Increasing Mileage

I have several ambitious plans bouncing around in the back of my head for 2012. A lot of them depend on getting in shape, losing weight and increasing my mileage again. So – as of today I increase my race plans for the remainder of 2011 from one race to three races.

September – Dirty Dash – a 10K at Soldier Hollow involving running, wallowing, obstacle courses, and lots of fun.

October – Mountain View Trail Half Marathon – I've volunteered at this race on Antelope Island – this year I will run it. And maybe I'll turn around and run it back to the start when I am done. I would just have to figure out logistics for having fluids and gu available. Maybe just carry it all on my back?

November – more fun on Antelope Island. Jim Skaggs started a 100K last year and this year added a 50K option. This includes trails I have not yet run on the island. With a 12 hour cutoff – I could walk the course and finish in time.

Pipeline Trail again

I had plans to run the Pipeline Trail weekly this summer until I started hearing tales of rattlesnakes being seen on single track. Since I am slow and usually run alone – it worries me that I might run into one and get bit – so have stayed on either roads, paved trails, or wider trails.

A bit cooler and overcast this morning – so I headed back up to run the Pipeline Trail. I just love it up there (once you get past all the cars doing to the cub scout camps). Lots of runners, hikers and bikers on the trail. Most of them were pretty gracious. I did get frustrated with one group of 5 mountain bikers that had one rider who either had lousy gears or was lousy at gearing and they would stop and wait for her to catch up – about the time I caught up and passed them and then had to give way for them to pass me again. It was getting annoying, but I think she dropped down at Church Fork since the other four passed me before then and I never saw her again.

A great day for running. Overcast and even slightly drizzly until 6 miles were down. After that the sun came out and things started heating up.

I moved up to 3 minutes running/1 minute walking for my long run today. I'll increase it to 4/1 in September. I am in no rush – just want my endurance to get back to where it was. I can feel the legs and the lungs slowly coming back. It wasn't a struggle today like it was when I ran the trail in June. And the last couple of miles I even put some speed on during the downhills. Nice to see a bit of progress.

As I was finishing up, I starting thinking of a song that expresses my love for my mountains and trails. I don't have a ton of happy memories from vacations as a child, but there was one song my mother taught us that we sang on trips that puts my sentiments out there:

I love the mountains,

I love the rolling hills,

I love the fountains,

I love the daffodils,

I love the firesides,

When the lights are low,

Boom di ada, boom di ada, boom di ada, boom di yay,

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Jeremy Ranch Road

I had lots of good thoughts about running Jeremy Ranch Road up in Park City this winter. Every time I wanted to attempt it – we got snow. And I knew that it would not be packed enough to run.

I finally had a chance to run it yesterday – gave me some time to think of my daughter on her 24^th birthday.

This road is a nice way to get some trail running in without actually being on trails. The road is either hardpacked dirt or gravel. Lots of uphills and downhills to challenge the legs. Lots of nature and not too many cars.

I think I might try to run this every 4 weeks or so during decent weather. I am a little chicken this year after hearing about all the rattlesnakes people are seeing on trails and worry about them because I almost always run alone.

During my run, I remembered (or thought of) the following:

• Nature heals me. I need the mental refreshment it brings.
  
• Pushing my limits is worth it. I get tired of sitting so much and love the challenge of pushing my muscles and lungs and heart. The aches and pains afterwards (and sometimes during) are so worth the outcome.
  
• I really need to appreciate more the fact that I can move and run and walk with very little pain. I don't know where I would be without this physical release – but am really grateful I can experience it first hand.

Endurance builds slowly and star-gazing during the day

One of the hardest things about coming back to running is gaining endurance. It is very frustrating to see how far I had 'fallen' when I think of running a marathon of 26.2 miles and an ultramarathon of 50 miles in a 13 day period in October and then a half marathon and a marathon in two days in early January. Now, to struggle to run 5 miles and know that I have to take walking breaks just makes me feel pathetic and out of shape.

