Days 62-63

A morning run with the pup was a great way to start the day. We went 4.05 miles in 56:31 minutes at 13:57 minutes/mile. In the afternoon, I had the great pleasure of meeting Yoanna who is my running buddy from Girls on the Run! She is a sweet and adorable 11 year old. I wanted to be a Girls on the Run coach but realized that the time commitment was too much so I decided to be a running buddy which means that we will do the Lollipop 5K together on May 14th.

Yoanna and I (and the other girls and their buddies) covered 5K by mostly running but also walking and we even skipped! It was fun getting to know her a bit - she has two older brothers and lots of pets. She speaks spanish and told me that some of the boys who we passed were calling her fat (she is not) and I said, really? well, they're stupid. And then I realized that I shouldn't have said that so I said "oops, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, that was mean" and sweet Yoanna had a big smile on her face and she said, "no it wasn't" Also, until yesterday, the furthest she had gone was 2 miles and we did 3.1 together. She was so proud of herself and she said "my mom is going to be so proud of me". And yes, I did tell her that I was proud of her. On our very last lap, we ran super fast. It was really fun.

I wish I had a photo of her to post but I will get one when we do the race in a few weeks. So I'll post a photo of a pretty flower that I saw on last Saturday's run.

Oh yeah, I bought a few new items for my season of running:
1. a second pair of neoprene shoe liners to provide a little more cushioning
2. a new arm band that fits my iPhone so I don't have to carry it or make sure to wear something with a pocket
3. a new running cap
4. a book called Run like a Girl - it's supposed to have inspirational stuff for runners. If it's good, I'm going to get one for my sister.

That's it for now!

Days 57-61

I've missed a few days of updating but I haven't missed any of my scheduled runs. Even though I may do them on a different day than the schedule indicates. Here is my latest summary: Saturday was cloudy but not cold so it was a good day for a run. The goal was 7 and I did a little more than that because I wanted to do the same run that I did last weekend. One steep but short climb followed by a long descent followed by a longer but less steep climb and a fun, fast descent followed by a mostly flat but slightly descending finish. I felt sluggish and heavy but my average pace was almost the exact same as last weekend. The hills in the headlands are starting to lose their bright green brilliance and soon enough, they will be brown (though still beautiful). The trail that you see in the photo is the long descent (it's a fire road called Bobcat). My stats were: 7.4 miles in 1:27 at an average of 11:48 pace. I enjoyed Easter by having a homemade benigets for breakfast (South Beach Dr would be horrified) and then Paul & I went to friends house for lunch/easter egg hunting. Monday and Tuesday were running days with the pup. On Monday we had a 3 mile goal and Tuesday we had a 5 mile goal. Stats are: 3.16 miles in 50:59 at an average of 16:07. The next day was 5.22 miles in 1:13 at an average of 14:05 The 5 mile day was the longest Uli (the pup) has gone in quite some time and he did great. I'm proud of the boy!

Days 55-56

Wow, I can't believe I'm 56 days into the training season. I rested yesterday and did double duty today. This morning was a 4 miler with Uli the pup 4.14 miles in 58:35 at 14:08. And lucky for me, I got an email from the bosses saying that today was an early close day so I decided to get a mountain bike ride in. I did the ride to Metallica's Gate which is an 11.86 miler (hills!) and I did it in 1 hour and 43 minutes.

I am also completely obsessed with GPS watches these days. I have an older Garmin which used to work very well but it's probably 5 years old now and it's tired. It can carry a full charge and then shut down while I'm running. I know that the Garmin technology is very good but I really like the look of the brand new (sold out) Nike GPS watch. Garmin is coming out with a brand new version in 2 weeks and I'll probably get it because I'm seeing reports that say that the Nike GPS technology isn't great. There are many great apps out there that track distance, pace, and your basic stats. My favorite is the Nike plus App. You can listen to your music, the distances are measured accurately (they match the mile markers from when my Garmin watch worked better) and there are audio messages from Tracy Morgan and Lance Armstrong congratulating you as you progress with your training. But I need a watch that will tell me the pace that I am running and I need that to be accurate. I haven't found an App that does that. If one exists that you know of (and allows you to set a pace goal and you get audio notices if you are off pace), will you let me know?

I also found a GREAT new product. Camelbak has a hydration "shirt" called a RaceBak that has the water pack sewn into the shirt so you don't get chaffing from a backpack. I hate carrying water bottles when I run, backpacks give me brush burns and waist belts give me brush burns and they flop all around. And truthfully, I don't want to try one of those belts with multiple bottles all around it. I'm ok for now but when I start doing 12+ miles, I really should bring water with me. So I'll wear my Camelbak Racebak! I guess I shouldn't be too excited yet because I have not received it but it is on order. I'll let you know what it's like once it arrives.

Better get to bed, 7 miles to run tomorrow!

Days 53-54

Uli and I ran 4 today and it was really fun. 4.07 in 54:38 at an average pace of 13:24. Not fast but fun. We took this picture today on the run and it's one of my all-time-funniest photos of the pup.

