i placed!

smsmh and i scooted pretty fast after the race on monday. i was hungry and i figured there were so many people ahead of me that i never would have taken a placing. what i didn't know was that i'd passed quite a bit of my competition during the run and only came in 64 back from the leader. even if i'd known that, i don't think i would have stuck around for the awards ceremony. i still don't think it's sunk in that i'm making big strides in my speed, especially at the shorter distances.

well, checking my official results this morning, i saw that i came in at 19:56 rather than 19:57 and there was a '3' in one of columns. i scrolled up the list and the '3' was in the Div Place column. i took 3rd place in the M35-39 division. WOW!

talk about a huge confidence boost! i think i may stick around for the awards ceremony at the 1/2 marathon on saturday...

jowls

aliso beach surf launch

well, sunday, wade and i were able to make some time and take the kayak out for a surf launch and paddle along the coast. we loaded up the boat and headed down to pacific coast highway, not quite sure of where we'd launch from. i've tried to get in contact with the county and state beaches, but they never return my calls. so, i'm not quite sure where it's legal to launch from.

as we drove along pch up toward laguna beach, we decided to check aliso beach. the shoreline is close to the parking lot, so we though we'd unload the boat, park and make a rush for the surf before anyone could tell us we couldn't. well, while unloading the kayak, the lifeguards drove past several times and never said a word. guess we were okay to launch from there.

the surf report had stated that there was a light swell, light wind and glassy conditions. that was at 8am. it was now 4pm. things change. hahah. the surf launch was pretty easy, since it was a shore break and timing the sets was pretty easy. we got away from the shore without any difficulty. as we began paddling away, though, it was apparent that it was less than glassy conditions. there was a stiff wind, 1-2 foot seas and a heavy northwest swell.

we decided to paddle north, against the swell and then ride it back in on the return. the seas were heavy enough that the bow would occasionally submerge and send a cascade of spray into the cockpit. i got a little bit wetter than when smsmh and i went paddling in back bay. after about 30 minutes of paddling, we were at least a mile off shore. wade jumped out of the kayak to swim around a little bit and nearly gave me a heart attack. no warning, just a heavy rocking and a huge splash. next thing i know, he's 10 feet way from the stern. what a goofball!

he floated around a bit, got a ways away from the boat and i decided that it'd be easier to get back to shore if he was helping me paddle, so i went and picked him back up. we did some more hard paddling and got to what must have easily been two miles off shore and then just floated around a bit, taking pictures and shooting video.

the kayak handled really well, despite how heavy the swell and wind were. i was very pleased with it's performance. after a while of just enjoying the solitude, we paddled back to shore. the surf landing was a little more hectic than the launch. we came in okay and didn't hit the sand hard, but the surf turned us sideways as soon as we beached and we didn't jump out quick enough to grab it kayak. a huge wave followed us in and shot the boat up the shore, breaking the dummy cords to our paddles. no real harm done, though, and a good lesson learned.

top of the hill, top of the world

the world looks sweet from up here. top of the hill, top of the world! over the moon, king of the world, bouncing off the walls. they're all terms to describe how i'm feeling this morning.

first things first, though. saturday dawned with a 20 miler on the plate. i was feeling pretty good after the workout on thursday, so, knowing that there are some hills in the race course for july's marathon, i opted to pick a hard route for the long run. i drove out on to the route and stashed some bottles of water and cytomax, drove back home and headed out the door.

i started out running the surface streets to hook up with the aliso creek bike trail at sheep hill park. four miles down and i was starting to warm up. i dropped onto the trail right in the middle of a new tnt training group's first run. i ended up pacing with a lady that was running solo and found out that she was training for a race in september and running for her two year old daughter who'd be diagnosed with leukemia. it's one thing to run for the charity, it's another to run for a family member. i wished her well and good luck as the team turned around near mile six.

i dropped into aliso creek canyon and ran past the trailhead for wood canyon to pick up some additional miles. i turned around at mile 10 and turned onto the wood canyon trail at mile 11. i'd come over some slight hills, but the turn around point marked the low point of the run. the last 10 were going to be hard, over some really tough hills. i mentally prepared myself and cruised up the trail and into the wilderness park.

by mile 14, i was at the top of cholla hill at the back of the wilderness park. it had been the hardest mile of the run, up steep switchbacks, climbing just over 400'. beat, sure, but at the highest point of the run and ready to start my descent back home. a quick jog into the housing community and i was refueling with stashed bottles. i rolled over the next couple hills and worked my way back home on surface streets. i fluctuated between fatigue and a maintainable pace. the remaining hills were hard, but the downhill on the backsides allowed me the recovery i needed.

at 20 miles on the nose, i turned the corner onto our street and rolled to a stop at the front door at 20.12. 2:52:39 - a comfortable 8:34 pace, and a successful arrival at the top of the week's training hill.

