Chasing Silas

running, walking, jogging...

2010-05-17T21:28:00.001-07:00

...even backtracking. I had the chance to run to pick Silas up from school this afternoon. On the way home in the stroller, he decided he wanted to join me on the ground. We took the last 1.5+ miles together in fits and starts, taking breaks to eat honeysuckle and to "repair the tracks" while we played trains. About 4.5 miles for me in who knows how long. Not the most productive run fitness-wise, but I'd do it again.

Presidio 10

2010-04-18T20:14:00.001-07:00

6:50-6:57-6:37-6:41-6:07-7:25 (last 1.2): 40:39

The splits just begin to tell the story of the course at Sunday's Presidio 10. I drove into the city with S, who was mainly looking to burn off stress before her qualifying exams tomorrow, and E, who was expecting to walk the course after wrenching her knee in a skiing accident two weeks ago. My goal was a bit more specific today: run 10k that felt like sub-39, even if the hilly course wouldn't allow it.

The course began in the Presidio, a former military base in San Francisco and the gateway to the Golden Gate Bridge. The area is quite lovely, actually, and is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. A 10 mile race started at 8:00 (it also happened to be the CA state championship, but apparently nobody invited Meb), and about 1200 of us 10k-ers lined up half an hour later.

I was a few rows back from the line, but the path was wide enough that I was able to make my way up quickly at the gun. I had about 10 guys ahead of me, I guessed, as we started our ascent toward the bridge, with a little passing here and there. The first hill coming out of Crissy Field was steep and curvy, so I was aiming for about a 6:30 pace but not sure if that would work. Turns out that it didn't, and mile 1 came just as we hit the Golden Gate Bridge. That's not all that came, though; the 10 mile race had started 30 minutes before us but also included a 2 mile detour before the bridge, which meant that at mile 1 we collided with the back of the first race. I managed to take this in stride, but I knew I was in for a tough out-and-back 3 miles across the bridge. At least it wasn't foggy, so I could enjoy the scenery as I dodged walkers, then joggers.

At the north end of the bridge, we went down a set of stairs to cross under the bridge for the trip back. I was managing to get my pace up a bit, but still had to fight traffic for the trip back. A bright spot was glancing across the bridge and seeing E running, somewhat cautiously, but apparently not bothered by her knee.

By the time we crested the bridge the second time, things were clearing up enough that I could turn on some speed. I still wasn't sure who was in front of me, since we were right in the middle of the 10 mile race pack, but the last 2 miles or so were either gently downhill or flat along the bay. Finally, with about a quarter mile left (I guessed) the 1o k race branched off as we headed toward the finish. I saw one man taking this route, about 20 or 30 meters ahead of me, and decided to reel him in. He figured out what was going on hen I was just off his shoulder, and we both had to push it to the finish. I wasn't going to let it go, though, and managed to edge him out just before the line - 6th man overall, and 1st in 30-34.

Feeling good about the strong finish, I jogged back to find S, and ran some of the last mile in with her, cutting across the field before the end so I could cheer her in.

Honestly, I was only mildly annoyed by the crowded conditions of the 10k, and whatever annoyance I'd had melted away when we hit the post-race spread. Sitting down in the field with my friends, eating pancakes and breakfast burritos and drinking Sierra Nevada, on a sunny day at the Golden Gate? Can't beat it. And the age group swag was out of control - a (much needed) backpack, a crazy pullup contraption that will give me abs of steel, a gift certificate to Sports Basement, and (wait for it...) a fuel belt! Somebody will be going as Chewbacca next Halloween.

I don't think this quite felt like a sub-39 10k, but the all-out finish left me feeling that way. I will definitely be back for this one again, but the 10 mile race next time.

Installment Plan

2010-04-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

7.5 miles total with 5x1000(300) in 3:40-3:42-3:43-3:40-3:36

A Seebo workout. I was aiming for 3:42s, which is 18:30 pace for 5k. Felt good!

Weekend runs

2010-04-04T17:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday - 10.3 miles in 1:54
Sunday - 5.7 miles in 43:33

Sarah and I drove up to Redwood Regional Park on Saturday morning to kick off her Boston taper with some serious trails. About 24 minutes into the run, her Garman reported that we'd gone 1.85 miles. Things got a bit easier after that, but mile 10 was our first sub-9 minute mile. Beautiful views, wet socks, and muddy calves. I don't care what anyone says, it's going in the log as a long run. I'm not mapping the route, but for the record our trails included West Ridge, French, Baccharis, Dunn, Bayview-Sequoia, and possibly others

An easy run in the rain this afternoon made 31 miles for the week.

Bandito

2010-03-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

15.7 miles in 2:05

I met Sarah for a long run this morning that happened to coincide with the course of the Oakland Half Marathon. My stiff back put me on notice early in the run, but began to feel better with the activity, as I tried to stick with my mission of pacing 7:55 miles for Sarah, who is three weeks out from Boston.

I really enjoyed the marathon/half marathon course, which I had planned to run legitimately before January got in the way. It was a tour of many lovely and not-so-lovely parts of the Town, highlighted for me (who am I kidding - for everybody!) by running through a flaming arch set up for the occasion in front of The Crucible. Crowd support was great, and people seemed stoked to be running Oakland.

