Today, I found myself alone, carrying my portable office (always heavy full of books, laptop, papers, etc), my purse (always heavy because I'm one of those stereotypical ladies with a purse that has everything but the kitchen sink), and a huge rolling garment bag (46 lbs, according to the airline) down a staircase.
I did it.
But it wasn't pretty.
The garment bag hit the stairs with every step because I am too short to hold it high enough to avoid the scrape when I drop to the lower stair. The purse and the portable office bag weren't close to 46 lbs on my opposite arm, so I was off-kilter. In the interests of safety, I took the stairs with baby steps, putting both feet on each step.
Once at the curb, I couldn't help but feel like the picture I'd created on the staircase was such a visual metaphor for my life these days. (Let's not even examine the extension of the metaphor whereby there is actually a different way down with a fully functional escalator that I didn't take...)
Lately, I've been trying to cut myself more slack. When I feel overwhelmed, I've been trying to tell myself that it's okay not to work 15 hours in a day just because my clients have needs.
In short, I've been trying to prioritize my own needs, and I suck at it. I take all the bags and load myself up and make it down to where I need to be in one trip without aid from many of the people I'm traveling with. Why? Well, because I can and they are doing other things. I just max myself out. That's what I typically do.
As I've evolved as a blogger, more and more of the blog has been focused on running. I think this is due to two things:
1) It's an area where I don't owe anyone anything. It's me, doing stuff for me, and for some reason, unlike the rest of my life where I make an effort, I'm perfectly comfortable being average. The posts may read as boring and technical and fact-filled, but make no mistake, they are *highly personal* and even though I almost always let my professional obligations run my life, I do know that doing stuff for myself is important. Even though I don't do as good of a job about it as I could do, I'm proud that I do make time to regularly run and try to stay relatively fit.
2) As I've aged and opted not to have children, I've reconciled myself to the reality that I have less and less in common with the majority of my cohort. Running is this great social binder that doesn't care about the differences between people and only cares if you care about running.
The last few weeks, I've been suffering from some major professional burnout. This is normal in my line of work. What's not normal for me is that I've actually been scaling back work commitments and scheduling more me time in response (which translates to more gardening, Internet piddling, running, walking, and reading). In doing so, I've read more about running, run more, and watched more running videos than normal. Finally, headed into next week, I'm feeling a bit recovered and I'm amused that running has become such a large part of my life that it's the place I turn when feeling overwhelmed.
Did i say amused? Oh, I meant that, but really, I'm grateful. I'm so grateful.
**Weekly Running Recap? 27.97 miles, 3 rest days (2 garden, 1 travel, but a 12 mile long run and 15% high effort miles sub-10. Best workout of the week? 18X200 100 R/I w/track club averaging 54-55s -- felt so great and strong after this workout and very much enjoyed the camaraderie of the group.)
May 11, 2014
May 4, 2014
And we're walking, walking, walking...
This week, to recover from SLO, I cut myself all kinds of slack.
And yet, much to my surprise, I still hit 25.24 total miles, including 12% of that volume at sub-10 min/mile. This % of miles at sub 10 is a new metric you'll see me touting going forward this year.
I read this post on the application of the so-called 80/20 rule to running and it resonated with me. (It also tightly correlated with the pace goals for the Hansons running plans I've followed in the past and had great success with.)
I definitely feel like I benefit when I increase my overall volume and don't focus too much on quality over quantity in terms of mileage. I know I am lucky in that I don't tend to get injured (knock on wood) when I increase my volume, but, frankly, I also tend to increase it at paces that many folks would consider to be ridiculously slow. I count walking miles. I count super slow jogging miles. I count run/walking miles. I just want to increase the total mileage, which, truly, is just a proxy for increasing my overall aerobic load. In fact, I could probably substitute cross-training for most of my running volume, and just run the minimal hard stuff I do and end up roughly in the same spot. But, I digress -- I won't be doing that (unless injury requires it).
Anyways, this year is a big running year for me. I've got a half marathon coming up in 4 weeks where I hope to show some serious fitness gains. Then, I've got the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta, where all I can do is make a strong effort to show that I did my best to handle the hills, heat, and humidity. After that, it's a long high volume slog as I'm signed up for and hoping to do well at the Chicago Marathon and then, I'm looking forward to joining my college roommate for a fun and photo-heavy New York Marathon.
All along the way, I'm hoping to increase mileage with very little focus on pace. I assume it will just naturally come down, like it always has when I've been honest about increasing volume. I am not a high pressure runner (other than on race days, when, occasionally, I can put myself under a bit of pressure) and I have no plans to become one.
I was gratified to read the 80/20 rule post because it gave me a high-quality goal that I can focus on, but that I think I can actually hit quite easily. And I look forward to doing so over the rest of the year.
Run happy friends!
And yet, much to my surprise, I still hit 25.24 total miles, including 12% of that volume at sub-10 min/mile. This % of miles at sub 10 is a new metric you'll see me touting going forward this year.
I read this post on the application of the so-called 80/20 rule to running and it resonated with me. (It also tightly correlated with the pace goals for the Hansons running plans I've followed in the past and had great success with.)
I definitely feel like I benefit when I increase my overall volume and don't focus too much on quality over quantity in terms of mileage. I know I am lucky in that I don't tend to get injured (knock on wood) when I increase my volume, but, frankly, I also tend to increase it at paces that many folks would consider to be ridiculously slow. I count walking miles. I count super slow jogging miles. I count run/walking miles. I just want to increase the total mileage, which, truly, is just a proxy for increasing my overall aerobic load. In fact, I could probably substitute cross-training for most of my running volume, and just run the minimal hard stuff I do and end up roughly in the same spot. But, I digress -- I won't be doing that (unless injury requires it).
Anyways, this year is a big running year for me. I've got a half marathon coming up in 4 weeks where I hope to show some serious fitness gains. Then, I've got the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta, where all I can do is make a strong effort to show that I did my best to handle the hills, heat, and humidity. After that, it's a long high volume slog as I'm signed up for and hoping to do well at the Chicago Marathon and then, I'm looking forward to joining my college roommate for a fun and photo-heavy New York Marathon.
All along the way, I'm hoping to increase mileage with very little focus on pace. I assume it will just naturally come down, like it always has when I've been honest about increasing volume. I am not a high pressure runner (other than on race days, when, occasionally, I can put myself under a bit of pressure) and I have no plans to become one.
I was gratified to read the 80/20 rule post because it gave me a high-quality goal that I can focus on, but that I think I can actually hit quite easily. And I look forward to doing so over the rest of the year.
Run happy friends!
May 3, 2014
April 30, 2014
Power Outage Date Night
Every time the power goes out, E & I play scrabble by candlelight.
Last night, I won by one point.
Current running game count since 2009: BT: 3. E: 5.
Looks like I only need the power to go out 2 more times to tie it up...
Current running game count since 2009: BT: 3. E: 5.
Looks like I only need the power to go out 2 more times to tie it up...
April 27, 2014
SLO Half Marathon Weekend
Well, this race weekend was an unqualified success.
E and I drove down on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful and delicious date night on the ocean. Saturday was race expo and carb loading with family plus a visit to a turtle and tortoise preserve. (Yes, you read that correctly. That's our idea of fun.)
For the race, I had data from last year to help me calibrate my goals, and I was very proud to nail #1, which was the most important one -- I didn't blow up. I ran a strong, smart race.
I also hit #2, which felt great! First 6.55 miles: 1:08:08; Second 6.55 miles: 1:06:33. Negative split!!
I hit #3 relatively easily, comfortable at the 10 mile marker that I would easily beat 2:20, and in the final miles, I kept gaining on the 2:15 pacers, to pass them in the final 0.25 miles and secure goal #4 (2:14:39 by my Garmin, AVG 10:11/mile).
Goal #5 was always a bit pie-in-the sky, and frankly, after the first 2-3 miles, I knew I needed to let it go or I’d risk missing my most important goal, #1. So, I re-assessed, conserved energy, and even walked for a minute and finished the Gatorade from my aunt on the last bit of the final big brutal uphill before the 7+ mile turn-around point.
The second half of the race felt better than the first, which has been a long time coming. I've overestimated my fitness on almost all of the half marathons I've done in the last 2 years, so the last half has typically been very painful. For today's wonderful gift, I owe thanks to the sincere evaluation of reality I did the night before the race to make sure I had reasonable goals, as well as several *very* important things:
1. The elevation profile (the 2nd half was more downhill, and if I'm not dying, dowhills are my strength). I took it easy on the uphills and passed folks on the downhills. Interestingly, I was regularly passed on the downhills between miles 6-11 by a woman who was taking consistent 2-3 minute walk breaks on the uphills -- she had a similar downhill style to me, but after her walk breaks could jam down the hills faster than I could. I took note, wondering if I may actually prefer this approach on a very hilly course. Something to consider for the future...
2. Carb Loading, for reals. I'd been knowingly negatively affecting my ability to run over the last couple of months by decreasing my carbs because I need to lose some weight, and for me, this is a strategy that is helpful. This meant my long training runs, in particular, we typically brutal. But, in prep for the race, I threw caution to the wind starting two Fridays ago. If we were at a restaurant and there was bread, I ate as much as I wanted. Two Fridays ago, on date night, I laid into such an epic serving of vegetarian pasta with olives, red pepper flakes and cheese that the server complimented me on finishing it, claiming, "I've never actually seen a lady finish this dish." This Thursday, before a hike with E2, I did the same for lunch, finishing a large serving of seafood pasta and some bread. Saturday, with my aunt and uncle for a pre-race meal, I had yet another pasta dish -- a delicious homemade garganelli with sausage, brocolli rabe, and peppers *with a side of polenta* (that E finished). The interesting (to me) side effect of a week of choices like this (interspersed with more standard healthy light fare) was that it stopped the slow weight decline I'd been experiencing, but I could feel my energy levels going up on a daily basis and I started sleeping better. For someone who loves pasta but almost never eats it, this week was a big splurge and I'm happy there were some obvious energy benefits. The difference between my energy levels after an hour on almost all of my long runs in 2014 and today's race was like night and day.
3. Rest. I left my last client of the day on Friday at 2 PM and set my out of office. I took a call while E drove from 3 - 3:30 PM, and that was it. I checked my email maybe one or two times over the weekend, but, for the most part, I didn't do any real work from 3:30 PM Friday until now. Add to this that Friday night I was in bed, post hot tub, and healthy dinner by 10 PM, and that I took a nap on Saturday afternoon. Oh, and miracle of miracles, somehow, despite the rock bands, with my earplugs, I was able to fall asleep in downtown SLO and sleep (albeit interrupted every few hours) from 10 PM to 5:45 AM. I hadn't been this well rested in a long time.
All three of these variables combined (I might add, almost all of them existing due to the awesome support of my husband) with the good stuff I had coming in to outweigh the bad stuff I had coming in and enabled me to have a great race.
In fact, in a very common end of race story for me, yet again, the last 0.14 miles were all out. In testament to just how well fueled I was, I did this bit at a 7:02/mile pace. A youngster at least 15 years younger than me (or so I told myself) came out of nowhere and decided to try to sprint past me in the final 0.1 mile. I made her work for it, digging deep into the reserves I’d built up from all of the track sessions (and laughing at the ridiculousness of my pace for a 2:15ish half finish) but she managed to intelligently line up to pass the other folks in the chute, so I let her go rather than run over a couple in front of me. Unlike other historic last minute sprints, this one didn’t bother me so much, she hadn’t been anywhere near me for any part of the race – I’m guessing she either started late or started *very* easy and just kept picking it up to the end.
Other beneficial race details?
As promised, my Aunt met me on course, with a sign, after the worst uphill, and she handed me the small Gatorade bottle I'd given her. This meant I could hold it, run, and drink sports drink when I felt like it and keep a nice easy pace without worrying about aid stations until the top of the hill at Mile 7 (where I took a Mocha cliff shot… mmmm… caffeine).
The Gatorade plus 2 mocha cliff shots and water and sports drink on the course coupled with the carb loading meant that I felt the best I’ve felt at the finish of this race than I’ve felt in a long, long time at a finish. I actually think I could have run another 5 miles at a good solid pace after the finish, but if you'd asked me whether I could do 17 at hard effort yesterday, I would have said, "NO WAY!"
Bonus, I just confirmed that I actually have 5 weeks ‘til my next race, a half with my sister, not 3, so I’m in perfect shape to capitalize on this run and make a strong effort to make additional fitness gains so I can enjoy a great race with her. I haven't been this excited about running in a long time.
As for the race weekend, E, my aunt, uncle, and I solidified many details to make this race much more doable this year, including locking down the hotels to ensure comfort and luxury on Friday night date night and moving to a budget motel for walking distance to the start for Saturday, as well as driving plans for in-town family to aovid the road closures, and the go-to post-race brunch location (with awesome bloody mary’s).
My aunt was so adorably supportive this weekend. She came with me to the expo and cracked up the cliff shot dude by telling him she wanted to put cliff shots on ice cream. She was so obviously excited about being involved in the race weekend for the second year in a row and kept saying things prefaced with, “Next year, I’ll...” In her mind, there is no question. This is an annual family tradition.
After today, with perfect weather, a great race, and beautiful views of the San Luis Obispo hills, I tend to agree with her.
Here's to next year!
E and I drove down on Friday afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful and delicious date night on the ocean. Saturday was race expo and carb loading with family plus a visit to a turtle and tortoise preserve. (Yes, you read that correctly. That's our idea of fun.)
For the race, I had data from last year to help me calibrate my goals, and I was very proud to nail #1, which was the most important one -- I didn't blow up. I ran a strong, smart race.
I also hit #2, which felt great! First 6.55 miles: 1:08:08; Second 6.55 miles: 1:06:33. Negative split!!
I hit #3 relatively easily, comfortable at the 10 mile marker that I would easily beat 2:20, and in the final miles, I kept gaining on the 2:15 pacers, to pass them in the final 0.25 miles and secure goal #4 (2:14:39 by my Garmin, AVG 10:11/mile).
Goal #5 was always a bit pie-in-the sky, and frankly, after the first 2-3 miles, I knew I needed to let it go or I’d risk missing my most important goal, #1. So, I re-assessed, conserved energy, and even walked for a minute and finished the Gatorade from my aunt on the last bit of the final big brutal uphill before the 7+ mile turn-around point.
The second half of the race felt better than the first, which has been a long time coming. I've overestimated my fitness on almost all of the half marathons I've done in the last 2 years, so the last half has typically been very painful. For today's wonderful gift, I owe thanks to the sincere evaluation of reality I did the night before the race to make sure I had reasonable goals, as well as several *very* important things:
1. The elevation profile (the 2nd half was more downhill, and if I'm not dying, dowhills are my strength). I took it easy on the uphills and passed folks on the downhills. Interestingly, I was regularly passed on the downhills between miles 6-11 by a woman who was taking consistent 2-3 minute walk breaks on the uphills -- she had a similar downhill style to me, but after her walk breaks could jam down the hills faster than I could. I took note, wondering if I may actually prefer this approach on a very hilly course. Something to consider for the future...
