Bushrat Runner
Actually, I'm still up and it's Sunday, and I plan to sleep in. So if you dedicated runners out there in RunningAheadLand do get up?...please don't wake me up.
Yesterday (Saturday) I was intending to try and get 14 miles in. I actually wanted to run further, as the one and only, completely ridiculous, International Mosquito Feast Marathon is coming up and it feels only right and proper to at least run far enough to make sure it isn't a miserable day.
My friend Mo was going to run with me, and she seemed okay when I told her I wanted to run 14, so that was the plan. We ran out toward the Naknek River, intending to run to Rapids Camp, which is just a little over 14 miles round trip. But a couple years back, a road was built out onto the spit that would allow us to go further if we wanted to...or if I could talk her into it. It was sort of cold out, 39F, so we started the run in long sleeves and pants. For most purposes, I would run in short sleeves and shorts at that temperature unless I expected rain or a particularly biting wind. But when I am trying to make sure I start slow, I don't want to be cold, so I had on long sleeves and running pants over the shorter apparel. Mo is always worried she'll be cold, and doesn't tend to plan the layers, so she was in long sleeves and running pants as well. But she also had along a windbreaker.
Map of route
We started off at a good leisurely 10:20 pace and clicked off the first three miles. Stopped for a drink and stashed some water. I dropped my long sleeve top, and on we went. A little before 6 miles we stopped again, drank some more, and I left the pack and she left the rest of her water, and we soldiered on. Most of the places where roads have been built have grown up in heavy brush along the roads, and the lovely tundra landscape is not very visible. But after leaving the packs, we had a view of some nice open spruce tundra.
As we approached Rapids Camp, we were both feeling pretty good, so I suggest maybe, just maybe, we might want to explore the new spit road and see if we could make it to the 8 mile point and turn it into a 16 mile run. Mo said sure, so once again the bait and switch proved out. People are going to be afraid to run with me...
Just as we neared the 8 mile point, I snapped a photo of Mo with Choco, the loyal anti-bear attack poodle, trotting along.
He was going to need a tongue stretching device at the rate it was going, now that the sun was out especially, so after we reached 8 miles we turned around and headed back toward Rapids Camp where we could get down to the water. I threw a stick out in the water for Choco to fetch for a few minutes until he was good and shivery.
Then, we headed home, first plodding up the hill away from the river. I had Mo run up before Choco and I since I almost never get any photos of me and the dog running.
After we got up the hill, there was a nice breeze, but by then I was pretty toasty, so off came the pants when we got back to the pack. I drank some water, stuffed my pants and the rest of the fluids in the pack, and off we went. It felt good to be cooled down a bit, but we also started reaching the part of the long run where it feels like a long run. Pretty soon I was thinking about how far we had gone and how far we had left. That's one of the great reasons to train with somebody when you can. We managed to distract ourselves and pretty soon we were back to the original water stash only three miles from home. The yellowlegs in a tree nearby starting squawking at us, but didn't take his job seriously enough to try to drill a hole in us, and I started trying to figure out how to shove the water in my pack without opening it all up.
I couldn't sort that out, so pretty soon I pulled everything out to repack, but by then Mo had taken off and was way ahead. I got myself together, strapped the pack on, and took of in chase. By then, she had a good quarter mile on me. Choco doesn't know what to do when his running party gets split up, so he kept running forward as if to go up to her, then stopping and looking back at me. I tried to set a little faster cadence that might help us catch up, and we made a bit of progress by getting our pace to around 9:20, while Mo and I had usually been running 9:50 or 10:00. But while we were still a ways behind, I looked up to see how far ahead she was and Mo was laying on the ground, rolling over, then getting up.
Uh oh.
That's not good.
We caught up to her and she had some blood on her hand. In fact, there were a couple of those surveying sprays sticking out of the roadbed, and the wires were around 8" long. One of her feet went between the two sprays, but the wires were overlapping and caught on each other, which stopped her foot from passing between them, and boom! she was down.
A lady I run with in Anchorage sometimes has a habit of running on trails and catching roots with her toe. She says that the brief exhilaration of flying makes the fall worth it. Not sure if Mo felt that way or not, but she recovered quickly and didn't seem to bothered. So we headed on home, finishing with 16.2 miles for the day.
I'm just out of shape enough that it just about ruined me for the day, but I did eventually get it together enough to be useful around the house. At least somewhat.
