I've taken taper to a whole new level this time around. I haven't run a step since my run last Sunday with Joe in West Lafayette. Tomorrow Saturday, my lovely wife and I, get on a plane first thing in the morning bound for Portland, then into a rental car for the 2 hour drive to Eugene. I doubt I'll be lucking into a Volvo this time around.
Monday morning I awoke and the cold had worked itself up into its glorious crescendo. I haven't felt this badly in years. I basically haven't had more than a mild case of the sniffles since I started running over three years ago. I felt so bad that if I had been at home I would have called in sick. But since I was miles from home and had set up appointments weeks ago I stuck to my schedule. I walked away whenever I felt I had to cough and washed by hands every time I had to blow my nose. I hope I didn't share my germs to carelessly. Monday was a planned rest day so I was OK.
Tuesday called for 4 but I just decided that the day off wouldn't hurt me and trying to run against fighting off the cold might be more damaging than helpful. I left Indiana Tuesday afternoon and drove back to Chicagoland. Wednesday and Thursday I awoke to light rain, again I opted out of the run. No sense running the risk of making things worse. I did feel better but nowhere near 100%. I was holding out for a run Thursday evening back home on my own turf.
Needless to say that didn't happen either. So things are about as good as they are going to get before Eugene. I have no idea what will happen there. I can't decide whether I should scale back my pace and shoot for a reasonable time; 3:45 or so, based on my current health. Or should I give it all I've got going for the 8:00 miles. If I do I fall apart after that I expect I will really stink up the last few miles and then who knows how my finishing time will turn out. Not finishing is not an option. State number 10 will be conquered one way or another, I'm just afraid it won't be very pretty.
This weekend is also the Big Sur Marathon. I'll be thinking about Donald out there, pushing his way to another fine finish at a tough but beautiful course. I am going to make an exception for California and run this one someday (maybe in 2008). I'm going to miss seeing Drew up there in Eugene. He was planning on running it as a way to celebrate his birthday. Happy Birthday, Drew and here's hoping you can get your running goals back to where you'd like them to be. Getting to meet Michelle, Eric, Sarah, Jenny and Rob will be a highlight of Oregon no matter the race outcome. I hope you all have a great race and I'll see you at the finish line.
Miles:
M: Rest
T: 0
W: 0
H:0
F:0
S: Rest
S: 26.2 one way or another!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 16
Another week gone by. I've had no time to blog, although is seems that when I'm out running I have plenty of thoughts running through my head that might end up here if I only had the time to make it happen. I could work my way back through a whole week but it likely wouldn't be the most engaging read and would end up being way to long, rather I will attempt to summarize.
It is now Monday evening and I'm at a Hampton Inn in Fort Wayne, IN. This is the end of my 5th day on the road. I left home at 4:00 a.m. last Thursday and will get back home this Thursday in the early afternoon. I have gotten some good feedback on our new product and more importantly to this blog, I have maintained my running schedule.
I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as detailed below. All three different routes, once on the Cottontail Trail in Bonelli (I never saw a single rabbit by the way), once at the far north end of the San Gabriel River Bikeway and lastly on the equestrian trail in Via Verde.
I arrived in Indianapolis early Thursday evening by way of a plane flight to Chicago and a 3 hour rental car ride to Indy. I was upgraded in the car because of the big corporate connection so I'm tooling around the Midwest in a Volvo S40. I've never driven a Volvo before. I am very impressed with its handling and ride. I drove over to Eagle Creek Park for a 4 mile run. The park is criss crossed with roads and trails. The trails run along the large reservoir. I just ran for time and doubled back several times. There were many other runners out and about in the park.
Friday morning I got up early and ran another 4 miles through the business park and neighborhood adjacent to the hotel. I had mapped out a route the night before. But because of the rapid growth and development in town many of the streets had been rerouted and reading street signs in the dark turned out to be more difficult than I expected. I was confused by my first turn but continued on and basically ran for time again. I was heading east for a good portion of the run and was treated to one of those purple and pink sunrises Joe mentioned last week. I also scared up a great blue heron along the routes. They are very large birds and quite the sight to see in flight.
The in office course I was attending in Indy got out early so I headed on up to West Lafayette to spend some time with Joe and his wife. I had hoped to get to see him when I realized my travels were taking me to Indiana. Joe was kind enough to offer up the spare room and a home cooked meal complements of his wife. Joe has chronicled the visit on his blog. The visit to his work was interesting. Visiting the campus of Purdue brought back great memories of my own college days at Kent State University. It was very nostalgic. I will remember for a long time the moment that Joe walked into the kitchen Sunday morning for our run and Gretchen realized we were dressed similarly. It was quite the coincidence and a great laugh.
The run along the pathways on a beautiful spring morning was amazing. The wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze was blowing. The trail system is a real gem. We just moved along at a comfortable pace. Joe opted to run the entire 8 miles without the walk breaks he has incorporated as part of his ITB recovery. He appeared to be no worse for wear. Joe has marked the mileage from his house. He even showed me his private speedwork track; a 500 meter circle around a man made pond nestled in behind the high school playing fields and a neighborhood. I felt privileged to be among the inner circle.
Just before I left home last week my throat was getting dry and scratchy. This has now become a full blown head cold. On Sunday I had a cough and now my eyes are watery, my nose is running and I begun sneezing. My voice sounds like Kirmit about 20 octaves lower - very deep and scratching. I really think that this morning if I had been home I would have stayed home from work, but since I had traveled this far to see these doctors and patients I kept up my schedule. I had hoped to run this week but I may just take the rest and hope to be somewhat recovered before Eugene on Sunday. I am looking forward to meeting all the PNW blogger/runners and to running my 10th state, but now with this cold having its grip on me I worry even more about my performance capabilities. No sense stressing about it, what ever happens, happens. At any rate Lisa and I will have an enjoyable mini-vacation.
Miles for the week: 30.3
M: 5 miles, 43:55 (8:47 pace)
T: 5 miles, 38:52 (7:46 pace)
W: 4 miles, 33:20(8:20 pace)
H: ~4 miles, 39:16
F: ~4 miles, 37:41
S: Rest
S: 8.3 miles, 1:17:35 (9:21 pace)
It is now Monday evening and I'm at a Hampton Inn in Fort Wayne, IN. This is the end of my 5th day on the road. I left home at 4:00 a.m. last Thursday and will get back home this Thursday in the early afternoon. I have gotten some good feedback on our new product and more importantly to this blog, I have maintained my running schedule.
I ran Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as detailed below. All three different routes, once on the Cottontail Trail in Bonelli (I never saw a single rabbit by the way), once at the far north end of the San Gabriel River Bikeway and lastly on the equestrian trail in Via Verde.
