James - 3.6

35:42

I really need to update my bio here. It's almost 2 years out of date. Anyone else want to join in with the fun of changing theirs?

Luke - 8.25

Warmup, 4mi@25:12 (6:30, 6:08, 6:20, 6:13), cooldown. Didn't feel hard, just as it should be.

Zack - 9.5

71:10 (7:29)

27 min wu at Amazon with Luke and Renee.

4 mi tempo on the bark: 6:27, 6:08, 6:18, 6:01 = 24:54 (6:13/mi)

400m in 77, 200m in 36. Cooldown.

Definitely a challenge in the dark and with erratic pacing, but felt strong and under control.

Alison - 1.5

I did the set run that is the test for the coast guard. You must run a mile and a half in 15 mins. I did it in 14.wt, which was my mile time in first grade.

Also here is a joke about running that Luke said is the worst joke I ever done told him but I think itS the best.

Q. What happens when you presume?

A. You make Pre's out of u and me.

Zack - 5.5

44:08 (8:01)

EZ run on Amazon to Rexius, up to Snell Dr. and back on bark at 9PM.

Luke - 9.75

9.75mi, 82:44 (8:29)

Fox Hollow plus a loop on Amazon. 9:37 up, 8:55 down, 8:35 for the mile loop. I left right when I got home from work but it was still dark by the time I started the hill. Felt like I was going pretty well but it was mostly 8:00 pace on the flat stuff, and then the last couple miles were slower.

I've kinda been a pussy the last week or two. Enough of that!

James - 3.8

37:48

Going for a record again this week, even if only by one tenth of a mile. This start puts me above the needed average.

My trainer today was Cheers.

Zack - PM: 6.5

51:28 (7:55)

Rexius Trail at 9:30PM. Planned on ~5 mi but felt good and was really enjoying the crisp evening so I extended the run. Tired at the end after capping off a 2 day total of 27.75 mi (one of my biggest 2 day totals ever i'm sure). We will see how this experiment in mileage treats me the rest of the week.

Zack - AM: 3.25

no watch.

Amazon recovery at 7AM.

Zack - 18

2:14:00 (7:27)

Weyerhaeuser Rd. with 5/others. Relaxed pace, negative split by likely >5 min. After about 16 mi, legs started to get heavy but not any considerable fatigue throughout. Excellent start to hopefully another high mileage week (>60 mi).

Luke - 18

18mi, 2:14:08 (7:27)

Ran out on the logging road with Zack and 5 others. Garmin data here. I took a pitstop at the turnaround point and had to book it to catch up to everyone, and I think that took its toll later in the run...the last few miles my legs felt really heavy, and I fell back a bit...I finished a couple minutes behind Zack, so I think we ended up with the same overall time since I was stopped for about that long at halfway.

Had about a third of a carton of ice cream when I got home.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/20-11/26

Zack - 46.25 (7)

Luke - 44.25 (6)

Steve - 12.25 (2)

James - 5.5 (2)

Chris - 3 (1)

111.25 miles in 18 runs by 5 runners.

Zack - 4.25

32:49

Amazon AM run before going to the Oregon vs Oregon State football game on a lovely day.

Easy. 7:35, 7:37, 7:39.

Chris - 3

28:21 - 9:27 pace

Jeeni and I decided to go on a run in the neighborhood surrounding the new house I'm living in. It's very hilly. Which is good and bad...haha. My legs felt alright, I just didn't feel like I could go particularly fast. It did feel good to get out and moving though, especially after eating a bunch of yummy food on Thanksgiving.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 50:41 (7:47)

Easy run on Rexius. It was 59 degrees out! I wore short sleeves.

Zack - 8

67 min (8:22)

With Matilda (black lab) and Luke on the Lacamas Creek Trails in Camas, WA. Lots of hills, a few raging waterfalls, and plenty of rare sunshine for late November. Nice recovery pace throughout.

James - 2.4

~24:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all had a good one.

Rather than what you might expect from me on Black Friday, here's a feel-good story about an animal loving runner.

Jogger Saves Cat in Rainy Park, Carries Him One Mile in Her Coat

In November of 2006, I went for a run through a nearby local park. It was a bitterly cold and rainy day; the winds were harsh and felt like they were going right through me. Running through the park wasn’t initially part of my planned route that day, but due to the weather, I thought it would be best to run in an area closer to home.