so, the top of the hill had me elated to have completed a couple hard runs and mentally excited for today's 5k. i warmed up at the start of the race with about a mile of light jogging, a mile of marathon pace and then about a half mile of fartlek type drills. the quads and calves were a little sluggish, but feeling warm by the time i finished. i hopped into the queue and got ready.

the horn sounded and we were off. i went out fast, and quickly passed the slower folks that had ignored the instructions to move to the rear. no offense to the slower runners, of course, but i just wish the walkers wouldn't line up at the front. anyway, i went out fast and tried to get into a rhythm. i concentrated on form and turn over and breathing. mile one came and i saw 6:32 on the watch. i wasn't sure if that was too fast, or not fast enough.

there were some nice downhills early in the race, but mile two was at the top of a small rise. 12:55. ooh, a negative split! i rounded the corner just behind the marker and looked up the big hill in the race. i needed to keep the strong pace up and over that if i was going to break my goal time. i pushed hard, continued to focus on form and breathing and FLEW past people going up the quarter mile hill. when it leveled out, i figured there was about a half mile to go and i needed to really pour it on if i was going to make up any time i'd lost on the hill.

i ran my legs off as the hill crested and we started back downhill to the finish. my quads were starting to make themselves known, but nothing that was going to slow me down before the finish. heading down the finishing hill, i saw the three mile marker, checked my watch and saw it tick over to 19 minutes. 30 seconds to the marker and then 30 seconds to the finish? no problem. i picked it up to a near sprint and flew through the finishing chute as my watch ticked to 19:57.

sub 20. and it's got me on top of the world. thanks to everyone's encouragement and kind words this past week. you guys really boosted my confidence to get pass this milestone!

2005 Saddleback Memorial 5k

Chip Time: 19:56
Pace: 6:24
Place: 65
Mens place: 58
Div place (35-39): 3

half way up

well, i'm half way up the hill, and the first part of the climb wasn't all that bad. it's funny how much of a drama i'm making out these two workouts. yeah, it's two big mileage runs nearly back to back, and my first time at that, but it's not really the big deal that i'm making it out to be. i just need to do what karen said and focus on the next few yards ahead.

so, yesterday's track workout ended up being 14.5 miles total. ken met me at the el toro high school track (trabuco high had a track event going on...wish there were more rubber tracks locally). we warmed up with a slow jog for 2.5 miles and then i started into my speed work. i had the option of repeating the intervals two or three times, and when i started out, i wasn't positive that i'd try for three (who am i kidding, even if i hurt i was probably going to try it). i hit the times really consistently, although during the two mile intervals, i had a HARD time slowing down to the 7:10-7:20 range. here's the splits i turned in for the first two intervals

1m: 6:53
2m: 7:17, 6:56

1m: 6:58
2m: 7:02, 7:01

so, i did the half mile recovery after the second interval, contemplating whether i'd do the third psyching myself up for the third. i wasn't feeling bad at all, and was actually ready for the third set. here's the splits from it:

1m: 6:57
2m: 7:15, 7:04

i really wanted to cut loose for the final mile, but i figured that i needed to focus more on consistent effort than going fast. i planned on doing a two mile cool down, but as i jogged along at a slow pace, i really started to feel fatigued. i ended up doing 1.5 miles, and called it a night.

i headed home, ate a wonderful salmon dinner that smsmh had prepared, iced my knees for about an hour and crashed for a nine hour sleep. today is pure rest, refueling and hydrating to get ready for tomorrow's 20. which, now that the big interval workout is done, doesn't seem that daunting.

looking uphill

it seems that when you're having a rough run, every pace, no matter how slow, is tough.

i had an easy eight on the schedule last night. it was warm (in the 80's again, and humid) when i started out yesterday. as i ran down the hill our place sits on, i could feel tight tendons and felt the stiff-skeletal jarring feeling. i tried to focus on form to ease into my pace, but i had a really tough time warming up. no matter how much i tried to pull back on the pace, everything felt somewhat labored.

rather than do the hill loop around our place (and run surface streets with rush hour traffic for eight miles), i opted to head over the freeway and catch the top of the san diego creek bike trail and run that for a while. two miles later, i was running in relative solitude along a little used stretch of the trail. it was still warm, and i was still a little stiff, but i was able to keep the pace easy enough that i didn't feel too uncomfortable.

aside from the forerunner freaking out on distance/pace the run was uneventful and i was able to get through it without too much of a struggle.

so, now it's thursday and i'm at the bottom of a huge mileage hill, looking up. i've got a positive attitude about the next couple days, even excitement, but there's still the feeling of, "wow - that's going to be an uphill battle". today i have a minimum of 10 miles of interval running to do, and if i take the high side of the option, 15. and i know me, i'll do the three mile warm up and three mile cool down, along with three repeats vs. two. the repeats consist of one mile @ 6:55-7:00, .25 recovery, two miles @ 7:10-7:20 and .5 recovery. actually, with the recovery mileage, three repeats will be 17 miles. holy cow.

