Last run of 2009!

Back on the West Coast! Loved taking a break and discovering a new park to run in, but I am so excited for 2010! Hit Lake Street with Dan for a 5 mile run that included Mountain Lake Park. I took it easy, figuring this is the last week for any excuses. 2010 will be about NO EXCUSES.

My running related New Year's resolutions will be:

1. PR in a marathon (better than 4:51). Should be possible with Sarah's training schedule!
2. PR in a 1/2 marathon (better than 2:20)
3. Add 2 or 3 days of strength training a week.
4. Improve my pace. This one is a little abstract, but I just want to generally push myself to be faster. If I can keep up with Sarah on regular long runs, (non pace) that would be good.

Happy New Year!!!!!

On second thought...

The sun is shining so I decided to get my butt outside for a run. We are staying at Dan's brother's house in the Bronx, right across the street from Pelham Bay Park so off I went this morning for an easy 4 mile run. There's a really nice track over there, so I did 2 miles on the track, and about 2 miles there and back. Today and tomorrow we will be somewhere in the Hamptons (!) so I will try and do my long week day run there to start the week off on a good note - Tuesday we fly back to San Francisco.

Winter Break

Can a blizzard, a few hoagies and serious family visiting stop this runner in her tracks? Oh yes. I have to admit I've taken a nice winter break from running this past week or so. I know I will pay the price next week and the first week or so of marathon training but I'm thinking of it as a nice deep breath before diving in to marathon training and serious bride boot camp!

Oh and Happy Holidays!!

Misty Tempo

I'm leaving for the east coast on Thursday (whoohooo!!) so I'm trying to cram my runs in before I go. I suspect there will be much merriment and not much running in the 10 days I am home. My goal is to get three runs in next week at home, with no long run. Sarah and I start marathon training on Jan 4th so I'm thinking this will be a nice little break before the torture, I mean "fun" begins.

So yesterday I did my 75 minute run down Lake Street extra early and I must have been missing the track because i did a 800 in the middle, mostly because I was running so slowly and I had an early meeting I had to get to. That was pretty fun though. This morning I woke up to the sound of the rain but was determined to get my 60 minute tempo workout in (20 mins at tempo pace). I think my tempo pace needs a little work and I hope to improve in the New Year. I ran along Chrissy Field trail to the "Hoppers Hands" sign for a nice misty yet flat run. It was pretty quiet down there - just me, a cop car, a few runners and some birds.

The Great Highway

Along Ocean Beach in San Francisco is a sometimes windy, foggy, sandy, soggy road that is called the Great Highway. Many marathons, races and training runs hit this road because it's flat, scenic and has a great paved trail along it. It's not very long, but it adds a few miles to a run through the Golden Gate Park. Sarah and I have a love hate relationship with this trail. I think we love it because it's a no brainer - you don't have to worry about traffic or hills. But we hate it because it can be cold and very boring. It's hard to avoid it though because San Francisco is notorious for a lack for flat roads to run.

You can get an idea that this area is historic by looking at the crumbling promenade even before you hike up the hill to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths. The historic Playland Amusement Park used to draw people here, but now surfers and people walking their dogs are typically who you see along the beach and in the water. But when it's really warm out it can get crowded with people who are flying kites, sun bathing and otherwise looking for a typical California beach experience.

So this takes me to yesterday's run - down Arguello Blvd through the Golden Gate Park (a mild down hill) and along the Great Highway for a bit and then back home.

The 13 mile run wasn't bad, even with the rain that was of course at its worse along the Great Highway. My toes got a cold soaking in a few puddles but the rain never really got bad until I was back home. Today, I'm going to tempt the rain again and head out for my last run of the week, an hour run down Presidio.

It's cold outside!

Ran in the new capris, gloves, long sleeved top this morning. Felt like I was on the east coast except for the lack of sarcasm in the air (I heart sarcasm). My legs never seemed to warm up and I don't think my brain did either because I was supposed to run 75 mins, but during the return trip back (from the out and back) I had thought that I had to run for 1 hour 25 mins which is 85 mins, so I thought that I must have ran back a lot quicker. Felt good about that and did a few extra hills,   until my brain finally warmed up and I realized that I was supposed to run until 1 hour 15 mins. Duh. At least I got a little extra millage in.

The prognosis on the capris is that they are probably great for normal Bay Area weather, but not this east coast coldness we've been having. I took a very long hot shower to warm up and then overdressed for work.

Cold, windy, raining and a rainbow!

Weather was at its most interesting again today. I didn't know what to wear or expect but it kept me going during the tempo. Again, I put off my speed workout until the day after a long run - silly to do this I know, but I've been taking advantage of Sundays as run days more lately. The tempo went well. I'm hoping for a 2:10 or 2:15 1/2 marathon in Feb (Kaiser half) so that's what I'm using to figure out my tempo times.

Also ran again with Dan which was nice. After we went to Sports Basement and I finally broke down and bought running capris - I'm the type of person to run in shorts all year long in San Francisco, but it seems really cold lately and I think my legs deserve a warm up. Should be motivation for my next run, probably on Tuesday.

Saturday I ran in Oakland with Sarah. I've been doing all of my long runs alone, so it was nice to get lost in our chats and my pace was faster which was nice. I felt a little tired after but still managed to run today. I'm taking tomorrow off from running :)

7 months till I get married, 5 months till my next marathon

I got three emails from wedding planning sites trying to freak me out about my wedding - my favorite is: "7 months to go - book your florist now or forever hold your peace!" Way scary. I'm wondering what running websites would send: "5 months until the marathon - get off the couch!" But I don't think they do that. It's funny to have two big events that seem way off in the future but right around the corner at the same time. I'm "training" for both by getting in shape, deep breathing, concentrating on one thing at a time.

And no, I didn't run on Monday to get my 100 miles for November. I went home and relaxed and ate cookies with Dan. I did get two runs in this week already, so I'm on schedule. I'm running with Sarah on Saturday in Oakland and we are going dress shopping. Fun times. I'm wondering how I fit a full time job into my wedding and marathon training?