A Pause

Sunset over the Hudson River -- Such a beautiful visual goodbye

We spent last Sunday after the race making last minute travel plans to go to E's grandpa's memorial services.

Monday, we fit in a normal work day, and then Tuesday afternoon we were on a plane.  Wednesday it was a day full of driving with family and attending the wake (where we were comforted with this absolutely gorgeous sunset).  Thursday was a chapel service, another long drive, and the internment service.

I was raised in a Christian environment, was confirmed Lutheran (which means 3 years of reasonably diligent Bible study classes) and have only ever attended Christian funerals.  Today, while I think of myself as a spiritual person, I don't self-identify as belonging to any religion.  But damn if funerals don't remind me that there are some very good reasons why religions exist.

I said the Lord's Prayer 3 times in 2 days.  I bowed my head and joined in group prayers too many times to count.  I crossed myself after saying my final goodbyes to such a sweet grandfather figure.  I listened, and was comforted yet again by Psalm 23.  These rituals, the only ones I know for death, are sad and almost immediately bring me emotionally to all of the other losses I've experienced.  But they are also calming, comforting, and very helpful to remind me that the grief of death is a thing that is a part of life.  And we, the living, will continue forward.

As you might imagine, running was almost non-existent this week in terms of importance given all the logistical needs and family emotional obligations.  Monday, I rested.  Tuesday I returned to the jump-rope interval/core workout to give my legs another day of recovery from the race and I spent the next 4 days with very sore arms, shoulders and core.  Wednesday AM, I fit in a quick 3.5 miles on the treadmill and was very pleasantly surprised at the paces I could maintain for some harder long intervals.  Thursday and Friday were much too busy to fit in any runs (although the path along the Hudson looked very enticing and I would have loved to find a way to make it happen).  Saturday, I did an easy 2 miler, and today I slogged through a slow 10 miler.

Total mileage for the week:  18.06, which is fine with me.  I figure it's enough for maintenance of whatever minimal fitness gains I've made in 2016, and given everything else that was going on, I'm calling that a victory.

Oakland Half -- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Fire Arch at the Crucible.

I really had no idea what to expect at ORF.  My "training" had been all over the place.  The speedwork since Kaiser had shown me that I'd definitely improved my short distance fitness, but since I hadn't really pushed through any real long runs since Kaiser, I wasn't sure how it would translate into distance performance.

The night before the race was a bit non-standard.  I opted out of a party that E was attending and closed out a bunch of work and housekeeping items while waiting for him to get home.  His mom called to inform us of a death in the family but asked me not to interrupt him at the party.  So, after poking around the Internet to investigate pre-race meals, I decided dinner of leftovers (carrot soup and turkish salad) should be fine.

I kept working and waiting for E until it was apparent that he was having too much fun and I should try to go to sleep.  I was a bit wound up, so I had a glass of wine to help me fall asleep (I don't normally have wine the night before a race, but I don't really think this one glass made any difference at all, I'd been hydrating like crazy all day and definitely didn't feel any wine-related negative effects).  He ended up not making it back to the house 'til after 11 PM, and I woke to tell him the bad news.  We chatted and then I fell back asleep.

The day of the race, I'll report in the style of The Classic Spaghetti Western:

The Good

I finished a half marathon healthy and happy.  I saw Cat before the start -- she'd gotten her 5K PR!  I enjoyed a delicious post-race bruch with Jen (who got her 5K PR *and* ran the half afterwards), Angela, and Clare (who also PR'd).

Jen could *not* wait for the pre-brunch doughnuts!

Mmmmm... Malfatti.  Delicious!

The Bad

I got up and out the door on time, stopped at Starbucks, ordered my standard pre-race latte, and hit the road, letting my phone guide me to the parking garage.  Except, I'd forgotten about road closures, so once I was in Oakland, I was blocked by the 5K that Cat and Jen were in the middle of running.  I had to do some creative driving, including a few miles on the coned-off half course down Mandela Parkway until I found a pay parking lot that was within jogging distance of the start.  Every other time I've run this race, I've *easily* parked in the lot across the street from Snow Park (the location of the start/finish/celebration).  So, this was definitely not ideal.

I started at an effort I thought I might be able to maintain, and then about 0.87 miles in, we hit a gated area around a construction site.  The crowd funneled to a walk.  Someone started a "let's go Oakland" cheer.  We had nothing better to do while we walked, so most of us joined in.  45 seconds later, we were able to start running again.  Not exactly an ideal first mile.

