Pictures from Saturday

Trails in the Presidio

At a place they call "Land's End" at the mouth of the bay on the San Francisco side.

At the ruins of the old Sutro Mansion, looking South to Pacifica. Check out the windmill on the left, that's Golden Gate Park. That long stretch of Highway is called the "Great Highway" and is part of the route for the Nike Women's marathon. Half-Marathoners come out of the park and head to the beach for the finish. Full-Marathoners turn left and go down the highway and around Lake Merced before coming back the same way and finishing at the beach. The aid station that I've worked at for the past two marathons is on that highway.

Passing by the bridge on my way home. Finished in the cover of darkness.

Rollin Rollin Rollin

So that rest on Friday gave me an extra spring in my step Saturday, sleeping in did some good too. Doing chores first was a great warm up. I planned for a 3 hour run but packed for 4. Left late, had a great run, dragged my butt back to the apartment long after the sun had already set. It was a beautiful day. In the end I got 22-23 miles in a little over 4 hours. It was a great LSD trip (Long Slow Distance). I got farther than I expected, ran several hills, smiled at some of the ladies, saw some of the sights and snapped a few pictures to boot. No rain although I did get hot halfway through and wished the return of the showers.

I finished with a very, very cold ice bath - left glute and left IT band was sore. Brrr... everything under water hurt for 2 minutes. I was on silent scream mode for 1 of those minutes. After I got out I had a hard time keeping my teeth from chattering even though I finished with a hot shower but it did my legs good. The next day, Sunday, I felt just fine on my short 4.5 mile recovery run. They say it takes the body two weeks to adapt to the changes brought on by a hard workout, well if that's true then I am now totally reaping the rewards of that first week back into training. This train is on it's way.

Got some pictures to show off, will load later.

Refuge from the Rain

My next camera will take better pictures in low light conditions. At "The Wine Bar" on a rainy, windy Friday night.

Been raining like crazy around here. Decided on taking Friday off training in anticipation. I like rain, indoors or out but this is a colder type of rain, with cold winds brrrr... I needed the rest anyway since I have a big weekend of running planned. In fact I'm about to leave. Slept in, did some chores and now I'm ready. I figured scrubbing the bath tub was a good warm up:) There's a break in the weather and I hope it stays that way for the 3 hours I plan to be out.

So last night I pretty much stayed in until 6:30PM when I met club pal J-Few for a few glasses of wine at "The Wine Bar".. I'm a sucker for dimly lit, hardwood filled places, be it coffee shops, bars or restaurants. It was a 20 minute walk in the wind and rain, my brand new umbrella is trashed now but the destination and conversations was well worth it. We bumped into a fellow athlete inside and it was nothing but shop talk for awhile; so what races are you guys signed up for?, I'm worried about my nutrition for this year, did you hear about Kelvin's accident?, Zoom shop closed, my achilles tendonitis is still bother me, I'm feelling fat, yada, yada, yada.

I didn't have any bad wine but I'm easy to please. The place was warm, the people friendly and I was happy with what I drank. It was never really crowded, probably because people in general have a hard time finding this place, and I prefer my hangouts that way. As it always happens the good times are always over too fast, especially when there's drinks involved and it was back out into the cold. I'd run in this any day over heat and humidity though.

Shout out to fellow club member and all around nice guy, Kelvin N. I hope you heal fast and soon. Kelvin was involved in a bike crash at a bike race a few weeks ago. Out 8 weeks.

"Less whining more accilimating".

Ultra Running in Cold Weather

My friend J-Few just sent me this link, she grew up in Wisconsin and knows I'm planning to race there in June. The Kettle Moraine 100 is held in the same location. Of course in June it won't hit -15. A very entertaining and short read. How much is too much?