I have to have a blog title?

Progression run. Started at ~8:30 pace and finished at 7:10 pace (before 1.5 mile cool down).

Easy in new Inov-8 shoes.

Easy recovery with 5 x 100 m accels at end.

My wife, Cherie, and I ran the Newport, OR marathon Saturday. It was sort of local (a 6 hour drive), inexpensive, and had a great reputation - plus it was at the beach!

This is the first marathon I've run (of 7) that I didn't follow any training plan for, didn't have a time goal for, and didn't stress about. I've been pretty much doing base building this year, have averaged ~50 mpw this year, and have been doing lots of mountain/trail runs to try to prepare for my first ultra next month. I decided to run this race solely by HR - 5 bpm less than my marathon PR HR from last December - and hoped to have the will power to stick to that plan. I don't want to lose too much training time to recovery and hoped that running at marathon HR - 5 would be the ticket.

After literally months of rain and 40* weather for my training runs, race day arrived with a starting temperature in the upper 50*s and bright sun. By the finish the temperature was well in to the 60*s. This was the hottest temperature I've run any marathon so far (and I know it's not that hot!).

Anyway I was able to stick to my HR plan for the most part. After 18 miles and in the direct sun my HR did begin to creep a bit - and my pace creeped the opposite direction. I'd hoped running slower than marathon HR would make this easier than it felt the last few miles. I did finish strong and felt great afterward (and today) with only a little soreness. The best part is my time was only 2.5 minutes off my PR from December. I'm a little surprised that running 'easier' than max effort (lower HR) on no training plan, no tempo runs, no marathon pace runs (except for a half marathon 4 weeks ago), and no sustained weekly 'high' mileage led to this result. I'd have to say the strength I must have gained from the difficult trail running has been the difference I guess.

My worst injury today seems to be my inverse-singlet sunburn, which is quite impressive. After I finished I went back up the course and cheered the other runners on for 1.5 hours with no sunscreen. Stupid is as stupid does as they say.

Results:
Avg. HR: 171
Gun time: 3:01:05
Watch time: 3:01:01

First 13.1 ~1:29:30

16th OA
5th AG (the #2, 3, and 4 runners were 47 years old and ran 2:45, 2:46, and 2:47 respectively)


Cherie's results:

I can't get her to write a RR. Briefly this was her second marathon. She had some injury issues in the buildup, but did average more miles than for her first marathon. I set the 'virtual partner' on her Garmin to 9:00 mpm pace for her, but she ran the first 8 or 9 miles at nearly her 10k pace. She gutted it out though and set a 17+ minute PR finishing in 4:06:28. I'm very proud of her but did tell her she deserved a spanking for not paying attention to her watch and going out so fast.

4 easy  miles on the beach in the wind and rain was just what my legs needed!

This was another easy recovery run in my new X-Talon shoes. I need to get miles on them to see if they'll work out for my upcoming 50k.

Today was another very easy recovery run. My legs actually felt more tired today than yesterday. Maybe I'll take tomorrow off :)

The Fall City Days 10k is coming up in a couple weeks!

If it's Wednesday it must be Cedar Butte day! Today I did an easy 3.3 up to the trail then one half hour for the up and down CB, then picked it up a bit for the 3.3 back home. It was raining hard, and the CB trail is really turning in to a car wash, but it is still my favorite run!

I'm extremely impressed with the Inov-8 shoes. The traction is amazing. I'll have  a shoe report on them after I get a few more miles in.

Another easy recovery pace run in the rain is in the book! My legs are still feeling a bit dead, and I may take another short easy run tomorrow - it will depend on how I feel. Otherwise I'll do another Cedar Butte run.

I headed out for my morning run not knowing what I was going to do, but I decided to make it a short, easy run so I could do a longish trail run on Sunday with more quality.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to get up early enough to meet my MSRC peeps for another easy run. However tonight  my youngest graduates from HS, and I have lots of cleaning and prep for a huge grad party we're having tomorrow. I'll be glad when grad season is over!

Easy recovery run with Jeff and Dan at MSRC.

I ran the Rattlesnake Ridge trail with Brendan today. Brendan set a pretty fast pace from the lake up to East Peak, but he doesn't like downhills so from there it was much slower than I like. I'm definitely not fully recovered from last week's marathon though!

