On Wednesday I titled my post "Winter Returns" and just like that Summer Came Back, well at least very warm spring. I thought I left the Midwest fickle weather behind 20 some years ago.
With my friend John's memorial service on Saturday and the fact the I've been blessed with a sizable vacation balance at work, I took Friday off to put in my 22 miler. After I dropped my son off at school I headed down to Huntington Beach. HB seems to have become my long run destination of choice lately. I hopped on the freeway expecting Friday light conditions. The trip to HB takes 3 freeways. On the first I listened to the traffic report and all was clear. Once I made the transition to the second freeway, things began to slow down a little. Then they got even slower. The next traffic report told of an accident several exits ahead. I was already committed so I just chugged along at 10 mph. After I got passed the accident it was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Because it was a weekday and not yet spring break finding free parking was not a problem.
I parked at the north end of the route again like two weeks ago. This turned out to be a pretty good choice this day as I ran into the breeze on the way out and had it at my back on the return. Although there were far less people out on a Friday than on the weekend, there were still more than I expected. I saw some interesting sights on this run. I saw a Mom running with a triple wide running stroller with 3 kids in it. I saw another running Mom, pregnant with a full double stroller. I saw a lady walking her cat on a leash and a man sitting on a park bench with two very large dogs, one an either side of him. He had his arms around their necks and a third smaller dog nestled at his feet. They were all just seemed to be enjoying watching the ocean waves breaking on the beach. In Newport Beach, just as I got to my turnaround point, I saw a fishing boat that had run aground. Crazy stuff.
Overall the run went fairly well. On the way out the sun was mostly hidden under cloud cover. By the time I turned around to retrace my steps the sun was mostly out. I hadn't gotten started with this run until about 9:30 so the return trip from about 11 to 12:30 was borderline high sun times. I hadn't thought to use sunscreen, as usual, so my neck got a little burned as did my left arm. I stuck to my hydration and gel schedule from the 20 miler, using all 28 ounces of fluid and 3 Clif Shots. The double espresso was particularly tasty. Last year I would have only taken 2 gels during a 2o-22 miler. I think the extra one is helping.
Unlike the last two 20 milers I did experience a slow down at the end especially after the 20 mile "wall". I started out mile 1 at 8:57 and hovered around there for the first 16 miles. I was pleased that mile 17 came in at 9:07, at exactly the same time as the same mile (6) on the way out. By mile 18 I was at 9:04 then then proceeded the slow down with 9:10, 9:14, 9:38 (yikes) and 9:08. Again I was pleased that at could at least kick it back up a little bit for the last mile. My final time was 3:18 for a dead on 9:00 pace overall.
As far as long run paces go I should really be happy with that one. For my goal marathon, McMillan suggests 8:31 to 9:31 long runs. I would be happier with that if I could manage a few more of the weekday runs near or below actual marathon pace, 8:01. I'm going to finish out this training schedule for Eugene and then adjust as necessary depending on the outcome there.
Saturday afternoon, around 4:00, I was able to get over to Bonelli for an easy recovery run of 4 miles. I chose the north-south trail on the west end of the park. I wore my brand new Brooks Cascadia trail shoes. I've never had dedicated trail shoes before and really was looking forward to this inaugural run. Although I had admired the red/orange color scheme of the previous model, this years is dark gray and blue. This Cascadia is one nice looking shoe. During the run I immediately noticed more room in the toe box and felt the extra traction on the toe off and a little extra cush in the heel area during a short asphalt section.
Sunday, I took Bryan down to HB again. This weekend was the annual NPPL paintball tournament. This was our third annual trek for him to watch some paintball matches and check out some vendors. I only had four miles in the plan, so I decided to give it a go and was rewarded with a 32:17 or 8:04 pace, not bad two days after a 22 miler. True to form I soaked my legs in ocean post run. The water temperature is about 60 degrees, so not really ice bath quality but it does feel pretty good to get the cool water on the legs. I spent the rest of the morning catching up on my crossword puzzle back log and Bryan talked me into lunch at Ruby's Diner on the HB Pier.
With all that I finally reached a goal I've been pushing for since I started this training cycle, a 50 mile week. I was supposed to have hit it two times previously but those weeks ended up being 5 day rather than 6 day weeks. This week was my second 6 day week in a row. The longest I've made it so far with 6 days is 5 consecutive weeks. Next week calls for 6 and the following week cuts back to 5 so I think I'll be alright. After that the miles drop during the taper. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Next week will be somewhat of a challenge to get in all 6 days because I'm traveling to Calgary for 2 days. I may need to use some creativity to get it all done.
Today my thoughts were with my friends running the ING Georgia Marathon. I had four friends from the CA Cruisers running; Ena, Kitty, Margaret and Arcy. We also had Wes, David, and Rae and Brent of the RBF. Congrats to all for finishing what sounds like a hot and hilly race. The bloggers have already posted reports. Whew!
At one point I had considered joining this little group. The lure of another state and an inaugural marathon are hard to resist. Kitty and Margaret fueled the desire on this end and Wes had even volunteered to host me for the weekend. (I wonder what he'd have thought if I had actually taken him up on it?) When I mentioned weeks ago that I really wanted to run Georgia my wife asked me "Won't that mess up your chances for a BQ at Eugene?" Smart woman, my wife. My son then chimed in with "Couldn't you just run it as a training run?" Smart kid, my son. They've both been infected with the marathon mentality. What more can I ask for? In the end I probably made the wisest choice and skipped Georgia, but reading about it today really makes we wish I had been there.
Miles for the week: 50 (and the crowd went wild - at least in my head)
M - 6 miles, 50:54 (8:29 pace)
T - 6 miles, 50:13 (8:22 pace)
W- 8 miles, 1:07:36 (8:27 pace)
H - Rest
F- 22 miles, 3:19 (9:00 pace)
S - 4 miles, 41:56 (10:29 pace)
S - 4 miles, 32:18 (8:05 pace)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
For Juls
When a friend, even a friend we know only through a little thing called a blog, especially a friend who shares a passion for life, family and this crazy little activity that brought many of us together suffers such a loss, I think we all hurt a little too. I know I do. My prayer for you Juls is to take the time to heal and the time to feel. I hope that you will be able to come to terms with the questions that seem to have no answer. You are strong, and remember you are not alone.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Winter Returns
I've shuffled the plan around a little bit this week. It reminded me of one of these 15-puzzles that I used to have as a kid in the 60's. The plan has Monday off almost every week. I've mentioned before that Friday works better for me, at least every other week. Friday would definitely be my preferred day this week with a 22 miler on the plan for Saturday, so I slid everything over a day to accommodate this.
I mentioned last week that I visited a friend in hospice. On Friday, 3/16, John went home to be with the Lord. John was a LA County Sheriff. The chaplain wrote these words about John in a newsletter for the Ten Four Ministry - "I count it a great honor and privilege to have known John in this life; and I look forward to seeing him in the life to come. John was a man who loved the Lord deeply, who loved his wife and children passionately and sacrificially, who cherished prayer and fellowship, and who deeply cared for other people. I knew John to be not only a gentleman, but a gentle man. My one regret is that I did not meet John sooner than I did. But thanks be to God that I was blessed to call John my friend, my brother in Christ, and my brother behind the badge." A service for John will be held on Saturday at 11:00. With that in mind I did some more shuffling and moved my long run to Friday - I took a vacation day.
Last week the advent of DST and summer-like weather brought many people out into the streets for some exercise. The gloom that began during my run Saturday in Chino Hills has deepened and continued so far this week and the temperatures have cooled considerably. I guess last week's warm weather was just a little teaser. As might be expected the streets are barren of people again. The extra daylight, although hidden under cloud cover and 30 degrees cooler temperatures, wasn't enough to keep the bears from returning to their hibernation.
During Monday's 6 miler I saw only one other runner and only a handful of walkers. Tuesday I had a local travel day scheduled. I went out to Rancho Cucamonga in the morning to visit one doctor and then traveled down to Escondido with my boss and another engineer to see 7 patients at another office. Escondido is about a 2 hour drive from our office. We didn't get back until 6:00 in a drizzle.
I had planned on running the Bradbury horse trail near work, but with the late return I would have ended up running at least part of the run in the dark. That particular route in the dark and drizzle didn't do much for me. I was a little worn out from the car time so decided that if I was going to run in the dark anyway I would go home first, relax a little, maybe even have dinner and then go out later on a familiar, tried and true, route.
I finally got out at 8:45. Because of the late hour I had mentally prepared myself to run a shorter run, 4 miles, and save the planned 6 for the weekend. A little more shuffling of the puzzle. As I was changing I realized that the furnace was running. By definition that meant that it was cold outside. I wore shorts, but I wore an under armor snug fit shirt and a long sleeve shirt. About a half mile into the run I realized I had over dressed. By two miles I couldn't take it anymore and took off the long sleeve. I was glad I was running under the cover of darkness as those under armor shirts don't do much for camouflaging the spare tire and love handles. Also at this point I decided that since I was already out here and I didn't really know exactly where the 2 mile turn around was, I might as well just get the 6 miler over and done with. The puzzle was shuffled back a move. As it turns out the temperature was in the low 50's, perfect for a run (the drizzle had blown over, too). Predicting the outside temp based on the furnace running wasn't very reliable.
Tonight, Wednesday, I headed over to the dam right after work for 8. I wanted to keep the pace easy. At each mile marker I realized I was doing around 8:30 miles. I would try to slow it down a little but would end up at the same pace by the time I hit the mile mark. Once I get into a groove, I am nearly powerless to change it.
Barring any other change in plans the puzzle is set for the rest of the week at 0-22-4-4.
I mentioned last week that I visited a friend in hospice. On Friday, 3/16, John went home to be with the Lord. John was a LA County Sheriff. The chaplain wrote these words about John in a newsletter for the Ten Four Ministry - "I count it a great honor and privilege to have known John in this life; and I look forward to seeing him in the life to come. John was a man who loved the Lord deeply, who loved his wife and children passionately and sacrificially, who cherished prayer and fellowship, and who deeply cared for other people. I knew John to be not only a gentleman, but a gentle man. My one regret is that I did not meet John sooner than I did. But thanks be to God that I was blessed to call John my friend, my brother in Christ, and my brother behind the badge." A service for John will be held on Saturday at 11:00. With that in mind I did some more shuffling and moved my long run to Friday - I took a vacation day.
Last week the advent of DST and summer-like weather brought many people out into the streets for some exercise. The gloom that began during my run Saturday in Chino Hills has deepened and continued so far this week and the temperatures have cooled considerably. I guess last week's warm weather was just a little teaser. As might be expected the streets are barren of people again. The extra daylight, although hidden under cloud cover and 30 degrees cooler temperatures, wasn't enough to keep the bears from returning to their hibernation.
During Monday's 6 miler I saw only one other runner and only a handful of walkers. Tuesday I had a local travel day scheduled. I went out to Rancho Cucamonga in the morning to visit one doctor and then traveled down to Escondido with my boss and another engineer to see 7 patients at another office. Escondido is about a 2 hour drive from our office. We didn't get back until 6:00 in a drizzle.
I had planned on running the Bradbury horse trail near work, but with the late return I would have ended up running at least part of the run in the dark. That particular route in the dark and drizzle didn't do much for me. I was a little worn out from the car time so decided that if I was going to run in the dark anyway I would go home first, relax a little, maybe even have dinner and then go out later on a familiar, tried and true, route.
I finally got out at 8:45. Because of the late hour I had mentally prepared myself to run a shorter run, 4 miles, and save the planned 6 for the weekend. A little more shuffling of the puzzle. As I was changing I realized that the furnace was running. By definition that meant that it was cold outside. I wore shorts, but I wore an under armor snug fit shirt and a long sleeve shirt. About a half mile into the run I realized I had over dressed. By two miles I couldn't take it anymore and took off the long sleeve. I was glad I was running under the cover of darkness as those under armor shirts don't do much for camouflaging the spare tire and love handles. Also at this point I decided that since I was already out here and I didn't really know exactly where the 2 mile turn around was, I might as well just get the 6 miler over and done with. The puzzle was shuffled back a move. As it turns out the temperature was in the low 50's, perfect for a run (the drizzle had blown over, too). Predicting the outside temp based on the furnace running wasn't very reliable.
Tonight, Wednesday, I headed over to the dam right after work for 8. I wanted to keep the pace easy. At each mile marker I realized I was doing around 8:30 miles. I would try to slow it down a little but would end up at the same pace by the time I hit the mile mark. Once I get into a groove, I am nearly powerless to change it.
Barring any other change in plans the puzzle is set for the rest of the week at 0-22-4-4.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 11
This past week felt like a really relaxed week in terms of running. A few reasons for this are the “long” for the week was only 13, my legs had seemed to finally recover from the Ridge Run (2 weekends ago) and recovery from the 20 miler went smoothly. Although the running seemed less stressful and I was expecting a cut back week due to the shorter Saturday run, I still ended up with decent mileage because I ran all six days rather than five I had been getting in recently.
Tuesday night was my first after work run post-Daylight Savings Time. I was pretty happy about that. I ran my usual 6 mile loop around the neighborhood. I was surprised at the number of people outside. I saw 5 other runners. My thought was, where were these people last week, in fact the last few months. I ran this same loop last week in the dark and didn’t see another runner. I’ve run the loop lots of times over the last few months and have sometimes seen no other person on foot. Is it possible that I just missed them in the dark? I think not. We’ve also been blessed with summer-like weather, so the combination of warmth and light brought a lot people out of hibernation. The best part about this run for me is that I finally busted out an 8:00 pace run. It didn’t feel that hard. Did I mention that my legs finally felt better.
Wednesday right after work my wife and I went to visit a friend in hospice. He is at the end of his journey with brain cancer. He and his family have handled this whole ordeal with such grace. It is natural to be sad after leaving there, but at the same time we left with such a sense of peace. I just know that he is expecting a greater reward in heaven. Since it was later than normal, I still had the desire to run but not quite the need to get in the scheduled 6. I headed over to the equestrian trail in Via Verde and put in an easy 4 miles.
Thursday had been reserved for speed work. Call me easily influenced (OK, I know I am and it’s a flaw) I had decided to give Eric’s ladder session a try. When it comes to speed I need all the motivation I can get and trying something new seems to be the trick. The challenge for me was just where was I going to get this thing done. Earlier in the week I had driven by the track near my house. The out of hibernation effect was in full force there as well. People were apparently drawn to it like ants to a picnic. I just couldn’t see myself trying to get speed done while weaving in and out of all those people. I need a place with fairly wide open straight aways. Running one my loops on the streets seemed like it would be too daunting with traffic and street crossings to contend with. I headed over Bonelli and stayed on the roads and the asphalt trail around the picnic loop.
