Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Sunny

Comments: Welcome back Russ! 5 is a good start. We'll get you back to speed in no time. Good loop today.

Runners: Carolyn, Sandy and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: I really need to start taking a phone / camera. Today we met an unlikely pair of runners out on the trail. Not the typical 130 lb runners( okay the little guy maybe.) They were going 16 today and certainly knew their way around the trails. I'm sure we'll see them again. Nice to have a guest runner out. Any time we get over 2,000 feet elevation gain it is a big deal. Good job.

Runner: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Sunny

Comments: "I made it! I made it! The rest is easy from here I made it!" We crossed paths with the most enthusiastic runner ever. I'm not sure where he parked or how far he had gone but he was happy to be where we was at the moment. Good elevation gain today.

Runners: Jim

Weather: 60 and Cloudy

Comments: Second week in a row with no running partners. I don't think I should run unsupervised much longer. I ran up Cornell and then 53rd. Who does that?

Runners: Jim

Weather: 60 and Sunny

Comments: The route from my house to Jim and Patty's is not bad. I start downhill, then fairly uninterrupted all the way past the Hollywood district to 15th Ave. Then over to Prescott and back towards Jim and Patty's.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 60'a and Sunny

Comments: Sometimes an easy run up Council Crest and back isn't so easy. Just seemed difficult today.

I would like to explore more of the Wildwood trail. Here is a map of section beyond firelane 1:

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 60's and Sunny

Comments: Nice 10 mile loop today. The gradual climb along 23rd is difficult, then we slog up through the park back to the Wildwood. Good training run.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 64 and Sunny (no wind.) Comments: Sorry Russ! I should have double checked my text. Hope you had a good run without us.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60's and Sunny

Comments: I forgot to post this last Saturday:

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 60's and Sunny

Comments: Looking back three years this is the longest July run to date. 10 miles is the new normal. Hopefully this pays off in the fall when we start to train for RTSW.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Perfect

Comments: This route is turning into the summer basic run.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Nice to have our entire running group back together for a run. Good 10-miler!

Summer running thoughts 2014:

1. Add volume by more frequently running slower 4-6 mile courses.

2. Keep weekly trail runs at 10+ miles.

3. Do weekly track workout using the following chart:

Runners: Carolyn

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Another 10 miler! looking back into May that makes 5/7 for 10 milers on Saturdays. Not bad.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: We ran up Holman LN to 53rd and then all the way up to Fire Lane 1. Took Wildwood back and then returned on 53rd. We can increase this run easily by running Wildwood all the way back.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: Nice run up to Council Crest and back. Bring on the summer running!

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Great 10 mile mix of hills, trails and road.

Runners: Carolyn, Amanda, Stacey and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Carolyn set her PR for 10K with a 49:22 and Amanda set a PR of 56 minutes. I won my age category again but no "Winner" string bag this year. That's for the best. I had a fun race at the end with a perfectly good stranger.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Up and over Council Crest for a new loop including Fairmont loop, the new section of Marquam trail and Terwilliger. Probably about the best 10 miles you can run in Portland.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Low 50's and Cloudy

Comments: We created a new route today that starts and end on the Wildwood but is mostly Northwest and Downtown. My data on my watch was full so it would not record this route. MapMyRun is a great alternative. It is very accurate except in Washington Park so take 0.5 miles off the total. 10.5 is a good run. I am much better at estimating mileage after running for three years with my GPS watch.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 40's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Another new loop: Up Broadway, then Fairmont to a new section of Marquam trail down to Terwilliger. We will be doing a 10+ run in two weeks.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Perfect

Comments: My GPS was not charged up today so we stuck to the trail to measure the run. We used to the blue 1/4 mile marks on the tree to go 1 mile pas the bench. 2 extra miles makes Pittock Hill WAY harder to go up. Good run Sister.

Runner: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Light Rain

Comments: We found a new trail today that connects Fairmont Loop with Marquam trail. Considering all the rain it was in pretty decent shape (just like us.)

Runners: Carolyn, Karen and Jim

Weather: Mid 40's and Rain

Comments: Carolyn brought a guest runner and we didn't lose her so that was good. A cold rain at he end was some of the worst weather of the winter. We are all ready to some warmer weather.I think the weather messed with my GPS. It made our out and back look more like a loop. Ignore the 5K elevation gain. More like 1500 ft.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 30's and Sunny

Comments: Nearly the same run as Feb 22 in about the same time. I remember more complaining a month ago so we must be getting in better shape.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Good trail run today. Credit for the 2 mile climb goes to Carolyn although I accept responsibility for the last 1/2 mile. I only found one inaccurate place on the elevation from my watch of about 500 feet. That leaves 2500 feet we actually climbed. Well done!

