Thursday, May 31, 2007
If you see a hill...
Erin has a great route in Philly that we called "If you see a hill, go up it". It was about 10.5 miles, winding along Cobb's Creek park and just crossing City Line Ave, and showed a bit of everything that West Philly has to offer; it was perfect for a midweek "hump" run during a mileage buildup, or a short weekend run. I ran an East Bay version of that today, albeit shorter. I don't think I'm ready to name this one yet, but I wanted to see some of the roads that are labelled in dark red on my bike map (>15 degree grade). I worked my way up Dwight, almost to the end, before turning around to head past the stadium and around Berkeley Lab. The elevation profile at my turnaround looks like a ramp that one might use to send a rocket sled into orbit, but make no mistake, I wasn't running that fast. 22:38 out, 19:33 back, 5 miles in 43:11.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Memorial Day run
Silas and I woke up early today but took our time getting out the door.
When we left the house around 7, the sky was overcast and there was a
slight chill in the air. My preparation was better this morning, as
Silas had some Zweiback and a bulldozer to keep him company on the run.
I was feeling better today, and this showed as I ran through yesterday's
turnaround point (13:15) in 12:05. We continued our way on the Ohlone
Greenway into Albany, passing Berkeley Bagels, where I cursed that I'd
forgotten to bring some money to pick up bagels and cream cheese.
Turned around after 20 minutes and returned home by the same route. C
and I celebrated Memorial Day (and our 7th anniversary) by going out for
breakfast at the Homemade Cafe - decent Huevos Rancheros, good
homefries, and killer coffee cake.
The run was 5.2 miles in 40:23 and is gmapped here.
When we left the house around 7, the sky was overcast and there was a
slight chill in the air. My preparation was better this morning, as
Silas had some Zweiback and a bulldozer to keep him company on the run.
I was feeling better today, and this showed as I ran through yesterday's
turnaround point (13:15) in 12:05. We continued our way on the Ohlone
Greenway into Albany, passing Berkeley Bagels, where I cursed that I'd
forgotten to bring some money to pick up bagels and cream cheese.
Turned around after 20 minutes and returned home by the same route. C
and I celebrated Memorial Day (and our 7th anniversary) by going out for
breakfast at the Homemade Cafe - decent Huevos Rancheros, good
homefries, and killer coffee cake.
The run was 5.2 miles in 40:23 and is gmapped here.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Weekday Warrior
At least I'd better be one, because I sure didn't go to battle this weekend. An easy 3+ miles today with Silas in 26:33. I cut a short run shorter due to protests from the peanut gallery. I've spent more time stretching than running this weekend, which is a good thing. The back is still stiff, but without the grinding pain that I was having earlier this week. Although I don't feel any extra pain from running now, I'm afraid of aggravating my back muscles again. The plan now is to take it easy like this for the rest of the week, but hopefully including a couple of runs at 6-7 miles. I'll be traveling next weekend and will probably rest for 3 days, then hit the roads again next week. I'm aiming now for a half marathon in San Francisco that's associated with the SF marathon, on July 29, so I have plenty of time to ease back in and get some real workouts.
Friday, May 25, 2007
A New Man
I am amazed at how much I feel like a new man today. I am skeptical of
many of the claims made about chiropractic, but as far as treating back
pain is concerned, I am sold. My previous attempt at a run this week
was aborted after 1 block; this morning I got up early and went for an
unglamorous run across to Addison St. and down to 6th St. before turning
around to head home. I had a little sacral pain early on, but it dissipated
as the run progressed. The air was chilly and moist, and the skies were
covered by low-hanging clouds, although we edged in just below the fog
line this morning. No hummingbirds today, but I did see a snail
chilling on the sidewalk.
The distance was 4.1 miles according to gmap in 35:04. If you're
counting, this pace is 2 minutes faster than my 12k PR pace. Silas slept
in this morning, but I'll take him out for a longer run tomorrow.
many of the claims made about chiropractic, but as far as treating back
pain is concerned, I am sold. My previous attempt at a run this week
was aborted after 1 block; this morning I got up early and went for an
unglamorous run across to Addison St. and down to 6th St. before turning
around to head home. I had a little sacral pain early on, but it dissipated
as the run progressed. The air was chilly and moist, and the skies were
covered by low-hanging clouds, although we edged in just below the fog
line this morning. No hummingbirds today, but I did see a snail
chilling on the sidewalk.
