After many months I finally remembered that I had a lot of video footage from last years Breaker that Susannah shot during the race. Last night I decided to put together a little video of the descent on the South Ridge Trail:
Most of my weekend trail running these days has been at Pineland and now I'm starting to suffer from Bradbury withdrawal...
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Pineland Barefoot 5k
Following a run on the first 10 miles of the 25k race course Blaine and Four helped me shoot this video of the Barefoot 5k course.
Blaine was running proper barefoot, I was in my Vibram Five Finger KSO's.
Blaine was running proper barefoot, I was in my Vibram Five Finger KSO's.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
March Summary
February killed my running mojo and as a result March was my lowest mileage month in a few years.
Total Miles: 80.51
Total Time: 12:04:26
Average Daily Distance: 2.6 miles
Average Pace: 9:00
I realized that despite my tendency to offer up advice to others I'm not very good at following it, there's still a lot that I don't know about running smart, avoiding injury and dealing with injury. I'm continuing to learn things about myself and what running means to me. I've often said that I run because it's fun, and when it's not fun I won't do it. Running wasn't much fun in the month of March so I barely did any.
At the end of February I decided that there was no way I could continue to train for the 95 mile West Highland Was Race so I officially withdrew. That was tough. Since 2006 I've been free from any significant injury and my running has consistently improved, so this is the first time in years that I've really had to pull back and rethink how I do things. My achilles problem really isn't a significant injury, but it's an ongoing pain that has definitely been holding me back.
That said, my achilles has started to improve thanks to the help of Dr. Jamie. He got me to the point where I should be able to complete the recovery on my own, my problem is that stretching and doing strengthening exercises isn't fun, and I don't like doing things that aren't fun. So it's my own fault that this has dragged on longer than necessary.
Another thing I've learned is that when I don't do much running I get out of shape. When I'm out of shape running becomes less fun and I'm less inclined to go out and remind myself how out of shape I am. It's a vicious cycle.
At the end of this month I feel like I am definitely making progress with my achilles problem, I'm starting to get more enjoyment out of running again and I am determined to get back to where I was before. It's going to be quite a while before I'm in ultra running shape again, but there are plenty of shorter distance trails to be run around here.
Total Miles: 80.51
Total Time: 12:04:26
Average Daily Distance: 2.6 miles
Average Pace: 9:00
I realized that despite my tendency to offer up advice to others I'm not very good at following it, there's still a lot that I don't know about running smart, avoiding injury and dealing with injury. I'm continuing to learn things about myself and what running means to me. I've often said that I run because it's fun, and when it's not fun I won't do it. Running wasn't much fun in the month of March so I barely did any.
At the end of February I decided that there was no way I could continue to train for the 95 mile West Highland Was Race so I officially withdrew. That was tough. Since 2006 I've been free from any significant injury and my running has consistently improved, so this is the first time in years that I've really had to pull back and rethink how I do things. My achilles problem really isn't a significant injury, but it's an ongoing pain that has definitely been holding me back.
That said, my achilles has started to improve thanks to the help of Dr. Jamie. He got me to the point where I should be able to complete the recovery on my own, my problem is that stretching and doing strengthening exercises isn't fun, and I don't like doing things that aren't fun. So it's my own fault that this has dragged on longer than necessary.
Another thing I've learned is that when I don't do much running I get out of shape. When I'm out of shape running becomes less fun and I'm less inclined to go out and remind myself how out of shape I am. It's a vicious cycle.
At the end of this month I feel like I am definitely making progress with my achilles problem, I'm starting to get more enjoyment out of running again and I am determined to get back to where I was before. It's going to be quite a while before I'm in ultra running shape again, but there are plenty of shorter distance trails to be run around here.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
February Summary
February kinda sucked. I had a few good runs, actually a few very good runs. TMR Saturday runs are the best. But my stupid achilles thing has really messed up my training this month as well as my overall enjoyment of running.
Here are the numbers for February
Total Miles: 111.52
Total Time: 16:54:07
Average Daily Distance: 4.0 miles
Average Pace: 9:06
Much worse than January. My plan for the year was to ramp up mileage each month as I train for the WHW, but things are going in the wrong direction. Early in the month I told myself (and a few other people) that if I wasn't 100% pain free by the end of the month that I didn't think I would have any reasonable chance of training for and running the WHW the way I want to, and would therefore not do it. I only ran once in the last week of February and it wasn't pain-free.
Here are the numbers for February
Total Miles: 111.52
Total Time: 16:54:07
Average Daily Distance: 4.0 miles
Average Pace: 9:06
Much worse than January. My plan for the year was to ramp up mileage each month as I train for the WHW, but things are going in the wrong direction. Early in the month I told myself (and a few other people) that if I wasn't 100% pain free by the end of the month that I didn't think I would have any reasonable chance of training for and running the WHW the way I want to, and would therefore not do it. I only ran once in the last week of February and it wasn't pain-free.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Return to the K9 Loop
I was pleasantly surprised to wake up Sunday morning feeling pretty good, Saturday's run definitely didn't make things worse. I had a busy day and wasn't sure if I'd make it our for a run before sunset but did get out of the house around 3:45, it was just too nice out, I actually wore shorts. Although I had originally thought about getting in 10-15 miles today I didn't want to run after dark and I didn't leave the house prepared for night running so I knew I only had time for about 10. I decided to run the K9 loop, which is a little under 10 but I thought I could bump it up a little.
