Bouldering yesterday. We have a new route setter who is apparently 6 feet tall, so instead of climbing as we know it I was exercising in jumping and dyno moves. Tired and skinless today.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Almost 8 (7.88 to be precise) miles yesterday, added a small up and downhill to my standard weekday road run. The hardest thing for me was to get out when it was raining heavily. Done that, and after 15 minutes of warming up, it became better and I stopped noticing the rain as usual.
Meanwhile, yesterday not being very busy at work (my customer's office is shut down from 24th to the 2nd, so I don't really have much to do now..), so I started making "research", and when I do that I usually end up in panic. The panic this time started when I found that people who have completed the races I ran in the past with approximately the same result have barely made the cut off time at Western States (I wasn't looking at 2012 results, as obviously this year's conditions were not normal for WS). On the other hand, I did not train at all before my 50k's, and I spent many weeks in Mexico City running on the treadmill (3 miles max as I hate it!) before the White River. I was too relaxed (as I have already qualified) and injured to have a good training before the DC Firetrails, though I think I was in a comparably good shape there, it is the heat and the big uphill in the middle what killed me. So if this time I train more and smarter, I can perform better.
Have got my new training program for the first two weeks of 2013 from KM. He doesn't like the idea of putting lots of miles on the legs through signing up to 50k+ races for every weekend. He also took out all 50m races from my schedule for 2013. My racing addiction is a danger now!
The first two weeks schedule looks easy, 35m for the first week of Jan and 37 for the second one, with 5 days of running per week total and maximum of 12 and 14 miles on the first and the second weeks. Let's see how it goes.
PS: I also found that buying new running cloths motivates me to go out for a run. Ooops.
Meanwhile, yesterday not being very busy at work (my customer's office is shut down from 24th to the 2nd, so I don't really have much to do now..), so I started making "research", and when I do that I usually end up in panic. The panic this time started when I found that people who have completed the races I ran in the past with approximately the same result have barely made the cut off time at Western States (I wasn't looking at 2012 results, as obviously this year's conditions were not normal for WS). On the other hand, I did not train at all before my 50k's, and I spent many weeks in Mexico City running on the treadmill (3 miles max as I hate it!) before the White River. I was too relaxed (as I have already qualified) and injured to have a good training before the DC Firetrails, though I think I was in a comparably good shape there, it is the heat and the big uphill in the middle what killed me. So if this time I train more and smarter, I can perform better.
Have got my new training program for the first two weeks of 2013 from KM. He doesn't like the idea of putting lots of miles on the legs through signing up to 50k+ races for every weekend. He also took out all 50m races from my schedule for 2013. My racing addiction is a danger now!
The first two weeks schedule looks easy, 35m for the first week of Jan and 37 for the second one, with 5 days of running per week total and maximum of 12 and 14 miles on the first and the second weeks. Let's see how it goes.
PS: I also found that buying new running cloths motivates me to go out for a run. Ooops.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
I had an amazing birthday party, and we together with Kolya explored the classic Cougar Mountain Loop from 50 runs of Washington book, that apparently was the first book I've bought for my new Kindle. It is a GREAT ROUTE! I think it it misses Shangri-La trail, that makes it shorter and much less of elev gain, but if I fix it, i'll get the whole 20+ (that is good) miles and maybe 5000 feet (that is still not enough considering the plans I have).
Looking forward to 2013, happy holidays everyone!
Looking forward to 2013, happy holidays everyone!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Rain 6.5 roady miles yesterday, it felt great. Forgot to measure my weight today, as I woke up 15mins before my first call, but yesterday evening it was 59.4kg.
With all the parties coming in next 4-5 days, I am not going to care about weight, but I definitely have to do at least two long runs, and get out to backcountry ski (camp Muir, anyone?)
Update: Haha, did I really write "rain" instead of "ran"? This climate definitely has an affect on my head :)
With all the parties coming in next 4-5 days, I am not going to care about weight, but I definitely have to do at least two long runs, and get out to backcountry ski (camp Muir, anyone?)