This was a steady easy pace run by HR. I felt pretty good and hope to get a nice week in this week. I'll 'train through' Saturday's Fall City Days 10k and follow up on Sunday with a long run on trails - that's the plan!

Today was 8 GA (general aerobic) miles with 8 x 100m accels. I'm debating how much time to give the out-of-school kid before enforcing a wake up time and a summer goals list.

It's Wednesday, so I must have done Cedar Butte! Today I did 3 repeats of the Cedar Butte trail. It gains about 800' over 1.3 miles. I averaged about 18:30 minutes up and 12 minutes down each time and didn't fall once!

Supposed to be easy recovery. L soleus/achilles bothered me a bit, so I stretched it at halfway point. Then a guy came running by, so I joined him until he split off - so a stupid mile at 6:45 pace in the middle of my recovery run!

I cut this run short to be able to hopefully put a little more effort in to tomorrow's speed work (in the form of a 10k). My knees are hurting quite a bit with PFS, and I may try eliminating the Inov-8 shoes from my rotation for a week or so and see if that helps.

My annual trek to Fall City for the Fall City Days 10k began last night with 5 beers and a pepperoni and sausage pizza. This inauspicious beginning  kept me in the sanican for quite some time race morning.

I  had no real goal for this race other than as a training stimulus. I figured I was in mid to low 38 minute shape though. I tried to maintain a steady pace and fight the mid-race slowdown, but I was running pretty much alone for 2/3 of the race which makes it difficult to push as hard as I could with someone just in front of me. My middle two miles were a little slow, but I was able to pick it up for the last two miles. There was no visible finish line clock, but I'd started my watch at the start banner matt and clicked it off at the finish. I didn't look at if for a couple seconds, and when I did it said 36:58. I didn't register that and figured my eyes were blurry and it was really 38:something. This would be almost a full minute PR from last fall with no 10k training in between. I still don't believe it and am wondering of the course was short or something!

I did a ~ 4 mile warm up run with a few accels at the end and another 1.5 or so cooldown miles afterward. I don't think this software allows multiple runs in a day though. My knees felt ok during the race, but again started aching pretty badly afterwards.

Long easy run today in the rain on the East Lake Samm trail. My knee PFS is pretty bad. I  may have to take some time off, but we'll see.

I'm going to try a cycle of Vitamin I along with reduced training to try and knock this patellofemoral syndrome down. I'm hoping to keep up enough quality to stay sharp while reducing junk mile day mileage.

GA run with 5 x 200m hill accels. Knees still bad even with IB, but it takes a while to build up in the system, and I only started yesterday afternoon. Finally we had a 'hot' (for us!) day to run in. It was 70* with 70% humidity. I need more of these to build up some heat acclimation before my July 10th race.

Another easy recovery pace run in the sun!

I didn't have a plan for today's run, but after I got going I felt I should try and get a little quality in. After 2 miles of slow (8:45) warm up I ran 3 miles hard up the Iron Horse trail (~3% grade), then after I turned around I took 5 minutes of running recovery then ran the last 5 miles at GA+ pace (now down the ~3% grade) of around 7:00 mpm. My knees still don't bother me during runs on the semi-flat terrain thankfully (just afterwards).

I took yesterday off in deference to  my aching knee, but I don't think it helped any (maybe because I went dirt bike riding instead :) ). Today I waited until noon to go for my run in hopes of getting more heat acclimation out of it. I really felt beat the last couple miles, and since it was a GA run it better have been the temperature that made me feel that whupped after a day off!

Ran around the Echo Ridge MTB trails. Lots of ups and downs.

Just a short easy run in Chelan. R knee and R medial tib (appears to be soft tissue at least) still trouble.

GA run with one mile at ~3k to 5k speed.

4 easy miles in the rain in July. I haven't decided if I'll run the Carnation 5k this weekend yet. $25 is a lot for a 5k, and I'm tempted to rest. I am a sucker for races though...

Easy recovery run with MSRC peeps.

For my traditional mid-length run the week before a long race I did 13 miles with one semi-hard trip up and down Cedar Butte. I feel more tired and leg-dead than I'd like though. I also still haven't decided on what shoes to wear for the 50k trail race next Saturday. I guess I'll bring a couple pairs and decide on race morning.

