White River 50 DNF

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I didn't make it to the finish line at White River this weekend.  Made it to Suntop, at Mile 37, but didn't make the cutoff.  I definitely could've made my way to the finish line, but I was moving slow.  If you know the course, you know from here it all downhill, followed by a plod through Skookum Flats.

I was nauseous for the first climb and descent. The left leg-hip issues persisted, so I could never climb too fast, or descend that way.  Some of it was fitness, some of it was a stomach that wasn't race ready.  I don't know.  The second hill was a real slog, with mostly walking.

Beautiful day.  Wildflowers, booming view of Rainier, happy faces.  While a finish would be good, I'm not too bothered by this. I just can't get too worked up about it. I am only getting back on the horse again, probably three months removed from not being able to run at all.  And I got in my longest run in maybe a year, on a beautiful day.  Plus, it was great to see so many friends.

Trail Work

I put in a day of trail work on Saturday on Little Mountain, close to home, in Mount Vernon. This little park is getting some serious upgrades on its trails these past few years, thanks largely to the efforts of Mount Vernon Trail Builders.  It was about time that I checked it out.

It's interesting comparing the trail work rules for this crew v. what is required with Washington Trails Association.  The Mount Vernon group does allow the use of power equipment, whereas WTA is pretty Amish in their methods. On this day, a number of people focused on building a rock wall on the Bonnie and Clyde trail, just south of the summit, while others (including me) worked on improving the trail higher up.

White River in less than two weeks.....

The Great Sedro-Woolley Footrace

The Great Sedro-Woolley Footrace is a 4th of July tradition for runners in Skagit County.  This year marked the 36th year of the event.  The event is all road, starting and ending in "downtown" Sedro-Woolley, along the Loggerodeo parade route.

We're lucky to have so many wonderful community events like this, so close to home. Skagit Runners, the local running club, was well represented on the course and volunteering at the finish line. Great seeing so many friends running and volunteering.

My running is improving a bit.  I was winded after a mile by what used to be an easy training pace for me. Still, I ended up running 44:13 for the 5.17 mile course, which is over 4 minutes faster than my off the couch effort last year, and about a minute per mile faster than what I've been doing in my other "Run Local" events this past month. On the other hand, I know I've ran this event several minutes faster than this before, so there's always another chestnut to reach for.

I think testing my wind in shorter events, and also trying to focus more on core and diet, are probably more effective than just signing up for the longer, more expensive events right now. Physical therapy has been helpful too. I couldn't even run a few months ago. Keeping it fun while trying to incrementally improve a bit--that's the right approach, I think.