As I ran through a wooded part of the park, I happened to glance to my left. If I hadn’t looked in that direction at that moment in time, I would have missed him entirely. There he was, a small brown tabby cat, huddled up in a ball; he wasn’t even attempting to find shelter from the elements. As I slowed to a walk and moved toward the cat, I saw what was next to him: a handful of crackers and a half-filled paper cup of water. He had no identification on him, simply a cheap blue flea collar around his neck. He was very calm as I approached him and did not exhibit any signs of being feral. By all appearances, he had been dumped in that park. As he looked up at me with his big, caramel-colored eyes, I realized I couldn’t just leave him there. And as the rain started to come down even harder, I made the decision to bring him back home.

P.S. I did get a treat when doing my post-run stretches. Some kids on bikes crossed the road that intersects with the trail, getting a big honk from an SUV. They shouted a mighty "Fuck off!" That cheered me up. Let us be thankful.

Luke - 8

8mi, 67:40 (8:27)

Ran at Lacamas Park with Zack. Great trails, although there weren't a ton of them so we did a lot of sections more than once. Mostly rolling hills, some flat sections, some really steep pitches. The weather was absolutely fantastic, which was weird.

Zack - 8

Turkey Stuffer 5km: 17:07 (5:31/mi) 17 sec PR. 23rd place

No watch nor splits which was a little strange for me. I was hoping to go sub 17 in this race but knew it was going to be tough. I felt like I was running nearly even splits but it is difficult to say. I moved up steadily after about 2 miles and then passed about 5 guys at ~2.75 mi. I didn't have much of a final kick and was passed back by a few of those guys with about 200m to go. I am pleased that my recent spike in mileage and the few strong speed workouts are proving to be successful. Enjoyed the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday at my girlfriend's mom's house in Camas, WA.

Steve - 7

So I also ran in a Turkey Trot 10k. I just never bothered to post it until now (for good reason). On Thanksgiving night we flew down to Cancun for 6 days. Had a great time, won't bore you with the details. Anyway, for the 10k I didn't run quite an all out effort but it was a decent time considering my mileage. My time was 45:17. I tried to run a pretty even pace but I don't really know if I did because the mile markers were wrong and I seldom saw them. I crossed mile 1 at 7:03 (probably right) and mile 2 at 5:59 (definitely wrong). The next marker I saw was a sign that said 1 mile to go, which would naturally make it the 5.2 mile mark. I hit that at 38:01 (7:19 pace). I picked it up a bit from there and covered the final mile in 7:14.

While in Cancun I meant to run at least once but never was able to. Now that I'm back, I plan to get my mileage jump-started again as I was getting close to 20 mile weeks.

Luke - 8

Turkey Stuffer 5k, 15:59 (6th place)

It had been raining for about a week before Thanksgiving, with wind here and there, but for the race it was clear and still for about six hours before going back to usual. Zack and I warmed up about 2½ miles and I felt pretty good, or at least nothing felt bad. It seemed like everywhere I looked there were a lot of fast people, and I talked to Josh Gordon before the start and he predicted at least 5 people would go sub-15. I think it being the 30th running of the race got a few more people than usual out there. They had to start the race about ten minutes late because there was still a line of people picking up their race numbers at 8:30 (listed start time). Zack and I lined up with a bunch of people we knew, including Josh and Jeff, who I was hoping to run with (and maybe beat). At the gun it was a pretty crowded start and I was probably in 25th at best at 300m. Jeff had gone out very fast, probably at the back of the lead group, and Josh was in front of me a little ways also. It thinned out somewhat by the time we made the first turn, about a half-mile in, and I was picking people off fairly constantly. Josh was also picking people off, and was probably 30m in front of me at about 6 minutes into the race. There were no mile markers this year, which is weird since they have always had them at this race in the past, and at almost every race in general. Kinda threw me off not knowing at all how fast I was going. I just kept trying to pick people off, and I was pretty successful at that. Not counting the first 50m, no one passed me the entire race. I kept catching up to the next guy in front of me, running with him for a second sometimes, and then passing him with a burst, and none of them ever came back to me. The only guy I wasn't catching was Josh. At about a half a mile to go we came out of the neighborhoods and onto a more major road, and stayed on that road until about 300m to go, where we turned into a parking lot and ran to the finish. At the turn onto the main road, there was one guy right in front of me, another guy about 25m in front of me, Josh just in front of him, and Jeff about 25m in front of Josh. I dropped the first guy right away and really tried to push to catch Josh. At the turn-in to the parking lot it took me about 10m to catch the random guy and I blew past him pretty easily (Steve--he had a CMS jersey on, so you'll be happy to know I beat the bastard). Josh was pushing hard to catch Jeff, so I was having a tough time gaining anything on him. At the finish it ended up being Jeff two seconds in front of Josh who was three seconds in front of me. I think if Jeff hadn't been there as a target for Josh I might've had a chance at catching him. Also I think if the race were a quarter-mile longer the order of the three of us would have been reversed.

