Perfect 6 Miles

This week's schedule called for an easy 6 miles yesterday, followed by a 5 mile tempo run Thursday, and a 10 mile long run Sunday. So in the afternoon I climbed out of my work skirt and heels and into my running clothes (shorts!), and headed down to the park for my favorite 6 mile run - around Stow Lake and back. The weather was perfect, the air full of the late afternoon city sounds of birds and traffic and wind. A group of teenage geese, awkward and gawky in their coats of half down, half feathers, bunched together at the edge of the lake, nibbling at pant legs; a mother and son stood at the edge of the path waiting for a gopher to poke his head out; a pigeon puffed himself up for a disinterested female - a perfect summer evening.

I found myself checking the Nike+ regularly, making sure to keep the pace slow. Over the last 6 months of regular running, I've started adapting in ways I hardly noticed. A 10:30 pace for easy runs now feels far easier than the 12:00 pace my original training plan called for, my short run has become 3.5 miles rather than 2, and many of the hills the used to hurt, now feel flat (the steep ones still hurt!). Which is to say, sometimes it just feels fantastic to be running - everything is easy, even the hard parts. You're there 100%, and you want to be there, and you've started looking forward to the next run even before this one's over, and you can't believe you ever dreaded walking out the door in your running shoes. This was one of those times.

I'm also looking forward to starting to bike, but I'm a bit daunted by the variety and price range - any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

Bay to Breakers Race Report

I had never run Bay to Breakers, but the lore around it is so vast that as I headed out of the house Sunday morning with Andy and our housemate Keith, I felt like I'd run it a hundred times. Or 95, to be exact - this is it's 96th year. Unfortunately, we hadn't done our homework very well, and traipsed down into the light rail tunnel thinking we'd get to the action in no time. Instead, we were told that unless we wanted to pay $7 for a special round trip ticket, we would not be allowed on the train. We'd left the house armed only with our camera, a phone, and the $1.50 each it usually costs, so that wasn't an option. We were told that dedicated shuttles were running above ground to take us to the start, but none were in sight. So we took what public transit we could find to where the roads were blocked off, then jogged the 1.5 miles that were left.

Waiting to get up to the starting line. I didn't catch any of the flying tortillas.

Flustered and irritated, but very warmed up, we arrived near the start area just as the run was getting started. We didn't have a chance to make our way toward the front, so we settled in among the throngs to shuffle our way to the starting line. Then we were off - at a very slow jog. Around us, people were still throwing tortillas, a long tradition of unknown origin, and stripping off clothing, and affixing costumes. Luckily, the there was plenty to see, so we jogged and gawked, and waited to pull ahead of some of the 60,000 plus other run/walk/revelers around us. It never really happened. Apparently, most of San Francisco is capable of jogging 7.46 miles because we remained in a thick group most of the race.

Getting started (drinking). These folks were doing keg stands on this float

Truthfully, the slow speed suited me fine, since I haven't been running as consistently as I should be. And it gave me a chance to look around, listen to the bands, and take pictures. About 2 miles into the run, we reached the infamous Hayes Street hill, a steep climb of about 4 blocks. Crowds had gathered to yell encouragements. One group was playing Chariots of Fire, another Wagner, as we labored to the summit.

Me at the top of the Hayes Street Hill. Unlike those around me, who are looking fresh, I actually ran up.

After that, the course cleared a bit, and we settled in to run the final 4 miles that sloped through Golden Gate Park down to the beach. A mile from the end, Keith sped off through the crowd, elbowing his way to the finish about 5 minutes ahead of us.

Our time of 1:26:17 was nearly 13 minutes slower than my last 12K time, but amazingly it was still good enough to get us into the top 10,000 finishers, though not by much! Since we hadn't planned to run for time anyway, we weren't surprised by our pace. Instead, we talked about making it a goal to qualify for a sub-seeded position next year, which for me would mean a 55 minute time in a qualifying 12K. It's an ambitious goal for me, a 7:22 minute mile, but one I plan to keep my eye on over the next 12 months.

The finish line on Ocean Beach. It was a beautiful day in the city, but the beach was cold and windy as usual.

Last year, the race organizers started giving the elite women a 4 minute and 40 second head start, the difference between the course records for men and women, in hopes of some extra drama at the finish line. I'm happy to say that there was none - Edna Kiplagat of Kenya was in the lead most of the race and finished in 38:55, well before her male counterpart, John Korir, also of Kenya (whose final time was 34:44). Korir didn't seem unhappy about the loss though. Here's his quote in the SF Chronicle "At seven miles I saw them (Kiplagat and Chebet),'' Korir said. "I tried to kick but Edna was too strong. It was good. I liked chasing them.''