Update: Haha, did I really write "rain" instead of "ran"? This climate definitely has an affect on my head :)
Thursday, December 20, 2012
I finally realized that I have absolutely no control on myself when it gets to getting out for a run after work when it rains. I have an idea how to I can try to fix it, will share after the plan execution will start (next year). I will also have a major change in my training program starting from 2013 - I am going to finally get one and to follow one!
Stats for the last three days so far:
Monday: day off
Tue-Wed: bouldering
Mileage: 0
Weight: 59.4
I decided to start posting my weight here, hoping amounts of chocolate I consume daily will decrease if I (and everybody else) see these numbers.
Monday, December 17, 2012
This weekend was very productive, I decided to not be a pussy and went out for a 16m run on Saturday after waking up at 12pm.
I had my Seattle marathon shirt on, that I believe sucks because it is long sleeve, but at the same time it is not warm at all, that makes it useless in both cold and hot weather. It was pretty cold and apparently was raining much harder than it looked from out of the window, so I had to put my Brooks LSD jacket on (that usually is too warm for me) while waiting for the green light at Coal Creek Pkwy crossing.
I started running and found that I felt great and running uphills was much easier than last week. I never walked both Quarry trail and Shangri-La trail (two long uphills on my standard 16 miles course). When I reached the top of the Quarry Trail it started snowing heavily, and the trail was like a combination of mud and water springs.
It felt great to see the snowfall for the first time this year and just few miles from the home.
However the plan was to complete two long runs back to back - Saturday and Sunday. It was planned long time ago that we are going to Gold Myer hot springs - natural hotsprings 11 miles from Middle Fork Trailhead, not far from North Bend, WA.
The road to Middle Fork TH is brutal, so we car pooled with Andrey and Maxim and went there on Nissan X-trail, anyways for few times I thought that the car is going to fall into the river or turn upside down, and my powered by Starbucks breakfast wasn't very happy with this trip too.
Anyways we finally reached the trail head, but decided to run on the dirt road as the trail might have not been visible because of the snow. Middle Fork trail is flat. However the road version of it is apparently not. My GPS showed 7k feet of elevation gain overall. Also it all was snow and snow-mud, but at least it was not raining.
So when we started running I was surprised how good I felt for the second day of running. But it only was till the first long uphill started... That's where my hips clearly stated that we are going to move REALLY SLOW today. And we did. Everybody waited for me, but we reached the hot springs in 2 hours and 5 or 10 minutes.
The hot springs were fun! And my legs really relaxed, so on the way back I felt much much better! Also because Max took all my backpack contents and because it was mostly downhill. Maxim however started feeling bad on the way back (headache most probably caused by high temperature of the hot springs), so this time we again moved not too fast.
Anyways I finished strong and was happy that I can actually do two back to back runs with 38 miles total over the weekend (16 + 22).
Cougar on Saturday: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252490050
Goldmyer: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252492452
I had my Seattle marathon shirt on, that I believe sucks because it is long sleeve, but at the same time it is not warm at all, that makes it useless in both cold and hot weather. It was pretty cold and apparently was raining much harder than it looked from out of the window, so I had to put my Brooks LSD jacket on (that usually is too warm for me) while waiting for the green light at Coal Creek Pkwy crossing.
I started running and found that I felt great and running uphills was much easier than last week. I never walked both Quarry trail and Shangri-La trail (two long uphills on my standard 16 miles course). When I reached the top of the Quarry Trail it started snowing heavily, and the trail was like a combination of mud and water springs.
It felt great to see the snowfall for the first time this year and just few miles from the home.
However the plan was to complete two long runs back to back - Saturday and Sunday. It was planned long time ago that we are going to Gold Myer hot springs - natural hotsprings 11 miles from Middle Fork Trailhead, not far from North Bend, WA.
The road to Middle Fork TH is brutal, so we car pooled with Andrey and Maxim and went there on Nissan X-trail, anyways for few times I thought that the car is going to fall into the river or turn upside down, and my powered by Starbucks breakfast wasn't very happy with this trip too.
Anyways we finally reached the trail head, but decided to run on the dirt road as the trail might have not been visible because of the snow. Middle Fork trail is flat. However the road version of it is apparently not. My GPS showed 7k feet of elevation gain overall. Also it all was snow and snow-mud, but at least it was not raining.
