Forums >Racing>2018 3:20 (and beyond)
SC - excellent race! Congrats on a nice PR.
My week - calf pain recurred (after a LONG rest), so I'm back to cross training. My 2018 has been a shit show.
This week I'm going to try shoes with some support (I've always worn neutrals)... I ordered Saucony fast twitch, NB1500, and Adizero tempo. I'll choose one of them and see if that helps.
I'm a little behind, so...oh my, the Oslo Steeple, and congrats to the Caps!
Dad: I've seen some of our college athletes do workouts like that (intervals intermingled with weights, squats, etc.). I've always wondered why, because it seems like it's just a few of them, so those individuals must be working on "something."Keen: Your Friday morning sounded pretty awesome.
Jim: Good to see you back in these parts. Bagpipes are awesome!
SC: Congrats, and curious to know how the clothing worked out!
rune: Congrats on the weekly mileage PR!
Another 30 mile week for me. I've officially signed up for the Birkie Trail Half Marathon on 9/29. Training begins tomorrow.
Speed Surplus
Hey, guys! First off, thanks for all the advice, both on this specific marathon and training in general. Now, buckle up for an insanely long RR!
Race Report - Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon - 3:12:41 chip time
It's hard to mess up the beginning of a race more than I messed up this one. Oh, sure, I got to the location on time, caught the shuttle, had all the right gear, etc. But how's this for a screw-up? I left my phone in a bathroom 20 minutes before the race. And it was gone when I went to look for it.
Of course, the big loss with losing my phone - more than the cost of the phone or any personal data on it - was losing my ability to listen to music during this race. For a moment there, I considered a DNS. No phone, and it was DUMPING rain. Who would blame me? But then some kind stranger finally turned in my lost phone, and I felt an immense sense of relief. Oh, and it stopped raining.
So, I made my way to the start line and begin thinking about gel management. Should I stuff some of them in my coat pockets? But what if I want to toss the coat right after the tunnel? What if I want to toss the coat right NOW? I...I kind of want to toss this coat right now.
Since my prayers had been answered and the weather turned out to be not-awful, I made an extremely late decision to bag and drop my coat right at the start. So I sprinted out from the starting corral, threw it in an unlabeled bag and tossed it to a volunteer. Spoiler: I was able to retrieve it after the race, even with no label.
As I barely made it back to the corral in time, I only just had enough time to start my music (the phone is very difficult to manage once it's tucked into my waist pack), and not enough time to adjust the volume. It was, as the kids say, BUMPING. Way too loud. But there's no time to adjust it! We're off!
The course begins with a somewhat annoying out-and-back segment of about half a mile with pretty poor directional management. The "back" runners near the front of the pack get squeezed for space by the more populous "out" runners, and the path is...not great. It's uneven and rocky with giant puddles. But thankfully, it was only about half a mile, and then we were into the tunnel. And the tunnel is awesome! I loved the experience of running in the tunnel, even though I was in a slightly larger pack than I expected. My headlamp worked really well so I never worried about my footing, the temperature was great, and it was just kind of an otherworldly experience.
I should back up for a moment here and explain my pre-race strategy. The race advertised a 3:15 pacer, so my plan was to follow him through the tunnel to avoid going out too hard. At the start, however, there was no 3:15 pacer in sight. So, I ran by feel in the tunnel and ended up with a bit faster splits than expected. Strangely, my Garmin seemed to keep extremely accurate pace and distance even through the tunnel. I wonder if it uses cadence/stride data to make up for weak GPS spots... In any case, I was doing manual splits, so I tapped the button when it indicated one mile at around 7:15 or so.
Roughly 3/4 of a mile later, I saw the first mile marker. Yes, just as Max predicted, the mile markers were off. Like, hilariously off. Almost intentionally off. After all, the RD sent an email saying that the first 3 miles (including the tunnel) were marked by wheel this time around. If you began your measurements at the start of the tunnel, that would make sense. But...why? Why would you do that?
