My Running Log

Feeling much better today but not 100%.

Lifted weights (4x15) and ran 5 miles in 37 minutes on treadmill. It's so beautiful outside I should run outside this week. 

I was tempted to hermitize myself and run on the treadmill again, but I felt it would be a tragedy with how nice of a day it was. So I got my rear out on the roads. And I'm glad I did. I started running well from the beginning and didn't feel a need for a warmup. So the first mile was in 6:58. That was exciting. Then I decided to try to run a good time for a 10K and to keep my splits all under 7:00. I kept feeling good and maintained a steady pace. At the 5K mark, I was just under 21 minutes. And I finished just under 42 minutes, which is actually my fastest 10K time of the year! Not bad for doing it on a tempo workout. So now my official goal for the Turkey Trot is to break 40 minutes.

The loop I ran was down to 7300 South and then I ran my cooldown around my neighborhood. 

6 miles on the treadmill in 42:07. Calves are sore but no ill effects from yesterday's tempo.

I did my weekly hill workout on the treadmill. 1 mile warmup at 8:00 pace. 4.5 miles at 7:00 pace. 0.5 mile cooldown. Last week, I ran at Level 8. This week I bumped it up to Level 9. I don't know if it was just a bad day (maybe because I ate a late dinner), but I really struggled. I had to pause 4 times (for 2-3 minutes each) during the run in order to make it through. Each time my heart rate was about 180. I think I have met my match. So I will keep doing this workout once a week (except when I race) until I can do it without stopping. Then I'll move to Level 10.

When I got home, I was shaking. That's how hard this run was for me. 

It was a beautiful fall day. I felt like running. So I ran the 10 mile out and back up to Le Caille. I felt good from the beginning and pushed the pace. The first 4 miles (all of which are uphill) were at 7:00 pace. The last uphill mile was on dirt, and I slowed down to about 8:15 pace. On the way down, I felt really good and pushed the pace. Averaged about 6:45 for the first 4 downhill miles. Then eased up the last mile. The average pace was 7:07. That was by far the quickest I've run that route. I think my next best pace was about 8:00. I think it helped to run in the afternoon. Plus my cardio is really improving lately, as well as my confidence in my ability to run through discomfort.

34 miles for the week. Wow, it didn't feel like that many. I think part of it was that I mostly really enjoyed the running. It didn't feel like a chore at all.

Last night I watched the Ironman 2008 on hulu.com. It was way cool. Makes me want to do one someday. But probably not until my family is older. 

Lifted weights.

5 miles on treadmill in 37 minutes. Felt really good, even though during the day I didn't feel so good. The Saturday workout hammered me. 

We had a family party in the evening, and it got late really fast. So I ran a mile. It was a nice night for running, even at 11:00.

6 miles on treadmill. Hit 5 mile mark at 33:51. Full run in 40:40. Didn't feel great but the times are OK.

My weekly hill workout on the treadmill. It was the same as last week. 4.5 miles of hills on Level 9 at 7:00 pace. Last week I had to stop 4 times. This time it was slightly better. I had to stop 3 times. I will keep working on it. Even if it takes baby steps, I will keep working on this.

Lifted weights and then ran 6 miles in 45 minutes on the treadmill. Felt great and extended the run because I wanted to watch the end of "Cash Cab" to see if they won the money. They did.

Went running with my buddy in Palo Alto in a big conservation area. They have some awesome trails. It was a pretty relaxed pace and enjoyable.

29 miles for the week. Not bad. Next week I want to run more than 30. 

Did a treadmill temp run. The treadmills here are capable of going up to 5:35 pace, so I worked up to that. It felt good to get the legs going. I also had two straight miles at 6:00 pace. I think I am getting stronger, but I think being at a lower elevation helped.

I went from my hotel near Union Square up Bush St. and then took a right and came to the entrance of Golden Gate Park. It looks like an incredible place to run, but I had to get back so didn't get to run there. Maybe tomorrow. Not sure on the pace I was going. But it was a lot of stop and start. Bush St. has too many lights. Pacific Ave on the way back was much better.

