« December 2005 | Main | February 2006 »
January 30, 2006
extended weekend update!
wed (pm):
ran crown road 7 w/a friend and one of my high school athletes. we took the uphill/downhill easy and the flats at a moderate pace. we all chatted the entire time. it was a very nice run. 55 minutes.
thursday:
ran the ma dipsea after school w/one of the high school athletes. ~53 minutes. we ran the entire run pretty easy. it was an overcast day. the run flew by despite our easy pace.
friday:
OFF
saturday:
ran 3 hours on mt. tam. started on edgewood and then went up to the mt. home inn, west point inn, the theater, rock springs, cataract, coastal trail, down matt davis to stinson beach, back up via the dipsea to steep ravin, to matt davis, back to mt. home inn , back to edgewood. it was calm and overcast when we began our run. however, 40 minutes into our run the winds picked up and a light consistent shower came pouring down. we were very wet and pretty cold the remainder of the run. we started off as a group of 4 and then 2 split off at coastal and my friend and i finished up the last 1+++ hours together. we talked the entire time and the run felt pretty easy.
sunday:
ran over in the east bay. started off at skyline gate (redwood park). met up w/a large # of local runners and ran a 9 mile loop and then added on 14 minutes on the road. (1:26) the trails in the east bay Were so muddy. we were sliding around quite a bit. the temperature was perfect. the sky was clear. it was a beautiful day. coming up and returning through the redwoods (stream trail) was very nice. the group overall ran a nice pace--not too slow and not too too fast.
monday:
ran the branson loop over in larkspur with 3 friends early in the morning. ~56:15. about 2 minutes into the run it started raining. it showered on us the rest of the run. it felt nice though. we all chatted the entire time. it was nice to have so much extra company in the morning--the run felt easier than usual.
Posted by liz at 08:55 AM | Comments (2)
January 25, 2006
always behind, catching up
tuesday:
day off
wednesday:
ran ~60 minutes easy in the am w/my larkspur friend. we ran the sir. francis drake, fawn drive, ridge loop, nice & easy!!!
thursday:
ran ~1:15 w/the kids up by the golf course. we ran pretty much out & back. it was a beautiful, beautiful day. the trails were very nice. we almost made it down to alpine fire road, but we had already been running for 38 minutes, so we turned around and ran back to the golf course.
friday:
ran ~53 minutes up on crown road w/the kids. we ran the "taz" loop backwards. it was another beautiful, crisp, cool day! running down hoo koo e koo felt great~
saturday:
ran out in pt. reyes w/friends. we ran ~29 miles or so. 4:30+. it was an amazing day- we had some clear skies, some overcast skies, some rain and tons of wildlife sitings (including tule elk, albino deer, deer, birds galore and beautiful forests!). the pace was easy to moderate. my goal was just to finish feeling strong and to not hit the wall.
sunday:
ran 1:19 in the city, about 10 miles. started off @ kezar stadium. ran through golden gate park, out to the cliffhouse, along the trails, out to 25th and back via golden gate park. ran nice & easy just to get the kinks out, after such a long run saturday.
monday:
ran an easy 41+ minutes up on the ridge w/one of the students. we ran "mary's loop". we ran nice & easy. the course is always tough, no matter what the pace, b/c of the many hills. it feels like a grind the entire way, but we both just held back and ran easy.
tuesday:
ran ~68+ minutes. we- a student and i- ran from school, out to mary's point and back. on the way back we ran 3 minute pick ups. the pick ups felt great. the pick ups were all on various types of terrain--flat, downhill and rolling. some sections were harder than others, but all in all it felt good.
wednesday:
am: ran 56:54 in the am w/my ridge friend. we ran the sir francis drake/fawn drive/ridge loop. we started off at a nice and easy pace and towards the end we pushed the hills a bit. it was very overcast , even as the sun was trying to come up. the views from the ridge, as always were very beautiful.
