Knowing vs. Understanding

Two weeks ago I discovered first hand just how hilly my little town is. So, when I planned tonight's run I had a rough idea of what I was getting myself into. I even checked some maps online that gave the rough grade of the roads. I knew about how high I was going and, thus, how far I was coming down. I knew, but I didn't understand.

Not the smartest thing I have ever done.

Thoughts along the route:

1. No worries, you did this hill already. A little walking is okay, just get up there.
2. Um, this is steep. There are even stairs for some sections. More walking. Well, up we go (slowly).
3. Whew, done. Now for the good part.
4. Not good, not good! OMG, this is actually too steep to run! If I fell, I'd roll for a mile before I could stop. This is a residential street; what are these people thinking living here?
5. I should really carry my insurance card while running.
6. Thank goodness, I'm alive.
7. Ha, last week I thought this was a big hill.

8.5 miles later (10:18 pace, oy) I was just sooo relieved to be home. Now I'm relaxing with my second Clif Bar of the day (seriously, these are just fancy cookies). I hope I'll be able to walk tomorrow!

Catching Up: San Francisco Marathon Training Weeks 12-14

We are more or less settled in our new home in El Cerrito, CA. On Tuesday we return to the real world as our jobs start. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of moving/unpacking activity. I'm almost (almost) looking forward to getting into a more normal routine.

My favorite running-thing so far about my new city is all the wonderful water-front running I can do. Check out  today's 20-miler course:

Thumbs Up for Waterfront Running

Here's a quick catch-up on the last few weeks - with detail on this past week.

Week 12: This week was a complete bust - totally overcome by moving. I had two runs for a grand total of 7.5 miles. Oops.

Week 13: Our first week in the East Bay was a little more normal, from a running standpoint. I only got in 4 runs, but they were almost all quality miles and I had a nice 18.25 miler (9:30 pace) to cap off 35 miles for the week. I encountered a steep learning curve in my new city, literally, but enjoyed it all the same!


Week 14 Summary:

Total Mileage: 44.5
Average Pace: 8:58
Goals Achieved: 4 of 6 (No strength training or BOB run)

Week 14 Details:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 5:00 pm - 6 miles easy GMP (8:36 pace). It was pouring rain and cool all day (finally, some cooler weather!). What's a runner to do? Pull out the old running shoes and get out the door, of course! I had actually forgotten (while living in LA) how nice it can be to run in the rain! This was supposed to be an easy run, but I just couldn't help myself and let it go a little quicker.

Wednesday: Rest Day - celebrated my official offer letter for the new job =)

Thursday: 10:15 am- 10.5 miles (8:28 pace overall, 4 tempo miles at 7:26, 7:32, 7:46 and 7:39). I didn't really have a plan for this run besides not getting lost along the new route I had planned. So, when I was confident on where I was I there in a tempo mile here or there and slowed it down when I knew I had to look out for new turns =)

Friday: 8:00 am - 3 EASY miles (9:34 pace). Whew, I was tired. My legs felt like lead. So, I took each of the exercise-starved doggies for 1.5 miles and called it good. They were happy and I was relieved to be done!

Saturday: 8:00 pm - 5 miles easy (9:02 pace). I was still feeling wiped and it was majorly hot outside (isn't it supposed to be cooler up in San Fran?). So, I scrapped the original plan for 10 miles and took it easy.

Sunday: 7:00 am – 20 miles (9:14 pace). It was going to be another very hot day (what gives?) but when my alarm went of at 5:30 I just couldn't get out of bed; not because I wasn't awake - had been since 5 am - but because baby girl was cuddled up next to me sleeping so sweetly. I'm all for getting miles in early, but I'm not leaving that behind =) At 7 am she woke up and I bolted out the door (thanks hubby, for taking the busy shift!) because if I waited any longer I'd be melting. I over hydrated a bit (ahem, 4 bathroom stops) but otherwise felt great and was soooo glad to have the miles done.

Little Hill

Last week (Has it already been a week? Oy, better get back to running!) we moved to the East Bay, specifically, a little town called El Cerrito. El Cerrito means "little hill" or "knoll". Ahem, apparently we have different definitions of "little":

Guess how much of that first mile I actually ran. Yeah, almost none. (Note to self: running in a strange city without checking an elevation map is dumb).

There was a group of kids with a lemonade stand at the top of the hill. I only had my emergency $20 with me and they only had $5 change. $15 for lemonade? Yes please, thankyouverymuch. (Note to self: run with smaller bills).

Then I got lost and ended up back home after 8.5 miles instead of 10. After those hills, I wasn't about to run any more. I.was.done. (Note to self: running in a strange city without any map is really dumb).

Hills aside, I do enjoy the process of finding new runs in a new city. Let's hope I do my research a little better from now on. =)

Week 11 - San Francisco Marathon Training

I didn’t get in all the running I wanted to this week (and no strength training), but it was for a good cause; DH graduated with his PhD! My hubby is now a Dr. =)

Congrats, honey!

So, while running took a bit of a back-seat to graduation-related activities, I still was able to get the quality running in. Next week will be challenging also, because of our move. Hopefully, I still hit the most important stuff.

Week 11 Summary:

Total Mileage: 38.75
Average Pace: 8:48
Goals Achieved: 4 of 6 (No strength training and only 4 days of running)

Week 11 Details:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 11:00 am - 4 miles with the BOB (8:43 pace). Felt really good during this run.

