Sunday, August 24, 2008 [18M]

Huddart - Wunderlich loop. I slept in this morning, trying to make up for not getting much sleep yesterday, and when I woke up I spent some time trying to decide where to run. I wasn't in the mood for a hilly run and thought about running along the bay trail at first but with the weather in the high 80s I figured it would be best to avoid running somewhere with absolutely no shade. Eventualy I decided to repeat last week's loop and drove to historic Woodside at 1:30PM. I wanted to keep things easier than last week and didn't force the pace at any time in the run. The climb up to Skyline wasn't much slower but I took my time on the trail to Wunderlich and down Alambrique trail. I was still moving at a good clip but running relaxed the whole way. Wound up back to the car in 2:10, a little over 5 minutes slower than last time, which is more of an indication that I was running fast last week as opposed to this run being slow.

Week Recap (17 August 2008 - 23 August 2008) - 90 Miles

I was shooting to bump up the mileage to 85-90 this week, thinking perhaps that 90 would be a stretch but not excluding it in case my legs felt like they could handle it. I got things off to a good start with arguably one of the best 18 milers I've ever run. I ended up running faster than I should have been for a hilly long run and my legs were feeling it a bit early in the week. I hit my low point for the week on Wednesday and had a pretty crappy run but things got better towards the end. I felt good enough the last couple of days to push the mileage to 90. Only a couple of weeks left until Alumni so I'll probably keep the mileage where it is and add a few harder efforts. I think I should be in better shape than I could have expected when I started running again 6 weeks ago.

Saturday, August 23, 2008 [12M]

Run with the San Francisco Road Runners Club. For a long time I've had an open invitation from Doug to join him on his Saturday morning run with SFRRC and I was finally convinced to tag along this morning. We had to be at the Marina Green at 7:45 AM so Doug picked me up around 7. It wasn't enough that we had to leave so early I even woke up around 5 to watch some track action from the Olympics. I obviously didn't get much sleep but watching the 5K live at least made it worth it. I was also fairly awake by the time we started the run so I wasn't as sluggish as I would have been if I had just rolled out of bed. We started out in a big group but we picked up the pace after a couple of miles and we were down to Doug and myself. We were still taking it pretty easy and I was content with not running any faster since I was just rounding up a 90 mile week.

Friday, August 22, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I wanted to leave early this afternoon since I had tickets for the Outside Lands Festival and I figured it would be best to get my run out of the way before lunch so I headed out from Club O by 12:30. I've put in enough mileage earlier this week that I could get away with only an 8 miler today so my lunch break was not too much longer than usual. It turned out to be a decent run as I was comfortably running 6:40s the whole way.

Thursday PM, August 21, 2008 [11M]

Alameda - Jefferson Ave. I was shooting for 7-8 this afternoon and started out on the 7 mile Alameda - Brittan Ave loop, thinking that I could tag on another mile if I felt like it. I did decide to extend the run once I got to Brittan and I felt good enough to keep going all the way to Jefferson Ave. I was comfortably clipping 6:40s the whole way, which was a bit surprising if you think how crappy yesterday's run was.

Thursday AM, August 21, 2008 [5M]

Foster City.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston. I was back home from work by 7PM and headed out to Sheep Camp without wasting much time. I had been feeling a bit tired all day and wasn't really looking forward to running, expecting this to be a crappy run. Of course when you start a run with that mindset it's hard not to meet your expectations. The climb up Water Dog Lake was pretty much as slow as it gets and even on the downhill parts I was feeling sluggish. The final climb up Ralston was somewhat better but still far from spectacular. I usually run this loop in something close to 1:25 on an easy day but today I made it back in 1:29. I sure was glad to get this one over with.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008 [11M]

San Carlos. I showed up at Roadrunner sports a bit early and had enough time to put in 3 mile loop. I continued with the regular 8 mile loop with Doug afterwards. I kept it easy the entire time, running just over 7:00 pace.