Posted by liz at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2006
catching up....
thursday:
ran the larkspur/crown road loop w/an alum and a high school student. we ran ~53 minutes. we ran a pretty good clip and talked the entire way.
friday:
ran the ma dipsea. ran ~50 minutes. ran w/2 ma students. we ran the loop backwards. the hills were steep, but good.
saturday:
ran the deer park loop ~1.23. ran nice & easy. it started to rain about half way through the run. it was raining lightly. ran a nice and easy pace. today i ran slower than i did all week to prepare for sunday's long run.
sunday:
ran 3 hours 24 minutes or so. ran from ross commons. ran up fish grade to pumpkin, to bon tempe, up and over ridge across fairfax bolinas road to ridge trails. then ran down to alpine, up to cataract falls, to helen marks to bon tempe, to fish grade to phoenix and back to ross commons. ran w/a group of friends. we ran a relatively easy pace. at times we picked up the pace. by the end my legs were pretty tired.
monday:
ran 1.03.36. ran from mt. home inn. ran out to pan toll, to rail road grade to west point inn, down matt davis back to mt. home inn. ran w/a few of the high school kids. the pace was brisk but not too too fast. though fast for the day after a long long run.
Posted by liz at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
January 11, 2006
lunch time run, track workout & morning run
tuesday
lunch time run:
ran the elbow loop + two laps around the field w/my coworker. we ran ~38+ for our loop. we chatted the entire time and ran nice & easy.
pm track workout:
i was reading about beth's recent track workout and it was very similar to the workout i was supposed to do, so i decided to try her workout. 20 x 400s w/100 m. jogs in between each 400 adding up to a 10k. the workout was fun. i started off w/94 second quarters and then for the last 6 , 400s increased my speed, 92, 91, 90, 88, 87 and finished w/an 85 second quarter. i ran the entire workout in 40: 25. the workout was fun, though the last mile or so of the workout was hard on my hips. i cooled down for a mile and called it a night.
wednesday morning
5:45 am. went out and ran the lyons loop w/my larkspur friend. we ran ~63 minutes. it felt good. it was sprinkling /raining throughout the run, but it wasn't cold at all. it was pretty dark on the run. we talked the entire time.
Posted by liz at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
January 09, 2006
'06 weekend edition!
Overall- beautiful weather, blue, clear, crisp weekend skies here in Marin
Saturday:
9 am Mt.Home Inn run w/the local running local. We carpooled up to Rock Springs to do a Waterfall loop. Boy, was that a great decision. Cataract falls, one of the most popular waterfalls in Marin county, was just amazing on Saturday. With all the rain the bay area has gotten in the last few weeks, the sounds/roars/smells of the creek, trails and water were just overwhelming. About 20 to 30 of us navigated our way up and around and over and through winding single track trails. We cut through the "band camp", creeks, hillsides until we arrived at the falls. We stopped for awhile to marvel at the water and then a group of us made our way out to the open hills. The open hills were beautiful. All you can see from these rolling hills, are more rolling green hills, fog off in the distance towards the ocean and beautiful tall trees peeking through the fog. Once we made it through the hills we cut down to coastal trail for a spin and then cut up one more hill to return back to Rock Springs. Although we saw many different things and ran on lots of different trails the run was only 65 minutes. The company and trails were awesome though.
Sunday:
7:30 am Ross Commons Run. Met up with a group of 5 runners. We ran from Ross Commons, up to Phoenix lake, up Tucker, towards Crown Road, up to Hoo Koo E Koo, up to the West Point Inn, to the Mt. Theater Home, over towards Riffle camp, down to Bon Tempe, to the Water tower, down Eldridge and then back to Ross Commons. The run was 2 hours and 27 minutes. It was cool and crisp. The sky was so clear and blue. The company was fabulous. We talked nonstop the entire run. The pace was good; at the end we picked it up a bit.
Monday:
5:55 am. Ran w/my larkspur friend in larkspur. We ran the winter loop (55 mins). It was cold and dark (darker than usual) out . I felt better than I expected. My legs weren't sore from Sunday's run. However, during the day today they were tight and stiff. The run was nice and my friend and I talked the entire way.
