Week Recap (16 Mar 2008 - 22 Mar 2008) - 46 Miles

Everything went according to plan this week as far as mileage and I felt good on all my runs so I couldn't really be asking for more. I even returned to Water Dog Lake park for my first run on trails, since my injury, putting my foot through a good test. I haven't felt any pain since I started running so I'm confident that I've put this injury behind me. I cut down my physical therapy sessions to 2 a week and I think another week of those should be enough. I don't have any definite plan for the rest of the season since I had to throw all plans out the window after getting injured. I'll keep building up the mileage for now, maybe start doing some workouts in a couple of weeks and take things from there.

Saturday, March 22, 2008 [5M]

Alameda-San Carlos. I was out before noon today, pretty early for a Saturday, for a short run to finish off the week. My legs were sore from yesterday's run but I was still moving at a decent pace, around 6:45 for the most part.

Friday, March 21, 2008 [7M]

Water Dog Lake Park. I left work at 6:30 this afternoon, got back home and headed out up Ralston almost right away. I had more than enough time to put in a few miles at Water Dog Lake Park before it got dark. The regular loop in the park is close to 8 miles but I wanted to cut it a bit shorter so instead of going around the lake I cut across before and went straight up to John Brooks trail. The drawback of taking the shortcut was having to go up a steep trail instead of going up a gradual incline and of course there were a lot more rolling hills once I got up to John Brooks trail so my legs took a bit of a beating. I missed running on trails, though, so despite having to work on the climbs I was excited to be out there again.

Thursday, March 20, 2008 [8M]

San Mateo. I got out of Club O by 7:30PM and started in rather typical fashion, crossing over to Foster City and heading along Marina Lagoon. Once I got to Hillsdale Blvd, though, I decided to get more adventurous so I went across 101 and found my way back through random streets in San Mateo. I was only planning to go 6-7 today but it took me a bit longer than I expected to get back. I didn't quite get lost but I ended up at a few dead-end streets while going through residential areas. I wound up back after a little over 52 minutes, which is probably shorter than 8 but most likely closer to 8 than 7.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 [7M]

Foster City. I was out of PJCC at 6:30PM, as it has become the norm for the days I go in for physical therapy. I wasn't very creative in coming up with the route today, just headed straight to Marina Lagoon and ran around Foster City along the Bay Trail.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 [6M]

Redwood Shores. I was out of Club O by 6:30 PM, back to one of the usual loops. I started out at a rather brisk pace, trying to pass another group of people who were running along the trail. I didn't slow down afterwards and I was right around 6:30 pace for the entire run. It felt good to be running at a decent pace again without even pushing it. I did the usual stretching and core routine and decided to do some lifting as well. I have been doing a lot of strengthening for my foot and ankle but haven't really done any lifting in a long time. I didn't have much trouble bench pressing 3x6 with plates which shows that I don't need to do much to maintain my upper body strength. I was a bit pathetic on pullups, though, but then again that has never been one of my strong points.

Foster City [6M]

I got out of PJCC at 6:30PM and headed towards Marina Lagoon in a somewhat adventurous way. My creativity ran out once I got there so I stayed on the usual trail for the biggest part of the run. My quads were pretty sore from yesterday's run and I took things easy to begin with. I started feeling better once the run progressed and split a 6:35 for my last mile along the trail. I was probably running in the 6:40s-6:50s for the most part. Spent another half hour stretching, working the core and doing some more strengthening.

Alameda - 20th Ave [7M]

I slept in this morning and didn't have time to run before going out on a day trip to Carmel with Panos and Andreas. We spent the day chilling by the ocean and I didn't get back home until after 8PM. I didn't waste much time getting out for a run, knowing how much less motivated I'd be if I sat on the couch for an hour. I took an unusual route to Alameda, heading up Middle Rd and Notre Dame Ave. I usually avoid this route because I don't like starting my run going uphill for over a mile. I haven't run this in a while of course and I guess I forgot how hilly it is. I'll need some time to get used to running hills again but I didn't fare too bad on this one. Once I got to Alameda and started going downhill my legs felt a lot better and I was moving at a decent pace for the rest of the run. I averaged right around 6:50 for the whole run, probably starting out at slower than 7:00 for the first mile and running in the 6:40s the rest of the way.