The distance was 4.1 miles according to gmap in 35:04. If you're
counting, this pace is 2 minutes faster than my 12k PR pace. Silas slept
in this morning, but I'll take him out for a longer run tomorrow.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Bay to Breakers lbrr
(Update - I just went to the chiropractor and I still have some pain, but I'm no longer a hunchback. Hopefully we'll be on the road again soon.)
Silas and I woke up around 6 am last Sunday to have some breakfast (a
bowl of cereal for me, a fistful of banana for him) and jog over to the
Ashby BART station. We were on our way to San Francisco to run the 96th
Bay to Breakers 12K. B2B is more of an event than a race (although John
Korir and Catherine Ndereba did show up) where everyone lets their freak
flag fly. The packet that I got in the mail with my number included a
list of beer specials at bars on the course. It's also the only large
race that I know of that allows strollers, so I decided that we would
give it a try.
Just like every day out here, the weather wqas perfect for racing. We
rode on a BART train crowded with other runners, I in traditional running
garb and Silas in his monkey suit, still clutching his banana. We all
got off at the Embarcadero station in downtown SF. I changed a diaper
(Silas's) outside next to the ferry building, while Si occupied himself
by watching a man in a banana suit and watching the buses drive by.
We headed to the start, passing people in Mexican wrestling costumes,
pushing keg-carts, and wearing prom dresses. As a wheeled object, we
had to start in Zone 2, at the back of the pack. Soon, and
inexplicably, hundreds of tortillas were flying through the air. I
wasn't sure where they were coming from, but some runners had handfuls
of tortillas that they were throwing Frisbee style. Silas finally
finished his banana and I dropped him into his stroller as we waited for
the gun.
The elite women got a head start, then the elite men, then the rest of
us (Edna Kiplagat was the eventual winner, while John Korrir was the
first male). I was not expecting a fast race, but I was hoping for a
good workout with a 7 minute pace. The first mile went very slowly, of
course, with lots of starting and stopping, walking, and trying not to
hit people with the stroller. There was a bottleneck in the road where
an Elvis impersonator had set up a stage in the middle of an
intersection and people were stopping to listen. Another group of guys
had set up a basketball goal in the middle of the road and were passing
a ball to runners to shoot field goals. I never actually saw the first
mile marker (in fact, I only ever saw a marker for mile 6), but figured
that it went by in about 12 minutes. Mile 2 wasn't any faster, but
included the highlight of the run for me. I saw a line of people
running toward me in fish costumes - dressed as salmon, in fact. There
were 20-30 people in this costume, all in a line and running against the
"current", chanting "Spawn! Spawn!".
During mile 3, we approached the dreaded Hayes St Hill, an 11% grade
that stretches for maybe 1/2 a mile. The road was still very crowded,
though, so it was only possible to run this at a snail's pace, making
the hill much easier than I'd expected. At the top of the hill, Silas
had to get out of the stroller for some Daddy time, so we pulled over to
the right side of the road and I carried him while we walked down the
hill. By the bottom of the hill, we were both feeling better, so back
in the stroller and back to jogging. Mile 4, I remembered from the
course map, ended at the panhandle of Golden Gate Park; here my watch
read about 44 minutes. The crowd had thinned out a bit, and I was able
to run at a more comfortable pace, but still much slower than in any of
my daily runs.
As we came into the park, Silas and I joined some runners off-road to
run on the bike path at a somewhat faster pace. Here we saw (and
passed) banana-suit man, as well as a couple dressed as skunks and
pushing a stroller. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, so Si
fell asleep - he was recognized by the finish line announcer as the
first to finish the race in his sleep. We finished in 1:17 or
something, around 6000th place out of 25,000. We met up with Christine
and my cousins Scott and Karen afterwards for brunch in the city before
heading home.
It's hard for me to know what to do with an experience like this. On
one hand, it is fun to commune with thousands of other runners who are
out for a good time and to see what costumes people come up with; on the
other, most of the race was run at an uncomfortably slow pace, with my
looking at the ground to make sure Silas wasn't rolling over people's
toes. I think if I were to run this race again, I would go solo and in
the sub-seeded section (assuming that I can make the 37:30 10k
qualifying time). Silas can join me in small 5k runs in the future,
although he keeps getting himself disqualified for high levels of HGH.
Unfortunately, with the inaugural post this blog is now an injury blog,
as I am experiencing some serious back pain that prevents me from standing
up straight, much less running. I'm off to the chiropractor later this
afternoon, though, so hopefully we'll be back on the road again as I train
for the San Francisco half marathon in July. I am still looking for a
running club out here, although I did get in a good run last week with one
of my coworkers.