I arrived in Indianapolis early Thursday evening by way of a plane flight to Chicago and a 3 hour rental car ride to Indy. I was upgraded in the car because of the big corporate connection so I'm tooling around the Midwest in a Volvo S40. I've never driven a Volvo before. I am very impressed with its handling and ride. I drove over to Eagle Creek Park for a 4 mile run. The park is criss crossed with roads and trails. The trails run along the large reservoir. I just ran for time and doubled back several times. There were many other runners out and about in the park.
Friday morning I got up early and ran another 4 miles through the business park and neighborhood adjacent to the hotel. I had mapped out a route the night before. But because of the rapid growth and development in town many of the streets had been rerouted and reading street signs in the dark turned out to be more difficult than I expected. I was confused by my first turn but continued on and basically ran for time again. I was heading east for a good portion of the run and was treated to one of those purple and pink sunrises Joe mentioned last week. I also scared up a great blue heron along the routes. They are very large birds and quite the sight to see in flight.
The in office course I was attending in Indy got out early so I headed on up to West Lafayette to spend some time with Joe and his wife. I had hoped to get to see him when I realized my travels were taking me to Indiana. Joe was kind enough to offer up the spare room and a home cooked meal complements of his wife. Joe has chronicled the visit on his blog. The visit to his work was interesting. Visiting the campus of Purdue brought back great memories of my own college days at Kent State University. It was very nostalgic. I will remember for a long time the moment that Joe walked into the kitchen Sunday morning for our run and Gretchen realized we were dressed similarly. It was quite the coincidence and a great laugh.
The run along the pathways on a beautiful spring morning was amazing. The wasn't a cloud in the sky and only a light breeze was blowing. The trail system is a real gem. We just moved along at a comfortable pace. Joe opted to run the entire 8 miles without the walk breaks he has incorporated as part of his ITB recovery. He appeared to be no worse for wear. Joe has marked the mileage from his house. He even showed me his private speedwork track; a 500 meter circle around a man made pond nestled in behind the high school playing fields and a neighborhood. I felt privileged to be among the inner circle.
Just before I left home last week my throat was getting dry and scratchy. This has now become a full blown head cold. On Sunday I had a cough and now my eyes are watery, my nose is running and I begun sneezing. My voice sounds like Kirmit about 20 octaves lower - very deep and scratching. I really think that this morning if I had been home I would have stayed home from work, but since I had traveled this far to see these doctors and patients I kept up my schedule. I had hoped to run this week but I may just take the rest and hope to be somewhat recovered before Eugene on Sunday. I am looking forward to meeting all the PNW blogger/runners and to running my 10th state, but now with this cold having its grip on me I worry even more about my performance capabilities. No sense stressing about it, what ever happens, happens. At any rate Lisa and I will have an enjoyable mini-vacation.
Miles for the week: 30.3
M: 5 miles, 43:55 (8:47 pace)
T: 5 miles, 38:52 (7:46 pace)
W: 4 miles, 33:20(8:20 pace)
H: ~4 miles, 39:16
F: ~4 miles, 37:41
S: Rest
S: 8.3 miles, 1:17:35 (9:21 pace)
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Dr. John and His Entourage
Within minutes of posting, I recevied the email from Dr. John with the pictures and captions from this weekends runs. Rather than editing that post I will post them here.Dr. John's caption for this photo read: "The Canyon Hills High School cross country team momentarily caught up with John. After John explained that he was a married man, with two children and two grand children, they lost interest in him." Funny guy that Dr. John.
I took this photo as well of my partners for the day. L-R, Dr. John, Kathleen, Renee and Mary. From high up on Northridge trail we could see the ocean and even Catalina Island, 26 miles off the coast. Unfornately it doesn't show up in the photo, but it was there, trust me.
Eugene Training - Week 15
Almost there and as usual I can't believe it is here already. Although I haven't run the race yet I've begun to contemplate what state to tackle next. The Cruisers are sending a delegation off to "The People's Marathon", Marine Corps Marathon. Since it isn't until October I feel like I could slip something in between then. As badly as I want to find that next one, I just won't have the time to begin looking until after Eugene or maybe even later depending on how things go at work. My department when fully staffed is four people, as of a week ago I am going solo. Hopefully that will change in the next month or so.
I stuck to my original thought of running in Chino Hills State Park and was looking forward to the company of the Cruisers. We met at Tagge's and ran into the park via the trails from the neighborhood passed the Redwood Grove and into the back end of CHSP. This adds about 2 miles each way onto the loop in CHSP. I was at happy to see that Jesse showed up, but then disappointed when I found out he did not intend on running up Northridge. Jesse would have been an evenly matched partner for the run.
We were joined by two women, Erin and Rozanne, who are semi-elites in our area. They win their age groups consistently. Erin called Northridge "The 4-Mile Hill". This is a very apt description for this trail and says a lot more about it than Northridge. I ended up falling in with Dr. John, and a trio of Kathleen, Renee and Mary. I would run with them for awhile and then move ahead and wait for them to catch up. The last time Kathleen and Renee had run Northridge with us they had taken a very overgrown shortcut down to Telegraph. They had no desire to repeat that, so I stayed with them in part to make sure they found Sycamore and for the company. I ran considerably slower than I would have on my own, but that probably isn't such a bad thing two weeks out.
After we all made it down Sycamore the three ladies were ahead of Dr. John and I by 1/4 of a mile. Dr. John had stopped to take documentary photos of the run. He had arthroscopic knee surgery in March so took the downhill very easy. Dr. John and I met up with 6 girls from Canyon High cross country. Dr. John had quite the time chatting with them. I took is camera and ran ahead to get a great shot of he and the girls. I hope he sends it along so I can post it.
We picked up the pace and caught the ladies. We were between 4 and 5 miles from finishing up our run. I knew that they couldn't get lost at this point so I picked up the pace. I finished nearly 15 minutes ahead of them. Because of this stop-start pattern on the uphill I messed up my watch (I figured I wasn't going to count the waiting time against myself) I ended up messing up the button pushes and have no real cumulative running time. I was on the trail for 2:50 but I know my pace wasn't the 12:08 the time suggests. In reality it probably really doesn't matter. What matters is that I had a really enjoyable run in a great location with some super nice people.
I awoke Sunday to rain damped streets with moisture still dripping from the eaves, yet the skies were nearly clear and the sun was shining brightly. I needn't even mention where I headed. I just couldn't help but think about how lucky I was to be able to run around in the dirt on a beautiful weekend. I could feel the effects of the "The 4-Mile Hill" from the day before. Although I felt pretty good, the 10:16 pace reflects the state of my body or just the fact that I was enjoying the run rather than tackling it.