2. Carb Loading, for reals. I'd been knowingly negatively affecting my ability to run over the last couple of months by decreasing my carbs because I need to lose some weight, and for me, this is a strategy that is helpful. This meant my long training runs, in particular, we typically brutal. But, in prep for the race, I threw caution to the wind starting two Fridays ago. If we were at a restaurant and there was bread, I ate as much as I wanted. Two Fridays ago, on date night, I laid into such an epic serving of vegetarian pasta with olives, red pepper flakes and cheese that the server complimented me on finishing it, claiming, "I've never actually seen a lady finish this dish." This Thursday, before a hike with E2, I did the same for lunch, finishing a large serving of seafood pasta and some bread. Saturday, with my aunt and uncle for a pre-race meal, I had yet another pasta dish -- a delicious homemade garganelli with sausage, brocolli rabe, and peppers *with a side of polenta* (that E finished). The interesting (to me) side effect of a week of choices like this (interspersed with more standard healthy light fare) was that it stopped the slow weight decline I'd been experiencing, but I could feel my energy levels going up on a daily basis and I started sleeping better. For someone who loves pasta but almost never eats it, this week was a big splurge and I'm happy there were some obvious energy benefits. The difference between my energy levels after an hour on almost all of my long runs in 2014 and today's race was like night and day.
3. Rest. I left my last client of the day on Friday at 2 PM and set my out of office. I took a call while E drove from 3 - 3:30 PM, and that was it. I checked my email maybe one or two times over the weekend, but, for the most part, I didn't do any real work from 3:30 PM Friday until now. Add to this that Friday night I was in bed, post hot tub, and healthy dinner by 10 PM, and that I took a nap on Saturday afternoon. Oh, and miracle of miracles, somehow, despite the rock bands, with my earplugs, I was able to fall asleep in downtown SLO and sleep (albeit interrupted every few hours) from 10 PM to 5:45 AM. I hadn't been this well rested in a long time.
All three of these variables combined (I might add, almost all of them existing due to the awesome support of my husband) with the good stuff I had coming in to outweigh the bad stuff I had coming in and enabled me to have a great race.
In fact, in a very common end of race story for me, yet again, the last 0.14 miles were all out. In testament to just how well fueled I was, I did this bit at a 7:02/mile pace. A youngster at least 15 years younger than me (or so I told myself) came out of nowhere and decided to try to sprint past me in the final 0.1 mile. I made her work for it, digging deep into the reserves I’d built up from all of the track sessions (and laughing at the ridiculousness of my pace for a 2:15ish half finish) but she managed to intelligently line up to pass the other folks in the chute, so I let her go rather than run over a couple in front of me. Unlike other historic last minute sprints, this one didn’t bother me so much, she hadn’t been anywhere near me for any part of the race – I’m guessing she either started late or started *very* easy and just kept picking it up to the end.
Other beneficial race details?
As promised, my Aunt met me on course, with a sign, after the worst uphill, and she handed me the small Gatorade bottle I'd given her. This meant I could hold it, run, and drink sports drink when I felt like it and keep a nice easy pace without worrying about aid stations until the top of the hill at Mile 7 (where I took a Mocha cliff shot… mmmm… caffeine).
The Gatorade plus 2 mocha cliff shots and water and sports drink on the course coupled with the carb loading meant that I felt the best I’ve felt at the finish of this race than I’ve felt in a long, long time at a finish. I actually think I could have run another 5 miles at a good solid pace after the finish, but if you'd asked me whether I could do 17 at hard effort yesterday, I would have said, "NO WAY!"
Bonus, I just confirmed that I actually have 5 weeks ‘til my next race, a half with my sister, not 3, so I’m in perfect shape to capitalize on this run and make a strong effort to make additional fitness gains so I can enjoy a great race with her. I haven't been this excited about running in a long time.
As for the race weekend, E, my aunt, uncle, and I solidified many details to make this race much more doable this year, including locking down the hotels to ensure comfort and luxury on Friday night date night and moving to a budget motel for walking distance to the start for Saturday, as well as driving plans for in-town family to aovid the road closures, and the go-to post-race brunch location (with awesome bloody mary’s).
My aunt was so adorably supportive this weekend. She came with me to the expo and cracked up the cliff shot dude by telling him she wanted to put cliff shots on ice cream. She was so obviously excited about being involved in the race weekend for the second year in a row and kept saying things prefaced with, “Next year, I’ll...” In her mind, there is no question. This is an annual family tradition.
After today, with perfect weather, a great race, and beautiful views of the San Luis Obispo hills, I tend to agree with her.
Here's to next year!
April 26, 2014
SLO half marathon pre-race check-in
E and I drove down to Pismo/Shell beach on Friday. It rained the whole drive, while we visited a local friend at her gymnastics gym, throughout dinner, and while we lounged in the hot tub after dinner.
And then, magically, just before we headed up, the weather cleared so we could enjoy a beautiful sunset overlooking the ocean from our hotel balcony.
We were in bed, asleep by 10 PM or so. Oh, how an ideal date night has changed over the years...
This morning, I headed out for a quick 2 mile shakeout. I did drills, 1/2 mile easy, a mile at target race pace (which felt good, effort wise), and a 1/2 mile cool down easy. This ritual has worked for me in the past -- to help myself lock in to target pace the day before, and to ensure my legs don't feel sluggish at the start.
After the run, E and I hit up the hotel breakfast (I downed a liter of pelligrino), I went to the expo with my aunt (her first, she's a fan of Cliff Mocha shots), bought some good gear at 50% off, enjoyed a delicious cafe brunch, and took a tour of a tortoise and turtle preserve. (Photos later).
We booked a hotel near the start downtown for tonight, so we checked in and I read and took a nap
(an auspicious sign, since I typically don't sleep that well the night before a race, having a good 9 hours last night plus a nap today is great!).
We enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner with my aunt and uncle, and now I'm trying to set reasonable goals for tomorrow so that I can execute on a smart race.
Turns out, it's a bit complicated to guess how tomorrow will (or should) play out.
The good:
-I've strung together 10 weeks averaging 29.5 miles/week since my last half marathon.
-I've lost 5-6 pounds since my last half marathon.
-The weather is supposed to be almost perfect for me -- 48F at the start, 53F max at the finish. Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers, 5-6 mph NNW wind (meaning crosswinds with a net minimal headwind on the way out and a minimal net tailwind on the way back)
-my 10K effort indicated I was in decent shape three weeks ago, and according to McMillan should translate to a 2:10 half marathon without too much trouble.
-taking half of Friday and all of Saturday to relax and prepare for the race is a luxury I rarely get to indulge in, and one that I assume will pay benefits in the race
-my aunt is going to be somewhere between miles 4 and 6 at the top of the hardest climb, waiting with a sign, Gatorade, and able to take my jacket (which I typically just tie around my waist once I warm up on a cold day)
-I carb-loaded fairly well all week, doing much better to pay attention to simpler carbs than I normally do
The bad:
-I haven't really had a good long run at anything close to what I'd like to target as race pace in this whole build-up. The closest I can get is a 12 miler at 11:23 w/F, but that was on a *very* flat course.
-The hills on this course are insane. Last time, they killed me.
-My last long run was 9 miles with Jen and F, and the climb and descent were extremely difficult for me, resulting in a high-effort 11:14 pace. I will be encountering more climb and descent than we did on that run in the first 4 miles of this course and it keeps going from there.
-Even with the lost weight, I'm still not back in my ideal 10 lb range, which means I'm still carrying more weight than I am used to racing with.
-I thought I had a reasonable A goal, but when I looked back to last year while running the full, I missed it by 4 minutes and I was much more fit back then. Granted, it was a full, and it was very windy, but still, I didn't realize the goal was so ambitious.
So, after a bit of additional thought, here are my goals in order of attainability:
1. To finish a good effort solid half marathon and *not* completely blow up at the end. The main goal here is to ensure that tomorrow's run is a building block for the 1/2 marathon I'm running in Spokane in 3 weeks with my sister (which is relatively flat and net downhill). I will re-assess my approach around mile 4 and slow down as much as I think is required to be sure I hit this one.
2. To negative split.
3. To beat my Kaiser time of 2:20ish. (10:41/mile pace)
4. To beat 2:15. (10:18/mile pace)
5. To hit 2:10. (9:55/mile pace)
And now, to hydrate and read until I fall asleep...
Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow!
And then, magically, just before we headed up, the weather cleared so we could enjoy a beautiful sunset overlooking the ocean from our hotel balcony.
We were in bed, asleep by 10 PM or so. Oh, how an ideal date night has changed over the years...
This morning, I headed out for a quick 2 mile shakeout. I did drills, 1/2 mile easy, a mile at target race pace (which felt good, effort wise), and a 1/2 mile cool down easy. This ritual has worked for me in the past -- to help myself lock in to target pace the day before, and to ensure my legs don't feel sluggish at the start.
After the run, E and I hit up the hotel breakfast (I downed a liter of pelligrino), I went to the expo with my aunt (her first, she's a fan of Cliff Mocha shots), bought some good gear at 50% off, enjoyed a delicious cafe brunch, and took a tour of a tortoise and turtle preserve. (Photos later).
We booked a hotel near the start downtown for tonight, so we checked in and I read and took a nap
(an auspicious sign, since I typically don't sleep that well the night before a race, having a good 9 hours last night plus a nap today is great!).
We enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner with my aunt and uncle, and now I'm trying to set reasonable goals for tomorrow so that I can execute on a smart race.
Turns out, it's a bit complicated to guess how tomorrow will (or should) play out.
The good:
-I've strung together 10 weeks averaging 29.5 miles/week since my last half marathon.
-I've lost 5-6 pounds since my last half marathon.
-The weather is supposed to be almost perfect for me -- 48F at the start, 53F max at the finish. Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers, 5-6 mph NNW wind (meaning crosswinds with a net minimal headwind on the way out and a minimal net tailwind on the way back)
-my 10K effort indicated I was in decent shape three weeks ago, and according to McMillan should translate to a 2:10 half marathon without too much trouble.
-taking half of Friday and all of Saturday to relax and prepare for the race is a luxury I rarely get to indulge in, and one that I assume will pay benefits in the race
-my aunt is going to be somewhere between miles 4 and 6 at the top of the hardest climb, waiting with a sign, Gatorade, and able to take my jacket (which I typically just tie around my waist once I warm up on a cold day)
-I carb-loaded fairly well all week, doing much better to pay attention to simpler carbs than I normally do
The bad:
-I haven't really had a good long run at anything close to what I'd like to target as race pace in this whole build-up. The closest I can get is a 12 miler at 11:23 w/F, but that was on a *very* flat course.
-The hills on this course are insane. Last time, they killed me.
-My last long run was 9 miles with Jen and F, and the climb and descent were extremely difficult for me, resulting in a high-effort 11:14 pace. I will be encountering more climb and descent than we did on that run in the first 4 miles of this course and it keeps going from there.
-Even with the lost weight, I'm still not back in my ideal 10 lb range, which means I'm still carrying more weight than I am used to racing with.
-I thought I had a reasonable A goal, but when I looked back to last year while running the full, I missed it by 4 minutes and I was much more fit back then. Granted, it was a full, and it was very windy, but still, I didn't realize the goal was so ambitious.
So, after a bit of additional thought, here are my goals in order of attainability:
1. To finish a good effort solid half marathon and *not* completely blow up at the end. The main goal here is to ensure that tomorrow's run is a building block for the 1/2 marathon I'm running in Spokane in 3 weeks with my sister (which is relatively flat and net downhill). I will re-assess my approach around mile 4 and slow down as much as I think is required to be sure I hit this one.
2. To negative split.
3. To beat my Kaiser time of 2:20ish. (10:41/mile pace)
4. To beat 2:15. (10:18/mile pace)
5. To hit 2:10. (9:55/mile pace)
And now, to hydrate and read until I fall asleep...
Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow!
April 24, 2014
Running Greatness
I was so happy for Meb on Monday. I was onsite at a client, meeting with another attorney, and I had the race streaming. When it came down to the last few seconds, I turned my screen so we could all watch history happen. It was fun to share the moment with someone who'd never watched a marathon before. He was surprised, "they are that close at the end of 26.2 miles?" and "he's running how fast at how old?"
I've spent the last few days in a glow. I bought Meb's audiobook Running to Overcome, and I'm enjoying learning more about this man who I already admired so much. I read all the press I could get my hands on and was so proud of the American men for working as a team (great coverage here).
Today, I received the second email from a running friend regarding pulling together a team of women to do a Ragnar relay. I'm very interested and I think I'd like to join. I hope it works out.
After replying, I realized, wow, I'm totally excited about this event that includes a group of women, most of whom I've never met, and no men.
This is not normal for me. I'm generally apprehensive about social interactions with groups of women. One on one, I feel completely comfortable. But 2 or more and I get concerned. I actively dread baby showers and bridal showers. I go to them and I'm usually glad that I did, but they require so much effort for me. If I relax and just act like my normal self, I generally end up offending someone. Obviously, that's not what I want to do. So, I have to spend a bunch of extra effort reminding myself of things, like, "take the time to notice 4 things and compliment them as being cute, stylish, interesting, etc." And, "Just because this person is talking about this topic doesn't mean that they actually want to know your opinion on it. WAIT to see if they pause or ask for your input, don't just assume they are interested in what you have to say." And, hardest of all, "Nod. Smile. Pay Attention. Listen!" I have a very bad habit of tuning out stuff that I don't find interesting. And, unfortunately, many of the standard topics of conversation when groups of women get together are not that interesting to me.
So, when I realized I was actually excited about Ragnar, even though it contained a bunch of women I'd never met, a light went on in my head. Duh! I have a history of doing sports with other women, and it has never been scary or awkward. With sports, we all have a shared physical goal and we hang out together while trying to accomplish it. I can be myself and focus and tune out and there's very little danger of my actions being interpreted as rude.
It's always amazing to me when, as an adult, you realize something for the first time that has been true about yourself since childhood.
I've categorically told myself that I don't feel totally comfortable in all female groups. But that's not true at all. I feel perfectly comfortable in all female groups when the reason we're gathering is athletics. I've felt comfortable on gymnastics teams, soccer teams, diving teams, swim teams, drill team, and a cheerleading team. These days, I *love* running with female companions, whether close friends or new acquaintances. And I always look forward to going to the track group.
So there you have it. Yet another reason running is great. It helps me compensate for my social awkwardness.
I've spent the last few days in a glow. I bought Meb's audiobook Running to Overcome, and I'm enjoying learning more about this man who I already admired so much. I read all the press I could get my hands on and was so proud of the American men for working as a team (great coverage here).
Today, I received the second email from a running friend regarding pulling together a team of women to do a Ragnar relay. I'm very interested and I think I'd like to join. I hope it works out.
After replying, I realized, wow, I'm totally excited about this event that includes a group of women, most of whom I've never met, and no men.