I hit the first aid station around 2.4 miles and walked a minute to take a gu and gatorade and water as planned.  I started back up for a 10:23 mile and realized I'd probably started too fast.  I knew this was a possibility, and I wasn't too concerned.  But it didn't bode well nonetheless.

Somewhere in this area Jen caught up to me, we said hi, and then I let her go as I started to slow.  I knew my A goal of 10:50/mile (assuming I ran 13.1, which is a big assumption on this case) was going to be tough.  I hit the 10K (by my watch) at an average pace of 10:51 and figured I'd keep an eye out for Clare.  She was doing 5 min run/ 1 min walk intervals and should be shooting for something in roughly that pace overall.  Sure enough, I found her, and we stuck together for a while.  The running segments felt good, but her walking recovery was *fast* and perhaps even more difficult for me than just running an even pace.  It was nice to have company though, so I enjoyed a few miles with her.  

The Ugly

At around mile 8 it became very apparent that carrot soup and turkish salad had *way* more fiber than I realized and I would be needing an on-course porta-john soon. (Why had I deviated from my go-to standard spicy noodle soup option?).  At the 8.5 mile aid station, they had portapotties, thankfully, so I told Clare to go on and waited.  In an uncomfortable state.  4+ minutes later, I was back on the course.

I knew I wouldn't meet my A goal, so I settled for my B goal of trying to beat my Kaiser time of 2:32ish.  It was a long slow slog, but I kept on, walking through the aid stations, but otherwise just trying to get done, finally crossing the finish at 2:34:36.  I didn't even beat my Kaiser time!  The only small improvement I can claim here is that my average *moving* time decreased from 11:22/mile at Kaiser to 11:09/mile at Oakland.

I'm definitely looking forward to training for a 10K next.  I want to enjoy some of those speedwork benefits.

Best Training Ever

So, E and I are celebrating a big anniversary in Mexico.

The view from our hotel room does not suck.

As you might imagine, since we've arrived, restraint on the food and alcohol side of things has not been very forthcoming.

This week's workouts were okay, if sparse.  The most notable workout was 7.25 miles -- 2 easy jog to and from the track each way plus 3+ miles of intervals at much faster than McMillan recommended paces for my target race time (I just could not slow down any more... my effort level felt much too easy, so I just went with the faster paces). Yesterday, I had a luxurious yoga session followed by a decent speed workout on the treadmill where I hit the McMillan paces exactly.  So now I've got today's workout to figure out to close out the week.

I know I should try to do something approximating a medium length run as my last opportunity for a long run before the race, but I'm guessing it's not gonna happen on the treadmill in the heat and humidity.  Instead, I'll likely do something short and speedy to get over the 20 mile mark for the week.

I think I've convinced myself that vacation is a great way to start a long taper.  I figure I'll clean up my diet next week, fit in some easy race-week runs, and see how that plan works out for me on race day!

Rainy Bay Area Bookish Fun

North Beach on a Rainy Night

Last week was full of rain, which is great for the drought, but a bit difficult for running.  Total mileage for the week was 25.89, with 9 miles of walking (more than normal), so the increase in mileage is almost entirely walking with running staying the same.  I'll take it.

I was jostling my workout schedule around work craziness, so I fit in whatever I could (which was no yoga or cross-training) and 3 separate runs of 3 miles each at about target race pace.  My "long" run was relegated to the treadmill on Saturday due to the rain, but after 4.25 miles in the humid garage, I decided I was just as wet with sweat as I would be if I ran outside, so I headed out for another 2 miles in the cool rain followed by 0.25 mile walking cool down.  6.5 mile "long run", huh?  Guess that means I'll have to fit in an *actual* long run before Thursday (the magical 10 day cut off before Oakland running festival).

Saturday night, E & I attended a birthday party at a speakeasy in SF in North Beach.  I hadn't been out in North Beach on a Saturday night in forever (possibly since my 20s?).  The speakeasy was across the street from the historic City Lights Bookstore, which I hadn't been to in a very long time.  I was so excited to poke around amongst the quiet patrons and the smell of books.  I bought next month's book club book as well as a collection of Ferlinghetti poetry and a collection of Spanish short stories with English on the opposite page to take to Mexico. 

 

Sunday AM, I co-hosted a book exchange brunch.  Like last year I took notes while guests spoke about one or more of the books they'd brought.  So, without further ado, here's the list of books the guests recommended:

JL -- A Visit from the Good Squad

CM -- Storming Heaven and Travels with Charley

KC -- God's Chinese Son (This one sounds fascinating.  I had no idea there was a guy in China during the 1800s who honestly believed he was Jesus Christ's little brother -- and he had followers!)

