Kaiser Half Results

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Week Recap - 90 Miles

I got a huge head start to the week thanks to getting lost on Sunday's run. I was expecting that 21-miler to take its toll on my legs but it didn't seem to affect me. I had a solid workout on Wednesday and put in consistent mileage the rest of the week. I could have easily pushed the mileage closer to 100 by putting in a morning run or two but I just can't manage to get myself early enough out of bed. I don't have much trouble running 12-13 miles every afternoon but it would be nice to afford a short day every now and then.

Alameda to Brittan Ave - 8 Miles

I'm racing the Kaiser Half tomorrow so I only went for a short one today to keep the legs a bit fresh. Nice and easy run, just cruising comfortably in a light rain.

Redwood Shores - 12 Miles

I was out of Club O by 5PM and managed to put in most of the run before it got dark. I don't remember the last time I ran this loop while there was still daylight out. I kept things easy, running 6:45s pretty much the whole way.

Hallmark Park-Brittan Ave - 11 Miles

I was planning to run this morning but I was too lazy once again. I had an appointment for an eye exam at 10:30AM and I had to be wearing my contacts for at least 3 hours so I got up at 7:30 to put them on. I was thinking of going out for a run then but I went back to bed instead and ended up lying there for a couple of hours. I wasn't sleeping but I couldn't drag myself out even for a short run. I left work early in the afternoon and worked from home for a couple of hours before getting out at 5:45 for another run in the rain. I ran to Hallmark park through Water Dog Lake park then continued on the streets to Brittan Ave. We've been getting quite a bit of rain lately, which I generally don't mind but finishing most runs with wet and muddy shoes is getting a bit annoying.
January Miles: 373

5M decreasing pace @ Carlmont High School - 13 Miles

6:08, 5:39, 5:17, 5:02, 4:47. *See note below

Thanks to CWong I found out that there's a track at Carlmont High School, just 2 miles away from my place. I drove out there after work for another shot at the decreasing pace 5 miler. I could have run over there for my warm-up but I wanted to check out the track first and make sure I could run my workout there. The track looked a bit unusual, it only had 6 lanes and had really long straights, sort of like an outdoor version of the MIT paper clip indoor track. I got into the workout right away after the usual 2 mile warm-up. My legs were feeling a bit heavy on the warm-up and I was a bit worried that the workout would end up being similar to last week's. At least the weather was pretty much perfect, no rain or wind like the last few days, and temperatures in the cool high 40s. I tried not to get out too fast on the first mile and ended up a bit on the slow side. I was almost right on for the second one and this time I didn't have trouble picking it up for the 3rd mile. I hit the first lap in 78 and at that point I knew this was going to be a good workout. The 3rd mile felt really smooth and almost effortless and again I had no trouble switching gears for the 4th mile. I came through the half in 2:31 and kept an even pace for the whole mile. I managed to pick things up even more for the last mile and ran 73s for the first 3 laps. I had an extra gear in the last lap and I was moving on the backstretch but I reminded myself that this wasn't a race so I kept things under control. I still managed to bring it in with a 68 last lap, finishing a very solid workout. I was feeling great after the workout and didn't mind going for a 6 mile cool-down to get some extra mileage in. I was really excited about how things turned out today and got a huge confidence booster. I've been doubting my fitness lately so it's good to see that the mileage is paying off. My last 5K was probably only a few seconds off my time at Alumni and this was at the end of a 5 mile workout, in trainers and running all by myself. Rolling week has climbed up to 97, all in singles.

* After visiting the track again I realized that it's not actually 400m long but about 390m. I did some calculations to figure out what my actual mile splits would be. I'm more interested in how I finished the workout so I'm extrapolating backwards. The workout comes out to be 200m shorter than 5M so I'm breaking it down as follows:
First 1400m at 6:17 pace
Next 4 miles: 5:50, 5:26, 5:10, 4:54.

Foster City - 12 Miles

I started at a more reasonable hour today, getting out of Club O by 6PM. I was feeling crappy for most of the run and running slower than 7:00 pace. Maybe the effects of that 21-miler showed up a day late and I exacerbated things a bit with yesterday's run. My right shin was also acting up, making things even more uncomfortable. I felt somewhat better in the last 3 miles or so and was down to 6:45 along Marina Lagoon but even then it felt like I was running sub 6:30 pace.

Bair Island - Redwood Shores - 13 Miles

I stayed at work until 7:30 this evening, trying to get some piece of code to work. At least I was successful and got out in a good mood so I didn't mind getting a late start to my run. I was expecting the legs to be tired after yesterday's run but they felt surprisingly fresh. I thought that I would need to make this a short, recovery run but I had no trouble putting in good mileage at a decent pace. I was in the 6:40s for most of the run, getting down in the 6:30s in the last few miles.