This is not normal for me. I'm generally apprehensive about social interactions with groups of women. One on one, I feel completely comfortable. But 2 or more and I get concerned. I actively dread baby showers and bridal showers. I go to them and I'm usually glad that I did, but they require so much effort for me. If I relax and just act like my normal self, I generally end up offending someone. Obviously, that's not what I want to do. So, I have to spend a bunch of extra effort reminding myself of things, like, "take the time to notice 4 things and compliment them as being cute, stylish, interesting, etc." And, "Just because this person is talking about this topic doesn't mean that they actually want to know your opinion on it. WAIT to see if they pause or ask for your input, don't just assume they are interested in what you have to say." And, hardest of all, "Nod. Smile. Pay Attention. Listen!" I have a very bad habit of tuning out stuff that I don't find interesting. And, unfortunately, many of the standard topics of conversation when groups of women get together are not that interesting to me.
So, when I realized I was actually excited about Ragnar, even though it contained a bunch of women I'd never met, a light went on in my head. Duh! I have a history of doing sports with other women, and it has never been scary or awkward. With sports, we all have a shared physical goal and we hang out together while trying to accomplish it. I can be myself and focus and tune out and there's very little danger of my actions being interpreted as rude.
It's always amazing to me when, as an adult, you realize something for the first time that has been true about yourself since childhood.
I've categorically told myself that I don't feel totally comfortable in all female groups. But that's not true at all. I feel perfectly comfortable in all female groups when the reason we're gathering is athletics. I've felt comfortable on gymnastics teams, soccer teams, diving teams, swim teams, drill team, and a cheerleading team. These days, I *love* running with female companions, whether close friends or new acquaintances. And I always look forward to going to the track group.
So there you have it. Yet another reason running is great. It helps me compensate for my social awkwardness.
April 20, 2014
Last Week Before SLO Taper
This week was an interesting one. Total Mileage: 25.2 -- if I was trying to taper, I'd be stoked. But I wasn't, so that's not so great.
I did hit my 3 goal running workouts, managed to get in some solid core and stretching, and I ate well and lost another pound. So, overall, I'm very happy with the week (even though it was much lower mileage than I would have preferred).
But there was also quite a bit of random stuff to contend with, and frankly, I'm not quite sure what to expect next week at the SLO half marathon.
Strength: Monday was awesome. After the easy long run with Jen on Sunday, I headed out for 3 in the early evening at a medium effort and easily hit 9:36/mile without feeling like it was horridly difficult. I felt that I could have done the loop at least a minute faster for sure, which was a great feeling.
Random thing #1 -- the speed workout from Silicon Valley Striders this week was insane, *and* I forgot my Garmin. There were only 3 of us. Me, the coach (who's faster than me at any distance longer than a 100), and N (who I regularly use as a pacer to pull me through the track intervals as I draft at paces I otherwise couldn't hit). The workout was a ladder of insanity, starting with all-out sprinting, and extending into the territory of an 800 and back down, all with minimal recovery. I did my best to hang, but after the first 400, it became very apparent that I'd need to either modify the distances, stop trying to keep up with them on pacing for the longer stuff, or increase my recovery interval. I opted for #1, so my modified workout was as follows:
Preview:
50m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
100m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
200m (:60s rest) -- 90%+
400m (2:00 rest) -- 1:55; 200 walk
600m (200 walk; 3:00 rest; or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:54; 400 jog;
800m (3:00 passive rest or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:58; 400 jog;
600m (200 walk; 3:00 rest; or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:58; 400 jog;
400m (2:00 rest) -- I was asked to pace the group as they were dragging. No watch, so I hit the 400 @ 1:51 (too fast, but felt great); walking 2:00 rest
200m (:60s rest) -- 90%+
100m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
50m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
The truth is, I hadn't run that fast or that hard for that many minutes in a single workout in a long time, regardless of the recovery. The sprints recruited muscles in my butt, hamstrings, core, and more that hadn't felt the need to engage in runs in a long time. I was shaky and sore immediately and for several days afterwards.
Core (AKA Random Thing #2): The next day, I hit up a Power Yoga class for 75 minutes of heated hard core strength and stretching. When was the last time I'd done this, you ask? Oh, probably at least 2-3 years ago. Totally a good idea to do something this strenuous for the first time in years 10 days before your next race, right? My legs were simultaneously thankful and shaky and mad. The next day, all my core and arm muscles that have been neglected let me know that they were disappointed in me too...
Easy (AKA Random Thing #3): Friday and Saturday's easy runs were at paces that surprised me (and not in a good way), but I tried to chalk it up the combination of the ridiculous speed workout and the unexpected taxation of the yoga class that involved an inordinate amount of lunges, single leg balances, etc.
Long Run: Last night, I ate light, went to bed early, hydrated, and looked forward to today's long run with F and Jen. We had 9 miles at Sawyer Camp Trail, and I felt strong. I hung with them on the 4.5 mile climb at their selected paces ranging from 10:18-10:37/mile. At the 4.5 mile turn-around, I asked to walk to take my Gu, but I could already start to feel my error. I had pushed it too hard. The 4.5 miles back down were a big struggle for me (and downhills are usually my strength!). I positive splitted by a long shot and finished running 8.86 miles at an average pace of 11:07 before I walked a bit to close it off. Am I disappointed? Not really. It's still a better pace than I've hit on any of my other long runs (sadly), and the climbing definitely gets some credit (roughly 150 ft of climbing and the return on the way back), as does the consistent time on my feet with only one walk break. If nothing else, this run reminded me *not* to go out too hard at SLO.
And there you have it. The running week in an eggshell (in honor of the dyed-purple egg I ate at an Easter Brunch today). I hope you had a great Easter/Passover/Gorgeous Weekend.
I did hit my 3 goal running workouts, managed to get in some solid core and stretching, and I ate well and lost another pound. So, overall, I'm very happy with the week (even though it was much lower mileage than I would have preferred).
But there was also quite a bit of random stuff to contend with, and frankly, I'm not quite sure what to expect next week at the SLO half marathon.
Strength: Monday was awesome. After the easy long run with Jen on Sunday, I headed out for 3 in the early evening at a medium effort and easily hit 9:36/mile without feeling like it was horridly difficult. I felt that I could have done the loop at least a minute faster for sure, which was a great feeling.
Random thing #1 -- the speed workout from Silicon Valley Striders this week was insane, *and* I forgot my Garmin. There were only 3 of us. Me, the coach (who's faster than me at any distance longer than a 100), and N (who I regularly use as a pacer to pull me through the track intervals as I draft at paces I otherwise couldn't hit). The workout was a ladder of insanity, starting with all-out sprinting, and extending into the territory of an 800 and back down, all with minimal recovery. I did my best to hang, but after the first 400, it became very apparent that I'd need to either modify the distances, stop trying to keep up with them on pacing for the longer stuff, or increase my recovery interval. I opted for #1, so my modified workout was as follows:
Preview:
50m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
100m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
200m (:60s rest) -- 90%+
400m (2:00 rest) -- 1:55; 200 walk
600m (200 walk; 3:00 rest; or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:54; 400 jog;
800m (3:00 passive rest or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:58; 400 jog;
600m (200 walk; 3:00 rest; or jog lap recovery) -- modified to 400 @ 1:58; 400 jog;
400m (2:00 rest) -- I was asked to pace the group as they were dragging. No watch, so I hit the 400 @ 1:51 (too fast, but felt great); walking 2:00 rest
200m (:60s rest) -- 90%+
100m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
50m (:30s rest) -- ALL OUT.
The truth is, I hadn't run that fast or that hard for that many minutes in a single workout in a long time, regardless of the recovery. The sprints recruited muscles in my butt, hamstrings, core, and more that hadn't felt the need to engage in runs in a long time. I was shaky and sore immediately and for several days afterwards.
Core (AKA Random Thing #2): The next day, I hit up a Power Yoga class for 75 minutes of heated hard core strength and stretching. When was the last time I'd done this, you ask? Oh, probably at least 2-3 years ago. Totally a good idea to do something this strenuous for the first time in years 10 days before your next race, right? My legs were simultaneously thankful and shaky and mad. The next day, all my core and arm muscles that have been neglected let me know that they were disappointed in me too...
Easy (AKA Random Thing #3): Friday and Saturday's easy runs were at paces that surprised me (and not in a good way), but I tried to chalk it up the combination of the ridiculous speed workout and the unexpected taxation of the yoga class that involved an inordinate amount of lunges, single leg balances, etc.
Long Run: Last night, I ate light, went to bed early, hydrated, and looked forward to today's long run with F and Jen. We had 9 miles at Sawyer Camp Trail, and I felt strong. I hung with them on the 4.5 mile climb at their selected paces ranging from 10:18-10:37/mile. At the 4.5 mile turn-around, I asked to walk to take my Gu, but I could already start to feel my error. I had pushed it too hard. The 4.5 miles back down were a big struggle for me (and downhills are usually my strength!). I positive splitted by a long shot and finished running 8.86 miles at an average pace of 11:07 before I walked a bit to close it off. Am I disappointed? Not really. It's still a better pace than I've hit on any of my other long runs (sadly), and the climbing definitely gets some credit (roughly 150 ft of climbing and the return on the way back), as does the consistent time on my feet with only one walk break. If nothing else, this run reminded me *not* to go out too hard at SLO.
And there you have it. The running week in an eggshell (in honor of the dyed-purple egg I ate at an Easter Brunch today). I hope you had a great Easter/Passover/Gorgeous Weekend.
April 18, 2014
A Different View
A few months ago, I was randomly selected to fill out a pre-qualification questionnaire for federal jury duty.
Looks like I made the cut...
I'm fascinated at the idea that I may end up on a federal jury. I've heard two sets of conflicting feedback re: the likelihood that this may happen.
The most common theory is that lawyers always get stricken. The party with the weaker legal case will use a challenge to get rid of you if you're a lawyer because you can easily spot the flaws in their case.
The other lore I've heard (from a career clerk for the federal judge I externed for who sat on 3 federal juries in her career and a few other sources) is that if they are going to trial, particularly federal trial, both parties think they have a great case and a lawyer is a much better bet than a random citizen in terms of actually paying attention to the evidence and ruling in accordance with the law.
I'm amused to see that I'm totally ambivalent on how this may play out. I can't help but think that one of the reasons I can be ambivalent is because I saw how seriously the jurors took their duties when I was a federal extern. The jury is one of the greatest legal concepts this country has (at least in the criminal and tort worlds, where I had the privilege of watching it be applied, very seriously and thoughtfully by randomly selected panels in the federal court system).
So, if I end up on a jury, so be it. I'll serve to the best of my abilities and my practice, professional life, and personal life will all have to take the hit (given the dates at issue, I'll likely have to cancel pre-arranged travel).
If I don't end up on the jury, I won't be sad -- my practice, my professional life, and my personal life, will likely be better off. Another individual will take my place. And if my experience is any indicator, they will take it seriously and do a thoughtful deliberate job at arriving at their conclusions as well.
Looks like I made the cut...
I'm fascinated at the idea that I may end up on a federal jury. I've heard two sets of conflicting feedback re: the likelihood that this may happen.
The most common theory is that lawyers always get stricken. The party with the weaker legal case will use a challenge to get rid of you if you're a lawyer because you can easily spot the flaws in their case.
The other lore I've heard (from a career clerk for the federal judge I externed for who sat on 3 federal juries in her career and a few other sources) is that if they are going to trial, particularly federal trial, both parties think they have a great case and a lawyer is a much better bet than a random citizen in terms of actually paying attention to the evidence and ruling in accordance with the law.
I'm amused to see that I'm totally ambivalent on how this may play out. I can't help but think that one of the reasons I can be ambivalent is because I saw how seriously the jurors took their duties when I was a federal extern. The jury is one of the greatest legal concepts this country has (at least in the criminal and tort worlds, where I had the privilege of watching it be applied, very seriously and thoughtfully by randomly selected panels in the federal court system).
So, if I end up on a jury, so be it. I'll serve to the best of my abilities and my practice, professional life, and personal life will all have to take the hit (given the dates at issue, I'll likely have to cancel pre-arranged travel).
If I don't end up on the jury, I won't be sad -- my practice, my professional life, and my personal life, will likely be better off. Another individual will take my place. And if my experience is any indicator, they will take it seriously and do a thoughtful deliberate job at arriving at their conclusions as well.
April 13, 2014
Procrastination Nation
Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours sorting through and filing all the documents in my "file pile".
You read that correctly. A couple of hours.
The primary reason for finally buckling down and doing this task that I only manage to complete a few times per year (hence how the pile gets to be so large and unwieldy)?
Well, kids. The tax deadline is fast approaching.
Now, I have a folder with all of the tax documentation. And, I've got the latest version of the tax prep software updated.
So, of course, I'm going to update my blog...
This week was a bit of a miss in terms of my running goals. I didn't get in any good strength work at all, and my mileage was only 29.83 total.
My two good workouts weren't too bad, it was just the rest of the week that was tough. The washing machine died on me, the kitchen remodel needed time with professionals on-site, and work picked up too -- which made committing to the scheduled mileage and/or workouts difficult. I'm happy to say I made myself get on my feet and do *something* on every day but 1 day. But the quality and time of those efforts was somewhat sub-par. Oh well. Some weeks I just have to tell myself that something is better than nothing. And it is.
Despite the decreased mileage and crazy schedule, we ate quite healthy and I managed to drop another pound, so that's continued progress in that direction.
Speed -- track day: This week's workout was a bit more difficult for me than normal because the track coach wasn't doing the workout. When she's not also running, she tends to be much more strict about enforcing the recovery intervals. My legs were still a bit heavy from the 10K last Sunday, but I just told myself to do my best. I ran 2.21 miles warm-up to go get my car (which I'd left onsite at a client), drove the 7 minutes to the track, did another 0.18 mile jog/walk w/u at track and jumped in to the workout; 3 X (2 X 600 R/I:60) 400 R/I jogging between sets (splits: 3:00; 3:01; 3:05; 3:02; 3:05; 3:10), then I slapped on another 1.10 miles jog/walking c/d. This pushed the mileage up to 6.41 miles, which is a great mid-week mileage day. But, this week, it was my only mid-week day even remotely longer than 3 miles.
Long -- beautiful run in San Francisco with Jen today.
(Stolen Photos from Jen below.)
I had 14 on the calendar and Jen had 20, so we agreed to meet up at mile 6 of her run and do the last bit together. I woke with a bit of a funky stomach, skipped the coffee as a result, and headed up to the meet-up place. On the drive I got a text from Jen indicating that she may also have a bit of a funky belly, and that she would be 5 minutes later than expected due to a detour. I walked a bit to warmup and placed myself at the intersection we'd agreed upon. I waited several minutes longer than I expected and started to worry that it may have been a mistake to leave my phone back at my car (0.25 miles away at this point). Just as I was deciding whether I should run back to my car, Jen came into sight -- turns out the map she'd used was short, the meetup point was at 6.6 miles instead of 6 miles! Delay explained.
After this auspicious start, we decided to modify the route on the fly. I was happy to write off the extra 0.6 miles, I just needed to get in a good long run. Jen wanted to avoid the loop through the Sunset she'd originally planned because it had street intersection with traffic, so we headed down Sloat and along the Great Highway's trail.