The new flash this week is the conditions for tomorrow's Boston Marathon. Boston had record heat a few years back and now this. Cathe from the Cruiser's will be there. I know of several bloggers as well, including world famous bloggers Jeff and Dianna, along with Mike, GB, and Ryan. I came upon GB recently through Bob's site. I've been reading (but not commenting) on Ryan's site for a while but can't recall how I ever found him in the first place. Although the weather conditions are not likely what they had hoped for, I'm sure that running Boston will be worth all the work they put into getting there. Good luck to all of them. I look forward to reading each of their stories next week.
Miles for the week: 40
M: 5 miles, 40:00 (8:00 pace)
T: 5 miles, 38:31 (7:42 pace)
W: ~5 miles, 52:00
H: 6 miles, 56:46 (9:27 pace)
F: Rest
S: 14 miles
S: 5 miles, 51:19 (10:16 pace)
I stuck to my original thought of running in Chino Hills State Park and was looking forward to the company of the Cruisers. We met at Tagge's and ran into the park via the trails from the neighborhood passed the Redwood Grove and into the back end of CHSP. This adds about 2 miles each way onto the loop in CHSP. I was at happy to see that Jesse showed up, but then disappointed when I found out he did not intend on running up Northridge. Jesse would have been an evenly matched partner for the run.
We were joined by two women, Erin and Rozanne, who are semi-elites in our area. They win their age groups consistently. Erin called Northridge "The 4-Mile Hill". This is a very apt description for this trail and says a lot more about it than Northridge. I ended up falling in with Dr. John, and a trio of Kathleen, Renee and Mary. I would run with them for awhile and then move ahead and wait for them to catch up. The last time Kathleen and Renee had run Northridge with us they had taken a very overgrown shortcut down to Telegraph. They had no desire to repeat that, so I stayed with them in part to make sure they found Sycamore and for the company. I ran considerably slower than I would have on my own, but that probably isn't such a bad thing two weeks out.
After we all made it down Sycamore the three ladies were ahead of Dr. John and I by 1/4 of a mile. Dr. John had stopped to take documentary photos of the run. He had arthroscopic knee surgery in March so took the downhill very easy. Dr. John and I met up with 6 girls from Canyon High cross country. Dr. John had quite the time chatting with them. I took is camera and ran ahead to get a great shot of he and the girls. I hope he sends it along so I can post it.
We picked up the pace and caught the ladies. We were between 4 and 5 miles from finishing up our run. I knew that they couldn't get lost at this point so I picked up the pace. I finished nearly 15 minutes ahead of them. Because of this stop-start pattern on the uphill I messed up my watch (I figured I wasn't going to count the waiting time against myself) I ended up messing up the button pushes and have no real cumulative running time. I was on the trail for 2:50 but I know my pace wasn't the 12:08 the time suggests. In reality it probably really doesn't matter. What matters is that I had a really enjoyable run in a great location with some super nice people.
I awoke Sunday to rain damped streets with moisture still dripping from the eaves, yet the skies were nearly clear and the sun was shining brightly. I needn't even mention where I headed. I just couldn't help but think about how lucky I was to be able to run around in the dirt on a beautiful weekend. I could feel the effects of the "The 4-Mile Hill" from the day before. Although I felt pretty good, the 10:16 pace reflects the state of my body or just the fact that I was enjoying the run rather than tackling it.
The new flash this week is the conditions for tomorrow's Boston Marathon. Boston had record heat a few years back and now this. Cathe from the Cruiser's will be there. I know of several bloggers as well, including world famous bloggers Jeff and Dianna, along with Mike, GB, and Ryan. I came upon GB recently through Bob's site. I've been reading (but not commenting) on Ryan's site for a while but can't recall how I ever found him in the first place. Although the weather conditions are not likely what they had hoped for, I'm sure that running Boston will be worth all the work they put into getting there. Good luck to all of them. I look forward to reading each of their stories next week.
Miles for the week: 40
M: 5 miles, 40:00 (8:00 pace)
T: 5 miles, 38:31 (7:42 pace)
W: ~5 miles, 52:00
H: 6 miles, 56:46 (9:27 pace)
F: Rest
S: 14 miles
S: 5 miles, 51:19 (10:16 pace)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
On the Road Again
Here I am sitting at the Hampton Inn in Calgary, Canada for the third time since December, the second time in two weeks. I am beginning to learn my way around, at least around the northwestern side of town.
Before I got too far into this post, I wanted to reply to the comments on my last post.
Wes: Eugene will be a test for sure. If I am to qualify for Boston I need a 3:30 marathon. I'm very afraid that I won't make it and if I am going to make it it's gonna hurt. I'm going to give it my best shot but ...
Michelle: lets all keep our fingers crossed. I also want to clear up my time. When I'm stopped during training runs, so is my watch. The 3:23 is actual run time. Fortunately I won't be stopping to chat during the marathon and I can usually skip the facility stops during a race.
Jessica and Anne: thanks for the vote of confidence and I really liked that picture myself.
Joe: You crack me up. You're like a kid on Christmas Eve. I've had a hard time keeping up with the present; I hadn't given much thought to the next couple of weeks. Fire when ready!
Now for this weeks runs. I've said earlier that since the mileage totals and weekly runs were shortening up a bit I was going to try to increase the pace a little. Monday I ran the Bonnie Cove 5 at a pretty decent clip. I don't have mile markers along these routes in the neighborhood, so its just go at it as hard as possible and see what the watch says when I hit the finish line. Those 5 miles came in right at 40:00; 8 minute miles. My first thought was - how will I ever keep that up for 21.2 more?
Tuesday I stopped off at the dam on the way home. The dam is sporting some new signage these days. There is a new painted markers with a wavy line and the words San Gabriel River Bikeway. But of course these new marks don't coincide with the old mile markers. I decided to charge up the hill this time. I hit the mile mark in 8:08, about a minute faster than usual. I kept right on chugging away and thought man this is tough. I hit mile 2 in 7:08. No wonder it felt tough. I slowed things down a bit after that but still ended up with 38:30ish for 5 miles. Two pretty hard runs back to back.
My next two runs brought me to Calgary. It took me nearly the whole day to get here on Wednesday. I spent 2 extra hours in San Francisco waiting to get to Calgary. Everything was delayed by heavy fog. I made it to Calgary a little after 5:00 p.m., almost 12 hours after pulling out of my garage at home. I headed straight over to Nose Hill Park. I had worn my running shorts under my jeans. All I had to do was make a quick change of shirt and shoes and off I went. I ran comfortably in shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt with temps in the low 40's. Nose Hill is definitely a hill. From up top you can get a great view of the city skyline to the south and the endless plains to the north. There aren't many landmarks to use as guides. I made it to the opposite side of the park and back but not via the same route I took out. The park isn't really big enough to get lost in but you can get disoriented. I ran strictly by time, putting in 52 minutes which I guess is somewhere a little more than 5 miles. I had to stop or at least hesitate frequently to determine which criss-crossing path I wanted to take and then to try to trace my steps. I had brought by regular street shoes, but the trail shoes would have been a good choice this time due to the sloppiness of the trails in places.
