Week Recap (28 September 2008 - 4 October 2008) - 59 Miles

This was a planned recovery week but mileage turned out to be lower than what I had in mind. The week started out well, with some easy, relatively short days. I ran some good quarters on Wednesday, got the legs moving fast without really working too hard. The rest of the week was frustrating as I had to deal with some foot pain since Thursday. I'm not sure how next week will turn out, I guess a lot will depend on how tomorrow's half goes. It might be best to cross train for a couple of days regardless. I can only hope that this won't be a major setback in my marathon preparations. 

Saturday, October 4, 2008 [4M]

Out and back on El Camino. I was out by noon today and headed on El Camino with the initial plan to cross over to Marina Lagoon and put in a 6 miler. With my foot hurting again I decided to cut it short and turned around early. Going into tomorrow's half I have to say my confidence is a bit shaken. The fitness is there and I'm know I'm gonna try to run through this foot problem but I'm afraid it my shift my focus away from the race. I don't want to exacerbate the probelm so if the pain is getting worse I might consider dropping out. I hate starting a race, though, and thinking that dropping out is an option.

Friday, October 3, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. Another long day at work, I didn't leave until 8:45PM and didn't get started until another half hour. My foot was feeling better today but the improvement wasn't too dramatic. I was pretty tired when I got back home and even considered taking the day off but opted eventually for a short run. Things were not as bad as yesterday but it's hard to feel good on the run when something is hurting. 

Thursday, October 2, 2008 [6M]

Alameda - San Carlos. I woke up this morning and took a painful first step out of bed. I thought at first it was the usual Achilles problem, since the pain was in the lower part of my left foot but after walking for a while I realized that this was something different. I haven't mentioned the Achilles in a long time but it's pretty much one of those things that never go away. It usually feels sore when I wake up in the morning so I'm used to limping when I first get out of bed but as the day goes on it loosens up and doesn't bother me on my runs. Today the pain was  a lot sharper and wasn't at the back of my foot as usual but more towards the inside and a bit lower. I could feel the pain all day and there was only a marginal improvement as the day progressed. I came back home after work and got out around 7:30, heading towards Alameda. I was hoping that I wouldn't feel much pain after a couple of miles and was ambitious enough to think I could possibly put in 10-11 miles. Things didn't get better though and after maybe 2 or 3 miles I decided to cut the run short. It was a miserable run as I was hurting the whole way and shuffling through at 7:25 pace. I started the I-squared treatment after the run and I can only hope that I can shake this off in a few days. 

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 [9M]

10x400m. 67, 69, 65, 66, 65, 64, 64, 63, 65, 64. Since this is a recovery week I wanted a fairly easy workout and opted for some quarters with 200m rest between each interval. The rest periods were around 1:40, which allowed me to get the legs moving fast but still be completely recovered before each interval. It was a long day at work, I didn't leave the office until 8:30 and it was almost 9 by the time I was out the door. I ran over to Carlmont high school and didn't take much time stretching and running strides before getting the workout under way. I wasn't sure what I should be shooting for and was thinking at first something between 66-68 would be good enough to get some good turnover without having to force things too much. On the first one I came through in 32 but eased up too much in the second 200. I got out slow on the second one, coming through in 34, and not doing much to pick up the pace on the second half. I felt like I wasn't running smoothly at all and thought that I would have to work harder than I wanted to hit 68s. I stopped looking at 200 splits for the rest of the workout and was somewhat surprised when I saw a 65 for the 3rd interval as I was expecting something along the lines of the second one. I guess it has become the norm lately to need a couple of intervals before finding my rhythm. From then on everything went very smoothly and I was able to run faster than I was expecting. I was getting out somewhat aggressively and didn't have much trouble maintaining a quick turnover throughout the interval. I was taking a good bit of rest so this wasn't a very challenging workout but it was good to see that I still have some speed in my legs despite not doing any speedwork for some time.  

Tuesday PM, September 30, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos. Ran with Brent, took it pretty easy and just chatted the whole time.

September Miles: 407

Tuesday AM, September 30, 2008 [4M]

Brittan Ave. I worked from home today and got out for a short one around noon. Headed to Brittan Ave down Laurel St and came back along El Camino. In the unusual events of the day was getting interviewed by some local TV channel when I got caught at a red light. I was of course only wearing running shorts and no shirt and the first thing I said was "can I really answer your question like this?" I was asked something about the bailout, I mubbled something and went on my way. I don't know if I actually made it on TV, that must have been quite the sight. 

Monday, September 29, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I didn't get too much sleep last night as I had a 6AM flight, which I managed to miss thanks to oversleeping and hitting every red light on the way to the airport. My sprint through the airport only got me to the gate a couple of minutes too late so I had to wait another hour to catch the next flight. I pretty much went straight from the airport to work and was pretty tired when I got out for a run around 7PM. Not really in the mood for running fast, just putting in the miles at whatever pace felt comfortable. 

