Friday, June 13, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark Park.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 [10M]

20x400. 77, 75, 74, 78, 73, 74, 74, 74, 73, 74, 74, 72, 73, 75, 73, 73, 70, 70, 70, 63. I met Doug and Brad this afternoon for a track workout at Carlmont high school. Brad is just starting his buildup for the Chicago marathon and wanted to run a bunch of 75 second quarters for his first workout. I knew that wouldn't be very challenging but I didn't mind running the workout just to get the legs moving a bit. I ran my warm-up with Doug but it was just Brad and myself for the workout, alternating the lead every quarter. We kept the rest to just around 45 seconds and settled into a good rhythm after the first few intervals. Brad called it a day after 16 so I was on my own for the last 4 and decided to pick things up a bit. I easily hit 70s for the next 3 and manage to finish with a 63 without really pushing it. I cooled down with Doug and Brad for a couple of miles and then added another mile by myself around the infield, followed by some good strides.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 [14M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I got out of work early to pick up my car from service and drove out to Edgewood and Canada Rd right after. I headed straight to Huddart and tried to find the entrance to Phleger Estate without success. I ended up climbing all the way up to Toyon camp and picked up some of the more familiar trails from there.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos with Brad and Doug.

Monday, June 9, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston. Today was another hot day so I waited until late afternoon before getting out. I was taking it easy the entire time but didn't feel like I was running too slow, although the watch said otherwise. I usual run this loop in something close to 1:25 but today it took me just over 1:30. I was probably taking it too easy on the hills and didn't push the downhill parts enough to make up for it.

Sunday, June 8, 2008 [16M]

Edgewood to Woodside. I met Doug at Edgewood and Canada Rd around 10AM and after waiting for a few minutes for Brad to show up we started on Crystal Springs trail and headed to Woodside. We ran along the roads the entire time but for the most part we managed to stay on soft surfaces, running on the horse trails along the road. We made the turn after an hour and headed back the same way. Doug hadn't run anything over 12 since the Boston marathon and he was starting to feel it on the way back so I took off on my own for the last 5 miles or so. It was a pretty hot day and by the end I was starting to feel a bit dehydrated but I made it back without falling apart. The highlight of the day was a sighting of Larry Ellison driving out of his Woodside estate in his Audi R8.

Week Recap (1 June 2008 - 7 June 2008) - 60 Miles

I can't say that I had a definite plan for this week, I was roughly shooting to get the mileage close to 70 and hadn't decided about doing any workouts. I would have been close to that mileage if I hadn't finished the week with only 6 miles over the last two days but sometimes that's hard to avoid when you have family visiting. It wasn't a great week anyway and a few more miles wouldn't make much of a difference.

Saturday, June 7, 2008 [0M]

Spent the day wine tasting in Napa. I had no motivation to go for a late night run after coming back.

Friday, June 6, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. I took the day off from work and took a trip with Lenia to Sausalito. We came back around 8PM and thanks to eating a huge ice cream cone a couple of hours earlier I had to wait a bit before I could get out for a run. We had plans to go out later so I had to keep the run short.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 [12M]

Foster City.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 [10M]

Edgewood to Huddart through Woodside. I came back from work relatively early and drove out with Lenia to Edgewood and Canada Rd. I ran my usual loop down Crystal Springs trail to Woodside and back through Huddart. I would have liked to add on a couple of miles at Huddart but Lenia was only running for about an hour and I didn't want her to be waiting for me at the car for too long so I just headed back.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark Park. I don't remember much about this run so I guess nothing worth mentioning happened.

Monday, June 2, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. Crappy run, I wanted to put in 10 today but decided to cut it short halfway through.

Sunday, June 1, 2008 [14M]

Extended Sheep Camp - Ralston. I was up early today for no reason but I was feeling a bit the effects of last belated birhday celebration so I spent a few hours drinking lots of water and getting some food in my stomach. I wasn't feeling great when I got out but after a couple of miles I was much better and even started feeling good on the run. I was only planning on going for 12 but by the time I got to Sheep Camp trail I decided to add on a couple of extra miles. I made a detour up to the vista point near 280 and added some more on the way back by going through Water Dog Lake Park. Not a bad way to start the week, especially if you consider how I was feeling at the beginning of the run.

Week Recap (25 May 2008 - 31 May 2008) - 37 Miles

Not much to say about this week. After running a poor 10K on Monday I felt that I needed some recovery time so I took day off and kept the other days short and easy. I didn't really want to drop the mileage so much but it was hard to get myself motivated to put in any more miles.

Saturday, May 31, 2008 [4M]

I made a trip to Costco in Foster City this afternoon and managed to get my car keys locked in my trunk. I figured the easier way to open my car would be to run back home, have my landlord open my apartment and get my spare car key. Ordinarily I wouldn't count something like this as a run but I ran long enough and was even running pretty fast, despite wearing jeans. At least my walking shoes are the same as my running shoes so I didn't have trouble running in those. Panayiotis gave me a ride back to Costco so I didn't have to run back to the car. I was planning to add some more mileage afterwards but was too busy with party preparations and didn't manage to get out again.

Friday, May 30 , 2008 [4M]

Brittan Ave. I had a hard time getting myself out the door and wasted too much time after coming back home from work. I even started thinking about skipping the run altogether but eventually decided to squeeze in a short run before dinner.

Thursday, May 29, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 [6M]

Redwood Shores.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 [0M]

After yesterday's race I figured that a day off was in order. Feeling the need for a recovery day on my 27th birthday is perhaps an indication that I am indeed getting too old. How much longer can I keep fighting it?

Monday, May 26, 2008 [10M]

Marin Memorial Day 10K, 33:15. (Splits: 5:05, 5:15, 5:20, 5:24, 5:33, 5:29)
The race was at 8:15 AM, which is rather typical for these road races but for some reason I was feeling a lot more sleepy this morning. I almost started worrying that I would fall asleep while driving up to Marin county. I wasn't feeling great on the warm-up either but I was hoping that my legs would loosen up once the race got underway. I was shooting for sub 32 but I was on pace only for the first mile and started to fall back from there. By the halfway point I had pretty much given up on running anything decent and just got myself to the finish. Despite running slow my legs were spent at the end and I barely managed to get myself through a 2 mile cool-down. No matter how I look at this I can only call it a crappy race and I can't come up with any excuses. The course was flat and fast and the weather was pretty much perfect. I averaged about the same pace last week for 12K, on a much harder course and that wasn't really an outstanding race. I also keep thinking that I averaged 5:25s for a half marathon in February so I can't be anything but disappointed after only managing to average 5:21s for less than half the distance. I'm not sure now what to plan for the rest of this season. I had been thinking of running some track races in June/July but my confidence is rather low at this point and it's not just because of this race. After coming back from my last injury I knew that it would take some time for things to start clicking but I've been running injury-free for some time now and my training has not progressed as well as I was hoping. My workouts and races have varied from average to bad and I don't if I can turn things around in the next month. I even thought about shutting things down for the season, taking some time off and starting to build up the mileage for next year. Well, I'll take it easy for the rest of this week and take things from there.

Sunday, May 25, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan Ave. This was a rather unusual Sunday run since I'm racing a road 10K tomorrow. Kept it short and easy to keep the legs fresh.

Saturday, May 24, 2008 [9M]

Hallmark Park. Usual route to Hallmark and back. I was planning of adding another couple of miles at Hallmark but the legs weren't feeling that great so I decided to cut it short.