The Eric’s plan had called for 800 speed, 400 recovery, 400 speed, 200 recovery and 200 speed, lather, rinse, repeat shooting for 6 to 8 reps. I wouldn’t have mile marks so I modified the workout for time, fartlek style. I did 3 minutes speed, 3 minutes recovery, 2 minutes speed, 2 minutes recovery, 1 minute speed, 3 minutes recovery, repeat as necessary. I did a warm up mile first and then got started. The entire picnic loop is less than 2 miles so rather than just keep going, I double back and forth multiple times. I ended up doing 4 repeats. This gave me 24 minutes at roughly 10K pace interspersed with 32 minutes of recovery. I’m pretty sure this is the most speed I’ve ever done. Another side effect of the lack of mile markers (and my lack of a GPS) is that I ran by total time, 71 minutes. I later recreated the route as best I could on gmaps and came up with 8.3 miles including warm up, speed and cool down. Not knowing for sure how far I would go and the many changes in direction help keep my interest up and made speed work less of a chore.
Friday I put in 6 miles at the dam. At the end of my run I ran into Able. I hadn’t seen him in quite a while. He had the LA marathon a couple of weeks ago. His training hadn’t been adequate and his finishing time reflected that. He was getting ready to dive into the next round of training for Rock-n-Roll San Diego in June.
Saturday, there was a possibility of a run in Chino Hills State Park with Jeff and Matt, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. I had considered joining Jessica’s OCTR. After reading on her blog that some of them ended up doing 21.5 instead of the planned 14, I’m thinking I’m glad I didn’t. The lure of a run in Chino Hills was too great so I headed over there and put in 13 on my own. It was a very foggy morning. I didn’t get started until 8:00 a.m. and the fog was still pretty thick. I parked at the back end of the park near Carbon Canyon Regional Park. I pretty much ran the same loop I had run back in October (alone) and in June with Jeff, Jesse, Jim, Michelle and the Cruisers/642. I ran for about 3 miles in the fog. Visibility was about 100 feet or so. Around 3 miles I finally climbed above the fog and saw the sun. It was cool to look down on the canyons and valleys full of fog. My route was a simple loop UP Northridge, a quick drop down McDermott and then out Telegraph in the valley between Northridge and Southridge. It was cool down there but the fog had lifted and hung somewhere up the side of the canyon. On Telegraph I really tried to take advantage of the continuous slow down hill, keeping the turnover high and the pace up. I know that I still felt really good at the finish.
Sunday, the schedule called for 6, so I ran Robert’s Loop. It is a 6.5 mile loop that starts and ends at my front door. I’m not ready to kick Bonelli to the curb, but since I had gotten my trail fix yesterday and I hadn’t run this loop in quite a while it seemed like a good choice. The weather today is very overcast and cool so it was a really nice run. I actually really like this weather. I’m hoping to get Bryan out later today for a bike ride. We haven’t ridden since the bike tour 2 weeks ago. This may also have something to do with my legs feeling better, now that I think of it.
Miles for the week: 43.8
M: REST
T: 6 miles, 48:03 (8:00 pace)
W: 4 miles, 35:25 (8:51 pace)
H: 8.3 miles, 1:11 (8:33 pace) including 24 minutes of speed work
F: 6 miles, 50:50 (8:28 pace)
S: 13 miles, 2:06:43 (9:45 pace)
S: 6.5 miles, 1:01 (9:24 pace)
Tuesday night was my first after work run post-Daylight Savings Time. I was pretty happy about that. I ran my usual 6 mile loop around the neighborhood. I was surprised at the number of people outside. I saw 5 other runners. My thought was, where were these people last week, in fact the last few months. I ran this same loop last week in the dark and didn’t see another runner. I’ve run the loop lots of times over the last few months and have sometimes seen no other person on foot. Is it possible that I just missed them in the dark? I think not. We’ve also been blessed with summer-like weather, so the combination of warmth and light brought a lot people out of hibernation. The best part about this run for me is that I finally busted out an 8:00 pace run. It didn’t feel that hard. Did I mention that my legs finally felt better.
Wednesday right after work my wife and I went to visit a friend in hospice. He is at the end of his journey with brain cancer. He and his family have handled this whole ordeal with such grace. It is natural to be sad after leaving there, but at the same time we left with such a sense of peace. I just know that he is expecting a greater reward in heaven. Since it was later than normal, I still had the desire to run but not quite the need to get in the scheduled 6. I headed over to the equestrian trail in Via Verde and put in an easy 4 miles.
Thursday had been reserved for speed work. Call me easily influenced (OK, I know I am and it’s a flaw) I had decided to give Eric’s ladder session a try. When it comes to speed I need all the motivation I can get and trying something new seems to be the trick. The challenge for me was just where was I going to get this thing done. Earlier in the week I had driven by the track near my house. The out of hibernation effect was in full force there as well. People were apparently drawn to it like ants to a picnic. I just couldn’t see myself trying to get speed done while weaving in and out of all those people. I need a place with fairly wide open straight aways. Running one my loops on the streets seemed like it would be too daunting with traffic and street crossings to contend with. I headed over Bonelli and stayed on the roads and the asphalt trail around the picnic loop.
The Eric’s plan had called for 800 speed, 400 recovery, 400 speed, 200 recovery and 200 speed, lather, rinse, repeat shooting for 6 to 8 reps. I wouldn’t have mile marks so I modified the workout for time, fartlek style. I did 3 minutes speed, 3 minutes recovery, 2 minutes speed, 2 minutes recovery, 1 minute speed, 3 minutes recovery, repeat as necessary. I did a warm up mile first and then got started. The entire picnic loop is less than 2 miles so rather than just keep going, I double back and forth multiple times. I ended up doing 4 repeats. This gave me 24 minutes at roughly 10K pace interspersed with 32 minutes of recovery. I’m pretty sure this is the most speed I’ve ever done. Another side effect of the lack of mile markers (and my lack of a GPS) is that I ran by total time, 71 minutes. I later recreated the route as best I could on gmaps and came up with 8.3 miles including warm up, speed and cool down. Not knowing for sure how far I would go and the many changes in direction help keep my interest up and made speed work less of a chore.
Friday I put in 6 miles at the dam. At the end of my run I ran into Able. I hadn’t seen him in quite a while. He had the LA marathon a couple of weeks ago. His training hadn’t been adequate and his finishing time reflected that. He was getting ready to dive into the next round of training for Rock-n-Roll San Diego in June.
Saturday, there was a possibility of a run in Chino Hills State Park with Jeff and Matt, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. I had considered joining Jessica’s OCTR. After reading on her blog that some of them ended up doing 21.5 instead of the planned 14, I’m thinking I’m glad I didn’t. The lure of a run in Chino Hills was too great so I headed over there and put in 13 on my own. It was a very foggy morning. I didn’t get started until 8:00 a.m. and the fog was still pretty thick. I parked at the back end of the park near Carbon Canyon Regional Park. I pretty much ran the same loop I had run back in October (alone) and in June with Jeff, Jesse, Jim, Michelle and the Cruisers/642. I ran for about 3 miles in the fog. Visibility was about 100 feet or so. Around 3 miles I finally climbed above the fog and saw the sun. It was cool to look down on the canyons and valleys full of fog. My route was a simple loop UP Northridge, a quick drop down McDermott and then out Telegraph in the valley between Northridge and Southridge. It was cool down there but the fog had lifted and hung somewhere up the side of the canyon. On Telegraph I really tried to take advantage of the continuous slow down hill, keeping the turnover high and the pace up. I know that I still felt really good at the finish.
Sunday, the schedule called for 6, so I ran Robert’s Loop. It is a 6.5 mile loop that starts and ends at my front door. I’m not ready to kick Bonelli to the curb, but since I had gotten my trail fix yesterday and I hadn’t run this loop in quite a while it seemed like a good choice. The weather today is very overcast and cool so it was a really nice run. I actually really like this weather. I’m hoping to get Bryan out later today for a bike ride. We haven’t ridden since the bike tour 2 weeks ago. This may also have something to do with my legs feeling better, now that I think of it.
Miles for the week: 43.8
M: REST
T: 6 miles, 48:03 (8:00 pace)
W: 4 miles, 35:25 (8:51 pace)
H: 8.3 miles, 1:11 (8:33 pace) including 24 minutes of speed work
F: 6 miles, 50:50 (8:28 pace)
S: 13 miles, 2:06:43 (9:45 pace)
S: 6.5 miles, 1:01 (9:24 pace)
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 10
The good news - only 7 more of these weekly posts.
I shifted my whole week up a day so I could have Friday off. Friday just works better for me and I really like having the day off before the long run; 20 miles this week. My legs were dead, my quads were especially sore after the Glendora Ridge Run. Its funny that Rob mentions this as well but Monday afternoon I noticed that the soles of my feet were sore. I wondering if this is because the Adrenalines have less cushion than the Trance I've used for so long or if it is just due to the rocky loose conditions in places along the ridge causing my feet to grip more.
Monday's six miler was not really a struggle, but there was definitely no umph in the legs. My pace was 8:59. Tuesday my legs felt only a little better. I ran the same loop just for comparisons sake and was still relatively sluggish at 8:47 pace.
Wednesday I intended on running 8 miles at the dam. I was ready to walk out the door at 5:00 which would have given me almost an hour of daylight. I would have finished up before the sun completely sank behind the horizon. Unfortunately the phone rang and I took the call. I then made the mistake of sticking my head into my boss's office on the way out. That particular conversation left me with a knot in my stomach. The two things together chewed up thirty minutes of prime sunlit running time. I wasn't in the mood after that to run the dam in the dark, or to run at all. I drove home frustrated and without running.
Thursday I still wanted to get the 8 miler in and I did make it out the door already changed and ready on the dot, 5:00. I did feel a little bad leaving like a clock puncher but I had gotten in a little early. Sadly my legs were still not feeling refreshed. The first mile was at 9:00, which is pretty typical including the little climb on top. Mile 2 is where I usually pick things up, but not Thursday. 8:45. Discouraging. When mile 3 came in at 8:38, I called off the attempt at 8 and headed back. There was no sense slogging out 8 at this rate, with the anticipation of 20 miles looming out there on Saturday. The last three miles back went slightly better. I finished up at 8:30 overall. At least a little bit of vitality finally found its way out of those logs attached to my hips.
Saturday morning I headed back down to Huntington Beach for pretty much a repeat of the run two weeks ago. Just for varietie's sake, I started at the NW end near Warner and the 11 mile mark and headed SE towards mile 2 and up the river trail for that extra mile to make it 1o out and back. I wasn't expecting much out of this run. Well actually I was expecting it to be pretty much a death march.
When mile 1 came in at 9:12, I started thinking this is going to be a long day. As the run progressed I started feeling better. At mile 7 I took my first half pack of Razz Clifshot. I'm not sure if the Clifshot had anything to do with it but I began to feel a little more energized. I was running around 8:30 by then. I took half packets of Clifshot at 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 after that. Although I never came close to my target marathon pace of 8:00/mile I was encouraged that I never slowed down. In fact my last mile came in at 8:22, 50 seconds faster than the first mile.
Sunday morning I headed over to Bonelli at 7:00/8:00 a.m. for my popular Sunday 5 miler. The schedule only called for 4, but since I'd already missed 8 miles this week I didn't think the extra mile would hurt. Although it was a slow recovery run, I felt strong even on the hills at the end that sometimes really kick my butt.
At this point I have little faith that I will be able to pull off a 3:30 marathon. Six days a week (even though I've missed the last four) and chasing the 50 mile week are taking more of a toll on me than I imagined. My long runs have been respectable but not at the level necessary. My overall times even on the shorter runs aren't where I think they should be. But then again I never thought I'd pull off last years 3:52 and 3:40 either, so I haven't given up all hope. Next week includes a relatively short, 13 mile, long run (there's an oxymoron a runner can appreciate) so I'm redoubling my resolve to run all six days scheduled no matte how slowly.
Miles for the week: 43
M: 6 miles, 53:56 (8:59 pace)
T: 6 miles, 52:40 (8:47 pace)
W: knot in my stomach day
H: 6 miles, 51:04 (8:30 pace)
F: REST
S: 20 miles, 2:53:23 (8:40 pace)
S: 5 miles, 51:14 (10:15 pace)
I shifted my whole week up a day so I could have Friday off. Friday just works better for me and I really like having the day off before the long run; 20 miles this week. My legs were dead, my quads were especially sore after the Glendora Ridge Run. Its funny that Rob mentions this as well but Monday afternoon I noticed that the soles of my feet were sore. I wondering if this is because the Adrenalines have less cushion than the Trance I've used for so long or if it is just due to the rocky loose conditions in places along the ridge causing my feet to grip more.
Monday's six miler was not really a struggle, but there was definitely no umph in the legs. My pace was 8:59. Tuesday my legs felt only a little better. I ran the same loop just for comparisons sake and was still relatively sluggish at 8:47 pace.
Wednesday I intended on running 8 miles at the dam. I was ready to walk out the door at 5:00 which would have given me almost an hour of daylight. I would have finished up before the sun completely sank behind the horizon. Unfortunately the phone rang and I took the call. I then made the mistake of sticking my head into my boss's office on the way out. That particular conversation left me with a knot in my stomach. The two things together chewed up thirty minutes of prime sunlit running time. I wasn't in the mood after that to run the dam in the dark, or to run at all. I drove home frustrated and without running.
Thursday I still wanted to get the 8 miler in and I did make it out the door already changed and ready on the dot, 5:00. I did feel a little bad leaving like a clock puncher but I had gotten in a little early. Sadly my legs were still not feeling refreshed. The first mile was at 9:00, which is pretty typical including the little climb on top. Mile 2 is where I usually pick things up, but not Thursday. 8:45. Discouraging. When mile 3 came in at 8:38, I called off the attempt at 8 and headed back. There was no sense slogging out 8 at this rate, with the anticipation of 20 miles looming out there on Saturday. The last three miles back went slightly better. I finished up at 8:30 overall. At least a little bit of vitality finally found its way out of those logs attached to my hips.
Saturday morning I headed back down to Huntington Beach for pretty much a repeat of the run two weeks ago. Just for varietie's sake, I started at the NW end near Warner and the 11 mile mark and headed SE towards mile 2 and up the river trail for that extra mile to make it 1o out and back. I wasn't expecting much out of this run. Well actually I was expecting it to be pretty much a death march.
