Breaking Away

I think having a goal to focus on is what makes it fun and not necessarily because it was difficult. Had you run the same challenging course without any kind of "direction" it may well have been hard, boring, and long.

Natalie Wolf wrote:I think having a goal to focus on is what makes it fun and not necessarily because it was difficult. Had you run the same challenging course without any kind of "direction" it may well have been hard, boring, and long.

Hm. You may be right, Natalie. I guess that means I need to make sure my runs include some cheap thrills along the way.

Mark B wrote:

Natalie Wolf wrote:I think having a goal to focus on is what makes it fun and not necessarily because it was difficult. Had you run the same challenging course without any kind of "direction" it may well have been hard, boring, and long.

Hm. You may be right, Natalie. I guess that means I need to make sure my runs include some cheap thrills along the way.

Hmmm...

You've gotta start bringing your camera on runs, Mark, so we can compare scenery

And assure your wife that by the time you run WS100, you'll have all the trail beta you could want from yours truly...

Glad you're still loving the trails.

Jim Lentz wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Natalie Wolf wrote:I think having a goal to focus on is what makes it fun and not necessarily because it was difficult. Had you run the same challenging course without any kind of "direction" it may well have been hard, boring, and long.

Hm. You may be right, Natalie. I guess that means I need to make sure my runs include some cheap thrills along the way.

Hmmm...

I think it'd be wise if I just let this subject drop.

Mike MacLellan wrote:You've gotta start bringing your camera on runs, Mark, so we can compare scenery

And assure your wife that by the time you run WS100, you'll have all the trail beta you could want from yours truly...

Glad you're still loving the trails.

Mike "Trail Beta" MacLellan. Hm. It works. Definitely has a better ring to it than "Crash Test Dummy."

I do carry a camera with me, actually. Except it's my cell phone, and it doesn't so so well in the dim light of the forest.

Still, here's a photo from today, halfway up a big climb:



The bottom of the hill is waaaay out of sight by this point, as was the summit.

And here is a photo from last week, showing one of the distance markers on the Wildwood Trail. Cascadia Trivia: You could never navigate by finding the mossy north side of a tree around here -- because moss grows on ALL sides of the tree.



That's it from the rain forest... for now.

Gorgeous!!!

Just checking in on my favorite Zen runner. Progress is nice - sounds like the hills are becoming more normal. Love the pictures when you are out - good stuff.

Natalie Wolf wrote:Gorgeous!!!

Thanks, Natalie! What's surprising is how much darker it is in the deep forest. There are parts of the trail where I had to go into hyper-focus to not trip over a rock, it was so dim. I guess that's why they use the Pacific Northwest as the setting for teenage vampire stories.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Just checking in on my favorite Zen runner. Progress is nice - sounds like the hills are becoming more normal. Love the pictures when you are out - good stuff.

Thanks, John! I am making progress, though my feet and ankles have a way to go before I can claim mountain goat (or even llama) status. I managed to twist both of them within seconds of each other out there this morning. Not seriously, but enough to leave me a little sore tonight.

Nice looking trail!

As usual, beautiful pictures...sounds like you are having fun too! Keep it up and WS100 will be here before you know it.

ChasMcG wrote:Nice looking trail!

Thanks, Chas! I've seen some of the mountains you've been climbing, and I'm envious. Those vistas are breathtaking.

Joel H wrote:As usual, beautiful pictures...sounds like you are having fun too! Keep it up and WS100 will be here before you know it.

Fun is good, Joel, and I've had pretty good luck so far mixing things up. Don't hold your breath on Western States, though I have a brother-in-law and a group of friends who live in that area and would make the most enthusiastic crew anybody could hope for.

Great pictures, Mark.

Mark B wrote:

Joel H wrote:As usual, beautiful pictures...sounds like you are having fun too! Keep it up and WS100 will be here before you know it.

Fun is good, Joel, and I've had pretty good luck so far mixing things up. Don't hold your breath on Western States, though I have a brother-in-law and a group of friends who live in that area and would make the most enthusiastic crew anybody could hope for.

Mark - When you do Western States, I will come crew for you (if you would want me to)...just let me know when, ok?

Hope ankles and feet feel better you kinda need them for running.

Jim Lentz wrote:Great pictures, Mark.

