Third up-week complete!

Week 3 came and went rather quickly and like the previous week had some ups and downs. First the ups. Like I mentioned in this post I had a strong run Monday with 1500' of hill repeats, which is 500 additional feet from last week. I handled the elevation quite well and found my times for each repeat improved drastically from last week.

The second positive of this week was my long run. I was able to go 1.5 miles further than last week and only tack on an extra 5 minutes to my time from last weeks time. I ran at a much quicker pace and looking at my splits it is easy to see I made up all of my time on the longer uphill portions of the course. My flats and down hills showed small improvements but nothing to be excited about. I definitely feel that my strength is up hill running. I just love it and seem to be able to handle a good buildup of lactic acid before needing to power hike etc. My long run was in the evening because I had to tend to some of my experiments in the lab earlier in the day. It rained on me the entire run but it was actually quite warm with temps pushing 10 degree C or 50 degrees F. I actually was sweating more than usual and had to take off my toque to let some heat vent off. The top of the mountain was shrouded in a thick bank of fog that was almost like breathing in water. It was pretty dramatic up top but as you descended 100 feet you would be back below the clouds. The run got brutal toward the end mainly because I think I was sweating more than usual and needed some calories as well. I finished pretty strong and worked on the mental aspect of the long run, really pushing myself to plod on even when I felt my legs couldn't handle it. I look forward to another long run so I can go further! It is an addiction!

As for the negatives from this week Wednesday night saw me reach my breaking point. After hill repeats on Monday I took Tuesday as a rest day with the intention of running two faster 1 hour runs on Wednesday and Thursday. I put off my Wednesday run right until 9:30 PM partially because I was procrastinating due to really blustery weather and also I was trying to buy my legs as much recovery time as possible. I could feel I was walking that fine line between the maximum punishment my legs could handle and too much. I started Wednesday's run in the dark and rainy weather. I was pushing extremely hard and was thinking I was improving from the previous week's times drastically. About 15 minutes into it my lower legs (calves and shins) were on fire and each foot plant would send shots of pain up each lower leg. This in turn altered my stride as I tried to minimize the impact. Finally at 25 minutes into the run I looked at my watch under my light and was frustrated to see that even with all my extra effort I was much slower than my previous weeks times. I struggled for a few more minutes and then crashed. I realized if I pushed it any further I could risk shin splints or strained calves so I decided to turn around and start the long walk home. It was now after 10 PM and the rain was drenching me. I was dressed just warm enough keep me comfortable while running but I was not dressed properly for walking in the rain. I soon found myself chilled and slightly deflated as I made slow painful progress back home. I decided it was not a complete loss because I ran in the first place even though between the late hour, sore legs, and terrible weather I had many excuses to just call it off for the night. Even a month ago I wouldn't have had the self-discipline to force myself out the door. Secondly I rediscovered where my limit is and was reminded what too much feels like so hopefully next time this crops up I can chill out and perhaps not push the pace and salvage the run rather than force it. I ended up not running Thursday or Friday so I could run on Saturday and it ended up working out well.

Week three was a success and I am happy with what I have accomplished with my training. I feel I made vast improvements and I am getting consistent. It is starting to feel like a habit again. This is really the strongest I have ran since Fall of 2009. I feel that having my friends train with me has been a major boost to my moral and having this trail run planned for early July is also really great motivation.

During my long run on Saturday as I approached my first summit of Mount Doug in the dense fog a song from 2001 popped into my head. The song is from the Swordfish Soundtrack which was produced by electronic trance phenom Paul Oakenfold. The song that popped into my head was Oakenfold's remix of Muse's song "New Born". I really love this remix and have listened to it since it came out in 2001. I can remember bouncing along many dirt roads in the early morning hours, with this song thumping in the truck, creating the backdrop for another epic adventure. I am not sure why this song was in my head while running in the fog on Saturday but it was a great one to play in my head none the less. I hope you enjoy! I chose this video to embed just because I like the song juxtaposed with the cosmic images.

Hill repeats in an evening blizzard!