When mile 1 came in at 9:12, I started thinking this is going to be a long day. As the run progressed I started feeling better. At mile 7 I took my first half pack of Razz Clifshot. I'm not sure if the Clifshot had anything to do with it but I began to feel a little more energized. I was running around 8:30 by then. I took half packets of Clifshot at 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 after that. Although I never came close to my target marathon pace of 8:00/mile I was encouraged that I never slowed down. In fact my last mile came in at 8:22, 50 seconds faster than the first mile.
Sunday morning I headed over to Bonelli at 7:00/8:00 a.m. for my popular Sunday 5 miler. The schedule only called for 4, but since I'd already missed 8 miles this week I didn't think the extra mile would hurt. Although it was a slow recovery run, I felt strong even on the hills at the end that sometimes really kick my butt.
At this point I have little faith that I will be able to pull off a 3:30 marathon. Six days a week (even though I've missed the last four) and chasing the 50 mile week are taking more of a toll on me than I imagined. My long runs have been respectable but not at the level necessary. My overall times even on the shorter runs aren't where I think they should be. But then again I never thought I'd pull off last years 3:52 and 3:40 either, so I haven't given up all hope. Next week includes a relatively short, 13 mile, long run (there's an oxymoron a runner can appreciate) so I'm redoubling my resolve to run all six days scheduled no matte how slowly.
Miles for the week: 43
M: 6 miles, 53:56 (8:59 pace)
T: 6 miles, 52:40 (8:47 pace)
W: knot in my stomach day
H: 6 miles, 51:04 (8:30 pace)
F: REST
S: 20 miles, 2:53:23 (8:40 pace)
S: 5 miles, 51:14 (10:15 pace)
Biker Boys
Here a couple of pictures of Bryan and I at the bike tour, last weekend.
"myspace" photo, at the starting line, in the dark.
watching the fireworks, the sun is almost up.
view of downtown LA from the 6th St. bridge, a marathon first. A pretty impressive view, but where's Bryan?
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Together again at the finish line.
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Together again at the finish line.
Glendora Ridge Run
This post is only a week late, but it was kind of an interesting run and I wanted to share it. This is the run I ran last Saturday, March 3. Joe took note of my pace (12:15) for the run and commented on it. This is just a little slower than I usually run. The followings will help explain that.
Saturday morning I drove over my predetermined starting point only to be met by a 12 foot high chain link fence with No Trespassing Private Property signs. Fortunately I had a Plan B. Unfortunately, it included running up the Garcia Trail to get to Glendora Ridge. I found parking just as described on the link and headed up the trail. According to the site Garcia Trail climbs 1,040 feet in 1.2 miles. It took me 20:31 to get up the trail. I was forced to take a few walking breaks. This new starting place also threw off my route. I wasn't completely sure at what point the Ridge Motorway met Garcia. I was rewarded with some great views of the valley below.
Tuesday of that week I had put in a run up on the Santa Fe Dam Bike Trail. It was a particularly breezy day so the skies were crisp and clear. Although the foothills and mountains are visible during the entire run, around the 2 mile mark heading NE, I had a really great view of the foothills above Glendora, the city just north of my own. Because of the clear skies and the angle of the sunset I could clearly make out a road along the ridge of the first set of foothills. Curiosity got me and I remembered by commitment to run more trails up in those hills.
That night I determined that the road was the Glendora Ridge Motorway. It is a dirt road, closed to traffic that traverses the ridge of the foothills. From the map it looked like the road took off in Azusa (the city just west of Glendora) and headed along the ridge ultimately meeting up with Glendora Mountain Road (GMR to the locals), a paved road, also closed to traffic and a popular destination for road bikers. So I mapped out the route with gmaps-pedometer. The plan was to follow Glendora Ridge from end to end, about 5 miles, tack on another 2.5 up GMR and back for 15.
Saturday morning I drove over my predetermined starting point only to be met by a 12 foot high chain link fence with No Trespassing Private Property signs. Fortunately I had a Plan B. Unfortunately, it included running up the Garcia Trail to get to Glendora Ridge. I found parking just as described on the link and headed up the trail. According to the site Garcia Trail climbs 1,040 feet in 1.2 miles. It took me 20:31 to get up the trail. I was forced to take a few walking breaks. This new starting place also threw off my route. I wasn't completely sure at what point the Ridge Motorway met Garcia. I was rewarded with some great views of the valley below.I decided to head west back toward the original gate 
on Glendora Ridge. I eventually came upon a sign again warning of private property. Later I determined that I had gone 1.2 miles west. By this time I had nearly descended back down to the elevation I had started. I turned back, uphill to Garcia and continued on my original goal of completing the Motorway. The trail climbed for over 2 miles and then gently rolled along the ridge. It took me 1:10 to get to GMR about 7.25 miles. GMR was a slow steady climb for about 2 miles and then a slow steady descent back to the Glendora Ridge Motorway. It took me 23 minutes to go up and 19 come down.
on Glendora Ridge. I eventually came upon a sign again warning of private property. Later I determined that I had gone 1.2 miles west. By this time I had nearly descended back down to the elevation I had started. I turned back, uphill to Garcia and continued on my original goal of completing the Motorway. The trail climbed for over 2 miles and then gently rolled along the ridge. It took me 1:10 to get to GMR about 7.25 miles. GMR was a slow steady climb for about 2 miles and then a slow steady descent back to the Glendora Ridge Motorway. It took me 23 minutes to go up and 19 come down.Along the way I had come across deer twice. I tried to take photos but I couldn't get very close. This shot shows 3 of the deer and the trail along the ridge. The trip back down the Motor way and then down Garcia took 1:03. Down Garcia was pretty difficult. It is definitely single track and steep. 
The trail hugs the hills with a steep drop off on my right as I descended. Downhill is not my strong suit by any means so at the top steepest part there was more walking than anything and some pretty easy trotting the rest of the way. My final running time was 3:16. Afterward I plotted it all out on gmaps and came up with about 16.25 miles. (I plotted up Garcia, the out and back going west and just the out going east). This is the kind of run that really makes me wish for a Garmin or Polar, some kind of GPS so I would know how far I'd gone rather than guessing and trying to map it out later. How about a Father's Day, Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas gift? Are you reading, dear?
The trail hugs the hills with a steep drop off on my right as I descended. Downhill is not my strong suit by any means so at the top steepest part there was more walking than anything and some pretty easy trotting the rest of the way. My final running time was 3:16. Afterward I plotted it all out on gmaps and came up with about 16.25 miles. (I plotted up Garcia, the out and back going west and just the out going east). This is the kind of run that really makes me wish for a Garmin or Polar, some kind of GPS so I would know how far I'd gone rather than guessing and trying to map it out later. How about a Father's Day, Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas gift? Are you reading, dear?So climbing up from 840 ft to 1880, back down to around 1100 and eventually up to 3033 and back to 840 put me at a 12:15 pace. It has been awhile since I've run trail for that distance. I did enjoy myself immensely. The next few days, my quads and my times for the rest of the week were effected by the run. The only other people I saw were on or at the summit of Garcia, one guy hiking on the Motorway and 20 or so road bikers on GMA. I'm glad the Glendora Ridge Motorway revealed itself to me while running on my old familiar "dam" route.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 9
Sunday, March 4, 2007 the 22nd running of the City of Los Angeles Marathon and the 13th Acura L.A. Bike Tour.
Bryan and I got up at 4:00 a.m. I was happy that I didn't get much argument from Bryan. He, like is mother, is NOT a morning person. We were on our way a few minutes after my planned departure time of 4:30. I had put the bikes on the back of the car the night before and our bottles were filled and in the refrigerator ready to go.
The contrast on the freeway was incredible. We had driven down the the Convention Center on Saturday with the usual crowded freeways. On Sunday morning we had our pick of lanes and speeds. The start of the bike tour was the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. I heard the other day that LA is considering a bid for the 2016 Olympics too. Just after were made the connection to the 110 freeway from the 10 we were stopped by a half mile long line of cars, all with bikes. There are two off ramps for the Coliseum. Rather than sit in the line for the first ramp, I made the decision to take the next one, MLK Blvd. As soon as I passed the point of no return on the freeway we saw a sign saying "next exit closed". Now I would have to take the following exit, turn around and come back. This would add time I hadn't really planned into the schedule. Fortunately the road crew was just in the process of coning off the lane and I was one of the last people to get to exit at MLK. MLK would be closed as it was the beginning of the bike tour and mile 15 of the marathon.
We found parking easily and unloaded. At first Bryan was cold, but I think it was mostly nerves. I did wear my gloves but I might have been OK without. We both had on tights, shorts, a long sleeve shirt and our bike tour t's. Bryan told me at home that no one better mention that we matched, although it was originally his idea to do so. We lined up about 5:40 in a line that extended at least 1/4 in front of us and eventually that far behind as well.
After a fire works show over the Coliseum the tour began at 6:00. The crowd caused us to walk our bike basically to within feet of the starting line. And then we were off to the sounds of Randy Newman's "I Love LA", just like the marathon.
The crowds were pretty thick early on, much like in a marathon, except that finding a space and passing was complicated by the piece of equipment we were rolling down the street. Bryan was a little more fearless about weaving. I had cautioned him against doing so reckless for fear of causing crashes. We were able to hang together about 2 miles, although Bryan was obviously holding back. On the first little down hill he took advantage of the smoothness of his road bike and before I knew it he was out of my sight. From the back everyone wearing t-shirts with the word Acura printed on it all look the same. I was certain that he would go ahead but I'm not sure it would be this soon.
I enjoyed the ride from the perspective of a runner. I thought about the turns, the sights and the general downhill and longed to be running. Before the 6th St bridge I saw my first serious casualty of the race. The biker was down and being attended to by EMT's. The had a neck brace on the guy and there was a lot of blood on the ground. Prior to that I had seen a couple of little pile ups but nothing too severe, with the early crowds the pace was too slow to cause any real damage to bike or human. This was obviously a different story.
The other side of the bridge was a nice long downhill. I knew Bryan would be flying down that hill. This is when I started worrying about my son. At the bottom of the hill I witnessed another crash involving 3 people. They seemed to be shaken but not hurt. I pulled over a little later to check my cell phone. No call from Bryan so I had to assume he was OK. A few miles later I saw another pretty serious chain reaction crash. Bikes and limbs were flying every direction. At that point my worry level for Bryan went crazy. I thought this isn't any fun. I'm worried that he could be involved in one of these crashes due to his excitement over going fast and his inexperience in riding in crowds.
For some reason the saying "no guts, no glory" came to mind. I decided I would rather keep my guts, skin and bones in tact and rode on conservatively, checking the phone once or twice more. Finally while I was approaching mile 18 my phone rang. It was Bryan. He was back at the Coliseum, finished, elated and in one piece. He had ridden 20 miles in about 1:30. By the time he called me he had already picked up his medal, had some gatorade, some snacks and called his Mom. I got the the finish line about 20 minutes later. Within a few hundred feet of the finish we passed another down biker. The paramedics were performing CPR. I heard later on the news he had suffered a heart attack and died. It wasn't the best way to end a race.
Bryan had a great time, so did I really. We loaded up the bikes and were out of the Coliseum just about the time the marathon started at Universal City 14 miles away. We made it home by 9:00 and watched the local coverage of the race on TV. It was quite the finish.
Bryan is looking for other rides to do. I think he's found something he really enjoys. We talked about my marathon schedule and how I wouldn't be able to ride with him a lot for the next two months. He was willing to for me to drop in off at the trail and he'd go. "It's not like you can keep up with me anyway!" he said.
Later today, I was feeling pretty tired and took an unplanned nap. Later my stomach was feeling queasy, so I opted out of today's run. So that makes the third consecutive week that I've fallen short of my six day per week plan. The rest of the week went down like this:
Miles for the week: 41
M: Rest
T: 6 miles, 49:59 (8:20 pace)
W: 6 miles, 51:45 (8:38 pace)
H: 7 miles, 1:03:22 (9:03 pace), Fartleks 1-2-3-2-1
F: 6 miles, 50:20 (8:23 pace)
S: ~16 miles, 3:16 (12:15 pace)
S: 0 miles
I'll have to tell you about Saturday's run another time. It's late and I'm beat.
Bryan and I got up at 4:00 a.m. I was happy that I didn't get much argument from Bryan. He, like is mother, is NOT a morning person. We were on our way a few minutes after my planned departure time of 4:30. I had put the bikes on the back of the car the night before and our bottles were filled and in the refrigerator ready to go.
The contrast on the freeway was incredible. We had driven down the the Convention Center on Saturday with the usual crowded freeways. On Sunday morning we had our pick of lanes and speeds. The start of the bike tour was the Los Angeles Coliseum, home of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics. I heard the other day that LA is considering a bid for the 2016 Olympics too. Just after were made the connection to the 110 freeway from the 10 we were stopped by a half mile long line of cars, all with bikes. There are two off ramps for the Coliseum. Rather than sit in the line for the first ramp, I made the decision to take the next one, MLK Blvd. As soon as I passed the point of no return on the freeway we saw a sign saying "next exit closed". Now I would have to take the following exit, turn around and come back. This would add time I hadn't really planned into the schedule. Fortunately the road crew was just in the process of coning off the lane and I was one of the last people to get to exit at MLK. MLK would be closed as it was the beginning of the bike tour and mile 15 of the marathon.
We found parking easily and unloaded. At first Bryan was cold, but I think it was mostly nerves. I did wear my gloves but I might have been OK without. We both had on tights, shorts, a long sleeve shirt and our bike tour t's. Bryan told me at home that no one better mention that we matched, although it was originally his idea to do so. We lined up about 5:40 in a line that extended at least 1/4 in front of us and eventually that far behind as well.
After a fire works show over the Coliseum the tour began at 6:00. The crowd caused us to walk our bike basically to within feet of the starting line. And then we were off to the sounds of Randy Newman's "I Love LA", just like the marathon.
The crowds were pretty thick early on, much like in a marathon, except that finding a space and passing was complicated by the piece of equipment we were rolling down the street. Bryan was a little more fearless about weaving. I had cautioned him against doing so reckless for fear of causing crashes. We were able to hang together about 2 miles, although Bryan was obviously holding back. On the first little down hill he took advantage of the smoothness of his road bike and before I knew it he was out of my sight. From the back everyone wearing t-shirts with the word Acura printed on it all look the same. I was certain that he would go ahead but I'm not sure it would be this soon.
I enjoyed the ride from the perspective of a runner. I thought about the turns, the sights and the general downhill and longed to be running. Before the 6th St bridge I saw my first serious casualty of the race. The biker was down and being attended to by EMT's. The had a neck brace on the guy and there was a lot of blood on the ground. Prior to that I had seen a couple of little pile ups but nothing too severe, with the early crowds the pace was too slow to cause any real damage to bike or human. This was obviously a different story.