My last two miles today were around my neighborhood loop. It sounded like a war zone with all the fireworks going off, and smelled like burned sulpher. Gak.

Today was an easy 6.3 in the sun - WHAT? - yes, the sun. It took me a few minutes to realize/remember what that huge glowing yellow disc was.

7 easy GA miles today. I waited again until 1:00 pm for it to get hot to try and get some heat acclimation. I've heard you can gain a large percentage of heat acclimation in only four days. I don't know if I believe that, but it probably can't hurt! 

I waited until noonish again today to take advantage of the hotter temperature. 5 easy miles with HR up about ~10bpm due to the heat. I'll be traveling tomorrow and won't likely get a chance to do a shake-out run before Saturday's race.

My first 'ultra' is in the history books. I thought the 50k would be easier than it turned out to be. Imagine that! The heat (80* or so) and especially the elevation (started at 6500') reduced me to walking some of the hills in the last 8 miles. I'd hoped to turn a 4:30 or less but ended up with 4:47. That was worth 13th overall and 4th in AG though.

No running today. I did a nice easy 15 mile bike ride instead. It was nice.

Today's run was a very easy pace recovery run. I have lots of DOMS from the trail race, particularly in my glutes and anterior shin muscles.

Easy recovery run. L glute still sore/tight. L soleus/achilles thing too. R arch/foot painful on flexion but doesn't really hurt to run.

Today was another biking day. I did a fairly easy 17  miles around the valley for lunch. I could run, but I'm trying to give  myself a little more recovery than I typically do for once.

I'll jump back in to running next week as I have only 12 weeks until my PR attempt at Chicago!

13 mile bike ride in Halfway, OR while at my 30 year HS reunion.

Today as I was coming back from walking the dog I saw a running buddy, so I jumped out for an easy 5 miles with him. I've caught some sort of virus from my wife which made my about HR about 30 beats per minute higher for the effort level I ran at. She's had it for a couple weeks. I'm hoping I can either kick it fast or at least continue to be able to run through it.

I did what should have been an easy eight miles today, but whatever viral think I'm fighting made it more difficult than it should have been. I'll be glad when this thing has run its course!

Another sick run with one trip up/down Cedar Butte. Between the virus and the heat this was tough work even though the pace was substantially slower than my typical easy run pace on this route. I still feel whupped two hours later! It might be time to ease up some more... 

I felt a little bit better today and so ran a few faster miles at the end of this run. I had quite the coughing fit afterward though.

Easy recovery pace run.

I got up early this morning and met Shawn for the ROB run. We turned around at the creek though for a total of about 18 miles and 3600' elevation. Considering my coughing and hacking I did better than I thought I'd do. I must be getting over this bug!

I ran an easy 4 miles in the evening heat around Rattlesnake Lake.

I'm feeling a little better and wanted to see some ground fly by, so I did a couple miles at 1/2 marathon pace. I aggravated my R foot injury that I reinjured at the trail race too. I either need to not do any fast running, not run in lightweight shoes, or both for a while I suppose.

It's very frustrating to not be able to train appropriately for Chicago, which is in only ten weeks. I just have to remember there will always be another race.

I did an easy-ish GA run today. Of course I waited until 2:30 to head out to make sure I enjoyed the heat of the day :)

It was much cooler this morning than it has been! I think it was actually in the 50*s even.

Yesterday while removing some 70# leaf springs from my car trunk my back spasmed and disintegrated (at least it felt like it), so I had a pretty tough time making myself put in the easy miles. Every step was painfull. It seems like about once a year I trash my lower back doing something.

Me, my spasming lower back (lifting error), my aching right arch, my machete, a trash bag, a measuring wheel, and my buddy Shawn did an easy run over Rattlesnake Ridge trying to get an accurate course measurement, pick up trash, and beat back the sticker bushes. The measuring wheel didn't work out very well at our running pace, but we were able to pretty much fill one small trash bag, and we cleared lots of sticker bushes and some downed trees from the trail.

It was another coolish morning here with the temperature in the upper 50*s. I ran 10 GA miles. Now I'm off to get my foot x-rayed!

