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July 31, 2005
Back in Ca!
Sunday & Monday: Off (driving )
Tuesday: Ran up on the ridge w/the dogs. Ran ~ 40 minutes. Ran up the fireroad, along the top of the ridge, looped around the single track trail and then came back. Was very tired from traveling and driving, the last few days.
Wednesday: Ran ~58 minutes in Larkspur. Ran up King Mt., down to Baltimore Canyon on the ladybug trail, up to Crown Road, and then via the roads, back to King Mt. and then back down to my car. felt good overall.
Thursday: Ran Dog loop in the morning with the puppies and a friend. The loop was great. Later ran out / back on Crown Road. Negative Split run. Out (21:02 minutes) Back (18:59). Didn't feel that great. Felt like an effort. It was a bit warm!
Friday: Ran ~ 75 minutes in the am with a friend. We met at the top of the ridge. Ran along the ridge out to Lucas Valley Road and back via the roads of Terra Linda. Then hit the Del Hardo single track trail and ran back up the ridge and down the switchbacks to my house! In the pm ran another ~30 minutes or so with the dogs and a friend.
Saturday: Ran ~1:48 with a couple friends. We started off at the top of the ridge. Then we ran via the graveyard, out to the roads of San Anselmo, made our way towards Deer Park, but hit the trails at the horse barn where we took our first steep single track trail all the way up to Yolanda trail. From here we took the single track trail down to Phoenix Lake and then ran back via San Anselmo to Sun Valley/San Rafael. The pace was great and the morning was very beautiful.
Sunday: Ran ~1:42. Got dropped off at the Mt. Home Inn on Mt. Tam. Took the trails back home. Ran up to the West Point Inn on the single track trails. Then took railroad grade down to Hoo Koo Ko Trail. Stayed on the fireroads and ran up and over one more ridge until I took a steep downhill fireroad and single track trail down to Phoenix Lake. Ran by Phoenix Lake, down the fireroad and out to Ross. Ran via San Anselmo and up and over the hill to Sun Valley. My legs were a bit tired on today's run. May have been from the run and bike ride I took on Saturday. Either way it feels great to be back on the trails in California.
Posted by liz at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2005
fri/sat
friday:
ran ~ 72 minutes in fair lawn, nj on the bike paths. it was very warm and muggy. ran easy. ran on some single track trails too--it was a bit cooler in the woods.
saturday:
ran ~ 50 minutes. ran the middle 20 minutes at a medium to hard pace. it was warm out but not as muggy as it has been. tonight we leave for our big drive across the country. i'm looking forward to running in california again--though i've enjoyed all my runs back east quite a bit!
Posted by liz at 08:38 AM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2005
tue-thur
tuesday:
ran ~1 mile warm up. then ran in a fun run 2 mile race w/my three dogs. it was very muggy and hot. we ran 13:14. a pr for running w/3 dogs on leash! then ran another mile or so.
wednesday:
ran ~ 1.5 miles easy w/my nephew. showed him the race course for thursday's 5k. we just ran 1 loop of the two loop course. my legs were tired in general--so the easy running tour was a nice break.
thursday:
am: ran with my older sister in glastonbury. we ran ~ 3 miles. the course was so nice. i felt like i was running out in the country. my sister's dog came along too. it was a great way to wake up!
pm: ran in a local 5k race: not your typical 5k it was called. my nephew got a pr...running 17:33 or so. my brother also ran it. he ran 19:07 or so. i ran 18:51 (2nd for females). the course was 1 loop that you ran twice. there was a long gradual uphill that you climbed twice...but we got the downhill twice too. despite the heat--it was a nice night to run. the race didn't start until 6:45. the event included music and a very festive atmosphere w/people walking on stilts, slides for kids & a great food spread after the race.