I got up this morning and headed back over the the Bow River Bikeway for an easy 10k in 56:46. I still have about an hour before I have to be at the orthodontists office. I'm not sure exactly what I will do the rest of the afternoon and evening since my flight doesn't leave till 7:00. My other choice was 3:00 but I was afraid that would rush my visit at the docs office.
I've got 15 scheduled for Saturday and the Cruisers are planning on running into Chino Hills State Park which is exactly what I was already thinking. I look forward to that one. Next week I leave again for a whole week between Indianapolis and Chicago. That's were Joe comes in. I'm looking forward to the weekend in West Lafayette, IN which just so happens to fall between my two stops. We've made plans to share our last long run, 8 miles, before his back to back 1/2 marathons and Eugene. Joe has some other plans as well that include a home cooked meal (always a welcome treat and respite from a week's worth of restaurant food) and a personal guided tour of the sights in his neck of the woods; it should be a lot of fun.
Before I got too far into this post, I wanted to reply to the comments on my last post.
Wes: Eugene will be a test for sure. If I am to qualify for Boston I need a 3:30 marathon. I'm very afraid that I won't make it and if I am going to make it it's gonna hurt. I'm going to give it my best shot but ...
Michelle: lets all keep our fingers crossed. I also want to clear up my time. When I'm stopped during training runs, so is my watch. The 3:23 is actual run time. Fortunately I won't be stopping to chat during the marathon and I can usually skip the facility stops during a race.
Jessica and Anne: thanks for the vote of confidence and I really liked that picture myself.
Joe: You crack me up. You're like a kid on Christmas Eve. I've had a hard time keeping up with the present; I hadn't given much thought to the next couple of weeks. Fire when ready!
Now for this weeks runs. I've said earlier that since the mileage totals and weekly runs were shortening up a bit I was going to try to increase the pace a little. Monday I ran the Bonnie Cove 5 at a pretty decent clip. I don't have mile markers along these routes in the neighborhood, so its just go at it as hard as possible and see what the watch says when I hit the finish line. Those 5 miles came in right at 40:00; 8 minute miles. My first thought was - how will I ever keep that up for 21.2 more?
Tuesday I stopped off at the dam on the way home. The dam is sporting some new signage these days. There is a new painted markers with a wavy line and the words San Gabriel River Bikeway. But of course these new marks don't coincide with the old mile markers. I decided to charge up the hill this time. I hit the mile mark in 8:08, about a minute faster than usual. I kept right on chugging away and thought man this is tough. I hit mile 2 in 7:08. No wonder it felt tough. I slowed things down a bit after that but still ended up with 38:30ish for 5 miles. Two pretty hard runs back to back.
My next two runs brought me to Calgary. It took me nearly the whole day to get here on Wednesday. I spent 2 extra hours in San Francisco waiting to get to Calgary. Everything was delayed by heavy fog. I made it to Calgary a little after 5:00 p.m., almost 12 hours after pulling out of my garage at home. I headed straight over to Nose Hill Park. I had worn my running shorts under my jeans. All I had to do was make a quick change of shirt and shoes and off I went. I ran comfortably in shorts and a long sleeve technical shirt with temps in the low 40's. Nose Hill is definitely a hill. From up top you can get a great view of the city skyline to the south and the endless plains to the north. There aren't many landmarks to use as guides. I made it to the opposite side of the park and back but not via the same route I took out. The park isn't really big enough to get lost in but you can get disoriented. I ran strictly by time, putting in 52 minutes which I guess is somewhere a little more than 5 miles. I had to stop or at least hesitate frequently to determine which criss-crossing path I wanted to take and then to try to trace my steps. I had brought by regular street shoes, but the trail shoes would have been a good choice this time due to the sloppiness of the trails in places.
I got up this morning and headed back over the the Bow River Bikeway for an easy 10k in 56:46. I still have about an hour before I have to be at the orthodontists office. I'm not sure exactly what I will do the rest of the afternoon and evening since my flight doesn't leave till 7:00. My other choice was 3:00 but I was afraid that would rush my visit at the docs office.
I've got 15 scheduled for Saturday and the Cruisers are planning on running into Chino Hills State Park which is exactly what I was already thinking. I look forward to that one. Next week I leave again for a whole week between Indianapolis and Chicago. That's were Joe comes in. I'm looking forward to the weekend in West Lafayette, IN which just so happens to fall between my two stops. We've made plans to share our last long run, 8 miles, before his back to back 1/2 marathons and Eugene. Joe has some other plans as well that include a home cooked meal (always a welcome treat and respite from a week's worth of restaurant food) and a personal guided tour of the sights in his neck of the woods; it should be a lot of fun.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 14
Already Tuesday, unbelievable.
I guess the title should really be Week 14.3 or something. Last week was a scheduled 5 day week so I had Monday and Friday off just like in the old days before I decided to try this training plan for the second time. I've made it this far but have yet to decide what I will do once I get through Eugene.
My wife had Friday off from work. I took a half day vacation and we had a nice lunch together.
I ended up heading down to Yorba Linda for the last 22 miler. I arrived a little early and by 7:00 no one else had showed up. It was a grey, misty morning with temps in the middle 50's. I headed out. The day turned into an old school day. Just after 4 miles I ran into Denis and John coming back the opposite way. They were 9 miles into their last 22 as well. At mile 7 I happened upon Mary and Cathe. They had gotten a late start. We stopped and talked for a few minutes. They were on their way and I hit the facilities, for the second time (It was that kind of run). A couple of miles later I caught up the Mary and Cathe. I stayed with them for the next three miles. I even took walk breaks with them. I stressed out a little when one of them stretched to nearly 2 minutes but I hung in there with them until they turned back at my mile 12.
It was there that we ran into Julie and Gary and stopped to take another chat break. I still had 10 miles to go. Around mile 14 I ran into John again and then at mile16 I saw Denis again. John had cut his 22 miler a little short. I made it back to where I started in 3:23:29. I was tired but felt like I could finish 4 more easily. The problem is I can't finish 4.2 miles in 7 minutes, oops!
I know better than to race the long runs, but I still can't help but wonder. I went back at looked up my long runs for the last three road runs. I don't seemed to have gotten any faster this time around. I certainly have put in more miles but it seems to me to be at the same pace as always.
I don't know what it all means, if anything, but I thought I would learn something.
I guess the title should really be Week 14.3 or something. Last week was a scheduled 5 day week so I had Monday and Friday off just like in the old days before I decided to try this training plan for the second time. I've made it this far but have yet to decide what I will do once I get through Eugene.
