My driveway is now replaced, and looking very good.

The upper part of the two piece concrete driveway was in multiple pieces due to the root penetration under the driveway  There is a big tree nearby. It was over a year ago we finally cut the root which was almost surfaced on the ground between the driveway and the tree, and it seemed to stop any further damage. I couldn't really tell since the damage progress was very slow anyway.

I was actually okay with the upper piece of the driveway in very many pieces even though it didn't look very good.  However, I kept wondering if I really cut the problem root, or maybe there was another root crossing over and kept growing. I then decided to hire someone to replace the whole driveway, mainly to confirm there was no active root still trying to make further penetration.

It was just last Friday I found this concrete company, Allied-One Concrete (http://www.alliedoneconcrete.com/), and they showed up in the same evening.  They gave me a quote and I hired them as they said they could start on Monday. Since it was only the upper piece which was broken, I wanted only that part to be replaced, but I was convinced to replace the whole driveway as some sections of the lower part also seemed to be a bit too high, and the colors wouldn't match.

I was working from home on Monday, and I was able to partly watch their work here and there. I just love watching these things since some of what these professionals do are just amazing. Even though they said it would take 3 days, they actually managed to put concrete on the same day, and pretty much done by the end of the day. They showed up again in the next morning to take out the frames, and clean up the site.

I found the root had indeed been killed, and it might not have cause much further damage, but I am very happy that it's pretty much clean now. And I do love the new look of the driveway even though it's a super simple one.

No cats or raccoons left foot steps on the driveway while the concrete was cured. Maybe I should have left a footstep of my own.

The weather report had indicated it’d be raining, and I had set my mind to be ready for the marathon in the rain. However, it turned out to be nice, and I wasn’t ready for it at all.

I woke up at 3:30am, and left home at 4:20am. It took me 2.5 hours, so I was at the start point right before 7am. I always try to be on site as early as possible since it’s nice to park a car near the starting line. It turned out the starting point, Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery Complex, had a huge parking space and it wouldn’t have been an issue.

There are very many half-marathon runners, but full marathon runners were less than 10%. The course was the same for both, and the full marathon runners would run the loop twice. As usual, at the start I bumped into a few people I know of from the Marathon Maniacs.

The race started just about on time, and I just went along with the rest. I wore two pairs of t-shirts and even another outer wear on top. Within one mile, I realized I got warmed up within the first mile, and I took off my outer wear and put it in my side pocket. The first 3 miles were pretty much an upslope and it wasn’t too bad for the start. And it’d be a different story for the second lap. The course has a u-turn there, and you go back the way you came pretty much all the way to the starting point. Instead of going back to the starting point by making the right turn, you go straight to the Leavenworth downtown for another mile or so. After a short run on the main street, you go off the main street again, and eventually bump into a trail, maybe part of a park. I actually enjoyed that part, at least for the first lap. It went back on road, and went on. They had an aid station in every couple of miles, and it was a big help. There were a ton of runners, and I eventually finished the first lap.

The good thing about going through the same course multiple times is that you know what’s coming on the second lap. The difference with the first lap and the second lap is that on the second lap, you are much more tired than the first lap. At least that’s the case with me. The uphill was much more tiring and I didn’t enjoy it much. The downhill or the next 3 miles was much better, but my energy pretty much ran out shortly after that. Also, my pace kept dropping, and I ended up finishing the race in over 5 hours. It was the worst record ever of my regular marathons.  However, I am quite happy to finish it, and I think I will continue to be happy with whatever time I am getting before the end of this year. My wish is to bring up my speed from super slow to slow by spring 2010, and hit 4 hours at some time next year. I have 7 more marathons to run for the rest of the year, and the next one is in the end of October.

The Leavenworth Marathon was fun, and I think it’s well organized.

This past Saturday, I joined a trail running at Cougar Mountain. It's a 13 mile race, but took me almost 3 hours to finish while my usual finish time for a half-marathon is about 2 hours. It was raining most of the time when I was running and the course was wet, too. However, it wasn't as bad as it looked, and I never tripped over. I guess I was afraid of it and didn't run as fast as I could have. The course was quite challenging as far as I was concerned. It had some hills up and down, and I didn't recall many flat surfaces, unlike Mt. Si Ultra that I ran in April. Some up hills were too steep for me to run, and I ended up walking a few times.  

By the way, I am in no great shape or what so ever at all, so it indeed might help people realize they can do it if I can.  It's just fun to be jogging or running, but it's really great when someone comes to me telling me "Hey Takao, I actually started jogging lately, and am going to run a marathon this winter". It happened several times this year, and it happened once again this past Sunday.  The friend who told it to me and I have known for some time, but I didn't know he used to be a runner. He told me he's inspired by me, and started running again.

http://www.seattlerunningcompany.com/Events/Cougar/cougarmtn1.html

It was long, but I was happy to finish the 50k run.
 
It was a fund raising event for a breast cancer research, but I must confess I just really wanted to run. It was to run Lake Youngs Trail for 3 laps. One lap was a 9.6 mile long, and three give you 28.8 miles. It had an option to run another 2.2 miles to make it 50 km and I took the option and took me 6:25:43, but it was okay.
 
It was actually quite cool, and even misty or raining. I was expecting a hot day, so I was lucky to get such a nice day for running event.  I didn't even need my sunglasses although I saw the sun in my final lap. The running event was very small and casual. I thought there were only less than 20 runners, and the only aid station was at the starting and ending point. There was actually a couple of water bottles on the other side of the loop, and they were also provided by the event organizer. There was no other place to get water or any other supplies, so I had to carry a water bottle.
 