Immediately, it became clear that my stomach was not happy with me and that I would need a restroom in the first couple of miles. I considered hopping into a porta potty that was at someone's home for construction, but managed to preserve a small bit of dignity and held on for a public restroom. And voila -- there it was -- the most glorious public bathroom I've ever used. This building was my savior sent to me via time machine, complete with marble, tile, numerous stalls, molding at the ceiling -- all clean! The world was a much better place after this gift from the past.
From there, Jen and I gamely ran slowly but steadily, out the Great Highway, up past the Cliff House, up into Lands End and up a million stairs to the top of the trail. Jen gave me a high-five when we reached the Lands End trail entrance and I smiled. Nothing like another runner to know the internal pride you feel when you finish a climb like that one (169 feet in mile 4, plus another 108 feet in mile 5).
The Lands End trail system is gorgeous. While I'd been going to the Cliff House and the Sutro Baths off and on since childhood, I'd never been out to the trails. They are recently expanded, very well maintained and the views are some of the best in the world. I think I may need to arrange a hike with a group of friends.
At mile 7 or so, I apologized to Jen for holding her back. I was pokier than I'd planned and I knew she had some pace goals I may be keeping her from hitting. She surprised me by saying that she was struggling (this was on the climb back into the city through Golden Gate park) and was thinking about cutting back the mileage. In hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised me. We were gamely doing our best, but the whole day hadn't really gone according to plan for either of us.
From here, I decided just to play it by ear. We considered adding a loop around Stow lake, got lost on our way there, finally made it there and after about half a mile, decided to head back out to the main road and just run to the car and let the mileage land where it did.
Towards the end, since I knew I'd be a little shorter than my planned 14, I threw in 4 HIIT intervals, all under 1 minute. I was pretty tired, and the paces I hit showed it: 7:52; 8:18; 8:48; 9:07. But, there's something about throwing in a hard effort at the end of a long run that fills me with a sense of accomplishment. For me, since pushing myself on pace is one of my weaknesses, I think hard efforts at the end of long runs are actually much more difficult than slogging through the extra miles. After the intervals, I jogged and walked back to the car with Jen after we left the main part of the park. Total miles: 12. Average Pace: 12:00/mile including all the walk breaks and the hiking up and down the stairs.
Overall, I'm very happy with this run. It was great to catch up with Jen, and it's the first time in a long time that 12 miles felt "easy". While it was slower, given the hills, I think it was comparable to the last 12 miler I did with F. The difference is, after that one I was completely done, as were my legs, whereas this time, I definitely had more than enough energy left. Bonus, my legs feel relatively fresh right now a few hours later, which is the first time that's happened after a long run in quite a while (probably partially due to my accidental step-back week).
So that's the week in a nutshell. Off to get Guito some much-needed sunshine (I'll get to those taxes, I swear...).
You read that correctly. A couple of hours.
The primary reason for finally buckling down and doing this task that I only manage to complete a few times per year (hence how the pile gets to be so large and unwieldy)?
Well, kids. The tax deadline is fast approaching.
Now, I have a folder with all of the tax documentation. And, I've got the latest version of the tax prep software updated.
So, of course, I'm going to update my blog...
This week was a bit of a miss in terms of my running goals. I didn't get in any good strength work at all, and my mileage was only 29.83 total.
My two good workouts weren't too bad, it was just the rest of the week that was tough. The washing machine died on me, the kitchen remodel needed time with professionals on-site, and work picked up too -- which made committing to the scheduled mileage and/or workouts difficult. I'm happy to say I made myself get on my feet and do *something* on every day but 1 day. But the quality and time of those efforts was somewhat sub-par. Oh well. Some weeks I just have to tell myself that something is better than nothing. And it is.
Despite the decreased mileage and crazy schedule, we ate quite healthy and I managed to drop another pound, so that's continued progress in that direction.
Speed -- track day: This week's workout was a bit more difficult for me than normal because the track coach wasn't doing the workout. When she's not also running, she tends to be much more strict about enforcing the recovery intervals. My legs were still a bit heavy from the 10K last Sunday, but I just told myself to do my best. I ran 2.21 miles warm-up to go get my car (which I'd left onsite at a client), drove the 7 minutes to the track, did another 0.18 mile jog/walk w/u at track and jumped in to the workout; 3 X (2 X 600 R/I:60) 400 R/I jogging between sets (splits: 3:00; 3:01; 3:05; 3:02; 3:05; 3:10), then I slapped on another 1.10 miles jog/walking c/d. This pushed the mileage up to 6.41 miles, which is a great mid-week mileage day. But, this week, it was my only mid-week day even remotely longer than 3 miles.
Long -- beautiful run in San Francisco with Jen today.
(Stolen Photos from Jen below.)
 |
| One of the amazing views from the Lands End Trails |
 |
| These stairs are why I didn't stress about the paces... no joke! |
I had 14 on the calendar and Jen had 20, so we agreed to meet up at mile 6 of her run and do the last bit together. I woke with a bit of a funky stomach, skipped the coffee as a result, and headed up to the meet-up place. On the drive I got a text from Jen indicating that she may also have a bit of a funky belly, and that she would be 5 minutes later than expected due to a detour. I walked a bit to warmup and placed myself at the intersection we'd agreed upon. I waited several minutes longer than I expected and started to worry that it may have been a mistake to leave my phone back at my car (0.25 miles away at this point). Just as I was deciding whether I should run back to my car, Jen came into sight -- turns out the map she'd used was short, the meetup point was at 6.6 miles instead of 6 miles! Delay explained.
After this auspicious start, we decided to modify the route on the fly. I was happy to write off the extra 0.6 miles, I just needed to get in a good long run. Jen wanted to avoid the loop through the Sunset she'd originally planned because it had street intersection with traffic, so we headed down Sloat and along the Great Highway's trail.
Immediately, it became clear that my stomach was not happy with me and that I would need a restroom in the first couple of miles. I considered hopping into a porta potty that was at someone's home for construction, but managed to preserve a small bit of dignity and held on for a public restroom. And voila -- there it was -- the most glorious public bathroom I've ever used. This building was my savior sent to me via time machine, complete with marble, tile, numerous stalls, molding at the ceiling -- all clean! The world was a much better place after this gift from the past.
From there, Jen and I gamely ran slowly but steadily, out the Great Highway, up past the Cliff House, up into Lands End and up a million stairs to the top of the trail. Jen gave me a high-five when we reached the Lands End trail entrance and I smiled. Nothing like another runner to know the internal pride you feel when you finish a climb like that one (169 feet in mile 4, plus another 108 feet in mile 5).
The Lands End trail system is gorgeous. While I'd been going to the Cliff House and the Sutro Baths off and on since childhood, I'd never been out to the trails. They are recently expanded, very well maintained and the views are some of the best in the world. I think I may need to arrange a hike with a group of friends.
At mile 7 or so, I apologized to Jen for holding her back. I was pokier than I'd planned and I knew she had some pace goals I may be keeping her from hitting. She surprised me by saying that she was struggling (this was on the climb back into the city through Golden Gate park) and was thinking about cutting back the mileage. In hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised me. We were gamely doing our best, but the whole day hadn't really gone according to plan for either of us.
From here, I decided just to play it by ear. We considered adding a loop around Stow lake, got lost on our way there, finally made it there and after about half a mile, decided to head back out to the main road and just run to the car and let the mileage land where it did.
Towards the end, since I knew I'd be a little shorter than my planned 14, I threw in 4 HIIT intervals, all under 1 minute. I was pretty tired, and the paces I hit showed it: 7:52; 8:18; 8:48; 9:07. But, there's something about throwing in a hard effort at the end of a long run that fills me with a sense of accomplishment. For me, since pushing myself on pace is one of my weaknesses, I think hard efforts at the end of long runs are actually much more difficult than slogging through the extra miles. After the intervals, I jogged and walked back to the car with Jen after we left the main part of the park. Total miles: 12. Average Pace: 12:00/mile including all the walk breaks and the hiking up and down the stairs.
Overall, I'm very happy with this run. It was great to catch up with Jen, and it's the first time in a long time that 12 miles felt "easy". While it was slower, given the hills, I think it was comparable to the last 12 miler I did with F. The difference is, after that one I was completely done, as were my legs, whereas this time, I definitely had more than enough energy left. Bonus, my legs feel relatively fresh right now a few hours later, which is the first time that's happened after a long run in quite a while (probably partially due to my accidental step-back week).
So that's the week in a nutshell. Off to get Guito some much-needed sunshine (I'll get to those taxes, I swear...).
April 9, 2014
Double Duty
First there was the pyrex incident that killed our garbage disposal. So, we're scraping by without one (for the first time in my life, actually) until we finish the kitchen remodel.
Then, a day or so ago, our washing machine decided to die mid-cycle.
(I think water-based appliances may be going on strike at our house).
But, I can't really complain. We bought the cheapest washer and dryer that Sears would sell us 11 years ago and we haven't had a single problem.
The real issue was, why did it have to die mid-cycle? These clothes were sopping wet.
So, yesterday, instead of my run, I hand-wrung the clothes and found a new purpose for the tomato cages:
Thank goodness this didn't happen in late summer when the cages would all be occupied by 6 foot tall plants!
Then, a day or so ago, our washing machine decided to die mid-cycle.
(I think water-based appliances may be going on strike at our house).
But, I can't really complain. We bought the cheapest washer and dryer that Sears would sell us 11 years ago and we haven't had a single problem.
The real issue was, why did it have to die mid-cycle? These clothes were sopping wet.
So, yesterday, instead of my run, I hand-wrung the clothes and found a new purpose for the tomato cages:
Thank goodness this didn't happen in late summer when the cages would all be occupied by 6 foot tall plants!
April 6, 2014
SLO Week -3 (Baby Steps)
On the running front, I managed to string together another decent week and I dropped a pound or so. Both of these are baby steps (but in the right direction). My goals for each week continue to be simple:
1. Get in at least one good core strength and stretching day (either yoga or calisthenics/weight lifting/stretching in a gym).
2. Get in 3 substantive running workouts, ideally one speed, one strength, and one endurance.
3. Fit in as much mileage as I can, even if it's walking. (This week's total: 36.49 miles)
This week, I hit all 3 (I'm counting a 10K with a 1.5 mile jogging warm-up as a mixed strength and endurance day), so I'm a happy kid.
Monday, E was sick, so we canceled our hotel up in SF and I made myself go to the gym and do an hour of cross-training. 10 minutes on the elliptical to warm-up. Then a myriad of weights and calisthenics and stretching.
I am *always* so sore after my core/cross-training days. Lately, I've been inspired by bloggers who are rehabbing from injuries as well as running magazines and I've been adding more glute-focused work as well as specifically recommended running-focused strength work. It is clear that my muscle memory and brain think I am actually much stronger than my body actually is. Every week, I do what I think should be a reasonable yoga and/or strength workout and the next day my muscles scream at me and I realize it was less reasonable than I thought.
I'm not complaining, it's just interesting. I definitely don't have this issue with running. I never go out for what I think is a reasonable speed workout, for example, and find out the next day that it was actually hard. I *know* when my running workouts are hard while I'm doing them. With weight-bearing strength though, not so much... And this, my friends, is why I am one of the few women in the world who can accidentally build too much muscle.
Turns out, despite the fears of most women, it's non-trivially difficult for most women (and men) to build too much bulk as a result of lifting weights and/or doing explosive dynamic loading. Thanks to genetics, this is not completely true for me... and yet, I still lift and risk it. Why? Well, I am fairly certain that one of the main reasons I am rarely injured (despite consistently maintaining an average of 20-50 miles per week for almost 10 years and weight that has fluctuated more than 30 lbs up and down during that time) is that I am functionally strong. In addition to strength genes, I believe I have a combination of a childhood of athletics and college athletics to thank for this. But, now that I'm entering middle age, I just want to preserve and maintain as much of that strength in as intelligent of a manner as possible.
My substantive workouts were straightforward.
Track Day for Speed: 1.3 miles w/u jog, strides, and drills. 3.12 miles total intervals plus recovery (200, 2X400; 2X800; 2X400; 200) Paces: 6:44; 7:41; 7:37; 7:59; 8:04; 7:45; 7:49; 6:43 (It's so gratifying to watch my speed paces drop as the weeks go by...)
As I mentioned, I cheated and combined by strength and endurance workouts this week because I wanted to run in a local 10K to get a fitness check. I jogged about 15 minutes to the start at an easy pace and stood in line for a very long time to register (partially killing my warm-up, but what are you going to do?) -- next time I'll definitely do the online registration and show up earlier!
My goal was to try to hit 9ish minute miles and to see if I could sustain it for the whole race. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite in shape enough to pull it off, and I did the dreaded positive split, but I knew that was a possibility going in. I pushed myself for a great hour-ish long sustained effort and it definitely helped me figure out where I am in my fitness (in hindsight, I should have gone out at 9:10 and tried to sustain and push it in the last mile... oh well...).
Splits:
1: 8:47
2: 8:54
3: 9:01
4: 9:23
5: 9:30 (5 second walk through the water break)
0.97: 9:17/mile pace
As you can see, the race was quite short for a 10K. But, I wasn't complaining. I was *done* when I hit the finish line. I was thrilled to see 54:33 on the clock, but I knew I hadn't run anything close to the 8:48 pace that time would have required.
After the race, I met up with Angela. We headed out for a hearty post-race breakfast and we chatted and became fast real-world friends to supplement our bloggy friendship. She'd had quite an impressive performance in the 5K, so we headed back for the awards ceremony, where she picked up 2nd in her age group. This race was actually much larger and faster than I expected. The overall men's winner for the 5K ran a 16:XX and there were many folks in the 18s to the low 20s including several very impressive older masters and younger kids.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the event and I think I may try to make it a regular on my calendar -- it's hard to argue with a race you can jog to as a warm up from your front door. Plus, three other folks from Silicon Valley Striders ran, and it's always fun to see folks you know at a race.
Finally, I got to do my shake-out easy day today with E and 2 other friends. I ran 1.5ish miles to the trailhead, met them all there, we all did 0.5 miles medium with 0.25 walking intervals until we hit 3+; and then I ran home and we all went out for brunch. This was a very pleasant and fun way to get in more than 6 miles on a recovery day. Left to my own devices, I probably would have called it at 4 miles. Yet another reason to be thankful for local friends!
1. Get in at least one good core strength and stretching day (either yoga or calisthenics/weight lifting/stretching in a gym).
2. Get in 3 substantive running workouts, ideally one speed, one strength, and one endurance.
3. Fit in as much mileage as I can, even if it's walking. (This week's total: 36.49 miles)
This week, I hit all 3 (I'm counting a 10K with a 1.5 mile jogging warm-up as a mixed strength and endurance day), so I'm a happy kid.
Monday, E was sick, so we canceled our hotel up in SF and I made myself go to the gym and do an hour of cross-training. 10 minutes on the elliptical to warm-up. Then a myriad of weights and calisthenics and stretching.