Posted by liz at 10:40 PM | Comments (1)
January 06, 2006
return to ca
tuesday:
traveled the entire day. 8 am ct time to midnight ca time. no run.
wednesday:
~46+ minutes in san rafael/san anselmo. ran from sun valley, up and along the ridge to fawn. down fawn to butterfield and over to drake high school, and then to my friend's house in san anselmo/close to ross. the run was nice & easy. i was sore from monday's runs and tuesday's traveling. running along the flats felt nice & easy. the streams, creeks were roaring!
thursday:
~55:40 or so. ran from albertons in larkspur with my larkspur running friend. ran @ 6:30 am. we ran the winter loop. we caught up and talked the entire time. we ran a nice and easy pace.
friday:
run1: ran ~31 minutes up on the ridge w/a group of students. we ran up along the ridge and then down to san francisco in san anselmo, to the park, by sunny school, up via the graveyard, then up the fireroad back to the ridge. some of the trails were very very muddy. the run was nice & easy. we talked a ton.
run2: ran 54: 57 in larkspur w/a running club friend. started off @ albertsons then ran out towards college of marin, up behind the bank , up a big hill (~600 feet or so) to crown road. down crown road trail to the end. we then cut down on the roads to corte madera. hit the bike trails and ran back to albertsons. felt better than i thought i would.
Posted by liz at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2006
ct strides
thursday:
traveled up to ct. no running today.
friday:
ran ~60 minutes in manchester, ct with an old california friend who recently moved to ct. we ran a combination of trails and roads. we ran up and over Case Mt. which makes Mt. Tam in Marin seem huge (case mt. is very pretty with great views of hartford, however it's only 744 feet compared to mt. tam's 2,597 FT !) the ct. woods were so pretty. there was some snow on the trails and huge icicles growing/hanging on the rocks.
saturday:
ran ~25 to ~30 minutes in new haven, ct. with my sister in law. we ran around the perimeter of yale's athletic fields and the indoor track facilities. we then ran out and back around her neighborhood a bit. the run was nice & easy. it was a bit cold. however it was snowing, so the night sky was beautiful and the conversation was great.
sunday:
after staying up for the new years & hardly sleeping at all, due to some rowdy partiers, i managed to make my way over to orange, ct to run in the chilly chilie 5k run. the race didn't start until 10:30. i arrived pretty late-10:15- b/c i was debating whether or not i should run. i had just enough time to park about 600 meters from the start. run into the gym, sign up for the race, get my number and do a quick stride over to the starting line. the town of orange was covered in snow. that made every turn and every street beautiful and wonderful to look at. the first mile of the race was downhill, followed by a very gentle rolling, relatively flat 2nd mile, the final mile was also pretty flat, except for a hill about 700 to 800 meters before the finish line. 600 meters into the race i found myself in first. after the final uphill, i was still in first and i was hoping to just break 19. all of a sudden last year's winning woman went flying by me with about 500 meters or so to go. i made a very quick move, passed her and ended up beating her by 9 seconds. i ran 18:54 for the race. i was pretty sore all day after the event I think b/c i didn't get a proper warm up in.
monday:
am: ran ~1:30 (+12 miles) with my california friend who moved to ct. i think we ran in rockville, vernon and manchester. we ran along the rails to trails, hop river trail. this greenway consisted of miles of relatively flat trail along an abandoned railway. we ran out about 6+ miles and then turned around and ran back. the last 25 minutes or so we really pushed the pace. the footing was relatively good, although the trail was covered in snow. we ran on the xc ski tracks. during ths run my hamstrings were very tight from sunday's race.
pm: ran ~53 minutes (7 miles) in newhaven and woodbridge ct with my brother. we ran a great loop from his house, up fountain street, out to the yale golf course , then out towards orange and then down through the reservoir trails back to his house. the trails were a bit messy--wet, snow covered, and slippery. however the majority of the course was very runable and scenic. my brother and i talked nonstop the entire run.
Posted by liz at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)