My sister has a 10k this weekend which is the kick-off for her training season. She is doing the NY Marathon as well so I'm happy to see her getting started. In a few weeks I have a 5K on a Saturday (it is a fun run for Girls on the Run, I'm a "running buddy" for a girl who I will meet next week. I will run as fast or as slow as she wants and encourage her to get to the finish line.) And then the next day I am doing Bay to Breakers which is a 12K here in San Francisco. People wear costumes, some wackos even run naked and everyone seems to have a great time.

I'll have some work travel coming up but I'll work my miles around the travels as best as I can.

Days 51-52

Yesterday was supposed to be a 3 mile day but since I did 7.5 instead of 4 the day before, Paul and I went on a 12 mile bike ride to Metallica's gate instead. You'll hear that as a common ride this summer since it's a good but challenging ride from my home. And it was fun to get out with Paul.

Today was supposed to be a rest day but I won't be able to run tomorrow because of work so I did 3 miles today. The plan was to run 4 miles but my running buddy pictured above wasn't really feeling it. He kept stopping to eat grass for much of our climb and then he threw up when we got to the top. I told him that I sometimes feel like doing that too when I get to the top of the hills. The photo was taken before he got sick.

Days 48-50

Well, Thursday was a 3 mile day and I ran zero. I was exhausted from two full days of conference-ing. So by the time Friday came around, I was 5 miles down for the week that I needed to make up. Friday was a rest day but I ran 4 with my pup (3.98 in 52:13 at 13:06) and today, Saturday, I ran 7.54 instead of the 7.54 in 1:28:25 at 11:44. My route was a fantastic Oakwood Valley-Alta-Bobcat-Miwok-Old Springs-Rhubarb. A few big hills and lots of fun downhills. It was sunny but as I got closer to the beach it was a bit foggy. I felt somewhat slow going uphill so I did plenty of walking and had some Clif blocks around 45 minutes into it and I felt strong throughout. Even though I did some walking. Good times.

Days 44-47

I've haven't been great this week because I had a conference to go to Tuesday (a 3 mile day). Wednesday was a 4 mile day but I did run 5 after the conference. And today was a 3 mile day and I slept in. I will make up for the 5 missed miles but I do feel rested. Yesterday was a super windy run on the Golden Gate Bridge. Stats: 5.01 miles in 49:04 at a 9:47 average. It was pretty fun and so super windy. I also got a few nice photos.

Day 43

It's Spring, it's Spring! Another gorgeous day to get out and about. According to my training schedule, I was supposed to run 3 yesterday and 6 today but I ran 6 yesterday and rode my mountain bike 12 miles today. That's not very far for a bike ride but I got quite a workout. I think the overall climb is about 800 feet and my stats are: 12.02 miles in 1h 46 min an an average pace of 8:50/mile. I've been wanting to get back into riding and I think the best way to build my riding strength is to work on my strength which comes from riding uphill.

I call this ride the "Metallica's Gate" ride. One of the guys in the band Metallica, James Hetfield has a ton of property up here in Marin and part of that property comes right up to the edge of open space and I have heard that Hetfield didn't like having people be able to get onto his property so he was able to convince/pay off? the open space committee to put a gate across the fire-road that crosses his property. It's a bummer that there is a super ugly gate in the middle of super beautiful land. But, the gate is 6 miles from my front door and it's a good training ride. Especially at this time of the year when the hills are so vibrant and green. They will be brown soon enough but for now, thanks to all of the rain that we have recently had - the green is absolutely gorgeous. Photos from today.

Days 41 & 42

Yesterday was a rest day so I did the Nike Training Club Ab Burner. Today was the perfect day for a run. It was about 62 degrees and sunny and the breeze was blowing - it blew me up the hill and I ran into it on the downhill. Lucky me. I went to Tennessee Valley for today's 6 mile run. My route was a slight uphill for the first mile, a steep uphill for the next quarter of a mile and then less steep uphill for the rest of the second mile. The third mile is flat to rolling and absolutely gorgeous. If you're local, it was up Oakwood Valley, up Alta and onto SCA where you get to see the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Valley and the Pacific Ocean. See photo. I felt great - walked up the steep parts and ran fast on the downhill parts. I tried to think about the technique tips that I got at the UCSF clinic - kick back behind me, use the core, don't bounce too much, etc. My stats were 6.0 in 1:09 at 11:36.

After the run, my husband & I went out for burgers and fries. Not at all what the south beach folks would recommend but it's the weekend and we both did some exercising. He did a road ride (bike).

I also signed up to be a running buddy at the upcoming 5k Girls on the Run race. I had wanted to be a coach but realized that my work just wasn't flexible enough to dedicate the time needed for coaching. But I am very excited to run 5k with one of the girls and encourage her the whole way. That one is on May 14th and the following day, and the next day is the Bay to Breakers 12k.

While the scale isn't where I want it to be, I am feeling better when I run than I did a month ago. That's trending in the right direction.

Oh yeah, if anyone happens to read this who may have advice for me - please feel free to share. Especially if you think I should be doing things differently. Thanks!

