Track Virgin No More

Had my first track workout ever. It was fun! I've never done trackworkouts and I was always eschewing the track for trails but it was time. I need to work on my speed. I ain't getting any younger and with some focused speed workouts I can minimize the loss of speed due to age - at least that's the plan.

Anyway it had been a rainy afternoon and it was raining when the cab pulled up to Kezar Stadium. Cab driver thought it was kind of crazy to be running in the rain but I said "hey it's San Francisco, you know how it is, you just deal with the weather" and with that I got a nod that indicated he finally understood. We don't have the crazy heat or the unbearable cold but we get a lot of wind and fog and this time of the year, a lot of rain. Our summers are the foggiest days of the year. Don't come in the summer!

Funny in the 13 years I've lived here I've never been to Kezar, a place with a lot of history - the 49ers Football (American) team used to play here in the early days. It feels and looks old but well kept and cozy. Imagine this at night with rain. Other teams were there doing their workouts. Despite the rain there were many runners out, going round and round and round - it was a beautiful sight.

It was my first time so I just doddled around and asked questions. I quickly fell into pace with the medium paced group, fortunately they knew what they were doing. They would yell out the next interval and kept track of the duration of our rests in between the intervals. Good group. My legs were sluggish from 3 days of not running but I quickly fell into rhythm. A couple of the guys in my group were fast, I know them from the Sunday trail runs. It really fired up my competitive side, I wanted to beat them to the ground - ah the fun of competition. When I succeed in dropping the necessary weight I should be more competitive with these kids, as it was I did okay. I was a little surprised at how quick the workout was but I was pretty tired towards the end there. Next time I can pace myself a little better now that I know what to expect. J.P. offered to give me a ride home (thanks J.P.) but I decided to run home instead. It wasn't a pretty run considering it was sidewalks and streets the whole way home but it allowed me some time to assimilate the new experience and of course, get a few more miles in. Next time I'll run there as well. My body is a like a car engine in a Michigan winter, it takes awhile to get it warmed up.

I shall be back!