The Run That Won

Thursday's final score: Mt. Rubidoux 1, LB 0.

Thursday's run was a bit taxing. Not sure if it was the weather (sunny, high 70s at start) or maybe improper nutrition (I had cereal for dinner on Wednesday, sad face). Or maybe I just over-exerted myself (but I had a good reason to do so, trust me). Or maybe I am still reeling from Saturday's hike (my legs feel fine now but still...).

I ran up Mt. Rubidoux. Instead of the usual four miles it takes to get up there, my journey was five since I have to park a little further away now.

Anyway, here's what the run looked like.

All those peaks and valleys suggest that I was really all over the place with my pace. The higher the line, the faster my pace. I was up and down and up and down and very inconsistent.

How does that compare with another run?

Here's Tuesday's six-miler.

It was a bit more steady, but it wasn't on a hill at all.

This is what the elevation was for today's run.

So I went from 789 feet at the start to 1299 feet, a change of more than 500 feet in about 2.5 miles.

I tried to do the run hard too, and that may have been my problem as well. Once at the top I had to take a break. I was breathing very hard and the sun was just shining down on me. Once I got back to my truck, I was dripping in sweat. I drank an entire bottled water in one drink, then pounded another one.

All in all, a pretty draining run.

No Heel Issues... Yet

Mt. Rubidoux and I have been friends for a while. I started running Mt. Rubidoux with regularity in March 2010 and for a solid two months was going once or twice a week. Heel issues forced me to scale back on my running in June 2010 and part of that was giving up Mt. Rubidoux. I was going there every once in a while, off and on, nothing with any consistency. I was worried the heel pain would come back.

Lately, however, I've thrown caution to the wind. Since San Francisco is coming up soon (I'll have some more thoughts on San Francisco in another blog post), I kind of have to start running hills again. So lately I've been hitting Mt. Rubidoux hard. I ran five miles there on Monday, four on Friday, six the Monday before that and I went at least twice the week before that.

How's my heel? Well, so far, so good.

I was worried that I would be hobbling around once more, or at the very least feel some discomfort when I wasn't running. But there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary thus far. I'm not going to celebrate too much, though, because this could turn into a problem as it did last year. I wasn't really feeling a whole lot when I first started running hills in 2010 but after a few solid months of pounding, I was feeling it.

I'm going to be more cautious this time, though. Well, that's the plan. I'll try and listen to my body more this time than last year and if I feel the onset of such heel pain, try and ease back a little. But Mt. Rubidoux is intoxicating! That's the only problem, of course. It's always a challenge, always a fun challenge too. I can't think of another 4-mile route, or 5-mile route, or 6-mile route, or 6-plus-mile route around here that is so enjoyable and so challenging.

I'll probably go out there once more this week as Mt Rubidoux won me over a long time ago. Hopefully it's also won over my heel as well.

Heaven For A Runnerd

I am in Runnerd heaven.

Recently, blog/Twitter buddy Blanda (who lives/runs in Guam, how awesome is that?!?) recommended the best thing any runnerd could possibly ask for - a free app that tracks all of the statistics you could want for your runs.

Does it keep track of mileage? Check. Pace? Check. Time? Check. Routes? Check. Total miles for weeks/months/etc.? Check. Elevation? Check, check and check again.

The app is from miCoach and I've now got it on my BlackBerry but it's also available on the iPhone (not sure if it's free there). Seriously, who needs a Garmin when you have this handy?

Let me show you what's got me so over-the-moon with this.

Here's my Mt. Rubidoux run on Tuesday:

Notice: It keeps track of time, calories (although I take that with a grain of salt), distance, speed and elevation. It even keeps track of your freakin' playlist!! Check out part of what blared in my ears for that run (it's off the left). Amazing. Also, you can rate each run and log what shoes you wore during your runs under the notes section. But that's not all. See the little runner at the bottom there? If you move the icon, it will show you how much time had elapsed, how far you'd run, the elevation AND your pace at any point during the run. For instance...

... there I'd run a little more than a mile. I went up the steep side so I was huffing and puffing there near the top of Mt. Rubidoux, with a blazing 11:06 pace. Later...

