After having a good week of running (and thinking that I was actually adjusting to running in hot, humid weather), I had a run last night that had me questioning why I would ever want to run ever again. I heard in this morning's weather forecast that this August is shaping up to be the hottest August ever on record here in the Houston area.
Late yesterday afternoon, there were a few pop up showers here in The Woodlands. They weren't big enough showers to really drop the temps any but just made it one big outdoor sauna. I had a 5 mile run on the schedule so I headed to run the hills of Flintridge. There was no movement in the air at all; in some places on the concrete pathways, you could just feel heat radiating all around you. It was so hot, my garmin threw in the towel at the 4 mile mark and just toggled repeatedly between the 3 display screens. It looked like it was still capturing data from the run but I couldn't make it stop toggling. At the end of the run, the On/Off button didn't shut it off. I used the mode/reset button combination to successfully turn it off. When I downloaded the data, all that showed up was the first 4 miles of the run.
With the heat advisory still in effect, I will be running the mileage on my training plan but just taking it alot slower. Still hoping for that cool California weather in 2 1/2 weeks!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
No Excuses Copycat Edition
Well the good news is that there's lots more running than blogging going on these days. The last half of July was spent with more skipped long run weekend due to falling off a ladder and visiting my mom. I know, there are no roads in Ville Platte so it was not possible for me to get a run in while visiting. The ladder fall was the more legit of the 2 excuses; I actually banged my right shin on the ladder itself so had some swelling there to deal with.
Reading K's July 31 post over at Running Towards Him, I got motivated for the first time this year. I know its still early to call it a trend, but I have logged almost 50 miles this month. I was actually feeling good on my 7 mile Nature Trail loop run this past Wednesday evening.
With the dog days of summer upon us, my dog has found a way to keep cool.
My lawn isn't getting much coverage with him blocking the water the entire sprinkler cycle time. That's ok.... as long as he keeps cool. He had a touch of heat illness the week before. He didn't want to eat or go for a walk for the first time ever.....a few days inside and major spoilage and he's back to normal.
Reading K's July 31 post over at Running Towards Him, I got motivated for the first time this year. I know its still early to call it a trend, but I have logged almost 50 miles this month. I was actually feeling good on my 7 mile Nature Trail loop run this past Wednesday evening.
With the dog days of summer upon us, my dog has found a way to keep cool.
My lawn isn't getting much coverage with him blocking the water the entire sprinkler cycle time. That's ok.... as long as he keeps cool. He had a touch of heat illness the week before. He didn't want to eat or go for a walk for the first time ever.....a few days inside and major spoilage and he's back to normal.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Missoula Half Marathon
This is the 3rd consecutive year that I've worked a week plus long vacation into a state running trip. 2008 was the Great Alaskan Maritime Marathon cruise and 2009 was a 3 Hawaiian island adventure. My 2010 trip was a tour of 3 National Parks with the Missoula 1/2 Marathon tucked in between.
Yellowstone National Park
After a mile hike of boardwalk and asphalt trails, I headed to the Canyon Village area to check into my base camp for the next 2 nights at Cascade Lodge:
After checking in and grabbing a bite to eat, I proceeded to drive to the North Rim trails of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The first trail I took was the short but 600 foot drop via switchbacks trail to the brink of the Lower Falls. I took a pic of the trail the next morning while hiking the South Rim trails.
I then took in views of the Lower Falls from another steep drop in the Red Rock Point trail, followed by Lookout Point and Grand View overlooks.
Wednesday was my biggest hiking day; I logged around 20 miles hiking. I also learned my first lesson of the trip: cotton socks don't mix with hiking. I ended up with blisters at the end of the day. Luckily, they didn't bother my 1/2 marathon run a few days later. I did an 8 mile hike that started at the Wapiti trailhead, going through Hayden Valley, Clear Lake, Lily Pad Lake and then joining the South Rim trails looping back to the car. There were a ton of interesting geothermal features between Clear and Lily Lakes. The sound of this one was pretty incredible.
