Mountain Monkeys - Mountain and road biking, trail running, skiing, and whatever else I do, mostly in the mountains (or hills)
 

Haulin Aspen Training Begins?

Yesterday my wife and I signed up for the Haulin Aspen trail half marathon.  This is in Bend, in August.  I've heard it's a great event - good trail, good food & beer sponsors, etc.  Looking forward to it.  Definitely have to get my wife's mileage ramped up, and really, need to up my own a bit as well, as I've yet to run that distance, and have only run over 7 miles a few times now.  

Today's run was a sort of hill workout.  I started at Fox Hollow, and run up to Spencer Butte summit.  This gets a nice even 1000' feet of elevation gain in about 2 miles.  The last pitches up to the summit (and much of the return down) I had to hike/walk, as it's too rocky and steep for me to be able to run it.  But, up and back took 47 minutes - 26 of that was up, about a minute of hanging out at the top, and then 20 down, if I recall properly what my watch said at those points.

Legs were pretty worked by the time I got to the top, but recovered fairly soon after finishing the slower/rockier/hiking sections back down from the summit.  Twas fairly warm, at roughly 76 degrees.  Got to try out a new Under Armor running shirt that is super super light weight, and has a bit of a mesh section down the center of the back.  This shirt was awesome!  Basically felt like I wasn't wearing anything, didn't feel soggy at all (even though it was drenched - probably cuz it's so thin and light that it's soaked but not that much water total).  Lightweight Smartwool socks FTW (tried running in some thin Defeet cycling socks the other day, which was mild fail - rubbed a bit, and not comfy).  Drank about 1/2 of my water bottle.

Good bit of training for the Haulin Aspen, which has 1300' of elevation gain in the first 8 miles, then down after that.  Clearly a much longer overall race, so the elevation gain will be more mild I assume (but don't really know how it stretches out yet - need to check their topo map).  It seems a lot like doing the first 10k of the Ridgeline Ramble (I clocked 1250' gain on my watch for that), and then running back down.  The downhills rarely bother me, as long as I keep good(? for me?) form, so I think it'll be more about getting up and finished with the ascent, and then enjoying the run back down.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 28, 2010
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Interviews with Scott Jurek and Hal Koerner

Just read a couple interviews of interest:

The Return Of The King: Exclusive Interview With Hal Koerner

Scott Jurek Says, “Come On, Do An Ultra!”

And, uh, no, I am not planning on getting into ultras (I've yet to do a half marathon, although got close (20k) on Monday :)  I am looking to get into a bit more distance, but it's still early for me, so I'm eyeballing 20k, maybe a 30k later on.  Thinking about the Haulin Aspen as a start.  I've heard that's a great event.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 24, 2010
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The Run After the 20k

After Monday's superb 20k run, went out today on a subset of the same trails.  But, clearly I had some residual muscle tiredness.  I ran for 55 minutes, roughly 5.5 miles, and just felt heavy and slow.  I wasn't hurting, but nowhere near the spring, lightness, and effortlessness of Monday's run.  Regardless, I was happy to get out there.

A slight note on distances.  My new Tech4o Traileader 1 watch seems to be fairly accurate, maybe overstating the distances a bit, whereas the iPhone is crap due to the heavy tree cover - if it even works.  Today is a good example.  My watch said 5.9 miles, iPhone said 4.23.  Along the way I was comparing my watch to the trail signs which state distances.  It was 0.1 miles over the first one at I think the 1.3mi mark.  The other day when I checked it, it was only 0.1 over after 3 something miles.  In general the watch seems fairly close, at most 10% over, probably more like about 5%.  I expect, since it bases it on stride, that it will vary based on how hilly a particular run/trail is, etc.  I intend to go calibrate it, but I'm not sure where yet, since doing so on a track will make it accurate for the street/track, but probably not quite as right for trails.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 23, 2010
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On a High After My First 20k Trail Run!

