Week 19: My First Ultra Distance

04/23/12 - 04/28/12
Monday. 6.2 miles
       Started the day with a 1 mile run before a upper body weightlifting secession. Directly after lifting I drove over to Syringa to run the 5.2 mile loop. I started out slower then I wanted to but my legs were just not warmed up yet and it was cool outside. By the time I got about a mile up the trail my legs and lungs were ready so I took off at a pretty good pace. It was a beautiful morning the sun was out and the air was clean and crisp (I love mornings like today). As I started my decent on the backside I tried to keep a fast pace but controlled I didn't want to push it too hard and end up dieing on the uphill portion. When I hit the bottom of the hill (2.75 mile) my watch read 24 minutes. I didn't feel tired at all so I decided to run a much faster pace on the ascent then I normally do. The ascent back to the top went really well, I didn't over do it but I ran faster theb I ever had on that section. Once back at the top I was still feeling good so I took off back down towards the trail-head at a really good clip. I completed the 5.2 miles in 44 minutes and 50 seconds which was a PR for me. I already think that I could cut another 2 minutes off that time just by warming up before I start running and pushing it a little harder in some sections. Overall I felt like it was a great outing and I think my goal by the end of summer is to run that loop in 40 minutes or less.

Tuesday: 10+ miles
         The Temperature has been much warmer the last few days with highs in the 70's. Today was no exception and since I need to acclimate my body to the heat I ran mid day. I started from my house with just a handheld water bottle and ran over to Syringa. By the time I had made it 2 miles up the trail my shirt was soaked with sweat. I wasn't dieing in the heat like last week despite it being hotter and that I was running faster. About mile 8 I noticed that my right shoulder was hurting really bad. I had never experienced such a pain like this while running and I can only attribute it to the 24oz water bottle that I have been using for the last week or so on my longer runs instead of my backpack. By the time I was a half mile from my house the pain was so bad that I had to hold my shoulder with my left hand which made me run like I was wearing a straight jacket. I didn't stop running because of pain and having to run so awkwardly. I guess I was working on my mental toughness. I'm not going to be running with a water bottle in hand any time soon and if I do I need to build up to it easier so I don't injure myself again.

Wednesday: 3.5 miles
      Light on miles today so my legs are fully recovered for Fridays 31 miler. So today I ran a mile at the gym before a back and shoulder weight training session then directly after lifting I went to Syringa and ran 2.5 miles there. The weather was amazing with temps in the mid 60's. It was really nice today. On today's run I also tried out a new waist pack that I'm planning on using for my race so far I like it but the real test will be on Friday's long run.

Friday: 31 miles
      It rained all Thursday and the forecast for Friday morning when I was planning to run wasn't looking good but I decided to run even if the weather sucked; Hey it would build some mental toughness right. I woke up Friday at 3am so I could be done running early enough to let Katie workout before I had to go to work. I was out the door and running at 4:10am. I started my run by running 3 miles on the road to the Mickinnick trail-head. It was cold and windy out but no rain. I then started my first of two ascents on the Mickinnick trail. I was feeling pretty good at this point but decide to speed hike most of the was up to the 3 mile mark. I did this for two reasons first was to use my energy efficiently since I was planning on going for 31 miles. Second is that it was great race prep for Pocatello since I will be doing some hiking on that course, epically when I'll be covering 1300' to 1600' vertical ft per mile on some of the sections on the course. There was no snow on the trail until I hit the 2.5 mile mark then it was hard packed snow to the 3 mile mark. At 3 miles I turned around and ran back to the trail head. Once back down I turned around and did it again. I will say that coming down was defiantly a quad killer since the trail is very technical with lots of big rocks littering the trail. With all the rocks you had to constantly be picking a line to run down that was full of breaking and bouncing from rock to rock, oh and its pretty steep too. This made the going slower and left my legs sore. After my second ascent and descent I ran back to the house to resupply.

      After stopping at the house or should I say my car (I put a drop bag in it so I wouldn't have to go in the house) I was off to Syringa. It was right after my stop at the car when my legs decided to stop working, they were sore and hurt but my mind told me they should still be working just fine. I was only 18 miles into the run. Well for the next 40-60 minutes I battled with my legs to get them going and I ended up hiking a lot of trail that I would normally run. I finally had to pee and when I did it was dark, dark yellow and then the light bulb went off in my head that I was dehydrated so I started drinking much more water then I had all day and with in minutes my legs came alive again. From that point on (somewhere around 23 miles in) I ran everything, uphills and down. I finished strong and arrived at my house sprinting the last 300 yards to finish 31 miles in a total time of 6:39:13 (that includes all stops). I felt great and could see my self doing more.

