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November 28, 2004
catching up...
tuesday:
am: ran 4 miles w/my brother and brother in law during my 10 am break. ran home from work...and ran the ridge loop w/the guys. we ran easy. the sky was beautiful blue and my chatter was nonstop...
pm: ran another 4 miles with the team. ran up on the ridge and ran 4 x 300 repeats. 300s felt controlled and easy. they ranged from 56-65. it was fun working out w/the girls team ...(the last workout of the season!!!) they were excited and feeling good...so the mood was great.
wednesday:
day off.
thursday:
ran the tamalpa turkey trot. 2.8 miles (17:13). -- finished ahead of my brother. my brother from connecticut had been planning to race me during his thanksgiving visit. he runs 2-3 miles per day...but at a fast clip. i run many more miles...but not nearly on average as fast. at first when he heard the turkey trot was a xc race he thought he was doomed. my older sister warned him...that if it was a tamalpa club race it would be entirely uphill (Up-mountain)... but the course wasn't too bad at all. there was one very steep short hill...and then it was rolling with long stretches of gradual downhill or gradual uphill. he really liked the course and it was fun to share the experience with him. i think he finished 20-25 seconds behind me.
friday:
ran for 1 hour 50 minutes. began the run at 7:00 am. ran out to the graveyard via the trails into the town of san ansemlo , down sir. francis drake , out to san dominico school..., around their xc course...and then up via the valley of the clouds... a very steep and winding and long uphill climb on fire roads to the top of the ridge... the weather was incredible...it was a terribly foggy morning, the temperature was cool but not uncomfortable...i was glad to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and carrying a water bottle. once i finished the long uphill climb up via the valley of clouds (which was absolutley beautiful--but tough---all you could see were hills, clouds and more hills tucked beneath the next hill in the horizon!!!)--i ran along the ridge to get home. it was a nice long gradual downhill run along the top of the ridge that serves as a barrier between the 101 and sr. francis drake drive. i ran the last 2 miles home...at a faster clip...around 6:40 pace...and called it a day. i was pretty tired by the end of the run.
saturday:
ran an easy 4 mile "state" meet loop around the Fresno college campus athletic facilities. ran w/my co-coach. we were so excited to be heading to the california state meet with our girls team and our top boy runner...that we decided in our excitement that we really ought to have a tradition of getting up before the california state xc meet and going for a run. so this was the first "state" meet run (of many) that marks what we hope is a great long tradition for our school.
at the state meet...we were overwhelmed by the excitement of the races, fans, competition, course and pageantry of the event. we loved it. our team was nervous but excited. they ended up running during the wettest part of the day. it poured during their race (the girls race)...but that didn't stop them from all Running PBs! so we were absolutely thrilled! :) our top boy also ran a PB...so we just were elated!!! i ended up probably running 4 more miles at least during the course of the day...running back and forth and up and down the course. i was very tired (in a really satisfying way) emotionally and physically at the end of the day.
sunday:
got up early to run long. ended up running ~ 19 to 20 miles with my larkspur friend. i intended to go about 22 miles...but i realized that my body has finally caught up to me...and is starting to show signs of being worn out (it's pretty common probably--your body goes and goes...and as soon as your big event (xc season coaching) is over with...your body just shuts down!!)...during the run my nose was running non stop and i juggled an annoying cough as we traversed up and down absolutely beautiful moss covered trails...
the entire course was new for me...we started off in the town of larkspur...headed over to ross...ran up and over wolfgrade ridge on a street called "makin grade" (i believe). i really like the name of the street...the street goes straight up hill...over the ridge...it's a narrow winding street that defines most of the house covered hills in marin. at the top of the ridge road we took another road (toyan) i believe to a neat little trail that runs along the top of the ridge between houses that balance along the hilltop. we ended up in san anslemo and then made our way to forest avenue..another narrow street that cuts through some great hillside neighborhoods and then hit the trails..at a great horse farm...we ran behind the horse farm..and then climbed up via the canyon (a BEAUTIFUL canyon)...that was full of wonderful greens that reflected in the morning light and the sounds of streams just starting to make their winter journey...via the woods... we hit concrete pipe...a big fire road...ran down fish grade a narrow single track trail...around phoenix lake, up tucker (single track trail)...over to crown road (fire road) and then down via baltimore canyon ( another absolutely beautiful canyon rich with tall redwood trees, newly forming waterfalls, green bright moss dying to cover everything...and walkers galore!!)... we finally hit the roads/bike paths of larkspur and made our way back to my car. it was a great way to wake up this morning...
this week i'm going to take it easy...i feel pretty beat now...w/the onset of this cold..i really want to take care of my body and go from there!
more later!
Posted by liz at November 28, 2004 06:01 PM
Comments
Liz- Great update! I was so curious what you were up to this week. However, I knew about your Turkey Trot run. I am glad you got to race with Kevin. Racing on the trails was probably challening for Kevin. The run you did on Friday, the 2 hour run sounds great. Have I run that course? Where is the San Dominico school and Valley of clouds? Does that take you over to Phoenix Lake? Nice job picking up the pace for the last two miles. Your run today sounds great as well. I want to do those runs this summer. You'll have to show me those two runs, ok? Hope you are going to bed early tonight! Keep us updated!
Posted by: mary at November 28, 2004 06:57 PM
Liz, you continue to amaze me with how much you are able to do. It must be very satisfying to see all of the hard work of your athletes pay off. I believe that you are ready for your marathon and can pop a big one!
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at November 29, 2004 05:02 PM