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Last Sunday, Matt and I hit the backcountry near Crystal Mtn. and learned why ski areas are in such high demand. I wore myself out skinning up Bullion Basin to do my first backcountry turns on the new AT skis. It took us most of the day just to get to the top of the ridge and it took less than an hour to ski back down. If I was a little more cynical I would have to say I didn't get my money's worth on that downhill run! Then again, I didn't pay any money to get to the top and we nearly had the whole hillside to ourselves!!
Last weekend I learned:
1. The kick-turn in my AT gear is even harder than with my tele-gear
2. I have to lock into the bindings in order to step up steep hillsides
3. Skinny skins don't work so well on steep ice!!
4. No matter how hard it is to get to the top and no matter how crappy the conditions are for skiing down, I can still have a fun time!!!
It was awesome to get to the top of the hill and look out over the Cascades, thinking of all that country which is completely neglected in the winter time. How impossible would it be to do a little ski tour to some of my favorite summer destinations, like the Enchantments?? Just dreaming, I guess.
We got some great views of Mt. Rainier. Sure wish I could ski on Rainier this year. Because of the flood damage, I doubt anyone will be doing much skiing on the Mountain. The upper parts of the mountain are normally relatively people-free during the winter. But this winter may be extra special in that respect. I know the mountain doesn't really care, but I like to think about the vastness and coldness of that mountain, all alone. The mountain is a little too large and over-powering for me to take-it all in on a crowded summer day, let alone a frigid cold and completely lonely winter day. It just seems so extremely wild without the people. I want to visit! Sorry for the Rainier rambing, but I just finished reading The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier by Bruce Barcott. This was a very interesting book and I highly recommend it to non-fiction junkies (like myself).
Today I was just doing a little surfing when I stumbled onto the Chuckanut 50k website. I have to admit I haven't even thought about this race since last year when I ran it and dropped out due to an injury. So I was once again surprised to see that the race is already full and I have once again slept through a race start. I know it wasn't a literal race start, but with certain races it is quickly becoming obvious that the race begins long before the gun goes off, or in the case of Chuckanut, someone yells GO!
According to the website the Chuckanut race filled in only 2 weeks and this is for a race that is on the other side of winter, in March. A lot of NW runners I know are starting to enter the slow-down or downtime for the year otherwise known as the bad weather, dark day, holiday busy time of year, December. Not only have I been trying to take it easy so that I don't build up mileage too fast for next spring, I have been trying to soften my enthusiasm so that I don't enter races every weekend. But this approach has just backfired since I missed my chance to enter one of my favorite races. It is even more annoying when I remember that I tried to enter too late for the same race a year before last. At that time I was then offered a wait-listed spot after I had already written off the race and re-arranged my schedule.
Generally I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person who plans ahead. But these sorts of races and lottery type races like the Western States 100 mile are starting to chop my hide. Last spring I made a special effort to gain a highly coveted entry to the McKenzie River Trail Run. In order to gurantee entry I had to schedule my time just to download and entry form on the first day it was posted and mail it on the same day. In the end, my efforts to enter a great and fun race yielded nothing because I became injuried a couple months before the race and had to cancel.
Of course none of my problems have been a result of poor race management or bad race directing. In fact, these races only continue to run so smoothly because of great race directors (thanks RDs). Sometimes it is just so frustrating that I have to not only train for races, I have to put in so much time coming up with a race schedule.
I really should quit my whining. I already know that the answer is just to do what I can to have fun. That is after all, why I run races in the first place! So I will try to mellow out about which races I run and when I run them. In the end it doesn't matter if I get to run Western States in two years or twenty years. Someday I will run it and on that day, or the day after, when I finish, that race will mean no less to me at age 50 than at age 30.
Being that the weather has finally improved, I decided to go ahead with the Birthday Challenge and test out the 34 year old body. Amazingly I finished my self-imposed challenge, but not without quite a bit of pain. Most of that pain was in my hands, feet and butt (of all places) due to the cold temperatures. Fortunately, I am suffering no long-term effects. Didn't loose any fingers or toes, but my but is still a little sore, two days afterward!
