Where's the Donuts?

There seems to be a theme among FRBers I follow this week, so I jumped on board and hit the treadmill again. Actually, I didn't need peer pressure. My cold is sticking around and it was 30 degrees and sleeting again, so I decided to just go sweat for 30 minutes and hopefully rest up for a high-mileage weekend. 

Easy pace, 4 miles. Foot felt fine, for the most part. Energy is just low. 33:00

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Manette Hills loop, minus the extra loop around the YMCA. Rained, then hailed, then the sun came out. Kept a medium pace, but I'm low on energy and still a little sore as I recover from the mini-cold. A lot of sweat though, so hopefully I'm getting flushed out. 43:11

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Day off for a Chuckanut prep run. Drove up to Skagit Valley and got to the empty parking lot around 1. Gray day, but 47 degrees and no rain, so I felt good about heading for 18 solo. 

Clayton Beach to Cleator Road in 40 minutes even. I was slower on the climb to Fragrance than planned, my heart was racing and I just wasn't warmed up for those hills. At Frangrance I found my first patches of snow, enough to cover the ground and make things a little slick, but not too tricky. 

Up Cleator Road to the gate in 22 minutes, but here's where the run went awry. Out of nowhere you hit snow where Cleator gets steep. Just 2-3 inches initially, but that was 5 by the gate and 8-10 inches at the switchbacks before the ridge entrance. I was trudging through it, picking my lines and paths through the two or three sets of footsteps in the snow, but it was tough.

I started heading out the ridge, the trail was covered but not as deep because of the tree cover. The wind and rain picked up there, however, and freezing to death on that ridge alone wasn't a good plan for the day. It's pretty exposed. So I turned around. Went up Cleator to the Chinscraper trail and ran that backward. The last bit before the parking lot was snowy, but it cleared quickly in the trees there and the rest of the trail was fine.

At the base of Chinscraper I did the Lost Lake trail climb backward, hit snow again but this was also quite a bit less (maybe 2-4 inches) than the road. Got to the top there and ran back down, then found Frangrance Road (hopped on at a dry point) and ran back to the parking lot. I knew I was short from skipping the ridge and the climb out of Lost Lake, so I took the Interurban for another 30 minutes. Probably 15 total. Tired but not slammed, and probably could be considered "good" after dealing with the week's fatigue and recovering from the cold. My energy uphill through the snow was encouraging, the first 1/3 of the run when I was finding a rhythm was not. 2:30:00

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I stayed in the valley to have dinner with friends after the run, and didn't get to my bed until 11:30. So the 5:45 wake up to go meet Mike came early. But it was kind of intentional, I wanted to run early to get some work on tired legs. 

We ran 12 on the Beach Drive course, kept the pace pretty easy (I wasn't pushing or surging, that's for sure). My legs felt shot three miles in, and the last four coming in were a grind. We were still hitting 7:30 pace. So it was punishment for a cause, and piling some miles on tired legs will help.

My body wasn't so happy overall though, breakfast didn't sit well and I even struggled through my afternoon nap. Just exhausted for a good week of training, I guess.

supernova glide blue -- 112

To cap my big mileage weekend on Sunday, I joined Krissy and two other friends for another early morning, this time at Cougar Mountain. My body was really screaming about another 6 a.m. wake-up call, but it was good to put these all together. And it turned out to be a really nice morning. Wasn't sure what I'd have left, but who cared at that point. 

We started mercifully slow on the initial ascent, which my legs actually handled with some strength. Once we leveled out I felt almost loose and springy, which I didn't expect. Justin eventually pushed the pace a bit, but I felt fine sticking with that, and the hills toward the middle and finish breezed right by. I could feel the miles from the weekend stacking up, but it wasn't slowing me down.

I wasn't totally rested, but as the run finished my body kind of snapped back to feeling healthy. Really positive way to finish a big weekend. 1:30:00

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Manette-Warren bridge loop. The sheath outside and above my left ankle flared up after the weekend. Nothing serious, but some pain. So I'm on the ice schedule, and I may take another day off just so I don't bug it. 40:08

supernova glide blue

Tracyton Beach Road and back. The inflammation above my left ankle flared up about 2 miles in, but didn't get really sore. I took it easy on the way out, picked up the pace a bit coming back and loosened up. Little side trip through Lion's Park. Felt pretty strong overall, not as fatigued this week due to the lowered mileage. Should be in good shape for the race as long as I baby the ankle a few more days. 60:08

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Another rainy day run, and thus another day to be jealous of Jon Allen's blog. (And eager for his reports of sweltering through the South's August humidity.) 

Met Mike at Evergreen Park, we skipped yesterday's run for today because he had plans and I had plans to sleep in (and then I never found a chance to get out for some miles). But we couldn't shake the rain, and it was pretty wet. Crossed the Warren Ave bridge, down through Lions Park, then back to Manette with a loop of Shore Drive and return on the bridge and through downtown. Nice time, although Mike definitely pushed the pace (and complained about it the whole time). Ankle flared up a bit at 16 minutes or so, so I'm still being cautious with that for another week. 53:40

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Beat the rain for an easy run on the 11th-Shore Drive loop. Left ankle wasn't as bad, but the arch was bugging me. Being careful with both heading into the weekend. 36:11

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Turned out it wasn't my day, but that's the selfish way to look at it. The course was much improved from two weeks earlier, the rain held and by the finish the sun was even out, a lot of familiar faces were there, and I finished without injuring myself. So I have a smile on regardless. 

I slept in Mount Vernon the night before so I didn't have a long drive before the race. Cup of coffee and a plain English muffin for breakfast. Arrived in plenty of time, though I was one of the last four people out of the bathrooms before rushing to the start. I jumped in line next to Brita, who I drove up with, well back in the pack.