The other side of the bridge was a nice long downhill. I knew Bryan would be flying down that hill. This is when I started worrying about my son. At the bottom of the hill I witnessed another crash involving 3 people. They seemed to be shaken but not hurt. I pulled over a little later to check my cell phone. No call from Bryan so I had to assume he was OK. A few miles later I saw another pretty serious chain reaction crash. Bikes and limbs were flying every direction. At that point my worry level for Bryan went crazy. I thought this isn't any fun. I'm worried that he could be involved in one of these crashes due to his excitement over going fast and his inexperience in riding in crowds.
For some reason the saying "no guts, no glory" came to mind. I decided I would rather keep my guts, skin and bones in tact and rode on conservatively, checking the phone once or twice more. Finally while I was approaching mile 18 my phone rang. It was Bryan. He was back at the Coliseum, finished, elated and in one piece. He had ridden 20 miles in about 1:30. By the time he called me he had already picked up his medal, had some gatorade, some snacks and called his Mom. I got the the finish line about 20 minutes later. Within a few hundred feet of the finish we passed another down biker. The paramedics were performing CPR. I heard later on the news he had suffered a heart attack and died. It wasn't the best way to end a race.
Bryan had a great time, so did I really. We loaded up the bikes and were out of the Coliseum just about the time the marathon started at Universal City 14 miles away. We made it home by 9:00 and watched the local coverage of the race on TV. It was quite the finish.
Bryan is looking for other rides to do. I think he's found something he really enjoys. We talked about my marathon schedule and how I wouldn't be able to ride with him a lot for the next two months. He was willing to for me to drop in off at the trail and he'd go. "It's not like you can keep up with me anyway!" he said.
Later today, I was feeling pretty tired and took an unplanned nap. Later my stomach was feeling queasy, so I opted out of today's run. So that makes the third consecutive week that I've fallen short of my six day per week plan. The rest of the week went down like this:
Miles for the week: 41
M: Rest
T: 6 miles, 49:59 (8:20 pace)
W: 6 miles, 51:45 (8:38 pace)
H: 7 miles, 1:03:22 (9:03 pace), Fartleks 1-2-3-2-1
F: 6 miles, 50:20 (8:23 pace)
S: ~16 miles, 3:16 (12:15 pace)
S: 0 miles
I'll have to tell you about Saturday's run another time. It's late and I'm beat.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Steal Shamelessly
I work for a small division of a huge corporate entity based in Minnesota. Our previous chairman/CEO was a huge advocate of Six Sigma. All most everyone throughout the organization went through what is known as green belt training. One of hallmarks of the six sigma methodology is that everyone across the corporation would be using the same tools and language to make continuous improvements and most importantly to share holders, cut cost. One motto of the training was "steal shamelessly", not in the unethical, criminal sense but in the sense of why reinvent the wheel. There was a huge corporate database that tracked all the projects. We were encouraged to search the database for projects similar to ours and to replicate and use the best practices.
Running blogs are a huge database of training ideas and techniques. Rather than learning everything the hard way we can learn from others what works, or not, races to try, routes to take, and training plans for every distance just to name a few. You name it we write and read about it daily.
Today was my planned speed work day. At spend at least part of my lunch hour most days reading a blog or two before heating up the days leftovers or frozen lunch. I read Steven's approach to speed work this week. He ran fartleks in some pretty tough conditions. As much as I "love" going to the track I decided to steal shamelessly and give the fartleks a try today. To replicate Steven's run, I planned on doing the 1-2-3-2-1 minute speed session, but separated with 3 minutes of slower running, which is closer to what I would get during a 400 meter at the track.
I wanted to figure out a fairly straight out and back 8 miler. When I got home from work, I spent about 2 minutes mapping out a route on gmaps pedometer. My route started out on the equestrian trail on Puente, left up the hill on Via Verde the left again down Raging Waters Drive. That made a 6 mile round trip so I quickly added some more on the end of the run with the gmaps. The warm up included getting all the way up the hill. I set my watch for one minute intervals and off I went. The fartleks went pretty well and were actually kind of fun. I had to double back on Raging Waters to get the last 1 minute speed in before I headed back down the hill and on to the extra add on to get me to 8 miles. My heart was sure beating in my throat and the 3 minutes seemed to last an eternity.
When I got back to the car my watch read 1:03. I was shocked. I had taken the 1.5 warm up pretty easy and it had included the hill. This meant a sub 8 pace. That just didn't seem right. After getting home, having dinner and showering, I sat back down at the computer and checked out the route I'd done before I left. I then realized that my add on was only 1/2 mile out and 1/2 back. My run was only 7 miles not 8. The new pace of 9:03 was in line with the way I felt. Other than the speedy 9 minutes, I had taken the run easy, even walking for a bit after each speed segment.
All in all it was a more enjoyable way to get in some speed and my Six Sigma coach should be happy that I learned at least something. Steal shamelessly and have some fun.
Running blogs are a huge database of training ideas and techniques. Rather than learning everything the hard way we can learn from others what works, or not, races to try, routes to take, and training plans for every distance just to name a few. You name it we write and read about it daily.
Today was my planned speed work day. At spend at least part of my lunch hour most days reading a blog or two before heating up the days leftovers or frozen lunch. I read Steven's approach to speed work this week. He ran fartleks in some pretty tough conditions. As much as I "love" going to the track I decided to steal shamelessly and give the fartleks a try today. To replicate Steven's run, I planned on doing the 1-2-3-2-1 minute speed session, but separated with 3 minutes of slower running, which is closer to what I would get during a 400 meter at the track.
I wanted to figure out a fairly straight out and back 8 miler. When I got home from work, I spent about 2 minutes mapping out a route on gmaps pedometer. My route started out on the equestrian trail on Puente, left up the hill on Via Verde the left again down Raging Waters Drive. That made a 6 mile round trip so I quickly added some more on the end of the run with the gmaps. The warm up included getting all the way up the hill. I set my watch for one minute intervals and off I went. The fartleks went pretty well and were actually kind of fun. I had to double back on Raging Waters to get the last 1 minute speed in before I headed back down the hill and on to the extra add on to get me to 8 miles. My heart was sure beating in my throat and the 3 minutes seemed to last an eternity.
When I got back to the car my watch read 1:03. I was shocked. I had taken the 1.5 warm up pretty easy and it had included the hill. This meant a sub 8 pace. That just didn't seem right. After getting home, having dinner and showering, I sat back down at the computer and checked out the route I'd done before I left. I then realized that my add on was only 1/2 mile out and 1/2 back. My run was only 7 miles not 8. The new pace of 9:03 was in line with the way I felt. Other than the speedy 9 minutes, I had taken the run easy, even walking for a bit after each speed segment.
All in all it was a more enjoyable way to get in some speed and my Six Sigma coach should be happy that I learned at least something. Steal shamelessly and have some fun.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
February 2007 Numbers
So far this week, Monday was a planned rest day. Tuesday and Wednesday had 6 scheduled. Tuesday I shut down the computer at 5:02, changed and drove over to the dam by 5:22. I was able to get the 6 miles done by the last little traces of daylight. It won't be long before I'll be able to get home, changed and over to Bonelli for some midweek runs before the sun sets. Am I excited about that, you bet I am. Wednesday I made it home and back out the door by 6:08. There was still just a little bit of daylight left when I got started.
These past two days have been on the chilly and windy side. While I can't exactly say that the winds are howling and biting, this is SoCal after all, but the weather was a little less hospitable than usual. So true to the old adage about March; "in like a lion, out like a lamb", it looks like we'll be getting the lion this year. I remember that saying from growing up in OH where it seemed to ring fairly true. Here in Covina, I think March will come in more like a mad alley cat than a lion, oh well.
My legs are definitely still feeling the effects of last weekend's 20 mile - 8K combo. I've got speed work scheduled for tomorrow. At this point I'm not expecting too much with the way the legs feel, but I'm set to go give it a try.
Because I'm a slave to the numbers, here's how February ended: 184 miles in 21 days of running. This is slightly higher than last month and not bad considering the shorter month and that I took 2 extra unplanned days off.
These past two days have been on the chilly and windy side. While I can't exactly say that the winds are howling and biting, this is SoCal after all, but the weather was a little less hospitable than usual. So true to the old adage about March; "in like a lion, out like a lamb", it looks like we'll be getting the lion this year. I remember that saying from growing up in OH where it seemed to ring fairly true. Here in Covina, I think March will come in more like a mad alley cat than a lion, oh well.
My legs are definitely still feeling the effects of last weekend's 20 mile - 8K combo. I've got speed work scheduled for tomorrow. At this point I'm not expecting too much with the way the legs feel, but I'm set to go give it a try.
Because I'm a slave to the numbers, here's how February ended: 184 miles in 21 days of running. This is slightly higher than last month and not bad considering the shorter month and that I took 2 extra unplanned days off.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 8
Friday ended up being a rest day after all. The only really good time to get the run in would have been in the morning. That meant getting up early and getting it done before work. It is a rare occasion when I do that.
For Saturday's 20 miler I was pretty much on my own. The Cruisers were all running short due to a race on Sunday. I headed down to Huntington Beach for a run along the bike path. The motto for the day was - Cruise Control. My only goal was to finish the 20 miles feeling strong and with some gas in the tank.
The run actually starts about a mile northeast of the beach. The training program from the Fountain Valley Snail's Pace running store has marked the mileage from there. The parking lots and bike paths at the extreme south end of the the beach were slurry coated sometime last fall so the first mile mark is at 4. My time at that point was 36:14. This put me smack dab in the middle of McMillan's long run pace. I hovered between 8:45 and 9:00 miles for the next 7 miles. On the way back I ended up clocking two miles at 8:15. My last four miles came in at 34:47, faster than the first four. Mission accomplished. I finished the 20 feeling strong. None of the dreaded 20 mile slow down on this run. I actually very slightly negatively split the run without trying, 1:29 out, 1:27 back, for a total time of 2:56.
I had a couple of reasons for wanting to take this run at a stress free pace. The first was that I had signed up for that same race that all the other Cruisers were running on Sunday, the Brea 8K. I ran this race last year at a pretty conservative pace. I was fairly certain I could better my time of 39:38. With the 20 miler on my legs I wasn't really sure what I would be capable of. The McMillan running calculator predicted a 35:30 time for an 8K. All the paces are based on the goal of a 3:30 marathon.
At the starting line I ran into this guy, Sam, who I run a few other races with. The first race I remember him, I beat him. At the Jingle Bob he was the second male, I was the third. At that point I really didn't give him much thought. Whereas last year I had no idea what to expect on the course, this year I knew exactly what I was in for. This course is pretty much rolling the entire 8K.
Mile 1 has its share of ups and downs. We started out heading west, circled the Civic Center and ended up passing the starting line heading east. I hadn't seen Sam since the horn sounded and hadn't really expected to. I finished Mile 1 in 7:32. I was pretty happy with that.
Mile 2 had a slow climb up Birch. I clocked 7:42. I was still OK with that, all things considered.
Mile 3 we turned left on Associated, and then another slow climb up Country Hills Rd, followed by a left onto Kraemer which includes the real uphill of the course, significant enough that it is marked on the course map as "up hill". Just after cresting the hill and turning left on Lambert, I hit the 3 mile mark in 7:51. From this point on the course was mostly downhill, with a really nice downhill back down Associated to Birch, so the 7:51 didn't completely demoralize me.
Mile 4 was at the corner as we turned right back to onto Birch and I missed it. Last year this mile came in at 7:22. I was pretty confident that I had at least gotten that his year.
Just around the corner, I came upon Sam. He was walking and obviously struggling. No big deal, I just kept running my race. Sam ended up running again and passed me. Soon he was coughing and breathing really heavily and had stopped to walk again. I just kept chugging along. It was then that I thought we've got a little challenge going here, I knew he had seen me go by. I ran the next half mile and had turned the 2nd to the last corner to the finish line when I heard really heavy breathing coming closer and closer. I picked up the pace on the home stretch. The breathing kept getting closer as did the pounding of shoes. I picked up the pace as much as I could. I was sure that Sam was hot on my tail. I don't think I've ever kicked as hard at the end. Sam passed me with about 5 feet before the finish line. At least I had made him fight for the win. It was a fun little adrenaline rush to end the race that way. My time for the last 1.97 miles was 14:11 for a 7:12 pace.
The unofficial finish time was 37:16 for a 7:30 pace overall and a pretty significant improvement at the 8K distance.
The rest of the weekend was filled with bike riding with Bryan. He is very into training for the bike tour next weekend. I guess I might be able to consider these sessions as reverse interrupted mini (RIM) bricks. Saturday after 20 in the morning, Bryan and I rode 9 in the afternoon. Sunday after the 8K in the morning, we rode 16 in the afternoon. So although I didn't hit my running mileage number for the week, I think I put in some pretty significant efforts combined.
Miles for the week: 44
M: Rest
T: 5 miles, Speedwork
W: 6 miles, 53:12 (8:52 pace)
H: 8 miles, 1:04 (8:04 pace)
F: Extra Rest Day
S: 20 miles, 2:56 (8:49 pace) and 9 miles bike
S: 5 miles, 37:16 (7:30 pace) and 16 miles bike
For Saturday's 20 miler I was pretty much on my own. The Cruisers were all running short due to a race on Sunday. I headed down to Huntington Beach for a run along the bike path. The motto for the day was - Cruise Control. My only goal was to finish the 20 miles feeling strong and with some gas in the tank.
The run actually starts about a mile northeast of the beach. The training program from the Fountain Valley Snail's Pace running store has marked the mileage from there. The parking lots and bike paths at the extreme south end of the the beach were slurry coated sometime last fall so the first mile mark is at 4. My time at that point was 36:14. This put me smack dab in the middle of McMillan's long run pace. I hovered between 8:45 and 9:00 miles for the next 7 miles. On the way back I ended up clocking two miles at 8:15. My last four miles came in at 34:47, faster than the first four. Mission accomplished. I finished the 20 feeling strong. None of the dreaded 20 mile slow down on this run. I actually very slightly negatively split the run without trying, 1:29 out, 1:27 back, for a total time of 2:56.
I had a couple of reasons for wanting to take this run at a stress free pace. The first was that I had signed up for that same race that all the other Cruisers were running on Sunday, the Brea 8K. I ran this race last year at a pretty conservative pace. I was fairly certain I could better my time of 39:38. With the 20 miler on my legs I wasn't really sure what I would be capable of. The McMillan running calculator predicted a 35:30 time for an 8K. All the paces are based on the goal of a 3:30 marathon.
