Weekend Double

This past weekend is one I always look forward to due to the Bloomsday 12k race in Spokane. I've run it every year since I discovered it (about six years ago?). The elevation changes and crowds (50,000 participants) make it a challenging race, and it is about the right time of year to officially open the racing season for me.

This year I've been able to get a pretty good base of mileage built up in comparison to previous years (though I haven't done much speed training yet), so I was hoping for a good showing (a PR and a sub 48 minute Second Seed qualifying time). Then a new race was created near my home town - a half marathon with a flat elevation profile - that would be happening the day before Bloomsday. There's something about first year events, especially ones in/near my town, that are very compelling. Also my half marathon PR is 5 years old and very soft, so I would be almost guaranteed a PR. Of course I knew it would likely have a negative impact on my goals at Bloomsday, so I initially fought back the desire to sign up for it.

Eventually the draw of running the new, local Saturday race overcame my concerns of the negative impact on Sunday's race and I decided to run it. Even up to the morning of the race I hadn't decided how I'd run the race. Should I make it a max effort? Since I had no marathon pace runs in yet this year should I make it a marathon pace run? In the end I decided to run it at a steady marathon heart rate level as I don't know what my pace really is right now. I drove down with Shawn, a running buddy from my neighborhood. Since we'd picked up our packets the day before we had plenty of time for a nice, slow 1.5 mile warm up. Once the race started I paced Shawn for the first three miles at a slightly lower HR, then tried to maintain a HR of 175 for the rest of the race. I averaged 178 bpm at  my last marathon in December, so I felt a 175 rate effort should leave me a little something for Bloomsday the next day.

As it turned out I was able to run 6:30 pace at that heart rate, which was a pleasant surprise. The last mile I ran in 6:00 minutes as I was working on passing the person in front of me. I passed him with about 400 meters to go, then really opened it up on the Mount Si High School track for the last 300 meters to the finish. My final time was 1:25:09 - good for a 3+ minute PR and 3rd place in the Masters division. I actually won $50 for that! Whoohooo! And Shawn kept me in sight and secured a 30+ minute PR for himself with an outstanding effort made even more remarkable coming just six days after he ran a 36 mile trail race!

After the awards ceremony Cherie and I headed home for a quick meal and a shower before making the long 4 hour drive to Spokane. We got to the expo just in time to pick up our race packets, then it was off to get more food! Race morning brought clear blue skies and temperatures in the lower 40*s - perfect race weather! Cherie and I headed toward the start and split up where she had to go in the Yellow start corral while I went down to the Second Seed corral. Since I'd just raced the day before I only did a short, easy 1.5 mile warm up instead of my usual 3 miles at increasing intensity warm up for short races. I worked my way up near the front of the corral and got a look at the elites about 20 yards ahead. The start gun went off and so did the runners! My intention was to try and go out at 6:15 mpm pace for the flats and downhills the first couple miles and see what I had for the hills. I was able to stay fairly strong on the hills including Doomsday Hill (see accompanying elevation profile) - I even high-fived the vulture at the top. The last 2.5 miles went well, and I was able to pick off a few more runners at the end. I finished in 47:22 and feeling good - like maybe I could have pushed a bit harder. Cherie finished in 1:01:59 which was a 7+ minute PR for her. She only has 4 more minutes to shave off before she too can start in the second seed corral!

In summary I'm quite pleased with how my body responded to the weekend double. My troublesome left achilles/soleus injury thing is a little more obvious today, but it's not too bad. I'll take some easy days this week before hitting a long trail run this coming weekend.

Shoe Report - Brooks Cascadia 5

I'm not a big fan of trail shoes and have only had one pair before - a clunky pair of Montrails. I find that my road shoes work quite well on the trails too. However I was in Foot Zone the other day picking up some Hammer Gel and, needing some new shoes, was looking at the offerings on display. The Cascadia caught my eye because it's light and low, especially for a 'trail' shoe. I tried them on in the store and found they fit me very well. I like a shoe that's narrow/tight in the heel with lots of room in the toebox. The outsole had nice traction lugs and a 'rock plate' to help keep stone bruises at bay. My only initial concern was how soft the cushioning was.
I tried them out on a 12 mile run including a climb up Cedar Butte on a wet day. The shoes felt good and had fair traction on the loamy soil, but when the trail was muddy the shoes didn't do as well. They also had NO traction on wet roots and rocks. I nearly fell a couple times due to this.
I wore them again on a 24 mile trail run featuring 6,000' of elevation gain, mud, snow, and dry surfaces today. The snow was soft and slippery and I doubt any shoe would have done well. These certainly didn't. I also seemed to be twisting my foot and ankle a lot. I don't know if it is because the soft cushioning of the shoe allowed more 'roll' or if it was just the trail conditions.
The Brooks Cascadia 5 seems like a shoe that will find a place in my shoe library due to its good dry weather traction, its fit, and its light weight and suitability for both road and trail running.

20 miles

In my pre running life (before age 40) I would have flipped if someone told me they were going to run 20 miles all at once. Why would anyone run 20 miles when they could drive - or at worst ride a bike?

One reason is simply that we (humans) can! We seem to be adapted to long distance running by evolution. It may take a while to get in condition to be able to do it, but I feel that nearly anyone is capable of these long runs and running marathons.

My last 20+ mile run was last Sunday. I'm in a mileage base building phase to prepare for a 50k trail race in July. I skied hard Saturday and pretty well thrashed my quads, so the run was a little more difficult than it might have been! I ran it as a progression run meaning I started off slowly, increased my pace in the middle miles, and increased my pace again for the finish. This makes for a good workout! Cherie rode her bike alongside me during the run as she did last fall when I was preparing for the New York City marathon. It was a great day with sun and temperatures in the lower 60s. We went to the pool for a few laps afterward and finished up by sitting in the club sauna for a few minutes. It was pretty much a good day!