Days 37-40

Monday was a rest day so rest I mostly rested but I also went to the RunSafe program at UCSF. I definitely got some good information out of it though it was expensive ($200 bucks!). I left with an understanding of what I need to work on (strenthen my glutes and hip flexors) and how that will improve my form. And the next day, I received a set of exercises via email telling me how to build that strength. At the clinic, I started out at the nutrition consultation and found out that most of what I'm doing pre/post run is good. I've read a lot about this so I know that chocolate milk or a latte or yogurt with granola and berries after a run are good things. And a bagel with peanut or almond butter before a long run is also good. I also learned that I should eat the full Gu packet or a full packet of Luna Moons each 45 minutes during a 90 minute or longer run. I usually eat a few Luna moons but not the full 100 calorie packet. Good to know! Then I went to the strength/flexibility station and I didn't learn much at that point but the next day when the exercises were sent to me, I better understood the areas that I need to work on. It was a little weird that during the tests the girl wasn't saying "oh this is good" or "lordy, this is going to need some work..." but that was also smart of her because I would have asked her lots of questions and we would have gone over our time. The next stop was at the podiatrist who looked at my walk, my feet and my shoes. She said that she normally doesn't recommend Nike's but since I am not having any foot trouble and I like the cushioning, there is no problem with me running in those shoes. I learned that I can get neoprene inserts to get a little more cushioning. My foot wasn't hurting at the time so she wasn't worried about that. Then the last part was the running part where they put dots all over you and then you run on the treadmill for about 10 minutes while they film you from different angles. Then the four people you spent time with consult with each other about you and then they call the runners back into the room and they evaluate your running and show you problem ares and what you need to work on. They are able to point out weaknesses in form that are related to weaknesses that they discovered in the strength/flexibility test. The good news is they say I'm a light, efficient runner, not much movement up and down and my cadence is 90 which is supposed to be great. But I have an inward rotation as I run and I step a little bit too far in front when running. They gave me exercises to fix the rotation and told me that as I work on speed, to think about kicking back farther rather than stepping forward more. Try to kick my butt with my feet. So I'll be doing those things. Oh yeah, they also did a body composition and I was happy with the results. I am losing weight, slowly. I was also told that I should lose the weight I want to lose before I start my serious training for the marathon because I can't be dieting while training. Makes sense. Another good thing about that clinic is that I found out that they have a running group that meets once a week to do track workouts, hill workouts or just a regular runs, they have a monthly lecture and do core work before heading out for the run. I won't do it all the time but I would like to from time to time.

Another result of the clinic is that I feel inspired to work on my form and a new desire to really understand how to do proper speed workouts. I am not doing speed work yet but in late May, I'll need to be starting that and I want to do them properly. The UCSF running group should help.

OK, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all 3 mile days and each one was with my running buddy. He's back and his paw is feeling good! Our stats:
Tuesday: 3.04 in 40:05 at 13:10, Wednesday 3.05 in 41:13 at 13:29 and Thursday 3.07 in 42:24 at 13:46. He definitely slows me down with all of that stopping, going to the bathroom, sniffing, rolling in the grass, etc. But he sure is good company and good fun.

Day 36

What a gorgeous day! It was an easy 3 mile day the the miles flew by. I felt great - even on the going uphill parts. Today's stats are 3.05 miles in 30:47 at 10:05. I went to the Terra Linda Sleepy Hollow Open Space so there is some elevation but it's nothing like a headlands run where you can be going uphill for more than a mile. On this one, I drove to the entrance so you do run uphill from the start but you're not climbing very high. Photos from today. Tomorrow is the RunSafe program at UCSF. I am so excited! Lately my foot has been bothering me for a little while after I run. The area at the bottom of my right foot where the toes end and the foot begins so I will ask for their advice on that one.

Days 22-35

I have been so lame. I have been sick and today is just the second full day of feeling like a normal human again. I also went out of town for a long weekend of family and friends and fun. I had a 2 week cold which was mostly a cough but before it ended, I also spent just under three full days with a migraine. Yuck. But now, things are looking up and I went out for a 6 mile run to celebrate. I ran Rhubarb to Miwok to Coyote Ridge and it was a lovely, blue sky and warm day. Official stats are: 6.01 miles in 1:13 at 12:11. I felt a little bit sluggish but that's no big surprise given how I've felt the past two weeks.

I am also very excited because on Monday night, I'll be doing a clinic at UCSF called RunSafe. The whole idea of the program is to evaluate your stride, footstrike, etc. your feet, your nutrition, etc. so that you have a good and strong training season without getting injured. I am very excited to get a spot in the clinic before my serious training begins. I'll be sure to update you on what I learn.

And finally, I am lusting over a new Nike GPS running watch that will be coming out soon. I want it badly. I have an older Garmin GPS watch which used to work really well but it's quite old and now it just shuts off while I'm running, even when the watch has a full charge when I start the run. My only worry about the Nike watch is that it is based on GPS technology by TomTom and I don't have any idea how reliable or good their technology is. I know for sure that Garmin is great, I hope that TomTom is too. Especially out here in the hills where I like to run.

Well, that's about it for me. I'll post pictures from today's run for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!