Week 7: 7/23 - 7/29

Weekly Summary
This week was a bit different from the others because of the SF Half at the end of the week. I did a short hill workout on Wednesday, and short "long run" on Friday, and then a long "tempo run" on Sunday. Anyway, it was still a pretty good week overall. I felt happy with the half marathon, even though it's much slower than my PR of 65:17. I guess I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I was pretty tired and sore after the half marathon, even though I didn't go all out.
Resting HR: 52
Total Weekly Mileage: 88

Sunday 7/29
AM - San Francisco Half Marathon. 3rd place, 71:11 (5:27/mile pace). Felt pretty good today. It's the first time I've raced since last November. The course wasn't too bad. The first several miles in Golden Gate Park had some uphill sections, but most of the rest of the course was flat with some downhill sections. I didn't really have anyone to run with, since the two guys ahead of me lost me pretty early on. So the entire time, I was just dodging all of the marathon runners (the half marathon was the SECOND half of the full marathon, and started about 2 hours into the full marathon). It was a good workout, and I guess I'm happy with my time, given that I've only been running for 8 weeks.
17 miles

Saturday 7/28
AM - Mitchell Park with 2 strides. Since I'm racing tomorrow, I just decided to do an easy 4 miles in the morning and did a couple of strides at the end.
4 miles

Friday 7/27
AM - Russian Ridge. Met up with Tom McGlynn and Xavier at 7am to run along the ridge. It was really nice out there this morning. I love this route. We kept the pace pretty easy but steady, and didn't stop once. Did the loop by the lake in about 1:45.
15 miles

Thursday 7/26
AM - Mitchell Park with 4 strides. Easy run through Mitchell Park. Felt sore this morning, so it was good to loosen up. I wasn't planning on doing strides, but I got inspired to do them at the end of my run. I want to start doing more strides on my easy days.

PM - Stanford campus loop. Did an easy jog to Stanford and around Campus Drive today.
11 miles

Wednesday 7/25
AM - Hill Workout @ The Stanford Dish. 3 x uphill with downhill rest (5:05, 4:54, 4:51). This is the first time that our group decided to do a hill workout. We met at the track, jogged over to the dish, and did 3 uphill repeats. The workout was really short today--I'm not sure why we all stopped after 3 repeats, but I didn't mind. I felt pretty good, and I was able to run towards the front of the group today.

PM - Wunderlich Park. Went back to Wunderlich Park this afternoon and did the big loop again. I don't know if it was a good idea to go on a 10-mile hill run after the hill workout this morning, but I wanted to partially make up for yesterday's disaster. I definitely felt fatigued during the run this afternoon, but I'm glad that I got it in.
20 miles

Tuesday 7/24
PM - San Bruno. I was planning to meet up with Johann today and go on a longer run, but the power went out in the city, and Johann had to stay at work to fix things at Tagged. I went to San Bruno anyway because I was going to the ball game in the city. However, I wish I hadn't tried to run there because it was cold, windy, and the trails were overgrown. I did several small loops because I couldn't manage to get very far without running through lots of bushes. My legs also didn't feel like going far today, so I called it a day at about 6 miles.
6 miles

Monday 7/23
PM - Wunderlich Park. I ran a big loop around Wunderlich Park today. Felt much better than last time I ran here, but it's still not easy to do the uphill part without stopping.

AM - Mitchell Park with 4 strides. Did an easy run around Mitchell Park this evening, and on the way back, I decided to do 4 x 30 sec strides. I was a bit tired/sore at the beginning of the run, but loosened up by the end.
15 miles

Week 6: 7/16 - 7/22

Weekly Summary
I was able to get my mileage up this week, but other than that, I'm a bit disappointed with the way things went this week. I wasn't able to run either of the two workouts (2-mile repeats and progressive long run) as well as I had hoped. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't complain -- at least I'm not injured yet. I just signed up to run in the San Francisco Half Marathon next Sunday. The race director was able to put me in the elite group and give me a comp entry. I'm not yet sure how I'll pace myself during the race (I haven't raced in almost a year), but I'm sure it will be a good workout.
Resting HR: 55
Total Weekly Mileage: 78

Sunday 7/22
AM - Arastradero Preserve. I went over to Arastradero this morning with Sarah, who was meeting Kirsten there. I took Phoenix (Kirsten's dog) running with me today. It was fun to run with Phoenix, but after about 5 miles, Phoenix decided he didn't want to run anymore. So we had to stop and rest and then jogged slowly back to the parking lot. I guess it's okay that I cut the run short today b/c my weekly mileage is already quite a bit higher than last week...
6 miles

Saturday 7/21
AM - Baylands. Met up with Silver and Xavier at the Stanford Track. The plan for today was to do a 4 mile warm-up, 8-10 miles progressively faster, and then a 4 mile cool-down. We wanted to do the fast part in flats, but we ultimately decided to run the entire thing in trainers rather than carry our flats with us to the Baylands. We ended up doing a 4-mile w/u (~6:40 pace), 8-mile progressive (5:52, 6:13, 5:57, 5:53, 5:45, 5:31, 5:31, 5:29 = ~5:46 pace), and 6-mile c/d (~7:00 pace). It was really sunny and hot today, so I was super dehydrated by the end. My stomach was bothering me today for some reason, but fortunately I was still able to get through the run.
18 miles