Monday PM, August 18, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I got out from Club O again this afternoon for my second run of the day. I ran without a watch again and took things easy but I was feeling better than my first run. I thought about lifting today but I only did some calf raises and embarassed myself with a couple of sets on the pullup bar. After my last set of pullups I ran into Charis and spend about half an hour just standing in the weightroom and chatting without doing any more lifting. By that time I was starting to feel hungry so I just headed back home for dinner.

Monday AM, August 18, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. Out of Club O at 12:30 for my usual loop. My legs were feeling pretty tired and I opted to run without a watch. It was probably a good thing not to know how slow I was running.

Sunday, August 17, 2008 [18M]

Huddart to Wunderlich loop. I tried a new loop today which could become one of my favorite long loops. I've been to Wunderlich park before, I ran the 6 mile trail from Huddart to Wunderlich along Skyline Ridge a few times and obviously I've run at Huddart multiple times but I was wondering if I could possibly come up with a loop to combine both parks. After a quick search I came across this loop and decided to give it a shot. I drove over to historic Woodside and took Greer road to Huddart Park. On the way over I came across Albert Liu, who was running in the opposite direction. It's probably been 4 or 5 years since the last time we saw each other so this was a really random encounter. After exchanging a couple of words we each continued on our way. It was about a mile to Bay Tree trail, which was the starting point of the climb to Skyline. I was moving well going uphill and made it to Skyline in 42:00. With the toughest part of the run already out of the way I continued on the trail to Wunderlich. I still had a long way to go but I was feeling good and wasn't too concerned about saving my legs for the end. I wouldn't say I was hammering but I was keeping the pace honest on the rolling hills, attacking the uphill parts a bit and cruising on the downhill and flat parts. I was in Wunderlich in 1:25:00 and started the descend down Alambrique trail. It was basically a 5 mile downhill section and I came down flying in 29:00. I headed back to my starting point along Woodside and Trip Rd, making it back at the car in 2:04:30. My source has this run listed as 17 - 17.5 and I was initially planning to call it 17 but after going through the numbers I think I can justify calling it 18. The trail from Huddart to Wunderlich is around 6 miles, Alambrique trail was listed at 5.0 and it was a 1.6 mile stretch from Wunderlich to my car. It took me 42 minutes to get up to Skyline, which would only taking something just under 8 minute pace for the total to add up to 18. In any case, this was an amazing loop which I'm sure I'll revisit in the future. The variation of the terrain was great, starting out with a gradual climb from 400 to 2200ft, continuing with 6 miles of gently rolling hills, getting the legs moving with a 5 mile downhill section and finishing off with a short flat section on the roads. I was expecting that my legs would be spent by the end but I was actually feeling good the whole way. I was perhaps running faster than I should have been for such a long run but hopefully I won't be feeling it too much on the next few days.

Week Recap (9 August 2008 - 16 August 2008) - 80 Miles

Really solid week, only my 5th week back and I'm already at 80 so I couldn't expect more. I even managed to finish the week with only a 4 mile run so I was actually on pace for something closer to 90. The most encouraging part is how good I have been feeling all week. It seems like the mileage has yet to take its toll, which I'll enjoy while it lasts.

Saturday, August 16, 2008 [4M]

Drove to Yosemite this morning and spent the day at the park. We went on a 7 mile hike to Nevada Falls, starting at 4000ft of altitude and climbing a to almost 6000ft at the top. We were back after about 4 - 4.5 hours and while everyone else took the shuttle back to the parking lot I decided to run back. It was only a couple of miles to get back and I added on a couple more on the bike paths in Yosemite valley. I wasn't running very fast although I did beat the shuttle back.

Friday, August 15, 2008 [12M]

Rancho San Antonio. I got a call from Jake yesterday, letting me know that he's in the area for a few days and we agreed to meet at 8AM for a run at Rancho San Antonio. We got started with my usual warm-up loop on the wildcat loop trail then climbed up Upper Wildcat Canyon trail. We paused briefly at the vista point before coming down wildcat loop trail and tagging on a few more miles on the PG&E trail. We were chatting the entire time but still moving along at a good pace. Carrying on the conversation was a bit challening on some of the hills but we made it through putting in some good climbs. It turned out to be a pretty good run overall, I was feeling good, especially for a morning run, and enjoyed having to someone to run with for a change. Time just flew by as we were catching up on each other's summer adventures. It was a good thing I got the run out of the way early as I was planning to head to Yosemite in the afternoon and I would have probably only put in a short run if I hadn't run in the morning.

