Since moving to Seattle over five years ago, I have struggled to understand why so many folks seem to head out to Cougar Mountain to run all of the time. As an example, the Seattle Running Club uses Cougar as their default venue for their Sunday AM long run. There is 
nothing inherently wrong with Cougar…in fact, it is a great place to run with lots of rolling hills, miles of singletrack, and even some nice waterfalls along the way (see picture of my dog Achilles checking out one of those water features). And, of course, Cougar Mountain is easy to get to, in close proximity to Seattle (just 15-20 minutes from downtown).
But, as the first (furthest west) of the Cascade foothills outside of Seattle, it lacks the major climbs of Squak and/or Tiger mountain, which are just a few more minutes up the road. And, with the exception of the West Tiger Mountain 3 trail (which often has so many people on it that it seems more like a rails to trails then a mountain trail), Cougar is the most regularly populated of the foothills known as the Issaquah Alps. So, with it being more populated and having much smaller hills, I’ve struggled to understand why so many runners (really good runners) go there to train.
Over the last few months, however, I’ve come to understand 
why…because it’s easy. No, not easy, in terms of flat and an easy run. Quite the opposite…every run at Cougar is deceptively tough. Before you know it, you’ve logged 2,000+ feet of elevation gain on an 8 or 10 mile run. I mean easy to get to…easily accessible on a weekend or a weekday. I mean easy to just head out and run…lots of different direction to go from either the Red Town Trailhead or the Sky Country Trailhead. I mean easy to go lose yourself for 10, 12, or 14 miles by yourself…without having to worry about being too far from people if you need help in the event that something would go wrong (I’ve broken my arm and busted open my head really badly on trail runs in the past, so I do consider this stuff).
Given how easy it is, I’ve found myself getting out there more frequently – at least once on the weekend and more recently at least once during the week as well. And, I can feel myself really getting fit from it. It’s tough running at Cougar…yet, it’s easy. And, that makes all difference.
Posted in running, Uncategorized
Tagged Cougar Mountain, lutrarunning, Seattle Running Club, trail running Seattle
I just can’t stop giggling (yes, like a little kid) at the pictures and videos 
of Ian Sharman running dressed as Elvis. However, it really is no laughing matter. The dude ran 2:40:49 at the Napa Valley Marathon to break the Guinness Book of World Records mark for the fastest marathon run dressed as Elvis (prior time was a very noteworthy 2:42). If interested, check out Sharman’s write up here. Not only is Ian’s time fast enough to not be funny, Ian is doing this all for a great charity, raising money for Aids’ orphans in Africa. To that, I say “Rock on, Elvis….Rock on!”
Posted in Uncategorized
It’s been quite a while since I’ve written a new blog post. Despite that, this blog still seems to get a fair amount of traffic to the site. That fact, coupled with fact that I’m just plain motivated and itching to write again, have prompted me to get back at it.
After a long hiatus, it’s often hard to know where to begin again. I thought about trying to do a recap of what’s been going on since my last post, in August 2011. However, I really haven’t posted much for over a year. Wow…what’s happened in the last year? Some top of mind thoughts that I’ll throw out there:
Trail Invitational. The picture of Geoff here will give you some indication of just how tough of a race it was (in case you needed an additional clue that an 8-day race across the Alaska Wilderness is as tough as it gets).
shin problem for well over a year now. He’s definitely coming around, albeit much slower than he would like. Be patient Tony…be patient. We all want to see you on the start line of the Transvulcania Ultra Marathon in May. Both the men’s and the women’s field for this 83K mountain race is going to be loaded (check out the top participants here). Those fields are just plain sick…although I wish Krissy Moehl and Dave Mackey (2011 UROY) were in there.
I’d love to see a head-to-head team race between these two groups…especially in a coed race of about 50 miles. I really think that the sport will become much more of a team event in the near future. While I think ultrarunning will ALWAYS be an individual sport, I would not be surprised to see a team sport emerge around the 50K distance. Imagine Team Salomon facing off against Team North Face in a 50 miler (coed race, top 5 count in scoring…must have at least two females):
Simply capturing the thoughts above remind me how much I love this sport. I’m stoked to be running and writing once again. Look for more soon.
Posted in ultrarunning
As I’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog, I’ve struggled with a hamstring injury for much of the last two years. It really prevented me from enjoying trail running. I could do short trail runs (~5 miles), but any long runs on the trail would leave me on the sidelines for days or weeks. Needless to say, this was incredibly frustrating. I finally said “screw it” and paced fellow IUP runner Adam Lint for the final 6+ hours of Cascade Crest 100. That run through the night up in the Cascades was the only truly enjoyable run that I’ve had in several years.