Today, well this evening really, I did 8 GA miles with 8x100m accels.

Including one trip up Cedar Butte. Back still painful, R arch bothered a tiny bit coming down from CB. I need to just stay off hills until after Chicago.

An easy 6.3 recovery pace miles in the mugginess this morning for me.

I felt like today's 13ish mile GA run was slower than it should have been by about 20 sec/mile. I'm sure the lack of good weekly mileage is catching up to me. So I expect the next couple weeks to be an adjustment period and I hope my body responds!

On another note I sure enjoyed the cooler temperature for my run this morning!

After less than enough sleep I went down and ran an easy recovery run with a couple MSRC peeps.

I ran 10 miles at GA pace (around 7:45 mpm), then at the turnaround I tried to see how long I could hang on at marathon pace. I'd have liked to do 10  miles at MP, but I didn't. I didn't monitor  my pace, just tried to keep my HR around 174~175 (I hoped that would equate to 6:40 mpm) . There was a slight headwind, but I can't blame that. It was very tough to even go 6 miles, and my pace was about 15 sec/mile slower than I'd hoped for this effort level. Ah well... I'll try again in around three weeks.

It's another cool, cloudy and foggy day here in Wilderness Rim. I'm getting frustrated with this lower back pain. Usually it begins to fade sooner than this after I've injured it. I'm sure I'm just doing too much, but a guy has to work!

Added another 4.2 for my evening run.

Taking three days off from running did nothing to help my back, so what the heck - I'll start running again! The first three miles were brilliantly painful, but after that I was able to gradually speed up and feel better - until after the run anyway.

This turned out to be a nice short progression run beginning at 9:15 mpm pace and finishing at 6:45 mpm pace plus a slower cool down mile.

AM: I did one easy, slow trip over the ridge. Once again my back was extremely painful. I've never had a lower back strain last this long before.

PM: 12 mile bike ride consisting of 3 Parkway repeats. Surprisingly my back didn't hurt much on the bike, so I may be doing more biking and less running for a while.

Ok, ok, I'll write something :) Today I waited for the rain to get going as hard as it looked like it was going to get before I went out. I put in 8 miles with 4 x 100 accels. I got remarkably wet - and it felt great! My HR is still too high, but I think it's gradually getting better. No more Flexeril for me ever again!

You can tell it's the end of summer when it can be 50* and pouring rain one day and 70* with full sun the next around here. Today's easy run was quite warm. I ran with a buddy at his 'hundred pace' as we went up and down Cedar Butte, then partway up Rattlesnake and back. My lack of recent training is really making itself known. My legs were dead the last couple miles. They better start coming back soon, as my 5 week marathon training plan starts this weekend!

What a great day today! I went out earlier than my normal (I'm not really a morning person). It was already 70* out and sunny at 7:00. I did ~4 miles easy up the Iron Horse trail, then turned it up about .5 mile before turning around and doing the next three gentle downhill miles at MP followed by a cool down  mile. My feet are bothering  me a little, but at least my back is nearly better!

Wore Inspire shoes to see if the extra 'stability' would help L foot but it didn't seem to. Easy pace run.

Since there's no classification for hills I picked 'easy miles' however they were anything  but easy! I ran the ROB (Rattlesnake Over and Back) run this morning for the first time since this spring. I was slower today than I was back then even with snow on the trail! Gaaa! Where's my fitness?

24 miles with 6,000' elevation gain/loss and it's lucky the last was downhill. Without gravity I'd never have made it home. I'm totally thrashed now, and I'm headed out to go dirt biking.

Easy pace 8 miles. I went dirt biking the last couple days. I bruised a rib or two when I fell hard on my tool bag which makes it rather painful to breathe hard!

Today was a 'run how I felt' day. I would have liked to get in 15, but I ended up with a 13 mile progression run starting at 9:00 mpm and ending at 6:50 mpm.

AM
Easy recovery run. Ribs still very painful. Feeling tired - HR high for so easy of run. L arch and soleus still sore, R glute better.

PM
4 easy on the TM.

Easy recovery pace run today. R arch/ankle is worse today, and after a big accidental hug last night so is my cracked rib :D

I might try and do a 10k on Sunday instead of another long run just to see how bad my conditioning is. Unfortunately the only 10k I can find is all the way in Tacoma.

