Laundry Day

As the title suggests, today is a day for cleansing (and more traveling – by train today) … cleaning out the staleness of this blog with an update …

Thursday.  Before my flight back to Gotham, I jumped up and banged out an easy run.  The route was similar to the one I followed during Wednesday’s Wind Sailing experience with the addition of circling around the local area a bit more.

It was a fairly pedestrian 10.3mi run … albeit the scenery was fantastic.  To me, SF / Bay Area is the most picturesque city in the country.

Friday. I’m less than pleased when I need to consult the calendar to determine the last CPTC workout I attended … September 7^th.  Good grief.  Since I was flying home on Thursday, I had to miss yet another workout.  This absence stung more than most because I missed my favorite session … hill repeats.  I love them … they hurt deeply, but provide so much stimulus for improvement.  The last (only) time I’ve run them with the team was back in April as folks were preparing for the Boston Marathon.  I captured the experience succinctly with the title: 6 x Hell.

Since my fitness is better, I did not expect such drama this time around … in particular because I would be running the repeats solo and at 6:30am.  The workout consisted of a 2k pickup at 10k pace, 3 x 500m hill, 3 x 300m hill and recovery jog back to the start of each rep.  The results:

I blame the extended pickup on pre-dawn grogginess.  Frankly, at that hour I could not remember if Coach prescribed a 2k or 2mi pickup.  Nonetheless, I felt surprisingly decent for attempting to get some turnover going before the sun came up.  It took the first 2 intervals to fully shock the system awake.  I still can’t believe the pickup was quicker than the first interval. Gah!  After the legs and lungs found harmony, I started to lock in and turned the screws a little.  With a HM tune up on October 2^nd, it was time to build confidence to scale these same hills when it really mattered.  The overall effort felt consistent.  I never sprinted (obviously with those splits), but rather focused on form (leaning slightly forward, keeping stride length short, not pumping arms too much, etc.).

All things considered, it was a solid workout.  Still, I would have much rather have run with my teammates … group suffering and whatnot.  FWIW – I felt like death the rest of Friday because of the travel, cross-country flight, early rise and hard workout.  That said, I’m glad I got the workout in because I believe I would have felt far worse if I had postponed the repeats until after work on Friday … more likely, I would have bagged them entirely.

Saturday. After that April hill session, I was extremely sore for 3 days, especially the glutes.  This time around, when I woke up, I only experienced minor aches in both calves.  My first reaction was that I didn’t hit it hard enough.  Soreness is generally evidence of a hard effort.  Instead, I felt leg weariness during the 7+-mile recovery slog.  At least that’s something, right?

Sunday. Long run day.  Whooo! Whooo!  Not really.  As you will see why in the Weekly Running Review below, I woke up kind of tired.  Fortunately, the plan called for a mid-distance run of 16-18 miles at steady state.  Uncertain of how the body would respond to anything quicker than easy pace, I was thankful.  Similar to last Sunday’s 21 miler, I incorporated both BPN and extended BPN loops (including the same Harlem Hills from Thursday’s repeats).  You might wonder why more hills?  Answer: They make legs strong like bull … good hard training.  While it took the first 3 miles to get into any kind of rhythm, the 17 miles in total felt pretty decent (8:30 pace). The other noticeable aspect of Sunday’s and Saturday’s runs were that I did them without the iPod.  Since we are 5 weeks from Marathon Sunday, it was time to put the music aside … I won’t be racing with headphones so it’s time to put them away.  No noticeable difference … except I was slightly lighter on my feet.

After the run, I scooted over to 5^th Avenue to cheer for my teammates racing the 5^th Avenue Mile road race.  At one point I thought of entering.  There was too much risk of injury and as you will see, I did the opposite of taper this week.

