Garmin Forerunner 610

Got me a GPS watch. Expensive but so worth it given the positive reviews and my test run with it today. See link.
Untitled by ryanrnnr at Garmin Connect - Details

Torrington Road Race 2012

Won by a woman for the first time, and it wasn't even close. Wow. Results.

Monday, 8/8/12- nothing.

Tuesday, 8/7/12- 52:23 run. Grizzly Peak loop w/Jess. 31:47 to the peak (13:20 to the 1.1mi post; 23:05 to the overlook). Spent about 6min at the peak and descended in 20:36.

Wednesday, 8/8/12- 2hr. 20min bike to/from Y and strength training in the AM. Yoga w/Jess in the PM.

Thursday, 8/9/12- 36:14 run. To and around Lithia Park.

Friday, 8/10/12- 56:18 run. White Rabbit w/Jess.

Saturday, 8/11/12- YMCA strength training.

Sunday, 8/12/12- 1:29:10 run. Ditch loop w/Jess. Finished with some soaking in creek in Lithia Park.

Total: 3:54 (21.7mi)

It had been a long time since our last Sunday "long" run together. This morning, we did about 8 miles. The iPhone GPS had us at about 7 but lost signal for part of the run, as you can see on the graph below. For the first 2.5 miles or so, you run straight up--just over 1300 feet--and then it's pretty much all downhill from there. Instead of completing the loop at home, we ran about another mile to Lithia Park and soaked in the creek.

White Rabbit

This was the first hike Jess and I did in Ashland. And it was difficult. And it was difficult the second, third, and fourth times. I recall one time seeing a guy running up while we were struggling to even hike and saying to myself, "holy shit!" Well, after a lot of practice on steep mountain trails, we're finally running the whole thing ourselves. I've always been curious as to the distance and elevation gain of this route and was seriously considering purchasing a gps/altimeter watch until I remembered that the mapmyrun iPhone app could possibly serve this purpose. So I tested it out yesterday around town and in Lithia Park, and it worked great. Today, I tried it on White Rabbit. The results are below. It worked perfectly. It turns out that it's 2.35 miles of climbing to the top with well over 1000ft of elevation gain. We did an out and back...very slowly (but ran every step). On the way back down, Jess was in front by about 50 yards and I heard some rustling leaves. I thought Jess had possibly fallen. Then, about a minute later, I heard the same rustling leaves and Jess yelled down from the upper trail (I had taken a lower trail): "A black bear!" I think Jess came very close to the bear and then stupidly ran away quickly. I've been on this trail a lot and have never seen a black bear or mountain lion. The difference today, however, was that it was early morning.

Find more Run in Ashland, OR

Back In Action

I did an 8 mile hilly trail run on Sunday with no knee/leg pain, so I'm somewhat optimistic about MDI marathon in October. The strenuous hiking in bozeman seemed to strengthen whatever needed to be strengthened and get me back on track. Only problem now is that biking irritates my knee/leg. The pain has recently migrated to the side of my hamstring where I have a huge knot after some seat adjustments. 3 times a day on the foam roller is taking care of it, but I'm wondering if the biking was the problem all along. Either way my new plan is to get as strong as possible. That means hills, trails, and stairs. I do the most hilly trail runs I can find. Weekdays that usually means multiple trips up east rock giant steps trail and on weekends west rock. And every opportunity I get I also take the stairs. I live on the 18th floor of an apartment building. You can only get to the stairs from the 6th floor, but 11 flights of stairs still gets the muscles warm, especially if carrying grocercies. I'm also making an effort to boost my protein intake. Lots of smoothies with hemp, soy, spirulina, chia, and flax. And kale, beets, carrots, and all kinds of fruit of course.

Monday, 7/30/12- 54:58 run.  Ran the whole Grizzly Peak loop! 32:57 to the peak (13:40 to the 1.1mi post; 23:49 to the overlook). Spent about 4min at the peak and descended in 22:01. Then drove to San Francisco in 100-degree heat with no A/C.

Tuesday, 7/31/12- TRX with Kyle in San Francisco.

Wednesday, 8/1/12- ~25min run. Stillwater Cove Regional Park in Jenner, CA. Nice, but short, trails.

Thursday, 8/2/12- 20:25min run. To and around Lithia Park in NB Minimus. Cooled off in the creek and walked home barefoot. Needed that after being the car all day.

Friday, 8/3/12- 59:25 (41:51 run). White Rabbit with Jess. 28:18 to the top. Almost two minutes faster than last time. Spent about 5min at the parking lot and hiked/ran back.

