Tag Archives: hills

Longest run in a couple months

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I have been thinking of making my Mt Tabor run for awhile now. I don’t know why I have been so hung up on this and procrastinaty. I think maybe because it was the longest run I have done in a few months, 8.11 miles. I was curious to see how my foot discomfort would be affected. I even swabbed on some arnica gel before I pulled on my socks. Not sure how much it helps, but my feet didn’t really bug me until I was coming down off the mountain. That was when I really noticed that my show size somehow shrunk like 2-3 sizes (or at least that is what it feels like).

The run went pretty well albeit slowly. That has really been the story of my running life lately. Slow slow slow, like near 10 minute miles plus or minus a bit. If I am going under 10 min miles I feel like I am going pretty well! Oh the eight minute mile days… I do want to start incorporating some speed work in and build back up. I am feeling pretty good about getting back into the swing of things these days. I think the nicer weather has been a big part of it, though today it is nice and cloudy and cool, these will be the days I yearn for in the coming months.

My neighbors decided last night would be a great night to treat the entire hood to their campfire smoke. Woke me up after midnight and I had to shut my windows essentially trapping all the smoke in the bedroom. My lungs felt pretty flemmy this morning and I imagine that effected the run a bit. Thanks considerate neighbors.

Got my 40 miles for the week

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Today I finished off my week with a run to Mt. Tabor that put me over the 40 mile mark. I feel really good about this week as I had to do five days in a row of running to make 40 and on Wednesday (day one) this seemed insane. Now I just need to get a run in tomorrow in order to get a good start on the week, it’ll be a well deserved recovery run of some sort.

Today’s run up the mountain was really hard, I was tired to begin with and I didn’t see any increase in my energy level after I started the run. But I kept with it, I think the goal of 40 was really the only thing keeping me going. Next goal, do it again! Though if I run tomorrow I’ll at least have a good start on it unlike last week. And since there is no rehearsal this week I could run on Tuesday (which would be seven days in a row, ugh.) We’ll see. The plan right now is run Monday for six days in a row, we’ll see if I make it to seven on Tuesday.

New rolling hill run

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I woke up with one thought on my mind. How was my back going to feel after my first run since I decided to give it a break. I rolled over, no pain. I pulled myself out of bed, no pain. I stood up, no pain. Phew. Apparently I have given it enough rest after all. I still had some stiffness and a bit of pain during the run yesterday, but I had taken it easy and focused on running softly to alleviate jarring. I also only did minor stretching after the run and last night paying strict attention to not pushing it when it came to my back. The biggest thing I did was not laying down to watch TV, by sitting up in bed before I went to sleep I think I did the most good for myself.

The weather rumor today was that it was going to be cold in the morning and warm up later in the day. So I didn’t jump out of bed and head off on a run, but only made it to 11 before I gave in a headed out on roads. Last night watching the Blazer game I was thinking about where I wanted to run today. I decided on a new route down into East Moreland, across reed college, over to Cleveland Track and back home through Creston Park. The route was a combination of runs I normally make and it sounded interesting, so route chosen, off I went.

The first two miles into East Moreland and up to reed were pretty easy and I ran them a pretty stiff clip.Once through reed around miles 2 or so the difficulty of the route changed. Essentially I had to pay the piper for all the downhill I had been doing. And not only did I hit my first hill but I realized that the remaining run was basically a series of rolling hills one right after another. Up and down, up and down. I took the downhills slowly again focusing on soft running to avoid jarring the back and powered up the uphills. It was a good run and an interesting route to try again. I think I will add an additional hill through reed heading down to Crystal Springs near the Rhododendron Garden. I think it will make a good quality run, but a somewhat easier one and should be a good compromise for the transition from training to base building (or maintaining).

Back jarring hill run

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The other day I managed to do something not so good to my back. I think it happened when I went off an unexpected curb at night. It didn’t seem like something that was going to last at the time, but maybe I had strained something earlier and this was just the kicker to make it feel really sore. I am hoping it will repair itself over the next couple of days.

So with this in mind I have decided to take it easy on the old back. Instead of my usual weekly shoulder and back workout of bucketing out the bird ponds I used a trick new method of creating a siphon with a garden hose and drained it that way. I’ve been very careful about not lifting heavy things unless I use my legs. And on and on. So why when I quickly planned a solo Sunday run (my running partner wasn’t feeling well) why did I decided to do a back jarring hill run up and down Mt Tabor? No idea other than I am a blind idiot at times.