My wife had Friday off from work. I took a half day vacation and we had a nice lunch together.
I ended up heading down to Yorba Linda for the last 22 miler. I arrived a little early and by 7:00 no one else had showed up. It was a grey, misty morning with temps in the middle 50's. I headed out. The day turned into an old school day. Just after 4 miles I ran into Denis and John coming back the opposite way. They were 9 miles into their last 22 as well. At mile 7 I happened upon Mary and Cathe. They had gotten a late start. We stopped and talked for a few minutes. They were on their way and I hit the facilities, for the second time (It was that kind of run). A couple of miles later I caught up the Mary and Cathe. I stayed with them for the next three miles. I even took walk breaks with them. I stressed out a little when one of them stretched to nearly 2 minutes but I hung in there with them until they turned back at my mile 12.
It was there that we ran into Julie and Gary and stopped to take another chat break. I still had 10 miles to go. Around mile 14 I ran into John again and then at mile16 I saw Denis again. John had cut his 22 miler a little short. I made it back to where I started in 3:23:29. I was tired but felt like I could finish 4 more easily. The problem is I can't finish 4.2 miles in 7 minutes, oops!
I know better than to race the long runs, but I still can't help but wonder. I went back at looked up my long runs for the last three road runs. I don't seemed to have gotten any faster this time around. I certainly have put in more miles but it seems to me to be at the same pace as always.
I don't know what it all means, if anything, but I thought I would learn something.The sun never made an appearance the rest of the day and everyone in my family took a nap; something that almost never happens.
4 miles on the west side of Bonelli on Sunday morning, again in the gray mist topped of the week. There was no sunrise at the Sunrise Easter services around here. We took Grandma and Aunt Leslie with us for a trek down to San Diego and enjoyed dinner with Tyler at Prego.
Miles for the week: 42
M: Rest
T: 5 miles, 40:43 (8:09 pace)
W: 6 miles, 47:16 (7:53 pace)
H: 5 miles, 44:19 (8:52 pace)
F: Rest
S: 22 miles, 3:23 (9:15 pace)
S: ~4 miles, 42:17 (10:34 pace)
The cross is at the top of Garcia Trail where I ran a few weeks ago on Glendora Ridge Motorway.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Trip Tik
This week with the mileage starting to decline, I decided to try and ramp up the pace a little.
I enjoyed Monday off by watching Dancing with the Stars. That darn show has me hooked. I spent the whole night moving back and forth between the computer (bills and blogging) and the TV. I would really love to see Laila make it all the way through. But it is going to be a tough battle between her, Joey, Ian and maybe even Apollo. I never thought I would get hooked on a show like this. I pretty much dismissed it the first year, caught the final few weeks year two and haven't missed much of the action since then. I was really rooting for Emmit last year besides I've secretly got a thing for Cheryl. Cheryl and her star partner have won twice, it would be sweet if she and Ian could go for #3.
At the dam on Tuesday it seemed really odd to be turning around at the 2.5 mile mark. I've been running 6 or 8 there since early February. I pushed a little and ended up with an 8:09 pace over all.
Wednesday I hadn't quite committed to a route yet on the way home. I was thinking about the errands I had to run the next day. It turns out our car insurance was due on Thursday. I'm not super excited most days to pay the bills and there are some bills I just flat out hate to pay. Car insurance is one of those. Some of the others are the newspaper (I don't read it) and the cell phone bill (most of the minutes go to the kids). So as a little protest I pay those bills at the last possible minute. I usually drop of the insurance check at the AAA office on the way to work. This is just one more thing in an already hectic morning. Getting Bryan moving is enough of a battle every morning. So I had this brilliant idea of running the insurance check over tonight.
I quickly pulled up my favorite route mapping tool and determined that the AAA office was 2.5 miles from home. This office is just one block off one of the streets I run often. To finish up the loop, my Bonnie Cove 5 route became the AAA 6. Now I have one less thing to do in the morning. Plus this saves me about a 2 mile car trip. That has to be worth the $0.26 it saved me with gas at $3.25 a gallon and don't forget the $0.39 stamp I saved too.
In the spirit of ramping up the pace, after the 2.5 miles I decided to kick things up a notch and ran at least another 2 miles at a pace nearing 5K. I throttled it back down after that but caught myself ramping back up as I got closer and closer to home. I finished up with a 7:53 pace overall so I must have been cooking along pretty good in the middle there because I know I started off relatively easily.
I plan to take tomorrow back down in the 8:30 range in preparation for the last big one on Saturday. I was planning on going down to Yorba Linda to meet up with the Cruiser's (I haven't seen them since the Brea 8K) but I found out today some of them are racing a 5K that day. I may just head back down to HB, where I've done the last 3 long runs. Either way it will be satisfying to have that one on the books.
I enjoyed Monday off by watching Dancing with the Stars. That darn show has me hooked. I spent the whole night moving back and forth between the computer (bills and blogging) and the TV. I would really love to see Laila make it all the way through. But it is going to be a tough battle between her, Joey, Ian and maybe even Apollo. I never thought I would get hooked on a show like this. I pretty much dismissed it the first year, caught the final few weeks year two and haven't missed much of the action since then. I was really rooting for Emmit last year besides I've secretly got a thing for Cheryl. Cheryl and her star partner have won twice, it would be sweet if she and Ian could go for #3.
At the dam on Tuesday it seemed really odd to be turning around at the 2.5 mile mark. I've been running 6 or 8 there since early February. I pushed a little and ended up with an 8:09 pace over all.
Wednesday I hadn't quite committed to a route yet on the way home. I was thinking about the errands I had to run the next day. It turns out our car insurance was due on Thursday. I'm not super excited most days to pay the bills and there are some bills I just flat out hate to pay. Car insurance is one of those. Some of the others are the newspaper (I don't read it) and the cell phone bill (most of the minutes go to the kids). So as a little protest I pay those bills at the last possible minute. I usually drop of the insurance check at the AAA office on the way to work. This is just one more thing in an already hectic morning. Getting Bryan moving is enough of a battle every morning. So I had this brilliant idea of running the insurance check over tonight.
I quickly pulled up my favorite route mapping tool and determined that the AAA office was 2.5 miles from home. This office is just one block off one of the streets I run often. To finish up the loop, my Bonnie Cove 5 route became the AAA 6. Now I have one less thing to do in the morning. Plus this saves me about a 2 mile car trip. That has to be worth the $0.26 it saved me with gas at $3.25 a gallon and don't forget the $0.39 stamp I saved too.
In the spirit of ramping up the pace, after the 2.5 miles I decided to kick things up a notch and ran at least another 2 miles at a pace nearing 5K. I throttled it back down after that but caught myself ramping back up as I got closer and closer to home. I finished up with a 7:53 pace overall so I must have been cooking along pretty good in the middle there because I know I started off relatively easily.