Saturday, 8/4/12- ~20min bike. Strength training at YMCA.

Sunday, 8/5/12, 1:23hr (1:17:36hr run). Ran from home up an alley to Liberty Street to "the ditch" trail and then straight up with Joe. Handled the climb well but with some hiking on various sections. Once to the top (Ashland Loop Road), ran up to Alice, down Alice, to Bandersnatch, and then various other trails until we emptied out onto the ditch. Roads back home.

I did well over three hours of running this week. Probably 20 miles. The leg seems to be fine. Hoping that it only gets stronger.

Return to Action

Jessica and I are running the Enchanted Forest Wine Run (Timothy Olson, this year's winner of The Western States, is the RD), which is a trail half-marathon in Grants Pass, Oregon on September 29th and marks our return to "racing." We haven't done anything significant since the Austin Marathon in February 2011. Yikes. The race has a ton of climbing (no wonder given the RD) and a 5hr time limit. I don't think we'll need all 5hrs, but we certainly won't be running our fastest times. Actually, it will be my fastest time, as I've never done an organized half-marathon.

The good thing, though, is that we live in a valley, and if you want to run trails, you don't have much of a choice but to run up. We've both been increasing the amount of climbing per run. All of the running we do now is on steep trails in the mountains. Yesterday, we ran up White Rabbit, which climbs a good 1,000ft in roughly 2mi. It's an insane workout. Jess continued down the other side to the park to get in about an hour and a half of running, and I double backed, running about half of the descent.

It seems that ever since moving to Ashland, my knee has gotten a lot better. It's nearly 100% now. I'm doing all of the right things--staying off pavement and on trails, cross-training, and stretching. I've also made a few biomechanical tweaks. My left knee turns out a bit and my right knee turns way in. To correct this, I've turned out my right foot, which has allowed me to more easily engage the glutes and keep my knee directly under my hip and over my ankle instead of collapsing inward.

ASHLAND- WEEK 3

Monday, 7/23/12- 1:10hr (10min run). Warmed up on the treadmill then yoga. Didn't like this class as much.

Tuesday, 7/24/12- 49:40min run. Applegate Lake. 25min out and a little bit less back on the Da-Ku-Be-Te-De Trail from Hart-tish Park. Really nice single-track trail. 18 miles total around lake.

Wednesday, 7/25/12- 25min bike. To from YMCA. Strength training.

Thursday, 7/26/12- 40:15min run. To and around Lithia Park. Cooled off in the creek afterward.

Friday, 7/27/12- 1:11hr bike. Mostly on the bike path...after finding it!

Saturday, 7/28/12- 2:34hr (1:01:21hr run). Debated Grizzly Peak or White Rabbit but opted for White Rabbit, as it's closer and a bit more difficult. Drove to the top of Park Street and ran all the way to the parking lot on Ashland Loop Road in 29:43min (the official White Rabbit trailhead). What a workout!  If it's not 1,000ft of elevation gain, it's pretty close. Don't even have a guess as to the distance. After a 10min break or so to consult the trail map and chat with a fella-who is here for a few weeks on business-enjoying the local watershed trails on his day off, I continued running down Alice and Wonderland to Bandersnatch. At the four-way intersection, instead of going straight up the steps, I took a left onto a mountain bike trail, which eventually emptied into Lithia Park. I did the second half of the run in 31:38min. Iced in the creek and then walked all the way back to the car in 1:22hr.

Sunday, 7/29/12- 1:27hr bike. Showed Jess the trail above Lithia Park and then hit the Bear Creek Greenway.

7.6hr (2:41:16hr running)

Monday, 7/16/12- 2:07hr (26:59min run). I set out for Ostrich Peak not really knowing exactly how to get there. My intention was to run to the trailhead in about 15min but after ~18min, I was still not there, so I stopped at the bottom of Strawberry Lane (which was perfect, because it's crazy steep). From there, I hiked up to Hitt Road and took the single-track trail (instead of the continued paved road beyond the gate) to where it meets back up with Hitt Road (not before getting lost briefly). I climbed for a while and turned around well before the peak (I think), because I didn't want to overdo it. The trail forked, and I started left but then turned around and went right. From there, I climbed for only a few more minutes before eventually turning around. After descending the trail and steep streets, I ran ~8min more home.

Tuesday, 7/17/12- 1hr+ (37:45min run). Ran to and around Lithia Park. Iced in Ashland Creek afterward. Walked home. I think I'll take another stab at Ostrich Peak tomorrow. I found some good written directions to the peak.