Today was hill repeat day. One of my favorites as far as training goes. The idea was to run a total of 1500' up and down in less than an hour. I had Vye drop me off on the mountain because she was taking the kids to swimming lessons at the nearby rec center. I told her to pick me up in an hour and off I went. It started to flurry about the second I started my run. It was really peaceful, tranquil and the mountain was almost devoid of life (my last few runs there have been terribly crowded). I warmed up for 5 minutes up to where the trail turns right up the south face. I really focused on pushing myself much harder than last week and nailed my first 500' quite quickly. I tightened my shoes in preparation for the steep downhill and began to realize that the slope was going to be quite slippy from the newly fallen snow. Apparently I didn't learn my lesson from Saturday's icy descent because I just flew right down the steep South slope of Doug with no questions asked. There was one time where I almost lost my footing which is surprising considering this pair of Brooks I am running have over 1000 miles on them and their tread is basically gone. I exited the rocks and really flew down the steep dirt trails below the rocks. I find I am a lot slower on my downhill currently than the last two years and I need to make some improvements in that arena (thats what these hill repeats are for). The second summit was a bit harder and I ended up running weakly nearly the entire 500' up. I chalk this up to mental weakness, because on my third and final summit of the day I decided I needed to stop being a wuss and hammer it. So with a 1000' behind me I hammered the last 500' with reckless abandon. The snow really began to fly and it almost pushed me to run harder. Within minutes of starting my final summit my legs found a strong pace where I was taking quick bites out of the hill. At the summit the skies opened up and as I began my descent the city below was swallowed up in a swirling blizzard. It really was an amazing site. I was concerned that Vye would arrive at the parking lot before I did and worry I was dead on the side of the hill so I really pushed and sprinted the last 500 meters to the meeting spot. I ended up beating her there by about 8 minutes and finished my entire run in about 57 minutes. I honestly have no idea what sort of distance I covered but know roughly what the elevation is. What a great run. Can't wait to nail 2000' next week!

As I flew down the steep snowy slopes and slipped on the rocks I began to think how easy it would be to get killed if I wasn't careful or just made a clumsy error. This put a song called "Death" in my head by a group called "White Lies". The group is a Indie Pop group from England and were influenced by Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, Joy Division, and Interpol. I am including the original and a remix by Crystal Castles whom I posted a song from last post. I like both versions of the song and prefer one over the other depending on my mood. I realize the lyrics and song title are a little dark but hey, when your are gripping to the side of a snow-covered rocky slope by your worn out Brooks these thoughts are not unrealistic. I hope you enjoy! (I couldn't embed the originals so if you are interested in the actual video you will have to go to you tube to watch).

Week two of training for the "S&M to Baldy"

Week two of my training for the Smith and Morehouse to Bald Mountain went well. I started the week with hill repeats on Mount Doug. I absolutely love hill repeats, and I believe that hill repeats on steep terrain propel my fitness forward quicker than any other form of training (with the exception of long runs). After a brutal long run last week I took Sunday to rest and then hammered the hills hard on Monday. On Tuesday I had my best run in perhaps 6 months (probably a combination of the previous long run and the hills) and I actually had my first runner's high in some time despite the down pour. I ended up having some pain with my biceps femoris ligament in my right leg pit. Two days of rest and I was good to go.

Saturday's long run was amazing, it was one of those runs where you can feel your body making the change towards being more efficient and fit. I decided to crank out a full Mount Doug Gutbuster (2009 course) along with my distance from my house and back. Distance-wise it is about a half marathon, but what was so exciting is how much longer I could run (40 minutes longer) than last week's long run. Not only that, but I ran considerably stronger this week. I was able to keep drawing from strength and reserves that last week just weren't there. I must admit that I have upped my calorie intake each day this week up to nearly 2200 from last weeks 1600 and that has made a major difference. The Gutbuster was challenging in that Vic has been pounded by rain this week with almost 4 days without a break. The trail conditions were terrible as far as speed goes but they were fun and muddy. Half the trails were running streams, draining all the rain from the wooded water-logged slopes of Mount Doug. The flats were riddled with standing water in many locations, and every trail was muddy except those composed of solid bedrock. Speaking of bedrock, the north descent down the "bedrock buster" was absolutely treacherous. They were the most dangerous conditions I have ever experienced on the Mountain. The cold north-slope spends the majority of each winter day in shadow and as a result the entire route was laced in a solid glaze of black ice from the draining mountain. Every step was a roll of the dice as to whether you would still be standing or not. I did quite well up until the bottom quarter where I finally reached a point where the icy-rock, my speed, and gravity made the perfect storm and I went down hard. I bounced pretty good off my left butt cheek and caught myself with my left arm nearly busting my wrist and hand. I slid about 15 feet until I caught. I quickly picked myself up, did a quick triage (quickly realizing all was well) and then carried on. I sometimes forget that one wrong step could spell disaster and cost me a season of training and running or worse. Next time the bedrock buster is icy I will choose an alternate route down the mountain so I don't bust something and cause problems. Below is a picture of the upper reaches of the bedrock buster in Summer without the ice.

