Training on the PCT

I set out at 5:30 this morning on the PCT from Snoqualmie Pass to do 30 miles, out and back. My goal, besides training, was to see all but six miles of what I will have to do the second day of my PCT Section J Southbound fastpack in exactly four weeks from today. In addition to the terrain and elevation gain/loss, I learned a lot about water and my gear. It was a good experience, rounded out by meeting some southbound through hikers.

I got up at 4:00 to eat breakfast and pack up. I had prepared everything the night before, so it was fairly quick. I was out the door by 4:30. Note the darkness outside the screen door!

I found the run up to the Kendall Katwalk to be fairly easy in terms of the grade, but a bit rocky. I had to be careful of my footing after the first half mile the entire day. There was lots and lots of granite throughout the 15 miles of trail, the mostly sharp and pokey kind that seems to grab your feet, along with some basalt (I think). After the Katwalk, I climbed another thousand feet to reach right around 6,000. It wasn't too bad in terms of feeling the elevation, but the trail was super rocky after the Katwalk, with nearly three miles of talus slopes/scree with little in the way of runnable trail. It was slow going. My average of 3.0 miles per hour dropped to 2.9, then 2.8, and then 2.7 when I stopped to fill up on water just after turning around. 

Throughout the day, I had views of Mt. Rainier. It looks tiny in the photo due to the camera, but the mountain loomed impressively on the horizon all day. You can see my bug set up on my hat, too!

I reached the Kendall Katwalk just before 7:30. It was lovely to have it all to myself n the soft morning light.

I really enjoyed the view of Joe Lake (lower left). After cresting a ridge, I dropped down toward it (but never to it) and eventually ended up on the other side, climbing up again and then going beyond it. It was my favorite lake view of the day.

I found the terrain, not the elevation, to be challenging, more so than I had hoped. It took me half and hour longer than my long end of the time estimate I gave John when I left. I am still concerned about being able to do 50 miles before dark on the first day of the PCT fastpack. On the bright side, I did get better at crossing scree, seeing some of it as "big gravel." I also learned to use my pole in a new way. I developed a sort of run/walk rhythm with the single pole: I would leave the pole firmly planted for two swings of my other arm instead of lifting it for each alternating arm swing. While the pole was down, I would run left right left and then walk for the final right, plant the pole again, run left right left, walk right, and so on. It served me well in crossing rocky or steep terrain, whether it was up or downhill.

I was pretty impressed that I crossed the talus slopes, so I looked back to take a picture. The red line marks the trail. However, I didn't know that I had another solid mile and a half of scree coming up! What I had crossed so far paled in comparison because it was broken up with short sections of nearly runnable trail.

This is a sampling of what I had in store for me still. Large rocks, un-runnable without a break for a mile and a half. I wrenched my ankle and jarred them plenty of times. In this photo, Mt. Baker is in the middle on the horizon. It was my only view of Mt. Baker that I noticed.

The most interesting thing that happened today had to do with my water supply. I noticed early on that I was really sweating at the small of my back. My shirt was wet and clammy. It's the first time I had worn the shirt, so I blamed the shirt. It even wicked onto my pack. Hmmm. The thought crossed my mind that maybe my bladder, which has NEVER leaked, was somehow leaking. But I dismissed that thought since the Ultimate Direction bladders are so good.

At mile 13.35, there was a great stream, so on the way back I decided to stop and refill my bladder. To my surprise, the bladder was open! I had started the day with the bladder in the outside sleeve of my vestpack for easy access, but I found it moved around too much, so I moved it to where I usually have it, the inner sleeve made just for it. I don't know if I somehow slid the closing mechanism off then, just enough to cause problems down the line. But what I think happened is that it gradually worked its way off the top of the bladder. The closing mechanism has an loop to run a strip of velcro through so it can be held in an upright position. With the mechanism being slightly off and then all the jostling around as I ran, I think it just slid off. I had very little left in my bladder. I would say about half of it had leaked out. No big deal because I had my Katadyn soft bottle with a filter built into the cap.

