Days 87-93

Let's see how the week shaped up. Overall, I missed 9 miles of running this week - I went to LA for work for 2 days and couldn't make those miles up. But I did run 6 last Sunday and tried out a new route which I probably won't do again because there were just too many cars nearby. None of the run was relaxing and peaceful but I did it and now I know better. Stats: 6.01 miles in 1:02:17 at an average of 10:22. There was one big hill at the beginning and end of the run. Then on Thursday I was out on the trails with my 4 legged buddy and we did 5.11 in 1:07:03 at an average pace of 13:06. And today was my first 9 mile run in a long long time. The stats are 9:07 miles in 1:34:25 with an average pace of 10:25. I ran from home to the open space which is my route for when I run with the pup so it was weird to not have him by my side.

But the most exciting part of this week in running is the arrival of my Garmin 610 gps watch! I used it for the first time today and it was fantastic. I initially wanted to get the gorgeous new Nike GPS running watch but decided to go with the new Garmin watch when I saw some negative reviews about Nike's GPS functionality. I have had a Garmin before (Forerunner) and it performed very well so I trusted that the GPS would perform well. The new watch is much better looking then the big boxy red Garmin that I have just put into retirement. I also like that it vibrates every mile and shows my average pace for that mile. Photo from it's maiden voyage. By the way, I still used the Nike + GPS running App because I was curious to know how close the results would be from the new watch and I would say that the distance started out very close but the watch and the App started to disagree on the distance about 4 miles in. I think the watch is more accurate because it was tracking exactly to the mile markers that the App has shown in the past. But it wasn't a huge difference. There are two reasons I felt that I really needed to get a new watch: 1. I want the convenience of being able to stop/start the watch without having to take the phone out of my pocket, swipe to start up, enter my security code and then stop/start. This is mostly relevant for waiting for green lights at crossings. I just let the App timer keep going but with the watch, I can pause and start it again easily. The next reason is that I like being able to look down at any time to see my pace - and I need to figure out how to do it but I will be able to set a pace goal in the watch and it will alert me when I get out of the target range. Pretty cool. Oh yeah, I also use a different App for cycling. It's called iMapMyRun. It's a running App that allows you to also track other sports. The Nike + GPS App doesn't let you do that.

Days 73-86

So it's been a while but I haven't been completely inactive. After my last reported run, that evening, my back started to feel very stiff and tight and I thought about how I needed to get back to a yoga studio. By the time I went to sleep that night, I was having back spasms. Went to the doctor's office the next day and was given a prescription for body work (therapeutic massage) and physical therapy. The spasms continued that day/night and the next day. I did get in for a body work appointment and couldn't believe that they could work on my back without triggering the spasms. It was better that afternoon (still having the spasms but not as often) and then slept well that night and they didn't come back. So I took it easy that week and didn't run at all but I did make it to a Bikram yoga class on Friday. Then on Saturday was the Girls on the Run Lollipop 5K and it was so much fun. My running buddy was ready to race. Which was pretty funny because she was not at all competitive when I met her a few weeks before but she took off like a bullet when it was time for the race to begin. I told her that I would run as fast as she wanted to run but that we might want to make sure we save up energy to finish the race. But she ran strong for the first mile and then she would walk for about 10 seconds and then take off again. As we got to about 1 mile to the finish she started telling me stuff like "my legs are burning" and then she would say "let's go" and she'd take off again. Then "I can't believe how much I'm sweating, I never sweat this much when I run" and then she'd take off again. And "it burns when I breathe" and she's off. I asked if she felt dizzy and she didn't so we just kept on with the run hard for a few minutes then walk for 10-20 seconds then run hard again. She was amazing. And when we finished we found out that of the 20 or so girls from her school in the program, she finished first! Afterwards, she told me that she didn't want to be last so she ran fast. Oh I could hug her. And we did the 5K in 29 minutes which was a 9:20 pace. Not bad at all Yoanna!

That evening, the weather forecast got better for Bay to Breakers which was taking place at 7am the following morning. Originally they were predicting hail and heavy rain for the race but by Saturday night, they said that the worst of the storm will have passed over by the time the race began. And indeed that was true. It was a blue sky, gorgeous morning. I did the 12K/7.55 miles in 1:09:59 and my pace was 9:16 which was great. I was happy with that. And it gave me a better sense of what to expect for race paces. We'll see if I can hold that or improve on it for the SF Half.

