Breaking Away

Hill Repeats: About 5.5 miles

Weather: Overcast, some light rain. 54 degrees. Gear: FR2s, shorts, T. Fuel: Carrots and coffee before. Ran without fluids.

Back to the hills again today. This time, I tried for hill repeats, going up and over a hill near my house. It offers a longish, steep climb up one side, and a fairly steep, but shorter climb back up from the other side. Sort of a long-short-long-short combo. I like the variety, but it takes a longer. I wanted to do three circuits up and over the hill (which I guess would actually be six repeats) but I only had time to do two (four repeats total). Next time, maybe I'll just pop a U-turn at the top of the hill and focus on only the longer, steep side.

Here's how the course looks with the long-short repeat sequence.



Still, this felt pretty good. The foot and ankle keep getting better, bit by bit.

I'll probably go longer on Friday. Still on hills, though. This is kinda fun.

Good to hear that the foot and ankle continue to improve.

Glad to hear your ankle isn't rejecting hills. Be careful when you start feeling fatigued on them, as sloppy form + hills = lots of joint impact.

Jim Lentz wrote:Good to hear that the foot and ankle continue to improve.

Thanks, Jim! I don't want to jinx it, but I think it's safe to say I'm hugely relieved.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Glad to hear your ankle isn't rejecting hills. Be careful when you start feeling fatigued on them, as sloppy form + hills = lots of joint impact.

Good point, Mike. It's probably good that I'm not charging up a 2,000-foot mountain quite yet. At this point, smaller hills may be as much about refining form and core strength as building mountain goat legs.

Hey Hey came in to say hi and see how things are going. Glad to see that you are back out running! I hope that things continue to get better for you and that your training keeps progressing.

Schuey wrote:Hey Hey came in to say hi and see how things are going. Glad to see that you are back out running! I hope that things continue to get better for you and that your training keeps progressing.

Hey, Schuey! Thanks for the visit. Things seem to be going okay so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I test my limits.

Speaking of testing my limits...

Hilly Run: 8.4 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, mild, a little muggy. 56 degrees, 92% humidity. Gear: FR2s, shorts, T. Fuel: Carrots and coffee. Carried handheld with nuun.

I'm not going to be able to do a longer run this weekend, so I pushed up the distance and challenge level of my run this morning. I headed out into the hill country north of where I live and ran until it felt like I needed to turn around, then headed back. I had a rough idea of how far I'd gone, but I wasn't sure how far I went until I came back and mapped it out. Sort of an anti-Garmin thing.

There was little level terrain on this run, and I had the most peculiar realization about 5 or 6 miles in when I realized I could actually FEEL my gluteus medius working. Peculiar, but cool. I worked to maintain a smooth effort level up the hills and try to keep as light a foot strike as possible on the downhills. Of which there were... more than a few.




With 854 feet of climbing and 1,709 feet of total elevation change, I think I'm gonna feel this tomorrow.

Nice run Mark. Do you actually carry coffee with you? I want to know how you accomplish that so I can do it too. I'm not sure carrots are the best fuel for the run. You might want to rethink that one.

Stopping by - forgot to tell you great news and congratulations to your
wife and her new job. Budgeting peace of mind is a huge weight lifted!
Can't imagine trail runs in the dark would be a good idea for someone
recovering from an ankle injury!

Nice run too - things seem to be progressing wonderfully.

T Miller wrote:Nice run Mark. Do you actually carry coffee with you? I want to know how you accomplish that so I can do it too. I'm not sure carrots are the best fuel for the run. You might want to rethink that one.

No, silly. I have the coffee (and sometimes, carrots) BEFORE the run. It sort of bumps my blood sugar up a bit and gets the system moving so I don't have to duck behind a bush somewhere. And believe it or not, for shorter midweek runs, a handful of carrots is actually pretty effective. (Don't knock it 'till you try it!) I do oatmeal for long weekend runs, but it's too much for something short.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Stopping by - forgot to tell you great news and congratulations to your wife and her new job. Budgeting peace of mind is a huge weight lifted! Can't imagine trail runs in the dark would be a good idea for someone recovering from an ankle injury!

