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December 05, 2004
miami--san francisco!
well i'm back in the bay area!!!
i was in miami for a conference. we stayed in downtown miami...actually right in front of bayfront park. we were surrounded by water (the biscayne bay and the miami river)...that was very nice. from my hotel window i could see the HUGE cruise boats...i never realized how big they were.
thursday:
i was tired from traveling. i started my outdoor exploration up in the hollywood beach area . i walked about 5.5 miles w/my uncle... it was a great beach for people watching and talking!!! it was pretty warm (for me!!!) 80 degrees or so...all sun!
after the walk i was back at my hotel. i was kind of at a loss where to run ...i didn't feel like exploring the city (the financial district...and dealing w/traffic lights,etc.) so i decided to see if i could run along the bay and water watch the entire time. well..my exploration ended in failure...there was so much construction going on...that i ended up taking a lot of detours and running by big smellie trucks...so after 20 minutes i decided to try the treadmill in the hotel.
i hit the treadmill ( i hardly ever run on these machines...)with a bit of enthusiasm. after many attempts...i finally figured out how to get it started and moving at an appropriate pace...i thought..i'd run 7:50 pace..or so...but that ended up being really boring...so i ran about 5 miles @ 6:45 pace...i didn't mean to go that fast...especially since i had two hard workouts coming up in the next two days...but it was how i resolved my running frustration for the day.
friday:
i had to do my tough workout today. i decided to do the first half on the treadmill and then the second half outside. someone recommended that i run south down brickell ave (route 1)...they said many runners go in that direction...so i thought , why not.
i ran my first 4 x 5 minutes (@ 6:20 pace) on the treadmill. i took 1 minute breaks in between each interval. it was pretty hard doing the really fast stuff on the treadmill. i was just bored. i kept looking at my watch...thinking that was only 45 seconds...and then i'd play games...and say..ok..it'll be awesome if you can stay focused and not look at your watch until you have 30 seconds left...well that didn't really work out...but i had to constantly keep myself motivated. the one thing i really liked...was the consistency of the pace. it was very reassuring to know exactly what i was doing every second of my workout.
after the intervals i ran another 25 minutes easy (7:50 pace) on the treadmill. i was going to attempt 40 minutes on the treadmill but i was just so bored...so i hit brickell avenue early.
i ran down the avenue and i was pleasantly surprised. it was a warm morning...but the landscaping and trees and tall buildings kept me cool the entire way. i ran for another 45 minutes at an easy pace outside...i still had to do another set of 4 x 5 minute intervals. i kept thinking ...that maybe i'd find a track to do these on... but there were no tracks in downtown miami --go figure! i did find the perfect place to run my intervals... after crossing the rickenbacker causeway (a little road/bridge-that takes people out to key biscayne)...i ran into a wonderful neighborhood right on brickell avenue. trees lined the entire street. the road was actually an oval with a line of trees and grass running down the middle... huge houses filled this 1000 m stretch...the houses on the right led to the water!! ...those on the left were just as beautiful...but were not ocean front/bay front properties. there was little traffic on the road..only 2 cars drove by me the entire time. i ran my final set of 4 x 5 minute intervals here. i felt like i was running them fast...if anything they might have been faster than 6:20 pace..but again i was just going on effort..i have no way to tell exactly what i ran.
after my intervals...i ran a little bit farther down brickell avenue and then finally turned around and ran back to my hotel to call it a day.
i think i ended up with about 14 -15 miles at least .
saturday:
i took the day off. i was feeling run down. tired from all my training, traveling and working... so i just took a day of rest...i did everything a little slower. plus i had to travel back to california ...so i didn't want to be too sore on the plane..i hate that feeling.
sunday:
after dealing w/a little sinus attack for most of saturday...i decided to sleep in. when i woke up i eased into my morning. my brother in law decided to do the run/workout with me. i welcomed the company.
we ran to the local track first. (2 miles there). then we ran 3 miles at 6:40 pace. we then followed the main road to peacock gap/china camp...it was about 30 minutes on the road...and then we hit the trails at china camp. this was a great idea. the trails were wonderful. i missed them...after only being away for a few days. china camp is a mt.bikers heaven...lots of great single track riding....many options, routes etc...and not many runners. when bikers would call back to their biking friends, "Runners ahead"...i would call out my biking joke and yell to my brother in law "Bikers ahead!"... i think it's really funny...he didn't think it was THAT funny. we ran along the trails for a while...we ran all the way up the ridge to the top of the saddle and ran along the top of the hills. here we hit fire roads...that eventually led us down to the local college. from here my brother in law ran to the local coffee shop and i ran back to the track to get 3 more miles in at tempo pace. i ran 6:45, 6:38, 6:29...ran 9 minutes easy to the coffee shop and called it a day.
i think i ended up with 20 miles for the day. i'm feeling much more fit than i was 6 weeks ago...
i'm looking forward to my runs this week...i'll have a guest in town for a few days...alison!!! the hardest part about her visit will be deciding where to run every day...!!!
Posted by liz at December 5, 2004 02:09 PM
Comments
Those sound like two serious kick a$$ workouts. Phoenix better watch out...
Look forward to reading all about your runs with Alison.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at December 5, 2004 03:12 PM
Yes indeed...those are two very serious workouts. Just the volume alone would be hard to handle let alone the intensity! Congrats and keep up the awesome work! :)
Posted by: Beth at December 5, 2004 03:35 PM
Wow Liz, I am so impressed with your workouts. You were smart to take Sat. off. Today's run on the track, through China beach, and back on the track was just terrific. You are really strong these days and it is going to pay off for you in Phoenix. I am cheering you on! Can't wait to hear about your runs with Alison.. so many options about where to take her.... Hope you can rest up today!! Miss you....
Posted by: Mary at December 5, 2004 03:54 PM
Hi Liz.. remember Crown Road, Shady side, parts of the dipsea are all must do runs for Marin County!! I trust your judgement.. you will put on a great tour for Alison.. keep us posted!! :)
Posted by: Mary at December 5, 2004 04:01 PM
Tough workouts!... But most impressive is how you dealt with these treadmill workouts. Two weeks ago when I was in Barcelona 1) I had to fight with getting the machine running as I like and 2) it's so boring to run just in front of a huge mirror! Finally what I did is I increased the ascent(?) up to 6% or so to shorten the length of the run but loosing enough calories ;-)
Posted by: Oliver at December 8, 2004 02:25 AM
Oliver--That's a good idea..I didn't even think to increase the elevation (make a gradual uphill)--that would have probably helped me via the workout a lot!
Posted by: Liz at December 9, 2004 02:03 PM