4 mile run #1

Yes, that is what I typed.

Four mile run!!

I ran four miles in 57:27. Under an hour! This is huge for me. I have never run that far before. Ever. And, it kinda felt good. I was able to stay in my preferred heartrate and and I was less aware of gavity. Things seem to jiggle a little less. I decided to use the LGCT so I wouldn't have to deal with cars and I'm familiar with the landmarks and the distances. And, I managed to remember both my ipod and the earphones this time.

Mile 1: I know this part of the trail pretty well and started out a little slow to warm up. I even managed to do something that resembles running up the steep hill.

Mile 2: Walked the first minute. That was the deal I made with myself, I could walk for one minute after each mile. Started running by the dog park and was amused at some of the not-well-behaved dogs heading for the park. Then I was annoyed by some kids on bikes annoying be by starting and stopping a few times and getting in my way. Just before I got to the curvy part, finally, it was time to turn around.

Mile 3: Walked the first minute. I kept telling myself that I was have way there and that it was down hill from there. And, it is kinda downhill since I was running along a creek and going with the flow of the water. There was an interesting sight of a woman, who I can only describe as a Real-Housewife-of-Silicon-Valley, riding a bike with her family wearing a black and shiny gold jacket, perfectly done hair, and big gold hoop earrings.

Mile 4: Only 1 mile left! I was almost done. I experimented with "chasing down" people. I saw a couple walking two dogs ahead of me and focused on passing them. I wasn't too hard since they were walking and I was running. Then I saw a guy walking a golden retriever and passed him. Woot! Ahead I noticed people looking at something in the creek. There was a big vulture, or as my dad calls them buzzard, sitting in a tree. They are big. Another few minutes and I was done! Yes!

I still need to work on keeping my head up. Chasing down people helped with that. I tried out my new "toe socks" to help with rubbing between two toes and they worked!


Weekly Totals
Miles - 11.74
Time - 2:48:43
Avg. Pace - 14:22

Week 3 - a little early

Week 3 was going well.

Monday - I had a nice 2.5 mile run in new shoes (yay!) with a friend on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. (I brought my ipod with me but forgot the headphones.) My goal was to run the whole way, but I had to stop to use the loo. At least there was one to use. If I remember correctly, our pace was pretty good. And, my feet and ankles felt much better with new shoes.

Tuesday - I was back in the pool, yay! Pull two 500s? No yay. But it was good to be back at "my" pool with my buddies. Later, a 40 minute tempo run was on my calendar. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do with a tempo run, but I'm running right? (I brought my headphones with me but forgot my ipod.) Another friend, Gina, joined me at the track and it made all the difference! I had done a 3 lap warm up and was ready for 20 minutes at a faster pace. She had a touch of a cold so was running a little slower than usual which was the perfect pace for me running faster.

Wednesday - Rest day . . . ahhh . . .

Thursday - sneeze, sniff, sneeze, cough. Down with a cold. For work I had to go to Alum Rock Park, possibly the oldest municipal park in California. I've never been there before because they don't allow dogs. It's bea-u-ti-ful! There is a nice trail along the creek that I think I will try for one of my longer runs.

Friday - Still sick but there is a 2 mile run on my calendar. After some personal debate and encouragement from friends I decided to do the run. I took it easy and ran most of the 2 miles. Who would have ever thought that I would run while sick?

Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run on the schedule. I'm thinking it will be a little running and a little walking. There is another 4 miles on tap for next week, so considering the cold, I think I will be okay.

Week 2 - 10K Training

Monday: I had a 2.5 mile run on my calendar and met up with a few friends on the Los Gatos Creek Trail where we would be doing the Resolution Run later in the week. It's a nice location along the creek that flows out of Lexington Reservoir. Right now it is nice, green and there in a good amount of water flowing. As I write, I can remember much about the run.

Tuesday Wednesday: Tuesday was my gammie's 95th birthday and I decided that running intervals after Chinese food was a bad idea. So, I finally dragged myself out of bed and made it to the track around 9am. I was very happy with my interval times. :-) There is hope for a somewhat decent pace.

Friday: Happy 2010! I celebrated the new decade with a 3.5 mile run/1.5 mile walk with some Mermaids. Apparently, I can't read a calendar and decided to switch my 3.5 mile run with my 2 mile run. (more about that later.) It kinda overcast and threatening to rain, perfect for running. We were busy talking and were very surprised when the gun went off.

Oh, I guess we are starting!

Not too far into the run I saw a big fluffy St. Bernard and thought, "hey, that looks like Cujo." (not the one from the movie.) And, sure enough it was Molly's husband with his dog, Cujo. We said a quick, hi, and Cujo left some slobber on my pants. :-) My plan was to run 1.75 miles which I thought would be near the bottom of a hill, then power walk up and down the hills, and run back in. When my watch got to 1.75 I hadn't reached the hill so I kept running until I got to 2 miles. By this time the leaders were running back.


Did I mention that this run goes up to the top of Lexington Dam?

At about mile 4 there was a little whining, "I'm tired!" but I kept running. And, running and running. I finally made it to the end and I was glad it was over! I forgot to tape one of my toes and was sure I had a blister. Other than that it was a great morning with great friends! We celebrated with breakfast in Los Gatos.


Deepika, Jill, Diane, me, Gina, and Atsuko

Saturday: Crappiest run, ever. Everything hurt, my legs wouldn't move, my heartrate didn't get very high, it was 2 miles of torture. Time to resume the knee exercises and stretching. :-) Oh, and get new shoes. And, maybe not run after my big run of the week.

I'm really looking forward to swimming and biking tomorrow. It will be my first time on the bike since October! I hope I remember how. And, all the stuff I need.

Totals:
Miles - 12.71
Time - 3:08:45
Avg Pace - 14.51 (remember that includes walking at the RR and the Crappy Run)