HG -- By Nightfall

CD -- Many books she really couldn't get into.  Several folks in the group agreed with her about The Poisonwood Bible (which I loved, but I do agree that it's a bit preachy).

CT -- Blink and David & Goliath.  With a thoughtful discourse on how Gladwell plays fast and loose with statistics and that she would encourage readers to pull the actual studies to see if they agree with how Gladwell chooses to characterize and use them.

KT -- Death and Life of Great American Cities.  Coupled with some thoughts about living in San Francisco for the last 13+ years and how these issues have always existed but are *very* obvious in the San Francisco of today.

CP -- The Midwife's Confession and Icy Sparks

CP2 -- The Emperor of Ocean Park

BT -- The Story of My Teeth, My Brilliant Friend, and Winter's Bone

E2 -- Purity 

A Modern Love Tale With IT (When you have a niece)

Niece was calling ‘cause her phone didn’t work.  And, all sensitivities aside, everything she said was a super polite investigation into how the bill probably wasn’t paid (‘cause I pay her phone bill).

This hurt me.  Not me personally, but rather, understanding where she was coming from.  She comes from a world where her assumption about managing the feelings of the people who may have missed the bill is a strong and smart survival skill.  But I am the one who answered her call.  On the same Verizon account she’s worried about with the bill (e.g. if I hadn't paid, I couldn't answer).  So I didn’t miss the bill.  I autopay.  On credit.

 

Explaining this to her was hard.  Mainly because she didn’t believe me.  She comes from a world where adults can’t be trusted when they say the bills are paid.  And I get it, sort of, I know I come from a place close to where she comes from, but I've been away for a long time.

Eventually, she trusted me to do tech support about her phone via online chat.  We did a bunch of back and forth.  I did what I could.  I chatted with Verizon tech support and sat on the phone (her other Auntie’s) for so long, coaching her through reboots, and SIM card removals, and finally (thankfully) network setting resets.

All of a sudden, after she followed the last set of ridiculous instructions I conveyed (copied from the online chat support) her phone worked again.

And she thanked me.  

I confirmed that the thanks was warranted via text to her supposedly working phone.   

When she replied, I told her to call her dad, who’s in the hospital.  (Not that she needed my encouragement but more as a, "hey, I fixed your phone, use it for the best stuff" type message.)

And in response she sent me “I love you” emoji.

So, in short, I guess everything is wonderful.

Elevation Training

Recovery from the Kaiser SF half was more difficult than I expected.

Probably because after completing the first half marathon I'd done in 7ish months, the next day E & I hiked up to Coit tower, which, while cool, was perhaps not the most advisable recovery activity.

Coit Tower is on Telegraph Hill (an actual nontrivial hill).  The hike up from sea level involves lots of stairs.  Enjoy!

The rest of the week was a bit of a sad showing.  My left shin was in pain and my body was just generally beat up.  So I took it very easy in prep for our ski vacation, throwing in:

1. some weightlifting and recumbant bike
2. a full rest day
3. a 3 mile treadmill workout of  1 mile ladder (5.0 to 6.1 min. each) followed by 2X5 minute ladders from 6.1 mph to 6.5 mph workout (with walking recovery) totaling 3 miles in 35:52
4. 3 miles @ 10:51 with some walking cooldown
5. 3 miles @ 11ish/mile with Sis at 4,000ft+ elevation
6. Sunday - first downhill ski day in 2 years at 6,570ft+ elevation.

Who needs a purse?  I can stuff the pockets of a running jacket over a fleece over long underwear like no-one's business.

 The next week was more of the same:

1. Monday ski half-day due to whiteout.
2. Tuesday perfect ski day, 10AM-3PM with a short lunch break and multiple sessions of 5 minute intervals down steep blues followed by 5 minute recovery up the chairlift.

FYI -- I opted out of black diamonds this trip.  I am fine.  E broke his arm (which may or may not be related to his black diamond escapades).  Regardless, I feel that I made the correct choice for me.

OUCH!

 Wednesday AM I ran a short 2 mile interval workout on the treadmill (1% incline, 400s at 6.0 mph was enough to spike my heart rate, yay elevation!).  I did this at the spa before a dip in the jacuzzi and sauna time followed by a decadent spa day (gift from my father-in-law) with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  Then we flew home and managed luggage with a one-armed travel party member.  Good times.

Thursday was yet another full rest day (holy return-to-work-craziness!).

Friday, I headed out with visions of elevation benefits, but hit 1.5 miles at 11:51 and called it to walk the remaining 0.46 miles home.  I was shot.  Exhausted from the travel, the time change, and just generally not in it.

