Week Recap (13 Apr 2008 - 19 Apr 2008) - 75 Miles

Pretty solid week, both in terms of quantity and quality. I hit the mileage I was shooting for and could have easily gotten closer to 80 but I wanted to finish off the week easy to keep the legs fresh for a 5K race I'm running this coming Sunday. I had a decent workout on Wednesday, nothing spectacular by any means but a step in the right direction in terms of effort. In general my runs felt a lot better compared to last week, when most of the runs resembled a death march, so it's good to see that my body is adapting again to the higher mileage.

Saturday, April 19, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan Ave. I was out by noon for a short and easy run to finish off the week. I'm racing a 5K tomorrow so I wanted to keep my legs as fresh as possible. I was feeling pretty good, comfortably clipping 6:45s the whole way. I'm not sure what to expect tomorrow but I think it will be a good fitness test.

Friday, Apri 18, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark Park. I got back from work this afternoon and didn't waste much time getting out, hitting the streets by 6PM. I ran the usual route to Hallmark and added a loop on the XC course to add on another mile or so before heading back. I wanted an easy run today and didn't push the hills at all, which made the run a bit slow. My right calf was feeling a bit tight after coming out of Hallmark so I kept things slow even on the way back. Far from a spectacular run but putting in the miles was all it mattered today.

Thursday, April 17, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. I had to get work at 8:30 this morning, which is ridiculously early for me, and was planning on leaving early but I got caught up with a few things and didn't leave the office until 6:30. I headed out from Club O to Foster City, thinking of putting in at least 10 but not ruling out going for the full loop. I was feeling a bit tired at first, a combination of yesterday's workout and not getting much sleep after that, but I started feeling better as the run progressed and decided to extend the run to 12. I kept things easy, probably running around 7:00 pace for most of the run and getting down to 6:30 for the last 3 miles.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 [10M]

5M decreasing pace @ Sawyer Camp. 6:05, 5:45, 5:33, 5:17, 5:08. I left work at 5:45PM and drove out to Sawyer Camp for another 5-miler. It took me about half an hour to get there because of the traffic but didn't waste much time starting my warm-up once I was there. I got into the workout right away at the 2 mile mark, shooting to hit 6:00 for the first mile. The plan was to drop 20 seconds per mile but I thought of that more like a general guideline for the workout since I was more concerned with the effort rather than times. I came through the first half in 3:02 and more or less maintained the pace for the rest of the first mile. I picked it up to a 2:51 to start the second mile but was a bit slower for the next half, still more or less on pace. The transition to 5:45 wasn't as smooth as I would have liked and got me worried a bit that I'd have a hard time getting down to faster times. The 3rd mile is always slower since it's a bit hilly so I wasn't too surprised to see 2:48 at the half, even though I was putting in more effort. I was already working relatively hard on the 3rd mile so picking up the pace for the 4th mile wasn't easy. I managed to get out in 2:35 for the first half but kind of lost focus and didn't stay aggressive enough to hold on to that pace for the other half. I had to dig in to bring the pace down some more for the 5th mile and did a decent job, getting out in 2:34 and holding on to that pace until the end. My legs were pretty spent at the end of the 5th mile but after jogging for a mile I was feeling somewhat recovered. I added another 2 miles for cool-down and finished with some strides and stretching. Pretty good workout, even though it wasn't spectacularly fast it was a solid effort. My main focus right now is to get back to the right mindset so I can push myself in workouts and I'm sure that everything else will follow naturally.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 [12M]

Redwood Shores. I was out of Club O by 6:30 PM, planning originally to run one of my usual 10 mile loops. About 5 miles in I randomly came across Doug, who was heading with another guy in the opposite direction. I turned around and ran with them for a while, adding a couple of miles to my run. Turns out the other guy, Brad Allen, used to run for University of Vermont and we even raced against each other at All New Englands in Cross Country. He's pretty much in the same situation as myself, recently moved to the area and looking for people to train with, so we'll try to get together again for some runs. I wound up back at Club O at just under 1:20 and was probably running fast enough to call it 12. I was in a bit of a hurry to go out for Jesse's birthday so I only ran a few strides and did some quick stretching before heading out.

Monday, April 14, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp Trail - Ralston. I opted to run from home again and got going by 6PM. I made my way to Sheep Camp trail, going through Water Dog Lake park as usual. I was expecting my legs to be a bit sore from yesterday's run, as it's often the case after a run in Rancho San Antonio, but all those hills didn't seem to affect me much. Going up Lake Rd I passed another runner and a guy on a bike, inevitably picking up the pace a bit. I kept the pace decent from then on without really pushing it., though. I worked the hills along Canada Rd well and felt strong on the last climb up Ralston. Once I topped the last hill and started going down Ralston, I got moving and ran the last 3 miles in 16:40. Granted it's downhill for the first half of those 3 miles but it usually takes me around 18 minutes so I was running considerably faster than usual. I was working on keeping my strides short and quick while going downhill and kept things fast once I hit the flat parts. I probably shouldn't be getting so carried away on days when I feel good but I think I needed this after the miserable last week.

Sunday, April 13, 2008 [12M]

Rancho San Antonio. I was up until 4AM last night, watching an exiting London Marathon, and woke up by 10AM, wanting to get my run in early before hitting the beach in Santa Cruz. I didn't get that much sleep but it was totally worth it, since it turned out to be the best marathon race I've ever watched and arguably one of the best in history. I must say, though, that the coverage sucked. There were 9 guys in the men's race coming through the half in world record pace but more time was spent covering a slow women's race, a sit-and-kick wheel chair race and a british guy finishing over a mile behind the leaders. I made my first attempt to get up at 9 but ended up sleeping in for another hour and I didn't get to Rancho San Antonio until 11. The weather was in the 80s again but a lot more comfortable than yesterday since I was running a bit earlier and I was in the shade for a big part of my run. I started with one of the usual loops, going up Upper Wildcat Canyon trail to Upper High Meadow trail and coming down on Wildcat Loop trail. The park was really crowded since the weather was so nice and I had to dodge people on some of the early trails but the number of people dropped off exponentially with the distance from the entrance. I tried out a couple of new trails near High Meadow and finally added a few miles on the Coyote Trail. Running in Rancho San Antonio is always challenging because of all the hills but I was handling everything fine. I was putting in some good climbs and cruising on the flat and downhill parts. It was amazing how much better I felt compared to a couple of days ago. I would have liked to run 14 or 15 miles today but I had to cut it short since my friends were waiting for me to head to Santa Cruz and I was already running a bit late. I still got a good start to the week, though, and didn't regret spending a beautiful day on the beach.