Breaking Away

Have fun in (central) Oregon!

Mike MacLellan wrote:Have fun in (central) Oregon!

Thanks, Mike! I'm looking forward to getting away from it all and just enjoying the outdoors.

"Run" - About 2 miles

Weather: Clear, sunny, cool, a little humid. 51 degrees, 93% humidity. Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fuel: Banana and coffee. Didn't need any fluids on run.

When my body doesn't want to run, I wish it would leave me a note next to my alarm so I didn't have to drag my butt out of bed after a night shift only to have that butt go on strike once I started to run. Each step was like a body blow (luckily there was nobody to hear me go "oof! oof! oof!"), so I stopped, tried to loosen up more and try again, a little slower. That worked, sort of, and I decided to keep going to see if I could work out whatever sludge I had in my legs. No dice. I went out a mile and then headed back home.

I'm not sure how much running I'll be able to do next week, but that might not be such a bad thing.

I'll be out in the boonies for a while without web access. So, until I come back -hopefully with some good photos and amusing stories - I'll leave it to this little guy to keep things moving along.

Mark B wrote:I'll be out in the boonies for a while without web access. So, until I come back -hopefully with some good photos and amusing stories - I'll leave it to this little guy to keep things moving along.

The little guy seems to have a mid-foot strike, is wearing minimilast running shoes, and is keeping within his target heart-rate. It's like you never left!

Hopefully you are having some fun.

Glenn wrote:

Mark B wrote:I'll be out in the boonies for a while without web access. So, until I come back -hopefully with some good photos and amusing stories - I'll leave it to this little guy to keep things moving along.

The little guy seems to have a mid-foot strike, is wearing minimilast running shoes, and is keeping within his target heart-rate. It's like you never left!

I thought heart rate monitors were supposed to go around your chest, not your forehead...? Maybe that's why mine goes wonky so often.

Well, that wasn't quite the vacation I expected....

The surprises started out the day we left, when Alec woke up with a sore throat and a slight fever. His condition went progressively downhill until, on the second day of the trip, he was barfing until he hit dry heaves in the back seat of the car and was as miserable as we've seen him. Day 3 was spent resting and trying to recuperate while Alita and I crossed our fingers hoping we didn't catch it next.

And then there's the Check Engine light that came on...

Anyway, we survived (and the car didn't break down in the 1,000 miles it travelled over the past week) and things got better. We hung out at a cabin near La Pine, Oregon, rockhounded with relatives and mined for thunder eggs, obsidian and sunstones in far-flung parts of Central and Eastern Oregon. I got to see parts of the state I've never seen before, including the big empty that is "Oregon's Outback" and Abert Rim, a jaw-droppingly huge fault block scarp that leaps pretty much 2,500 feet straight up.


Abert Rim (borrowed image)


I did a little running, but not much. I did about 4 miles along the Deschutes River amid stands of ponderosa pine, and ran for about a miles near the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge about 25 miles north of the tiny Eastern Oregon town of Plush in 90+ heat.

This photo shows that Oregon isn't ALL wet....



And here I am caught on a brief jog the day before, somewhere near Riley, Ore., as my relatives were looking for obsidian.



And here's a photo I took with my cell phone during my run along the Deschutes River (it's also where I took my new avatar photo):



There are a LOT more photos (nearly 500), but I'll spare you my "what I did on my summer vacation" slideshow.

Well, except this last shot of a golden mantled ground squirrel who apparently has had model training!



These little guys were busy packing in whatever food they could get their little paws on, which must mean they're already thinking about getting ready for a change in the seasons.

In that same vein, I see by the calendar that I'm now about 18 weeks away from the Tecumseh Trail Marathon, so I guess it's about time to make like a squirrel and start thinking more long-term, too, eh? I suppose I'll figure something out.

More on that later.

(ps Thanks for the during-vacation visits, Jim, Glenn and Mike!)

Barfing offspring aside, it sounds like you had a good time, Mark! Nice candid of you on a run, but are those... NORMAL shorts?!

Mike MacLellan wrote:Nice candid of you on a run, but are those... NORMAL shorts?!

Uh, yeah. You caught me. There wasn't really an opportunity to switch into running attire out there, so I just went as-is.

Cool pictures Mark. Too bad your son was so sick.

Jim Lentz wrote:Cool pictures Mark. Too bad your son was so sick.

Thanks, Jim. The timing was horrible, but once we made it to the cabins, at least we could send the relations out to do things while Alec hung out and recuperated. It was a nice quiet day, and it made a big difference for him. It helped that one of his cousins (age 14) stayed behind and taught him how to play rummy.



