Week Recap - 90 Miles

I got a huge head start to the week thanks to getting lost on Sunday's run. I was expecting that 21-miler to take its toll on my legs but it didn't seem to affect me. I had a solid workout on Wednesday and put in consistent mileage the rest of the week. I could have easily pushed the mileage closer to 100 by putting in a morning run or two but I just can't manage to get myself early enough out of bed. I don't have much trouble running 12-13 miles every afternoon but it would be nice to afford a short day every now and then.

Alameda to Brittan Ave - 8 Miles

I'm racing the Kaiser Half tomorrow so I only went for a short one today to keep the legs a bit fresh. Nice and easy run, just cruising comfortably in a light rain.

Redwood Shores - 12 Miles

I was out of Club O by 5PM and managed to put in most of the run before it got dark. I don't remember the last time I ran this loop while there was still daylight out. I kept things easy, running 6:45s pretty much the whole way.

Hallmark Park-Brittan Ave - 11 Miles

I was planning to run this morning but I was too lazy once again. I had an appointment for an eye exam at 10:30AM and I had to be wearing my contacts for at least 3 hours so I got up at 7:30 to put them on. I was thinking of going out for a run then but I went back to bed instead and ended up lying there for a couple of hours. I wasn't sleeping but I couldn't drag myself out even for a short run. I left work early in the afternoon and worked from home for a couple of hours before getting out at 5:45 for another run in the rain. I ran to Hallmark park through Water Dog Lake park then continued on the streets to Brittan Ave. We've been getting quite a bit of rain lately, which I generally don't mind but finishing most runs with wet and muddy shoes is getting a bit annoying.
January Miles: 373

5M decreasing pace @ Carlmont High School - 13 Miles

6:08, 5:39, 5:17, 5:02, 4:47. *See note below

Thanks to CWong I found out that there's a track at Carlmont High School, just 2 miles away from my place. I drove out there after work for another shot at the decreasing pace 5 miler. I could have run over there for my warm-up but I wanted to check out the track first and make sure I could run my workout there. The track looked a bit unusual, it only had 6 lanes and had really long straights, sort of like an outdoor version of the MIT paper clip indoor track. I got into the workout right away after the usual 2 mile warm-up. My legs were feeling a bit heavy on the warm-up and I was a bit worried that the workout would end up being similar to last week's. At least the weather was pretty much perfect, no rain or wind like the last few days, and temperatures in the cool high 40s. I tried not to get out too fast on the first mile and ended up a bit on the slow side. I was almost right on for the second one and this time I didn't have trouble picking it up for the 3rd mile. I hit the first lap in 78 and at that point I knew this was going to be a good workout. The 3rd mile felt really smooth and almost effortless and again I had no trouble switching gears for the 4th mile. I came through the half in 2:31 and kept an even pace for the whole mile. I managed to pick things up even more for the last mile and ran 73s for the first 3 laps. I had an extra gear in the last lap and I was moving on the backstretch but I reminded myself that this wasn't a race so I kept things under control. I still managed to bring it in with a 68 last lap, finishing a very solid workout. I was feeling great after the workout and didn't mind going for a 6 mile cool-down to get some extra mileage in. I was really excited about how things turned out today and got a huge confidence booster. I've been doubting my fitness lately so it's good to see that the mileage is paying off. My last 5K was probably only a few seconds off my time at Alumni and this was at the end of a 5 mile workout, in trainers and running all by myself. Rolling week has climbed up to 97, all in singles.

* After visiting the track again I realized that it's not actually 400m long but about 390m. I did some calculations to figure out what my actual mile splits would be. I'm more interested in how I finished the workout so I'm extrapolating backwards. The workout comes out to be 200m shorter than 5M so I'm breaking it down as follows:
First 1400m at 6:17 pace
Next 4 miles: 5:50, 5:26, 5:10, 4:54.

Foster City - 12 Miles

I started at a more reasonable hour today, getting out of Club O by 6PM. I was feeling crappy for most of the run and running slower than 7:00 pace. Maybe the effects of that 21-miler showed up a day late and I exacerbated things a bit with yesterday's run. My right shin was also acting up, making things even more uncomfortable. I felt somewhat better in the last 3 miles or so and was down to 6:45 along Marina Lagoon but even then it felt like I was running sub 6:30 pace.

Bair Island - Redwood Shores - 13 Miles

I stayed at work until 7:30 this evening, trying to get some piece of code to work. At least I was successful and got out in a good mood so I didn't mind getting a late start to my run. I was expecting the legs to be tired after yesterday's run but they felt surprisingly fresh. I thought that I would need to make this a short, recovery run but I had no trouble putting in good mileage at a decent pace. I was in the 6:40s for most of the run, getting down in the 6:30s in the last few miles.

Lake Chabot Regional Park - 21 Miles

It's been a while since I had an adventurous run so I guess it was bound to happen. I slept in this morning and watched highlights of the Boston Indoor games when I got up, which wasn't over until 2PM. I drove out to Lake Chabot afterwards, the first time I've ever went on a run on East Bay. It was about a 35 minute drive and I didn't start my run until 3. There's a 12.5 mile loop going around the Lake and I figured I would run that and add on a few more miles to make it 16. I went out on the west side of the lake first and followed Goldenrod trail, which I thought would take me all the way around. I realized later that after about 5 miles I should have made a turn onto another trail. Instead I continued on the same trail and for a long time I thought I was heading the right way. I even decided to add on an extra 3.5 miles by doing an out and back on another trail, instead of adding on at the end of the loop. I finally figured out that something went wrong about an hour and a half into the run when I reached the end of Goldenrod trail and had only the option of heading back. I turned around and kept trying to figure out where I could have possibly taken a wrong turn. I was hoping that I wouldn't be too far off the right trail since I knew how long this run would end up if I just went back the same way. I got the bad news when I came across some guy and asked him what would be the shortest way to get back to the lake. His reaction was priceless. He kept saying that the lake was really far away and was shocked that I was trying to run there. I didn't even tell him that I had already been running for about 13 miles. It was a bit shocking to realize that this would turn out to be a 20+ mile run and I had another 7 or 8 to go. It was starting to get dark but fortunately I made it back in time before it was completely dark. I hadn't eat much all day, just a cup of coffee, some yogurt and a granola bar so I was getting pretty hungry. I thought my legs would give up after all these miles on hilly terrain but I held on fine, making it back to the car in 2.5 hours. I actually managed to keep a decent pace the entire time and I think calling this 21 isn't too far fetched, making this my longest run ever. Until I realized that I had gone the wrong way I was really enjoying the run. The trail was paved for about the first two miles but was pretty nice after that. It was a bit muddy but nothing too bad. There was a good amount of hills but only a few steep ones and mostly rolling. The park connects to the north with Antony Chabot park, which connects to Redwood Regional park so there's a lot more miles of trails in the area to explore.