Ed Baker's Running Blog

My new running blog

2009-06-22T20:08:00.003-05:00

In case anyone stumbles upon this older running blog, I've actually started running again, but I'm now tweeting instead of blogging. 30 years old, 10 weeks back, and not injured yet! Anyway, if you're interested, you can see what I'm up to here: http://twitter.com/edruns

Week 14: 9/10 - 9/16

2007-09-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
TBD
Resting HR: TBD
Shoe mileage: Kinsei (50), Nimbus (15)
Total Weekly Mileage: 36...

Wednesday 9/12
AM - Workout @ Stanford. 3 x (2 mile, 2 min rest, 1 mile, 4 min rest): 9:57, 4:39, 9:38, 4:45, 9:45, 4:44. This workout went a lot better than I had expected. I was more tired than usual when my alarm went off at 5:45am this morning, and the last thing I felt like was getting out of bed and doing a workout. Even during the 3 mile warmup, I felt like crap. But as soon as the workout started, I suddenly felt great. James and I pretty much ran the entire workout together, and for the first time, I think I was actually able to help push the pace. Last week I wasn't able to break 10 minutes for any of the 2-mile repeats, but this week it was actually really easy to run sub-10:00 pace. Don't ask me why... I jogged 2 miles barefoot on the grass afterwards as a cool down. My calves started to get really sore towards the end of the workout, so I saw Greg in the afternoon, and he went to town on my calves, and then I hopped in a cold whirlpool for the second time today. My calves felt even more sore after the massage, so I decided not to double today.
15 miles

Tuesday 9/11
AM - Wunderlich Park. This morning I did an 11-mile loop in Wunderlich Park. I felt pretty good today, and kept the pace honest. I think it really helped to take a rest day yesterday.

PM - Atherton. I wanted to run on trails again this afternoon, but I didn't have time to drive anywhere, so I just did the route to Atherton and back. I felt pretty good on this run as well, and kept the pace moderate.
21 miles

Monday 9/10
Rest. I was pretty tired today from last week's mileage, so I decided to take the day off. I went to the 49er's game this evening, which was a lot of fun.
0 miles

Week 13: 9/3 - 9/9

2007-09-04T17:52:00.001-05:00

Weekly Summary
This was a pretty good week. My highest mileage week so far this year, and I also got in some faster workouts, including a threshold workout, a track workout, and a cross country race. My calves were pretty sore for most of the second half of this week because the track workout was the first time that I've been up on my toes for a while. I was pretty tired by the end of the week, so I think I need to make sure that I recover.
Resting HR: 48
Total Weekly Mileage: 110

Sunday 9/9
AM - Long run in San Francisco. I drove into San Francisco once again this morning, but this time I had to leave my apartment at 6:30am, which was not a fun thing to do on a Sunday morning. I met Friedman at Golden Gate Park, and we jogged around for 4 miles before meeting up with the other guys. We did a loop that went along the coast past the Golden Gate Bridge and out to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco before turning around. It was somewhere between 22 and 23 miles, but I'll call it 23 since I've been conservative on mileage other days this week. I felt pretty good when I started the run this morning, especially since I was wearing a new pair of Asics. But I started feeling pretty beat by the end of the run. Even though half of the run was on soft surfaces, the second half on pavement was kind of getting to me. This has been a fairly intense week, so I think I might take a rest day tomorrow to recover. When I got home today, I hopped in the cold whirlpool at 50 degrees for 15 minutes.
23 miles

Saturday 9/8
AM - Golden Gate Park Open Cross Country Race (4.04 miles). 20:49, 4th Place. Splits: 4:53, 5:09, 5:13, 5:33 (last mile was long). I drove up to San Francisco this morning to run in my first cross country race since Club Nationals two years ago. It was nice to actually race on soft surfaces for a change. I warmed up for 4 miles with the Adidas Transports guys. My calves were still sore this morning, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel during the race. The race went out a bit faster than I would have liked, but after the first mile, I got into a pretty good rhythm. Even though I was treating today like a hard tempo run, I don't think I could have gone much faster. I was with the leaders for the first 2 miles before settling into 4th place and staying there for the rest of the race. I did a 7 mile cooldown in the park afterwards.
15 miles

Friday 9/7
AM - Baylands. I'm running in a race tomorrow, so I didn't want to double today, but I decided to do an easy 12 miles in the morning. I kind of felt like crap today, and my calves were still sore from yesterday's workout. It was also really sunny by the time I got out the door to go on a run.
12 miles

Thursday 9/6
AM - Track workout @ Stanford. 2 x (1x800m, 2x400m, 4x200m) with 200m jog recovery: 2:25, 66, 65, 31, 32, 31, 32, 2:18, 67, 66, 31, 30, 30, 29. Beast, Donahue, and I were the only ones who showed up this morning. Today's workout was pretty light and easy, but it was nice to do something on the track and get the legs turning over faster than they're used to. Donahue is just starting up again, so he just did one of the sets with us. After Beast and I finished the second set, we did a ~10 mile cooldown, which made me feel better about doing such a short workout. My calves started hurting towards the end of the workout, and they're probably going to hurt for a few days since I'm not used to running up on my toes like I did today.

PM - Mitchell Park. I did an easy jog around Mitchell Park this evening. I think it helped me loosen up a bit after this morning's workout, but my calves are still sore.
20 miles

Wednesday 9/5
AM - Los Trancos Trail, Arastradero/Foothills Park. I did my regular 15-mile route today from Arastradero Park to Los Trancos loop in Foothills Park. My pace was a bit faster this time, and I reached the fire road at the top at exactly 60 minutes. It was hot today, but fortunately most of the run was in the shade, so I actually felt pretty good. I slept for 11 hours last night, which is the most I've slept in over a year.
15 miles

Tuesday 9/4
AM - Workout @ Stanford. 4 x 2 mile, 1 x 1 mile w/ 2 min rest. (10:00, 10:01, 10:07, 10:02, 4:48). We did 2-mile repeats this morning around the 2-mile loop that goes along El Camino. For some reason, I had trouble running faster than 5:00 pace today. Beast was about 5-10 seconds ahead of me on each of the repeats. I jogged for 2 miles barefoot on the grass as a cool-down.

PM - Mitchell Park. Went on another easy jog to Mitchell Park and back to loosen up after this mornings workout. I did two loops of the park, and felt pretty good.
20 miles

Monday 9/3
PM - Mitchell Park. I was tempted to take today off, as I have for the past few Mondays, but I got kind of restless in the evening, so I went on a short run after going to a block party on St. Michael Dr. I did 6 x 35 second strides on the way back to my apartment. I was surprised how good my legs felt today, considering what I put them through last week.
4 miles

Week 12: 8/27 - 9/2

2007-09-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
My highest mileage week yet, of this season. I felt pretty good about this week, considering that fact that I was still recovering from last Sunday's 50K race. With an 8-mile tempo run on Tuesday at 5:12 pace and two long runs (Friday and Sunday), I accomplished more than I would have expected this week. I should probably be careful about doing two long runs so close to one another, but it wasn't as bad as I though it would be.
Resting HR: 60
Total Weekly Mileage: 110

Sunday 9/2
AM - Long run @ Walnut Creek. This morning, I got up early and drove over to Walnut Creek, which is near Berkeley, to meet up with Friedman and Tommy Greenless. We did two 10-mile loops from his place. The first one was pretty hilly on dirt trails, and the second one was very flat along a bike path. We were probably going around 7:00 pace for the first loop and closer to 6:10-6:20 pace for the second loop. It was nice to get a second long run in this week. I hadn't met Tommy before, but he seemed pretty cool. Afterwards, we hopped in his pool, and then went to a diner for brunch. It was really hot today, so it's a good thing there were a couple of places to stop for water. I also tried gu for the first time today, just so that my stomach can start getting used to it.
21 miles

Saturday 9/1
AM - Wunderlich Park. This morning, I met Johann at Wunderlich Park. This is the first time I have actually gone there on a weekend, and the parking lot was really crowded (unlike the other times I have been and there have only been 1-2 cars in the parking lot). Despite the crowded parking lot, we didn't see many people on the trails. We did an 11-mile loop at a pretty easy pace. We picked up the pace a bit on the way down, and since I wasn't wearing my contacts, I tripped on a root and busted up my knee once again. Fortunately, I was still able to run on it, but I jogged very slowly until I got back to the car. It seems like every time I finally heal from a past fall, I end up falling again. :( Johann and I got lunch with my dad at a Vietnamese soup place in Mountain View afterwards.

PM - Arastradero. This afternoon, I was pretty tired, but I wanted to get my mileage up this week, so I went over to Arastradero and did the 7-mile loop at an easy pace. I started out really slow, but felt pretty good by the end. I saw a few deer again today.
18 miles

Friday 8/31
AM - Long run @ Portola Valley. I met up with Nielson, McGlynn, Silver, and Xavier for a long run this morning at 6am. Unfortunately, it was not that cool this morning, and by the end of the run, it was actually really hot. We did an 18-mile loop through Portola Valley and then did the last 4 miles around Campus Loop in our flats. The first 18 miles took about 2 hours (~6:40 avg. pace with the first half ~7:00 and the second half gradually getting down to ~5:40). For the 4 miles at the end, I think my splits were 5:20, 5:10, 4:46, 5:30 (avg. 5:12/mile). I was with Nielson for the first 3, and then slowed down for the last mile. We then jogged 2 miles barefoot on the grass as a cool down. I felt pretty good with the run today. Unfortunately, most of the run was on hard surfaces, but I guess I have to get used to that for the marathon. One funny thing that happened during the run today was that when we stopped at a water fountain in Portola Valley, a couple of kittens came out of the bushes and ran up to us. We looked into the bushes, and there were several more. They were the friendliest little kittens I've ever seen, and one of them even came running after us for about 100 yards as we ran away until it couldn't keep up anymore. I went back later that afternoon with Sarah to look for them, but they were no longer anywhere to be seen.
24 miles

Thursday 8/30
AM - Mitchell Park. I went on a very easy run through Mitchell Park this morning. I felt pretty worn out. I think I'm still recovering from Sunday's 50K race, and I think yesterday's sports massage made my legs feel even more dead this morning. I did a few 30 second strides on the way home. I was planning to double today, but I ended up taking a nap in the afternoon instead of going on another run.
4 miles

Wednesday 8/29
AM - Baylands. This morning when I first woke up, my legs were really sore, so went back to sleep and when I woke up again, they were feeling much better. I went on an easy 10 mile run through the Baylands. I felt pretty good this morning, and it felt really easy to run at (what I think was) a moderate pace.