Friday, May 23, 2008 [12M]

8M tempo at Sawyer Camp. 5:44, 5:43, 6:19, 6:50, 5:34, 5:32, 5:43, 5:39. I drove out to Sawyer camp after work and got things started by 6PM. My plan was to run a controlled, long tempo, shooting for 5:40s the whole way. The first couple of miles were just off pace but fairly controlled. I knew it would be hard to maintain the pace for the next couple of miles since most of that part would be uphill but I wanted at least to maintain the same effort. It's been a while since the last time I made it to the end of trail and I forgot how steep it gets, especially in the last mile. As shown by my splits I slowed down quite a bit and wasn't putting in the effort needed to do a decent climb. In retrospect, opting to go all the way to the end of the trail was a bad choice for this kind of workout. I wanted a controlled effort and the long uphill part threw me off. I didn't make an effort to pick up the pace after making the turn but I was expecting to be a bit faster since I'd be going downhill. It was steep enough, though, to force me to break my stride so I couldn't really get rolling. The decline in the 6th mile was a bit more gradual so I could get the legs moving better. I got back close to 5:40 pace for the last couple of miles, after hitting the flat parts. I could have pushed the pace more but that wasn't the point of this workout so I just kept things under control all the way to the finish.

Thursday, May 22, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I was planning to catch a 9:25PM show of Indiana Jones in the city and I couldn't get out of work until 7 so I kept it short. I tried to force the pace a bit but my legs were feeling crappy so I backed off after the first couple of miles. I kind of rushed through strides and stretching afterwards and headed out. Not the greatest of days but at least I got the miles in.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008 [10M]

2 sets of 8x400. 70, 69, 68, 67, 68, 66, 67, 67, 68, 67, 67, 67, 66, 65, 66, 63. Rest was 200m between intervals and 5:00 between sets. Since I was only running quarters I opted to run the workout at Carlmont high school. It was very windy today, which I figured would make the workout harder so I decided to wear my Hyperspeeds to even things out a bit. I must say I really liked the shoes, they feel light but they have enough support, unlike my Streak XCs, so you can even race up to the marathon in them. I even did my warm-up and cool-down in them, since I ran to the track from my place and didn't want to be carrying an extra pair of shoes. My goal for the workout was to run 68s and work on getting some good turnover at 3K pace. It took me a couple of intervals to get down to the right pace but after that I started rolling. The rest was more than enough and I felt recovered at the start of every interval. My rest periods were fairly quick, I was only taking about 1:30 for the 200m whereas I've had workouts in the past when I was taking about the same time to jog 100m. The wind on the backstretch was pretty bad so I had to work a bit but in general it didn't feel like I was working too hard. I was feeling good enough at the end to let the legs loose and finish off the workout with a 63. Definitely not a killer workout but a nice controlled effort. I had a good turnover and was feeling strong on all intervals. As a former miler, quarters were my bread and butter so I always feel like I can knock them out without any problems.

Tuesday PM, May 20, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos. Usual Tuesday evening run from Road Runner sports and like last week it was only Doug and myself again. The pace was pretty casual on the way out, somewhere around 7:10. We picked it up a bit on the way back and I took off on my own in the last couple of miles, probably getting down in the low 6s. Ordinarily I would have stayed with Doug the whole way but I was feeling good and wanted to get the legs moving a bit, even for just a couple of miles.

Tuesday AM, May 20, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. Short and easy run at noon. My legs were still a bit sore and I was feeling a bit sluggish so I was running pretty slow, probably around 7:10.

Monday, May 19, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I got a pretty late start this afternoon as I was in a meeting until 7PM and took some more time before leaving the office and getting to Club O. I was feeling the effects of yesterday's race and wasn't very excited about running. My quads especially were pretty sore and needed an easy day. I didn't use my watch for this one and kept things easy the whole way. My legs loosened up after a few miles so in the end this turned out to be a decent run.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 [18M]

Bay to Breakers 12K, 40:07. I drove up to the city this morning and was there by 6:30AM, with some time to spare before the 8AM start. The course was point-to-point, starting at the Embarcadero and finishing by Ocean beach, and I didn't have any option to drop off warm-up clothes so I had to get to the start area with my racing shoes, running shorts, singlet and a T-shirt which I threw away at the start. It was a bit foggy and chilly in the morning, which made for nice racing weather but not exactly comfortable for standing around in shorts and a t-shirt. The whole atmosphere at the start was unlike anything else I've ever encountered. I was up front with all the seeded runners and elites, which wasn't anything unusual since everyone was going through the normal pre-race routine. The back, however, was one big party. Music blasting and lots of people in costumes (or no costume at all) doing crazy things like tossing tortillas. I did my regular meet warm-up out and back on Howard St, stretched for a while and put in a good number of streets before lining up for the start. I couldn't get right up front with so many elites, seeded runners and centipedes and I had to dodge a few people at the start before I got rolling. My plan was to be a bit conservative for the first 2-3 miles and pick it up after going up the hill at Hayes St. I got out slower than I would have liked, though, 5:18 and 5:25 for the first two miles and did a rather poor job on the climb, splitting a 6:09 for the 3rd mile. Even though I ran slow going uphill my legs took a mile or two to recover. Eventually I started rolling towards the end, averaging sub 5:00 for my last 2.5 miles, and throwing a huge surge in the last quarter to kick past one of the elite Africans. I was hoping to run a bit faster today but I guess it wasn't too bad of a race. I should have been more aggressive at the start, seeing how much I had left at the end. The legendary hill at Hayes St was pretty tough, it was 0.69 miles long and rising over 200ft, but I should have done a better job at it. After the race I ran back to my car and ended up doing a pretty long cool-down. For the most part I ran the course backwards and got to witness all the craziness. There's some things that you only get to see in San Francisco.

Week Recap (11 May 2008 - 17 May 2008) - 79 Miles

I was planning to cut back the mileage some this week, shooting for something close to 75, in an attempt to give my legs a break and help my workouts a bit. I did try to front load the mileage so that I could finish the week with a couple of easy days and keep the legs more fresh for Bay to Breakers. Eventually this turned out to be a pretty good week, I managed to run a good workout on Wednesday and felt good enough to keep the mileage close to 80.

Saturday, May 17, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. I got out around 1PM today, which probably wasn't the best time to run because of the heat but I didn't have too many options since I wanted to sleep in today and I had to go to the city in the afternoon to pick up my race packet for Bay to Breakers. I ran the usual loop backwards and stopped by the track at Carlmont high school for some strides before heading back home. I was taking it easy today and my legs felt fairly fresh, which hopefully bodes well for tomorrow's race.

Friday PM, May 16. 2008 [4M]

Foster City. I didn't really need any more mileage for the day so I wasn't set on going for a second run this afternoon. I had an appointment for a haircut at 6:30 and figured I would decide if I would run after that but by 5 I wasn't doing anything productive at work so I thought I might as well get in a run beforehand. Schmeck hasn't been slacking this week and I'll be going short tomorrow so I figured I might need this to stay ahead. There's not much to say about the run itself, it was just a casual loop in Foster City.

Friday AM, May 16, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I got out from Club O before noon and opted to put in my long run of the day. I was in at work early for a long meeting so I needed the break. It was in the high 80s today , a bit cooler than yesterday, but running in the middle of the day made it tougher. I have been doing a good job at staying hydrated, though, and I'm gradually rebuilding my heat tolerance. I was feeling decent this morning, clipping 6:40s most of the way. I ran some good strides afterwards but slacked a bit on stretching and headed straight for a cool shower.