As mentioned a few weeks ago, I ran the same set of race, and failed. Therefore, my focus was only to finish, and the time wasn't matter almost not at all. There was a lady with a dog, and we ran pretty much at the same pace. She was actually faster than I was, but she had to stop occasionally to give her dog water and I caught her a couple of times because of that. I was also amazed that the dog finished running 28.8 miles. It seemed easy for her.
 
It was okay to run the loop clockwise or counterclockwise, and I kept running the counterclockwise. The big hill that I thought it was the last time was actually not bad since now it's the downhill at the beginning of the race instead of the uphill at the end of the loop. There were a couple of other bigger hills when I was running the loop counterclockwise. I almost gave up after finishing the three laps and thought of skipping the last 2.2 miles. It was just 2.2 miles, but it's a long distance after running for 28.8 miles. It's all perspective.

I was quite exhausted, but finished it anyway.

http://www.capitalcitymarathon.org/

I realized it’s not really optimal or enjoyable to run marathons in a week apart, so I don’t think I will do it again at least for now. I know there are people who run a full marathon 50 times a year, but it’s not for me.

The finish time was the worst in the series of runs this time, and it was 4:23:48. My stopwatch and the official time was exactly the same. It took me only ten seconds to reach the start line after the start time, so there is not much difference between net and gross times.  I guess that’s something I really like about a small event.  At big ones such as Tokyo marathon it takes forever to get to the starting point.

The hotel I stayed the night before the marathon event was very nice since it’s so close to the starting point. It’s only a few hundred yards away. So, not only I didn’t have to wake up too early in the morning, but also I was able to leave my car in the hotel parking and to come back for a shower after the finish.  Unlike yesterday I couldn’t take a shower until I came home last week.

The course had some hills, but I’d say it’s much easier than the one I ran last week in Tacoma. Maybe it was just a psychological thing as I had been told Tacoma marathon was a tough one, and Olympia marathon was a “nice and easy” one. I think it took longer for me to finish this time because I was just too tired to run without enough intervals.

Since I am not familiar with Olympia city at all, I had no idea where I was running during the race, but the course guide was very clear and no point of making any mistakes.  The last mile before the finish line went the capital buildings and I realized it’s really the capital city of Washington state. Otherwise, the rest of the city seemed quite rural and relaxed.  It was also the easy downhill, and I was able to enjoy the last mile running.  I got sick a few miles prior to that, and I even had to walk instead of running. Otherwise, I had no pain in my shinsplints or other parts of my body.

I was very tired when I finished it, and it was hard to even walk for a little while. The couple of slices of watermelon that I had there was sweet and very tasty. They had some food such as pizza, but there was no way I could eat pizza as my stomach wasn’t ready for a heavy meal.  After a short rest I went back to the hotel since I really wanted to take a shower.  The hotel had a Japanese restaurant called “KOIBITO” meaning “sweetheart” or “loved one” and I had dinner there on Saturday. I thought of stopping by for lunch again, but I decided to go home.

I will probably take it easy on running for a little while, and I may go for bicycle riding instead. I have my helmet in Tokyo, so I’d  have to get another one, and buying a helmet is probably what I am going to do after work today.

I just decided to run another marathon this Saturday.

It's held in Tacoma, and I booked a hotel near the course to stay the night before, or it's actually tomorrow.  Since it's too late to register for marathon online, I'll have to go to the registration at Expo before 8pm tomorrow.  It seems it has a plenty of spaces before it reaches the maximum capacity and I won't have a problem registering the day before the race. It's just that the last minute registration seems to costs an extra anyway. Well, what can I do as I just decided to do it today?

I ran a full marathon in Vancouver BC last weekend. I was quite happy to finish it with 4:06:12, and I am running another marathon the week after this weekend.  So, I was figuring out what kind of training I'd be doing this coming weekend.

My stretch goal was to finish the Lake Washington Half-loop, or jogging for about 70km. I have tried it twice but yet to complete the loop, or I ended up getting a cab ride in the end.  Another plan was to do combination of some jogging and bicycling.  I just got spare tubes for the tires, and the "right" portable air pump, so I am good to start riding. It took me a while to figure out the right spare tubes, and I even had bought a wrong type of portable pump.  So, I was thinking of the Lake Washington Half-loop with my bicycle instead, and some running as an alternate plan for 70km jogging.

In the end, I didn't want to run too much, so I decided to run a regular full marathon.  Since the course seems to be quite hilly, I don't expect myself to beat my record this weekend. Instead, I am hoping to enjoy the sceneries of Tacoma city, and get some training.  I realized I have to pack for the trip this evening as I'd have to drive to Tacoma right after work tomorrow.  I am now very much looking forward to the event.

The course is on the Snoqualmie Valley and Iron Horse Trails. The 50 Mile course follows city roads and the Trail from the town of Snoqualmie north to Fall City and the to the South edge of Carnation where the runners turn around and run east to North Bend.  At the 19.4 mile mark, in the town of Snoqualmie, the 50 Mile runners will be joined by the 50 Km runners and head to Rattle Snake Lake via the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and then to Olallie State Park via the Iron Horse Trail where they will make a “U” turn at an aid station and head back to the finish at Snoqualmie Elementary School.  The trail is old railroad grade.  It has a gentle grade and is generally wide with some crushed rock, but usually is packed dirt and grass.  The steepest climb is from North Bend to Rattle Snake Lake which is 450 feet over five miles.