Sunday, September 28, 2008 [12M]

2 for 2 in Vegas. I was out around 5 this afternoon, heading south this time and running on some streets parallel to the strip to avoid running into the crowds. Once again, not a very exciting run but I put in the miles. 

Week Recap (21 September 2008 - 27 September 2008) - 102 Miles

According to the books this is my highest mileage week ever although it's not really close to my highest rolling week total of 118. Starting the week with a solid 22-miler helped take a big chunk of mileage out of the way and made things somewhat easier for the rest of the week. Still not doing a great job at putting in doubles, as I only put in 2 morning runs and ran 92 miles in singles. By adding more doubles I could either add on some more mileage or keep the legs somewhat fresher for my workouts. I can't complain of course for Tuesday's workout, that was as good as I could expect a workout to be right now, but Friday's attempt to run a tempo was rather disappointing. I'm not gonna look into it too much, though, I know it's not surprising for my legs to feel beat on some days and I don't think that workout reflects my fitness in any way. Overall a pretty solid week. Next week will be a recovery week so I'm only gonna shoot for about 70 miles. After posting 6 90+ mile weeks I think an easy week is in order to help keep me healthy and also give me a mental break. I'm running the San Jose half next Sunday so hopefully I'll be well rested for that. 

Saturday, September 27, 2008 [8M]

One more weekend in Vegas. I know this wasn't the best time for a Vegas vacation, with the San Jose half coming up next weekend, but I couldn't pass on Pete's bachelor party. At least this time I was determined not to let the festivities interfere with my training and got out this afternoon for an easy run. I already put in enough mileage this week so I didn't need much to round off the week. I was  out from the Mirage, headed north on Industrial Rd and came back up on Las Vegas Blvd. Pretty boring run, the only interesting thing about it was getting to see some part of Vegas that you don't normally get to see. It's somewhat amazing that a few miles away from all the flashy lights you get the feeling that you are in a small town in the middle of the desert. 

Friday, September 26, 2008 [14M]

Foster City. I stayed at work rather late for a Friday and didn't get started until 7PM. I headed over to Foster City planning to run a long tempo. I had been feeling tired all day and wasn't really excited about running a workout at the end of a long day. I was dragging on my warm-up but was hoping that once I got started I would feel better. That didn't happen and I could tell that I would have trouble running anything fast from mile one. My original plan was to run 5:40 pace for at least 8 miles but I revised the plan once I started, deciding start with something close to 6:00 and try to get progressively faster. I was in the low 5:50s for the first mile but was working a lot harder than I should have been at that pace. After a couple of miles I gave up on trying to run anything fast and settled with putting in just a hard run. I was only running sub 6 pace for 5 miles and slowed down to a 6:20 when I turned into a strong headwind near the San Mateo bridge. I put in a couple more miles at 6:20-6:30 but even that felt like I was forcing the pace so I just shut it down for the rest of the run. I was slower than 7:00 pace for my last 5 miles and felt like I was running on empty. I was glad to get this over with and headed straight home without running any strides or stretching much. I don't know what the deal was today, my legs were really beat and I don't think there's much I could have done about it. I haven't really felt the mileage catching up to me so far so I guess it was bound to happen. 

Thursday, September 25, 2008 [13M]

Redwood Shores. Don't recall anything exciting happening today. 

Wednesday PM, September 24, 2008 [12M]

Edgewood to Huddart. I left work early to go for a haircut and since I was out by 5PM I thought it was a good chance to head over for a run at Huddart. Pretty standard route, straight to Huddart and up to Toyon Camp and back. Not the greatest of runs, my legs were feeling a bit tired and my hill climbing was far from impressive. 

Wednesday AM, September 24, 2008 [5M]

Chula Vista - Alameda - San Carlos.  I managed to get myself up early enough to be out of the door by 9AM for a true morning run. I run a short version of my usual Alameda - San Carlos loop by cutting through to Alameda down Chula Vista Dr. Pretty typical morning run, feeling sluggish and running slow. At least I didn't have to worry about squeezing in a run in the middle of the day. 

Tuesday PM, September 23, 2008 [11M]