It was a pretty nice run on the way up. It was really chilly (in the 30s for the first time all fall) but it was really sunny and not windy at all. I initially was thinking I would run this pretty hard, but I backed (no pun intended) out of that plan. Still once I got to the volcano I did hit the slopes pretty hard and before long I was at the top and feeling good. Then I headed down and the jarring began. Every step on the trail from the top would compress my spine. I slowed down, but that made it worse. I had no choice but to continue down, so I did. It wasn’t as bad as I am making it sound, but it wasn’t great either. Once I gt home I decided to take it easy for awhile and just relax which I think helped out quite a bit.

Now this morning I am faced with another decision. I really should go for a run and a quality run to boot. Do I go to the track and see how things go through a straights and curves workout? Or do I just take it easy. I still haven’t decided…

Recovery from straights and curves

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Today was an eight mile recovery run that for the most part I managed to do under my ceiling. I had a couple of hills where I pushed it and jumped up to high 50s and into the low 60s. I have added onto my trail running in the canyon by doing a full lap and through the eastern  part of the north side. I took off a little bit of my East Moreland portion and I need to find a good path after coming up from the golf course. I felt pretty strong through most of the run which I didn’t really expect after my intervals I ran the day before.

At the track 24 hours previous I managed to finish nine laps of straights and curves, so a total of 18 sprints. The track was pretty empty for the most part with one fast distance guy doing a couple laps. There was also a woman in a walker that was doing a pretty good pace around our track doing arm exercises. I was pretty impressed.

As for my run, my heart rate never got too high mostly in the high 160s and I felt like my sprint paces were pretty decent as well with the first four and most of the rest peaking under 6 minute miles. I also did the 1.5 canyon run that day as well and ended up putting in teh miles at just under nine miles.

There is a group that runs on Sundays that I might try. They have it broken up into 12 mile and then eight additional mile chunks. A 20 miler sounds pretty challenging, but I might go for it if the weather is going to be cool. I am not much of a group runner but it could be fun especially if any of my regulars I see are doing it.

Six runs in a row in the NW

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I say six, but it is really seven in a row as one of the days I ran twice. Since getting back to the NW I have really been enjoying the lower altitude. Breathing has been easier in general and my times seem to have benefited from the 10 days at a mile high altitude.

I have been doing a good job of alternating the quality runs with recovery runs. I think this has had a huge impact on how successful these six runs have been. I don’t feel exhausted at all despite doing a quality run this morning. The other positive aspect has been the cool weather, but I don’t think that has too much to do with things as I ran a couple of days in the heat.

I have been pretty happy with myself and pushing the pace at several times during these runs. The tempo run that I did as part of my two-a-day workout felt really good at the speed I did the first two miles (sub 8 min miles). I also got in a 440 workout that went pretty well. I didn’t really push the speed for that run, but I felt like it went well. I was tired, but not deathly so. Today’s run to Mt. Tabor also had some good fast pace elements. I pushed the first two miles a bit and did solid 8:45 min miles. The two miles of climbing were quite a bit slower, but I was able to pick up the pace for the final portions.

One of the weird things about this string of good runs is that I am doing it with a slight strain to my left upper hamstring. It could also be a gluteus strain, but hamstring specific stretches that I have been doing really seem to pull at the affected area. The strain seems to really only be an issue at the start of my runs, say the first two miles. Then the pain seems to fade away. I could feel myself holding back on a smooth flow, sort of a choppy pace. I think at one point I even was ding some injury to my other side. I have been working on the area with stretching and Arnica gel. It seems to have been working as today I had no pain at all.

Cold wet volcano run

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My running partner (I should say partners as her dog, a strapping Irish Setter always comes too) and I took a slow recovery type hill run up to the top of Mt. Tabor and back. The goal was to keep the entire run under our recovery ceiling of 70% max ( my HR at 143 and hers a bit higher at 147). We did pretty good except for the climbing, but even then my HR only maxed at 151. The last two miles of cool down were all under as we plodded back. The rains came right as we got back to my house, all in all a lot calmer weather-wise than was predicted, though I was looking forward to lightning strikes.

