Tuesday Tempo

I did a 5.7 mile tempo run Tuesday morning, with 3.5 miles at increasing effort. The splits were 6:52-6:53-6:08-3:00. Faster than last time, but I was a bit disappointed by the slowdown in mile 2. May have just been distraction, though. I felt a twinge in my left ankle during my recovery that has haunted me the last couple of days; it migrates between my Achilles tendon and my lower calf; I've been icing twice a day and not running. I'd been hoping to hit 160 miles for the month with a run today, but instead I'm finishing December with 154 miles, my second-highest total of the year (behind 157 in August). It's worth noting that I finished August in pain as well, but this feels more minor. I think I'll be ready to go by this weekend.

A lot of running since the last post:
Wednesday, 4.5 mile bagel run with Silas in 39 minutes
Thursday, 15.7 miles in 2:08. Almost identical to his run, but a bit faster. Still muddy, though.
Friday, 6 mile Christmas run to Solano Ave in 45 minutes.
Sunday, 9.8 mile Marin loop in 1:13. (47 miles for the week, my highest of the year)
Monday, 10.6 miles with Silas, untimed. I took the long way to the pet food store to pick up some dog chow. We meandered around Rockridge for about 45 minutes while Silas napped, then carefully examined about every shelf in the store before heading home.

If it's Tuesday, it must be...

I missed my tempo run this morning, but had a narrow window of time later in the morning when I had to run an errand, so I ran it. Fartlek-style. The 5.5 miles in 38:51 included 6 pickups between 1:00 and 3:40 Checking off a couple of the longer ones on the map, it looks like I was dipping below 6 minute pace.

Other recent runs:
Friday, 5.6 miles including 2x1600, 1x1800. These were supposed to accelerate with each 400 meters in the range of 1:40-1:25/lap, but I had trouble with the timing. 6:04 average pace.

Monday, 5.5 miles. Thanks to the glorious revelation that, instead of running *before* Christine and Si wake up, Christine can wake up 15 minutes earlier and I can run *afterwards* and still get to work on time. I must say, though, I missed those first rays of dawn.

5 runs

Friday, 9.8 miles in 1:11
Saturday, 6 miles to Solano Ave in 43:42
Sunday, the same 6 miles with Silas in 46:43
Tuesday, 6.2 miles tempo in 46:01
Wednesday, 7 miles in 55:58

All of these runs were in the rain except for the tempo. 3.5 tempo miles in 7:15-6:53-6:25-3:10. Fatigue and darkness must have been slowing me down compared to last week.

Three Quarters

Headed to the Piedmont High track this morning; there was a relatively small crowd of 10-15 folks. On the table was 4x1200, starting each set with an easy lap and shifting up a gear each 400 meters; 200m recoveries between each set.

Mine went down in 4:28-4:38-4:28-4:31. I actually had the most trouble finding first gear; in the two fast sets I started with 1:33 laps and was only able to knock off a second for the second lap. The workout felt good, though, and I feel like I've really been building some speed this fall.

Tempo

6 miles in 46:something

Ran along my usual tempo route (taking Benvenue instead of College to avoid daytime pedestrian traffic). 3.5 tempo miles went down in 6:43-6:44-5:43-2:49. A few steps faster than last week's run (unblogged), and I tacked on that last half mile because I didn't feel like I was breathing hard enough. The usual disclaimer applies: some miles are uphill, some are downhill.

Weekend runs

Saturday night, 3.4 miles in :26
Sunday afternoon, 10.6 miles in 1:26 with Silas

Saturday's run was more about discipline than miles - This was my first 5-day running week in a while as a result. I took the long way to Walgreens and ran home with a half gallon of ammonia.

I was hoping for a long run on Sunday, but also had to do my best to help Silas nap. We ended up taking the *really* long way to the Berkeley Bowl to get some cheese and ice cream. He didn't actually sleep, and I didn't actually burn any glycogen, but a good time was had by all. We ran a couple of miles up Broadway in Oakland, a road that is almost entirely occupied by vacant auto dealerships (also Oakland Tech High School, Ricky Henderson's alma mater).

6.6 miles in :56 this morning

Jet-lagged Si woke me up at 4:40 this morning saying "Let's go for a run. It will be fun!" We went through the Northbrae tunnel and picked up bagels on the way home. Took a nap at work.