Upon emerging from the tunnel, I wound up in a small pack with two other guys that were targeting 3:10 and 3:15. We all compared notes on our Garmins and shrugged. I stayed with these guys for a few miles as we took turns leading and/or trying to run the tangents. Eventually one of them faded off, and then the other dashed off into the woods suddenly for what I assume was an emergency potty break. From there it was pretty strung out and generally single file - I caught some runners and was caught by others, but never latched onto anyone running roughly the same pace.
From roughly mile 3 or 4 until about 20, the race was pretty uneventful. I ate a gel every 20 minutes and just enjoyed myself. It's a beautiful course, and I love running downhill. I had curated a playlist before the race that was exactly 3:10 long, and it was working out well. In previous races, I've just listened to a larger playlist on shuffle, but of course I'd end up with songs that didn't fit the mood and have to skip them. This time, I only ended up mildly regretting 2-3 of the songs that I chose. The others were really working for me, and I liked the idea of essentially knowing that, if I stayed on pace, I'd finish the race around the time the music ran out.
I'll say again - or maybe for the first time - that the course is really beautiful. Some nice snow-capped mountain views, a few bridges, lots of trees and shade. I like this WAY better than any road marathon I've done. And again, the downhill was perfect. Sometimes it didn't feel like it was downhill at all, that's how subtle it is.
As I got up into the teens, I started to remember the feeling I had around mile 16-18 in my last marathon. It was just sort of an ennui... Like, why am I doing this? I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't have a meaningful goal at Eugene. I needed probably 3:05 for a functional BQ at that time, and I knew I was probably in 3:15 shape at best. So I decided to target 3:15, but... I didn't care about 3:15. When I split the first half at 1:38 (in Eugene) and wasn't feeling great, I didn't give up, but I also didn't put my head down and give it everything I had.
Well, I knew that unless this supposedly certified course had gone off the rails in some horrible way, I was ON pace to run in the ballpark of 3:10 (I was 1:35 on the dot at halfway per my Garmin), so it meant a lot to me to give it everything. So, I kept forcing myself to smile and grind even as I was beginning to suffer, while trying not to get carried away and start hammering too early.
At mile 21 or so, I had a strange euphoric moment. I had just reached the part in the course where you make a turn and connect to a different trail. I had run this section before, and I knew I only had ~5 miles left. Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" was playing (go ahead and laugh ) and something about that moment made my emotions surge. I was honestly on the verge of tears and it was all I could do to contain myself and not run a 6:20 split.
Of course, that moment passed, and I began suffering quite a bit again. My splits had dipped into the 7:20s, but I kept reminding myself, "It's downhill. It's downhill. It's downhill. Just roll down the fucking hill!" I think my slowest split was something like 7:34, and that is amazing to me.
I will say that, while this hurt and was very hard, it was still considerably easier than my first marathon. That one is the king of fucking suffering, and I hope I never surpass it. It's a wonder I ever ran another one. That said, my body feels more wrecked after this race than any other. I suppose the downhill really does take a toll. After my 3:22 in Eugene, I was barely sore. Today I'm having a hard time moving around the house and my left calf has been involuntarily spasming for hours.
So, remember the precisely 3:10 long playlist? Well, it ended, and my plan for this possibility was to simply hit back and listen to the last song as many times as I needed to to cross the line. But in my depleted state, I couldn't make the button on my headphones work, so I really suffered over the last half mile or so... in silence. I expected a euphoric moment at the end, similar to what I had had around mile 21 or so, and maybe it would have happened if I saw 3:09x on the clock. When I saw 3:12, I wasn't euphoric, but I was pleased.
Thanks again to everyone for advice, particularly Max, whose suggestion of running part of the course in advance really helped. Without further ado, my splits, which I believe to be surprisingly accurate!