Friday 7/20
AM - Baylands. I decided to drive over to the Baylands this morning and check for mile-markers since we are going to be taking splits tomorrow during our long run at the Baylands. Unfortunately, I was only able to find a 4-mile marker, a 5K marker, and a 3-mile marker. I have no idea where the other ones are. I was jogging pretty slowly today, because I want to make sure that I save some energy for the run tomorrow. I guess I'll just wear my Garmin GPS watch during the run tomorrow so that we know what our pace is.
11 miles

Thursday 7/19
AM - Gunn High School. Today I ran in a loop from my apartment to Mitchell Park to Gunn High School to Page Mill back to my apartment. I took it pretty easy today. In the afternoon, I went to SMI for another sports massage, and hopped in the cold whirlpool at SMI afterwards. I haven't used my own CWP since I moved out to Boston. I'm going to have to set that thing up again when I move in September, but I'll probably have to buy an ice-machine as well.
7 miles

Wednesday 7/18
AM - 2 x 2 mile at Stanford with 2 min rest: 10:01 (4:59, 5:02), 10:12 (4:58, 5:14). I did a workout today with Beast, Silver, and a new guy whose name I think is Brett, but now I can't remember for sure. I made the mistake of trying to stay with Beast during the workout, so instead of doing 3 x 2 mile, I did 2 x 2 mile (with a third two-mile that I'm not really counting at 11:15!). I wasn't very happy with today's workout, but I guess I just haven't gone that fast in a while. After the way I felt during today's workout, it's hard to believe that a little over a year ago, I was able to run 13.1 miles nonstop at 4:58 pace.
12 miles

Tuesday 7/17
AM - Baylands. This morning it was hard to get out of bed. I was tired and my legs were sore. But I finally got up and went on an easy run from my apartment through the Baylands and back. My left calf/achilles is still bothering me a bit...
12 miles

Monday 7/16
PM - Wunderlich County Park. I bought new shoes this afternoon and then drove over to Wunderlich Park. I was actually heading to Windy Hill, but I saw a big green space on my GPS next to Windy Hill that I hadn't been to before, so I decided to check it out. It was one of the more beautiful runs I've been on in a long time. Several of the trails were surrounded by giant redwood trees, and even though it was a sunny day, it was quite cool and shady on the trails. I ran for about 60 minutes. The first half was uphill, and my legs were feeling pretty weak during that part.

AM - Mitchell Park. I jogged by the house to drop off the steam shower specs, and then did a short run through Mitchell Park. I was going to go farther, but didn't have time this morning.
12 miles

Week 5: 7/9 - 7/15

Weekly Summary
I was pretty happy with this week. Got in my first track workout (8x1K), a nice 7-mile tempo run, and 17-mile long run down in San Diego. My weekly mileage is gradually increasing, and I don't think it will be hard to continue increasing it. I think it's time to get new shoes, and I also need to replace my orthotics...
Resting HR: 52
Total Weekly Mileage: 64

Sunday 7/15
PM - Arastradero Park. After getting back from LA, I took a short nap and then drove out to Arastradero to go on a short run. I ran to the edge of Foothill Park and back. Saw several deer and a couple of rabbits on the run. There always seems to be more wildlife in the early evenings.
7 miles

Saturday 7/14
AM - Lake Hodget to Raptor Ridge, San Diego. I googled "San Diego running trails" last night, and found this route, which turned out to be a really nice long run. Unfortunately, I didn't get started with the run until 8:30am, so it was already starting to get warm, and by the end of the run 2 hours later, the sun was especially intense. The first and last 7 miles of the run were pretty flat, but the middle 3 miles around Raptor Ridge were quite hilly. I had to stop at the gas station 14 miles into my run (and 3 miles away from the end) to get some water and gatorade -- I was super dehydrated. Sarah and I had lunch with Eric Leventhal in San Diego before driving up to LA for Sarah and Bill's wedding.
17 miles

Friday 7/13
AM - San Diego. I woke up this morning in San Diego (after flying down here with Sarah last night), and was still pretty sore from my massage yesterday. So I just jogged around for 12 minutes at a really slow and easy pace to losen up. I was planning to go on a real run in the afternoon, but I got tied up with work and didn't end up having time to get a run in before dinner. I guess it's okay b/c I'll be doing a long run tomorrow morning.
1 mile

Thursday 7/12
AM - 7-mile tempo @ Stanford (36:54 = 5:23 + 5:25 + 5:10* + 5:10* + 5:17* + 5:17* + 5:10 = avg. 5:16/mile, * = missed the mile marks for these 2-mile segments). Met up with Nielson, Donahue, Silver, and X at 6:15am. We did the usual 3-mile warm-up, and then ran a the 4-mile loop twice (first backwards, then forwards). The loop rises in the middle, which explains why the first and third two-mile segments were slower. The rest of them went 8 miles, but I stopped at 7 because I was starting to feel uncomfortable. For a cool-down, we did a couple of barefoot miles on the grass inside the track. I got a sports massage this afternoon from Greg at SMI. Beast recommended I go there. Greg's an interesting guy. He gave me a great massage, but it sure was painful!
12 miles