It's my last day in San Francisco, so I wanted to get a nice run in. So where else would you go in San Francisco than the Golden Gate Bridge? So I ran over to it, ran across it, and ran back. On the way back I ran right by Lombard Street (the steep, windy one) and ran up that just for kicks. It was pretty cool.

For whatever reason though I felt like I was running in slow motion the entire time. Maybe the hills had something to do with it, but I just moved slow. Oh well.

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Did my 1 mile loop. I bundled up because it was cold!

I ran about 1.25 miles after dropping off the car at the shop this morning.

Then did a hill workout on the treadmill late tonight. Ran 3 miles at Level 9. Didn't stop, but it was an abbreviated run.

Over 33 miles for the week. I'm glad to have run that far. Next week will be fairly relaxed because I have a race. 

7 miles easy on the treadmill in about 51 minutes. I felt really good but didn't push the pace because I have a race on Thursday.

Ran 5 miles through Ladera Ranch. It's somewhat hilly. I didn't feel too great. Felt drained. Not sure why. Maybe that large piece of ham, greasy hash browns, eggs, and buttery toast I had for breakfast had something to do with it.

Hopefully I will feel better for the Turkey Trot.

Average pace was 7:47. Not that shabby, I guess. 

I ran a nice 3 miler through Ladera Ranch. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Probably 70 degrees and sunny. I wasn't feeling good at the start, kind of like last night, but I started feeling better. I decided to push the pace to my target race pace (6:00-6:30) for a couple minutes, and it felt good. This gives me hope that I can run that pace tomorrow. So my official goal is 40:00, but hopefully I can exceed that goal. Good luck to all those others who are running tomorrow.

This morning I got up and ran the Turkey Trot in Dana Point, CA. We were down here for Thanksgiving. This race is a pretty big deal. The course is USATF certified, and it has over 4,000 runners. There were more than 10,000 runners total if you include the 5K. It runs around the Dana Point Harbor, so you run about as close as you can get to sea level. It had some minor hills (going over a small bridge). The weather was absolutely beautiful. So was the scenery.

I went in with the goal to break 40:00. I had hoped to do that earlier this year but didn't even come close. But I felt really confident this time. I lined up about 200-300 people back because I hate to crowd people. But that was a mistake because I had to run around a lot of people in the first mile. But no big deal. I was trying to stay as close as I could to 6:00 pace for the first 3 miles and take it from there. Well, it worked out pretty well. My average pace was 6:15. That's great because 6:00 pace used to seem really scary and impossible. Now I feel like I can handle it better.

One of the cool things about this race was that I competed against some other runners along the way. We kept trying to pass each other, and that kept us going. In the end, I had a small mental victory by holding them off at the end. Except a little kid that looked like he was 10 (was really 13). Sort of embarrassing, but my chip time was faster than his. :)

This race showed me that I can go under 40. It also was encouraging because even though I gave it my best effort, I know I can keep going faster. I also admit that I liked the fact that I placed 64th out of 4000 runners. That means I beat about 1 out of every 62 runners. Not that I care that much about competing with them. Just that maybe I have some talent for this after all.

Anyway, I'd love to do some more races like this.

Oh, my Garmin showed it was 6.33 miles. I must not have hit the tangents well. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

Ran a mile around the neighborhood. Still recovering from turkey overdose.

Tonight I ran a hill workout on the treadmill. 7:00 pace, level 9, random hills, 4.5 miles. The farthest I have gotten in the past without having to take a break was 3 miles. This time I made it 4 miles. So I almost made it! Just had to stop one time. But it really challenged me. I was feeling light headed for quite awhile afterward. Hopefully I didn't kill any of my already scarce brain cells.

After running a race last week and then taking it easy on Saturday, I'm ready for a new training cycle. I'll start ramping up the mileage gradually. I'm hoping to do either a spring marathon or maybe something longer. Have to see.

Oh yeah, I also decided I'm going to work toward the 2000 mile mark for this year. I'm lacking 196 miles. So I will try to run that many in December.