Posted by liz at 09:52 AM | Comments (3)
July 19, 2005
fri-mon
friday:
very muggy. ran ~79 minutes. ran to/around/back roosevelt forest. the run itself was very nice. the humidity was intense. ran relatively easy.
saturday:
ran ~47 minutes or so with my brother via the new haven reservoirs on the trails. again, it was very muggy. it was nice to be out on the trails w/my bro. in general felt a bit tired.
sunday:
made a last minute very quick trip up to vermont to see my twin sister. got to jump into the stowe 8 mile race. the course was a bit tougher than i expected. the first half wasn't too bad. the second half had many long gradual uphills. combine that with the sun and early morning humidity and you get a challenge. i think i was 15th for women. my splits : 6:22, 6:37, 6:36, 6:22, 7:04, 6:56, 7:04, 6:44 (53:49). i felt overall a bit tired in the race. but i also felt strong. i spent the afternoon in the lake with my twin sister and all of her friends. i then left later that night to head south to return to my puppies & family.
monday:
ran ~6 miles w/my nephew. we ran to/around/back roosevelt forest. it was another muggy run. we ran around 8:30 at night. it was a very nice run. we kept the pace easy--as i was still tired from sunday's effort.
Posted by liz at 07:47 AM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2005
mon-thur
mon:
day off
tues:
ran ~15 mins w/my husband and then ran ~53 mins w/my brother in new haven. we ran via the trails by his house. it was a warm, muggy night. i loved being on the trails.
wed:
day off
thurs:
ran ~ 63 mins. in roosevelt forest park in stratford. the trails were very nice, it was muggy and the pace was EASY.
Posted by liz at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
fri, sat, & sun!
friday:
ran ~ 89 minutes in the pouring rain on the fair lawn bike paths. the rain was wonderful and refreshing!
saturday:
ran ~ 5 miles w/my nephew on the connecticut air line trail. wonderful flat, woodsie trail.
sunday:
ran ~ 6 miles. went down to new london w/my nephew and ran in another road race. the new london salifest 5k. felt so/so warming up. ended up running 19:21 (1st for women). my nephew ran 18:22 (top 15 overall). it was a very warm morning- the course was rolling!
Posted by liz at 07:51 AM | Comments (2)
July 07, 2005
fair lawn bike paths and ringwood state park
wednesday:
ran the fair lawn bike paths and trails with the puppies for the first half of my run. we just ran nice and easy. the trails were very nice. they are just little dirt bike paths that run parallel to the bike paths. they are secluded enough (due to tree coverage) that you feel like you are pretty far away. although is was only in the high 70s the humidity was over 85% & that was notable.
i dropped the puppies off at the house and then i continued running for ~30+ more minutes. i stayed on the roads this time and watched the sky as it got darker and darker. i knew rain was coming...i was hoping it would coming falling down on me as i finished up my run...but alas...i was too quick and missed the showers by about 25 minutes.
ran about 75 minutes total. all at a very easy pace.
thursday:
went to ringwood state park in new jersey. the drive to this park only took about 25 minutes. however, once i arrived i had a tough time finding the trails. i found the visitor's center and the camp areas but no real defined trails. however, after about 35 minutes i finally found ringwood manor a country house, which was home for a succession of well-known ironmasters for nearly 200 years. the landscapping here was unbelievable! the state park surrounds a few manors (there's another large manor that boasts a 44 room mansion...i didn't really see that one close up...but it looked grand from the road!). surrounding the ringwood estate i found the red, white, and yellow trail blazes that marked entries into this 4,000+ acre state park.
i parked right next to the white blaze trailhead. i then took off for a wonderful 65 minute trail run exploration. i ran on parts of the white, yellow and red trails. at times the trail was really rocky. that was tricky. all of the trails were narrow (single track trails). i was definitely running right via the middle of the forest. i didn't see anyone else on the trails. however what i didn't see turned out to be a little more gross. i ran right through about 10 spider webs during the course of my run. i kept wiping off my face and head hoping to clear away any spiders that might be taking up new residence on my head/shoulders. despite the webs i really enjoyed this run via the woods. it's always so nice to be out in the woods running free!
