Adventures in Onionism

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in 65:29 this morning. I was shooting for 65 minutes, so I'm a little bummed I didn't make it, but still generally happy with my performance. I've never run a race this short before, so I have nothing to compare it with. My personal bests are a 1:30 half-marathon and two 3:00 marathons (one just over, one just under three weeks ago) . Clearly you're supposed to be able to run shorter distances at a faster pace, but I don't really know what I can expect of my body in that regard, because I haven't tried very often. I figured that after the 2:59 marathon (6:52 pace) three weeks ago, I'd be recovered and able to go a little faster, and 6:30 pace seemed like a nice round number to shoot for. 90-95 percent of that is probably just the shorter distance, only 5 percent actually getting faster in the last three weeks. I was beat from the marathon for a solid week, and George really does not enjoy doing sub-6 miles on leash, so I d...

Just got home back to Williamsburg after setting a PR and breaking 3 hours in the Virginia Beach Shamrock Marathon. I told people when I got a job in DC that though I'd miss the Berkeley trails, I'd be fine, because I'd just get fast again instead. I'm happy to say that appears to be what I did. Drove to Williamsburg Friday and got a wonderful 11 hours of sleep. Saturday I tried out my absurdly expensive Nike Vaporfly shoes for a quick two miles with George, then gf and I drove to Virginia Beach to pick up our packets (she ran the half) and meet my cousin and her husband for dinner. George came along and goofed around on the beach a bit--dogs are allowed all day during the off-season. Despite this being at least my 85th marathon-or-longer, I was nervous for this, since (A) it was the first race in a while I had put real pressure on myself to perform, and (B) relative to my normal 50's and 100's, there's no time to make up time in a three-hour race. One ...

It's on. I just ran 6 miles at goal place, took full recovery, and ran 6 miles back at 10 seconds faster than goal pace. Friends told me this was a good test workout to see if you're read for for a marathon. Over the last two months I've been doing consistent weekend long runs of 17-22 miles, slowly getting faster, bringing it down from 7:22 pace to 7:04 pace, and today an average of 6:41. So, I'm feeling pretty good about beating 3 hours at the Shamrock Marathon in two weeks, even though I'm definitely worked after today's run. I've tried to do one real speed workout every week, but I haven't had the wherewithal to get up early enough and go across town to my friends' before-work hardcore workout group, so "workouts" for me usually just mean throwing in a couple fast miles. I've kept up the streak running, meaning I've run 2+ miles every day of the year so far. I ran 269 miles in February, which is my highest mileage February,...

Remember how I hiked in Montana, the Canadian Rockies, and Alaska last summer? I micro-blogged with my phone during much of it, and posted photos on Instagram when I had reception, but life happened (I bought a house) and I never really got around to writing much or organizing photos.  Until now! Here are my favorite photos from Montana and the GDT , and from Alaska . In Montana and Canada I had a separate camera in addition to my phone, so maybe in six months I'll also organize those; right now you just get phone shots. That camera drowned in the Muddywater River on the last day of the GDT, so I only had my phone for Alaska. (Never mind that my phone also broke two days later, it got replaced.) Anyway, John Z is working on a series of videos of our time in Alaska, I'll let you know when that comes out; it will put my stuff to shame. Check out his YouTube channel --he's quite talented. I made a resolution to run every day this year. I made it through January. It is sup...

Strava says I ran 1,550 miles this year. At the end of December that feels low and mundane, but it was actually a good year. I didn't run much in January since I was still trying to interview for jobs (that ended working out fairly well). February was my best training month. March I completed one loop in miserable weather for a truly fun experience at the Barkley Marathons. April I ran Leona Divide 50 and May ran Silver State 50, both with extra side trips with Amy to see parts of California we might not see again for a while. June was another Double Dipsea with friends and a 80-mile fun run from Tomales Point to the Golden Gate Bridge. Before the bonk, Leona Divide Silver State 50 (everyone gets a medal, that's nothing special)   Tomales Point, 75 miles to go. Almost done Alive with Pleasure Shortly after Dipsea I flew to Missoula, MT and walked out of my friends' house into the Rattlesnake Wilderness and on to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. (I ...

Lottery season is upon us. I've gone through different mental phases in the past 9 months or so since I knew I'd be moving to DC. At first, I decided I would survive mentally by becoming fast again. Once upon a time (2004 or so) I was sort of fast, and I ran a 3:00:23 marathon, and those 23 seconds annoy me, especially since I could have broken 3 had I not enjoyed myself too much from mile 24 to 25. I had ~15 minutes for the last 2.2, but the first mile of that was probably my slowest mile of the entire day, and I couldn't make it up in the last 1.2. To get fast again, I would have to run more road, do track workouts, and I probably couldn't bring George along, since he wants to stop and pee all the time. Somehow, I thought this was what I'd want to do in DC, because if trails suck or are nonexistent, then I have to run road, and if I run road, then I might as well do it fast to get it over with. After thinking that for a few months, I started thinking that ma...

First packrafting trip on the east coast complete. I went with Darren from easternpackrafting.com. He picked me up at BART , sorry, Metro, and we drove out to Point of Rocks on the Potomac, biked up to Taylorstown, locked the bikes up, and floated the Catoctin out into the Potomac back to Point of Rocks. The Catoctin wasn't more than class I or II, so it didn't have the adrenaline or endorphins of trail running, but it was very pretty. The trees were changing colors. The creek was in a winding, sometimes narrow gorge that felt more remote than it was, and we saw a beaver, herons, and multiple deer bounding across the creek. It rained yesterday, which was likely the reason the creek was runable at all, but it was certainly only runable in a packraft, and too shallow for a kayak or canoe. The weather was in the 50's, but the water was shallow and the creek narrow, so I didn't bother with a wet or dry suit, just wore my rain gear, and that was fine. I often go through ...