Monday, March 29, 2010

Bay Area Recap and Lots o’ Pics

I’m back home after a wonderful visit down to California. It was so good to see my brother and sister-in-law and all my friends. I have missed them so much since I moved and I really loved being close to them again. It went by too fast but I made the most of my time with them.

 

The weather was perfect and I got in a TON of awesome miles.  It was seriously like a running vacation. Which was perfect because this long weekend included the majority of my peak week miles. Being back on my old favorite trails and running with friends really helped me stay motivated. Here is the recap of the three runs I did followed by a brazillion pictures:

 

Friday
12.0 miles/1:31:47/8:29 average pace
Tempo run on the Stevens Creek trail in the south bay area near my brother’s house. I slathered on the sunscreen and cranked up my ipod and had a perfect run. I had forgot to turn my auto-lap back on after last weekend’s half marathon, so I didn’t even get to see my splits during the tempo miles. Turns out running by feel works for me! Here’s the breakdown:

1.5 miles warm up @ 9:41 pace
7 Tempo miles @ 7:42 pace !!
3.5 miles cool down @ 9:32 pace

Saturday
6.0 miles/59:37/9:57 average pace
Scenic recovery run with Maritza at Coyote Hills Park near Fremont. We talked and took tons of pictures and just enjoyed running together. She’s my running bestie!

Sunday
20.0 miles/3:00:23/9:01 average pace
SUPER awesome long run in San Francisco with Aron. This was seriously the best run ever. We started off at a comfortable pace down the Embarcadero. Then we hit several hills in the next few miles, but we kept the pace very reasonable and chatted all the way up. After we ran over the Golden Gate Bridge and headed back down the hills, we picked up the pace but it still felt very comfortable. We got back to the Ferry Building at 17 miles where Aron finished up, and I ran the last 3 miles solo. I felt so fresh still that I busted out three faster miles (8:01, 8:19, 7:55) and burned up some of that left over energy. I still felt fantastic though and wasn’t even sore after! I’m so proud of this run and I’m so glad I got to share it with Aron. She’s my dream running buddy because she’s so light and fast and makes it look so easy! She keeps a consistent pace and takes good photos too, hehe. She’s been a great friend to me and it was awesome to finally get to spend some real time together in person and really get to know each other. :)  
Pace by five mile segments: 9:30, 9:24, 8:49, 8:22

 

TOTAL miles for the week: 55!

 

Picture time! I won’t go into the details of the weekend but you’ll get gist from the photos. Lots of running, eating, drinking, and goofing off. It was fantastic. :)

I’ll start with running pictures:

Long tempo run on Stevens Creek Trail:

Shoreline turnaround  Stevens Creek 8.5Stevens Creek 1 Stevens Creek and selfStevens Creek bridge

 

6 miler with Maritza at Coyote Hills Park:

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San Francisco 20 Miler with Aron:

03.10 sf run 001 03.10 sf run 003 03.10 sf run 008 03.10 sf run 010 03.10 sf run 013 03.10 sf run 015 03.10 sf run 017 03.10 sf run 022 03.10 sf run 023 03.10 sf run 026

Random non-running pics:

My first stop in CA was delicious Mexican food (hard/impossible to find in OR):

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My brother at lunch – he can never just smile like a normal person. I love it.

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Loving sitting outside in the sunshine for lunch!

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Me and my adorable sister-in-law Bri heading out for dinner:

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Goofy brother Jon:

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Big oak tree at Pete’s pub in Danville:

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Post-run brew in Danville:

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My favorite store in the Bay Area:

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I got a new fuel belt! Wore it on my 20 miler and loved it:

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Going shopping in Walnut Creek:

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Beautiful Mitzi:

maritza crop 

Tara and Maritza drinking Beverly Hills iced teas:

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I went with a mojito:

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Sunday we dropped Tara off for the inaugural Oakland Marathon (she ran the half) She’s so cute!

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The full marathon started an hour earlier:

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Heading into SF for our long run:

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Aron and Kristen at the post-run breakfast:

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Cheers!

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Tara showing off her awesome medal:

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The whole gang after breakfast:

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Aron and Tara relaxing in the afternoon:

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Aron gave me this Ironman hat she got from the people at Headsweats. I love it!! It’s exactly like my other Ironman hat but it’s pink. :)

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Me and Tara enjoying some Hurricanes: 

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Ya-ee-ya-ee-yaaaa:

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Several beers/hurricanes later, we got a well-earned pizza:

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That’s it! Thanks for reading!! :)

20 comments:

Kim said...

jen, awesome CA recap! im totally digging on all the beautiful photos you took on both your runs (ridic run splits by the way) and having fun. you make me look forward to my trip to San Fran in July! i will need your recommendations!

teacherwoman said...