Thursday, May 15, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I debated running at noon today, thinking of going for a 4-miler and adding another 8 in the afternoon, but seeing that the weather was in the mid 90s I figured it would best to avoid running in the middle of the day. I ended up working a bit late and didn't get started until 7:30 PM, which probably turned out to be a good thing as it was much cooler with the sun setting down. I wanted to take things easy today and started out at a casual pace but after the first couple of miles the run progressed in a somewhat unusual fashion. I was feeling good and started rolling at a brisk pace but after a few miles my legs started feeling crappy all of a sudden and for the last couple of miles I was kind of dragging myself back. I don't know what to attribute this roller coaster ride on, maybe I need some time to get used to running in the heat.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 [12M]

5M decreasing pace. 5:51, 5:42, 5:28, 5:17, 5:01. Ordinarily I would have ran some intervals on the track today but since I'm running Bay to Breakers on Sunday and this will be the only workout of the week I opted for a decreasing pace 5-miler. I wanted to be a little more conservative today, start out at 6:00 as usual but only drop 15 seconds a mile. My last few workouts have been disappointing so I needed something to boost my confidence. I even ran the workout in my new Asics Hyperspeed 2 flats but that was mostly because I wanted to break in the shoes before Sunday's race. I drove out to Sequoia high school and started my warm-up around 6PM. The track was pretty crowded when I finished my warm-up so I took my time before starting the workout, stretching and running some strides. We had a rather sudden increase in temperature today, it was in the high 80s when I started the workout, about 20 degrees warmer than what it has been lately. I wet myself down before starting but that didn't really help things out much. I started out a bit faster than goal pace on the first mile, coming through in 1:25 and 2:52, even though it felt like I was jogging. I slowed down to the right pace for the last half and easily transitioned to the second mile. I ran even paced, comfortably hitting mid 85s. The third mile went by without much trouble, running remarkably even again and hitting 82s the whole way. I wanted to hit 78s for the 4th mile but wasn't as aggressive as I should have been and only managed 79s. I was hoping to dip under 5:00 for the last mile but I was only able to run 76s for the first 3 laps. I had something left, though, and managed to finish with a 71 for the last lap. I was pretty spent when I finished, partly because of the heat taking its toll. I jogged one lap on the infield then drank and poured some water over me and felt much better. I was feeling better than I expected on the cool-down and ended up going a bit longer than I was planning. Finished back at the track for some cool-down strides and stretching before heading back home to pour down the gatorade. I was pleased with how things turned out today, I was pretty much right on goal pace and running even pace on each mile. I was working hard at the end but I could have been a bit more aggressive in the last two miles, seeing how I was able to close fast at the end. I still need to work more on the mental aspect of my workouts but this was definitely a big improvement compared to my last few workouts. I ran fairly similar times to this workout (after adjusting for the shorter track), which I ran the week before my last half marathon, so if this means I'm in similar shape then I'll definitely take it.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 [11M]

Run with the San Carlos Road Runners Club. I was planning to go out for a short run at noon but got dragged into a last minute meeting and by the time I got out it was too late to get a run in. We always do an 8 mile run on these group runs and I wanted to get some more mileage for the day so I got to San Carlos a bit earlier than usual and managed to put in about 3 miles before joining the group. Actually it wasn't much of a group today, just Doug and myself. Doug was feeling a bit tired today and I didn't mind having an easy day so we kept it casual the whole way. My right hip was hurting a bit so I had one more reason to take it easy. I've never had any issues with my hips before so I don't know if it's anything I should be worried about but at the moment it doesn't seem like it's anything serious.

Monday, May 12, 2008 [13M]

Hallmark Park - Brittan Ave. I came home early this afternoon and worked while waiting for UPS to deliver a package. If there's one thing I miss from living in a dorm is having a front desk to pick up my packages. I got the package around 5:30 and took off half an hour later. I took the usual route to Hallmark, ran one big loop on the cross country course, then got out on the streets and went all the way to Brittan Ave. I was feeling great today, started out with a nice climb to Hallmark and made it there a couple of minutes faster than usual. I got more into it on the xc course and put a good effort on the hills. I split a 6:45 for one of the miles on the course, which is decently fast considering how hilly the course is. It didn't really feel like I was pushing it, I was feeling strong going uphill and made sure I topped the hills well. I wound up back home in just under 1:30, which I would ordinarily be hesitant to round up but I think today I can fully justify it. I mentioned that I was thinking of cutting back the mileage a bit this week and it doesn't look like I started with such intentions but I'll probably take it easier towards the end of the week. After all I like to front load my weeks and I couldn't pass on the opportunity to get some decent mileage on a good day.

Sunday, May 11, 2008 [15M]

Rancho San Antonio. I wanted to get some good sleep today so I didn't wake up early to meet the guys at 8:15AM and slept in almost until 11. I drove out to Rancho San Antonio about an hour later and hit the trails by 12:30. I stayed on the lower trails a bit longer than usual, wanting to give my legs a good warm-up before going on any serious climbs. Seing how crappy I felt yesterday I wasn't sure what to expect but fortunately today I was feeling a lot better. I went up High Meadow trail for my first long climb and continued up to PG&E trail. I have avoided that the last few times I came over here, dreading the steep climb near the top and the downhill part on the way back, which always takes it out of my legs. After coming down I still had enough time to go up Upper Wildcat Canyon Trail, putting in another long climb. I came down High Meadow trail and headed back to the car, finishing the run in 1:47. I felt strong on the hills and was moving at a good pace the entire time, so 15 should be a fairly safe bet. It blows my mind how different I can feel from one day to the other. It's always good of course if the change is in the positive direction.

Week Recap (4 May 2008 - 10 May 2008) - 84 Miles

This was a good week mileage-wise but pretty disappointing in terms of workouts. I put in a nice long run on Sunday and had a few other solid 12-13 mile days. The workout on Wednesday didn't turn out as I was hoping, I finished the workout with some decent quarters but I was really out of it on the longer intervals. I was thinking that the problem was mostly mental but after Saturday's workout I started worrying that there might be something wrong physically. I don't know if the mileage is taking its toll but I think by now I shouldn't have any problems running just over 80 miles. I might bring the mileage down a bit next week and hopefully get out of this slump. I'm running Bay to Breakers on Sunday a week from now so it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep the legs a bit more rested.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 [10M]

5M decreasing pace at Sawyer Camp. 6:01, 5:41, 5:31, 5:39, 6:00. I was at Sawyer Camp around 1PM, started with a 2 mile warm-up and got right into the workout. The goal was once again to start at 6:00 and bring it down 20 seconds each mile but obviously I was no where near my goal. I pretty much nail the first half of the workout, which of course is the least important part. I was 3:01/3:00 for the first mile, 2:50/2:51 for the second was pretty much right on pace on the third, coming through the half in 2:41. Things went downhill from then on. I probably lost 2-3 seconds making the turn back at 2.5 miles, so the second half of the 3rd mile was probably 2:47-48. I was working a lot harder than I was expecting at that point, my legs feeling heavy but also working hard aerobically. I only managed to come through the half in 2:43 for the 4th mile and pretty much gave up on the workout after that. The last mile was fairly meaningless, I was just going through the motions and not putting any effort into it. Obviously a disappointing workout, making it two bad workouts in a row.

Friday, May 9, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I got out of Club O by 6PM, wanting to put in an easy 10. Although I ran slow, averaging just over 7:00 pace, I wouldn't call this run easy. My legs were feeling crappy and I was dragging myself for the last half of the run. I almost cut it short to 8 but eventually decided to go through with it.