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Decided to take a run up Broadway today. About 27 minutes is not bad. It was fun to run over by the Zoo and finish with a big downhill through downtown.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Sunny

Comments: The run seemed kind of difficult today because was ran about 30 seconds per miles faster than usual for a hilly trail run. Good job troops!

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 40's and Rainy

Comments: We did this run Nov 2nd in nearly the same time. We started that run out a bit faster today but finished today's faster. Mile 7 was under an 8 minute pace. Back to the trail next week.



I did a little research and found something interesting. We did nearly the identical run two years ago (Febuary 25th 2012) and our moving pace was 1:15 slower per mile than today! Now I'm going to look up how we did in the Shamrock 2012.

So each should be able to run Shamrock 5-6 minutes faster than two years ago. Hmm......makes me think twice about not signing up.

Runners: Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Cloudy

Comments: Six inches of snow and 1/2 an inch of ice crust on top makes for an interesting run. Yak Trax on my running shoes provided traction. The 7 miles at an 11:00 minute pace felt much farther and faster.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: The same run as three weeks ago in the same time almost to the second. Prediction for next week is some kind of weather event type of run - Rain, Snow, Ice - something. Our run of good weather winter runs has to come to an end sometime (pretty good sentence for a math teacher.)

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Sunny

Comments: Interestingly we did the same exact route one year ago. Today we ran it 5 minutes faster and my average HR was 10 less. A lot of credit goes to the 10k series for providing year-round motivation.

Runner: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 40's and Showery

Comments: We caught a nice break in between heavy rain and wind today. We ran 4 minutes faster than last Sept.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Upper 20's and Sunny

Comments: Raced the Y2K14 10K in Forest Grove this morning. What a great way to start the year off.



The first graphic is splits from the race a year ago. The second one is from today. The the most significant improvement is HR during miles 5 and 6. Going faster and working less sounds good to me.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Ran from 24th and Quimby up to the Wildwood, out to Leif Ericksen and then back. Enjoyed a good breakfast at Stepping Stones. Good Times.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 40 and Cloudy

Comments: New trail! Okay it was a little muddy but great to make new routes.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Sunny and low 20's

Comments: What a great adventure run! Layers, Hotties, and watch out for ice. Doesn't get much better.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Sunny and Mid-20's

Comments: What a cold start to the RTSW. Carolyn got abandoned, bit and may have bonked but still ran under 2 hours. I'm not sure how Russ sleeps at night with all the lies he tells "I can't keep up this pace." Uh ya you can. And I finally ran what the online race predictors told me I should be able to based on past races. Carolyn was 13/34 in age group and I was 10/24. Russ was 7/17. Carolyn won that contest. Good racing!

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Last long run before RTSW. Good loop up Council Crest and over to Terwilliger. We seem to keep dodging the bad weather. Hopefully our luck will continue through next week.

Runners: Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Finally made a run to Stepping Stones! Thanks to Ruth, Dezi and the boys who met me at 24th and Quimby. It was exactly 10 miles from my house after I went to 25th instead of 24th. Overall downhill is the way to run. Why didn't I think of this years ago?

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Thought for sure this was going to be the first misery run of the season. Guess not. Great weather. We stuck to the road to get ready for RTSW.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Cloudy

Comments: Another great weather day and good loop. Unfortunately the Run to Stay Warm will not have such great conditions.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's, Sunny

Comments: Great running weather. Over all time was average (1:25) but the moving time (1:08) was very good. Only the second time we have ever had to wait for the bridge, this time on the way back. Oh ya and Carolyn saw a big rat and screamed bloody murder.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Almost 2K of elevation gain over 11 miles is a good run. Great weather too. When our long run reaches 13 miles we will celebrate by finishing at a good breakfast spot.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 40's and Sunny

Comments: Another good loop. Looks like we are 1 month ahead of last year. We did nearly the exact loop last Nov 2nd in nearly the same time. Time to sign up for Run To Stay Warm.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Good loop today. Congratulations Grandpa Russ!

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Pretty sure we are the first to run the new trail from Marquam trail over to the Terwilliger. Will be nice when its done. We can still run on the existing trail. We mixed up the new bridge with the old one. It is still in place down the trail. According to the map there will be more access from Fairmont road. That opens up more options for a combination of road and trail.

Here is a link to the map of the project

Runners: Jim

Weather: Low 60's and Sunny

Comments: Poached my own race today. I was signed up but didn't notice the numbers needed to be picked up at Skyline Burger. I thought the numbers would be at the start so that is where I had Ruth drop me off. So I just ran and timed myself. No big deal.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Sunny

Comments: Nice to get back to loops versus out and backs. Just have to make the circle a little bigger each week.