i say holy cow, because after a day off on friday, i have a 20 miler on saturday. yeah, i'm keeping positive, and i know i can do that kind of mileage in close proximity. so i feel like i'm standing at the bottom of a huge climb, knowing the leg burn i'll have going up, but anxious to get going. thank goodness it's a holiday weekend and we're sticking around town. i think lots of movie-going and lounging around the pool is in order!

gazelles

it's great to have fast people around you to really get you to push yourself. unfortunately, i usually train on my own, and it's only on long runs that i seek out the occasional company. the back bay trail rarely has folks on it that are moving at a decent clip, either. so, i was pleased yesterday when i ended up with not one, but three fast guys that got me to push my pace.

the run was a short six, with the last two miles at a hard effort. as i started out, i was running in front of a guy that was slowly gaining on me. hearing his footsteps behind me had me unconsciously picking up the pace. the first mile ended up being just a hair under what was the fast end of the acceptable range for a warm up.

i kept the pace consistent for the next three miles and then picked up the pace to work on the hard effort at mile four. at 4.5, i linked back up with the back bay trail and ended up behind one guy and in front of another. they were about 100m apart and i was smack dab in the middle.

the guy out in front was moving pretty fast, looked really fit and was a perfect target for me. i hoped to catch him and pace with him for the remainder of the run. i stepped up the pace a little more and began slowly gaining on him. i figured by mile five or shortly thereafter, i'd catch him.

that's when, like the wind, the guy that was behind me came whooshing by. he was really moving. he caught the guy in front of me, called to him by name and they began keeping pace with each other. they both slowly began to move away from me, so i picked it up a little more.

with the effort i was putting out, i couldn't do much to actually catch them before the end of the run, but i wasn't about to let them get away, either. i ate up a little ground, but they continued at a quick pace and when i hit six, they were still about 25m ahead of me.

but, the great thing was that without them, i'd have only pushed for about a 6:50-7:00 pace for the last two miles. instead, i ended up with 6:42 and 6:21. again, i'm giddy with excitement about being able to maintain that sort of pace.

it's great to have those lickity-split-fast folks out on the trail to really help show you what you're capable of.

okay to race

i got the go-ahead from the coach to race in a local 5k this coming monday. woohoo! i can FINALLY get a good pb time on the books. after sunday's final 5k, i feel really good to turn in a crushing time. i haven't trained AT ALL for shorter distances, so i'm not sure what time to push for, but a sub 20 would put me over the moon.

that said, my miles weren't cut at all, since the 5k isn't a goal. out of the past 10 weeks (this week included), seven of them have been 50+ mile weeks. wow. last week was the highest mileage week i'd ever done. and i feel amazing.

i keep getting people commenting about how fast i'm getting, and it's come as a huge surprise to me, as well. i look back over the last few years and what paces i was running at. having run since high school, and having always been in decent shape, i've had a good base to start off from. but these past five months have catapulted me to a new level. last year i was training hard just to get a sub 4hr marathon time, and now i'm running comfortably at a pace that can net me a sub 3:20. each week i'm more and more amazed at what i'm doing. i daily have a hard time wrapping my head around what i'm currently capable of.

i gush about the paces of my runs because i've got to put it down in writing or i can't believe it myself. this isn't me here running, it's some other machine. i really need next month's 1/2 marathon and then the marathon in july to really give me the confidence that this training and pace right now isn't just a fluke, but that i'm really running at this level. it's exciting, scary and energizing!

santiago canyon

calvary church of the canyon

personal best

okay, so where did i leave off? friday at work after cycling into the office? yes...good point to pick back up. friday was a running battle with problems at work, so i was very happy for 3:30 to roll around and to get back out on the trail, shake off the week and burn some of the work week frustration. eight miles, medium effort in 80+ degree heat was just the ticket. i could feel the heat (and stopped at the water fountain to douse myself twice) and the miles from the week, and though i somewhat struggled through the run, it felt great to log the distance.

i headed home quickly, since my friend, chris (who is training to be a massage therapist) was coming over to try out what he'd learned this past week. deep tissue on the calves, pecs, deltoids, trapezius and rhomboids...heaven.

saturday was a complete rest day, and i didn't take the kayak out like i'd planned. did some light swimming, watched cycling, cleaned up the house and then went to a movie. it was just what i needed in preparation for sunday, since ken and i planned on running santiago canyon on sunday, starting at 6am in order to beat the heat (predicted at 90 degrees).

it was up early on sunday and at ken's place by 6. we drove the route, a couple tough climbs with the remainder rolling rises, and dropped some fluids on the course. we were off at 6:30, just as the sun started peeking over the local mountains. we took the first 5-6 miles very easy and just enjoyed being out running and chatting. ken had 16 to put in, so we turned around at mile eight and slowly began picking it up so that i wouldn't have much of a drop in pace to make when i hit mile 13.