Wow, my last 10k was such a stunner and huge PR (back in June). Since then I've run a tough 50k, strained my back and missed a little running, tried picking it back up and sprained/damaged my left (usually good) ankle/foot, and last Monday - Labor Day - I broke a rib as a result of a dirt bike fall (crash?).

Since I'm supposedly running Chicago in four weeks I figured I'd find out how out of shape I was by running the Tacoma Bank to Bay 10k. I'd never run it before, but it is billed as a fast 10k. I ran most of the course for a warm up and found the race starts at about 50' elevation, goes up to 140' elevation, drops down to 0' for a while, goes over a high bridge for another gain of about 40', then repeats all the above after the turnaround - not my idea of a fast course, but not necessarily brutal either.

My left foot mostly bothers me on downhills, but my broken rib hurts with any jarring motion, any bending motion, or any deep breathing. Not that I'm using that as an excuse : P

I ran as hard as I thought I could, and even picked it up to 5:30 pace for the last half mile to bury a couple guys before the finish. I ended up with a very disappointing 39:30 - my slowest 10k since at least 2005 I believe.

 So with 4 weeks until Chicago I guess my MP will be about 7 mpm - arghh. I can't believe I've gotten 2:30 slower over 6 miles in 3 months! I may run a 50k (Cle Elum Ridge 50k) this coming weekend (with 7,000' elevation gain/loss). My slowness won't matter much there, and past results indicate many of the fast people typically don't show for it. Thanks reading!

11 miles on my road bike with Cherie - an easy recovery workout I guess.

I took advantage of weather that bested the weatherman this morning for an easy GA run. My HR is still a little high, but this could just be from last weekend's 10k too. I still haven't decided if I'm going to run the 50k this weekend. I think the smart thing to do would be to run a 20+ on the flats as a more specific workout for the upcoming Chicago (flat) marathon. Maybe I'll be smart this week :)

Today's easy run in the muggy warm weather was ok. My rib is down to a dull roar with occasional spikes. I'm experimenting with different shoe types and inserts/no inserts to see what may make my left foot/ankle feel better. Today I put some SoftSoles in my Riders. It seems like inserts make the foot worse. Tomorrow I'll try a 10 miler or so in the Kinvaras to go the opposite direction (less support).

Part two of my left foot pain experiment. Today I ran in my Speedstars which are a lightweight trainer to see how  my foot felt in them. It didn't seem to make much of a difference - the foot still hurt.

My HR was nearly marathon pace HR but my corresponding pace was about 30 sec/mile slower than MP. That's what I get for two months of recovery pace running I guess!

I can't wait until after Chicago so I can take two, three, or more weeks completely off to try and heal my foot. I'm ready for it! Then I can begin the build-up all over again.

Today I got an easy run in before the rain and the Huskies game. If I and my foot make it through tomorrow's last long run I'll try and cruise down the hill to 10/10/10 with lots of biking and less running.

This would be my last 20 before Chicago, but since I haven't been able to follow a true plan, and since it went so poorly, I  may try another next weekend. This was my slowest 20 in a couple years, but my HR was way high, and I'm not having  much luck in finding a reason why. It can't be overtraining, because I really haven't been training :)

Anyway it's good to have it done! Now I've got three weeks to decide how to take on Chicago - as an event to be absorbed and enjoyed, as a test of will to push as hard as I can and take what I get, or perhaps to pace my wife to a BQ (I'm not sure she'd enjoy that and probably wouldn't let me :) ). Life is such an interesting thing to be a part of with its unknowns, challenges, rewards, and oddities!

AM: Today I tried to find the course (without a map) for this Saturday's 4.6 mile trail race on Snoqualmie Ridge. I did pretty well for the first third, then lost it at the road. Anyway it was a nice run on very smooth and soft trails - very unlike the technical and steep trails I'm used to. I have a bone scan scheduled for tomorrow morning for my left foot. If it's negative (and I think it will be) then I'm probably looking at posterior tibial tendonitis which isn't much better!

PM: Tried again with Shawn to find the course. We found more of it!