And that is the very long, overly detailed, and painfully accurate story of another average long run in the life of a mid-pack middle-aged runner.
Troy Hamon
14 Days to Alaska
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Valley Road Run
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How does Choco hold up on the 16 milers?
As DW and I are getting closer to an anniversary, I'd like to know what rhymes with "Therapy".
I'm getting ready to head out to a benefit for a former co worker.
SteveP
I got up at 3:30 to do some system stuff at work. Instead of going back to bed, I went out for a 2 hour run around the neighborhood.
Nice 'trick' long run with Mo, Troy. I hope she is OK after her fall.
Sorry, Steve; I can't help with the rhyme this early.
Great early start to your day Dave!
Yesterday, I was at our Seacoast Road Race Series info table at Portsmouth's Market Square Day 10K at 7am. We're there to give this year's participants (900+ so far) info on how they are doing in the Series. I stayed there till 8:30, and then went to drop some clothes and warm up for the 9:00 race. The race sold out (at 2000) about 2-3 weeks ago. This was the 35th running of this fixture race in Portsmouth. We had IRC, with sunny skies, temps in the low-mid 70s, and enough of a breeze to make us think it was cooler than it was. I'd been sick and not training most of the last week, so my expectations were rightly low. But I felt well enough to give it a go. My racewalking student and nemesis, Stephan, was in the race, but I didn't see him at all before or at the start. I saw his DW at about 1.5 miles, and she said he wasn't too far ahead of me - yeah, right. Even on my best day, I'd be hard-pressed to catch him, and yesterday I didn't even try, and just walked my own race. I felt OK, but leg fatigue was clearly setting in in miles 5 and 6. I tried to keep my turnover rate up, but it was a struggle. About half-way through the race, I decided on a goal of finishing under 1:10. I managed to hang in for a finish at 1:07+, which was under my goal time, but also about 4-5 minutes behind where I should have been on a good day. It was still good enough for 2nd place among racewalkers (behind Stephan's 1:02), so I was satisfied. After the race, I drove home, showered, and then went back to Portsmouth to work at our non-profit's (Great Bay Stewards) booth at the Market Square Day festival from 1-4. Stephan is a chef/owner of a wonderful local French restaurant and, since DW was still out of town, he and his wife invited me to have dinner in the kitchen and keep Stephan company for a while. I did, and had a great meal and we all had a good time. By then, the restaurant was getting busy, so I headed home, exhausted, but happy for having a full day.
I took my time getting out this morning, and didn't hit the streets till about 4:50. I had some leg fatigue from yesterday, but still wanted to get in a few miles. So I went about 6.5 at an easy pace, but still trying to keep some spring in my step. For me that means getting a good toe-off at the end of every stride. I sure wasn't fast, but it felt good to stretch the legs again. Today's sightings: a blue heron in the shallows of Little River, looking for some tasty breakfast; a jack rabbit that stared at me till I got too close, and then took off (silly wabbit); a weird creature that scurried across the road in front of me - the size of a field mouse, but with short-enough legs that it looked like a giant furry caterpillar racing across the road; early fishermen in their waders, surfcasting at the edge of the ocean; a guy sitting in his car along the ocean, reading the paper - guys do this every week - I don't get it); and beautiful shadows and bright highlights cast by the sun that was just above the horizon, giving great definition to the magnificent trees and magnificent homes that look out to the east from the ocean boulevard. I looks to be a spectacular day here, which I'll enjoy while doing some yardwork cross-training.
Enjoy your day too! - Jay
Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.
........... what rhymes with "Therapy".
......'' You and Me''........
you're
welcome
.........Impressive Mid-Age-Pack Running rhoon////
==============
........30 min trailrun crutch-assisted
80s and drizzle
....................good running guys...................the whole time I wrote this I was thinking of words that rhymed with ''assisted'' and ''drizzle''
thanks dave//////
..nothing takes the place of persistence.....
Nice start to Sunday (late, late Saturday ?) rhoon phast! Hope Mo is okay and good miles there.
Stare at me? Does that rhyme with Therapy SteveP? or Bear with me, Bear in a tree,....I'll keep thinking!
Nice rcing Jay even if student nemesis was there (huge compliment to you if they are winning, yes?!
14 miles for me this morning on a gorgeous Sunday---warm and sunny. I ran with Iron J and we chattered the whole way---ran about 8:05 pace. Perfect run. As we were running we also saw Spicy J and Canada J who were out biking. They are both into Tris these days and were out on a long training ride. The Js picture would be complete with Dr. J, but she is dealing with a complication with her left leg and can't walk right now. She'll be back though.