I am pretty dang stoked right now, as I managed to do 12.24 miles of trail running on the Ridgeline trails this afternoon.  Previously my longest run had been the 8.5 mile Gorilla Thrilla, so this was a nice jump up.  From about mile 5, I was clearly on the running high, because as I thought about it, I just got goose bumps with excitement.  I had gone out only thinking I'd do 9-10 miles (so I did know I was going to try to go longer than I had before), and it wound up being even longer.

I started at the Blanton trail head of Eugene's Ridgeline trails.  Through the rolling singletrack, to the Willamette trail head, up the steep hills there, and down to Fox Hollow trail head.  Did a loop around Fox Hollow, then headed back the way I came.  When I got to the intersection where I'd go right to head over to Willamette, I thought I needed a smidge more in order to get an even 10 miles, so I stayed on the trail toward Spencer Butte.  I figured I'd just go a ways up, but then I was getting closer and closer to the junction with the main Spencer Butte trail.  As I neared it and prepared to turn around before, I came across a hiker.  Well, I couldn't just pass this guy and 10 feet later turn around, so kept going.  This was good anyway, as I was clearly taking longer than I'd told my wife I'd be out, so at the top I sent her a quick text.  I have a bit of a history of bike crashes and so on, so I like to keep her knowing I'm safe :)

Anyway, from there, it was running back down one of my favorite sections of these Ridgeline trails, and then forking off back towards Willamette, and finally on the Blanton section.  I'd expected Blanton to be a real beotch at this point, but wow, I ran more of the hills there than I would even if I was purely doing just a Blanton run!  Awesome.  Back at the car, I snapped this photo for evidence:

It was a really nice day weather wise, 65 degrees, sunny (but these trails stay nice and protected by the trees).  The grasses are out in force, and did majorly irritate me, but I didn't really notice until I was home.  I drank nearly all of an Ultimate water bottle (20oz?), and had a Hammer gel.  Perfect.  It's a few hours later now, and I do feel the run a bit, but not even as much as I'd expect.  I think my goal of doing a half marathon by year's end is clearly attainable.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 21, 2010
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Great Running in Mammoth

I'm in Mammoth Lakes, CA right now for a company meeting (one of our guys, Ross, has a killer house here that we're using).  Yesterday, Sam and I headed out around 5:30pm for a quick run.  First Tough Mudder team training run (except Ross skipped it :).  We had planned to just do a quick say 2 miles, as Sam was really affected by the altitude (we're apparently at about 7000-8000' here).  We had some vague directions/idea from Ross, and wound up running some trail and a chunk of pavement up to the resort.  But, then from there we picked up the trails again and headed back.  Some decent hills, and a little over 40 minutes later we were back.  Nice easy pace (lucky for me I wasn't feeling the altitude at all), and just a real nice set of trails.

The particular trails we were on were singletrack, with lots of twists and turns through the trees.  Clearly sweet mountain biking trails too.  Smooth, but looking like killer flow with many banked turns and just a nice fun set of trails.  The other thing I noticed was that they seem to have two trails that parallel each other, and it appears it's so that bikes just go one way on each.  VERY nice!  

This morning I didn't want to miss getting out on these trails once more before we fly out tonight.  I really really like these for running, and the dry clean air, gorgeous setting, and perfect temperatures are just too much to pass up.  So, up "early" at 7am, after a bit of a fitfull night (stomach didn't feel great).  First 15 minutes of the run were a bit rough, but then got mostly warmed up (was 45 degrees), and went up the singletrack, turned around up near the resort, and back down.  40 minutes, maybe 3.5-4 miles (iPhone's RunKeeper said just over 3 miles, but as we found yesterday, all the twists and turns clearly had it coming up short on mileage).  Uphill for the entire first half, and then such a sweet downhill back, awesome.

