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.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Perfect

Comments: Went up Holman to 53rd and then over to Dogwood back down to Wildwood. Nice combo of out and back with a loop.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Cloudy

Comments: Nice little 7 miler on the Wildwood. Good job everybody

Runners: Jim

Weather: Upper 60's and Sunny

Comments: Ran at Tryon Creek State Park but found a better place to park. I was headed down Terwilliger took a right onto Boones Ferry Rd. Took the next left which is 4th to turn around but went to the end instead. Nice alternative to the visitor's center. I make better mistakes than anyone I know.

The next run will be from Tryon Creek State Park near Lewis and Clark. Meet in the parking lot at 6:30 AM.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Back to the loops. We went out Wildwood and then down to Leif Erikson Trail. Then a new way over to Burnside so we stayed higher up the hill on Westover. Good Times.

The next run will be from Burnside at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning.

Interesting to compare summer 2011 and 2012. Activities include running, hiking, weights and biking.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: It has been years since I ran through Tryon Creek. I think it's going to make it back in the regular rotation of runs. What a great set of trails:

Runners: Carolyn, Julie, Russ and Jim

Weather: 60's and Sunny

Comments: Out to the bench and back on the Wildwood today. Lots of people running today on the trail. We are refining our formula for getting more people out to run with us. Tell them it's fun, leave them behind, drag them up steep hills. That should do it.

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

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim (and Brody.)

Weather: 50's and Partly Sunny

Comments: A lot of firsts today. First time we ever stashed a car at the end of the run. First time we joined a race without signing up. First time a stranger tripped right in front me. After years of running firsts are hard to come by.

The next run will be from Burnside tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM.

Runners: Russ, Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: Nice to run towards the Zoo on the Wildwwod. My watch ran low so no map. Guess I need to recharge the battery. And plug in my watch too.

The next run will be from Burnside Thursday morning at 7:00 AM.

This is from last Saturday:

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Cloudy

Comments: We did the same run as a week ago last Thursday. Again, Brody is the Man, or the Dog. Great running dog.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 60 and Cloudy

Comments: Way to get back on the trail Russ. No falling today.

Hikers: Ruth and Jim

Weather: 60 and Sunny

Comments: Went for a nice hike with Ruth on the Wildwood. We parked at Fire Lane 1 and walked a couple of miles out.

The next run will be from Burnside tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: Mid 50's and Sunny

Comments: Nice 6 miler on the Wildwood. Brody is a great running dog. Felt like a episode of Portlandia outside the Zupans though. Listen nosy Porlandia dog people - Carolyn knows her dog and how to handle him - go save some other poor animal from evil dog collars.

Runners: Jim Weather: 70 and Sunny Comments: Spent 25 minutes scrambling along volcanic rock for the first mile. Then found a really nice quiet road along the shore.

The next run will tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM. Park at Hana Kai Resort in Hana Maui. We will run along the King's Highway Trail towards Waianapanapa State Park.

Runners: Jim

Weather: Low 50's and Rain

Comments:

Increasing your pace from 9:10 to 8:01 takes four to six months of training and a multifaceted approach to boost endurance and speed. To build your aerobic base, run four to six times weekly and increase mileage by 10 percent every 14 days so you’re running 40-plus miles per week one month before race day. To increase stamina, do a tempo run every other week at 8:15 to 8:30 pace. Start with 15 minutes and add five minutes each time until you’re logging 40 minutes. On alternate weeks, do one speedwork session: build up from two to eight repeats of two to five minutes at about 7:30 pace, with equal recovery.

Lon Freeman from Runner’s World June 2012

Run to Stay Warm - November 18th 2012

June 18th - Begin training

July 18th - Spent time in Maui. Ran but haven't been interval training.

August 18th - Running but have not interval trained.

September 18th - Ran a few fast 2 milers.

October 18th - Running has really dropped off.

November 12th - Restarting the plan. Not running the Run to Stay Warm due to coaching conflict.

December 15th - Still not running very much but long runs on the weekend are going well. I signed up for the 10k series. Most importantly - no foot pain!

January 15th Update

February 15th Update

March 15th Update

April 15th Update

May 15th Update

CURRENT VDOT - 40

GOAL VDOT - 42 List of races:

http://www.orrc.net/races/10kseries/10kseries.htm

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: Upper 50's and Sunny

Comments: "I wonder where that road goes?" Up.

The next run will be from Burnside at 7:00 AM tomorrow morning.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Great new loop today. Easy on the Kale Russ! See you guys back on the trails in July.

The next run will be from Burnside at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning.

Runners: Carolyn, Brody and Jim

Weather: 50 and Cloudy

Comments: Cody's first time in the bigs! What a great trail dog.

Murph

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: Perfect

Comments: Great way to start a birthday. 10 mile trail run with 2,000 elevation gain. Thanks trail running buddies. You know who you are. The only ones reading this. I enjoyed the out and back today but don't get use to it.

Our next run will be tomorrow morning from Burnside 7:30 AM.

Runners: Russ and Jim

Weather: 50's and Sunny

Comments: Great day to get back on the trail. I was out of breath for a good part of the run. Turns out it was because I have not run much lately. And we ran the fastest time for that course ever (1:28.)

Our next run will be from Burnside tomorrow morning at 7:30.

Runners: Carolyn, Russ and Jim

Weather: 50 and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Nice to have Russ back on the trail. The first time in our years of running on the trails that we have seen Search and Rescue training. I was little nervous when the leader didn't know how many were out there though. The Elevation Gain is about 400 feet too high but 2300 is still a good day climbing. When we went down the creek the GPS put us across Cornell which is about 400 feet.

The next run will be from Burnside tomorrow at 7:30 AM.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Foggy-ish

Comments: Rave Run. People must have read my post from last week because they came out and ran. To the guy who announced "on your left" - a little louder and sooner and not so close to my ear. That way I don't almost knock my running partner in the stream.

Runners: Carolyn and Jim

Weather: 50's and Partly Cloudy

Comments: Not a lot of people out on a perfect running day. Come on People!