5:27 / 18:49 / 40:32 / 88:12 / 3:12
Problem Child
SC: I was thinking about you during my morning run. I was stocked when I heard the news. Congratulations!
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
SC:Nice racing and congrats on the PR!! Really solid effort. I too had that euphoric feeling last marathon when I knew I was in for a big PR. It kind of sneaks up on you. I had to really focus to calm down. Can't say I've listened to "Party in the USA" while running, but glad you shared it with us, haha. Enjoy rest and recovery!
FB: Bummer about the calf!
NIce weekend of French Open, Diamond League T&F, and NCAA T&F championships! We had a local guy (from our running club) who runs for UT (TN not TX) and made it to the 5k finals. He won the Stanford Invitational earlier this year with a 13:30-something, but finished 24th in 14:29 at NCAAs.
Kept my weekly mileage stable and will for another 1-2 weeks before moving up. Adding some speed and hills. Feeling okay, this humidity has been horrible and really zaps your energy. This morning's 5am run was 71 degrees with 93% humidity. It's just lame to walk out the door at 5am and it not feel refreshing.
Averaged 6:38/mile on Tuesday's 20:00 tempo and was pretty pleased with this. Didn't feel as tough as I expected considering I haven't ran that kind of pace in a while.
Mon Jun 04
6.04
8:06
Morning Run
Tue Jun 05
7.03
7:31
2 easy, 20:00 Tempo, 2 easy
Thu Jun 07
7.05
7:55
Hills: up hard / down easy
Sat Jun 09
6.01
8:08
Heat Check 🌞🔥🌞🔥
Sun Jun 10
14.03
8:19
Humid 14
40.16
8:03
Road Mile: 5:19 (2017), 5k: 17:09 (2021), 10k: 35:54 (2021), HM: 1:21:55 (2020), M: 2:53:18 (2021)
Wow. Hearty congrats SC on your PR.
Hey, guys! First off, thanks for all the advice, both on this specific marathon and training in general. Now, buckle up for an insanely long RR! Race Report - Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon - 3:12:41 chip time It's hard to mess up the beginning of a race more than I messed up this one. Oh, sure, I got to the location on time, caught the shuttle, had all the right gear, etc. But how's this for a screw-up? I left my phone in a bathroom 20 minutes before the race. And it was gone when I went to look for it. Of course, the big loss with losing my phone - more than the cost of the phone or any personal data on it - was losing my ability to listen to music during this race. For a moment there, I considered a DNS. No phone, and it was DUMPING rain. Who would blame me? But then some kind stranger finally turned in my lost phone, and I felt an immense sense of relief. Oh, and it stopped raining. So, I made my way to the start line and begin thinking about gel management. Should I stuff some of them in my coat pockets? But what if I want to toss the coat right after the tunnel? What if I want to toss the coat right NOW? I...I kind of want to toss this coat right now. Since my prayers had been answered and the weather turned out to be not-awful, I made an extremely late decision to bag and drop my coat right at the start. So I sprinted out from the starting corral, threw it in an unlabeled bag and tossed it to a volunteer. Spoiler: I was able to retrieve it after the race, even with no label. As I barely made it back to the corral in time, I only just had enough time to start my music (the phone is very difficult to manage once it's tucked into my waist pack), and not enough time to adjust the volume. It was, as the kids say, BUMPING. Way too loud. But there's no time to adjust it! We're off! The course begins with a somewhat annoying out-and-back segment of about half a mile with pretty poor directional management. The "back" runners near the front of the pack get squeezed for space by the more populous "out" runners, and the path is...not great. It's uneven and rocky with giant puddles. But thankfully, it was only about half a mile, and then we were into the tunnel. And the tunnel is awesome! I loved the experience of running in the tunnel, even though I was in a slightly larger pack than I expected. My headlamp worked really well so I never worried about my footing, the temperature was great, and it was just kind of an otherworldly experience. I should back up for a moment here and explain my pre-race strategy. The race advertised a 3:15 pacer, so my plan was to follow him through the tunnel to avoid going out too hard. At the start, however, there was no 3:15 pacer in sight. So, I ran by feel in the tunnel and ended up with a bit faster splits than expected. Strangely, my Garmin seemed to keep extremely accurate pace and distance even through the tunnel. I wonder if it uses cadence/stride data to make up for weak GPS spots... In any case, I was doing manual splits, so I tapped the button when it indicated one mile at around 7:15 or so. Roughly 3/4 of a mile later, I saw the first mile marker. Yes, just as Max predicted, the