Training Log Archive: bensmithIn the 7 days ending Aug 20, 2017:
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Sunday Aug 20, 2017 #
10 AM
Running 3:52:12 [2] 17.1 km (13:35 / km) +1600m 9:15 / km
ahr:132 max:167
We have a new candidate for "Ben's favourite local(ish) trail". This was super varied, and a lot of fun.
Sea to Summit trail, Al's Habrich ridge, Neverland loop, back down Al's Habrich, then a few short loops near the gondola station (Spirit and Panorama). 1600m elevation gain, 759m elevation loss. Gondola down for the rest.
The Sea to Summit naturally doesn't get you close to the summit of anything, but I forgive the poor naming thanks to the awesomeness of the trail. There are some very runnable bits, some ridiculously steep bits (mostly done with fixed ropes, except when sharing with the Chief trail), and some really varied scenery. There's west coast forest as we expect, rocky open bits, a spooky pine sections, and then some other trees. I recommend Jeff Pelettier's video to get a good idea of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08XVwQ2IK80.
Al's Habrich is also good. The best views are at trail marker #33. Most people only went to #18, but it's well worth pushing on. The trail ends at #44, at a small lake with not much of a view. It was a very surprising end point. Not much to write home about there. If you're just doing Al's (and not Neverland), definitely stop at #33 and just take in more of the view. It's great to be looking down at the Chief so far below.
The Neverland loop forks off of Al's, and takes you close to Neverland Falls. Apparently this was really good 5 weeks ago, but now there's barely a trickle. If you do go, don't stop at the first pool (where the sign says "end of marked trail"). You want to get up the rockface in front of you. Look to the right, and use the fixed rope. There is minimal flagging, but it's not hard to pick a safe route for the extra 100m. The upper pool would be a far more impressive waterfall if there were any water. Definitely one to repeat earlier in the season next year.
The descent down Neverland and Al's was super fun. Lots of bare rock running, and the awesome smell of dusty pine trees.
The final little loops were fine. Nice views, but very busy.
I'm not sure what's going on with the trail distance measurements. The Sea to Summit has 0.5km markers, but I was always ~10% off (I was closer to 0.45km). I think the main trail was ~6km, but they claim 7.5lm. The Spirit trail they claim is 400m, but I make it 250m. Panorama is closer to agreement. Very odd.
The download costs $15, which seems like a lot compared to Grouse ($10), when Grouse has way more stuff going on up top. It's probably possible to go down Sea to Summit, but I saw zero people doing it.
Sea to Summit trail, Al's Habrich ridge, Neverland loop, back down Al's Habrich, then a few short loops near the gondola station (Spirit and Panorama). 1600m elevation gain, 759m elevation loss. Gondola down for the rest.
The Sea to Summit naturally doesn't get you close to the summit of anything, but I forgive the poor naming thanks to the awesomeness of the trail. There are some very runnable bits, some ridiculously steep bits (mostly done with fixed ropes, except when sharing with the Chief trail), and some really varied scenery. There's west coast forest as we expect, rocky open bits, a spooky pine sections, and then some other trees. I recommend Jeff Pelettier's video to get a good idea of it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08XVwQ2IK80.
Al's Habrich is also good. The best views are at trail marker #33. Most people only went to #18, but it's well worth pushing on. The trail ends at #44, at a small lake with not much of a view. It was a very surprising end point. Not much to write home about there. If you're just doing Al's (and not Neverland), definitely stop at #33 and just take in more of the view. It's great to be looking down at the Chief so far below.
The Neverland loop forks off of Al's, and takes you close to Neverland Falls. Apparently this was really good 5 weeks ago, but now there's barely a trickle. If you do go, don't stop at the first pool (where the sign says "end of marked trail"). You want to get up the rockface in front of you. Look to the right, and use the fixed rope. There is minimal flagging, but it's not hard to pick a safe route for the extra 100m. The upper pool would be a far more impressive waterfall if there were any water. Definitely one to repeat earlier in the season next year.
