Another 12 Miles

Finally made it out for my long run last night - a scheduled 14 miles. Although I've been trying to get sleep and eat well, and even though I hadn't run since Friday, I still felt sluggish and tired. I talked myself through the first three miles and began to settle in for my first 7 mile loop, though at a very slow pace. When I finished the first loop, I wanted very much to just head home. I continued on into the second loop, but when I got to the turn-off for my 5 mile loop, I decided to let myself off the hook and just do 12 miles. I may add a mile or two to my recover run this evening.

Interestingly, my pace increased for the second loop and around 9 miles into the run, just as I started heading for home, I dug into a moderate hill and suddenly began to feel light. Not light-headed, just smooth and easy for the first time in the run. I've never experienced "runners high" but I imagine that might be what it feels like. For about 2 miles, I felt like I could run forever and my pace hovered around a 10:15 mile (up from 11:45 or so).

This week, I'll get in a short recovery run today and try for some speed work Thursday if the legs feel up to it. Then we're off to the East Coast for 10 days. We'll spend this weekend in New Hampshire for a wedding, then spend about a week in NYC.

Vallejo 12 Miles

Mostly we've spent the weekend lounging around the house we're sitting, playing with the dogs, reading, napping, watching movies, and generally doing nothing. But we did head out for our scheduled 12 miles this afternoon. Out along the Vallejo waterfront, across the bridge to Mare Island, around the island, and out and back again along the water. Mare Island is a former Naval Base, now under a redevelopment plan that struck us as more hopeful than realistic. Set back somewhat from the former military housing sit rows of neat new houses in various stages of completion, mostly empty. Behind them, down still unpaved roads, we discovered the former prison and next to it, some basic training facilities - ropes to climb, logs to jump, etc. Around mile 5, we stopped and ate our energy gels (a new experiment) and drank our water, then continued on around the island before heading back toward the bridge. The day was warmer than we're used to, but we both had good energy until the last two miles, when the run devolved into an exercise of how much farther we could drag ourselves. When the nano showed 12 miles, I stopped, even though I had doubts about its accuracy. We'd been running for 2 hours, 12 minutes, and I had estimated our 12 miles to last more like 2 hours, 15 minutes. When we got back to the house, I mapped the run and discovered that at most, we may have been off by about a tenth of a mile. Good enough for me.

I could have run all night . . .

Now that the semester is over, I have Tuesday afternoons free to run. It was still warm and not too windy when I got home, but I lingered at the house for about an hour before setting out for the 10 miler I should have completed on Sunday. The wind had picked up slightly and I could see the usual fog rolling in from the coast, but the day still alternated between clouds and sun, and the temperature was pleasantly mild. I decided to do two loops of my usual 5 mile run - through the panhandle, down to 19th Avenue, and back. Somehow that seemed less daunting than running all the way to the windy beach and climbing back again.

I started slowly, conserving energy throughout the first loop and feeling good all the way. A little achy as I launched into the second loop, but also luxuriously warm and loose. I've learned that I need a long warm up - get me past the 4 mile mark, and I'm good to go; before that, it's a constant fight with myself to stay out there.

Through the panhandle at the end of the second loop, I put on speed and heard a group of homeless kids yell out from a bench, "damn, you're hot, you don't need to jog!" It balances out. Last week a guy yelled "you suck at life" when I didn't have any cigarettes to offer.

The panhandle is the last leg of all my runs, and I usually use it to take my "running temperature" for the day. Today I knew I could have run another loop for a strong 15 miles, and I half decided to do it, but the risk of derailing my already feverish training plan gave me pause. I can't risk injury right now, or the possibility of missing a single one of my long runs. So instead, I picked up speed. How else to end a strong 10 miles but with a sprint?

The run ended up just faster than my last 10 miles, way back on April 1st. Though still slow at an 11:12 minute mile, it was a full :30/mile faster than the training plan called for, and I felt truly great the whole way. I still plan to run all of my scheduled runs for the week, probably tonight and Friday, then run 12 miles Sunday.

