Monday, April 07, 2008

Last Long Run and weekend pictures


Saturday 17.5 miles/2:36:28/8:57 average pace

I drove over to the Peninsula and ran on the Sawyer Camp Trail on the Crystal Springs Reservoir. I had 16 miles on the schedule but I kept running to the end of the trail since I'd never done that, and was curious how far it was (I knew it wasn't too much farther) - plus I was hoping there would be a water fountain but no luck.

The run went really well! I made a point to completely ignore my watch and run by feel. The course is pretty hilly so I focused on running strong up the hills and thinking about the hills at Boston. I practically ran the entire distance which was cool- I only stopped once to take a picture of a deer (see below, other pics were taken while running) and once to refill my water. Other than that I only took like 2-second breaks to adjust my sock or something. So between running without breaks and running big hills, I felt really good about it. I was happy at the end of the run to see my average pace was still sub-9:00!
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I drank a ton of gatorade/water (I mix them 50/50 - my stomach handles it better than straight Gatorade) when I finished because I was a bit dehydrated. There's only one water fountain on the whole course that works and it's at about mile 3/14... so too early to do any good and then too late to prevent dehydration! There was a gas station across the street at the turnaround, I could have purchased a bottle of water with my emergency $. Next time I will. It was pretty cool outside- upper 50's- so I was ok. Any hotter and the water would have been a bigger issue.

Upper Reservoir from top of dam- mile 5:

deer:

Upper Reservoir on the way back:

Lower Reservoir on the way back:


After the run, I picked up Zach and we went for sandwiches. On the way home he somehow convinced me to go swimming. So we grabbed our stuff and headed up to the pool. I went straight from my sweaty run clothes into my swimsuit (with of course a quick shower). I did 1000 m easy, in about 21:00. I did the middle 500 m with my pull buoy. I practiced my flips because it's my goal to learn to flip turn.

TOTAL miles for the week: 35.5

PLUS 21 miles Bike!

AND 1500 m swim.

That's about my most well-rounded week in quite some time. Nice!!

Sunday we went for a little hike in the Sunol Regional Wilderness and I took a few pictures of the wildflowers in bloom:



It was a really relaxing weekend overall- besides the run, swim, and hike, we bbq'd, watched hockey at the sports bar, I read, Zach made a strawberry pie, and I slept about 11 hours each night. This coming weekend we're going to Phoenix and then next weekend it's Boston! Here's my schedule for Taper Week 2 (Boston Marathon is 2 weeks from today):

Monday: 7 miles GA (+ Strides)

Tuesday: xt

Wednesday: 8 miles (3 miles VO2 Intervals)

Thursday (leave for phx): off

Friday (phx): 5 miles Easy

Saturday (phx): 12 miles Long (probably with Scottsdale Running Group)

Sunday (fly home from Phx): rest/xt

Total miles scheduled: 32

10 comments:

Steve Stenzel said...

NICE WEEK! And great long run! I was hoping for some water fountains on my 14 miler on Saturday, but they were still turned off for the frozen, MN winter.

And "weird" is what I do! Thanks for the vote!

Paul said...

Killer Pictures!! Can't wait until the race report comes!

Aron said...

oh good idea on the gatorade - i have been having tummy issues after my sat runs from drinking it so i will have to try that!

you have the best places to run! they are so pretty!! great job on the runs!!!

P.O.M. said...

Those are great pics! Looks beautiful. You are so ready for Boston! How are you feeling about it?

Petraruns said...

Gorgeous photos and nice run! And what a nice exercise week altogether - well done. You seem really together and ready for Boston - all you've got to do now is carry on the momentum.. Can't wait to get the report live from you!

Ewen said...

Looks like it's all coming together. How many tons of Gatorade would you drink if you were more than a 'bit' dehydrated? ;)

Lovely pictures again - especially the wildflowers.

KK said...

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who logs in 11+ hours of sleep during the weekends. Nice work!

Way to go with all your cross-training, you will crush that half-ironman this summer!

And cheers to Boston being less than two weeks away :).

ShirleyPerly said...

Isn't it funny that we seem to now carry cameras with us when we run? I love your photos. Will you take some while running Boston too?

jahowie said...

You are so fast!! Nice job on the workouts. Thanks for posting more pics.

Tomas said...

What an incredibly beautifull area to run in... as an Icelander I am very proud of our nature, so I never thought I would say that I am jelous over someones nature... but that just looks so great! Watch out with the hydration though...