Thankfully, Saturday, I busted out 6 miles at an easy effort average pace of 11:48 with the last mile at 10:06.  And today, I did a slowly increasing time every mile no-fuel 9 miler at an average pace of 12:23.  I don't really know how to measure the mileage for the last two weeks with the skiing, but what I can say is that I feel good about doing 15 running miles (plus another 2+ walking) this weekend.  It's been a while since I've had such a solid running weekend (outside of a race), so that's encouraging.  Makes me feel like I'm still headed in the right direction for Oakland.  So wish me luck.

SF Kaiser Half Race Report (with Bonus Olympic Trials Reporting)

Happy Valentine's Day SF Embarcadero Arrow!

Saturday AM, I watched the US Olympic trials with Jen and Cat because somehow, despite being overworked and egregiously tired, Jen saw my tweet asking if anyone wanted company to watch the trials and confirmed that I could invite myself over she could host us if we were willing to come to her.

Little known fact about BT -- I *love* watching sports.  I am a dedicated sports spectator and I don't really care what the sport is.  The Olympics *destroy* my productivity.  Same for the World Cup.  UFC.  Weightlifting.  Martial Arts.  Boxing.  Track and Field.  American Football.  Baseball.  Basketball.  Gymnastics & Diving (duh!).  Same for just about any physically demanding sporting event.  I just love watching the human body do cool things (and all the drama and dedication and whatnot that I know goes into it just makes it that much better for me).

So, watching the US marathon trials with fellow running lovers and cheering on the hard work (and crying, hopefully discreetly, at powerful finishes) was a great way to spend the Saturday AM before my first half marathon in 7 months.   Also, I think I'm going to go try to watch in person next time.  I was super jealous of the folks who were there.

Take home points:

1. Desi is the best pacer ever.  She is a metronome and smart and disciplined and remains my run-your-own race idol.

2. Amy and Shalane have a strong friendship and watching their emotional bond and Shalane's competitiveness visibly overcome the physicality of heat exhaustion to get Shalane over the finish line and make the Olympic team was inspirational teamwork at its best.

3. Kara Goucher is back!  That performance was nothing short of awesome, particularly admitting that she pretty much knew she wasn't likely to make the team from mile 22 on and yet she kept pushing to do her absolute best.  Gutsy and brave showing.  I'm so excited to see what she does in the 10K.  I have a good feeling!  (And, I was so sad for her, too.) 

4. Meb is the epitome of what the sport and humanity has to offer.

5. Galen Rupp's bouncing necklace would drive me nuts!

After the trials, E & I and a bunch of friends contributed to the Deadpool box office route, then I made lentil soup and drank lots of tea before bed. Sunday AM everything went according to plan.  I got up on time, drove to my usual Kaiser SF parking spot, took the bus to the start, used the portajohns, and started back a minute or so.

They call it the Sunset District for a reason...Dinner with Friends on Monday.

 I'd set some modest goals, and I showed up ready to do my best.  Jen had reminded me that the course has some nice downhills and that I should be ready to take advantage of them, because they are fun, so I did.

Miles 1-3: Average pace 10:53/mile.  I was happy with this as I tried to run by effort and every time in the first 2 miles I looked down at my watch, I saw 10:0X.  Yikes.  I knew I couldn't do a half at that pace, but I also knew the first couple of miles were relatively downhill, so I cut myself some slack, slowed down but finished the first miles in high 10s and then naturally slowed down for the 3rd uphill mile in 11:27.

Mile 4: Took a liberal Gu walking water/fuel break around mile 3.4, left my watch running, picked the pace back up and hit the mile marker at 11:04.

Mile 5: 11:05 on the nose including another walking water break.

Mile 6: 10:25 for a net elevation loss of 105 ft.

Mile 7: 10:59 including a Gu walking water/fuel break at the 10K and a net elevation loss of 92 ft.

Mile 8: 11:23.  Woo-Hoo!  After passing the 8 mile marker, I get music! 

Mile 9: 12:19.  The first song was a gift, my cadence naturally increased and I started slowly passing people.  I felt so strong and energetic.  And then... my phone muted the sound at the end of the song.  I stopped to walk and trouble shoot.  Rebooted my phone.  Walked through the water station and fueled with my 3rd Gu.  Started running again.  Started a new song.  It gave me tons of energy.  It then also muted at the end.  WTF?  I stopped to walk and troubleshoot again, frustrated.  No, not frustrated, fucking angry.  WHY WON'T MY MUSIC WORK?  I crossed the 9 mile marker and realized I was averaging 11:07/mile at that point.

