Run For My Supper

For the last few years, when I was really training seriously, I would run home from work, once a week.  It’s 18 miles door to door and when Jeanne worked in Salem, this was a great plan.  I’d run home from work and she would drive me in to work the next morning.  Ever since she stopped working in Salem, I’ve struggled with a mid week long run, especially in the Winter.  By the time I'd get home from work and change, that 10 to 18 mile loop or out and back would end up with a short cut too many times for me to feel good about.

So, I’ve come up with a new plan, Run for my Supper.  I’ve always had good success motivating myself for long runs by running toward food.  My Mom and Sister both live in Monmouth and Jeanne’s daughter Hailey lives in next door Independence.  From the near side of Monmouth to the far side of Independence can be anywhere from as short as 10 miles to as long as 18 depending on the final destination.

So far, I’ve run 10 miles to Yeasty Beasty in Monmouth.  They make their own dough from wild yeast that they captured in their own handy dandy yeast trap, ok, that kinda sounded gross, but as someone who has done this, it’s pretty cool.  Good pizza, impressive beer selection on tap, and really cool people.

Koyote Cafe Tamales

Last week it was 10 miles to Koyote Cafe in Monmouth.  I over ate, a little, because their special was chicken tamales, which I had to get, and a small carne asada taco just wouldn’t leave me alone.
 

Pastrami Sammich at Pink House Cafe

Yesterday it was 12 miles the Pink House Cafe in Independence.  This is one of the Willamette Valley’s best kept secrets.  The owner, Paul, had a little teriyaki place in Salem years ago that was very good, but I think he’s really found his food niche now.  It’s right across the street from the Independence Cinema, and the food is absolutely wonderful.  I shouldn't have had the Rum Cake because all I can think about is going back for more dessert.

This will be my Wednesday run for a while, patiently waiting for Funky Bun to open.

Stalking 100 Miles in One Day

I know I can run 100 miles in one day.  It seems so easy in my head.  I’ve done all of the possible split scenarios a thousand times.  There have been 20 miles runs where I’ve thought of little else except how I “should” be able to run 100 miles in one day.  And yet, the truth is, I’ve failed in 2 attempts so far.  The 2011 Western States DNF bothers me, like any DNF should, but I understand it.  I wasn’t really prepared for the running on ice and snow, fell way too many times, and just let myself get beaten up.  I can take those lumps as they come.  The 2010 Lean Horse DNF still haunts me.  I was in fantastic shape that Summer.  Physically, that may have been the best shape I’ve ever been in.  A wiser person than I, always admonishes me on long journeys, “it all comes down to how well you take care of yourself”, and I took horrible care of myself that day.  I made so many mistakes that it drives me crazy thinking back on it.  I don’t count 2011 Pacrim 24 hour as an attempt at 100, I decided ahead of time that I was going at least to 100k but no further than 80 miles and stopped at 70.

Crossing the bridge, Pacrim 2011

Which brings me to the 2013 Pacrim 24 hour, March 16 in Longview, Washington.  My stated goal is 100 miles in one day.  I can say with certainty, that I will not be in as good a shape as I was for Lean Horse, but I am in pretty good shape.  Hopefully, I’m a little wiser now.  A one mile loop course removes many mistakes that could be made regarding hydration and food, but brings with it new issues to resolve.  I have to treat that “every mile” aid station and crew as essentially non existent at least 5 times in a row, every hour.  I’m constantly perplexed by the “how slow early” riddle.  9 minutes per mile is the most comfortable pace I can possibly find.  8 minutes per mile is marathon pace, and that starts to feel like work after about mile 15.  10 minute per mile pace does feel a little easier than 9 but not by much.  Anything slower than that feels like wasting time.  I think I will run in the low 9’s to start and take at least a half mile walk break every hour, which will also, hopefully, allow me to eat a little each hour.  And do this until I can’t do it anymore.  Then, I suppose, I’ll make it up as I go along.

The Hunt For PRs

I’m almost 50. I’ve been running for 10 years. The realization that most of my best times forvarious distances has been set for life is slowly creeping in. I have a PR list in a spreadsheet. Iknow which ones I feel I still have a shot at breaking. There are some odd distances that I eitheronly ran once, early, or haven’t ran at all. Those don’t really count. Of the more regulardistances, my half marathon time has always seemed one of the “softer” PRs. On one hand,that’s surprising to me since it’s a distance I absolutely love. It’s long enough, for training to playa slightly larger role than talent, but short enough that you can “go for it” without the glamorousflame out that the marathon can bring. But, maybe that’s why I see my PR in that distance assoft, because it always feels like I can run a solid half.

It was cold!

I feel like I have this year’s big races set up really well for myself. Better than in any other year inquite a while. A 24 hour race in March, Pac Rim One Day. Then a marathon in June, NewportMarathon. Then my Run Across Oregon in August. High mileage training for the 24 hour race,then put some speed training in for the marathon, then back to high mileage training for the crossstate run. The only part of it that didn’t really make sense was the half marathon I signed up forin January, Cascade Half Marathon.