I bailed a little early, at mile 8 of the course and mile 12 or so of my run, to head home for a bit more Silas birthday celebration: the bestowing of his first bicycle. It's a 12" Specialized that I bought from Cycles of Change, a local nonprofit. I removed the pedals and lowered the seat so that Si can "scoot" on it. Not surprisingly to me, he cried when he first saw it, but calmed down a bit after I explained to him that when I was his age, I didn't know how to ride a bike either. He then declared that, even though he didn't like it, he wanted to practice. And, within 30 minutes: "I love my bike!"

Lazy Sunday

2010-03-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

7.3 miles in 1:01

Ran a short Marin loop (I'm sure its mapped somewhere) listening to an old This American Life ("Somewhere Out There") that made me laugh, made me cry. Came home and made yeast-risen waffles before pruning the blackberry bush. The waffles were pretty good, but will be better with blackberry compote this summer.

Long and hilly

2010-03-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday am, 17 miles? in 2:31

Another long run with Sarah this morning, joined for the first time by Asa. Sarah's following Jack Daniel's plan for her Boston training, which meant that today would be something like a 2 mile warmup, 2x10 minutes of tempo pace, 80 minutes easy, 15 minutes of tempo pace, and a 2 mile cooldown. We didn't exactly stick to the plan, but got most of the main elements with the added bonus of staying on the Strawberry Canyon and Tilden Park trails. That meant a lot of hills, a lot of roots and rocks, and some good conversation. I also saw some great parts of Tilden that I hadn't run through before.

Altitude Training

2010-03-11T21:42:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 5+ miles, untimed

We were in Lake Tahoe for a long weekend. I was headed to the treadmill for my only run of the trip when I realized that *melting* snow on the ground meant that I could run outside. I took a meandering route across the state line, behind the casinos, and found a great trail through a frozen marsh down to the lake. I found myself alone on the beach, with the ripple of the water and the birds the only sounds around. I paused for a few minutes to enjoy it, then ran back on the beach.

2010-03-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 16.7 miles in 2:26

Okay, I'm clearly not running a marathon this month, bu my third run of the week was a good one. I joined my friend Sarah for a long run prescribed by Dr. Jack Daniels. The drill was a 2 mile warmup, then 4x5 minutes at tempo pace, an hour easy, 15 minutes at tempo pace, and a 2 mile cool down. We took the Bay Trail south towards the Emeryville marina, which I had never done. Sarah and I often carpool to runs or track workouts but seldom actually run together, so it was nice to have a partner for a 2+ hour run for a change. Finally, I came home to fresh blueberry muffins by Christine and Silas, and I made some fried eggs with Balsamic reduction to complete the breakfast of champions.

Hopefully I'll get two runs in this week, but then it's off to the mountains for a few days skiing.

Tempo Tuesday

2010-02-23T13:39:00.000-08:00

Last night: 6.7 miles in 58:25 (first 1.2 miles with Joey on leash)
Today: 6 miles in 43:26; 3 tempo were in 6:25-6:25-5:44

I decided to bag the last 1/2 mile of my tempo today after hitting my fifth red light. Rainy today, which is actually better than fog for this run.

Some of the parts

2010-02-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

today, 18.8 miles in 2:40; 44 miles for the week.

OK, I admit it: I'm thinking again about running the Oakland marathon, despite my rocky January. Yesterday's Yassos were a whim, but I decided to see how a long run would feel today. Turns out, it felt pretty good, and I picked up the pace for 3.1 miles in 21:43 near the end.
Tomorrow, alpine cross training.

Solo track

2010-02-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

10x800 in 3:02-3:02-3:01-3:04-3:02-2:58-2:59-2:58-3:02-2:55, 2+ miles warmup and cooldown.

Tempo Tuesday

2010-02-16T08:37:00.001-08:00

Same run, less juice. 6:46-6:40-6:34-3:00. Really foggy this morning, so I had to watch my feet on the downhill stretch.

Bagel run

2010-02-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

6 mile bagel run in 48:30

While looking at the mural on the Ohlone Greenway and eating his bagel, Silas learned four things about the Ohlone people:

They were the first people here, having arrived 3000 years ago
They do still live here
They dress differently now
No, they are not very old

Foggy morning

2010-02-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

8.8 miles in 1:11 this morning. I was feeling way sluggish, with a stiff right calf, and cut out a planned loop through Cal, but Art Blakey helped me pick things up a bit at the end. I tacked on 3/4 mile so I could hear the end of A Night in Tunisia.

Tempo Friday

2010-02-12T12:31:00.001-08:00

6.1 miles in 43 minutes

This was my first tempo run of the year, on my regular course. The fast miles were fast indeed: 6:44-6:15-6:12-3:00. Mile 2 caught me by surprise, since I thought I was fading when I was actually pushing harder. I think I lose a bit of rhythm when I turn the corner at College Ave and sometimes overcompensate, sometimes under. As a result, though, mile 3 was actually a bit of reduction of effort as I turned downhill.

For the curious, this was my second run in my Tarthers. I like them so far, but
they take a bit of adjustment. I was unable to find any flats that are sized for my wide feet, but the upper is flexible enough to be accomodating. The low heel definitely redistributes my impact a bit, and I feel some tightness in the outside of my right calf that I attribute to this. I think I will get used to this and possibly build some calf strength.

Into the well, again

2010-02-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

Back to the track this morning, with a new pair of flats (Asics Tarthers, super fly!) The workout was an inverted ladder (a well, I like to call it): 1600-800-400-800-1600, with 400 meter recoveries. The idea was to run the 1600s at half marathon pace, the 800s at 5k pace, and the 400 all out; the twist was that the last 200 m of the second 1600 would also be all out.

