Week Recap (7 September 2008 - 13 September 2008) - 100 Miles

Solid week, bumping up the mileage in the triple digits. I got a rough start to the week with Sunday's run, which not only was short but also one of the most miserable runs I've had in a long time. I can't blame anyone else but myself though. I made up for it the next day with a solid 21 miler and continued to post solid mileage the rest of the week. I had a good workout on Friday, nothing spectacular but a decent effort aimed mostly at getting my legs used to running some longer intervals on the track. I'm pretty happy with how my training is progressing, I've managed to keep the mileage consistently high and I feel like I'm in shape to start running some good workouts.

Saturday, September 13, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark. I only needed 10 miles today to round up the week to 100 and I didn't feel like adding any more. I took things easy, really taking my time on the climb up to Hallmark and not forcing the pace on the way down. Pretty much just putting in the miles to finish up a solid week. 

Friday PM, September 12, 2008 [11M]

3 x 2 Mile. 11:10 (5:35), 10:55 (5:30), 10:34 (5:17). I was a bit late coming back from work and didn't get started until 7:15PM. I ran over to Carlmond high school for my warm-up and didn't really spend much time stretching or running strides before getting into the workout. I wasn't planning to run anything fast today but just wanted to get my legs accustomed to running some long intervals at marathon pace or slightly faster. I was shooting to start at 5:40 pace for the first 2 miler and bring it down 10 seconds for each interval. I run fairly even for the first interval, running back to back 5:35s. The biggest challenge in that first interval was having to dodge around people who were wondering around the track. I'm not sure what exactly was going on, maybe a football game or practice had finished and there were a lot of people just hanging around, including lots of kids running and kicking balls on the track. Fortunately I didn't run into anyone and didn't have to swerve too far out of my lane when someone was blocking my way. The crowd progressively got smaller and by the second interval it wasn't a big deal. I took about 4 minutes of rest between intervals and started out with a 5:30 mile on my second interval, right on target. I was slightly faster on the second mile, splitting a 5:25. I was feeling comfortable the whole way and didn't have trouble bringing down the pace some more for the last interval. I got a bit too excited at the start and came through in 75-76 for the first lap and had to slow myself down a bit. I came through in 5:17 and ran 79s the rest of the way to finish up in 10:34. I felt like I could have blown away those last few laps but I reminded myself that it wasn't the point of the workout. Not a very challenging workout but I got what I wanted out of it. With my mileage climbing up in the 100s I need to get used to running workouts on tired legs and I think this was a good starting point. 

Friday AM, September 12, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. Usual loop, usual time. Nothing more to add. 

Thursday PM, September 11, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. Out again from Club O this afternoon for an easy 10. 

Thursday AM, September 11, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. Easy 5 before lunch. 

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston. I was out of the door some time after 7PM, in the right mood to put in a good run. I had a good climb up to Sheep Camp and worked the hills well along Canada Rd. I wasn't hammering but putting in a good effort on all the climbs. The last climb up Ralston was pretty solid and I was eager to get moving on the downhill part. I was running sub 5:50 pace for my last 3 miles and wound up back in just under 1:21, which is one of my fastest times for this hilly 12 miler. 

Tuesday, September 9, 2008 [15M]

San Carlos. I was back home from work around 6:15PM and headed out towards San Carlos right away. I was running a bit late so I didn't quite make it to Road Runner sports but run into Doug and Brent as they were coming up on Holly St. The three of us run together on the way out then Doug took off for a tempo run and I was content with just sitting back and chatting with Brent. We made it back to the store and chilled for a while then I headed back home. I didn't head straight back but instead went up Brittan Ave and took Alameda back to Ralston. I was expecting to be feeling the effects of yesterday's long run but my legs weren't all that tired and I was able to put in a pretty good run. 

Monday, September 8, 2008 [21M]

Bay trail to Burlingame. Since yesterday turned out to be a short day I opted to go for a long run this afternoon. I was out of Club O around 6 and headed north on the bay trail, going past Marina Lagoon. The plan was to do an out and back and wanted to go out for 60-70 minutes before turning back. I started out at whatever pace felt comfortable and was somewhat surprised to split a 6:40 for the first mile along Marina Lagoon. It was good to see, though, that I was moving at a decent clip and feeling very relaxed. I pretty much maintained the pace on the way out and since I was feeling good I decided not to make the turn until I was 70 minutes out. I knew I was running faster than 7:00 pace but I wanted to be maked sure I could call this 20 and didn't mind going a bit over. Turns out I was running 6:40 pace on the way out as  measured the run to be exactly 10.5 each way. Making the turn after having already run over 10 miles and knowing that there's no shortcut home was a somewhat scary realization. My legs were getting a bit tired and I was shaking off some of the soreness from Saturday's race but I was still able to pick it up a bit on the way back. I wound up back in 2:18:15, running close to 6:30 pace for the most part with the last 3 miles at 6:20.  Runs like this one take me one step closer to making the decision to run a marathon some time soon. I've been debating about signing up for CIM  but have yet to commit myself to it.  It's really encouraging that I can put in a run like this one, comfortably moving at a decent clip without drinking much water or eating anything. The weather was nice and cool today, low 60s when I started, dropping in the high 50s as the sun was setting, so I only made a couple of stops for water and those were more of precaution than anything. The route was actually pretty good for such a run as there's a decent number of water fountains along the way so this might become a popular choice for my 20+ milers. 

Sunday, September 7, 2008 [11M]

Exeter, NH. I made plans to meet with some of the guys at 9 this morning and head up to Exeter for a run. That didn't stop me from staying up until 4 AM and have a few more drinks than I should. I didn't wake up until Jake called me at 9 and quickly got up, picked up some running clothes and got out of the house. I tried to drink as much water as I could as we were driving up but I was really feeling miserable the entire time. We made it to Mark Coogan's house after about an hour of driving and didn't waste much time getting out of the house. The group consisted of Jake, Coogan and his brother, Jacokes, Paterno and myself. I wasn't really in good enough shape to head out for a long run but sucked it out and tagged along. To make things even worse, Jacokes got out to the front and started forcing the pace as usual. We tried to run through some trails at first but last night's pouring rain created some huge puddles and made it hard to run through. We probably ran 2 or 3 miles on trails then hit the streets for the rest of the run. I was struggling a bit for the first few miles and I was hanging at the back of the group but things kind of got better as the run progressed. I still wasn't feeling that good at any point in the run but I was at least holding on without too much trouble. We were running a bit short on time since I had to get back in time to catch my flight back to the bay area so we kept the run short, which was probably a good thing. I was supposed to land at SJC at 8:00PM and was thinking that I could put in a second run to get some more mileage for the day and loosen up the legs after sitting on a plane for 6 hours. Unfortunately because of some bad weather we had to land at Denver and spend some time on the ground for refueling so I didn't make it back home until 11PM.  I was starving and definitely wasn't in the mood for another run so I'll need to make up for the mileage during the week.