Thursday, May 8, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. I was planning to get out for a short run at noon but couldn't get out of work so I ended up going longer in the afternoon. I was expecting the legs to be tired after yesterday's workout but I felt decent. I averaged 6:40 pace, running fairly even paced.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 [12M]

2x1600, 4x800, 4x400. 5:04, 5:08, 2:22, 2:29, 2:25, 2:27, 68, 66, 66, 65. I drove out to Redwood city this afternoon and tried out the track at Sequoia high school for this workout. Carlmont high school is a lot more convenient but I I'd rather do workouts on a 400m track. I didn't get there until 6:30 PM so I didn't take much time to get the workout underway after the usual 2 mile warm-up. I was originally planning to run 5x1600 but I after the first two intervals I decided to switch to some shorter stuff. I got out slow on the first 1600, coming through the 400 in 77 and the 800 in 2:33. Picked things up a bit after that and ran mid 75s for the the last two laps. I got out faster on the second 1600, running 75s for the first 2 laps but slowing down to 79s for the last 2. I was really out of it mentally so after the second interval I figured that it wasn't worth trying to run any more 1600s. I wasn't very focused on the 800s either, I was slowing down too much on the second lap and my times were all over the place. I got out aggressively on the first one, came through in 69 and finished in a decent 2:22. I was out in 73 for the second one and didn't put much effort on the 2nd lap, slowing down to a 76. I was out in 71 on the 3rd but only managed a 2:25 then I was only able to get out in 73 for the last one but at least didn't slow down too much on the second lap. I managed to run some decent 400s and salvaged the workout a bit. I was getting out fairly aggressively, coming through 200 in 33 for the first one and 32 for the other three, and held it together to the line. I ran about 4 miles for cool-down but my legs were spent and I pretty much put in some junk miles.

Tuesday PM, May 6, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos Road Runners Club. I made it to San Carlos this evening and joined Doug, Brad and Bridget for the usual Tuesday night run. Doug took the lead in setting the pace and we were moving along well the whole time. We were probably around 7:00 on the way out and 6:40-6:50 on the way back.

Tuesday AM, May 6, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. I got out at noon for a quick 5. I was feeling pretty good, clipping 6:30s for the most part. I had enough time to ran some good strides afterwards and stretch before heading back to work.

Monday, May 5, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston.

Sunday, May 4, 2008 [15M]

Huddart. I drove out to Edgewood and Canada Rd this morning and met with Doug and Brad at 8:15. We took the short way to Huddart, getting there in 20 minutes or so. As soon as we got there Brad and I broke off so it was just the two of us from then on. Brad only wanted to run 12-13 so we stayed at Huddart for a little less than an hour and headed back to the car. We got back in 1:37, and I added on another 10 minutes by myself along Canada Rd. It was nice to do a long run with some company, it's been a while. We were pretty much chatting the whole way and time flew by. It sure was nice to be done with Sunday long run by 10AM, a time when I'd normally be waking up.

Week Recap (27 Apr 2008 - 3 May 2008) - 80 Miles

One of my best weeks in a while. I finally managed to get the mileage back in the 80s and had a couple of good, hard efforts. I started the week with a 5K race on Sunday, which I ran as workout. My run was far from spectacular but considering I was sick for most of last week and still not fully recovered by Sunday, plus the race was on a pretty tough course, I came out feeling satisfied with the effort I put in. I ran some hill repeats on Thursday for my second workout of the week and even though I don't have an objective measure for the quality of that workout, I felt like I put in a solid effort. My legs are feeling fairly comfortable again with the higher mileage but I probably won't go much higher than this. All I want right now is to stay consistent and keeping putting in high quality workouts.

Saturday, May 3, 2008 [10M]

Laurelwood Park. I woke up before 10 this morning, surprisingly early for a Saturday. I must be getting old I guess. I wasted a few hours, though, and didn't get out until 1:30PM. I headed out to Laurelwood park, which I had never checked out before despite being only a couple of miles away from my place. It didn't seem like I was missing out much, though. The trails looked promising at first but turned out to be disappointing. I probably only spent about half an hour there, came out on Ralston Ave, near Hallmark Dr and headed back home through Water Dog Lake Park.

Friday PM, May 2, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan Ave. I opted to run from home this afternoon and went on the loop I usually run when I want to avoid hills. I was thinking of putting in something in the 7-10 mile range but a couple miles in I settled on going for the lower end of that range. I was feeling tired, just dragging myself through the run but at least I got some decent mileage for the day.

Friday AM, May 2, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. I took a break from work around noon and headed out from Club O for a short and easy run. My legs were feeling the effects of the hill repeats a bit so I was content with keeping it slow. I didn't have to rush things this time so I was able to run some strides and spend some time stretching before heading back to the office.

Thursday, May 1st, 2008 [12M]

Hill repeats at Water Dog Lake Park, 1 long, 4 short, 1 long backwards. 8:45, 2:05, 2:03, 2:07, 2:06, 6:35. I got the inspiration for this workout from the Summit Ave workouts we used to do for cross country a few years back. I stayed true to the number but my repeats were considerably longer. For the long one I went all the way up Lake Rd, which I measured to be 1.35 miles long. It's a long climb so I didn't start hammering but put in a good effort. My legs were starting to feel it by the end but I kept my composure the whole way. I took 5 minutes before starting the shorter repeats, which I did on the Upper Lake Rd trail. I did a good job at getting out aggressively on each repeat and kept pushing all the way to the end. I jogged back down the trail after each repeat and got about 2:45-2:50 for rest each time. I know the times I posted above are meaningless and I'm only saving them for any future comparisons. All I cared about was putting in a hard effort and I was satisfied with what I got out of the workout. After the last short repeat I jogged back to Lake Rd trail and put in a hard effort on the downhill part, pretty much like the hard mile we used to run after the Summit Ave workouts. My legs were a bit tired from the hill repeats but I was feeling good and had fun flying downhill. I headed back home afterwards, adding on a couple of extra miles for cool-down. Overall this turned out to be a pretty solid day.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I wanted to get my run out of the way in the morning today because I was going to an advanced screening of Iron Man 4PM (courtesy of Oracle) and didn't want to have to run after that. I even considered doing some hill repeats and set my alarm for 7:30 but I couldn't get myself to get up and run a workout at that time. I got up by 8:30 eventually but opted to go to work early and get my run in before lunch. I headed out from Club O around 11:30 for a pretty casual run. I was feeling sluggish, running right around 7:00 pace for the most part, and thinking that perhaps it was a good idea that I didn't try to run a workout this morning. I was thinking of going on a second run in the evening but after the movie I went to Ausiello's for a burger and a couple of pints of Guiness and obviously didn't feel like going on a run afterwards.

Tuesday PM, April 29, 2008 [14M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I drove out to the corner of Edgewood and Canada Rd after work and started the usual loop to Huddart before 6PM. I was only planning to run the 10 mile loop originally but every time I get to Huddart I can't resist adding on a few more miles. I was only going to add a couple of miles but the trail up Toyon Rd turned out longer than I remembered. Not a big deal, though, I was feeling good, working the hills well and enjoying the run. I wound up back at the car at 1:36, which is probably somewhere between 13 and 14 but I think I can use the extra morning mileage to round up. It would probably be more accurate to call the morning run 3.5 and this 13.5 but for consistenc's sake I'll stick with the integers. No matter what this is still a solid 17 mile day.

Tuesday AM, April 29, 2008 [3M]

Redwood Shores. I continued the cycle of going to bed early and getting up early for another day and was up by 8:30 AM again. I didn't feel like running in the morning but went to work ealy and was planning on putting 4 or 5 miles around noon. I got a bit caught up at work though and had about 40 minutes to head to Club O, squeeze in a run, shower and get back to the office before a 1PM meeting. I almost opted against running altogether but eventually decided to go for a short and quick loop. I was feeling a bit sluggish but kept the pace faster than what I would normally had, averaging around 6:30. This was actually around 3.5 miles but I'll round down and add on to the afternoon run.

