Today is the first day my legs didn't hurt since the weekend...there was a bit of a quad explosion after that hike, and I was a lot more sore than I anticipated, whew.
This morning I decided to run intervals at the track...my hip was a little better the last few days (key word: was), and I thought it'd be fun to do some speed work. I also tried to continue working on the new form (old dog, new tricks...I'm learning how to run after being an athlete for 35 years), especially on the track. I do think I'm making a little (ok, very little, but it's something) progress and I did 3 x 800s and hit them all in a pretty respectable time. After the 3rd one, though, my hip was really really pissed so I took the short way back to the car for the warmdown.
Yesterday turned into a swim-only day, so I wanted to get in bike ride today, too. I didnt' have a ton of time at lunch and it was cold (50 degrees), so I did 3 hill repeats at Interlakken with a few miles before and after. I didn't wear a HR monitor or time them, but felt like I got a good workout.
My 3rd triple of the day was 3 Advil with my tuna sandwich for lunch to quiet the hip. I'm not planning to run again until my long one on Saturday.
Interval run:
2 miles warm up: 18:05
3 x 800: 3:44, 3:42, 3:43 (Avg HR 158)
1.16 mile cool down: 10:23
Total: 5.1 miles, 0:46:50
Bike:
12.1 miles, 3x .5 Interlakken hill, 55 minutes
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Mt. Si Hike
Today was long run day...I've been craving a hike, though, and since I'm in the "off season" (kinda, I mean if there really is such a thing, and in our house there isn't, but whatever, it was an excuse to go to the mountains today so I'm going with it...), I decided to hit the trail instead of the road. I haven't hiked in over 2 years (!) and my hiking boots were a little mad about the neglect. They felt great when I put them on, there were hot spots on my feet at the top of the trail and at least 4 blisters by the time I was done. But it was worth it. It was foggy and cold when we got up this morning, but I trusted the "it will burn off" forecast and, as Seujan was planning her 13 mile run route from home and fueling up, I grabbed my pack and headed for North Bend and Mt. Si.
I stopped for gas in North Bend, just a few miles from the trail, and about froze when I got out of the car...but I was committed (albeit in my shorts with no tights or sweats in the car). It was a brisk start, but within 10 minutes of starting to hike, I ditched the stocking hat and gloves and was happy to be in shorts. Warming up wasn't a problem as the trail was (as usual) well travelled, and my competitive hiking road rage kicked in immediately. I started picking off hikers and dogs from the get-go, and didn't stop till I hit the top of the trail--and never got passed, either (so what if other hikers had gray hair and hiked in corderoy pants and jeans, I still dropped 'em!). My GPS didn't agree with the signs or my HR/perceived pace, so I'm going with the signs: 4 miles up (close to 4,000 ft. gain) and 4 miles back. It was breezy and cool at the top, so I barely stopped for some Perpetuem and a quick glace at the view, and headed right back down...lots more hikers on the way up as I was descending. During my few hours on the trail, I saw at least 2 ipods, a person talking on the phone, and somebody who appeared to be text messaging...nothing like getting away from it all in the nice quiet forest. Wackos.
Anyway, it was a great hike and exactly how I wanted to spend the morning...still not sure if I can count this as my long run (I was planning to run 10-11 miles today) or if I need to do a long one on Monday morning...gonna take tomorrow as a rest day and see how I feel on Monday. My hip and hamstring have been extremely argumentative and I'm trying to make it to the Seattle Half in 4 weeks without falling apart. Might be time to go back to PT...
Mt. Si Hike:
Up: 4 miles, 1:23:16, Avg HR = 142
Down: 4 miles, 1:20, Avg HR = 89
Total: 2:43
I stopped for gas in North Bend, just a few miles from the trail, and about froze when I got out of the car...but I was committed (albeit in my shorts with no tights or sweats in the car). It was a brisk start, but within 10 minutes of starting to hike, I ditched the stocking hat and gloves and was happy to be in shorts. Warming up wasn't a problem as the trail was (as usual) well travelled, and my competitive hiking road rage kicked in immediately. I started picking off hikers and dogs from the get-go, and didn't stop till I hit the top of the trail--and never got passed, either (so what if other hikers had gray hair and hiked in corderoy pants and jeans, I still dropped 'em!). My GPS didn't agree with the signs or my HR/perceived pace, so I'm going with the signs: 4 miles up (close to 4,000 ft. gain) and 4 miles back. It was breezy and cool at the top, so I barely stopped for some Perpetuem and a quick glace at the view, and headed right back down...lots more hikers on the way up as I was descending. During my few hours on the trail, I saw at least 2 ipods, a person talking on the phone, and somebody who appeared to be text messaging...nothing like getting away from it all in the nice quiet forest. Wackos.
Anyway, it was a great hike and exactly how I wanted to spend the morning...still not sure if I can count this as my long run (I was planning to run 10-11 miles today) or if I need to do a long one on Monday morning...gonna take tomorrow as a rest day and see how I feel on Monday. My hip and hamstring have been extremely argumentative and I'm trying to make it to the Seattle Half in 4 weeks without falling apart. Might be time to go back to PT...
Mt. Si Hike:
Up: 4 miles, 1:23:16, Avg HR = 142
Down: 4 miles, 1:20, Avg HR = 89
Total: 2:43
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Happy half birthday to me!
