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Point Definance 50k

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Location:

WA,

Member Since:

Feb 10, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

I was an 800/1500 runner in high school and college, with PRs of 1:55 and 4:08. I've run as fast as 16:15 for 5k and 1:20 for a half, but my bests in recent years are 17:07 5k (Dec. '11), 37:40 10k (Jan. '12), 1:23:49 half (Sept. '08), 2:53:12 marathon (September '10), and 4:45:06 50k (March '10).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Late 2015/2016 races: 

— Seattle Soltice 10k (Dec. 19)

— Nookachamps half marathon (Jan. 16)

— Toyko Marathon (Feb. 28) 

Personal:

I'm an editor at a newspaper in Bremerton, Washington and head coach of the Bremerton Jaguars youth track and field team.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Total Distance
76.50
Total Distance
3.00

Quick 3. Post-race rest time is over, one more race to prepare for (a 50k, just to do it more than really race), and then some winter months of base building. 

supernova glide

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Total Distance
4.00

YMCA loop on a foggy morning. Pretty warm out though. Pace was nice and relaxed. 31:06

supernova glide

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Total Distance
4.00

Easy one on the 11th-Shore Drive loop, nice morning with a sunrise highlighting the clouds orange and a salt water smell in the air. Legs are recovered, fitness a little diminished, and my ankle has healed itself from the TOU pounding. Time to go meet the boss for breakfast. 30:35

 supernova glide

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Total Distance
12.00

 

Back on Shore Drive, it's been awhile. Met Mike in the pre-dawn drizzle, it was a light rain and actually fairly warm out, 60 or so. Turned out to be a nice morning for a run. Mike has a half next weekend and I'm doing the Point Defiance 50k, so we didn't want to go too hard. But we ran a good pace, around 7 for most miles (I didn't wear a watch, and Mike didn't mention pace other than one we dipped down to 6:51 on). Real conversational, fun to catch up on what's been going on in life. Legs felt good, a little knee tingle near the end but nothing to worry about. 1:57 or so.

supernova glide -- 317

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Race: Point Definance 50k (20 Miles) 02:52:32
Total Distance
20.00

Reality check. 

After a very successful year of racing I dropped my clunker race today. In retrospect, trying to run 50k a few weeks after a tough marathon and with very little running since (and a lot of hours at the office and on the road) wasn't so wise. Point Defiance Park is a beautiful spot in Tacoma, it's a huge area (they even have a zoo) and the course criss-crossed all over. Really pretty course, nice trails, good crowd and perfect weather (other than down at the beach, where it was windy). It was a looped course, three laps for the 50. After doing two loops my legs said "Uh, David, you're done buddy." And I couldn't argue (it's a sign when you can barely walk up the steps to start the third loop). If I would have been "entered" in the 30k (which I would have done if I had a brain), I would have been fourth overall. Hindsight.

If you care to continue after reading that thrilling intro, I'll offer a bit of a race report below. To be clear, I'm a little disappointed in myself but not too much. I won't lose sleep. I did my good races last month, and in all honesty I knew I shouldn't have signed up for this distance (two friends were doing it, who ended up dropping because of injury anyway). I hadn't focused at all on it, much less trained properly. I've never dropped before, but I think I made the prudent choice. There was no sense getting hurt during a race I didn't really care about or honestly train for. So it goes.

**Actually, before the report here's the best story of the day. I was running to support my friend Sherri, doing her first 50. But she had IT band or something crop up after two loops. So she and Chris, who had hurt his back but was toughing it out, also dropped. Sherri's husband was late because he thought she'd be out on the course, and showed up when we were sitting there. They just got a new dog, and her two kids took the dog to the beach. The dog just jumps in Puget Sound and starts swimming. But today was really windy and the waves were up. Almost immediatley the dog is completely lost, and can't figure out how to get back to shore, just struggling out there. So we are calling to the dog ("Aggie" -- they are USU grads) but she can't see or hear us, or get back to shore. Even the race announcer starts saying "here doggie" into the PA system. So Royce strips down to his skivvies, jumps into a freezing Puget Sound (on a really windy and kind of cold day) and swims 50 yards or so to haul the dog back in. What a hero. An old lady walked up and took his photo, she was so amazed.**

As far as the race, I went out at a pretty good pace, trying to be relaxed but also enjoying the nice trails. I was in the top ten or so, not totally sure, but moving along through the first aid station and feeling good. A few of us took a wrong turn (marking was good, but got confusing because there were so many ribbons and a lot of people were turned around at times), but we bounced back as a group. I was carrying gels so I ran through that first aid (mile 7 or so) and kept on with the first lap. But my legs were starting to ache already, which I knew was a bad sign. Lungs were fine and I had energy, but I had a suspicion there was some lingering muscle fatigue from September's racing.  

I caught two guys just before the aid and moved ahead of them. I almost missed a turn nearly immediately, and joked to them not to follow me. Of course, a mile or so later I took another wrong turn, this time cutting off a small loop up a hill. Well, the guys who had been ahead of me by 30 seconds to a minute all noticed, and two started yelling at me. So after running 400m or so, I realized what I had done and turned around, found the split I missed and did the loop. Didn't help mentally, and to make up time I definitely started pushing more than I should have.