Nice run too - things seem to be progressing wonderfully.

Thanks, John. The job was great news. A little predictability goes a long ways.

You're right on trail running in the dark. I have a headlamp, but I'm not so sure I want to press my luck.

Another nice run, Mark.

Jim Lentz wrote:Another nice run, Mark.

Thanks, Jim. It's hard to believe what a great hill route I had so close to where I lived. I avoided it like the plague for years when I was doing low HR workouts... but I'm really enjoying the challenge now.

Well.. okay.. I may not be enjoying it so much when I'm three-quarters of the way up a big hill and breathing on every other step... but I know it's good for me.

1. I'm laughing at your "oatmeal is too much" comment, since I eat a huge bowl of oatmeal every morning, regardless of run length. I agree, sometimes it's too much, but old habits die hard.
2. I thought that breathing-every-other-step intensity level was the reason we ran hills to begin with...?

I think your recent runs are showing me that I could venture farther north someday without completely losing my mountains, if the desire struck!

Mike MacLellan wrote:1. I'm laughing at your "oatmeal is too much" comment, since I eat a huge bowl of oatmeal every morning, regardless of run length. I agree, sometimes it's too much, but old habits die hard.
2. I thought that breathing-every-other-step intensity level was the reason we ran hills to begin with...?

I think your recent runs are showing me that I could venture farther north someday without completely losing my mountains, if the desire struck!

Hey Mike! My morning snack conundrum will resolve itself once Alec and Alita go back to school. Then, I'll be able to do more of my midweek runs after I've had a proper breakfast and got them on their way. My other concern about eating too big a morning snack is when I come back and have breakfast with my family. Second breakfasts! Mm. Good way to end up looking like hobbit.

And yes, sucking wind a bit is one of the goals. I've noticed my resting heart rate has fallen since I've started doing hills. The interesting thing is, none of the hills on my hilly nearby routes are so big as to require me to power hike. I'll need to practice doing that, at some point at least.

You'd like it up here. Well, until it was gray, 38 and drizzly for three months straight.

Power hiking is a good skill, indeed. I'm finding out that my calves are sorely undertrained for steep, steep hills, so I switch up my gait to a sort of side-shuffle every 10 steps. 10 straight, 10 with my left hip turned forward a bit, 10 with my right hip. Stretches the ITB at the same time and actually allows me to power up the hill much more efficiently.

38 might be a bit low, but I'm pretty sure that it was raining for close to 3 months here last year. Only difference is we had a high of low-50s and a low of 33.

And second breakfasts? Nothing wrong with that...

Mike MacLellan wrote:And second breakfasts? Nothing wrong with that...

If you're doing 100-mile weeks, that is...

Interesting how you sort of scuttle, crab-like, up the hills.

Believe me, it feels pretty stupid too. But hey, it works.

Mike MacLellan wrote:Believe me, it feels pretty stupid too. But hey, it works.

Actually, crab-walking might look a little like how I'm moving this morning after my roller-coaster run yesterday. No injuries... but my body is telling me that I made it work yesterday. Coolness.

I used to avoid the hills, but now I seek them out.

Jim Lentz wrote:I used to avoid the hills, but now I seek them out.

Me, too. Isn't it odd? They once seemed scary and difficult, but now, flat terrain seems... a little boring.

Today was my day to provide support for Alita in her half marathon. Unfortunately, a knee that had been wanting to give out on her during training runs went south at mile five, and she had to scale it way back to finish. She got it done, but she's pretty frustrated. Doesn't even feel like she broke a sweat.

Alec and I followed her around the course, cheering her on and slapping on a knee brace at Mile 6. It's hard to see someone you love struggle like that. Now I know how she feels

Hill Run: 3.86 miles

Weather: Sunny, warmish, muggy. 64 degrees, 72% humidity. Gear: FR2s, shorts, T. Fuel: Post breakfast. Carried no water.