This morning when Matt Lauer on the "Today" show said something about the top headline of the day and then, "...TODAY, October 23..." I realized that hey, it's my half birthday. And when I saw the pre-sunrise light and the clear sky and outline of the mountains, I thought, "I want to be in the lake!" What better way to celebrate 41.5 years of life than with a lake swim, my favorite of almost all activities? Tatiana had just sent me an email yesterday reminding me that last year, the 2 of us did our last lake swim of the year on Oct. 22 (weeks after everyone else had hung up their wetsuits). The forecast for today was sunny and almost 70, so I wrote to her and suggested we gather all of our neoprene accessories and meet at the lake this afternoon. Of course, she agreed (so great to have a dependable friend who I know will always go for the lake regardless of how wacko everyone else thinks we are). We met at Madison Beach at 4:30 and it was gorgeous...there were a few REAL wackos actually taking a dip in the water sans wetsuits, which was comforting... We got in and thought we would go a few docks out and stop to assess the extent of potential hypothermia... our hands and faces were instantly cold, then numb, then...just fine. (Good thing I've been eating and drinking post-Ironman and have laid down an extra layer of pure fat insulation, huh?) We didn't stop till we got to the tennis club, although we could barely see a damn thing. Every time I breathed on the "west" (i.e. right) on the way out, the sun was right in my eyes...so for about 5-10 minutes before Tatiana pulled up and stopped near the tennis club and said, "I can't see," I kept thinking, "Where the hell are we?" as all I could see was the Mountain off to the left (pretty view, but not what you want to sight off of in this particular swim route). Anyway, we were both warm and happy enough to stop for about 2 minutes so I could declare, "I'm brilliant!" for having the idea to swim in the lake today and so we could admire the fall colors, the water, and the mountain. We swam back to Madison beach and were both just starting to get cold when we got done. I just checked the lake temperature for evidence of how bad-ass we are, but there hasn't been a reading since September 18...I guess bad-ass is in the eye of the wetsuit wearer.
Perhaps I'll get to do a lake swim after my next 41.5 years on the planet, too :) I won't look wrinkly at age 83 if I have a wetsuit on!!
Perhaps I'll get to do a lake swim after my next 41.5 years on the planet, too :) I won't look wrinkly at age 83 if I have a wetsuit on!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Leavenworth Half Marathon race report
Whew, long time since I last blogged! So we did the Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon on Saturday...what a great day! It was about a "C" race for both Seujan and I, but turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and best races I've done (and she hammered out a damn impressive time for not really training!). It was dang cold when the race started, but the sun burned through the fog about 3 miles in and the fall colors, mountain background, and blue sky made for excellent conditions. In the middle, there was about 1.5 miles on a wooded trail near the river and during that stretch, I decided it's time for me to do more trail running this fall.
I tried to go out super slow to warm up for a mile, especially since the first 2+ miles were mostly uphill, but it didn't really happen--too many people I knew were taking off and it felt fine to start at a regular pace. What ended up happening was that I kept what felt like a pretty consistent effort throughout and tried to kick it in during the last mile...I'm still trying to figure out how best to "attack" a half marathon and what works best, but this one went really well, so I'll try to do something similar for the Seattle Half next month.
I experimented with a GU in the last 2 miles and perhaps I don't hate them as much as I thought...and I used the aid stations (Gleukos, which maybe I also don't hate afterall) on the course and didn't carry anything. I also wore a HR monitor this time just to look at the numbers afterwards.
The whole weekend was really fun. We rented a cabin with friends about 20 miles out of town and driving back and forth (did I mention our friend, Cathie, let us borrow her tiny fast Audi convertible on race morning so she could sleep in? Whew, FUN) was great with all the trees in full fall color. We went to the Oktoberfest beer garden later in the day. The beer choices were very disappointing (yucky beer at Oktoberfest, big bummer), but we hung out in the sun and our friend with uber-mojo worked the crowd a bit and kept us entertained.
Stats/splits per mile:
1: 8:55, Avg HR = 166
2: 9:33, 161
3: 9:27, 145
4: 8:39, 143
5: 9:15, 148
6: 9:09, 146
7: 9:05, 149
8: 9:49, 148
9: 9:40, 153
10: 8:27, 150
11 and 12: 18:27, 153 (missed a mile marker)
13.1: 9:21: 163
Total time: 1:59:55
HR Avg: 152
I tried to go out super slow to warm up for a mile, especially since the first 2+ miles were mostly uphill, but it didn't really happen--too many people I knew were taking off and it felt fine to start at a regular pace. What ended up happening was that I kept what felt like a pretty consistent effort throughout and tried to kick it in during the last mile...I'm still trying to figure out how best to "attack" a half marathon and what works best, but this one went really well, so I'll try to do something similar for the Seattle Half next month.
I experimented with a GU in the last 2 miles and perhaps I don't hate them as much as I thought...and I used the aid stations (Gleukos, which maybe I also don't hate afterall) on the course and didn't carry anything. I also wore a HR monitor this time just to look at the numbers afterwards.
The whole weekend was really fun. We rented a cabin with friends about 20 miles out of town and driving back and forth (did I mention our friend, Cathie, let us borrow her tiny fast Audi convertible on race morning so she could sleep in? Whew, FUN) was great with all the trees in full fall color. We went to the Oktoberfest beer garden later in the day. The beer choices were very disappointing (yucky beer at Oktoberfest, big bummer), but we hung out in the sun and our friend with uber-mojo worked the crowd a bit and kept us entertained.
Stats/splits per mile:
1: 8:55, Avg HR = 166
2: 9:33, 161
3: 9:27, 145
4: 8:39, 143
5: 9:15, 148
6: 9:09, 146
7: 9:05, 149
8: 9:49, 148
9: 9:40, 153
10: 8:27, 150
11 and 12: 18:27, 153 (missed a mile marker)
13.1: 9:21: 163
Total time: 1:59:55
HR Avg: 152
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