Weekly Running Review (Week of September 20)

Day	Type	Miles	Pace
Monday	Recovery	7.49	8:34
Tuesday	Rest	0.00	0:00
Wednesday	Speedwork/Intervals	10.15	8:04
Thursday	Recovery	10.26	8:36
Friday	Tempo / Hill Repeats	7.95	7:58
Saturday	Recovery	7.14	8:47
Sunday	Long Run	17.04	8:30

Total Mileage:	60.03
Total Running Time:	8:25:09
Pace:	8:25

Observations: I went to 6 days this week and a lot of hill work in preparation for the half marathon this Saturday. These are certainly the dog days of training.  Legs are heavy and the emotional rush of 20 milers has waned slightly.  But with only 2-3 weeks of hard training left before the taper, it’s time to nut up or shut up.  Time to run with More Fire.

Wind Sailing on San Francisco Bay

No, this blog has not turned into the home of some generalist outdoor enthusiast.  It is an apt description of my run in South San Francisco yesterday.  After an uneventful flight from Seattle and restful night of sleep, I hopped up to replicate the CPTC speed workout I missed back in NYC.  On tap 3 x 1mi @ 5k pace with 400m recovery, plus 1k @ “good form pace”.  Rather than decipher the latter, I focused on finding a route to attempt the former.  Given my location, I opted for this spot:

Baytrail along Oyster Point.  It’s a winding stretch along San Francisco Bay, south of the peninsula.  The “trail” part was not dirt (unfortunately).  Rather, it was a mix of sidewalks and asphalt right next to the water … picturesque (San Bruno Mountain, the Bay) and VERY WINDY!  Here is where the title comes into play.  As a relatively sizable runner (as far as most competitive distance runners go), when wind hits me, it hits me like a sail.  I do what I can to tuck in a bit, but it only results in throwing off my stride.  As such, I just try to fight thru it the best I can.  In theory, there should be a tailwind when I reverse course, but I rarely feel that benefit.

At any rate, with wind at steady state of 20-25 mph, speed intervals were challenging.  The scenic view did mitigate some of the pain involved, but not much.  The first two were rough (6:30, 6:30) in that I was well beyond a VO2 effort … not sprinting, but the effort took a lot out of me.  As I braced for the finale, I decided to try locating a less punishing spot to get after it.  So, my 400m recovery turned into nearly 2.5 miles of curving around the pier.  With no relief in sight, I decided to nut up and finish the thing off … 6:35.  Meh.  All in 10.2 miles.

While the splits were not great, I chalked up the session to good resistance training and, more importantly, I felt lucky to be able to run along such a beautiful spot.  Business travel can be a grind, but finding time to run in nice spots is a great perk.

It’s Always Sunny in Seattle?

My work travels have taken me to the Pacific Northwest.  I’ve been here a number of times, but this marks the first when I’ve actually seen that ball of fire in the sky.  I just assumed that “overcast and rainy” was the city motto.  Fortunately, this oddity and 58* temps made for a rather pleasant running experience.  After 21 on Sunday and sitting for 6 hours courtesy of  [insert whichever crappy airline you hate], the likelihood for leg stiffness was quite high.  Therefore, I was more than happy to sneak a run in not long after landing.

My route:

Lake Union

I took a spin around Lake Union in the heart of Seattle.  Yep, that view does not suck.  I admit that I caught myself looking around more than usual to take advantage of the scenery and managed not to face plant in the process.  Win.  Seattle can be picturesque, but those times tend to be rare.  The terrain was largely a mix of sidewalks along the pier, a few small bridges and some asphalt.  For the most part it was flat … until the last 2 miles, which were uphill … not the ideal thing for a recovery run, but it was ok.  My legs felt surprisingly good.  Monday’s are always a scheduled rest day, but the travel schedule required an adjustment to the plan.  I’ll be interested to see how I feel on Tuesday because usually I feel crappy (long Sunday, off Monday, run Tuesday).  It could be shaking out a long run the next day is a good thing.

