Week Twenty-Four: Eight miles

It was an easy eight-mile run through the park today. It was over so quickly, I hardly felt like I did anything! Home by 11:00 am—that's pretty early, especially compared to last week's 26-miler!

A lot of people apparently decided to take the day off. Only two people from my group showed up (and my other runner was a little late, so I thought I might have to join another group for the day, which I didn't really want to do), and we had a nice run. I think we went a little faster than we were supposed to—we were told to run one minute/mile slower than our original pace, for recovery, which would have been 15 minute miles for us, but most of our miles were between 13:30 and 14:30. Still, we felt good and didn't have any problems, so I think it was all right. We ran a 3:2 run/walk ratio, which we haven't done in a while, so that took a little getting used to.

We ran around Stowe Lake, which pleased me, because I like that lake and we haven't done it in a while. Our entire route was within the park, on a nice sunny, slightly breezy day, then were treated with tortilla chips and salsa and Oreos afterwards. Ahh. A very pleasant run.

Week Twenty-Three

Whee! We did our 26-mile training run, almost the length of a full marathon. (We didn't do the last two-tenths of a mile—have to save something for the actual marathon!) It was a cold and rainy day, which was nice as far as the coolness, but not so good for the wetness. But it wasn't biting cold, so I was fine with it. I don't mind being wet as long as I'm not freezing.

There had also been a major storm in the Bay Area a few days ago, so Golden Gate Park was full of blown-down trees and branches, and part of Great Highway was closed. It was a wild, wet day.

Me, I was wet, but not very wild. I'd been down in Tehachapi for five days the week before, getting my new place ready to move into, and I was still pretty tired, as well as missing my maintenance runs. The run actually went pretty well—we did a 2:2 run/walk ratio, with a target pace of 16 minutes/mile, and finished in around seven and a half or eight hours (I wasn't paying attention to when we started, but I think we ran from about 9 am to 4:30 pm), and I made it with no problems beyond sore feet and log-like legs.

The route went up and down the Great Highway, through Sutro Heights Park, around Lake Merced, and all through the Park—all our usual routes. All the run sites all over the Bay Area joined together to do the 26-mile run in San Francisco this week, so our cohorts from Novato and Walnut Creek joined us to discover the joys of running on hills and in cool weather. It was pretty festive, with lots of friendly volunteers handing out goodies and water and encouragement along the way. I'm learning that, while I can't eat food before I begin a run, on the long runs I do better if I eat something after three or four hours. Like that piece of pizza at 15 miles on the 23-mile run! This time I felt free to stuff myself with Cheez-Its and a bagel at 15 miles, and it was yummy. Guess I'll have to bring a bagel along with me in Honolulu!

Afterwards, there was a nice big spread of goodies supplied by our sponsors. I was too tired to stay for long, but I scored a box of donated Krispy Kremes to take home with me. It was a long day, but a successful one.