Lake Merritt run

12.6 miles in 1:45

Slogged to Lake Merritt. Windy and choppy on the lake.

St Pete Times Turkey Trot

Well, the Wing Ding, really, which was the first race of the morning - a competitive 5k, followed by a 5k fun run, a 1 mile fun run, and a 10k fun run. I had no idea how big a production this was, since I just found it by Googling and previous years' results aren't online. But after 5 hours of sleep, I crawled out of bed at 5:30 this morning and drove 12 miles down to Clearwater, only getting a little bit lost. Check in and the finish lines were at the high school football stadium, and I was quickly registered and heading a few blocks away to find the start. I found it, along with several thousand other runners, and warmed up a bit with a mile or so of jogging and 4 or 5 strides. I lined up a few feet behind the start, surrounded by local high school runners, and made a mental note not to fall for their rabbitty tricks.

No dice. The first mile went down in 5:43, which was way too fast. I felt alright, but I knew there was no way I could keep that up. I did have visions in my head of holding just over a 6 minute pace for the remainder, but after mile 2 in 6:17, I just tried to hold on. Mile 3 was 6:31 and slowing, but I found an extra gear when we hit the track for the finish and passed two runners. Finish time was 19:07, good for 95th place and a coffee mug.

The time was about 45 seconds faster than my last 5k, back in February, and I'm thinking that with a couple more months of good training and getting back in the habit of pacing myself, I could be ready for a PR in the mid to low 18s later this winter. Here's hoping!

WWSD?

about 5.5 miles today in 42:31

We're visiting Tampa this week, and at lunchtime I headed over to the Hillsborough River Park (a name that I may have invented) to get in a run on the paved path. During my second lap, I decided that it was getting boring and pondered what I've learned from Seebo. Of course, I can't know his true mind, and need to consider my own situation, but based on what I've learned from him and his contemporaries, I decided that he would probably take the next lap a little faster, and the one after that a little faster still, and then maybe a final lap at the fastest pace yet. I hadn't kept splits for my easy laps, but my first fast lap came in at 4:17, then 4:07, then another 4:07 and I was cooked. Not to hot today, but the air here is really heavy, especially by the river. Mapping it, I see that the path is about 2/3 miles around, so none too shabby. Still thinking Turkey Trot on Thursday.

Oh yeah, 15.8 miles in 2:14 on Sunday, with 1500' elevation change.

Groundhog's Day

Friday, 5.5 mile Hopkins loop in 43:53.
Saturday, 5.5 mile Hopkins loop in 38:45

We're heading to Tampa on Monday. Thinking about a turkey trot...

Track pants

More running than posting lately, but less than I'd like. I've been doing 20-30 miles a week for a few weeks, usually skipping Monday after a hard weekend, then oversleeping on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I joined the Piedmont track group again today for a 321 workout: two sets of 1200-800-400, with 200-200-400 meter recoveries. The reps were fast: 4:41-2:55-1:11-4:46-2:57-1:12. I fell behind my group on the 1200s but was able to hang on the 800s and 400s. Cold enough for pants during my warmup laps.

Uptempo, downtempo

6.9 miles total this morning in 48:29, including 3.5+ tempo miles that went in: 6:56 (1+, uphill)-6:40 (1 mile, uphill)-6:11 (1 mile, downhill)-3:05 (1/2 mile, downhill). The morning was clear and cool, compared to yesterday's 6.5 miles (48:28) trail run in the muck. Apparently I also ran 4.7 miles on Wednesday, but I don't remember exactly where or when.

Bagel run

5.5 miles in 46:37 with Silas.
Stopped at Berkeley Bagels and then had a snack by the BART tracks.

Silas noticed the columns at Hopkins and The Alameda and told me that "somebody died near here." He must have learned that at the Civil War cemetery in Birmingham.

Halloween run

8.1 miles in 1:00:43

I considered going for 12 miles this afternoon but had to get home in time for trick-or-treating. Felt good and a little bit fast, even listening to This American Life.

Dipping into the well

Met with the Thursday track group at Piedmont High this morning. Workout was an "inverse ladder", but seemed more like climbing into a well: 1600-800-400-800-1600, increasing effort at the shorter distances with 400 m recoveries. My plan was to go 6:30-3:00-1:25-3:00-6:30, but these went down in 6:25-3:07-1:10(!!!)-3:04-6:25, and done before sunrise. Felt great, but I can still feel that 400 in my lungs. 6.5 total including warmup and cooldown.

