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April 27, 2005
crown road/ wed am running
this morning after very little sleep (i didn't return home from our track meet until well after 10 pm) i got up early 5:20 to run w/my larkspur friend. i might have been tempted to cancel the run and sleep longer but i'm jumping on a plane to iowa in a few hours for another conference for 4 days.
we ran crown road. i thought i would be beat from the lack of sleep but i felt great. i think i felt better than usual b/c i did my tuesday workout in the morning and had all day to recover from it...rather than just one evening.
the run went by very quickly...(1:01.20)...we talked nonstop. it was actually light out at 5:45....and we didn't need our flashlights for the trail...so that too was a bonus.
i'm not sure yet where i'll run in iowa...hopefully i ll get some good runs in ! more later
Posted by liz at 08:25 AM | Comments (2)
April 26, 2005
tuesday mile repeats
this morning i got up and ran my "track workout" alone on the streets of my neighborhood. the prescribed workout that our racing team is doing tonight is 4 to 5 mile repeats at 10k pace with 1 to 2 minute rest in between. since our high school track team has a meet tonight there's no way i can make it to any of the group workouts tonight so i only had a few options...to run the workout first thing in the morning or to try to get the workout in when i return from the meet...which may be as late as 10 pm.
so...i slowly got out of bed this morning and decided to just get the workout over with.
the mile i measured out wasn't exactly ideal for running fast and consistent. since i was running by an elementary school for part of the workout and i was running by at the same time that parents are zooming up and down the road dropping off their kidlets...i wanted to try to avoid the main road...so the course i ended up using was a bit random. it was entirely uphill (gradual uphill) one way with multiple turns in the road. i decided to run up the course twice and down the course twice. knowing that i'd get two relatively fast miles and two relatively slow miles.
my first mile was 6:25 on the uphill route. it felt tough. my legs were still tired from sunday , i guess. i felt like i was running about 85%. not all out but hard. my 2nd mile which was on the gradual downhill was 5:56. again...i didn't go all out..i ran controlled ...it felt a lot easier than the first...but i had gravity helping me out. a goal for the workout was to get faster in between each one. i decided to do this for each set (uphill and downhill). i took 1 minute rest in between each mile. my third mile (gradual uphill) was 6:18 (that felt really tough!) and my final mile was 5:48 (that didn't feel too bad!).
i cooled down a bit and called it a day. i felt strong today...not peppy at all.
Posted by liz at 10:02 AM | Comments (1)
April 25, 2005
monday easy
this morning my monday running am partner had to cancel so i delayed my run. i ran w/the track team for 20 minutes (really easy--it was a pre-meet day for them!) and then i ran another 35 minutes easy with the puppies (the border collie and whippet!) when i returned home. we ran the ridge loop. it was a lot warmer than any of us expected. by the time we hit the fire trail (10 minutes into the run) the puppies were so tired and hot. we all stayed together ...usually the puppies run ahead a bit and chase each other and use up soooo much energy...but today we all were a bit beat and stayed together as a close pack.
Posted by liz at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2005
Sat/Sun
Sat: Day off!
Sun: Ran the Carmel News Channel 5k down in Monterey County. It's one of my all time favorite road races. Not because I've ever set a PR on the course or anything...rather the course is really beautiful. You start off in a valley. The race has a very early start (7:45 am) b/c it's the same finish line that the Big Sur Marathon uses just a few hours later...! You run up and out of the fog filled valley at the start...the first mile has a significant uphill and then you run down a steep, sharp downhill to a beautiful trail along the ocean. This trail is at least 1000 m long maybe longer.... the trail consists of hard packed sand that's pretty runable...and then you exit the trail go uphill a bit, make a sharp hairpin turn, continue uphill and finally you conclude on the same uphill that you began on...only now you are barreling downhill to the finish. After the great big downhill you have a long long straight away to the finish. This can either be a great thing or a never ending runway...depending on how you feel. This is just a fun, beautiful, early morning 5k that really stands out in my mind. I think I've run it 4 or 5 times now.