However, two weeks ago I was able to run 5 miles non-stop on the treadmill (granted at about 4-4.5 mph) and have done that a couple of times since then. Last Saturday I did my first long-run in several months and made it to 8 miles, but was pretty tired after that. Today, I set out to run 10 miles and was feeling pretty good, so ended up doing a total of 13 miles. I am currently running 2 minutes and then walking 1 minute on my long runs, but the fact that I am in double digits for the first time since the first week of March and have done long runs two weekends in a row makes me feel like the endurance is coming back and that I am making progress.

I had a really neat experience on my run this morning. I ran down to the Jordan River Parkway and then ran north on it to my turnaround point (5 miles based on the planned 10 mile run). Right where I turned around there were a bunch of telescopes being set up. I had to admit it was pretty unusual to see telescopes out in the daytime (it was a little after nine on a bright, sunny morning) so I wandered over and asked what they were doing. The owners were thrilled to show me. One said he was star-gazing. Of course, then it clicked on me that the sun is indeed a bright star. With the filters they had on you could see solar flares and all sorts of awesome features. I think I will try to run that way more often on Saturdays to see it again (they say they are out there about once a month).

Running time again

I have let my running slip (a lot). Work has been consuming my life and I let a lot of exercise go by the wayside (except for getting Twilight out). Since I was heading to Georgia for a family vacation for a week, I decided it would be a good time to start running again.

One slight problem with that equation – 100+ degree heat each day and close to 100% humidity. Running was very hard. Most days I settled for running two minutes, walking one minute for the length of the run. It was hard to breathe and I was soaked with sweat. I tried to get out early each day – but the heat and humidity still drained me. However, I persevered and most days ran between 4-6 miles and walked anywhere from 1-3 miles more.

Now that I am back in the land of "it's a dry heat" – I need to maintain the running and get out early each morning. It was a mistake to let my jobs consume my life so much and I think I will probably be more effective if I workout each day. Me time has to be a priority or everything else suffers.

In the back of my mind I would really like to do a lot of trail running next year – the Buffalo Run 50 Mile in March, a Rim To Rim To Rim of the Grand Canyon in April, Squaw Peak 50 Mile in June, and Pony Express 50 Mile in October. If I am going to do that – I need to get my daily mileage up to around 8 miles a day at least 4 times a week (plus a long run) and lose 20-25 pounds. Still, having a goal might get my focus where I want it to be.

I'll keep you updated (whoever you are).

Trail Therapy

I've been working lots and lots of hours lately. Combine those hours with working two different jobs and there hasn't been as much free time for working out as I would like.

So many times I have told people that they will be more effective at work if they take some time to work out and get their minds clear. I must admit I am guilty of not following my own advice. I think that needs to change.

Anyway – I had worked from about 6-9 a.m. yesterday and was starting to feel frazzled, so asked if I could take a few hours off to go running. I changed clothes and headed up Millcreek Canyon to run the Pipeline Trail. The weather alternated between being sunny and sprinkling on me – but it was so nice to be back on trails. There is nothing like being back in nature to allow your mind to clear. Especially on shorter runs when I don't turn on music and force myself to detach from electronics (except my beloved Garmin, of course). 9.25 miles and 2 hours and 15 minutes later, I was refreshed and ready to go back to work and be productive.

As close as I live to trails – I really wish they were even closer. This so beats running on roads in any way, shape and form.

Biking to Work

I've been meaning to start riding my bike to work when the weather was good. The problem is – I started to wonder if the weather would ever be good. How many days in a row do we have to have rain? I don't remember moving to Seattle!

Anyway – the rain finally eased up for a few days and my son has been having car problems, so I have ridden my bike to work two of the last three days. A bit chilly in the morning – but it is a good way to get the blood flowing and I only live 2 ½ miles from the office.

A couple of issues the first day – found one of my brake cables was not working on the way in. Luckily the back break was working and I didn't do a face plant. And on the way home my backpack strap got caught on the seat so I couldn't get up into the saddle. But I now have a nice new helmet (not one of the old bucket ones) and I am in the groove – so hopefully this trend will continue and I can get more exercise and save on gas.