By the way, after some solid advice from @mpatent, I’ve got the post-long run recovery routine down to a science:

1. Immediately after: Endurox, banana, brioche/bagels (or some form of carb)
2. Cold plunge in bath tub (10 min) sipping on sports drink, then hot shower (reduce swelling, encourage blood flow)
3. Contort legs to get into compression tights
4. Meal 1: Cheerios, toast, eggs, strawberries (or blackberries), CytoMax
5. Nap (usually this means blacking out for 20-40mins and wondering if I actually fell asleep)
6. Meal 2: Cheerios, slices of pizza, and some leftovers (can’t even remember now)
7. Walking around the city (had to run errands) to help mitigate stiffness, enhance blood flow
8. Legs up for balance of day and intermittent stretching
9. Sleepytime by 10pm (usually earlier)

The upshot is that these steps drive glycogen replenishment (note the carbs), reduce stiffness and prep the body for the next hard effort.

Back to the run itself … it’s always interesting to traverse new areas, so from that perspective, I loved it.  The downside of traversing new areas is that I always find myself looking around (and occasionally pausing) to make sure I’m not falling off the beaten path.  You might say “how is that possible given that you ran in a circle?”  I’m directionally bankrupt.  Still, I managed to find my way back to the hotel 7.5 miles (8:33 pace) later feeling lucky to have run in such a beautiful city (and not get lost).

Up, Up and Away

A brief update before I jump on the return flight to Gotham:

Wednesday.  If hard workouts are test day, then recovery runs are the day you receive the grade.  With so much emphasis on executing and recovering from solid long runs, Tuesday’s 8x600s provided an examination of VO2 levels.  In the aftermath was pleased with the effort, but that’s kind of like after a test in school when you feel like you did ok … might be hopeful, might be accurate, might be completely wrong.  Wednesday was grade day … B.  7.54 miles of suburban sprawl @ 8:32 pace.  The pace was closer to 8:50s for the vast majority of the workout.  I tossed in 5-6 strides to shake out the rainy slog, which dropped the overall pace considerably.  I generally like adding strides at the end of grinding “easy” runs to boost my mood and prep the legs for the next hard session.

Thursday.  On paper this workout looked easy compared to recent sessions … 2 x3 mi @ HMP w/ 1 mi recovery.  It was not.  Now, compared to my teammates who suffered thru the same workout in the horror of 91-92 degree + humidity back in Central Park, it was not death.  However, at 80 degrees + 79% humidity, it was messy.  I had a window of getting the run completed early in the morning during a thunderstorm.  It was comparatively more pleasant than what I ended up suffering thru 3 hours later.  Mistake.  Couple the conditions with the scenery (more silver automobiles … don’t they sell anything else in the ‘burbs?) and this “test” was as much psychological as physiological.

After a brief 2mi warm up I got to it … surprisingly the turnover was easier than I imagined.  The first 3mi was decent @ 7:15 and the 1mi recovery was ok.  Still, with these types of tempos, the proof comes during the mid to latter portion of the 2^nd half.  On this day it was RUGGED.  I couldn’t get anything past MP for the first 1.25 and that was punishing.  I felt the urge the vomit midway (sorry if it’s TMI) and briefly stopped to try.  I wanted to quit, but I was a good 2mi from the place we are staying and that would have been a shameful walk home.  So I forged ahead feeling like hot garbage and felt like I was sprinting to finish.  2^nd 3mi ended up being 7:13.

On paper it looks well executed, but it sucked.  Yes, the weather impacted the run, but being unable to regulate an even pace during the 2^nd 3mi was a pisser.  Granted if I were running with the team, I would not have had to pace myself per se.  Still it was annoying.  After a crappy 2mi cool down, the afternoon ended at 11.02.  Hopefully, in 6-10 days I’ll see some payoff from this week’s hard efforts.

Friday.  With expectations set VERY low for this recovery run (i.e., anything quicker than a walk would be satisfactory), I will say I felt modestly better than I thought I might.  We had too many family members to visit on this our last full day in Chicagoland, so heading to the Lakefront for a final run was a non-starter.  Instead, I hit the sidewalks (awful, awful to run on) and the occasional asphalt pathway where I could find it.  The weather made this workout better than it would have otherwise been 60 degrees… 6mi @ 8:47 pace.  I am soooooo looking forward to hitting the bridle on Sunday.

