My new running blog

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 6: 7/16 - 7/22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 5: 7/9 - 7/15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 4: 7/2 - 7/8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 3: 6/25 - 7/1

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

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