Hudson is snoring on my lap now and I don't want to move my legs lest I disturb him. I want to get back outside though and get some weeding done. Graduation party this afternoon and a super granny visit---lots to do! Hudson's couch napping is mighty tempting though!
Way to go wildchild with your second marathon! Nice AG placing too.
Nice two hour running Dave.
Enjoy the day all
MTA: You and Me wins! Hi TW! and philipfromga too!
Marathon Maniac #957
I loved it! Thanks for taking us along for the ride....
Steve - I know you'll come up with something special, as usual....
Jay - congrats on 2nd place!
Phillip - great racing!
Tom - sorry about the drizzle. I think it's headed our way tonight.
CNYrunner - I'm sorry to hear that Dr. J is still fighting complications. Glad to hear the rest of the J's are out and about on this fine morning, though - what a wonderful group you have there!
Dave and Jay were up and out so early today, they make me feel like a slacker for not heading out until 5am.... I was glad I did, though, because I was able to get my run in before the real heat of the day got here. 67 degrees when I headed out and 75 degrees when I got back home. High of 90 forecast for today.
19 miles for me today, slower than dirt, with several stops at the water fountains and portolets on the trail. Afterward I did weighted squats, dead lifts, and lunges. I'm trying to figure out when to time those lower body weights sessions so my sore glutes and hamstrings don't interfere with make me wimp out on quality workouts. Doing then the same day seems to work best, if I can make the time.
DD lost her softball game yesterday, and has another one this afternoon. Next weekend is the tournaments, I think, and then after that I will look for a local race or two to run. Like Spareribs said, it's much easier to get in a quality run in a race setting.
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
Boy, am I a sleep-in for the first time since I can remember, if ever.
.
I was going to run the Sunday morning 10K Shore Run I first ran more than 30 years ago during a stopover in Seattle when it was called the “Orient Express” but, after Friday evening’s Fremont 5K with posie DS-1 (which was my first outing since I’d run with the posies at the Bloomsday 12K on May 6), I realized I’d better do some training for the upcoming Seattle Rock’n’Roll Marathon in two weeks so got a last-minute entry into the nearby Lake Youngs 28.8-mile mini-ultra for yesterday (Saturday)..It was actually too late and the RD really tore my hearstrings when he responded, "you've got a guaranteed entry any time you want."
DS-1'd said he'd run Fremont barefoot with me to make up for mama posie missing her intention for some barefoot time together for parts of the B-day when, instead, she ended up not only being too fast but also running back-and-forth here-and-there looking for DH (who was actually up ahead of us). DS-1 never gave training for running barefoot a second thought but just decided to do it and did fine, especially the many parts where he was waiting for me so we could run together. What a gem he is.
It’d been four years since I'd been out to Lake Youngs but I still remembered the one big hill. Unfortunately, I guess I forgot about the 20 other hills on the 9.6 mile loop and I’m too tired to run this morning. I'd say it was cold in the morning for the 6am remedial start but then I read of Troy and Mo at 39-degrees. Hey, at least it should keep the mosquitos and white sox away. With regard to the running, if that, the first 20 miles were okay at a tried-and-true, steady 15m/m trail pace but the last eight miles were like the time it took me two-and-a-half hours to finish the last 10K at my first White River 50-mile Endurance Race so, instead of the planned seven-and-a-half hours, it took 8:15. I haven't been this sore all over for a long time.
For the Fremont, pending getting into graduate school next year, DS-1’s been occasionally doing some refined internet research for me that’s way over my head so when a curbside ambulance chaser looked at DS's prison garb costume (which he got as a volunteer intern at one) for the funky event leading up to the even funkier Fremont Summer Solstice Parade next weekend and asked, “Need a lawyer?” DS pointed to me and, “No, I work for one!” Sure seemed funny, if not hilarious, to us at the time.
ps - he said he’d send mama posie a photo of us to post with her new do (if it didn’t get posted yet).
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
King of PhotoShop
Some good racing and runs so far today. Nice 19 Holly.
Well, I didn't win my AG in the Half today, but I was very proud of how I ran the race. 7 a.m. start because of the heat here and I went out with the 2 hour pace group through 5 miles, then decided to leave them because so many were following them and it was crowded. So I went from running about 9:05 or so per mile to 8:45 per mile and then finally came in at 1:57:54, not a great time, but the best I could have done this time of the year, negative splitting the race too.