Well, I ran with Don, Todd, and another guy whose name I don't know, and as usual the pace restrictions went a bit out the window. The reps went down in 6:28-2:55-1:09(!)-2:51-6:09. That 400 would be a PR for me, which is just what I'd expect from a new pair of shoes.

I also ran on Monday and Wednesday mornings, 6+ miles each day with 6-8 barefoot laps of the tennis courts.

Three in a row

2010-01-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

No, not days of running, but runs without pain. 5 miles in 37 something minutes on the now familiar Alcatraz-Dwight loop, finishing up with four laps around the tennis courts at Grove Park. Yes, barefoot.

Indian Rock

2010-01-28T19:31:00.000-08:00

4.7 miles in 39:44.

Today's run was poorly planned as easy runs go - up on Euclid, down to Spruce, up on Spruce, and down to Indian Rock - but once again my ankle felt fine at the end, which is good enough for me.

For five years I've been using David Hayes' excellent running log, but it uses macros that require an old version of Excel, which runs like a dog on OS 10.6. If anybody can recommend a great log that will work with Numbers, Open Office, or an Intel-native version of Excel, I'm all ears.

Running in squares

2010-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

4.3 miles in 33 minutes today. My ankle felt just fine, but I was a little winded for no good reason. I'm getting bored of all these short runs, but I'll keep holding back through this week.

Easy now...

2010-01-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

Only six runs since the last post. I've been taking it easy, with short runs every few days. I got cocky last Sunday and went for 7.3 miles, but the ankle was feeling pretty sore at the end and for a least a day afterward. I did manage 2 runs this weekend, though: yesterday was 4.3 miles with Silas, and today was a solo 3.2 - and my first run without pain in three weeks. I'll rest it tomorrow and try some more short runs later next week.

Cooling it

2010-01-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

My ankle is feeling much better, but I've fallen for that one before. I'm going to cool it for a couple more days and try an easy run on Saturday

11.3 out of 13

2010-01-03T19:59:00.000-08:00

Ran along the Bay past Point Isabel this morning, but my Achilles' flared up again on the way back. Walked the last mile and a half or so. I'm going to sit until next weekend and then start back easy. Tomorrow would, of course, be he start of my 12 week prep for the Oakland Marathon.

6 down

2010-01-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

6 miles in 46:14. No pain in the ankle today.

Tuesday Tempo

2009-12-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-16T19:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

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).

2009-12-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

12.6 miles in 1:45

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

St Pete Times Turkey Trot

2009-11-26T16:58:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-11-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T19:50:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-07T18:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T23:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T23:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-15T18:03:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-09-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T20:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

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

Weekend runs

2009-08-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

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

4 days, 3 runs

2009-08-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

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

Run to the Lake

2009-08-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-28T08:53:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

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

brainless Sunday

2009-07-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

Loop through the lab

2009-07-25T14:29:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

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

Meanwhile, one year later...

2009-07-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

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.

The long experiment

2008-07-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 6 miles with Silas in :48 (?) + bagel break
Monday, 6.4 miles in :55

A timing malfunction on Sunday's run meant that I only timed the first half; on the way back Silas and I chilled for a while at Berkeley Bagels to watch the buses; we decided to stay until we saw a BART train pass on the bridge, and it was worth the wait: we saw a Richmond and a Fremont train pass at the same time!

Apropos the title of this post: I've been pleasantly surprised several times this year to find that, after spending some time at little to no mileage, I'm able to come back feeling refreshed and to speed through my daily runs. Well, apparently 5 weeks of an average 11 miles/week is the tipping point. I went out this morning for my first consecutive-days run since July 5-6, meaning to do an 8.8-mile Marin Loop. Pretty quickly I decided I wasn't up for the full distance, so I decided to cut off the last stretch and skip running down to Sacramento Ave. By the time I hit Marin Ave, I knew that I would turn south at the Circle, rather than continuing 2 blocks up the hill and across the Cal campus. I got home in 55 minutes and figured I'd gone about 7 miles, maybe a bit less; gmap disagrees, though, so I have to settle for 6.4 miles. No problem: I didn't hurt after the run, and it shouldn't take to long to get back to where I was.

Naptime, Daddy-style

2008-07-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

6 miles in :51 with Silas

Christine had an (ultimately successful) job interview this afternoon, so I flexed my time a bit to look after Si while she was gone. Since it's usually a battle for me to get him to nap at home in the afternoon, I went with a tried-and-true tactic. We played around the house well into the afternoon, finishing with some Play-Doh time, until he couldn't see straight. Then I suggested that he pick some toys to put in his backpack, and I'd take him for a run. Today's haul was something like a SEPTA bus, a Bobcat, a bulldozer, a frontloader, a fire engine, and a boat trailer, all crammed into the airplane backpack that Christine made for him. Into the stroller, with the bag sitting comfortably in his lap - not to actually be opened! Unfortunately, the route I chose was a little too interesting for a quick nap, and Silas kept being distracted from the mission at hand by backhoes, AC Transit buses (including the beloved number 9), a school bus, and BART trains. I got wise for the return route, though, and avoided most of the distractions. The last words he said to me before dropping off were "I want to go to the bagel shop," as we passed Berkeley Bagels (closed). Success!

Successful for me, too, as I ran 6 miles pain-free.

