Wednesday Night Run in North Vancouver
The two-week stay is winding down and I'll be flying home Friday morning. Thank goodness! I like my job; however, the travel and being away from home can be a little challenging.
I got out on the streets very late on Wednesday evening - sometime after 11 p.m. Pacific time and it was simply just to get out and loosen the legs up. It had rained much of the day after being pretty nice out both Monday and Tuesday. (Monday, I was just completely zonked out from the long drive back north followed up by the regular work day.)
When I went down to Eugene, Oregon on Sunday, I stopped at the legendary Hayward Field, the home of the University of Oregon track and field program where "three Bills" coached the Ducks for 93 years. The stadium's namesake, Bill Hayward (1904-47), Bill Bowerman (1949-72) and Bill Dellinger (1973-98). However, one name will always be associated with Oregon track and field -- Steve Prefontaine.
The day before at the track, Galen Rupp, Oregon's boy wonder today, and Olympian Dan Browne competed against each other in the 3,000 meters while the husband-wife team of Adam and Kara Goucher won their respective events -- the 1,500 and 3,000 meters, respectively.
The track is open for anybody to run on while the Ducks aren't working out. And while it is just a track, I almost felt unworthy to step out there and run some. In fact, I didn't time myself even. I figured that it would have been sacriligeous given the talent that was run in the Stadium over the last century.
I ran 13 laps for just more than a 5K. When I started, there was a sign on the infield that said, "No walking or jogging in lanes 1 through 4." To avoid any confusion as to what I was doing out there, I moved to lane 5!
After leaving the Stadium, I went driving towards nearby Hendricks Park (which is less than a mile and a half away.) At the top of the hill, near the intersection of Birch and Skyline, was Pre's Rock - the place where Prefontaine died in a car wreck. As I got out of my rental car, there came a high school runner who had just climbed a pretty steep hill. He looked over at the memorial and kept moving. For those that have been there and know how steep the hill is and how narrow the road is, it would be challenging for anyone that was sober to go through that area with any speed.
I snapped a few pictures (which I can't get uploaded to here for some reason) and then went to find what is known as Pre's Trail to get in a few more miles since I had scratched the half. I found part of it, but I really didn't have a sufficient amount of fuel left in the tank and only got in about 2.5 miles and that was a challenge. Although it was clear and sunny, it was cool and windy. So I got in approximately 5.5 decent miles for the day.
Back to Wednesday night here in North Vancouver, I went down Marine Blvd. west towards the Lions Gate Bridge, but tonight I didn't run over it. I ran 2.332 miles in 24:02.04, which included a short, steady incline within the first 5 minutes. It wasn't quite as long as the last incline in the Blue Bell Fun Run 10K on Saturday, but it was just a tad bit more steep.
I came 1.461 miles back east on Marine Blvd. before turning onto Keith Blvd. The problem is: I don't have a time. About two and a half minutes into the return trip, a man asked me what time it was. I pressed the one button on my watch and it stopped the time.
Keith Blvd. turns into 13th Street and it is a long - .857 miles - steady uphill. I covered that distance in 11:49.73 while focusing on breathing, turning my feet over quicker and using shorter strides and putting my nose in front of my toes (as Bart Yasso had reminded me).
Once I made it to the corner of 13th Street and Lonsdale Ave., I ran down Lonsdale (about 13-14 blocks) to Carrie Cates before making a right hand turn back to the hotel. The .866 miles -- all downhill -- went by in what could have been a quicker 8:22.97.
The total distance turned out to be 5.534 miles using Geoff Guenther's distance tool on the HARRA web site and the time was probably right about an hour and a minute or two (guessing the time that was missed). I was trying to get some elevation data on the almost mile long incline; however, the site isn't bringing it back in time.
I got out on the streets very late on Wednesday evening - sometime after 11 p.m. Pacific time and it was simply just to get out and loosen the legs up. It had rained much of the day after being pretty nice out both Monday and Tuesday. (Monday, I was just completely zonked out from the long drive back north followed up by the regular work day.)
When I went down to Eugene, Oregon on Sunday, I stopped at the legendary Hayward Field, the home of the University of Oregon track and field program where "three Bills" coached the Ducks for 93 years. The stadium's namesake, Bill Hayward (1904-47), Bill Bowerman (1949-72) and Bill Dellinger (1973-98). However, one name will always be associated with Oregon track and field -- Steve Prefontaine.
The day before at the track, Galen Rupp, Oregon's boy wonder today, and Olympian Dan Browne competed against each other in the 3,000 meters while the husband-wife team of Adam and Kara Goucher won their respective events -- the 1,500 and 3,000 meters, respectively.
The track is open for anybody to run on while the Ducks aren't working out. And while it is just a track, I almost felt unworthy to step out there and run some. In fact, I didn't time myself even. I figured that it would have been sacriligeous given the talent that was run in the Stadium over the last century.
I ran 13 laps for just more than a 5K. When I started, there was a sign on the infield that said, "No walking or jogging in lanes 1 through 4." To avoid any confusion as to what I was doing out there, I moved to lane 5!
After leaving the Stadium, I went driving towards nearby Hendricks Park (which is less than a mile and a half away.) At the top of the hill, near the intersection of Birch and Skyline, was Pre's Rock - the place where Prefontaine died in a car wreck. As I got out of my rental car, there came a high school runner who had just climbed a pretty steep hill. He looked over at the memorial and kept moving. For those that have been there and know how steep the hill is and how narrow the road is, it would be challenging for anyone that was sober to go through that area with any speed.
I snapped a few pictures (which I can't get uploaded to here for some reason) and then went to find what is known as Pre's Trail to get in a few more miles since I had scratched the half. I found part of it, but I really didn't have a sufficient amount of fuel left in the tank and only got in about 2.5 miles and that was a challenge. Although it was clear and sunny, it was cool and windy. So I got in approximately 5.5 decent miles for the day.
Back to Wednesday night here in North Vancouver, I went down Marine Blvd. west towards the Lions Gate Bridge, but tonight I didn't run over it. I ran 2.332 miles in 24:02.04, which included a short, steady incline within the first 5 minutes. It wasn't quite as long as the last incline in the Blue Bell Fun Run 10K on Saturday, but it was just a tad bit more steep.
I came 1.461 miles back east on Marine Blvd. before turning onto Keith Blvd. The problem is: I don't have a time. About two and a half minutes into the return trip, a man asked me what time it was. I pressed the one button on my watch and it stopped the time.
Keith Blvd. turns into 13th Street and it is a long - .857 miles - steady uphill. I covered that distance in 11:49.73 while focusing on breathing, turning my feet over quicker and using shorter strides and putting my nose in front of my toes (as Bart Yasso had reminded me).
Once I made it to the corner of 13th Street and Lonsdale Ave., I ran down Lonsdale (about 13-14 blocks) to Carrie Cates before making a right hand turn back to the hotel. The .866 miles -- all downhill -- went by in what could have been a quicker 8:22.97.
The total distance turned out to be 5.534 miles using Geoff Guenther's distance tool on the HARRA web site and the time was probably right about an hour and a minute or two (guessing the time that was missed). I was trying to get some elevation data on the almost mile long incline; however, the site isn't bringing it back in time.
posted by WalkSports.com | 3:41 AM
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