Hot, then Not

It’s been awhile since I have attempted anything quicker than HMP.  I bagged last week’s track workout since I was recovering from my first 20 miler.  Like every neurotic runner, when things are going well I invent problems.  This week’s manufactured issue is with all of the mileage build, I need to toss in something quicker to not let the fast twitch muscles experience complete atrophy.  Logical?  No.  But find me a logical runner.

No sooner than I let my neurosis take over, our coach prescribed the perfect antidote with this week’s workouts.  8x600s with the 1st 4 @ 5k pace and the 2nd 4 “a bit quicker”.  Since I’m on vacay, there would be no drafting or relying on others to set the pace.  Solo, baby.  Solo.  I set off for the blisteringly sunny Chicago lakefront again.  From all reports, summer made a return to NYC this week.  Same here in the midwest … 85* when I started, 91* when I finished with the sun on high and bouncing off the lake for added enjoyment.  I knew it would be hot, but I had hoped the swirling wind would provide some benefit.  It did, but also hit me like a sail throughout the workout.  The results: 2:12, 2:12, 2:11, 2:12, 2:10, 2:12, 2:12, 2:08.   Solid consistency.  A bit of a struggle to drop the pace on the last 4 given the wind.  On the last interval, I let it out a bit to make certain a negative split was in the offing.  Overall though, pleased with the effort.  Toss in a slow warm up, cool down and recovery at it was a 10 mile session.

In some respects, this morning’s recovery run was just what the doctor ordered.  Overcast with drizzle and temps in the 70s.  On the negative though, I was back in suburbia running on sidewalks with a view of every silver make of automobile conceivable.  People need some variety and color out here.  Not much to report on the slugfest from this morning.  The first 3 miles were brutal, but after I finally woke up, my mood and the run improved slightly.  I tossed in a few strides at the end to get that good feeling back as there is nothing worse than what a punishingly slow “easy” run does to the psyche. Total 7.5 miles

Let Me Interrupt …

… that dead space on this blog.  Hopefully, we have hit the valley here on amarathoner.com.  I mean death valley as in absence of life and blogging.  It’s been nearly a week since I’ve last keyed in my thoughts.  Why?  Laziness?  Maybe.  More likely wrapping up the last few work days before “vacation”.  I say “vacation” because we are packing up the crew to head back to Chicago to visit family.  It’s less a vacation and more like not working in a new location … the same stuff, different place.  Although, the benefit is that I am not in the office … so there is something.  What have I been doing since early last week?  Let’s see:

Tuesday:  After the 21 miler on the previous Sunday, I did not see much upside to running the assigned track workout with the team (4×1200 @ actual 5k pace).  While I felt not a single ache or pain, I wanted to make certain that all those little muscles that I tore up were well on their way to healing or at least do no further damage.  Instead, I jogged to, around and from the track at an easy pace to get circulation going.  10.5 mi @ 8:42.

Wednesday:  Getaway day.  We had a flight at 10am which put the run in serious jeopardy.  I guess a pre-dawn run was an option, but that increases the family stress levels.  Not happening.  Add to the fact a 4 hour delay courtesy of the idiots at American Airlines and the run was DOA.  Unscheduled rest day.

Thursday:  I felt fully recovered and a bit anxious to get on the roads.  If I don’t run very soon after traveling I get nervous that my legs will suddenly stop working.  Since I was missing The CPTC Staple Workout, I was highly motivated to do my best to get it done on my own.  What is The Staple.  8mi tempo (1st 4 @ MP, 2nd 4 @HMP) with no recovery.  I had never attempted the full workout during the last marathon season (Boston) since I was new to the team and in absolutely no shape to successfully attempt it.  Therefore, I was left to my own devices to try to bang it out.  I settled on this place:

Chicago Lakefront

Not bad, huh?  Benefits are obvious – stunning views, cool breeze, plenty of company and flat terrain.  I set off on Oak Street beach and headed south and then reversed course.  It was beautiful.  The only “negatives” would be it’s asphalt-only and there were a lot of cyclists jockeying for position.  There was a higher probability of getting run over.