      Side notes: I wore my new hip pack and I love it, and I think it will be great for racing in. It has enough space for food, camera, phone, and two 20oz water bottles. I can also strap a rain jacket to it. I also am really liking my new shoes they are doing a great job and my feet feel fine. For future long runs and races I need to make sure I drink enough fluids I dropped 5 lbs during my run or about 2-3% of my body weight which means I was pretty dehydrated. The run I did today is very close to the elevation gain of the first two legs of the Pocatello 50 and my goal is to run those 2 legs (32 miles) in 7 hrs so today's performance put me right in line with that goal.

Saturday: 1 mile "active recovery"
      Today I was suppose to do active recovery, which is something that gets you out and moving but it does have to be running. So I decided to go lift weights. I ran a mile to warm up then worked out pretty hard, training my back, shoulders and even some leg exercises. I don't think what I did was really recovery but it felt great.

Totals Miles: 51.7

      Great week! Friday was my first ultra marathon distance and besides some dehydration issues it went really well. Which has now left me wondering home much faster could I have done it without those issues, and how much faster can I do that distance in the future. I guess I'll have a chance to answer that in August with Angels Staircase and in October with Mount Spokane. But first things first and that is Pocatello which is 22 miles longer than what I did on Friday. I feel good about the race and the more I learn about myself and running long distances has kept building my confidence that I can do it. With that being said the thought of doing 53 miles is still pretty humbling.
     

Early morning looking over Sandpoint

Further up the Mickinnick trail

I ran in to a lot of mule/white tail cross deer on Mickinnick on my long run I saw 12 in all can you see the ones in this picture.

Second ascent on Mickinnick

View of the mountain from the Mickinnick trail-head. Its steeper then it look here.

Spring Flowers on Syringa Trail

Took this video while running down Mickinnick and this was one of the least rocky sections.

Week 18: Speeding things up

04/16/12 - 04/21/12

Tuesday: 8 Miles

      Met up with Vern for a run over at syringa. We ended up exploring some new trails so actual mileage for the day could be more or less not sure, but we ran at a pretty good pace so I would guess more then less. I was feeling really good, my legs felt strong and I powered up the hills and cruised on the down hills. It was a great run, the sun came out a few times and I really enjoyed myself.

Wednesday: 2.5 miles

      Today we celebrated Katie, Matthias, and my birthday. We planned to have family over for a party so I did what any "real" man would do I helped clean house all morning to get ready for the party. We had the party in the afternoon between lunch and dinner and for the first time in 17 days I ate sweets (lots of cake and ice cream). Well it kind of put me into hyper mode and I really wanted to go running before dinner, so I got most every thing ready for dinner (Katie's brother, his wife and 7 kids + Katie's sister and her 2 kids stayed for dinner) then slipped out for a short run. Since we still had company I didn't want to be gone too long so I ran 2.5 miles at Syringa in about 18 minutes. It was a little faster then I would normally run but it was short and it felt good to get in some speed work.

Friday: 6.7 miles

      Ran 1.5 miles at the gym as a warm up to a back and shoulders lifting session. Directly after lifting I drove over to Syringa to run 5.2 more miles with Vern. Since I don't have a really long run this week I thought it would be a good idea to pick up the pace a little and work on some speed. I led the whole time while running and I tried to keep a good pace on both the uphill and downhill sections. We finished the 5.2 miles in 51 minutes and 2-3 of those minutes we were stashing gear at a junction of several trails, so total run time was closer to 48-49 minutes. I felt like there were a few sections I could have gone much faster on and despite the increase of speed I never felt like I was really pushing things. Overall I felt happy with my conditioning and about the prospect of getting even faster.

Saturday: 14 miles

      Vern met me at my house at 6am but at the time of his arrival we weren't exactly sure where we wanted to run. Vern finally decide that he had time enough to go out to Green Bay and run the trail from Green Bay to Lost Lake. It was the right decision. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't run either Micikinnick or at Syringa so the change was nice. One of the things I love about Green Bay are the views of the lake, they are amazing plus the trail runs through large cedar groves and it just a great run not too steep or too flat. My legs felt good for the whole run and the last descent to the parking lot I ran extremely fast (it was probably about a 1/2 mile or so). The temps were in the lower 40's and the sky was overcast which made for comfortable running conditions and as promised the views of the lake were breathtaking. To add a few more miles to the run we also hit a side trail past Mud lake to bring our total to around 14 miles (out and back from Green Bay to Lost lake is 11 miles). Great outing, loved it. On a side note I was wearing another pare of new shoes for this run Montrail Bajada, so far I really like them and I plan to run my race in them I guess I'll really see how the do on my 31 mile run next week.      