"Bedrock buster" in Summer. Picture it covered in a layer of black ice and then run down it (treacherous)!

I find myself daydreaming almost constantly about different runs I would like to do, and I am almost always concocting plans to run epic trails and bag legendary summits. This is dangerous because it is so easy to lose focus of my research goals. I seem to find myself on Google Earth, Topo, and Summitpost more and more trying to find or formulate the holy grail of trail runs. It is almost an addiction (OK it is an addiction) of trying to build the perfect run, combining amazing scenery, technical trails, and major summits. Some of the areas I have been looking at are Bryce Canyon in Utah and Delano Peak in the Tushar Range. Another drawback to this daydreaming is the reality that time and funds make it impossible to even attempt more than one or two of these runs a year. I will definitely still give it a red hot go though!

The Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon are beckoning me to come and run in their shadows!

The 12,000' + Delano Peak in the Tushar range is high on my priority list for trails and peaks to run!

This week was a good one for music because I was able to discover multiple songs that I really like. I have been in a bit of a dry spell as far as finding music that I really love and keep listening to over and over again. The first song I found this past week was a Cover of Platinum Blonde's 80's song "Not in Love". The cover was by the Toronto based thrasher duo "Crystal Castles" and features the vocals of Robert Smith of The Cure. I really like how the song easily resonates out of the 80's yet has carried the sound into the now. Smith's vocals compliment the electronic music beautifully and this song played over and over in my head on my Saturday long run and I enjoyed every minute of it as I ran through streams, jumped puddles, slid on ice, and cranked out a great run. Great song and Cover. Enjoy!

Winter Motivation and Smith & Morehouse to Bald Mountain

I now have my next major goal event planned for mid-summer. I am very excited because I have gathered together an amazing group of guys to run this with me. My best friend Tim and I wanted to do an awesome run this Summer. One of our favorite places in the world is the Uinta Mountain range in Northeastern Utah. It is a very nostalgic spot for us because it is really where we grew up hiking, camping and fishing as well as both of our dads. I couldn't think of a better arena to host this event. I have wanted to do the Smith and Morehouse trail to Trial lake many times before but it has never happened.

Photo of Bald Mountain courtesy of Kevin Mikkelsen Photography Outdoors

I have also always wanted to summit Bald but just haven't gotten around to it. So I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to combine the two into one epic 21 mile trail run. The trail is really pretty straight forward with reasonable distance and elevation gain. However the majority of the trail is quite high with an average elevation of about 10,200 feet elevation. We began to solidify details and then I decided to send a handful of invitations to a small group of our close friends. They have all confirmed that they will begin training for the Smith and Morehouse to Bald Mountain. I couldn't be more excited and now that we have made the commitment we can all work towards our goals of preparing to run in this amazing corner of the Earth.

I have began training seriously this week and I am doing 5 days a week with a rest day prior to back-to-back long runs and a rest day following. Yesterdays long run was brutal because I had not properly fueled before hand and by the 90 minute mark I was starving to death. I was able to complete it and even snagged a summit of Mt. Doug in there as well but it was difficult. Today will be a slow long trail run on Doug and will be the second long one in a row. I should be sufficiently knackered by the end of it. I love having this event on the horizon. My motivation is through the roof at the moment and I am working hard to prepare. I look forward to improving drastically over the months to come. A funny side note is on my run yesterday I passed a tree that was blossoming! I have seen trees in Vic blossom in late January but never December! I have a feeling that may be a bit too early. Just thought I would throw that observation out there.