At the starting line I ran into this guy, Sam, who I run a few other races with. The first race I remember him, I beat him. At the Jingle Bob he was the second male, I was the third. At that point I really didn't give him much thought. Whereas last year I had no idea what to expect on the course, this year I knew exactly what I was in for. This course is pretty much rolling the entire 8K.
Mile 1 has its share of ups and downs. We started out heading west, circled the Civic Center and ended up passing the starting line heading east. I hadn't seen Sam since the horn sounded and hadn't really expected to. I finished Mile 1 in 7:32. I was pretty happy with that.
Mile 2 had a slow climb up Birch. I clocked 7:42. I was still OK with that, all things considered.
Mile 3 we turned left on Associated, and then another slow climb up Country Hills Rd, followed by a left onto Kraemer which includes the real uphill of the course, significant enough that it is marked on the course map as "up hill". Just after cresting the hill and turning left on Lambert, I hit the 3 mile mark in 7:51. From this point on the course was mostly downhill, with a really nice downhill back down Associated to Birch, so the 7:51 didn't completely demoralize me.
Mile 4 was at the corner as we turned right back to onto Birch and I missed it. Last year this mile came in at 7:22. I was pretty confident that I had at least gotten that his year.
Just around the corner, I came upon Sam. He was walking and obviously struggling. No big deal, I just kept running my race. Sam ended up running again and passed me. Soon he was coughing and breathing really heavily and had stopped to walk again. I just kept chugging along. It was then that I thought we've got a little challenge going here, I knew he had seen me go by. I ran the next half mile and had turned the 2nd to the last corner to the finish line when I heard really heavy breathing coming closer and closer. I picked up the pace on the home stretch. The breathing kept getting closer as did the pounding of shoes. I picked up the pace as much as I could. I was sure that Sam was hot on my tail. I don't think I've ever kicked as hard at the end. Sam passed me with about 5 feet before the finish line. At least I had made him fight for the win. It was a fun little adrenaline rush to end the race that way. My time for the last 1.97 miles was 14:11 for a 7:12 pace.
The unofficial finish time was 37:16 for a 7:30 pace overall and a pretty significant improvement at the 8K distance.
The rest of the weekend was filled with bike riding with Bryan. He is very into training for the bike tour next weekend. I guess I might be able to consider these sessions as reverse interrupted mini (RIM) bricks. Saturday after 20 in the morning, Bryan and I rode 9 in the afternoon. Sunday after the 8K in the morning, we rode 16 in the afternoon. So although I didn't hit my running mileage number for the week, I think I put in some pretty significant efforts combined.
Miles for the week: 44
M: Rest
T: 5 miles, Speedwork
W: 6 miles, 53:12 (8:52 pace)
H: 8 miles, 1:04 (8:04 pace)
F: Extra Rest Day
S: 20 miles, 2:56 (8:49 pace) and 9 miles bike
S: 5 miles, 37:16 (7:30 pace) and 16 miles bike
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Stubborn Streak
I derive a lot of inspiration from reading others peoples trials and adventures in running. At least two of my runs so far this week were made a little better thinking about some of you. After the frustrating week I had last week, the feedback was pretty unanimously in favor of more rest. I decided that this week I was just going to concentrate on the miles and not worry about the time. Does this sound more than a little bit familiar to anyone? I'm beginning to sound like a broken record even to myself.
Tuesday I headed on over to the track. Bryan joined me. He wanted to run some laps as well as part of his training for the bike tour in less than 2 weeks. David is my current inspiration for speed work. He busted out 12-400's this week. Man oh man, I'd be thrilled with 6 or 8. But now I have a goal. The old track had just gotten a fresh layer of new dirt. It was nice and soft but pretty rutted up due to the rain on Monday. I was forced into what is probably lane 3 to avoid the worst of it. I put in a 400, 800, 600, 800, 400, and one last 400. The 600 was supposed to be an 800 but I pulled up short with a side stitch. I don't remember having a side stitch since running as a kid. All my times are about 5 to 8 seconds slower than the McMillan calculator.
Wednesday I headed out for 6 miles. I fell into a very comfortable pace that I felt I could keep up for a long time. The main goal was just to stay relaxed, not pushed or hurried or stressed over speed. My final pace was nearing 9:00 and I felt refreshed afterward.
Before heading off to bed last night I mapped out an 8 mile route beginning at our church. My plan was to put in the miles right after the meeting, stop at home to shower and head into work a little late. When I got up, I started thinking about how it has been staying light until nearly 6:00 p.m. When I leave the meeting I get to work early so I decided push the run to the afternoon, leave work a little early and take advantage of the longer days. Only one obstacle lay in my way. The forecast called for rain. I don't pay much attention to the forecast, but at 4:00 the rain began. I was initially bummed and wished I had run in the morning. It wasn't raining then. But then I thought about Steven. He has commented often on his blog that if you won't run in the rain, then in his area, Oregon, you'll miss a lot of runs. I decided that if he and Mike could run in the cold rain in Oregon, I could run in the relatively balmy 60's in what we call rain.
I was out the door at work 4:45 and off to the Santa Fe River Trail at the dam for 8, in the rain. I had at least packed my baseball cap to keep the rain off my glasses. I pulled into the lot and lo and behold I was the only car there. I headed on up on top of the dam, fell into a groove and rain be damned. Luckily the weather was just showers, no winds or lightning. I was just one solitary guy out enjoying the weather. By mile 3 I was about as wet as I was going to get. You guys know what can happen running in a wet shirt. I've suffered through this before and bloody, sore nipples are no laughing matter. As a preemptive strike, I flipped the shirt up over my head. I'm usually too self conscious for this but I wasn't likely going to be seeing anybody else in the next 5 miles (I didn't) and any possible embarrassment on my part or theirs would be worth not suffering the dreaded rawness. Running bare skinned in the rain is not such a bad thing. I felt downright primal and the best part is I'm sitting here now pain free.
The pace for the romp in the rain, 8 miles in 1:04:32, 8:04 miles per minute. Where that came from I can't quite figure out. I was just out for a easy run and got rewarded with a near 8:00 pace and it felt easy. Last weekend I couldn't keep up an 8:00 pace for more than a few feet without feeling as though I was going to die. Running is such an unknowable thing sometimes.
I've been chasing a mileage goal for a while and this was supposed to be the week to get there. But with the extra biking I'll be doing with Bryan and the 20 miler on Saturday, taking Friday off is probably the prudent and wise thing to do. Thanks for the advice and the inspiration and hopefully we'll all keep learning something together.
Tuesday I headed on over to the track. Bryan joined me. He wanted to run some laps as well as part of his training for the bike tour in less than 2 weeks. David is my current inspiration for speed work. He busted out 12-400's this week. Man oh man, I'd be thrilled with 6 or 8. But now I have a goal. The old track had just gotten a fresh layer of new dirt. It was nice and soft but pretty rutted up due to the rain on Monday. I was forced into what is probably lane 3 to avoid the worst of it. I put in a 400, 800, 600, 800, 400, and one last 400. The 600 was supposed to be an 800 but I pulled up short with a side stitch. I don't remember having a side stitch since running as a kid. All my times are about 5 to 8 seconds slower than the McMillan calculator.
Wednesday I headed out for 6 miles. I fell into a very comfortable pace that I felt I could keep up for a long time. The main goal was just to stay relaxed, not pushed or hurried or stressed over speed. My final pace was nearing 9:00 and I felt refreshed afterward.
Before heading off to bed last night I mapped out an 8 mile route beginning at our church. My plan was to put in the miles right after the meeting, stop at home to shower and head into work a little late. When I got up, I started thinking about how it has been staying light until nearly 6:00 p.m. When I leave the meeting I get to work early so I decided push the run to the afternoon, leave work a little early and take advantage of the longer days. Only one obstacle lay in my way. The forecast called for rain. I don't pay much attention to the forecast, but at 4:00 the rain began. I was initially bummed and wished I had run in the morning. It wasn't raining then. But then I thought about Steven. He has commented often on his blog that if you won't run in the rain, then in his area, Oregon, you'll miss a lot of runs. I decided that if he and Mike could run in the cold rain in Oregon, I could run in the relatively balmy 60's in what we call rain.
I was out the door at work 4:45 and off to the Santa Fe River Trail at the dam for 8, in the rain. I had at least packed my baseball cap to keep the rain off my glasses. I pulled into the lot and lo and behold I was the only car there. I headed on up on top of the dam, fell into a groove and rain be damned. Luckily the weather was just showers, no winds or lightning. I was just one solitary guy out enjoying the weather. By mile 3 I was about as wet as I was going to get. You guys know what can happen running in a wet shirt. I've suffered through this before and bloody, sore nipples are no laughing matter. As a preemptive strike, I flipped the shirt up over my head. I'm usually too self conscious for this but I wasn't likely going to be seeing anybody else in the next 5 miles (I didn't) and any possible embarrassment on my part or theirs would be worth not suffering the dreaded rawness. Running bare skinned in the rain is not such a bad thing. I felt downright primal and the best part is I'm sitting here now pain free.
The pace for the romp in the rain, 8 miles in 1:04:32, 8:04 miles per minute. Where that came from I can't quite figure out. I was just out for a easy run and got rewarded with a near 8:00 pace and it felt easy. Last weekend I couldn't keep up an 8:00 pace for more than a few feet without feeling as though I was going to die. Running is such an unknowable thing sometimes.
I've been chasing a mileage goal for a while and this was supposed to be the week to get there. But with the extra biking I'll be doing with Bryan and the 20 miler on Saturday, taking Friday off is probably the prudent and wise thing to do. Thanks for the advice and the inspiration and hopefully we'll all keep learning something together.
Monday, February 19, 2007
A Boy and A Bike
Once upon a time a Dad and his son handed out water to marathoners of all ages, sizes, abilities, speeds and levels of committment. The Dad and his son had a wonderful day at the 2006 City of Los Angeles Marathon at the Mile 25 aid station, in March of that year.
The day started bright and early, nearly 30 minutes before the official start time of 8:30 and nearly 2 hours before even the fastest runner would get to Mile 25. So early that the Acura LA Bike Tour riders were still on the course. The son thought that was the coolest thing and vowed to do the ride next year.
The Dad had run the marathon in the two previous years and determined never to run it again. The father had already checked off California from his list of states. LA was the Dad's least favorite course. Then in a move the Dad hadn't expected, the powers that be changed the course for 2007. Oh, the dilema! Would the Dad run the new route or ride the Bike Tour with the son?
There were two perfectly good mountain bikes in the garage at the house where the Dad and son lived. One bike, a hot little red number, fit the Dad perfectly. The other bike, a heavy blue and white model, was far too small for the son. The heavy blue and white bike was purchased years before for the boy's older brother. Both boys now being full grown and exceeding their father in both height and weight had outgrown this little blue and white bike.
The boy's mother had the notion that a new bike could be purchased for $200 or less. The boy's mother doesn't know much about bikes. A week and a day before today the boy's family was enjoying lunch at a shopping center in which a bike shop was also located. The father wanted to show the mother just how much bikes really cost so decided to take the family into the bike shop. The mother was shocked to see the stickers on the shiny new bikes.
As is likely to happen when one enters a sales establishment to peruse the goods, one leaves with said goods. The boy became the proud owner of a brand spanking new KHS Flite 300 road bike. The Flite is an entry level bike and although the Dad is not very knowledgable about bike specs, the bike was within the price range the Dad was willing to pay and was able to convince the Mom that it was really a reasonable price for a shiny new bike.
The bike is a beautiful color of blue, darker than robins egg, lighter than navy. The boy was exceedingly happy and proud of his new bike. The Dad took the boy over to Bonelli that very afternoon for a little spin on the new bike. The Dad rode his red hot mountain bike. In the past the Dad always led the way when the son rode the old heavy, too small bike. Now the son was unstoppable. The Dad could not keep up with the boy no matter how hard he pedaled. What a difference the right equipement can make. The pair rode for 8 miles around the park. The boy said, "that was so much easier than the old bike!"
The pair took another spin two days ago, again in Bonelli between preparing the lasagna and the arrival of the guests. The Dad had run 15 miles that morning as well. Again the boy was thrilled with the new bike. The following day the pair headed over the the Santa Fe Dam Bike Trial to cover the same 15 miles the Dad had run the day before. The boy rode farther, with less effort, not complaining and with nothing but enjoyment. The Dad was left behind by about half a mile while the boy flew down the trail.
Tonight the price was paid for the entry to ride the traffic free streets of Los Angeles on March 4, 2007. The boy is very happy. The Dad wants a shiny new bike too. (He secretly doesn't like trailing that far behind the boy.) The Dad is happy too, riding with the boy is a very good thing.
And that good and faithful readers, is the story of a boy and a bike.
The day started bright and early, nearly 30 minutes before the official start time of 8:30 and nearly 2 hours before even the fastest runner would get to Mile 25. So early that the Acura LA Bike Tour riders were still on the course. The son thought that was the coolest thing and vowed to do the ride next year.
The Dad had run the marathon in the two previous years and determined never to run it again. The father had already checked off California from his list of states. LA was the Dad's least favorite course. Then in a move the Dad hadn't expected, the powers that be changed the course for 2007. Oh, the dilema! Would the Dad run the new route or ride the Bike Tour with the son?
There were two perfectly good mountain bikes in the garage at the house where the Dad and son lived. One bike, a hot little red number, fit the Dad perfectly. The other bike, a heavy blue and white model, was far too small for the son. The heavy blue and white bike was purchased years before for the boy's older brother. Both boys now being full grown and exceeding their father in both height and weight had outgrown this little blue and white bike.
The boy's mother had the notion that a new bike could be purchased for $200 or less. The boy's mother doesn't know much about bikes. A week and a day before today the boy's family was enjoying lunch at a shopping center in which a bike shop was also located. The father wanted to show the mother just how much bikes really cost so decided to take the family into the bike shop. The mother was shocked to see the stickers on the shiny new bikes.
As is likely to happen when one enters a sales establishment to peruse the goods, one leaves with said goods. The boy became the proud owner of a brand spanking new KHS Flite 300 road bike. The Flite is an entry level bike and although the Dad is not very knowledgable about bike specs, the bike was within the price range the Dad was willing to pay and was able to convince the Mom that it was really a reasonable price for a shiny new bike.
The bike is a beautiful color of blue, darker than robins egg, lighter than navy. The boy was exceedingly happy and proud of his new bike. The Dad took the boy over to Bonelli that very afternoon for a little spin on the new bike. The Dad rode his red hot mountain bike. In the past the Dad always led the way when the son rode the old heavy, too small bike. Now the son was unstoppable. The Dad could not keep up with the boy no matter how hard he pedaled. What a difference the right equipement can make. The pair rode for 8 miles around the park. The boy said, "that was so much easier than the old bike!"