mile markers were off. Like, hilariously off. Almost intentionally off. After all, the RD sent an email saying that the first 3 miles (including the tunnel) were marked by wheel this time around. If you began your measurements at the start of the tunnel, that would make sense. But...why? Why would you do that? Upon emerging from the tunnel, I wound up in a small pack with two other guys that were targeting 3:10 and 3:15. We all compared notes on our Garmins and shrugged. I stayed with these guys for a few miles as we took turns leading and/or trying to run the tangents. Eventually one of them faded off, and then the other dashed off into the woods suddenly for what I assume was an emergency potty break. From there it was pretty strung out and generally single file - I caught some runners and was caught by others, but never latched onto anyone running roughly the same pace. From roughly mile 3 or 4 until about 20, the race was pretty uneventful. I ate a gel every 20 minutes and just enjoyed myself. It's a beautiful course, and I love running downhill. I had curated a playlist before the race that was exactly 3:10 long, and it was working out well. In previous races, I've just listened to a larger playlist on shuffle, but of course I'd end up with songs that didn't fit the mood and have to skip them. This time, I only ended up mildly regretting 2-3 of the songs that I chose. The others were really working for me, and I liked the idea of essentially knowing that, if I stayed on pace, I'd finish the race around the time the music ran out. I'll say again - or maybe for the first time - that the course is really beautiful. Some nice snow-capped mountain views, a few bridges, lots of trees and shade. I like this WAY better than any road marathon I've done. And again, the downhill was perfect. Sometimes it didn't feel like it was downhill at all, that's how subtle it is. As I got up into the teens, I started to remember the feeling I had around mile 16-18 in my last marathon. It was just sort of an ennui... Like, why am I doing this? I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I didn't have a meaningful goal at Eugene. I needed probably 3:05 for a functional BQ at that time, and I knew I was probably in 3:15 shape at best. So I decided to target 3:15, but... I didn't care about 3:15. When I split the first half at 1:38 (in Eugene) and wasn't feeling great, I didn't give up, but I also didn't put my head down and give it everything I had. Well, I knew that unless this supposedly certified course had gone off the rails in some horrible way, I was ON pace to run in the ballpark of 3:10 (I was 1:35 on the dot at halfway per my Garmin), so it meant a lot to me to give it everything. So, I kept forcing myself to smile and grind even as I was beginning to suffer, while trying not to get carried away and start hammering too early. At mile 21 or so, I had a strange euphoric moment. I had just reached the part in the course where you make a turn and connect to a different trail. I had run this section before, and I knew I only had ~5 miles left. Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" was playing (go ahead and laugh ) and something about that moment made my emotions surge. I was honestly on the verge of tears and it was all I could do to contain myself and not run a 6:20 split. Of course, that moment passed, and I began suffering quite a bit again. My splits had dipped into the 7:20s, but I kept reminding myself, "It's downhill. It's downhill. It's downhill. Just roll down the fucking hill!" I think my slowest split was something like 7:34, and that is amazing to me. I will say that, while this hurt and was very hard, it was still considerably easier than my first marathon. That one is the king of fucking suffering, and I hope I never surpass it. It's a wonder I ever ran another one. That said, my body feels more wrecked after this race than any other. I suppose the downhill really does take a toll. After my 3:22 in Eugene, I was barely sore. Today I'm having a hard time moving around the house and my left calf has been involuntarily spasming for hours. So, remember the precisely 3:10 long playlist? Well, it ended, and my plan for this possibility was to simply hit back and listen to the last song as many times as I needed to to cross the line. But in my depleted state, I couldn't make the button on my headphones work, so I really suffered over the last half mile or so... in silence. I expected a euphoric moment at the end, similar to what I had had around mile 21 or so, and maybe it would have happened if I saw 3:09x on the clock. When I saw 3:12, I wasn't euphoric, but I was pleased. Thanks again to everyone for advice, particularly Max, whose suggestion of running part of the course in advance really helped. Without further ado, my splits, which I believe to be surprisingly accurate!