Monday, April 28, 2008 [9M]

Hallmark Park. I was up by 8:30 this morning, before my alarm even went off, thanks to sleeping early last night. I came back from Santa Cruz around 7PM yesterday, feeling spent after not getting much sleep the previous night, racing and having a huge Easter feast. I thought I'd take a nap for an hour but ended up sleeping until 10:30PM and at that point decided to turn in for good. Since I was in at work early I left somewhat early in the afternoon, came back home and out of the door shortly after 5. I ran the usual route to Hallmark and was thinking of adding on some mileage there but my legs were feeling too tired to spent any more time going over hills so I pretty much headed right back. Not the most exciting run although things could have been different if I hadn't managed to barely avoid stepping on a snake at Hallmark.

Sunday, April 27, 2008 [12M]

Big Sur 5K. 15th place in 16:17. The race was at 7:30AM so I had to get up ridiculously early on another Sunday. I'm not used to going to bed before midnight so I always have a hard time sleeping early before these races and usually end up getting only a couple of hours of sleep. That was pretty much the case today as I woke up at 4AM to get some breakfast but I went back to bed afterwards and stayed in a bit longer than usual, since I wasn't really that concerned about the race. There's really not that much to go over about the race, all I wanted was to put in a decent effort and that's pretty much all I did. I was planning to start out slow and gradually bring the pace down as the race progressed. I was surprisingly slow in the first mile thanks to the big hill right before the mile mark, coming through in 5:27. I picked it up a bit in the second mile but it was hard to get moving on the dirt path. I tried to avoid the sandy parts but it wasn't always possible since the trail was narrow and there were a lot of people around. I split 5:18 for the second mile and sped up some more, trying to take advantage of the downhill part to get the legs moving. I had some trouble breathing in the last mile, still feeling a bit sick I suppose, and knowing that I wasn't running very fast I couldn't find much motivation to push the pace much. I was probably around 5:00 for the 3rd mile and at least this time I dind't lose any places in the last mile. There's not much to take out of this race, obviously a slow time but I really wasn't looking to run anything fast. Times in general were slow across the board, a lot of the guys raced Zippy last week as well and most were about 25-35 seconds slower today, which I guess shows that I put in a decent effort. Cooled down with Rachel for about 7 miles, putting in some decent mileage for the day.

Week Recap (20 Apr 2008 - 26 Apr 2008) - 65 Miles

This week started out well, I ran a decent 5K on Sunday and put in some good mileage for the first couple of days. I was feeling sick for the rest of the week, though, and inevitably my training took a a hit. I tried running a workout on Wednesday and probably shouldn't have since it was hard to run anything decent in my condition. I did feel better by the end of the week but I took things easy to aid in my recovery and didn't quite put in the mileage I was hoping for.

Saturday, April 26, 2008 [5M]

Lately I have been looking for some road races to get myself in, since I think that's a good way to get into shape. The Big Sur 5K this coming Sunday was one of the races I was considering and I knew there would be good competition since it was part of the PAUSATF road racing circuit. I had been debating for a few days about racing and was leaning against it since I was sick for most of the week and was also a bit concerned about the effect of running two 5Ks on back to back weekends. Ordinarily I would have probably opted against racing but eventually I decided to sign up for reasons that were not so much relating to racing itself. We were supposed to get some beautiful weather this weekend, Sunday is the Greek Easter and I had plans to spend the day in Santa Cruz and with the race taking place in Carmel I thought I had a good excuse to spend my entire weekend in the area and just get in the race to get a good workout. I drove down this morning with Rachel, spent the day around Monterrey and Carmel and went for a short run on the course around 5. The course is pretty scenic but I'm sure times tomorrow will be slow. There's a fairly big hill in the first mile then almost the entire second mile is on a narrow dirt/sand path along the ocean, which will make it hard to run very fast. I'm only concerned about putting in a hard effort and don't care at all about times so I definitely don't mind if the course is slow. We wound up back at the car after 40 minutes, which is probably a long 5 but I don't think I can round up. I wasn't really trying to save my legs for tomorrow or anything but since this week ended up being short anyway I couldn't find any motivation to add on a few more miles.

Friday, April 25, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan Ave. I opted to run from home today and was back from work and out the door by 6. I was feeling better than the last couple of days but opted to keep this a short and easy run to help myself fully recover from whatever was bothering me. I was around 6:35 for the most part, running fairly comfortably.

Thursday, Apri 24, 2008 [7M]

Redwood Shores. I was still somewhat sick today but at least good enough to go to work. I wasn't expecting to feel good on the run, though, and my expectations were fully met. I hadn't settled on what mileage I'd try to put in and figured I'd go by how I felt. I was hoping to go at least 10 but a couple of miles in it became apparent that I would have to cut the run short. I convinced myself to go past the 4,5 and 6 mile turn points but eventually made the turn for 7. Towards the end I was wishing that I had turned earlier but of course it was too late to do anything about it. The last half of the run was pretty much a death march. Didn't even bother to run strides afterwards and just headed back home to get some rest.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 [9M]

Attempted an AT run and went 3 miles at 5:20, 5:23, 5:33. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and a bit of headache/fever and I had been feeling a bit sick since. I went to work in the morning but decided to go back home after an hour. I ended up spending the rest of the day in bed with my laptop, trying to get some work done but being remarkably unproductive. I started feeling better as the day progressed and by 5:30PM I decided to get out for my run. I had been planning to do an AT run and after debating about it for a while I opted to give it a shot. I kind of knew that I would have a hard time running anything decent but I reasoned that an AT run would be a good option since I would run for as long as I could maintain the goal pace. Of course the flaw in that reasoning was that I was giving myself an easy way out of the workout and not really commiting myself to putting in a hard effort. I also had a fairly loose goal pace, shooting to start at something close to 5:10 but being content with running somewhat slower. I ran over to Carlmont high school and ran a couple of strides before starting the workout. I got out way too slow and was 82-83 for the first lap. At that point I decided that shooting for 5:20s would more reasonable and picked the pace enough to hit the goal for the first mile. Even though the pace was slow I wasn't feeling very comfortable and had some trouble breathing. After the first mile I started thinking of calling it a day at the end of mile 2 but I was more or less able to hold on to the pace so I figured I should try to add on another mile. For the 3rd mile I only managed to come through the half in 2:50 and settled at that point with finishing after 3. I was able to pick it up for the last couple of laps and ran the last half in a more decent 2:43. I was thinking originally of adding on a longer cool-down but after the workout I knew that any mileage I would add would be slow and painful and really not worth the effort. It was definitely a good call since for the last mile or so I was just dragging myself to finish the run. I probably should have avoided the workout all together today but I guess I've always been too stuborn to do something like that.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 [9M]

Run with the Road Runner Club. I went back to RoadRunner Sports in San Carlos for the weekly Tuesday night run. We are actually starting to gather a pretty good group on these runs. Tonight, besides myself, we had Brad, who used to run for University of Vermont and has recently ran a 1:10 half, Justin, a former 4:00 miler and another high school senior who's ran 1:52 and 4:10 in the 800 and the mile respectively. There's also another former 4:06 miler and currently triathlete, who is a regular but didn't make it this time. For today's run we did the usual route out to Redwood Shores and back. We were running at an easy pace, pretty much chatting the whole way. I would have liked to add on at least a couple more miles but everyone else was going to dinner right after and I opted against it so I could join them. Overall, this turned out to be a pretty fun evening. I definitely appreciate having someone to run with more than ever. I'm gonna try to make this
Tuesday run a regular thing and we might even start getting together on weekends for some long runs.

Monday, April 21, 2008 PM [5M]

Foster City. I was planning to start my second run of the day from home but on my way to the car I decided to go back to Club O so I could do some lifting afterwards. I ran a casual 5 mile loop in Foster City and added strides, stretching and lifting to finish up a pretty solid day.