The temperature at the beginning of the day was somewhere south of 40 degrees and by the end of the challenge my car thermometer read a balmy 35 degrees. Other than that the weather was near perfect, with only a slight breeze on the lake and sunny skies after morning fog.
I started out by biking counter-clockwise around Lake Washington (maybe 50 miles?). Due to the cold conditions I wore just about all of my bike gear and even wore two pairs of socks. I was in full bike nerd regalia! The biking went well except for the bitingly cold wind on my face and the associated numb fingers and toes. Obviously, I need some more gear! A face mask, shoe covers and chemical hand warmers would have made the ride far more comfortable. Time: 3:18
Transition/Aid Time: 29 minutes
Next, I unloaded the kayak from the car, reloaded the bike and paddled off into Lake Washington. The plan was to paddle around Mercer Island, taking the shortest route possible. This is the stage which most worried me since I have never paddled around Mercer Island and have never paddled the assumed distance of 14-15 miles. Just as I launched, a small fleet of sailboats sailed by which further unnerved me. If sailboats are going sailing it usually means there is going to be some wind on the water! Amazingly, the paddle went smoothly until the last hour or so when my but went numb and I had to negotiate some choppy water with a slight headwind. The real kicker came when I landed and went to stand up. My butt muscles, gluteus maximus and/or minimus, were so tight that I could hardly stand straight and bending over was extremely difficult. I can only guess that the cold weather in conjunction with the tired butt muscles (from biking) and the long sit had contributed to a major case of BUTTFREEZE!! Due to the buttfreeze and due to the fact that I had a case of uncontrollable shivers, I took my time re-hydrating and re-fueling before the next stage. Time 3:26
Transition/Aid Time: 59 minutes
The final stage: the glorious run which never became glorious was to be a roughly 12 or 13 mile counter-clockwise circling of the perimeter of Mercer Island. Before the challenge I was excited to do the run as it was the only stage which I felt semi-prepared. I have run around the perimeter of Mercer Island on many occassions and felt prepared to weather whatever mental anguish I would have from the day's trials and tribulations. I was however, not at all prepared for the BUTTFREEZE. As I started out running in the cold and the dark (it was after 5:30 PM - that is the beginning of night, around these parts) I quickly realized I couldn't stride normally. My glutes were tight and wouldn't allow me to actually run. My stride was more like a shuffle, the shuffle of an old and worn-out man! Thank goodness, after about a half-hour of shuffling along my glutes warmed up and I was able to really start running. I started enjoying the run as I jogged relatively slowly, south along the western side of Mercer Island. Unfortunately, the run quickly degenerated into a fast walk on the eastern side of Mercer Island as I was afflicted with a serious case of runner's trots. Due to the lack of facilities available I ended up quickly, and sometimes painfully, walking the last 4 or 5 miles to the closest portable toilet.
Time: 2:37
Total Time: 10:52
Total Time Moving: 9:24
To most people this sort of pain and suffering may sound absolutely unnecessary and probably a bit ridiculous, but at least to me and at least on this day, I am glad I did the birthday challenge. Not just because I am the type of individual who gets off on setting goals and accomplishing them. But, rather because sometimes, at least for me, it takes a test of my own physical limits before I truly feel ALIVE. Maybe I am just a superfeeler? This is just a theory I have which originates from something I heard about supertasters. I will not go into it here and now. Maybe later.
Based upon the Birthday Challenge I have concluded the following:
1. I am definately getting older. To truly test this theory I will need to do the same challenge again, sometime in the future. This probably won't happen as I have too many other challenges I would like to do, instead!
2. I would much rather do my birthday challenge during the summer! I might have to do next year's challenge a month or two before my birthday!
I cancelled my plans to do the b-day challenge today due to the cold and the rain! I am sure I will do it. Just not today! I feel terrible about cancelling, but . . . didn't want to do it so I didn't. I am going to go to my happy place now . . .