Long run

2008-07-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

Friday, 5.1 miles in :42

Not really a long run, but the longest I've gone in 3 or 4 weeks. I figured I'd test myself a bit today with a 5 mile loop. Around mile 2 I came to the dirt track at MLK middle school and decided to take a few laps, and then head straight home. There were 8 or 10 other folks on the track, mostly walkers, and I took a couple laps easy. Toward the end of lap 2 I decided, why not?, and went all out for 400 meters. It was hard work, but it went down in 1:17. If I'd gone for a second rep, it would have taken a bit longer, though. I took lap 4 easy, and spun off to the south side of the track to head home. A little soreness in my knee today, but not a big deal.

Rehab

2008-07-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

4 miles, untimed

I'm still recovering from the self-diagnosed tendonitis in my left knee. As injuries go, it feels pretty minor, and I don't have to think about it when I'm not running. But still it nags, and it starts to throb a bit in the last few minutes of my runs.

I've been doing 3-4 miles every other day. This morning, I went out with Silas and his big bag of backhoes (a grocery bag holding a big backhoe, a tiny excavator, a tiny Bobcat, and two tiny cars; he didn't play with them, but just seems happy to have them handy). We ran by the downtown firehouse, where they appeared to be having a party to celebrate a successful July 4th. We took a break to examine the 6 or 7 fire trucks parked on the street, then finished our loop and came home. Stretched, iced my knee, and took 400 mg of Vitamin I. Hope to get over this soon.

Cautious...

2008-06-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, 8.8 miles in 1:05:38
Last Thursday, ?? in :06
This Wednesday, 3.3 miles in :26

I easily lowered my time on my 8.8 mile loop last Wednesday, but paid for it on Thursday. As soon as I started my run, I felt a pain in the top of my left knee. As I hit Dwight and Shattuck, I realized that it was getting worse, not going away, so I called it and headed home. After five days of stretching, icing, ibuprofin, and no running, I decided that I was ready to try again this morning.

I stepped outside this morning and was greeted by the smell of woodsmoke. The summer wildfire season is officially underway, with fires to the north, south, and east. Although there is visible smoke in the air here, I'm assured that the air quality on this side of the hills is fine. The run itself was uneventful, an easy loop accompanied by Tom Waits. No pain, so I'll take some ibuprofin to keep any swelling down, and push it a little more tomorrow.

Squeezing one in

2008-06-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday pm, 4 miles in :31

I missed my ride to yesterday's trail run (haha, funny story involving streets with similar names and my being too cool to ask for directions) but I got a 5 mile bike ride around Rockridge out of it.

Today I finished up at work early enough to squeeze in 4 miles before I leave for the airport. I'm heading to Atlanta for a few days, where I'll remind myself why I was never in shape at the beginning of cross country season.

2008-06-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Monday, ouch
Tuesday, 5.8 miles in :48

I'm still wicked stiff from Sunday's adventure. I didn't bother going out Monday, and this morning was a ginger 5.8 miles. I'm sleeping in tomorrow morning in preparation for an afternoon trail run; we'll see how I feel.

Weekend Warrior II

2008-06-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

Friday pm, 5 pints
Saturday am, 8.8 miles, 1:07
Sunday am, softball practice, 2 hours
Sunday pm, 12.4 miles, 1:33

Christine and Si are out of town, so I'm working pretty hard to fill my time. The Friday work run was replaced by an after-work birthday celebration. Somehow, this led to a 7 am run on Saturday that went much better than it should have, by all rights. In fact, 1:07:09 is my new fastest time for my 8.8 mile loop. This morning was a long softball practice (I know that lots of baseball players are fat, but this was harder work than I remembered!), so I decided to pare back my planned 14 miler to 10 miles and to move it from the hills to the flat Ohlone Greenway. I got off to a strong start, though, and ended up running to the end of the Greenway. The way back was a bit of a drag, and I actually got some wicked cramps while stretching afterward - this has never happened to me, but I downed some salty Gatorade and some raisins, which seemed to help. No bananas in the house for once!

I'll do some extra stretching tonight, and go for an easy morning tomorrow.

Hola amigos...

2008-06-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but things have been pretty crazy around here. Well, not that crazy, but I got out of the habit of posting. For the record, the Broad St run went down in 66:12, not a bad time but not a great one. The race was fun, and it was good to see some old friends. My only mistake was running back up to Carpenter St with Dierdre afterwards, for an extra 3 miles or so.

Since then I have ranged between 16-33 miles a week. Traveling to the east coast messed with Silas's clock, which messed with my morning runs. I started a Friday run at work with 4 other folks, but we very quickly dwindled to 2. We'll see what happens with that. Also, significantly, I got two good runs with Silas last weekend, including the ever-elusive 10+ mile nap/run. Si hadn't been running with me in nearly a month, and we both enjoyed the time out together.

Tonight I squeezed in a 3 miler in 23 minutes. Enough to say hello to my legs, but not enough to spoil tomorrow's (potential) run.

One more try...

2008-04-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Monday am, 8.8 miles in 1:11

I was sick as a dog for 1 day a couple of weeks ago; I've been basically healthy since then except that I've felt like crap in the mornings, congested with a sore throat. Probably sometime last week I could have started running in the mornings again, but sickness led to laziness, and all I squeezed in was an easy 3 miles one night. I finally resolved to start fresh this week, and was out the door by 6.