Monday, April 21, 2008 AM [8M]

Redwood Shores. I thought it was about time to start adding some doubles and went back to my old habit of running at noon. Things were quiet enough at work so I opted to go for my longer run first. My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's race, nothing too bad but enough to make want to take things easy. Not much excitement in the run, just putting in the miles at 7:00 pace.

Zippy 5K

20th place in 15:34.
Splits: 4:50, 10:00 (5:10), 15:04 (5:04)

I wasn't sure what to expect out of this race for many different reasons. Since coming back from my last injury I've had a hard time gaging my fitness and one thing I wanted to get out of this was a better sense of where I stand. Obviously I didn't have any race sharpness, I haven't done any fast workouts in a long time and considering that my last race was a half marathon I had to convince myself that this race would perhaps feel uncomfortably fast. I hadn't seen the course before the race but it was a fairly simple loop in Golden Gate Park. We started in front of the conservatory of flowers, went out for about a mile along JKF Dr, looped around Stow Lake and headed back along JFK again. I can't say that the course was particularly hilly but it didn't seem that fast either. The first mile was a gradual incline (and obviously the last mile was a gradual decline), and there were a couple of short, steeper hills on the second mile. Looking at past results it seemed like the race was won each year in some time in the 14:40s-14:50s by guys who have track PRs in the low 14s. With all these in mind, I was content with finishing somewhere in the mid 15s. Before the race I was thinking of going out somewhat conservatively, maybe around 5:00 for the first mile, but I once the gun went off my racing instincts took over and I went out with the lead pack. I was expecting the field to be competitive but I was a bit surprised to see around 15 guys in the lead group. The early pace didn't feel too fast and aerobically at least I was feeling fairly comfortable. I was still in the lead group coming through the mile in 4:50 but got gapped right after. I wasn't really focused and aggressive enough to make an effort to stay close. As soon as the gap developed my legs started feeling a bit tired and I could tell that I had slowed down a lot. Going into the 3rd mile I made an effort to pick up the pace, trying to take advantage of the gradual downhill part. I had a hard time getting my legs moving much faster, though, and was only marginally faster than the 2nd mile. I lost a few more places in the last mile, which is not something I'm used to. The low point of my race was getting passed by a guy in long shorts and a wife beater but despite feeling the need to pass him for pride reasons I simply couldn't react. I had a decent kick in the last 200m, trying to run down one guy and coming really close but he managed to summon enough kick to hold me off. I wasn't too excited at the finish, looking at how many people beat me, but after thinking about it for a while I was satisfied with the outcome. There were definitely a lot of things I could do better from a racing standpoint but I know that it takes a few races to get the mental part right. I could have probably run faster if I had gone out closer to 5:00 for the first mile but I can't blame myself for getting a bit too aggressive. Finishing in 20th place was kind of tough to swallow, even though the field was pretty competitive, but I guess getting a good ass-kicking every now and then is good motivation to keep training hard.

Sunday, April 20, 2008 [15M]

Zippy 5K. 20th place in 15:34. I was up at 5 this morning, grabbed a bite to eat and stayed in bed for another half hour. I watched the US Women's Olympic Marathon trials for about an hour before driving out to Golden Gate Park for the race. I was there with a little over an hour before the start so I had enough time to pick up my number and chill for a while before heading out on my warm-up. I did an out and back on the first mile of the course, which was also the last mile in reverse. The gun went off on time and I got out with the leaders in a big group. Came through the mile in 4:50 and started falling back as we went around Stow Lake, coming through the 2 mile in 10:00. I tried to pick it up a bit on the 3rd mile but couldn't get the legs moving much faster and only managed to split a 5:04. I finished with a decent kick and almost caught a guy at the line but he managed to barely hold me off. After the race I went out on a long and slow cool down around the park. I was shooting for 7 or 8 miles but I let myself wander around without looking at my watch and by the time I decided to head back I was pretty far out so I ended up putting in about 10. Not a bad day overall, had a decent race and managed to get a good start to the week mileage-wise.

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.

Week Recap (6 Apr 2008 - 12 Apr 2008) - 70 Miles

I managed to get the mileage back up to a decent number this week although the quality of my runs did take a hit. I had a good start to the week with a nice long run on Sunday but things went downhill after I attempted an AT run on Tuesday and ran a crappy workout. The next few days were pretty miserable. I was putting in the miles but struggled a lot and my runs were slow and painful. I had been feeling great since I returned from my injury and I guess I was bound to hit a downswing sooner or later. At least I finished the week on a positive note.

Saturday, April 12, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan. I was originally planning on having a workout either yesterday or today and hadn't ruled it out completely until I got up this morning. I got some good sleep last night and was feeling a lot more rested compared to the last few days but I still opted to skip the workout and just finish off the week with a short run. I was out around 1PM, which wasn't the best idea considering it was about 85 degrees out. I wouldn't ordinarily worry consider this too hot but I haven't run in the heat in a while and didn't have the time to adjust since the weather jumped 20 degrees in 2 days. I did a good job staying hydrated before the run and didn't really run that long to have any trouble. My legs were feeling decent today and I was moving at a good pace for most of the run. I even decided to push the last couple of miles a bit and probably got down in the low 6s . I averaged around 6:30 for the whole run, making this one of the best runs of the week.

Friday, April 11, 2008 [9M]

Hallmark Park. I came back home from work and didn't waste much time getting out, hitting the streets by 6PM. The weather got a lot warmer all of a sudden, probably still in the mid 70s during my run. I did the usual route through Water Dog Lake Park, went across Hallmark Park to Hallmark Dr and looped back to Water Dog Lake. At the beginning of the run I thought about staying on the streets in order to avoid hills, since my legs are still suffering, but I finally opted for running on soft surfaces. Once I hit the first hills I started having second thoughts about my decision but I had already committed myself to it. The climb up Lake Rd was pretty slow but once I got to the top I was feeling better and the way back was almost decent.

Thursday, April 10, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I was feeling tired all day and was expecting this to be another tough run. I don't know if I set myself up for a bad run that way but things went pretty much as expected. I didn't feel as bad as yesterday but still shuffling through at slower than 7:00 pace. I was planning to lift afterwards but didn't have the energy for it once I finished my run so I just stretched briefly and headed home.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008 [11M]

Coyote Point from PJCC. I left work early and was at PJCC by 4PM for my last physical therapy session. I was only there for about half an hour since there wasn't that much to go over. I did some basic stretching and strengthening with the trainer and then talked a bit about things I can do by myself from now on. I was out from PJCC around 4:30 and headed towards Coyote Point along the bay trail. I was feeling really tired today and this turned out to be a very slow and painful run. I was fighting a strong wind on the way out, making it even harder to move at a decent pace, and my legs kept feeling worse on the way back so I was dragging the whole way.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 [10M]

Anaerobic Threshold run. I decided to give one of Coach Taylor's new workouts a try since it seemed to fit what I'm doing right now. The goal of the workout is to run 40 seconds slower than mile PR for as long as you can but for my first one I wanted to be somewhat more conservative and was shooting to run 5:10-5:20 pace. I was back home from work and on my way to Carlmont High School by 7PM. I got pretty much right into it, starting out with a 78 for the first lap and continuing with 80s and 81s. It was windy again so I was content with running 5:20s. I didn't manage to hold on to that pace for too long, though, and after coming through the half in 2:45 with my legs feeling like trash I decided to stop after the second mile, which I finished in 5:31. I jogged a couple of laps and decided to add on 4 quarters to the workout. I know it doesn't make that much sense as a workout but I felt that 2 miles on the track would hardly qualify as a workout and wanted to put in something more. My legs were pretty tired and I wasn't putting that much effort into the quarters, just getting out reasonably fast and maintaining the pace. I ran 68, 70, 69 and 72, which is far from spectacular but not a complete loss cause given the circumstances. I jogged a few more laps on the infield afterwards and took the long route home to add on some slow mileage. After running another horrible workout I'm starting to wonder I would have been better off sticking to base mileage for another week or two before starting any hard efforts. It feels a bit strange, though, that I can comfortably clip 6:20s on long runs but I can't run a minute faster for more than two miles. It's actually sad if you consider that a couple of months ago I averaged 5:25s for a half marathon. I was planning to run another workout this week but I think I'll wait to see how I feel by the end of the week and play things by ear.