This information probably isn't necessary since I don't think anyone, except myself of course, is planning on coming to my Birthday Challenge. But just in case it matters to anyone, I think I will change the date of the challenge to Sunday Nov. 26. That way I can spend more time up in Bellingham for the holiday, my birthday, and for some possible skiing. I plan on trying to start the challenge at 8 AM on Sunday Nov. 26 at Enatai Beach park. I am guessing that the challenge segments will take the following time periods: bike 3 to 3.5 hours, kayak 3.5 to 4 hours, run 1.5 to 2 hours. I was going to try and create google maps of the segments, but this was not working out so well today. Maybe I will do this later. Happy Weekend!!
Since the election is over now and there isn't quite as much punditry, I will vent some of my own political frustration. I am not a big fan of Federalism, big government, Oligarchy or non-progressive politics, but the explosion of initiative politics is starting to piss me off! I think initiatives have their place, but currently they are being used as a political tool by extreme right-wing nutjobs. Take for instance Initiative 933 which was put before voters in Washington State. Basically the proponents of this initiative feel that government regulation of their property is an unfair "taking" of property. Therefore, these so-called private property defenders put up this initiative which would require government to pay private property owners if regulations diminish the value of their property or the potential value of their property as a result of their development schemes.
Unfortunately, for these idiots, nowhere in the constitution does it state that an individual has an inalienable right to build a nuclear power plant on their property. Government, when overseen correctly by elected representatives, has the right and the obligation to regulate the use of private property and it's effect on the general public. Should your neighbor be allowed to build a coal-fired power plant next door without the government protecting you from the health effects of the development. To take the argument even further, shouldn't the larger community have the right to decide what sort of development they will tolerate. Right now we do this by electing representative government which, when working correctly, is supposed to reflect the majority views. Sometimes these views aren't even the most rational ones. Look at school board decisions to teach Intelligent Design as an example.
What is new is that the extreme right-wingers have taken the initiative approach since they are a minority and their views will not be reflected in the elected representation. The idea seems to be write up an initiative which makes the government out to be an over-bearing bad guy and maybe, just maybe, enough stupid or un-informed voters will knee-jerk vote in their favor. Fortunately, in the case of I-933, the Washington State voters were smart enough to smell the rats, and soundly defeated the measure.
I am afraid, however, that someday someone, or some minority interest, will hijack our state's policies through the initiative process. It only takes some careful marketing to create a powerful "mob" rule. We live in a democracy not an ochlocracy!
Ok, I will get off my soapbox now!
photo courtesy of Glenn Tachiyama
(Warning this is primarily a boring training entry - sometimes it helps for me to write down my goals. That way I will be stuck with them until they are completed!)
This last week I started on a training program. I started the 24-week, more than 70 miles a week, schedule by Pfitzinger et al. I have done this program once before when I was training hard for marathons. I am thinking maybe if I just put in the miles and I take my time with the build-up I can really get ready for next summer's ultra season. I can hope, right?
So today I did a medium-long 15 mile run and didn't feel too bad, considering that I also did two 10+ mile runs this last week. Boy, I have forgotten how tired the legs can feel when consecutive distance days start to add up. Maybe this is what my legs need in order to toughen up. You know the old saying, what doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger. Well, I've appropriated this saying when it suits me to serve my training purposes. If I gradually beat up my legs all winter then maybe they won't get injured quite so easily next spring!
My preliminary goals are:
1. Birthday Challenge on Nov. 25, 2006
2. Yakima Canyon Marathon on March 31, 2007
3. Bighorn 100 on June 15, 2007
If I don't get injured I will probably do quite a few other races along the way, but this year I want to start with some small goals. No more of this racing every weekend, unless I feel like Superman!
Legs don't fail me now! (feet too!)
Check out this one lonesome deciduous tree in a sea of evergreens. Sometimes I feel like that tree might feel: Different (that is if a tree could be self-obsessed and somewhat insecure).
Of course I don't think that it is necessarily bad to feel different. But sometimes it sure can make a person feel lonely. I thought about this alot when I went for my run yesterday.
