Maps and Outhouses

Trail maps: Get one. Outhouse: Find one. That pretty much sums up every Saturday run for me so far this training season. I seem to always get lost and always need a bathroom (note to self, no pizza the day before a run - even for lunch). Yesterday's run was pretty uninspiring - 5 miles, an out and back at the Hayward Regional Shoreline. I struggled, tired and sore from a hard week of strength training.

Last weekend's run though was epic! I needed to go 8 miles so I thought I'd chose some trails (easier on the knees). I found Lake Chabot Regional park.

There is a bike loop around the lake that runs between 12 and 14 miles. I'd heard about an "inner loop" for runners and reading my map (incorrectly of course) it looked like 8.6 miles. Doable. I dutifully woke up at 6:00am for pre-run breakfast and coffee and headed out around 7:30. The run was beautiful and I have to say, those are my kind of hills; gently rolling soft trails that feel like you're all by yourself in the woods.

I did however, as always, take a wrong turn. I actually missed the turn off for the inner loop trail and ran an extra 1/4 mile straight downhill, needing to turn around at the bottom and come right back up it once I figured out my mistake. And of course the trail that I thought was 8.6 miles was actually 9, so in the end I officially ran 9.5 miles....of hills. I was so proud.

Total time: 2hrs 30 min. Includes trail map download to phone, looking for signal, asking for directions and two pit stops.

Running with dogs

I desperately needed to get in a run this morning. After doing nothing all week I was feeling bad and more than slightly nervous about the upcoming 8 miler this weekend. So I reluctantly put on my running shoes only to find two sad faces looking up at me waiting for their walk. So I decided to take the dogs with me. Four miles quickly became only 3 miles; but 3 miles of tangled leashes and tripping over 8 random legs stopping in front of me for no apparent reason felt like a lot more than 3 miles. I can honestly claim that running with my dogs is more like cross training than running. I feel like an honorary member of the Squirrel Chasing Prevention League; getting a great arms, shoulders and core workout while I wrangled my beastly crew down the streets of San Leandro. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow :)

Exhausted

I had my first really exhausting week. None of my runs were great except for the mere fact that I completed them. I was slow, tired, and had zero energy. But this weekend I pulled from the reserves and ran on Saturday (4 miles) and rode my bike today. My first training run on the bike in months. It felt good to get on the bike again...well kinda good. I need a new seat, or better yet a new bike! Cycling is actually something that Jon enjoys and we can do together so we got up earlyish and went for a 24 mile ride on the Iron Horse Trail in San Ramon. We did 12 miles out and 12 miles back. The out felt great....the back, not so much. I was ready to get off that bike in the end. But, as exhausting as back to back training sessions are, I really feel like I accomplished something today that I haven't done in a really long time :)

Adequate

Sometimes it's perfectly ok to be adequate. I did all my runs this week. 2 1/2 miles on Tuesday and 5 miles on Thursday. They weren't fun and they weren't pretty, but I suffered my way through them nonetheless. And to be honest, I'm more proud of the five miles I struggled with today than the same five miles I ran last week....a whole 7 minutes faster. That's the thing about competitive events. I always want to do better than last time; but sometimes, just getting out there and out-competing the voice inside your head that is screaming at you to stop running is perfectly adequate. In fact, I would say that is what makes you a runner.