Today I was hoping to break 19 and run about 18:45 and I did just about that. I ran 18:46 (watch time) 18:49 (results say). I felt really strong. I was a bit tired still from Friday's run on the mountain...but I didn't let that hold me back... my legs were sore but I knew I was strong so I just tried to hold pace and use the competition around me to inspire me in. The women's field as always was very tough. Last week in the 10k I passed about 5 women in the last 300m of the race, this week in the last 600m of the race I passed about 5 people, then about 4 people passed me , then I passed a couple of them and then another one passed me...so I think I did net a positive finish in those final few hundred meters...but I didn't have the same exact zippy finish as last week...! Hopefully in a few weeks when I run my next 5k I'll taper a little and I'll have a stronger unbeatable kick!
Posted by liz at 04:02 PM | Comments (4)
April 23, 2005
friday run
ran 1:19 w/a few of the kids on the team today. we ended up getting caught in the storm. we started our run off at the concrete pipe trail head. the first 2.5 miles of our run were done along that broad flat fire road. we then took the fishgrade single track trail (which is very steep) over to eldridge. from here we climbed uphill for about 15 minutes or so on the fireroad until we got to one of the false peaks and then we headed back downhill towards pilot's knob and the lakes. we ran along the short side of lagunitas lake and by this point the storm was in full force. we were getting blown all over the trail. only a few drops of rain were coming down but the trees were swaying all over the place, branches and leaves were falling down left and right...it was a bit crazy...but fun! we ran along the shady side of bon tempe lake along a very fun narrow single track trail that rollercoastered its way around the lake. we had magnificent views of the lake...and we were a bit protected from the stormie winds since we were under the canopy of the trees. we could see through the branches the small ripples turning into waves along the water's top. it sure was getting rough out there. we then ran across the dam over to the golf course trail and then made our way to the ranger's station and then down to the van on the road. it was a great run. we talked the entire way. the conditions made it just that much more memorable. by the time we all piled in the van (4 of us) the rains really started falling and it was just messy out there. although we had fun in the storm we were all glad that we missed the heavy rains!
Posted by liz at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)
April 21, 2005
Thursday Running
am: Track workout! Felt really tired going into this workout and a bit sick (runnie nose and just beat!). I put my head down and commited to the workout nonetheless even though I had many good reasons to just do a drive by and go back to bed.
We ran 200, 400, 600, 1000, 1000, 600, 400, 200
I ran (40, 1:23, 2:09, 3:40, 3:33, 2:03, 1:19, 39).
I felt like I was working really hard to get those times. The recoveries were not long at all...less than a minute between each interval. I felt fine with the short rest...I just didn't have one of those glorious workouts where it feels effortless....(hmmm, when have i ever.... j/k!!)
pm: Ran the MA 5k at lunch w/my coworker. We ran the loop in 24 mintues....we stopped by my house to visit with the puppies. It was just an easy run ...where we talked nonstop...I felt tired from the morning workout but it was super good to stretch my legs.
Posted by liz at 05:18 PM | Comments (1)
April 20, 2005
Back in the USA
Thur. 4/14: Got up early and went over to a local club track workout. Ran half of the workout (I wanted to ease back into american running again :) ). Ran 6 x 400s. Every 2 minutes we started another 400. On the first 400 I ran 1:24 (so I had 36 seconds recovery), 2nd 1:20 (40 seconds recovery), 3rd 1:19 (41 seconds recovery), 4th 1:19 (41 seconds recovery), 5th 1:18 (42 seconds recovery), 6th 1:17. Cool down. I felt better than I expected but the workout was tough. It was great to do it with a bunch of people. I really like the short rest...you went into every interval still a little tired.
Fri. 4/15: Ran the Wed. night loop with my Larkspur friend early in the morning. It's maybe 11 + miles...We ran the loop in 1:31 or so. It was awesome to be back on the Mt. Tamalpais trails again. We ran from Ross commons, up to eldridge fire road --all the way up to bon tempe and lagunitas lakes and then came down the shaver fire road and returned to Ross commons. It was a beautiful morning run and we talked non stop.
Sat. 4/16: Day off!
Sun. 4/17: Ran a local 10k race as a time trial to see where I might be after my travels. Ran 38:31. I felt pretty good. My stomach felt really funny on Saturday , Sunday and the past few days...I think the transition from Costa Rican food to American food is a little rough on my body. Despite feeling kind of stomach sick...my legs felt really strong in the race. I went out in 6:07 and then kind of settled into 6:11 pace or so for the rest of the race. Around 4 miles I started picking a lot of people off who went out too hard . Hopefully in 6 weeks I can get my time under 38 minutes...!