Today I'm going out for around 12 miles including a couple repeats up Cedar Butte, a small mountain just off the Iron Horse trail near the house.

Mercer Island 10k Race Report

I decided to run the Mercer Island 10k pretty  much the night before the event. I had just raced a 5k the previous weekend and had a full week of running with a couple medium long (12~14) mile runs already. I have built up to a pretty good base so far this year and really should be transitioning to speed work about now. In a way races are speed work though!
This race was run along with a half marathon and a 5k to benefit colon cancer testing and research. I paid the most huge entry ($45) I've ever heard of for a 10k to get in too, but I figured it was for a good cause. The weather was cloudy, a little occasional drizzle, and around 50* for the start. The course is fairly hilly and features road, sidewalk, paved, and unpaved paths, and lots of tight turns including two 180* out and back turnarounds. So it's not a fast course! Since I hadn't tapered for this race and I'd run a race last weekend I really didn't know what to expect for a time. My goal was to go out at a less than breakneck speed and see what the course would give. Since I knew I wouldn't be setting any PRs here I raced a more tactical race - which can be quite fun! I've been practicing passing people such that I don't get passed back. I study the person in front of me to see how they handle the uphills versus the ensuing downhills. Do they slow on the uphill and speed the downhills? Are they fairly steady and even paced over varied terrain?
The big thing with passing other runners is to do so in a commanding fashion. If I just squeek by and stay only a little in front of them I risk them surging and re-passing me. So I pass with authority and keep the pedal down to demoralize them enough that they won't try and re-pass. It works quite well when I can handle it.
Anyway I passed a couple guys in the last half mile or so, and with a 38:57 time I ended up in 11th place overall (out of 725 runners) and 1st in my age group (of 29 total). I must qualify that result with the fact that the 10k was not horribly competitive. Most of the 'fast guys' were either running the half or weren't there. Hey, that's racing! You gotta take what you can get when you can get it!

3 miles warm up, 6.2 miles racing, 3 miles cool down for yesterday.
8 miles easy today (Monday)

Finaghty's St. Patty's Day 5k report

Time flies when you're living! Over the last couple weeks since I last posted I've built up to about 60 running miles per week, then took a cut-back week and ran a 5k race. I also signed up for my first ultra - though it is the shortest 'ultra' distance, a 50k. It is however in the Siskiyou mountains at 6500' elevation, so that will add to the challenge. I have until July to prepare for that.

Finaghty's 5k:
Cherie, Jesse, Brendan, Shawn, and I went to Snoqualmie Ridge for the St. Patty's Day 5k on Saturday. The course is on streets, trails, and occasionally sidewalks and is a bit hilly with lots of tight turns, so it's not what I'd call a PR course. It was overcast with occasional sun breaks and rain breaks with the temperature around 40*.
Shawn, Brendan, and I ran the course as a warm up, and I had time for a couple accelerations. Then we watched the start of the kid's 1k race. It always cracks me up how the little guys and gals go out at a full blown sprint!
This early in the season my goal for the 5k was mostly to see where I was at with training and as a good fast tempo run. At the start as usual there was a small crowd of 7 to 10 year old kids at the very front. They typically go out at a full sprint then slow dramatically after a hundred yards or so and become moving obstacles.
I ran the first mile at around 5:45 pace and the second more uphill mile at around 6:10 pace. At about the two mile mark a guy with male pattern baldness passed me. Figuring he was likely in  my age group I hung close though. The last half mile before the finish featured a pretty good climb followed by a short downhill to the finish. I passed the guy who'd passed me on the uphill section and powered up the hill to beat him by several seconds. This got me a 3rd place in my age group. Cherie got a 2nd place in her age group!

Long Sunday

My wife, Cherie, and I left the house early to get to the ferry in Seattle with our bicycles for the Chilly Hilly bike ride. The weather was cooperative and the ride was nice if a little crowded. We finished and caught the ferry back to Seattle, then stopped in Bellevue and put in a nice run, then went to the pool and swam. We didn't get home until nearly 6 pm!

I was able to get a run in Saturday with Brendan, a neighbor who coaches high school track and cross country. He's dealing with a hip issue, so we took it fairly easy. I went a little longer after Brendan called it a day and ended up with around 12 miles total. My weekly total running last week hit 52 miles. I'm about ready to start up with some long runs every other week I think - though I want to continue with my weekly hill repeat workout and track workout at least through April before committing to long distance work primarily.

Today (Monday) I did a little over 9 miles including a trip up Cedar Butte. Tomorrow will be an easy 5 or so for recovery so I'm ready for the hill repeats on Wednesday.

Fraud

Somehow a low-life got my business credit card information and made some online purchases. I've cancelled the card and now have to remember all the vendors who have it on file. Gak.

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to a full day of work missed so I can keep current on my EMT instructor status with the department. I'm only a little behind now at work :). Friday is a ski patrol night and Sunday is the Chilly Hilly bike ride on Bainbridge Island. I have Saturday free for work catch-up.

I went with Shawn on an 11 mile trail run Monday. The run finished with 3.5 miles of steep down hill running, which is rather hard on me. My right arch still hurts, my quads are sore, and I'm not quite recovered yet. I did put in an easy 5 miles yesterday and a 7.25 mile progression/tempo run today on tired legs. I'll finish the week out with a couple easy effort days and either a hill repeat or a track workout day Saturday morning. Maybe the rain will have stopped by then?

7.25 miles running today, 22.5 for the week so far.