Oakland foray

Two runs this weekend. I headed out with Silas on Saturday morning
set on doing a 15 miler in 2 loops. We dropped down to San Pablo Ave,
a main thoroughfare that is pretty empty on weekend mornings. Heading
toward North Berkeley, we turned on Marin Ave, a road that starts off
with a gradual incline near the Bay and gradually gets steeper and
steeper as you move toward the hills. About 2 miles up, past "The
Circle", it really takes off, but I didn't feel like testing my
strength. As we headed back home to drop Si off near the middle of the
run, I began entertaining thoughts of turning this into a 20 miler.
"I'm feeling good - I know that I'm registered for a half marathon next
month, but maybe I could switch to the marathon!" I counted off the
weeks in my mind, figured that I could probably fit in three 20 milers
by the end of July, or maybe just 2.

I was delayed for about 15 minutes at home while dropping off Si before
I headed south for the second part of the run. The running gods here
saw an opportunity to punish me for my impudence, and my legs were
dragging from the break. I came to my senses and realized that I owe
the marathon more respect than a 6 week training period. I decided for
the second part of this run, I would head down into Oakland and try to
find Lake Merritt; I had a vague idea that I could head south until I
found MacArthur or Grand Ave, then follow it to the lake and maybe run
around it. I wandered around a little bit through an atmosphere that
smelled distinctively of fried food, found a map on a bus shelter, and
finally found my way to the lake, which sits next to downtown Oakland.
The lake was further than I thought, so I looped around just when I hit
it and headed home. Total distance for the run was 16.2 miles in 2:11.

Sunday was a nondescript 6+ miles in about 50 minutes, mostly over the
first part of Saturday's run. I only managed about 35 miles in 4 days
this week, compared to 50 in each of the previous two weeks, but I feel
pretty good about the 16 miler. I'd like to have a few more 50+ mile
weeks over the next month, and I should be in pretty good shape for the
SF half marathon in July.

Finally, I need to find out where Alan Webb and Tyson Gay get their rocket
fuel.