PM - Atherton. This afternoon, I went on a run along the railroad track into Atherton. I had to go on the run while it was still hot outside because I had a sports massage with Greg scheduled for 6:15pm. I felt pretty awful during this run, probably because of what I had eaten for lunch (a greasy schwarma wrap and a falafel wrap) just a few hours earlier. I felt much better after the sports massage.
20 miles

Tuesday 8/28
AM - 8 mile tempo run @ Stanford. 41:42 (avg. 5:12/mile pace). Mile splits: 5:17 + 5:16 + 5:16 + 5:14 + 5:21 + 5:17 + 4:55 + 5:05. I met up with the guys at 6:15am this morning and did the 3-mile warmup with them. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to do any of the workout or not, but after the warmup, I felt pretty good. So I decided to start the tempo run with them and see how I felt. I managed to do Campus Loop twice and make it 8 miles. JT went 12 and Beast went 14 today. I think it was a good thing I stopped at 8, even though I probably could have done a few more. I did 3 barefoot miles on the grass afterwards and stopped at Jamba Juice on the way home.

PM - Arastradero. I felt tired but not too sore in the afternoon, so I decided to double. I drove over to Arastradero in the early evening and did the 7-mile loop at a pretty easy pace. I felt pretty good today, and saw a couple of deer during the run.
21 miles

Monday 8/27
PM - Hoover Park. I almost took today completely off since I was pretty sore from yesterday's 50K race, but then I decided to do a very short jog to loosen up before dinner. I only gave myself 15 minutes before I had to go to dinner, so I only had time to do 2 miles, but I actually felt better than I thought I would. The guys are working out tomorrow morning, so I think I'll show up and maybe even try to do part of the workout with them.
2 miles

Week 11: 8/20 - 8/26

2007-08-26T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
This was supposed to be a "recovery week" for me, but I still ended up finally breaking 100 miles, thanks to the 31 mile "long run" on Sunday. Other than the ultramarathon, the week was pretty boring -- a lot of slow mileage and one easy speed workout on the track that made my calves hurt for a few days. As long as I am able to recover quickly, I think the ultramarathon will make me stronger. I'm a little bit worried that my resting HR has been increasing over the past two weeks, but I don't think it's at a level yet where I need to start worrying about over-training.
Resting HR: 66
Total Weekly Mileage: 101

Sunday 8/26
AM - Golden Gate Headlands: USATF National 50K Trail Championship. 4:04:43, 4th place. Here is a map of the 31-mile course. Here is the brutal elevation. And here are the results on Scott Dunlap's Blog.

This race killed me, but not until the last 3 miles. The race started at 7am, so I woke up around 4:30am and drove up to San Francisco. The temperature was very cool, and I felt pretty good at the start. After about 1 mile, three of us had already gapped most of the other people. One of the guys fell off after about 10 miles, and I stayed right behind Bryan Dayton (the guy from Colorado who won the race last year) until about mile 22, at which point I decided to pass him and pick up the pace (Bryan had almost lost me several times during some of the more technical downhill terrain, so I figured I'd pick up the pace during the flatter stuff). I stayed in first place for the next 6 miles and was able to gap him by a couple of minutes, I think, after running a few miles at ~5:15 pace. However, at around mile 28, during the last killer hill, I blew up (Bryan had told me during the race that the last part was especially steep, and he wasn't joking!). I started to see stars and my arms started to tingle. I was tempted to just lie down on the ground and rest. It's weird, I had never felt like this before. So I walked most of the rest of the way to the finish, during which Brian passed me as well as two other guys at the very end. I lost all sense of competition during this time, and just wanted to get to the finish line alive. The two guys passed me at the end with less than a mile to go, but I didn't even feel like trying to beat them.

I think the main problem was that I didn't stay hydrated during the race. The other guys all ran with their own water bottles, which seemed kind of silly to me at first, but towards the end of the race, I sure was wishing I had had my own water bottle (I should have taken the advice that I got from Scott Dunlap). The aid stations were about 5 miles apart, which seemed close at the beginning, but far at the end. I didn't have any gu during the race b/c I was afraid it would upset my stomach, but I tried eating half a balance bar at one point, which was probably a bad idea. Since I didn't have any liquids to wash it down, I wasn't able to swallow the balance bar, and it just stayed dry in my mouth and made it more difficult to breathe.

Anyway, I now have more respect for these races, and next time I do one, I'll be more careful, and stay more hydrated. I was a bit disappointed with the way the race ended today, but at least it was a good workout, if nothing else. I drove back to Palo Alto after the race, sat in the cold whirlpool at 46 degrees for 15 minutes, and then went to have dim sum with Sarah at Ming's. For some reason, I tend to crave greasy Chinese food after long races.
31 miles

Saturday 8/25
AM - Menlo Park. I went on an easy run with the Palo Alto High School team today. It was fun to meet them, and reminded me of what running was like back when I was in high school. I think I had more fun running in high school than just about anywhere else.
5 miles

Friday 8/24
AM - Atherton. I haven't run this route in a while. I ran along the train tracks and then along Middlefield into Atherton and back. When I got back, I got my cold whirlpool out of the closet, which I actually haven't used since I've moved out to California. I filled it with water and put about 30 pounds of ice in it to get the temperature down to 48 degrees. Then I sat in it for 15 minutes, which felt cold, but good. I'm not sure if I'll do an afternoon run today. I might just do an easy run tomorrow before the 50K on Sunday.
10 miles

Thursday 8/23
AM - Windy Hill. This morning I drove over to Windy Hill and ran a 10-mile loop up Hamms Gulch trail and back down Razorback Ridge trail. It was a really nice run, and didn't seem as steep as I had remembered it. There was lots of wildlife out this morning. I saw several rabbits and I also saw what I think was a fox in the trail right ahead of me in the middle of the run. The fox made eye contact with me and then started running away from me down the trail. I took it pretty easy this morning.

PM - Baylands. This evening, I jogged from my apartment to the Baylands and back. It was a pretty slow and boring run. The Baylands were especially windy today, so when I turned around, it was not very pleasant. I got a sports massage earlier today, and as a result my legs kind of feel like a wreck now. I'm thinking of running in the Golden Gate Headlands 50K trail race on Sunday morning. The course elevation looks pretty intense!
20 miles

Wednesday 8/22
AM - Track workout @ Stanford. 10 x 400m with 200m jog (65, 67, 63, 66, 65, 65, 66, 65, 66, 64). Met up with the guys at 6:15am this morning. Since this week is officially a "recovery week", we just did an easy 10x400m workout on the track with the usual 3 mile warm-up, and a 2-mile cool-down barefoot on the grass. I haven't run up on my toes like this in a while. At the time, it felt fairly easy, and I was even tempted to do more than 10, but afterwards, my arches were pretty sore from being on my toes.

PM - Arastradero. I got in an 80 minute run in Arastradero today. I like running there in the late afternoon because that's when I tend to see the most wildlife. Today I saw a few deer. I felt pretty sluggish at the beginning of the run, but by the end of the run, I felt much better. However, I once again kind of felt like I was going to puke during this run. I feel like I might be missing something in my diet right now, but I'm not sure what...
20 miles

Tuesday 8/21
AM - Wunderlich Park. I went on a very slow run in Wunderlich Park today. For some reason, I was pretty tired and I kind of felt like I was going to puke during the run, even though I was going really slow. I ran towards Huddart Park, but didn't make it all the way. This was the second run I've done in my new orthotics, and I think they still need to get worn in.
15 miles

Monday 8/20
Another day of rest. I needed it today. I was hung-over from Sarah's party last night, and then I flew back to California from Boston in the afternoon.
0 miles

Week 10: 8/13 - 8/19

2007-08-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
I'm pretty happy with this week. This week made me realize I've gotten into decent shape. The 12-mile tempo at 5:15 pace, the 5K race at 4:55 pace, and the 23-mile long run at 6:30 pace all in a week where I ran 99 miles in 6 days makes me feel really good about my progress so far. I hope that I can keep it up. My hip was also feeling better this week. I still notice it a bit, but it's not nearly as bad. I think that taking a rest day on Monday helped quite a bit.
Resting HR: 56
Total Weekly Mileage: 99

Sunday 8/19
PM - Boston Marathon course long run. Sarah and I drove down to Boston today so that we could celebrate her birthday with some friends on the East Coast. She dropped me off at mile 3 of the Boston Marathon course (in Hopkington/Framingham), and I ran all the way back to Boston along the marathon course. I averaged a little bit below 6:30 pace for the run (slowest mile was about 6:50 and fastest was about 6:04). My stomach was kind of bothering me in the morning, so I was afraid that it would get upset during the run, but it was actually not that bad. I was planning to run 24 miles today (to make it a 100-mile week) and end at the Ritz by the Boston Common, where we were staying tonight, but instead I stopped a mile early in front of the old Bain Capital offices to meet Sarah.
23 miles

Saturday 8/18
AM - Breakaway 5K Road Race, Old Orchard, ME. 1st place, 15:15 (4:56 + 4:57 + 4:53 + 29). Sarah's dad and brother and I got up at 4:30am this morning to drive up to Maine for this race. 4:30am EST is 1:30am PST for me, so my internal clock must have been really confused, especially after going to bed the day before at 5am. Anyway, when we got there, I warmed up for 3 miles, ran the race, and then did a 10-mile run as a cool down. Some people started the race out fast, so I was probably in 10th place for the first 800m. But after the first mile, I was in first place, and I think I won by 30 seconds or so. I though I broke the course record when I crossed the finish line (which would have earned me $100), but they claimed I tied it, and in the official results, it looked like I missed it by 1 second. So I guess I'm not getting any prize money other than $75 for winning the race. But it was good to run something a bit faster than what I'm used to. I think I probably could have gone faster b/c I wasn't that tired at the end, but I'm just not used to running that fast, I guess.
16 miles

