I'll have mine...Plain

I'm extremely excited to be registered for the Plain 100. Thanks RD Chris!

Diez Vista 50k course

Man. The Diez Vista trail always kicks my ass.

I get used to classifying the north shore as technical, and then I hit those three miles of Diez Vista and I feel like I've never run on a trail before. Granted, running is a generous term for the near-death stumbling I end up doing.

And besides that section, most of the Diez Vista 50k course is very reasonable: quite a few miles of smooth dirt roads, ~13 miles of buffed gravel walking trails and some really fun, slightly-technical single track. I did make one wrong turn, but my mileage and elevation ended up being the same as is officially listed.

On race day I will be marshaling at the junction of the Academy Trail and the Eagle Bluff trail. It's easy, turn left when you go up and turn left when you go down (just think of NASCAR).

Pictures of almost all of the trails the course uses:

Sassamat Lake trail; miles 0-2 and the final mile.

Sassamat Lake, looking toward Sugar Mountain and the Diez Vistas ridge (l).

A rocky section of the Suger Mountain trail toward Diez Vistas; mile 4.

Beginning of the upper Diez Vistas trail; mile 5.

Diez Vistas trail; mile 5.

The down portions are just as steep; mile 5.

Diez Vistas; mile 6.

Diez Vistas; mile 6.

Buntzen Lake trail, pretty much like this on both sides of the lake; miles 7-15.

Academy Trail from Powerhouse Road toward the Eagle Bluff trail; miles 17-18.

Eagle Bluff trail; mile 19

The road from Eagle Bluff trail toward the aid station and turnaround of the out-and-back section; miles 20-25.

South side of Buntzen, miles 12 and 27.

Lower Diez Vista trail back up to the Sugar Mountain trail junction; mile 27.

Down, a little up and then down to Sassamat and the finish; Sugar Mountain trail, mile 28.

Lastly, the classic Diez Vista vista. 

January and new gear

Adding Gorge Waterfalls 100k at the end of March to my schedule maybe was a bit earlier than I anticipated in stepping up to a long run, but there generally seemed like a lack of 50-mile races in the spring for the Pacific Northwest. At least a few good friends also are signed up, which will help make the 4am start less of a zombie march.

Having a race in about seven weeks also means trying to put together some solid weeks of running a month earlier than I originally planned when I was only running Miwok in May.

Here's what I did over the first six weeks of the year:

Adam and I even got in a semi-proper hills workout over the weekend. Both Gorge and Miwok have many more miles of runnable terrain than I'm used to:

And what's a new year without some new gear? I grabbed a pair of Hoka Rapa Nui Trail 2 shoes. They are buttery smooth and very cushioned, but obviously feel quite large upon first wear. At some point I'll do a  thorough review of them, as well as a Salomon S-Lab 12L pack I got that I plan on using for longer adventures in the mountains.

Hoka One One Rapa Nui Trail 2 and my trusty Pearl Izumi Trail N2 

Squamish trails with Adam & Liz

Why wait until August? 

With the dry winter all of the lower Squamish trails are snow free and in great shape. The snow level was around 2,000' and that was only a very light dusting. It was a chilly -3c when we started and only "warmed up" to 1c, but a really fun time out on the trails. 

Alpha Mountain from Debeck's Hill

Descending the road on Debeck's.

Plush trail along Stump Lake.

Climbing up Made in the Shade.

Northside Connector.

Word of Mouth; probably my favorite trail of the day.

Word of Mouth.

Word of Mouth.

Lower Stil'halem Sintl'.

Upper Stil'halem Sintl'; reminded me of the climb to Fawn Ridge at White River (just a lot shorter).

Top of Stil'halem Sintl' just before dropping down Angry Midget and heading back to town.

West Vancouver to Lynn Canyon via Black and Grouse mountains

Besides the snow on the ground, it sure felt like summer:

"Trail running" up Black Mountain.

Adam getting out of the trees.

Looking southwest toward Bowen (r) and Vancouver islands.

Nice, firm snow up to the summit of Black.

Looking north toward the Tantalus range from the summit of Black. 

Descending lower Hollyburn. 