I got a bone scan done on my foot today, but won't get the results for a couple days. I'm 98% convinced I don't have a sfx but instead a strain or tendonitis of the attachment of the anterial tibialis tendon. I'm not sure that's any better though :)

I did an easy 8 miles this evening in some old Montrail stiff trail shoes. It was a very easy pace, and I felt like going longer, but I decided to take it easy on the foot instead. I can be partly smart :)

Any day you can run is a good day, and I ran 6.3 easy, easy  miles today. I may run a local 8k trail race tomorrow morning - and the weather is supposed to be very nice, so I'm looking forward to another good day!

Wow, what a nice weather day! Shawn and I went to this event for some speed work on soft trails. About 90 people showed up for this first time low key event. After  my poor outing a couple weeks ago at a 10k I wanted to try and get another handle on  my fitness. A hilly trail race on very soft footing however is not the best way to get such an evaluation :)

A couple faster guys showed up, but I figured I should still be able to get a top 5 finish. We warmed up on the course with a 3.5 mile run, then lined up at the start line in a grassy field. At the gun I took off way too fast - in fact I was in the lead for a couple hundred meters. All that did is put me in oxygen debt for the hills, and I gave up several positions and felt whupped. I eventually steadied up and got going again though, and by the two mile point was in 3rd place. There was someone right on my shoulder for a half mile or so, but he finally fell off after a hilly section. From there on I was running by myself for the rest of the race.

I finished strong and fast the last 3/4 mile or so, but I was disappointed with  my slow time once again. I averaged only 7:00 mpm, and the course had less than 300' of elevation gain/loss. I should have been able to average at least 30 seconds per mile faster than that I feel. I somehow have lost a tremendous amount of fitness over the last couple months. I'm really looking forward to getting past the Chicago marathon in a couple weeks and hitting the 'Reset' button. I think I'll try and take the rest of October off from running then begin with a much reduced weekly mileage with a day per week on the track and start building back up again.

Wow, what a wet run! I had an appointment in Bellevue for 11:00 am, so I planned on stopping off in Issaquah to run 17 or so miles on the Eastlake trail. I brought a change of clothes and a gallon jug of warm water for a little post run 'shower' too.

By the time I got out the door I was late. I figured I'd perhaps only have time to get in 14 or 15 miles, but instead I ran faster! I started out at 7:40 and progressed to a last mile of 6:38 and was able to squeeze in 16 miles in 1:58. Then I stripped to  my shorts in the parking lot and took  my quick 'shower' before racing off to my appointment. I was 2 minutes late however :/

It felt good to run a little faster for once though!

AM ~4 miles very easy

PM 2 miles warm up, 3 x 1600m at 6mpm pace with 800m jog recoveries, 1 mile cool down for just over 7 miles

I had a nice pleasant and easy 5 miles at lunch time right as the weather turned from fog to bright sunlight.

I  made my last trip down to the Eastlake Sam. trail today for my last double-digit run before Chicago next Sunday. The hydros were racing on the lake, it was overcast and humid, and I made the run an easy progression run running the first two miles with Cherie at ~9:20 mpm, then going from 8 mpm to 7:10 mpm over the next 11 miles. I stopped taking my 2400mg dose of IB (for my left foot/ankle injury) a couple days ago as I want the drug out of my system before race day, so my foot/ankle ached a little in the latter part of the run and afterwards.

It was clear and cool this morning - perfect weather for an easy recovery pace run.

I did 7 miles today after waiting for the weather to warm up a bit. I wanted to run in a T shirt and wanted to get 2 MP miles in. For whatever reason my HR was high from the very beginning, and the 2 MP miles were off pace and way high on the HR. Whatever ....

On the bright side it's only 4 more days until I get to take a break from running for a while!

My legs felt heavy and slow on today's easy recovery pace run -not what you want two days before a marathon! Ah well, it looks like it's supposed to be 80* in Chicago so I'll be taking it easy anyway.

Finally it's rest and healing time! I've been waiting to get this over with for a couple months now. I registered for Chicago months and months ago with the hope it would be my big goal race (and big PR) for the year. Unfortunately I had a tough late summer and fall but resolved to run the race anyway as I'd paid the entry, the hotel, and the airfare. Also my wife was hoping to BQ in Chicago, and I felt she had a great chance at it.