Friday 8/17
AM - Brookline, NH. Sarah and I flew into New Hampshire last night. Our plane was delayed in Chicago for about 4 hours, so we didn't get to Sarah's house until about 5am. I woke up at 1pm and went on a very, very easy 12 mile run. I ran in my new orthotics for the first time today. Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up at 4:30am to drive to Maine and run in the Breakaway 5K. I don't think I'm in shape to run a fast 5K right now, but at least it should be a good workout...
12 miles

Thursday 8/16
AM - Los Trancos Loop, Foothills Park. I got up this morning and did an MLR from Arastradero Park to Foothills Park. I actually felt pretty good this morning, considering yesterday's workout. I finished the run in about 1:49, which is a few minutes slower than I normally run that loop. But I still think I must have been averaging somewhere around 7:00 pace. I got back home with about 30 minutes to pack before heading to the airport with Sarah to fly to New Hampshire. We're celebrating her birthday this weekend in NH/ME. I think I might run in a 5K race in Maine on Saturday morning.
15 miles

Wednesday 8/13
AM - 12-mile Tempo Run @ Stanford. 62:59 (5:15/mile pace). Splits: 5:22*, 5:20*, 5:15, 5:18, 5:18, 5:25, 5:05*, 5:06*, 5:14*, 5:10*, 5:07, 5:07. (* = estimate because I didn't get the exact mile splits). So today's tempo run went much better than I was expecting it to. I was super tired when my alarm went off at 5:45am this morning, after having a late dinner with Sarah and my mom the night before. In fact, I almost skipped practice this morning because I was feeling so crappy. I did a slow 3-mile warmup, and then had to stop in the bathroom twice before the tempo run, probably because of the dinner I had last night at Buca di Beppo. I did a few strides before we started, and still felt crappy -- my left hip and left knee were bothering me (they were especially sore after getting beaten up in a sports massage from Greg yesterday). So I stayed in the back of the pack for the first 4 miles of the run, and surprisingly started to feel much better. I ran the next 4 miles next to Beast, and then the last 4 miles about 10 seconds behind Beast. It's kind of funny to think that if I had done 1.1 miles more this morning at the same pace, I would have effectively run a half-marathon in under 69 minutes, which is over 2 minutes faster than I ran the SF Half Marathon a few weeks ago. Afterwards, Beast and I did 2 miles barefoot on the grass, and then I got a big smoothie from Jamba Juice on my way home.

PM - Aquajogging @ Stanford Pool. I went in the pool for 30 minutes this evening, and it felt good. I haven't acqujogged since I started running again a couple of months ago. After this morning's workout, I didn't want to put my legs through any more pounding, but I think that getting in the pool can actually help speed my recovery. I used to count cross-training miles in my log, but this time around, I think I'll only count running miles.
17 miles

Tuesday 8/14
AM - Baylands. I ran over to the Baylands from my house today, and decided to turn it into a 12 mile run. I probably averaged 6:45 pace for most of the run (at least that's around what the mile splits were at the Baylands). It was sunny and windy at the Baylands today, but it's almost always sunny and windy there.

PM - Mitchell Park. I did an easy 4 miles this evening to loosen up after my afternoon sports massage from Greg. I felt pretty sluggish and decided not to do any strides today since my legs felt tired and I have a workout in the morning.
16 miles

Monday 8/13
Rest. I decided to take today off. This is the first day I've taken off in a while, but I think my body needed it because it's been feeling a bit broken recently (mainly my left hip and right toe).
0 miles

Week 9: 8/6 - 8/12

2007-08-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
This was a good, tough week. I still didn't break 100 miles, but at least I got in 2 good workouts and a good long run. The workout on Friday morning was especially tough, and doing a long run 2 days later was not easy. My left hip and right toe have been bothering me the entire week. They aren't getting worse, but they're also not getting better. I'm debating whether or not I should take it easy for a few days until everything heals, but I don't want to take off too much time. I should probably get another sports massage soon.
Resting HR: 46
Total Weekly Mileage: 98

Sunday 8/12
AM - Russian Ridge. Beast decided he wanted to see what all of this talk about Russian Ridge was all about, so we decided to meet there this morning. I drove up with Friedman, and we met Beast and Silver. We decided to go out for 11 miles and then turn around, which is farther than any of the other times we have run out here. It was a beautiful day, and once again, a beautiful run. Silver asked a biker for some water around mile 11, and fortunately we were all able to take a few sips before turning around. Friedman said he'd send a link to the route of this run from his GPS watch, so when I get it, I'll post a link here. Apparently the ridge trail that we were on goes all the way to Santa Cruz. It would be cool to run all the way over there sometime. Beast and I picked up the pace a bit during the second half of the run. I was pretty tired by the end, but felt good about the run. My left hip and right toe are still bothering me a bit, but they actually felt better towards the end of the run than they did at the beginning.
22 miles

Saturday 8/11
PM - Gunn High School. I was over at the house doing wiring again today, and didn't get out on a run until the evening. I had some trouble running today after yesterday's workout. I must have been going close to 8:00/mile pace. Given that I'm running long tomorrow, I wanted to make today an easy day anyway.
7 miles

Friday 8/10
AM - Workout @ Stanford. 2 x 2 mile (10:01, 10:01), 10 miles (59:42), 2 x 1 mile (4:48, 5:11). 3 mile w/u, 2 mile c/d. Man this was one long workout! I was afraid of this workout before it started. I had never done one of these before, and it was kind of weird. The 2-mile repeats felt steady, and I was holding myself back a bit because I knew I had a lot more ahead of me. Beast, Silver, and I kept the pace pretty honest during the 10-miler. We started out at 6:30's probably and finished closer to 5:30's, I think. At times during the 10-mile, I started to feel light-headed. Then, the 2x1 mile at the end was the weirdest part. James and I started the first one, and since I felt kind of light-headed, I did the first mile in 4:48, and it felt pretty easy. But then I fell back an did the second one in 5:11.
21 miles

Thursday 8/9
PM - Mitchell Park. I went over to the house this morning to do low-voltage wiring, so I didn't have time to get a run in until the evening. So I did an easy 4-miler before dinner. I've got a big workout tomorrow, so I wanted to take it easy.
4 miles

Wednesday 8/8
AM - MLR @ Baylands. This morning, I ran over to the Baylands. It was sunny and windy. As I ran by the mile markers, I was going about 6:45 pace or so. Anyway, it was good to get a longer run in today.
16 miles

Tuesday 8/7
AM - Workout @ The Dish. 4 x Hilly Mile (5:22, 5:18, 5:20, 5:19) with 2 min rest. 2 mile w/u, 5 mile c/d. We went over to the Dish today for a workout. James had mapped out a one-mile route. It was pretty hilly, and the downhills were actually the worst. Some of the guys did 6 repeats, but I stopped after 4 because I was afraid that I was going to mess myself up pounding those downhills. Beast was several seconds ahead of me on each of them.
PM - Arastradero.
18 miles

Monday 8/6
AM - Belmont, MA. I gave Friedman a call last night since I knew he was on the East Coast. So we went on a nice 10-mile run in the morning before my appointment with the podiatrist. I saw Dr. Cullen, and he made me a new pair of orthotics that he is going to mail to me.
10 miles

Week 8: 7/30 - 8/5

2007-08-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
Not a bad week. I was kind of hoping to break 100 miles, but I guess 94 is close enough. My legs were pretty tired this week -- probably a combination of recovering from the half marathon and doing lots of hiking and hill runs in the Catskills. I only got one workout in this week (a fartlek of 20 x 1/1), but I was pretty happy with it. The long run at Walden didn't feel that great, but at least I also got a 15-mile MLR on Wednesday.
Resting HR: 50
Total Weekly Mileage: 94

Sunday 8/5
PM - Walden Pond. We drove back to Boston from the Catskills this morning. On the way back, we stopped at Walden Pond, and I went on my long-run for the week. Johann ran the first hour with me, and then I did the rest on my own. It was nice to be back at Walden Pond after running on the West Coast for the past year. I should have called some of my running buddies from the B.A.A. to see if they would have been up for joining me, but they probably got their longs runs over with early in the day anyway. I had to take a couple of bathroom breaks on the run today. Must have eaten something weird. Maybe is was the mushrooms that Adam picked while we were hiking in the Catskills and put in our tomato sauce last night. I had been hoping to go 20+ miles today, but after 19 miles, I was ready to stop.
19 miles

Saturday 8/4
AM - Adam's House, Catskills, NY. I woke up this morning kind of sore and tired from yesterday's runs, so I decided to go on a short run in the morning to loosen up. I started off very slow and finished not quite as slow, but still pretty slow. My legs are getting tired from all of the miles that I've been putting them through recently.

PM - Minnewaska State Park. Adam, Johann, Lucas and I drove out to Lake Minnewaska today. It was almost an hour drive from Adam's house. We decided to jog from the parking lot to Lake Awosting, go for a swim, and then jog back to the car. It was a beautiful day, the views at the lake were amazing, and the water was perfectly refreshing. We swam around for about 20 minutes before jogging back. The lake was only three miles away from the parking lot, but Johann and I took a 5-mile route back, so we got in a total of 8 miles (the last 3 miles of which were below 6 minute pace).
13 miles

Friday 8/3
AM - Fartlek @ Catskills. This morning, I decided to do a Fartlek workout since I haven't done a workout all week. I did the same 12 mile route as last night, but this time I could actually see where I was going, which was nice. I jogged for 3 miles, did 20 x (1 min hard, 1 min easy), and then jogged 3 miles back to the house. It was really, really hot today, and I was super dehydrated by the end of the run. But overall, it was a good workout.