After heading back to Cascade Lodge for a quick break, I drove to Dunraven Pass and hiked 6 miles roundtrip to the top of Mt. Washburn. The views at the 10243 summit were pretty amazing. Unfortunately, the camera stayed in the car. I did have my cellphone camera to get a couple of shots. I then headed to the Lake Area of the Grand Loop where I hiked the Elephant Back and Storm Point Loop trails. Elephant Back climbed 800 feet to yield an incredible view of Yellowstone Lake and the Lake Hotel. That got me to 20 miles and blisters on both feet.
Grand Teton National Park
One of the reasons I hiked 20 miles the day before was to try and buy time to be able to head to the sister park of Yellowstone just south of it. As I checked out of Canyon Village that morning, I figured it would be a good day to head to GTNP to get in 6 miles or so hiking. I didn't want to go much farther due to the blister issues. I used Body Glide prior to putting on, yes, cotton socks again. After driving around in the park for a bit, I wound up at the Jenny Lake area and ended up hiking to the split of Cascade Canyon. I pretty much failed in my 6 mile max attempt as the round trip hike was right around 13 miles. Still, it was totally worth the extra miles to take in the great views of the mountains and waterfalls along the way.
After the hike, I headed back to Yellowstone to check in at the Old Faithful Inn for the next 2 nights of my trip. Friday morning I went on a ranger led hike to Fairy Falls in the Old Faithful area of the Grand Loop. I enjoyed the slower pace of the ranger led hike as well as the interpretive aspects provided by the ranger. The hike included a couple of geyers as well as a view of Grand Prismatic Spring. Following lunch, I hiked the Observation Point loop to see Old Faithful erupt away from the crowds. A quick trip to Artist Paint Pots in the Norris area wrapped up Friday and my Yellowstone hiking.
Artist Paint Pots
The Race
2010 continues to be the year of underwhelming races, uninspired training, and just a general running funk. The good news is that I completed running a 1/2 marathon in my 43rd state last Sunday at the "Runner's World Readers' Overall Top Ranked Marathon". I can't remember exactly how many times I heard or saw that phrase printed over the weekend but believe me it was milked for all it was worth. I really just had to scratch my head over that one and ask WHY? I don't think I'd rank the race in my top 10 1/2 marathon events that I've attended much less rank it anywhere near New York, Chicago, or heck, even Houston marathons. I don't know if the questions that led to the rankings were biased or what, but while not a bad event, this just wasn't anything to write home about.
One other factoid that was repeated several times by the 1/2 prerace announcer was the fact that Texas had the 5th most participants in the event. Considering how far Texas is from Montana, that is a pretty impressive stat for the Lone Star state.
I ended up getting my time back under 2 hours after 3 straight finishes over 2 hours. I was pleased considering I hadn't run a weekend long run since my Medicine Bow 1/2 marathon at the end of May.
Glacier National Park
Post race, I made the 2 plus hour drive from Missoula to Glacier National Park. I don't know if Glacier was so crowded because it is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but the park just felt incredibly packed. I wasn't able to find a parking spot at the first 2 places I tried visiting when I first got into the park.
My plan for Glacier was to stay near the Lake McDonald area Sunday afternoon then drive to Logan Pass and beyond Monday for a longer hike. Not finding parking spots near Lake McD brought me up to Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road Sunday afternoon. Ever since driving the Road to Hana in Maui last year, I compare great drives to it. Going to the Sun Road is Montana's version of the Road to Hana. Driving along the mountainside afforded incredible views. I got up to Logan Pass, found a parking spot and attempting to hike a couple of trails in the area. Logan Pass was very crowded Sunday afternoon. The trails were over 90% snow covered so I didn't hike very much up there. I wasn't prepared to hike in snow so I just got a feel for the area and then decided to head back to Lake McDonald to check in at the Lodge there.
As I drove to Logan Pass Sunday afternoon, I opted for a ranger led tour of Avalanche Lake in the Lake McDonald area Monday morning. Again, the ranger provided insight and led an enjoyable tour to the lake.
Tuesday was a travel day with me leaving Glacier at 6:00 am for a 5 plus hour drive to Bozeman. I then connected through Denver getting back to IAH in Houston after 10:30. All in all, a great trip to log by 43rd state. I've got 3 repeat states on tap for the rest of the year. 2 more states scheduled for 2011 on my quest to run them all!