i had instructions to drop to marathon pace at 13, and had planned to try to keep as close to that over the hills between 13 and 15, and then hook up with the top of the aliso creek trail and run downhill for the remaining five, where ken would meet me with the car. at 13, i was feeling quite ready to go, and i dug in as i began climbing the hills. i kept a strong 7:45 up the big climb and kept it pretty close to 7:30 all the way through mile 17. at 17 i was feeling ON and had a fun though, "my 5k pb is pretty soft (23:07) i wonder if i could beat that with the last 5k of my 20 miler..."

i put the hammer down and turned in 7:08, 7:03 and 6:40 for the last 3 miles. with the .1 time added in, i did a final 5k of 21:39, crushing my pb 5k time...after 17 miles of moderately hard hills. and the end result? 20.11 miles in 2:59:59, legs that felt AWESOME through the entire run and never even came close to bonking, and a full tank of energy for the remainder of the day.

when we got back to ken's place, his wife, stacey, had breakfast ready for us. a full plate of waffles and eggs hit the spot and gave me the fuel i needed to recover perfectly. from there, it was back home to get cleaned up and hook up with a good friend, greg, to head back into santiago canyon to spend a couple hours of photographing the area. the photography trip netted a couple decent photos, so i'll post some of what i took.

whew...long winded, and if you made it this far...um...have a cookie.

the bumble bee rides again!

well, lots of muscle taxing exercise to talk about this morning. i'm not sure where i got the idea in my head that the distance from work to home was about 10.5 miles. it's not.

as you recall, i had an interval workout to do yesterday, so i had a co-worker drop me off at the back-bay trail (which, taking a combination of bike paths, get's me to within two miles of my house) and the idea was to do the intervals as part of a run home. i was a little stiff as i started out, and the three mile warm-up came and went rather quick. i dropped down to between 7:10-7:20 pace and kept that for two miles. i downed a gu at five miles, jogged a half mile and then started into the second interval. i hit closer to 7:00-7:10 for the second interval, but it wasn't because it felt easy. i wouldn't say i was struggling, but the quick pace felt faster than threshold. i again jogged a half mile to recover and then picked it back up to hit 8 min miles for the remaining miles of the run.

the end of the recovery had me right at eight miles. and as i began estimating the remaining distance, it was well over 2.5 miles. i figured it to be closer to five miles remaining. five miles later, i rolled past my front door. home at last, after traveling 13 miles and doing intervals, i was exhausted and ready to stretch and recover with some fluids and food. BUT, smsmh wasn't home, so i was stuck drinking from the hose until she turned up.

the rest of the evening, i felt spent. my calves were shot and i was mentally exhausted. i turned in early, spent about 15 minutes massaging my thighs and calves with the behemoth and then crashed.

i was up at zero dark thirty in the morning and out the door and on the bike by 5:15am. i planned to retrace the route from yesterday, so the only road i'd need to be on was a two mile stretch from my house to the trail and a three mile stretch from back bay to my office. i showed just how long it had been since i'd been on the bike by getting my left foot caught in the clip and falling over at a dead stop at the first light signal. i hit hard, got some small raspberries, but didn't really bruise anything other than my ego.

the ride felt pretty good, and even though i did some quad burning peddling, general cardio fitness levels allowed me to keep a pretty good pace for the whole ride. with several stops and a couple hills, i averaged just over 15mph, and actually rode between 16-18mph most of the time.

the best treat of the ride was as i cruised through back bay. the sun was just coming up to my rear, and i turned around to see just how high in the sky it was. i was treated to a beautiful sunrise over the bay. the water was still and reflecting the sky like glass. there were a couple ducks in the water with long wakes stretching out behind them and terns were just beginning to circle. it was absolutely beautiful. i nearly biffed a couple more times as i craned around to watch as much of it as i could. i kicked myself for not bringing the camera.

so, i'm not sure how frequently i'll try this in the future, but it sure did feel good to be back on the bumble bee and hearing the hum of the tires. and it felt good to take part in the 'bike to work week'. now, i've got to make it through the eight mile run scheduled for tonight and then it's clear sailing until sunday.

i wonder why i'm so hungry...

flying fish

yesterday called for six miles, so with a tight schedule on wednesday nights, i opted to do the run at lunch. i hit the traditional back bay route, but again opted for the university hill vs. the san diego creek trail. as i ran across the bridge over where the creek dumps into the bay, it just happened to be low tide, and jumping fish season. the same fish that were out jumping on saturday during the kayak trip were launching themselves, in great numbers, into the air. at any given point, i could see 5+ in the air. it was nuts! a local fisherman on saturday had said that they weren't feeding, but playing. must have been recess time at the school...of fish (ba-dum-ching!).

today i have another long interval workout on the schedule. it's longer 2 mile intervals today, so i figured i'd get creative with the run and actually run all the way home from work. three mile warm up, then 2x2 mile @ tempo pace and then a three mile cool down. that should get me enough miles to roll me comfortably to my front door...well, maybe a couple more miles on the cool down, but we'll see. what that leaves me with, though, is no vehicle for friday morning, which allows me to take part in bike to work week!