Thursday, August 14, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark park. Headed out up Ralston, planning to put in an easy 10. I made it up to Hallmark without pushing the pace but still putting in a decent climb. I was moving well on the rolling hills at Hallmark and was crusing at a fast pace on the downhill part on the way back. I averaged under 6:50 for the run, which is fairly fast considering that with all the hills it's usually a good day if I average around 7 minute pace.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. A rather low key run, taking things easy and running around 6:50 pace for most of the run. I was a bit faster for the last 2 or 3 miles, nothing faster than 6:35 though.

Tuesday PM, August 12, 2008 [13M]

San Carlos. I was originally only planning on going for the usual 8 mile Tuesday run with the Road Runners sports club. I came back and worked from home for a couple of hours and while I was getting ready to drive over to San Carlos, I thought that I could add some more mileage to the day and I figured it would be a good idea to run over, go for the 8 mile run and head back. It's 2.5 miles each way, which added up to make this a 13 miler. I was a bit on the quick side on the way over as I was trying to make it on time. I ended up having about 5 minutes to kill before we headed out with Doug. I ran with Doug for the first 5 miles or so, running just over 7 minute pace. I picked it up for the last 3 miles, getting down in the 6:20s. I chilled for a while and stretched as everyone was finishing their run before heading back home. I was a bit slower on the way back as my legs started realizing how many miles I had put in for the day. It ended up being a pretty long day, shooting the rolling week up to 83.

Tuesday AM, August 12, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. I figured I should add some doubles this week and since I was only planning on doing 8 in the afternoon I thought this would be a good day to start. I didn't try to get up in the morning of course but headed out to Club O before lunch for my usual lunch time loop in Foster city.

Monday, August 11, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. I wanted to leave work early so that I could put in a 12 miler and make it to BJs by 7:30 for dinner but that's easier said than done. I didn't get started until 6 and I figured I didn't have much time to do anything over 8. I kept the pace fairly brisk, averaging around 6:35. I slacked off on strides and stretching and headed out. I barely made it to BJs on time so there wasn't much more I could have added today.

Sunday, August 10, 2008 [16M]

Rancho San Antonio. I wanted to get out earlier than my typical Sunday but didn't help my cause by going to bed late last night and naturally sleeping in this morning. It was already 1:30PM by the time I made it to Rancho San Antonio, which wasn't the best time to start my long run with the temperature approaching the 90s. I didn't do a great job hydrating well before the run and I was starting to feel it after a few miles. I ran a couple of loops on the lower trails to start with, first taking the Wildcat loop trail to PG&E trail then going back to Wildcat loop and continuing to the Coyote trail. On each of those loops I stopped at the Deer Hollow farm and drank some water, risking getting stung by the bees that were crowding over the water fountain. From then on there weren't any water stops as I climbed up the Upper Wildcat Canyon trail, came down the Upper Rogue Valley trail and took Moira trail back to Deer Hollow farm. I added on another loop on the Coyote trail and made it back to the car in 1:56:30. I was pretty spent by the end and the last couple of miles were a bit tough. Most of the run was pretty good, though, I was putting in some good climbs and moving fast enough to safely call this 16. I suppose it wasn't too surprising that I was feeling spent by the end, after all this was a long run which included a couple thousand feet of climbing in fairly hot weather. I think the heat was probably a bigger factor, I weighted myself when I came back home and was about 5 pounds lighter than usual (and this was after having already drunk a 16 oz gatorade and about a quart of water) . I should make sure I hydrate more before another run like this one.