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone North Entrance Roosevelt Arch
I flew into Bozeman, Montana Tuesday morning and drove to Yellowstone's north entrance near Gardiner, MT. My first stop was Mammoth Hot Springs in the Northwest corner of the Grand Loop:
Travertine at Mammoth Terraces
After a mile hike of boardwalk and asphalt trails, I headed to the Canyon Village area to check into my base camp for the next 2 nights at Cascade Lodge:
After checking in and grabbing a bite to eat, I proceeded to drive to the North Rim trails of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The first trail I took was the short but 600 foot drop via switchbacks trail to the brink of the Lower Falls. I took a pic of the trail the next morning while hiking the South Rim trails.
Brink of Lower Falls Trail as seen from Uncle Toms Trail.
I then took in views of the Lower Falls from another steep drop in the Red Rock Point trail, followed by Lookout Point and Grand View overlooks.
View of Lower Falls from Red Rock Point
Wednesday was my biggest hiking day; I logged around 20 miles hiking. I also learned my first lesson of the trip: cotton socks don't mix with hiking. I ended up with blisters at the end of the day. Luckily, they didn't bother my 1/2 marathon run a few days later. I did an 8 mile hike that started at the Wapiti trailhead, going through Hayden Valley, Clear Lake, Lily Pad Lake and then joining the South Rim trails looping back to the car. There were a ton of interesting geothermal features between Clear and Lily Lakes. The sound of this one was pretty incredible.
After heading back to Cascade Lodge for a quick break, I drove to Dunraven Pass and hiked 6 miles roundtrip to the top of Mt. Washburn. The views at the 10243 summit were pretty amazing. Unfortunately, the camera stayed in the car. I did have my cellphone camera to get a couple of shots. I then headed to the Lake Area of the Grand Loop where I hiked the Elephant Back and Storm Point Loop trails. Elephant Back climbed 800 feet to yield an incredible view of Yellowstone Lake and the Lake Hotel. That got me to 20 miles and blisters on both feet.
Grand Teton National Park
One of the reasons I hiked 20 miles the day before was to try and buy time to be able to head to the sister park of Yellowstone just south of it. As I checked out of Canyon Village that morning, I figured it would be a good day to head to GTNP to get in 6 miles or so hiking. I didn't want to go much farther due to the blister issues. I used Body Glide prior to putting on, yes, cotton socks again. After driving around in the park for a bit, I wound up at the Jenny Lake area and ended up hiking to the split of Cascade Canyon. I pretty much failed in my 6 mile max attempt as the round trip hike was right around 13 miles. Still, it was totally worth the extra miles to take in the great views of the mountains and waterfalls along the way.
After the hike, I headed back to Yellowstone to check in at the Old Faithful Inn for the next 2 nights of my trip. Friday morning I went on a ranger led hike to Fairy Falls in the Old Faithful area of the Grand Loop. I enjoyed the slower pace of the ranger led hike as well as the interpretive aspects provided by the ranger. The hike included a couple of geyers as well as a view of Grand Prismatic Spring. Following lunch, I hiked the Observation Point loop to see Old Faithful erupt away from the crowds. A quick trip to Artist Paint Pots in the Norris area wrapped up Friday and my Yellowstone hiking.
Grand Prismatic Spring
Artist Paint Pots
The Race
2010 continues to be the year of underwhelming races, uninspired training, and just a general running funk. The good news is that I completed running a 1/2 marathon in my 43rd state last Sunday at the "Runner's World Readers' Overall Top Ranked Marathon". I can't remember exactly how many times I heard or saw that phrase printed over the weekend but believe me it was milked for all it was worth. I really just had to scratch my head over that one and ask WHY? I don't think I'd rank the race in my top 10 1/2 marathon events that I've attended much less rank it anywhere near New York, Chicago, or heck, even Houston marathons. I don't know if the questions that led to the rankings were biased or what, but while not a bad event, this just wasn't anything to write home about.