Congrats SC on the big PR! I was wondering how the downhill would affect your body. They are easier aerobically, but not really physically.
As part of this All Star challenge, I ended the week with 80.4 mileage - a distance PR for me in a given week. I may have hit 75 before or just under that. It was doable with some doubles in there. But definitely tiring and I don't think I could handle that kind of mileage on a regular basis. Not unless I was able to get more sleep.
Nice week Rune
Weekly SummaryMonday, Jun 04, 2018 thru Sunday, Jun 10, 2018 <tfoot> </tfoot> Day Miles Pace Duration Description HR Egain Link Tue 7.1 8:37 1:01 Lunch Run 133 (69%) 126 strava Wed 3.7 9:16 0:34 Morning Run 120 (63%) 173 strava Wed 10.0 9:51 1:38 Evening Reps 137 (71%) 401 strava Thu 6.5 9:15 1:00 Evening Run 125 (65%) 204 strava Fri 3.0 9:43 0:29 Morning Run 116 (60%) 166 strava Fri 0.3 9:28 0:03 Very short run 123 (64%) 35 strava Fri 5.0 8:36 0:43 Lunch Run 139 (72%) 99 strava Sat 6.1 8:36 0:52 Evening Run 133 (69%) 178 strava Sun 13.9 8:51 2:02 Afternoon Run 133 (69%) 386 strava 55.6 9:06 8:26 1768
Weekly SummaryMonday, Jun 04, 2018 thru Sunday, Jun 10, 2018
<tfoot> </tfoot>
Strict WTF adherent
SC - Congrats. Now you get three months to obsess about Botswana registration. In the meantime, I hear the Miley Cyrus fan club may be looking for a new president.
PJ - So are you going to tell us how that race went?
Rovatti - Boo on the calf.
So I did something dumb on Saturday and hopped into a local 5k (Nutter Run in Sea Girt, N.J.).
Just for a frame of reference, I've participated in plenty of events in the past few years haven't raced anything but XC and beer runs since, oh, late 2014. So my training mostly has consisted of jogging around at whatever pace suits me and some hill work, and I didn't have any reasonable indicators of my fitness. It was bad. Like 22:58 bad, with an actual 5k effort.
I've been telling myself that I would give racing another shot after that R2R2R thing last month, and ran this to get a benchmark. Now I feel like I might be starting from scratch. I finished behind a back bib, a guy in sweatpants, a few race shirts. All I was missing was a hydration belt.
Maybe my future is in the beer mile.
Anyway, XC starts tomorrow. So I'll have a whole new opportunity to embarrass myself.
My week:
Mon - 6.1 easy (still feeling a few twinges from R2R2R)
Tues - Weights
Wed - 6 with 2x(1/2/3/2/1 min hard with 1 min recovery)
Thurs - TURD (Work, kids)
Fri - Weights and 2.7 easy w/ strides
Sat - Slow-ass 5k and 1.4 up
Sun - TURD (House stuff needed to get done before it rained)
Total - 19.3 @ WTF pace
rune Those 400m repeats look FAST. Great job.
omr How is rehab going?