yup, i'm dusting off the wheels and will be riding the bumble bee into work tomorrow. i can't wait. it's been so long since i did that. i just hope it doesn't take too much out of me, since i have an eight mile run scheduled for the afternoon. actually, i really don't care...i just want to cycle. the tdg, gdi and all of warren's, bill's, nanda's and annalisa's talk of cycling has got me jonesing for the hum of tread on road...

easy eight

coach has me down for another big week, third 50+ in three weeks. i'm absolutely loving putting in all these high mileage weeks. sometimes, though, i wonder how long my body can handle this, or if it'll adapt and find 50+ weeks normal.

anyway, i had eight easy on the schedule for yesterday, so i hit back bay after work to put in the miles. i decided to run the university hill and the south side of the bay, rather than up the san diego creek trail. this kept me pretty close to the bay the whole run, and i was able to pick out the different species of birds that we watch while kayaking on saturday. there was a stiff wind, but nothing to really affect my pace.

i kept it pretty close to 8 min miles on the way out, but naturally picked it up on the way back. shortly after hitting the turn around, i looked down at my body and noticed 'the lather' starting up. it must have been more humid out than i realized, because the lather was quite thick (not as crazy as the florida run, though). still, sort of embarrassing as folks i ran by would look down at my legs and stare.

so i'm a freak with frothy legs, get over it! haha!

final distance and time, 8.1 @ 1:03 for a nice average of 7:47. felt good and relaxed.

and pictures you shall have

here's a picture looking up back bay, inland. if you look closely (it was fairly smoggy inland) you can just barely make out the san gabriel mountains and the snow on mt. san antonio. the water in the bay is usually kinda murky, but that's normal for a salt marsh. this photo, while nothing special, showcases the bow of the ss able soufay. notice the abominal bumble bee yellow colour of the hull.

the only other shot i have of the kayak is looking back at smsmh while we were on the water. you can see some of the hull, part of the stern and if you look closely at smsmh's glasses, more of the bow. i do realize just how hard it is to focus on the kayak in this photo, since smsmh's beauty outshines everything else...

the uss able soufay

well, as much as i would have loved to name the kayak, "the love boat" or even better, "smsmh", smsmh suggested we name it the "able soufay", after the crazy chant that my grandfather taught us. it's been a goofy and fun joke between us and some close friends for a while, and it's a nod at what wonderful people my grandparents are.

anyway, we took the kayak out on saturday to back bay, the same back bay where i do most of my mid-week runs. it's amazing how different the bay is from on the water. you see so much more wildlife than you do when you're running along the trail. you also realize just how much life there is there, and how diverse the ecosystems are. on the trail, it's bunnies, squirrels, lizards, snakes and raptors. on the water it's huge foot long fish jumping out of the water and tons of water fowl. there were a bunch of sleek, tiny, white birds that kept diving into the water for small fish. it was so much fun to paddle along and enjoy the view.

launching at back bay was really easy, as there's no surf to deal with, just a nice, calm bay. next weekend, though, i'm going to try my hand at a surf launch. i was thinking of hitting crystal cove state park. there's some awesome kelp beds off the shore that i think it would be awesome to paddle through.

running this weekend was a mixed bag. friday's six miler was just plain hard. i did it first thing in the morning, right after having done the 11.5 mile interval workout the night before. silly me opted for the hilly route around our house, and i paid for it. i took the rest option on saturday and used the three hours of paddling as cross-training.

sunday was great, though. here's verbatim what i sent my coach:

...Sunday ended up being the best run of the week. I started out the first five miles at my long, slow distance pace, and was hitting 8:30-8:45. I felt tired, stiff and the legs were just plain heavy as I warmed up. Five miles came really fast, and I didn't want to start into the marathon pace, but went ahead and pushed to hit 7:30's. I was doing an out-and-back course, with the whole 'out' being uphill. So, the first 2.5 of the marathon pace distance was uphill. I hit the 7:30's, but when I turned around, I was hitting the low 7's with the same effort. So, the five miles in the middle ended up being a tempo pace, rather than marathon pace. And then, the last five at regular pace ended up being closer to marathon pace (between 7:30-7:45). I did NOT feel like I was pushing, but actually felt relaxed on the last five. They felt comfortable and really nice. I finished without being worn out, the legs felt really good when I was done, and I felt like I could have easily continued for quite some time at that pace, despite how hot it was (in the high 70's and VERY humid). Total time for the 15.5 distance was 2:02, with a total average below an 8:00 pace...

nice finish to a hard week. i'm excited about what this week will bring!

name that boat

with my workout days finally sorted out, i dove into my track workout on thursday. i found a couple nearby tracks on the internet, and mapped one at el toro high school. google maps said it was three miles from the house, so i figured i'd run there for the warm-up and run back for the cool-down.