I plan to take tomorrow back down in the 8:30 range in preparation for the last big one on Saturday. I was planning on going down to Yorba Linda to meet up with the Cruiser's (I haven't seen them since the Brea 8K) but I found out today some of them are racing a 5K that day. I may just head back down to HB, where I've done the last 3 long runs. Either way it will be satisfying to have that one on the books.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 13
I know it is already Monday but I can't mess up the trend now when I'm this close to the finish line. I've already covered the highlights of last week. I was determined to get in my six days of running but by Wednesday that clearly wasn't going to happen. So I did the next best thing, I ran 6 times instead.
Thursday, back home and back at work, I headed over to the dam with the intent of doing speedwork. I planned on warming up for 1.5 miles and then doing 3 minutes speed followed by 3 minutes recovery for the next 2.5 miles with a mile of cool down. Well I hit the 1.5 mile mark and the effort felt nearly as difficult as in Calgary two days prior. I took off like a bolt and made it to within sight of the next half mile mark by the time the watch finally beeped 3 minutes. It was one of the longest 3 minutes ever. After the 3 minute recovery jog, I took off again and made it for about 1 minute before I said to heck with this. At the turn around point I decided that if I wasn't going to get any speedwork in I would at least try for a marathon pace run. I ramped up the pace and got the last 3 miles done in 7:51, 7:41 and 7:56.
Friday I headed over to Via Verde for an abbreviated run; 4 miles at an easy pace in anticipation of Saturday's race.
Sunday afternoon I headed over to Bonelli at 5:00 in the afternoon after having hung around the house all day in my running clothes from Tyler's 5K that morning. So although I only ran 5 days, I put in 6 runs.
Miles for the week: 40
M: Rest
T: 8.8 miles, 1:23 (9:31 pace)
W: Travel day, 0 miles
H: 6 miles, 48:56 (8:09 pace) with 3 miles at MP
F: 4 miles, 38:07 (9:31 pace)
S: 13.1 miles, 1:49:31 (8:22 pace)
S: 3.1 miles, 34:00 (10.58 pace) with Tyler
5 miles, 50:28 (10:06 pace)
On Sunday afternoon I tallied up my miles for the month of March and was shocked to find 197.7 miles. If I had realized how close I was to 200 I would have run a little more during the week. This is 15 miles more than my last highest month in August 2006. I recently read about the challenge of running 2007 miles in 2007. This requires an average monthly mileage of 167.25. I wasn't far off track and this months 197.7 gives me a cushion to play with. I haven't completely committed to the idea of 2007 miles but, so far so good.
This week the miles start to taper down although the last 22 miler is scheduled for Saturday. During the week there are no more 8 milers and the 6 milers become 5. Let me tell you I am looking forward to the rest and recovery leading up to Eugene.
Thursday, back home and back at work, I headed over to the dam with the intent of doing speedwork. I planned on warming up for 1.5 miles and then doing 3 minutes speed followed by 3 minutes recovery for the next 2.5 miles with a mile of cool down. Well I hit the 1.5 mile mark and the effort felt nearly as difficult as in Calgary two days prior. I took off like a bolt and made it to within sight of the next half mile mark by the time the watch finally beeped 3 minutes. It was one of the longest 3 minutes ever. After the 3 minute recovery jog, I took off again and made it for about 1 minute before I said to heck with this. At the turn around point I decided that if I wasn't going to get any speedwork in I would at least try for a marathon pace run. I ramped up the pace and got the last 3 miles done in 7:51, 7:41 and 7:56.
Friday I headed over to Via Verde for an abbreviated run; 4 miles at an easy pace in anticipation of Saturday's race.
Sunday afternoon I headed over to Bonelli at 5:00 in the afternoon after having hung around the house all day in my running clothes from Tyler's 5K that morning. So although I only ran 5 days, I put in 6 runs.
Miles for the week: 40
M: Rest
T: 8.8 miles, 1:23 (9:31 pace)
W: Travel day, 0 miles
H: 6 miles, 48:56 (8:09 pace) with 3 miles at MP
F: 4 miles, 38:07 (9:31 pace)
S: 13.1 miles, 1:49:31 (8:22 pace)
S: 3.1 miles, 34:00 (10.58 pace) with Tyler
5 miles, 50:28 (10:06 pace)
On Sunday afternoon I tallied up my miles for the month of March and was shocked to find 197.7 miles. If I had realized how close I was to 200 I would have run a little more during the week. This is 15 miles more than my last highest month in August 2006. I recently read about the challenge of running 2007 miles in 2007. This requires an average monthly mileage of 167.25. I wasn't far off track and this months 197.7 gives me a cushion to play with. I haven't completely committed to the idea of 2007 miles but, so far so good.
This week the miles start to taper down although the last 22 miler is scheduled for Saturday. During the week there are no more 8 milers and the 6 milers become 5. Let me tell you I am looking forward to the rest and recovery leading up to Eugene.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
A Racing Weekend
I ran two races this weekend.
The first was the Chesebro Half Marathon, part of the Great Race of Agoura which includes a 5K, 10K, the double -15K, and a kids 1 miler on Saturday March 31. I did this race last year and really enjoyed it so I signed up for another go at it. The half is really two races in one, about 3 miles at both ends on pavements with about 6 miles in the middle on trails.
This year the race seemed to be easier, the trail wider, the hills smaller and the whole thing went by a lot faster than last. One thing I missed, kind of, was the mud at the beginning of the trail. I wore my road shoes, so save my trail shoes from the 6 miles of road.
My primary goal for this race was to better last year's time of 2:01. My absolute rock my world goal was 1:39 predicted by the McMillan calculator. I knew that with the trail (hill) portion of the race this would be difficult.
Last year I started this race off slowly. This year I decided to kick it in early and pass as many people as I could before reaching the trail section. About 1/2 mile into the race I ran into Denis from the Cruisers. He and his training partner run the river trail in Yorba Linda but get started about an hour before the rest of us. I ran and chatted with him for about a mile until he took his first walk break. He uses the Galloway method at 6:1, finishing the LA marathon in 4:37. I had also decided to travel lighter this year. I braved the cool temps at the start and did not carry an extra sweatshirt like last year, nor did I carry my fuel belt, but relied on two water stops on trail. I did take a gel at mile 8. I was at 24:33 at the 3 mile mark, all on roads.
On the trail I kept trucking along and picked off one person at a time. I hit mile 5 in 16:26 meaning I was keeping up an 8:13 pace on the trail. For some reason at one minor down hill section, just before the biggest up hill about 3 of the people I had just passed surged ahead. I caught a couple of them again on the uphill. The mile 6 marker was obviously off since I reached it in about 5:30 after hitting mile 5. I kept an eye on the markers the rest of the trail but didn't record a time until I hit the road again. I hit mile 11 in 52:49/6 miles or 8:48 pace for the big uphill and of course the nice long downhill afterward.