... I was clocking in at an 8:16 pace. Hills, what goes up must come down.

But that's not all.

You want to know elevation during your runs? Done.

Hey now! Um... nice representation there of something. Anyway... that's my Mt. Rubidoux run in all its glory. This shows me that it's a little under 900 feet at the start, and around 1,300 feet at the top, which means an elevation change of 400 feet. That's in one mile if you go the steep side and over two miles the other way. Nice!

But that's not all. You want to see your pace in action?

Done. The gray line is how fast I was running, and on the right-hand side is where it tells you the pace by minute, faster paces are higher and slower paces are slower. So you can see how I don't hold any pace consistently. Well, you'd expect that when running hills. But look at this workout from Wednesday.

It's relatively flat, right. A few peaks and valleys... okay, one peak and one valley and that's about a 30-foot peak and 30-foot valley. This is the bike trail I've been taking my girls to ride on and I ran it on Wednesday. My pace is all over the place! I knew I sped up and slowed down throughout my runs but damn!

So you're probably wondering, well, if it's on my phone, am I holding the phone? And if not, how do I know how long I've been running? No, I'm not holding my phone. It's on my arm, but you can set it to tell you how far you've run. If you want to know every mile that you've run a mile, it can tell you that. Every .5 miles, every 1.5 or 2 miles, or you can customize it. If you want to know when you've run .25 miles, it will tell you at .25, .5, .75 and 1 and so on and so on. A voice will come on and tell you your distance, calories, time and pace every whatever. And I think you can set it for the voice to be that of Ryan Hall or one other star runner, or just a random male or female voice as I have.

I told you, Runnerd heaven here.

There are other things I have yet to explore, such as customizable training plans, that are part of this.

Now, maybe this is ho-hum if you have a Garmin 305 or the newer models, or another similar GPS tracking devise. But if you don't, like me who has an older 105, this is great. I've always thought it would be nice to have stats available at the ready online, and now I do.

Seriously, this makes me want to run just to have something to analyze!

*Again, neither miCoach nor Adidas paid me to do this or anything but dammit, I will be happy to receive some gear to test out if either sees fit :) *

Mt. Rubidoux Excursion

Just had to share these pictures from our excursion to Mt. Rubidoux on Tuesday.

Since the girls are out of school this entire week, I wanted to take them up Mt. Rubidoux at least once. They ask to go a lot, so I figured why not?

Ready to rock Mt. Rubidoux!

It was a little chilly when we set out, but the girls got warm right away so I took their ponchos and put them in my backpack.

At the top of the mountain

The girls made it up Mt. Rubidoux with minimal complaining. That's a great step forward. We even tried running a little but that lasted a few steps each time. We went up the steep side since it's about one mile from bottom to top, as opposed to two miles from bottom to top.

 

I am a champion!

There is a giant flag at the top of Mt. Rubidoux. Yvie was happy to be in front of the flag for a few pictures.

Yay for us!

Then they both got into the act.


Now, after this Kennedy took a little tumble. She scraped her left wrist and got some cuts. She I told her she was brave for going up there in the first place to try and quell her tears somewhat. So she had a bit of a strange look on her face when they were asking for peace.

Peace, baby!

Now, this has to be my favorite picture below. On the way down, Kennedy started running. I didn't ask her to run or didn't run and then try and have her follow me. She just took off. She asked if she could run and I said yeah.

She ran a long part of the way down. She'd stop and look to see where we were every now and then. I don't know if she felt good running downhill or just running, period, but she took off and barely looked back.

Runner in the making

Afterward, she asked me if I could call her Kenna Brave Runner Girl. I said no problem.

Tired and ready for a break

All in all, a good walk up, run down Mt. Rubidoux.

18-Miler: Revenge of the Bloody Nipple

The day started off with such promise. Actually, it was almost like any other Sunday - ready for a long run - and there was no reason to think this Sunday would go any different.

I decided to run alone, run the 18 miles around my house. It was a unique course for me as I would try to run from my house to Mt. Rubidoux and back. I'd actually have to make up miles as a direct shot from here to the top of Mt. Rubidoux would have been less than 18 miles, but no bother. As long as I got my mileage in and did so with Mt. Rubidoux in there somewhere is all that mattered.