In between, a bike ride to work!

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!

Difficult Choice

Andy and I decided not to run the Santa Cruz Half Marathon next weekend. Though we've been putting in quite a few miles, we've run only one 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago, and nothing of any distance since. Lack of preparation alone would probably not have stopped us, but in addition, the shin splint in my left leg has been threatening for the past week, and Andy's ankles have been acting up as well. Yesterday, on a 6 mile run through the park to the beach, the pain in my shin grew from a dull ache to a sharper nagging. The pain eventually went away, but it eased the decision not to run the half next week. While we had both looked forward to the race, we had to admit that at this point, we would be lucky to finish, and that's not the kind of running I like to do. I'm going to continue to run easy this week, then work toward building a more consistent base of medium long runs (10-12 mile distances). There are still something like 13 weeks until the marathon -- plenty of time.

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.

Sunday 10 Miler

This was my first 10 miles, a distance I've anticipated since I started running. It's a bit arbitrary, but it has stood out on the horizon as a sort of marker to me, a defining distance. 10 miles feels, finally, respectable. At the same time, the added miles aren't as dramatic as they once were - the mental and physical demands of 10 miles over 9 are less than those of, say, 5 miles over 4, and in ways today's run was downright easy. It was also difficult in places, and painful. Mostly, I think because we hadn't eaten enough earlier and because it's time to start thinking about refueling during our long runs.

The day dawned overcast and windy and we allowed ourselves to sleep in until after 9:30 am. Then I picked up coffee and scones and we wrapped ourselves in blankets and wrote for the rest of the morning. We managed to put off the run until nearly 3:30 pm, but finally forced ourselves out into the weather, knowing we would be thankful for it around mile 6. For the first time, I tried carrying a water bottle with me. Based on a friend's suggestion, I found a sports tank with a pocket on the back, similar to many biking shirts, and I was able to fit a small (about 10 oz) water bottle in the zippered pocket. This worked incredibly well for me - it was easily accessible and snug enough not to bounce much. Next week, we'll experiment with some gels as well.

The first 6 miles went easily at an average 10:30 pace - down through the park to the ocean, then out and back a mile and a half along the Great Highway. After that, we turned inland for the more difficult final 4 miles - the climb back up through the park and home. Here we slipped down to an average 11:15 pace, which was closer to what should have been our goal speed anyway, and worked our way back to the relatively flat final mile. This was the first run in a long time where I've felt completely exhausted afterwards, but I still felt like I could have continued on for 3 miles if necessary. We averaged an 11:00 pace, which was far too fast, but our hard workout days isn't until Wednesday, so we have ample time to recover before then.

This week, I'm hoping to return to full mileage - 2 miles Tuesday morning, 45 minutes at tempo speed Wednesday night, 5 miles at goal pace Friday, and 11 or 12 miles next Sunday. A similar schedule the following week, and bring on the half marathon!

New Schedule

First of all, an update on the 12K: I came in 125th in my age group (out of about 270) with an official time of 1:14:12. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a picture of me, though I distinctly recall waving directly at the photographer and pausing as he snapped a shot. Next time maybe I can convince Andy to pull out the digital camera at the finish line and wait for me . . .

At the bottom of the page, I've included a new training guide, which I plan to follow roughly for the next 5 weeks. I haven't yet decided what my half marathon pace goal should be, but I've been having fun playing around with the McMillan Running Calculator. Based on that, it seems like it should be somewhere around a 10:30/minute mile. We also confirmed that we'll be staying with good friends in Santa Cruz, and may convince them to run the 10K that day.

I've been obsessed with things other than running for the past week. Too soon yet to spread the word.

This week in running . . .

My 9 miles last Sunday were so much easier than the week before. I took the same route and ran all the hills without much trouble. Then an easy 2 miles Tuesday, and a fast 5 miles today.

