Vashon Island Ultramarathon

The Vashon 50K went really well for me and a handful of other runners in Five Fingers and Sandals today. It was a good meetup for guys from the Seattle barefoot & Five Fingers running group as well as some new faces. I ran in my KSOs.

The Rock & Roll Marathon also ran today through downtown, so it felt good to get up early and off to the island. The ferry crossing from Fauntelroy to north Vashon takes 20 minutes, a quick trip, and you are on the forested island in Puget Sound.

I woke up at 5AM with lots of energy. Two smoothies and a few bananas is my new breakfast of choice. I packed some real food for the run and my post run fav, carrot juice. My wife let the iPod crank the running mix on the way over.

We arrived one hour prior to the 8:30 start time. Time went by fast, getting dressed, stashing the drop bag, socializing. An audio setup was cranking some good tunes all morning. At the pre-race talk, the coordinators make sure to tell us that the course is only open today - private property owners were gracious enough to allow us to run across their beautiful properties.

The 10K and 50K runners started together. The Ultras did a one-mile loop through Paradise Ridge park, which is a horse park and former Nike missile site. Bruce Cyra, one of the coordinators of the race, bounded over the equestrian elements like a steeplechaser. I started fast with the lead group, which was fun, passing the finish chute/main aid station at 8:00. I cranked it down as we left the park, so it was not long before I was by myself. We do three 10-mile loops.

The coordinators just thought up this race in November! They did an incredible job of knitting together trails and parks on the island with some stretches of dirt road. The runners turned north and we ran along a rocky Old Mill Road for about 1 mile (we will get used to this stretch over the race) before hitting a little bit of forested trail. We got spit out onto a paved road and ran downhill a bit before turning north again, running by some horse farms. On this road, I begin to pass a few of the 10K runners.

We entered another trail going uphill and wind around the outskirts of the island's cemetary, on some of the softest trail on the course. Eventually, we make it to the 363-acre King County's Island Center Forest - a working forest in the center of the island. We ran under douglas firs with an understory of evergreen huckleberry and salal - on a really beautiful trail.

We leave the forest going north and hit the other aid station. Maybe a bit too fast, I reached it at 50 minutes. There is such a great spread when we get there. They take our times and we head downhill and enter the Vashon-Maury land trust's property - Fisher Pond Preserve. Again, nice trails - we catch a few glimpses of the pond. It appears the land trust had done a few acres of planting, which had just been weed whacked. Leaving the park, this is the turnaround point.

Before hitting the Island Center Forest again, we run by some neighbors that stayed out the entire race handing out water, watermelon and energy chews. They were totally energetic and great people - I didn't take anything on the first pass, but looked forward to watermelon so much on the second and third loop.

There are nice trails in lots of places, but nothing compares to running through Pacific Northwest forest. We cross some private property on the way back to Paradise Ridge Park, including a very grassy hill that several people remark on - it was probably the longest climb of the route, but very soft. Nice on the feet. We ran back on Old Mill Road, dodging puddles, and turn east on smooth pavement back to Paradise Ridge Park.

The best part of the route - seeing my wife at every loop. We would run into the park, go down a grassy section, round some trees, run through the chute to the aid station. She was there every time after I filled up at the aid station; they even went to the island's farmer's market. I even caught my dad on the way in as I started my last loop of the day.

I finished up in 5:27ish. We will see the final results in a few days. I saw the other barefoot guys only a couple times on Old Mill Road. They all looked strong. They even had a few pacers on the last loop.

Another cool thing about the race is that I kicked off my KSOs about 1/2 mile out and finished barefoot. It felt good after rocking my way across Old Mill Road six times. I kept hitting small rocks too as I grew more tired, and my left foot was getting progressively more sore.

And, I did not even know that Western States ran today. No news presently, but I hope to read about it tomorrow. 50K is good for now. My last loop was almost 20 minutes slower than the first two laps.

Lastly, there was barbecue at the end! Holy great ending to a nice day of running. We ate and hydrated and made our way back to the ferry dock early. I had some time to stand in the salt water, which I think will be key to recovery. I even took an ice bath at home, sitting in the tub with an IPA is the way to finish a long day of running. I can't wait to see all the pictures!

Bloomsday

102 days to Bloomsday. Running with 50,000 other people.

http://www.bloomsdayrun.org/

May 2, 2010

barefoot

I am transitioning to barefoot running, completing my fourth run in Vibram KSOs. I ran a bit of the BPA Trail in Federal Way. The trail sections were a bit wet, but it felt good to blast through the puddles.

I did the Seattle Marathon at the end of November with some plantar fasciatiis issues, shod. My time was not great, but it was one of the most fun runs I have ever participated in. I started slow, and my split times were only about 2 minutes off from each other. The weather could not have been more perfect. High 40s, overcast, no rain. Running it in 2006, I cramped big time about mile 18 or so when the hills start rolling up to the Arboretum. I fought the cramps off this time, struggling a bit, but I felt pretty strong at the end.