Sunday Double

am - 5 blocks with Silas (no wheels), untimed
pm - 5.5 miles Milvia-Gilman loop in 43:57

I had a mysterious bruise on my left knee that literally (meaning figuratively) hobbled me for a couple of days and precluded running for a few more. The good news is that the enforced sedentary lifestyle removed any question about my right foot/ankle situation, and I'd forgotten about it completely until I noticed that I didn't feel it on tonight's run. Tonight was nondescript; the morning run included great conversation and a two stretch breaks.

Morning loop

4.2 miles in 32:17 this morning. I slept in after working late last night (ah, the bachelor life... Christine and Si will be back from their travels on Wednesday) and am sitting with coffee on my desk and ice on my right ankle as I write this. The ankle/foot isn't bad, but, as someone said the other day, I sure could make it bad.

Cowtown lbrr

Well, it was 2 weeks ago now that I woke up at 4:45 to ride up to Sacramento with my friend Seychelle to run the Cowtown Half Marathon. It was still dark and chilly when we arrived at William Land Park at 6:30, and we found parking on the residential streets and jogged to the start. Within about 10 minutes, I was numbered, shirted, and Port-a-pottied and trying to figure out what to do with the next 50 minutes until start time. We walked around the starting area for a while, then jogged about a mile to warm up.

About 3500 of us lined up at the start, mostly half marathon runners with a few hundred marathoners - double loopers - mixed in. I did a few strides in front of the starting line and then found a spot between the 6 and 7 minute pace signs. I had the idea that I would try to start with a 6:50 pace and try to pick it up in the last few miles if I could, but I was really just curious to see how things would turn out. September's training had been a wash instead of my peak mileage month, and although I was certainly well-rested, I had probably lost some of the benefits of my summer training.

At the gun, we started through the park and into the residential neighborhoods around it. I settled in with a few other guys and chatted a bit up to the first mile marker (7:02) and then picked up my pace a little. Mile 2, still residential, went a little faster (6:54) and mile 3 in 6:49. A pit stop at one of the many port-a-potties on the course meant that I fell behind the 3:10 marathon pace group, and I surged a bit to work my way out of the crowd - mile 4 went down in 7:15.

The rest of the story is pretty much told by my remaining splits:
6:57-6:49-13:51 (2 miles)-6:56-6:54-7:06-7:04-7:42 (1.1 miles)

I finished in 1:31:24, an historically middling result for me, and averaged 6:59 pace. My race was hardly metronomic, but still pretty consistent overall. There was no crash at the end, but at the same time even at mile 1 it was as if my body knew better than my mind exactly how far we were going, and exactly how fast we could get there. I really did feel like I was kicking in the last mile, and did pass a couple of guys, but it still came in at 7:00 pace.

I missed Seychelle's finish as I was getting a massage, but found her right away and hit the grass to stretch. Afterwards, we stopped at Pancake Circus for breakfast - think Waffle House, but with crazy circus paintings on the walls and much better food. I had buckwheat pancakes with country potatoes, and Seychelle had a plate of whipped cream with maybe a waffle or something under it.

Back to Berkeley

Right after the last post I headed out for today's run - 7.2 miles in 54 flat. It's a warm and humid day today, so I decided that running near the bay would feel good. It felt good enough, and I disproved my superstition that listening to This American Life makes me slow.

Last Georgia run

3.4 miles in 26:12 yesterday morning. I brought Bella with me for the whole run this time; we kept going until she gave me some slack in the leash. The disappearing sidewalks got my goat a little bit, and we had to run through some front yards to avoid the traffic. Lovely running weather, though.

Running in the rain

I haven't blogged my last few runs, including the Cow Town. I'll probably get to that later, but I'm out of town now and need to get this down somewhere.

Ran 8.5 miles today in 1:03:35. It was misty and dark this morning, so it was a little hard to see where was going; I tried to stick to subdivision streets or some of the few main roads with continuous sidewalks to avoid the morning rush hour traffic. Got back to Mom's house 45 minutes in, and let her English Setter take me for a run for the last 2+ miles.

Ready to Run

Well, ready or not. In this last week of my extended, unplanned taper, I overlsept my alarm three times and so have 6 miles under my belt for the week. Well rested indeed!