So when we started running I was surprised how good I felt for the second day of running. But it only was till the first long uphill started... That's where my hips clearly stated that we are going to move REALLY SLOW today. And we did. Everybody waited for me, but we reached the hot springs in 2 hours and 5 or 10 minutes.
The hot springs were fun! And my legs really relaxed, so on the way back I felt much much better! Also because Max took all my backpack contents and because it was mostly downhill. Maxim however started feeling bad on the way back (headache most probably caused by high temperature of the hot springs), so this time we again moved not too fast.
Anyways I finished strong and was happy that I can actually do two back to back runs with 38 miles total over the weekend (16 + 22).
Cougar on Saturday: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252490050
Goldmyer: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/252492452
Friday, December 14, 2012
Here is the list of races that I might want to attend, green highlights those I've already signed up for.
- Western Washington Fat Ass 25k/50k - Jan 5, 2013, Issaquah, WA, http://fatassultras.wordpress.com/pacific/
- Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival 50k - Jan 12, 2013, Bridle Trails State Park, Kirkland, WA, http://www.seattlerunningclub.org/Events/Bridle/bridle.html
- Capitol Peak Mega Fat Ass 50k - Jan 16, 2012, Olympia, WA, https://capitolpeakultras.com/Mega_Fat_Ass.html
- Orcas Island 50k - Feb 2, 2013, Olga, WA, http://orcas50k.blogspot.com/
- Wooley Trail Runs 50k - Feb 16, 2013, Sedro-Wooley, WA, http://www.nwultras.com/woolley_trails_main.htm
- Lord Hill 50k - Feb 24, 2013, Snohomish, WA, http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/2-24-lord-hill-trail-run
- Chuckanut 50k - Mar 16, 2013, Fairhaven, WA, http://chuckanut50krace.com.
- Badger Mountain Challenge 100m - Mar 29, 2013, Kennevick, WA, http://www.badgermountainchallenge.com/p/100-miler.html
- Badger Mountain Challenge 50k - Mar 30, 2013, Kennevick, WA, http://www.badgermountainchallenge.com/p/50k.html
- Gorge Waterfalls 50k - Mar 30, 2013, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, OR, http://gorgewaterfalls50k.blogspot.com/
American River 50m - Apr 6, 2013, Sacramento, CA, http://www.ar50mile.com/- Squak Mountain 50k - Apr 13, 2013, Issaquah, WA, http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/4-13-squak-mtn-trail-run
- Rock Creek Ramble 50k/100k - Apr 13, 2013, Lamont, WA, http://www.nwtrailruns.com/content/rock-creek-ramble-50k-100k
- Yakima Skyline Rim 50k - Apr 21, 2013, Yakima, WA, http://yakimaskylinerim.blogspot.com/
- Capitol Peak 50m - Apr 27, 2013, Olympia, WA, https://capitolpeakultras.com/cp50mile.html
- 50 Mile Ultra Dash - Apr 27, 2013, Renton, WA, http://ultradash.goforhope.org/
- Soaring Eagle Park 50k - Apr 27, 2013, Sammamish, WA, http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=18697
- Mt Si 50k/50m - Apr 28, 2013, Snoqualmie, WA, http://www.mtsirelay.com/ultras.html
- Miwok 100k - May 4, 2013, Stinson Beach, CA, http://www.run100s.com/miwok/index.html
- Grand Ridge 50k - May 4, 2013, Issaquah, WA, http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/5-4-grand-ridge-trail-run
- Lost Lake 50k - May 11, 2013, Bellingham, WA, http://www.skagitrunners.org/lostlake.shtml
- Watershed Preserve 12hrs - May 18, 2013, Redmond, WA, http://www.cascaderunningclub.com/wps.html
- Sun Mountain 50k/50m - May 19, 2013, Winthrop, WA, http://sunmountaintrailraces.blogspot.com/
- Pigtail Challenge 100m/150m/200m - May 23, 2013, Renton, WA, https://sites.google.com/site/pigtailschallenge/
- Soaring Eagle 50k - May 25, 2013, Sammamish, WA, http://www.evergreentrailruns.com/5-25-soaring-eagle-trail-run
- Rainier to Ruston 50k - Jun 1, 2013, Fairfax, WA, http://www.rainiertoruston.com/
- Western States 100m - Jun 29, 2013, Squaw Valley, CA, http://wser.org
Didn't go running yesterday, as well as this morning :(
Bouldered for 4 hours yesterday, and though didn't perform too well, I felt more energy than in last two weeks. Sent one V4 (pretty easy one and my style), and moved far enough on another one (overhanging, with powerful move from under the roof that I was able to complete once, but failed to make the next move, that is supposed to be much easier), I think I've got the crux and can finish it next week. Same for another V4 that I've only tried for few times, but I see that I can do it.