I'd really like to have had more time here.  I originally planned to bring my bikes and spend more time, but thought the trails were under snow (ski resort is still open, but down here at the base, there isn't much snow).  But, maybe I'll have another chance this summer.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 18, 2010
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2010 Steep Hill Chase 5k race

Saturday Diana and I raced the Steep Hill Chase 5k trail run here in town.  Fun event.  The course was essentially flat, with exception to the "steep hill", which was only maybe 20 feet up, but steep and slippery with mud.  You really had to claw your way up, using hands and knees, etc.  The other fun bit of the course was an option about halfway through where you could either take a "short cut" through the water, or go around.  In the spirit of things, I went through the water, which turned out to be waist deep, and a bit of a slog.  It was maybe 30-40 feet across.  The water wasn't too cold.  Really, the worst aspect of this was after - your shoes are soaked, as are shorts, part of my shirt, etc.  The soaked shoes really weigh you down, and I think, if ultimate time was my goal, going around would have been a better choice, but the water cross was fun.  

As it turned out, I had quite a good race, with a time of 23 minutes 41 seconds, for a pace of 7:38.  This is far and away the fastest I've run.  I was quite happy, as I figured 25 minutes would be the absolutely fastest I'd do it.  Clearly, having a shorter, flat course made a huge difference.  Diana did great too, and beat her expected time, coming in at 32 minutes and change.

There was a bit of a scare at the end of the race, as a woman crossed the finish line and collapsed, losing conciousness for a few seconds, and shaking a bit, kind of looking a bit seizure like.  The sharking stopped shortly, one of the race folks called 911, I gave her my vest and jacket to help keep her warm, and in the end she was ok.  She opted not to ride with the paramedics back to the hospital, and we saw her walking around at the award's ceremony.  Hopefully it was just dehydration and exertion, etc.  Glad she seems to be ok.

Filed under  //   race   running  
Posted June 14, 2010
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Two Great Runs This Week - and a New Watch

I'm quite happy with the two runs I got in this week, following the Gorilla Thrilla, and I guess sort of in prep for the Steep Hill Chase this coming Saturday.  Tuesday's run was my usual out and back on the Blanton-Willamette section of Ridegline.  I was feeling pretty good after the Thrilla, and also the distance was close to Steep Hill, so I wanted to push it a bit.  It worked - I set a new PR, with 32 mins flat.  Very good for me. 

Today, Thursday, I did a run I've only done I think two or three other times, and have considered the hardest I've done aside from any races.  This is starting at Spencer Butte parking lot, running over to Fox Hollow, doing a loop in there, and then back.  The section of trail from Fox Hollow back to where it tops out when rejoining the main Spencer Butte trail to me is the hardest section on the Ridgeline trails.  Many steep sections along 1.5 miles of trail.  I usually have to walk a lot of it.  Today was no different.  But, overall, I set a new PR by a ways today, doing this in 61 minutes (previous times were 67+).  Weather was funky.  When I left my house, computer said it was 61.  But it had hailed only an hour before.  Arriving at the trailhead, thermometer said 49 degrees.  I started out, sort of idiotically, in hat, gloves, and jacket (short sleeve shirt under).  This actually felt good (my hands get very cold easily, and my head does a bit too (it's nearly shaved, which doesn't help :)  hat came off in the first mile, then at Fox Hollow the jacket (which was very wet inside, so much for breathability!) and gloves.  

What I liked about today's, was that I felt I started out at quite a nice, almost leisurely pace.  I did not want to go real hard today, and I felt dehydrated, had headache, etc.  I'm glad I carried a water bottle (something I almost never do, but with that dehydration feeling, figured I should).  Was a nice run.  Achilles and calves got a bit of strain in the first half, but I think I determined that I really need to take the bigger strides on the descents, as I can actually be a bit more light/graceful that way, vs. the short, choppier, seemingly harder hitting steps.  Not always possible if the descent is real steep, but this sure seemed to make a difference.  I prefer it anyway, but the terrain sometimes doesn't allow for it as much.  Just have to work on doing it more.

So, I'm headed in to the Steep Hill Chase 5k on Saturday feeling good.  I am confident I can do sub-30 minutes, and really, should be able to do closer to 25 mins if the course is mostly flat (sounds like the "steep hill" is just one hill at the end, but rest is flat-ish?).  We shall see.