Wow.  I took a minute to congratulate myself a bit.  I had more or less hit my A pace goals on point by mile 9 and I still felt fairly good.  This was already a victory.  

Except, frankly, at this point, I was more interested in fighting with my phone, listening to music, and just finishing easily than trying to push it.  So that's what I did.

I fought with the audio features (pulling the volume bar up to hear music and then watch it slide back down to mute of its own accord is particularly frustrating at mile 10) for another 3 miles before finally solving the mystery.  My headset has been dying and its death results in a signal of disconnection which results in a mute because no one wants to hear you blasting whatever it was you previously had in headphones.  AH-HAH!

Mile 10:  11:53 -- phone/music struggles, running easily when music worked
Mile 11:  12:13 -- more of the same
Mile 12:  13:08 -- lots of walking through water stations, electrolyte liquid stations, finally understanding why music that won't play at volume.  Decided to skip the last Gu station.  I wasn't pushing my blood sugar performance limits at all.  I knew I had enough gas in the tank to finish.
Mile 13:  11:33 -- Now that I'd figured out the music issue, I ignored the hot spot on my right foot and ran the last 1.5 miles or so straight to the finish.
Last 0.28:  12:04/mile pace with 26 feet of elevation gain in the short distance.

The final story is simple.  I was very happy with the performance. (Garmin: 13.28 miles @ 11:28 AVG; Chip: 13.1 @ 11:37 AVG)  I did worse than McMillan predicted (of course, he didn't predict my music woes) but better than last year.  I was very happy to take that as a good solid step in the right direction towards regained fitness and a good performance in Oakland.

Sunday night Valentine's day date dinner was deliciously decadent multi-course Italian.  The next day, E & I slept in, relaxed with coffee on the balcony, worked a bit, and then walked to and climbed the stairs up to Coit tower before viewing the line of tourists and deciding we'd come back on a less popular day.  We hiked back down, had a brunch of oysters at Waterbar, relaxed and pseudo-worked on the holiday afternoon and went to dinner at friends' in the Sunset for home-cooked Korean food (YUMM!!! Korean shrimp vegetable pancakes, where have you been my whole life?).

Today, my calves are super tight (perhaps the post-first-half-in-7-months shouldn't be followed with stairs up to and down from Coit tower?) and my left shin has some indications of anterior tibialis pain.  (Lame.  But not surprising given the multiple left ankle sprains in the late fall.)  Today I took it easy and did recumbant bike and weight lifting to help my legs recover.

Next up?  Downhill Skiing for the first time in 2 years... I'll do my best to turn it into some form of useful cross-training for Oakland.  

Wish me luck!

Kaiser Half Marathon Pre-Race Check-In

Going into my first half marathon since June, after a late fall full of injuries, I've got some very modest goals.

A:  Keep it at an average of 11:05/mile, allowing for some slightly faster/slower segments for the hills and finish around 2:25.  This is actually an interesting goal for me to set.  I don't want to push it faster than this goal, which is something I've never ever thought before a race  (who goes into a race with a "not-to-exceed" performance mindset?).  But this performance is what I think is the absolute best possible performance I could do without destroying my desire to continue to build up for the Oakland Running festival.  If I hit mile 8 and I'm just chomping at the bit to speed up maybe I'll re-evalute, but if history is any guide, I'm much more likely to head out and string some mid-low 10s together before I start to slow with each mile and eventually hit a huge wall of suck.  I'd like to avoid that.   

B:  Finish faster than McMillan's predicted performance based off the Chrissy Field 5K:  2:27:56 (11:18 pace)

C:  Finish faster than last year's relatively chill performance: 2:35 (sub 12).  This would be roughly the pace of the (no fuel) 15K 4 weeks ago, but 4 more miles, so still an obvious increase in performance to be happy about.

D:  Just finish 13.1 miles for the first time in 7 months healthy and happy to have a body that can do so, and note that it's a solid long run in prep for Oakland.

I've got two big variables currently working against me.  First, I'm even heavier than I was at last year's Kaiser Half.  I'm working on it and things are trending in the right direction, but with 5 days to go, it's apparent where I'll end up.  Second, the predicted high is 72F -- and I'm very sensitive to direct sun and heat.  It's quite a bummer because several of my runs these last few weeks have been so enjoyable in the blissfully perfect (to me) 40s-50s.  Oh well... I can still hope for a cold day in Oakland.

I do have a few things working for me.

First, I'm at the point in my fitness build up where I'm building strength easily and my legs are visibly more solid than they were several weeks ago -- I've got the body type that gains strength in response to loading, and I tend to do so before I lose weight, even when focusing on decreased calories and increased caloric expenditures like running and other cardio-heavy workouts.