This brings me to lesson number five: don't let the harassment of bugs get to you! The bugs were particularly bad at this stream, and in my rush to get the water and move along, I did something really stupid, the kind of stupid that's embarrassing to admit. I was supposed to fill the Katadyn bottle, put the cap with built in filter on, and squirt it into my bladder. But what did I do? I just dumped the water from my Katadyn bottle right into my bladder! At least I realized it before I drank the water. I dumped everything out of my bladder and had to settle for the .6 liter Katadyn. Fortunately, there was water again around mile 9, and again at 7, and yet again at 3.25 (miles from the car). I was never thirsty today.

I also brought an extra food item, which may sound trivial (a Clif Bar) but I never depleted my glycogen stores today, evidenced by the fact that my legs never got shaky. Now I know I did a lot of hiking because of the rockiness, but I covered 30 miles and had 9970 feet of elevation gain and loss. My conclusion about future long runs is that I need to hydrate better and eat more instead of relying on gels, Perpetuem, and Tailwind.

One small thing to correct is my hat and bug netting set up. I sewed bug netting to the inside rim of my hat and put a tiny piece of velcro on the top so I could put it up out my face as needed. It worked quite well, but as long as I was moving, I didn't really need it. What I did need was something to block the sun from the back of my neck. I think I am going to take the netting off my hat and sew it to a small headband instead so I can put it on over my hat as needed, but then sew some kind of UV blocking material to the back of my hat to shield my neck. I know I can buy a hat like this, but I really love my Buff hat. I can hardly tell I have it on!

The highlight of my day, besides the incredible views, was meeting two incredible people, Susanna and Jen! They are solo southbound through hikers from California. I saw both of then (separately) in the first half of my day. I chatted with Susanna in the rocky switchbacks when she got her first view of Mount Rainier. She is quite the backpacker; she did section J in just three days! When I saw her in the last two miles of the day, I was beginning to think I would never catch her. And then when I saw Jen again right at the very end, I was surprised to learn that she, too, was through-hiking, and she had just completed 17 miles. They both looked so fresh. I thought Jen was just out for a casual backpack. I was very impressed, not only with their stamina, but that they were both hiking alone. We all ended up at the parking lot at Snoqualmie Pass at the same time, so I gave them a ride to the other side of the freeway to the Summit Inn, where Jen was staying (and probably Susanna, too, since the food truck and camping in its parking lot didn't manifest).

Sad note for the brother and sister through hikers from Buffalo, NY. They started their through hike by doing the California section, and then flip flopped to the Canadian border to work their way to the southern Oregon border. Today, they hit the 1000 mile mark! The sister was talking about a buffet at Snoqualmie Pass that she was looking forward to. I don't really know what's at the pass, but later it occured to me that she said something about a casino.... I wish I had realized it then, but Snoqualmie Pass and the Snoqualmie Casino are NOT in the same place.

I returned at 5:30 after a long day. I felt the best I have ever felt after a long training run.

The Final Preparations

I am officially in my two and a half-week taper to the Cascade Pass-Stehekin run! It's time to start taking care of the things I've been putting aside for now. Here are the things I need to do before August 1:

• Schedule a chiropractor appointment and massage appointment the Friday before the run for last-minute tune-ups. (Done!)
• Adjust my training plan. I have a 17-mile run down for Saturday after two weekends in a row with 38 miles and I am not sure why. And should I continue to train up to Cascade Pass-Stehekin run and then taper? Or taper now? (Done! I decided to continue to train right up to Cascade Pass-Stehekin. Because I have chosen mid-week for both big runs, I have to shift my training to running long mid-week instead of weekend. Thus, this weekend's easy runs became the mid-week build up of a hard week. I ran 10 miles Saturday, six today, and will run four tomorrow. Tuesday will be a rest day, and then Wednesday, I plan to run 15 miles north from Snoqualmie Pass and back.)
• Prepare bags of Tailwind and Perpetuem for the long run.
• Practice using the water filter bottle and squirting it into my bladder.
• Plan the food and clothing to take with me for the run. 
• Prep a small first aid kit for my vest.
• Treat running clothes with Permethrin (bug stuff).
• Sew bug netting scraps to my running hat.
• Practice with John's GoPro Hero.
• Test the Spot. Again.
• Check in with Dana and Jill, my Stehekin to Chelan support!

