In search of old age PRs

First run of the new year! I found a new trail through the bottom of a

canyon that feed into a large open farming area. There were no

trespassing signs, but I wanted to work my way back toward a road (any

road). I came across a migrant worker camp and decided to turn around.

There were no trespassing signs all around their camp and I didn't want

to disturb them. I eventually found a water-runoff drainage system that

connected up to a neighborhood on top of the mesa. I followed it back

to the street and worked my way back home. I was planning on being home

in 30 minutes so we could make dinner with some friend, but the

exploring made me late! It was still a cool run. I will try later in

the week to head north on this same trail. There was an old burned out

car down in the canyon at the trail split...weird. I believe there is

lake somewhere down there...

Run through the canyon and up by the tennis courts then on the road back to the house.  I changed my shoes and it made a world of difference.  The canyon is always a little muddy, but I need to get over the "new clean shoe" thing.  

Played tennis later that night for about 1 hour. 

Speedwork at Mt. Carmel High School.  One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 6x200.  

Storm watch 2008...haha!  So, its raining...only about 10 people showed up from a group of 100.  Got a little wet, but it was about 60 degrees.  Talked to a runner about surfing and it got me excited.  I purchase a wet suit after the run!
 
Next week, I'm going to run with a different trainning group (West Coast Road Runners).  They meet at different trails every week and are starting their June marathon program.  They train for Rock n Roll San Diego, but I'm sure they will have some Boston people.  The USA Fit guys are tapering for the Carlsbad marathon in a couple of weeks then their season is over.  I plan on going to the marathon to watch my fellow runners come in.

Temp work at Mt. Carmel High School.  One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 3x1000.  It's hard to believe I was doing 14 of these last summer.  I'll try to add one every week.

10 miles on the road. The canyon was closed because of flooding. The course was rolling hills.

Tennis later tonight.

Three miles with a new running group...West Coast Road Runners.  They are sponsored by the RoadRunner running store (big place).  It appears that they will have a large number of sub 3:30 marathon people.  I'm excited to train with them.  I will have to do my long runs on Sunday for a couple of months, until the group catches up.  They train for the San Diego Rock-n-Roll in June.  In a few weeks the group will begin meeting at different sites in San Diego.  It will be cool to run a different place every week.

Hard hilly run in the middle of the day.  It was hot (85) and humid.

Ran on the treadmill in Wyoming. The treadmill said I did 7 miles, but there is no way. I tried to do some tempo work (5x1000), but the distance was hard to measure.

There was a coach in the USA Fit San Diego running group that lobbied hard for his runners to do their runs on the treadmill.  I'm appalled on two levels--1) treadmill is boring and 2) you live in FREAKING San Diego.  It was 83 degrees yesterday.

I hate the treadmill.
 

Flew from Laramie, WY back to San Diego today.  It was nice and warm when I got off the plane, so I did a run as soon as I got home.  Ran some new trails North of the house.  I found a late 90's minivan with 2006 plates at bottom of canyon.  Someone had wrote "were coming for you" on the back.  It was pretty cool.  Probably not a great place to run, but very exciting.  If I ever disappear running have the police search the farm house and lake area north of my house...hahaha...mmm.

Six miles with new running group at Mission Bay.  Most people in the "Chicago" group are sub 3:20 marathoners.  They group tries to average sub 8:00 pace, so it should work out nicely.  They also have a Boston group that gets mileage in before the group runs.  

I ran the 1/2 marathon route that I will be doing in February.  This is going to be toughest course I've run.  It has several huge hills, but at least it is an out and back.   The route is through some of nicest property in California (Rancho Santa Fe).  Its on steep, winding roads.  The race finishes on a massive 3/4 mile climb back up to the park (300 feet).  The race is sponsored by the Hash House Harriers, so there should be a good "after" party.

My calf to ankle was sore from the run yesterday, but I switched shoes and it seemed to work itself out.  Nice run in the bottom of PQ canyon.

New speed workout regiment designed by the new running group I joined.

One mile warm up and one mile cool down with 1/2/3/2/1 minutes at 95%

VO2 max with 1 minute recovery between each. 3 minute recovery after

set then finish with :15/:30/:45/:30/:15 at 95% VO2 max. I can not

measure my VO2 max and I don't wear a heart monitor so I tried to do

them sub-5K pace...for me that's below 5:30/mile. It was hard workout,

but it is nice to be doing speed/tempo again.

Run in PQ canyon.  It was about to rain, so I ran it pretty quickly.  I'm trying to follow the new running group schedule.  The group is running 6 days a week, so this should really up my mileage.  I really need to work on speed before the 1/2 marathon.  I found an elevation chart on the course and it does not look good.  I've paid for the race, but I'm kind of dreading it.  I hope the shirt is nice...lol!

Eight mile run in the rain.  It was mid-50's and a little breezy, but I felt pretty good.  Worked in four 2/2 (2 minutes hard with 2 minute jog for recovery).  Tried to keep the tempo runs in the sub 5:45 range, but I was running a lot of rolling hills.

Run with West Coast Road Runners group.  We meet at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.  It was a nice, fast run.  There are 8-10 sub 3:10 people in the group.  We had a nice sub-7:30 pace with a couple of fast tempo mixed in.

Easy miles with Elizabeth and pushing the stroller.  

Nice pace on rain soaked streets.  Learned today about Gordon Hinckley and thought about how this would affect friends in Salt Lake.  I have to travel for the rest of the week, so it will be a challenge to run.

1 mile warm up and 1mile cool down with 14 :60 at 95% followed by :60

jog/rest. Nice run, but would be better to do it on a track.

7 miles on a treadmill in a hotel (Sacramento). Awful.

Another run on the hotel treadmill