Fortunately, I had a great run and my outlook took a drastic change for the better. The run started out sopping wet and ended at least 10 miles later under a noticeably brighter and clearer evening sky. I almost didn't go running when I saw how hard it was raining, but since I only ran 4 miles on Wed. I thought I've gotta go burn off some calories. So I took off on one of my old office loops. One which I haven't done in ages. Most of the loop is on roads but fortunately has relatively few stoplights so I could keep going with very few interuptions. Just about everything felt right, including my attitude! It is a little weird when a 10 mile run is more relaxing than vegging out in front of the black box. But I will take it when I can get it!
Last weekend (Oct. 14-15) I raced the autumn/winter weather to see some more of my favorite country. I drove over to the Icicle Creek Road area on Saturday and took off running up Icicle and French Creek Canyons in order to visit Klonaqua Lakes. The goal was to get to these lakes, which are about 9.5 miles from the trailhead, toss a little fly line and admire the view of the surrounding mountains.
I found all the solitude and autumn color I was craving, as nearly every twig and tree in the creek valleys was some shade of red, orange, yellow or green and I only saw one couple and a dog. Most of the day saturday ominous clouds flew by overhead with brilliant flashes of ultra-blue sky in between. At the lakes the sun even beat down for about 1/2 an hour prompting a little sunbathing on the rocks near the water.
It seems that the fish have taken their vacation for the winter or have been taught enough lessons over the summer. I didn't see one fish, let alone catch one!
On Saturday I night I did a little car camping in the Icicle Creek Canyon. After a cold night with rain sprinkles I drove a few miles to meet a group of Seattle Running Club members at the Snow Creek trailhead. We then proceeded up to the Colchuk Lake trailhead where we started a one-way 18-mile run through the Enchantments.
Just before arriving at Colchuk Lake the rain began (about 3-4 miles) and then about 200 feet from the top of Asgard Pass the snow began! At the top of the pass five of us re-grouped, quickly ate, and donned every scrap of clothing we had while huddled behind a boulder. The snow was falling heavily with a significant portion of it blowing sideways! There was no discussion about waiting for the rest of the group. We had to keep going as some of us were in shorts!
Running on top of 4 to 5 inches of snow over rocks and boulders proved to be a little difficult but it ended up being a good traction test for our trail shoes, especially for Scott McCoubrey who was testing a beta pair of Filas. Fortunately, there were no catstrophic falls although I understand that Nick (Fila rep) ended up with a slight injury. Once I got warm, while running through the enchantments, the run became extraordinarily beautiful. The primary colors were white and gray due to the low clouds, rocks, and blowing snow. But every once and awhile the brilliant colors of the alpine larches would stand in stark contrast to the dull grey void. Not many people get to see the Enchantments under these conditions. I felt privileged.
Of course we all made it back to the cars at the Snow Creek trailhead, maybe a little tired, but no worse than usual for an 18-mile mountain run. Several of us made a stop in at Gustav's in Leavenworth for pints and food. Thanks to Nick for the grub and thanks to SRC for another great Enchantments run!
On October 7th I had a blast running/hiking to the top of Mt. Daniel over near Salmon La Sac. I drove over in the morning and arrived to a very chilly morning at the end of the Tucquala Lake road. My car indicated that the outside temperature was 29 degrees! I was in for a glorious blue sky and autumn color day. All the heather, huckelberry and deciduous trees were showing their most vibrant reds, oranges and yellows.
Since I got kinda a late start, around 9 AM, I was a little worried that I wouldn't have enough time to get to the top of Daniel. So I did some relatively quick hiking and a little running. I was surprised to find that it only took me 3:53 from the car to the summit even though I got off-route for about 20 minutes trying to bypass a steep dirt slope! I was a little surprised to see a couple of climbing groups on the glacier when there is a much faster route without snow on the nearby ridge.