Between now and the PCT Fastpack:

• Use alcohol stove to determine how much fuel it takes to boil the water needed for my freeze-dried meal. Add additional fuel for boiling time at a higher elevation. (Done. It took nine and a half minutes for the water to reach a slight boil; I let it go for 12 minutes. One ounce of fuel will burn for 16 minutes. I figure I'll need one ounce for each meal.)
• Make a windshield for my stove with a Fosters larger beer can. 
• Stealth camp with John to try out my tivy. (Maybe Wednesday on the PCT, where I won't have to stealth camp?)
• Find a place to stay as close to Steven's Pass for the 20th. (Found a place on Airbnb in Skykomish about 15 minutes from the pass. I haven't booked it yet, as they have a cancellation policy that doesn't favor sudden changes in weather. I'll wait until a day or two before to book it. It didn't look super popular, and I did have a second choice that was 25 minutes from the pass.)
• Prepare bags of Tailwind and Perpetuem.
• Study the map. Know by heart the tricky junctions, camp site location, and water fill ups. Check in with Kem about campsites.
• Add more items to this list as I think of them!

Water! (Running in the Heat)

Today was my last long training run before the Cascade Pass-Stehekin run, and I learned some valuable lessons about hydration. I've run in the heat before, but not with as much elevation gain and therefore not as long. I spent half of my day dehydrated and light-headed, not to mention thirsty.

Today was slated to be a high of 86 degrees mid-afternoon, with the day starting out around 59 degrees. I got up at 3:30 to eat breakfast (a large piece of wheat toast with almond butter and half a banana), went back to bed, and got up for good at 4:26. Because I was having John shuttle me, leaving my car at Red Town Trailhead on Cougar Mountain and starting at Sunset Way at the base of Tiger--that's a lot of driving--I was aiming for a 5:45 start. Right on time--it was nice a cool when I started my run.

At the peak of Tiger 2, I found fresh tiny bear poop cylinders, and then shortly after starting down the TMT I found this pile. I was on alert and talked to myself from time to time.

On the Bypass Trail just beneath the summit of Tiger 1, I entered a dark forest with no undergrowth. It was similar to and in the same area as where I saw three bears several weeks ago.

Looking back on the Bypass Trail, which puts you on the summit of Wester Tiger 1, the dark forest is a stark contrast to the open top.

I've been to the top of Tiger 1 several times, but I've never had a clear day. I was delighted!

Trust me, Mt. Rainier looked huge from my vantage point. The picture just doesn't do it justice.

Tiger 1 has a "hiker's hut" with aluminum siding. I've never peered inside, assuming it is full of mouse poop. The Bypass Trail comes up in the dark area right next to the hut. I suppose it is for shelter from the rain.

I got a compression sleeve for my hamstring, and it felt great. I headed up the High School Trail from Sunset, and then made my way up West Tiger 3. By the time I got to the top, I had sweat dripping into my eyes. Note to self: wear a Halo headband to channel the sweat to the sides and keep it out of my eyes. I have at least five of them! I thought wearing a hat, I wouldn't need one. I was wrong. Sunscreen in the eyes in not a pleasant experience. From the beginning of the day, I was drenched in sweat, so I never really noticed the heat. Plus, most of my day was in the forest, so I was in the shade.

Filling my bladder to the full 50 ounces, I took two to three sips of water every ten minutes like I usually do, and felt fine for about four hours. When I made my way over to Squak Mountain, I found myself thirsty. My water has electrolytes and carbs mixed in (Tailwind), and it just wasn't quenching my thirst. By this time, it was probably around 10:00 or 10:30, so the day was starting to heat up. Two sips turned to three or more. By the time I hit 18 miles, I was starting to get concerned about having enough water. I just couldn't get enough. I could reach behind me to pat my bladder inside my vest and know that I still had fluid, but still. What I really wanted was just plain water.

Making my way down Squak on Margaret's Way, I hoped that there would be water at one of the buildings in the parking lot. I was delighted to see three beautiful tanks of water cooler refills on the back step of one of the buildings. Unfortunately, no one was there. Next door, there is a gravel pit, and I saw someone exiting the parking lot, so I ran over there only to find it deserted. I wasted a good ten minutes in pursuit of water. I still had some left, so no big deal.