Week Recap (3 August 2008 - 9 August 2008) - 72 Miles

I continued the mileage progression this week, getting into the 70s as planned. I came close to starting off the week with a zero but managed to put in a decent run in Vegas after a long and tiring day. I had a nice 15 miler on Monday and a few more solid mileage days throughout the week. I've been feeling great in general, running fairly fast and just enjoying getting out there and putting in the mileage. Friday was the odd day of the week, when all of a sudden my right leg tightened up, but that seemed to be an isolated incident. Hopefully this upswing will carry over for next week, where I'll be looking to get into the 80s.

Saturday, August 9, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan. I slept in late this morning and didn't get up until 11:30 AM. I didn't get much sleep last weekend and I didn't have the chance to make up for it during the week so I really needed to catch up. I took some time as usual before I got out for an easy 7 miler to finish off the week. Nothing spectacular, just crusing at 6:40 pace for pretty much the entire run.

Friday, August 8, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I was out of work by 5PM and headed out of Club O shortly after. I was shooting for 10-12 today and was leaning towards the upper bound until my right leg tightened up about halfway through the run. It was rather strange, it felt more like soreness than a pain of any kind but isolated to my right side. My right calf and quad felt sore and I was also feeling a tightness on the outer side of my leg, all the way up to my hip. I struggled a bit in the last few miles and I was glad to get this run over with. Hopefully this is just some bizarre thing that will be gone in a day.

Thursday, August 7, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston. I got a bit of a late start, getting out the door around 7:30 PM. I can already tell that the days are getting shorter as it was dark by the time I finished. There was still plenty of light, though, on the way up to Sheep Camp trail and along Canada Rd and I put in a good climb. I was still feeling good on the final climb up to the highest point of Ralston and was eager to start the descend. I started rolling on the way down Ralston, averaging 5:20 pace for the mile and a half downhill section. I didn't slow down much on the last mile and a half, which is mostly flat with a slight incline at the end, averaging 5:40 for that. I'm still at a point in my training where I'm running enough mileage to feel like I'm in good shape but also low enough for the legs to feel fresh. Perhaps I'm getting a bit too excited and hammering more than I should but I'm sure the miles will take their toll as I continue to bump up the mileage so I might as well enjoy the moment.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. I'm back to enough mileage to go for the full loop, something which hasn't happened in over 2 months. I started out at a fairly quick clip but slowed down as I was getting close to the San Mateo bridge because of the wind. There is a strong correlation between the number of kite surfers I see along the bay and how windy it is and today it was as packed as it gets. It was a nice sight but I didn't enjoy struggling to run 7:10 pace into the wind. At least that only lasted for 2 or 3 miles and I went back to a decent pace for the rest of the run. I managed to average close to 6:35 pace for the entire run so I was moving fairly fast when I wasn't running into the wind. My last 3 miles were in the 6:05-6:15 range and I was cruising comfortably. It's definitely encouraging to feel like I'm decent shape already.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos. I had the company of Doug for this one, at least for half of the run. He hasn't been running much for the last 3 weeks and was feeling sluggish so the way out was fairly slow, around 7:20 pace. After we made the turn I took off on my own and brought the pace down in the 6:20s. Not a bad run considering the slow start.

Monday, August 4, 2008 [15M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I flew back to SF this morning, went straight to work and left early enough to put in a long run at Huddart. I started along the usual route but once I got to the park I picked up Dean Trail, which I had never explored before. I think I tried picking up that trail a couple of times before but it was a bit hard to find. I figured it out this time and continued up to Chinquapin trail. I made it to Skyline in just under an hour and took Crystal Springs trail on the way back. The route back was slightly shorter (and downhill of course) and I ended up back at the car in 1:48. I felt pretty good the whole time, worked the climb up to climb to Skyline well and I was moving well on the downhill part on the way back. Probably something along the same lines as last week's 15 miler and I think it's safe to call this one 15 as well.