The first mile or two was slow, just staying in that pack as we stretched out on the Interurban. Like last year I didn't want to waste any energy there. I ran alone, mostly passing people, and hit the 10k in 49 minutes. A minute slower than '10, but right where I wanted to be. One gel on the way out. Small cup of water at the station and then up the hill. I was with a pack of guys headed up to Frangrance, and one older runner and I ended up leading the whole climb. We really trucked through, it felt great and I was really strong on the climb to the lake. I ended up passing the older guy, though he stayed close and moved ahead of me on the Cleator climb. But I made the Cleator station in 38 minutes, feeling good.

Walked through that aid station and got going again up the long climb. Other than a four-minute walk on the steeper early stretch and a short walk near the top on a steep turn, I moved pretty well. Just over 30 minutes to the Ridge (though I can't compare to last year because the station moved, I think the time was faster overall). I felt in a much better place than the year before at that point, and started off strong on the Ridge, catching a few people quickly.

But, at 2:30 or so, the cramping started in my calves. I still had energy and felt strong, but I was a little worried. Same place it happened last year. I managed through, walked some of the steep bits and slowed the pace some, tried to fuel. I have a feeling I had less water in me than I should have. Took some salt tablets, and made it back down to Lost Lake trail. Took it easy up that trail, trying to work the cramps out (or at least hold them at bay). Kept moving at a decent pace, though I hiked the last uphill up to the lookout. Heading back down to the Chinscraper start was brutal though, I was completely zapped and cramping all the way through my legs by then. No water left either, and I was just clinging on until that aid station.

Hit it in 1:19 for that stretch. By then I knew a pr was pretty much impossible. I spent some time there refueling with soup, electrolytes, etc., which helped some. A group of us scaled chinscraper toghether, mostly hiking, in just under 20 minutes. At the top, however, the three or four I was with bolted and I had nothing to go on. The cramps whacked me again. I made it down (because, well, it's downhill) in 26:00.

I was at the last aid in just over 4 hours, so I wasn't sure I'd even break 5 at that point. I was a little broken in my head, knowing that. Just kind of frustrated, tired of battling the cramps, second guessing everything I had done in preparation (or had not done); I wasn't hurt at all but I was broken in my mind. I ran slowly in, walking occasionally when my legs would cramp up, and I was passed by at least four or five people. At some point I finally told myself, 'just finish, don't worry about it.' So I let go of the 5-hour goal, tried to grind through and find some enjoyment in looking out at the water as I squeezed the last drops out of my body. Hit the finish in 5:04:42, and all I could think about was food despite the gels, shot blocks, etc. I just had nothing in the tank and could feel it.

I could make excuses all day about the performance (and sitting here thinking I'm coming up with more). But there were a few that probably affected me which I can address before the next race: my mileage for both January and February was slightly below last year; I've been working an odd shift at work the past three weeks, which has thrown my rest out of whack and fatigued me overall; work has been particularly stressful the past two months, which I think has worn me down mentally and made it tough to focus on the race; my nutrition in the four or five days preceding the race was abysmal, I was skipping meals and eating less than the best when I did eat, which I think explains some of the dehydration and definitely the lack of energy in the last few miles.

The rest of the afternoon was good, sat in the sun and talked to people, watched awards, all that. After eating my head straightened out, which was nice. So it wasn't my best race, but I'm not too beat up now (a little shin pain and swelling is about it) so I'll get another one on the schedule soon to test myself again.

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Back after a three day rest. Spring has started, Manette in the mid-morning is full of retired people gardening, my legs are recovered other than a little bruising/inflammation in my right shin, and it's time to begin again. YMCA loop, so I could feel a few hills. Other than the shin, fine and dandy. Race plans are forming again in my head, and hopefully they make their way to the blog soon. 33:33

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Warren-Manette bridge loop on a dry but cloudy morning at a medium effort as the run progressed. My right shin seems to flare up more often as the week goes on, especially after sitting for awhile. I feel it while running, though it's worse when walking, oddly enough, and tender to the touch when I massage it (which helps). Ice ice ice, some patience and crossed fingers. Other than that, no hangover from Chuckanut in the legs or overall energy levels, which is really encouraging. 42:00

supernova glide -- 152

Seven or so with Krissy at Discovery Park, not the usual loop because we were hustling back to get to a show. So I'll estimate. Really strong, steady pace, so my legs are fine. The shin edema or whatever flared up once, but it's improving. No run Saturday, but still a good active recovery week. 55:00

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Quickie across the two bridges, cloudy morning in Bremerton. I'm a little frisky for some reason and started at 7/min pace despite a good headwind (maybe it's The Mondays--or just the two days off). I shouldn't complain. Felt good to start the week. 36:49

supernova glide -- 164

Tonight was the first practice of the year for the youth team I coach, the Bremerton Jaguars. The philosophy this year is that for the first three weeks, at least, we do nothing but conditioning. Let the kids whine. We broke into groups of five (we have 35 on the team now, which should grow to between 50-75) and did workouts of 5 minutes running broken up by short sprints (a set of 50m, then a faster set of 25m, then running stairs). It was fun to get started, and actually there wasn't too much whining. 

So when we finished I put in four miles around the track. A few kids jumped in with me for a lap, but every one of them got gassed quickly at 7/min-ish pace. I'm going to keep doing post-practice workouts in front of the kids, hoping some of the better ones (who have plenty of energy left, I think) get pulled in more often for a mile or two.

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Tracyton Beach turnaround, didn't have time to make the boat launch. Windy day, but the drencher forecast is being blocked by the Olympics. So I won't complain. Quick pace, though I felt a little low on energy. 59:00 or so.

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