I have to say I am liking the G2 as a recovery drink. I think I’ll like the orange mix better than the fruit punch. I really wish they made it without any coloring, the fruit punch is really deep red, it looks like red ink. But I really like the low calories and sugar. I also like that the powders mix really quickly and thoroughly. I have been mixing with more water than they suggest, goes perfectly in my big plastic ice tea tumblers.

Apparently there has been some problem with G2 stock levels. The only flavors I have seen in the powders has been fp and  grape. Even online. The only flavor Fred Meyers has is the fp.

Two quality runs in a row

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I sort of went off my regimen of hard – easy – hard – easy runs today by doing a second hard quality run in a row. Yesterday my running partner and I ran up to Mt. Tabor to do some hill repeats. We started with a mile warm up that ended up including too much hill work to be a good warm up. Once we finally got to our repeat area we started our 1/4 mile runs. We did eight of them between 2:05 and 2:20 with the slower ones due to doggie troubles. By the time we got to the last one I was feeling pretty pooped  and my 2 mile cool down took forever. But a great workout.

Today I started out for six easy recovery miles. I decided to add on a couple of miles by running down to the Eastmoreland golf course. On the loop back I decided to add a couple of blocks to the loop (mile 4) and ended up going east for 30 blocks when I hooked up with the Springwater corridor (mile 6) and returned to the reed neighborhood. At the end of the corridor (mile 8) I ran through the Moreland Park (where I found a water fountain) and over the bridge to the Reed neighborhood (mile 10). At Reed I found another fountain (mile 12) and started to curse myself for not bringing water on this short run I had planned. I did have Sharkies which helped a lot. I headed home and ended up going 13.75 miles all together at 2:31. Super slow run and a burner for sure. I feel pretty depleted but I have been drinking a lot and eating well. Which would have been great if I hadn’t taken advantage of a beautiful day and worked in the yard. I am pretty tired. But I am going to watch a movie (Human Centipede) and  go to bed early tonight. I have a show tomorrow, but I may run after, we’ll see. That will definitely be a recovery run!

Weekend long run, a day early

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This week I did my long on Saturday so I could do a shorter run on Sunday with my running partner who is getting back in the swing of things after a race, a new dog and life. When I got up this morning I was only sure of one thing about this run and that was that I was going to do one. I knew I needed to do a long run this weekend as it would be my last long run before the Race for the Roses on Sunday, April 11th. But I was also thinking I didn’t really need to do another long one as I should be tapering. Since I didn’t run long last weekend, I felt a little pressure to get another in, but I was feeling a bit lazy. And due to a late large meal last night which managed to supply my brain with a host of nightmares and my belly with a not so digested wake-up, I was more inclined to just do a short run. As I walked down the driveway I still hadn’t decided what to do. Go right for a shorter run or left for a run up to Mt. Tabor. I picked right.

Even as I turned east and headed to the volcano I still hadn’t decided if I would just do the eight mile Tabor route or if I would extend it with a dash to Laurelhurst Park. I think this option was one of the main reasons I chose “right”. It was cool and spitting, so I dressed warmly. Too warm in fact as just after a mile I had to stop and take off my warm shirt to settle into a long sleeve running shirt and my running shell. But the gloves didn’t come off, I wasn’t that warm yet! The run to the mountain was relatively fast and I powered up the base of the mountain to get to the lower trail. The big climb went quite a bit slower, but I managed to keep my HR in check for the most part with one 170+ peak. At the top I did my victory lap and downed a gel. At this point I knew I was going on to the park.The run down the mountain was really muddy and I found myself slogging through a couple of really bad spots always mindful to go through the mud so as to not carve a wider path on the drier edges.

The park was beautiful with all the blossoming trees and despite all the rain it wasn’t too muddy. The run through the park always goes by too quickly and I soon found myself heading south into the wind I would be dealing with for the next 2.5 miles. At one point I found myself with another mileage choice. If I went right I could go to the track and onto Reed college which would give me really close to a half-marathon distance of 13.1 miles. If I chose left it would be less, but how much less I wasn’t sure. Since I had already gone longer twice before, I chose left and discovered that this route gives me 11 miles exactly. I felt really good, easily felt like I could go on for another couple miles at least, but I’ll save that for next weekend!