The pair took another spin two days ago, again in Bonelli between preparing the lasagna and the arrival of the guests. The Dad had run 15 miles that morning as well. Again the boy was thrilled with the new bike. The following day the pair headed over the the Santa Fe Dam Bike Trial to cover the same 15 miles the Dad had run the day before. The boy rode farther, with less effort, not complaining and with nothing but enjoyment. The Dad was left behind by about half a mile while the boy flew down the trail.
Tonight the price was paid for the entry to ride the traffic free streets of Los Angeles on March 4, 2007. The boy is very happy. The Dad wants a shiny new bike too. (He secretly doesn't like trailing that far behind the boy.) The Dad is happy too, riding with the boy is a very good thing.
And that good and faithful readers, is the story of a boy and a bike.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 7
The week in which Darrell finally has a meltdown.
Upon returning from PA for the New Year's family vacation the first week of January, I began my new 6 day a week training program for the Eugene Marathon. I had tried this last summer for St. George and made it 3.5 weeks before my hip pain rearranged my schedule for me. After having taken the end of 2006 relatively easy I was ready to go again. From the beginning of Week 2 on January 8, I haven't missed a run, although I did cut one short by a mile. My weekly mileage has increased every week since week 1, from 30.2-36-38.4-40-42-47. This week was scheduled as the second half of another 10 days in a row and an cut back week. I judiciously swapped my day off from Friday to Wednesday (Valentine's Day, remember that?), giving me an 8 day streak instead. It had rained again early in the week so I had "saved" speed work till Thursday. But...
Thursday when I got home I was just spent; mentally, emotionally and physically. It wasn't just the thought of speed work either. My energy level had been lagging for a while, my legs were like lead and people around me have been pissing me off all too easily lately. I guess I should say I've been reacting to people negatively (my fault, not theirs). I was also increasingly frustrated with nothing but 6 mile runs mid week. Other training plans I've used have mixed distances up a little. Bottom line - I took Thursday night off and after 5.5 weeks of near perfect schedule I put a big fat goose egg in my log.
Ever since I discovered running I've loved it. I really like the marathon distance. I like knowing that pretty much on any given day I could cover the distance. What I'm not enjoying is the work required to get to a faster time goal. At least recently, that goal has sucked the joy out of running. What little God given ability I have has gotten me this far and now it just seems like work trying to get to the next level. I guess it should feel like work, but I'm not sure I have the mental or even physical capacity to get there.
Earlier in the week my runs hadn't really gone that badly. Friday evening, I tried to take it easy knowing I had a 15 miler on the schedule for the next morning. I was going to try to give the "last 4 miles at MP" thing another try. I had already planned this and Phil suggested using the medium long runs as a good place to insert this bit of training. My planned route for the day was the Santa Fe Dam Bike Path. From where I normally park at Mile 30 to the terminus of the bike trail at mile 37.5 makes a perfect out and back 15 miler.
The day was clear, sunny and warm. I got started about 8:00. I fell into a pace that I thought was easily sustainable and would still leave something for the end of the run, hovering just above 8:30 pace. I hit the half way point at 1:05; 8:40 pace overall. I could tell that the trip back was going to be a struggle. I was already running low on umphh. I had plenty of fluids with me and took half a gel at 9 and 12 miles.
At the 11 mile mark I picked up the pace to attempt my 8:00 miles and only made it a couple of steps before I decided that maybe I'd give it a try at the 12 mile mark. At 12, I walked for a minute to finish off the gel and still didn't have the energy to speed up. At mile 13 I didn't even give it a try. I was moving along at a somewhat faster pace but it was obvious to me that I wasn't going to be going very much faster for very long. That mile was my fastest since Mile 6. For the last mile I gave it one last shot at MP. I made it maybe the 100 yards before I was reduced to a walk. I thought to myself, "this shouldn't be this hard", but it was. One positive note from the run was my final time of 2:10:48. I had nearly even splits. So although I wasn't able to pick up the pace, I hadn't slowed down either.
All in all, I'm not sure I'm cut out for a 6 day a week training cycle. I definitely crave some variety in distances as well. Next week looks a little better on that front with 2-6's and 2-5's. It also has the added bonus of an 8 miler midweek. The first 20 miler on Saturday should be an interesting experience based on recent history. I'll deal with that next weekend.
The week by the numbers: 37 miles (43 scheduled)
M: 6 miles, 49:04 (8:11 pace)
T: 6 miles, 51:03 (8:31 pace)
W: Rest
H: Mental health day
F: 6 miles, 51:10 (8:32 pace)
S: 15 miles, 2:10:48 (8:43 pace)
S: 4 miles, 36:45 (9:11 pace)
Other notable happenings during the week were having my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for dinner on Valentines Day. I grilled steak. I made lasagna (my MIL's recipe) for 12 friends on Saturday night. We played Pictionary, Battle of the Sexes. The guys won once, the girls won once. During Saturday's long run I was passed by over 100 bikers and saw at least 3 pelotons of 20 or more people. I love the sound of all those bikes going by. A lone bike pulled up next to me at mile 12 and stopped. It turned out to be the marketing brand manager for the project I'm on at work. Even that 10 minute chat break (off the clock of course) wasn't enough to improve the last 3 miles of the run.
I still owe you the story of the boy and the bike. Sorry, it was a tough and busy week. Let's just say it has a happy ending. I'll try to get to it this week.
Upon returning from PA for the New Year's family vacation the first week of January, I began my new 6 day a week training program for the Eugene Marathon. I had tried this last summer for St. George and made it 3.5 weeks before my hip pain rearranged my schedule for me. After having taken the end of 2006 relatively easy I was ready to go again. From the beginning of Week 2 on January 8, I haven't missed a run, although I did cut one short by a mile. My weekly mileage has increased every week since week 1, from 30.2-36-38.4-40-42-47. This week was scheduled as the second half of another 10 days in a row and an cut back week. I judiciously swapped my day off from Friday to Wednesday (Valentine's Day, remember that?), giving me an 8 day streak instead. It had rained again early in the week so I had "saved" speed work till Thursday. But...
Thursday when I got home I was just spent; mentally, emotionally and physically. It wasn't just the thought of speed work either. My energy level had been lagging for a while, my legs were like lead and people around me have been pissing me off all too easily lately. I guess I should say I've been reacting to people negatively (my fault, not theirs). I was also increasingly frustrated with nothing but 6 mile runs mid week. Other training plans I've used have mixed distances up a little. Bottom line - I took Thursday night off and after 5.5 weeks of near perfect schedule I put a big fat goose egg in my log.
Ever since I discovered running I've loved it. I really like the marathon distance. I like knowing that pretty much on any given day I could cover the distance. What I'm not enjoying is the work required to get to a faster time goal. At least recently, that goal has sucked the joy out of running. What little God given ability I have has gotten me this far and now it just seems like work trying to get to the next level. I guess it should feel like work, but I'm not sure I have the mental or even physical capacity to get there.
Earlier in the week my runs hadn't really gone that badly. Friday evening, I tried to take it easy knowing I had a 15 miler on the schedule for the next morning. I was going to try to give the "last 4 miles at MP" thing another try. I had already planned this and Phil suggested using the medium long runs as a good place to insert this bit of training. My planned route for the day was the Santa Fe Dam Bike Path. From where I normally park at Mile 30 to the terminus of the bike trail at mile 37.5 makes a perfect out and back 15 miler.
The day was clear, sunny and warm. I got started about 8:00. I fell into a pace that I thought was easily sustainable and would still leave something for the end of the run, hovering just above 8:30 pace. I hit the half way point at 1:05; 8:40 pace overall. I could tell that the trip back was going to be a struggle. I was already running low on umphh. I had plenty of fluids with me and took half a gel at 9 and 12 miles.
At the 11 mile mark I picked up the pace to attempt my 8:00 miles and only made it a couple of steps before I decided that maybe I'd give it a try at the 12 mile mark. At 12, I walked for a minute to finish off the gel and still didn't have the energy to speed up. At mile 13 I didn't even give it a try. I was moving along at a somewhat faster pace but it was obvious to me that I wasn't going to be going very much faster for very long. That mile was my fastest since Mile 6. For the last mile I gave it one last shot at MP. I made it maybe the 100 yards before I was reduced to a walk. I thought to myself, "this shouldn't be this hard", but it was. One positive note from the run was my final time of 2:10:48. I had nearly even splits. So although I wasn't able to pick up the pace, I hadn't slowed down either.
All in all, I'm not sure I'm cut out for a 6 day a week training cycle. I definitely crave some variety in distances as well. Next week looks a little better on that front with 2-6's and 2-5's. It also has the added bonus of an 8 miler midweek. The first 20 miler on Saturday should be an interesting experience based on recent history. I'll deal with that next weekend.
The week by the numbers: 37 miles (43 scheduled)
M: 6 miles, 49:04 (8:11 pace)
T: 6 miles, 51:03 (8:31 pace)
W: Rest
H: Mental health day
F: 6 miles, 51:10 (8:32 pace)
S: 15 miles, 2:10:48 (8:43 pace)
S: 4 miles, 36:45 (9:11 pace)
Other notable happenings during the week were having my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for dinner on Valentines Day. I grilled steak. I made lasagna (my MIL's recipe) for 12 friends on Saturday night. We played Pictionary, Battle of the Sexes. The guys won once, the girls won once. During Saturday's long run I was passed by over 100 bikers and saw at least 3 pelotons of 20 or more people. I love the sound of all those bikes going by. A lone bike pulled up next to me at mile 12 and stopped. It turned out to be the marketing brand manager for the project I'm on at work. Even that 10 minute chat break (off the clock of course) wasn't enough to improve the last 3 miles of the run.
I still owe you the story of the boy and the bike. Sorry, it was a tough and busy week. Let's just say it has a happy ending. I'll try to get to it this week.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 6
Like a kid!
I snuck my run in on Friday by taking a half day vacation. I'm very lucky to have a large vacation balance. I stopped off at the Santa Fe Dam before going home. My intent was to keep the pace up, but not as crazy as Thursday's. I could feel the effect on my legs already from that effort. I was able to put in the 6 miles in 49:13. I took the rest of the afternoon as a chance to get the checkbook updated. Now that's some fun use of vacation time!
Saturday morning I was scheduled to meet the CA Cruiser at Rio Java for a jaunt along the Santa Ana River Bike Path. Our group was me, Dorothy, Renee, Kathleen and two of their friends. Dorothy was fresh from her 3rd place AG finish at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon last weekend. John was missing as he had arthroscopic surgery on a torn meniscus in this knee on Thursday after having also run Pacific Shoreline. He is supposed to be out for 6 to 8 weeks, but being a doctor himself, I'm not sure he'll be the most compliant patient. Pacific Shoreline was his 110th marathon.
After having a couple of hard efforts the last couple of days I decided to enjoy an easy start to Saturday's long run and ran with the "girls" for the first three miles. Our pace was nearing 12:00 per mile. I would have made it 4 with them except for having to stop at the bathroom. The girls turned back at that point.
On my own, I dropped down to around 9:00. I ended up having to stop twice more during this run for bowel related issues. I'm not sure what the exact problem was but I was able to run comfortably after the final stop. My route took me east along the trail for 5 miles and back, then west for 4 miles and back for a total of 18. This is the first loooong run of 5 for Eugene. There are 2-20's and 2-22's yet to come.
During the week I had thought about trying to run the last 4 miles at marathon pace, or 8:00 miles. This is something I was borrowing from Jeff. I completely forgot about doing it when I was out there running until I only had one mile left. I tried to kick up the pace, but soon realized that this was probably not the best mile to do so as there are a couple of little whoopty dos in this mile. I probably let that get to me too much, besides my legs were definitely feeling Thursday and Friday's efforts. My pace had stayed steady for the last 15 miles but there was not speeding up to be had. Mile 18 was faster than 17 but just in line with the rest of the run.
The final time for the run was 2:52:39, an overall pace of 9:35, which is just on the upper limit of my recommended long run pace. The pace for the 15 on my own was 9:12.
And finally the kid part. Sunday's forecast called for rain. My schedule called for 5 miles, so you know where I was headed; B-O-N-E-L-L-I. The rain was going to make it all the more fun. I awoke Sunday morning to the sound of rain. I was a happy camper. I made breakfast for the family as usual and planned my run for immediately after church. It was still raining nicely when we walked into church, but by the time we walked out the sky was clearing. I pulled out the 500 mile shoes I had worn at Tecumseh and Otter Creek. I wasn't ready to christen the newer ones. So although I didn't get wet, I did have plenty of mud to play in on the trails. There's something about running in the mud that brings out the kid in me.
Miles for the week: 47
M: Rest
T: 6 miles, speed with 3x400 and 2x800
W: 6 miles, 57:29 (9:35 pace)
H: 6 miles, 45:32 (7:35 pace)
F: 6 miles, 49:13 (8:12 pace)
S: 18 miles, 2:52:39 (9:35 pace)
S: 5 miles, 50:12 (10:02 pace)
I've got a story about a boy and bike, I'll tell you next time.
I snuck my run in on Friday by taking a half day vacation. I'm very lucky to have a large vacation balance. I stopped off at the Santa Fe Dam before going home. My intent was to keep the pace up, but not as crazy as Thursday's. I could feel the effect on my legs already from that effort. I was able to put in the 6 miles in 49:13. I took the rest of the afternoon as a chance to get the checkbook updated. Now that's some fun use of vacation time!
Saturday morning I was scheduled to meet the CA Cruiser at Rio Java for a jaunt along the Santa Ana River Bike Path. Our group was me, Dorothy, Renee, Kathleen and two of their friends. Dorothy was fresh from her 3rd place AG finish at the Pacific Shoreline Marathon last weekend. John was missing as he had arthroscopic surgery on a torn meniscus in this knee on Thursday after having also run Pacific Shoreline. He is supposed to be out for 6 to 8 weeks, but being a doctor himself, I'm not sure he'll be the most compliant patient. Pacific Shoreline was his 110th marathon.
After having a couple of hard efforts the last couple of days I decided to enjoy an easy start to Saturday's long run and ran with the "girls" for the first three miles. Our pace was nearing 12:00 per mile. I would have made it 4 with them except for having to stop at the bathroom. The girls turned back at that point.
On my own, I dropped down to around 9:00. I ended up having to stop twice more during this run for bowel related issues. I'm not sure what the exact problem was but I was able to run comfortably after the final stop. My route took me east along the trail for 5 miles and back, then west for 4 miles and back for a total of 18. This is the first loooong run of 5 for Eugene. There are 2-20's and 2-22's yet to come.