Lake Chabot Regional Park - 21 Miles

It's been a while since I had an adventurous run so I guess it was bound to happen. I slept in this morning and watched highlights of the Boston Indoor games when I got up, which wasn't over until 2PM. I drove out to Lake Chabot afterwards, the first time I've ever went on a run on East Bay. It was about a 35 minute drive and I didn't start my run until 3. There's a 12.5 mile loop going around the Lake and I figured I would run that and add on a few more miles to make it 16. I went out on the west side of the lake first and followed Goldenrod trail, which I thought would take me all the way around. I realized later that after about 5 miles I should have made a turn onto another trail. Instead I continued on the same trail and for a long time I thought I was heading the right way. I even decided to add on an extra 3.5 miles by doing an out and back on another trail, instead of adding on at the end of the loop. I finally figured out that something went wrong about an hour and a half into the run when I reached the end of Goldenrod trail and had only the option of heading back. I turned around and kept trying to figure out where I could have possibly taken a wrong turn. I was hoping that I wouldn't be too far off the right trail since I knew how long this run would end up if I just went back the same way. I got the bad news when I came across some guy and asked him what would be the shortest way to get back to the lake. His reaction was priceless. He kept saying that the lake was really far away and was shocked that I was trying to run there. I didn't even tell him that I had already been running for about 13 miles. It was a bit shocking to realize that this would turn out to be a 20+ mile run and I had another 7 or 8 to go. It was starting to get dark but fortunately I made it back in time before it was completely dark. I hadn't eat much all day, just a cup of coffee, some yogurt and a granola bar so I was getting pretty hungry. I thought my legs would give up after all these miles on hilly terrain but I held on fine, making it back to the car in 2.5 hours. I actually managed to keep a decent pace the entire time and I think calling this 21 isn't too far fetched, making this my longest run ever. Until I realized that I had gone the wrong way I was really enjoying the run. The trail was paved for about the first two miles but was pretty nice after that. It was a bit muddy but nothing too bad. There was a good amount of hills but only a few steep ones and mostly rolling. The park connects to the north with Antony Chabot park, which connects to Redwood Regional park so there's a lot more miles of trails in the area to explore.

Week Recap - 90 Miles

I managed to keep the mileage at 90 for another week, running everything in singles again. I've been meaning to start running doubles but my few attempts to get up early in the morning were not successful and I've been busy at work to get any runs in the middle of the day. The tempo on Wednesday wasn't as fast as I was hoping but at least I put in a hard effort. It's good that I've been keeping the mileage consistently high but I need to start getting in some more quality workouts. I haven't come up with a definite plan for my season yet, which makes it harder to plan my training. I've been thinking about running another indoor race but since that will involve some traveling (either up in Boston for Valentine's or in Washington for one of the UW meets) I doubt I'll make the trip unless I'm confident that I can run fast.

Weekend run with K-Stars - 13 Miles

I got up at 7:30 this morning, drove out to Rachel's place and we ran together to the K-Stars group meeting spot. It was a relatively small group, apparently smaller than usual because it was supposed to be raining. After waiting a few minutes for people to gather we headed out towards Golden Gate Park. I was with a group of 5-6 people at first but after a couple of miles I broke away with one other guy. He's training for the Boston marathon and today he was running a tempo, which was 6x6:00 at 6:40 pace with a minute of recovery in between. Not exactly a workout for me but still a decent pace for a morning run. We did an out and back on the trail along Ocean Beach and came back to Crepes on Cole for brunch. Not a bad run this morning, it's always good to have a break from the monotony of running by myself. Hanging out with the group afterwards was also fun and we ended up staying there for a couple of hours.

Marina Lagoon-Redwood Shores - 14 Miles

I came up with a new loop from work today. I went out E Hillsdale Blvd along Marina Lagoon, crossed over 101 and headed back towards Holly St. I cross over 101 again and picked up the Redwood Shores loop back to Oracle. It was raining a good amount the entire time and it wasn't long before I was completely soaked. It wasn't cold, though, so I was actually enjoying it. It turned out to be a pretty good run, feeling good and running 6:40s for the most part.

Foster City - 11 Miles

I had plans to watch the "Spirit of the Marathon" movie at 7:30 PM and didn't manage to leave the office until 5:30 so I had to rush things a bit. I started out at a brisk pace and kept it that way for the entire run. I was down to 6:30 for one of the miles along the bay trail and I was at 6:18 along Marina lagoon, with the rest of the run probably somewhere in that range. I skipped the loop around Golf Links, making the run about a mile shorter than usual. I didn't run any strides and stretched for only a couple of minutes before heading out to the movie theater. The movie was targeted more towards recreational runners and people who consider running a marathon as a lifetime achievement but it was still interesting to watch.

