Monday 12/31/12
Took another day off, this time without the driving excuse. We simply didn’t go run. We had fun walking around the city with our friend Jed and then going down to Fremont to spend the New Year with our long time friend Dan Casey. On to the next year!
Sunday 12/30/12
Took the day off. Drove 10 hours from Portland to San Francisco.
Saturday 12/29/12
35 mile run at Forest Park, Portland, OR on the Wildwood trail with friends. Julie and I met up with 6 others to run the entire trail end to end. Beautiful, chilly, clear day. Trail wasn’t too muddy (it normally is pretty nasty in December). Ran the first 15 with Julie and others at her pace. Alex and I then took off and ran pretty hard for the next 15. When I got to the end of the 30+ mile trail, I turned around and ran back 2.25 miles where I met up with Julie and ran the rest in with her. Felt strong, especially when I cranked up the pace. However, I could feel the impact of 15 miles of hard running on my legs. It’ll be something to think about for how to run my upcoming ultras. Great day, great experience.
Friday 12/28/12
Ran with Jonathon Parsons and Steve Woodley at the Heritage Trail in Vancouver, WA. We did 9 miles in 1:16. Flat, comfortable miles. The runs have flown by the past couple days due to the new terrain and the company. Feeling good, especially considering how well we’ve been eating lately!
Thursday 12/27/12
Ran with Alex Asai and Julie at Leif Erikson trail in Portland, OR. We did an out and back run on the marked trail. We did 10 miles in 1:20 running very comfortably. Good weather and nice conversation too.
Wednesday 12/26/12
Again, motivation low. We decided to expand our route repertoire and head from RC’s to Burke-Gilman. We then headed by UW and up to Ravenna Park. We ran through the park and back to Green Lake and home for a 59 minute loop. It was actually quite fun to explore a little and run a new route. Last run in Seattle for awhile.
Tuesday 12/25/12
56 mins around Green Lake. Two laps despite not wanting to get out there. Thankfully the rain let up a bit so we could stay relatively dry for awhile.
Monday 12/24/12
Tour of Vancouver, BC. 2:18 of running from our hotel downtown. We ran the seawall path around Stanley Park then through downtown past the arena and stadium, through Gastown and Chinatown, over to the other side of the water along the seawall, and finally back over the Burard St. bridge back to our hotel. It was an awesome run. It was comfortable, fun, and an adventure. Definitely a good way to get a long run in.
Sunday 12/23/12
Lame-o day-o. We woke up with rain and no motivation to do yet another loop around Green Lake. Instead, we slept in and didn’t run. We also didn’t do any P90x, which was nice b/c we’re both still sore.
Saturday 12/22/12
46 mins with Julie from RC’s house around Woodland Park and Green Lake in search of my missing keys. Didn’t feel like running but glad we got something in. We also finished up our first week of P90x workouts. We’re doing a modified program with the ones we think will help our running most. Today we jumped around doing the Plyometrics workout for an hour.
Friday 12/21/12
Full day of exercise. We did a track workout in the morning at 9:30am with the girls. I did 25 mins at MP/tempo pace (I’m not sure where I’m at these days). Did the first mile in 5:59, then the next couple miles at 5:54 pace. The last full mile was 5:51. Definitely not my best but still good that I’m out there pushing myself. Finished up with 4×200 with 200 jog rest (33-34). 10 min warm up jog and 10 min cool down.
We also did the first half of the P90x Yoga workout (about 45 mins of crazy moving postures that kicked our butts!). A little later we finished up our workout day with Ab Ripper X.
Thursday 12/20/12
8 am, 40 degrees, steady rain that has been coming down for 2 days straight, cold wind, and 56 mins of running from RC’s to Green Lake for two laps and then back home. It wasn’t pretty, my face was frozen on the cold, windy side of the lake, and the rest of me got plenty soaked. However, we got it in after yesterday’s day off.
Wednesday 12/19/12
Took the day off. Nastiness outside. We awoke to snow and then it proceeded to rain/slush all day. It’s been over a week since a day off so taking today off seems like a no-brainer.
Tuesday 12/18/12
71 mins with Julie. We ran east towards Lake Washington and finally (after multiple times looking) found the Burke-Gilman trail. We got there in time to run a few minutes north on the trail until it was time to head back. Hilly run with some long, steep climbs back up from the lake. Felt good.
Monday 12/17/12
59 mins with Julie down to Green Lake and back. We ran a different route down to the lake to avoid stop lights. We then ran an outer loop before heading home. Legs are feeling good and fresh.
Sunday 12/16/12
We did it. We finally got out of the house, out into 40 degree rainy Seattle weather and we ran for an hour at 2pm after sitting around being lazy all morning. Neither of us had the desire to run though we both knew we wanted to get a run in. We also knew that once we got out there we’d be fine. Glad we did.
We got out for 60 mins of comfortable running around the cemetery and neighborhoods near our apartment. Nothing special, except that we actually got out there and got the run in. Mission accomplished.