One other factoid that was repeated several times by the 1/2 prerace announcer was the fact that Texas had the 5th most participants in the event. Considering how far Texas is from Montana, that is a pretty impressive stat for the Lone Star state.
I ended up getting my time back under 2 hours after 3 straight finishes over 2 hours. I was pleased considering I hadn't run a weekend long run since my Medicine Bow 1/2 marathon at the end of May.
Glacier National Park
Post race, I made the 2 plus hour drive from Missoula to Glacier National Park. I don't know if Glacier was so crowded because it is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but the park just felt incredibly packed. I wasn't able to find a parking spot at the first 2 places I tried visiting when I first got into the park.
My plan for Glacier was to stay near the Lake McDonald area Sunday afternoon then drive to Logan Pass and beyond Monday for a longer hike. Not finding parking spots near Lake McD brought me up to Logan Pass on the Going to the Sun Road Sunday afternoon. Ever since driving the Road to Hana in Maui last year, I compare great drives to it. Going to the Sun Road is Montana's version of the Road to Hana. Driving along the mountainside afforded incredible views. I got up to Logan Pass, found a parking spot and attempting to hike a couple of trails in the area. Logan Pass was very crowded Sunday afternoon. The trails were over 90% snow covered so I didn't hike very much up there. I wasn't prepared to hike in snow so I just got a feel for the area and then decided to head back to Lake McDonald to check in at the Lodge there.
Lake McDonald Lodge view lakeside
The Lodge was built in the early 1900s before Going to the Sun road was complete. The Lodge faced the Lake as boat transportation was the primary means of transportation at the time. With GTTS road completed, you now enter the lodge from the rear. As I drove to Logan Pass Sunday afternoon, I opted for a ranger led tour of Avalanche Lake in the Lake McDonald area Monday morning. Again, the ranger provided insight and led an enjoyable tour to the lake.
Tuesday was a travel day with me leaving Glacier at 6:00 am for a 5 plus hour drive to Bozeman. I then connected through Denver getting back to IAH in Houston after 10:30. All in all, a great trip to log by 43rd state. I've got 3 repeat states on tap for the rest of the year. 2 more states scheduled for 2011 on my quest to run them all!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
On the Sidelines Again
Less than 4 weeks til my next half marathon and I'm not running...... yet again. 2010 has not been so kind as far as running is concerned. My latest setback is a wicked head/chest cold. One minute Saturday afternoon I was fine and the next I was all stopped up. Got a sore throat that night and the cough started the next night. Trying to fight this off with over the counter decongestants. Hopefully I'll be back on the road in the next couple of days.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Houston We Have A Problem
Day 2 into the Chevron Houston Marathon/Aramco Half Marathon announcement that they are going to a lottery system for the 2011 race and the locals are still buzzing. I personally have very little history with the Houston race but it seems like every year they seem to come up with some bonehead decision to top the prior year's bonehead decision.
From where I stand, it seems like the race has a real identity problem. Last year was the first year that the race put separate caps on the half and full marathons. The caps were at 11,000 each. Sounds reasonable so far, right? The bonehead factor with that was that they allowed transfers between events even after the cap was met for one of the races. So what happened last year, people wanting to run the half marathon after the half reached its cap of 11,000 simply signed up for the full and then paid the $10 administrative fee to switch from the full to the half. Every other race that I've seen with separate race caps do not allow transfers once an event has reached its capacity. I somewhat thought this was merely an oversight by the race last year; however, with the same caps in place this year and the same transfers between events allowed, it seems clear that Houston doesn't really want to cap the half at 11,000. With that said, I don't know if they don't think the marathon would hit the 11,000 mark on its own. Otherwise, I don't see why they would just not allow switching between events, similiar to how they experimented with allowing race transfers between individuals but discontinued that process.
Another solution to Houston's filling so fast would be to eliminate the half marathon. That is kind of hard to do this year as the race is once again the mens and womens US Half Marathon championship. It would be difficult to have a 1/2 championship without an actual 1/2 event. Once again, there is an identity crisis.