Cleveland Dam; "what are we getting at the store?" Adam and Chris.

Pizza, chips and pop.

Back on the trails; Skyline up Grouse.

Adam on Skyline.

Not much to ski on up there...

Mt. Baker, Shuksan and the North Cascades from Skyline ski run.

Going down Mountain Highway; slow and soggy snow for the first couple of miles.

Downtown Vancouver and the fog, from Mountain Highway.

Me, Chris and Adam.

Contacts

Of course it happens on the day I don't wear my hydration vest (that always has an extra pair inside).

Ripped in half while it was in my eye; no idea where the other half went. [72 hours, and two visits to the optometrist, later  they pulled the other half out from way up under my eyelid by flipping it inside out]

Time to start always carrying an extra pair around...

Improving?

Last year Dave wrote what I think is a great post on some of the less-obvious training he did that he found useful for ultras (especially 50 miles and up). For someone new to distance running, reading it really helped me think about what I might be able to do to improve.

A trap I try and avoid is connecting "improving" only with running faster times in races. While that may be a result, I find it much more satisfying to focus on all of my long runs, of which I do considerably more than races, and go for that golden realm of consistency.

So, a few neglected areas to think about and try to incorporate:

• Eating more: I usually run closer to the empty side. Eating 100-200 calories per hour is about right for me most of the time, but I realize it won't be enough for the longer adventures I want to try this year.
• Heat: Same as above; being on the cool side always is nicer than being hot.
• Actually running: I think I'm a much better hiker than runner.  
• Adaptability: Feeling comfortable with handhelds, a belt or a pack; or all three. Using poles for some long wilderness trips too. 
• Safety: For adventure runs, especially by myself, something to put a greater focus on.  

For the eating more category, yesterday Adam and I did a doughnut run. Lynn Headwaters to Deep Cove, on lots of this: 

Baden Powell on Seymour in fine winter form.

...ate one of these:

Honey Doughnuts; the size of two normal ones. 

...and then ran back. Definitely much different than what I normally do, and I actually felt fine on the return trip. 

Anyone else care to weigh in on your own areas for improvement...?

Light up!

At 4:40pm yesterday I was just finishing up a midweek long run. It was dark, rainy and windy. About one kilometer from home I passed by the Gilbert Rd. Fire Station, which had written on it's board, "PEDESTRIAN SAFETY IS FOR ALL AGES." I looked at my reflective arm band and rear flashing light, and thought I was decently lit.

A few minutes later and I'm about 50 meters out from the intersection in front of my building. I see a car stop in the middle of the crosswalk as it is turning left, and the car behind honking. I didn't think much of it, then looked up again a few seconds later and see the driver getting out of their car.

As I reach the crosswalk I see a girl laying down in the street about 3 meters in front of the car. I reach her about three seconds after the driver and another bystander do. Crossing the street, in a crosswalk with a walk signal, the car, turning left, didn't see her, and hit her (but luckily was going slow enough that it only hit her and didn't run her over). She was in all dark clothing, but carrying a pink umbrella.

I stayed with her and the other bystander, talking to her, shielding her from the rain and making sure she was alert and not moving. The driver was obviously shocked and kind of just stood there, being very apologetic, and waiting for the EMTs to show up. The girl, probably around 18, complained only of lower back pain where the car struck her, wasn't bleeding anywhere we could see and didn't appear to have any obvious head injuries.

They arrived in about five minutes and I left. I saw from the window that an ambulance took her away soon after, and I hope there is no permanent damage.

It obviously was very sad to see, and regardless of how Christmas tree-like I may look, I should probably wear more bright gear during these PNW dark days.

Stay safe.  

Holiday running

Seems like everyone is getting amped up for summer adventures and races and starting to jump into official "training" season. I'll have to admit that I'm guilty as well. Winter break meant some time away from the office and a lot more running than I would normally do.

In the 16 days starting from the Winter Solstice group run, I ended up doing 120 miles with 25k' of gain, most of it in North Vancouver. Definitely high for me, considering it's supposedly the off season.

But how do you say "no" to this?

View this morning from Skyline in between the Cut and Mountain Highway; thanks Adam.