Week Twelve

I didn't write last week because, well, I didn't run. I was out of town from Saturday through Wednesday, and I was hoping to get my seven-mile recovery run in on Friday before I left, but I had too much other stuff to do to get ready for my trip, so I skipped it. Then, of course, there wasn't time to fit it in when I got back. I ended up working at the AIDS Marathon office, helping with data entry for the travel forms, on Thursday and Friday, so I didn't even do any short maintenance runs this past week. Bad me!

But, to make up for the missing week's update, here's my finisher photo from the Chronicle Marathon. Don't I look strong and happy! :)

Today's run was 16 miles. Since we are now getting to the longer runs, our fabulous coach John told us to add a minute to our normal pace and also increase the walk interval. So we used a 2:2 walk/run ratio, with a goal pace of 15 minutes per mile. I was glad for the slower pace, since I was still tired from my trip and the unaccustomed workdays. But despite some extra tiredness in my legs, the run went well and I feel fine afterwards.

It was also a more pleasant run because our pace group leader, whom I mentioned we'd had some problems with, decided to leave our group to run with a faster group. So the rest of us regrouped on our own, and had a nice relaxing run without anyone grumbling at us for taking bathroom breaks or stopping at every walk break to yell at us to hurry and catch up! I'm sure he's happier without us, too, although I doubt he's going to be able to find a group that never has to stop at the bathrooms....
Our route was similar to the 14-mile run: down Great Highway to Ulloa and back, up MLK and Middle Drive to the Polo Fields, down Sunset to Lake Merced, around the lake and then back up Sunset and Middle Drive back to where we started. It was cold today! and we were all shivering waiting to start. While we were running we were okay, but once we finished and stopped to eat and wait to cheer in the last runner, we all turned into popsicles! This was definitely the coldest run of our training! Had us all thinking dreamily of running in Hawaii....

Next week, I'll be out of town again for Labor Day weekend, but I expect to get my 8-mile recovery run in on either Thursday before or Tuesday when I get back. I asked Coach John which day would be better, but he said either would be fine, since we're having two 8-mile weekends in a row. So I'll just wait and see how I feel.

Week Ten

Our run today was 14 miles. As a celebration of reaching a distance of over half a marathon, we had a Hawaiian themed run. Many of us wore leis. I think I was the only one there in an actual Hawaiian shirt! Our intrepid coach John wore a grass skirt. Go John!

We ran down the Great Highway almost to Noriega and back, then up MLK Jr and Middle Drive to the Polo Fields, down Sunset to Lake Merced, once around the lake and back up Sunset to the Park. It was a good run. The weather, which has been heat-wave hot the past few days, finally cooled down, and it was overcast and pleasant running weather. I was looking forward to doing the Lake Merced run—I haven't done it since last year's training, and it was something different. We did a 3:2 interval today, and I think we all liked it much better than the 3:1, so I think we'll stick with that now.

We had a bit of a mutiny as far as our pace group leader goes. Well, actually, he abandoned us, too. He always wants to go faster than the rest of us (and faster than our assigned pace), and never wants to make bathroom stops, won't wait for people to fill their bottles at water stops or to cross at intersections. For a while he and one other runner were getting farther and farther ahead of the rest of us, and at every walk break he'd stop and turn around and wave at us, yelling, "Come on!" Finally, we told him to go on ahead without us, because we weren't going to go any faster. Fortunately, we knew our route and had someone with a watch that could time our intervals, so we just continued on our own. We complained to John afterwards, but we will probably just end up forming our own pace group without him. I got very irritated with him, and I don't like running with bad feelings, so I hope we can just part ways.

I'm definitely going to have to buy a new watch now. I thought I'd figured out the problem with mine—it seemed to work okay if I didn't try to do more than one function at a time. But today I was only using the split timer and it still went wacky. I reset it three times, but it kept stopping on me, so I officially am giving up on it. Maybe one day this week I'll go to the Sports Basement and use the 10% off coupon I picked up at the Chronicle Marathon Expo.

Week Nine

Today was a recovery run of only six miles, and I really needed it after my marathon last week! I felt a little stiff at first, and my right hamstring is giving me even more twinges than usual, but otherwise it went fine. I didn't do any midweek runs this past week, thinking I'd be better off just resting up from the marathon, so I'm sure that's one reason I was still feeling stiff. I really need to get back into my midweek training now!

We talked about switching to a 3:2 interval, instead of the 3:1 we've been doing—and I did my part to agitate for that! The Saturday group uses a 3:2 interval, and those of our group who ran on Saturday last week liked doing it, and wanted our group to try it. We didn't this week, but I think next week even if the whole group doesn't want to do it, I'll see if part of the group wants to split off and do 3:2 instead. Otherwise, I might switch to Saturdays for my group runs.

Today's run was through Golden Gate Park, up JFK Drive to the Conservatory of Flowers and back. The weather was cool and overcast. I was pleased that my watch worked the whole time, so that I was able to time the splits. I think what happens is that it goes wacky when I try to use the stopwatch and the interval timer at the same time. If I only use one function at a time, it seems to work. I hope that's the case, because I don't really want to have to buy a new watch!

Fundraising is up to about $750. I need to have at least $1000 by September 4 (which really means by mid-August, since it takes so long for the donations to be credited to us). Looks like I need to send out some more letters! And look for some more stuff to sell on eBay....