Saturday, December 08, 2007

Double Hill Run


Rick and Cat in the lead.

First, thank you all for your concern about our weather. For some reason, the storm was terrible in all the counties surrounding us, particularly to the south. But not Pierce County - we got the storm, and some near the river were flooding, but we did not get the extremes that others did. Plus, for those that were worried, Eric and I live on a hill above the valley, safe from floods. (So does Rob - I know someone mentioned worrying about him too.)

Running for the week - I was slightly sore after Mt. Peak on Sunday, but felt the urge to tackle the hill run Tuesday anyway. That gave me six for Tuesday, about 4.5 for Wednesday, and twice on Thursday for a total of 7.5. That gave me 24 miles leading into today's double hill run.


Mt. Rainier from the ridge.

I feel the need to do some serious hill training this winter and spring. I've got the half-asses at Capital Peak (17 miles) and Orcas Island (15 miles) coming up, and Big Sur in the spring. I want to be ready for all of them, so I decided a double hill run was in order.


Jenny.


Jane and me.

In the way of our fabulous running club, I posted my intentions. Rick, Jenny and Eric had already planned to come along. Pretty soon Jane and Cat were on board, and as a surprise Rob and Linda both showed up. We left the Y at sixish this morning - dark and cold, about 30 degrees and clear as could be. It was fun running out as a group, with our lights shining. The first loop felt normal to me - I've been hitting it weekly for a few weeks now. I wondered how that second loop would be...but before I tell you, let me tell you about my "newish" Garmin.


Rob

It arrived on Wednesday, a "fully reconditioned" new-to-me one. I set everything up and ran with it on Thursday. Mileage/time looked good. Today, I wore it again - somewhere, about 15 minutes before we made it back to the Y, it went nuts. I didn't pay any attention till we were headed back out when I realized it was showing 11.5 miles! We had only gone 7.5. Once we got home and I uploaded it, I found that I had apparently run over 1000 mph for those extra three miles. It showed us clear down in the next town! Very strange. I'll be keeping a close eye on it to see if something like that happens again.

So anyway, the second loop was tough. My goal was not to walk on any hill. Unfortunately, I had to walk for about 20 feet on the big hill during that second loop - I thought my calves would seize up if I didn't. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could run the others - tough, but I did it. I also discovered that a little caffeine and sugar in a bit of coke can rev me up. Our group was pretty quiet at the start of round two, except for me - I was chatting away and even had the energy to run goofy. Once we hit the first hill, I settled down.

These are to try and give perspective of the big hill.





Total mileage: 15.33, time (with stop at Y) 3:16:02.

It was a fun run and one I will plan to do again. I'm thinking I've got to work my way up to three loops...

25 comments:

Unknown said...

It was a good run and you are right, loop two was tough. Just think about how cool it would be to do another loop. It's "almost" 36 summittish :) My legs are a bit tired.

Sarah said...

Those look like serious hills! Nice job. What a beautiful day for a run. That pic of Rainier is awesome!

Sarah Elaine said...

Nice job on the hills. You're a machine! The 1000 mph is pretty funny, too. Speed demon. ;-)

Wes said...

First, I thought, "Man! That's a lot of yellow :-)" Then, I though I never knew you were so fast!!! LOL!!! Congrats on a great hill run!!

Sunshine said...

Wow!! you go super climber!
What a delight to read about your runs, your plans, and to see your fun pictures! You are an inspiration.

Yes, that ice tree picture on my blog is pretty strange. Ski resorts here make snow that way (sort of...), but we have not seen anything like that to make a Christmas tree in anyone's front yard.

Anonymous said...

Love the pictures!
Glad you are all safe!
Congrats on the great training & don't sweat walking those hills are HUGE!

wendy said...

those are awesome pictures. You guys are totally awesome, my HEROES! I love that you can run 15 miles and finish with huge smiles. Those hills look tough - when you're ready to do 3 loops, call me. I will join you on your last loop, and hopefully I can keep up. =)

Joe said...

Great post, great pix. Don't you all look good in those Brooks Nightlite tops!!

Glad you got through it well...and that you are high and dry!

Olga said...

Yellow jackets together look really cool:)

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

Man, was I pooped yesterday. I didn't even make it to the computer! Photos look great. Double hill run is a tough one!
Jenny

Scott McMurtrey said...

my record mph is 9 mph. you beat me big time. the photos are great. looks like a great route.

Ms Eva said...

Those are some major hills! Great job! I love all the pictures. I really need to get a little camera so I can take fotos on my runs. :)

Tech gadget issues are sooo frustrating! I'm sorry you are dealing with that...

Thomas said...

That's a big hill, all right! I'm glad the weather didn't bother you unduly. It's funny, even though we're a continent apart, but our storm fronts seem to coincide quite often.

Jenn said...

You are amazing!

Donald said...

Since you've got GPS now, you can do some hill comparisons: Hurricane Point at Big Sur rises about 580 feet in 2 miles. After that, the rest of the hills are little ones ... sort of.

PNW Runner said...

I love hill workouts and I want some hills! Bring me some hills without the storm reckage! haha. Awesome photos and pretty cool friends to go with.

Darrell said...

1000 MPH! Impressive. That's a serious case of run away runner (a la run away trucks on steep downhills - but you probably already got that)

Meghan said...

Oh wow, Michelle, sounds like an awesome training run. If you keep repeating this run as you said you plan to, it's going to become an awesome fitness gauge.

You know what, I really you and the running community you get to play with. I run mostly by myself, and it gets lonely out there. You are very lucky in this respect.

Glad to hear that awful weather didn't affect you or your home.

Take care,
Meghan

Anne said...

Now that's a serious hill run! Love all the photos and am so glad to hear you were spared during the wicked weather up there.

onepinkfuzzy said...

i love the community of runners you have out there! that's awesome!

Journey to a Centum said...

Michelle,

Three loops would be a piece of cake for you babycakes!

Eric

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

First thanks for your comments on my posts about Honolulu, you are always so uplifting.
Those hills do look huge!!! Mt. Ranier looked awesome in the one pic.
I've got such a respect for you and your efforts as well as the teamwork that you write about concerning your running club, that is something we are sorely seeking with our club and will be an area of specific work for 2008 that we on the board want to focus on for the club.

tryathlete said...

Huge hills - you did well to do two loops. Happy running!

Anonymous said...

Nice job on the hill run. By the way, thanks for inadvertantly (sp?) inspiring me to get back to the hills! :)

I've been contemplating a Garmin. I think I'll be waiting until the bugs are worked out. (I'm also hoping they get smaller!)

Stay warm!

Sunshine said...

Good to hear from you. My cheers for you. What an inspiration!