The run wasn't particularly notable, but I was shocked to find that in just 2 short weeks it is suddenly light outside when I leave in the morning. I felt hella stiff and sore the rest of the day, but I think it's more due to last night's bike ride with clipless pedals while towing Silas in his trailer. More interesting to me right now, though, is trying to evaluate where I am for Broad St. I had planned to compare this year's training with 2006, when I ran a 1:02 for the 10 mile race:

February 2006, 171 miles
February 2008, 144 miles
March 2006, 161 miles
March 2008, 165 miles
April 2006 (through 4/21), 121 miles
April 2008 (through 4/21), 42 miles

D'oh. I had a pretty good thing going there. I've also had only one track workout this spring. Although my 800 times compared favorably to what I was getting in 2006, I haven't built on it at all. This close to BSR 2008, I can't really hope to gain any fitness, so my plan will just be to put in miles this week, but not too many, to remind myself that I can do it. A little bit of speedwork will help me recognize the signals that my legs are sending me as well. My goal for the race at this point is to run under 65 minutes.

Of course, I ran that last Broad St. coming off a big 54 mile week...

Sick.

2008-04-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

36 miles in the week ending April 6th. I haven't run since (except for about 100 races with Silas, in the backyard, in the Monkey Room, at the park, and on the sidewalk!). I'll be back on the road the first morning that I don't have to spend my time expectorating into the sink.

Currying favor with Nike

2008-04-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last week: 53 miles
Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 4x800, 400 recovery, 6.25 total

Feel like you're stuck in a rut? Looking to spice up your running life?
A day at the track may be just what the doctor ordered!

I had a solid week of running last week, but stiffness in my right calf
kept the pace easy. Afer finally getting above 50 miles for the week,
I'm going to cut back a little bit and include some speed in the next
few weeks as Broad Street approaches. Today was going to be a 7 mile
tempo run, but as I got out of bed I was itching for a little more speed.
I hadn't been to the track in 9 months, and I decided to swap Friday's
planned workout for today's.

I shuffled out the door just before 6 and made my way down Grant St
toward the dirt track at MLK middle school, 1.75 miles away. I was
still feeling a bit of lameness in my calf, but dutiful icing has kept
it at bay, and I wasn't worried about hurting myself. The quads were a
bit stiff as well from some hard downhill running on Sunday. I wasn't
sure what was going to happen at the track, but the plan was 4x800,
trying for negative splits on each pair of laps, at about 3k-5k pace. In
other words, something like 1:32-1:28 to hit 3 minutes per 800.

At the track, there were a few walkers and joggers doing laps in the
dark. I found a water spot on the ground to use as a start/stop and
took off.

Coming through the first lap, I tried to look at my watch but missed the
light. It was too dark to see, so I just kept doing what I was doing
with no real idea of how fast I was going. I came through the second
lap and checked the watch: 2:45. OK, the plan was out the window. The
next three went down in 2:48-2:49-2:52, with slow 400s in between. I
actually did manage the negative splits on the last 2, by 5 and 2
seconds respectively. I'm pretty happy with the speed, and it will give
me something to work with over the next couple of weeks as I sharpen up
for BSR. Maybe next week I'll actually know what I'm doing.

Catchup

2008-03-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last week: 20 miles in 2 runs
This week: 47 miles in 5 runs

I had trouble getting back into the groove last week, but I did manage a 14 miler on Sunday to round out the week. I was back to business this week, and made it out 5 times, including two runs with Silas. On Saturday, I took him out hoping to get in at least 5 miles before he gave up, but I was able to put together an interesting route for him. We passed 3 fire stations and a backhoe, and went through the Northbrae Tunnel. We went nearly 9 miles, and he was still asking to see "another one fire truck" by the time we got home; unfortunately, I'd run out of fire stations to visit.

This morning was the LMJS fourth Sunday race. I had a pretty vague plan for this, which was something like run a long, easy warmup to get to Lake Merrit, then run the 10k to see what happens. Of course, I left the house about 10 minutes late, so my easy warmup ended up being 4.5 miles in about 35 minutes. I made it to the start on time, though, and lined up next to a guy in an Oregon shirt who was built (and shorn) like he was from Coos Bay. Today's race included 5, 10, and 15k distances, but the 5 and 10k runners had similar colored wristbands, so it was hard to tell who was who. I started off in a close pack of about 5 folks, including the Oregonian, that mostly hung together through mile 1 (6:04 - too fast for me today!). We strung out a bit, and I moved into 4th place while Oregon and another guy pulled away. Mile 2 was more reasonable, about 6:27, but I've noted before that mile 1 seems short and mile 2 long on this course; it may be related to the wind, though. During mile 3, though, I really felt like I was running out of gas - I was feeling those first 4.5 miles and starting to think this was a stupid idea. In fact, running is a pretty stupid idea anyway. To top it off, my shoe came untied, and the brief stop to tie it (while getting passed twice) really sapped my will. I came through 5k in 20:14, and miles 3-4 were about 14:30 together. Finally, at mile 4 I realized that I was still within striking distance of a guy in a yellow shirt. I figured I could get him within 1.5 miles, and started to make a move. I picked up the pace gradually, and by mile 5 (6:40) he could hear my footsteps. I closed in, and within about a quarter of a mile I decided he wouldn't be able to outkick me at the end, so I passed him. I came through the last 1.2 in 7:35 (6:20 pace) and finished in 41:15, in something like 4th-6th place. Not a great time for me, but I realized that today's run was more about mentality than speed, and I feel pretty good about not throwing in the towel. Unfortunately, I also realized that today's run was also more about endurance than speed, and I really didn't have much choice but to run home after the race, leaving my BART pass unused in my shoe. The 4.5 miles home was tough, but it gave me 15+ for the day and a solid week.

In celebration, I registered for the Broad Street Run today.