Second, looking at my training log from last year, I'm much more prepared to tackle 13 miles than I was then.  I'd essentially phoned it in after the NY Marathon in November, burnt out and busy with travel and work.  So, last year, I kind of just showed up and let F do the volunteer awesome pacer friend work of pulling me through a long run that wasn't very pretty.  I feel much more qualified to get myself through the race on my own motivation this time, which is a good feeling. 

Third, I think I'm actually going to run with music.  I almost never do this because if I've got friends I'd rather race with a focus on chatting with them.  But this time, since I'm solo, I think the music bribe and motivation is a good call.

Fourth, I haven't done a long run with any fueling in ages.  I'm crossing my fingers that my pre-race latte, and during the race gatorade and gu will definitely make for a more pleasant experience.

Wish me luck.

33+ Miles

This week, I put 33.77+ miles on my feet.  I walked less than 8 of those, including all walking warm-ups, cooldowns, and interval recovery.

In other words.  I had a real, serious, running week.

WOOT!

Doritos For the Super Bold -- Skywriting visible from my Super Bowl Sunday Run

Monday I rested.

Tuesday, I had good intentions, but work was insane.  I ran 0.5 on the treadmill but had to stop for a call.  Finally, I just fit in a walk and intended to have a solid long run with local group track day in the middle on Wednesday.

Wednesday, I slept in too much to run to track day.  I could have driven there, but I would have missed out on the mileage. So, I mapped out a long run and actually did 8.2 miles solo plus 0.8+walking.

Thursday, I did a mid-level effort 3 miler @ 10:44 average pace.   (I'm calling this a tempo at this fitness level.)

Friday, I decided to go hard.  I started with 11 minutes of jump rope and calisthenics intervals (6 X (1 min jump; 10 s rest: 30 sec (alternating pushups, dips, abs); 10 seconds rest)).  I recovered from that over a 30 minute client call and then opted for speed intervals on the road -- 9X400 w/0.1 mile walking R/I, averaging in the low 8s/mile for the speed.  It had been so long since I had done a demanding workout of this caliber.  I pretty much floated on endorphins for the rest of the day.

Saturday, I ran to friends so we could do brunch.  5.67 miles on a route I don't normally do, starting slow, but speeding up to a last tempo mile.

Today, I headed out for a super slow 8+ miles as my last long run before Kaiser.  I saw the skywriters (see above).  I slowed significantly towards the end, but I really didn't care, I just wanted to get it done in a comfortable aerobic state.  And I did.  8.21 miles in the highest of 12s (or even into the 13s if you believe my garmin since I forgot to shut it off while I fumbled with my phone and struggled to decipher the sky-writers). 

Why yes, this is what I consider a delicious post longish-run meal.

Upon arriving home, E & I snacked on lots of delicious salty, fatty snacks with a beer in prep for the super bowl party decadence (at which we were both surprisingly well behaved).

In short, I got in a temp. speedwork, and 2 long runs.  Best running week in a very long time.  Very much looking forward to Kaiser next weekend.

A Real Running Update

My running philosophy hasn't changed much over the years.  I set some minor race-based training and performance goals, and I try to hit them.  I miss them, most of the time, but in the process, I get some mileage in and keep myself relatively healthy.

I rarely set running goals that require me to modify my life.  Even the more difficult commitments I make to running are almost always behind work in terms of priority, which means they often get destroyed when work is a monster.

While I love how easy it is to relate to my running friends, my running goals are very different than most of theirs.  I enjoy a PR or good race performance as much as the next person, but I'm unwilling to make most of the sacrifices required to make them a regular occurrence.

And I'm totally okay with that.

I think that's the thing I've noticed about my running philosophy that's different from most of my running friends -- I just don't really get too disappointed in my running.  If I need (or hell, just want) to skip a workout or dial it down, I do so and I enjoy myself.  If I need to drop out of a race, I rarely beat myself up.  I'm aware that I probably *could* be pushing out better running performances, but most of the time, I don't.  And that's just who I am as a runner these last several years -- not very performance focused.

The first quarter of this year, however, I've combined my running goals with some general health goals, and that has made them slightly more important and harder to blow off.

The end result is I'm slowly improving my speed, strength, and stamina each week, while very slowly decreasing my mass.

This week, Monday I rested as planned.  Tuesday, work killed my scheduled workout.  Wednesday, my plan was to run to track, do the track workout and run home, to get myself to a psuedo long-run as well as some speed.  But, I slept in.  I surprised myself by mapping out a long run and heading out for 8.21 miles at a super-easy slow pace of high 12s/mile (McMillan recommended long run pace), followed by 0.83 miles walking cool down. 