Total Miles: 31

This was the first week this year that I didn't have to wear tights at all, Yeah! not that I hate my tights but it is a sure sign that things are warming up. I really backed down the mileage this week, it wasn't because my legs were sore or tired in fact they are feeling really strong I just thought it a good plan to insure that I don't over do it so close to my 31 miler next week.

Sun trying to break through the clouds on Lake Pend Oreille

Lost Lake

I snapped this photo while Vern was attending to a small pain in his calf
Surprising to me but I love taking pictures of flowers and landscapes.

Mud Lake

Week 17: Heat and back to backs

04/9/12 - 04/14/12

Tuesday: 13.2 miles
           Well today was the warmest day of the year so far, a wopping 69 degrees. I ran during the mid day "heat" which was about 30-40 degrees warmer than I'm use to running in. I ran from my house to Syringa did a couple loops there then headed back home. Lets just say by the end of the run I was totally wasted. I felt like crap and had some serious doubts about if I could go almost five times that distance during my up coming race.

Wednesday: 6 miles
            It has cooled down a bit and I felt much better running today than yesterday. I really think the warmer weather caught my body off guard yesterday so I'm now hopping for even more warmer weather soon to give my body time to adjust before my race. As far as running today I ran at Syringa. The trail there is just so nice right now. Its firm with no snow, it hard not to run there every time I go out.

Friday: 23 miles
           Today I started running at 5:15am. I ran from the house to Mickinnick, on the way I ran into three moose who have taken a seasonal residence on and around division street. Good thing for me they are so use to people because I ended up standing right between the cow and her two calves (I was ten feet from mom and 20 feet or so from the calves). Really they are more like very large dogs now after spending all winter in town, its a miracle none of them have been hit by a car with how much time they spend roaming the streets of Sandpoint. It started getting light about the time I hit the trail-head. I got to the 1.5 mile mark just about the time the sun crested the Cabinet mountain range which made the view of the valley breath taking. I stopped breifly to take it all in and snap some photos. I continued up the mountain from there and hit snow just below the 2 mile mark. I decide to climb through the snow which was hard-packed for the most part up to the 3 mile mark. The snow is still several feet deep.If I had to guess there is at least five feet deep up on top. Coming down was fun as I could slide around the corners until I got back to dirt trail. Once at the bottom I ran back to the house for some supplies that I had left outside. After refueling at the house I ran over to Syringa where I met up with Vern who joined me at the trail-head. It was nice to have a pair of fresh legs to help pace me for my last 11 miles. I ran really well at Syringa and felt pretty strong the whole time out, a vast improvement over Tuesday. After racking up 9.5 mile at Syringa I ran home for a total of 23 miles. I felt good after my run and defiantly had more in the tank, lots more.

Saturday: 18 miles
          Ran from the house over to Syringa and didn't feel a bit sore from the 23 miler the previous day. Infact I probably ran better today then yesterday I actually felt stronger on the uphills and quicker on the down hills. I ran 14 miles before I ran out of time (Had to get home, I got a late start), so after work I stopped by the gym and ran 4 miles on the treadmill to get all 18 miles in. Feeling great!  

Weekly hiking: 5 mile
          On both Monday and Thursday the "Hull" family went hiking including Kalea. Monday we hiked Mickinnick up to the one mile mark and back down. It took a while with the kids, I had Ty in the back carrier and at one point Ty was in the carrier and Thias on my shoulders (I'll up date with a photo of that latter its on Katie's phone). On Thursday we went to Syringa and hiked a little over 3 miles. They kids had a blast on both outings and didn't want to stop hiking either time. They did a great job and love being outdoors.

Total Miles: 65.2

Great week! with more miles then I have ever done in one week. Legs are feeling great and I feel really good about my race after this week's back to back long runs. The "heat" on Tuesday caught my body off guard but it will adjust as the temps continue to climb.
  

1.5 miles up the Mickinnick Trail

Mickinnick Trail

Still lots of Snow up top 

       

week 16: The Easter Bunny and a hair raising experience

Week 16: 04/01 - 04/7/12 

Tuesday: 12 miles. I ran form the house to Syringa, then ran a couple loops there and then ran back home.

Wednesday: 6 miles at syringa.

