Running in Ellensburg, Washington

Or to be more exact: Running to Ellensburg, Washington.

So the R's family spent the weekend at the Lazy F Campground near Ellensburg for the yearly summer family reunion.

And since the days were filled with family fun, that meant I had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5:45, after not sleeping all night on a thin prison-type mattress, upon a solid wood bed frame made for someone 5'6", to go for my daily runs.

And so I did.

Now the Lazy F is at the tail end of a dead-end road about 12 miles away from Ellensburg, nestled in the foothills near the Cascades.

So that means you only have one way to run - away from the mountains and toward Ellensburg.

The first day, I just needed to run a quick six miles. I figured I'd head out for three and turn around. Easy peasy.

Oof.

Yeah, it's a nice, steady 100 feet per mile downhill, which means, coming back, it's a nice, steady 100 feet per mile uphill.

I needed to do a 16 miler on Sunday morning...

There was just no way I was going to run eight solid miles uphill. No. Way. So I made a little deal with Mrs. R. Five bucks from my wallet for a Starbucks latte on Sunday morning in Ellensburg. Oh, and on her way there, she could pick me up at the end of my run!

Sometimes I'm so smart it actually hurts. But I deal.

Bright and early Sunday morning, I took off with the sun just beginning to peak over the jagged rocks and cliff faces. It's very interesting looking country up there.

Luckily, there's very little traffic at that time in the morning...or basically at any time on that road...so you don't have to worry too much about going around blind corners like this one.

Although the amount of road kill on the pavement left no doubt that accidents happen...and people drive way too fast on that curvy road to nowhere.

Although it felt good at the time, that 100 feet of drop per mile was bound to play havoc with my quads. Still, at the time, I was really enjoying reeling off easy 8:15-8:40 miles. It was pretty effortless. And except for the one spot where I stopped dead-still for a minute while I pondered whether the growling pitbull off its leash was going to actually kill me, I kept my pace fairly steady.

Finally, coming out of the curvy hill section and into the straight farm section, I was lucky enough to have a somewhat mundane, yet very babbling and soothing, irrigation canal at my side.

After about 10 miles, I made my first turn onto a new road and headed toward Ellensburg. About a mile from town, right by the Yakima River, I saw these two Osprey in their nest. One flew over me with a fish in his talons. Nice.

So after getting to Ellensburg proper, I was only at about 12 miles, so I had to do a little back and forth to get over 15, and that's when I saw the wonderful sight of the Prius coming in for a landing to pick me up.

And while the pace looked pretty good...

...the elevation profile screams "quad killer!"...

And indeed, I am feeling it today. Ouch.

But hey, another good week of training in the books. And only five days 'til the Seafair Torchlight 8k.

Let's race!

Corvallis Half Marathon Elevation Profile

If you haven't registered for the Corvallis Half yet, you better get on it. It's not sold out, but it's close, so head on over here and get registered.

Up above there is the course and elevation - click on it to make it big and beautiful. Pretty flat except for the slog up Walnut to Martin Luther King Jr. Park between mile seven and eight. That's sort of a drag. But it's downhill after that, so you can push hard for home after you hit mile eight.

And here's a PDF of the map of the course from the RD, if you're interested.

We're less than two weeks away.

Ready or not, here we come!

168

My Own Rift Valley Run

I don't imagine I'll ever actually run in the Rift Valley, so I did my long run in the next best place: the R's Family Reunion at Manastash Canyon!

Sure, it doesn't have quite the same elevation, but for someone who lives at sea level in the very flat city of Corvallis, Manastash Canyon, just outside of Ellensburg, WA, is a whole different kind of run. With the whole run taking place at more than 2000 feet, my lungs were feeling it just a bit. And of course, I managed to head downhill for the first four miles.

You know how you're running along, thinking, "man, I feel good - I could run forever," then you turn around? And feel like you're going to die for the next five miles?


Yeah, that was my Manastash Canyon run to a T.

Bring on the Kenyans!

Beaver Freezer Triathlon Elevation Profile

Well, I've got the one you probably don't really need for the Beaver Freezer - the run elevation profile. I'll post the bike elevation profile soon.

So the run. Basically, you come off the bike right outside of Dixon, run up a slight hill to get to the Memorial Union, then take three laps around the central portion of campus. Check the map:


The course is decent; meaning flat. It has one slight hill, just in front of Snell Hall and the Valley Library, that you'll hit three times. Since it's a loop course, you lose the elevation from that small hill on the backside of the run, which has a nice long shallow downhill. Don't ask me what those two elevation "bumps" are on my elevation map at about the .6 mile mark. There are no hills there - ignore that. I think a small asteroid bumped the Garmin satellite right there.

Corvallis Half Marathon Elevation Profile

When's the last time you heard a race director say their course was "hilly like a mother"?

Yeah, never.

So the inaugural Corvallis Half Marathon is hardly breaking new ground by proclaiming itself, and I quote, "mostly flat." Is that sort of like being "mostly a virgin?"

Well, you don't need to wonder any longer because the R's and their trusty new Garmin Forerunner hit the course and mapped out the elevation. As the late, great George Michael would say, "let's go to the tape!"



Right off the bat, I had issues. Now I work on the Oregon State University campus, so I know it fairly well, but the course description was, umm, vague. At best.

First, we have "winding through the Memorial Union and The Valley Library lawns, back to Jefferson..." Well, that leaves about 491 different way to get across that section of campus. But it got even worse at the end: "once you pass the Forest Sciences Lab, you'll zig zag back to Washington Way." What? Unless they're taking us cross-country, I don't see any way to zig zag there.

Nevertheless, the majority of the course was easy enough to follow and since there's a little bit at the end inside Reser, my finishing total of 12.72 miles was pretty close to the actual course.

So is it flat? Well, it's not like glass, that's for sure, but you decide for yourself. I'm just a humble reporter.


See you April 10th!