PM - Adam's House, Catskills, NY. We went on a pretty intense bushwhacking-style hike today, right after I got back from my morning workout. I think we were hiking for at least 4 hours on some fairly steep terrain through the woods. By the time we got back, it was starting to get dark and I was tired and hungry. But Johann and I talked each other into going on a run. So we went on a 7 mile run that started off really easy, and finished at a moderate pace. My legs were tired, but I'm glad that I got the extra mileage in. I'd like to get close to 100 miles this week, if possible.
19 miles

Thursday 8/2
AM - Catskills. Last night, I took the red-eye from San Jose to Boston. I didn't end up sleeping at all on the plane, so when I arrived in Boston at 6am, I went over to Lucas's place to crash for a few hours before Lucas, Adam, Johann and I all drove up to Adam's house in the Catskills. It was about a 4 hour drive to get there. When we arrived, we went on a short hike, and then I went on a run while they started preparing dinner. It was getting dark by the time I started my run, and by the end, it was pitch black. A few times I accidentally ran off the road into the woods because I couldn't even see where the road was. I'm surprised I actually found my way back to the house.
12 miles

Wednesday 8/1
AM - Arastradero to Los Trancos. This morning, I went over to Arastradero Park and went on a 15 mile run around the Los Trancos trail in Foothill Park. I felt pretty good on the run today, and it went by pretty quickly. Toward the end as I was going downhill, I tripped on a rock and cut myself up pretty badly. But fortunately the injury seemed to be limited to surface cuts.
15 miles

Tuesday 7/31
AM - Mitchell Park. I did Mitchell Park again this morning, but this time I did two loops around the park instead of one to add on an extra mile. It was, once again, a really short run. My legs were still tired today. After the morning run, I got a sports massage from Greg, and then took the rest of the day off.
5 miles

Monday 7/30
AM - Mitchell Park. This morning, I did a very slow run around Mitchell Park. My legs were feeling pretty tired after yesterday's race.

PM - Gunn High School. In the afternoon, I did the Gunn High School loop at an easy pace. Felt better than in the morning, but still not great.
11 miles

Week 7: 7/23 - 7/29

2007-07-30T16:14:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-09T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

2007-07-02T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

Week 3: 6/25 - 7/1

2007-06-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
Today was a pretty good week for me, considering it's only my third week back. I am already feeling stronger, even though I still have a lot of training ahead of me. I felt tired a lot this week, and ended up sleeping a lot more than usual as a result. I probably pushed myself a bit more than I should have with the tempo, a 13-miler and a 15-miler all in a 4-day period, but so far my body seems to be handling it okay. The Olympic Trials is about 4 months away. I should come up with my training plan soon...
Resting HR: 56
Total Weekly Mileage: 59

Sunday 7/1
PM - Rancho San Antonio. Went on a pretty easy 8-mile run with Friedman and Johann today. We wanted to keep it somewhat flat, but we took a wrong turn and ended up climbing 600-800 feet. I felt pretty good today, but wanted to keep things slow.
8 miles

Saturday 6/30
AM - Arastradero to Los Trancos. I met up with a few of the other guys this morning at 8am at the Arastradero parking lot. Donahue had to turn around early b/c of a wedding he was going to, but Scott, Xavier, and I ran the entire loop at a moderately easy pace. Scott and I picked it up a bit for the last mile or so. We got back at about 1:46, so I'll call it 15.
15 miles

Friday 6/29
PM - St. Michael. I didn't have much time to run today, and I wanted to take it easy anyway. So I did an easy run to the house and back before leaving for a black tie event in the city.
3 miles

Thursday 6/28
PM - Windy Hill. Silver called me as he was coming home from work today, so we decided to run together in the evening. We did a loop around Windy Hill, which we thought would end up being about 70 minutes, but we didn't finish the run until 1:38. It's a pretty steep climb on the way up, and we were going at a moderate pace. The view from the top was spectacular. On the way down, I tripped and fell and busted up my knee, but fortunately I didn't seem to break anything other than my skin. Silver and I picked it up for the last mile or so, and sprinted to the finish. :-)
13 miles

Wednesday 6/27
AM - 4-mile tempo run @ Stanford (21:45 = 5:40 + 5:32 + 5:29 + 5:04). Another 6:15am workout at Stanford. I didn't get to bed last night until after midnight, so I was afraid I'd be tired today. But I ended up having a pretty good workout. Warmed up with the guys, and then did the 4-mile tempo with McGlynn (the rest of the guys did a track workout for some reason). I felt pretty good today about the progress I've made in two weeks. 2 weeks ago, I wasn't able to run 2 miles in 11 minutes, and today I did 4 miles in less than 22 minutes. I hope I can keep it up going forward...
10 miles

Tuesday 6/26
AM - St. Michael Dr. I was tired today and didn't have much time, so I just jogged over to check out the renovations on the house and back. I also did a couple sets of pull-ups and dips at Hoover Park.
3 miles

Monday 6/25
AM - Arastradero Preserve. I decided to explore a bit more around Arastradero today, even though it's pretty small. I usually just run through to Foothill Park, but this time I decided to stay in Arastradero. It was hot today, and I was keeping the pace pretty easy.
7 miles

Week 2: 6/18 - 6/24

2007-06-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
Another week easing back into things, but I am already feeling stronger this week. It was nice to get a tiny bit of speedwork in, even though it was just 2 mile repeats. It was also nice to go on a somewhat long run (time-wise), even though distance-wise it was not even that long.
Resting HR: Forgot to measure
Total Weekly Mileage: 44

Sunday 6/24
AM - El Corte de Madera. Johann and I went on a run today at El Corte de Madera OSP. We were planning to make the run shorter than last week (which was about 90 minutes), but because we were feeling good and also accidentally took a wrong turn, the run turned into almost 2 hours. I'll call it 12 miles because it was pretty hilly terrain, and we weren't going that fast. This was a beautiful place to run. I definitely want to go back here, but next time I'll have to make sure not to get lost...
12 miles

Saturday 6/23
AM - Mitchell Park. Another slow, short, and easy run today.
4 miles

Friday 6/22
PM - Monte Bello Open Space Preserve. This afternoon, I drove up Page Mill Road until I got to somewhere between Los Trancos OSP and Monte Bello OSP. I parked and ran down some trails including Stevens Creek Nature Trail and Canyon Trail. Once again, this run was pretty hilly (I don't know if any places have _flat_ trails), and I made the mistake of starting high so that I had to run uphill on the way back. I guess I felt pretty good today, but as usual, kept things slow.
7 miles

Thursday 6/21
AM - Mitchell Park. Went on another easy run through Mitchell Park this morning. Once again feeling slow.
4 miles

Wednesday 6/20
AM - 2 x 1 mile at Stanford (4:57, 5:09). This is the first time since November that I joined the group of guys I was training with at Stanford for a lovely 6:15am workout. Today it was actually just Beast, McGlynn, and myself. Beast said he was going to do 4 x mile at about 5:10 pace, so I figured I could try to run with him for 2 of them. As you can see from my splits above, the first one was a bit faster than that. This is the fastest my legs have turned in a while, but I actually felt pretty good today.
8 miles

Tuesday 6/19
AM - Mitchell Park. Went on an easy run through Mitchell Park today. Felt kind of sluggish today, so I took it easy.
4 miles

Monday 6/18
AM - Rancho San Antonio. This morning, I rode my bike over to the house that my parents are renovating, then rode it over to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, went on a short run, and then rode my bike back home. (The other day, I bought several topographical maps of the Bay Area, and I've decided to start exploring new trails). Anyway, Rancho San Antonio was beautiful with a spectacular view at the top, but the incline was about as steep as when I ran up that mountain in Bariloche, Argentina last spring. I was also getting a bit nervous after seeing all of the mountain lion warning signs. In addition to seeing several deer, I saw a guy playing the banjo in a little shack on the side of the trail. He was the only person I saw during the entire run...
5 miles

Week 1: 6/11 - 6/17 (My first week back!)

2007-06-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
My first week back, and I went 47 miles. So I feel pretty good about the mileage that I put in this week, even though it was all really, really slow. The 2-mile "tempo" run was a wake-up call for me. I have my work cut out for me...
Resting HR: Forgot to measure
Total Weekly Mileage: 47

Sunday 6/17
AM - Baylands. Ran from apartment to Baylands and back. Sarah met up with me on her bike right before I turned around. Overall, the run was pretty slow, but I picked it up a bit for 2 miles in the middle. It was hot today, and I felt pretty dehydrated by the end.
9 miles

Saturday 6/16
AM - Los Trancos loop @ Foothills Park. Johann and I went on a run today around Foothills Park. It was a really nice hilly trail run. We took it pretty easy, and ended up running a total of 90 minutes. It was really hot today.
11 miles

Friday 6/15
AM - Stanford campus loop. I jogged over to Stanford today and decided to try to do a 2-mile "tempo run". Back when I used to be in shape, I used to be able to run an 8-mile tempo at 5:15 pace without a problem, but today, I was struggling to run 2 miles at 5:30 pace...
7 miles

Thursday 6/14
AM - DNR. Took the day off.
0 miles

Wednesday 6/13
PM - Mitchell Park. I was pretty tired today, so I just went on an easy 40 minute jog to Mitchell Park and back.
5 miles

Tuesday 6/12
PM - Arastradero Preserve. Another slow run today. Went from Arastradero over to Foothills Park, where I ran around some trails in the north part of the park before turning around and going back. I saw about 6 deer today during the run, which was pretty cool.
10 miles

Monday 6/11
AM - Bow Lake, New Hampshire. Spent the weekend in New Hampshire for my younger brother's wedding. It was a blast. The wedding was in Portsmouth, but we spent the night at the Bow Lake Inn after having lobsters at Lindsey's house the night before. In the morning, I decided to go on a short run before heading to the airport. There was pine pollen everywhere. I jogged (very slowly) for about 40 minutes. Man, it's going to take me a while to get back into shape...
5 miles