The ankle was feeling pretty good and wasn't really bothered by the hills. My energy level was good but I didn't want to push the pace too much for fear that I might set myself back if I went out too hard. Apart from an emergency bio-break everything went well. Nice to be wearing shorts, but I honestly hope that winter returns and I'm forced to cover my legs for a few more weeks.
time: 1:16:17
distance: 9.75 miles
pace: 7:49
weather: mid 30's, windy
gear: Inov-8 F-Lite 301, Smart Wool socks, shorts, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, gloves, baseball hat
The ankle was feeling pretty good and wasn't really bothered by the hills. My energy level was good but I didn't want to push the pace too much for fear that I might set myself back if I went out too hard. Apart from an emergency bio-break everything went well. Nice to be wearing shorts, but I honestly hope that winter returns and I'm forced to cover my legs for a few more weeks.
time: 1:16:17
distance: 9.75 miles
pace: 7:49
weather: mid 30's, windy
gear: Inov-8 F-Lite 301, Smart Wool socks, shorts, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, gloves, baseball hat
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Bradbury Run Cut Short
Saturday I was a little apprehensive about what I'd be able to run given how I felt on Thursday. Friday night I did a lot of stetching and rolled my calf/achilles, but despite this I woke up feeling pretty tight. By the time I started my run with Jim and Lily I was feeling okay and things loosened up over the first mile. Conditions were pretty rough and I was surprised that my ankle wasn't irritated by the terrain. of the Beautiful Loop.
Things were going well, albeit a little slower than last week, until Lily made the unfortunate discovery of an underground cavern hidden beneath a thin layer of ice. She fell in up to her knee and then things got wrenched around a bit. Not good. We decided to take the shortest way back to the park from here, but we were already 8 miles out and the short way was still over 5 miles. We got off the rough trails as soon as we could and ran the last 4 miles back to the park on the roads.
Although I was the tiniest bit disappointed not to complete the whole 15 mile loop I was relieved to finish the run without causing any additional pain. My ankle felt a lot better than it had on Thursday.
time: 2:03:05
distance: 13.33 miles
pace: 9:14
weather: low 30's, sunny, breezy
conditions: hard packed snow, lots of ice, bare ground
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, Smart Wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirt, gloves, mittens (off), buff, Nathan HPL #20
Things were going well, albeit a little slower than last week, until Lily made the unfortunate discovery of an underground cavern hidden beneath a thin layer of ice. She fell in up to her knee and then things got wrenched around a bit. Not good. We decided to take the shortest way back to the park from here, but we were already 8 miles out and the short way was still over 5 miles. We got off the rough trails as soon as we could and ran the last 4 miles back to the park on the roads.
Although I was the tiniest bit disappointed not to complete the whole 15 mile loop I was relieved to finish the run without causing any additional pain. My ankle felt a lot better than it had on Thursday.time: 2:03:05
distance: 13.33 miles
pace: 9:14
weather: low 30's, sunny, breezy
conditions: hard packed snow, lots of ice, bare ground
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, Smart Wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirt, gloves, mittens (off), buff, Nathan HPL #20
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Slipping Off The Schedule
Not that I really have a training schedule, but if I did I'm afraid I'd be falling behind. This ankle thing that I didn't think anything of back in December is really starting to hold me back. I had a few good runs last weekend but this week didn't start so well.
Monday was a planned day off, Tuesday I was too busy with work to get out for a run. Wednesday I had a meeting out of town, got dropped off at home after work and then ran back to my office to get my car. There was some definite tightness in my achilles for the first mile, it lingered into the second mile which was all uphill, but then eased off over the next mile which was gradually downhill. After that second mile I had a nice progression of increased speed: 7:47, 7:32, 7:28, 7:22, 7:05. It helped that I had a tail wind.
Unfortunately it seemed that pushing the pace a bit, and then immediately getting into my car and driving home, followed by sitting on my ass eating dinner lead to my achilles tightening right back up again.
time: 46:27
distance: 6.21 miles
pace: 7:29
Thursday I decided that I needed to get in a short/slow run. I realized that there probably isn't enough of that in my training plan. Earlier in the day I had another session with Dr. Jamie Raymond, he identified a long chain of tightness running from my right glutes to hamstring to calf to achilles. I didn't come away from this visit with such a noticable improvement in my ankle, but I did feel like a few related areas were addressed that will help the ankle.
I set off for my run around 6:00, and about 3 minutes into the run I stopped and considered turning around and walking home because the pain in my achilles was so bad. I stretched for a minute or so, walked a little and then resumed thee run, that seemed to be enough to reduce the pain to a very tolerable level, but it didn't make me feel very good about my long term long distance running goals.
time: 34:39
distance: 4.08 miles
pace: 8:29
Monday was a planned day off, Tuesday I was too busy with work to get out for a run. Wednesday I had a meeting out of town, got dropped off at home after work and then ran back to my office to get my car. There was some definite tightness in my achilles for the first mile, it lingered into the second mile which was all uphill, but then eased off over the next mile which was gradually downhill. After that second mile I had a nice progression of increased speed: 7:47, 7:32, 7:28, 7:22, 7:05. It helped that I had a tail wind.
Unfortunately it seemed that pushing the pace a bit, and then immediately getting into my car and driving home, followed by sitting on my ass eating dinner lead to my achilles tightening right back up again.
time: 46:27
distance: 6.21 miles
pace: 7:29
Thursday I decided that I needed to get in a short/slow run. I realized that there probably isn't enough of that in my training plan. Earlier in the day I had another session with Dr. Jamie Raymond, he identified a long chain of tightness running from my right glutes to hamstring to calf to achilles. I didn't come away from this visit with such a noticable improvement in my ankle, but I did feel like a few related areas were addressed that will help the ankle.
I set off for my run around 6:00, and about 3 minutes into the run I stopped and considered turning around and walking home because the pain in my achilles was so bad. I stretched for a minute or so, walked a little and then resumed thee run, that seemed to be enough to reduce the pain to a very tolerable level, but it didn't make me feel very good about my long term long distance running goals.
time: 34:39
distance: 4.08 miles
pace: 8:29
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