Finally, my hamstring is healed. I owe this largely to my wife, who really helped guide me through some physical therapy to get it healed and strong again. I’m still cautious, but this morning, I ventured out to the Seattle Running Club sunday morning run at Cougar Mountain for the first time in years. I had a blast.
It was a small group – just 6 of us today following White River yesterday. The weather was rainy & foggy (great for running…crappy for every other summer activity). We did the normal loop, only did it in reverse hitting De Leo’s wall near the beginning instead of the end.
Still being cautious with my hamstring, I cut it short in an effort to keep my total time around 2 hours. All said and done, I logged 12 miles in 2 hours with a total elevation gain of 2,151 feet. One of the things I really appreciate about Cougar is that the elevation gain doesn’t come in one big climb, as it does at Squak or Tiger mountains. Rather, Cougar is a bunch of ups and downs with nary a flat section of trail to be found:
It was great to get back out and run with a group of people…and great to go hit the trails at Cougar. Looking forward to the August & September runs, when we often get up into the high country of the Cascades (e.g., Denny Lake, Kendall Katwalk, and the Enchantments).
Posted in running, Seattle Running Company, Uncategorized
Tagged Cougar Mountain, running, Seattle Running Club, trail running
Like many of you, I’m sitting here at the end of 2010 thinking about what races to run in the new year. It’s usually tough to decide what races to run. It seems like every year, there are more choices for trail runs. So, figuring out which ones to run and how, timing-wise, they all fit together is no easy task.
This year, however, it might be pretty easy. Eric Bone, director of NW Trail Runs, and James Varner, the mastermind behind the Rainshadow Running events, have made it quite easy. Check out their respective lineup of races.
NW Trail Runs — with Eric and the Meridian team taking over the Vasque Cougar Mountain & Bridle Trails races, this is undoubtedly the best lineup of short (less than ultra-distance) trail runs you can find in Western Washington. The race at Lord Hill is destined to be an instant classic. And, the prospect of a “Great Northwest 50K” certainly seem intriguing. Below is a list of the current NW Trail Runs (note: complete race info/details can be found here)
March 27 – Redmond Watershed Preserve Marathon, 5-mile, 10-mile
April 30 – Soaring Eagle Park 5-mile, 10-mile, Marathon, & 50k
May 14 – Vasque Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 5-mile
May 22 – Lord Hill Park 10k and Half Marathon
June 11 – Vasque Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 7.5-mile
July 9 – Vasque Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 10-mile
July 16 – Redmond Watershed Preserve, Marathon, 5-mile, 10-mile
August 13 – Vasque Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series 13-mile
August 27 – Great Northwest 50k, venue TBA
September 18 – Soaring Eagle Park 5-mile, 10-mile, Marathon, & 50k
October 16 – Harvest Half Marathon and 10k, venue TBA
November 12 – Carkeek Park 5k and 10k
That’s a pretty great lineup of trail races…but, actually may pale in comparison to what James Varner over at Rainshadow Running has cooked up for this year (note: not all dates have been posted yet, but the list below are in order of what month they occur):
It’s been a long, long time since I’ve raced a lot (like 15 years). But, my goal for 2011 is to get & stay healthy and to participate in as many of these as I possible can. I’m not going to worry about a peak race…or a PR…I”m going to try and run as many of these as hard as I can and see what happens.
What are your 2011 race plans? Will I see you at any of these races?
I went to the Seattle Running Club event at Fle
et Feet last evening.
It was good to run with folks again (did the 6-miler with some guy named Dominic, Phil K, and others). That’s the first hill that I’ve run in over 2 months given my hamstring. Coming up the steep part of Interlaken was very tough on my hamstring, and had to slow to a near walk. But, it doesn’t feel too bad today, so we’ll see.
But, the highlight was not necessarily the run. Nor was it running the new 860 New Balance shoes that Brian Morrison sold me (very responsive…nice). The highlight was just seeing the Seattle Running Club back up and kicking again. They’ve gone through some leadership transition/growth, but are undoubtedly alive and going well.
Anyway, Seattle Running Club is a great, great gig…so, come check out Bridle Trails or meetup at the Fleet Feet running store at 6 PM for the Tuesday and Thursday runs.