Unlike last year when I ran out of gas when we hit the pavement, this year I still felt good. I began to set my sights on the runners ahead of me and picked off at least four before mile 12. We had been on the road for about a mile and a half and had a lane to ourselves. Around mile 12 we were joined by a mass of humanity. The 10K race started an hour and half after the half marathon. Chugging along with other like minded half marathoners was a good thing. Running into a wall of back of the pack 10K'ers was not. The runners were in a totally different place race wise. Their pace was slower and they ran or walked in groups which made keeping any kind of momentum nearly impossible. It was quite disturbing. We shared the road for nearly a mile until the last 100 yards or so to the finish line where we parted ways. Even with this distraction I was able to crank out 7:27 pace for the last 2.1 miles, thanks to a downhill finish once we left the trail.
My overall time was 1:49:31, a 12 minute improvement over last year and about half way to my outlandish goal. The 1:49 is nearly as good as my half marathon PR (1:45:39) set at Fontana on a nearly completely downhill road course. My time put me at 163/1001 (16th percentile) overall and 11/61 (18 percentile) for M4549. I'm pretty happy with that. 1:49 predicts a 3:40 marathon, so who knows...
I was nearly ready to head out when Denis crossed the finish line in 2:10:36. I hung out and talked for awhile. I found out he and his running partner are heading up to Eugene as well. His running partners daughter lives near Eugene.
------------------------------------------------------
The second race was the Victim's Rights 5K in San Pedro on Sunday, April 1. Some of you may remember that 9 to 10 weeks ago my oldest son started the coolrunning.com Couch to 5K program. This is something he started all on his own without any prodding from me. He even started a blog which he ended up not keeping up. But he did the important part, he finished all of the C25K workouts. A few weeks ago he asked me to find him a race. I originally started looking in the San Diego area, then he realized he would be home on spring break the week he was ready to race. I had considered the Spirit Run, but running around the mall lacked appeal to me. I found this 5K which ran along Paseo Del Mar at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Tyler trusted my judgement. He even agreed to allow me to come with him and to run the race. After we checked in he asked me "So, you're just going to take off right?". "No way, I'm planning on running right along side you" I said. He was OK with that.
The race got under way and off we went. Tyler crossed the first mile marker in 9:43. This course wasn't really flat. Tyler complained about the "hills". I tried to convince him they were just little inclines. They really were pretty tame, but I did remember how I felt the first time I came across anything that even remotely resembled a hill.
During the second mile and the longest continuous climb Tyler took a walk break. I wasn't timing them because he hadn't asked me too. We started running again when he was ready. He asked for another walk break during this mile and finished mile 2 in 11:26, mostly due to the walk breaks.
During mile 3 he took a couple of more walks and hit that mark in 11:56. At that point I told him he couldn't walk anymore. It was against the rules to walk the last 0.1 mile of a 5K.
He kicked it in gear and finished the last 0.1 in 0:55, even passing 3 people on the way to the finish line. I was two steps behind him. My watch read 33:59:26. The official times listed now are 34:00 for Tyler and 34:05 for me. I know I wasn't 5 seconds behind him, but this wasn't my race. I was thrilled just to share this one with him. We even got medals, something I have never gotten before at a 5K. He ended up 11th in his age group and me 10th in mine and 209 and 210 out of 570. That put's him in the top 40%. The overall pace was 10:58. Now I've shared a 5K with both of my boys and although each one as among my slowest times, they will be the most memorable races I've run.
I asked Tyler if this was something that he wanted to continue and he said yes. He's looking for a program that is the next step beyond the C25K program. I will have to do some digging. Does anybody have any ideas?
The first was the Chesebro Half Marathon, part of the Great Race of Agoura which includes a 5K, 10K, the double -15K, and a kids 1 miler on Saturday March 31. I did this race last year and really enjoyed it so I signed up for another go at it. The half is really two races in one, about 3 miles at both ends on pavements with about 6 miles in the middle on trails.
This year the race seemed to be easier, the trail wider, the hills smaller and the whole thing went by a lot faster than last. One thing I missed, kind of, was the mud at the beginning of the trail. I wore my road shoes, so save my trail shoes from the 6 miles of road.
My primary goal for this race was to better last year's time of 2:01. My absolute rock my world goal was 1:39 predicted by the McMillan calculator. I knew that with the trail (hill) portion of the race this would be difficult.
Last year I started this race off slowly. This year I decided to kick it in early and pass as many people as I could before reaching the trail section. About 1/2 mile into the race I ran into Denis from the Cruisers. He and his training partner run the river trail in Yorba Linda but get started about an hour before the rest of us. I ran and chatted with him for about a mile until he took his first walk break. He uses the Galloway method at 6:1, finishing the LA marathon in 4:37. I had also decided to travel lighter this year. I braved the cool temps at the start and did not carry an extra sweatshirt like last year, nor did I carry my fuel belt, but relied on two water stops on trail. I did take a gel at mile 8. I was at 24:33 at the 3 mile mark, all on roads.
On the trail I kept trucking along and picked off one person at a time. I hit mile 5 in 16:26 meaning I was keeping up an 8:13 pace on the trail. For some reason at one minor down hill section, just before the biggest up hill about 3 of the people I had just passed surged ahead. I caught a couple of them again on the uphill. The mile 6 marker was obviously off since I reached it in about 5:30 after hitting mile 5. I kept an eye on the markers the rest of the trail but didn't record a time until I hit the road again. I hit mile 11 in 52:49/6 miles or 8:48 pace for the big uphill and of course the nice long downhill afterward.
Unlike last year when I ran out of gas when we hit the pavement, this year I still felt good. I began to set my sights on the runners ahead of me and picked off at least four before mile 12. We had been on the road for about a mile and a half and had a lane to ourselves. Around mile 12 we were joined by a mass of humanity. The 10K race started an hour and half after the half marathon. Chugging along with other like minded half marathoners was a good thing. Running into a wall of back of the pack 10K'ers was not. The runners were in a totally different place race wise. Their pace was slower and they ran or walked in groups which made keeping any kind of momentum nearly impossible. It was quite disturbing. We shared the road for nearly a mile until the last 100 yards or so to the finish line where we parted ways. Even with this distraction I was able to crank out 7:27 pace for the last 2.1 miles, thanks to a downhill finish once we left the trail.
My overall time was 1:49:31, a 12 minute improvement over last year and about half way to my outlandish goal. The 1:49 is nearly as good as my half marathon PR (1:45:39) set at Fontana on a nearly completely downhill road course. My time put me at 163/1001 (16th percentile) overall and 11/61 (18 percentile) for M4549. I'm pretty happy with that. 1:49 predicts a 3:40 marathon, so who knows...
