A Change of Pace

My last post was about a great ride at Mt. Rainier. Since that day, I have only ridden my bike a couple times. I have not been idle though. I have turned my attention to running. I never really pictured myself as a runner. My wife has run 4 marathons and always talked about us running one together. My usual answer was something like, "in your dreams". I really believed that it was something I could not do. Two 24-hour mt. bike races later, I don't think there is much I can't do. The idea of an Ironman even slips into my mind every now and then. But I figure that I have to run a marathon first and see how that goes. I'll find out on November 29th this year - the Seattle Marathon. Sharon's wish is coming true.

So I'm working on becoming a runner and building my stamina. Since the beginning of July, I have run 14 times for a total of about 80 miles. That includes a 9.2 mile trail run this morning in Discovery Park and a 10.2 mile trail run at Cougar Mountain (#3 in the Cougar Mt. Trail Series put on by Seattle Running Company). Those are the two longest runs I have ever done. Previously, my longest would have been a little over 7 miles, when I ran the Bay to Breakers (I think in 1999).

The Cougar Mountain run was really hard. There was a lot of steep climbing and descending. Someone said that the total elevation gain was around 2000 feet. That sounded like a lot to me, but I am not familiar with common elevation gains for running. 2000 feet doesn't sound like much for a bike ride, but climbing is a bit tougher on your feet. Sharon and I have been doing some more trail runs since the Cougar Mt. run a few weeks ago, and I now have technology on my side. I just got a Garmin Forerunner 405. It is great so far, and I could write an entire post on just this topic. Maybe I will later.

The other night, we went for a trail run that seemed fairly easy. But everything seems easy after that Cougar run. The run was 5.5 miles and my Garmin said it included 1300 feet of climbing. I quickly realized that there was no way that the Cougar Mt. run had only 2000 feet of climbing. I have not had the chance to go back to Cougar and do the run with my Garmin, although I would like to. But thanks to Garmin's sweet online software and the community using it to post public data, I found some people that posted their data from the run. There is some discrepancy in the details - I am assuming due to loss of signal on some devices in the trees. But it appears that the true elevation gain was more in the 5750 - 6250 foot range.

If I ever get out there and repeat the run, I'll post the actual data that I record. I'll be back out there again in a little over a week for the last installment in the series. This one will be 13 miles, and I'm guessing even more elevation gain. My legs are burning just thinking about it.

The current goal this week is to get 35 miles in. That would match the goal of a mileage build-up plan that I looked at for marathon preparation. Before starting a true marathon training schedule, they recommend slowly building up your miles per week so that the training runs don't cause injury. If I can get 35 miles in (or close to it), I'll feel much better about starting the 17 week training plan. 17 weeks from August 1st is the Seattle Marathon. It's a long way to go, but I've gotten off to a good start.

Hopefully, I can find a balance between running and riding. I miss my bikes and had a lot of fun riding my cyclocross bike to Woodinville Wednesday night for the Thrilla. And my Garmin showed me that it is actually 58 miles, not 55 as I previously thought (with just under 5000 feet of climbing).

Mt. Rainier

I finally got down to Mt. Rainier for a ride (thanks to Joe M.). Managed to get out of the house with minimal complications involving wife and kids. For a change, I actually made it to the meeting place with plenty of time.

This was a fairly large Cascade Bike Club group ride, but we were sort of doing it as our own group. Joe and some friends, and myself, for a sub-group of 6. They are all faster than me and we were riding two summits for a total of 55 miles and 5800 feet of climbing, so I was ready for a beating.

I was also a bit worried about the weather. It can get cold on long mountain descents, but I don't like to carry a lot of extra gear. Especially when I am climbing all day. Thankfully, the weather was perfect - actually maybe even a bit too warm.

The first climb starts right from where we parked, just off the intersection of HWY 410 and Crystal Mountain Road. I tend to do better after getting a warm-up, so I got dropped pretty quickly by the group. After about 30 minutes of climbing, I started to feel better and picked up the pace. I even managed to reel in some of the slower riders from the main group that started about 5 minutes ahead of us.

I had planned to stop and take pictures all along the route, but I got caught up in riding and trying to keep up. I got to the top of Chinook pass, met up with Joe and the others, and had a quick break. Then we started back down the climb. Fun descent. Finally, I get a chance to lead! (I am a lot heavier that everyone that I ride with. Not a good thing when climbing, but when it comes to descending, I generally can lead the pack. Except when I get spooked and start hitting the brakes, like I did on the Sunrise descent.)

Left turn about 3/4 of the way down to head up to Sunrise Summit. This climb is definitely a bit tougher. My legs got pretty tired about halfway up and it was a bit of a struggle. But I was able to recover and push through the last few miles. The reward was well worth it. I did take a couple pictures from the Sunrise Summit (see below).

The descent down Sunrise was long, but fun. Then the really small pitch back up to the main road was painful. Funny how once your mind/legs think the climbing is done, even the smallest hill feels like a monumental effort.

Great day in the saddle. Thanks for the invite Joe.