Week 5: 8/7/06 - 8/13/06

2006-08-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
TBD.
Resting HR: 52
Total Weekly Mileage: 28

Saturday 8/12
AM - Vevey. This morning I woke up and did a very easy 4 mile run in Vevey from the Scheling's house. I ran uphill for 2 miles and then turned around and came back downhill (it took me twice as long to go uphill as it did to turn around and go downhill). My hip was feeling okay this morning, but it's kind of hard to tell whether or not it's better because I was taking it so easy.
PM - Headed over to Aubonne, where I will be staying for the next few days. Just two days until Sarah gets here!
4 miles

Friday 8/11
AM - Day off. After yesterday's problems, I decided to take the day off today. So I slept in and had an "American breakfast" (scrambled eggs, toast, and cereal) at the Metropole hotel.
PM - Spent the afternoon walking around Bern. I got a Thai massage, which seemed to help my left glute a bit.
0 miles

Thursday 8/10
AM - I left Lugano this morning and headed to Luzern. On the way to Luzern, I saw a picturesque village in in the hills, so I decided to pull of the highway and go on a short run. I jogged for about 30 minutes, and in the middle of the run it started pouring. But I didn't really mind the rain. It actually felt kind of nice.
PM - After stopping in Luzern for lunch, I continued on to Interlaken. After checking into the Metropole hotel, I went out for a run. I had heard that Interlaken was a great place to run, so I was pretty excited about it, but 1 mile into the run, my left glute really cramped up and I had to stop and walk back. A pain was shooting down my leg and it wouldn't go away. I can't believe that I'm injured once again. I'm going to have to take it really easy until I get better (hopefully soon!).
4 + 1 = 5 miles

Wednesday 8/9
AM - This morning, I went on an easy run around the lakes before leaving St. Moritz. I then caught the 12:00 postal bus to Lugano, which was a nice ride through the mountains in Italy and then back into Switzerland. Pretty much the entire 4 hour drive was downhill (we dropped from 1800 meters to just a couple hundred meters above sea level, and my water bottle looked like it had just been on an airplane when we got down there).
PM - When I got to Lugano, I checked into the Best Western and then went on an easy run along the lake and then up one of the mountains. I had heard that there were great trails to run on in Ticino, but I couldn't find any in Lugano. It was still a nice run, but it was a bit frustrating not to know where the trails were.
4 + 8 = 12 miles

Tuesday 8/8
AM - Left glute was still bothering me, so took the day off today.
0 miles

Monday 8/7
AM - Went on an easy 7 mile run this morning. Was going to go 10, but by 3-4 miles into the run, my left glute was just getting tighter and hurting more, so I decided to turn around early and call it a day.
7 miles

Week 4: 7/31/06 - 8/6/06

2006-08-01T07:59:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
This was my first week in Switzerland, and it's great to be here. I was having a good week until my left glute started hurting on Friday. I then had to take Saturday off and go easy on Sunday. Despite that, I still got in 78 miles this week, which is quite a step up from the 50 that I ran last week (perhaps that's why my glute is hurting me right now). St. Moritz is a great place to train. There are lots of other athletes out here who come to train in the high altitude. I'm enjoying it so far, but I wish I had more friends out here -- it gets a bit lonely at times. I made friends with one guy named Rafal, but he's going back to Poland on Tuesday morning. I was sleeping well at the begining of the week, but I haven't been sleeping well at all for the past few nights. I don't know if it's the altitude, jetlag, or just the bed that I'm sleeping in. Anyway, I feel like I'm finally starting to get back into shape, and as long as this glute gets better soon, I think I'm off to a good start.
Resting HR: 48
Total Weekly Mileage: 78 miles

Sunday 8/6
AM - St. Moritz valley. HR: 146bpm (140-160). I got up this morning, had breakfast, and checked out of my hotel room to change my accomodations once again. My left glute is still hurting, but I decided to run anyway. I felt okay on the run, and averaged 6:40 pace, which felt quite easy until the last mile, when I started slowing down b/c I was tired. I hope my glute gets better soon. I don't want to have to take more time off while I'm here!
Sleep - 7 hours. Still having trouble falling asleep at night.
Food - Breakfast: Cereal and yogurt. Lunch: Pasta carbonara. Dinner: Dinner buffet.
12 miles

Saturday 8/5
AM - Decided not to run today because my left glute is still hurting me. It was hurting as I was trying to fall asleep last night, and it's not quite as bad today, but I want to make sure I let it heal. I got a massage and iced it in the evening, so hopefully it will get better soon.
Sleep - 7 hours. I didn't sleep well again last night. I don't know if it's the high altitude or what...
Food - Breakfast: Breakfast buffet. Lunch: Lunch buffet. Dinner: Dinner buffet.
10 miles

Friday 8/4
AM - St. Moritz Lakes. HR: 150bpm (141-165). This morning, I got out of bed around 10am and finally got out the door to go on a run a little after 11am. It was a beautiful day, a bit cool, but once I started running, I felt great. I pushed the pace a bit more than I have on any of my other runs so far, and I felt pretty good. I finished the run in 62 minutes, so about 6:10/mile pace. I stopped at 2 miles and 6 miles to stretch a bit because my left butt was tight. But after stretching it out, I felt pretty good. I'm already at 66 miles this week and I still have two more days left. I need to be careful not to increase my mileage too quickly, but if I end up somewhere in the 80's this week, I think I'll be okay. It was nice to finally feel like I was running at a decent pace today. I still have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm making progress.
PM - This afternoon, I went over to visit some family friends. They told me of many places in Switzerland that I should try to visit if I have time (including Interlaken, Lucerne, and Bern). They also took me on a drive south to see many of the mountains and valleys. I have only been able to see a small glimpse of the landscape around here on my runs, so it was really nice to drive around and see more.
Sleep - 5 hours. I made the mistake of taking a 4 hour nap yesterday, so I wasn't able to fall asleep until about 4am.
Food - Breakfast: Balance bar before going on run. Lunch: Lunch buffet. Dinner: Dinner buffet.
10 miles

Thursday 8/3
AM - St. Moritz Lake. This morning it was cold and raining outside, so I almost skipped running. But my legs were feeling tight from yesterday's run, and I decided it would be best to at least put in a few very easy miles to loosen up. So I jogged around the St. Moritz lake in the cold rain and the stretched out for a while afterwards. Then I had lunch and took a long nap.
PM - St. Moritz Lakes. HR: 141bpm (130-150). This afternoon, I went on an 8 mile run along the lakes at a pretty easy pace. I was going to go 10, but I was feeling kind of tired, and my mileage for the week is already high enough.
Sleep - 8 hours plus a 4 hour nap in the afternoon.
Food - Breakfast: Balance bar. Lunch: Lunch buffet. Dinner: Dinner buffet.
3 + 8 = 11 miles

Wednesday 8/2
AM - Vsch. da Samedan (see elevation!). HR: 141bpm (130-160). Today I decided to explore the mountainous terrain around St. Moritz a bit more. First I had to check out of Hotel Stille and move over to my new hotel, Laudinella, which is much nicer, and only an extra $10 per night with the "athlete discount" (this is where I was already going for the all-you-can-eat buffets, and it is literally right next to the track). So a little before noon, I finally got out on my run. I had a general idea of where I was going to go based on the trail maps I had bought, but I decided not to bring the maps with me and just try to do the run from memory. I did wear the GPS watch today, which as you can probably tell from the pictures above, worked like a charm. So I was only going to go 14-16 miles today, since my longest run in the past few months was the 16 that I did 3 days ago, but the run was so nice that I couldn't get myself to turn back that early. I wish I had run with my camera because there were so many spectacular sites along the way. I was running on mountain biking trails and grass hiking trails for most of the run (except the middle 4 miles, which I will get to later). And most of the run, as you might be able to tell from the picture, was in a valley with mountains on either side and a glacier stream along the path. The route was pretty much uphill the entire way, so that by 10 miles in, I had gone from 5800 feet to 6800 feet. I passed through one village and went by one hotel during the run, but other than that it was all nature. So back to the middle four miles: 8-12. The terrain became quite rocky and it because hard to tell if there was any kind of path. I noticed there were some red markings on rocks that seemed to indicate some sort of path, so I just kept following those. There were also a lot of cows all around me. I started to see snow on the mountains on either side of me and in front of me, and if I had been able to go maybe one more mile, I might have reached the snow, but by the time I was at 10 miles, I knew I should probably turn around: not only had this turned into my longest run since I've come back, but it was starting to get a bit chilly and I was only wearing a running singlet. So I told my GPS watch to take me back to where I started, and I just followed the exact same route 10 miles back to St. Moritz. I stopped at a hotel on the way back to buy some water with my 5 Frank (~4 dollar) coin, but all I could afford was a tiny bottle of water for 4 Franks. By the last 3-4 miles of the run, I was definitely hurting. I don't know how much of it was the distance of my run vs. the high altitude that I am still not used to vs. the fact that I felt dehydrated. I was just sore and tired and thirsty. For the first 10 miles (uphill), my pace was between 7:00 and 8:00 and on the way back, my pace was between 6:30 and 7:30. When I got back to the hotel, I got a massage, and then went shopping for a sim card for my phone before getting dinner. If anyone needs to reach me while I'm here, my new Swiss mobile number is 076-404-2955 (Switzerland country code is 41, so I think from the U.S. it would be 011-41-76-404-2955, but I'm not sure).
Sleep - 9 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Balance bar. Lunch: I got back from my run after lunch, so I just had some snacks in my room (balance bar, dried fruit, cereal, etc.). Dinner: Dinner buffet at Stuva (pasta, potatoes, fish, meat, nan, rice, fruit, and much more).
20 miles