I have to say whenever I feel I need motivation I can almost always count on Krupicka to deliver. After seeing his end of year stats on his blog I am in awe. Below is a video of Krupicka running in the snow in Colorado Springs up Green Mountain and I find it really motivating and it makes my mild Victorian Winter seem like a warm holiday. (I had to post the link because the embedded video was automatically playing).

http://wpblogs.runningtimes.com/blogs/performancepodcasts/?p=248

http://blip.tv/file/4533849

Additionally I found this interview on Scott Jurek and thought it was motivating as well.

As far as music goes I was mainly listening to Christmas music the last month or so. I haven't really had a chance to think of what I might post but I have been feeling a little sci-fi-ish lately so I decided to post an odd one. Why not? This is "The Oh of Pleasure" by Ray Lynch and has been featured on movies (Gentlemen Broncos) and games. I know most people might not like this sort of stuff but I really like it and it is a nice soundscape for various activities. Enjoy!

Running out of land!

Yesterday's run was a bit different; I decided to run along the coast instead of my usual trails that are always draped over mountainous terrain. It was a nice change of scenery and coasts offer unique challenges of their own. For example, the rocky shorelines get hammered by wave action leaving them quite fractured, weathered and slick, many have large breaks and gullies you have to jump and climb over (you can get a small sense from the video I am posting, but the quality doesn't really do it justice). There is also something really awesome about running the strand line separating land and sea, as the waves are crashing and the wind is blowing off the water, it is almost therapeutic after a challenging week full of stress.

I chose a spit of land projecting into the Strait of Georgia as my goal for this run, and decided to run until I was completely out of land. It was actually really awesome and I am really enjoying what I am doing with my running; by shaking things up and running to many different locations it is keeping things fun, new, and exciting. I went out armed with my bulky camera (since it was another clear day free of precip.) and snapped some shots along the way including some funny self timer ones. Mixing photography and running is also making each run more exciting, and I really enjoy it. I would love to take my big DSLR with me but it is too bulky (but the quality is unmatched). My current camera I am running with is no pocket camera, unfortunately the photo quality is out of date and isn't proportionate to the bulk of the camera.

This run like previous runs was not that great, but it was fun, so I really can't complain. As soon as I can get consistent I will start seeing the results I am after.

Self-timer shot on the rocky point after running to the lands end.

This photo shows what coastal running near Victoria, BC is like. Lots of slippery rocks!

A shot of the skyline just as I left the trails and started on the roads back for home.

In honor of Christmas I decided a photo I took of this Holly as I ran by was appropriate.

This is a short video showing me run to the end of the point. Not the best quality but I wanted to film it. I have to admit I ran it quite gingerly because of the jagged rocks, I was concerned if I ate it that me or the camera could get chewed up so I took it easy and you can also tell I was pretty knackered by this point of the run. I hope it gives a small glimpse of what it is like running the coast of V.I. (It is best viewed with the sound turned off because of the wind and the Cure video playing with the sound on. I know I could have just added a soundtrack in moviemaker but I would have had to convert the video format so this was good enough.)

I decided to post some acoustic Cure today. A Cure song has been long overdue on my blog and "Close to Me" has been one of my favorite songs since I was just a kid. I remember being about 10 years old and falling in love with the upbeat melody. One day after Halloween I had to stay home from school because I ate too much candy the night before and made myself sick. I can recall laying in bed with my recorder trying to play this song. I never could figure out how to get the notes right but it is nice to know the 10 year old version of myself had pretty good taste in music even back then. Enjoy!

Winter trail photos

Yesterday was my long run and I headed out to my usual training grounds to get some hill and distance training in. I took along my bulky camera and snapped some shots of the trail, since winter afternoons always seem to have such awesome lighting. I ran a little early before the best lighting right at sunset but still thought it was a great time to run. The run itself was terrible, I just couldn't keep my breath and my shoes are way past due for a replacement. My shins really took a pounding on the downhills. I have had inklings towards trying the La Sportiva Crosslite's instead of my Cascadia's I have been using for the last two years. I will have to try them on and see how I like them. My only concern is they really can't handle the roads like the Cascadia's based on reviews.

I really miss my really long gnarly trail runs and am anxious to start incorporating them back into my weekly routine again. I can tell that many of my trail stabilizer muscles have weakened a bit so I have some work to do. My hills are really poor so I can't wait to start pushing more elevation. It wasn't the best week for consistency or quality of runs but I am just working on my base and hopefully as my distances increase my weight will decrease and I can get back into that fit zone.

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.