What a beautiful sight! Too bad no one was home at the buildings in the Margaret's Way Trailhead parking lot. Water has never looked so enticing.

I still had four miles on Cougar Mountain to go at this point, and I ran out before I crested Shy Bear Pass. By this time, I was really thirsty. There was a race on Cougar today, so I hoped I would get lucky and pass an aid station and make a plea for a cup of water. Alas, the race was nearly done by the time I got there, and the only aid station was in the parking lot, and it was dismantled by the time I arrived. I had water in the car anyway.

Back at the car, I texted John to let him know I'd finished, and he wisely advised me to sip not gulp. It was hard not to, and to be honest, I did gulp at first. I just couldn't get enough. I drove to Matthew's Thriftway to pick up more water after nearly going through all of my 20 ounces of water and 20 ounces of recovery drink, all in a matter of 15 minutes. I got more water for the 45-minute drive home, and those 20 ounces were gone well before I got there. While in the Thriftway, I began shaking from the chill of the air conditioning, and I was still breathing hard from my run. I noticed even my breath was shaky. The checker gave me a concerned look, and I tried to be as pleasant and normal as possible. My right eye began to twitch.

Getting in the car, I lost my balance just opening the door. I sat in the car and nearly lost my composure. I realized that I was hyperventilating, so I dropped my head against the steering wheel and breathed deeply. I ate a few pop chips and drank some more water and calmed down. I simply cannot allow that to happen on the PCT. For a few minutes, I was so light headed, I didn't think I could drive. But I got a hold of myself and the hydration and salt from the chips began to take its effect.

Side note: when I first arrived at the Thriftway, I thought I might need my pole to walk in the grocery store--which is when I realized that I had leaned it again my car when I first finished, and never put it inside the car. I rushed back to the trailhead and retrieved my forgotten pole. Foggy brain.

I have planned to refill my bladder every ten miles or so on the PCT and have planned stops at year-round water sources every ten miles or so. I was thinking 20 ounces each time, but now I think I will do at least 30. I will also drink up with just plain water when I refill my water bladder. I have a collapsible bottle with a filter built into the cap, which I will use to filter my water and then squirt it into my bladder.

My run took over nine hours. I took it slow, babying my hamstring on the the downhills, which totally trashed my quads. They were jelly like on Squak--it was not pretty. I just couldn't afford another stumble. I figured sore quads was a small price to pay for a happy hamstring.

The first day of my two-day PCT Section J run will be 50 miles, nearly twice the 27 miles I did today. I am concerned about having enough daylight, let alone water. I think it will be a good idea to find a place to stay close to my start on Steven's Pass, be it camping or otherwise. I'd like to start in the dark, hiking, and have my husband join me until it gets light enough to go without headlamps. Then he can take them back to the car with him. I will have a headlamp with me for camp, but I don't want to use up the battery in the morning of the first day.

As with all my training runs, I learn something from every one of them. Today was all about water and hours of daylight.

Training While Traveling

We like peace and quiet on the fourth, so we headed for Canada on Tuesday, July 3, destination Summerland, BC. I planned a 12-mile running route for Wednesday in Rose Valley Regional Park.  Since I knew my starting elevation would be around 1200 feet and the most I would gain would be 1800 feet, I figured it would be a fairly easy route.

I found the trails by looking online. Whenever I travel, I always plan ahead to find a running route, especially when I am looking for a trail run. I searched the local area for trails and finally found something on Trail Run Project (app and website). I was surprised that there isn't more to offer in the Lake Okanogan area. I wasn't sure what to expect for terrain and technicality. What I got was not too far off from what I thought I would encounter: hard-surface trails with sharp rocks.

My planned route out in purple and my return in red at Rose Valley Regional Park in Kelowna, BC.

After climbing for two miles, I finally reached the top of the ridge and saw to my left what I was hoping to see: Rose Lake. (None of the trail names matched what I had previously seen online, and Garmin Connect did not have the trails on its maps.) To my right was the obvious Lake Okanogan. Unfortunately, this moment of distractedness led to tripping on the one and only rock poking up out of an otherwise bare ridge top. I tripped up on my left foot, as always, and took a huge lunge forward with my right. I really thought I was going to faceplant, but somehow I caught myself (which frankly was worse because it strained my hamstring) and actually landed abruptly, hyperextending my right leg. This is exactly what I have been trying to avoid the last several weeks. All it took was a moment of inattentiveness, sight-seeing and looking down at the lake. Lesson learned. I shouldn't look at the beauty of my surroundings if my feet are moving.