Tuesday 8/1
AM - Trails behind hotel (I didn't wear my GPS watch on this run). This morning I got up around 9am and got in a short run in order to get back before breakfast stopped at 10am. A few steps out of the hotel, and I was already on amazing trails in the woods. I noticed the ~6000 foot elevation immediately -- even one minute into the run, I was breathing pretty hard. But the weird thing was that after about 5 minutes, I didn't feel quite as bad, even though I was still breathing pretty hard. The weather was perfect this morning as well. Cool and dry. I wanted to go farther, but I only went for 35 minutes so that I'd be back in time for breakfast, which ended up being a bit of a disappointment. After breakfast, I went into town and stopped by the tourist center to pick up some trail maps. They didn't have many, but the nearby grocery store had a nice selection. I ate lunch at Stuva, and met a couple of other runners, including Bahrain middle-distance runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal and olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi, whose marathon PR of 2:19 is two minutes faster than mine!
PM - Two larger lakes. HR: 139 (135-155). This afternoon, as I was getting ready to go on a run from the hotel, Rafael was about to go on a run as well, so we decided to go together. He was only going 5 miles after having done a track workout this morning, so I did 5 miles with him (a couple of laps around the smaller lake) and then added on another 5 miles, where I ran to the larger lake and back. Once I got back, Rafal, and his coach and I all went to Stuva for the dinner buffet. The coach was telling me how he once coached a 2:11 marathon runner, who unforunately died in a car accident.
Sleep - 9 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Cereal with yogurt, bread and ham, OJ. Lunch: Lunch buffet at Stuva (pasta, gnocci, salad, meat, fruit, and more stuff that I can't remember). Dinner: Dinner buffet at Stuva (nan with curry, pasta, meat, fruit, custard, and other stuff I can't remember).
5 + 10 = 15 miles

Monday 7/31
AM - Zurich Lake (note: If you would like to view any of these routes in Google Earth, just change the .jpg to a .kml in any of these links such as here and open that file with Google Earth). HR: 149bpm (137-157). This morning I got up around 10am and went on a 10-mile run along the other side of the lake. I turned around at this house. Once again, I started to feel pretty weak towards the end of it, and my stomach really started bothering me towards the end. I was keeping the pace slow (as I have on almost all of my runs so far), and finished the 10 miles in a little under 69 minutes. I had booked a 1pm tour today, so I was pretty rushed when I got back to my hotel to stretch, shower, eat, and pack my bags, and it didn't help that my stomach was hurting me the whole time. The 4-hour tour was nice. Our guide showed us around Zurich, and then we took a cable car up to the top of a mountain, and then took a boat across the lake.
PM - After the tour of the city, I took the train to St. Moritz. It took about 3 hours or so to get there, and it was already dark by the time I arrived. From the train station, it was only a 4-minute (and $15) cab ride to Hotel Stille. I was lucky that the guy was still there when I arrived because he said reception normally closes at 8pm and he did not have my reservation on file. He put me in a room next to a Polish runner named Rafal (7:58 3K) and his coach, who is also out here coaching Wioletta Janowska, who currently has the fastest time in the women's 3K steeple chase this year (9:17).
Sleep - 9 hours. Could have slept even longer!
Food - Breakfast: Corn flakes, yogurt, fruit, OJ, croissant with ham and cheese, cherries. Lunch: Ham and cheese sandwich and balance bar. Dinner: Barley soup, gnocci with tomato sauce.
10 miles

Week 3: 7/24/06 - 7/30/06

2006-07-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
With so much to take care of this last week in Boston, I wasn't able to run quite as much as I would have liked, but at least I got in 50 miles. I also didn't get as much sleep as I should have this week, but I'll have to catch up now that I'm in Europe and have nothing to do except run and sleep (and sightsee) for an entire month. Zurich is a quaint little city. It was nice to get in a 16-mile run as soon as I got there, but I felt really weak and dehydrated by the end of it. I later found out that the Zurich lake is actually 1200 feet above sea level (I had assumed that it was pretty much at sea level), so maybe that had something to do with it. I'll be even higher soon, once I get to St. Moritz, which is 4000+ feet above sea level.
Resting HR: 52
Total Weekly Mileage: 50 miles

Sunday 7/30
AM - Zurich Lake. HR: 145bpm (121-154). My plane arrived into Zurich around 9am this morning, and I took the train and a cab to my hotel (which I booked on Orbitz from the Newark airport). I'm staying at the Wellenberg Hotel, which is a quaint place in the historic old part of Zurich. Fortunately they let me check in early as soon as I got there. Even though I was exhausted after getting 4 hours and 2 hours of sleep the past two nights, I decided I should go ahead and get a run in before doing anything else. So I changed and headed out to the lake and ended up going on a 16-mile run. It was pretty sunny and hot outside, and I was pretty tired, so I kept the pace slow. My gps watch said I averaged just under 7:00 pace for the entire run, with the last few miles being the slowest (I was feeling dehydrated by the end of it, so I slowed down even more). Running along the lake was nice, but unfortunately most of it was hard-surfaced. I'm looking forward to all of the trail-running I'll be able to do in St. Moritz. A nice bonus of running along the lake was that I saw about a dozen topless girls sunbathing. Anyway, I was glad that I was able to put in 16 miles today, even though it was slow, because it got my week to 50 with only 5 runs. As soon as I got back to the hotel, I showered, ordered a 10 dollar bottle of water from room service because I was too weak to go to the nearest store, and laid down on the bed for what was supposed to be 5 minutes. However, when I woke up, I realized it was 6pm and I had just slept for 4 hours. So I got up, walked around a bit, had dinner, and am now at an internet cafe typing this entry. I think I'll go on a boat and gondolla tour of Zurich tomorrow and then leave for St. Moritz in the late afternoon/evening. That's it for now...
Sleep - 2 hours or so on the plane, but then after my run, I took a 4 hour nap.
Food - Breakfast: Croissant and fruit on the plane. Lunch: Bratwurst, yogurt. Dinner: Mixed kebab.
16 miles

Saturday 7/29
AM - This morning, I got up around 9am and finished packing up my apartment. I didn't have time to go on a run before leaving for the airport, but at least I had time to have a relaxed brunch with Sarah at Firefly. My mileage is going to be really low this week after taking today and Thursday off, but I guess I'll make up for it once I get to Switzerland...
Sleep - About 4 hours. I was up past 4am packing up my apartment since I had to get everything done before leaving for the airport.
Food - Breakfast: Eggs benedict and oatmeal from Firefly. Lunch: Crab meat wrap and clam chowder from Legals at Logan Airport. Chicken and rice and fruit salad in Newark Airport. Dinner: Crappy airplane food (chicken and rice).
0 miles

Friday 7/28
PM - I kept putting off my run today because I had so much left to do to get ready for my trip/move. And then when I was finally ready to run, this huge thunderstorm came in, so I decided to eat an early dinner and run later. So I finally got out the door around 10pm and ran down Mass Ave. to Porter Square. I tried out my new Garmin Forerunner 305 that my dad just got for me today. I was a bit skeptical, but so far it's actually really cool. I ran a route that I knew the mile marks for, and it seemed to hit them right on. It also records my heart rate and my exact path (as soon as I figure out how to link it up to Google Maps, I'll post my routes on this log). When I got to Porter Square, I pressed a button telling it to take me back to where I started, and it showed the exact route that I needed to follow to get back. I'm sure this will come in handy while I'm in Switzerland. Anyway, I finished the 10 mile route in about 65 minutes. After stretching and showering, Sarah came over, and we got drinks and dinner at 1:30am at the Franklin Cafe. It's such a weird feeling to be going to all of these places for the last time. For some reason, my legs were sore at dinner. Maybe I didn't stretch enough.
Sleep - Not enough! I think I got about 5-6 hours and was really tired when I woke up.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt, Cheerios, blueberry muffin. Lunch: Cheeseburger and fries--my last lunch at Bain Capital! Dinner: Turkey sandwich from Emelios before my run. Wasabi salmon from Franklin Cafe after my run.
10 miles

Thursday 7/27
AM - Mass Ave. HR: 144bpm. I was super busy today, so I didn't end up having time to go on a run. I got a new phone today though. It's the Cingular 8125, and so far I like it a lot more than my old Blackberry (and I already set it up to receive my Stanford email). I'm kind of pissed off at Cingular though because it ended up being a big pain to get the phone. The story is too long and boring to put on this blog. I'm also annoyed that they won't let me unlock the phone so that I can use a different carrier while I'm in Europe (they say you need to be a subscriber for 3 months before they let you do it).
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal. Lunch: Jack Fultz came over to Bain Cap to have lunch with me today. We had scallops and rice and talked about lots of different things including my training plans and the Izumo Ekiden. Dinner: Pasta with peas, shrimp, and cream sauce (Sarah made it and it was very good!).
0 miles

Wednesday 7/26
PM - Since this is my last week in Boston, I decided to jog over to the Harvard track this afternoon to say hi to the BAA guys. They were doing 4 x 1 mile, 1 x 2.5 mile. I wasn't planning on actually joining them for any of it, but then I decided to try doing the first mile on the dirt path with them. I ended up doing 2 x mile in 5:10 and 5:00. Everyone who was there today pretty much stayed together, at least for those first two, and I was able to stay in (the back of) the pack. They didn't feel too fast, but my trainers felt a bit heavy, and I figured it would be best not to do any more than 2 of them today, especially since I wasn't planning to do any. I talked to Pieroni for a while while the rest of the guys finished up. He's going to put me in touch with Peter Gilmore, who lives out in the Bay Area. After talking to Pieroni for a while, I jogged back to work and stretched for a while before showering and getting dinner in the Food Court of the Pru.
Sleep - 8 hours. Slept very well.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt and cinnamon scone from ABP. Lunch: Lasagna, pizza, and peas. Dinner: Burrito and straberry-banana odwalla drink.
9 miles

Tuesday 7/25
PM - I flew back to Boston today. After work, I ran the Jamaica Pond loop in 55 minutes (~6:30 pace). I still feel like I can't run that fast--I remember when it was easy for me to do the Jamaica Pond loop at 5:50 pace. But it was a pleasant run, and fortunately not too hot outside. I stretched for a bit when I got back and then went back to my apartment to have Thai food with Sarah. It's hard to believe that I will only be in Boston for a few more days. I still need to finish packing!
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and toast. Lunch: Chicken sandwich. Dinner: Mango fried rice with chicken and shrimp and drunken noodles from Brown Sugar Cafe.
8 miles