I'm planning to carpool to Sacramento on Sunday, leaving around 5 am to get there for the 6:30 packet pickup, porta-potty line, and warmup. Race time is 7:30. I ran a 19:52 5K back in February and I definitely feel in better shape now than then, so I think I'll start at 6:45 pace and see what happens from there.

Nothing like it

There's nothing like a good track workout to beat the running blues. I left home at 5:35 this morning to carpool with Sarah to the Piedmont High School track, about 15 minutes away. I'd been independently invited by two people to join a group that runs there on Thursday mornings, and I finally decided to overrule my aversion to driving to runs and bite.

I was definitely not disappointed. After warming up for 5 laps, I assembled with the others at the start, stretched a bit, and met Joe, the run leader. He gave us the workout: 3x1600 (400 recovery) with a twist: in the second rep, we'd surge the last 100m, and in the third rep, we'd surge the last 200m. The object was to build fatigue while maintaining time.

I thought I could try these at 6:30 pace, but found Scott, another familiar face from Si's school, who was looking at 6:20. He assured me that this track was "fast", so I told him I'd try to hang, when one of his buddies talked him down to 6:10. In for a penny, in for a pound, I joined the group.

As we started, I figured out that this is a pretty fast club. I was in a pack of 10-12, with two other guys ahead of us. In short, the reps went 6:09-6:01-6:07 and felt great. This is a big contrast to how I felt after Saturday's 13 miler, and leaves me actually looking forward to Cow Town next week.

I won't be going to the track again before my race, but I definitely want to join this group again.

Where was I?

Well, I'm in the middle of an extended taper right now, but I'm running again. To recap the last two weeks:
I took four days off until my Achilles stopped hurting when I walked, then an extra day.

9/11: to test things out, I ran up Dwight Way toward the hills, where the road is at a 15%+ grade just before it gives up completely, for 8x :10 sprints up the hill with long recoveries. Things felt OK, and I jogged it home. I had two stop and walk the last two blocks, though, as the tendon flared up again. 4.5 miles total

9/19: Feeling better. It might not have been the best time for it, but I decided that just 2 weeks out from my race I had to try a long run to see if I could do it. The route was 13.6 flat miles on the Greenway with a fast finish - 3 miles in 20:10 - and a short cooldown. I made it through this run without pain, but I felt like I was riding the edge. My legs were also shredded by the end of it, and I was old man walking for two days. Normally I would take the pace of those last three miles as an indication of how I might perform at Cow Town in October, but coming after 2 weeks off, I'd have to say it's a toss-up. 13.6 miles in 1:48.

9/21: A quickie last night just to get things back in alignment. 3.1 miles in 27:15.

End of week runs

Friday, 6.9 in 1:01
Saturday, 8.1 in 1:05

Turned Friday's planned tempo into an easy run, and skipped yesterday's planned long run; the complaint in the bottom of my right foot has migrated up to take residence in my Achille's. The timing is really bad, and it's really frustrating, but I'm going to lay off it for a few more days. Only 28 miles last week.

Sneaking one in

6x800(400), 7.4 miles total

Well-executed day at work today - I got in early so I could sneak out at midday while the track was open and hoped I wouldn't get kicked out again.

Today's workout was strangely similar to Seebo's: I started out with my IT band and right foot complaining, not to mention a stiff neck, and a shorter warmup than I'd hope for since I was worried about the track closing. I was mentally downgrading my planned 6x800 to a 4x800. Once I hit the track, though, I got into the groove. These went a little tougher than last week, but I nailed most of the repeats. No tractor to run around, but there was an athletic team stretching in lanes 2-8 during my first 3 reps, then jogging clockwise in lane 1 during the last 3. In any event, they went down in 2:59-2:59-3:02-2:56-3:01-3:09. As usual, I didn't check my 200 or 400 splits in the last rep, but unusually I ended up slowing down. I'm not sure if this was fatigue or distraction, but I can't have been as distracted as I must have been during last week's visit to the track; I see that I actually did 7 reps instead of 6 then.

I'll try to peak my miles at 48-50 this week, although finding running time on Wednesday and Thursday will be a challenge, then transition more into speed development for the rest of September.

One more day

Oh yeah, August has 31 days. 5.5 mile Gilman loop today in 45:49; 156 miles for the month.

