In search of old age PRs

My parents are in town, so I missed the group run.  Did the mileage in the canyon on a cloudy day.

Run in New Orleans down St. Charles street.  This was a very nice and safe route.  I began close to Canal Street and ran by Lafayette Square, Garden District and turned around at Audubon Park (close to Loyola University).  You can run on the Streetcar tracks (packed dirt).

Run on St. Charles again, but this time with one of the company owners.  I'm afraid we went a little too far for his level.  Good run, at an easy pace.

Run by myself on St. Charles.

Run with the boss on St. Charles.

Long run with group at Torrey State Pines Beach.  It was a nice run and not very difficult.  We keep the pace around 8 minute miles.  I could have gone another 6 easily.  I don't think I've ever felt so "fresh" after running 20 miles...mile 2 felt just like mile 20.  I hope that's a good sign!

Hill work-out in the canyon.  It was supposed to be an easy run, but I found a few trails I'd never run on.  One peak had an incredible view.  I tried to work my way back down to the main trail, but I ended up in a flooded creek bed.  I had to double back, so the pace was slow.

Hilly miles down in the canyon.  Lots of lizards, but no snakes yet. 

Speed work at Poway High School.  1 mile warm up and cool down with 5 x 1200.

Marine layer still over the canyon in the late afternoon.  It made for a nice cool run.  There was a stiff breeze from the ocean for the entire run...perfect for running.

Run down in PQ Canyon late in the day.  Lots of runners, bikers and bugs.

13-miler a little short.  Ran in Rancho Santa Fe then west toward the ocean and south of Del Mar.  Nice run with a good mixture of road, trails, sand and hills.

Run in PQ Canyon past the Ranch House (trail) and back on the road. 

Hilly run in the PQ canyon.  Long speed work out planned for Tuesday, so took it easy.

Speed work-out at the track.  Originally, we were to meet at Poway HS, but the track was closed so we moved to Rancho Bernardo HS.  RB has a very new and "springy" track.

We did a 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down with 10 x 800 in-between.  The goal was to run each at marathon time speed (YASSO 800's) then the last one 15-20 seconds faster.  My goal is 3 hours at Boston so I began the 800's at a 3 minute pace (the theory goes that your later 800-finish times in minutes will be your marathon time in hours).  I found the 3 minute pace a little easy, so I picked it up.  It was helpful to have coach there timing and motivating us.  Here are my laps:

1-3:00 minutes
2-3:00
3-2:57
4-2:54
5-2:52
6-2:54
7-2:53
8-2:50
9-2:51
10-2:27

According to Yasso, I should have no problem with a 3-hour marathon..lol.  I know its not this simple, but it was a good work-out and I built-up some confidence before the marathon.
 

Hill work out in PQ canyon.  I was a little sore from the speed work-out yesterday, but I loosened up after about 20 minutes.

Half trail run with the other half street.

Run with group around Mission Bay on a hot and humid day.  We did first 4 x 7:45, dropped the next 4 x 7:30, next 4 x 7:15 and last 4 x 6:40.  It was a good work-out.   Some of our sub 3:00 hour people haven't been around for a few weeks, but Coach did a good job setting the pace for me on the last 4 miles before dropping back.  Next weekend will be a 22-miler!

Slow run in the PQ canyon and streets.  It was in the mid-80's and I was stuffed from Easter, so it was a s-l-o-w run.

Hot conditions again today down in the canyon.  I tried to stay under the trees, but had little success.  Lots of lizards out, but no snakes yet.

Also, I bought some new Mizuno Wave Precision 7 shoes today.  I will probably save them until summer running.  I like the Fila Providence II, but it is no longer available and the III is a horrible replacement shoe.  I tried the Addidas Supernova 6 and was indifferent.  I have a couple more Fila II that will get me through the year, but I'm still looking for a replacement.

Most of my daily runs have been labeled PQ Canyon.  From now on, I will be more specific since I've been using the canyon as a general reference site.  Today's run was on the Del Mar mesa.  I was feeling a little burned out today, but the narrow trails in the slot canyons through the mesa got me excited again.  I turned both ankles (not very serious), but it was worth it.  It's not a good area to run with music since you have to pay so much attention to the trail, wildlife and possible people/bikes (it's also easy to get lost).  It was in the 80's, but I felt strong at the finish.

I crossed the Del Mar mesa from the PQ canyon into an area known as McGonigle canyon (aka The Forbidden zone-lol).  There are some great trails in this area and I found a large lake between the mesa and canyon, the only problem is the "stolen" cars and immigrant camps.  Twice, I heard voices just off the trail.  I was also spoked by a large condor less than 5 feet from me!  This area is cool, but probably wise to run the area with a buddy.

Here's an article from 2206 on the area:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060604/news_mz1n4outdoor.html






 

Run in PQ Canyon.  It was pretty humid when I did the run, but there was a nice breeze.

Long run at an easy pace.  We soaked our legs in the ocean after the finish.  I felt fresh at the finish, so I'm excited about Boston.  We ran at an average 7:45/mile pace.

Quick treadmill run at the hotel in Denver