Hamster Wheel

2008-03-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday pm, 4.25 miles on the treadmill

We went up to Lake Tahoe to ski for the weekend, and I figured I'd get a
few miles in on the treadmill while we were there. My lifetime
treadmill mileage stood at somewhere under 2 miles, and was pretty much
limited to trying on shoes; I've always thought that treadmill running
seemed hopelessly boring, but with snow on the ground, I didn't have
much choice in the matter.

It can be harder to fit in a run on vacation than at home, but after a
day of skiing, then Indian food for dinner, getting Silas to bed, and
letting C soak in the hot tub, I headed down to the gym for an iFartlek.
This is a workout created by Ian to break the deadly monotony of running
while going nowhere. I started at an 8 minute pace with my iPod on
random, then increased the pace by a click or two with each new song.

I was right. It was boring. I made a deal with myself that I would run
at least 30 minutes or 4 miles, and began increasing the pace by an
extra click to get it done with faster. I tried closing my eyes, but
nearly ran off the side. The gym was hot and humid, and I was
breathless. Finally, I was almost done - with the next song, I would
click down to 6:30 pace and ride it out. Of course, the next song was
Angel of Death by Slayer, which is brutal to run to and 4 1/2 minutes
long. I made it to the first guitar solo, then had to click down to an
easy pace to cool down for a bit. About this time I remembered that I
was at 6300 feet elevation. After a bit of a cooldown, I'm done with
treadmill running for this year.

Unusual Run

2008-03-04T21:12:00.000-08:00

Tuesday pm, 7 miles untimed

I've slept in 2 days in a row, and the lesson is that I simply don't hear my alarm when it's set before 5:30 am (5:20, in this case). I planned a run with Si after work today, but I got started early when I forgot that I didn't have my bike with me and that I would be late to get home for a parental handoff. Fortunately I was wearing sneakers today, so I ran the nearly 2 miles in jeans, carrying my laptop, in about 15 minutes. Once home, I changed into my running kit, played in the backyard with Silas for a bit, then we loaded into the stroller to get a few more miles in.

Nearly home, Silas asked to get out of the stroller ("Daddy carry Silas right now"), so I obliged and we walked the last few blocks home while Silas practiced his geography ("That was Dwight Way") and pronouns ("Daddy carries you... Daddy carries me.")

Si has been getting into running himself, especially playing chasing games with the dog. The other day on a walk, he picked a hilly driveway to run up and down about 15 times. No idea where he gets this from.

Nimitz trail

2008-03-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 5.25 miles with Silas, untimed

We all headed up to Tilden Park to walk and run the Nimitz Trail; Christine was walking the dog with a friend who is visiting, but I promised Silas that I'd get him at least 2 miles down the trail to see the cows.

We set out at what turned out to be a brisk pace on the early hills, but I was really feeling yesterday's 16 miler in my hamstrings and flexors (or adductors?) I worked to slow the pace and watched the mile markers. We came to the first cattle gate at mile 2, but no cows yet. Moving through the rolling hills and through a couple more cattle gates, we finally found them grazing around the 2.75 mile marker. I pointed a couple cows out to Silas but realized that he'd get a better look on the way back. We turned around at the 3.5 marker (27:21, but I accidentally stopped my watch), then took a short break when we got back to the cows. Silas was pretty stoked to see them: "eating grass", "having milchie", "sleeping", and "making poop poop". We continued running until we met up with our peeps, then walked it back in.

42 miles this week; I could have pushed it today to hit my goal of 44, but I am satisfied with what I've got, with two especially good runs this week. Tomorrow morning, I'm hoping to see Jupiter on my run.

Uncharted Territory

2008-03-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

Friday am, 6 miles in :46
Saturday pm, 16.3 miles in 2:00

Friday was a bagel run with Silas. He was game for anything, as long as he was able to wear his guitar shirt, which I pulled out of the dryer for the occasion. Berkeley Bagels was out of mini bagels, so I got Si a regular bagel with peanut butter.

But the real story is today's long run. I'd only been planning on 12 for today, but events had kept my weekly mileage a bit behind schedule. I decided against my usual long run route, up the hills toward Grizzly Peak, and opted instead for the flat and boring Ohlone Greenway. I started out, carrying a bottle of Gatorade (with extra salt), a Cliff shot, and the ipod. Shuffle mode did me right today, with Franz Ferdinand and the Decembrists providing most of the soundtrack, with some Billy Idol and Modest Mouse thrown in as well.

I ran out the Greenway and found the end, in Richmond, a little sooner than I had hoped. I continued up San Pablo Ave through Richmond and into the city of San Pablo - a town whose existence I had forgotten about but should have inferred, given the road that I was running on. I kept on until about 59 minutes, then turned around at San Pablo Dam Rd to retrace my steps. I took the goo and finished my Gatorade, and noted that I felt pretty darn good. I picked up the pace for the trip home, and kept feeling good except for a bit of stiffness (I stopped to tie my shoe about a mile from home and groaned audibly when I bent over). I negative split by a couple of minutes, so I ran around the block a bit to stretch the run out to 2 hours. To top things off, Christine was taking chocolate chip cookies out of the oven when I got home.

This was my longest run of the year (and, it turns out, the fastest overall) and went a lot better than my last 2 hour run. It leaves me feeling confident and ready for more. Normally, this would indicate that I'm due for an overuse injury, but fortunately next week is planned to be nice and easy before going to Lake Tahoe for the weekend.