I felt great during the initial 4 mi until I had the need to hit the restroom at the end … annoying.  Pace was decent at 7:26.  I was able to generate turnover much easier than during recent tempos (flat terrain probably helped some) and ended up at 7:18 for the last 4 mi.  I was pleased with the effort, but the real test comes on the hills of CP.  I’m certain there will be another 2×4 tempo coming though. 10.1mi @ 7:38 (with warm up and cool down).

Friday:  Standard recovery run amid suburban sprawl.  Truly nothing to see here.  7 mi @ 8:37.

Saturday:  Since August started I have rested the day before the long run.  Monday was scheduled.  Wednesday was unscheduled.  Therefore, I had to go off plan and get something done on Saturday.  Why?  I’m nuts.  The other reason was we were back along the Lakefront and I could not pass up the opportunity to run with the city as a backdrop.  In this case I had company … my wife.  We ran together for 5 lovely miles.

Sunday:  Long run day.  I would be remise if I failed to mention the weather in Chicago since we arrived … PERFECT.  Low to mid 70s without a trace of humidity … until Sunday.  I’d followed reports that summer would return so I planned on an early run.  Apparently it was not early enough.  The location of the run was here:

Now, I’m largely a city kid in my adult years.  As far as I’m concerned, this was the Amazon.  There were no water fountains … only 2 water pumps.  No lush restrooms.  Only outhouses and port-a-potties.  And certainly no friendly street vendors selling Gatorade.  The route itself was simple in theory.  9.5 mi loop on limestone amid swamps, corn fields and a whole bunch of forest.  My concerns were equally simple … not get lost.  You would think navigating a circle would be easy … meh.  Too bad my Garmin does not have a “Never Lost” feature where you can punch in a route and it commands you to “turn left at 30 feet” etc.  Instead, I had to follow the marked path and occasional passersby (fellow runners, off-road cyclists, walkers and cross-country skiers).

I came loaded … handheld, 2 GUs, plus more supplies left in the rental car.  The terrain itself was hilly … from rolling (constant) to scaling (select spots).  As such, the pace would have to be reduced to avoid bonking.  Save for the 8 foot deer I saw, the first loop was uneventful.  Temps were not too bad  - 70* and moderate humidity.  The sun started to become an issue in the more open areas, but the tree cover seemed to help.  I finished up feeling pretty good.

Now … do it again, but with the temps at 85* and humidity at 67% (I checked during the fuel refill at the car).  Oh yeah, and those hills I mentioned but did not feel on the first loop.  Foot,  meet ass.  Begin kicking repeatedly.  The 2nd time around was rough.  Legs felt like lead from mile 10-13.  I only perked up at that point because I got lost.  I was distracted by an ambulance picking up someone stranded (told you this was the woods) and missed my turn.  I realized my mistake after about .5 mi and retraced my steps and righted the ship.

From mile 14 on was work.   The sun was baking me and I was getting destroyed by mosquitos (I knew I was in trouble when I saw locals spraying insect repellant at the start).   Long runs are meant to be hard.  Not necessarily in the donate-quarts-of-blood-to-insects-hard, but hard nonetheless.  Good training.  Also, friendly folks.  Everyone I passed waved and the scenery was gorgeous.  I’m sure I’ll return next week for a shorter version.  The change from CP was pleasant, but definitely made me appreciate the convenience of my local park.  Total: 19.1 mi @ 8:47.

Monday:  Today is a special day … it’s been exactly 365 days since this blog went live.  August 30, 2009 I set off to capture and publish my running thoughts.  Here we are 1 year later … hopefully wiser, definitely more fit and thankful for all of the comments and experiences shared on these Interwebs.  Happy Birthday.  And thanks to all of you for following this little dog and pony show.  :-)

Land of Gatsby

This past weekend we retired to our estate in the Hamptons schlepped to our friend’s place in East Hampton to visit, let the kids swim, etc.  We’ve been in New York for 8 years and it was our first adventure to the land of Great Gatsby.  No particular prejudice against the tony spots on the Atlantic.  Either work or work or work have tended to interfere with past opportunities to head 3+ hours east of NYC for a weekend of frolicking.  Since I saw no reason to object, we made the trek.  Considering all the crap I put my wife thru with this running business, it’s the least I could do.  My one MAJOR reservation was how/where/when could I get a medium run accomplished.  It’s well-established that I am in full-on selfish Marathon mode, so I really don’t care much about anyone else’s needs (for the most part) as long as I get in my workouts.

