2013 - Week One Long Distance Training Complete

Week one of training with my friend Tim for long distance has come and gone in a flash! We ran fairly low distances with rest days in between because we are just beginning to ramp up to further and further distances. The photos below show some shots taken on Saturday's run (and show up again in the video, sorry for the redundancy). I only took photos on Saturday because of low light and poor weather for the other runs earlier in the week.

On Monday I awoke to the sound of rain pounding the window and I knew it would be a wet run. I left my house in the dark at 6:00 AM. I ran the chip trail which wraps around campus and I wasn't surprised to be the only one on the trail. It had been raining all night and the rain quickly collected in puddles in all depressions along the trail because the pore space in the soil couldn't soak up any more water. The trail is a loop, therefore I found myself for about a quarter of the run, running face first into great big drops of rain as the wind drove it almost parallel with the ground. I quickly ran the loop and crossed bridges which spanned swollen creeks dotted with the large stalks of skunk cabbage. My shoes slopped through the puddles; soaked through. One nice thing about getting your feet wet immediately is that you no longer need to worry about keeping your feet dry so from then on you can just focus on running because your shoes aren't going to get any wetter.

Wednesday had much better weather conditions and was almost too warm for tights and I really worked up a sweat quickly. I really pushed on day two for some reason, my body just felt like pushing it. I really hammered the Chip trail running it clockwise, opposite from Monday's run. I find when I run the same loop route multiple times in a week it is very nice mentally and physically to switch the direction of the route. It keeps it fresh, and helps keep you running evenly, and wards off ennui which can accompany any runner who runs the same course often. I finished feeling well tired, and a bit sore from my pace, but I felt I put in a great workout.

Saturday was very cold for Victoria and saw temps below freezing. It was odd seeing frost and snow on the ground. Even the puddles had a thin film of ice. I chose Mt. Tolmie as my destination. This allowed me to run some flats but also work on my up and down hill running. The sky was bright and the colors vibrant. I spent a considerable amount of time filming the colors and setting up shots for my short video. As I was returning from the summit I saw that my SD card was full and that I had not recorded much at all. The many minutes of video I so painstakingly tried to capture was lost. So the video below only shows a minute or two of footage of 15 or so that I captured. Oh well; it also cuts off abruptly, but I couldn't be bothered with fixing it. I will just chalk that up to experience and remember to check my SD card before running in the future. The run was great and I enjoyed the run immensely.

Tim and I are also swapping music for each run. We each suggest a song from our own repertoire to the other and then run with it as our first song of each run. It has been a lot of fun and has made each run exciting as we each get to look forward not only to running the same distance together, at roughly the same time, but also to the same songs! It also allows us to discover new music. I highly recommend it to any runners who like to run with music and want to spice up their training playlist. It is nice to be able to share the fairly solitary pursuit of long distance running with someone else and connect on another level. I think we will keep this up as long as we can!

My video is the first one with Tim's video for the week shown last!

And here is Tim's video for week one. Same training routine just 1000 miles to the southeast!

Week 1 training for an Ultramarathon

I finished the first week of my new training block for an ultramarathon. This first week was like the first week of any new block of training runs; some runs were great others were pitiful.

Monday found me running to the 47.5 meter (156 foot) tall Little Niagara Falls. A beautiful narrow cascade of water just off from the main road. Though it isn't as big or beautiful as it's more famous name sake, it still has a beauty and grandeur all its own. I then ran to and over the E&N train trestle that spans the Little Niagara creek gorge. Running on the 161 meter (529') high bridge with no rails and large gaps between the ties was really creepy. You would get vertigo and a bit dizzy. You can tell on the clip on this vlog that I am running very slowly and gingerly and even walking. I am not gonna lie it was unnerving. I would hate to get stuck half way on the bridge when the train came (think Stand by me). You would be in trouble. I then continued to some old mines on the Gold Mine trail and felt like I was running with ghosts. It was a great start to the week.

Tuesday saw me running an easy 7 miles on Mount Doug. You can read about it or see images on my last vlog post.

Wednesday was a flat five miler and was hot and not the best. I was a bit sleep and calorie deprived and very thirsty.

Thursday was a slow and painful 7 miles on Mount Doug with very leaden legs. I made it back in one piece but could feel the mileage from the previous runs piling up and definitely needed a rest.

Friday was a much needed rest day.

Saturday was my long run. I figured I would run two laps of my usual Mount Doug route but I ran so late that it got really dark on me. Just after passing the 8 mile mark I really rolled my ankle. One of those rolls that take you completely off guard. It hurt like crazy and for one split second I thought that was it, I was now going to be out for 6 weeks. Luckily my ankle recovered after some light running and I decided to quit while I was ahead.

