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January 31, 2006
Blah
Today's entry was lost due to a lack of proper internet connection. Oh well lots of blah blah blah...200 miles in January, hoping for 220 miles in February. Still dark and raining here.
Weekly Mileage: 9 miles so far; YTD: 199.5 miles; $ Raised for LLS: $220
Posted by james at 9:22 PM | Comments (2)
January 29, 2006
Running in new places
Yesterday I finally made it to the Mercer Slough. Its one of the places I should have gone to awhile ago. I guess since its half way to Cougar Mountain, I've always just kept driving. Yesterday I was looking for something a little less hilly. Having never been there before made for an interesting run, but it also meant that half the time I had no idea where I was going. There were several large map signs, but none that you could carry with you and once I left the Slough to get an an extra mile I ended up getting an extra 4 plus some serious hills.
Today I had to get up early to beat the rain, but it made easier as since I got to try out the new running gear I bought yesterday. The size L shorts I bought didn't fit though, I guess the 10lbs I put on all went ot my hips. Now I have to make another trip back to the Slough area to exchange the shorts. Like the Seahawks I'm going to XL.
Somehow I managed to make this the 9th straight week of my buildup in milage. I will have to start thinking about overuse injuries soon. Last week we were talking about doing 3 weeks hard then 1 week recovery to protect against injuries and give your body time to adjust to the new stress of higher mileage. I certainly haven't followed that program, but I have had a few short breaks like last week when I had 3 of 5 days off. I also have the advantage of 20,000 miles in the last 10 years. So I don't really start the whole periodization until I get up over 60 miles per week. I certainly wouldn't recommend my build up to most runners, but its working for me so far and I've been working hard to get in lots of stretching and next on the list is to get some of my 6 pack back while losing the 10 lbs I gained since August.
Weekly Mileage: 51; YTD: 190.5 miles; $ Raised for LLS: $220
Sun: 13 miles, Totem Lake to Bridle Trails (thanks for the correction Alison)
Sat: 13.5 miles, Mercer Slough
Fri: 8 miles, north 8 loop
Thurs: 7.5 miles, Central Park
Wed: 9 miles, Greenlake
Tues: 0 miles
Mon: 0 miles
Posted by james at 5:21 PM | Comments (4)
January 26, 2006
Temporarily Not Slacking
My running didn't get off to a great start this week. After working 13 hours on Monday and 15 hours on Tuesday I was sitting at 0 miles going into Wednesday. One of the reason that I enjoy teaching is the flexibility. But when grade reports are due, it requires a ton of extra work on top of the normal work load and there's no putting it off. I was fairly depressed that I missed running on Tuesday, the only sunny day we've had in months.
The kick-off party/reception for my Team in Training marathon was in Seattle Wednesday night so I dashed over to Green Lake at the earliest possible moment and ran three laps for 9 miles. I felt like poo most of the run and it was dark, cold and wet. Not a pleasant beginning to the night. The reception party was very nice though. I met my mentor, who will hopefully help me to continue raising my $4400 by June. Our first team practice is on Saturday. Tonight, at 7:30 pm, I managed to sneak in a late run, definately a non slacker run considering the 30 mph wind gusts, rain, and darkness. I can't take a third day off this week, two is already more than I should take off.
Weekly Mileage: 24.5 so far; YTD: 164 miels; $ Raised for LLS: $220
Sun:
Sat:
Fri: 8 miles, north 8 loop
Thurs: 7.5 miles, Central Park
Wed: 9 miles, Greenlake
Tues: 0 miles
Mon: 0 miles
Posted by james at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2006
Seahawks attack!
Another great run this morning at Cougar Mountain. This time I ran with a nice group of 6-7 runners. Pretty muddy and very hilly trails made for over 2 hours to get in 12 miles. Another good week for me in the mileage column. As the days get longer and the weather better things are looking up.
I want to especially thank Alison and Beth for officially getting my fundraising started! Its great to get off to a fast start. Also, Happy belated birthday to Alison, only 5 days late this year, I'm getting better.