Now, on Saturday night I'd worked late and did not get home until 1:20 a.m. Since the Lopers were meeting at 5:30, I figured I could use the extra sleep which is why I ran here around my house, but four-plus hours didn't seem that great when the alarm woke me up a few minutes before 6.

Oh man, is it time already?

I gathered up all my stuff: ate a Clif bar (although I wasn't hungry), filled up the bottles on my fuel belt with Gatorade, grabbed three GUs, strapped on my phone, the Garmin, the Polar, grabbed a hat and sunglasses... did everything well save for the nipples. I haven't found my tape and didn't check to see if we had Band-aids, so just didn't think too much about it this morning.

I stepped outside and it was almost foggy. Very overcast, to the point that I couldn't see Mt. Rubidoux. Usually I can see it from my house, but not this morning.

I set off and was more excited than worried. I just tried to break the run apart into portions. The first one would be at around the three-mile mark where I'd turn onto a main street that would take me to the foot of Mt. Rubidoux - Mission Boulevard. I got there soon enough, probably took it a little too easy on Mile 3 as I came in with a nearly 11-minute mile. I wanted to take it easy, wanted to negative-split in the run but this was too easy. Mile 4 was at about 9:50 which was better.

Before I knew it, I'd eaten a GU and had finished one of my four water bottles. I was feeling good, strong, and waiting to see the top of the mountain - or any part of it.

Ouch.

I looked down at my shirt and a small red spot was visible. It was around Mile 5 or 6 at this point and I wondered how much longer it would bleed. I also wondered why I hadn't done anything to them, just had walked out of the house without thinking much about them.

Finally, around the end of Mile 6 I saw Mt. Rubidoux. It pushed through the low-hanging fog and stood ominously before me. I was on a bridge crossing over a small river...

... trickle...

... when I saw it. And then on my headphones

Dejate caer, dejate caer
La tierra es al revez
La sangre es amarilla
Dejate caer


Maybe that's not the best song to hear when I'm over a bridge.

Translation

Let yourself fall, let yourself fall
The earth is upside down
The blood is yellow
Let yourself fall

I focused on the other side of the bridge and figured I'd power through this part, but thoughts of letting myself fall from the bridge zipped by my mind regardless.

Finally I made it across and wondered where the sidewalk went. I'd only ever driven past this part of Mission, which takes you into Riverside city limits. The sidewalk runs a bit higher than street level so I found my way without too many problems. Up ahead of me was a small tunnel in which I would run through and thought how long the tunnel had been there (probably since the 1930s) and thought it would be cool to run through it.

Ack! That smells disgusting!

I've been in some awful bathrooms that didn't smell as bad as that tunnel smelled, so I chalked that up as a loss and tried to not breath until I was well away from the tunnel.

Eventually, I swung a right and then another and then I was at the base of Mt. Rubidoux. I went through the gates and started my usual Thursday-morning routine on Sunday. It was still overcast, still cool but comfortable, and I was still feeling good. I was at 7.3 miles when I ran through the gate and all was good.

Oh, it's a little more red.

My shirt was brighter than before, not much, but noticeable. Several people walking opposite of me gave me a double take and I tried to ignore them. I mean, it's tough to see someone wearing a white shirt with blood stains on it and not look twice. Still, I tried to hide it as much as possible but that was too taxing.

Eff it. Let 'em stare.

Two miles later and I was at the top of Mt. Rubidoux. I was surprised that I hadn't felt too bad considering I was at 9.3 miles in. In fact, I felt pretty stinkin' good for where I was. I stopped at the top to GU up and drink some Gatorade, then went right back down. Home didn't seem like a long ways away and I took that as a sign that I felt good and not quite longing to go home.

On my way down I drew more stares. What else are people going to do? The fog minimized the views of the surrounding area so people had to look at something, and the big red spot on the white shirt of the runner heading downhill was just as good as anything apparently.

I wish they knew I was running 18 miles.

Frankly, I didn't care but I felt like telling them there was a reason to the madness.

When I got to the bottom and out the gate I was relieved. There werent' too many pedestrians out and cars on Misson weren't going to slow down and stare at me, so I figured it was just me and the road for the next seven miles.