Sounds, and looks, like a great weekend! Love all the fun pics!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures and beautiful friends. Glad you are back safe and sound. We look forward to your blogs.You are totally awesome. Mom and Dad in Montana

Marya said...

Wow, it looks like you had a great (running) vacation! That's awesome that you have so many great people down there to run with, and those trails look BEAUTIFUL!

Glad you had a great time, and you really got me excited for my own California vacation in a few days! :)

Sun Runner said...

Stevens Creek trail! We used to walk there when I was little. :)

And: SPORTS BASEMENT! Is that the one in Sunnyvale? I discovered it for the first time on my vacation last August and I nearly fell to my knees in awe when I went inside. We don't have anything like that here in Michigan.

Aron said...

alright i need to get on both those trails you ran on! i am missing out!!!

best long run ever, seriously such a blast and it makes me sad we don't get to have them all the time! the miles flew by and it just felt so easy the whole time :) loved it and loved finally getting to spend time with you in person!

way to nail that week girlie, you are getting close to having a GREAT race in eugene!

ShirleyPerly said...

What a fun trip!!

Loved the photos and seeing some places I recognized. Every time I've gone back to the Bay Area there are so many new stores and such but the weather has always been great for running and it's been wonderful to see the few friends I still have back there. Glad you had a enjoyable trip!.

Unknown said...

Looks like a great time in CA! Beautiful photos and great job with the runs. It is always great to be able to go for a run with friends!

Marathon Maritza said...

Yay! You had an awesome set of runs and it was so nice to steal you away for the weekend!

I seriously must have been sucking down those hurricanes because I totally missed you taking pictures of the pizza, the TV, the girls and also, they played that Miley song???? <-- confused drunk

Hahahaha love you!

Alisa said...

Fun times and SOOOO much running---go you.

Looks like great weather too!

Danielle said...

Hi Jen, I actually had a question for you - I read thru your blog and it is all very inspiring to see someone commit to something so big and achieve it in such a wonderful fashion. I'm heading down the same path (first tri this June, with the eventual hope of something way longer) and was wondering how your significant other handled it, and if you had any tips. We are really battling now and this is just an olympic distance - I'm scared for when it gets longer.

Thanks,
Danielle

http://lifeloveandlongruns.blogspot.com/

Dragonfly on the Water said...

Love the pics & what a great running vacation!

Amber from Girl with the Red Hair said...

Hi - I'm new to your blog! GREAT pics!! Man, there sure are lots of BEAUTIFUL places to run in California. Wowie!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

LOve it when a long run is GREAT! I had an amazing 20 miler this weekend, but wow 55 miles?? Gosh I hope I can keep up in Eugene..

Sooooo speaking of Eugene... What is your pace plan? I seems to start fast and get slower, so I may need to start the race at a little faster clip. I will be carrying my handheld to pass the water stops. Anyhow, would love to have you to run with if you are game..

SavvyFitChica said...

Wow! 55 miles! Holy crap, you ran more in one week than I've done in a year. You go girl!

The pictures are gorgeous. I can't believe the wonderful scenery you experienced while running! Thanks for sharing.

Ewen said...

Thank goodness for digital cameras ;) Not sure about the Miley Cyrus one - was that after one too many beers? Where's the fog on the bridge?!

Looks like you had a great time. 55 miles is a solid week amongst all that partying.

Anonymous said...

I had so much fun hanging out with you this past weekend and it was great getting to know one of Maritza's besties better :) You did an awesome job on getting all your workouts in while you were on vacation! I need to go check out those trails soon.

kristen said...

Sounds like the perfect running vacation with lots of fun times mixed in! So cool you got to run on your old stomping grounds.

That hat is awesome. i lvoe pink lately.

Party in the USA!

Petraruns said...

well what can I say? I'm jealous - of the runs, the scenery, the weather, the running buddies, the food, the drink and the overall fun! What a great trip that looks to have been?

GB said...

I love all the pictures! So glad you had a great visit back to Cali. I've run both the SC trail and Coyote Hills. Great places. And of course you cannot beat running in SF. Good week of running for you, too!