Nested loops

2008-02-28T10:37:00.000-08:00

Thursday am, 7.1 miles in :53

My alarm went off at 5:30 this morning and I tried to ignore it. I lay
in bed for a few minutes, noting my sore legs (still? from Tuesday's
run?) and considering going back to sleep. Of course, if I skip today,
I may as well quit running. What's the point? 5:36. Bleh. I got up
and fumbled for my glasses, dressed, had a glass of water and some
raisins. Out the door at 5:46.

I'd planned a tempo today, but I'm not feeling it. I jog easily along
the familiar route. I could swap today with tomorrow's easy run. Yeah,
one more day of recovery. But I'm feeling a little better. I'll pick
it up at Adeline and see what happens.

Up the hill to my first split - 1+ mile in 6:57. Too fast! But I'm
committed. Mile 2 is harder on me, and comes in at 6:53 - a little
slower since this is exactly 1 mile. I turn downhill at Dwight Way and
push, push. I feel like I'm losing steam, but I hit mile 3 at MLK in
6:18 - not bad. Mile 4 is a new one, and I really feel like I'm
dragging. Slightly downhill to Sacramento, then left on level ground to
Russell St. I hadn't measured it beforehand, but gmap tells me that
it's an even mile. 6:12. Yeah. I jog, slowly slowly, down to
Alcatraz, then loop back around to come home.

catchup

2008-02-27T16:52:00.000-08:00

Friday, 6.3 in :49
Saturday, 6.6 in :52
Sunday, 12.8 in 1:38
Tuesday, 7.5(?) in :58

Painted into a corner, I accidentally slept in on Friday, but heroically
got the run in that night. I wanted to go for 8 miles on Saturday with
Silas, but he bailed early and I had to escort him home.

Combined, this turned my planned 10-miler on Sunday into a longer run
(one might call it a "long run"). I decided on a slightly new route,
south into Oakland with a lap around Lake Merritt. I decided to take
the lap, somewhere between 3 miles and 5k, at about marathon pace, or 7
minute miles; most of this lap was run while listening to the Mariner's
Revenge Song, twice (OMGOMG, I know I'm a little late to the game, but I
am now in love with the Decemberists after hearing that song). I wasn't
sure about the mile splits, but I ran this lap in 21:07, just as
planned. The wind was serious and I felt buffeted by the end as I
headed home.

I slept through my alarm on both Monday and Tuesday, so I found some
time to run from work on Tuesday. I headed up the Strawberry Canyon
trail, which was longer than I had calculated. I turned around after 32
minutes and came down at an imprudent pace that my legs are still
feeling today.

I felt too beat for my planned tempo run today; I should have switched
the schedule around and gotten some easy miles, but instead I slept in.
So now it's tempo on Thursday, easy on Friday, and 22 miles divided
unequally between Saturday and Sunday.

Into a corner

2008-02-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

Last week: 30 miles
This week:
Wednesday am, 8.1 miles, 1:05
Thursday am, 6.1 miles, :46

I painted myself into a corner by sleeping in on Monday and Tuesday,
which means no rest for the remainder of the week. I had plenty of
thoughts about yesterday's run that I should have written down, but it's
too late now.

This morning was a sub-tempo run; same course as before, but wanted to
run it a bit faster and I took a .5 mile bite out of my cooldown to
extend the effort portion. I was out the door by 5:50 and jogged slowly
through the warmup until I hit Adeline. I picked up the pace
immediately, and hit the first split (just over 1 mile) in 7:13 (7:16
last week). I thought I'd shot my wad, though, and really had to work
to pull myself through the next mile. I was pleased and surprised to
see the mile split come in at 6:46 (6:59), and then I hauled ass
downhill. It felt smooth and easy, but went fast - 6:14 (6:23). The
last half mile, down to Sacramento St, went down in 3:08.

It was gratifying to see some improvement in this run, and that should
help me get out of bed early the next couple of days.

Two Easy Pieces

2008-02-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 5.4 miles
Tuesday, 5.1 miles in :42

Two easy runs, and two observations.

A couple of weeks ago, I noted that my runs were going pretty fast, and
attributed this to all the rest I was getting between running days. Now
that I'm ramping up my mileage a bit, I'm trading speed for distance -
with the expectation, of course, that the speed will be paid back with
interest. I got up to 36 miles last week, and I'm going to back off a
bit this week before taking a stab at 40. I've had some soreness in my
right knee and right ankle that I don't want to push too hard.

Silas has been waking up earlier in the mornings, but not early enough
for me to take him running. The cardinal rule of my morning runs is
that I must get home before Si wakes up, and this rule was broken twice
last week. So today, I found myself getting up at 5:30 just for a
stinking 5 mile run. I did it, though, despite standing in the living
room for a few minutes waiting to summon the will to go out. Much like
Seebo this morning, but I had short sleeves and temps in the 40s waiting
for me. I couldn't escape the notion that I was running away from the
dawn, rather than towards it; I'll have to get up at 5:15 next week if I
want to increase my mileage.

I got home from the run and was able to start my coffee a few minutes
before Si woke up. Victory!

Good week...

2008-02-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

... so far. I have one more day of running, but I'm at 31 miles, including a long run today and another sub-tempo run on Thursday. I stretched the fast part of Thursday's run out just a bit, by fiishing my warmup at Adeline instead of Shattuck. This made for just over 3 miles at about 6:50 pace. The overall time for the run was identical, to the second, to the previous week.