Still feeling good.

I took my final GU at about Mile 14 and felt strong, and felt like giving one last good push. I ran across a Swap Meet which was hopping, and of course the increase in people meant an increase in stares. I just put my head down and ran past people whenever I came up to any of them.

I don't give a *#^@what they think.

I was powering through an 18-mile run - AN 18-MILE RUN - so why would I give a crap what some random person saw or thought?

Finally I was down the last three miles, and this was a pretty lonely part of the run. I'd wanted to run sub-10-minute miles here and I did well to that. Mile 16 was 10:02 but Mile 17 was 9:38. Mile 18 was not as tough as I would have thought, though my legs felt heavy and I was ready to stop. The burning sensation on my chest was becoming too much to handle.

That spot is huge.

I was lucky I hadn't been running past any large crowds because the stares would have turned into pointing at this rate. Instead, I was almost home and when I hit the stop button on The Garmin after Mile 18, I was able to slow to a walk and really assess the damage.

At home, I drew gasps from Mrs. LB and the girls.

Damn. I guess it was more noticeable than I thought.

Then I had Yvie take a picture.

At home, my initial reaction was that of disappointment. I was not happy about my 18-mile run, but rather embarrassed becuase of how I looked. I thought about for a while (and I'm going to have much more thoughts on this on Monday's post) but I think what bothered me the most was that I was unprepared and it showed. That and I looked like a fool.

But the run itself was great. I felt very strong, was not wiped out, was happy with how the GU worked, with how the Gatorade worked, with having run to Mt. Rubidoux from my house, with having finished in a little more than three hours, with a lot of things. But that one thing bothered me for a few hours afterward.

Still, it's all a learning experience, every run is. And while you'll have to wait for Monday's post for all of my feelings, I'm certain I'm going to overcome this and will be better because of it.

The shirt (and white undershirt) though might be a different story...

Three-Day Stretch

I've been having a string of great runs lately, and I think part of that is my excitement for Saturday's 5K (scroll below for some of the build-up posts in case you missed 'em).

Just wanted to try and recap them briefly here since it's been such a strong week.

Tuesday - Interval

I was worried about this run since it was an afternoon run and I just don't do well running in the afternoons. However, I figured that since I was able to ref just fine, and most of those games started at 3:15 p.m. that I would be fine.

And I was. It went much better than expected. I knocked out about four miles overall, but about half of that was walking in warm-up and cool-down. I counted 3.53 miles towards my total, and it took me roughly 32 minutes to get them in.

Now, of those 32 minutes I walked eight of them but I didn't discount that mileage. Not sure how much it all equates to but that's what my interval consisted of. I pushed myself at the end as I set the treadmill at a 9.0 for Minutes 35 and 36 of the interval, and I felt great. I had a bit of a hulk feeling, as in the Incredible Hulk. I felt like tearing out of my shorts and shirt, growling like a bear and run even faster. Since I was at the gym, though, I thought better of it.

Wednesday - Tempo

I had intended on running six miles at the gym on Wednesday, and to do a bit of a tempo. It wasn't quite planned out, but I figured I'd start at about a 9:40 pace and some distance at around or under an 8:00 pace. My first mile was a 9:35, then I slowly increased the speed. I felt strong and the second mile was at 9:13. I upped the speed a bit more and got to an 8:46 mile for the third mile. I'd run about a half-mile or so, maybe less, and just increased the speed on the 'mill.

My next splits were as follows:

Mile 4 - 8:30
Mile 5 - 8:08
Mile 6 - 8:17
Mile 7 - 9:04
Final .37 - 9:38

Time: 1:05:07
Overall pace: 8:50

Heart rate stats: Avg. 172 (92.5 percent of max); Max 186 (100 percent of max).

Thursday - Mt. Rubidoux

Since I'd just run the two days before, and both fairly intense workouts, I didn't feel the need to run longer than four miles, or two miles up Mt. Rubidoux and two miles down. Plus, I didn't want to over-extend myself since I do have a race on Saturday and all.