I initially planned on running 2011 Houston 1/2 marathon as most of my running group participates in the event every year. When the lottery was announced, my initial thought was should I sign up for the full lottery and have better odds of getting accepted versus the half lottery which one would expect would have far more entrants. Upon further review, I think I'll just sit Houston out again this year. Thanks Houston for keeping things interesting!
From where I stand, it seems like the race has a real identity problem. Last year was the first year that the race put separate caps on the half and full marathons. The caps were at 11,000 each. Sounds reasonable so far, right? The bonehead factor with that was that they allowed transfers between events even after the cap was met for one of the races. So what happened last year, people wanting to run the half marathon after the half reached its cap of 11,000 simply signed up for the full and then paid the $10 administrative fee to switch from the full to the half. Every other race that I've seen with separate race caps do not allow transfers once an event has reached its capacity. I somewhat thought this was merely an oversight by the race last year; however, with the same caps in place this year and the same transfers between events allowed, it seems clear that Houston doesn't really want to cap the half at 11,000. With that said, I don't know if they don't think the marathon would hit the 11,000 mark on its own. Otherwise, I don't see why they would just not allow switching between events, similiar to how they experimented with allowing race transfers between individuals but discontinued that process.
Another solution to Houston's filling so fast would be to eliminate the half marathon. That is kind of hard to do this year as the race is once again the mens and womens US Half Marathon championship. It would be difficult to have a 1/2 championship without an actual 1/2 event. Once again, there is an identity crisis.
I initially planned on running 2011 Houston 1/2 marathon as most of my running group participates in the event every year. When the lottery was announced, my initial thought was should I sign up for the full lottery and have better odds of getting accepted versus the half lottery which one would expect would have far more entrants. Upon further review, I think I'll just sit Houston out again this year. Thanks Houston for keeping things interesting!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Medicine Bow Half Marathon
I had about 10 weeks to train for Medicine Bow after running back to back half marathons in DC and Wilmington in mid March. My plan was to follow a 6 week training plan that was published in an earlier Runners World magazine article. That never happened. I did train and did most of my longer runs on trails and hills at Huntsville State Park, I never got overly excited about training for this race. I think alot of it had to do with the fact that I knew that it is nearly impossible to simulate high altitude conditions when you train at sea level. Its also difficult to find hills that seem to go on forever. There are plenty of difficult grade hills in the area but nothing that goes on as long as some of these hilly away races.
Air travel to Denver and the car drive to Cheyenne went smoothly. After checking in at the host hotel/expo/pasta dinner location, we made a 25 mile westerly drive to the start of the course at the Lincoln Monument exit between Laramie and Cheyenne. They had a sign at the exit indicating that this was the highest point on I-80 in Wyoming at just under 8700 feet. There was still snow on the ground in areas. We drove the entire course, something that I rarely do before a race. I learned that drving and running a course is a totally different experience.
We headed out before 5 race morning for the same rest area for a 6am race start. This is one of the local laid back races that I am starting to enjoy more and more. There was a flour line marking the start; no chips or timing mats to be found on this course. The course was an out and back and there was one aid station to serve you in both directions. I was initially concerned about having to navigate 2 cattle guards twice on the course; this turned out to not be an issue because I was walking by the time I approached the first cattle guard.
The course had a 4-5 mile downhill start going from 8700 feet down to 8100 feet before climbing back up to 8500 feet at the turnaround point. I knew within the first 2 miles that it was going to be a long day. Just running with the flow at the start, I was at about an 8:15 pace and my legs felt fine since I was going downhill but I definetely noticed that I was breathing harder than I should have been. Once the uphill started, I pretty much started walking. I mixed in some running but did more walking than running on the uphill portions of the course. There were very few flat areas on the course; you were either running downhill or uphill.
I think I finished this race the driest that I've been at any race. With a chilly 29 degree start and a 20 mph or so wind and dry conditions (and all the walking) my dri fit clothes actually wicked moisture as advertised.
Wyoming was my 42nd state that I've run a 1/2 or full marathon in. It was also my 50th half marathon that I've run. It was also a PW for me but a Wyoming PR for me!!!!!!!