I'm a bit nervous about the 12k on Sunday. I reduced my mid-week miles in preparation, and as a result I feel like I've hardly run this week. It's also a distance I'm less comfortable with, and thought I'm not entirely sure of the course, I think there will be a few good hills. Regardless, I've set my sights on a 1:15 time, which is a bit faster than I ran the recent 10k.

The weather just keeps getting clearer and warmer here, and with the extra hour of light in the evenings, it's really beginning to feel like summer.

Next Up?

Another recovery run today, and it feels good to be out running an extra day per week. I can definitely do four days a week. Five might start testing my commitment, but who knows. So far my commitment has been like that of an addict to a new drug - almost limitless. In fact, such a comparison isn't far off - after all, endorphins are more properly called endomorphines.

This Sunday, another 9 miler, then a lighter running week before the 12k. After that? Very likely, the Santa Cruz Half Marathon on April 22. Talk about milestones. The idea seems sudden to me, but here's what I'm thinking: lighter mileage leading up to the 12k and light mileage that week, so plenty of rest before upping mileage again. Then two 10 mile long run weeks, followed by two 12 mile long run weeks, tapering the rest of my week's mileage during the last week. Then the half marathon. We don't plan to run it for time, just as a 13 mile training run, but I'm not entirely confident about this one so advice is welcome!

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.

The Long Haul

Fridays have become my favorite running days. I love going out mid afternoon, rested, calm, feeling almost lazy, feeling myself adjust to a higher level of exertion, then really pushing my speed for as long as I can. Yesterday, we ran a little over 7 miles, with 4 miles around a 9:30 pace and another mile around a 10:00 pace. I actually beat my 10k race time by almost a minute. The weather was perfect - warm and still. The best part is that I didn't feel at all exhausted, as I have after other hard runs, and I'm not nearly as sore today either. It's good to begin adjusting to the longer runs, both mentally and physically, and to look forward to a routine of 10+ mile runs. I'll be up around 20 mile weeks now, a good base from which to start real marathon training, and perhaps changing my running schedule as I adopt a new training plan. Tomorrow, my first 9 mile run and then, if I decide to follow the plan, a mini-taper before the 12k two weeks from now.

Also, my running books came today. I am settling down to browse through them both.

Daniels VS Pfitzinger

I ordered both books online, but I'm not really planning on pitting them against each other. In fact, I don't plan on adopting the "Pfitz" plan any time soon (after the SF marathon?), but I am ready to get a bit more scientific about training. I'm still building base miles, trying to encourage my body to catch up with my ambitions, trying to keep it slow and patient, getting my mind to adjust to sustained pressure. Why is it that I can run for an hour and a half with relative ease, but a two minute dash to catch a train leaves me with heart pumping, struggling to catch my breath? Am I not pushing hard enough on my regular runs? Andy would say so. He thinks I should be forcing the pace up, chasing speed goals.

I want to be running farther and faster too, but most of my runs still leave me with tight calves, ominous shin aches, sore hamstrings. Part of that is expected, but I don't have any threshold for comparison. How hard is too hard to push, and what pains are run-of-the-mill, what pains are cause for carefulness? Case in point: after my long run Monday, the back of my left leg grimaced painfully along the whole length, painful even to stretch. It has only started to subside today, and the shin still aches. I want to get in a good hard run before Sunday's race, but is that wise? would a gentle 5 miles be better? if I do include a 6 mile tempo run, when should do it? should I give myself ample time to recover from Sunday rather than risk a real injury (run on Friday), or give myself ample recovery time before next Sunday (run on Thursday)?