Wednesday 7/11
AM - Campus Loop. I met up with the guys at 6:15am this morning to do an easy 10 mile run around campus. I almost slept in through this one b/c I was a bit tired from yesterday's workout, but I'm glad I got the run over with in the morning. We kept the pace really easy today.
10 miles

Tuesday 7/10
PM - Mitchell Park. Kirsten came over for dinner and brought her dog Phoenix with her. So I took Phoenix for a short 4-mile run to Mitchell Park before dinner. It was the first time I had ever run with a dog, and it was actually a lot of fun. I think I'll try to take Phoenix on a longer trail run some time. This is the first time I've doubled since I started training again.

AM - 8 x 1000m @ Stanford with 2:00 rest: 2:59, 3:01, 2:59, 3:00, 2:59, 2:58, DNF, 2:58. I met up with the group this morning at 6:15. I wanted to do a tempo run, but everyone else was doing track stuff, so I joined them on the track (and I convinced the guys to do a tempo run on Thursday). We did 1K repeats on the track, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. On the 7th one, I only ran 400m and then stopped to take rest before the 8th one b/c I was hurting a bit. 3:00/K is about the same as 4:48/mile. Last year I remember doing a workout similar to this when I was in pretty good shape, and I hit the low 2:50s for most of them. But considering this is my first track workout in over a year, I am happy with it.
14 miles

Monday 7/9
PM - St. Michael Dr. I went on an easy run by the house this morning. I was a bit tired and sore from last week, so I took it easy today.
3 miles

Week 4: 7/2 - 7/8

Weekly Summary
I got a couple of good runs in this week, including a fairly quick 5-mile tempo, and a nice long run along Skyline Ridge. But I also felt pretty tired and fatigued this week. I have been ramping up pretty quickly, and overall I'm feeling pretty good, but I need to take care not to get myself injured.
Resting HR: 54
Total Weekly Mileage: 60

Sunday 7/8
PM - Sweeney Ridge. Met up with Johann this afternoon at Skyline College to go on a run along Sweeney Ridge in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was a beautiful run. There was a view of the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Bay on the other side. It was once again, another hilly run, but we took it pretty easy. The Skyline College track looks pretty nice. I think I might go back there at some point if I want to do a hill workout followed by a track workout.
9 miles

Saturday 7/7
AM - Skyline Ridge. I met up with Friedman, Silver, and Xavier this morning at 8am at the intersection of Page Mill (Alpine Rd.) and Skyline Blvd. It took about 20 minutes to drive up there from my apartment, and it was cold, foggy, and wet up there. At the beginning of the run, I was especially cold in short sleeves. I felt like we did the run at sub-7:00 effort, but it took us about 1:50 to go a little under 15 miles according to Friedman's watch. The run was really nice overall. It was one of the first long runs I've done out here on soft surfaces that was not too hilly. We hammered the uphills a bit, but the rest of the run was pretty relaxed. We ran by two foxes that were on the trail at one point, which was pretty cool.
15 miles

Friday 7/6
PM - Arastradero. Went back to Arastradero for an easy run today. I saw 4 wild turkey running next to the trail that I was on when I crossed over to Foothill Park. When I ran back, I saw them again, and two of them started flying away from me while the other two just kept running.
6 miles

Thursday 7/5
PM - Arastradero. I went to Arastradero Preserve with Taylor (Sarah's sister's boyfriend) today. I didn't have much time to run before dinner, but we ran around for about 35 minutes. It was a nice run, but I couldn't find Taylor at the end, so Sarah and Kimmie went to pick him up.
5 miles

Wednesday 7/4
AM - Baylands Preserve. I went on a very easy run through the Baylands today. I kept it pretty slow because I was kind of tired from the tempo run yesterday. This afternoon/evening, I went to Yvonne's wedding and saw a bunch of old friends from Hoover Elementary School.
10 miles

Tuesday 7/3
PM - 5-mile tempo @ Stanford (26:13 = 5:18 + 5:14 + 5:14 + 5:14 + 5:13). Met up with the guys at 6:15am, after going to bed around midnight once again. Did a 3-mile warm-up, and then did a tempo that was supposed to last somewhere between 4 and 8 miles. I wasn't sure how far I'd go. I felt pretty good through 4, so I hung on until 5.5, at which point I noticed I was out of my comfort zone, so I stopped and jogged back. I guess that my pace this week was quite a bit better than last week. Donahue and Silver did 6. Beast did 8.
11 miles

Monday 7/2
PM - Mitchell Park. Felt very tired and sluggish today. Just went on an easy jog through Mitchell Park. I stopped to do some pull-ups and dips at Hoover Park, but could barely manage to do one set of 5 of each. Just one more sign of how weak I was today.
4 miles