Friday: My long run. It was really cold all morning and my legs never really seemed to warm-up so my pace was pretty slow but I ended up running 20 miles. I started from my house and ran to Mickinnick. I then ran up to the 1.5 mile mark before heading back back down (I didn't want to run in the snow which exist above that point). When I got back to the trail head I then ran over to Syringa and ran 8.5 miles out there before heading home. While I was out at Syringa I found a dead moose calf on the trail with its front shoulder eaten as well as the heart, lungs and liver. Upon further inspection I concluded that a mountain lion must of killed it the evening before based on its broken neck and the fact that I could not find any tracks from a predator with the exception of two cat tracks near the belly side of the moose where it must of eaten from. Then the realization of how fresh the kill was and that the cat was probably close by had me quickly and alertly vacating the area. It was a good reminder of how wild and un-tame the mountains really are. During the run I never really got tired, probably because I wasn't moving all that fast. After the run I felt like a had just done a five mile jog not 20 miles.

Saturday: Ran 2 miles at the gym and then lifted shoulders and back.

Total miles: 40

It was a good week but I cant remember everything that happened since I'm writing this a little over a week late. The sun has been coming out more often and the temps are slowly getting warmer, spring is on its way. There is very little snow on syringa now but the top half of Mickinnick still has several feet. I was encouraged by how well I felt after my long run, it really didn't take much out of me.

Syringa Trail

Spring Flowers (click on the picture for a closer look)

Early morning at Syringa

The Easter Bunny, I told the kids that I saw the Easter bunny while running and showed them this picture I took of it. Kaiya was so blown away that the Easter bunny is real that she said, "I didn't think the Easter bunny was real, I thought that everyone was just teasing me about the Easter bunny, But he is real, he really is"!  

Last week when I took the kids hiking Matthias kept on asking what was making holes in some of the trees along the trail. I told him that they were made by a woodpecker, he really wanted to see one but we never did so I took a picture of this one for him while running at syringa.

Week 14 & 15: New Baby! and spring

Week 14:

Wow, where to start. I guess I'll start with the most important event the birth of our fourth child Kalea.
Katie said she wanted to have the baby on Wednesday (3/21/12) because it was my first day off of work that week, and by golly she had the baby on Wednesday. Kalea was born at 6:54 pm, a healthy baby girl. Katie did a marvelous job she makes it look much easier then it really is. Kalea weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing great and the addition to the family is going over well with the other kids at least for the time being. As far as running goes I managed to run 12 miles on Monday out at syringa and 6 miles at the gym on Tuesday but after that I didn't get out again the rest of the week. I did lift weights on Tuesday and Thursday at the high school. On Thursday I benched 360 lbs which is twice my current body weight. It was nice to see that I still am retaining a lot of strength despite running a lot. But the week really belongs to Katie and Kalea, I'm luck to have such a wonderful and beautiful wife who would go through so much to bring our little Kalea into the world. Thank you Katie!

Kalea and Me

Week 15:

Monday I finally made it out running again, I did 6 miles out on Syringa. The snow has really been melting lately which has left mostly clear trails and lots of water and mud.

Tuesday I ran 5 miles at the gym the rain has really been coming down lately which kept me inside that day.

Wednesday I decided to do a night run up Mickinnick. That was quite the adventure, I started up the trail at 9 pm with plans of going up to the 1.5 mile mark and then coming back down. The adrenaline of running in the woods at night by yourself made it quite a fun run. Due to the snow melt and tons of rain the last few days the trail is one big runoff creek (pictures and videos below) needless to say my feet got really wet. It was fun running up the newly formed creek bed AKA trail, which really kept you involved with the trail do to the newly exposed rocks. Made it to the 1.5 mile mark and almost went further up the trail but I told my wife that I would only be going that far and she was not so keen on me going up there at night by myself already. Coming down was very technical and required me to slow down and pay attention to all the large rocks on the trail.

Friday it was pouring out again, so I went to the Gym and ran 14 miles on the treadmill and then did 2.5 miles on the stairmaster.

Saturday the rain broke long enough for me to run a loop around Syringa. The snow is almost all gone, it was really muddy in some places but the trail is in good shape for the most part and is setting up nicely. I also took the older three kids hiking after my run, at Syringa. We went 2.5 miles and I carried Ty in the backpack the whole time. The kids love to run and hike and we had a great time enjoying being out in the woods.

Total miles: 38
 

Trail on Mickinnick

1.5 mile mark at Mickinnick

Hiking the Syringa trail with the kids

Running up Micknick at Night

Running down Mickinnick at night

Born to run Kaiya and Matthias