Saturday 12/15/12
Ran for 2:23 with barefoot Jayme Helgeson and Julie around Seattle. Forty degrees with wind and rain by the end; typical Seattle running at its best. We ran a steady pace and I felt good throughout. We started at Green Lake and headed east through Ravenna Park and over to Burke-Gilman. From there it was past the University and all the way out to Golden Gardens Park before heading back to Green Lake to finish. Good conversation and good run. It was good to get out for a longer run since I feel like I’ve been generally slacking with my running lately.
Friday 12/14/12
Ran with Julie and the girls (Anna and Allison) at the Green Lake track at 8 am. Did about an 18 minute warm up before joining Anna and Allison in their 20 minute tempo/MP workout. I helped with pacing and motivating duties. I then did a 15 minute cool down with Julie.
Thursday 12/13/12
Started at Rocketcop’s house near Green Lake, ran down to the Lake and then around Woodland park before heading back to the Lake and back to RC’s house. Julie was hurting today but we got in 46 minutes at a moderate pace. Simply glad we got out there and ran.
Wednesday 12/12/12
83 minute run with Julie from the apartment down to Green Lake. We ran two laps on the inner loop and then ran home. Felt good and didn’t get rained on much. We went at 2pm after I finished my last final exam for the quarter. Hopefully the running will increase now that school and the CFA are behind me. My hip flexors are plenty sore already from P90x yesterday. I have a ways to go to being back in overall shape, but my running does feel pretty good.
Tuesday 12/11/12
No official running today. Today was my last day of on-campus finals for the quarter and therefore, my last (hopefully) of my pathetic excuses for not running. I ran to and from school twice, about 6 minutes each way. I did do Ab Ripper X when I got home tonight though. Man is my core out of shape! I could barely make it through and I actually couldn’t keep my legs up for all of the last exercise. School is finished and thank goodness because I need to get in better shape.
Monday 12/10/12
Ran 6 miles from the Super Jock and Jill running store near Green Lake. Our friend Danielle invited us and we’re glad we went. I ran with some faster guys and ran pretty hard for most of the run. My legs feel strong right now and it was good to use some of that strength today. We also picked up some free Brooks swag. We got a free long-sleeve tech T-shirt simply for showing up and running. There were good people and I even managed to run with a guy from the 2010 Hood to Coast team that placed right behind us while I was on the BAC team. Good night (6:30pm) run with no rain.
Sunday 12/9/12
58 mins with Julie at 4pm after the Niners game. 40’s, misty, and dark. Despite those negatives, my legs felt great and we went a comfortable pace from the apartment down to Green Lake and back.
Saturday 12/8/12
Ran with Julie at 3 pm from our apartment. Low 40’s but not raining. We ran west to Carkeek park and ran the trails around there with some nice views overlooking Puget Sound. We ran for around 75 mins and had three good hills along the way. I felt really good and I think getting all this testing and school behind me will be helpful for my running. I should probably start thinking about doing some core work as well. KY 50 miler is three months away.
Friday 12/7/12
Track day at 8:30 am with Julie, Anna, and Allison. Chilly, low 40’s but no rain. Ran a 10 minute warm up with Julie and then got to work. I haven’t been feeling it on the tempo workouts lately so I only gave myself 3 x mile for the day with a 200m jog rest. They were fine, 5:43, 5:35, 5:37. 10 minute cool down.
I think I’m pushing my workouts a little too hard for the shape I’m actually in right now. I’m not feeling very smooth on these repeats, legs and breathing aren’t quite right. The first six weeks back on the track felt much easier and I was getting down to sub-5:30’s without much effort. I’m thinking it has something to do with my focus not being on running much right now and the attention given to school, the CFA, and the rest of our adventure planning. Either way, I’m glad I’m still getting in some track work so that I’m hopefully still maintaining my fitness and making some small strides forward while working on other projects.
Thursday 12/6/12
Day off running. I had a Statistics final and a Microbiology lab final and didn’t fit in the run for the day.
Wednesday 12/5/12
Ran a couple laps around Green Lake this afternoon with Julie. It was actually clear with no rain and a crisp 45 degrees. We took it pretty easy, probably mid 8’s for around 50 minutes or so. Feeling decent but with all the school work and other things going on right now, I’m simply happy to be getting in some miles and maintaining until it’s time to ramp up the training and start racing again.
Tuesday 12/4/12
Ran 40 minutes on the bike path at 7:45 am alone before class. I think keeping a running log again and putting it online actually got me out the door today (even if no one reads it!) because I felt compelled not to have two days off out of four. Thanks world wide web pressure. I felt good out there and it was actually dry and warm (~51 degrees).
Monday 12/3/12
Julie and I ran 48 minutes around Green Lake at 2pm after class. It was 40’s with rain. Blah. We went a comfortable pace, note as slow as we were expecting after all the climbing yesterday. Feeling fine.
Sunday 12/2/12
3 hours on the trails at 8am, starting in Issaquah and heading up three different summits on Tiger Mountain with Adam Lint and Julie. Temps were mild, 40’s to low 50’s with rain off and on. We walked most of the steep ups and ran the rest. It was a good run for me; I’m getting much more comfortable being out and moving for multiple hours with continuous climbing and descending. I ate a couple Gu along the way but didn’t drink anything.
Saturday 12/1/12
Took the day off. Big day with the CFA exam. I was there from sun up to sun down and was ready to relax after working out my brain all day. Back to it tomorrow.