I was surprised to learn that I'd gotten sixth--when I finished I figured I was somewhere around 13th, but I guess I'd picked off a lot of people. The race wasn't as fast as we expected--the winner was at 15:27. If I'd gotten my goal of 15:29 I would have been right up there...I think not having mile markers messed me (and a lot of other people) up. The cold might have had something to do with it, even though it was relatively warm (41º). Also I think I run a lot better in the evening. Kinda disappointed I didn't PR...I didn't feel like I was weak in any one specific area, there was just nothing really great about my race.

Cooled down for a while with a handful of other people, for what I'm gonna call 2.4 miles, and then Zack and I left...we didn't stick around for awards; I'm pretty sure I would have gotten a dinky medal for being second in my age group, but that's about it. We were much more interested in heading out to get Thanksgiving dinner!

Luke - 2.25

2.25mi, 17:51 (7:56)

A mile loop in 7:55. Just a shakeout, really.

Zack - 3.25

25:00

Amazon morning loops in a steady rain. No watch.

Luke - 7.5

Zack and I ran Rexius easy, and then I wanted to do 200, 400, 600 at 5k pace, with 200m rest in between each. The weather was not too bad on the easy part, but as soon as I started the track stuff the wind started going crazy and the rain picked up a bunch too. Came through the first 200 at 38, which felt nice and easy. On the 400 I started out okay but the wind was getting to me at the end and I ran a 79. The wind was getting worse and worse the whole time, so the 600 was awful. I could barely run coming down the homestretch, I was leaning forward like crazy and there was just a ton of resistance. Came through the 400 of it at 78 and ended at 2:00. So a bit slow, but considering the conditions it makes sense. I told Zack after that if the conditions were like that for the race on Thursday I'd be lucky to break 16:30.

Zack - 6.5

50:21 (7:45)

Rexius with Luke in the evening + 4 strides on the track. Rain.

James - 3.1

30:17

Whilst overall a bit slow, I really increased the speed continuously. I decided to have another rest week but throw in a few different things. I think I will do a fast 5K and maybe some fartleks later in the week if I can.

I've been doing a math report on the geometry of Stonehenge and surprisingly enjoying it - now that'd be a place to run around.

Zack - 4.25

33:29 (7:53)

Amazon at 10PM in the rain. Pleasant at about 45F.

Zoned out: 8:02, 7:51, 7:47.

Steve - 5.25

43:22 (8:16)

Ran around Santa Monica. About half on dirt.

Zack - 12

93:04 (7:45)

Relaxed long run from EWEB building, out to Dorris Ranch and back with 5 others. Lots of fun and a very comfortable pace.

Luke - 12

12mi, 93:04 (7:45)

I had many many beers last night. Zack and I were scheduled to meet some other runners at 10am so I had to get up and go. Right before we started I was very close to throwing up, but once I started running that went away and I just had a general malaise about me the rest of the run. My legs felt fine the whole time but the hangover was pretty bad. Also it was under 40º...I had a thick hat and gloves so it wasn't too bad while we were going, it was only really noticeably frigid before and after, when we were stopped. Kinda glad I got out there and did the long run, I'll probably feel better the rest of the day than I would have if I had stayed around the house.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/13-11/19

Zack - 49.65 (7)

Luke - 48.55 (6)

Steve - 14.61 (3)

James - 8.9 (3)

Chris - 6 (2)

127.71 miles in 21 runs by 5 runners.

Zack - 6.4

6.4 miles, no watch

Ran the big loop of Pre's Trail with my girlfriend Erin. Easy.

Steve - 5.1

42:05 (8:15)

Usual run in the neighborhood.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 44:41 (8:07)

Worked a half-day today (told my boss I'd do so and then work zero overtime next week, so I can get enough sleep every night, so I can race well) and then got a token run in; now I have the rest of the day to hang out and watch the Duck game.

James - 3.1

32:17

The third in a trifecta of slow runs, although it was still hard and so I wonder if I am overrreaching and should not have done such distances, even at slow speeds. I may have a second easy week to see if I can recover more. I am talking with my England friends about doing the 10th Manchester 10K with them when I return in May (I did the first one in 2003 so it would be very nice).