Mon. 4/18: Ran with my larkspur friend from my house. We ran an extended version of the Senior elbow loop at 5:40 am. We ran out to the Sr. Elbow loop on the roads , then on the dominican trails a little and then back to sun valley...we ran the last 1.5 miles of the MA 5k. We ran for about 55 minutes.
Tues. 4/19: I was hoping to do a track workout but our high school team had a track and field meet that didn't end until 8:30 and I didn't get home until close to 9:30pm. I already had a 5:45 am run scheduled for Wed. so I figured I 'd just take the day off.
Wed. 4/20: Ran with my larkspur friend . We ran the usual Monday out/back to Phoenix lake bike path course. We ran a bit faster than usual. We ran the course in 57.07. We talked the entire time. I didn't feel that good--my stomach is still on and off upset. I hope it calms down soon. If it doesn't maybe I should go back to my Costa Rica diet of rice and beans...it sounds like that worked for Paula! :)
Posted by liz at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)
Costa Rica
Well the 12 day trip was fabulous. We were working with an organization called EPI (Ecology Project International). 16 students, 2 teachers from our school, and 2 EPI instructors in total. We studied and learned a lot while on this trip (primary subjects included: primary, secondary rainforests, banana plantations and the industry itself, leatherback sea turtle ecology (I saw 10 while patroling- 6 were nesting when I saw them!!!!--the entire process takes at least 1.5 hours...we were working with research scientists!!) and we practiced and/or learned spanish!).
Each day was particularly exhausting. We'd begin each day at 9 in the morning and we'd have activities throughout the entire day. For 4 of the days we spent our nights on turtle patrol. Our shift would last between 4 and 6 hours. We'd (in small groups) comb an 8k stretch of beach (with trained scientists) looking for turtles nesting and then we'd collect data during this process. No matter what time we returned from our turtle patrol 3 am, 4 am, etc...we still had to be ready to go at 9 am the next morning. This was a bit hard for me.
Running wise I had to be creative. Often times we were in really remote locations that weren't always ideal for running. Here's what I did.
Sat. 4/2: No running - Traveled most of the day.
Sun. 4/3: Ran 10 x hill (45 second) repeats at Hotel Zurqui (45 minutes outside San Jose). Total of 25 minutes of running. Did not run the hills all out. Just ran continuously.
Mon. 4/4: Ran 4 x 1500 m loops at Hotel del Palmo. There was a little nature trail right on the hotel's "campus". It was hard to negotiate. The trail was so dense, lush...like a mini jungle rainforest. A few students and my coworker ran with me. It was more like a naturalist run. We stopped everytime we saw something new. We saw tons of poison dart frogs....so on the 2nd loop we ran back to our rooms to grab our cameras.
Tues. 4/5: Ran along the Beach at Pacuare Reserve. Ran about 4 miles on the sand. Running on the sand was tiring. The beach was marked every 25 meters...(for the turtle research...so scientists could mark the location of the nests, etc...)...so if I really wanted to know how fast I was moving I had that going for me!
Wed. 4/6: Ran along the Beach again. Ran about 5 miles. Again it was tough running via the sand but beautiful to have the beach to myself at 7 am in the morning...with the Carribean rushing in and out...
Thur. 4/7: Ran along the Beach again. Ran about 6 miles. It was POURING. After only 15 minutes my fingers were wrinkling from all the rain. I can see why they call these forests--rainforests. The rainforest was adjacent to the beach...(there were trails there...but too many unknowns..like Ferdalance snakes, vine snakes, fire ants, etc!!!). I have NEVER run in rain like this. It was incredibly warm out but the rain was just falling down . I probably felt more rain on this run alone than I have in the last 3 years out here in California. I actually really loved the experience. It was one of the neatest runs of my life!!! Often nature and running just come together beautifully and take you to places you just never imagined!
Fri. 4/8: Ran along the Beach again. Ran about 5 miles. It rained lightly throughout the entire run. After Thursday's run I kind of wished it was raining more...but I was pleased with a little "california" like rain drops.