Now on to cheering for the Seahawks! I'll cheer for the Steelers too, can't wait for the Superbowl matchup of the Steel curtain agianst the Teal curtain :)
Weekly Mileage: 47 so far; YTD: 139.5; $ Raised for LLS: $120
Sun: 12 miles
Sat: 6 miles, Mill Creek with ESR
Fri: 8 miles, Central Park
Thurs: 4.5 miles, North Creek Loop
Wed: 8.5 miles, TT, 6x3:00 (6:00 pace to 5:30 pace)
Tues: 0 miles
Mon: 8 miles, Cougar Mountain
Posted by james at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2006
Remembering Numbers
Big news today...
I am officially signed up for Team in Training!
I am signed up to run the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Alaska, June 17th. I am really excited to be a part of the TNT organization. I might even change my blog name from Slackers running blog if i get really motivated! While training between now and mid-June all of us on Team In Training are also raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.
Most of you reading this have probably heard of TNT so I'll spare you the particulars, but I will say that I've never heard anything bad about them. Tying my training and trip to Alaska together with a meaningful cause for everyone is an opportunity I could not pass up. I have a web site that makes donations easy, anyone can give, maybe you. So in addition to my weekly mileage total and YTD mileage, I'll be adding "$ raised for LLS" to my training log.
www.active.com/donate/tntwaak/jjohnson2006
A good run with the Eastside Runners up in Mill Creek this morning. The pace was pretty relaxed and a good recovery day run. Tomorrow I'm planning on running Cougar mountain with Seattle Running Company's group which is usually a lot more challenging for me.
Weekly Mileage: 35 so far; YTD: 127.5; $ Raised for LLS: $0
Sun: ??
Sat: 6 miles, Mill Creek with ESR
Fri: 8 miles, Central Park
Thurs: 4.5 miles, North Creek Loop
Wed: 8.5 miles, TT, 6x3:00 (6:00 pace to 5:30 pace)
Tues: 0 miles
Mon: 8 miles, Cougar Mountain
Posted by james at 7:22 PM | Comments (2)
January 17, 2006
Monday Mud Run
Lots of fun running in the mud at Cougar mountain. I of course got lost several times even though I had a map. My plan was really just to run aimlessly for 40 minutes and then try to find the way back to my car using the map. I made it back after three wrongs made a right and in 25 minutes.
Mon: 8 miles, Cougar Mountain
Posted by james at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2006
7 in a row
Yeah for my 7th week in a row of improved running.
Week Total: 44, 2K6: 92.5
Sun: 5 miles, Juanita short loop
Sat: 12 miles, Bill's loop
Fri: 0 miles
Thurs: 8 miles, TT
Wed: 7.5 miles, Central Park
Tues: 6.5 miles, TT
Mon: 5 miles, TT
Posted by james at 4:06 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2006
Go Seahawks!
Slow run this morning, but only a little rain and good mileage padding. I need 2 miles tomorrow to make this week my 7th week in a row of bumping up my mileage. Could next week be my first week over 50 since early September? Well I have a short week as far as work goes. Its finals week so I'll be done with school at noon, giving me the chance to run during daylight hours. Tomorrow there's a slight chance that we'll end our 28 day rain streak here. I'm hoping it does rain tomorrow, it hardly seems worth going this long without setting the record (33 days) and its supposed to rain hard through next week for sure, so if it rains tomorrow we'll get it.
Week Total: 39 so far, 2K6: 87.5
Sun: ??
Sat: 12 miles, Bill's loop
Fri: 0 miles
Thurs: 8 miles, TT
Wed: 7.5 miles, Central Park
Tues: 6.5 miles, TT
Mon: 5 miles, TT
Posted by james at 5:42 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2006
Rain Rain go away
3 days on the treadmill this week, boo hoo. The rain is supposed to have a few breaks this weekend, so I'm going to take tonight off and run tomorrow in the daylight between downpours. Much less depressing!
It could be worse though, I checked the rain totals for the month and despite getting rain here everyday since December 19th, my sister that lives on the coast has endured the same streak with double the amount of rain!
Hang in there Sis! At least the days are getting longer...soon it will be light even after work.
