Category Archives: Running

It’s been a while – 16 mile milestone

Highest mileage week, yet!

It’s been a while… but before I get sucked up into other matters yet again, I need to get this down to help with future training.

16 miles is the longest run I’ve logged yet, ever, and it went surprisingly well. I attribute its success to a number of factors.

The Day Before

Though I woke up early (6:45am) to take the car in for service, I snuck in a nap around mid-day. I also bought a pastry and soymilk chai and had somewhat of a breakfast on the walk home from the dealership. For lunch I ate an ear of fresh corn and the leftover Santouka miso ramen which still had a goodly amount of noodles. Perhaps my body was trying to tell me something but I was constantly hungry and snacked a bit throughout the rest of the afternoon until dinnertime, when we had some Bun-Cha Rice Noodle Salad and Vietnamese meatballs for dinner. Bedtime at 10:30pm. Continue reading

Share

New Running Shoes

 

His and Hers Brooks Cascadia 7s

Like the noob I was, I started running in old, old way-too-small Sauconys – a fairly little-used pair that had seen some Lindy Hop partner dancing and perhaps some hip-hop choreography over the past 8(?) years. As I neared the completion of our Couch to 5K program, I decided to invest in some new shoes – the Saucony Shadow 6000 that didn’t seem too expensive, at the same shoe size I had always worn (6). I did manage to read some articles that indicated I should be ordering running shoes that were at least a half-size larger (to give your feet room), but chose, out of vanity (I like my small feet!) to ignore that advice. Continue reading

Share

Training/ Workout Summary Week of 20-26 February

Training Summary

Tuesday

4.65 miles on the treadmill – easy. 8.36 pace. Legs felt tired, even after 2 days off. Couldn’t do much with inclines – halfheartedly tried with some 2-3% elevation but not for very long. Then just tried to go fast.

Wednesday

6.03 miles on the treadmill – inclines. 8.50 pace. 3 sets of 2-3, with one of these going up to 4. Legs felt better today, and ready to tackle the inclines. Had to definitely slow pace for these. Continue reading

Share

Brazen Bay Breeze Half 2012

Brazen Bay Breeze Half Start

Yes, still new to running, so I’m selecting the “fast and flat” courses to try out before getting into the more challenging trails + hills or even hillier road races. This event out by the San Leandro Marina, is the speediest of races Brazen offers, and apparently so flat and boring that hardcore trail fiends Mr. NotthatLucas and his family chose to volunteer for it rather than actually race. We were very lucky with the weather this year, since it was apparently very wet in 2011 with gale-force winds threatening to knock runners off their feet as they braved the course.

I signed up earlier in the season, and was happy that DD offered to come along, bring the Harlow, and take some photos as I ran. We got there around 7:15ish, Endorphin Dude having announced something about a Half Fanatic photo prior to starting. Though I was technically not yet in HF, this race would be my 2nd Half in under 14 days, so I qualified for entry-level “Neptune moon” status. And besides, ED said it would be ok, and who am I to argue with such a running luminary? Continue reading

Share

Beachside Coffee Bar and Kitchen

Beachside inside

Running through the park and down along the Great Highway brings us to the end of the N Judah line by design. We’re usually too lazy to run back uphill through Golden Gate Park and would rather take MUNI back home. What’s great about this area is that in the recent few years a number of quaint little cafes and restaurants have sprung up – Outerlands most distinctively, Trouble Coffee, and, from the owners of the venerable Java Beach CafeBeachside Coffe Bar & Kitchen.

My long run one beautiful January Sunday was for 13 miles. Usual course through the park, down Great Highway, but this time with the addition of a loop around Lake Merced and back up the Highway. I remember not feeling good that day. It might have been psychological. I managed to run part of a DSE 10k course and kept getting passed up by too many folks bent on their speedy 10k pace… DD was also not with me, having run his first really intense trail – Steep Ravine – with Owen on Saturday.  Though miles 5-7 is when I usually hit my stride and begin to feel comfortable, I was tired and felt sluggish. At around mile 9 (I was looping Lake Merced by then), I needed to stop completely. I took a GU and drank some water and pretty soon got going again. Eventually I made it to 13.01m and headed home on MUNI. Continue reading

Share

Kaiser Half Marathon 2012

Murphy Windmill Friend - Great Hwy and Lincoln

I have to admit being nervous for the Kaiser race. I think it might have been because this was my first “big” race of the season – I hadn’t run an official Half since last November’s Quarry Turkey race. Then, I had jumped from my longest training run of 9 miles to a 13.2+ mile race. I did decently, finishing at 2:11:27 (though I had secretly hoped to come in under or around 2:10).

I had signed up for Surf City initially, which fell on the same date as the Kaiser Half. Though what was distinctive about Surf City was that the website was up and fully-featured in October, and Kaiser’s remained blankly, enigmatically silent until sometime in the new year. So, chomping at the bit and wanting to have a goal to strive to match DD’s Marathon on March 4th, I signed up for what I thought was going to be my first Half in Southern California on Feb 5th, 2012.  And then Kaiser announced itself. Continue reading

Share

A Trip to Napa

Gorgeous Wine Country

San Francisco’s proximity to the Napa Valley is another one of the zillion reasons as to why we love living in the SF Bay Area. However, DD did not choose his first marathon to run exclusively because it was in Napa. He chose it based on  a friend’s recommendation that it was a fast, downhill course, excellent for beginner marathoners – and it fell pretty much on a date ideal for his goal of completing a marathon before he turned the big 3-0.

Part of the training plan involved running part of the course before the Big Day (March 4th), so DD chose the weekend of his 18-miler, which also conveniently fell on the MLK Day holiday, to head up. For those of you curious about a marathon (or half) training plan, DD and I generally run at least 2 short runs during the work week (3-5 miles each), and make sure to never skip a long run on the weekends. Long runs start at 3 miles and increase by a mile or so a week. If you are marathoning, once you get up into the teens, you can drop down every other week until you reach 20 miles. After DD reaches his 20 miles, he starts a gradual 3-week taper period where weekly mileage gradually decreases to leave him in strong, tip-top shape for the main event. Continue reading

Share

Excuses

At our first-ever Turkey Trot

It’s been a while, my friends (all 4 of you who may actually read this, ha!).  But – I just wanted to provide an update as to where I am (still in San Francisco, thank goodness), and why I’ve been silent.

It hasn’t been for the lack of tasty adventures. We took a trip to Florida, for the wedding of DD’s younger brother, and ate at a couple of memorable restaurants (Pubbelly Sushi and Sugar Cane Raw Bar & Grill).  When we’re not traveling I’ve still been cooking during the weekends for our weekly meals, but haven’t been as assiduous with documenting those attempts. We’ve also been eating out while in the city, but I’ve a backlog of photos needing to be processed and uploaded. During Porcini season, DD had been in full-forage mode, and we tried to come up with more recipes to use up the lovely mushrooms he’d been bringing home.

And so perhaps I should let on about another obsession that’s taken over me – and that – oddly enough, has been this thing called running.

Continue reading

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Share