So far in 2016, I've done:
- interval speedwork once a week every week
-long runs of at least 6 miles (and up to 9.3) each week
-an average of 22.5 miles/week with 5-10% increased mileage each week (counting walking) but slowly replacing much of the walking with running
-a few tempo runs  (last week's Chrissy Field 5K was a 10:17/mile effort -- one of the slowest 5Ks I've ever done, but it felt good to string some medium-high effort miles together regardless of the pace)

Essentially, I've got 4 decent and obviously improving consecutive running weeks for the first time in a long time.  Yesterday's mid-week long run was the first time I've made an effort to put running in front of work during the work week since September.

I've got 10 days 'til the Kaiser Half, which is a tune-up race for the Oakland Running Festival Half 5 weeks after that.  My goal is to stick to the current level of commitment, weekly speedwork, a long run, and increasing mileage each week until the ORF taper.  I'm actually a little excited to see how things pan out. 

Wish me luck.

Precarious Life

There are so many reasons you shouldn’t still be alive.  You could have been the ill-fated 15-year-old (a runaway), 23 year old (no family support), 35 year old (depressed), 67 year old (how do we even label you, survivor?).

And yet, you are not here on this list.

And we are.  We still live in this world.

That shit is heavy.  Heavy like the weight of books written by those who supposedly made it, but then chose not to make it all the way.  Heavy like the weight of Silvia Plath’s oven.

Fuckin’ heavy, man.

There are many contests in life.  Most of ‘em don’t matter.  But if I”ve learned one thing, it’s this.   

Teach your kids (biological, students, nieces, nephews, neighborhood kids) and know that you yourself are entitled to *survive* every contest as are they.  Be smart, but understand that survival privilege is real.  

 Let’s make it a thing we all acknowledge (and yes, it is likely harder to deliver this message to an audience who doesn’t have traditional privilege, but it doesn’t make it any less valid).

-Peace and love to Michael Feeney, you are one of many angels gone too soon.

Beautiful Steps Forward

View from the SF Park Run. So Gorgeous! (Apparently, a good sailing day?)

This week was gorgeous.

Rain, filling reservoirs in California.  A company party for one of my clients. A return to track day and good strong speedy intervals.  An 11 minute jump-rope and calisthenics workout.  Really, what's not to like?

On my way back to the car after coffee at the kiosk at the St. Francis Yacht  Club after Park Run SF...

I'd signed up to drive the whole bay loop this weekend, apparently.  Saturday AM, after a lazy night at home with E streaming In Bruges on netflix and an early night, I drove from Silicon Valley to Chrissy Field for a 9 AM Park Run.  From there, I avoided Super Bowl city to get to the Bladium on Alameda to meet a friend for a celebratory lunch.  And, finally, I drove the 880 back home, before a client dinner at the 49er Stadium, all lit up for the super bowl.

Just another reminder that I need a real camera.  These lights and signs were so much cooler than this looks.

But, the party was fun.

We had a wonderful time at the January annual pseudo holiday party.  Our crew got a kick out of learning that apparently George and Amal and their crew had reserved the same in-stadium venue for a party next week during the actual festivities.  So, we were at least there first... (and parking and traffic were not too insane.)

Saturday AM, as I mentioned, before the drive around the bay, I ran my first Park Run (thanks to Cat and her commitment to running and being British).

That's some joy right there.  Who's happy to be done?  ME!

 I ran the last 1.5M of the race with a woman from England who informed me, "Our local Park Run is 5 repeated loops of 1K around our local park... This is, well, much nicer..."

Me, Cat and JL (plus A) -- A great morning, for sure.

Other than that, I have not much to report.  Weekly mileage total is 25.46.  Track happened again and the paces were faster than required.  Other workouts were good as well.  Today, I woke late and headed out for a super slow 12+/mile 6 mile run (only realizing at 3 miles that I'd forgotten my keys since I thought I was running to pick up the car we'd left at the party).

And all of a sudden, it's time to prepare for next week.  (How is it time to do timesheets again?)

A Very Solid Week

On the running front, my foot seems to have recovered.

Monday -- easy jogging 1.09 miles + 0.43 walk.  Stopped as soon as the foot even started twinging.

Tuesday -- complete rest due to work and managing transportation and support for some minor surgery for E.

Wednesday -- TRACK DAY!  Back at the track for the first time in 9 weeks.  2X400; 600; 2X400; 600; 400.  All right on pace or faster than the targets per McMillan Running calculator for my sub 2:39 half.  I also parked 1 mile away and jogged there and jogged back, so with the warm-up and recovery the day's total was a very respectable 5.85 miles.  I'm hopeful I can park and run in this week as well.

