case coach told me to forget about the ride, but said it would be ok to fit the strength training session in at almost any point this week, so that is what I did.

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