MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
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01/'01/2018 - Resolution 5K run with Lake Washington Polar Bear Plunge,
Since I haven't purchased a pair of running shoes since the 1990 Goodwill Games Marathon sine shoes, at least I didn't have to take off my precious shoes so they wouldn't get wet in the brief interlude into the lake.
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4/18/2018 - Lunar New Year Year-of-the-Dog 5K in Japanese
wooden geta.
04/07/2018 - Yakima River Canyon Marathon in Japanese wooden get for first 12 miles before barefooting the last 14 miles on new pavement. Gravel parking lot finish was pretty grim though.
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04/14/2018 - rainy Carkeek 12-hour Fun Run in Japanese cloth jitka-tabi split toes that got gold in the 1936 Olympics and won a couple of Bostons around 1950.
Timed ultramarathons are perfect for me and other runners who like the exercise and fitness value of longer run but who don’t like feeling guilty about keeping volunteers out on the trail, sometimes in very inclement weather, ‘til we finally finish four-five and more hours after everyone else. Not so at the semi-annual Carkeek 12-hour Fun Run (October Halloween and April Cottontail) up-and-down the two big hill dominating the park’s 1.93 mile perimeter and totaling 430' of ascent (and descent) every lap., In fact, the ascents are so daunting that getting up-and-down takes nearly 150 railway tie stairs dug into the slopes.
Faster runners regularly reach over 50-miles in the allotted 12 hours*. Though I could churn out 40+ miles (21+laps) when I first realized about ten years ago that regular marathon runners could finish ultras up to 100-miles simply by walking a lot, it slipped to 50K (16+laps) a couple of years ago this year was the first time I added the marathon distance (at least 14 laps) to my lap/pace chart..Except for about a half-of-a-lap, weather all day was as usual and as predicted: rain/rain/rain. Stupidly forgetting to bring along my plastic-lined Japanese sugegasa straw hat that was all ready to go by the door, I just used a black binder clip to keep the poncho hood secured to the bill of a baseball cap so I wouldn’t be getting rain down the back of my neck. It worked, plus with a hand towel around my neck. I usually wear my Merrell Bahria train thongs for these kinds of ultras but with so much water in puddles and rivulets on the trail work Japanese cloth jikatabi split toes. No changes to the trekking poles that have been invaluable in helping push me on up the ascents, though.In fact, everything was all working so well that, by the six hour mark, it was seeming that 50K might even be possible again but, if not, there would be almost an hour in the bank to cruise in after 12 hours at a marathon distance. Unfortunately, the 53-min/lap needed for 26.2 miles gradually slipped away too and the last lap from 11-12 hours was just going through the motions of a slow-motion shuffle for 25.09 miles. Afterwards, I shuffled off up the park entrance road for a mile-point-one for DW to pick me up after, at least, for me, and for me only, a marathon distance for the day. Lots going on to blame for the slowest ever result by three laps but being slow couldn’t dampen the joy of sharing the final lap after more than eleven hours with other runners’ together after nearly 12 hours in challenging hills and weather. By that time though, almost half the 12-hour starters had dropped out or down to six hours to my 11th place finish this time was the best ever, . . . even though it was still an accustomed DGL (dead-glorious-last). .,This time, however, I think I’ll stick to my post-race vow that, after 220 marathons in the last 42 years, I don’t need to subject myself running for so long in such conditions anymore, . . . at least until the next edition in October. . nd neither the two big hills or foul weather damped the joy and exhileration of finishing up the last lap after eleven hours on the challenging course and challenging weather.
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not me but gravel-filled beds of some 150 ascending stairs on each loop made purist running too painful for me.
05/06/2018 - barefoot Bloomsday 12K
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
3.7 mile up Mt. Si
Compared to the old days a little southeast of erika-land when I could hike several local trails and up two coastal peaks from the front door and be up in the alpines in less than an hour overlooking coastal fjords, glaciers, etc. or drive to six-or-seven more within 10-15 minutes, no way am I going to fight Seattle traffic to do the same down here,especially in the absence of the scenic views up in the northland, . . . along with occasional deer, bear, goats, wolves (albeit only one time) and almost always porcupines, marmots, bald eagles galore, grouse, ptarmigan, etc.).However, driving to the Saturday morning spinning class on a beautiful fall morn and again the same yesterday, anything sounded better than being inside while the sunny days were still staving off the winter rains so I drove another half hour up I-90 for the two two mile treks taking a little less than an hour (one way) up the local favorite Rattlesnake Ledges Trail (Sat) and the Cedar River Trail to Twin Falls (Sun). .Topped off the Trifecta today with a three hour climb up the 3.7 mile trail to the boulder fields at 3,000' on nearby Mt. Si (that only took 1hr/20min when I was ran up in an ascent race in 1996). Unlike erika-land days where timberline gave way to the alpines by 2,000', it’s forested climbing with no views at all all the way down here, . . . and the view of I-90 from the top didn’t compare much either. However, it was better than being inside so I might go back before the winter rains set in for real. <<<(Ed note: especially since he missed picking up a windbreaker and down vest on the way down he stashed under a windfall on the way up as temps climbed up from 37 to the fifties).
Monday: Mt. Si - 4,187' (3hr + 2hr)
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hiking Mount Si / seattletimes.com
Sunday: Twin Falls (1hr + 1hr)
Saturday: Rattlesnake Ledges (1hr + 40min)
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