Wednesday, 7/18/12- 2:48hr (9:09min run). Ran to the bottom of Church Street and then hiked all the way up to Ostrich Peak in 1:16hr. Spent about 2min on the peak and returned in 1:18hr. I tried to run home but the legs weren't having it. Picked up the CR-V on the way home. Nice, new brakes.

Thursday, 7/19/12- 1:09hr (~43min run). Ran all the way to the summit of Grizzly Peak in about 33min. Caught my breath and then started down for another 10min. Hiked the remainder. Lots of folks on the trail. Nice day. Longest run since April 2011. It's been too long.

Friday, 7/20/12- 1:10hr (10min run). Yoga at YMCA and then treadmill for a few.

Saturday, 7/21/12- 30:01min run. At YMCA. Threw in several minutes of 5.0-5.5 incline. Decided to workout on the treadmill, as I can better work on my biomechanics. Also, didn't want to do much climbing today, as tomorrow is the Mount Ashland 5K, which features a 1,200ft climb in the first 1/2mi. Should be a fun scramble to the top!

Sunday, 7/22/12- 43:55min run. Mount Ashland 5K! (It's actually 6K.) First race since February 2011. It took 17+min just to get to the top of Mount Ashland! Got a nice big hug from Jenn Shelton upon finishing.

8.28hr (3:04hr running)

New England trail tour.

Hello all, I haven't posted much.... but with my recent obsession in hiking I plan to share my experiences.


Saturday, 7/14/2012: Macedonia Brook State Park trails. This was my first time in this park and I was pleasantly surprised. The ridge trail is a 6.7 mile loop with incredible look-outs and tricky terrain. Unfortunately we got a bit confused/off track and only completed about 35% of the loop. It's tough in 90 deg temps on top of New England humidity. I plan to work up to running this loop by early fall.

Macedonia Ridge trail Look-out

Sunday, 7/15/2012: American Legion & People's State Forest Trails. First time attacking the Elliot Bronson Trail, this trail is 2.0 miles long with a 1,040 elevation gain. The elevation increases to its peak within the first mile and descents down the back side of the trail. It started pouring during the decent which was fun and a bit challenging. I'm starting to love my new Minimums MT10s. I've been hiking/running with a Hydration bladder... Now that I've used it a few times I wouldn't go out without it. A very useful tool.

First full week in Ashland

Sunday, 7/8/12- ~30min run from Grizzly Peak trailhead. Ran ~24min to the East Antelope Burn Area and waited for Jess and my mom to catch up. Hiked some and then ran ~6min to the peak. 6,000ft. 600ft of total elevation gain. The loop took well under 2hr.

Monday, 7/9/12- Had to remove myself from the mess that is unpacking and biked to the top of Park Street (500ft climb in less than 1/2mi--supposedly Ashland's steepest street) and hiked to the White Rabbit trailhead and back. Biked home. 2hr outing. Hot.

Tuesday, 7/10/12- Jess and I drove up to the White Rabbit trailhead and ran down Alice and Wonderland to Ashland Loop Road and back. I continued up ALR to round off my running time, which has escaped me. We were out for probably less than 1hr.

Wednesday, 7/11/12- 31min run to and around Lithia Park with Jess. Cooled off in Ashland Creek afterwards. Walked home.

Thursday, 7/12/12- nothing

Friday, 7/13/12- Drove up to Mount Ashland and then over to the Grouse Gap Shelter, not too far from the trailhead. 35min run plus a good ~1:30 hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. Wow, what a trail. Imagine endless carpeted single-track. The running here is ridiculous.

Saturday, 7/14/12- 2:20 hike from Four Corners to Mt. Ashland Lodge (some brief stopping for water and at the Bull Gap trailhead to consult a trail map). ~8mi and 2,200ft of total elevation gain. Helped bring in runners doing the Siskiyou Out-and-Back (SOB) 50 miler, 50k, and 15k. Congrats to Joe on finishing his first 50 miler in a respectable 10:xx. Crazy. Oh, and Jenn Shelton (professional ultrarunner and featured in "Born to Run"), Erik Skaggs (ridiculously good runner), and Timothy Olson (winner of this year's The Western States) were there. They all live and train here in Ashland.

Sunday, 7/15/12- 30min run to and around Lithia Park. Cooled off in Ashland Creek afterwards. Walked home barefoot.

Friday, running on the PCT. I cannot wait to get back up there for some longer outings.

Friday, from the PCT.

Sunday, from the lodge at Mt. Ashland. Mt. Shasta's there in the distance.