25 Seconds

I had a really good second half of 2012. No injuries, since giving up the trails. A good 50k inOctober, but no speed training to speak of. Out of respect for truly fast runners, I shouldprobably rephrase that, no track work. So, I went in to the Cascade Half not really sure what toexpect. It was cold! Around 23 degrees at the start. I didn’t warm up nearly as much as Inormally would for a half marathon. I ran the length of the indoor hallway at Cascade HighSchool several times, but that was it. I missed the first 2 mile markers but noticed at mile 3 that Iwas very close to my PR pace and feeling pretty comfortable. The road was icy in patches. Notenough to make you alter your stride, but enough to make you pay attention. At the turnaround Iwas 15 seconds off PR pace and still feeling really good. I told myself to just keep it undercontrol for another few miles and then I’d let myself start picking up the pace. Then around mile9, I started feeling some tightening in my hamstrings. It’s usually one leg or the other whensomething starts to go wrong, so it was strange to feel it equally in both legs. By mile 10 theywere both knotted up pretty good. Every other part of my body wanted to go faster, even myeyelashes were saying “let’s go”, but every time I tried to pick it up, they felt like they were on theverge of tearing. I missed my PR by 25 seconds. But I feel very confident that with some speedtraining, a little better weather and a more appropriate warm up, my half marathon PR is one thatwill still get lower. Next attempt, Corvallis Half Marathon, April 14

NOT the End of the World

Dawn to Dusk, 2012 edition, ended in failure, I don’t even have pictures.  There wasn’t even a lot of drama to it.  I ran the first three miles with about a 10 mph tail wind in a light mixture of rain and snow. My legs felt good but it was really cold right from the start.  I met Jane, Denice and Kristen at the Park and Ride lot at the intersection of Kings Valley Highway and Highway 22, only to find out that every car previously parked there had been broken into.  It was at least 6 cars with their windows broken.  Denice and Kristen did decide to leave their cars anyway and we headed off toward Perrydale, picking up Tracy along the way.  By the time we reached Perrydale, about mile 10, the temperature was dropping and the wind was increasing.  We now had Jeanne for crew support, but as a group we were moving much slower than I had anticipated the first part going.  I was starting to hear and observe some of my early companions making alternate plans to get in a warm damn car!  I had only planned to have company until mile 16 so, when at mile 12, turning straight into the 20 to 30 mph freezing wind I still had one, Denice, I considered myself fortunate.  The rain and snow mix was coming down very heavy now and being blown straight into us by the wind.  There was almost no talking those last 4 miles as neither of us could make discernible words come out of our frozen mouths, but the pace was pretty admirable considering the circumstances.  I remember thinking, “oh, sure, you’re running this fast, you just want to get in the car sooner”.  At mile 16, and now alone on the road, I asked Jeanne to go ahead to Rickreall and wait for me there.  I was completely drenched, and even in wool, very cold.  I was having trouble squeezing my water bottle because my hands were so frozen and was starting to “not feel the road” with my frozen feet.  Getting close to Rickreall my thoughts were, there’s a convenience store there.  If I could get some warm chicken noodle soup in me and sit in the car for a little while to warm back up I wouldn’t be too far behind schedule.  I was also thinking about the fact that I hadn’t made it to any of the hills yet, where I knew the snow would be worse.  As I approached the car in Rickreall, Jeanne jumped out to get supplies ready for me and I quit with the symbolic thumb slit to the throat.  Just like that.  No hemming or hawing about whether I should or shouldn’t.  In the next few minutes after the decision was made, it seemed my body temperature dropped another 10 degrees.  It took almost the rest of the afternoon before I felt warm again, and my fingertips were still sore the next morning.  So, no Dawn to Dusk for 2012.

I did still have the daunting task of getting to 2,000 miles for the year.  In July, it seemed my 4 year streak of consecutive 2,000 mile years was going to come to an end.  But an injury free 5 months put me within range, a very patient Jeanne gave me the time and a 107 mile last week got the job done.

Goals and plans for 2013.  Attempt 100 miles in one day at the Pac Rim 24 race in Longview WA in March.  Attempt to qualify for Boston at Newport OR Marathon in June.  Run Across Oregon in July/August while turning (gulp) 50 and pass the 20,000 miles run mark before the end of the year (I need 2,296).

5 years in a row over 2,000 miles

Happy New Year!!! 

Dawn til Dusk 2 (the plan)

In 2009 I ran Dawn til Dusk 1.  I called it that with every intention of there being more Dawn til Dusks. 