In the VIP tent afterwards, all of the elite Kenyan runners, men and women, were sitting together laughing and talking. Keith, who does freelance writing in addition to green real estate, noticed that one guy was wearing a "All Kenya Running Club" T-shirt and he immediately fixated upon it. He wanted one of those shirts more than we've seen him want anything (he's an avid runner of many years). We teased him that he would have to earn it by training with the club for a week - a story idea that he pitched to the club organizer. We shall see.

We also observed our San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom chatting it up with event Grand Marshal Victoria Recaño, who looked absurd in platform stiletto heels. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures. Last year, Gavin completed the race in under an hour.

We started home around 11:30 a.m., but transportation was still a nightmare and we ended up walking another 4 miles back to our neighborhood. In all, 13 miles logged, 9 running, and a pretty good way to launch what will be an intense 2 months of training. I'll post my new running schedule as soon as I get it formatted, and pics as soon as I upload them!

Faster and Faster

Our Wednesday night run was the fastest 5 mile training run ever at an average 9:39. We set out to complete our usual 5 mile route in 45 minutes, but that proved to be a little too ambitious. Andy was in good form (and it's more comfortable for him to run faster), but for me it was sometimes difficult to keep up that speed. That, and I ran most of the run with a blister developing on the arch of my left foot, and a side stitch in my left side. I was able to keep it at bay with a routine of exaggerated breathing, but as soon as I relaxed, it started up again.

In celebration of Spring Break, we're taking off a few days from work, renting a car (don't really need one in the city), and heading down the California coast to the Carmel/Big Sur area this weekend. It is a beautiful, and popular, stretch of coast and small towns, which will be gearing up for the Big Sur Marathon in a couple of weeks. There are some secluded (but alas, well known) hot springs a 10 mile hike in from the highway south of Big Sur, and we're thinking about running the trail in, spending a few hours, then hiking back out again before nightfall. Don't know if it's a realistic plan - the trail is hilly and demanding, so we'll have to think it over carefully. Once we've run 10 miles in without much food or any camping gear, we'll pretty much have to hike the 3 hours out whether we "feel like it" or not . . .

Not sure what kind of Internet access we'll have, so I may not post again until Tuesday. But I'll be taking a couple of good runs - and a lot of pictures.

Happy running this weekend.

My 50th Post

When I started running seriously a few months ago, I was almost morbidly attached to my training schedule. I refused to deviate from the prescribed mileage by even a block, and stuck as doggedly as I could to the required pace. I'm not usually like that, but back in December, I would never have thrown caution to the wind as I did last night, when I went out for a 6 mile tempo run - a day early. This might not seem like much, but for me it points to an important milestone. I've grown confident enough as a runner that I can begin to apply another important attribute - flexibility. I can run on a day when I'm not scheduled to run and no longer fear that something will break, that my shin splints will rear their head, that I won't possibly, for some reason, be able to do it. In fact, it was a great run. A comfortably fast 6 miles at an average 10:19 pace (including the slow first and last miles) and feeling fantastic the whole way. I need to add some serious hill work though. They just kill me.

This is my 50th post. Wasn't sure I'd be able to keep the blog (or running!) going this long. Another minor milestone.

Slow 9 Miles

I knew as soon as I started that it wouldn't be an easy run today, which almost made it easier to begin the slow process of settling in. My legs were still tired from Friday, and my mind hadn't fully wrapped itself around the distance. The first half, which is a gradual descent to the ocean, was OK, though the mild downhill definitely helped. I checked my heart rate a few times the old fashioned way (finger on pulse) and it hovered in the 130-140 range. I passed the turnoff for the 8 mile loop and plunged on. It was another beautiful day, almost too warm. After mile 5, I began the gradual climb back through the park. My pace slowed and my heart rate began to climb. Between miles 6 and 7, I probably walked for nearly 3 minutes, trying to run the hills and then rest when they leveled out. Finally, I hit the turn around spot for my 5 mile runs and was able to dig in for the last 2.5. The final two miles where great - steady and easy, and I ended up with an 11:29 average pace for the run.

It hasn't been a problem so far, but with the longer distances recently I realized that I do need to go with a larger shoe size. One black toenail is quite enough, and I noticed some other blisters threatening near the front of my toes. I probably have about 200 miles on my current shoes, and have been thinking that it's time to get another pair to break in and rotate with anyway, so this evening we went down to Sports Basement and tried out the Asics 2120s. I've been running in 2110s, which work well for me, but Andy and I both preferred the feel of the 2120s. The cushioning is firmer and the shoe itself is slimmer and lighter. I'm looking forward to testing them out on my recovery run Tuesday.

Chinese New Year 10k

Despite the night of heavy rains, 6:30am this morning dawned misty and overcast. Our downstairs neighbors had picked the night to pull an all night hang out session, and as a result what sleep we got was punctuated with trance music. They were still at it when we got up - the pitches and rumblings of their voices pressing toward us as we stumbled into our running clothes and shuffled money and sweat shirts into a backpack. Then our friends were outside in the car and we were off to Chinatown.