I was nearly ready to head out when Denis crossed the finish line in 2:10:36. I hung out and talked for awhile. I found out he and his running partner are heading up to Eugene as well. His running partners daughter lives near Eugene.
------------------------------------------------------
The second race was the Victim's Rights 5K in San Pedro on Sunday, April 1. Some of you may remember that 9 to 10 weeks ago my oldest son started the coolrunning.com Couch to 5K program. This is something he started all on his own without any prodding from me. He even started a blog which he ended up not keeping up. But he did the important part, he finished all of the C25K workouts. A few weeks ago he asked me to find him a race. I originally started looking in the San Diego area, then he realized he would be home on spring break the week he was ready to race. I had considered the Spirit Run, but running around the mall lacked appeal to me. I found this 5K which ran along Paseo Del Mar at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Tyler trusted my judgement. He even agreed to allow me to come with him and to run the race. After we checked in he asked me "So, you're just going to take off right?". "No way, I'm planning on running right along side you" I said. He was OK with that.
The race got under way and off we went. Tyler crossed the first mile marker in 9:43. This course wasn't really flat. Tyler complained about the "hills". I tried to convince him they were just little inclines. They really were pretty tame, but I did remember how I felt the first time I came across anything that even remotely resembled a hill.
During the second mile and the longest continuous climb Tyler took a walk break. I wasn't timing them because he hadn't asked me too. We started running again when he was ready. He asked for another walk break during this mile and finished mile 2 in 11:26, mostly due to the walk breaks.
During mile 3 he took a couple of more walks and hit that mark in 11:56. At that point I told him he couldn't walk anymore. It was against the rules to walk the last 0.1 mile of a 5K.
He kicked it in gear and finished the last 0.1 in 0:55, even passing 3 people on the way to the finish line. I was two steps behind him. My watch read 33:59:26. The official times listed now are 34:00 for Tyler and 34:05 for me. I know I wasn't 5 seconds behind him, but this wasn't my race. I was thrilled just to share this one with him. We even got medals, something I have never gotten before at a 5K. He ended up 11th in his age group and me 10th in mine and 209 and 210 out of 570. That put's him in the top 40%. The overall pace was 10:58. Now I've shared a 5K with both of my boys and although each one as among my slowest times, they will be the most memorable races I've run.
I asked Tyler if this was something that he wanted to continue and he said yes. He's looking for a program that is the next step beyond the C25K program. I will have to do some digging. Does anybody have any ideas?
The Difference A Day Makes
This post was started last Wednesday while I waited to change planes in Seattle. It has been held captive by my work laptop since then. Since I have a whole week, including month end and race recaps, to catch up on I've decided to break this into several shorter posts.
I had a trip scheduled to Calgary this week and I knew it would take some creativity on my part to get 6 runs in this week. It’s not so much that I lacked creativity as much as I lacked the follow through on that creativity.
The plan called for Monday as a rest day as it usually does. This week I didn’t need to push it to Friday, but knowing that I would be in transit the better part of Wednesday meant that I should have used Monday to its advantage. That never happened.
I had been checking the weather for Calgary on a daily basis for the last week. The last prediction I saw was for temps in the mid to high 30’s with light rain predicted. My flight from Ontario, CA to Seattle was uneventful. Seattle weather was like everyone always says it is, cloudy and gloomy. I didn’t really mind. The greater concern was the weather in Calgary. Things had changed since I last checked. In Seattle we were told that visibility in Calgary was extremely limited and there was snow falling, possibly heavy snow. The flight left Seattle with the hope that the weather would clear during the flight but with the understanding that if things didn’t improve the pilots would return us to Seattle. The pilot warned that we might do an approach and head right back up if conditions weren’t good and not to be alarmed. During the descent in Calgary could see nothing but white clouds, then the next thing I knew we were on the ground with no further discussion of conditions from the cockpit.
I had deliberately planned the trip to arrive in the early afternoon, so that I could take advantage of DST and the naturally longer days of the north. It was snowing when I landed but because it wasn’t extremely cold the roads were clear. Although leaving home at 4:00 a.m. was not ideal, I had the afternoon to myself. (Does this count as creative or just taking advantage?) I had a couple of options in mind for a run. One was to head up to Nose Hill Park, the other was the Bow River Pathway. I had packed my new Cascadias in anticipation of muddy or slushy conditions.
I ended up going with the Bow River Pathway which turns out is an asphalt multi-use trail along the Bow River. The trial shoes weren’t really necessary but they would have to suffice. This section of the pathway is at river level at points and then meanders up hill to go along a bluff well above the river and then descends back down again. The pathway goes through some wooded areas and also some open space areas and parks. I ran northwest from Home Rd to Stoney Trail and crossed the river along the pedestrian bridge that is suspended under the impressive bridge. Bowness Park is on the south side of the river but not knowing exactly how to get back to my car that way I did a u-turn and retraced my steps. Although the pathway was mostly clear, the ground all around was covered with about 2 inches of really wet snow. Besides a couple of Canadian Geese (imagine that), I saw a couple birds with long tails and the most amazing contrasting color scheme of black and white. Usually things in nature that are white are kind of yellowish, not real crisp. It took some internet searching when I got back to the room to determine they were black-billed magpies. I always thought of magpies like this:
picture from: http://www.ohiobirds.org/birdingnews/images/magpies%20on%20the%20lam.jpg
Not this:
picture from: http://weaselhead.org/profile/?s=218 Although I enjoyed a run in a new location and the cool overcast conditions, I could tell that it would be spectacular on a sunny day. I did have a hard time getting up any major momentum. I thought during the run, maybe it was due to the fact that I had gotten up 2 hours early or possibly I was a little dehydrated from flying. I also considered that the altitude may be affecting me. Calgary is at 3500 feet or so above sea level, while most of my runs are maybe 500 or less. I don’t really know, but the 8.8 miles (14.2 km) took me 1:23:49 for 9:31 pace.
Wednesday, I visited a local orthodontist. I wrapped my visit around 2:00 and headed back towards the airport. It was a beautiful sunny day. I went by Nose Hill Park and contemplated squeezing in a run. I accidentally missed the turn off so I just headed for the airport. It turns out customs didn’t open till 4:00 and my flight left at nearly 6:00. I would have had plenty of time to get in a run. My biggest obstacle was where exactly I would change from dress clothes to running clothes and how I would get at least partially cleaned up before sharing close quarters with people on an airplane. Maybe I do lack creativity after all. Instead I wrote my trip report. I was technically “on the clock”. I will be back to Calgary soon, maybe I will get to explore Nose Hill Park then.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Eugene Training - Week 12
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)
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)
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.
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