5x1600. 4:57, 4:52, 4:50, 4:52, 4:44

I left work at 5PM and drove over to Sequoia high school for some good old-fashioned mile repeats. The weather was in the 90s earlier in the day but by the time I finished my warm-up it didn't feel like it was that hot. My legs were feeling decent on the warm-up and strides so I was confident this would turn out to be a good workout. Perhaps I had unreasonably low expectations and thought I'd be satisfied with running some 5:00 miles. I started out a bit slow on the first interval and came through the first lap in 76. That lap didn't feel so smooth and seeing how it was slow I was worried a bit that I would have to work hard to run 5:00 pace. Turns out one lap was all my legs needed to loosen up and I was able to pick up the pace and feel more comfortable. I was 2:30-3:43 at the end of the next two laps and held on to that pace until the end of the interval. I took a 400m jog between intervals and did a good job at keeping the rest relatively short. I was getting right into a jog at the end of my intervals and took between 3:05-3:20 to cover my rest lap. I made a slight effort to get out faster in the second interval and came through in 73, somewhat surprised since it felt really comfortable. I ran even 73s the rest of the way and felt in control the whole time. On the 3rd interval I ran 72s for the first two laps and 73s for the last two. I got out in 71 on the 4th but slowed down too much on the 2nd lap and came through the 800 in 2:25. I worked the 3rd lap some more to come through in 3:48 and ended up with a low 4:52. I felt almost completely recovered as I was getting ready to start my last interval and figured I could push the pace some more. I got out in 70-2:21-3:33 and closed decently with another 71. I felt like I could have blown away that last lap but reminded myself that this was just a workout and kept it under control. I put in about 4 miles around Redwood City for my cool-down and called it a day with some strides on the infield. I was very happy with how things turned out today, I haven't looked back at past workouts but I'm pretty sure this must be my best mile repeat workout ever. It was one of those workouts you dream of having, when you step on the track with some goal pace in mind and are able to destroy that window and feel very comfortable doing it. You can definitely argue that I should have had a more aggressive goal but

seeing how much I've struggled running hard workouts on my own over the last year and with my legs tired from all the mileage, it's hard to blame myself for not hammering a workout from the gun. The times by themselves might not be that impressive but the way the workout progressed was  the big confidence booster. I wasn't really working hard until the last interval and even in that there was a lot more left in the tank. I was able to get the legs moving fast and felt like I was smoothly flowing around the track. One of those rare days when everything is clicking, hopefully there's more like this to come. 

Tuesday AM, September 23, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. 

Monday, September 22, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. Easy run this afternoon, running around 7:00 for the most part and only getting down to 6:35-6:40 for the last 3 miles down Marina Lagoon. I was expecting my legs to be somewhat tired after yesterday's 22-miler but that wasn't really the case. There was some minor soreness but nothing that affected my running much. 

Sunday, September 21, 2008 [22M]

Bay Trail to Burlingame. I really needed some sleep today and slept in until noon. I didn't get out until 2PM but it was a rather cool day so I didn't have any issues going long at that time. I started from home and crossed over 101 to the trail along Marina Lagoon down Hillsdale Blvd. The plan was to head north on the bay trail and do an 11 mile out and back, basically a slightly extended version of the 21 miler I had run a couple of weeks ago. For the first time I experimented with eating some gels along the way since I'll need to get used to those as part of my marathon preparation. I had no idea how many and how often I should take them and figured I'd start with a couple of gels and take one every 50 minutes. My plan as far as pace was to get out at whatever pace felt comfortable and progressively run faster on the way back, getting close to marathon pace by the end. I made the turn after 1:16:35, so I averaged just under 7:00 pace on the way out. I wasn't feeling that great at the start and was a bit worried that this could end up being a rough day but after 4 or 5 miles my legs loosened up and I was comfortably covering mile after mile. It was a bit windy on the way out so I had the wind on my back as I turned around, which made it easier to pick up the pace. I wasn't trying to force the pace at all but I was getting more into it as the run progressed and didn't have much trouble getting my legs to move faster. I only made a concious effort to run faster in the last 3 miles and was running low 6s, with the last mile or so somewhere close to 5:40 - 5:50 pace. I wound up back in 2:25:45, so 69:10 for the way back, averaging under 6:20 pace. My legs were obviously tired by the end but I wasn't completely spent. The last half of the run was pretty solid and I wasn't dying at the end, instead I was able to get down to a brisk pace. I don't know what effect the gels had but I think at least they helped a bit mentally. This was my longest run ever and it's really encouraging that I made it through without any problems. I'll probaly try to get up to 23-24 before CIM and I'm getting more confident that I can handle the marathon distance. The only question is how fast can I get myself to run it. 

Week Recap (14 September 2008 - 20 September 2008) - 98 Miles

Another solid week, both in terms of quantity and quality. I was shooting for 100-105 this week and came a couple of miles short, which in the grand scheme of things is not a big deal. I feel like I can handle 5-10 more miles but with work and all it's getting hard to find the time to squeeze some more mileage in without at least sacrificing my social life some more.  Not that it's something I'm not really used to. Seeing how I only had two morning runs this week and Friday turned out to be only an 8 mile day it seems like there's room for more but that's easier said than done. I should be shooting to run doubles every day and I need to start running before work in order to do that. I can usually get a run in before lunch but you never know what can come up in the middle of the day. As far as workouts are concerned, I'm happy with how things are progressing. I haven't really run anything hard yet but I first want to get used to putting in some harder efforts while doing high mileage and running on tired legs. I'll wrap this up with one big announcement. I finally decided to run my first marathon and I'll be lining up for CIM on December 7th. I guess it's fairly obvious that I've been thinking about it for some time and I've been gearing my training to be more marathon specific so I figured I might as well commit myself to it.