Air travel to Denver and the car drive to Cheyenne went smoothly. After checking in at the host hotel/expo/pasta dinner location, we made a 25 mile westerly drive to the start of the course at the Lincoln Monument exit between Laramie and Cheyenne. They had a sign at the exit indicating that this was the highest point on I-80 in Wyoming at just under 8700 feet. There was still snow on the ground in areas. We drove the entire course, something that I rarely do before a race. I learned that drving and running a course is a totally different experience.
We headed out before 5 race morning for the same rest area for a 6am race start. This is one of the local laid back races that I am starting to enjoy more and more. There was a flour line marking the start; no chips or timing mats to be found on this course. The course was an out and back and there was one aid station to serve you in both directions. I was initially concerned about having to navigate 2 cattle guards twice on the course; this turned out to not be an issue because I was walking by the time I approached the first cattle guard.
The course had a 4-5 mile downhill start going from 8700 feet down to 8100 feet before climbing back up to 8500 feet at the turnaround point. I knew within the first 2 miles that it was going to be a long day. Just running with the flow at the start, I was at about an 8:15 pace and my legs felt fine since I was going downhill but I definetely noticed that I was breathing harder than I should have been. Once the uphill started, I pretty much started walking. I mixed in some running but did more walking than running on the uphill portions of the course. There were very few flat areas on the course; you were either running downhill or uphill.
I think I finished this race the driest that I've been at any race. With a chilly 29 degree start and a 20 mph or so wind and dry conditions (and all the walking) my dri fit clothes actually wicked moisture as advertised.
Wyoming was my 42nd state that I've run a 1/2 or full marathon in. It was also my 50th half marathon that I've run. It was also a PW for me but a Wyoming PR for me!!!!!!!
Bolder Boulder 10K
After having fewer than 300 participants run the Wyoming races Sunday, Memorial Day Monday had runners everywhere as over 50,000 people participated in the second largest 10K in the United States. The weather was much nicer than the largest 10K has July 4th weekend in Hotlanta I'd imagine.
We headed out early for the parking garage near the finish line. There was no absolutely no traffic driving to the finish area; the garage was almost empty as well. After hanging out in the car for awhile, we decided to find the Boulder bus that would take us to the start line. We probably walked at least 1/2 as far to get to the shuttle versus just walking to the start line. Walking directly definetely would have been quicker as the bus ride took awhile with traffic. No worries though as we were at the start with plenty of time to spare.
I'm not sure exactly how many corral starts Boulder had, but there were more than I'd ever seen for a race. They started within a minute of each other and that seemed to work fine in keeping the course moving. It was crowded the entire race but never clogged. I can definetely say that my own breathing limitations and not the course crowd is what slowed me down.
Another interesting thing about the Boulder course was the fact that both mile and kilometer markers were on the course. It got rather confusing as to where you were on the course as the mile/K number was visible before the mile/km designation. There were also timing mats at every mile marker.
We didn't stay for the Memorial Day tribute at 11:40 as we had an afternoon flight back to Houston and didn't want to get caught in post event traffic.
All in all, Bolder Boulder 10k was a fun race in a nice town.
We headed out early for the parking garage near the finish line. There was no absolutely no traffic driving to the finish area; the garage was almost empty as well. After hanging out in the car for awhile, we decided to find the Boulder bus that would take us to the start line. We probably walked at least 1/2 as far to get to the shuttle versus just walking to the start line. Walking directly definetely would have been quicker as the bus ride took awhile with traffic. No worries though as we were at the start with plenty of time to spare.
I'm not sure exactly how many corral starts Boulder had, but there were more than I'd ever seen for a race. They started within a minute of each other and that seemed to work fine in keeping the course moving. It was crowded the entire race but never clogged. I can definetely say that my own breathing limitations and not the course crowd is what slowed me down.
Another interesting thing about the Boulder course was the fact that both mile and kilometer markers were on the course. It got rather confusing as to where you were on the course as the mile/K number was visible before the mile/km designation. There were also timing mats at every mile marker.
We didn't stay for the Memorial Day tribute at 11:40 as we had an afternoon flight back to Houston and didn't want to get caught in post event traffic.
All in all, Bolder Boulder 10k was a fun race in a nice town.
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