Silas and I woke up around 6 am last Sunday to have some breakfast (a
bowl of cereal for me, a fistful of banana for him) and jog over to the
Ashby BART station. We were on our way to San Francisco to run the 96th
Bay to Breakers 12K. B2B is more of an event than a race (although John
Korir and Catherine Ndereba did show up) where everyone lets their freak
flag fly. The packet that I got in the mail with my number included a
list of beer specials at bars on the course. It's also the only large
race that I know of that allows strollers, so I decided that we would
give it a try.
Just like every day out here, the weather wqas perfect for racing. We
rode on a BART train crowded with other runners, I in traditional running
garb and Silas in his monkey suit, still clutching his banana. We all
got off at the Embarcadero station in downtown SF. I changed a diaper
(Silas's) outside next to the ferry building, while Si occupied himself
by watching a man in a banana suit and watching the buses drive by.
We headed to the start, passing people in Mexican wrestling costumes,
pushing keg-carts, and wearing prom dresses. As a wheeled object, we
had to start in Zone 2, at the back of the pack. Soon, and
inexplicably, hundreds of tortillas were flying through the air. I
wasn't sure where they were coming from, but some runners had handfuls
of tortillas that they were throwing Frisbee style. Silas finally
finished his banana and I dropped him into his stroller as we waited for
the gun.
The elite women got a head start, then the elite men, then the rest of
us (Edna Kiplagat was the eventual winner, while John Korrir was the
first male). I was not expecting a fast race, but I was hoping for a
good workout with a 7 minute pace. The first mile went very slowly, of
course, with lots of starting and stopping, walking, and trying not to
hit people with the stroller. There was a bottleneck in the road where
an Elvis impersonator had set up a stage in the middle of an
intersection and people were stopping to listen. Another group of guys
had set up a basketball goal in the middle of the road and were passing
a ball to runners to shoot field goals. I never actually saw the first
mile marker (in fact, I only ever saw a marker for mile 6), but figured
that it went by in about 12 minutes. Mile 2 wasn't any faster, but
included the highlight of the run for me. I saw a line of people
running toward me in fish costumes - dressed as salmon, in fact. There
were 20-30 people in this costume, all in a line and running against the
"current", chanting "Spawn! Spawn!".
During mile 3, we approached the dreaded Hayes St Hill, an 11% grade
that stretches for maybe 1/2 a mile. The road was still very crowded,
though, so it was only possible to run this at a snail's pace, making
the hill much easier than I'd expected. At the top of the hill, Silas
had to get out of the stroller for some Daddy time, so we pulled over to
the right side of the road and I carried him while we walked down the
hill. By the bottom of the hill, we were both feeling better, so back
in the stroller and back to jogging. Mile 4, I remembered from the
course map, ended at the panhandle of Golden Gate Park; here my watch
read about 44 minutes. The crowd had thinned out a bit, and I was able
to run at a more comfortable pace, but still much slower than in any of
my daily runs.
As we came into the park, Silas and I joined some runners off-road to
run on the bike path at a somewhat faster pace. Here we saw (and
passed) banana-suit man, as well as a couple dressed as skunks and
pushing a stroller. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful, so Si
fell asleep - he was recognized by the finish line announcer as the
first to finish the race in his sleep. We finished in 1:17 or
something, around 6000th place out of 25,000. We met up with Christine
and my cousins Scott and Karen afterwards for brunch in the city before
heading home.
It's hard for me to know what to do with an experience like this. On
one hand, it is fun to commune with thousands of other runners who are
out for a good time and to see what costumes people come up with; on the
other, most of the race was run at an uncomfortably slow pace, with my
looking at the ground to make sure Silas wasn't rolling over people's
toes. I think if I were to run this race again, I would go solo and in
the sub-seeded section (assuming that I can make the 37:30 10k
qualifying time). Silas can join me in small 5k runs in the future,
although he keeps getting himself disqualified for high levels of HGH.
Unfortunately, with the inaugural post this blog is now an injury blog,
as I am experiencing some serious back pain that prevents me from standing
up straight, much less running. I'm off to the chiropractor later this
afternoon, though, so hopefully we'll be back on the road again as I train
for the San Francisco half marathon in July. I am still looking for a
running club out here, although I did get in a good run last week with one
of my coworkers.
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