Bridle Trails - The Season Opener

For many of us Bridle Trails is the first event of the New Year (except if you were disciplined enough to do a resolution run) and boy what an event! Last year several of us took part in the 50km relay and as much fun as this was I think it dawned on us that standing around in the rain when it is cold and muddy is not a whole lot of fun. So this year we opted for the individual events (5 and 10 mile races) and decided that the extra time could be spent eating pizza and drinking beer at New York Pizza in Kirkland, a smart option I think most of you will agree!

It was a great way to start the year and I think that the decision to do the individual events worked out as we all actually got to spend even more time together (in good moods) than we did last year during the four or five hours that it took us to get through the relay.

Conditions were a little muddy but not as bad as I had expected, the most difficult element of the run was navigating around some of the five mile runners who started five minutes before the 10 milers. I spent the majority of my second loop alone which was soothing in a muddy kind of way. The team all did great, we had some awesome performances and more importantly we all had fun and enjoyed pizza and beer afterwards (well me not so much as my stomach was a little churned up from the effort).

Looking forward to the next team event likely to be the Mercer Island Half Marathon, come join us!

WINTER FUN Part 2

Snow shoeing is tough. Here is a photo Cindy took of me on one of our favorite local trails (well this is actually a short road section within the run but you would never know from the photo). We covered six miles in just over an hour and boy it was hard, not so much aerobically but simply from the recruitment of muscle groups I don't normally use when running. I also struggled getting truly comfortable in the snow shoes, something I am sure will improve with practice.

On the Monday we opted for a treadmill run. Our local club Samena was open and so we hopped in the car and made the sometimes dangerous journey there. I decided to run mile reps at 't' pace and after a two mile warm up set about completing 5x1 mile with a one minute rest interval at 9.8 mph (6:07 pace) at the mandatory 1% incline. With a short (I was bored) cool down I ended up with a little over eight miles and about an hours worth of running. Tuesday took me to the multi rider studio to lead one of my classes and boy it was a tough session. The theme was L5 (vo2max) intervals and to say (after yesterdays run) I struggled would be an understatement. Main set was essentially 5x2.5 mins at 120% FTP with a equal rest interval. To see my athletes (who have been riding consistently, unlike me!) cruise through it was great, I had to sit out the last minute of each interval and shout encouragement, my legs were fried. Wednesday saw me hit the snow shoes again! This time I used Cindy's as she was on her skis. They are smaller than mine and made for a faster run. I again ran six miles but on a slightly more challenging trail and managed to get it done in 57 minutes for an average of 9:30/mile. It was challening but fun and I think if this snow keeps up I have found a new sport!

WINTER FUN

Yes, I know, what a great looking snow man and who offended Zoozoo? Wow what a week it has been here in Newcastle. With several inches of snow over the last week it has made life a little more interesting. Throw into the mix a visit from Kathy and Gavin (my sister in law and her son) and it has made for a hectic few days. It was certainly a lot of fun spending some time with the family even if I was a little guilty at times of sitting at the computer working when i should have probably been out playing in the snow!

What was interesting was trying to think of ways to get some training in, in spite of the snow and ice (which made driving on a couple of the days impossible, well for Cindy and I anyway). So what are your options? Well they are many but the first real 'snow' session was on Sunday where Cindy and I decided to go for a snow shoe run.