marathon training started today

By -

Today we started our training for the crazy Lithia Loop trail marathon, there is something like 4000+ feet of elevation gain. I have been a little anxious this week about the whole thing, I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to fit all long training runs in with everything else I am doing this summer and fall, backpacking, climbing South Sister, Bail, etc. I also want to be able to do the majority of my long runs with Susan, who is a new mom and has her own summer plans. I finally decided I am going to take this one run at a time, and I know we are both dedicated to doing the marathon even if we have to walk it, and despite our busy lives we will find a way to fit in our runs.
Our run today was 9.10 miles and 1400 feet of elevation gain. We started on the Wildwoood trail at the Pittock Masion, ran to the Dogwood trail to connect with Leif Ekikson. From Leif we ran to Aspen to connect back to Wildwood and back to the car. The cruel part of this loop is the last 2 miles is an unrelenting hill climb. We made it without walking and we ran a part of Wildwood we hadn't done this year, which helps us with the Forest Park All Trail Challenge.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three days in Wonderland

By -
Image
Mt Rainier, glaciers, alpine forests, and a trail through the heart of it all 16-18 Aug 2015 No run has reshaped the borders of my soul like circumnavigating Mt Rainier. No run has infiltrated my dreams like spending three days just running and not much else, in the middle of the longest summer in the Pacific Northwest's recent memory. No run has made me fall so deeply in love with the magical combination of mountains, wilderness, and summertime. Like all of our great long runs, Ann researched and planned this one. She discovered that most people run the 93-mile Wonderland Trail clockwise, and that we could split the route into three days with a cushy hotel stay each night. We, however, would run the route counterclockwise to start with the longest day of running first. We had a beer with our friend Heather McGrath, who had run around Rainier the previous year, to hear more about her trip, get tips, and make sure that our plan wasn't too crazy.
Read more

Triple D

By -
Image
The "Triple D" is the crazy challenge of hiking Devil's Rest, Mt Defiance, and Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge, all in one day. Apparently it started as a Mazama thing but is also documented on Portland Hikers . Somehow, one of us brought this up and we decided to do it as our November day-off-work run. Ann swears it was me, but how can that be true when I had only heard of it from her? Construction at Wahkeena trailhead Ann picked me up with bagels and coffee, and we got an early-ish start. We got to the Wahkeena Falls trailhead to run Devil's Rest, and were at first concerned that the trail was closed. Fortunately, this was the trail going the other way. Phew! At the start of our Triple D Wahkeena Falls Devil's Rest was a great start. At 7 1/2 miles and  2550 feet of elevation gain, it was surprisingly runnable and a great warm-up. Now is when I admit that as we got near the top, I stopped for lots of really cool mushrooms-- a PURPLE ON
Read more

Elk Mountain - Kings Mountain loop

By -
Image
Friday Susan and I did our "long run", since she was leaving on Saturday for a 2 week vacation to Ireland.  A long run meaning an incremental increase to what I did the week before, since I am slowly easing back into running because of my herniated disc . We ran 2.5 hours / ~13 miles in Forest Park. With the long run done and the long 4th of July weekend ahead of us, I planned a few harder hikes for John and me to do. The first being the  Elk Mountain - Kings Mountain loop . From the top of King Mountain
Read more