PJ I'm SO glad Caps won. Seriously. The few Knights fans I encounter were annoying. I didn't want to explain to them no one "deserves" a championship, they earn it. Glad Ovi got his cup and I'm sure it was crazy there.
dw Good luck cutting back. Maybe spend some time sorting, or ordering, or reorganizing the comic books instead of running. Sleep in. Plan out meals and transportation. Sit on the couch with the cats. Taper weeks are weird. I'm in a "I need to run a lot more miles" week so it seems odd to run so much, but also not think it's very much.
keen Good job on doing Dad duties in the morning. I'll be hanging out with NeRP in two weeks and I'm considering taking him out. I'm a little scared. I ALMOST want to reschedule workouts and move the 16 miler for THIS Sunday to next weekend so I could possible to it with him. I might also take him to my mothers and run loops, OR just call someone to watch him (plenty of people have offered to watch him if needed) and go for a run.
sc I chuckled at "bumpin" your music. Sorry you had to suffer for the last little bit. Glad you got a PR and it's PROBABLY enough to get in. I say this as someone aiming for BQ-3 myself. Great job on training, not freezing, and not quitting. I was thinking about your race that morning when I was running since you were finishing around the time I was doing my workout. Oh, where is the photo of the medal?
Back from Seattle. Didn't get to see my friends (sad) or beer (sad) but I guess when you have 5 other people with you who wouldn't see the "fun" in visiting a beer store to buy beer to NOT drink it is what it is. Weather was fine. I got a good run in. I even had my sister in law offer me water as she drove past me during my Sunday run. NeRP was good on the plane. A little more difficult on the flight home than the flight there mostly because of a lack of naps. I'm still a little sad about not getting to meet up with max or SC. Maybe I'll look into Tunnel Marathhonin 4 years when the OTHER trip up there will happen. Apparently there was a RnR Seattle this weekend too. I saw a few people walking around with bibs and medals after the race. meh.
Oh yeah...TSA was a 50 minute line at SeaTac. Apparently there is a thing called "Clear" which works similar to TSA Precheck. I hear the first month is free so I might look into it next time. Of course, by then it won't be free.
Edit:
Ilana Hopefully the smoke/fire is going the opposite direction of you.
My Week:
Tried to front load the miles with travel coming up. Missed the 56 mpw goal but JD counts it odd where Sunday is actually the START of the week, not the end. So 15 of these miles count for the current week, not last week. Workouts were good. Wednesday was manageable. Sunday was easier and I was a LITTLE worried the 1T towards the end would be much harder. I'm blaming low altitude, better weather and a slight downhill loop. Makes me feel better getting the workouts in though.
Weekly Summary Monday, Jun 04, 2018 thru Sunday, Jun 10, 2018
Cobra Commander Keen
Jim - Hi! I'm frequently that annoying guy as well since I tend to hold back too much in races. It's something I'm working on.
DWave - Best of luck on the upcoming taper. The 12 week cycle I did this spring ended up feeling really short, too, so I understand somewhat the taper feeling weird.
PJ - Congrats on the marathon! That one looked tough.
Clever - Great job! It looks like you handled the descent really well. I'll be reading that RR soon.
Dad - Nice week.
OMR - Friday was awesome, thanks!
Ace - Nice that you're building in some speed work again.
Matt & Rune - Congrats on the distance PR.
Rovatti - Bummer about the calf.
McB - I wouldn't expect any brilliance coming from something called the "Nutter Run". Your amusing recount has me contemplating running my next 5k in basketball shorts, the race shirt (bonus points if it's not a tech shirt), bib on backwards, and a hydration or spibelt. Maybe I can scrounge up one of those armbands for holding a phone.
Brew - Nice LR/workout Sunday. I haven't gotten up the courage yet to put in even some MP stuff at the ends of my LRs. I really want to get DD3 out there in the jogging stroller as well, but really don't know how she'll take it. Being halfway around the lake when she starts to lose it would be far from ideal.