I also have a new watch, a Tech4o Traileader One.  I'm hoping it does a good job of measuring distance, since GPS based items suck here in the dense woods of Oregon.  This sucks, becuase I really like using Runkeeper Pro on my iPhone, but there are many times it's just so far off (iPhone's/GPS' fault, not Runkeeper).  Anyway, the watch uses technology that measures your stride/rhythm as you run.  No foot pod or anything else, which is great.  It also does altitude, temperature, and so on.  I've only used it on Thursday's run so far, but it is looking like right out of the box it's pretty darn accurate.  I tallied the trail distance using the maps, and it's within 0.2 miles for the total run.  This is even better than say the trail running book I've used, which says this run is 7 miles, but the maps show more like 6 (the watch said 6.24).  I plan to head over to the track at some point and do an official calibration for my running, but even now it seems at least close enough to use until I get a chance to calibrate.  It's also super light and plenty comfy.  It's a bit big for my taste, but I didn't even notice it on my wrist, so that's about all that matters.

Filed under  //   running  
Posted June 10, 2010
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Gorilla Thrilla 8.5 mile race

On Sunday, June 6th, I ran the inaugural Gorilla Thrilla race here in Eugene, all of a 5 min drive from my house.  I did the 8.5 mile version (there was also a 4.25 mile, the 8.5 is just two laps of the course).  I was excited, but a bit nervous going in, as this would be the longest run I'd ever done.  Awoke that morning, and it had been raining during the night, and was before the race.  We heard reports that it was a real mud fest, with some non-trivial creek crossings, and slippery hills.  It stopped raining before the start.  Mike joined me for this race, Jake was there, running in some Vibram 5 Fingers shoes, and speedy James was there too.  The gun went off and the gorilla and banana guys jumped out and then started wrestling.  The rest of us had to go run...

The course was definitely tricky as they said.  Very muddy in spots, ankle deep at times, but also just a bunch of grass and other things that combined to make seeing some rocks underneath hard.  I immediately knew I needed to take it easy, as I was pretty worried about my ankle.  I settled in as the race progressed, and was feeling fine.  Approaching the completion of the first lap, there's a solid hill, which was tough.  I chowed a Hammer gel just before this, which I think wound up being very good.  At about this point I was sort of wondering why I'd signed up for the two laps, but knew I could do it.  Getting over that hill, and then through the finish was great.  Grabbed a small bit of water, kept going.  Did the first lap in 48 minutes.

About 1 hour 7 mins in, as I looked at my watch, I was feeling quite good actually.  Probably had just done some downhills.  A few minutes later the rain started, but the temps were in the 60's, and it really was no big deal.  It wasn't as if I wasn't pretty much wet anyway.  Soon after was the knee deep creek crossing, and then onwards to the crazy guys pretending to be hillbillies chasing us down, yelling at us, etc.  That was good for a big smile on each lap, and a fun aspect of the race.  

I was yo-yoing with a couple others near the finish.  Caught a guy who'd passed me before, and one woman was creeping up from behind.  I held her off on the last descent, which was pretty damn sketchy.  I was surfing down it, and heard her yelping behind me (I can only imagine how many people probably crashed on this descent, so slippery!).  Then I kind of ran across the finish in a daze.  My wife and kids were there and I almost didn't notice them, I truly was in a bit of a daze. 

Pretty darn happy with my result though.  I had revised my initial guess of 90 mins, after hearing the course conditions to 1 hour 40 mins.  Wound up at 1 hr 37 min.  As it turns out, this was actually good for 10th place in the 8.5 mile group (overall: men + women, all ages).  Of course there were only 28 finishers :)  The 16 year guy, Alex, who won it, just smoked everyone but one other guy (only one other guy was within 10 minutes of his time), running a 7:22 pace!  He finished in about 1hr 2mins.  To me that was seriously fast given that course.  He was on the 2nd place relay team at the Ridgeline, and ran 6-something minute pace there, so clearly he's fast, but damn.  My pace was 11:26 in comparison.  I'd like to see what I could have done if it weren't so muddy, but really, quite happy with my result, and stoked to finish that distance.  Turned out to not be too bad.  Knowing the course on the second lap wound up being excellent, made it easier to break it up into mini-milestones.  I also quite enjoyed the course.