After this gym visit Alison and I went to Chilis for 2-for-1 drinks where I had many and most of hers even though it was walking distance from our house and she didnt have to drive and I may still be drunk and also too many chips and tacos and holy fuck bananas.

Speaking of bananas, I made Alison listen to the excellent Japanese noisy punk band Melt Banana today. Let's see if Luke the banana lover likes them. Here's a cover of the most West Coast song EVER and an original one:

Zack - 4.25

4.25 miles

EZ Amazon loops, recovery.

Luke - 9.3

9.3mi, 75:13 (8:05)

1.6-mile loop in 12:56, 1.5-mile loop in 12:23, 1.4-mile loop in 11:23. Cold, but at least it was light out and 90% of the time it didn't rain.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 47:04 (8:33)

Weather was way shitty, so it took a bit for Zack and I to get each other out the door. The first half mile felt like the whole run was going to be miserable, but the rain died down and it was not bad at all the rest of the way. Got DoughCo a bit later.

Zack - 5.5

47:04 (8:33)

Rexius trail up to Snell Dr. with Luke super easy in the rain. Legs felt surprisingly good, slightly tight calves.

James - 3.1

33:22

Another slow one. More impressively I did some bicep curls using my puny arms, and some crunches. And I did run most of the way to school last night due to super lateness.

Zack - 12.25

90:03 (7:21)

Track workout on the South Eugene HS track with a few other guys. They are currently much quicker than me so I wanted to hang on the best I could.

22 min wu.

(600, 500, 400, 300, 200) x 3 and only 100m rest. Ended up doing 200 rest on the last set, 400 m jog b/w sets.

Splits: (1:59, 1:38, 77, 56, 35)

(1:54, 1:37, 77, 57, 35)

(1:55, 1:39, 77, 56, 35)

Very long 37 min cooldown.

This was done with a stiff wind/rain. The guys I were running with were crucial for these splits, as they pulled me along and then typically dropped me towards the end as they increased the pace. This is equivalent of 15 x 400 with little rest. The consistent intervals and speed of this made it probably my strongest workout ever.

Chris - 3

26:49 - 8:56 pace

Lunch run in the rain. First cold and rainy run of the fall! And I broke 9 minute pace! Tomorrow my goal after work is to go shoot hoops for an hour. Then Friday and Saturday I'm moving to a new house. Ahhh the joys of moving. NOT.

Steve - 5.23

38:50 (7:25)

I ran with the Nike running club in Santa Monica. I decided to join the 5 mile group. Of course I'm a nerd and I mapped the course in gmap pedometer and it's actually 5.23 miles(http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5191852. Their run is pretty similar to what I run in SM anyways. It was an out and back that is slightly uphill on the way out. On the way back, there was a group of about 5 of us. They were pushing the pace and I didn't want to drop off. We were probably doing under 7 min/mile pace for the long down hill portion of about a mile. Overall this was a pretty damn fast pace for me for a training run. It was a bit of a struggle to keep up, bit it was more fun that way than running by myself.

Zack - 6.5

51:07 (7:52)

Rexius loop at night easy.

Splits: 7:58, 8:02, 7:39.

Steve - 4.28

36:42 (8:34)

Had a test today that I think I aced. So it was nice to get out and do a run and let out some of that nervous energy.

Luke - 9

25' w/u, 3x(400, 200r, 300, 300r, 200, 400r, 300, 300r) + 1x400m, 15' c/d.

Went out for Swede Johnsons but I was hurting "the wrong way"* near the end so I cut it slightly short. Did three out of the four sets plus the ending 400. Goal paces were 70, 51, and 32. Actual splits:

69, 49, 32, 50

70, 51, 34, 50

69, 51, 33, 50

69

Pretty happy with the amount of speed, especially comparing to last time I did this workout. Even though I cut it short, I feel like I could have finished it at the same paces if I'd needed to. Racing a 5k on Thanksgiving and Zack and I are both hoping for big PRs.

*A big thing for runners to learn is the difference between good-hurt and bad-hurt. Bad-hurt is usually sharper pain often in a specific location, and good-hurt is closer to general soreness, but there is a large gray area so it takes a lot of experience to differentiate and make a judgment call as to whether or not you're hurting "right".

Zack - 5.25

40:52 (7:47)

Evening Amazon, long day after being the one to present at my research lab's group meeting. I realized after I was done that the total time of this run was exactly the same as the previous Monday.

Splits: 7:58, 7:53, 7:47, 7:44.