Sunday, August 3, 2008 [8]

We were planning to spend the day at the Grand Canyon and decided to head out from Vegas around 1AM. It was about a 4 hour drive and I drove half of it but I doubt I got more than half an hour of sleep during the rest of the drive. We made it there just in time to watch the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen in my life. We went on a 3 mile hike afterwards on the South Kaibab trail to Cedar Ridge. The trailhead was at around 7200ft of altitude and dropped 1200 feet in a mile and a half. I'm not sure if I could count this as altitude training but the climbing could probably substitute a lower leg lifting session. We spent the rest of the day driving around a few vista points and headed back to Vegas. We were back around 9PM and I was tempted to call it a day but eventually decided to drag myself out for a few miles. I wasn't very excited about getting out for a run and not just because I was tired from travelling and the lack of sleep. Vegas is just about the worst place to run. It's impossible to run during the day, when it's like a thousand degrees, and even at night it was in the high 90s. That was the least of the problems, though. I headed north on the strip, which is ridiculously crowded. I was weaving in and out of the crowds, getting down on the street from time to time and running close to incomming traffic . I was pretty much running like a maniac and almost got hit by a couple of cars. I turned back after a couple of miles and tried to avoid the strip on the way back but I didn't have much luck and almost ended up in one of the freeways. I made it back to New York New York and did another out and back going south on the strip. It was a lot less croweded after Tropicana Ave and I actually had enough space to run without dodging people. I finished the run in 51 minutes, which I'm sure should be close enough to 8 since I was hammering most of the time. Not the greatest start to the week but taking everything into account, getting any kind of mileage in today was a huge win.

Week Recap (27 July 2008 - 2 August 2008) - 61 Miles

Decent week, pretty much what I was shooting for. I had a couple of short days early in the week but I made up for it with a 15 miler on Thursday. I wasn't planning on running something so long this early but I felt pretty comfortable, which is really encouraging for the weeks to come. I only ran 6 days, which means I was on pace for 70 and I wouldn't have any trouble adding on another run to the week to make that happen. That was the plan, though, as I don't want to be doing any crazy jumps in mileage. I should easily be up there by next week.

Saturday, August 2, 2008 [0M]

I flew to Vegas this morning and following what has become a tradition I posted a goose egg. I was actually planning to a day off today anyway but would have probably done some biking instead of sitting by the pool.

Friday, August 1, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark Park. Standard loop through the park at a rather casual pace.

Thursday, July 31, 2008 [15M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I left work somewhat earlier today and was on my way to Huddart by 6:30PM. I took on of my usual routes through Huddart, following Canyon trail to Crystal Springs Trail. I was 45 minutes in by the time I got there, which meant I would have to take the short route back to end up with something close to 12, as I was initially planning. I was feeling good, though, and decided to continue all the way to Skyline, which took another 20 minutes of climbing. I headed back down Richards road which was a shorter route but a much steeper descend. My legs definitely didn't appreciate the downhill part but it only took me 10 minutes to get back to Canyon trail and the rest of the way was a lot smoother. I made it back to the car in just under 1:48, which should be safe to call 15. I was once again surprised at how comfortable I felt running this kind of mileage on hilly terrain. Ordinarily I wouldn't run anything this long for at least another couple of weeks. As long as I'm comfortable with it I don't see any problems, even though this will probably end up being about a quarter of this weeks mileage.

Wednesday, 30 July, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. I couldn't get out of work until 7PM and had plans to attend a poker game so I cut the run short. Definitely not a great excuse but I'm not that concerned about mileage right now.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos. I showed up at RoadRunners Sports a couple of minutes late and everyone had already taken off. I took off on my own, running on at a good pace to catch up, and didn't take too long to get to the front of the group. Unfortunately Doug hadn't showed up and with Brad all the way across the country I was left on my own. I guess this might not be that unusual from now on but I'll keep going for the dinner and beer following the run. Since I started a bit faster than usual I kind of set myself up for a fast run. I maintained the early pace for the first half, running 6:30s on the way out and getting closer to 6:00 on the way back. Pretty good run overall, it's been a while since I got the legs moving a bit.

Monday, July 28, 2008 [10M]

Foster City. Stayed a bit late at work and didn't get out until 8:00 PM. I hadn't run at night for quite a while but I managed to finish my runs in the dark for the second day in a row. It was a rather uneventful run, just putting in the miles.