Hikers: Carolyn, Brian and Jim

Weather: 60's and Sunny

Comments: Dog Mountain is the steepest hike I have ever been on. If you like a hike with a great view at the end this one is for you.



Here is the elevation chart:

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Sunny and Upper 50's

Comments: Yet another mid week run up the hill. I would love to continue 6-7 mile runs during the week after school starts.

Runners: Jim and Russ

Weather: 60's and Sunny

Comments: Good run up Council Crest - again - seems to be the go to course for the summer.

Runners: Jim and a few hundred others

Weather: Lower 60's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: I am finally figuring out how to run the second half of a race faster than the first. It is about time!

The first picture is from January when I went out too fast. The second is from August with a negative split second half. The August run had a major hill climb. Running negative splits resulted in a lower average HR:

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Cloudy

Comments: A good summer run. We experienced a little more wildlife than normal. I swallowed a bug and Carolyn jumped over a mole that was eating a slug on the trail. Good Times:

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Heavy traffic on the Wildwood today. Even talked to guy from out of town who wanted to make sure he was not lost. Happy Anniversary Russ!

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Better to be running late than not at all.

Runners: Jim

Weather: 60's and Cloudy

Comments: Took a rare solo run up Council Crest today. It seems way harder when the pain is not shared.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60's and Muggy

Comments: And again we inch the long run a little longer. Good job guys. Next stop the bench.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Perfect

Comments: Very nice 8 mile loop. Good choice Carolyn.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: Nearly identical to last week's run.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: Finally! Back out on the trail. We called this long run #1 for the summer. It would be nice to build up the distance to about 12 miles over the summer.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Sunny

Comments: Short run up to Council Crest and back. Something happened with the elevation. We did not find a new deep whole to run into (-300'.)

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Sunny

Comments: We did the Wildwood to Marquam loop with the shortcut today. It is about 8.25 miles and very hilly. I am going to figure out some way to add to this loop so it is 10 miles with out adding climbing.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Cloudy

Comments: We ran an old route with a new twist today. From Hawthorne Bridge to Council Crest is now called a short run. Our moving time of 1:10 is the fastest I could find by 2 minutes.

Runner: Russ, Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 40 and Sunny

Comments: Nice run today. Carolyn and I reined in Russ for awhile but there was no stopping him going up the last hill to Council Crest.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50 and Partly Sunny

Comments: Nearly perfect running weather today. What a nice surprise. It seems like we saw a few more runners on the trail today than is typical. I did see a spike in page views of this running blog last week. Maybe people are actually reading this and trying out the Wildwood. Who knows?

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Sunny

Comments: Good short run today. I think we are running a good speed that we need to maintain for awhile before trying to speed up.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: low 30's and Cloudy

Comments: It has been a little over a year since we last did the Council Crest to Terwilliger loop. Last time our average moving pace was 10:51 and this it was 10:49. I love improvements.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 40's and Misty

Comments: Perfect running weather today. This was our second attempt at a negative split short run. This time we did three pickups on the way back. The average moving pace was 10:23. Our next goal for the short runs will be to get that into the 9 minute range.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Sunny

Comments: Went for a Jim's Adventure Run today. Ended up a with a new 7 mile loop. Thanks for playing along Russ.

Runner: Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Champoeg 10K. I need to run a few more times on a flat course before I race on a flat course. According to my Garmin the course was a little long. Here is an interesting comparison of the splits from the Forest Grove and Champoeg races. The first set of numbers are March 2th and the second set are from January 5th:



My effort as measured by heart rate stays fairly constant but my times steadily slow down. I need to reverse that and have my times steadily get faster as the race unfolds.

Runners: Russ, Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Upper 30's and Cloudy

Comments: Good long run today. Next week is the Champoeg 10k. Here is a look at the improvement from January 28th compared to today on the exact same run:

January 28th February 23rd

We start out the same pace for the first three miles but then finish faster.

Runners: Russ, Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Cloudy

Comments: We still need a new name for the short run turn around spot. Hernia Hill is catchy but time to update. Practiced negative splits by marking the turn around time.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 30's and Cloudy

Comments: Stretched out long run out a bit to 8. Had to estimate because my watch was not charged up. Pretty good estimate especially compared to how I guessed before GPS. Surprisingly cold at the end of the run. Shouldn't be long before we get into some of the best running weather of the year.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Sunny

Comments: I like our new short/long alternating weeks. Especially the short. I took note of our average moving pace (11:46) and next short run we'll just try to nudge that down a little bit.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Nice short long run today. No matter what Pittock Hill is a @!#@!!%*!

