Wed, Thu December 29/30, 2010

Wed: 20 minutes around Central park with Will

Thu: 20 minutes North Field after work.

I might not run the next few days. I'll be in Maryland, where the ground is frequently frozen/snowy this time of year, and I don't want to run on roads.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 (20 minutes)

Nice run around a park somewhere in San Marino with Will. Four laps took about 20 minutes, so it's a good-sized park. Shod, not completely trusting a strange environment with the bare soles of my feet in the dark.

Sunday, December 26, 2010 (20 minutes)

Another nice North Field run, slow and barefoot. Felt pretty good. The north field looks nice - it's very green, but I think the grass is kind of short and the ground is fairly hard underneath. It's still a pretty decent place to run when there are no bees on it.

Saturday, December 25, 2010 (20 minutes)

I snuck on to the North Field today. It seemed unlikely that anyone was going to object. 20 minutes felt good. I'm still a little worried about the bottom of my left foot, but I think that as long as I keep it on grass and stay very conservative, a little running should be okay.

I also ran with Will three or four times this week, and with Megumi once (20 striders in the mud). So overall, I'm feeling pretty good, although out of shape.

Weekly Summary: September 27 - October 3, 2010 (365 minutes)

I didn't do a tempo this week, which in retrospect I could easily have done. The bee sting on Saturday really pissed me off. On the other hand, I think this is the first week with six days of running, so that's a good sign.

For next week the goal is to hit a 4-lap arroyo tempo at some point, and increase total running a bit. Also avoid getting stung by a bee.

Sunday, October 3, 2010 (90 minutes)

Biked down California to start a long run in the arroyo. Around the far side of the arroyo, up to JPL, and back. Nice run, but felt a little sore on the ball of my left foot.

Fri - Sat

Friday: 60 easy, with 6 relaxed strides

Sat: 15 minutes. Stung by a bee on the North Field. This is maybe the eighth or so time I've been stung on the fields in the last couple of years. It seems like there's nowhere that's safe. I've been stung in Lacy and on the North and South fields, multiple times each. This has me pretty upset. It seems like the bees are only active during the day, and go into remission at night, so I can just try to avoid running at day time. The other options are to wear shoes, or to ask Caltech to remove the clover from the fields (seems unlikely).

Mon - Thu

Mon: 70
Tu: 60
Wed: off
Thu: 70

Nice progression run today - the sort where you don't even realize it's become a progression run until you've already done a good amount of progressing. Finished it up with four strides. I've definitely lost some speed, but I didn't want to jump in with a bunch of striders right away. They felt nice. Good vibes in general today.

Weekly Summary: September 20 - 26, 2010 (330 min, one tempo)

I took two days off again. I'd like to establish a pattern of waking up early to run, since working in he afternoon precludes that as a regular time. The options are to run after work or early, since it's way too hot right now to run during the day. The bad news is I slept from about 8am to 3pm today, then ran at 8pm. Maybe I'll just stay up all day and try to get on a normal schedule starting tomorrow.

In the broader picture, I have to realize that although I magically popped back into semi-decent shape after my long layoff for most of 2010, even running irregularly, I won't magically pop back into 15:30 shape, even by running regularly. That will take lots of patience and work. I'm willing to do it, though. So the goal for next week is 400 minutes and another tempo, hopefully a bit smoother than the one this week.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Fri: off
Sat: 3xarroyo tempo with the team. 9:24, 8:56, 9:15.

I felt awful. I had a cramp on the last lap, but in general just felt cruddy and flat. And also fat.

Sun: 60 minutes
Felt much better than yesterday. To the south field, circles, and home.