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