Sunday, July 27, 2008 [12M]

Hallmark Park - Brittan Ave. I made my life a bit difficult by not getting my run out of the way before heading to the beach at Santa Cruz. I was back around 8PM and out of the door within a half hour. The first 2 or 3 miles were a bit rough as my stomach was trying to tell me that I shouldn't be running a couple of hours after eating a gyro. I couldn't pass out, though, on eating at one of the bay area's finest greek taverns. Eventually I was feeling better and started having a good run. It was somewhat dark by the time I got to Hallmark but I still managed to put in one loop on the course before hitting the streets. I was feeling good, worked the hills well and once I started the descend I was rolling. I was actually a bit surprised at how comfortable I felt running this long. Sure, I don't call 12 miles a long run anymore but I've only been running for a couple of weeks after my break and haven't done anything this long in a while. It's good to feel like I'm in decent shape so early on.

Week Recap (19 July 2008 - 26 July 2008) - 50 Miles

Not bad for my second week back. I was pretty much running as much as I felt like every day and in the end I put in a decent number of miles. I think my legs could have easily handled another 10-20 miles but I'm not in a rush to get back to high mileage. I even opted to go on a bike ride on Saturday and got a decent workout of it. I'm not certain yet but I'm thinking about continuing with the 6-days-of-running/1-day-of-biking approach for another couple of weeks.

Saturday, July 26, 2008 [0M]

~24 mile bike ride. I was content with keeping this week at 50 miles so I opted to do some biking today instead of running. I drove over to Sawyer Camp and headed north on Skyline Blvd. I was considering going all the way to Lake Merced, which would make this about a 30 mile ride but I cut it short after deviating a bit from my planned route. At some point along the way I should have crossed over 280 to continue on Skyline but I made the wrong turn and headed east towards the bay. It didn't take me long to realize that I had gone the wrong way but at that point I was flying down a ridiculously steep hill and didn't want to stop and climb back up. I ended up on El Camino and went north, hoping to find an easier way to get back on Skyline. It didn't seem like that was an option so eventually I decided to suck it up and go up the hill. I might suck at biking but that hill would probably challenge even the most experienced bikers. I was riding with the lowest gear, standing up and working hard but I was barely making any ground. At some point I had to stop and then I had a hard time getting back on the bike. It took me a few tries before I managed to gather enough momentum to keep the bike from rolling backwards and continue the climb. I made it to the top eventually after the brutal climb and continued on Skyline but with my legs dead tired I decided to take an early turn back. On the way back I took advantage of the downhill parts and let my legs recover a bit. With 8 or 9 miles to go some guy passed me and I decided to pick up the pace and go after him. I always thought that I sucked at climbing hills with my bike but surprisingly I was gaining on the uphill parts and losing ground on the flat and downhill stretches. He managed to build a decent gap but stopped after a couple of miles and after I went by I never saw him again. I made my way back through Sawyer camp and kept hammering those last 6 miles, getting back to the car after 1:40. Pretty good ride overall, I definitely feel like I'm starting to get a lot more comfortable on the bike.

Friday, July 25, 2008 [7M]

Alameda - Brittan Ave.

Thursday, July 24, 2008 [10M]

Hallmark Park.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 [8M]

Redwood Shores. Easy run after work. Not much to write about.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos. Once again it was Brad and myself for this Tuesday's run. Brad is moving back to Vermont in a couple of days so this was our last run together. It's kind of unfortunate since he was pretty much the only training partner I had around here. The run today turned out to be pretty good. We were running 6:40s for the most part, feeling fairly comfortable. I actually feel that I'm in decent shape despite taking some time off.

Monday, July 21, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - 31st Ave. I came back from work around 7PM and wasn't in the mood for running so I sat in front of the TV for an hour. I'm still doing whatever I feel on a daily basis so I didn't mind skipping the run altogether but around 8PM I felt like putting in a few miles so I got out for a short run. For the first couple of miles my stomach was complaining because I had been snacking for the last hour but after a while I started feeling better. I ended up being a decent run, I even considered adding on a couple of more miles but in the end I decided to head back home for dinner.