Running again and a pain in my butt part II

I was able to get 5 runs under my belt this week. I kept everything in check by starting slow and just cranking out 3-5 mile runs for the first 4 runs. Saturday I did my usual Mount Doug course. The amazing thing is just how consistent I am on the Mount Doug course. If I take more than a week or two off from running, the first time I come back to Mount Doug, I always end up getting a 1:06. Usually within two weeks from that time I can shave off 10 minutes, but my first run post-hiatus is always the same. I have decided to do some more miles on flats and roads to prep for the H2H; so I have kept the runs around 30 minutes but I am slowly turning up the heat. I should be nearing 40 minutes come Friday. I am also doing some speed work. My idea of speed work is 4 kms at as fast a speed as possible with a 90 second break and then another chunk of distance as fast as possible. The idea is to increase my speed and stamina without going too far into oxygen debt so I can get used to walking that thin line.

Tonight is a speed night so I will just hit my 4.1 Km run at 6PM after I am done teaching my lab and see just what these legs can do. I am excited but a little nervous. I am just not that fast of a runner even when I am fit. I hope I can improve in this category over the next 6 months and come into the spring with some sustainable speed.

I blogged previously about a pain in my butt. I came up with several hypothesis and did some adjustments to try to remedy the problem. I still have the issue, and even after 6 weeks of not running; my butt hurts worse than ever. Usually if it is a running-related injury 6 weeks rest works miracles, but this was behaving in the opposite way. I finally broke down and visited a sports medicine specialist and after a quick run down of my running history and a series of small tests he concluded it was my Gluteus minimus/medius. I most likely injured the muscles years ago and have never properly rehabilitated or improved the muscles. Since these muscles become more sore when blood flow is decreased my hiatus and constant sitting was causing all the pain. When I began to run this week I felt much better as my blood flow increased. He suggests I see a physio, but at the moment funds are such that this is not an option. I have googled it a bit and have a few ideas on how to strengthen these muscles and stretch them on my own. This will have to do for now but it is nice to be zeroing in on the problem and a solution.

This week will consist of speed work tonight, a 34 minute run on Tuesday, a x-train day on Wednesday, 37 minutes on Thursday, 40 minutes on Friday and my long run will be 1:15:00 on Saturday, with a rest day Sunday. I hope I can keep to the schedule and stay consistent. Each run is a little different in regards to terrain, and running surface, and consists of different levels of exertion and speeds. My hope is that by really mixing things up I can be slightly more well-rounded and perhaps decrease the possibility of injury or plateau. I must admit I really love running in the fall. It is my favorite time of year for running. The colors and temperatures just seem to inspire athletic performance. Well off to class and then to run.

Back from my writing hiatus - The H2H is when?

I can't believe I finally wrapped up the first draft of my 50 page PhD proposal. It was a beast to write with hundreds of references. I basically sat and wrote for 6 weeks with little else to offset the academic-induced coma I found myself in. The worst aspect is I basically had to kiss my training goodbye for the summer and hunker down on my project. I knew that it was a matter of time before school pushed ultra training aside for various stints during my program. Alas, I came here to study Geology and leave an impact on how geologists' think about my area of interest. So I had to push my running aside because to run at all would be to take away from time that had to be spent sleeping or writing.

Excuses aside, I am back at it again. The main motivation is I just realized that I am less than 2 months away from the Haney to Harrison 100 km relay race in which I am a member of a 6 person team. I just realized that I am completely out of running let alone racing shape and I have a team depending on me. So I have developed a plan in which I add 3 minutes to my daily runs each day and 15% to my long weekend runs. This should get me close to 1.5 hours of running a day with long runs near 3 hours once a week. Since it is a road race (yuck!!) I have been incorporating flat road and gravel trail into my training to get me into better shape for pounding the pavement.

Even though I have had a two month break I have found my running coming back fairly quickly (for this first week anyhow). The first run was a bit brutal as my capillaries opened up again and I busted the lungs back in, but since I have comfortably found my breath and air. I really need to kick about 12 pounds as well so it is time to chill out on my eating. I am afraid that the pressurized writing scenario may have allowed me to find solace in snacking and late meals to accompany during late nights of writing. The lack of inactivity and overeating was a simple equation for rapid weight gain. I am glad to be back to burning some calories and eating less and more thoughtfully.