James - 2.7

27:32

Taking it a bit easier this week after last weeks total distance record. For some reason, Friends has always been on the TV whenever I've gotten to the treadmill lately, and I find myself watching it without sound or captions (and I don't normally like to watch TV when running, even in a boring gym).

Chris - 3

28:14 - 9:24 pace

I finally ran! And I am in terrible shape. And I got a side ache after like 4 minutes. Pretty pathetic. It feels like it's been forever since I posted so here's a couple reason why I haven't been able to run (besides being lazy). I was in Houston, Texas from Oct 26th-31st for my cousins wedding and spent time with some with a couple of my best friends as well. When I got back I got a stomach virus from Jeeni's family, and then caught a head cold after I got over the stomach bug. Last week Jeeni and I did go to 24 Hr Fitness and lifted weights for awhile. My chest is just now recovering from doing the bench, haha. I'd really like to start playing basketball on a regular basis soon, so I want to get back into somewhat decent running shape so I can last longer than 5 minutes on the basketball court.

Luke - 3.25

3.25mi, 31:45 (9:46)

Mile loops of 9:50 and 9:33, too early.

Zack - 9.5

79:25 (8:20)

Ran the first hour with Erin mostly through an industrial part of North Portland. Matilda (her dog) and I continued on and ran around Fernhill Park. This was super relaxed and easy.

Luke - 16

16mi, 1:58:52 (7:25)

Autumn Trails Run, 1st place.

Was going to do a long run with lots of trails/hills anyway, so when I heard Josh Gordon was going to do this as a long run I decided to join him.

We started at the bottom of Fox Hollow and did about a mile on the Rexius bark before heading up. I took it real easy to start, and there were about a dozen people in front of me (there were about 60 people in the race, some doing the 3.5-mile course, some doing 6, some doing 10, and the rest of us doing 16). I'd told Josh before the start that I'd be hitting the hill hard and then settling down because I always feel better when I do that (I learned this in August). Once the hill started I sped up and started passing people, getting into first a little before halfway up Fox Hollow. We took the back way to the start (crossing a stream) so I didn't get a traditional split, but I think it was about an 8-minute effort, which is fairly fast. After Fox Hollow we got on Ridgeline, and Josh and this other guy Mike caught up to me pretty quick. We settled into a good pace and pretty much ran the rest of the way together, me in front, then Josh, then Mike. We talked intermittently, none of us racing, but still kept up a nice pace. At about 45 minutes there was an aid station so we stopped for not quite a minute and had a gel and some water. After the aid station we were retracing our steps so we passed all the other people doing 16 miles; the first guy we passed was 3-4 minutes behind us.

About 9 miles in we took the turnoff for the butte, but instead of going to the very top like I usually do, we went around the back. This portion had some fairly steep downhills, and I knew we'd be coming back the same way. At the turnaround, though, there was another aid station and we stopped for some Gatorade. We headed back up and some of the steeper sections were a bit slow but we were all doing pretty well anyway. We once again saw the next guy as we came back; he was about 6 minutes behind us.

Once we got back to the trail I'm used to I picked it up a bit, as it was a fun downhill section and I of course know that trail really well. I put a bit of a gap on the other two for a couple minutes but they caught right up once we got back to Fox Hollow. At that point there was one trail loop left and then it was down Fox Hollow to the finish...my legs were feeling a bit tired but I kept leading. I'd told Josh I'd be bombing it down Fox Hollow because it's fun; he said he'd be running like an old man because it was a bit muddy and he wanted to be safe. I took off when we got there but I didn't put a ton of distance on him and Mike as I ran a 6:04...I think my legs were feeling the distance behind me a bit. From the bottom it was less than a quarter-mile to the finish, and I could actually hear Josh and Mike gaining on me. I was able to speed up and hold them off though, coming through about 7 seconds in front of Josh and 10 seconds in front of Mike. I'm not sure if the race people realized we'd run the whole way together on purpose, and just thought it was a close race. Our time was a few seconds over 2:00:00 (the time at the top of this post is the time I had on my watch--I stopped it when we stopped for gel and for Gatorade).

For winning I got a comped entry to the next trail race, in December, which I may or may not do, and since there were only 60 people in the race, across 4 distances, maybe 10 age groups, and both sexes, everyone got an age group medal. There was chili, pizza, and brownies there in addition to the bagels, bananas, Gatorade, and stuff like that that's always at races, but I just had pizza and Gatorade. And only one slice of pizza...I guess I don't feel like eating as much after 16 miles as I do after a 5k.