During the week I had thought about trying to run the last 4 miles at marathon pace, or 8:00 miles. This is something I was borrowing from Jeff. I completely forgot about doing it when I was out there running until I only had one mile left. I tried to kick up the pace, but soon realized that this was probably not the best mile to do so as there are a couple of little whoopty dos in this mile. I probably let that get to me too much, besides my legs were definitely feeling Thursday and Friday's efforts. My pace had stayed steady for the last 15 miles but there was not speeding up to be had. Mile 18 was faster than 17 but just in line with the rest of the run.
The final time for the run was 2:52:39, an overall pace of 9:35, which is just on the upper limit of my recommended long run pace. The pace for the 15 on my own was 9:12.
And finally the kid part. Sunday's forecast called for rain. My schedule called for 5 miles, so you know where I was headed; B-O-N-E-L-L-I. The rain was going to make it all the more fun. I awoke Sunday morning to the sound of rain. I was a happy camper. I made breakfast for the family as usual and planned my run for immediately after church. It was still raining nicely when we walked into church, but by the time we walked out the sky was clearing. I pulled out the 500 mile shoes I had worn at Tecumseh and Otter Creek. I wasn't ready to christen the newer ones. So although I didn't get wet, I did have plenty of mud to play in on the trails. There's something about running in the mud that brings out the kid in me.
Miles for the week: 47
M: Rest
T: 6 miles, speed with 3x400 and 2x800
W: 6 miles, 57:29 (9:35 pace)
H: 6 miles, 45:32 (7:35 pace)
F: 6 miles, 49:13 (8:12 pace)
S: 18 miles, 2:52:39 (9:35 pace)
S: 5 miles, 50:12 (10:02 pace)
I've got a story about a boy and bike, I'll tell you next time.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Pickin' Up the Pace
I’m going to try to keep this short. It seems like my last few posts have gotten much longer than intended.
Monday: Rest day (2 in a row, woohoo! After juggling last week a little to make room for Twin Peaks.)
Tuesday: Track day. I actually went there willingly and looking forward to it. My first 400 was 1:40, my best time since starting these 4 weeks ago. I followed that with 2x800 and then 2x400. My longest track session to date, but it pales in comparison to David’s 8x800.
Wednesday: I put in an easy 6 miler, 57:29, 9:35 pace. I felt very relaxed until I calculated my final pace. I worried that I was getting too used to this slower pace. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately in the 9:00 plus time frame. If I’m going to hit my goal of a sub 3:30 marathon I need to spend some more time at 8:00 pace.
That brings us to today, Thursday. I had 6 on the schedule again and decided that I was going to kick it in gear and see if I could get reasonably close to 8:00 miles. I chose a straight out and back route down a long street with a wide bicycle lane. I took off considerably faster than the pace of late and was able to keep it up, even picking up speed as I continued. I would slow a little at the lights to catch my breath and then ramp it right back up again. I finished the 6 miles in 45:32, a smoking 7:35 pace. I’m not sure how much longer I could keep that up, but it sure felt good while it lasted. It felt really good to know that I’m not “stuck” at 9:00 plus. Does this count as a tempo run?
310 words, short enough?
Monday: Rest day (2 in a row, woohoo! After juggling last week a little to make room for Twin Peaks.)
Tuesday: Track day. I actually went there willingly and looking forward to it. My first 400 was 1:40, my best time since starting these 4 weeks ago. I followed that with 2x800 and then 2x400. My longest track session to date, but it pales in comparison to David’s 8x800.
Wednesday: I put in an easy 6 miler, 57:29, 9:35 pace. I felt very relaxed until I calculated my final pace. I worried that I was getting too used to this slower pace. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately in the 9:00 plus time frame. If I’m going to hit my goal of a sub 3:30 marathon I need to spend some more time at 8:00 pace.
That brings us to today, Thursday. I had 6 on the schedule again and decided that I was going to kick it in gear and see if I could get reasonably close to 8:00 miles. I chose a straight out and back route down a long street with a wide bicycle lane. I took off considerably faster than the pace of late and was able to keep it up, even picking up speed as I continued. I would slow a little at the lights to catch my breath and then ramp it right back up again. I finished the 6 miles in 45:32, a smoking 7:35 pace. I’m not sure how much longer I could keep that up, but it sure felt good while it lasted. It felt really good to know that I’m not “stuck” at 9:00 plus. Does this count as a tempo run?
310 words, short enough?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 5
Another week in the bag. It turned out well, I think. I made it to the track, I got in all my runs and my new shoes came in the mail. On Saturday I finished up my week with a 13 mile run. I stayed close to home.
Nearly all the Cruisers were running in one of the races associated with the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, thus no scheduled run on Saturday. I woke up on my own around 7:30 and just hung around the house, lingering over my oatmeal and banana, waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit. By 10:00 when I finally got myself going it was nearing 70°F, another absolutely beautiful day. I headed over to Bonelli for a leisurely 13 miles. I ran my perimeter loop and doubled back for most of my 5 mile loop as well.
I was greeted by a family out for a hike at about mile 5 after reaching the top of one of the longest climbs in Bonelli. The wife was carrying a baby in a backpack and the dad was keeping his eye on a couple of 3 or 4 year old boys. The wife commented to me that they had watched me run up the hill and jokingly thought to themselves "show off", at least I think she was joking. We talked about how nice the day was. They asked me how far I was going. When I told them 13, the Dad said, "Well that explains the shirt then." I was wearing my new Marathon Maniacs singlet for the first time. I guess to a lot of people anyone running 13 miles is a bit of a maniac. I came across some horse riders who actually pulled over to let me pass. I thought that was funny. It turned out to be a really enjoyable run, with no major issues and I felt great when I was finished. 13 miles in 2:12; 10:10 pace was OK with me for a laid back run in Bonelli.
Miles for the week: 42
M: 6 miles, 54:49
T: 6 miles, 50:32
W: 6 miles, 55:11
H: 5 miles, with 3x400 & 1x800
F: 6 miles, 53:31
S: 13 miles, 2:12
S: Rest
Rest, yeah right! Well I didn't run but I'm not sure it was really a rest day. I volunteered at what may be the most blogged about race ever, the inaugural Twin Peaks Ultramarathon. My official duties were at the Holy Jim aid station at mile 27 of the 50 mile course. The day was a veritable who's who of Southern California blogging, with a little Tuscon thrown in. I knew a lot of people were going to be there but I wasn't sure who I'd actually get to meet. I signed in at 8:30 which was earlier than required but really quite late considering Jessica and Angie among others had been there since something crazy like 4:30 or something. Soon after checking in, I ran into Anne (Run-DMZ).
I still can't quite get over that "Hey, I know you!" feeling the first time I meet a blogger in person. I always instantly feel comfortable with them and as though we have a connection even though we've never met. That feeling was repeated several times that day. I didn't get to chat long with Anne before I had to leave the starting area to report to Holy Jim, about a 30 minute drive away.
We arrived about 45 minutes before the first runners came through. Carol and I, a new trail runner from Santa Monica, got the food set up and mixed up the electrolyte drink. Heiko manned the radio. While we were setting up a truck pulled up and I hear someone say, "I hear Darrell's around here somewhere." I turned around to find Angie (onepinkfuzzy). I got a big hug and just marveled at what a little dynamo she is. She was having a blast driving all over those mountains delivering water and supplies. She dropped us some more water and was off to her next stop. Carol and I were joined later by Patti, Sarah and Linda.
It wasn't long before the lead runners came into the aid station around 10:30. They had been on the course for about 4:30 when they reached us at about 27 miles. These two had run more than a marathon over some pretty tough terrain and looked as fresh as two guys out for a 10 mile training run. The each had a drop bag and were pretty much self sufficient. One guy was Dean Dobberteen, who's name I had seen at other trail races. The other guy turned out to be the eventual winner David Goggins. I didn't find this out until I got back to the finish hours later. Dave has an awesome reputation as well if you care to Google him.
The runners came through one or two at a time for the next 4 hours, 48 of them in all. Greg came through in a group of about 6 runners. He was just grinning from ear to ear and having the time of his life. His energy level is pretty infectious. The other runners with him were obviously having fun as well. A little while later, Mike came through. I had run with Greg and Mike on this trail back in November. Mike changed his shoes, filled up his bottles and off he went. The next thing I know he was back at the aid station. He had decided to call it quits with foot issues.
Another runner, Mike Kennedy, got to the aid station just as his sister in law and three nieces pulled up. It was quite a coincidence and had to have brightened "Uncle Mike's" day to see all the familiar faces. His brother, Tom, was out there walking the course.
One guy came through near the end that had never run 50 miles before. In fact he had never run a marathon before. He does run 10 miles with his dog. He had seen the race announcements and decided that it sounded like a good idea. He was in his 50's and looked pretty healthy. He seemed to be in pretty good condition for just having run 27 miles for the first time. He did say he wasn't sure he would ever to this again. I wish I had gotten his name to know how his race turned out.
Tom, the walking brother, finally made it to the aid station after 11 hours on the trail. He was the last one through. He looked fine and said that he felt good and was really enjoying himself. Unfortunately he ultimately DNF'd.
Before Tom got to us, Nattie (accounts of madness) came in. It had been quite a while since anyone had come through so I decided to walk back up the trail to see if I could meet Nattie. I didn't get very far before she was there. She of course greeted me with that big Nattie smile. She walked in but went about getting resupplied and was on her way. She seemed a little disoriented to me, but determined to go on. Later, just before I finally left the finish line I heard that she had passed the Santiago Peak aid station just before 6:00 p.m. which meant she still had 15 miles to go. I wondered for the rest of the night and most of today how she had fared. I know now (the official results are up) that she DNF'd. I will be interested to read her story of the day.
After the last runner came through, we packed up everything in Patty's SUV and headed back to the finish line. I unloaded the drop bags for the first finishers along with all the leftover food and supplies. I found Jessica and asked her about Matt (igotblistersonmyblisters). He was running the 50K so didn't go through my aid station. He is the one SoCal blogger I hadn't had a chance to meet and I was hoping I wouldn't miss my chance. Jessica wasn't sure if he had finished yet. I did some miscellaneous stuff that needed to be done and had just decided to walk up the trail to see if I could meet up with Matt on the way down. Just before I did, I hear Jess call out my name and there was Matt. It turns out he had been finished for awhile and was napping on the picnic table the entire time I was there. What a pleasure it was to meet Matt. He and I chatted for probably nearly an hour. He's a very unassuming, genuine guy. I love Jeff's description of him. I'm hoping to meet Matt again at a couple of races we are both planning on doing, Malibu Creek and the Great Race of Agoura. Matt has a great story about how this race almost didn't happen for him, I'll let him tell it if he chooses to. After having met him, I think it personifies him completely.
With all those meet ups, I didn't get a chance to catch up with Jeff or to meet Kim or Ashley. But on a rest day, I had a great day out there supporting the 50 mile runners and meeting some old friends. Maybe next year, I'll work up the nerve to try the 50K. By all accounts Twin Peaks is a great race. So what are you doing next year on SuperBowl Sunday?
Nearly all the Cruisers were running in one of the races associated with the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, thus no scheduled run on Saturday. I woke up on my own around 7:30 and just hung around the house, lingering over my oatmeal and banana, waiting for the sun to warm things up a bit. By 10:00 when I finally got myself going it was nearing 70°F, another absolutely beautiful day. I headed over to Bonelli for a leisurely 13 miles. I ran my perimeter loop and doubled back for most of my 5 mile loop as well.
I was greeted by a family out for a hike at about mile 5 after reaching the top of one of the longest climbs in Bonelli. The wife was carrying a baby in a backpack and the dad was keeping his eye on a couple of 3 or 4 year old boys. The wife commented to me that they had watched me run up the hill and jokingly thought to themselves "show off", at least I think she was joking. We talked about how nice the day was. They asked me how far I was going. When I told them 13, the Dad said, "Well that explains the shirt then." I was wearing my new Marathon Maniacs singlet for the first time. I guess to a lot of people anyone running 13 miles is a bit of a maniac. I came across some horse riders who actually pulled over to let me pass. I thought that was funny. It turned out to be a really enjoyable run, with no major issues and I felt great when I was finished. 13 miles in 2:12; 10:10 pace was OK with me for a laid back run in Bonelli.
Miles for the week: 42
M: 6 miles, 54:49
T: 6 miles, 50:32
W: 6 miles, 55:11
H: 5 miles, with 3x400 & 1x800
F: 6 miles, 53:31
S: 13 miles, 2:12
S: Rest
Rest, yeah right! Well I didn't run but I'm not sure it was really a rest day. I volunteered at what may be the most blogged about race ever, the inaugural Twin Peaks Ultramarathon. My official duties were at the Holy Jim aid station at mile 27 of the 50 mile course. The day was a veritable who's who of Southern California blogging, with a little Tuscon thrown in. I knew a lot of people were going to be there but I wasn't sure who I'd actually get to meet. I signed in at 8:30 which was earlier than required but really quite late considering Jessica and Angie among others had been there since something crazy like 4:30 or something. Soon after checking in, I ran into Anne (Run-DMZ).
I still can't quite get over that "Hey, I know you!" feeling the first time I meet a blogger in person. I always instantly feel comfortable with them and as though we have a connection even though we've never met. That feeling was repeated several times that day. I didn't get to chat long with Anne before I had to leave the starting area to report to Holy Jim, about a 30 minute drive away.
We arrived about 45 minutes before the first runners came through. Carol and I, a new trail runner from Santa Monica, got the food set up and mixed up the electrolyte drink. Heiko manned the radio. While we were setting up a truck pulled up and I hear someone say, "I hear Darrell's around here somewhere." I turned around to find Angie (onepinkfuzzy). I got a big hug and just marveled at what a little dynamo she is. She was having a blast driving all over those mountains delivering water and supplies. She dropped us some more water and was off to her next stop. Carol and I were joined later by Patti, Sarah and Linda.
It wasn't long before the lead runners came into the aid station around 10:30. They had been on the course for about 4:30 when they reached us at about 27 miles. These two had run more than a marathon over some pretty tough terrain and looked as fresh as two guys out for a 10 mile training run. The each had a drop bag and were pretty much self sufficient. One guy was Dean Dobberteen, who's name I had seen at other trail races. The other guy turned out to be the eventual winner David Goggins. I didn't find this out until I got back to the finish hours later. Dave has an awesome reputation as well if you care to Google him.