The "Fedora of Awesomeness" was hers.

Missed your blogs while away - thanks for the GREAT pictures. The kids picture brings back memories of when I was a kid - they will remember this for a long time coming I'm sure. One of us kids always ended up barfing on vacation too - what is up with that? I see you got your ears lowered too! Good luck in your upcoming training.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Missed your blogs while away - thanks for the GREAT pictures. The kids picture brings back memories of when I was a kid - they will remember this for a long time coming I'm sure. One of us kids always ended up barfing on vacation too - what is up with that? I see you got your ears lowered too! Good luck in your upcoming training.

Thanks, John!

It's funny you mention kids barfing on vacation. I remember one time, years ago, when I got violently ill while sleeping in the top bunk in our travel trailer. Yes. I said top bunk. Guess who was right below me, and began to sit up and look and see what the problem was at. exactly. the. wrong. time? Yup. My dad. Imagine his surprise.

Suffice it to say, we spent much of the next hour in the camp shower room.

And yes, I did finally get a haircut. It had been four months since my last trim, and my barber swore it was getting a little mulletesque.

Hey Mark welcome back!

Sorry to read about the rough start to the vacation but glad to see that it all worked out in the end. Really liked the photos you posted. Really like the new avatar one.

Nice to see that you took a little break from running also, hope you are finding yourself back into the swing of things.

Schuey wrote:Hey Mark welcome back!

Sorry to read about the rough start to the vacation but glad to see that it all worked out in the end. Really liked the photos you posted. Really like the new avatar one.

Nice to see that you took a little break from running also, hope you are finding yourself back into the swing of things.

Thanks, Schuey! On balance, it turned out to be a good vacation with lots of good experiences and eye-popping scenery.

Right now, I'm giving myself a headache trying to figure out the best way to approach training for a trail marathon. I already know I'll need to do most of my long runs on trails and add regular hill workouts to the mix, but most trail-oriented plans out there are aimed at the 50k distance or beyond.

I could amp up a marathon plan, or I could downgrade a 50k plan, or I could just wing it.

Hm. What to do, what to do...

(Yes, I'd be happy to see your suggestions. Hint, hint.)

Mark B wrote:

Schuey wrote:Hey Mark welcome back!

Sorry to read about the rough start to the vacation but glad to see that it all worked out in the end. Really liked the photos you posted. Really like the new avatar one.

Nice to see that you took a little break from running also, hope you are finding yourself back into the swing of things.

Thanks, Schuey! On balance, it turned out to be a good vacation with lots of good experiences and eye-popping scenery.

Right now, I'm giving myself a headache trying to figure out the best way to approach training for a trail marathon. I already know I'll need to do most of my long runs on trails and add regular hill workouts to the mix, but most trail-oriented plans out there are aimed at the 50k distance or beyond.

I could amp up a marathon plan, or I could downgrade a 50k plan, or I could just wing it.

Hm. What to do, what to do...

(Yes, I'd be happy to see your suggestions. Hint, hint.)

Well you could wing it Mark but I think what you could do is combine a 50k training plan with a marathon training plan. Even then I think you could still get away with doing a marathon training plan for this race.

Why do I say that? My first thought is that you are still doing the marathon distance 26.2 miles. The difference here is that it will be a trail marathon compared to a road marathon. So as for training mileage I think you could still stay in the range that you have been or increase your mileage a little. You are already on to what you have to do new and that would be do a let's say your mid-week and weekend long run on the trails. Now if you wanted to do a third run on the trails maybe you do a fartlek run on the trails to get use to running a little faster on them.

When I say combine the 50k and marathon program, I'm talking about looking at what the approach is for training for the 50k but using a marathon plan for the mileage. Just a thought on the subject. If I run across any good reading on the subject I will pass it your way.

If you look in my blog Kevin gave me some good advice on what to do as far a hitting trails for training since part of JFK is on technical trails.

Schuey wrote:Well you could wing it Mark but I think what you could do is combine a 50k training plan with a marathon training plan. Even then I think you could still get away with doing a marathon training plan for this race.

Why do I say that? My first thought is that you are still doing the marathon distance 26.2 miles. The difference here is that it will be a trail marathon compared to a road marathon. So as for training mileage I think you could still stay in the range that you have been or increase your mileage a little. You are already on to what you have to do new and that would be do a let's say your mid-week and weekend long run on the trails. Now if you wanted to do a third run on the trails maybe you do a fartlek run on the trails to get use to running a little faster on them.