Thursday -- 2 X (1 min jump rope intervals between 30 seconds pushups; situps; dips) (9 minutes hard calisthentics); 3 miles easy @ 11:24; 0.18 walk

Friday -- (HOLY SORE ARMS/SHOULDERS, BATMAN!) Rest, attend conference and give a presentation.

Saturday -- (ARMS STILL ANGRY!) 3.21 miles in Altadena.  Anytime you see Alta in the name, you should assume there will be hills.  There were.  The loop was 1 mile with 200 ft of elevation gain, followed by 2 miles with some small rollers to recover it.  Overall, it was a great run.  If I lived on those hills, I think I'd be more fit.

Sunday -- (ARMS, finally starting to recover) 9.3 miles total, including 4 with the local running club, and some run/walk intervals after I picked up a lemonade.  Average pace including walk breaks was approximately 12 minutes/mile.

Total mileage = 23.14.  But more importantly, I got in 2 actual workouts (track and a long run) and a solid hill run to boot.  Overall, this felt like my best running week in a long time.  Next week's goal is to keep up the good work, and try to get in another calisthenics day, possibly a yoga day as well.

Professionally, last week was wonderful.  I prepared for and spoke at a conference and received great feedback.  It's odd to be experienced and senior enough in my career that I'm now one of the people speaking at a conference I want to attend who has ability to answer questions from the top of my head.  I used to be amazed to see my professional idols do it, and now, I'm doing it, sometimes in response to questions posed by those same professional idols.  That evolution is a wondrous thing. 

Great Food Week, Meh Running Week

So, E's brother in law sent him a gigantic Wagyu steak for his Christmas present (delicious guilt flown from Japan to New York to California).

So Marbled!

Saturday night pre-race fancy seafood dinner (with caviar!), followed by dim sum post-race brunch, followed by wagyu post-race dinner -- net zero I'm sure.

Why yes, the grease fire did continue after the steak was removed.

It was delicious.  We served 4. 

2 friends came over to enjoy the spoils, and when it looked like the guys might actually challenge each other to finish (which surely would have made them ill from how rich it was), I offered to take the leftovers and make a bolognese we could take to their house and have for dinner on Tuesday.  Turns out, refrigerated wagyu leftovers are roughly as easy to chop as refrigerated bacon.  Probably because the fat/protein ratio is the same.

Wagyu Bolognese.

Unfortunately, I woke on Monday to pain on the left side of my foot.  Right below where I'd rolled my ankle both times.   I took a full day of rest and used my new spiralizer to make zucchini noodle "ramen". (Don't even get me started on how obsessed I am with the spiralizer -- fully half of the meals I've made since we've been home in 2016 have required this gadget.)

This spiral slicer has taken over my 2016 cooking.

The "ramen" was a big hit, and nice and healthy and light.

Veggie "ramen"

Unfortunately, the outside of my left foot was still sore on Tuesday.  I was excited to keep up the running momentum, but didn't want to do anything stupid, so I opted to walk 3 miles instead of run.

Wednesday, I hiked the Stanford dish with a friend, foot sore and grumpy but not noticeably getting worse.

Finally, Thursday, it seemed to have recovered.  So, I did some treadmill intervals while finishing my book club book during the walking recovery.  I finished 3 miles total, and although 2/3 was walking, the 4 short speed intervals were at 7:30/mile pace and 1% incline.  It's been a long time since I asked my body to move that quickly.  No post-workout foot pain, although the next day my glutes and hamstrings were very confused and sore.

Friday, I headed out for a short easy run but the foot flared up at 0.61 miles, so, resigning myself to the wiser option, I walked back home.  Discouraging.

Saturday, I pulled off 1.75 miles in the mid 11s without pain and decided to end on a good note, feeling that 6+ miles on Sunday with a friend should be doable in my current state.  I walked another 0.75 home.

And, today, I joined a friend who's on 4:00 jog/ 1:00 walk intervals and we chatted our way through a 6.7ish mile loop around Grand Lake in Oakland.  Success!  Only minor foot soreness now, but nothing compared to last week's tenderness.

Bonus!  It's restaurant week in Oakland, and we enjoyed a delicious (and authentically slow) 3-course post run Italian brunch at Bellanico for $20.  Best value meal I've enjoyed in a *long* time.

Total mileage for the week?  22.28.  Only 50% running.  I very much hope that my foot is healing and won't continue to be an issue.