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 20's and Partly Foggy

Comments: Lots of runners out on the trail today. This was the first "long" run in the alternating shorter / longer runs. With this weather pattern maybe we will get a few more sunny runs in before the rains / snow comes back. Maybe.

Runners: Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Cloudy

Comments: Ran the first in a series of 7 10ks this year. It is amazing how a few small changes in technique result in a much better running experience. Following the Pose running method I turned my wrists a bit so my thumbs are facing upwards. Voila an 8:18 pace for 6.3 miles without much training. Now its time to train:

Runners: Jim

Weather: Low 30's and Windy

Comments: Went for a rare solo trail run. I "ran" up Pittock hill but it seemed slower than a walk. It was. I compared to to our run two weeks ago when Carolyn and I walked up the hill. The good news is my moving pace improved dramatically over the break from 12:10 to 12:05!

Runners: Ruth and Jim

Weather: 32 and Clear

Comments: Ran / Walked a 5k at Midnight to start the new year off right! A New Year's Tradition at last. Hopefully they send us the shirts soon.

Runners: Vic and Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Met Vic Folk at Marquam Trail and went to the top. Haven't seen Vic in many years. He was visiting from CA. What fun! Thanks Facebook.

Runners: Carolyn, Stacey, Jessica, David and Jim

Weather: 40 and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Great running weather. I'm 5/5 with my new shoes. First time running with David. Great job! What a WOD!

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 40 and Cloudy

Comments: Third week in a row with what I consider great running weather. I love running this time of year. No coffee today because of a train delay and no map because my watch was on the blink.

Runners: Russ, Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Mid 30's and Snow

Comments: Good run today. Especially good job on Pittock hill Russ! Great to start out with clear weather and get warmed up before it started snowing.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ Jim

Weather: Low 40's and Cloudy

Comments: Good run today. Not sure why the guy with three dogs carries the small one but that makes two weeks in a row. We also seem to be running through one of Grimm's fairy tales for just a moment. Sorry you missed that Russ.

Weather: Upper 40's and Sunny

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Comments: Debuted of my New Balance 110's. Best first run in a new pair of shoes ever. If they are good enough for the guy in this video they are good enough for me:

Winter Running

I had an idea this morning I forgot to mention. I think we should alternate longer runs with short. Maybe 6-8 one week and 12-14 the next. Still gives us the same mileage but it would be nice to be done earlier (and less tired and sore) every other week.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 40's and Rainy

Comments: Kind of yucky conditions but really good to get out and start training again. Next race is in about 6 weeks.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Mid 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Nice loop beginning at Hawthorne Bridge, up Council Crest, over to the Zoo and down through NW to the Steel Bridge. Average moving pace getting closer to the 10's. I think we can take 1-2 minutes of that for the 1/2 M pace. That makes a 2 hour Run to Stay Warm. Not a record but a good goal. If this work out we can then work our long runs on the trails down in the 10's and expect a little better results at the races.

The next run will be from Hathorne Bridge at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Rain

Comments: Top 10 misery run. It would have been top 5 if it was colder. Plenty of rain. We have had so many clear running days in the last few years I'm afraid the law of averages is against us.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Rainy - Colder at the finish

Comments: Ran Council Crest with shortcut. I looked up other similar runs. It seems our time was just a bit slower than the typical Fall/Winter times for the route. Not bad. Time to build back up for the Run to Stay Warm next month.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50 and Sunny

Comments: Went up Broadway in 28:00 minutes which is decent. Much better is that is wasn't horrible and almost conversational. Went one way on Wildwood and then through NW to Broadway Bridge to get over the tracks and then over to Steel Bridge. Of course I'm already thinking of how to expand this run a little (think Pittock.)

Here is an interesting look at our long runs (9 miles or more) for the last year:

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Good pace today thanks to Ms. Cross-fit. I compared the first 5 miles of today's run with many other times we have gone out Wildwood. The results: we ran faster today. Our moving average was 11:15 per mile. That equates to averaging 9 minutes per miles on the road. Not bad for 11 miles.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: It's been awhile since we trekked up Marquam trail to Council Crest. It's still very steep.

The next run will be from Hawthorne Bridge at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim (and Brody)

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: Lots of people out on the trails today. We ran the same loop as last Oct 15th but about 10 minutes faster.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather:60's and Stagnant

Comments: 2K elevation is always a good challenge. Leif Erikson is also a good challenge. That little detour at the end was a challenge.