Today was a planned 12 miler on a 13 mile course. No problem; the extra mile brought me to 31 for the week before tomorrow's run. Seebo and Dubs have been listening to Interpol on their runs recently, which for put me in a mind to start with Franz Ferdinand. Particularly that catchy song that makes me think I'm in Urban Outfitters, but has a great mosh part in the bridge. You know the one. After that I went random, and Tom Waits came up. Not good running music, but I survived and only skipped a few songs. On the way up the hill, I passed the second most hardcore stroller runner that I've ever met. The most hardcore, of course, is my friend Jessi, who once ran the 8.5 mile Schuykill River loop in Philly while pushing her son in a stroller. Normally not a big deal, but she had left the front wheel at home.

The trip back down, accompanied by Slayer/Neko Case/REM, was 3 minutes faster but not much easier. I felt pretty beat by the end, and had to ice my knee and ankle when I got home. The cheddar and chutney sandwich I had for a post-run lunch was well-earned, though.

Tuesday am, 7 miles in :55
Thursday am, 6.1 miles in :47
Friday am, 4.4 miles in :33
Saturday, 13 miles in 1:50

TCB

2008-02-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 8.1 miles in 1:04
Sunday, 9.6 miles in 1:22

Both of my runs this weekend were programmed to include a stop by the
lab. Saturday was to move a Petri dish from the incubator to the
fridge, and Sunday to pick a few bacterial colonies from that dish to
grow overnight. So these runs were productive from at least two angles.

There was a third angle, as well. Silas hasn't been sleeping well, and
didn't even nap on Saturday. When Sunday was not looking any better, I
decided that the time was right to take my overtired boy out in the
stroller to see what happened. He hasn't been running with me much
lately, both because of inclement weather and because he often just has
better things to do. But yesterday, he agreeably got in the stroller,
and was unconscious within 12 minutes.

Had I been in the mood, I could have turned this into a long run, but my
right hamstring had been a little bit sore from Thursday's run, and I felt
like a 30-mile week was sufficient right now anyway. After the lab, I
headed down the hill to try to catch Christine on her way home from
yoga. We met up just as Silas was stirring, and all walked to the Berkeley
Bowl for some groceries.

sub-tempo run

2008-01-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 6.1 miles in :47

This morning was a "sub-tempo" run, based on an article by McMillan
in last month's Running Times (sorry, can't find the link). The sub-tempo
comes from Arthur Lydiard, and is like a tempo run at "3/4 effort", or a
bit faster than marathon pace, meant to be run during base training. I ran
a distinctively non-Lydiardian 79 miles this month, but I am hoping to
increase (maybe double) that total in February, and this seemed like a good
"effort" run to do today. The plan was to run my usual tempo course, but
stretch the "effort" part out from 2 to 2.75 miles by tacking on to the
downhill segment. The pace would be in the 6:45-7:00/mile range.

I managed to hear my alarm this morning, and got out the door by 6:15.
An easy 15 minute warmup got me to Shattuck Ave, and I picked up the
pace for the uphill. The first .75 miles went in 5:08, followed by a
mile in 7:00, and a bit over a mile downhill in 6:42. It worked out to
a 6:44 pace for the tempo portion, and the effort was tough but not too
demanding. For next week, I'll need to plot out a longer course so I
can stretch this out to about 4 miles, so I can feel some burn.

We bought tickets to visit Philly in May, which means I now have a goal
race for the spring.

The other shoe?

2008-01-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 8.2 miles in 1:02
Tuesday, 5.8 miles in :44

For the last 10 days, all of my runs have gone at an easily brisk pace, in the mid-7 minute rhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifange, that for me indicates either high fitness or, in the current case, too many rest days. That being the case, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I felt like today was the day. I felt like I was dragging at the beginning and end of the run, although I did manage to achieve a Zen like state in the middle, causing me to miss my usual turn from Hopkins to Gilman. It turns out that the run went a little bit farther, and a little bit faster, than I had thought. I know that things will slow down soon, but it should hopefully be due to extra mileage.

Catchup

2008-01-22T15:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday (last): 14 miles in 2:00
Saturday (this): 7.6 in :56
Sunday: 5.7 in :42
Monday: 7.9 in :59

What happened to that week? I felt beat for a couple days after the
long run, then...

I finally hit the road again on Saturday. As usual, six days off put
some spring in my step and I had an easily fast run to downtown Oakland
and back. I passed the infamous intersection of 51st and Shattuck where
Senate Pro Tem Don Perata got carjacked last month, but it didn't look
any more infamous than it used to. Perata is now driving a Crown Vic
instead of his previous ride, a red Charger with 22" rims. Seriously.

I repeated with comfortably fast runs on Sunday and Monday, and took a
planned day off today. I'm planning to wake up early tomorrow and try
to make this a 35-40 mile week.

2008-01-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Monday am, 5.6 miles in :45
Tuesday pm, 3.2 miles in :26
Friday am, 7 miles in :56

Three runs so far this week. Tuesday's route is lost in the tubes, but
Silas and I ended up at the farmer's market, where one of the farmers
asked us if we liked running in the rain. I told her that it beats
walking in the rain any day. I probably wouldn't have bothered
squeezing in that run, if not for Seebo's report that Mike Huckabee had
squeezed in a 14 miler over the weekend.

Silas has recovered from his foray into Eastern Standard Time, and is
sleeping in consistently enough that, as of today, I am starting back on a
routine of waking up early to run between 6 and 7 before he wakes up.
This means that I will be finishing my runs before dawn for at least the
next few weeks; the fact is made more bearable by reminiscing about the
old CWP days, when we monitored the progress of winter while running
Acme loops.