Still, I felt good and wanted to have a good run so I didn't ease off the gas too much. My splits:

Mile 1: 9:53 (uphill)
Mile 2: 9:28 (uphill)
Mile 3: 8:15 (downhill)
Mile 4: 7:24 (downhill)

Total time: 35:01
Overall pace: 8:45

Now, this is where the Polar comes in handy. Not even a half-mile into my run Thursday, my heart rate was at 165. It took me about two miles on the treadmill Wednesday before my heart got to a 165. When I was coming up to the top I was about .1 miles short of an even two miles so I went downhill for about .05 miles and sprinted to the top. In a matter of .07 miles or so, my heart rate jumped from a 177 to a 185, and I felt it. I just felt empty and drained once I got to the top, and was happy to head downhill once more for the final two miles. It took me a bit to regain my composure even though I was going downhill. The last mile was great. It felt good to be able to touch a 7:24 mile, even if it was downhill-aided.

Another cool thing about Thursday's run: I crossed the 300-mile mark for the year. I've now ran about 303 miles this year.

Lovin' It

I love to run.

Were you aware of that?

Well, in case you weren't, I do. Thursday's run only validated that.

For the third consecutive Thursday, I went to Mt. Rubidoux for some hilly running. I didn't want to start out too fast, didn't want to burn out before I even got going, so i kept it steady. But I was feeling pretty good so I stretched out my legs a little bit. I wasn't setting any speed records but I was going at a pretty good clip, for an uphill portion anyway.

Now, on Mt. Rubidoux there are lots and lots of people. Some walk, some run, some push strollers, some walk their dogs, and some ride bicycles. There are actually fewer runners than walkers, stroller-pushers and dog-walkers. A few of the runners you can tell are veterans, mostly by the way they dress. Sometimes I'll say hi to a fellow runner, vets or not, if I make eye contact with them.

Today, I was probably nearing the one-mile mark when I noticed an older gentleman. He was coming down the path and going at a good speed. As we were about to cross paths, he smiled, waved and said "Good pace!"

I can't really describe how great that made me feel. He didn't have to say anything, didn't have to acknowledge me. He's probably ran a few marathons in his life, maybe more than a few. By the way he was running, I'm guessing we could run a 10K on Saturday and he'd finish before me. But his words of encouragement were so uplifting I could have closed my eyes and finished the run on that high alone.

When I was running Ragnar, I experienced similar words of encouragement from fellow runners and it was always uplifting. When I was not running, I tried to congratulate all the other runners I saw, particularly when it was the middle of the night and only us crazy Ragnar runners were out there, in Middle of Nowhere, Nevada. So when I'd see runners chugging along, either struggling or gliding across the asphalt, I'd say "Good job, runner" or something to the effect.

I wish I could bottle up that feeling and use it like Gu. I'd pop that in the middle of my long, challenging runs and I'd be golden.

Now, I reached the top of Mt. Rubidoux but took the backside down. I'd intended on turning around, going back to the top and run down the way I originally had gone up. Instead, I ended up doing a complete loop back up to the top, so I went uphill the same way twice. At the top once more, I was at about four miles, a little less, so I figured I'd run two miles downhill and get to six and call it a run. Mile 4 was particularly tough because the way I'd gone up wasn't a way I'd done before, and it is pretty steep. But with about a mile and a half to go, my legs felt like going a bit faster and I didn't want to deny that feeling. So off I went, running at a good, fast pace and I closed out the run feeling quite strong.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 9:38
Mile 2: 9:36
Mile 3: 8:39
Mile 4: 10:05
Mile 5: 8:34
Mile 6: 7:52

6.02 miles, 54:51

What a run!

Tearing Through A Run

I had a great run on Thursday and I just had to share. And then I have some other stuff to share below so stick around for that.

I hadn't intended on running because my morning was crammed since I had somewhere to go this afternoon, but my afternoon suddenly and unexpectedly cleared up for me so I had some extra time. Thus, I dropped Kennedy off at preschool and off I went to Mt. Rubidoux.

Now, before I get into that, let me talk about last week's run there. I went last Thursday (I'm thinking this may become a tradition) and I actually ran six miles. It's four miles from the entrance, all the way to the top and back, so last week I ran one mile up, one mile down, then ran the two miles up and two miles back down for a total of six.