Went home and had a Sleigh'r in a hot shower...very nice.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/6-11/12

Luke - 66.25 (8)

Steve - 17.89 (4)

James - 14.4 (4)

98.54 miles in 16 runs by 3 runners.

James - 3.2

~32:30

Alison sat/stood on our balcony while I did my 5-lap apartment complex route. She was cheering me on and it was very exciting each time I saw her, but the cheering was dead silent because it was late and we live on the second floor. She said she could hear me coming way down the path and that maybe that means I am hitting the ground too hard (which I probably am).

Earlier in the day we read on the balcony and also played battleships. It is finally cold enough to be out there.

Luke - 6

6mi, 48:16 (8:02)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 13:00. Took it really really easy.

Steve - 5.1

41:23 (8:07)

Only one decimal point. Eat your heart out Luke. This was one of my typical Saturday runs where I watch the first quarter of the Michigan game, pause it, and then go run. I always want just a little taste of the game before I run. It was a good run made better by the fact that they dominated Illinois. I heard this Illinois war chant like 40 times during the game and I kind of got addicted to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJp1uB1RvlY&feature=feedlik

One of the many reasons the college football experience is better than the NFL experience are the bands. Most colleges have a war chant, not just the ones that have names related to American Indians. For instance, Michigan has this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VERrETp-beQ

This post may inspire some criticism from James about exploitation of American Indians, of which I am also cognizant of. On the scale of offensive nicknames, the Fighting Ilini are 1 out of 10. A 10 of course is the Washington Redskins (Can you imagine a team being called the Los Angeles Blackskins or the New York Whiteskins or Seattle Yellowskins?). The logo for the Cleveland Indians would also rank as a 10 out of 10.

Can anyone guess what Stanford's team name used to be before changing to the Stanford Cardinal? (yes, cardinal, as in the color)

Sorry if no one else found any of this interesting..

Steve - 4.89

42:18 (8:39)

Took off from work early cuz I'm cool like that and did a run before it got dark for once. I hate daylight "saving" time. It doesn't save anything. I guess it makes it easier to wake up in the morning in the winter but it sucks otherwise. I'm not a fan of the sun setting at 4:30 pm or whatever it is setting at now. Thanks a lot Benjamin Franklin. I will now burn a 100 dollar bill in your honor. /rant. My foot felt better today. I had acupuncture again yesterday and it seemed to actually help. So who wins tomorrow guys in the big game? Michigan or Illinois? Just kidding, I'm referring of course to Oregon and Stanford...

Luke - 13

Wanted a workout with some short fast stuff, so I made up a workout that would simulate the progression of a race:

26' w/u (WARMUP)

4x200m, 200r: 32, 32, 31, 32 (FAST START)

5mi ez (AEROBIC FATIGUE)

1600m, 400r: 5:23 (82, 82, 80, 78) (ANAEROBIC FATIGUE)

4x200m, 200r: 33, 33, 32, 32 (FAST FINISH)

19' c/d (COOLDOWN)

Was definitely dead-legged on the cooldown, but I was glad I was able to get some speed going after the five easy miles.

Afterward had a bunch of Indian food.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 54:46 (8:25)

Rexius, easy, with Zack. Both of us were dragging ass trying to get out the door so it was good we had each other to keep us motivated. Once we were out there it was not nearly as bad as either of us were expecting. It was dark and foggy but the route wasn't so bad that we needed headlights...just all cool-looking.

James - 3.1

32:04

A fairly slow 5K to try and recover a bit before going for gold on Saturday.

James - 3.1

30:45

It's time for another edition of connecting running to radical and anti-capitalist politics!

The Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (phew) posted this blog post last week: The Tyranny of Comfort

In a lengthy tirade on the subject, Edward Abbey exhorted tourists to exit their vehicles and subject themselves to the wonderful discomfort of the desert (from Desert Solitaire):

“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs, look around; throw away those goddamned idiotic cameras! For chrissake folks what is this life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare? Take off your shoes for a while, unzip your fly, piss hearty, dig your toes in the hot sand, feel that raw and rugged earth, split a couple of big toenails, draw blood! Why not? Jesus Christ, lady, roll that window down! You can’t see the desert if you can’t smell it! Dusty! Of course it’s dusty – this is Utah! But it’s good dust, good red Utahn dust, rich in iron, rich in irony. Turn that motor off. Get out of that piece of iron and stretch your varicose veins, take off your brassiere and get some hot sun on your old wrinkled dugs… …Yes sir, yes madam, I entreat you, get out of those motorized wheelchairs, get off your foam rubber backsides, stand up straight like men! like women! like human beings! and walk — walk — WALK upon our sweet and blessed land!”