unfortunately, google was wrong and it turned out to be 4.4 miles from the house. not far, but much further than i wanted to go for a warm up. no worries, though. i had smsmh and her sister meet me at the track with water, etc. i started into the 8x800's and hit them consistently just under a 7 min mile pace:

3:13
3:23
3:25
3:22
3:22
3:27
3:21
3:06 (oops! haha)

rather than run back to the house (which would have totaled 15 miles for the workout), i cooled down with a mile at the track and then rode back with smsmh. i felt great on the track, but was ready to be done running when i finished the cool-down.

and in shopping news, good stuff and bad stuff. first, the bad. i ordered a couple pairs of shoes from roadrunnersports.com. they're the only shoe store that still carries the saucony hurricane 5. i can pull a pair of those right out of the box, run a marathon, and not have any problems. they fit my foot like a glove. when i ordered them, i asked them to repeat my order from last time. well, the guy put in the wrong size and sent me two pairs of 8's instead of 9's. blah. my newest pair currently is just cresting 300 miles. the 9's should be here by monday...

and the good. smsmh has been bugging me to get us a kayak ever since our adventure on catalina island last fall. the latest rei catalog came last week, and she conveniently opened it to the 'all kayaks 15% off' page and left it on my keyboard. well, i did my research and finally headed over to rei yesterday and picked one up. i got us the wilderness systems pamlico 135t. i filled it full of dry sacks in the store, and it should be able to hold enough gear for us to do weekend trips in it. gonna try to find some time to take it out today. weeee!

the tail will tell

i got my workouts mixed up and got home to realize that i had an 8-10 mile run vs. the track workout. so, not wanting to run the local roads for 10 miles, i headed onto the irvine company property behind our place. the most i've ever done back in there has been six miles, so this would net me a considerable bit more of exploration.

the first three miles were familiar, but after that, i was in new territory. the trail was really overgrown as a result of all the rain we've had this season, and i was constantly wondering if i was going to step on a snake in the high grass. i could hear things being startled along the trail, mostly bunnies and quail, but there was the occasional sound of slither vs. scamper.

not far after the three mile mark, i spotted a small lake that i never knew was there. pretty and tucked back behind a ring of hills. there's no way you could see it from any road, so i'm sure most people that live around here don't even know it's there. i continued along the rolling hills and eventually met up with the laguna canyon highway, but fortunately, the trail went under the road, popped up on the other side and ended right at a gate with a "native species reserve" sign.

ooh, adventure and wilderness! there was a gap in the gate for peds, so i went through and ran up the heavily overgrown gravel drive. i could see a kiosk, benches and parking area ahead, but everything was heavily overgrown and it was obvious that it had been years since this area was in use. i could just barely make out two handicapped parking signs sticking up through mature bushes. cool, i had found an abandoned wilderness park!

i continued to head up the overgrown trail until i spotted a long, shiny thing stretched across the full length of the trail. well, hello mr. snake! what kind of snake are you? i chopped my stride and stopped to take a quick look at the tail. no rattle, i was good to go. i trotted past him, startled him and he slithered off into the brush.

i kept climbing and heading further back into unexplored territory. i was startling more and more birds nesting in the brush. every family of quail that would fly of chirping their warning would send my heart racing. the trail began climbing up a very steep canyon and the higher the embankment became, the more i thought about my safety. smsmh had no idea where i was. this was not a spot that people frequented. if i were to fall, get bit or get jumped by a large cat, i'd be on my own.

exercising caution, i decided to turn around after about a mile and a half of climbing the canyon. on the return trip out of the park, i spotted a pair of turkey vultures, heads as red as blood, circling over the canyon and swooping down to get a better look at me. it was the first time i'd ever seen vultures in this area and a real treat. it gave me a sense of really being 'out there'. lions and snakes and vultures, oh my!

the run ended up being 9.6 miles, not quite the 10 i'd wanted but good enough, considering the hill climbing effort i put in while climbing the canyon. but the mileage was secondary to the joy of exploring the wild areas in my own back yard.

another big one

coach has only given me tues, wed and thurs workouts, waiting until i finish thursday to gauge what to give me for fri, sat and sun. my guess is that it's going to be another big week though. yesterday i did eight. today is a track workout totaling about nine miles and then thurs is 10 miles. woohoo! that's 27 miles for the first three days, and that doesn't include my long run. my guess is that i'll end up real close to 60 miles for the week.

coach said to do the eight easy, so i kept the pace and effort constant. i cruised it right at about 8 min miles for the whole run, although the return was into a really tough head wind, so keeping the 8 min pace required a 7:45 effort. it felt great though, and the legs really wanted to cut lose. i'm proud of myself for keeping it under control though.

the left knee developed a little niggle monday. it feels like some of the tissue is inflamed, so i popped some ibuprofen after the run yesterday and iced it for about 30 minutes. it doesn't hurt at all, but i can feel the inflammation. so, lots of icing, good nights sleep and keeping hydrated should keep an injury at bay.