All told I was aiming for 37 miles this week and ended with 33. I experienced the exhilaration of running under a waterfall, gingerly stepping on a 160 year old bridge suspended in space. I experienced some strong running with an easy and light pace, but I also experienced low lows. I had some slow labored heavy-footed runs where every step seemed a bit forced and clumsy. I ran in hot weather (relatively hot but not compared to many places currently east of here). I felt the jolt and disappointment of a really painful rolled ankle that brought my long run to a screeching halt. In short, I felt like someone training for a ultramarathon this week. What a great feeling!

0-100 miles: Training for a Trail Ultra Day 1

I am constantly kicking around ideas to stay motivated and run consistently. Recently my friend Tim was up from Utah visiting me on Vancouver Island. We were discussing motivation techniques to aid in consistency, and I thought an idea to help me get back on track with my running goals would be to create a video blog (vlog) of what it takes for a slightly below average trail runner, that is currently out of shape and running inconsistently, to train up for a longer distance 50 or 100 mile Ultra.

I will record a few thoughts during one or several runs each week about what I am going through as I try to whittle my pathetic body into a beginning ultra-runner. The blog and idea are more for me than anybody else but I thought I would share so perhaps someone in a similar boat might see my experiment with long distance and hopefully learn from my mistakes.

The end result should allow me to run more consistently for the next 6 months to a year and hopefully will lead to a Ultra event of some sort.

Today's run was a 6-7ish mile run up and down and around Mount Douglas in Victoria. This is my usual venue for training. Tomorrow I will do a flat 5 miles.

Below is my first Vlog. I have to mention my voice can be quite monotone and boring. I often have to teach labs for my schooling and after each course the students evaluate you and you can read what they said about you later. I have to say I have been lucky to get great reviews but one student gave me a critique that follows "you are extremely passionate about geology, BUT... your monotone voice which lacks any sort of inflection makes it sound like you are quite bored, and as a result makes me think you are not as excited about it as you should be." I laughed and had to agree. I definitely have a weird monotone voice, so if this vlog puts you to sleep I apologize. Additionally I say um, uh, and so WAY too much. I am not a great orator but the idea is just to show others my life as I train for ultra distances through my eyes. It is a little uncomfortable putting myself out there like this but I will roll the dice and see what comes of it.

Catching Up

The first snow of the year in Victoria and a frigid 20 F (-7C) run on Mount Doug.

It has a been two months since I updated last so suffice to say a lot has happened. The major events that happened in the last 8 weeks were the Haney to Harrison relay race I did on the 6th of November, finishing my PhD proposal, having my Candidacy meeting with my committee and laying out the topics of my exam.

Haney to Harrison Race Recap

My training leading up to this event was like all my running this year inconsistent. I trained well from the last week of September into the second week of October including a 70 mile week. I was consistent and really enjoying myself. Then I was hit with an upper respiratory infection and rather than risk getting sicker I took the next couple of weeks off from training. I figured that if I trained hard and got super sick I might not have a shot to compete but if I took the time off and got better I would be able to race and finish my leg it just wouldn't be fast. My plan worked well and my lungs cleared about the first of November. I got one or two small runs in the week of the race but really my fitness stunk so I just planned on relaxing and enjoying the run.

The family and I headed to Chilliwack a day before the race and met up with my good friend Rob who was excited to have us over for a pasta dinner and really made our stay in Chilliwack happen. He was going to run the second leg right before me but after the Iowa marathon in September he was concerned about a foot injury. So he decided to run support and did a great job with our team. I met the team first thing in the morning (4:30am) on the day of the race and quickly breathed a sigh of relief when I realized the team was comprised completely of amateurs so there was no pressure to kill myself on zero training. The weather was quite foggy and perhaps 40 degrees out. The lead leg gal ran a very slow time and finished her 8 km leg in over an hour which as far as speed goes is nearly walking but she was our oldest team mate and was quite positive, happy, and seemed to enjoy her whole leg other than the last slow gradual hill.

Our second leg runner was actually Rob's Dr. Office nutritionist and was a last minute replacement for Rob. She had an extremely hilly run with tons of ups and downs and nailed her 13 km's in about an hour and twenty. I was waiting anxiously at the change station and the line to the two porto pots was ridiculous so I hit the bushes and when I popped out I saw our team mate coming in to the station. I took a deep breath and jogged over just as she swiped the chip (with some difficulty and unsureness if it worked or not) and handed it over to me.