Posted by liz at 02:21 PM | Comments (1)
July 05, 2005
recovery
ran the st. mark's loop easy with the dogs. felt really tired today. it was a muggy sort of day. not too bad but hard not to notice. we ran the 3.5 miles nice and easy and then i did a lot of yard work (which to me is like a 2nd workout!!!).
Posted by liz at 08:36 PM | Comments (1)
July 04, 2005
4 on the 4th
this morning i ran in another road race (The chester four on the fourth). my nephew (who's an up & coming miler in his own circle!!) also ran the race.
the race was held in, chester, ct, a "storybook" new england small town located right on the connecticut river. the race started in the town center (which is a throw back to yester years)--the setting-cottages, store fronts (stores),colonial homes, jennings pond--(located centrally in the downtown "district") and the live music on the porch of the downtown center hall building helped to create an atmosphere that was classic all american and that could be anytime in our US history--which seemed kind of appropriate for the 4th of july.
my nephew and i warmed up for 2 miles and then headed to the starting line (starts at the town flag). the course was very hilly. (hillier than sunday's race!). the only mile mark/split that i heard was at mile 3 (18:51). during the race i actually felt really strong. my nephew was running up ahead of me the entire time so i tried to stay focused on him. the roads were so beautiful. for the most part the course was shaded. the streets were narrow and the scenary consisted of old colonial homes, ponds, forests and then of course the start, mile 3 and finish all ran right through the center of town...where it seemed like hundreds of people were cheering us on...with all their hearts and might! everyone was so loud. i don't know if i have ever heard louder cheers personally in a race. the small, cozy, peaceful setting probably accenuated the tunnel of cheers that enveloped us every time we ran via the center of town.
i felt pretty good during the race. better than i thought. about 500 meters into the race i noticed that i was already running in the top 25 overall and i was the top woman. so i ran to win the event. the course was rolling the entire way. a few hills i literally felt like i was crawling up but most of them i felt very strong on and i felt like i could maintain my pace.
in the end i finished up 17th overall, 1st woman and the effort took 25:03 time-wise. my nephew finished 13th overall and his time was 24:24. after the race we ran another 3.5 miles or so easy to cool down.
Posted by liz at 08:41 PM | Comments (3)
July 03, 2005
wadsworth falls, a new running partner, and another race!
friday:
one of my favorite places to run out here in ct is wadsworth falls. it's a beautiful wooded park that boasts two falls (the big falls and the little falls) and several meandering streams (run offs of the Coginchaug River). there's the main trail that cuts via the 267 acre park and then there are tons of small deer (single track) trails that skirt around the edges of the park. my twin sister and i ran here all the time back in the day (high school era).
today i ran via wadsworth falls state park and the wadsworth mansion area with my parents' dog-- a coonhound. this turned out to be interesting. the coonhound had her nose to the ground the entire run. it really felt like she (the coonhound) was taking me for a sniff run.
we ran around the entire perimeter of the parks for a total of 70 minutes. the pace was very easy and the entire run was shaded! it was a bit warm but not too bad!
saturday:
today i ran w/a new running partner (my husband)--i've run with him before, but only a handful of times. he's taken a bit of a hiatus from running.
we ran in wadsworth falls state park again. we ran out the main trail and then to the little falls via deer trails. it was a lollypop loop--we came back on the main trail.
we took all three puppies with us and just ran easy. again we had shade the entire run. the woods were very relaxing and i was impressed with how easy it was for my husband to get back on the trails again. we ran for about ~30 minutes.
sunday:
ran in a race called the milford 5000. the course was beautiful. it ran out along long island sound. running by the water was so nice.
the course was a bit hillier than i expected. i felt good in the race but didn't run super super fast--but i ran pretty even splits...my first mile was 6:15, two mile split 12:33-12:35 and my final time was 19:36. i think i was 4th overall for women.
all in all i'm glad i did the race. it was so nice to be out by the water this morning and it was fun getting to know a new area.
Posted by liz at 07:53 AM | Comments (1)