I am *always* so sore after my core/cross-training days. Lately, I've been inspired by bloggers who are rehabbing from injuries as well as running magazines and I've been adding more glute-focused work as well as specifically recommended running-focused strength work. It is clear that my muscle memory and brain think I am actually much stronger than my body actually is. Every week, I do what I think should be a reasonable yoga and/or strength workout and the next day my muscles scream at me and I realize it was less reasonable than I thought.
I'm not complaining, it's just interesting. I definitely don't have this issue with running. I never go out for what I think is a reasonable speed workout, for example, and find out the next day that it was actually hard. I *know* when my running workouts are hard while I'm doing them. With weight-bearing strength though, not so much... And this, my friends, is why I am one of the few women in the world who can accidentally build too much muscle.
Turns out, despite the fears of most women, it's non-trivially difficult for most women (and men) to build too much bulk as a result of lifting weights and/or doing explosive dynamic loading. Thanks to genetics, this is not completely true for me... and yet, I still lift and risk it. Why? Well, I am fairly certain that one of the main reasons I am rarely injured (despite consistently maintaining an average of 20-50 miles per week for almost 10 years and weight that has fluctuated more than 30 lbs up and down during that time) is that I am functionally strong. In addition to strength genes, I believe I have a combination of a childhood of athletics and college athletics to thank for this. But, now that I'm entering middle age, I just want to preserve and maintain as much of that strength in as intelligent of a manner as possible.
My substantive workouts were straightforward.
Track Day for Speed: 1.3 miles w/u jog, strides, and drills. 3.12 miles total intervals plus recovery (200, 2X400; 2X800; 2X400; 200) Paces: 6:44; 7:41; 7:37; 7:59; 8:04; 7:45; 7:49; 6:43 (It's so gratifying to watch my speed paces drop as the weeks go by...)
As I mentioned, I cheated and combined by strength and endurance workouts this week because I wanted to run in a local 10K to get a fitness check. I jogged about 15 minutes to the start at an easy pace and stood in line for a very long time to register (partially killing my warm-up, but what are you going to do?) -- next time I'll definitely do the online registration and show up earlier!
My goal was to try to hit 9ish minute miles and to see if I could sustain it for the whole race. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite in shape enough to pull it off, and I did the dreaded positive split, but I knew that was a possibility going in. I pushed myself for a great hour-ish long sustained effort and it definitely helped me figure out where I am in my fitness (in hindsight, I should have gone out at 9:10 and tried to sustain and push it in the last mile... oh well...).
Splits:
1: 8:47
2: 8:54
3: 9:01
4: 9:23
5: 9:30 (5 second walk through the water break)
0.97: 9:17/mile pace
As you can see, the race was quite short for a 10K. But, I wasn't complaining. I was *done* when I hit the finish line. I was thrilled to see 54:33 on the clock, but I knew I hadn't run anything close to the 8:48 pace that time would have required.
After the race, I met up with Angela. We headed out for a hearty post-race breakfast and we chatted and became fast real-world friends to supplement our bloggy friendship. She'd had quite an impressive performance in the 5K, so we headed back for the awards ceremony, where she picked up 2nd in her age group. This race was actually much larger and faster than I expected. The overall men's winner for the 5K ran a 16:XX and there were many folks in the 18s to the low 20s including several very impressive older masters and younger kids.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the event and I think I may try to make it a regular on my calendar -- it's hard to argue with a race you can jog to as a warm up from your front door. Plus, three other folks from Silicon Valley Striders ran, and it's always fun to see folks you know at a race.
Finally, I got to do my shake-out easy day today with E and 2 other friends. I ran 1.5ish miles to the trailhead, met them all there, we all did 0.5 miles medium with 0.25 walking intervals until we hit 3+; and then I ran home and we all went out for brunch. This was a very pleasant and fun way to get in more than 6 miles on a recovery day. Left to my own devices, I probably would have called it at 4 miles. Yet another reason to be thankful for local friends!
March 30, 2014
SLO Half week -4
Total Mileage: 35.03 including several easier runs, a little walking, and 3 Key Workouts.
Solo speed intervals: (couldn't join the track group, but did their workout on my own around my neighborhood). 1 mile TM 1% easy w/u at 11ish/mile pace; 4.05 miles of intervals 2X(600, 400, 200, 400 2:00 R/I) 3:00 R/I; walk c/d Paces: 8:32; 8:59; 8:16; 8:24; 8:40; 8:36; 8:51; 9:03;
This speed workout was much slower than the paces I hit when I join the track group, but I was proud of myself for getting out there and making the effort (even if slower) rather than bailing completely in favor of an easy mid-length run.
Strength intervals: Mile 1: 8:15 (Yes! I knew the elevation and skiing was going to benefit me). Of course, the point of the strength intervals is to spend considerable time at close to race pace, and 8:15/mile isn't a reasonable race pace for me right now. So, I opted for a longer interval for #2 -- 2 miles at 17:57.
Long run with F (including D and K for the first couple of miles as well). 12.21 miles at an average pace of 11:23. This doesn't sound that impressive, but I'm actually quite proud of it. I only stopped for one quick walk break towards the end for 0.05 miles. Otherwise, I ran (slowly) for the entire 2h18m with no fuel other than the pre-run coffee and juice. This is exactly the type of long run (consistent effort and time on my feet) that I know improves my fitness. The last two miles were a mental struggle and I slowed considerably. I was *very* grateful for F's company.
Overall, I'm pleased with my progress (and tired today, post-long-run) and looking forward to next weekend's 10K to get a good fitness assessment.
Solo speed intervals: (couldn't join the track group, but did their workout on my own around my neighborhood). 1 mile TM 1% easy w/u at 11ish/mile pace; 4.05 miles of intervals 2X(600, 400, 200, 400 2:00 R/I) 3:00 R/I; walk c/d Paces: 8:32; 8:59; 8:16; 8:24; 8:40; 8:36; 8:51; 9:03;
This speed workout was much slower than the paces I hit when I join the track group, but I was proud of myself for getting out there and making the effort (even if slower) rather than bailing completely in favor of an easy mid-length run.
Strength intervals: Mile 1: 8:15 (Yes! I knew the elevation and skiing was going to benefit me). Of course, the point of the strength intervals is to spend considerable time at close to race pace, and 8:15/mile isn't a reasonable race pace for me right now. So, I opted for a longer interval for #2 -- 2 miles at 17:57.
Long run with F (including D and K for the first couple of miles as well). 12.21 miles at an average pace of 11:23. This doesn't sound that impressive, but I'm actually quite proud of it. I only stopped for one quick walk break towards the end for 0.05 miles. Otherwise, I ran (slowly) for the entire 2h18m with no fuel other than the pre-run coffee and juice. This is exactly the type of long run (consistent effort and time on my feet) that I know improves my fitness. The last two miles were a mental struggle and I slowed considerably. I was *very* grateful for F's company.
Overall, I'm pleased with my progress (and tired today, post-long-run) and looking forward to next weekend's 10K to get a good fitness assessment.
March 29, 2014
A Little Variety
Last weekend, on our walk to Sunday night date night dinner, E & I stopped to chat with a neighbor who has some very nice plants (both edible and decorative). I'd admired from afar what they'd done with the front yard ever since they'd moved in (you put chard in newly added soil along your sidewalk? we will be friends). So I was happy to see her out watering and to introduce myself.
As you may know, I love to garden.
And this is how I made my new friend, J, who is awesome. She's the most foul-mouthed person I've encountered in a long time. She's also a dedicated gardener, hippy, bee-keeper, greenhouse maintainer, and full-time mom of 2 (5 and 7). Her spoken vernacular reminds me so much of many of my brother's friends from our hometown, which is a nice spice of variety that I rarely encounter in the bay area. She's also super opinionated and open with her views (quite often very much in opposition to the norm in the bay area), which, frankly, is a bit refreshing. I may or may not agree with her, but it's nice to be challenged to think and/or realize that others in the world see things from a different perspective.
Today, at 10:30 AM, our doorbell rang. We ignored it. I was working in my robe, trying to get enough done to justify heading out for an easy run before brunch/lunch and a much-deserved bloody mary. E was working/puttering around the interwebs in his pajamas. It was Saturday, we had no plans, and we certainly expected no visitors.
We heard voices and assumed it was a solicitor. But, after a few minutes, there was another knock. They were insistent! I opened the curtains to peer out and saw J -- Holding a seedling in her hands.
Oh! That's right. I'd told her to stop by this weekend and I'd give her some tomato seedlings.
I love that she remembered and came on over. I loved even more that she brought me a plant, too! I yelled, "Just a minute!" Threw on some real clothes and opened the door.
We proceeded to talk for at least 45 minutes about the sunflower seedling gift she'd brought (supposed to grow taller than me!), plus gardening and nature and the weather and cops and crime and her views on the law and contracts and construction and bees and praying mantises and ladybugs and greenhouses and her gift with seeds and, of course, guito and our mutual love of reptiles.
All of this was peppered with her *extremely* colorful language. Those of you who know me in the meat-world know that I can have quite a sailor's mouth. I try to moderate it around children, but often I fail. Even so, J puts me at my most unfiltered to shame. Every 3rd or 4th word out of her mouth is a hearty invective.
The funniest part of this whole exchange to me was realizing that I must have physically flinched every time she used the word "bitch". I hate that word. I am generally tolerant and unfazed by just about any type of curse words (other than racial or other minority-demeaning epithets, which she didn't use).
But "bitch" just really upsets me. In fact, I once almost left E at a party when we first started dating (and I'd driven him to the party and he had no car and we were at least 20 miles from his apartment) because he used the word "bitch" for the first time in front of me.
Perhaps it's because I was raised in a family where this word was actually used in it's technically correct sense (my father had hunting dogs, and the term "bitch in heat" is actually a medically important condition that needs to be controlled for...). Perhaps it's because every time I hear it, I think, "what's the male equivalent?" and when I can't figure it out my head explodes. Frankly, I don't know why. I just know that I viscerally hate it.
So, at the end of her visit, just before she left, she shared yet another story about her landlord, who she'd regularly referred to as "that bitch" or "such a bitch" and she said, "so I told the plumber... 'oh-no! You call that b...woman back. You make her pay you for the work you did!'"
And I realized... wow! She just self-censored. It must be very obvious that I *really* don't like that word. I'm not even sure I want to be the reason people self-censor. I'd rather have a thoughtful conversation about the term and discuss whether she wants to use it after we consider why it bothers me so much and also why it clearly doesn't bother her.
But no, we didn't get there. She made a huge linguistic effort on my behalf, so now I'm an even bigger fan of J than I already was. We share so many common interests that are relatively uncommon, *and* she paid enough attention to my reactions (that I didn't even know I was having) to modify her language.
Sometimes life gives us such great unexpected gifts. And today, I am consciously grateful.
As you may know, I love to garden.
And this is how I made my new friend, J, who is awesome. She's the most foul-mouthed person I've encountered in a long time. She's also a dedicated gardener, hippy, bee-keeper, greenhouse maintainer, and full-time mom of 2 (5 and 7). Her spoken vernacular reminds me so much of many of my brother's friends from our hometown, which is a nice spice of variety that I rarely encounter in the bay area. She's also super opinionated and open with her views (quite often very much in opposition to the norm in the bay area), which, frankly, is a bit refreshing. I may or may not agree with her, but it's nice to be challenged to think and/or realize that others in the world see things from a different perspective.
Today, at 10:30 AM, our doorbell rang. We ignored it. I was working in my robe, trying to get enough done to justify heading out for an easy run before brunch/lunch and a much-deserved bloody mary. E was working/puttering around the interwebs in his pajamas. It was Saturday, we had no plans, and we certainly expected no visitors.
We heard voices and assumed it was a solicitor. But, after a few minutes, there was another knock. They were insistent! I opened the curtains to peer out and saw J -- Holding a seedling in her hands.
Oh! That's right. I'd told her to stop by this weekend and I'd give her some tomato seedlings.
I love that she remembered and came on over. I loved even more that she brought me a plant, too! I yelled, "Just a minute!" Threw on some real clothes and opened the door.
We proceeded to talk for at least 45 minutes about the sunflower seedling gift she'd brought (supposed to grow taller than me!), plus gardening and nature and the weather and cops and crime and her views on the law and contracts and construction and bees and praying mantises and ladybugs and greenhouses and her gift with seeds and, of course, guito and our mutual love of reptiles.
All of this was peppered with her *extremely* colorful language. Those of you who know me in the meat-world know that I can have quite a sailor's mouth. I try to moderate it around children, but often I fail. Even so, J puts me at my most unfiltered to shame. Every 3rd or 4th word out of her mouth is a hearty invective.
The funniest part of this whole exchange to me was realizing that I must have physically flinched every time she used the word "bitch". I hate that word. I am generally tolerant and unfazed by just about any type of curse words (other than racial or other minority-demeaning epithets, which she didn't use).
But "bitch" just really upsets me. In fact, I once almost left E at a party when we first started dating (and I'd driven him to the party and he had no car and we were at least 20 miles from his apartment) because he used the word "bitch" for the first time in front of me.
Perhaps it's because I was raised in a family where this word was actually used in it's technically correct sense (my father had hunting dogs, and the term "bitch in heat" is actually a medically important condition that needs to be controlled for...). Perhaps it's because every time I hear it, I think, "what's the male equivalent?" and when I can't figure it out my head explodes. Frankly, I don't know why. I just know that I viscerally hate it.
So, at the end of her visit, just before she left, she shared yet another story about her landlord, who she'd regularly referred to as "that bitch" or "such a bitch" and she said, "so I told the plumber... 'oh-no! You call that b...woman back. You make her pay you for the work you did!'"
And I realized... wow! She just self-censored. It must be very obvious that I *really* don't like that word. I'm not even sure I want to be the reason people self-censor. I'd rather have a thoughtful conversation about the term and discuss whether she wants to use it after we consider why it bothers me so much and also why it clearly doesn't bother her.
But no, we didn't get there. She made a huge linguistic effort on my behalf, so now I'm an even bigger fan of J than I already was. We share so many common interests that are relatively uncommon, *and* she paid enough attention to my reactions (that I didn't even know I was having) to modify her language.
Sometimes life gives us such great unexpected gifts. And today, I am consciously grateful.
March 23, 2014
Ski Week (aka SLO half marathon week -5)
E and I traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to spend half the week skiing with his family (who went for the full week).
His family tries to go on a full-fledged proper ski-week vacation every year. I understand this. I was raised in a family that sent kids up the hill in ski-bus-clubs every weekend during ski season. There was a time when I was quite a good downhill skier. Unfortunately, that time has passed.
My gymnastics coach insisted that I couldn't do ski club after age 15 if I wanted to continue with being on the competitive gymnastics team. My soccer coach took the same position. Given that this was essentially the *only* point they ever agreed on (that's not fair, they both also agreed that I should do agressive physical therapy and strengthen my medial quads after my first patellar subluxation), I listened to them. When I quit ski-club, I was a hot-dogging jumping, mogul-racing animal.