The Chicago Marathon was a nice experience. The parts of the city the race goes through were diverse and interesting. The buildings are fun to look at, and the people were very nice. The race organization was the best of any megathon I've been to (which I confess only includes Boston, New York, and now Chicago). The start corrals were very effectively managed and easy to get in to, and there was plenty to drink on course.

My goal for this race expired back in late July with a back injury I couldn't shake for nearly a month, followed by a medication reaction that dramatically affected my blood pressure and pulse rate, followed by a foot/ankle tendon injury in August I'm still suffering from. I reduced my weekly mileage from a goal of running in the 80s miles per week to running around 50 miles per week with all runs being recovery and easy pace but for a very few slower progression runs. I was able to get in several  runs of at least 20 miles, so even though I wasn't going to be fast I felt I could easily handle the distance - and I made it to the race AMA (against medical advice).

I decided to just run the race by effort monitored by my HR and take what I got. I expected to be able to run in the 7:00 to 7:20 mpm pace based on a 10k time I ran several weeks ago. Running slow for so long definitely doesn't make me faster!

It turned out my waning fitness was the least of my worries however. Chicago once again had an atypically hot day in store for the race. The temperature at the start was already near 70*, and it was in the 80*s at the finish. I resolved to drink more on course than I ever had before and run with a smart, conservative effort and finish with no further injuries.

My time at CIM last December put me in the A corral, and after dodging the pee puddles at the start I quickly established a pace and thereafter just monitored my HR to keep it in the 171~173 range. I ran a race at a 170 HR (on a much cooler day) way in April and still got a 3:01, and my PR came at an average HR of 175 last December. I drank one cup of Gatorade and one cup of water at each of the 18 or so aid stations, and followed that up over the last several miles with a third cup over  my head. At around the half way point it seemed like lots of people really slowed down. I probably passed several hundred runners over the last half - and I had lots of energy left for a fast last 2 miles. I finished in 3:08:49 too easily.

I think I was too concerned over my lack of fitness and my foot injury to see what I could really do even on a hot day with sub-par training. I believe I ran far too conservatively based on how I felt at the end. I could have kept running at that pace for several more miles. On the one hand it was great to be passing people for half the race, but I almost feel guilty I didn't leave everything out there like many of the people I passed. The heat I'm sure made my HR higher than it would have been for the effort, and my plan to run based on HR probably cost me several minutes - but in the end what matters is I'm still bipedal and will be ready to go again soon I guess.

I couldn't find  much in the news, but I can tell you the ambulance sirens were pretty  much going non-stop for several hours. A great many runners left the course in the back of a rig with needles in their arms - and I didn't!

ps. My wife, Cherie, had a tough day with the heat and some late hamstring cramps and missed her BQ with a 4:04 (needing a 4:00). She did get a 2+ minute PR though. I've been telling her she did great on a less than ideal day, that a PR is something to be proud of no matter what, and that she'll get to Boston and there's no hurry.

My wife and I spent today exploring the waterfront downtown area of Chicago. We had already checked out of our hotel, so we walked several miles with our bags slung over our shoulders. It was good for the legs but hard on the shoulders!

Day four of  my 'reset' recharge and injury rehab break underway now! I'm headed out to the hills for a week of deer hunting, so even though I'm not running I'll still be getting some hiking in and enjoying nature and camaraderie.

Even with a couple week (at least) break it looks like I'll demolish my mileage goal for the year of 2010 miles. I'm at around 1960 already with 2.5 months to go. I'm really hoping to build off this base next year!

I came back from deer hunting a day early due to poor hunting as a result of hot days and cloudless bright moonlit nights. I did get lots of hiking in though, and enjoyed some terrific views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Stewart, and the fall colors.

Mt Rainier in the morning light.

Lightning-struck tree - impressive.

Self portrait.

My huge Chicago blood blister finally popped inside my hiking boots, and the hot spot I had on my little toe from the marathon resolved to a full 'cape' of my little toe - all the skin from the whole toe came off in one piece! Like a  hood! I've never had that happen before.

I'm looking forward to trying to get a bike ride or two in before the weather changes, but I have work all weekend with teaching EMT class on Saturday and doing refreshers on Sunday for the Ski Patrol. I'm also hopeful of running again in another week or so.