Books aren't any substitute for experience, but I'm hoping they will give me context, new ways to measure and make meaning from the jumble of questions and impressions I've built up so far. After July 29th, maybe I'll be able to look back over a year of running and know things, crown myself "intermediate," set new goals. Until then, there are running books, and a break from all that poetry :)

8 Miles

I missed my long run yesterday and Andy and I ran it today instead since we both had the day off. It's been an amazing week - clear, sunny, and mostly in the high 50s-low 60s during the day. Today we added another mile to make it 8. I iced the shin and took an Advil before we set out, then iced again when we got back. Not sure if it was necessary, but it's continued to bother me a bit, and I was concerned about the longer distance. No problem during the run though, and I felt much better than I did on the 7 miles last Sunday. In fact, I still had a little gas in the tank at the end, despite running at a faster pace today. We completed the run in 1:27:52 for an average of about a 10:58 pace. I still haven't managed to calibrate the Nike +, but it seemed a little more accurate with the miles today and I think the pace is pretty right on.

The run was definitely a confidence booster for the 10k this weekend - I'm setting an ambitious time goal of 1:03:30, a 10:15 mile, which is last weeks 5 mile tempo run speed, but only a little slower than my 5k time. According to my schedule, I should also start adding a short recovery run on Fridays, but I think I may stick to my current schedule this week to give myself two days rest before the race.

I'm already thinking beyond the 12k in March about a training plan for the Marathon in July. I'll be up around 20 miles per week by then, and I'd like to be running 35 a week consistently by late June. Other than that, I'd just like to finish in under about 4.5 hours and feel good enough afterwards that I'm ready to train for the next one.

Three weeks late,

but I finally got in that 7 miles. The day was beautiful and warm after a week of rain and we headed through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach, then went another couple of miles out and back along the Great Highway. I was still a bit tired and sore after Friday's run. I normally run my tempo days on Thursdays, so my body must have been expecting another rest day Sunday.

Which is all to say that I began to run out of steam after about 5 miles and definitely dragged the 6th mile. In the 7th mile, Andy took off ahead and I kicked into a new gear as well. I felt great as I loped up to the Java Beach Cafe. The run felt pretty slow, but it turned out to be just under my target long run pace of 11:32. If everything feels good, I'm going to push ahead with an 8 mile run next Sunday. These are virgin miles now - with every new distance, a new threshold reached and exceeded.

Day Off

Andy and I took a lovely day off from everything yesterday. We went to breakfast around noon at a wonderful little French cafe in Cole Valley, then walked in the sun up to Kezar Stadium and watched the runners for a while, bumping into a couple of friends on the way. After that, we walked up to Canvas Cafe and spent a few hours reading and talking about the future of literature. Then we walked through Golden Gate Park to the Inner Richmond where we spent a cold half hour at Green Apple Books before getting dinner at Le Soleil. We capped off our night by going to see Almodovar's new film, Volver, at the Clay. Ahhh . . . A whole vacation packed into one day.

My long run Sunday was great and I feel good about the new schedule and pace goals. I started off a bit too fast, but settled into an 11:30 mile nicely and averaged an 11:00 mile over all. I'm already getting excited about the 12k in March!

San Francisco Marathon Route

Jeff over at Map My Run alerted me to the fact that you can now embed maps into a blog. So here's the 2007 San Francisco Marathon route. A preview of what I'll be preparing for over the next several months.

Also, I hear it's National De-lurking Week, and I know there are a few of you who've found the blog, so please leave a comment and tell me about yourself!



Stow Lake

For today's long run (6 miles) we headed down to Stow Lake, looped around and headed back. Our pace was again very slow, so I tried to concentrate on form -- hips leading, trying for a mid foot strike rather than my natural heel strike. I was not at all sore from our 5 mile tempo run on Thursday and Andy was itching to increase the pace, so we sped up a bit in the last mile and came in in minute or so early. The slow pace coupled with the changes in form must have been doing something though because my legs felt like jello as we slowed to a walk at the end.

After a bit more research online when I got home, I found increasingly conflicting information about the foot strike in general. Though a mid foot strike seems to improve speed slightly, it also absorbes slightly less shock. Something like 80% of runners are actually heel strikers. The other elements of form are less controversial, and it's clear I need improvement in all of them.