Last night was awesome. My 4 year old son wanted to accompany me for a short warm-up run. It was dark and foggy so we each strapped on the headlamps and hit the dark tree choked trails. What a trooper! He cranked out an awesome pace for a little dude and we ran about 1 km in about 9 minutes which was pretty cool. Perhaps the most amazing aspect of it was sharing this aspect of my life with him. I look forward to future running exploits with my family. I love that I don't even have to push him to do it. He sees me running and the joy and passion I get out of it and he naturally wants to run like dad. It is really cool. Who knows he may have a natural talent that can carry him far. I guess the key is I let him do it on his own without me forcing him. After all if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't want to run.

I guess I have just a short 31 minute run tonight and I am looking forward to it.

In the spirit of my lack of preparation for the H2H I am including a song appropriately named "Not Prepared" by a group called Mesh. It is a classic song. The first time I heard it was on a napster copy of Depeche Mode's Exciter album. This leaked copy of the album included this track by Mesh and also "Pony Tail Girl" by Brian Hazard of Color Theory (another of my favorites). Apparently the person who put the Exciter album up on Napster around the year 2000 thought these two artists sounded similar to Gore and included them with the album, fooling many people (not me I could tell the two tracks weren't Gore). Well now that I am not prepared remotely in any way, shape, or form, for the H2H this song might light a fire so perhaps I can salvage some sort of a slightly below average time and not completely disappointed my team.

18 Miler in the Gowlland Tod and some early morning runs and my core dilemma

Wow - This post has been in the making for three weeks now. I can't believe it has taken me this long to write about my running exploits. School is definitely heating up as I prep for my candidacy and try to get my research rolling in the right direction.

To begin three weeks ago I cranked out an 18 mile run in the beautiful and scenic Gowlland Tod Provincial Park, in anticipation for a 50km run on the Juan De Fuca. This is the first time I ran the full "Half Monte" course which is 25 km, and then I threw another 3 miles distance in due to a wrong turn to add some significant elevation and get me really good and tired. I was running for over 3 hours without a break and ran with my hydration pack I had bought earlier this Spring (Click here to see the southern 7.1 miles of the course, this was a new course added to the gutbuster series this year but I think they had to change it due to use restrictions). This run was really a great one. I first ascended a major hill that really only flattens out once or twice along the way for a few hundred meters over several miles. I was able to run this first major stretch without hiking or walking and all my hill training really gave me deep hill climbing reserves to draw from. I summited Jocelyn and took in the amazing views and reached the next stretch which is a descent to the base of Holmes peak, a short but sweet little climb. I chose this day to run because I had cloud cover and even though I was running at mid day I never over-heated. I summited Holmes easily and my legs still felt great as I approached the six mile mark in a little over an hour. I ran to the turn-around point at Caleb's Pike and began to retrace my trail. I decided to summit Holmes again even thought the Monty bypasses the summit on the return trip I believe. I was still feeling strong. As I approached Jocelyn again, the course takes a different trail then the one you come in on, so I thought I had turned onto the correct trail I needed but really I was on a little side trail that leads out of the park via a steep descent. Well 10 minutes later I realized I made a 1.5 mile super descent in the wrong direction, so I had to regain the ridge by a 1 mile 1000 foot climb, now I had been running for over 15 miles and my legs finally started to break down (it is amazing how fast you can descend on a wrong trail and before you know it 10 minutes turns into a mile and a half, and then you have to turn around and climb the hill that was so easy to coast down previously). After regaining the ridge I began to crash a little and could tell that I was a bit short on calories. I shuffled along and finished all the uphill and flat stuff at the top and just had the final couple miles descent. This typically is where I excel but my legs were toast and I found myself gingerly picking a nice controlled trot down the hill instead of blasting down it like I normally would. I got to my car in a little over three hours but that included several scenic stops and breaks to take in the views and relax in the cool wind. I was stoked with the run and thought it was perfect to push myself distance-wise and help me understand how I handle longer distances in rough terrain a little better.