Thanks, Jim! Taking pictures gives me a good excuse to catch my breath.

Joel H wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Joel H wrote:As usual, beautiful pictures...sounds like you are having fun too! Keep it up and WS100 will be here before you know it.

Fun is good, Joel, and I've had pretty good luck so far mixing things up. Don't hold your breath on Western States, though I have a brother-in-law and a group of friends who live in that area and would make the most enthusiastic crew anybody could hope for.

Mark - When you do Western States, I will come crew for you (if you would want me to)...just let me know when, ok?

It's a deal, Joel. Though by the time that happens, you might have to worry about tripping over your long, white beard.

Kenny B. wrote:Hope ankles and feet feel better you kinda need them for running.

Thanks, Kenny! They were in good enough condition for a trip to the Nike Sports Research Lab this morning. I did a bunch of testing on different shoes, running fast repeats through a gauntlet of pressure plates and high-speed cameras. As I stood there between repeats, festooned with reflectors and with a big instrument pack around my abdomen, I gained a whole new appreciation for the lab rats of the world. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Wow Wow Wow! Thanks for sharing the pics!

Well I can grow a beard in about 4 days and I am already starting to get some grey...so you better get started training soon....

Mark B wrote:

As I stood there between repeats, festooned with reflectors and with a big instrument pack around my abdomen, I gained a whole new appreciation for the lab rats of the world. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Hey, sometimes us lab rats have it pretty good! (refers Mark to my last blog and shiny new marathon PR)

Good to see you're enjoying the trails and less structure. I assume you're not looking at HR at all anymore? Are you even gathering data for run over run comparison?

Peg Coover wrote:Wow Wow Wow! Thanks for sharing the pics!

My pleasure, Peg! Glad you like them.

Joel H wrote:Well I can grow a beard in about 4 days and I am already starting to get some grey...so you better get started training soon....

D'oh!

mul21 wrote:

Mark B wrote:

As I stood there between repeats, festooned with reflectors and with a big instrument pack around my abdomen, I gained a whole new appreciation for the lab rats of the world. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Hey, sometimes us lab rats have it pretty good! (refers Mark to my last blog and shiny new marathon PR)

Good to see you're enjoying the trails and less structure. I assume you're not looking at HR at all anymore? Are you even gathering data for run over run comparison?

Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only lab rat out there. There's even one whose name might seem familiar partway through this video tour of Nike's campus. I think I was wearing the same instrument belt today.




Now, as to HR data. I've put all that aside for now. I don't even wear a Garmin anymore. My mileage is all best-guess estimates (though probably pretty close to accurate), and I don't attempt to time how long it takes me to complete a mile... or even the whole run. I got tired of constantly scoring myself, so it feels nice now to simply get there when I get there.

So you and Kara move in the same circles. I'm impressed!
I'm watching that video wondering how I get a job in a place like that.

No garmin....you are truly going rogue on us! Very cool to hear. Now that is one cool facility...you lucky dog!

Hmmm. No Garmin, tried VFFs yesterday, running in the wild . . . Next it will be a loincloth and a running partner named Cheeta. Ungawa!

Seth Harrison wrote:So you and Kara move in the same circles. I'm impressed!
I'm watching that video wondering how I get a job in a place like that.

I've seen Kara (as well as her hubby and a few other elites I really ought to recognize) training on the Nike campus from time to time, but only at a distance. And yes... I've wondered what sort of thing I could do to work there, as well.

Joel H wrote:No garmin....you are truly going rogue on us! Very cool to hear. Now that is one cool facility...you lucky dog!

Yup. Totally unplugged. It's not that unusual, considering how I was somehow able to survive running for decades without empirical data. And it is a cool facility. I'm still kind of amazed how I lucked into this gig.

Tom H wrote:Hmmm. No Garmin, tried VFFs yesterday, running in the wild . . . Next it will be a loincloth and a running partner named Cheeta. Ungawa!

Heh. I think I'd need to do P90X before I could ever go all Tarzan on you, Tom. (Oh. That's a scary thought....) I have to say, though, I am not a fan of VFFs. The material between my toes felt really weird. I think if I was ever going to go "barefoot" style, I'd do it totally barefoot.

That is all.

Cool place.