...
Marketers and consumers share the blame. Ubiquitous ads convince us how much more comfortable we’ll be when we own [insert your favorite overblown, overpriced product here]. And we consistently convince ourselves that we can satisfy our needs by purchasing evermore “comfortable crap.” It’s as if the purpose of the economy is to make sure we’re comfortable.

Comfort is ruining the planet! Run into pain, feel the wind in your face, and enjoy the heightened pleasure later!

Luke - 8

8mi, 75:02 (9:22)

Ribbon Trail to Relentless Hills. Craaaaaaaaazy beautiful sunset (though that did mean it was getting dark for the second half of the run). I took my Garmin and I don't think it quite works as well in the trees...here's the route it plotted for me; I guess it didn't have quite enough time to sync with the satellites at the beginning of the run because it was about a half-block off for the first half (I didn't run through all those houses)...and then the rest of the run the lines are way too smooth...it missed a lot of zigzags when I was in the trees. Pretty sure my pace wasn't 10:30 (even though it was pretty slow...tired, tons of hills).

Despite not working on trails so much I think the GPS will be nice to have for finding new routes on the roads, and when I'm travelling.

Steve - 3.8

33:54 (8:55)

Distance was probably a bit longer but I'm being conservative. I should probably make note of my route more carefully or at least record my run the day after instead of 3 days later. When I'm trying to decipher it on google maps pedometer 3 days later, it's tough to be exact. Or I could "sell out" like Luke and get a Garmin wrist watch so I can complain about local races being 3.14 miles and messing up what would have been a PR for sure. /my favorite rant

Luke - 9.25

22' w/u; 5x1000m, 200r: 3:28, 3:19, 3:17, 3:21, 3:18; 27' c/d.

Headed to the bark loop for these, and was joined by a couple other fast guys. It was dark, of course, but not too cold. We were shooting for 3:22-3:25...the first one I followed and we ended up pretty slow; the second one I pushed the pace a bit and we ended up going that pace for the rest of them. Felt good to go pretty fast...it's so much easier with company.

James - 5

47:02

Beat my previous distance record by a whole mile.

The last two miles I was in a drug-like daze, with tunnel vision. Trying to do work this evening I have just wanted to go lie down. The physical devastation is very exciting.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:10 (7:48)

Mile loops of 8:22, 8:09, and 6:17. The other day I spent a bunch of money on running stuff: got a pair of shoes and two pairs of shorts for super-cheap, and bought a really expensive toy: a GPS watch. The package came today so I threw on the Garmin and headed out real quick for a run, without setting up anything custom. Here's the result...apparently it's slightly shorter than we have been calling it, but I'm still gonna keep calling it four and a quarter. I'm excited to do some more adventurous runs with the Garmin, it's fun to geek out on information for a run.

Luke - 3.25

3.25mi, 32:22 (9:57)

Mile loops of 9:56 and 9:36, so early. It's amazing this is the fastest I can go at 4am, when I'd have a real tough time getting myself to go that slow on an afternoon run.

Steve - 4.1

Unofficial time of 20:45 in pouring rain through puddles. Mustache pics. now live!

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So it was my first 5k race in several months. Naturally, when I woke up the morning of the race it was pouring rain. A rare occurrence for L.A. My wife made a meek effort to persuade me to not do the race, but we had already paid in advance and I was determined to run on this day. I figured there was a chance it wouldn't be raining at the USC campus, which is about 15 miles from my house. Of course, when we arrived there on campus it was raining just as hard. Undeterred, after parking, we jogged over the pre-reg tent as everyone around merely walked in the rain. The 25 minutes or so before the race pretty much sucked as I was trying to do some drills and strides while most people huddled in the areas that were covered. Finally about 2 minutes before the race was supposed to start, people started assembling at the start. By this time I was completely soaked. For some unknown reason they kept us standing there for another 10 minutes or so for various speeches and of course an extremely slow rendition of the national anthem in which I refused to take my hat off. Call me a traitor to my county, I don't care.