Fri: 0 miles
Thurs: 8 miles, TT
Wed: 7.5 miles, Central Park
Tues: 6.5 miles, TT
Mon: 5 miles, TT
Posted by james at 4:43 PM | Comments (1)
January 10, 2006
Terrible Treadmills
Funny that Alison should mention that she's been working out for free. I've been taking the same tact this winter. 23 days in a row of rain and another two weeks in the forecast finally convinced me to start looking for places to run on the terrible treadmill (TT). Having logged about 2000 miles on treadmills in the past 4 years I was hoping to avoid it this year in my new location.
I started last week with a 7 day trial at the local 24hr fitness. I didn't like it there very much because the treadmills were old and too noisy. Also the TVs were in very inconvenient locations and lacking sound access. I like to be able to flip between my music and a good basketball or football game. Finally, the treadmill locations left me with three choices, 2 feet infront of a 4' mirror on a wall, which meant I was staring at my legs the whole time, next to the women's locker room entrence (sketchy feeling), and looking into the parking lot. The parking lot choice would have been alright but the radio signal didn't exist in that corner for some reason. So I ended up staring at my legs. Overall making the treadmill scene more terrible than usual.
Yesterday I started my two week trial at Bally's Total fitness. So far the treadmills seem much better. I ran 5 miles yesterday and I'm thinking about going back today (today is rainy and 30 mph winds). The set up is much nicer. All treadmills facing TVs that you don't have to crank your neck to see and have radio signal sound. The cardio room is a little small feeling and the drinking fountain is a bit of a hike, but that's why I have a water bottle. The only other observation I made while at Bally's was that there seems to be a higher percentage of really out of shape people, but maybe that has to more with the whole new year's resolution thing.
I have a couple more clubs to investigate before I run out of free trials, hopefully I can make it through to March without actually having to pay anything. After that it should be light late enough to make running in the rain slightly less depressing.
Tues: ?
Mon: 5 miles, TT
Week 2: 40.5 miles, 2K6: 48.5 miles
Sun: 0 miles
Sat: 15.5miles, 25K Western Washington Fat-Ass 25K
Fri: 5 miles, Jaunita Loop
Posted by james at 10:59 AM | Comments (2)
January 6, 2006
SaturdaySaturdaySaturday, MudMudMud, RunRunRun
I shouldn't call it a race since my goals are to A) not get lost and B) not get hurt. Not really racing, just going for the experience and the good workout.
The run was a bit better than expected in that a race didn't develop, so I was able to run with the lead group of 8 for the first 83 minutes. Then I rolled my ankle and couldn't keep the same pace. That was unfortunate, but probably good, 'cause I think the leaders started dukeing it out on the mad downhilll scramble and I was plenty sore after running slowly down with my weak ankle. I also stopped for a pee break and got lost in the upper parking lot trying to figure out how to get back to the start finish in the lower parking lot. This all added up to about 7 minutes lost to the lead group over the last hour. I placed 8th or 9th and felt really good about the run. Definately worth draggin my "fat-ass" out of bed.
The course was a little more than brutal. Several walking breaks were necessary, although if it wasn't so muddy and I was in better shape I could have walked a lot less. The first 25 minutes were fairly flat with a short downhill. then we ran up steep grade and switchbacks for 35 minutes, followed 5 minutes later by another 10 minutes of uphill. Then we bombed downhill (where I blew out my ankle), followed by a couple more shorter ups and downs, and after that before the final downhill that took like 20 minutes.
After twisting the ankle I started running through the puddles of water instead of around. First to help ice the ankle so it wouldn't swell and second because tiptoeing around them didn't seem like a good idea with the weak ankle.
Thanks for the good luck Alison, how's 40.5 miles this week look? Can I take tomorrow off or do I need to run again to keep up?
Sat: 15.5miels, 25K Western Washington Fat-Ass 25K
Fri: 5 miles, Jaunita Loop
Thurs: 8 miles, Central Park
Wed: 8 miles, Bridal Trails
Tues: 6 miles, TT
Mon: 0 miles
Posted by james at 10:47 PM | Comments (3)
January 4, 2006
Midweek
Nice Mud hoggin at bridal trails today :)
Wed: 8 miles, Bridal Trails
Tues: 6 miles, TT
Mon: 0 miles
Posted by james at 4:33 PM | Comments (1)