Second lap was more consistent and I slowed the pace to try and save energy. Coming out of the first loop I felt ok, was moving smoothly but with a hot spot on my right foot (nice blister now) and the fatigue setting in. But I had enough to get around again, and even surged a little on some downhills. I caught a guy I had chatted with on the first lap (who was also lost) and we ran together awhile, which kept me moving and the pace going ahead. Paused at the mid-point aid that time, and felt good energy-wise but my dogs were barking on the long downhill. But I still thought I had another 1.5 laps in me, even if it would be tough. The end of the loop is a really technical stretch with a steep, almost sheer, downhill. So steep they installed ropes, if that gives any idea. I got there and my legs were just quitting, losing my footing and everything, obviously more than just the usual tireds. Got to the stretch into the finish/aid and ran through, thinking I could tough another loop out and walk some. (Loops were long for the 15k and 30k, by the way). But coming out of that station I struggled to get any pace going on a flat portion, and I hit the first stairway and could barely get my legs to tackle the steps. I still got up, but when I tried to get momentum going again I knew it was fruitless. Would have been a nasty last lap, and not worth it. I was broken, and walked back to the finish with my tail between my legs.

That's it.

brooks cascadia

Comments(4)
Total Distance
3.00

A few easy miles, down the little Manette trail and along lower and upper Shore Drive. I think I'm alright from Saturday, other than some blisters. 22:05

supernova glide  320

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Total Distance
3.00

Same route as yesterday, another easy three as the sun came up through the fog. Quiet outside in the morning these days. 22:17

supernova glide -- 323

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Total Distance
8.00

 

Eight miles with Mike on Shore Drive. The rain held off other than a few drops after the turn around. Nice morning, in the 50s. We started out easy, 7:25s, ran two at 7:08 or so, but other than that stayed in control. Legs needed a good stretching when I finished, but other than that felt fine. 58:37

supernova glide -- 331

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Total Distance
5.50

A little quiet running at the Illahee Preserve to clear my head, just some loops through the forest on a rainy morning. A few puddles but the trails weren't too mucky. As I finished a torrent unleashed. No one else around.

My left achilles is in a lot of pain right now. I've had a nagging little tendon pain on the outside of my leg, just above the ankle, and it migrated to the achilles this morning near the end of the run (actually, that made it the end of the run). Stretched, iced, we'll see. 40:35

supernova glide -- 337

Comments(2)
Total Distance
3.00

First night at the gym for the winter season, went there instead of outside after work. It's 45, but I'm a wimp. And I wanted to shoot hoops. Ran 2.5 or so on the treadmill then ran around the court for awhile. 

supernova glide 

Comments(1)
Total Distance
3.00

Reading a few other blogs I get the feeling I'm not alone in letting other parts of life dictate a fall break. Just a busy time. This morning I was in Seattle so I went out for a few miles along Lake Washington Boulevard, where the Seattle Marathon will be in a few weeks. Fun to see a lot of groups getting their long runs in, especially since I wasn't the one doing a 20-mile long run. No more marathons this year, though I'm doing a trail 12k tomorrow. 

Ran easy, restful, felt alright even though my quad is bruised pretty bad from our basketball game Thursday night. Then I went to the Y and played 21 for an hour, so a good cross-train today. No watch.

supernova glide

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Race: Roots Rock Spooky 12k (7.4 Miles) 00:48:13, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 3
Total Distance
8.00

The rain stopped for Halloween morning, and this year's Spooky 12k drew its largest crowd ever. Mike and I went up to Port Gamble, just wanting to run the race for fun, and it turned out to be a great morning. 

Probably 250 or 275 in the field, this one starts at the same airfield where other Roots Rock races are held. Mike and I were top 15 or so out of the start line, I wanted to go out easy because the trail was pretty slick (didn't want to bunched up and fall down the first little hill and sharp turn) and because my right quad is pretty sore from the bruising at bball the other night.

After the first mile things streched out, Mike and I were running with a small pack in the top 10, and I could see the guys that usually lead up at those races (Jansen and Jason). There was one elite that showed up from Seattle and crushed everyone, ran 40 minutes on a hilly, windy and sometimes muddy course.

Mike led up the hills, I tried to conserve energy and let him go maybe 25-30 yards with some teenagers. I caught them after the first half hills were over, and felt pretty comfortable. My quad had loosened up as well, which was nice and I got the turnover going again. I could even glimpse Jansen and Jason, so either they were running slow or I was doing alright. Moved past Mike and the high school kid that were left at the 3.5-mile mark or so and then cruised down a steep trail and got some momentum. After we hit the 5-mile mark I was still feeling it, and pushed to catch another guy. It was good to get pulled along and respond.

The last bit goes around Beaver Pond, which is a really windy and thick forest, and kind of muddy/slippery at times. Since I had quickly dropped the guy I passed on the main road, I thought I was alone and, have to admit, backed off a bit. Dumb, because when I jumped the log to cross a small bridge the high school kid had caught back up. So he stuck right on my tail up the last set of small switchbacks, although I kept him behind me even after taking a small detour through 5 feet of brush after missing a sharp turn. I crested the hill with a few steps on him, with 150m or so to the line on the grassy finish. I had a bad feeling, because teenage XC runners tend to have good turnover this time of year.

I held my lead until the last 15 yards, when he crept up on me. I splashed through a puddle then and just couldn't stick him. Lost by a second or so. Oh well. Still got 7th (and a pair of socks), Mike was 9th, the sun was out, and I was happy to be done. Cooled down, chatted with some others in the field, and went home.

brooks cascadia

Comments(3)
Total Distance
76.50
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