Wednesday: 4:30 pm - 6.5 miles with 4 miles at tempo (7:38 avg), 1 mile recovery, and then 1 interval mile (7:01). I had felt a panic attack coming on all day and this run was just what I needed to push it back.

Thursday: Rest Day – Oops, I had three (unplanned) glasses of wine at a 4pm cocktail party – no running tonight.

Friday: Rest Day – graduation day, yay!

Saturday: 8:00 pm - 10 miles with 9 at GMP (8:22 pace for the GMP miles, 8:30 pace overall). Another solid run; things are going much better after my relative week of rest.

Sunday Monday: 8:45 am – 18.25 miles (9:20 pace) - Baby girl needed some extra loving Sunday night to navigate some teething pain. Fortunately, Grandma was still in town and could watch her Monday morning – so, I did my long run today. The first 9 miles were in perfect weather, but then the sun came out in full force. I backed off the pace a bit and ended up finishing feeling great with two strong last miles. All-in-all, a pretty successful week!

Week 10 - San Francisco Marathon Training

This week was definitely about quality over quantity. I should have planned a little better and front-loaded the week. I didn't, though, and with DH out of town Friday - Sunday I just couldn't get the miles in.

Baby girl and I did make it out for a few BOB runs. She enjoyed some of them more than others, and they were all short. By way of compensation for sitting in the BOB, we stopped by the park for swing rides. To her, that was the best part of the runs this week!

Week 10 Summary:

Total Mileage: 23
Average Pace: 8:52
Goals Achieved: 5 of 6 (No long run)

Week 10 Details:

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: Rest day - unplanned, but needed. While I didn't develop any soreness, Sunday's 17 miler really tired me out!

Wednesday: 7:30 am - 6.5 miles with 3 at Tempo (8:34 overall pace, 7:44 for the tempo miles) - I still felt very tired and struggled to maintain a tempo pace. So, I listened to my body and backed off a bit.

Thursday: 7:30 pm - 6.5 miles, easy (8:42 pace) - I just ran how I felt.

Friday: 4:00 pm - strength training session with baby girl. followed by 3.5 miles with the BOB (10:00 pace) - I wore myself out lifting baby girl around =) She started to melt down in the stroller, so we went to the park.

Saturday: 8:00 am - 3 miles with the BOB at GMP (8:17 pace). This was a mom fail. I started the run too close to her nap time and she had a complete meltdown 1.5 miles into the run. I miss the days when she could sleep in the stroller! Well, there was nothing to do but run home ASAP =)

Sunday: 5:00 pm - 3.5 miles with the BOB (9:04 pace) - Baby girl enjoyed this run much better. The park near our house has been very crowded, so, we tried another one about 1.75 miles away. Huge success. It was a prettier park and it was almost empty. On the way back we passed our usual park and it was packed, as usual. We'll have to find some good parks again when we move in a few weeks!

Strength Training Baby Style

With DH out of town, I'm improvising my workouts a bit. Today, baby girl and I came up with our own mommy/baby strength training routine.

I've never worked out with sandbags, but I image sandbag workouts are similar to lugging a baby around. A squishy, moving weight is a lot harder to manage then a dumbbell. Baby weighs about 20 lbs right now. So, I was able to get a decent workout. Sine sandbags can't giggle at you, I'll bet the baby version is much more entertaining. Though, sandbags don't need nursing breaks =)

Here's our workout using some baby specific modifications to typical exercises. I did 2-3 sets of each.

Squats: (8 reps) Stand holding baby. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Return to starting position.

Press: (8 reps) Hold baby, under her arms, in front of your chest. Raise baby above your head until your arms are straight. Return to starting position.

Step-ups: (8 reps, each leg) Stand holding baby with one foot on chair. Raise yourself up to standing on the chair, on that foot. Lower back to starting position.

Push-Up*: (8 reps) Standard push-up.

Reverse Wood-Chop: (8 reps, each side) Stand holding baby, under her arms, with baby next to the outside of your left knee. Raise baby across your body and up, until you're holding baby as high as possible and to the right. Return baby to starting position.

Plank: (as long as possible) Hold the plank position (back straight, forearms and toes on the ground) while baby uses you as support for pulling up =)

Russian Twist: (8 reps, to each side) Sit with feet off the floor, back straight. Move baby from side to side while trying to keep your torso still.

Dips*: (8 reps) With your back to a chair, support yourself with arms straight, palms on the chair and heels, straight out, on the floor. Bend elbows to lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Raise yourself to the starting position.

* these exercises don't use the baby =)

Tempo Run - kinda

This morning's tempo run didn't exactly go as planned. Granted, selecting a route with the first two miles on a gradual uphill wasn't the smartest move on my part. Still, I was tired tired tired and spent after 3 miles at the slow end of my tempo range (7:44 pace). Rather than exhaust myself trying to hit my planned 5 tempo miles, I cried uncle and cruised for the rest of the run.

To me, this indicates it's time for a step-back week. My mileage hasn't been high, but it still seems that the legs are ready for a bit of relative R&R. The timing is good, since DH is going out of town and a long long-run with the BOB wasn't really feasible anyway. I think I'll spend much of the week playing the "how long can the baby sit in the BOB happily" game. Speaking off... little miss is waking up so off I go =)