Weekend runs

Saturday am, 15.6 miles, 2:09:36
Sunday am, 6.8 miles, 59:24

It hit 95 degrees on Saturday, so I'm glad I got out early. I finished fast, with 2.6 miles at 6:22 pace.

Weather was back to normal this morning with fog and a cool breeze. It was a slog, but I was gratified to find that I hit 150 miles for August today

Aquatic Park run

Friday am, 5.6 mile loop through Aquatic Park; 45:24.

4 days, 3 runs

Sunday, 5.5 mile bagel run with Silas
Monday, 8.5 miles in the morning, 1:09
Wednesday, 6x800(400), 2:58-3:03-3:02-3:02-2:57-2:53-2:54, 7.6 miles total

Added another rep on the track and held a pretty steady pace. I also registered for the Cowtown half marathon; 5 weeks to go!

Two-track mind

Forgot to hit "post" on Saturday...

Friday, 8.6 total with 5x800 (400) in 2:44-2:51-3:01-3:00-2:58
Saturday, 12.7 in 1:42

I slept through Friday's tempo run and instead squoze in a trip to the track at lunchtime. I actually had a two mile recovery after the first rep since Edwards track closed early and I had to find my way to the Berkeley High track. First rep was way too fast, but the last three were on target.

Double Dip

Wednesday am, 4.8 miles in 38:38; pm, 8.5 miles in 1:09. Tomorrow's run isn't happening, so pushed Thursday's tempo to Friday and ran Friday's recovery tonight. Got that?

Neun achtundfünfzig!

DNR today; instead spent time looking for this and this. Yow!

Run to the Lake

6.8 miles, more or less, to a birthday party Lake Anza in 1:00. A scramble around the lake at the end, and 1000 feet of climbing. Got a ride home.

Ketchup

Friday 8/7: 4.5 mile errand run, untimed
DNRDNRDNRDNRDNRDNR
Friday 8/14: 5.7 tempo (2+ miles in 7:01-6:36)
Saturday 8/15: 15.5 miles, half with Blake and Michelle on the Strawberry Canyon trail. Another timing malfunction.

Getting a jump on things

8.4 miles this morning in 1:08. Stopped by the lab at 6:45 to get the fermenter started; grew 70 g of E. coli by 4:00. Yay!

Blankie Delivery Service

Mon, Tues - DNR (I think I sprained my wake-up muscle)
Weds - Planned a quick run at lunchtime, but forgot to bring Si's blankie to school with him this morning. 6.6 mile delivery in 47:57 instead.

Bagel Run

Really easy 4.6 mile bagel run with Silas in about 40 minutes. Stopped by the cow sculpture to eat a bagel together and watch the BART trains, but I told Silas after 10 minutes that I had to get moving again. Moving a little gingerly after yesterday's fall.

Seven Up, Seven Down

Thursday, 6.1 miles on a Milvia-Gilman-San Pablo loop in 50:05, makes 126 miles for July.

Saturday, 14 miles in ?? on the Strawberry Canyon Trail. I took a spill on the way up; Silas is impressed.

120

8.6 miles in 1:10 this morning. Stopped by the lab to inoculate some cultures, and this brings me to 120 miles this month.

Thinking about this half marathon which, yes, is 9 weeks before this.

DNR

Some pain in the top of my right foot after yesterday's run and softball game. Probably a good day to rest.

brainless Sunday

Brainless out-and-back from work while my bugs were growing. 12.6 in 1:36:33.

Loop through the lab

5.1 miles in 39:30, included a stop by the lab to visit my Petri dishes. At 99 miles for the month.

Claremont Canyon

Overslept my alarm the third day in a row. Snuck out at lunch to check out Clarmont Canyon, which sucked. Something like 3.9 miles in something like 35 minutes.

switcheroo

Monday - planned 5.5, decided I needed the sleep. DNR
Tuesday - planned DNR, decided I needed the run. 6.4 in 49:46 through North and West Berkeley.

Easy day

Easy 4.2 mile Alcatraz-Dwight loop this morning. 35 miles for the week; softball game tonight, and we lost.

Meanwhile, one year later...

Trying out the new short form that all the kids are doing.
11.9 miles today to Lake Merritt in an estimated 1:33. The run started off slowly while I listened to This American Life podcast, and picked up dramatically after an hour when the music came on (Avail, then the Mountain Goats). Aiming for 120 miles this month.