speaking of sleep, i was in bed by 9:30 last night and set the alarm for an extra 30 minutes this morning. got a full eight! i was reading runners world before heading off to bed and caught the article on sleep as a training tool. paula radcliffe gets nine hours of sleep a night and a two hour nap when she's training hard. boy, would i like that schedule!

nearly effortless

there's so much fun stuff from this weekend to blog about, i'm going to have to limit myself. or just mention each item in one line. so, a quick, couple line recap of the weekend:

friday's intervals: the five mile repeats at 7:00 were quite easy, and actually ended up being 6:59, 6:55, 6:51, 6:51 and 6:36.

saturday's adventure: headed out to the high desert to watch the subaru rim of the world rally. my friend, tim, and i now want to purchase a ford pinto and start rallying.

saturday's show: loretta lynn is absolutely amazing. at 73(?) she's still belting out amazing tunes, knows how to please the crowd and has got to be one of the hardest working singers i've ever seen (she came out on stage and sang even though she was sick). jack white was a no-show though...

sunday's run: the 19 miles felt near effortless. i ran up the aliso creek trail towards cook's corner, turned around at 9.5 miles and posted awesome negative splits the whole way back. the joints were doing the "we there yet? we there yet?" thing by the finish, but i felt wonderful. word to the wise, don't start your 19 miler without checking for band aids on your nipples.

sunday's festivities: got to hang with mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-law (a mom) and sister(bfbh - also a mom). there were kids -a-plenty, lots of good food, lots of swimming, and lots of celebrating moms.

the weekend netted a tired, very happy and lobster looking jeff.

playing with fire

well, i didn't get into bed until 11:30 last night. bad news, and not a good idea with this being the highest mileage and most intense week of training i've ever had. the late night wasn't by choice though. a meeting we were at just ran longer than i had anticipated. such is life. i'll make a point of being in bed early tonight.

i knocked out five miles on the hill loop around our place last night. i kept the pace just a hair below 8 minute miles and felt really good and relaxed. the last mile was a little quicker, but that's normal for a run. the legs felt really good, despite the beating they took the previous day. i capped off the run with 6x30 second strides. the whole run felt great and refreshing.

today it's a 12 mile speed workout. warm up, 5x1 mile repeats at 7 min pace and then cool down. it should be fun! ken has a track workout to do as well, so we're going to hook up and run at a high school near his house.

i was listening to the latest endurance radio interview this morning and it just happened to be with a race nutritionist. she was discussing the fueling needs leading up to, during and after an endurance event. there was some really interesting information in there, very worth giving it a listen. they don't have it posted on the main page or on their archives yet (i got the link via bloglines), so it's here for you.

big plans for the weekend, too. heading off to the high desert tomorrow to run out in the middle of nowhere and then watch a rally race. saturday night, smsmh and i are going to see loretta lynn, which should be a great show. long run of 19 on sunday and then hanging out with the family, celebrating mother's day. if i don't blog you over the weekend, hope you have a great time celebrating on sunday, and happy running!

bundles of joy

paying for it

i'm dragging this morning. dragging and sore. i've been commenting on other folks blogs about how 6 hours vs. 8 hours of sleep will result in 50% less effective immune system, and add on distance training to that and you're talking a fragile immune system.

okay, mr. kettle, this is mr. pot. you're black.

monday, tuesday and now wednesday night have netted me only 6 hours of sleep a night. add on some really hard running and i'm completely pooped. there's still a hint of energy like yesterday morning, but it's draining quickly.

i had a really strong hit out yesterday with my 10 miler at lunch. usually, i can expect to be wiped out and have a hard time staying focused after that kind of mileage at lunch, but i was ON FIRE yesterday afternoon. got tons done at work and felt pretty good.

the legs, though, beat up. that fast five miler on tuesday and then another fast 10 yesterday have them feeling like doodie. i ran back bay, up san diego creek, past the university and along the 405 freeway for an out-and-back course. wind was good, weather was good, but pace was too fast. i honestly felt like i was holding back at 7:45, but ever so slowly, the pace started creeping down into the 7:30's and was in the 7:15's by the time i finished. it felt wonderful at the time and i finished up with a 1:15:41, so a 7:34 pace.

one thing i noticed, was the different feeling in my legs late in the run. i take fluids and gu with me on anything 10 miles or greater. for runs of this distance, i'll have cytomax, about 3oz every mile (two mouthfuls) and a gu about every 45 minutes. on this run, though, i was out of gu and figured my gatorade and honey concoction would be sufficient. while i felt hydrated, i really noticed a different feeling in my legs. not heavy, or leaden, but...um...fatigued? but not really tired. i could have kept going at that pace...i don't know how to describe it.

anyway, i'm going to try an experiment and skip the cytomax on these mid length runs and see if the legs feel the same, and then do some with the cytomax and see if the feeling goes away. there's a claim on the cytomax packaging that says it lessens 'perceived effort' and does muscle buffering type stuff. i'm wondering if what i was feeling was the lack of that type of chemical reaction going on. anyway, we'll see.