Monday 7/24
PM - This afternoon my parents had a Pilates instructor come over for an hour, so I ended up doing that before going on a run. Pilates was fun, but I don't know if I'd be able to find the time to do it regularly. It was already starting to get dark after pilates, and I was pretty hungry for dinner, so I just went on a short run to Bolles and back along San Jose Blvd. It took me 22:30 to get to Bolles, and 19:30 to get back. I think it's about 3.5 miles each way, which would make it 6:30 pace on the way out and 6:00 pace on the way back. Earlier today, I went to a celebration lunch at Dreams Come True for my cousin Kyle, who has cerebral palsy. He is going to get to meet J. K. Rolling in New York later this week. He is only 13 years old, but he is already an amazing writer. Maybe I can get a copy of one of his stories to post on my blog sometime. I can't wait to read more of them. Kyle, if you're reading this, keep up the good work!!
Sleep - 8 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal and scrambled eggs. Lunch: Pizza and tuna sandwich. Dinner: Steak, broccoli, rice.
7 miles

Week 2: 7/17/06 - 7/23/06

2006-07-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
I don't seem to be injured anymore, so I guess I can't complain, but I felt like this was a pretty boring running week for me. I'm trying to slowly get the mileage back up, but it's taking my body some time to get used to running again. Despite the fact that most of my runs this week were slow, my legs still feel tired. I guess that's what happens when I go from 0 to 60 in a couple of weeks. I just can't wait until I feel good and fresh doing 100 mile weeks once again. As you'll notice in the total weekly mileage below, I've decided to show my cross-training "mileage" separately (16x means I did 16 miles worth of cross training in the pool, elliptical, etc.). I used to just add it all together, but I think it will help me if I show the split from now on.
Resting HR: 60
Total Weekly Mileage: 46 + 16x = 62 miles

Sunday 7/23
PM - I slept in this morning after the late party last night. After a late breakfast, my parents and Sarah and I headed out to my grandma's house at the beach, where we met up with my brother and Lindsey, and a bunch of my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. I had lunch around 2pm, and then went on a run around 5pm. Sarah rode next to me on her bike while I ran, which was nice. We went along the beach for about 6-7 miles before turning around. On the way back, we decided to run on the roads because the sand was a bit too soft for Sarah riding the bike. I, once again, got an upset stomach in the middle of the run, but it might be that I didn't wait long enough after eating lunch, or maybe it was something I ate or drank at the party last night. It was pretty hot and humid today, and I felt tired and dehydrated by the end of the run. I was trying to pick the pace up towards the end, but I doubt I even got down to 6:00 pace.
Sleep - 9 hours. Slept like a rock.
Food - Breakfast: Oatmeal with lots of fruit. Lunch: Tuna sandwich. Dinner: Chicken and rice for an early dinner, then steak teriyaki and sushi at Sakura's for a later dinner.
13 miles

Saturday 7/22
AM - Flew down to Florida with Sarah this morning and decided to take the day off from running. First we went to see my brother's new house. He's two years younger than me, and he already owns a house. Then we went out to the beach to meet up with a bunch of my cousins, and finally we came back into town for my mom's 60th birthday party. It was a great party, and went past midnight. I enjoyed seeing all of the family there.
Sleep - 4 hours. Was up packing until about 2am, and then had to get up before 6am to go to the airport.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt and bagel with cream cheese at the airport. Lunch: Tuna salad that my dad made. Dinner: Steak, seafood with cream sauce, bread, salad, coconut cake, and beer. It was a delicious dinner for my mom's b-day party.
0 miles

Friday 7/21
AM - Took lactose breath test this morning. Turns out I'm not lactose intolerant afterall.
PM - I might take today off, but I haven't decided yet. My left knee is still a bit sore. Nothing major, but I am being super-sensitive right now about getting injured. Actually, I ended up running this evening after all. It was raining and starting to get dark, so I decided to do Bunker Hill instead of Jamaica Pond, even though Bunker Hill is all hard surfaces and my right knee was still kind of hurting. I finished the loop in about 57 minutes, so I went very slow (probably 6:40 pace or so). When I got back to work, I started packing up my office and then I went home pretty late to pack for my trip to Florida this weekend for my mom's birthday.
Sleep - 7 hours...didn't sleep very well.
Food - Breakfast: Skipped breakfast because I had to take a lactose breath test (a 3 hour ordeal that required me not to eat or drink anything, including water, after midnight last night). Lunch: Pork, macaroni and cheese, squash, yogurt. Dinner: Chicken with cashew nuts from Chilli Duck.
8 miles

Thursday 7/20
AM - I jogged over to Friedman's place in the late morning, and we went on a run around Fresh Pond. Friedman said he thought we were probably averaging 6:35 pace. I have no idea how he can estimate it down to the second, but I'll take his word for it. So the 8 mile loop from his apartment plus 2 miles each way to and from work gives me 12 miles for the day. I stopped at Friedman's place for a while to have some gatorade and look over an atlas of the U.S. before jogging back to work. Friedman thinks that when I do my roadtrip next month, I should drive from Yellowstone through Idaho and Oregon rather than going south to the Grand Canyon because it won't be as much driving and there is plenty of cool stuff to see in Idaho and Oregon. I'm still not sure what route I'll take. I'll have to see what Sarah wants to do...
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Balance bar. Lunch: Fish, corn chowder, salad. Dinner: Lots of pasta with tomato sauce, salad and mango shake from b.good.
12 miles

Wednesday 7/19
PM - This evening, I was going to run outside, but my left knee was kind of hurting, so I decided to jog over to the MIT pool and aquajog. I was in the pool for a total of 45 minutes: 10 minutes easy, 5,4,3,2,1 hard with 1 min easy in between, and then 15 minutes easy. I actually didn't push myself too hard during the hard parts, but it was more effort than the easy parts. I guess I'm just getting back into things gradually. When I got out of the pool, I stopped in Ana's Taqueira for dinner and saw Jen standing in line. She told me that Alasdair has only run twice since the Corporate Challenge. I wonder what's up with him. I forgot to mention that I saw Steve at POST physical therapy again today. He gave me a few more exercises.
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Yogurt, bagel with cream cheese. Lunch: Chinese noodles with chicken and pineapple. Lunch wasn't very good today. Dinner: Chicken burrito from Ana's and caesar salad.
8x miles

Tuesday 7/18
AM - This morning, I went on an easy jog from work along the Charles River around the Science Museum and back. It was really hot and sunny this morning and I was pretty tired, so I kept the pace very slow. I felt a bit nauseous when I first started jogging, but that feeling went away a few minutes into my run. I ran across Matt Taylor (a buddy of mine from Yale) along the river, but we were going different directions and I was running late for a meeting at work, so we didn't stop to say hi.
PM - I was going to go on a run with Friedman this evening, but he wanted to wait until after 10pm so it would be cool enough. I ended up going around 8pm, and it wasn't too hot. I did the Jamaica Pond loop at a very easy pace. I've been pretty tired recently from the increase in my mileage, but things seem to be going okay so far. Unfortunately, my stomach was bothering me a bit during my run this evening, so I had to stop at the porta potty at Jamaica Pond. I wonder if it's something I ate for lunch...
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: grape nuts, lemonade. Lunch: pasta with swordfish, tomato soup, banana, yogurt. Dinner: Sushi platter from Douzo.
5 + 8 = 13 miles

Monday 7/17
PM - I didn't workout until 10pm this evening because I had to go home and wait around for a guy who saw my TV on Craig's List and wants to buy it. He said he'd come by around 7, but he didn't show up until after 9pm. At least he said he wants to buy the TV and entertainment center, so that's one less thing to move out to Stanford. After he left, I jogged over to work, did 45 minutes on the elliptical, and jogged back home. Even though it was 10pm, it was really hot outside when I jogged between home and work. Earlier today, I went to see Ellen Halpern, a massage therapist at Myotech. She has helped me out a lot over the past couple months. Today, she spent time working on my left achilles and right hip flexor. I also had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Keroack, a GI doctor at MGH. He said all of my blood chemistry appears to be normal (I was tested for celiac sprue antibodies and thyroid stimulation hormone, among other things), so I'm going to go in on Friday for a lactose breath test. The good news is that my stomach is actually feeling much better these days, so maybe it just took me a while to get over that stomach bug from Argentina.
Sleep - 7 hours.
Food - Breakfast: Bagel, yogurt, and odwalla green tea protein drink. Lunch: turkey sandwich. Snack: sushi, chicken, pita with hummus. Dinner: pasta salad, potato salad, and caesar salad.
8x miles

Week 1: 7/10/06 - 7/16/06

2006-07-11T15:45:00.000-05:00

Weekly Summary
I was pretty happy with this week, considering the fact that it was my first week back after hardly running at all for a couple of months. I took it pretty easy this week, but I was still able to get in 55 miles. The Sunday run at Walden Pond felt great, and I can't wait to get into better shape so that I can get some longer runs in. It's just two more weeks until I'm in Switzerland!
Resting HR: 60
Total Weekly Mileage: 55 miles

Sunday 7/16
PM - After spending most of the morning/early afternoon packing stuff up at my apartment, I decided to go to Walden Pond with Chris, Owen, Sarah, and John. The parking lot at Walden was closed, so Friedman and I dropped off everyone else and then ran from another parking lot about a mile away. It was hot and humid today, but it actually felt pretty nice to be running in the shade of the trails (other than the areas we ran through with lots of bugs). Friedman and I ended up going for about 90 minutes, starting off quite slow at about 7:00 pace, but probably getting down to 6:00 pace, or maybe even a little faster at the end. I felt great today--no hip problems and no stomach problems. I was surprised that I was able to go for 90 minutes today without hurting. It makes me feel more optimistic about my trip to Switzerland in two weeks. Hopefully I can get some good mileage in while I'm over there. It felt great to hop in the pond after the run today. Going on a run like this today makes me remember how much I miss being in shape and going on longer runs.
Sleep - 7 hours. I was out until 2:30am with my roommate Owen and a friend of mine from high school named Chris.
Food - Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with shrimp for brunch at Tremont 647. Chris had a couple of bloody mary's, but I was happy with H2O; Lunch: Balance bar before my run and a couple of rolls with prosciutto right after the run; Dinner: Thai food from Brown Sugar. Owen, Chris, Sarah, Takuya and I ate dinner on my roofdeck tonight. The weather was perfect this evening--I'm sure going to miss my roofdeck.
13 miles

