Week Recap (03/09/08 - 03/015/08) - 31 Miles

It's good to finally have some mileage to write about, even though it's not much. I'm being as conservative as I've ever been in building up but I'm definitely happy with my progress. I have been running pain-free and generally feeling good on my runs. It was my intention to supplement my runs with some cross training but didn't really do much of that. It was harder to find the motivation to get on the elliptical, the stationary bike or in the pool after putting in 5 or 6 miles. I'm still going for physical therapy 3 times a week and spending quite a bit of time every day for stretching and strengthening so I can't say that I'm not doing enough. Next week my goal is to get the mileage in the 40s and if all goes well I'll be back to decent mileage soon.

~25 Mile bike ride

I met with Nestor this morning and we hit the roads with our bikes. I'm still contemplating buying my own bike but for today I had to settle with Nestor's older bike. He has turned into a triathlete so he had the $1200 bike plus all the necessary gear, like bike shorts and shoes. I, on the other hand, was wearing basketball shorts, running shoes and a cotton T-shirt and riding a hybrid bike. I guess if there's an equivalent to a jogger for cycling that's what I looked like. We started from Nestor's place and headed to the bay trail behind Shoreline, bringing back memories on from the summer I spent in the bay area 3 years ago. We continued along the bay to Embarcadero, continued towards Stanford, making a brief stop at a bike shop so that I could have a look at some bikes. We went on to Junipero Serra Blvd afterwards and looped back to Mountain View. I'm not sure exactly how long the loop was but I won't bother measuring it. We were out for just under 2 hours and probably spent about 1:40-1:45 on the bikes. The pace was decent but comfortable for the most part with the occasional burst of speed every now and then. It didn't take me long to realize how much difference the bike makes as it was fairly obvious that I was working harder than Nestor to maintain the same pace. Fortunately I'm in much better so I didn't have trouble keeping up. It was a pretty good ride overall and made me start thinking about getting a bike more seriously. I don't intend on becoming a biker but it's definitely a great form of cross training. I think I could motivate myself more easily to go on a 2 hour bike ride instead of getting on the elliptical for half an hour.

Foster City [6M]

Another exploratory run in Foster City. I tried to run along one of the lagoons at first but I kept running into backyards and had to get back on the streets. I ended up wandering through residential areas for a while before getting back to the more familiar territory along Marina Lagoon. I was only shooting for 5 miles but wound up back after almost 43 minutes so definitely a solid 6. I decided to add on some cross training and jumped on the elliptical as soon as I got back to PJCC. I only managed to stay on for 15 minutes but I think putting any amount of time for cross training after a 6 mile run is a win. I got off when the two high school girls who were on the ellipticals next to me started discussing how "it's a proven fact" that running with an ipod makes you faster. I was doing my best to ignore their conversation the entire time but that last comment just pushed me over the edge.

Alameda - San Carlos [5M]

I wound up working late and didn't leave the office until 9PM. I opted to go home instead of Club O so that I wouldn't have to rush to finish everything by 10. I didn't waste much time and headed out for one of my usual loops. My legs started feeling the increase in mileage a bit but nothing too bad really. I was comfortably running 6:50s for most of the run.

Foster City [5M]

I started around 6:30 PM after my physical therapy session and went on a somewhat random loop around Foster City. Just over 36 minutes for the loop, which probably makes up for yesterday being a bit short.

Redwood Shores [5M]

I was out of Club O at 8PM, getting a bit of a late start again. I was out for 32:30 so the loop was probably a bit short but not by much as I was moving at a decent pace. Stretching and some strengthening exercise afterwards.

5 Mile loop for PJCC

I headed out from PJCC at 6:30 PM, after spending the usual hour for physical therapy. I picked up the bay trail, ran along to Mariners Island Blvd and looped back to PJCC. Wound up back after 38:30 so a bit longer than 5.

Holly St - Ralston - 5 Miles

I headed out from home around 1PM on another glorious day. I went down El Camino, crossed to Redwood shores along Holly St and came back on Ralston. I felt great again, averaging just under 6:50 pace. I should probably be taking it easier but I can't blame myself for getting a little too excited.