I kicked stuff out of the way and pulled out the bike trainer this morning for an easy 5 miles. I'm already frustrated about not running, especially when I see runners going by out my window. It's going to be tough keeping away from it for as long as the dr. wants me to.

Nice weather outside! After an easy 11 miles on the indoor spin bike it's time to brave the elements and go search for my hot tub cover.

We had a surprise sunny weather day today, so I went for a road bike ride. I rode ~ 20 miles to a friend's house in Sammammmmmish, then transfered to one of his mountain bikes to try and break a bone in the Duthie Hill mountain bike park. This place is pretty cool for a young, fearless teenager with lots of features (huge jumps, rails, doubles, drops, etc). I took the 'chicken' path around lots of the bigger ones, but still got a good workout in without any permanent damage to myself. I ended up with around 27 miles total, which is the  most bike miles I've put in since spring. I'm sure my fanny will feel it tomorrow.

Yeah, so the weather has been terrific the last couple of days. Have I got any bike rides in? No. I'm now four weeks without running, and my foot still stabs me once in a while which makes me think it needs a little more time. These tendon things take forever!

I did take my daughter's unused heavy bag and hang it downstairs yesterday. I found beating that thing is a great workout for the upper body and cardio - but not so much for the legs. And it's good for working out aggressions (if you have any)!

I got in a relatively damp mountain bike ride with Cherie and Kathleen this morning. We biked the Snoqualmie Valley trail for about 19 miles. I didn't mind missing part of the Husky vs. Oregon football game :)

I'm going to try out my foot this Saturday with a short TM run I think!

Cherie and I went down to Ballys for a swim. I got in 10 laps (500 meters), and Cherie got in 20 in the same 1/2 hour - and she didn't have to stop and gasp at each end of the pool!

I beat the rain today and got a 20 mile mtn. bike ride in. Then for the afternoon I did 500m swimming/gasping. I'm looking forward to my first run in five weeks this Saturday! I'm planning on just a couple miles on the treadmill.

Finally! I did my first run in 5 weeks this morning - 2+ miles on the TM at 6% grade. Now I'm off to help out at the Turkey Trot 5k.

After chair evacuation and avalanche transceiver search practice today I got in another 2 miles on the treadmill.

I got in 2 miles at 5% grade and 1 at 1% grade this morning. Have I mentioned how much I hate treadmills?

I'm already dreading the TM each day. After another 2 miles this morning I'm mentally ready to be running outside. Maybe if I walk down the steep downhill and stay on flat, stable footing I can try running outside again? I think that's what I'll try tomorrow.

I followed up the 2 mile TM with several minutes on the heavy bag again. That's the only benefit of the TM - the bag is right there when I'm done!

I decided to try and run outside today on the roads due to my inability to cope with treadmill running. I ran backwards down the steep hill to try and ease the force on my healing foot. I know I'm paranoid after any injury, but that doesn't mean I still didn't feel a little tiny bit of twinginess in my injured arch :)

Anyway it sure was nice to be out in the world running again!

What nice weather for a run today! I meant to do only two miles easy, but it was so nice out I ran the 'gate and back' run for 3.7 miles instead.

3 miles on TM with two at 5% grade and one at 1% grade.

Three  miles on the TM (there's 13" of snow outside!) at 1% grade.

I had a frosty, cool run along the roadway in Eastern Oregon. Cows ran along side me.

After getting back from an 8 hour drive I went out for a 5 mile run. I ended up running it  a little faster than I've run since I started back up after 5 weeks off. The foot injury that precipitated the 5 weeks off seems to be returning. Argh.

5:30 am is way too early to be up! I put in some easy miles anyway, and found the sliver of a moon enough light to avoid most of the puddles and snow piles.

My feet are sore across the bottoms today due to wearing a new pair of dress shoes all day yesterday. Ack! I think I'll have to put some inserts in them before wearing them again. This morning I went out for a little over 6 miles - my longest run since Chicago.

For whatever reason my left foot seems to get worse when I run in my Rider shoes - I think. I'm going to take them out of circulation for an extended period of time to test my observation.

Today was another day of reveling in beating the weatherman. The sky broke from clouds to sun by the end of my short,  muddy, rocky trail run.