Our location, while stunningly beautiful (think Northern California/Muir Woods) and peaceful, I was uncertain about running possibilities as I was not comfortable enough to attempt a trail run.  I’m directionally-challenged and traversing thru the woods with wildlife (remember, I’m not a fan of raccoons, so anything larger is a non-starter) with wild turkeys, deer, etc. could potentially pose a problem. City boy.  Instead, I pulled out my map like Christopher Columbus and attempted to cobble together a route on the roads. As part of our visit, our guests took us to Main Beach:

I had hoped there might be an access road that I could follow, but only sandy beaches … for shorter stuff, it would have worked.  Still, I figured I could run from their house thru town down to the beach and back (a couple of times) to get in the distance.  The issues with this plan were the following: there was a 108% chance I would get lost and the hills were more than what I wanted to deal with on this Sunday.  We are talking about miles of severe incline.  I had no other choice, so I went to bed on Saturday a bit apprehensive about getting in the run … scheduled for 6:30 am on Sunday as we had plans later in the day to visit mutual friends on their estate (think Great Gatsby or better, the Place of Versailles).

On Sunday morning, I steeled myself to get lost and suffer the shame of having to call for a pick up.  As I was about to leave the house, I noticed cyclists and motorcycles riding past on an adjacent road.  The light bulb went off.  That route could not be too awful if folks on 2 wheels used it. Most importantly, it was a straight shoot.  Even I could manage not to get lost if you never turn.  Therefore, off I went for a series of loops on Swamp Rd. (not making this up) in the midst of the Northeast Harbor Forest Preserve.

I saw no wildlife, but plenty of bikers and a couple of runners and one weird dude walking the entire route talking on a cell phone.  I settled into a nice little rhythm and since I had my handheld I could drink on the go.  Only after the first 8+ miles I needed to swing back by the house for a refill of Gatorade that I left in the driveway.  I saw our host, who looked hopeful, but was crestfallen when I told him I was only about 50% done.  Previously, I told them NOT to wait for me to eat breakfast.  More of the same on the back half of the run.  I felt pretty good.  I didn’t toss in any speedier miles since this was a cut back week in miles and intensity.  In total, 15 miles @ 8:32 pace.

My cool down was sweet. Since our guests had a pool, I literally jogged into their backyard, hit the outdoor shower to rinse off the sweat and grime and proceeded to soak and stretch in the pool.  When I told my wife and our hosts how long I went, they all looked flabbergasted (I didn’t have the heart to tell my wife what’s coming next Sunday).  Not a bad turn of events … from the run being in real jeopardy to a very solid effort to chilling in a pool sipping on some Endurox.  While the land of Great Gatsby will not become anything resembling a regular occurrence (just not our thing), a periodic stop may not be so bad after all.

24 in 24

The elephant in the room post-Tuesday’s double for 15m would be how the legs would respond after a good night of minimal sleep.  I had every intention of getting to bed by 9pm, but it just did not happen.  Assorted distractions, principally packing for the return flight to NYC (which is not happening because I AM NEVER LEAVING PALO ALTO!) and answering email, etc. conspired against enjoying a big time night of slumber.  If memory serves, I powered off the devices around 11:15 and probably dozed off 30 minutes later.  As usual, I woke up 4:30am, well before the alarm.  I refused to get up and eventually fell back asleep and started the day at more rationale hour – 5:45am.