And now? Now, I am an intermediate skier of middle age. In fact, it's worse than that. Because I know I'm heavier than I've been in almost a decade, so I'm *extra* concerned about laterally loading my knees. I don't exactly have an active lateral knee-loading lifestyle... not a ton of soccer, basketball, side-to-side sprints in my day-to-day existence, but boy do I have a history of blowing out my knees when laterally loaded. Essentially, I'm slow, cautious, only willing to do jumps on terrain parks at minimal speed, avoiding moguls, and very concerned about doing serious harm.
So, c'est la vie... Given that background, you'd think I'd be the most hesitant person on the family ski trip, but alas, sadly, no... E's dad, before we even arrived (note to those of you thinking of joining older parents on ski trips.... GO FOR THE FIRST HALF!), took a nasty fall and managed to royally crack his clavicle into two parts that are very far apart from one another at this point (aka... surgery town...). So, by the time we arrived, he wasn't even skiing at all, and both E and I felt horrid that we'd been too busy with work to even join him for skiing for 3 years. VACATION WITH YOUR FAMILY WHEN THEY INVITE YOU!
On the running front, holy crap... downhill skiing when there are no lines and heavy snow at altitude is like track intervals. I'm looking forward to reaping the benefits of this.
This week was chill:
Monday Core at the hotel in SF.
Tuesday 4ish easy around AT&T park.
Wed HIIT 3ish 4X1 min w/4 min jogging plus w/u cooldown.
Th-Sa skiing/elevation.
Sunday -- 25 minutes running at 6,000 feet -- roughly 13:00/mile, but nice and easy.
Overall, it was nice step-back week. According to various calculations, it is roughly 21.78 miles running equivalent. It felt like more than that in terms of time on my feet, but I like the timing and the strength/effort will pay off. Overall, in addition to an awesome work and family/social week, I feel good about the progress I'm making towards SLO. Also, I'm super excited for all of my friends who had such a great day at the Oakland Running Festival today.
His family tries to go on a full-fledged proper ski-week vacation every year. I understand this. I was raised in a family that sent kids up the hill in ski-bus-clubs every weekend during ski season. There was a time when I was quite a good downhill skier. Unfortunately, that time has passed.
My gymnastics coach insisted that I couldn't do ski club after age 15 if I wanted to continue with being on the competitive gymnastics team. My soccer coach took the same position. Given that this was essentially the *only* point they ever agreed on (that's not fair, they both also agreed that I should do agressive physical therapy and strengthen my medial quads after my first patellar subluxation), I listened to them. When I quit ski-club, I was a hot-dogging jumping, mogul-racing animal.
And now? Now, I am an intermediate skier of middle age. In fact, it's worse than that. Because I know I'm heavier than I've been in almost a decade, so I'm *extra* concerned about laterally loading my knees. I don't exactly have an active lateral knee-loading lifestyle... not a ton of soccer, basketball, side-to-side sprints in my day-to-day existence, but boy do I have a history of blowing out my knees when laterally loaded. Essentially, I'm slow, cautious, only willing to do jumps on terrain parks at minimal speed, avoiding moguls, and very concerned about doing serious harm.
So, c'est la vie... Given that background, you'd think I'd be the most hesitant person on the family ski trip, but alas, sadly, no... E's dad, before we even arrived (note to those of you thinking of joining older parents on ski trips.... GO FOR THE FIRST HALF!), took a nasty fall and managed to royally crack his clavicle into two parts that are very far apart from one another at this point (aka... surgery town...). So, by the time we arrived, he wasn't even skiing at all, and both E and I felt horrid that we'd been too busy with work to even join him for skiing for 3 years. VACATION WITH YOUR FAMILY WHEN THEY INVITE YOU!
On the running front, holy crap... downhill skiing when there are no lines and heavy snow at altitude is like track intervals. I'm looking forward to reaping the benefits of this.
This week was chill:
Monday Core at the hotel in SF.
Tuesday 4ish easy around AT&T park.
Wed HIIT 3ish 4X1 min w/4 min jogging plus w/u cooldown.
Th-Sa skiing/elevation.
Sunday -- 25 minutes running at 6,000 feet -- roughly 13:00/mile, but nice and easy.
Overall, it was nice step-back week. According to various calculations, it is roughly 21.78 miles running equivalent. It felt like more than that in terms of time on my feet, but I like the timing and the strength/effort will pay off. Overall, in addition to an awesome work and family/social week, I feel good about the progress I'm making towards SLO. Also, I'm super excited for all of my friends who had such a great day at the Oakland Running Festival today.
March 16, 2014
Runspiration
So, for any of you who've became fit after not being fit, you know how exciting it is to make every little breakthrough. For me, this week was so fun. After several weeks of gradual build up, and three weeks of relatively intelligent concerted effort, this week I finally saw and felt some obvious fitness improvements.
Before we get to that, though, I'd like to point out that my favorite runner, Des Linden (formerly d'Avila) ran a 1:11:37 half at the New York Half Marathon today, on the tail end of 120 mile week:
*I AM SO EXCITED TO WATCH THE BOSTON MARATHON!*
Back in 2011, I woke early and watched the full race via internet streaming on universalsports.com, and woke up E crying and clapping when Desi battled to her epic 2nd place finish.
I was so proud of her for any number of ridiculous self-identifying reasons (she's short, a Californian, a former soccer player, a ridiculously hard worker, supremely self-confident but also shy and/or awkward in a way I recognize, etc., etc.). So, I did a bunch of research about Brooks-Hansen, was impressed with what they were doing for distance running in the U.S. and I switched to Brooks shoes. I read the Hansons Marathon Method and implemented it, resulting in a ton of self-learning about who I am as a runner and both of my best long running efforts in the last few years (Coeur d'Alene, and CIM in 2011).
Returning to me, in much less dramatically fun running news, this week is the 4th week in a row I've hit 3(ish) key workouts/goals.
First thing I'm proud of -- total weekly mileage of 38.74. I know myself and I know I need to get above 40mpw to start seeing actual impressive physical benefits. I'm so happy that I've made the necessary commitments to get (almost) there. I can feel the breakthroughs coming. Mind you, this week's mileage includes at *least* 10 miles of walking, but for me, just committing to getting out on my feet is the important thing, and I know that. Once I'm out there for the volume consistently, I tend to quickly decrease the total percentage of walking volume.
Track Day: I sincerely owe my nascient local running club the Silicon Valley Striders for this one. There is no way I'd be increasing in my fitness as much as I have been these last few weeks, if I hadn't been joining SVS for both weekly track days and long run days. This Wednesday's track day was a struggle, but I did my best:
- 1.14 miles jogging warm-up (this is all me, the club usually shows up just for drills to warm up, but I'm old, and I have a hard time running fast without some easy time on the feet, plus, given that it decreases the pain of the track intervals it's kind of a freebie in terms of mileage).
- 0.35 miles drills & warm-up lap;
- 3.42 miles intervals
--(4X200 (:30 R/I): 49, 50, 53, 53)
--(400 jogging R/I)
--(2X(600; 200 walk R/I; 400; 1:00 R/I; 400)): 600@8:27 pace; 400@7:52; 400@7:55; 600@7:59; 400@8:09; 400@8:41)
--3X100 (:30 R/I) @ 6:30ish pace
Sadly, I had to leave immediately and did the dreaded driving cooldown... C'est La Vie.
Increased Long Run Effort: Again, I owe SVS, first, I ran 3ish miles to join the SVS group at the park for the scheduled Sunday run. But, I decided to take a new route and I got lost. I had to pick up the pace. Then, I hit the wrong button on my watch. The end result is that I believe I did approximately 3.25 miles or so at 9:45/mile pace. My goal had been 2.89 miles at 10/mile pace -- so we'll call this a win.
Then, I did 7 miles with K for her final long run before her first race (a half marathon! How cool is that?). She kicked ass. She started out so fast during the first mile that I tattled on her to the running club leader and made her slow down. We completed the full 7 miles at an average pace of 11:43 after forced longer walk breaks and the pacers getting in front of her and slowing her down, compared to previous averages of 11:59ish. I'm excited to see how she does at her first half marathon (the Oakland Running Festival Half Marathon).
Then, F was sweet enough to pace me on my final effort mile in the park after the long easy effort. I was somewhat suspicious that I didn't have the fitness to meet my goal, but no, I drafted for 1.5 loops and hit a mile at 8:59 after 10 miles medium and easy. I can't even tell you how much this milestone meant to me. I started this re-integration into fitness process about 20 pounds heavier than I should be. But knowing I am headed in the right direction starting from such a disadvantage has me super excited about what I may be able to accomplish if I drop the weight. I am stronger than I realized right now, which, in all honesty, is one of the cooler realizations you can make about yourself.
In other news, K, F & I all have significant others who don't really run (E is probably the biggest runner of all of them, and he often joins me for 1.5 miles hard in the low 9's or high 8's before a walking cooldown). Today, at a party, K's SO and E agreed to sell out F's SO -- they agreed they will run a 5K so long as F's SO runs it as well. I love mens' competitive willingness to sell each other out. I am hopeful we can make this happen (and even more hopeful we could create a healthy fun habit we could all share).
Before we get to that, though, I'd like to point out that my favorite runner, Des Linden (formerly d'Avila) ran a 1:11:37 half at the New York Half Marathon today, on the tail end of 120 mile week:
Solid 1:11:37
for @des_linden at #NYCHalf
during a 120 mile week. Boston up next. http://t.co/yWHg0snxBq @jhboston26 —
Josh Cox (@JoshCox) March
16, 2014
*I AM SO EXCITED TO WATCH THE BOSTON MARATHON!*
Back in 2011, I woke early and watched the full race via internet streaming on universalsports.com, and woke up E crying and clapping when Desi battled to her epic 2nd place finish.
I was so proud of her for any number of ridiculous self-identifying reasons (she's short, a Californian, a former soccer player, a ridiculously hard worker, supremely self-confident but also shy and/or awkward in a way I recognize, etc., etc.). So, I did a bunch of research about Brooks-Hansen, was impressed with what they were doing for distance running in the U.S. and I switched to Brooks shoes. I read the Hansons Marathon Method and implemented it, resulting in a ton of self-learning about who I am as a runner and both of my best long running efforts in the last few years (Coeur d'Alene, and CIM in 2011).
Returning to me, in much less dramatically fun running news, this week is the 4th week in a row I've hit 3(ish) key workouts/goals.
First thing I'm proud of -- total weekly mileage of 38.74. I know myself and I know I need to get above 40mpw to start seeing actual impressive physical benefits. I'm so happy that I've made the necessary commitments to get (almost) there. I can feel the breakthroughs coming. Mind you, this week's mileage includes at *least* 10 miles of walking, but for me, just committing to getting out on my feet is the important thing, and I know that. Once I'm out there for the volume consistently, I tend to quickly decrease the total percentage of walking volume.
Track Day: I sincerely owe my nascient local running club the Silicon Valley Striders for this one. There is no way I'd be increasing in my fitness as much as I have been these last few weeks, if I hadn't been joining SVS for both weekly track days and long run days. This Wednesday's track day was a struggle, but I did my best:
- 1.14 miles jogging warm-up (this is all me, the club usually shows up just for drills to warm up, but I'm old, and I have a hard time running fast without some easy time on the feet, plus, given that it decreases the pain of the track intervals it's kind of a freebie in terms of mileage).
- 0.35 miles drills & warm-up lap;
- 3.42 miles intervals
--(4X200 (:30 R/I): 49, 50, 53, 53)
--(400 jogging R/I)
--(2X(600; 200 walk R/I; 400; 1:00 R/I; 400)): 600@8:27 pace; 400@7:52; 400@7:55; 600@7:59; 400@8:09; 400@8:41)
--3X100 (:30 R/I) @ 6:30ish pace
Sadly, I had to leave immediately and did the dreaded driving cooldown... C'est La Vie.
Increased Long Run Effort: Again, I owe SVS, first, I ran 3ish miles to join the SVS group at the park for the scheduled Sunday run. But, I decided to take a new route and I got lost. I had to pick up the pace. Then, I hit the wrong button on my watch. The end result is that I believe I did approximately 3.25 miles or so at 9:45/mile pace. My goal had been 2.89 miles at 10/mile pace -- so we'll call this a win.
Then, I did 7 miles with K for her final long run before her first race (a half marathon! How cool is that?). She kicked ass. She started out so fast during the first mile that I tattled on her to the running club leader and made her slow down. We completed the full 7 miles at an average pace of 11:43 after forced longer walk breaks and the pacers getting in front of her and slowing her down, compared to previous averages of 11:59ish. I'm excited to see how she does at her first half marathon (the Oakland Running Festival Half Marathon).
Then, F was sweet enough to pace me on my final effort mile in the park after the long easy effort. I was somewhat suspicious that I didn't have the fitness to meet my goal, but no, I drafted for 1.5 loops and hit a mile at 8:59 after 10 miles medium and easy. I can't even tell you how much this milestone meant to me. I started this re-integration into fitness process about 20 pounds heavier than I should be. But knowing I am headed in the right direction starting from such a disadvantage has me super excited about what I may be able to accomplish if I drop the weight. I am stronger than I realized right now, which, in all honesty, is one of the cooler realizations you can make about yourself.
In other news, K, F & I all have significant others who don't really run (E is probably the biggest runner of all of them, and he often joins me for 1.5 miles hard in the low 9's or high 8's before a walking cooldown). Today, at a party, K's SO and E agreed to sell out F's SO -- they agreed they will run a 5K so long as F's SO runs it as well. I love mens' competitive willingness to sell each other out. I am hopeful we can make this happen (and even more hopeful we could create a healthy fun habit we could all share).
March 9, 2014
Back on the Horse
So, my efforts to regain some semblance of racing fitness before the SLO half went quite well this week. I fit in a 5 mile hike, another 4 miles of walking, and 25 miles of running for a total weekly mileage of 35.87 miles (a high water mark for the year).
Every runner has their own approach as to how they regain fitness best, but for me, I like to focus on increasing my total mileage by not caring about the pace on the slow/easy days (or walks), but make sure I fit in a few key workouts at target paces.
This week, I fit in three hard running workouts, which feels like quite the accomplishment.
Hard Workout #1 (speed): Track Day (total mileage: 4.98)
-1.37 miles jogging warm-up. 0.30 walking/stretching. 0.36 drills & build-up lap.
-The meat of the workout: Intervals including 2 split 1200s (800 @ 80%; 200 jog; 200 @ 90%) with a 3 minute jogging recovery interval; Followed immediately by a last 800 @ 80%. Actual paces: 800@8:19/mile; 200@6:33/mile; 800@8:41/mile; 200@7:03/mile; 800@8:12/mile.
-Final effort: 3X100 strides (avg 7:00) w/100 RI
I'd never done these split 1200s before and they are *tough* but in a good way -- digging deep into that final 200 is mentally difficult, but physically not as impossible as it seems like it should be. I may try to fit in another session or two of these before the race.
Hard Workout #2 (strength): 4 Mile Intervals w/H (total mileage: 5.45)
-0.53 jogging warm-up (11:40/mile).
