Week Two-- Mission Bay Loop

Ah, the second week of training is complete-- and while it wasn't great, it was much, much better than the week before. I was only able to get a couple of runs in this week-- specifically any easy 5 on Monday and a spin class on Thursday night. I was still trying to let my body recover from the wonderful flu experience from the week prior.

Monday's run was nice-- a little out and back up Sabre Springs Parkway and then up the huge hill that leads to the trailhead at Ted Williams. I took any easy pace for the entire run, coming in at 9:02 for 5 miles. I have convinced myself that I need to hold a pace like this for most of my midweek runs if I am going to get used to it. I have to say, it is very, very different than running consistent 8:00s like we end up doing during most of our runs.

Thursday's spin class wasn't anything to write home about-- it was, for lack of a better expression, quite boring. Because Nicole had worked late the night before, she wanted to take a nap when I arrived home from work. Thus, rather than running, I let her sleep and then decided to go to spin at 5:30. Spinning is spinning-- horrible music, sweaty people, and nearly an hour spent watching the clock. I know that I need to mix in this type of training (and that I NEED to get back on the mountain bike) but it is tough. With the mountain biking I get so nervous about wrecking and messing up my training that I hardly ever hit the trails; with spin class, getting there in the morning is a huge pain in the ass and the evenings aren't any easier. However, I need to figure out a way to get on a bike at least once a week. I might go back to riding on Sunday's but just keeping it easy and careful. We will see (once football season is over).

Saturday's run was picture perfect. It was my first back with the San Diego Track Club's Rock N' Roll Marathon Training Program. I spent the money on the program even through I am not sure how many runs we are going to do with them. With Noah and Taylor still out of town (lucky bastards), Jessica, Nena, Brent and I set out to do any easy twelve around Mission Bay. It was great to see some of the other RnR runners, like Richard, Jameson, and Lindsey (not to mention Bob-- who should NOT be running right now but does so anyways). With most of the RnR group doing less that an hour, we knew we would spend much of the run on our own.

As we left Hospitallity Point, we were clipping along at a pretty fast pace-- holding 8:20s for the first 3 miles. I stuck to the back of the group for the first few miles as I told myself not to get stuck with the speedsters and that I need to get used to running at "ultra-pace." Then I asked Brent (my resident Ultra guru) what pace I should be holding for a run like this (12 miles) and he suggested to look at it as a tempo run-- thus, I did. Part of the run used a significant portion of the RnR San Diego Marathon course (which I HATE). However, I have to overcome that nonsense. As we rounded Crown Point, the little group that I was running with turned around and I ran alone along Mission Bay High School, through the bike path, and finally caught up with the group at a water fountain right after De Anza.

After the faster group took off, Jessica, Nena, Brent, a guy whose name I forgot, and I decided to head around the entire bay, rather than turn around and run an 'out and back.' (Just a note, I hate 'out and backs' for long runs like this). Even after mentioning that we should slow the pace a tad, we still averaged 8:10s all the way back. Part of the problem was that we run that route nearly every week, as it is the standard Thursday night tempo run, so we just clipped along like it was any other Thursday night. Although we were moving, we still held a conversation the entire way back and nobody seemed to be too bothered by the speed.

All in all, it was a great Saturday run. While I often flirt with the idea of moving somewhere else, like Washington, Boston, New York, etc., you simply cannot beat the weather. We ran in short sleeves and shorts, it was 65 degrees nearly the whole run, sunny, and just perfect. I cannot, and will not, complain. While the housing market here in San Diego blows, you cannot beat the weather. While the rest of the county is in the midst of a deep freeze, we are in heaven.

Final Stats for the run:

Distance: 12 miles

Time: 1:34 54

Average Pace: 8:15

Elevation Gain: 399 ft (flat course today).

No real complaints about injury or anything of that nature. I only had a banana this morning, so it wasn't the best prep. for food. In addition, while I brought a GU, I didn't use it-- too short of a distance.

Next Week: Carlsbad Half Marathon. While I am supposed to run 14 miles, I am going to do the race instead and not add on. I am planning on running with Nena at about a 7:45 pace, so I am not going to run anywhere near Ultra pace. If Nena runs a 1:37, she earns an automatic qualification for the New York Marathon, and after running a 1:38 there last year (my half marathon PR). So rather than 14, I am going to run a hard 13.1.