Tentative 16

After once again having a horrible experience with my pesky left leg on last weekend's 9 mile run, let's just say that I was feeling a certain sense of trepidation on this weekend's planned 16-er. Fearful of being stranded 8 miles out along Benton Crossing Road, I planned to run 4 miles out and back, then perhaps the same again or an out and back on 395 to make the distance, while not getting too far from my car.

It ended up being six miles out and back, stopping to stretch every couple of miles, then 1.5 miles out and back on 395 feeling a little ridiculous as a lot of traffic passed me by, then another half mile out and back on BCR, feeling ridiculous in case someone saw me, saw me turn around at a half mile and wondered why I was a) looking so tired and b) only running a mile.

Praise the Lord, all was well with my leg (was it the stretching, the prescription anti-inflammatory drugs, the roller-ing???) Who can say, but it worked, and I ran the 16 miles at just over 9 minutes/mile, and actually felt less than dead at the end.

Then tonight a 5-miles on the dirt roads at Shady Rest (Fun!) and an evening of TV and compression socks, which handily arrived today from Zappos. I'm feeling hopeful about the prospect of completing the SF Marathon, but shall have to see how next weekend (18 miles, hopefully) goes.

What is the WHat?

Is what I was listening to last weekend on my long run, which was supposed to be a 12, but ended up as a 13.5+-ish out and back on Benton Crossing Road. I had forgotten how much I enjoy listening to audiobooks while runnning - and has made me re-think my decision to cancel my Audible subscription, which I wasn't using since I stopped commuting last fall. Fortunately the audiobook of "What is the What" is something like 20 hours...that's about 120 miles of listening pleasure. So, not too windy, and not too hot either, which made for a pretty good run, though I was definitely feeling wearysome by the last mile.

The rest of the week was very busy at work, and it was my "down" week in the good ol' training plan. Hence, lazy bum that I am, I only did one 4-ish mile run in Mammoth (which is like 7 anywhere else), and nuthin' more. Hah!

Today was a 9-mile run, kinda chilly out at Benton Crossing, and ridiculous headwind on the way back, requiring me to put my head down and try not to be be blown backwards. Overall an 8:40-ish pace, which felt pretty good given the conditions, and my fr-icking IT band which was tweaky at mile 8.5, requiring a little walking before I could finish the last half mile. I hope this is not the start of something bad, since it's been feeling pretty good, what with all the (agonizing) foam rollering that I've been doing. May take the next couple of days off and see where it's at.

Bay Area 11

We were down in the Bay Area this weekend, so I got to do my 11 mile run at sea level, and on a nice, flat route down near the waterfront. Maybe it was the tough ten and two Mammoth runs last week, but this felt pretty easy and I ran it fast for a long run (8:45-ish miles). A very busy weekend, meeting prospective tenants for our rental, meeting a realtor, Mother's Day-ing, and whatnot, so it was nice to get out for a couple of hours by myself, and run by my old Berkeley haunts.

It's always tough at 8,000 ft

I don't think I have ever done a run in Mammoth that has felt easy, no matter how in shape I am. Yesterday, no exception. 4.65 mi. in just under 45 minutes. Including some walking up the steeper hills. Maybe it's because last Sunday's run was harder than usual, but my legs didn't feel so snappy, and it felt like work. Nonetheless, done and on.

Add 15 degrees

No matter what the weather is in Mammoth, you can pretty much add 15-20 degrees to that, and that's how hot it is in Bishop. So, today was pretty nice in Mammoth (60's), thus a somewhat sweltering 70 or so in the Bishop area, site of today's long run. Mr.BL and the boy went to Millpond park while I went for my scheduled 10-miler on the dirt roads next to the Tungsten hills.

It was definitely hillier than anything I've run lately, and hotter too (three weeks ago I was running wearing long tights, gloves and and a hat) - so it felt kind of hard. Still, I finished at around a 9:30 pace. Stats from SportTracks:


We drove down to Bishop afterwards for a taste of the big city, Eastern Sierra style. There's a new-ish store that sells used outdoor gear. Due to the fact that everyone here has way too much outdoor stuff, this place is quite the treasure trove. For me, lover of both outdoor gear and a good bargain (not usually words to be spoken in the same sentence), this place was incredible - three new running shirts (Nike and patagonia for a mere $20). Score! I shall return.

Goals for this week - do my prescribed runs on Tuesday and Thursday, hopefully some yoga on Weds, and aim to stay sane in what I know is going to be a crazy week.

I should probably be doing these exercises...

Running Times: Part 1 from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

What, Wait...It's Back to the Blog

Noting my previous world record of 13 whole posts before bagging on blogging last year, I think I shall try and set a new P.R. in 2010, and see if I can actually maintain this thing. Perhaps, like running, it needs to become a 21 day habit, or at least a 21 post habit, before it will stick.

In the meantime, life continues snowily in the beautiful Eastern Sierra. We moved from our rural neighborhood to Mammoth Lakes last fall, so now I only have a five minute drive to work, and I get to rub shoulders with the bold and the beautiful of the running world. Indeed, my husband saw Meb at Von's (husband did not report on the content of Meb's basket, but it was probably full of Gu); Meb was very sweet to G., our three year old, who proceeded fail to acknowlege the fact that he was in the presence of running greatness. We shall have to work on that.

In other news, I ran the River City Half Marathon in Sacramento with my coworker and a friend of hers this month. I was quite pleased with my result 1:44:22, 4th place female and first in my age group. I had started getting some IT band pain towards the end of the training, so was really worried about an en-route flare up and a non-finish. But instead, glory! Here is a lovely picture of me at the finish. I cannot quite understand why my hands are so floppy looking, but at least I look like I'm enjoying myself (sort of).

And so it's onward, I hope, injury free to the San Francisco Marathon in July, which will be my first marathon ever. My sister just told me that she plans to the run the Half, which will be her first half ever. Very exciting! And quite convenient since she lives right by Golden Gate Park and the half ends practically at her front door, meaning she can run, go home, take a shower and be at the finish to cheer me on.

So, here's to better blogging, and lots of running in 2010!