Monday, April 7, 2008 [10M]

Foster City. I was out of Club O by 6 PM for the usual 10 mile loop on the neighboring peninsula. It was probably not the best choice for a run since it was a very windy day and running along the bay turned out to be rather frustrating. Things were better for the last half of the run, after I turned in on Foster City Blvd. It felt like I was running slow, mostly because I had a hard time running into the wind, but I wound up back at Club O after 67:45, which is under 6:40 pace for this loop, so not too shabby. I'm back to running strides on a daily basis, although I still don't feel very fast. Lifted afterwards before calling it a day.

Sunday, April 6, 2008 [13M]

Huddart to Wunderlich. I drove out to the corner of Purissima Creek Redwoods and Huddart Park around 2PM and went for an out and back on the trail to Wunderlich Park. I made it to Wunderlich in about 47 minutes, discovered that there's an entrance to El Corte de Madera Creek on the other side of Skyline Blvd and added a couple of minutes checking it out before heading back. I was a bit faster on the way back, getting back to the car in 45 minutes. I was feeling pretty good the whole way, just cruising and enjoying every minute of the run. It's definitely good to be back to long runs like this one.

Week Recap (30 Mar 2008 - 5 Apr 2008) - 58 Miles

I was shooting for around 60 miles this week and ended up pretty close, running only on the first 6 days. I thought about going for a short run on Saturday but opted to go for a bike ride instead. It was probably a good idea to give my legs some recovery time especially after the crappy workout on Friday. I think I'm on the right track as far as getting back to decent mileage and hopefully my legs will be able to handle some faster stuff soon.

Saturday, April 5, 2008 [0M]

20M bike ride. Since I was already close to my goal mileage for the week I thought I would benefit more from taking a day off running and doing some biking instead. This was my first long ride with my new bike and I looked more like a biker this time since I also invested in some bike shorts. I bought some bike shoes as well but I need to replace my pedals before I can use them so I was once again riding with my running shoes. I headed up Ralston Ave to Canada Rd, continued all the way to Woodside Rd and looped back down El Camino. I pretty much sucked at going uphill and the climb up Ralston was rather brutal. I'm still trying to figure out which gear to use for different inclines so I was shifting a lot and probably wasting a lot of energy. Once I got to flat surfaces on Canada Rd I got into a good rhythm and put in a good effort. There were a lot of other bikers along Canada and naturally I got competitive and was mostly kept passing people. It felt a bit strange though, since I couldn't just blow by people like I do when I'm running but had to work to get by and then had to make sure I wouldn't slow down after I was ahead. It was entertaining, though, especially since I looked a lot more amateurish compared to everyone else. I find it a bit strange that everyone riding a road bike is dressed up like a professional cyclist whereas I rarely see anyone running in running shorts. after having invested quite a bit of money to get a nice bike you might as well get all the necessary gear. I'm sure I have a lot more to learn about biking.

Friday, April 4, 2008 [10M]

4M decreasing pace. 5:51, 5:47, 5:38, 5:38.

I came back home work this afternoon and headed out to Carlmont High School around 6PM. The track is right around 2 miles away from my place, which is perfect for the pre-workout warm-up. Once I got to the track and started getting ready for my workout I realized to my surprise that the track is only about 390m per lap. I only ran here once before and it was at night so I didn't realize that the track is short. I would estimate that the 5M tempo I ran was about 7-9 seconds slower than I thought per mile, which makes it far less impressive but still not a bad workout I guess. The plan today was to run another decreasing pace 5-miler, starting at 6:00 and dropping 15 seconds per mile. As a sidenote I'll mention that I asked the MIT guys last week why they call this workout the "Kenyan" but I didn't get any compelling arguments so I'll stick to my less creative but accurate name. To make up for the short track I ran the workout in lane 3, which was 402-403m per lap, so a second or two slower per 1600. I got out a bit too fast on the first one, coming through the first lap in 85. I slowed down a bit for the rest of the mile but I was still 1-2 seconds faster than goal pace on each lap. I didn't have to pick it up too much for the second mile and was almost right on. Going into the 3rd mile things started looking bad. Aerobically I wasn't working hard at all but my legs were feeling heavy. I didn't put the effort needed to increase the pace, expecting the transition to 5:30 pace to be easy. I was 3-4 seconds slow on the first lap, brought it down a bit for the next couple of laps but still slower than goal pace. By the end of the 3rd mile my legs were dead and couldn't move any faster. Coming through the half for the 4th mile in 2:50 I decided that adding a 5th mile wasn't worth it. I added a couple of laps around the track and ran a pretty slow cool-down to get back home. This definitely wasn't the workout I was expecting, I thought I would at least be able to get down to 5:15 somewhat easily but I couldn't even break 5:30. I want look into this too much, though, the first workout after coming back from an injury is always tough. Mentally I wasn't into it at all and even though I think I have the aerobic fitness, my legs still need some more miles before I can start running fast again.

Thursday, April 3, 2008 [10M]

Out and back to Bair Island. I left the office before 6 PM, which hasn't happened in a long time, with the exception of days I was going for physical therapy. This is one of my least frequent runs since the route to Bair Island is rather boring, pretty much 4 miles along 101. To make things even worse, Bair Island has been closed for a few months now, which takes away of the option of adding a few miles on soft surfaces. It is at least a break from the usual routes so I don't mind throwing it in every now and then. The run actually turned out to be a pretty good, I was in the mid 6:30s on the way out and cruising in the mid 6:20s on the way back.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 [9M]

Foster City. I was out of Club O by 6:45 this afternoon, which seemed early since there's still so much daylight at that time. I was planning to go for 8 miles but once I crossed over to Foster City I realized that I didn't have a standard 8 mile route around there. I tried for a while to come up with a new route but eventually I decided to go for my standard 9 mile one. It felt like I was running a bit slow at first but I was probably faster than I thought since I averaged around 6:35-6:40 pace. I split 7:00 for one of the miles along the bay trail but that mile always seems to be about 10 seconds long and I was running into a strong headwind. I was down to 6:27 along Marina lagoon without a noticeable increase in effort so there probably wasn't too much variation in my pace. I ran some decent strides outside Club O afterwards and added some lifting. I mostly did a lower body workout, doing lunges, leg curls and calf raises. I skipped the bench and did one set of pull-ups but couldn't motivate myself to do any more. In unrelated news, I have to mention seeing a guy running with the full winter gear, pants, gloves, hat and a wind breaker. I don't even know how many layers he was wearing underneath but he seemed pretty buffed up. I could at least justify this during the winter, even though I made it through without having to wear anything more than shorts and a short sleeve T-shirt, but today was in the mid 50s and sunny so seeing someone with so much clothing was completely ridiculous.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 [9M]

Hallmark Park. I opted to run from home this afternoon and I was out by 6:45 PM. It's definitely nice to have the option of getting a run on trails on a weekday. I made my way to Hallmark through Water Dog Lake Park, taking it easy on the way up Lake Rd. I didn't add any extra mileage in Hallmark park, beyond the standard route to Hallmark Dr, and just headed back going through Water Dog Lake again. Wound up home in 58:44, which might be a bit short but I think it can be rounded up.