The descent down Neverland and Al's was super fun. Lots of bare rock running, and the awesome smell of dusty pine trees.
The final little loops were fine. Nice views, but very busy.
I'm not sure what's going on with the trail distance measurements. The Sea to Summit has 0.5km markers, but I was always ~10% off (I was closer to 0.45km). I think the main trail was ~6km, but they claim 7.5lm. The Spirit trail they claim is 400m, but I make it 250m. Panorama is closer to agreement. Very odd.
The download costs $15, which seems like a lot compared to Grouse ($10), when Grouse has way more stuff going on up top. It's probably possible to go down Sea to Summit, but I saw zero people doing it.
Saturday Aug 19, 2017 #
11 AM
Running 3:30:48 [2] 35.21 km (5:59 / km) +200m 5:49 / km
ahr:137 max:171 shoes: on Cloudflow Blue/Orange
No time for a proper adventure today, so just did a long urban run.
Loop around Pacific Spirit, along the seawall to Burrard, then around Stanley Park to Canada Place. Climb is estimated as the GPS goes crazy on the Stanley Park bit of the seawall (I definitely didn't do 460m climb like the watch claims!).
I started off really slowly and don't know what was wrong. My usual "I'm not thinking about running and am just sauntering around" pace is 5:30, but today I started off at 6:30. It seemed like running any faster would be a Herculean task, so I just settled in for a long run.
Eventually felt more normal about 75 minutes in, and managed to push it harder at the end (sub-5) to round out at just-sub-6. This wasn't ideal, but I'm glad I finished strong.
I did 2.5 measures of tailwind per bottle, and had 3 bottles during the run. The energy levels were good at the end, but I possibly could have had a bit more water. Took me a long time to rehydrate properly at my friend's BBQ.
Loop around Pacific Spirit, along the seawall to Burrard, then around Stanley Park to Canada Place. Climb is estimated as the GPS goes crazy on the Stanley Park bit of the seawall (I definitely didn't do 460m climb like the watch claims!).
I started off really slowly and don't know what was wrong. My usual "I'm not thinking about running and am just sauntering around" pace is 5:30, but today I started off at 6:30. It seemed like running any faster would be a Herculean task, so I just settled in for a long run.
Eventually felt more normal about 75 minutes in, and managed to push it harder at the end (sub-5) to round out at just-sub-6. This wasn't ideal, but I'm glad I finished strong.
I did 2.5 measures of tailwind per bottle, and had 3 bottles during the run. The energy levels were good at the end, but I possibly could have had a bit more water. Took me a long time to rehydrate properly at my friend's BBQ.
Thursday Aug 17, 2017 #
12 PM
Running 1:05:54 [3] 12.8 km (5:09 / km) +170m 4:50 / km
ahr:158 max:182
Back with Team TRIUMF in Pacific Spirit.
10 minutes warmup
25 minutes increasing pace (5 min/km -> 4 min/km)
1 minute hanging around waiting for everyone to regroup
30 minutes steady
10 minutes warmup
25 minutes increasing pace (5 min/km -> 4 min/km)
1 minute hanging around waiting for everyone to regroup
30 minutes steady
Wednesday Aug 16, 2017 #
6 AM
Running 1:30:43 [2] 16.39 km (5:32 / km) +27m 5:29 / km
ahr:136 max:156 shoes: on Cloudflow Blue/Orange
Morning run down the lakeshore from Northwestern to Rogers Park area. I far prefer the Chicago section to the Evanston section. Beaches in Chicago are free, but cost EIGHT DOLLARS per day to access in Evanston. Parks and trails are fortunately still free to run through...
Tuesday Aug 15, 2017 #
7 AM
Running 40:19 [2] 7.69 km (5:15 / km) +7m 5:13 / km
ahr:132 max:161 shoes: on Cloudflow Blue/Orange
Quick run around Northwestern campus. Very impressive facilities. Amazing what money can buy.