Though my feet are a bit tender from running barefoot, and my calves are achey, the plantar issues are gone. I have been looking at 2010 runs. My goals are to run a Half Marathon in late spring.

Time Article

Punishment for cheesecake.

The Myth of the Lonely Long Distance Runner

Foothills Trail

Dodging rain events, I took a run along the Foothills Trail this morning, beginning in East Puyallup. The trail is an amenity few communities have. . The County, and more importantly, the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coaltion, were key partners to making the trail happen. Once abandoned rail right-of-way is now a twelve-foot wide path for non-motorized recreation. The RtoT Coalition is the sponsor of several runs during the year, especially the lengthy Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay and Ultra. I missed out last summer, but hope to take part this new year.

Not the funnest run is some spots, but I have been on it early in the day to see coyote and bald eagles. I actually had not run this section since Christmas-time 2005 when I had one of my major running epiphanies; I ran layered in tights, fleece pants, and sweatshirt for more than 3 hours in some ecstatic daze in some heavy rain, and then made a quasi-resolution to run my first marathon.

More south, the trail crosses more rural terrain and heads further away from the noise of the highways. There are some absolutely stunning places to rest along the trail, particularly beside the White River, about 2 miles south of Orting. One day, maybe soon, I hope to run the length of the span from Puyallup to Wilkeson. Though no good connections exist, some trail infrastructure exists in Buckley as well. All-in-all the they County trail website boasts of 15 miles of current paved sections, but I believe it has not been updated. Near the East Puyallup Trailhead, there is a rock with a "32 MP" marker on it. You can run up to the Gateway of Rainier if you wished it.

Loads of people are out there on the weekends. I met a good-natured guy today, named Bob, who walks five miles of the trail daily. Not many folks were out today due to the weather and flooding the night before. I spent about a half hour in the morning surveying property damage from the previous two nights+ of rain and flooding. Two 100-year flood events in a season! In Sumner, at least, the water rose several feet higher than it did in the floods of 2006. Garbage, general debris, and oil is seeping out of the ground in the riparian area-flood zone. USGS guys were on the Hwy 165 bridge headed to Orting taking measurements on the river as it zipped by underneath them. It is just a mess when the rains hit so hard after melting snow. More comments on it later.

Pt. Defiance Trail

Offering 20+ miles of trails, Pt. Defiance Park in Ruston is a unique treasure for trail running. Given the 30 degree weather at home, I drove down to get my first semi-long run since the end of October. The loop around the park is about 5 miles, so I ended up doubling back to make 8 miles. From some maps I have seen online it looks to be about 500 feet of elevation gain and loss over the whole loop. I am not super familiar with the trail markings, a series of white triangles, squares and circles, but there is really no way to get lost. The map is nice to look at before you go, but not essential. The shapes correspond (as I guessed) to outer and inner loops with some connections that go out like spokes of wheel as you look at it on the map. The trail system zigs and zags - it is funny to come to a junction and see someone else whiz by going at a perpendicular route. I saw no less than 5 groups of runners and a few people jogging solo during the afternoon.

What I think is the coolest part of the trail system is the great big douglas firs. About five people chained together could hug the biggest of them. There are some spectacular views of the Sound as well. It was pretty muddy in spots, and my legs were good and speckled by the time I returned to the car. Another nice perk of running out there is to drive along Ruston Way and grab some chowder on the water. Some of the best stuff I have ever had.

Hills and Rain

I almost lost a contact yesterday on my run down the Parkway. Running down the grade, facing west, the rain was coming at me horizontally. For moments at a time I closed my eyes to keep the lenses from washing away. For anybody who does not wear contact lenses, a little streak of panic rushes over you and your vision goes cloudy (like opening your eyes underwater) when fluid floats the contact off your eye momentarily.

The Parkway is good for hill work: ~.75 miles of big downhill, then a steady 1 mile+ climb up to the neighborhood via a wooded road. Aside from some traffic rushing by on the Parkway I did not see anyone else on the usually crowded pathway that neighbors walk before they head to Starbucks in the morning. The holiday and the rain must have kept them away. I really enjoy looking up on the hill and seeing the forest mixed with pacific madrone. Aesthetically, it is my favorite tree. The ponds, used to detain surface water coming off the neighborhood, is a great place to see birds in the cattails. In fact, there are cattails all over that hill; they seem out of place.

On the return, I contemplated doing my own stress test on the hill next week. I have never attempted to figure out my max heart rate. On a podcast earlier in the week, I heard about a 1/2 hour routine to assess heart rate zones. We will give it a shot soon - 20 minute warmup, 5 minute ladder, full-out on a hill, assess the pulse, and later, breakdown the zones. I know the local running store does it too - for a price. I will try my way first and see how close I come.

At work later, I wrote down my marathon schedule in a penciled grid-like calendar I created. 19 weeks! I have put it into an Excel spreadsheet before, but I do not think I am going to be to critical of my training for this upcoming race on May 3rd. Although my back feels better, I continue to work on it in yoga and crosstraining. I do, however, intend to keep a log as part of my running ritual.