Sat. 4/9: Ran at the Selva Bananito Reserve. Ran 15 x hill repeats (35-40 seconds uphill) continuously. I ran each one a little bit faster than the next. This Reserve has been ranked by Outdoor magazine as one of the world's top 10 ecolodges. We stayed in these sustainable lodges and they were very nice--still very rustic--however with the Jurastic Park like setting right outside our cabin like lodges --who could complain.
Sun. 4/10: Ran at the Selva Bananito Reserve again. Ran with my coworker. We started our run from the heliconiae gardens and then tried to run on the rural rocky dirt road that leads back down the mountain. This turned out to be quite an adventure as the Bananito River zig zags literally through this road--that's why we needed to travel via HUM-V to get to this lodge! So--we got a little wet...after a few river crossings we turned around and ran back to the lodge (24 minutes of running!). I decided to do another 10 mini hill repeats again. These hill repeats were about 35 seconds long.
Mon. 4/11: Ran at the Selva Bananito Reserve. This time I ran again on the dirt road leading up to the Lodge. I crossed the river once and then ran along the farm pastures and ran 10 x 1 minute pick ups. I felt like I was running about 7 minute pace b/c there were so many pot holes and rocks and little critters to avoid...but it was nice to run on somewhat flat, negotiable space again! Ran about 35 minutes total!
Tues. 4/12: Ran about 15 minutes in the morning from the Hotel Zurqui. My coworker and I decided to explore the valley below us and run via the neighborhood. It was very nice. The cloud forest was in the background and the countryside just seemed to extend for miles. We ran on a small paved run lined with modest colorful homes each armed with 2 or 3 guard dogs sitting on the driveway and sometimes just in the middle of the street in front of its respective home. In the evening we went back to this neighborhood for a second run because we had time and we wanted to run a little more. We ran together for the first 5 minutes and then I took off ahead to test my legs. I ran about tempo pace for 15 minutes and then reconnected with my friend and ran another 15 minutes or so back to the Hotel.
Wed. 4/13: Traveling. No running!
Posted by liz at 10:49 AM | Comments (2)
April 01, 2005
Friday runs:
Lunch time run:
Ran the elbow loop w/my coworker. (the guy the run is named after!). We ran nice and easy and just talked the entire time. We ran the loop in 36.30 (almost three minutes slower than yesterday!).
pm run:
Ran 8 x hill repeats with my brother in law. we ran about 14 minutes to warm up. Nice and easy. We then ran one hill that took us 1:22, 1:21, 1:16, 1:06. The last one we really hammmered. It was tough. The 2nd half of this hill was brutal--very steep. The second set of hill repeats wasn't as bad. This one took us 33, 30, 28, 25. This set was entirely steep. We ran contiuously throughout this workout. Our recoveries were just jogging back down to the start. In total we ran for about 36 minutes. We ran around 5:30...the light this time of day was perfect. The setting sun was casting the most beautiful shadows on all of the homes and trees in our little sun valley area!
In a few hours I take off for Costa Rica. More after my trip! :)
Posted by liz at 06:21 PM | Comments (0)
Thursday intervals & Elbow Loop
Today I jumped into the high school track workout with the team. We were doing eucalyptus 300 m relay loops up on ridgewood ridge. It was nice. We had two teams of 4 people and two teams of 3 people. The loop was done on a fire road trail. One length was gradual uphill, one length was gradual downhill and the final width was a steep tinie little grind uphill. Everyone got really into the relays...and in the end...the teams were pretty close to one another so there was quite a battle for first. I ended up having to run a couple times in a row...due to kids dropping out for various reasons...I think I ended up doing about 6 x 300s...I was running them in about 64 -63 seconds. My legs were tired from the last few days/weeks of running.
After the workout with the kids I went out and did a cool down run and ran the elbow loop from school in 33:45. It felt nice to run around 5 pm. I've had a lot on my mind lately so it was nice to just run alone and relax. Tomorrow --Friday night-- I leave for Costa Rica! I'm excited and a little nervous. I'll be there for 12 days...! More on all of that later!!!!
Posted by liz at 08:58 AM | Comments (1)