Those splits: 8:40, 8:19, 9:56, 10:27, 8:39, 8:49.

Today, as I said, my afternoon was cleared up for me and I won't get into it but I was actually a bit upset. I was in WTF-did-I-do? mode, a little angry, and maybe that contributed to my kick-ass run.

Today's splits: 9:53, 9:36, 7:57, 7:29.

So the first mile I ran about a minute slower today than last week, but last week I got gassed right away. I know it's downhill but look at those last two splits! And if it was just the downhill contributing to my time, last week's last two miles (the 8:39 and 8:49) would have been much faster.

New Blog Buds

If you have a blog, then you went through the initial stage where you could count the number of readers you had on one hand. For me, I could have counted the number of readers on this blog with one finger for the first four months of this blog. That's why I blogged exactly zero times from mid-July to mid-October of 2008, but life was breathed into this blog after I started getting some readers, and the rest is blog history.

I always felt back then that I was in an abandoned warehouse, talking loudly but to a vast, empty space. I wondered "Is anybody reading this? Am I pouring out my feelings for them to go into a cyperspace wasteland?" Times have since changed, and while I don't have a readership in the hundreds or anything, it's nice to know that someone's reading my stuff.

Anyway, I came across a few start-up running blogs if you will, and figured I'd spread the word, since I know how nice it is to have regular readers.

* Jacqi of Engineering The Run is an engineer (hence the creative title) based somewhere in or around DC or Virginia or Maryland or wherever. It's the East Coast, it's cold, it's not SoCal. Anyway, she's training for a marathon and recently signed up for a half-marathon, race distances she's never raced before.

* Brandi of Run Bundles, Run! just got into running and signed up for the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon in June. She lives in Alaska! That's awesome! She has to deal with polar bears and narwhals and stuff... no, actually, I don't think she does, just some bitterly cold weather. I'm such a wimp, I'm not sure I could last for very long at any temperatures under 30 degrees, and that's a warm day for her.

* Whitney of It's What Moves Me came recommonded by Christy of It Just Looks Like Slow Motion, so with that stamp of approval you can't go wrong. Whitney has run five half-marathons... and no 5Ks, 10Ks or any other race distance. That's pretty cool actually. Here's a little Q&A with Whitney on Christy's blog.

Anyway, just wanted to share these blogs and try and spread their words. Keep on running ladies, whatever your goals are.

Scenic Run

I don't usually blog about my midweek runs because usually they are dreary (lately on the 'mill in my garage) and shorter than my weekend runs (4-6 miles or so).

But Thursday was an exception. I got the chance to run outside as I had a couple of hours after dropping Kennedy off at preschool. I had work and stuff to do but wanted to squeeze in an outdoor run. I haven't ran all week, as I've limited my "running" to soccer refereeing. I've ran a total of eight miles or so Monday through Wednesday, though it's not true running.

Anyway, that's another post for another day.

I was just going to run around my block but then I realized, why should I? Why not go somewhere else, perhaps closer to Kennedy's school?

So I decided on running up Mount Rubidoux. It's a well-known area here in Riverside, but I've only actually run up it once. The whole park has several trails for running, walking, biking and the like. There are trails around Mount Rubidoux as well as on the "mountain" itself. It's not really a mountain but it does get quite hilly.

And it has nice views.

from one side of Mt. Rubidoux

You can actually see the area where my house is from here. That sort-of pale looking spot in the middle is about two streets over from my house. The lone cloud in the sky, of course, blocked the view of the snow-capped mountains.

It was a bit windy, though. That was the only problem.

Old Glory flapping hard in the wind

On one side of Mt. Rubidoux, the wind was pretty strong. But on the other side, it was mostly calm.

Up on top there is a huge cross and I believe several other crosses spread out.

atop Mt. Rubidoux

There's also an area there where you can take a rest and relax and take in the entire landscape.

Maybe someday I'll go back and take some more pics, but I took these with my phone and didn't want to linger too much. Total mileage was 3.89 and I did that in 34:27, or a pace of 8:51. Fast for me, but then again half of it was downhill.

All in all, though, much better than running around my neighborhood. Or the garage.