I ended up 2nd in my AG, because the final group was 65 and Over and there is a very fast guy who is 71 who beats me pretty good every distance. I was happy it worked out this way. Often when they lump the AG's like that, the younger guys win and that annoys the older ones. The nice part is that the other guy is a good friend and we had a few laughs over it. The third place guy I met at the awards is 75 and ran a very nice 2:10. How cool is old guy running! Spareribs
How cool is old guy running! Spareribs
Excellent! I love watching the old guys and gals kick my butt at races. Inspires me that I may (if I am so blessed) be out there doing it myself when I am that age. Doubt I will be doing as well as this group of guys, though, and I'd bet the Dallas heat is really something right now - nice racing!
Tet - pictures would be great! I didn't realize that Mariposai's DS1 is working for you - very cool!
Nice runs and racing all. Have been busy for the last week with nephew's graduation and family partay
today we ran a HOT, HILLY 10K 15 minutes from the house. we finished and I'm very tired of hot races...
marj
Impressive racing and running as always. Great job everyone!
Tetsujin, I posted the picture of you and my son running yesterday. Funny story about the jail pants and the offer for a lawyer.
Holly, yes, my son has been working for Tetsujin for about 2 years now.
Wildchild, you Marahton Maniac girl!!! I am so impressed with your racing!
Great picutres Troy! Being over dressed for a run can be a problem for a girl, like I said in Latin to shadowrunner yesterday. For once, I dressed perfectly for my run today. I tend to overdress as well.
I hope Rosecoloredglasses and the rocket scientist are having fun in my side of the state.
Today: up at 4:30
Out by 4:50
Weather was around 48F when I started and 74 when I finished.
Do you ever have one of those runs where everything is perfect and in sync, one of those where you just let the mind wonder while your legs, lungs and arm move you forward? Well, I had one of those today and it got me in-trouble. I was so much in "the zone" that by the time I came back to earth I looked at my garmin and realized that I was at mile 17 of my 20 miler and I was about 5 miles from home. Soo, long story short, I ended up running 22.5 miles and walked about 1.5 miles. Eight of those miles, and what got me in-trouble, was in the East side of my town, on a road I seldom travel, even by car. This is route made me smile!
Off now to play in the dirt for a bit. The democratic garden needs some attention and some bark. The weather is just gorgeous here.
Ohh, and DS#2 is home from college for the summer.
Just call me happy Posie mama.
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
mari, nice picture with barefoot tet. wild, congrats on another marathon. Jay good job in your 10K with 2nd place. phil, way to go in your half, beating the 2 hour mark. tet, nice ultra. ribs, kudos on 2nd in AG in your half.
Nice long runs for evan, rhoon (with pictures), CNY, and holly.
This morning, it was about 70° in Ludington with just a light wind. I ran the 2 miles from my sister's to my mother's, had breakfast with my mother, and walked the 2 miles back to my sister's.
A good day and good runs for all.
TomS
Carolyn
Troy, sounds like a nice run with Mo and Choco! Thanks for taking all of us along too.
Karin - got any of that pie left? It sounds like a greta prize! How's super granny?
Nice race, Jay - glad you're feeling better. And if you have to get beaten, good that the winner is one of your students!
Philip - way to go on your first half! Well done!
Holly, nice slower-than-dirt 19 miler! How slow is dirt, anyway? I think that's about as fast as I ran the marathon yesterday.
Tet - you're awesome! I can't believe you ran 28.8 miles on no training! Sounds like a true maniac. And not necessarily in the "marathon maniac" sense, either!
Posie - wow - 22.5 miles today, after a busy social schedule yesterday, which no doubt included staying out late dancing? Wearing heels? I can't walk in heels, let alone dance. Well, okay, I can't dance at all anyway, even barefoot...
I had a long but very beautiful drive home today from Pagosa Springs, across my beautiful state. Took the fuzzy buddies for an easy 3 miler when I got home, to shake out my legs from the race and the drive. My legs are a little tight but not bad - my main complaint is that I'm going to lose one of my toenails, and it hurts!
Here are a few pictures from my drive:
San Juan Mountains, near Pagosa Springs:
View from an overlook above Wolf Creek Pass, at 11,900 ft: I crossed three passes over 11,000 ft today!
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.