My foot has been achy and uncomfortable for the past few days - possibly due to lack of activity more than overuse last week - so I was happy to see what sort of run I could squeeze in after the school bus drove away and before I had to get ready for work. I managed to get in about 3.8 miles, with a dandy hill smack dab in the middle.

The ankle never felt great through the run, but it did get a little better and never felt worse - even while going down some fairly steep slopes.



It'll do.

(BTW, Alita's knee is feeling better now.)

Hi Mark: Just checking in. Glad to see the ankle is servicable - if not 100%.

With St. George 3.5 weeks away, I've been obsessing about hills too. I think I've finally got a 10 mile pace run route scoped out that will closely mimic the elevation profile of miles 1 through 11 of the StG course: a 750 foot drop over 6.5 miles, a 220' climb over 1 mile, then a gentler climb with rollers the rest of the way. We'll find out Saturday morning.
Tell Alita congrats on the 1/2 marathon!

Glenn wrote:Hi Mark: Just checking in. Glad to see the ankle is servicable - if not 100%.

With St. George 3.5 weeks away, I've been obsessing about hills too. I think I've finally got a 10 mile pace run route scoped out that will closely mimic the elevation profile of miles 1 through 11 of the StG course: a 750 foot drop over 6.5 miles, a 220' climb over 1 mile, then a gentler climb with rollers the rest of the way. We'll find out Saturday morning.
Tell Alita congrats on the 1/2 marathon!

Hi, Glenn! Thanks for stopping by.

That sounds like a rugged route for a pace run. It ought to help harden you up for the descents at StG. In a weird way, though, it seems that a downhill pace run like this would almost serve the opposite purpose of a pace run on the flats - it'd teach your body to hit and hold a pace and not succumb to the temptation to run too fast, too soon. Good luck!

I will tell Alita congrats for you. She suffered a lot in the race, but her determination came through in this photo.



Alita's knee is doing better now, which is a relief. I'm thinking its more a muscular problem than a problem with the knee joint itself. It still can cause problems, but it should be easier to deal with over time.

I was a little sore yesterday after my run, but I may have to break the rule of day-on, day-off running I imposed after I hurt my foot/ankle so I can get a longer mid-morning run in this week. I'd normally do it tomorrow, but my schedule is screwy this week and I won't have time. Oh well. Maybe I'll go check out the llamas.*


*-One funny note. While I have llamas on my flat-to-rolling route, my super-hilly route has goats. Not mountain goats, mind you, but still...

Easy Run: About 7 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, warm, a little muggy. 68-72 degrees, 65% humidity. Gear: FR2s, shorts, singlet (!), hat to keep sweat out of my eyes. Fuel: Post-breakfast run. Carried nuun in handheld, took Gu after 3.5 miles.

After a series of hilly runs, I decided to see how my body reacted to a relatively flat (180 feet climbing, 364 feet of elevation change) run out to Llama Ridge and back. I'd run yesterday, so I didn't know how much pep I'd have in my legs. I was more concerned about my foot/ankle.

The foot/ankle seemed to handle the run fine. My legs, though, were pretty un-peppy. It was is if they were thinking, "Hey, what's this flat stuff? Were are the hills? You mean we have to go at a fairly even pace, rather than slow down and speed up? Aw..." I actually had to take a couple of brief walking breaks (it was pretty warm for me) and take a Gu to see if it'd help the sense of dead legs lift, but I finally worked into an easy groove that I was able to sustain.

One thing I've noticed lately - partly because of the hills, partly to avoid crashing down on my sore ankle - is that I'm doing more of a mid- to forefoot strike. I can feel my foot contact come closer to directly under my center of gravity, rather than hitting the brakes with every step. It feels a little awkward, and my butt muscles are feeling it, but I think it's a good thing. At least, I hope so.

Camelid report: As for my llama friends, Moe was munching on grass, but Larry was nowhere to be seen. I saw at least one of the alpacas next door (whether it was Curly or Shemp, I have no idea).