Maybe increased amounts of lead climbing VS bouldering allowed me to rest, maybe daily pull ups workouts at the office helped, or both :)
Bouldered for 4 hours yesterday, and though didn't perform too well, I felt more energy than in last two weeks. Sent one V4 (pretty easy one and my style), and moved far enough on another one (overhanging, with powerful move from under the roof that I was able to complete once, but failed to make the next move, that is supposed to be much easier), I think I've got the crux and can finish it next week. Same for another V4 that I've only tried for few times, but I see that I can do it.
Maybe increased amounts of lead climbing VS bouldering allowed me to rest, maybe daily pull ups workouts at the office helped, or both :)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Talked to Glen in gym few days ago, he is two times WS100 finisher and has also finished LOTS OF other 100s. Generally his pace is a little bit slower than mine on 50k'es & 50 milers, but he is used to run much longer distances and logs crazy numbers of miles per week.
Here's what I should take as an approach as he suggests: sign up for every race I can before May, even if there are two races back to back Saturday and Sunday. Forget about being competitive, remember that this is just to run longer, not to run faster. If I have to run 50k today, knowing that I am running a 50 miler tomorrow (or even next week), I have to be smart and not run out my body trying to keep crazy pace (not that I ever do this in ultras..).
Use Capitol Peak 50 miler in April as a test. If I run under 9hrs (c'mon, even Max didn't do that last year), I can start thinking about finishing in under 24 at Western States. If I don't - my goal is just to finish (and we'll see how it goes, Max did it just with 8 minutes of spare time last year..).
Now when I am also in to Miwok 100 on May 4, and this is a crazy challenging course with 13,000 feet of elevation gain in 62 miles, that is going to be my last big race before long tapering before WS (though I might have schedule to run few 50ks in between). It is in California and last years reports say that there are huge chances of being a CRAZY HOT on this course. That's something I need to use to get ready for WS conditions: run with bottles, not pack, learn to swallow ice cubes and popsicles, learn to maintain low body temperatures in a very hot conditions.
Fucking excited!
Here's what I should take as an approach as he suggests: sign up for every race I can before May, even if there are two races back to back Saturday and Sunday. Forget about being competitive, remember that this is just to run longer, not to run faster. If I have to run 50k today, knowing that I am running a 50 miler tomorrow (or even next week), I have to be smart and not run out my body trying to keep crazy pace (not that I ever do this in ultras..).
Use Capitol Peak 50 miler in April as a test. If I run under 9hrs (c'mon, even Max didn't do that last year), I can start thinking about finishing in under 24 at Western States. If I don't - my goal is just to finish (and we'll see how it goes, Max did it just with 8 minutes of spare time last year..).
Now when I am also in to Miwok 100 on May 4, and this is a crazy challenging course with 13,000 feet of elevation gain in 62 miles, that is going to be my last big race before long tapering before WS (though I might have schedule to run few 50ks in between). It is in California and last years reports say that there are huge chances of being a CRAZY HOT on this course. That's something I need to use to get ready for WS conditions: run with bottles, not pack, learn to swallow ice cubes and popsicles, learn to maintain low body temperatures in a very hot conditions.
Fucking excited!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Intro
I am starting this blog as a diary to log my training on the way to run Western States 100 miler on June 29.
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