At the summit I enjoyed the view of the central cascades with one welcome friend, a large raven. Ravens are amazing animals notwithstanding their mythological signs and portents. He sat on top of the highest rock on the summit of Mt. Daniel surveying all the snow, bare rock and wilderness below like a king on high. For a moment I could only wish and wonder: what would it be like to soar like a raven above the mountains and claim your perch on the loftiest, most exposed and cold rock in the center of a massive wilderness. Unfortunately, this particular raven wasn't much for chit chat!
I headed down the mountain and out of the forest, taking my time to enjoy the exploding colors of fall. I tried to soak it all in as I figured this trip might be my last before the snows of winter cover the high country.
On the way back to the car I was a little startled when I came around a corner on the trail (the PCT section) and nearly ran into a little porcupine. I followed him down the trail and watched him for a little while when he climbed a tree. I felt sorry for the little guy as a group of teenagers came up behind me and another noisy group with dogs was on the way from the opposite direction. I wished him well and hoped that he wouldn't have a heart attack from all the attention, then took off. When I encountered the group with dogs I warned them to leash their pets, primarily for the sake of the porcupine! The best picture I could get of the little guy is shown below:
I am planning my Birthday Challenge for Saturday November 25. This will be for birthday number 34. This is not my exact birthdate, but Saturday will probably work better due to the holiday, etc. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend, but I will warn you it will not be exciting and it will probably be raining!
If you have never heard of a Birthday Challenge you should check out this site: http://www.birthdaychallenge.com/index2.html
My Birthday Challenge for this year (2006) is to bike around Lake Washington, Kayak around Mercer Island (in Lake Washington), and run around the perimeter of Mercer Island (on East and West Mercer Way and the I-90 trail). I am planning on having my starting point and exchange point be at Enatai Beach Park in Bellevue. As of today I have not decided on a start time but it will likely be early in the morning (probably before dawn) so that I can finish in the light at the end of the day.
I haven't figured out how far the ride, bike and run will be but I am guessing that the ride is roughly 45-50 miles, kayak 14-15 miles, run 12-13 miles. Right now the plan is to ride on the arterials closest to the Lake except for where I will be on the Burke-Gilman trail. I am also guessing that the challenge may take somewhere between 10 and 13 hours, but it could be much longer, especially if the weather sucks! Ah the pain and torture of getting a year older!
Please don't ask why I want to do this. If you don't understand why people run marathons or ultramarathons you definately won't understand the reason for the Birthday Challenge. I hope to see if the challenge lives up to my expectations!!
Just heard this line while listening to Mofro. While this is not true in all situations it sure seems to be a useful mantra for someone like myself. When I start to feel tired in the later stages of a long run or when doing intervals I have often thought something similar: If it doesn't kill me (or cause serious injury) it should make me stronger. Sometimes it is so amazing how the human body can adapt to stress. If you train the body correctly it will no doubt be able to perform that specific task. The trickier task is to train the mind to continue on when the motivation is no longer there.
Although I am definately not in the best shape a bigger problem is that my training attitude has changed. Without some tangible racing goals I definately have a hard time putting in the hard miles: the long or fast road miles. So I guess this means I am going to have to start setting some running goals again. But this time I am going to be careful to allow for enough rest and downtime.
I found this old photo from last year's Seattle Marathon. I forgot that this guy raced me to the line over the last 100 yards. Boy was that a rush, pushing as fast as I could after 26.2! Almost makes me want to run the marathon this year. NOT!!
I am finally getting around to posting about my vacation which happened a couple weeks ago. For part of my vacation I visited the Enchantment Lakes once again. I know I go every year but I just can't get enough of the peace I feel sitting by a crystalline lake under a clear blue sky; Or just catching cuts from those crystal clear waters!
So I went to the Enchantments between September 6th and 10th this year. After my trip to the North Cascades (see previous post) I decided to run back down to Leavenworth and see if I could get a permit. I was surprised that so many people showed up at the morning lottery since it was a Wednesday. Fortunately, I took the ranger's advice, felt lucky, and drew the first name. This time I was lucky enough to get a permit.
