Monday Report ...

Well it’s Monday and it has been a busy week-end, on and off the trail.  I ran the Tolt pipeline trail as planned Saturday but I haven’t had time to download the GPS track from the Foretrex yet.  The navigation device did come handy during the trail run.  First to find the actual entrance to the trail at the drop off point in Duval.   I almost ran by I about ¼ mile into the start of the run.  The “off track” indicator on the trip computer screen indicated I was running away from it (I though) because the indicator mileage was increasing as I was adding mileage to the run … later I realized that the mileage from waypoint continued to increase throughout the run so I have yet to figure out how to interpret that data.  However the “off track” indicator gives the distance left or right from course you are off so that's pretty handy to ensure you remaining on course.  I could switch to the Map screen where it showed my location and direction relative to North and the route waypoints.  I could navigate to the waypoints ensuring my position stayed on the route.  Another great feature I found was the elevation screen, which I could zoom in and out and would show the relative elevation … So that for example I could check if another uphill was around the corner of this uphill … 

Things I did not see on the Google Earth fly by was that there was no bridge to cross the Sammamish river when the Pipeline Trail crosses the Sammamish River trail … Duh!  Fortunately 145^th had a bridge about ¼ mile south of my position … My Iphone was still handful in deciding whether to go North or South to find a bridge.  I rejoined the trail soon following the map on my phone then reverted to GPS nav.  Well in this case I was following the actual trail but "GPS nav" sounds pretty fancy to write in here lol.  The 405 waypoint (where I had to exit off the trail to find the overpass and re-join the trail westbound) came up on the map next.  I followed the screen map which lead me to the overpass however I ran by the entrance again but quickly realized that I was off when my tracks started showing off the main route on the map so I turned around.   I had to scan around to find the entrance, event though the screen showed I was there it was actually a way off about 50 feet down on my left.  The trail ended at Blythe park with a 33% downhill.  It was extremely steep and muddy.

I plan to download the tracks from the GPS device and transfer the tracks to Google Earth and see if I can create a movie of my run … More to come on that.  Overall I am pleased with the purchase so far.  On the cons I think Garmin lacks support for the novice user (I had to research “how to’s” off the internet to figure out how to create a map and transfer it to the GPS.  The pace information that the salesman at REI told me was supported by Foretrex is non-existent (or haven’t figured where that feature is).  The speed data and average travel speeds are given in mph so it’s a little cumbersome to me as a runner since I am used to min/mile.  That is a very nice feature of RunKeeper that helps me when I run long distance events.  I can learn the conversion in my head from mph to min/ile for common time to overcome ...

The run felt great.  I ran 13 miles or there about so my longest run since Birch Bay and although I felt a little mored tired than usual for 13 miles I had no shooting pain or discomfort overall.  It was great to feel my mojo back!  

Sunday I ran in the Japanese Gulch in Mulkiteo with Bob and Michelle.  There are part of ESNW, and run ultras.  Michelle has run 100 miles runs and is training for more so I felt privileged they invited me.  We started at 6am, with our headlights making way through the mud.  This is the third time I ran in the Gulch.  The last two felt pretty tough but this one although tough as well didn't feel any tougher so i was pretty happy with myself.  We did one loop of about 7 miles.  Bob took us on the North side of the Gulch, so it was new for me.  At the end of the run I decided to spice it up a little I hit the stationary bike at the gym just for measure.  I was sore throughout the day today so I was definitely paying the price today.  As I write this in the evening though most the soreness has receded.  It seems my recovery time remains pretty fast.  I feel a little irritation in my knee, I think it may be due to the new stretching routine so I decided to only use the routine once today and use alternative techniques tonight.

  

With all that now I feel back at close to 100%.  My focus is back on Chuckanut 50k.  I am two weeks out and entering the taper, meaning my training window is passed.  At this point I will just have to maintain my running and deal with what this mountain will throw at me in 2 weeks ...