today it's 5 miles with 6x30 second strides. i'm taking it easy today and will hopefully be in bed before 10pm tonight. i need at least seven hours tonight. at least.

out of control

okay, the rest week is done and i've got a monster of a week before me. the coach threw a 55 mile week at me, with the only non-speed work days being a 10 miler today and a four miler on saturday.

i hit back bay last night to do five with 6x30 second strides. bryan was out with the vanguard girls, who were doing 1000m repeats (at a 5:40 mile pace). he asked if i wanted to join them...uh...no thanks, bryan. haha! inspired by their speed, i set out on my own run a little quick. half way through the run, i realized again, that picking it up for the strides would be a challenge at the pace i was running. but, dangit if running quick didn't feel GOOD!

i rolled up the bluff to finish the run, stopped the watch at 5.11 miles and was shocked to see 35:58, a 7:02 pace. a far cry from the 5:40 the girls were doing, but nice and quick for me. the pump from the fast run had me bouncing off the walls with energy the rest of the night.

this morning, though, i'm pooped. energized, but tired and i feel yesterday's run in my legs. planning on doing the 10 during a long lunch break today (got a family party to go to tonight) so we'll see how that goes and whether or not i fall asleep at the computer this afternoon.

despite being tired, i'm still greeting everyone with a smile this morning. isn't it great to be alive and to FEEL?!

able soufay

i've been meaning to blog the repetative chant that my grandfather taught me this past christmas. i've searched the internet for any reference to it, but can't find it anywhere. apparently, he learned it from his grandfather, who learned it when he was a very young child from a very old slave in west virginia.

said in a low, monotone voice, you know, to spook the kids...

there was an a
there was a bo
there was an a bo
there was a miny
there was a bo miny
there was an a bo miny
there was a bell
there was a miny bell
there was a bo miny bell
there was an a bo miny bell
there was a bumble
there was a bell bumble
there was a miny bell bumble
there was a bo miny bell bumble
there was an a bo miny bell bumble
there was a bee
there was a bumble bee
there was a bell bumble bee
there was a miny bell bumble bee
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee
there was a with
there was a bee with
there was a bumble bee with
there was a bell bumble bee with
there was a miny bell bumble bee with
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee with
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee with
there was a his
there was a with his
there was a bee with his
there was a bumble bee with his
there was a bell bumble bee with his
there was a miny bell bumble bee with his
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee with his
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee with his
there was a tail
there was a his tail
there was a with his tail
there was a bee with his tail
there was a bumble bee with his tail
there was a bell bumble bee with his tail
there was a miny bell bumble bee with his tail
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail
there was a cut
there was a tail cut
there was a his tail cut
there was a with his tail cut
there was a bee with his tail cut
there was a bumble bee with his tail cut
there was a bell bumble bee with his tail cut
there was a miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut
there was an off
there was a cut off
there was a tail cut off
there was a his tail cut off
there was a with his tail cut off
there was a bee with his tail cut off
there was a bumble bee with his tail cut off
there was a bell bumble bee with his tail cut off
there was a miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut off
there was a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut off
there was an a bo miny bell bumble bee with his tail cut off

there was an abominable bumble bee with his tail cut off and stuck behind his ear!

end of the rest week

well, i knew it had to come to an end. my week of rest finally came to a close yesterday. i'm anxious to see what the coach is going to throw at me this week. whatever it is, it should be fun, long and intense. i can't wait!

friday i put in a good eight mile run (i tried to take it easy, honest!), and then on saturday, the schedule called for four miles with strides, or off, if i was exhausted. well, i wasn't exhausted, but my distance partner had said he wanted to do 17 on sunday. i had 13 scheduled on sunday, so i made the silly conclusion that if i skipped saturday, i could add those miles on sunday. that's the first sign of drm. distance runners malaise. it's a flaw in logic that allows you to want to pile on the miles when you should be resting.

anyway, saturday ended up an awesome day of rest. we headed out to my folks house to see my dad and grandparents (who in town from colorado). it's so much fun just to hang out with them and crack jokes. my dad, my grandfather and i all built to pun. and pun we did. got some cool photos of my grandparents that i think i may frame. i love the sideways look of my grandfather, and the laugh of my grandmother. i think they turned out really well.

sunday, ken and i got up early and headed out to palos verdes to run along the cliffs. it was a gorgeous day for a run, with cool ocean breezes keeping the temperature in the 60's. there were some tough hills, but the 17 was challenging and fun, and the conversation and company was top notch. ken is running the half marathon there in two weeks and wanted to know what the course was going to be like. i think the major hill at mile two has him really re-thinking is race strategy. 250+ in less than 1/2 mile. it's a doozy.

anyway, not much else to report from the weekend. got lots of rest, and i'm chomping at the bit for some more fast, long runs!

grandparents