Sunday, 20 July, 2008 [11M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I drove over to my usual starting point around 1PM and headed straight to Huddart. I wasn't sure how many miles my legs could handle, especially with all the hills that I would have to run but I figured I'd play it by ear. I didn't have any trouble putting in a decently long run and felt surpisingly good. I was feeling strong on the hills and moving at a good clip the whole time. I made it to the Dean trail in about 42 minutes and went out to Toyon camp before heading back but somehow I finished in just over 77 minutes. I was expecting this to end up at 12 or 13 miles but I doubt I can call it anything over 11. Still not a bad way to get the week underway.

Week Recap (13 July 2008 - 19 July 2008) - 25 Miles

After a short break I started getting back into it this week. I didn't have much planned really and pretty much did whatever I was in the mood for. Not a bad start, put in a few miles and started preparing the legs for the mileage build up which will follow.

Saturday, 19 July, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos.

Friday, 18 July, 2008 [5M]

Foster City.

Thursday, 17 July, 2007 [6M]

Redwood Shores.

Wednesday, 16 July, 2008 [0M]

Opted to go out for dinner instead of running. I didn't really have a definite plan about running today anyway.

Tuesday, 15 July 2008 [8M]

San Carlos with Brad.

Monday, 14 July, 2008 [0M]

Pretty rough day. I made it back to the Bay area around noon and went straight from the airport to work. Having only slept about 5 hours in the last two days I had a hard time staying awake at my desk and obviously wasn't very productive. Called it a day around 6PM and went home to crash on the couch for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, 13 July, 2008 [0M]

I sure had a fun four days in Milwaukee but the trip back ended up being quite an adventure. I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around the city with Carlos, before heading to the airport around 5PM. My flight was supposed to leave at 7:30PM but after getting pushed back a couple of times we eventually found out around midnight that the flight was cancelled. The most ridiculous part was the airline didn't have any available flights to put us on until Tuesday or Wednesday. Not wanting to get stranded in Milwaukee for another couple of days I ended up buying another ticket for a different early morning flight. By the time I sorted everything out it was too late to leave the airport and try to find a hotel so I ended up spending the night there. Staying in an airport for 14 hours is definitely not a fun experience.

Saturday, July 12, 2008 [4M]

A bunch of old-timers gathered today in Shorewood to join Schmeck on his last run as a single man. We headed out from Schmeck's place around noon and went for a short and easy (for the most part) loop. This run sure brought back some memories. It didn't take long for Brewer to get up in the front, even though he hasn't run a step in a long time. Not far into the run we got to the bottom of the hill and Schmeck suggested we race to the top. Brewer was the first to react and Schmeck, Carlos and myself followed right away. Soon I started regretting my decision but I was too late to back out. It was an epic 3-way battle to the top with me, Schmeck and Carlos all leaning for the line and eventually declaring it a tie. I was spent after we reached the top, which wasn't surprising considering I hadn't run for over 2 weeks. We took things easy for a while and had the second race of the day with less than a mile to go. This time it was on flat ground between two half mile markers. Carlos was the first one to take off with Schmeck following. I didn't feel like I had another hard effort in me so I stayed back but then decided that I couldn't accept losing to Brewer and Maltas. I caught up and easily cruised to the bronze medal. We were back at Schmeck's place shortly after and called it a day. Not a bad way to send Schmeck off to married life.

Friday, July 11, 2008 [0M]

Recovery day.

Thurday, July 10, 2008 [0M]

Flew to Milwaukee this morning for Schmeck's wedding. I wasn't planning on running but the day long bachelor party I wouldn't have time for it anyway.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Monday, July 7, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Sunday, July 6, 2008 [0M]

Nothing.

Week Recap (29 June 2008 - 5 July 2008) - 0 Miles

Not much to write about this week. I did some biking and swimming but for the most part I was just being lazy.

Week Recap (22 June 2008 - 28 June 2008) - 19 Miles

Saturday, June 28, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Friday, June 27, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Thursday, June 26, 2008 [5M]

Carlmont high school and back.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 [0M]

Day off.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos.