-1st mile at 8:51. 3 min walk R/I.
-2nd mile at 8:57. 5 min walk R/I.
-3rd mile at 8:56. 4 min walk R/I.
-4th mile @ 8:59 (slightly short due to a watch snafu). 5 min walk R/I
After we finished the last interval, and while we were walking back to the cars, I realized my key had fallen out of my zipper pocket. We'd run a large loop, and my key could have fallen out anywhere along the way. We did some cursory searching near the bathrooms by the cars as I'd used them before the last interval, but we didn't find it, and the reality of the terrain we'd been on and the distance we'd covered meant that I just didn't have the time to search carefully everywhere it might be.
So, I borrowed H's phone, called E, and asked him to bring me my spare key. Then, I walked around some more to cool down, and I did some pushups, dips, abs, and stretching. Finally, I headed back to the gravel by the cars and idly scanned the ground... and then I saw something SHINY! It was my key. Immediately I looked up at the sky and said a quick thanks. I could feel my Dad with me so clearly at that moment. I managed to get E on the phone before he got on the freeway. Disaster Averted!
Hard Workout #3 (distance): 10 Miles w/G (total mileage: 10.2)
I've been doing weekend long runs with a good friend of mine, G, who is training for the Oakland Half. This was her longest run ever, and she did a great job. We typically average somewhere just sub 12:00/mile including walk and water breaks. Today was no different. Around mile 3, I needed to peel off to use the restrooms. These restrooms are about 0.15 miles off the trail, so I bid G adieu, and picked up the pace, running hard to the restrooms and back to the trail. G had put some distance between us in that time period, and I ended up running 2 (unexpected on my distance day) good solid miles catching back up to her (9:49 and 9:58).
All in all, this is the best running week I've had in a long time. So that feels great! Here's to hoping I can string several of these together over the next few weeks.
Every runner has their own approach as to how they regain fitness best, but for me, I like to focus on increasing my total mileage by not caring about the pace on the slow/easy days (or walks), but make sure I fit in a few key workouts at target paces.
This week, I fit in three hard running workouts, which feels like quite the accomplishment.
Hard Workout #1 (speed): Track Day (total mileage: 4.98)
-1.37 miles jogging warm-up. 0.30 walking/stretching. 0.36 drills & build-up lap.
-The meat of the workout: Intervals including 2 split 1200s (800 @ 80%; 200 jog; 200 @ 90%) with a 3 minute jogging recovery interval; Followed immediately by a last 800 @ 80%. Actual paces: 800@8:19/mile; 200@6:33/mile; 800@8:41/mile; 200@7:03/mile; 800@8:12/mile.
-Final effort: 3X100 strides (avg 7:00) w/100 RI
I'd never done these split 1200s before and they are *tough* but in a good way -- digging deep into that final 200 is mentally difficult, but physically not as impossible as it seems like it should be. I may try to fit in another session or two of these before the race.
Hard Workout #2 (strength): 4 Mile Intervals w/H (total mileage: 5.45)
-0.53 jogging warm-up (11:40/mile).
-1st mile at 8:51. 3 min walk R/I.
-2nd mile at 8:57. 5 min walk R/I.
-3rd mile at 8:56. 4 min walk R/I.
-4th mile @ 8:59 (slightly short due to a watch snafu). 5 min walk R/I
After we finished the last interval, and while we were walking back to the cars, I realized my key had fallen out of my zipper pocket. We'd run a large loop, and my key could have fallen out anywhere along the way. We did some cursory searching near the bathrooms by the cars as I'd used them before the last interval, but we didn't find it, and the reality of the terrain we'd been on and the distance we'd covered meant that I just didn't have the time to search carefully everywhere it might be.
So, I borrowed H's phone, called E, and asked him to bring me my spare key. Then, I walked around some more to cool down, and I did some pushups, dips, abs, and stretching. Finally, I headed back to the gravel by the cars and idly scanned the ground... and then I saw something SHINY! It was my key. Immediately I looked up at the sky and said a quick thanks. I could feel my Dad with me so clearly at that moment. I managed to get E on the phone before he got on the freeway. Disaster Averted!
Hard Workout #3 (distance): 10 Miles w/G (total mileage: 10.2)
I've been doing weekend long runs with a good friend of mine, G, who is training for the Oakland Half. This was her longest run ever, and she did a great job. We typically average somewhere just sub 12:00/mile including walk and water breaks. Today was no different. Around mile 3, I needed to peel off to use the restrooms. These restrooms are about 0.15 miles off the trail, so I bid G adieu, and picked up the pace, running hard to the restrooms and back to the trail. G had put some distance between us in that time period, and I ended up running 2 (unexpected on my distance day) good solid miles catching back up to her (9:49 and 9:58).
All in all, this is the best running week I've had in a long time. So that feels great! Here's to hoping I can string several of these together over the next few weeks.
February 28, 2014
8 Weeks 'til the next Half
So I registered for the SLO half marathon.
I desperately needed a goal. The Kaiser half was my last goal. And it successfully got me out of my slovenliness. But, I needed a new goal to actually try to regain my former status as somewhat fit.
I'd originally hoped to do the Oakland Half Marathon for the third year in a row. Such a great race. But, family travel killed that plan.
So, here I am. Registered for a race in my Dad's hometown instead. 8 weeks away. Last week's long run was 8 miles, so I have distance on my side.
I have a good feeling.
I've got a tentative training schedule in excel that involves consistent long runs on the weekends, some HITT in the shorter weekend runs, and some yoga, a track day a week, and good easy running days to round it out on the calendar.
Also, after today's visit to the doctor and the reality of my BMI, I'm more committed than normal to some very healthy eating -- yikes.
My goals are simple:
1. To Finish.
2. To Finish in less time than it took me to finish Kaiser SF (the course in SLO is *much* more demanding).
Based on how my training goes, I'll likely add more specific time goals closer to the event.
It feels good to have running goals again. I look forward to seeing how these 8 weeks play out.
Happy Running, Friends!
I desperately needed a goal. The Kaiser half was my last goal. And it successfully got me out of my slovenliness. But, I needed a new goal to actually try to regain my former status as somewhat fit.
I'd originally hoped to do the Oakland Half Marathon for the third year in a row. Such a great race. But, family travel killed that plan.
So, here I am. Registered for a race in my Dad's hometown instead. 8 weeks away. Last week's long run was 8 miles, so I have distance on my side.
I have a good feeling.
I've got a tentative training schedule in excel that involves consistent long runs on the weekends, some HITT in the shorter weekend runs, and some yoga, a track day a week, and good easy running days to round it out on the calendar.
Also, after today's visit to the doctor and the reality of my BMI, I'm more committed than normal to some very healthy eating -- yikes.
My goals are simple:
1. To Finish.
2. To Finish in less time than it took me to finish Kaiser SF (the course in SLO is *much* more demanding).
Based on how my training goes, I'll likely add more specific time goals closer to the event.
It feels good to have running goals again. I look forward to seeing how these 8 weeks play out.
Happy Running, Friends!
February 25, 2014
Makin' Mochi
In case you were wondering what it looked like when E was being yelled at by the dudes at Inakaya to pound sticky rice:
The answer is -- very entertaining.
Book Club
We read Wuthering Heights for February's book club.
I'd never read it, nor seen any of the movies.
But somewhere along the line, I'd heard about the dark and dreamy Heathcliff. And his love for Catherine. I had a picture of the grave with his name in my mind as well.
I thought I'd signed up to read a classic romantic tale. You know what? I had no idea what this book was about.
While there were a few moments of tenderness and love, for the most part, it was a dark and sad tale of mental illness, alcoholism, hurtful behavior, oppression of women, child-abuse, and just general sad human reality. The mental and physical violence were staggering.
Also, the writing was difficult. Unlike our last two books, The Great Gatsby or Age of Innocence, none of us had any favorite passages we wanted to read aloud to the group.
I'm glad I finally read it, discussed it with my book club, and now have my own opinions about it. But truly, I'm perplexed at how this book became known as a romantic classic.
There is very little about it that is romantic at all. If anything, the most impressive part is how Emily Bronte writes such believably bi-polar and alcoholic characters a full 45 years before Freud even begins his foray into psychoanalysis.
In short, this book was hard work. I am glad I completed it, but I doubt I will return to it again.
I'd never read it, nor seen any of the movies.
But somewhere along the line, I'd heard about the dark and dreamy Heathcliff. And his love for Catherine. I had a picture of the grave with his name in my mind as well.
I thought I'd signed up to read a classic romantic tale. You know what? I had no idea what this book was about.
While there were a few moments of tenderness and love, for the most part, it was a dark and sad tale of mental illness, alcoholism, hurtful behavior, oppression of women, child-abuse, and just general sad human reality. The mental and physical violence were staggering.
Also, the writing was difficult. Unlike our last two books, The Great Gatsby or Age of Innocence, none of us had any favorite passages we wanted to read aloud to the group.
I'm glad I finally read it, discussed it with my book club, and now have my own opinions about it. But truly, I'm perplexed at how this book became known as a romantic classic.
There is very little about it that is romantic at all. If anything, the most impressive part is how Emily Bronte writes such believably bi-polar and alcoholic characters a full 45 years before Freud even begins his foray into psychoanalysis.
In short, this book was hard work. I am glad I completed it, but I doubt I will return to it again.
February 24, 2014
Home
We're home for several weeks in a row. It's a nice change.
Last week was a nice recovery from travels week, although if I had to do it again, I think I might have turned down some of the new work that came in.
In addition to the work, we fit in the usual necessities.
Laundry.
Guito.
Home cooking of light meals.
One night and two half days in SF for work.
Gardening.
Running -- a slow 25 miles last week including several walk breaks, but at least I got in 3 X (4X200) at the track on Wednesday.
Weekend brunches with E and spontaneous social activities with friends.
And now, it's Monday again. I'm not going to lie. I could really use another day or two on my weekend.
Last week was a nice recovery from travels week, although if I had to do it again, I think I might have turned down some of the new work that came in.
In addition to the work, we fit in the usual necessities.
Laundry.
Guito.
Home cooking of light meals.
One night and two half days in SF for work.
Gardening.
Running -- a slow 25 miles last week including several walk breaks, but at least I got in 3 X (4X200) at the track on Wednesday.
Weekend brunches with E and spontaneous social activities with friends.
And now, it's Monday again. I'm not going to lie. I could really use another day or two on my weekend.
February 18, 2014
Japan
The trip in food shorthand: sushi, traditional multi-course japanese meals, shabu, kaiten-zushi, teppanyaki, onigiri & rice crackers, xiaolongbao, ramen, robata, and more onigiri and rice crackers. Mmmmm....Did I mention I LOVE Japanese food?
So, E & I just completed a week-long trip to Japan. We had a wonderful vacation in Japan back in 2008, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagano and Okinawa. This trip, in contrast, was for business, and it was all Tokyo.
On the flight over, I listened to about 4 hours of language lessons (shout-out to http://www.japanesepod101.com/) and was pleased to realize that my brain had actually kept a bit of the Japanese language study I'd done before our last trip somewhere deep in the recesses. It was quite fun, actually. For every lesson I did, I recalled another 4-5 words, phrases, or concepts from my memory that I thought I'd completely forgotten. Bonus.
Even so, my command of the audio and spoken language was nowhere near what it was last time (and it's not like my Japanese was very good then, either). But, in a surprising (to me) development, my Chinese studies actually paid off quite a bit. I could read the few characters I recognized and know what basic things meant, even if I couldn't say them or understand what was being said. Also, I can memorize what a character looks like thanks to my Chinese studies, which was helpful when trying to identify restaurants, etc. I think it was actually easier to get around this time than last time, even though my spoken language skills were much worse. Reading is important kids!
We arrived at almost midnight and caught the very last train to Shinagawa from Haneda. Nothing lets you know it's time to get out quite like the meticulous shutting down the train station ritual of ten or so uniformed and white gloved Japanese guards. From there, we managed to get a taxi to understand where our hotel was and he dropped us off in front of a completely closed building.
Yay for international adventures! We were officially in the land of the weird.
Eventually, we found our way through a mall and some banquet rooms to the lobby and an early morning sleep. Wednesday we both worked, although we did manage to hit a sushi bar in the hotel for lunch. E splurged on a more expensive set meal than I did and for his troubles he was rewarded with both uni and a live shrimp that waved its little legs around immediately prior to being butchered and placed on his nigiri rice -- that was a bit more graphic than we were expecting, but when in Rome...
For the first dinner, since the negotiations were done and the deal was closed, we met up with some of E's Japanese business partners and they treated us to a delicious 9 or 10 course meal. Oh man. I love me some Japanese food. So many delicate, delicious, fabulous treats. The partners were very impressed with our appetites for Japanese food and chopstick skills, and surprised at our explanation that in the bay area, it's considered standard to have good chopstick skills, regardless of whether you are Asian.
Thursday, E had press meetings and I had calls and work. I woke at 4 AM and couldn't sleep any later, so, trying my best to be quiet and directing my laptop screen away from the bed, I was able to work 6 hours straight before 10 AM -- such a luxury. From there, I hit the gym, which required me to walk through the mall (of course) in my workout clothes. Given the looks I received, I'm fairly certain I was committing some sort of serious social faux pas. Oh, well. I'm a gaijin. Not my fault...
Since I managed to close out all of my immediate work needs, I decided to treat myself to some culture and walked to two nearby shrines for my lunch break. We were staying in Akasaka, which is primarily a business district, so I ended up walking amongst the salarymen and salarywomen and watching them delve into their phones in the calm of the shrines. In both shrines, I was the only non-asian person and one of the few people who were actually taking in the sites. Most of the people seemed to be simply seeking a peaceful break from the density and chaos.
These shrines were both designated shinto shrines (apparently at least one was originally a Buddhist shrine but its story was modified to avoid destruction at some point), and each had its own designated animal (fox and monkey).
On Friday, we woke to snow. Actually, I woke at 6 AM and worked 'til 9 without looking outside, but when I did, I was amazed at the view. It hadn't snowed in Tokyo in 14 years before the week prior, and now it had snowed twice in one week. We were a bit concerned about the logistics of moving to our weekend hotel, as we'd heard horror stories of the city's inability to handle the snow, but we managed to get to our new hotel in Roppongi unscathed.
For Valentines' day dinner, we splurged on teppanyaki at the Ritz Carlton. E opted for the Japanese beef and I had spiny lobster. For dessert, we sat at the window and watched the snow fall. The hotel is on the 45th floor and supposedly has great views, but due to the snow, we really could only see for a quarter of a mile or so. Even so, it was a wonderful way to celebrate.
Saturday, I woke, worked from 6-8:30 or so (it was Friday evening back home), and then headed to the gym at our new hotel, which was to die for. I spent 2.5 hours working out, stretching (pigeon pose!), doing core and arm strength work, showering, getting in the hot tub, the cold plunge, and preparing for the day. Such a luxury!