The land that this was on was private, 300+ acres owned by a guy who just wants to turn it into a park, but is being fought by the city and his neighbors for some f'ed reason.  He has a non-profit called Trials Club that I need to look into.  Apparently you can get a card that lets you go run/use the area, just have to sign in, and obey some basic rules.  This is fantastic given it's all of 5 minutes from my house.  I may even be able to run via the powerline easement to get there, something I'm now a bit more motivated to explore...

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Posted June 8, 2010
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Running Forest Park in Portland

This past week I was at a conference in Portland, so two mornings I got up early and hit the trails in their amazing Forest Park which is one of the largest municipal parks in the country. The Wildwood trail network alone has something like 40+ miles of trail!  On Tuesday I did Marquam Shelter to Council Crest (and back), which is a nice 5k, 600' of ascent, basically uphill to Council Crest, which gives you a killer view of the city, then back down, all singletrack.  Sweetness!  I nearly rolled my ankle a few times on some of the rocks/roots, but it's a great trail, really enjoyed this one.  Was about 2 mile drive from my downtown hotel.

Thursday I did Wildwood-Wild Cherry loop, also close, only about a 10 min drive, if that, from downtown.  This one was a bit longer at 4.8 miles, 570' of gain according to the book I have. I was feeling a bit tired this morning, and got blown by by someone as I started out :)  A nice trail loop again though. Had a bit of pavement on it at the end, which is not my thing, but was a small price to pay.  Eugene's Ridgeline system is excellent, and the particular trails are very much to my liking, but this place has A LOT more terrain.  The good part is I'm in Portland several times a year, and I think will have to make more attempts to get out on the trails while I'm there.

The book I used for trail beta is "Trail Running Oregon" by Lizann Dunegan (Amazon, or view it on Google Books).

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Posted June 8, 2010
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2010 Ridgeline Ramble

Posting this a week late.  My wife, Diana, and I did the Ridgeline Ramble as a relay team (10k each).  Diana rocked it.  She beat her expected time by 20 mins.  She's only been running again for about two weeks, so this is pretty damn sweet.  I finished, and did ok.  But, I was sick, and knew it affected my time.  I ran a 1:06, which was 6 mins slower than I'd hoped for.  Hard to say how much the illness affected me, but I clearly felt low on energy.  I just don't know if that means it cost me 3 minutes, 5, or 10.  But really, this was my first trail race, and all that really mattered was finishing with a solid performance (for me).  That I did.

One thing that I'm finding interesting, is that within a few minutes of finishing, I felt fine, and was joking with a friend who ran with me, that I should go do the rest.  Couldn't have done that, but with running, I'm finding that, so far, I can recover pretty quick.  The only thing is that this also makes me feel like I didn't go hard enough, or certainly that I didn't finish as strong as I could have.  I'm used to coming home from what would be a "hard" mountain bike ride (say a 4+ hour solid ride) and wanting to just veg on the couch the rest of the day.  With running that's yet to happen.  They're different, and I probably have cycling to thank for some endurance, and am still getting used to the muscle and joint use in running.  The nice thing is that it makes me think that doing 20k/half marathon, or potentially a bit more is going to be possible this year.

What's also fun is to see how fast the top folks are.  Jenn Shelton from Ashland, who's a top trails racer, absolutely smoked the course at 1:28, taking 4th overall, and beating the women's record by 9 minutes.  Jeremy Tolman won the mens, and set a new mens record as well, at 1:21.  Heck, that's only 15 minutes longer than me for double the distance!  The notion of running a 6.5 minute mile on trails is in that unattainable category in my mind.  I'm shooting to be able to do 9 (which I've done just about for 5k distances, so I think it's an attainable goal).

Most of all though, I'm having fun with this, enjoying it.  I haven't raced (bikes, or anything) for many years now, and I'm just enjoying taking a very casual approach back to it.  Not completely ignorant of times or placings or whatever, but for now, just competing with myself, and happy not to be last :)

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Posted June 7, 2010
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