I did Bikram yoga the next morning and then had to go to Salt Lake City for work so instead of a 3 mile run, I did a 3 mile...swing or slide? What do you call it when you go 3 miles on an elliptical machine? The kind where your legs slide up and down? Then on Thursday I was back with my 4 legged running buddy and we did 4.19 miles in 57:19 at an average pace of 13:40. Saturday I did 8 miles in the Open Space near my house in 1:30:20 at an average pace of 11:17 and then finally, today I did 6 miles in 1:02:17 at an average pace of 10:22. I went in a new direction for today's run. I went up and over a hill called Wolfe Grade and dropped down to the outskirts of a nearby town called Larkspur. It wasn't very pretty and was almost all on sidewalks next to busy roads which I don't like. I'm trying to scout out nice places to run for when I have the really long miles to cover but this sure isn't it. I'll find a better place. I'm thinking of starting in Sausalito and then going to the Golden Gate Bridge and into SF which is very pretty. But I don't need to worry about that just yet. I'm looking at 9 miles as my longest run for next weekend.

Photos are with both of my running buddies and the starting area at Bay to Breakers where one of the traditions is to throw tortillas in the air like frisbees. And oh yeah, yes, there were hilarious costumes and plenty of completely naked runners. I just wore normal running clothes.

Days 67-72

It's been a slow week for running. I didn't run on Monday because I was tired from Sunday's bike ride and then on Tuesday, I had a meeting in the city followed by the onset of a migraine so I didn't run on Tuesday either. On Wednesday, I flew to Washington DC and was there until Friday night. I didn't run in DC either because there just wasn't any time. Oh by the way, getting on an airplane with a migraine just might be one of the most miserable circumstances for a flight. Migraines make me nauseous and to fly for 4 1/2 hours while nauseous is pretty awful. I took Pepto Bismol which made me feel better then I took my migraine meds which then made my stomach feel unsettled again. Anyway, I survived the flight and sat at an empty gate for about an hour before getting a taxi to the hotel. By the time I got into bed, I could tell that the migraine was going away. I woke up feeling much better and went straight to meetings.

OK, so I am 10 miles down for the week but I ran 8 miles yesterday and 7 today. Both days were super windy and I felt stronger today than I thought I would since I was running on tired legs. Yesterday was in the Headlands - starting on Oakwood Valley to Alta to SCA and back. The stats are: 8.01 miles in 1:31:30 with an average of 11:25. And today I drove to the close Open space near my house and went from there. Today's stats are: 7.04 miles in 1:14:34 at an average pace of 10:35. It's looking like my Headlands pace averages around 11:30 and when I'm running out here by my house, I get closer to a 10:35 average. That is because the Headlands present more severe climbs than out here. When I drive to the Open Space, I miss out on the big climb so while there are ups and downs along the way, I save a minute per mile on my pace.

Next weekend are two races - the first is the Lollipop run where I will probably run and walk with my running buddy, Yoanna. That is on Saturday in Golden Gate Park. And then on Sunday, it's Bay to Breakers - the 100th running! I am really excited for that one because it will give me my first real idea of what my pace is going to be on a mostly flat course. I know that there is one hill along the route but the rest is pretty flat. I can't wait to see how that one turns out.

The photos are from Saturday's run - the location is at the end of SCA, I took a left towards the Golden Gate Bridge until my Nike Training GPS told me that I hit the halfway point.

Days 64-66

What a weekend. It was warm and gorgeous. Saturday was a day of running and I did the same route I've done for the past few weekends and felt tired and heavy but my time was a tiny bit better than the last few times so I call that a victory. 7.5 Miles in 1:26:38 at an average of 11:33 minutes per mile. My last mile was my fastest so that felt great when I looked at the stats. I was going to run again on Sunday but Paul asked if I wanted to do a bike ride with some friends, Scott and Kris and that sounded fun. It was a killer ride though. Meaning, it almost killed me. It was a gorgeous day but I haven't been riding that much and we ended up going 18.54 miles. It took us 3 hours and 50 minutes - the others could have done it faster but I was slow. And I was on a geared mountain bike - they were all on single speed 29ers! (Super hard). We climbed 2776 feet ride and while I was totally exhausted when I was done, I was proud of myself. And Paul told me that he was proud of the way I rode. That was sweet. I went to sleep super happy because of that and also, well, there was huge news in the world of the USA with the US having found Osama Bin Laden.

And this morning, me and the pup ran 5 miles. We were both pretty tired and slow. 5miles in 1:16 at an average of 15:15.

The photos are from the bike ride. We started in Mill Valley and rode to the top of Mt Tam (the first photo is from the top) then dropped down to the lakes (the second photo), rode around the lakes and then back up Tam (though not all the way back up to the top). Thank goodness. Oh, and we went to Weezy's for their delicious delicious burgers and fries. As you see, I am badly failing South Beach.