Monday, March 31, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I wasn't very excited about getting back to work today after an almost 4 day long vacation. I called it a day by 6PM and headed out from Club O shortly after. Easy 10-miler without anything exciting to report.

Sunday, March 30, 2008 [10M]

Balboa Park. I was up around 9 this morning, somewhat more leisurely than the last couple of days. We were on the road back to San Francisco by 9:30, making a stop at Balboa park along the way to get the run out of the way. I ran with Rachel for most of the run, which kept me from running too fast. We were still running at a decent pace, more or less what I would be running on a casual Sunday. We started near the natural history museum and wandered near by at first without finding any good places to run. After a while we found some trails east of the park and spent some time there before heading back. I dropped Rachel off after 58 minutes and added on another couple of miles to make it 10. It turned out to be a rather enjoyable run overall, to a great extend thanks to having someone to run with. It was good thing we got the run out of the way so I didn't have to run after what turned out to be a really long trip.

Week Recap (23 Mar 2008 - 29 Mar 2008) - 50 Miles

Another good week, continuing the gradual mileage build up. The mileage increase from last week wasn't anything spectacular but I only ran 6 days so all my runs were decently long. What I'm most excited about is how good I've been feeling on all my runs. It feels more like I've tapered and not so much like I'm coming back from an injury. All my runs were comfortable aerobically, even the ones which were somewhat fast. My legs are easily handling this mileage and I only felt some soreness after some of my hillier runs. I was thinking of waiting another week or two before starting any workouts but since I've been feeling good I might do something this coming week to test my fitness a bit.

Saturday, March 29, 2008 [8M]

Point Loma Nazarene. Started the day with a big breakfast with Alisha's parents then went over to Point Loma Nazarene University to watch the track meet. Jake and I headed out for a run some time during the meet. We ran out of the campus, ended up near the ocean after wondering around for a while and ran along the coast back to the campus. We had to climb a steep hill to get back to the track but that was the only part where I had to put some effort into the run. The rest of the run was pretty casual, we were chatting the whole time and enjoying the nice view along the coast. We finished with some strides on the track, watched the rest of the meet and spent the evening hanging out with the team.

Friday, March 28, 2008 [10M]

Claremont. I was up around 7:30 AM so that I could join the team for their 8:30 practice at Claremont McKenna College. I started with everyone in the mid-distance/distance group, running around somewhat familiar areas since we came here for the spring trip 3 years ago. Everyone was doing a meet warm-up so I was with most of the group for the first 3 miles, continued with Jacokes to 5 and added another 5 by myself. I was feeling surprisingly good for a run this early in the morning, which I'll attribute to having someone to run with, even for part of the run. The pace wasn't very fast but decent while running with the guys, then I picked things up a bit the rest of the way. I was back at the track in 65 minutes and added a lap around the track to make rounding up to 10 more justifiable. I was running 6:00 pace for that lap and it wasn't much faster than what I had been running for most of the run so this was definitely a solid 10. I even ran some strides on the infield, which felt decently fast despite not having run any for almost 2 months. As much as I hate running in the mornings, I have to admit that getting the run out of the way early was very satisfying and allowed me to enjoy the rest of my vacation day. Rachel and I drove down to Coronado after practice and met Jake for a Mexican feast. We spent a few hours at the beach afterwards, dared to take a quick dip in the cold-whirlpool-like ocean and chilled in Coronado before going back to Jake's place for dinner with the rest of the team.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 [0M]

I tried to get up at 7AM to go for a run, since I knew this would be a long day, but like many other times that didn't happen. I had an appointment with Dr Oloff at 9 and after hitting snooze for an hour I gave up on the morning run. I was supposed to get an evaluation for custom made orthotics today but after a brief discussion Dr Oloff opted against it. I haven't had any problems since I started running and figured that I shouldn't changed my biomechanics unless something starts hurting again. I went back home after my appointment and did some work before heading to the city to meet Rachel. We drove down to LA to join the MIT track team on their annual spring trip. It took a while longer than I expected to get there, thanks to the LA traffic, and we didn't get to Claremont until 8PM. We went straight to dinner with the team and decided at that point to forgo the run, since I wasn't in the mood for a late night run. I don't like coming up with excuses for not running but at least I can argue that a day off wasn't a big deal, since I haven't had one in the last 10 days and I'm still building up the mileage.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 [7M]

Water Dog Lake Park. I finally bought a bike yesterday and rode it to work today, getting a total of 3 miles on the bike. I got what I think is a good deal on a used 2007 Trek 1000 SL, which was barely used by its previous owner. Considering that the best bike I've ever owned was an $80 mountain bike from Target, this was definitely a huge step up. Since this is still a running blog (and I don't have any plans to follow Brewer's path), I won't go to any more details about the bike. So, on to today's run, I was out from home by 6:30 PM, heading to Water Dog Lake Park. I ran the old regular loop this time, going up Lake Rd trail and picking up John Brooks trail. I've always called this an 8 mile loop, knowing that it was short but thinking it was at least long enough to round up, since most times it took me about 55-56 minutes to run the loop. I was back in 53:15 today, which made me start questioning if I can justify rounding up. I was only running fast for the last couple of miles of the run, which were on the roads, but I'm sure I averaged slower than 7:00 pace for the rest of the run. In any case, I think I'll switch to counting this as a long 7 rather than a short 8.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I was out of Club O before 6 PM and went on the full Redwood Shores loop again after a long time. I was running at a brisk pace the whole time, averaging right around 6:30 fairly even paced. This was arguably my best run since I started running again. I was feeling great and cruising comfortably the whole way.

Monday, March 24, 2008 [7M]

Foster City. I left work early today as I had to be in for physical therapy at 3:30 PM. I'm only going in once this week and I'll have one more appointment in a couple of weeks to get one last evaluation when I'll be back to somewhat higher mileage. I was out of PJCC by 4:30, going on a standard loop on the bay trail. It was pretty windy along the bay, which drew a ridiculously big crowd of kite surfers. There were also a few wind surfers but apparently that's not as cool anymore. I'm curious what kind of job are all these people doing that allows them to be out in the sea so early in the afternoon on a weekday. I guess it speaks volumes about Californians (and yes, I know I should have been at work at that time but I think going for physical therapy is a legitimate excuse). Anyway, the rest of the run was rather uneventful. I split 6:25s for the last couple of miles on the trail but I had the wind on my back and was probably a bit slower earlier on. I was expecting this loop to be close to 8 but I was back in just over 49 minutes so there's no way this gets rounded up.

Sunday, March 23, 2008 [10M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I drove out to the corner of Edgewood Rd and Canada Rd around 2PM and ran the usual loop to Huddart through Woodside. Even though I wouldn't quite call this a long run it felt like I was back to the usual Sunday routine and it was exciting to be back on one of my favorite trails. My quads still felt pretty sore from Friday's run, which made Huddart not the best option for today's run but I guess I have to get used to running hills again and there's no easy way around it. At least this route starts out with about 4 miles on flat surfaces which helped my legs loosen up a bit before going over any hills. I wasn't very aggressive on the climbs but I was managing them fine. The downhill parts, though, hurt quite a bit, especially some of the steeper ones towards the end. All in all though, it was an enjoyable run. I haven't been to Huddart for a while and the last few times it was "cold" and rainy, which made it a pretty lonely place, whereas today there were quite a few people out there. I almost had a head on encounter with a galloping horse but fortunately the rider noticed me early enough to hit the breaks. It may sound weird but I missed writing about things like this in my log. You definitely can't get this kind of action on an elliptical.