Weekly Log 1-30-12 to 2-5-12

Monday: 11 miles - Ryan Park trails alone.  I wanted to run Rome Point, but the screaming winds would be too much on the bay.  Plan B was to run the relatively protected trails of Ryan Park, although I've been running there quite a bit recently.  I parked at the Lafayette Rd lot and ran the loop around the fields.  The water crossing at the race was now completely dry.  My tight and sore calf was feeling okay, and I was able to run on it without incident.  I noticed a couple of flags marking the race course so I decided I would motivate myself to do the loop at the end of my run and collect them.  After completing the loop, I then ran the 5 mile woods section.  I was surprised at how many people were out walking on this chilly afternoon.  I then ran the field loop in reverse and by the time I was done, I had found six flags.  Total time: 1:20:09. 

Tuesday: 8 miles - Mount View roads and Calf Pasture Point beach and trails solo.  57 degrees and sunny this afternoon!  I headed out on the bike path then jumped onto Fletcher Road.  Right away, my legs felt sluggish and this feeling lasted for the entire run.  The weather was so nice that I didn't mind.  Lot's of ducks and brant on the bay today.  There was a giant earth moving machine on the trails.  Total time: 1:02:00. 

Wednesday:  9 miles - Quonset Bike Path workout with Calf Pasture Point cooldown alone.  60 degrees and sunny for the first day of February.  The wind was pretty strong out of the SW, which meant it would be right in my face on the way out for the workout.  I debated how I wanted to handle this and settled on the idea of running against the wind as a warm up and then running 1xmile, 1x800 with the wind, jogging back against the wind, and repeating the 1xmile, 1x800 with the wind.  My plans changed when I was interrupted by a loose gigantic doberman pinscher on my warm up.  The owner told me that he was friendly (of course!), but the dog was harrassing me and then began chasing me when I tried to start running again.  I lost my cool and asked (demanded) if he had a leash.  I was so worked up, I just started running hard at the next mileage marker.  I decided to do a 800 (2:51 against the wind) and then followed it up with an extremely slow mile into the wind in 6:09.  My lungs were working hard, but my legs felt flat.  I was annoyed with myself.  I turned around and now was sweating profusely in the winter heat.  I began another mile after just 3 minutes of recovery.  My legs weren't feeling much better, but at least the wind pushed me to a 5:56.  I then finished up with another 800 in 2:52.  These times are slower than my recent track workouts, but I think there were a few factors (track is flat and faster, running alone vs. with others, tired legs) that contributed.  At least my long cooldown was rather perky.  Total time 64 minutes. 

Thursday:  0 - rather than running again on tired legs, I went shoe shopping instead.  Picked up a pair of Reebok Realflex.  Can't wait to try them out tomorrow. 

Friday: 11 miles - Rome Point trails and beach alone.  It's funny how high 30's and wind feels cold to me after the warm temperatures the past week.  I ran in the new Reebok's and liked them.  They are more different from the Nike Free Run's than I thought, based on reviews I read online.  My legs still don't feel 100% fresh, but the easy effort was producing decent splits.  I was afraid the tide was going to be super high based on Wednesday's tide, but I was wrong and had plenty of real estate on the beach to work with.  The 15-20 mph NW wind on the way back was rather head-numbing.  Good thing I could put on my little red hood.  Total time: 1:22:23.  I felt very happy and relaxed when I was done - an awesome run for my mind. 

Saturday: 4+ miles - Burlingame trails and roads alone.  This was just a quick and easy little run around my house.  My legs are feeling fresher.  Race tomorrow.  Total time: 32:30 minutes. 

Sunday: 7 miles - Super 5K - 18:18, 16th Overall, WTAC first place!  This race was a confidence booster as I haven't been feeling very fast recently.  Separate write up to follow. 

Weekly Total: 50 miles
Last Week: 41 miles
Year to Date: 263 miles