Because I had been on the road for several days already, It took most of the morning to sort gear, buy food, and pack up for the trip, but I finally got on the trail between noon and 1. Even though I was tired from the previous day's N. Cascades dayhike I was able to hike to the upper end of upper Snow Lake where I set up camp for the first night. Snow lake was extremely low. It seems like every time I come here the lake is lower than before. If they don't stop draining if for the growing Leavenworth population, there won't be much of a lake left! Suffice it to say that the fish were few, small and uncatchable. The next day I huffed it up into the Enchantments only to find that my favorite campsite at Lake Vivianne was already taken! I set off in search of another favorite and ended up at Crystal Lake, wondering if everyone up there had a permit. Several people were fishing at the Crystal peninsula and a large group was at the good campsite. A person from the group even came over to grill me about my intentions immediately following my arrival. I grufly replied that I was going to get something to eat before deciding where I would camp and if I would stay at the lake. I really didn't want to hike back over to the main lakes, since I might not find a good site there either!
After catching a fish, loosing a fly and eating some food I packed up and hiked back over to the nearest large lake (I forget the name) where I setup camp on a knoll above the lake. I settled in to fishing here and really started to get into the 'enchanting' spirit. I had a great time that night, hanging out under the stars and watching the amazing moonrise on the granite. I truly felt like I had found my own personal paradise or shangri-la.
The morning of the 3rd day I woke up with an immediate and overwhelming urge to vacate my bowels (a nice way of saying I had to go!). I really didn't think anything about the diarrhea I had until later in the day when I started feeling terrible. I dayhiked over Prusik Pass and went exploring on the Lost World Plateau. I nearly found a back way around to the snow lakes trail below Nada Lake, but I turned back after travelling for quite some time off-trail. On my way back I thought I was suffering from heat exhaustion. After taking several rest breaks and stopping to treat some water (iodine) I finally made it back to my camp around 5 pm. I was in a world of hurt: throbbing headache, diarrhea, dizziness and an overwhelming fever. I suffered through that night, the next day and the following night, eating very little and wandering from my tent only far enough to open the proverbial flood gates!
It was an extreme relief on my final day, when I felt well enough to hike out. I have never been quite so sick, and especially not 10 miles from a trailhead. Boy was I glad to be back to my car and starting to feel better. After a doctor visit and some tests I find out later that I had a bacterial infection: camplyobacter. The doctor prescribed some antibiotics and I am now fully recovered, thank goodness. I think I may have picked it up when eating out in Winthrop, at the barbecue with Micah, or from the water at the Hart's Pass ranger station.
Although I had an amazing time up until I got sick, I still haven't decided if the beauty was worth the pain. I hope I never run into one of these debilitating bacteria (or parasites) again! But I can't wait to enjoy the beauty of the Enchantments again. I probably will have to go back soon, so that I can truly explore the Lost World Plateau. This area was nearly as awesome as the main enchantment lakes but almost completely unvisited!
On Labor day weekend (2006) I took a nice day hike with my friend Heather at the relatively relaxing Mt. Adams in SW Washington. At Heather's insistence we woke at 3 AM and were on the trail around 3:45. We had a great day plodding up the mainly volcanic scree covered slopes to the summit at over 12,000 feet.
I had forgotten that there is an old building on the summit leftover from some miners. It is unfortunate that those who came before, primarily my parent's and grandparent's generations, feel it is ok to just leave evidence (I'll call it garbage) of their passing. Why is it that so many people think it is just ok to leave their garbage, whether it be a candy wrapper or a mine shack out in the wilderness? It seems more than a little ironic and idiotic that the Forest Services requires visitors to pack out all garbage, including used toilet paper, but does nothing to require that resource users like the miners who left decades ago, pack out their garbage. This is to say nothing of the hypocrisy of the fee system. Now I pay $15 for the privilege of walking up a publicly owned mountain, whereas people who dig, mine and generally make a mess are still beholden to the 1872 mining law which requires a pittance in yearly fees to maintain a claim! I could go on and on, but I won't. Here are a few of the choice photos.