Along the way up to the ridge, I could see Lake Okanogan to my right and the bridge at Kelowna.

I looked to my left once I got to the top and was delighted to see Rose Lake far below. Had I not tripped, I would have run the trail on the far side of the lake. 

I knew it was bad when I did it; I walked around briefly, and then tested out my leg. Running was not an option. The belly of my right hamstring was just overstretched. I decided it was best to walk back to my car and not try to run through the strain. On the way back, which was about two and a half miles, I tried several more times to run. It just wasn't going to happen. I kept peeking back at my hamstring to see if I had any bruising. I was so worried I had torn it. No discoloration appeared.

It was tough to call John when I got back to the car to let him know what had happened. I knew he would be sad. We talked more about it on a brief hike to Giant's Head that same morning. We agreed it was best that I rest it. Meanwhile, I iced it throughout the day, took some Aleve, and used some Voltaren cream (which you can buy over the counter in Canada!).

I had to use my running pole to hike the short walk to the top of Giant's Head in Summerland, BC.

I did not run Thursday or Friday, and saved myself for a 26.2 mile run on Saturday. I kept it simple, mostly going for distance. I chose the Kettle Valley Rail Trail (KVR) for my route, 13.1 miles uphill and then 13.1 miles down. The first four miles were groomed gravel trail, so there were no tripping hazards, but the rest of the way, I had to focus on the rocky, uneven terrain. The run hurt my right side, mostly in my piriformis, hip flexor, and the top of my foot. The hamstring was sore, but not the worst of my pain. The other pains were no doubt a result of the stumble.

I show on the map where I'll start and finish. You can see that the trail, which is an old rail trail, has two switch backs to keep the grade gentle. Each stretch was about five miles.

I start off at 6:00 am hoping for cool temperatures. As it turned out, I was in the shade until about 10:00. I was nice and cool and didn't get too hot until the last half hour.

At about three miles, there is "Little Tunnel."

There was a wedding on the north side (far away side) on my way back. They were just setting up, and a man was playing the bagpipes. It was also John and my anniversary that day!

If you peek through the trees you'll see Lake Okanogan far below. This is near the 13.1 mile turn around point.

A view of Lake Okanogan on the way back from the middle switchback .

On the way back down, I stopped to take a picture of one of the rock ovens in Rock Oven Provincial Park. The Italians, who built the railroad, had rock ovens for baking bread and cooking in their settlements along the creeks.

Last mile! John was waiting for me at a viewpoint so he could take my picture in the beautiful surroundings.

Back at the car, I sip my Tailwind drink and stretch.

I decided not to run 12 miles Sunday, as my hamstring was extremely tight and my butt cheek was just plain sore. I walked six miles with John on the KVR (Kettle Valley Rail) instead. It's frustrating to be so far into my training and have to back off. Next week will be the last hard week before the Cascade Pass Stehekin run. I figure I am pretty well trained by now, so it's best to baby the leg and get it ready to go in four weeks.

I am accustomed to running wherever I travel. It would be easy for me to say that I wouldn't have tripped on my Wednesday run if I had been at home, but you just never know. Meanwhile, I haven't had too hard of a time relaxing--late mornings at the beach reading, and then afternoons wine tasting.

I enjoy a glass of white merlot at Bench 1775 in Naramata, BC.

What have I learned from this experience? It's good to be more careful when sight-seeing while running. I don't want that to happen on the PCT. I also think it would have been a good idea for me to scale back my run in terms of terrain in an unfamiliar area. Twelve miles on KVR would have been preferable to an injury.

I'll spend the next several weeks trying to get the soreness in my right leg to abate through massage, chiro appointments, and rest, if need be. If I had to, I could do the fastpack on the PCT from Stevens to Snoqualmie Pass (section J)  this weekend, but it would be painful. I am glad I have some time to recuperate. I'll give the leg another day of rest and run again Tuesday.