At last the race started. We started right by the Tommy Trojan statue. . We ran along the sidewalk through campus for most of the first mile, twisting and turning through puddles gallore. I really had no idea what my pace was in the first mile during it. I was mostly just trying to not step directly into puddles without slowing down too much. The first split was 6:37 and there was probably about 15 people ahead of me. I actually felt surprisingly good as we finally made our way onto the streets. However the same problem with puddles exists. As some of may know, L.A.'s street system is not designed to drain water so there tends to be puddles everywhere. It's always a disaster when there is persistent rain. I still didn't have a good feeling for my pace during the second mile. I passed a few people, which doesn't mean much cuz people always go out too fast in the first mile. I hit the second mile at 6:43, a slight drop off, but still pretty good. Now within striking distance, I had to remind myself not to let down. I picked off a few runners, although a few different runners blew past me. The final mile consisted of a bunch of dizzying turns on the walkway around the campus, not exactly optimal for speed, especially considering the puddles everywhere. At last, I hit the 3rd mile at 6:48 and picked it up slightly to close the final .1 in a decent :37 for a final unofficial time of 20:45. I was pretty happy to be under 21. I really had no idea what I would be capable of after averaging about 10-12 miles the last 5 weeks or so. Oh also, I grew a mustache during the first week of November, partially for "Movember" and partially as a half-ass costume to work for Halloween. I wore a Google T-Shirt and I had a mustache. So my costume was a "douche", since I work for a quasi-competitor to Google.

Splits (6:37, 6:43, 6:48, :37)

Luke - 16

16mi, 2:00:18 (7:31)

Zack and I drove up to the Fox Hollow parking lot and met five other runners for a long run. It was very hilly, but we did really well. Last couple miles were in the 6:15 range or so.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/30-11/5

Luke - 51 (7)

Steve - 13.38 (3)

James - 9.7 (3)

74.08 miles in 13 runs by 3 runners.

Luke - 8

8mi, 70:15 (8:46)

With Zack, drove up to the Blanton trailhead of Ridgeline and ran to Fox Hollow Road and back. Took it real easy. Cold and rainy, but fun.

James - 3.1

28:43

I was going to do a 5K tomorrow, but decided against it. My training was really interrupted by injury, money isn't exactly growing on trees right now, and mainly because I had a ticket to see ska-funk-soul-punk L.A. legends FISHBONE tonight. I'm guessing at least Steve knows them. If you're not familiar, this is one their less eclectic songs (ska-punk mainly) but it gives an idea of their vibrant live shows.



One of the best gigs I've been to in ages.

I was doing a lot of stretching between bands after todays run and all my new paranoia about stretching.

I hope I made the right decision, as originally I was excited that the race was November 5th -- what with V for Vendetta being one of Luke's favourite films and me being of the opinion that I can channel his powers if I just follow the right procedures.

Luke - 6.4

6.4mi, 50:16 (7:51)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's in 12:40, with Zack. Took it real easy because my hamstring is still pretty tight, but I think I should be all right in a couple days. There's a 16-miler planned for Sunday but I'll see how I feel tomorrow before I decide whether or not to do it.

Steve - 0

65:13

Ran 10 miles at slow pace in P.M. over flat course 10 - 15° with 20-35 mph winds = 30 below wind chill = fun!!

Luke - 1

9 minutes or so.

Took Wednesday completely off because my left hamstring was still pretty tight. Went out for an easy run but considered not even going when I took my first step and got pain. Went real slow to see if it would get better and it never really did so I turned around at about a half mile. It feels a bit better when I run on my heel rather than my toes like I usually do, but I don't want to let it change my form so I'm gonna take it real easy and be cautious.

James - 3.5

33:08

I had my first massage the day before this. It was a discount for 30 minutes. Felt pretty good after, though not sure if it's something I'd want to do much/again. Guy had some advice, said I should stretch more after the run than before, and sleep with a pillow under my knees to prevent back pain (though I normally sleep on my front, I've been trying it). And do quick stretches every morning and night. Guys?

Steve - 4

34:09 (8:32)

Went back to Caltech to run with my old group. A lot of people don't come out anymore so it was a bit disappointing. My legs are still beatup, so I just did an easy run.

Steve - 4.28

37:39

Usual run in my neighborhood.

Luke - 3.75

The plan was a 5-mile tempo on the bark loop at 6:00/mi pace. Jogged to the trail and waited a few minutes for the people I'd be running with, then warmed up two 1k loops and one mile loop with them. Started off and felt pretty good, just let them go at it and hung right behind them. Came through 1200m on pace, then about 200m later my left hamstring got real tight and I had to stop. I tried walking around and stretching it a bunch, but it was still super tight when they came through at the end of their second lap, so I just walked home from there.

I'm guessing it was a combination of things that caused it: it has gotten a lot colder in the last week or so, I've been running a lot of miles, and there were no good bananas when I went to the store so I've had like three in the past week (I usually have three a day) so I might be low on potassium.