I had a pretty nice week, though nothing really remarkable. I'm trying to get in 1, maybe 2 workouts per week in order to build my fitness just a tad ahead of starting my training plan. And I've definitely decided to keep all the mileage I can for workout days and LRs on the track or river/lake trails to help get used to the flats. I figure that should be at least 50-60% of my weekly mileage. When I got back from my LR Saturday DW was on the treadmill, which DDs 1 & 2 on their scooters in the driveway and DD3 in a walker (her new favorite toy). She's decided to get back in to running, which I love. We're shopping for family 5k's to do ~8 weeks out. I'm trying to get in 1 or two workouts a week before my training cycle formally starts just to keep a bit sharp. Today's 12x 200M R (the first workout from my upcoming plan) was nice in that I didn't feel like it was too hard, so my planned workout paces should be in line with my fitness.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
CDR K ~ Right back at you. (re: "Nice week")
McBen ~ You do realize you just may have some residual fatigue from R2R2R, right?
rovatti ~ Bummer. Knock on wood, in addition to stretching and strengthening (mostly eccentric calf drops), the combination of a home ultrasound and Topiricen really help keep my strains manageable.
OMR ~ The purpose, as I understand it, is to bring together general strength and functional strength, reinforce that you're using your strength to run fast ...
matt ~ Big week!
rtc ~ Basically, although I think an exercise physiologist would be able to highlight some physiological differences, but similar. Hill sprints are shorter (8-12 secs) and a bit faster (near 100%), whereas strides are a bit longer (20-25 secs) and much more controlled (max of 95%.only for a short peak).
Pace Prophet
Congrats, SC! I hope that is enough to get you in! Interesting about the Garmin being accurate without GPS data. Also glad it quit dumping rain before the race and made your clothing choices easier.
Hi, Jim! We're building a new house on the mesa where the college is, and I wrote a bit about it here, with some pictures: https://ilanarama.dreamwidth.org/165982.html
Speaking of pictures and writing, I'm putting together something about the fires. The air quality in the morning is spectacularly awful. We installed our window air conditioner which filters a bit and lets us keep the windows closed at night, but it's an old house and the smoke seeps in, so we've both been waking with headaches. It's already started to blow out for the day, and so I'll head up to the rec center to run on the treadmill shortly.
I was hoping to get 30mpw again but I had a migraine on Saturday, when I'd intended to grit out 7 miles on the treadmill. But Sunday afternoon (after the wind had picked up to blow out the smoke) the SU and I biked up to a trailhead and hiked to a viewpoint to watch the fire (smoke), and due to getting slightly lost and doing bonus miles the roundtrip was 7.5 miles, so that sort of counts, right? Pretty slow hiking because we stopped a lot to look at the view and take photos. I put three of them on Strava so you can see what the fire's looking like. It's exactly where our long bike ride was two weeks ago.
Ilana - Ugh, the fires sound awful. We had terrible air quality for a while last year (or was it the year before) from all the wildfires around here. You couldn't really exercise in it at all. Hope it clears up soon for you.
BTW, now that all is said and done, I'm curious what your pace prediction would have been for me...
Rune - Congrats on the mileage PR! 55 is getting up there.
Rovatti - Ugh, sucks. I had a calf injury that took forever to fully heal when I was just starting out 6 years ago. Do you wear compression sleeves at all? Those seemed to help in the early days back to running.
Brew - No beer times in Seattle? Bummer. Next time.
Ace - Looks like you're rounding back into form. Remind me - are you looking to break 3 in your next cycle?
Arvind - Thank you!
Matt - 80+ miles?! Yowza.
McBen - Echoing Dad... you just did R2R2R2R2R2R! Also, my first 5k "race effort" after a year off exercise was around 27 minutes, so 22:58 really isn't too shabby for "starting from scratch." Also, I almost got back-bib'd in my race yesterday - passed one at around 22 miles.
Keen - "nice week, nothing remarkable" for you = my all-time mileage PR. When's your next race?