Since I’m over-the-hill now, I fully intended a grandpa shuffle recovery run.  For the first few miles it definitely felt like it.  I’m nothing if not a creature of habit, so I rumbled along the Campus Drive Loop again.  The only downside to the route is that it’s largely on asphalt – me no likey.  For much of the run I ran along the side of the path on dirt.   Unlike yesterday, I noticed many more runners during this workout, including a couple of beasts.  I even got a CPTC shout out (wore an orange singlet) as someone recognized the club.

The time flew by and before I knew it, I completed the loop and came upon Stanford’s track again.  Funny how I always seem to end up on the track … my future?  Since this would be my last run in PA (I AM NEVER LEAVING PALO ALTO!!!!) I decided to add a few laps before heading back to the hotel.  I lost count and was about to pack it in when I noticed vats of Gatorade on the path between the track and tennis stadiums.  I trotted over and saw cups calling my name.  So, took it upon myself to have a couple of cups of G!  It was cold too!!  I AM NEVER LEAVING PALO ALTO!!!  I continued on and added a couple more laps when I finally shut it down and headed back to the hotel.  Final results … another 8.5 miles at 8:58 pace … I started at 9:30, but eventually loosened up and got a wee bit quicker.

So between the hours of 6am on Tuesday and 6am on Wednesday, I logged 23.6 miles in 24 hours.  Boom.

Circling Stanford

So if I hate LA, I loves me some Bay Area. I could very easily live here. The climate is perfect. It’s breathtakingly picturesque. It’s very much an outdoor, adventure, endurance culture. And I’m a not so-closeted tech-geek. For this trip, I’m actually stationed in Palo Alto … satisfying the last of the aforementioned “loves” – technology. While the day was jam-packed with meetings, I managed to squeeze in some quality running.

I have been dying to run on Stanford’s ridiculously beautiful campus. A few weeks ago I contacted a teammate for potential routes as he recently ran for the Cardinal. Among others, he gave me the Campus Drive Loop, which I gladly explored. I left my hotel and jogged down Palm Road. Yes, it’s lined with palm trees.

I’ve been to Stanford a few times but always in a car and in a drive-by situation. This would be my first running experience. On Campus Drive, I trotted by Cobb Track and Angell Field (Stanford’s track) and made a mental note to swing by at the end of my run. Sufficiently warmed up after 2 miles, I decided to attempt a tempo at MP (7:35). After about a 1.5 miles, it felt a little too much like work for what I had planned for the day, so I backed off and just ran at a comfortable pace.

After completing the loop, I kept rolling until I hit the track stadium. Surprisingly, it was not locked. I saw a kid’s camp (lots of complaining going on), a trainer with a number of his clients and a few stragglers working out. I decided to jog for 800m and snap a couple of pics:

I screwed up most of the pictures (hence why I never take them), but those were the best of the bunch. Then I wheeled back toward Palm Drive to return to my hotel … it is a business trip. Gotta get to work! A solid start to the day with 8 miles at 8:27 pace.

Oh, but we are not done! Hardly peeps! After a day of endless meetings, I made certain I that doubled down on the Big Red goodness. I washed the running gear after the morning run and it was sufficiently dry to go out for round 2. Same route, same perfect weather, but with more peace of mind that I knew where I was going … despite being a circular route, I tend to be directionally challenged …

I expected to the legs to be heavy or at a minimum not as responsive as they were 8 hours earlier. Nope. I felt strong … more relaxed and in sync. (I wore the compression socks after the morning run.) Actually, I kind of hit a zone for a while, which certainly has not been the case for the last few weeks. I felt the best I have in quite some time. Not having to contend with 85% humidity will tend to do that to you. I didn’t pay attention to the watch and only glanced down towards the end of the run and noticed a significantly quicker pace. I was getting stronger as the run progressed and could have easily posted bigger mileage, but felt that 7 miles at 8:15 pace was a good effort for the second stint.

The obvious reason for the double is that it’s not every day I can whirl around a stunning, bucolic campus for distance. The other reason is that doubles will very soon find a slot in the regular routine. Marathon training plan coming …

For the day, a fantastic 15 miles. Also, confirmation of two certainties: (1) I’m not broken and (2) I’m never leaving Palo Alto.