The awesome thing about this trail system is just how little use it gets. I have been on this trail a dozen times and have never observed more than perhaps 10 hikers in one day and in the case of this run I only saw two. Sometimes I worry that if I ate it really hard, like a broken/sprained ankle, it may be hours before I could find someone with a phone or who could help. If this trail system was only 25 minutes from the Wasatch Front I assume there would be 100's of hikers on it a day. I feel that many Victorians don't take advantage of the awe-inspiring trails and parks they have at their doorstep, maybe because of just how surrounded by wilderness they are. Perhaps you have to live in the desert to appreciate amazing trails and forests that are so accessible. Another great thing about this run is the views. You start near sea level and climb straight up to almost 1500 feet where you catch expansive views of the Saanich Inlet, a small arm of the ocean that splits the southern end of the island into two pieces. Another awesome thing about this trail is it is purely narrow rocky, rooty single track. I really can't talk this run up enough. It is worth the 25 minute drive to get there. In the future I think I can tack some more distance in the form of adding a double crossing of Mount Work and also Mount Finlayson making a total of 4 peaks climbed twice each and nearly a Marathon in distance and perhaps 10,000' of accumulated elevation (perhaps over estimated in elevation and distance but it would be significant none-the-less). So that is a goal I am aiming to do. I would expect that trip to take over 5 hours and even closer to 6 based on my current fitness and speed but it could perhaps be run in 4 hours by an elite. I have never heard of anyone actually doing this in one go, it would be a really great training run for a long hilly mountain ultra.

I have also started to run earlier in the morning instead of the evening. This means getting up at 5:00. I had a great run on Mount Doug the other day at 6:00 am. I was cruising in my usual direction in the early dawn light and within a km found myself surround by a symphony of sounds that I don't typically hear in the evening. Two owls with there deep hoots were calling back and forth across the trail and it was super eerie to run right through their hooting in the light fog and morning glow. As I climbed Irvine I began to hear white tail deer grunting perhaps a precursor to the rut. It was the first time I have ever heard deer. It was amazing. There was a whole cornucopia of sound I seldom hear. I really was in awe of the amount of wildlife in the park. I only ever notice the deer but there is so much more active wildlife in the morning. One of my early morning runs found clouds over Belingham to the East but a sliver in the clouds allowed the rising sun to only be seen by its reflection off the ocean and quite literally looked as if it was DESCENDING from the strand line of the water and land (like an upside down sunrise) instead of rising. I am going to try to keep my morning runs going since it allows me to be more flexible in my evenings with my family and studies. I am more tired though and have to go to bed by about 11 or I am hooped.

So I have had a "core dilemma" ever since I had part of my ab muscle removed in 2005. My Doc told me that no physical therapy would be needed since you use your core a lot and it rehabilitates itself. Well I took him at his word and didn't really do anything to strengthen it. In fact I have done almost zero targeted core work since my surgeries 5 years ago. Prior to my surgeries I had an insane core, I remember when I was 18 doing 2,000 various crunches and ab exercises in one go just to see what it would take to reach exhaustion. I think that for the last five years I have just assumed I still have that sort of core strength to draw from. I DO NOT! I tried a 15 minute ab workout the other day because anytime I run far it is my core that fails not legs. Within seven minutes into the workout I was thrashed. It took everything I had to do the 25 reps of each exercise. I had to stop in places just so I could finish my reps. In the end I can't believe how entirely weak my core is. The next three days I paid a steep price and couldn't laugh or sit up without killing myself. My conclusion is I have a core dilemma that is going to take many many hours of work to fix. I can't believe how weak my core is and that I haven't really thought about the repercussions of being gutted like a fish and having ab muscle removed. Wish me luck because I have some serious work to do and I almost can't stand the thought of assaulting my core like that again but it should become a 3 time a week ordeal at least. Yikes!! I can't believe how weak I am!

This is just a taste of my running over the past three weeks and though school is almost too much to balance in my running currently I am still trying to force in some miles and get strong. It is really a battle of will at this point because it is taking everything I have to get things done in all facets of my life due to my workload. A PhD is a daunting undertaking and I am not sure that I fully comprehended what it would take. It is a significant step up from a masters.

The song I am including today is "Ghost White" by Swedish Synthpop band Rupesh Cartel. I have loved this song for years now. It is melancholy and yet upbeat at the same time. It is an interesting juxtaposition I think. I have a great acoustic version but can't find a vid to embed. The original is great anyways. I don't know if because I am Swedish I am genetically engineered to like music coming out of Sweden but I find I have a large collection of artists from the homeland. I hope it expands your musical vocab a little!