My leg was pretty awesome. The entire run was through the forest and consisted of about 750 feet of elevation right in the first mile with multiple switch-backs. It then was undulating for a few miles and then was a gradual down grade to the end, the total distance was about 16 Km or 10 miles. I ran the first mile extremely strong and passed multiple runners and stuck with some of the faster runners all the way up the switch backs. My legs felt great but the lungs were not happy due to the recent bout of respiratory drama I still hadn't quite gotten over. After the summit I quickly found a strong pace that allowed me to be comfortable but still kept things moving along. At about mile 4 I began to feel the effects of my strong push at the beginning and I completely melted down to a crawl. I fought through the tough spot and rallied two miles later. This rally carried me at a strong pace for the next 2.5 miles. I felt pretty good but could tell that I was going to crash before the finish. I slowed my pace down a bit and sure enough at 8.5 my lack of training caught up to me and I crashed hard. The next little bit was extremely painful and I just didn't have the speed work or a consistent base to draw from so I basically came to a crawl. I began to get passed by quite a few runners and I got a bit frustrated. I had to keep in mind the majority of the runners are not balancing family, candidacy, proposal, PhD research etc. So I dug deep and with a half mile to go I was chagrined to see Rob waiting to run me into the gate. I pushed like a mad man to match his pace and was able to finish quite strong. My total time was an embarrassing hour and twenty according to my watch but the official time was slower perhaps due to some issues with the transition at the second switch. I was tired but actually recovered quite quickly and could have ran another leg if they needed me to. I drank a gatorade and then we drove back to exchange vehicles and runners for our last four team mates.

I was looking forward to seeing Vye and the kids along the course and was hoping that Vye could snag a picture of me looking epic. Unfortunately I didn't see her along the way and actually spotted her on the freeway on our way back to Chilliwack. She looked visibly upset. After meeting up with her at the hotel she explained how every road was closed so she could not approach the course at all with the children and cameras etc. She finally drove to the finish line and by the time she found parking and made her way to the station the officials informed her I had finished 10 minutes earlier. She was crushed and frustrated and the kids were upset they missed their dad's race. After Vye and the kids settled down we went to the pool and I sat in the Jacuzzi for an hour. We ate and then drove to the finish line to meet up with the remainder of the team. It was fun to see the last person come in and though I believe our team was perhaps the slowest we had fun. I was happy to know that I ran my hilly 16 Km leg in just a few minutes slower than it took two of our team mates to run their 8 Km legs. So I feel even though I was slow and not in racing shape I still was the strongest of our funny little team and we all really enjoyed the experience especially because it was the last official running of the H2H with it being switched to Whistler next year.

Thesis Work

The Tuesday following my race was the date of my Candidacy committee meeting. I had to prepare a presentation to give to my committee and answer their questions. This left little time between getting back to Victoria Sunday night and the meeting two days later. I luckily got a presentation together and felt I nailed it. My advisor and committee then informed me what they would like me to study for my candidacy exam. All and all it well and now I know what to expect for that exam. The timing made it impossible to train for my race properly but I arranged my priorities and figured I have my whole life to run but my PhD is a one time shot so I better not blow it.

What's next?

My running since has actually improved a bunch. I nailed 5 runs last week and I am starting strong this week even though it is quite chilly (20 F or -7 C) and snowy. I am really just doing multiple short runs right now with some longer runs on the weekend and I am just using the next 6 weeks as a base-building phase and will take off with a more tailored training approach after I have been consistent for a bit.

My race goals for next year are nearly non-existent but the trails I would like to run are quite epic. I would love to run from Smith and Morehouse in Utah's Uinta Mountains to Bald Mountain with my friend Tim. I would also enjoy running Mt. Arrowsmith here on the island. I am planning on speed hiking the Golden Hinde as well. Additional plans include the Tushar Range in Central Utah and a few other peaks in the Northern Wasatch. We will see how it all plays out.

New Music

It has been 15 years since the synthpop band OMD (Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark) has released an album. The band started by accident as the two main members used to play around on their synths in their mothers back room on Saturday afternoons. Friends told them to do a live show so they chose the first ridiculous name that came to mind not realizing they were about to become one of the biggest influences on the electronic scene for the next decade and a half. After many albums and hits around the world they broke up and now have released a new album earlier this Fall titled "History of Modern". I love that the band has stayed true to their original sound and though many bands try to reinvent themselves when releasing a new album OMD has taken a different approach and brought back many of the old sounds and styles of Synths from the 70's and 80's. They figured with all the new bands coming out that have a synth component and site OMD as one of their influences that if anyone should sound like OMD it is OMD and there is still a niche for their music. Today as I was chugging in the crystalline morning air one of their new songs was in my mind and powered me over the frozen terrain of Mount Doug "The History of Modern Part 1". I hope you enjoy their new stuff as much as me.