Cold Feet

I've been rolling my feet over a frozen bottle of water all morning. I probably should have been doing this for a while now to ease the aches. After each run for the past few weeks the bottoms of my feet have hurt.

Today's final track workout before The Ave was great. Two miles around the track - alternate first lap sprint, second lap slow to recover, repeat for 8 total laps. Then we headed out to the street for the 40 yard steep hill sprints x3. Whoo hoo were my legs wobbly & my lungs burning.

It was nice to end the track season with a few friends over a cup of Peet's. Major Dickason's is a great post workout refresher. I need to eat something now, my tummy is growling at me.

9 days to go.

I Broke The Psychological Barrier

Here is what oakland.net has to say about the lake:

Lake Merritt is a focal point, it stands as the jewel of Oakland, even crowned with lights. A unique fresh and salt-water lake, the largest such lake located within an urban area consisting of 3.4 miles around the circumference of the lake, covering 155 acres of land. The depth of Lake Merritt varies upon how much water is allowed to filter in from the Estuary and upon rain water intake.

With adjacent and nearby parks and amenities to enjoy such as Snow Park where you may play several rounds of golf, walk or jog up and down the Cleveland Cascades, play a set of tennis at the Athol Tennis Courts, rent a kayak at the Lake Merritt Boating Center, read a book from the Main or Lakeview Library, or bring your magical keys to enjoy a whole new world at Children's Fairyland ~ the fun begins here.

For me this lake is daunting and apparently a necessary evil in my training. Every Tuesday evening for the past year I've met up with a group training with TEAM to run around the lake. For some reason running around the lake is hard for me. I can run a 1/2 marathon but I can't make it all the way around that damn lake without stopping to walk, to catch my breath, to stretch.

Until last night. I did it. Finally. With the distraction of my friend, Leti, I ran the whole thing. I felt good doing it. I had many moments of "this would be a good place to walk" but since Leti was my buddy for the night I wanted to keep up with her. If I stopped, she'd have to stop... the guilt was too much to bear. Ha!

Ha ha, Mr Lake, you got nothing on me now. I own you!

It was Belinda's birthday so we went to Luka's Taproom to celebrate after the run. Wow, what a cool place. Why have I not been there before? I tried to stick to my "big fat loser" diet by ordering a salad but I also had two refreshing Stella's and snuck a few fries off the other plates. Oh I also had a couple of bites of the birthday ice cream sundae. Regardless of all that I lost weight again this week.

Final Long Run

View Larger Map I ran 9 miles on Saturday. Don't follow the blue line since that's a map for a car... rather imagine yourself trotting along the shore line from point A to point B & back again.

I managed to run somewhere between a 12.77 - 13.33 min/mile. I didn't get a good look at my watch when I crossed the finish line but those are my estimated best/worst time. Either way I'm excited because if I manage to run that pace in 2 weeks I'll finish The Ave in under 3 hours. That's my goal.

I decided to go out for breakfast with a few other mentors after the run so I missed the window to take an ice bath. Woops, my feet & legs would have enjoyed that. I did get home in time to sit in the sun, take a nap, enjoy a great dinner & fall asleep on the couch about 9. A 9 mile run = great sound sleep for at least 11 hrs. AWESOME!

Sunday was a play day to Healdsburg to taste some wine and get back to SF in time for The Waifs concert.

A great weekend! What did you do?

What a Week

So sorry for the long gap in postings. I'll catch you up on what's the happs. Last Thursday we did the triple loop of hills with circuit drills (crunches, push-ups, supermans, squats). Friday I enjoyed the rest before our first long run. Saturday was a beautiful day for 6-8 miles along the San Leandro Marina trail. Typically I run the short to average prescribed distance because either I'm scared to run that far or I hope to prevent injury. I pushed myself and did the full 8 miles! Wow that was fun and hard and a leap over the psychological barrier. By the time I got back to base-camp the sun was blasting heat - it was at least 80. I felt bad for the rest of the team that was still on the trail hitting the 14 mile marker. This trail is totally exposed, not a tree or shade spot for most of the route. Bonus of the day: I got to see a cute little skunk waddle across the path too.

By the time I got home at noon the heat of the day was close to 90. I had promised my roommate that I'd spend time gardening this weekend to get the house ready for spring. I ate my lunch, drank more fluids, changed my shoes and got to weeding. I'm not sure that was the best idea after the run & in that heat. After an hour or two I quit that job and found a cold drink. I made a phone call that I don't remember - perhaps a bit of heat exhaustion had hit! We spend another few hours on Sunday cleaning up the beds and spread two cubic yards of mulch... talk about back breaking work.

Tuesday night's buddy run was hard for me because my feet hurt too much to run. I ended up walking the lake but it felt good. I also rode my stationary bike to keep up the cardio that I missed by not running. I may have a touch of plantar fasciitis. Boo.

I was so excited for track this morning - ready to get a good workout in to start the day. Somehow the volume on my alarm clock was turned down & I didn't hear the 5AM wake-up radio. I woke up on my own after 6 and missed it. Total bummer. I slunk out of bed & rode my bike 7 miles while catching up on The Daily Show & Sport Center.

Saturday is our LONG long run - I'll log 10 miles and then we start to taper. The race is a mere 2 weeks away. So excited.

Big Fat Loser

I've been running for just over one year and something we hear in endurance training is "now is not the time to try to lose weight". According to our coaches we need to eat the right foods in the right combinations to fuel our bodies. When I started this in 2007 I dropped 5 lbs right off the bat. I wasn't trying to - it just happened. I was exercising and didn't increase my intake much but learned that I was getting hungrier as the training increased. To keep my fuel tank full I started to add quantity to my meals. So I have a routine of running 3x a week, anywhere from 2-8 miles per run and balanced my eating to maintain my weight for the past year. My muscle tone has changed, my strength and aerobic levels have increased, bummer that the number on the scale holds steady at a number I wish was smaller.

So last Wednesday KK and I decided to challenge each other to be a BIG FAT LOSER! I've been using an online meal & exercise tracker: The Daily Plate to record my eating & workouts. I think the personal challenge & the routine of recording everything I do has helped. I lost 2 lb this week. I'm a big fat loser. Good job, me!

Our challenge is to lose 10% by May 31. I'm on my way.

Time is Ticking Away

Tonight I hope to get a full run around the lake & feel good doing it! I've got to get back in the groove since this weekend we have a "long run". The miles are going to start piling up on me & I have less than one month to prepare.

Nice Try

Well it was more of a walk than a run but it was mostly due to the upset tummy that hit about 1/2 way around the lake.

Tomorrow back to track with Coach. That will be fun.

Back to a Routine

I return to my weekly buddy run tonight. I've been off my feet 14 days. This will be interesting. I'll let you know how it went.