For our Saturday tourist activities, we enjoyed xiaolongbao at Nanxiang Dumplings, took in the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Mori art museum (and enjoyed a drink afterwards, as the 53rd floor view of Tokyo from the Mori Tower was wonderful now that it had stopped snowing), walked around Akasaka in the snow a bit, had an early dinner of ramen (complete with automated order ticket machine confusion), snacks of rice triangles and beer, and I was in bed by 7:20 PM.
After the super early bedtime, I was worried that I would wake up too early and would be stuck trying to be quiet and not making light pollution, but I slept a blissful 11 hours and 25 minutes 'til 6:45. Glorious. I headed to the mall attached to our hotel and worked from the Starbucks for an hour and a half -- amazing how working on a Sunday AM doesn't bother me at all when I've had a supreme sleep beforehand. From there, I headed back to the amazing spa and gym and repeated the 2.5 hour routine from the day before. I can only imagine how fit (and relaxed) I'd be if there was a spa and gym like this in my daily life!
For Sunday's fun, we headed to the Tokyo Skytree, but were informed that the observation decks were closed due to wind (it was quite windy). So, instead, we waited in line to take the elevator to the 31st floor and after surveying all of our options, had a traditional Japanese lunch (pictured at the top of the post). This was like no bento box I'd ever seen and the servers were all in full kimonos with the toe socks and flip-flops.
For dinner, we headed to Inakaya with E's coworker. Much yelling and cooking of items as ordered ensued. E was recruited to pound mochi with a large wooden dowel while men who looked like sumo wrestlers yelled at him. The food was delicious but couldn't begin to outweigh the hilarity of the experience.
And then it was Monday, time to go home. Some work, another trip to the awesome gym/spa for me while E met with potential Japanese customers, then a quick trip to the market to buy rice triangles and rice crackers for the bus to the airport.
And voila, here we are. Back home.
 |
| Prettiest Bento Meal I've Ever Seen (and Eaten) |
So, E & I just completed a week-long trip to Japan. We had a wonderful vacation in Japan back in 2008, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagano and Okinawa. This trip, in contrast, was for business, and it was all Tokyo.
 |
| Entrance To the Hie Shrine |
On the flight over, I listened to about 4 hours of language lessons (shout-out to http://www.japanesepod101.com/) and was pleased to realize that my brain had actually kept a bit of the Japanese language study I'd done before our last trip somewhere deep in the recesses. It was quite fun, actually. For every lesson I did, I recalled another 4-5 words, phrases, or concepts from my memory that I thought I'd completely forgotten. Bonus.
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| All the Foxes (Toyokawa Inari Shrine) |
Even so, my command of the audio and spoken language was nowhere near what it was last time (and it's not like my Japanese was very good then, either). But, in a surprising (to me) development, my Chinese studies actually paid off quite a bit. I could read the few characters I recognized and know what basic things meant, even if I couldn't say them or understand what was being said. Also, I can memorize what a character looks like thanks to my Chinese studies, which was helpful when trying to identify restaurants, etc. I think it was actually easier to get around this time than last time, even though my spoken language skills were much worse. Reading is important kids!
We arrived at almost midnight and caught the very last train to Shinagawa from Haneda. Nothing lets you know it's time to get out quite like the meticulous shutting down the train station ritual of ten or so uniformed and white gloved Japanese guards. From there, we managed to get a taxi to understand where our hotel was and he dropped us off in front of a completely closed building.
Yay for international adventures! We were officially in the land of the weird.
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| Big Fox (Toyokawa Inari Shrine) |
Eventually, we found our way through a mall and some banquet rooms to the lobby and an early morning sleep. Wednesday we both worked, although we did manage to hit a sushi bar in the hotel for lunch. E splurged on a more expensive set meal than I did and for his troubles he was rewarded with both uni and a live shrimp that waved its little legs around immediately prior to being butchered and placed on his nigiri rice -- that was a bit more graphic than we were expecting, but when in Rome...
For the first dinner, since the negotiations were done and the deal was closed, we met up with some of E's Japanese business partners and they treated us to a delicious 9 or 10 course meal. Oh man. I love me some Japanese food. So many delicate, delicious, fabulous treats. The partners were very impressed with our appetites for Japanese food and chopstick skills, and surprised at our explanation that in the bay area, it's considered standard to have good chopstick skills, regardless of whether you are Asian.
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| View of Roppongi |
Thursday, E had press meetings and I had calls and work. I woke at 4 AM and couldn't sleep any later, so, trying my best to be quiet and directing my laptop screen away from the bed, I was able to work 6 hours straight before 10 AM -- such a luxury. From there, I hit the gym, which required me to walk through the mall (of course) in my workout clothes. Given the looks I received, I'm fairly certain I was committing some sort of serious social faux pas. Oh, well. I'm a gaijin. Not my fault...
Since I managed to close out all of my immediate work needs, I decided to treat myself to some culture and walked to two nearby shrines for my lunch break. We were staying in Akasaka, which is primarily a business district, so I ended up walking amongst the salarymen and salarywomen and watching them delve into their phones in the calm of the shrines. In both shrines, I was the only non-asian person and one of the few people who were actually taking in the sites. Most of the people seemed to be simply seeking a peaceful break from the density and chaos.
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| Shrine, just smack dab in the middle of sky-scrapers |
These shrines were both designated shinto shrines (apparently at least one was originally a Buddhist shrine but its story was modified to avoid destruction at some point), and each had its own designated animal (fox and monkey).
On Friday, we woke to snow. Actually, I woke at 6 AM and worked 'til 9 without looking outside, but when I did, I was amazed at the view. It hadn't snowed in Tokyo in 14 years before the week prior, and now it had snowed twice in one week. We were a bit concerned about the logistics of moving to our weekend hotel, as we'd heard horror stories of the city's inability to handle the snow, but we managed to get to our new hotel in Roppongi unscathed.
For Valentines' day dinner, we splurged on teppanyaki at the Ritz Carlton. E opted for the Japanese beef and I had spiny lobster. For dessert, we sat at the window and watched the snow fall. The hotel is on the 45th floor and supposedly has great views, but due to the snow, we really could only see for a quarter of a mile or so. Even so, it was a wonderful way to celebrate.
Saturday, I woke, worked from 6-8:30 or so (it was Friday evening back home), and then headed to the gym at our new hotel, which was to die for. I spent 2.5 hours working out, stretching (pigeon pose!), doing core and arm strength work, showering, getting in the hot tub, the cold plunge, and preparing for the day. Such a luxury!
For our Saturday tourist activities, we enjoyed xiaolongbao at Nanxiang Dumplings, took in the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Mori art museum (and enjoyed a drink afterwards, as the 53rd floor view of Tokyo from the Mori Tower was wonderful now that it had stopped snowing), walked around Akasaka in the snow a bit, had an early dinner of ramen (complete with automated order ticket machine confusion), snacks of rice triangles and beer, and I was in bed by 7:20 PM.
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| 53rd Floor of the Mori Tower |
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| Tokyo Skytree |
For Sunday's fun, we headed to the Tokyo Skytree, but were informed that the observation decks were closed due to wind (it was quite windy). So, instead, we waited in line to take the elevator to the 31st floor and after surveying all of our options, had a traditional Japanese lunch (pictured at the top of the post). This was like no bento box I'd ever seen and the servers were all in full kimonos with the toe socks and flip-flops.
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| Oh, well, this gives us time to navigate the subway... |
For dinner, we headed to Inakaya with E's coworker. Much yelling and cooking of items as ordered ensued. E was recruited to pound mochi with a large wooden dowel while men who looked like sumo wrestlers yelled at him. The food was delicious but couldn't begin to outweigh the hilarity of the experience.
And then it was Monday, time to go home. Some work, another trip to the awesome gym/spa for me while E met with potential Japanese customers, then a quick trip to the market to buy rice triangles and rice crackers for the bus to the airport.
And voila, here we are. Back home.
February 2, 2014
A Super Sunday
I woke early. In the dark. To the sounds of rain. Ordinarily, I'd be annoyed at rain on a race day. But California needs rain so badly (and I really do want to have a decent garden this summer without too much guilt) that I just thought, "I *LOVE* that it's raining. I *LOVE* that it's raining."
I headed to Starbucks and compiled a pre-race feast of a tomato-cheese croissant, skinny vanilla latte, water bottle and banana. Yeah -- unlike the Foster city 10 miler, I could tell right away that today was going to be a good belly day, so I wanted to pre-load (and I did, easily putting everything except all the water away before parking). (I may not be fast but when it decides to engage, I've got an invincible gastro-intestinal system and a body that can take more long distance damage without too much trouble than is appropriate.)
The drive to SF was easy. Parking near the finish was a piece of cake at 7:20 or so. I walked to the buses and got on one in 5 minutes. Side note, Kaiser SF is a *very* well run race. Apparently, it's the largest Half Marathon in Northern California. Yet it's still reasonably priced, and has free shuttles from the finish parking to the start that are plentiful and easy to board. Bless you Kaiser SF! No medals this year, but nice long sleeve shirts and the saved $ donated to charity -- excellent priorities!
I was at the entrance to the park by 7:45. I walked into the park towards the start, got in line for the porta potties, heard my name and was happy to see Jen, who I *knew* was going to smash her 2 hour goal.
We started together, crossing the mat at around the same time. I didn't see her again until she was at approximately mile 10.5 and I was somewhere after mile 9. The out-and-back along the Great Highway was particularly brutal this year because the rain picked up, as did the wind opposing the runners heading uphill and south. I had to stop to walk to put my long sleeve jacket back on and confirm that my mp3 player had died due to exposure to the elements (I think).
Overall, it was a great day. I cleanly met 4/6 of my goals, and by Boston Marathon rules, I get # 5 as well... (Final time, 2:20:42, 10:44/mile AVG pace, first 6 miles in 1:02:22 10:03/mile AVG pace.)
Lunch after the race was so absolutely enjoyable -- KT gets mad props for organizing. I sincerely enjoyed hanging out with female law school colleagues that were hand selected by people I know -- It's so rare that I get to spend time with people who share random things like career ambitions, experiences, gender, and life that I felt so lucky. Bonus, several of these folks were people I only knew through the shit-talk of fantasy football. Say what you will about gender/societal norms -- I don't care about your gender or class, I just dare you to do a season of FF and *NOT* feel an immense connection with the group of strangers from your league when you meet them in real life.
At some point, the Super Bowl started. As a proper San Franciscan, this year, I didn't really pay attention. I went to the train station. I picked up E. We went to the hospital. We hung out with KG and CD. She's kicking ass. We did a lap. She regaled us with tales of doing stairs (1.5 days post open heart surgery). I had the presence of mind to order a side of mac and cheese at brunch, which I brought and she enjoyed. I felt so good to have actually brought something joyful into that hospital room. We left before halftime when it became apparent that visitors hours were tiring her.
We drove home.
We had no real food in the house. I put together one of the most inspired random clean-out-the-kitchen dinners I've done in a while: Wok Bindhi Masala.
Butter - melt in wok over medium heat
3 shallots, chopped -- sautee
4 garlic cloves, minced -- sautee
cumin powder -- add to sautee
tumeric powder -- add to sautee
cayenne powder -- add to sautee
ginger powder -- add to sautee
curry powder -- add to sautee (note: spices are open to interpretation in terms of amounts and type)
1 bag frozen okra -- rinse and drain, toss in wok, stir fry
1/2 pint canned home-grown tomato sauce -- add, stir, move to high heat, add additional spices and salt to taste
3 T corn meal to thicken (I used polenta) -- when taste is correct, add thickener, lower heat, stir until correct consistency, remove from heat, allow to cool
And that my friends, was our Super Sunday. I hope you enjoyed yourself as well.
I headed to Starbucks and compiled a pre-race feast of a tomato-cheese croissant, skinny vanilla latte, water bottle and banana. Yeah -- unlike the Foster city 10 miler, I could tell right away that today was going to be a good belly day, so I wanted to pre-load (and I did, easily putting everything except all the water away before parking). (I may not be fast but when it decides to engage, I've got an invincible gastro-intestinal system and a body that can take more long distance damage without too much trouble than is appropriate.)
The drive to SF was easy. Parking near the finish was a piece of cake at 7:20 or so. I walked to the buses and got on one in 5 minutes. Side note, Kaiser SF is a *very* well run race. Apparently, it's the largest Half Marathon in Northern California. Yet it's still reasonably priced, and has free shuttles from the finish parking to the start that are plentiful and easy to board. Bless you Kaiser SF! No medals this year, but nice long sleeve shirts and the saved $ donated to charity -- excellent priorities!
I was at the entrance to the park by 7:45. I walked into the park towards the start, got in line for the porta potties, heard my name and was happy to see Jen, who I *knew* was going to smash her 2 hour goal.
We started together, crossing the mat at around the same time. I didn't see her again until she was at approximately mile 10.5 and I was somewhere after mile 9. The out-and-back along the Great Highway was particularly brutal this year because the rain picked up, as did the wind opposing the runners heading uphill and south. I had to stop to walk to put my long sleeve jacket back on and confirm that my mp3 player had died due to exposure to the elements (I think).
Overall, it was a great day. I cleanly met 4/6 of my goals, and by Boston Marathon rules, I get # 5 as well... (Final time, 2:20:42, 10:44/mile AVG pace, first 6 miles in 1:02:22 10:03/mile AVG pace.)
Lunch after the race was so absolutely enjoyable -- KT gets mad props for organizing. I sincerely enjoyed hanging out with female law school colleagues that were hand selected by people I know -- It's so rare that I get to spend time with people who share random things like career ambitions, experiences, gender, and life that I felt so lucky. Bonus, several of these folks were people I only knew through the shit-talk of fantasy football. Say what you will about gender/societal norms -- I don't care about your gender or class, I just dare you to do a season of FF and *NOT* feel an immense connection with the group of strangers from your league when you meet them in real life.
At some point, the Super Bowl started. As a proper San Franciscan, this year, I didn't really pay attention. I went to the train station. I picked up E. We went to the hospital. We hung out with KG and CD. She's kicking ass. We did a lap. She regaled us with tales of doing stairs (1.5 days post open heart surgery). I had the presence of mind to order a side of mac and cheese at brunch, which I brought and she enjoyed. I felt so good to have actually brought something joyful into that hospital room. We left before halftime when it became apparent that visitors hours were tiring her.
We drove home.
We had no real food in the house. I put together one of the most inspired random clean-out-the-kitchen dinners I've done in a while: Wok Bindhi Masala.
Butter - melt in wok over medium heat
3 shallots, chopped -- sautee
4 garlic cloves, minced -- sautee
cumin powder -- add to sautee
tumeric powder -- add to sautee
cayenne powder -- add to sautee
ginger powder -- add to sautee
curry powder -- add to sautee (note: spices are open to interpretation in terms of amounts and type)
1 bag frozen okra -- rinse and drain, toss in wok, stir fry
1/2 pint canned home-grown tomato sauce -- add, stir, move to high heat, add additional spices and salt to taste
3 T corn meal to thicken (I used polenta) -- when taste is correct, add thickener, lower heat, stir until correct consistency, remove from heat, allow to cool
And that my friends, was our Super Sunday. I hope you enjoyed yourself as well.
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