As soon as the race started, it was clear that Andy wasn't going to wait around for anyone. He had an ambitious goal of finishing in 53 minutes, and a slow start would kill his plans. He wished us good luck and headed out. Juanjo took off after him and Willow and I settled in at good slow pace, around an 11 minute mile. We chatted easily for the first two miles, then began upping our speed and at the end of the third mile, we were tired. I was just under my 5k time from a few weeks ago, and we still had 3+ miles to go. We watched the 5kers peel off toward the finish line, then looked in horror as volunteers pointed us up what looked like one of the steepest hills in San Francisco. I thought for a few seconds, then walked it. Willow followed my lead. It probably saved our time. At the top, we launched back in - up a smaller hill then down steeply for several minutes. "Lean forward as much as you can," I told Willow, "and rest." We passed mile 4. I'm not sure how fast we were going at that point - fast enough for it to be work, but not so fast that it was killing us. We passed mile 5, still feeling OK, and this time stopped for water. I drank a full dixie cup and immediately felt my stomach lurch, threw my second cup, still full, into the trash barrel and continued on.

As we headed into the smaller part of the enormous hill before the final sprint to the finish, Andy came jogging back toward us. We had just hit the hour mark and he knew I was going to come in near my goal time. He ran with us back up the hill and then Juanjo came up behind us and pulled us both along toward the finish line. Just as I was about to cross, Willow put on speed and passed me - grrr! Then we were walking out and handing our tags to a volunteer and climbing up to the square to get our green tea and sliced oranges. I couldn't see the clock as I crossed the line, but it was somewhere right around 1:03:30, which was exactly the goal I'd set. Since I wasn't really aware of how fast I was going for much of the run, I think I just did a good job of guessing what I would be able to do. The Nike + registered my pace as somewhere between a 5 and a 6 minute mile the whole way, not sure why, oh well . . . Andy came in very close to his goal at just over 54 minutes, and Juanjo came in with us looking very rested.

Now, if I can just do that for 26 miles, I'll have my 4:30 marathon. Eeek!

Here we are after the race. I'm in the Nike hat, Andy's in the black knit hat. Willow and Juanjo are on either side of him.

Well ok,

so I set my alarm for 6:30am but there were no outside noises to help me get up this morning. I turned it off and didn't wake up again until 7:30am - my usual time. So instead, I have a new running route tonight: from the office, up a steep 2 mile climb to the panhandle, down to the De Young, and finally home. Which should total the six miles I don't strictly have time to run after work, since we have a reading out at SF State to attend at 7pm. I brought my running clothes to the office and am hoping, with the hill, to make it home in about an hour and ten minutes. That should give me just enough time to shower and head out to campus. Bay to Breakers registration opened Tuesday, so I'm thinking of the run as early practice - it's the same climb. I also noticed that Bay to Breakers is using timing chips for the first time this year. So my record breaking pace will be accurately charted.

This is the first time my Thursday tempo run has climbed to a distance of over 5 miles, but since I'll be running the 5k on Sunday, and don't know if I'll get in another 4 miles afterwards, I'd like to get in the full 6 miles today.

Hill Training

My run through the Mission Monday night convinced me to do a little more research on hill training in general. I found out that running hills might be the best thing possible for a distance runner - it seems that running hills works to strengthen muscles, improve fitness, improve form, and increase speed.

Because the runner must overcome gravity on an incline, hills work as resistance training, like lifting weights. This develops the muscles specific to running, namely the hamstrings, calves, quadriceps, and buttocks. It also helps develop the muscles around the ankles and knees, helping to prevent some of the most common running injuries.

In addition, the muscles used for hill work are the same muscles used for sprinting, so working hills improves speed, too. And because good hill running form requires an exagerated running motion - pumping the arms and lifting the knees high, form is improved along with both the length and frequency of your stride.

Since muscular fitness has been my main problem so far, it's clear that I would be well served by incorporating hills into my regular runs, mostly (at least at first) to develop the muscles that will prevent injury as I continue training.

Most of what I've read discourages speed work if you've recently suffered shin splints, so I plan to replace the speed work days on my training schedule with hill work. There are a few prominent hills in my neighborhood which I've so far taken care to avoid. Now I plan to take them head on.

Running Hills

Took a run through the Mission District for a change last night and realized how easy I have it in Golden Gate Park. Near Dolores Park, even the "flat" streets feature a remarkable amount of incline and decline. I ran up Guerrero Street to 21st Street, over to Dolores Street, around the park, up Dolores to 21st Street again and then zig zagged around until I began to feel a tight itching in my calf muscle around the 3rd mile. I ran another cool down mile to make it about 4 miles. It was humid and warm and I was dripping with sweat when I got done. My leg would probably have lasted another mile were it not for the hills, but they probably got a better workout last night. Overall, I'm feeling good, and I think I'm on track for another 4 or 5 miles on Thursday. Maybe the weather will hold too?