Week ending 04-22-2006

This week, I had hoped, would be the start of my comeback. I was cleared by the Dr - the bone scan was negative. I mixed running with elliptical machines and did a trail run to end the week. My plans for the Mt Si 50 miler are out. That's zero for 3 in April. Here is what I ended up doing this week:

Sunday: off
Monday: 6 miles at 7:15 pace (1st mile at 7:30, last mile at 6:50).
Tuesday: 10 min warm-up on machine, 4 slow miles, 30 minutes on machine. (miles: 8)
Wednesday: 8 miles at 7:10 pace. Right glute hurt.
Thursday: 1 hour on machine (Miles: 6, HR average: 140)
Friday: off
Saturday: 12 summit run on Tiger (34 miles / 10,000+ elevation gain)
Total Weekly Miles: 62

I was excited to run a 12 summit run today. Glenn told me he was going to run with Chris Fagen to help her train for WS 100. I asked if I could join and they said yes. This was a good alternative to the 50 miler. Plus, I would be out just as long as if I were running Mt Si (it's flat).

The run starts up a daunting climb on the Nook trail (right). It's intimidating if you've never run this course before. It almost makes you want to turn back.

I was loving it! I was so happy to be out there on such a beautiful day and with my best friend. I wasn't even fretting that I could not be out on the Mt Si course on Sunday.

My legs were feeling strong. I was strong on the climbs and waited for Chris at the tops of each peak if I got too far ahead. However, I quickly came to realize that she is a very good downhiller. I asked her to lead once we got behind the hiker's hut (top of T1 - in the background).

As we headed down Bootleg, Chris and Glenn were off and it would take a while before I could catch them. I found that it was NOT the down hill pounding, but the technical twisting that caused a strain in my stabilizing muscles. This is normal of course but it was especially tough on my injury and I wanted to be careful. These steep down hills are tough especially when you try to go slow ... is messes with your rhythm.

Again, we started to climb up towards East Tiger and I was back in the drivers seat. I was still trying to take it easy, be cautious and cognizant of the fact that I was not in the best of shape, but climbing is my real strength.

I ran the short road to the top of East and waited for Chris and Glenn to get there.

Then I proceeded to get behind again. The down hill here is not too bad since it's road and I was able to hang with the two of them with some effort.

The trip to Middle Tiger and the trail in between was uneventful. I worked to keep up on the down hill and flat sections.

Chris found, just as the rest of us have in the past, that there's not a whole lot to going up to South Tiger. It's a short dog leg climb ... that you must do twice.

We got to the end of the trail at Tiger Mt Road in about 3:50. I was surprised because I didn't think we were going that fast. It seemed like a nice 9 hour pace although it was hard to judge with the strategy I was using. We spent a while replenishing our water, eating, and getting food for the return trip. Chris called Marty and told him we should be back in 4:30 or 5 hours (we usually slow down on the way back even though it's more down than up).

Well, by this time I was getting tired and sore so I made sure to keep ahead of the others for as long as I could. It's a gradual climb heading back and to the South climb. I went up to the climb and back down again, passing them and letting them know I wasn't dis'ing them ... I was starting to hurt. (me on South Tiger)

They caught me quickly on the flat section and passed as I got some water from the run offs. I easily caught them on the climb to Middle and stayed ahead for NOT QUITE as long as I thought I could. We ran to the East climb together and I pushed the climb.

I let them know that this was the last time I would see them until I got back. I knew there weren't enough climbs to make up for my slow descending. It was a pleasant finish even though I wanted to walk all of the down hill. In an unprecedented mood today, I decided to wear a watch to see how long each section took. I found myself looking at my watch every time I started to walk on the downhills. I had mentioned on top of East that we should be able to break 8:30 (I was even thinking 8:15). Eventually, I realized that they would probably break 8:00 hours and that I would come close.

Again, looking at my watch, I thought that if I really pushed the climbs to T2 and T3, I had a chance to break 8. Unfortunately, all that pushing and not paying attention to fuel caught me bonking on both climbs. I'm slow to learn and didn't fuel but figured I didn't need anything since I was going down hill. When it seemed like too much work to descend, I finally took another GU. Got over the bonking half way down and finished in a nice time of 8:06. I was very happy with how I felt on the decent. Really no pains on the non-technical downs, albeit slow.

Chris ran a terrific first 12 summits and ran it in near even splits. Glenn and I had never done that before. Chris was looking at her watch as well and pushed it to make it in 7:58.

What an AWEsome day! I got home, showered, and before putting on my pants & shoes, decided to lay down and just rest my eyes for a "second." 15 minutes later, I was awaken from my own snoring - ha! I love that feeling.