5M decreasing pace @ College of San Mateo - 10 Miles

6:01, 5:40, 5:26, 5:15, 5:11.
I left work at 6PM and drove out to College of San Mateo. I did some searching with google maps to find another track in the area besides Stanford and noticed one at CSM. It was annoying to have to go around the barriers at Stanford, plus it always seems to be crowded. I had no idea what to expect at CSM, I didn't even know if I'd be able to run there, but it turned out to be a nice track. There were nothing blocking the lanes and I was there all by myself. There weren't any lights on the track but it was decently illuminated from lights around the campus. The campus is up a hill and one side of the track is overlooking the area around San Mateo bridge, which was arguably the best view I've ever seen from a track. There was some traffic on the way there and I had to drive around campus for a while to find the track so by the time I started my warm-up it was getting close to 7. It was a bit chilly by that time, low 40s and raining lightly, but not too bad weather for a workout. I ran a couple of miles around campus, stopped for a short bathroom break at the end and started the workout right away. The plan was to start at 6:00 and bring it down 20 seconds each mile. I was right on for the first two miles but I wasn't able to transition to 5:20 very smoothly. I wasn't breathing hard at the end of the 3rd mile but my legs were feeling tired and heavy. I started working hard on the last two miles but I couldn't get the legs moving very fast and was way off my goal pace. I wasn't really expecting to get down to 4:40 by the end but I wanted to get close to 5:00 for the 4th mile and try to go sub 5 for the last one. It was a bit disappointing that I wasn't nearly as fast as I wanted but at least the effort was good. I guess it's not surprising that my legs were so tired with all the hilly runs I've done lately, plus I'm still trying to adjust to handling workouts while keeping the mileage high.

Redwood Shores - 13 Miles

I stayed at work a bit late today and didn't get started until 7PM. I was pretty hungry by the time I started the run and I was thinking of cutting it to 10 but as soon as I got going I didn't mind putting in some extra miles. My legs definitely appreciated not having to go over any hills for a change. I probably started at close to 7:00 pace, got down in the 6:40s for most of the run and finished with a couple of faster miles.

Edgewood to Huddart - 13 Miles

I could have probably used a run on flat surfaces as my legs were pretty sore from yesterday but since we had the day off from work I figured I should take advantage of it and get in another run on trails. I took my time getting out of the house today and didn't get to Edgewood until 3:30PM. I took the usual route to Huddart through Woodside, added on a few miles at Huddart and headed back. The trails were a bit muddy since it was raining since last night, making the climbs a little more challenging. For the most part I was running slow and wasn't really working the hills. I only got moving a bit in the last few miles, which were mostly downhill.

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve - 16 Miles

I was hesitant before to come over to Monte Bello Preserve since it looked pretty hilly but today I finally decided to give it a shot. I started out on the White Oak trail, then continued on Canyon trail which gradually went downhill. I stayed on that trail until Upper Stevens Creek park, then took Grizzly Flat trail to Skyline Blvd. Ironically the Grizzly Flat trail was the steepest trail of the run and was a pretty brutal climb. Once I got to Skyline I decided not to head back but cross over to the Bay Area Ridge trail instead. I made my way back to Monte Bello and added on some mileage there before heading back. As I was expecting this turned out to be a very hilly run, with some long steep climbs. There were almost no flat parts on the run and by the end my legs were pretty trashed. I wound up back to my car after 2 hours but there's no way I can call this anything longer than 16.

Week Recap - 90 Miles

Pretty solid week mileage-wise, the highest I've ever run in singles. My legs were sore from the Alumni meet for the first few days of the week so I didn't even consider running any workouts early in the week. I thought of running a workout on Saturday but opted out of it eventually. Probably wasn't a bad idea to let the legs recover and just build up the mileage again.

San Andreas Trail to Sweeney Ridge - 14 Miles

I stayed up late last night, waiting to see Marcos Baghdatis play in the Australian Open. The game was supposed to start around 2:30AM but it was delayed for a few hours so I slept for a while and got up just before 6AM. It ended up being a long game and it wasn't over until almost 10AM. Too bad Baghdatis lost as he almost pulled off an amazing come back. I tried to get back to bed after that but I only managed to sleep for another hour or so. I was considering running a decreasing pace 5 miler today but I was feeling a bit tired and not getting much sleep didn't help either so I opted against it. I drove out to the north end of Sawyer Camp and ran to San Andreas Trail down a a short dirt trail. San Andreas Trail is paved and pretty similar to Sawyer Camp in setting. It's only a couple of miles long so after that I continued on the streets towards Sweeney Ridge. I was expecting to find some trails there but I could only access a paved road going uphill. I was already 30 minutes in and I was only planning to run 10-12 miles but once I started going up I wanted to see what would be at the top of the hill. It was a good climb, almost a couple of miles long but it was worth it when I got to the top. The view was pretty amazing, I could see the ocean on the west, the bay area on the east and South San Francisco on the north. I stopped for a while to enjoy the view then headed back the same way. I took me just over 50 minutes to get to the top of the hill and was about 5 minutes faster on the way back. I was moving at a decent pace so I think it's safe to call it 14.

12 Miles

Hallmark Park. I came back from work around 5PM and didn't waste much time before getting out. I ran to Hallmark Park through Water Dog Lake Park and had enough time to put a few miles on the xc course before heading back down Ralston Ave. I was expecting that it would get dark by the time I got to the course but I was actually able to spend about 35 minutes there without much trouble. It's nice to see that days are starting to get longer.