When I say combine the 50k and marathon program, I'm talking about looking at what the approach is for training for the 50k but using a marathon plan for the mileage. Just a thought on the subject. If I run across any good reading on the subject I will pass it your way.

If you look in my blog Kevin gave me some good advice on what to do as far a hitting trails for training since part of JFK is on technical trails.

Good thoughts, Schuey. I've been thinking about something like that, so maybe I'll start experimenting with that concept. My hope is to build on the trail marathon training and take a stab at ultra distances next year. I'll peek at your blog for ideas. I'm also looking at some of the 50k plans in "Relentless Forward Progress" by Bryon Powell of irunfar.com fame. (good book, and site)

BTW, I just posted up a whole passel of photos from our vacation at my .Mac photo gallery site.


I mean, really: Who could resist an album that includes flaming marshmallows?

Glad you had a great time on vacation despite the bad start. Very cool pics and that marshmellow pic looks pretty cool!

Mark, welcome back. Sorry to read about the rough start to the trip, but it looks like it all turned out well, and the photos are beautiful. I hope you all had a good time.

As for the trail marathon training, since I do the great majority of my running on trails, the only thing I'd add is that there's not much you need to do differently, especially if the marathon is on smooth, non-technical trails. Otherwise, I'd say just get out on the trails as much as possible, which it looks like you're already doing. I don't think you need to over-think this training and change too much of your routine. I think you're going to really enjoy this.

Easy Run: About 6 miles

Weather: Sunny, cool, a slight breeze. 55 degrees (about 90% humidity). Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fuel: Carrots and coffee before. Didn't carry water.

Okay... it's now 18 weeks before Tecumseh, so it's time to start getting back into the swing of things. I haven't put together a plan yet, so I decided to go out for about 5 miles and see how it felt. I ended up doing 6, and it felt pretty good. I've been spending this summer working on improving my form. It'll probably take quite a while to complete the transition, but I think I'm making progress. At one point, I tried to do a full heel-to-toe transition and, while it felt familiar, it felt pretty weird. I'm taking that as a good sign.

Joel H wrote:Glad you had a great time on vacation despite the bad start. Very cool pics and that marshmallow pic looks pretty cool!

Hey, Joel! It turned out all right, though the first day and a half were fairly hellish. Whatever bug Alec picked up, it was a nasty one. But luckily for everybody, not particularly virulent. (Whew!)

I had fun taking the flaming marshmallow photos. The best part was popping that baby into my mouth, grossing out my nieces. It's fun being the crazy uncle.

Seth Harrison wrote:Mark, welcome back. Sorry to read about the rough start to the trip, but it looks like it all turned out well, and the photos are beautiful. I hope you all had a good time.

As for the trail marathon training, since I do the great majority of my running on trails, the only thing I'd add is that there's not much you need to do differently, especially if the marathon is on smooth, non-technical trails. Otherwise, I'd say just get out on the trails as much as possible, which it looks like you're already doing. I don't think you need to over-think this training and change too much of your routine. I think you're going to really enjoy this.

Thanks, Seth. Overthink things, me? P'shaw!

I think there are a few trickier parts in Tecumseh, but the trails out here ought to be good practice. I may work in some hill repeats (there's a particularly steep stretch of road near my house that would work well), do my long runs on trails and gravitate toward hillier routes for non-recovery runs. I'd love to do more runs on trails, but that's not practical given my schedule (especially when I'm doing runs on dark October mornings).

Mark B wrote:Easy Run: About 6 miles

Weather: Sunny, cool, a slight breeze. 55 degrees (about 90% humidity). Gear: Testers, shorts, T. Fuel: Carrots and coffee before. Didn't carry water.

Okay... it's now 18 weeks before Tecumseh, so it's time to start getting back into the swing of things. I haven't put together a plan yet, so I decided to go out for about 5 miles and see how it felt. I ended up doing 6, and it felt pretty good. I've been spending this summer working on improving my form. It'll probably take quite a while to complete the transition, but I think I'm making progress. At one point, I tried to do a full heel-to-toe transition and, while it felt familiar, it felt pretty weird. I'm taking that as a good sign.

Glad you felt good on the run. Some lovely picture in your blog. 18 weeks the smell of a new cycle is it?

Kenny B. wrote:18 weeks the smell of a new cycle is it?

Yep, Kenny, a new cycle. Now, that makes me a little nervous, considering how training cycles have gone for me lately. So this time, I'm going to try to keep it as simple as possible. Hills, trails, distance and recovery. I'll try to follow a logical pattern and progression throughout, but I hope to avoid a slavish devotion to regimentation.