Well, here comes Dawn to Dusk 2, with a few modifications.  I can’t do it on the exact day of the Winter Solstice.  If I could, I was going to subtitle it The Mayan 45 Or ‘til the End of the World, Whichever Comes First.  Ok, It’s a little long as titles go, but it would have made for interesting strategy trying to get the 45 miles in before the world ends.  As it is, I’ll have 8:47:44 to complete this years 45 mile course, which will happen on December 15th, 2012.  That’s a minute and 16 seconds more than I would have had on the solstice, assuming the world didn’t end first, of course.

The view from mile 27 ish

The 2009 course started in Corvallis and ended on the 45th parallel in Keizer, Oregon.  This years course will start in Dallas (yes, Oregon) and serpentine through wine country before finishing in Keizer.  In total, I’ll cross the 45th parallel 5 times, with some sort of celebration at each crossing. The official start will be 7:44 AM and if I don’t make it to Keizer by 4:31 PM it will be an official  DNF.  Finishing early just means an early beer and burger.  

The course map is here. If you’re interested in running all or parts of Dawn til Dusk 2, let me know, we’ll figure it out.

Mile Stones

I’m riding the positive energy wave of the best 4 months of running I’ve had in a several years.  I’ve realized, just lately, that I ran injured to some degree for the last 2 years.  Never truly giving myself time to heal, before I would twist my ankle again.  The decision to stay off trails has been the most positive decision I could possibly make.  It is truly a joy to just run again.

It was almost Halloween ish

 I ran only my second official 50k last month at Autumn Leaves in Champoeg Park, Oregon.  In fact, my previous 50k PR was my 50k split at PacRim 24 hour a few years ago.  As I approach 50 years old, I know that have very few PR’s left in me and I really wanted a 50k PR under 5 hours.  The weather was pretty miserable, cold, wet and raining but I ran very consistent splits the whole day and finished in 4:52:45.  I sometimes measure success on long runs by the “dips”.  How many times my performance dips and how long they last is usually the difference between a good long race and a bad one.  I really only had one dip at Autumn Leaves, around mile 21, I was starting to feel some fatigue and the wind and rain picked up to the worst of the day.  I spent about a mile in the doldrums but got my shit back together pretty quickly and ran a very solid last 9 miles.  I’ve had so many race disappointments lately that it felt really good to have a solid performance like this.   

When I feel good, I plan, a lot!  But I’ve still got some unfinished business in 2012.  I have a 4 year streak of at least 2,000 miles in the year, but I’ve got my work cut out for me to make it a 5th.  If I reach 2,000 miles this year it will also put me over 17,700 which just happens to be the the circumference of the earth at the 45th parallel, which is a silly stat, since using that method and logic, you could run all the way around the world in one day if you were near enough to a pole.  But, I’m kinda fascinated by the whole 45th parallel thing anyway, more on that later.

2,300 miles in 2013 will get me to 20,000, which will make the next big mile stone 24,901, once around the Earth.

A Farewell to Trails

“War is not won by victory.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

I suppose, it must also be true, that war is not lost by defeat.  It is difficult to argue with the score card.  To date I have started 5 trail races.  All 5 have resulted in injury, 3 in DNF’s.  I feel I’ve given it a fair shake.  23% of my training miles this year have been on trails. And yet, less than 2 miles in to MT Hood 50, I rolled my left ankle, again, and went down in a cloud of dust.  That’s 23% of my time running on a surface that I don’t enjoy, just so that I can get better at running on a surface I don’t really enjoy.

I love running, period.  I love running on roads.  I love running from one town to another, noticing first, the houses getting closer together, then seeing the “reduce speed” sign as the precursor of the town limits sign.  I like convenience stores, fruit stands and water from hoses.  Sometimes I like counting cars, or telephone poles, but most importantly I like “stealing miles”.  Where you get lost in thought, only to “snap out of it” and realize that the last time you were aware of the fact that you were running was a few miles ago.  This never happens for me on trails.  For me, trail running is like playing whack-a-mole, where every root, rock and clump of grass must be accounted for and acknowledged.  It’s like being responsible for a toddler around a campfire.

Sitting around with an ankle that looks like it swallowed a grapefruit, it’s easy to ask myself “why?” The simplest answer is Western States.  Before I envisioned ever wanting to run further than marathon distance, I knew about Western States.  When I missed qualifying for Boston by a minute and 26 seconds, I declared in a semi drunken stupor, “fuck it then, I’ll run Western States instead”. Finally getting in, last year, and then not finishing only made the obsession to get back stronger.  

It’s time to let go.  The quest for Western States is making me select races that I don’t really enjoy, and making me train in ways that I don’t really enjoy.  It’s adding anxiety to something that usually keeps anxiety out of my life, running.  Worst of all, the trail injuries mean “down time”,  something that roads have never done.  I’ve probably been fortunate to escape the over use injuries that many runners deal with.  All of my injuries have been of the fall down go boom variety.

This weekend, I’m going to go scout out the southern section of next Summers Run Across Oregon.  Hopefully, that will take my mind off running until next week and I’ll be able to start training again.  

When you run to solve problems, you have a problem, when not being able to run is your problem.