The runners came through one or two at a time for the next 4 hours, 48 of them in all. Greg came through in a group of about 6 runners. He was just grinning from ear to ear and having the time of his life. His energy level is pretty infectious. The other runners with him were obviously having fun as well. A little while later, Mike came through. I had run with Greg and Mike on this trail back in November. Mike changed his shoes, filled up his bottles and off he went. The next thing I know he was back at the aid station. He had decided to call it quits with foot issues.
Another runner, Mike Kennedy, got to the aid station just as his sister in law and three nieces pulled up. It was quite a coincidence and had to have brightened "Uncle Mike's" day to see all the familiar faces. His brother, Tom, was out there walking the course.
One guy came through near the end that had never run 50 miles before. In fact he had never run a marathon before. He does run 10 miles with his dog. He had seen the race announcements and decided that it sounded like a good idea. He was in his 50's and looked pretty healthy. He seemed to be in pretty good condition for just having run 27 miles for the first time. He did say he wasn't sure he would ever to this again. I wish I had gotten his name to know how his race turned out.
Tom, the walking brother, finally made it to the aid station after 11 hours on the trail. He was the last one through. He looked fine and said that he felt good and was really enjoying himself. Unfortunately he ultimately DNF'd.
Before Tom got to us, Nattie (accounts of madness) came in. It had been quite a while since anyone had come through so I decided to walk back up the trail to see if I could meet Nattie. I didn't get very far before she was there. She of course greeted me with that big Nattie smile. She walked in but went about getting resupplied and was on her way. She seemed a little disoriented to me, but determined to go on. Later, just before I finally left the finish line I heard that she had passed the Santiago Peak aid station just before 6:00 p.m. which meant she still had 15 miles to go. I wondered for the rest of the night and most of today how she had fared. I know now (the official results are up) that she DNF'd. I will be interested to read her story of the day.
After the last runner came through, we packed up everything in Patty's SUV and headed back to the finish line. I unloaded the drop bags for the first finishers along with all the leftover food and supplies. I found Jessica and asked her about Matt (igotblistersonmyblisters). He was running the 50K so didn't go through my aid station. He is the one SoCal blogger I hadn't had a chance to meet and I was hoping I wouldn't miss my chance. Jessica wasn't sure if he had finished yet. I did some miscellaneous stuff that needed to be done and had just decided to walk up the trail to see if I could meet up with Matt on the way down. Just before I did, I hear Jess call out my name and there was Matt. It turns out he had been finished for awhile and was napping on the picnic table the entire time I was there. What a pleasure it was to meet Matt. He and I chatted for probably nearly an hour. He's a very unassuming, genuine guy. I love Jeff's description of him. I'm hoping to meet Matt again at a couple of races we are both planning on doing, Malibu Creek and the Great Race of Agoura. Matt has a great story about how this race almost didn't happen for him, I'll let him tell it if he chooses to. After having met him, I think it personifies him completely.
With all those meet ups, I didn't get a chance to catch up with Jeff or to meet Kim or Ashley. But on a rest day, I had a great day out there supporting the 50 mile runners and meeting some old friends. Maybe next year, I'll work up the nerve to try the 50K. By all accounts Twin Peaks is a great race. So what are you doing next year on SuperBowl Sunday?
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Weirdness
I was tagged by Bob back on Tuesday. Ever since then I've been trying to figure out just exactly to respond to this particular tag. Bob has threatened Mafia hit men so I'd better figure it out soon. And just why is this so hard? I'm supposed to list 6 weird things about myself. I always considered myself pretty a middle of the road, go with the flow, status quo, don't rock the boat kind of guy. What could there possibly be weird about me. I'm sure I could poll the people around me, but I'm not really sure I want to know. So here goes:
1. The fact that I agonized over a "6 Weird Things about You" tag, makes me weird.
2. My kids think its weird that when I was a kid I carried my lunch to school in a brown paper bag. I wasn't really that weird in the 70's, except that I had to use the same bag for a week. Everyday I would fold it neatly and carry it around for the rest of the day in my back pocket.
3. In grade school we had to use measure different body parts to use as estimations of length in some math exercise we were doing. It turns out my ear is 3 inches long. I still use that as a point of reference.
4. In my closet all my shirts are hung facing to the left. When I wash them I hang them back up on the right end of the rod and I when I'm getting dressed in the morning I almost always chose a shirt from the left end of the rod. This assures that every shirt goes through the rotation the same number of times. Same thing with my underwear. Its stack in the drawer, the just washed stuff goes on top and I pull from the bottom of the stack every morning.
5. When I was a kid I had a lot of dreams in which I was able to float up into the air. Or alternately I dreamed that certain body parts, say one leg or arm, swelled up supernaturally.
6. I love to do the laundry. I like to watch the clothes go round and round in the washer and dryer. We just got those new high efficiency machines from LG. I could stand there for hours watching them.
OK, tag fulfilled. I'm sure there's even weirder stuff, some too weird to share here, and probably some so weird I won't even admit it to myself.
1. The fact that I agonized over a "6 Weird Things about You" tag, makes me weird.
2. My kids think its weird that when I was a kid I carried my lunch to school in a brown paper bag. I wasn't really that weird in the 70's, except that I had to use the same bag for a week. Everyday I would fold it neatly and carry it around for the rest of the day in my back pocket.
3. In grade school we had to use measure different body parts to use as estimations of length in some math exercise we were doing. It turns out my ear is 3 inches long. I still use that as a point of reference.
4. In my closet all my shirts are hung facing to the left. When I wash them I hang them back up on the right end of the rod and I when I'm getting dressed in the morning I almost always chose a shirt from the left end of the rod. This assures that every shirt goes through the rotation the same number of times. Same thing with my underwear. Its stack in the drawer, the just washed stuff goes on top and I pull from the bottom of the stack every morning.
5. When I was a kid I had a lot of dreams in which I was able to float up into the air. Or alternately I dreamed that certain body parts, say one leg or arm, swelled up supernaturally.
6. I love to do the laundry. I like to watch the clothes go round and round in the washer and dryer. We just got those new high efficiency machines from LG. I could stand there for hours watching them.
OK, tag fulfilled. I'm sure there's even weirder stuff, some too weird to share here, and probably some so weird I won't even admit it to myself.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Busted
I spend a good portion of my drive time home thinking about the run I will be doing when I get there. I already know the mileage to cover, I just have to decide what route I want to take. Today was no different.
Friday was a planned rest day, but because of my weekend plans I was considering moving the rest day to Sunday. I was even thinking of taking today off as well. I mentioned last week that Thursday is my long day. By the end of the day I'm tired. A day off sounded like not such a bad idea. I was thinking about my training in January. I've had a pretty good month. My mileage came in at 162.6, not the highest ever but right up there in the top 5. I had completed 3 weeks of 6 day/week runs and was well on my way through the fourth week. I had run 26 of 31 days, an 84% completion rate. I'd even added track workouts back into the mix.
I had been talking to my wife on the cell on the way home and we talked some more when I got home. All of a sudden she said, "I know why you don't feel like running today. It's track day!" Ah, she knows me well. I had put the track off on Tuesday due to the rain. I had no real excuse today. I was shamed into getting out there and over to the track by my non-running wife.
So I got ready to go but I had already decided that if the first 400 sucked, I would give it one more and then if it still sucked I would call it a day. Not exactly the best attitude going in but...
I made it over to the track after a 2 mile warm up. I hit the starting line and off I went. The first 400 came in at 1:43:54, not exactly stellar, but it didn't totally suck so I held my ground at the track. The second 400 came in at 1:41:77. Dang it all, it still didn't suck. I guess I was in for the long haul.
During my recovering lap I entertained the idea of going for an 800. It must be that elusive runner's high. How else do you explain going from "I think I'll take a day off" to "Let's try an 800." The 800 felt better than I expected it to. I got it done in 3:34:05 and didn't fall on my face at the end. My target pace for 800's is 3:18 to 3:27. I've still got some work to do but I was closer to the target than I expected I'd be. I ended the session with one last 400 at 1:42:40. All in all, not such a sucky effort after all.
I did only get in a total of 5 miles, when the schedule called for 6, but 5 is better than a DNS. Thanks! for busting me Dear .
Just in case you hadn't seen this comment way at the bottom of my last post, I'm reposting this from my wife: "...thank you Bloggers for the get well wishes. I am feeling much better now, thanks to the prayers and good thoughts sent my way."
Friday was a planned rest day, but because of my weekend plans I was considering moving the rest day to Sunday. I was even thinking of taking today off as well. I mentioned last week that Thursday is my long day. By the end of the day I'm tired. A day off sounded like not such a bad idea. I was thinking about my training in January. I've had a pretty good month. My mileage came in at 162.6, not the highest ever but right up there in the top 5. I had completed 3 weeks of 6 day/week runs and was well on my way through the fourth week. I had run 26 of 31 days, an 84% completion rate. I'd even added track workouts back into the mix.
I had been talking to my wife on the cell on the way home and we talked some more when I got home. All of a sudden she said, "I know why you don't feel like running today. It's track day!" Ah, she knows me well. I had put the track off on Tuesday due to the rain. I had no real excuse today. I was shamed into getting out there and over to the track by my non-running wife.
So I got ready to go but I had already decided that if the first 400 sucked, I would give it one more and then if it still sucked I would call it a day. Not exactly the best attitude going in but...
I made it over to the track after a 2 mile warm up. I hit the starting line and off I went. The first 400 came in at 1:43:54, not exactly stellar, but it didn't totally suck so I held my ground at the track. The second 400 came in at 1:41:77. Dang it all, it still didn't suck. I guess I was in for the long haul.
During my recovering lap I entertained the idea of going for an 800. It must be that elusive runner's high. How else do you explain going from "I think I'll take a day off" to "Let's try an 800." The 800 felt better than I expected it to. I got it done in 3:34:05 and didn't fall on my face at the end. My target pace for 800's is 3:18 to 3:27. I've still got some work to do but I was closer to the target than I expected I'd be. I ended the session with one last 400 at 1:42:40. All in all, not such a sucky effort after all.
I did only get in a total of 5 miles, when the schedule called for 6, but 5 is better than a DNS. Thanks! for busting me Dear .
Just in case you hadn't seen this comment way at the bottom of my last post, I'm reposting this from my wife: "...thank you Bloggers for the get well wishes. I am feeling much better now, thanks to the prayers and good thoughts sent my way."
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Another One Bites the Dust
I don't know if anyone noticed the comments or not, but this is pretty exciting stuff. At least for me, the Dad. My son Tyler, the culinary student, started a blog of his own. And why did he start a blog? He has decided to come on over to the dark side and he's beginning the Couch to 5K program on coolrunning.com. I'm pretty psyched for him. This is something that he decided to do on his own and so far he seems to have taken real ownership of it. I'm so glad that he has taken an interest in his health. I look forward to the day I came cheer him on at the finish line of his 5K. In addition to that we got a letter the other day from his school to let us know that he made the Honor Roll for his first quarter at culinary school. Needless to say we are very proud of him. Stop by, check on his progress, and give Tyler some blogger love.
On the running front, the big news is that I need new shoes. I usually like to have three pair in rotation. On Christmas Eve I retired a pair of Brooks Trance. I began scanning the Internet for some replacements but I couldn't come across any Trance in my size or at a reasonable price. I'm just not ready yet to spent three figures on a pair of shoes. Last Saturday another pair of Trance hit the magic 500 mile mark and ended up in the pile in the garage. Those shoes got me through all 4 marathons I ran in 2006.
This stack represents about 4500 miles. There are 7 pairs of Brooks Trance, a pair of New Balance 765 and a pair of Saucony Grid Omni's in there. I think I've kept all but maybe the first two pairs of shoes I ever had. Finally Sunday night I came across a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6 at a reasonable price. They will put me back to two pairs, both Adrenalines. I need (want) to have three so I think I will look for a pair of trail shoes to round out the current rotation. I would ideally like to already have another pair of something stashed in the closet as replacement for the current GTS 6 that are over 200 miles themselves. I've got some shopping to do.
The other big news today is that it rained. Today being Tuesday, is speed work day. The track I run on is in pretty sad condition. I was afraid that with the rain the track would be a real mess. So I opted to postpone the speed work until later in the week. Hey, I don't have to try very hard to find an excuse for getting out of speed work. Instead I did a tempo run. I ran out and back on a three miles course. The first mile or so I took it easy and then accelerated up to a decent pace. It was a hard effort but an effort I could sustain. I kept at it for the last 5 miles and ended up with an 8:25 pace overall and 7:59 for the back 3 miles. Although I felt as though I was running significantly harder than the night before which was an easy effort run, my pace was only about 30 seconds a mile faster. McMillan suggests 7:17 to 7:36 for tempo runs. I'm terrible at judging pace. I need to slow down my pace on recovery days and speed it up on the tempo days. Practice makes perfect, but a set of calibrated legs and lungs would be nice.
On the running front, the big news is that I need new shoes. I usually like to have three pair in rotation. On Christmas Eve I retired a pair of Brooks Trance. I began scanning the Internet for some replacements but I couldn't come across any Trance in my size or at a reasonable price. I'm just not ready yet to spent three figures on a pair of shoes. Last Saturday another pair of Trance hit the magic 500 mile mark and ended up in the pile in the garage. Those shoes got me through all 4 marathons I ran in 2006.
This stack represents about 4500 miles. There are 7 pairs of Brooks Trance, a pair of New Balance 765 and a pair of Saucony Grid Omni's in there. I think I've kept all but maybe the first two pairs of shoes I ever had. Finally Sunday night I came across a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6 at a reasonable price. They will put me back to two pairs, both Adrenalines. I need (want) to have three so I think I will look for a pair of trail shoes to round out the current rotation. I would ideally like to already have another pair of something stashed in the closet as replacement for the current GTS 6 that are over 200 miles themselves. I've got some shopping to do.
The other big news today is that it rained. Today being Tuesday, is speed work day. The track I run on is in pretty sad condition. I was afraid that with the rain the track would be a real mess. So I opted to postpone the speed work until later in the week. Hey, I don't have to try very hard to find an excuse for getting out of speed work. Instead I did a tempo run. I ran out and back on a three miles course. The first mile or so I took it easy and then accelerated up to a decent pace. It was a hard effort but an effort I could sustain. I kept at it for the last 5 miles and ended up with an 8:25 pace overall and 7:59 for the back 3 miles. Although I felt as though I was running significantly harder than the night before which was an easy effort run, my pace was only about 30 seconds a mile faster. McMillan suggests 7:17 to 7:36 for tempo runs. I'm terrible at judging pace. I need to slow down my pace on recovery days and speed it up on the tempo days. Practice makes perfect, but a set of calibrated legs and lungs would be nice.
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