Monday, June 23, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos.

Sunday, June 22, 2008 [0M]

Another day in Vegas.

Week Recap (15 June 2008 - 21 June 2008) - 46 Miles

After this week I'm officially calling it a season. I've been debating about it for a while and thinking about attempting a track race or two but at this point I'd be fooling myself if I thought I could run anything decent. I must say that this has been a somewhat weird season. I was in great shape in February but after getting injured I never quite managed to come back. The injury was definitely a setback but since I was running healthy for 4 months after that I think I can't really use it as an excuse. For some reason I was running mediocre workouts and races and just couldn't get things to start clicking. I actually started wondering if there was something physically wrong, maybe I was battling an iron deficiency again or something like that. It's not that I'm not looking for excuses, I just find it strange that I was running 80 mile weeks and feeling out of shape. In any case, I'm glad to put this season behind me and I'm more than ready for some recovery time.

Saturday, June 21, 2008 [0M]

I flew in to Vegas for the weekend and don't really expect to do any running. It was impossible to run during the day with the temperature up to 108 degrees and of course I was too busy having fun at night.

Friday, June 20, 2008 [0M]

I had to head to the airport at 5:30PM and didn't manage to get in a run in beforehand. I came back home from work early enough but I didn't want to run in 95 degree weather.

Thursday PM, June 19, 2008 [6M]

Redwood Shores. Out again from Club O in the afternoon for some extra mileage. Felt pretty crappy, perhaps running in 95 degree weather this morning took something out of me.

Thursday AM, June 19, 2008 [7M]

Oracle 5K, 17:34. This wasn't really a race so don't jump to any conclusions based on the time I ran. We had a 5K fun run at work today and I decided to join in on the fun. I made it to Club O around 11:30 AM, half an hour before the race, ran a couple of miles for warm-up, stretched for a couple of minutes and ran a few strides before lining up at the start. I got out decently fast and was expecting that it wouldn't take too long before I was all by myself but I could hear some guy running close behind for the first mile. That probably forced me to run a bit faster than I was planning, at least for the first half of the race. After the race the guy in second told me that his split for what he thought was the first mile was 5:06 but I find that hard to believe. The course was just an out and back on the bay trail on, the Redwood Shores side, so on the way back I was running against the incoming traffic and had to dodge people on the narrow path. I wasn't trying to run hard, though, so it didn't really matter. After making the turn I pretty much just coasted to the finish. I cooled down for a couple of miles after the race with the two guys who finished behind me and headed to the pool for the post race festivities. Not a bad way to spent a few hours at work.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 [0M]

Pretty long day at work, I was in before 9AM and didn't get back home until 7PM. I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night so when I got back I just crashed on the couch and couldn't get myself out for a run.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 [10M]

San Carlos with Doug and Brad. Doug set as off to a good pace and after the first few miles Brad and I took off on our own. Felt pretty good today, clipping 6:40s comfortably.

Monday, June 16, 2008 [15M]

Edgewood - Huddart - Phleger Estate. I got out of work a bit early and was on the trail to Huddart by 6PM so that I could get in the long run I missed yesterday. I managed to find the entrance to Phleger Estate this time and put in a few miles there before heading back to Huddart to tack on some extra mileage.

Sunday, June 15, 2008 [8M]

Golden Gate Park. I drove up to the city this morning and met up with Rachel and Adrienne for a run. It was a little short for a Sunday run but since Rachel is leaving for Liberia in a week to spend the summer, we had to do one last run together.We put in a nice and easy run and went out for a huge brunch afterwards.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 [7M]

Pretty busy day, I got up early and watched 2 Euro 2008 games then spent the afternoon in Mountain View, chilling in the pool and shooting some hoops. I got back around 7PM and dragged myself out after about an hour. I was planning on running an AT run and decided to give it a shot despite feeling pretty tired. I headed over to Carlmont high school but started having second thoughts on the way over. I still attempted the workout when I got there but after one 85s lap I realized that it was pointless to keep going. I continued for a mile on the track but only running 6:00 pace and then headed straight back home.

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.