My energy level and leg strength felt very good on my long run at China camp today. I started at the far east end of the park and ran Shoreline trail to Bayview to the west side, then back on Shoreline to the car. I started in the late afternoon but think that I always prefer to run earlier in the day because that is when my energy level is the highest. I couldn't complain at all because the weather today just kept getting better and better. No clouds or wind. Today would have also been a perfect day for a road ride.
Run stats: Run start 4:00 pm, run time 1:49, avg hr 141(75%), max hr 161, dist 12.3, pace avg 8:38, ascent 1000 ft, Kcal 1565, H2O consumed; 40 oz with 2 Elixr tablets, plus an additional 8 oz straight.
I am still a bit concerned about the knee pain I experience sometimes. The pain seems to surround the front of my knee but a little more bothersome below the kneecap. It usually starts to make its presence known after a lot of steep uphill running. It is possible that I have been pushing the distance and hills too quickly in preparation for this race. Very hard to hold back and because I just love running hills.
Today was a good day to stay on a trail with some climbing but nothing too steep because I wanted to rest my knees but do some significant distance. The trails at China camp are super fun and I felt myself surging though a number of sections. I tried to keep my hr in check and conserve the energy that I had during the first hour. It is hard to resist when all systems just want to go. Flying along a trail, keeping up a quick turnover, fearlessly jumping over technical obstacles is pure joy.
At the halfway point I stopped at the park entrance to fill my bottle. As soon as I took off again that knee pain flared up. I was a bit annoyed because I hadn't noticed anything yet. Luckily it went away after about 5 minutes and I never felt it again. The only other note I want to record is that I lost a bit of my momentum around the 1:35 mark. I actually stopped running and took a 30 second break before I started out at a reduced shuffle pace. I did get back into it but not with the same bounce. Next time I will try to had a little carbs into my plan. I think the electrolytes are great but still I still need some more work to dial in the right fuel plan, especially when running more than 10 miles.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Training for my first 25K trail race
I finally decided to setup a blog. I have been reading other blogs for a while now and figured that it might be fun to join trend. Do I really having anything important to say. Does it really matter. I am really thinking this might be a good way to keep a diary of my training and maybe a good way to push harder to reach my goals. My current goal which is quickly approaching is the Envirosport Stinson Beach 25K .
I ran an Envirosports event several years ago at China camp. It was a 20k although at the time it was billed as a half marathon. Since then I have run the Dipsea for the last two years. I just barely qualified for the Invitational group my first year and then trained super hard to improve my time by just a little more than two minutes. After having just turned 40, I think it dawned on me that I really don't want to put all my effort into just one race since improving my time at this point is honestly really not that much fun. Those type of workouts are really hard and for some reason I never look forward to them.
I really do enjoy pushing myself though, but I find the pressure of trying to get faster in a planned workout to be too overwhelming. I don't enjoy the anticipation of a speed work or intervals or hill repeats. But once I am out running, if my legs and head feel good, I really love going fast, or charging up a hill. I need that initial warm up and then the time to asses the state of my body and mind before I am ready to push it. When my all systems say go, that is when I am can say yes to a hard workout. For me it has to be spontaneous.
I have discovered that my true passion for running, like it is for biking, is to be able to just go, and go and go. I don't like to be intimidated by the terrain, by the size of a hill or length of the distance. I love the freedom I have achieved so far with my fitness which has given me the ability to explore. I never need to kick myself to get out the door. It is actually harder for me to skip a day than anything else. It is also hard for me sometimes to decide whether to run or to bike. I love to use workouts to explore a new route and that always keeps everything fresh. Somethimes I like to run a familiar route because I know the challeges but other times I like to just get out and then hit those route decisions one intersection at a time.
My plan today is to head back to China Camp to do a long run. I know the trails well so it won't much in the way of exploration but it should feel fresh. I haven't run there since sometime last winter and most of my familiarity with the trails is from Mtn biking. It's a spectacular fall day, after a week of rain and clouds the sky today is solid blue and the air clean and crisp. My objective today is to run for about two hours and to keep up a strong pace. For the up hills, here they are not very steep, I hope to keep my heart rate in the 75 to 80 % range. If my legs feel particularly strong maybe a little higher.
I ran an Envirosports event several years ago at China camp. It was a 20k although at the time it was billed as a half marathon. Since then I have run the Dipsea for the last two years. I just barely qualified for the Invitational group my first year and then trained super hard to improve my time by just a little more than two minutes. After having just turned 40, I think it dawned on me that I really don't want to put all my effort into just one race since improving my time at this point is honestly really not that much fun. Those type of workouts are really hard and for some reason I never look forward to them.
I really do enjoy pushing myself though, but I find the pressure of trying to get faster in a planned workout to be too overwhelming. I don't enjoy the anticipation of a speed work or intervals or hill repeats. But once I am out running, if my legs and head feel good, I really love going fast, or charging up a hill. I need that initial warm up and then the time to asses the state of my body and mind before I am ready to push it. When my all systems say go, that is when I am can say yes to a hard workout. For me it has to be spontaneous.
I have discovered that my true passion for running, like it is for biking, is to be able to just go, and go and go. I don't like to be intimidated by the terrain, by the size of a hill or length of the distance. I love the freedom I have achieved so far with my fitness which has given me the ability to explore. I never need to kick myself to get out the door. It is actually harder for me to skip a day than anything else. It is also hard for me sometimes to decide whether to run or to bike. I love to use workouts to explore a new route and that always keeps everything fresh. Somethimes I like to run a familiar route because I know the challeges but other times I like to just get out and then hit those route decisions one intersection at a time.
My plan today is to head back to China Camp to do a long run. I know the trails well so it won't much in the way of exploration but it should feel fresh. I haven't run there since sometime last winter and most of my familiarity with the trails is from Mtn biking. It's a spectacular fall day, after a week of rain and clouds the sky today is solid blue and the air clean and crisp. My objective today is to run for about two hours and to keep up a strong pace. For the up hills, here they are not very steep, I hope to keep my heart rate in the 75 to 80 % range. If my legs feel particularly strong maybe a little higher.
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