Saturday 7/15
PM - Decided to take the day off because I'm already at 42 miles in week 1 and I was feeling a bit hung over from last night. I spent most of the day packing up stuff in my apartment, since this is my last weekend in Boston. I'm trying to get rid of most of my stuff so that I don't have to move it all out west next month. I'll get in a run tomorrow to boost my mileage over 50 for the week.
Sleep - About 7 hours. Went to bed at 4:30am after a late night cruising around in the stretched Hummer after Underbar. Woke up a few times in the morning, but didn't get out of bed until noon.
Food - Breakfast: Slept through breakfast; Lunch: Bean burger and strawberry banana shake from b.good; Dinner: Lamb with a bunch of sides from Ruth's Chris Steak House for Sarah's sister Kimmy's birthday.
0 miles

Friday 7/14
AM - This morning Friedman called me and woke me up, even though it wasn't exactly early. I ran over to his place and we ran around Jamaica Pond and then I ran back home. It was super-hot today, so I was pretty uncomfortable the entire time. My legs also felt pretty tired (and Friedman raced yesterday) so we kept the pace slow, probably 7:00 pace or so. I stopped at Cappy's on the way home to get a Vitamin Water, which gave me a bit more energy, but I don't think I got fully hydrated again until several hours after I finished the run. I didn't have time to stretch much at all after the run because I had to get to work. Now I'm about to leave work for our farewell party tonight. First we're getting dinner at Clio's and then going to Underbar. And after Underbar, we've got a stretched Hummer to take us around until we all pass out.
Sleep - 9 hours... good to get that much sleep last night.
Food - Breakfast: skipped breakfast because I went on a late run; Lunch: salmon, potatoes, veggies, yogurt, banana, apple, cherries, lemonade; Dinner: Lobster, salad, fish, apple tart at Clios. After dinner, we went to Underbar and had quite a bit of champagne, vodka, etc. since it was open bar for us...
12 miles

Thursday 7/13
PM - Today I had to drive out to Attleboro to do some work at Sensata, one of Bain Capital's portfolio companies. Traffic was pretty bad on the way back, so I didn't get to go on a run until around 7:30pm. I ran Bunker Hill by myself, and finished the loop in 55 minutes, so a little over 6:30 pace. I felt pretty fatigued, but I didn't feel like it was that hard to go 6:30 pace, other than the fact that I was tired. So even though I am still slow and out-of-shape, I feel like I am already starting to get back into it a bit. My stomach was bothering me a little bit during the run, but fortunately not bad enough that I had to make any pit stops. I spent quite a bit of time in the Bain Cap gym afterwards stretching out and doing some exercises that Steve at POST showed me yesterday. My abs are sore from some of the core strengthening exercises.
Sleep - 7 hours, but woke up a couple of times in the early morning.
Food - Breakfast: granola and yogurt; Lunch: chicken fajitas, rice and beans, broccoli; Dinner: lobster and shrimp pasta from Joe-Vs.
8 miles

Wednesday 7/12
AM - This morning I went to POST physical therapy therapy for my hip, and then went on a run around Jamaica Pond. I've been going to POST for the past couple of weeks, and the combination of that and massages from Ellen seems to be doing the trick. Ryan Carerra also just sent me some stretching exercises that he got from Andrea Gillespie. I haven't tried them yet, but they look pretty good (ex1, ex2, ex3, ex4). Anyway, the run today was another easy one. I finished the 8.3-mile loop in 55 minutes, so about 6:40 pace. Man, I'm out-of-shape. I felt weak on the run today, and even though I was going slow, I didn't feel like I could have gone much faster. Once again, the hip didn't hurt, so that was good. It started pouring towards the end of the run, so I was drenched by the time I got back to work. Because I was so wet, I just hopped in the shower as soon as I got back to work without stretching at all afterwards. I'm a bit tight now as a result, I think. I need to be better about stretching before and after my runs.
Sleep - 7 hours and still tired (didn't get back from Rumor until around 2am).
Food - Breakfast: grape-nuts, yogurt, banana, muffin, chocolate milk; Lunch: pasta with pesto, spinach, rice; Snack: oatmeal; Dinner: chicken burrito.
8 miles

Tuesday 7/11
AM - This morning, I met up with Friedman at my office and ran the Bunker Hill loop with him. I felt okay, but my stomach was bothering me a bit. Maybe it's from the bag of Skittles that I ate last night while Sarah and I were walking home from the Madonna concert.
Sleep - Slept about 8 hours last night.
Food - Breakfast: oatmeal and lemonade (after morning run); Lunch: Steak, swordfish, potatoes, apple juice, water; Dinner: Tonight I ate at the Federalist with a bunch of my co-workers. We've been having a bunch of group dinners recently as part of our extended "farewell" (we went to L'Espalier last week and are going to Clio on Friday). I can't remember everything I had at dinner, but the things I remember are tuna tartar, crab cakes, salad, steak, bread, cheese, and chocolate cake. We also had a bunch of wine with dinner.
8 miles

Monday 7/10
PM - This afternoon, I went on an easy jog around the river. I felt pretty lethargic today. I guess I'm just out of shape. I was probably averaging 7-minute pace or so. At least my hip wasn't bothering me.
Sleep - Only got 6 hours last night, and woke up a few times.
Food - Breakfast: oatmeal and fruit salad; Lunch: turkey sandwich and gatorade; Dinner: Potato salad (we were rushing to the Madonna concert so didn't have time for a bigger dinner); Night snack: Pretzel, peanuts, skittles and vitamin water.
6 miles

What's next?

2006-07-11T15:21:00.000-05:00

So it's Monday, July 10th, and I have decided to start running again. What's next?

Well, for one, my last day of work is Friday, July 28, and school doesn't start until mid-September. Which leaves a month and a half of traveling and running. For these 45 days, I hope to be running in a different place every day!

Here is my preliminary schedule (I will be updating this periodically):

7/29: Fly from Boston to Zurich. Continental flights 1189/78 (BOS->EWR: 2.30pm->4.06pm; EWR->ZRH: 6.50pm->8.40am)

7/30: Sightsee in Zurich. Hotel TBD.

7/31 - 8/9: Run in St. Moritz and stay at Hotel Stille, where Marius Bakken recommended I stay while I'm there. (I no longer think I'm going to try to run across Switzerland because Tom McArdle thinks I shouldn't do anything too crazy before the Trials next year, and the best running is in St. Moritz anyway... but I'll figure things out once I get there).

8/9 - 8/12: Go to Lugano, Luzern, Interlaken, and Bern.

8/13: Go to Lausanne.

8/14 - 8/16: Sarah arrives in Geneva on Continental flights 1191/80 (BOS->EWR: 3.30pm->5.01pm; EWR->GVA: 6:15pm->8:05am). Hang out in Geneva with Sarah and the Batas.

8/16 - 8/19: Stay at Chateau de La Colassiere, a castle in the French countryside not far from the Loire River.

8/19 - 8/25: Drive south from Colassiere to Madrid, stopping in San Sebastian and Barcelona on the way.

8/25: Fly back to Boston from Madrid with Sarah. Continental flights 63/1172 (MAD->EWR: 11.30am->1.55pm; EWR->BOS: 3.30pm->4.55pm).

8/28 - 9/11: Drive west from Boston, MA to Palo Alto, CA with Sarah, sleeping in and running in many places (from Chicago to Yellowstone to Oregon) along the way.

9/14: Start at Stanford Business School.

The past 5 months -- what's happened to me since Austin?

2006-07-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

As most of you could probably tell, the past several months -- ever since the Austin Marathon in February -- have been a difficult time for me. I think I made the mistake of not taking enough rest after Austin. I was in great shape, and I didn't want to stop. I figured I would be able to keep climbing higher and higher without letting anything hold me back. However, I learned the importance of taking a break the hard way.

Here is a recap of the two big problems I've been dealing with:

1) In March, I caught some sort of stomach bug in Argentina, and even after taking Cipro and Metro (anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic drugs), my stomach is still not back to normal. I saw a GI doctor a few weeks ago, and he said it is possible that my stomach lining is still irritated as a result of the stomach bug, even if the stomach bug is now gone. He took a bunch of blood tests, but hasn't provided any other advice yet (he did give me a prescription for a pill that I can try to take before I race to slow down my digestive system, but I'm not sure how I feel about taking that). Anyway, I guess I'll find out the test results soon. I hope they are informative. I've always had a sensitive stomach, and I'm beginning to think that I might just be allergic to something that I eat all the time such as dairy, wheat, etc. Maybe I'll start keeping track of what I eat in my running log to help me determine what's going on. If any of you have any thoughts or advice, please let me know!

2) In April, my right hip-flexor started to bother me. It got so bad that for an entire week, I could hardly even walk on it because it hurt so much. Nothing I did seemed to help it get better other than taking rest, but I didn't want to take rest. So I got a bunch of massage therapy and physical therapy, and tried to (cross)train through it during the month of May. It wasn't until June that I finally realized that the only thing I could do was to take time completely off from running. I've gone on a few easy runs over the past week, and the hip is actually feeling a lot better, so I think that taking a month off might have done the trick. I guess only time will tell though...

So that's the recap. I still need to figure out the GI issues, but I think my hip is going to be okay. And as long as the hip is okay, I can start running again, even if I do have to make a few extra pit stops on the way until I get my GI issues worked out.

So, with all of that said, I'll start the daily posts once again. Hope that things aren't too boring for people as I slowly get back into it...