La Jolla 5k Post-Mortem

34:59

I was shooting for 30:00.

Ultimately, I underestimated the HUGE descent at the beginning. I'm very careful about putting excess pounding on my joints, so I don't even train downhills. As you'd imagine, the 6-9% grade whomped a hurting on me. I knew there was some hills, but I underestimated the severity of the initial decline and what it would do to me.
Basically, I saw the elevation color coding and flagged the red part as "this'll be tough" but essentially looked past the green. Green's a friendly color, right? Green says "go!". Green, generally, doesn't say "I will mash your quads into hamburger and make your lower-legs malfunction."

Generally.

All-in-all, while it was great to go down to San Diego, this race was not a good one for me.

I am still determined to break 30:00, so I'm going to find and register for the closest flat-course 5k I can find. The sooner the better. I want to redeem myself.


Exeunt.

(Oh, quick side-note: @MapleJen handled the hill better than me and beat me in the race. Kudos! Also: @RussellNuts absolutely blew through the half-marathon course, clocking in somewhere under 1:32:00. Truly impressive stuff. Again, kudos!)


Elevation image courtesy the fantastic MapMyRun.com

Day 14: Runnin' in the Sun(nin')

 while (john.run.weather() == "sunny") {
  john.mood.happy();
  john.post.insert("GORGEOUS");
 }

That's codeDork™ talk for me reiterating that it was, again, GORGEOUS out again today. Again!

I ran down at Crissy Field. Lots and lots of folks out running, biking and even soaking up some sun at the beach—a relatively rare site up here in San Francisco. It's normally a bit too "nipply" to enjoy the sun, but today was nice and warm.

This was perfect for me, because:

1. I really like the sun
2. I really like warmth
3. I need training experience in warmer weather

The Hal Higdon 10k plan I'm following suggested 3.5 miles today, but since I'm training for a 7 miler and not a 10k, I've been tacking on a little extra each run. As such I put in 5 miles and it felt great.

Nike+ says I averaged 10:24 minute miles across the 5, with little peaks and valleys. I felt like I was going slower than that, but hey, I'll take it.

Incidentally, it looks like I'm running the La Jolla Shores 5k at the end of the month—a bit of an impromptu race, but it fits in nicely with the training plan. A couple things: it'll be good to re-acclimate to race conditions—dodging around people, the crowd, the atmosphere. Also, @MapleJen, the reason @LosBee and I are running the race, said she's shooting for a sub-30:00 time. That's a little quicker than my normal loping Slow Mofo trot, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll have to test-run a couple times and see how I can pace it out for a 5k. Should be doable.

Anyhoo, great run.

My food was a little off-track today—I'm not pigging out, I'm just not eating as macronutrient-balanced in each meal. I also have to get to my abs and hips workout, too. But there's still time in the day, right?

San Diego 2: The Redemption. Kind of.

Another warm day in San Diego. @LosBee and @MapleJen were off doing lady stuff™ and @Russellnuts had to go to work, so I broke loose and hit Florida Street canyon again. The results were a little better than yesterday, but I still fell short of my 3 mile mark.

Ahh well.

I'm realizing how the ramp-up process takes time. I took a whole month off, probably gained a couple pounds, and I just gotta get back into it.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!

Sannn Deee Ahh Maaaay Go!

I do likes me some San Diego. Luckily, @LosBee and I were down visiting some friends and enjoying the sunshine. It was as sunny as usual, a little warmer than it normally is in January, and gorgeous.

I do have a wee little bit of an issue with heat, in that I tend to have crappy runs when it's warm, and this run was no different.

But whatever, it was fun. And gorgeous out. And everything.

While @Russellnuts went to tennis class and @MapleJen and @LosBee hit the spa for a little mani-pedi, I trotted through Florida Street canyon.

It's a beautiful place near Balboa Park. The run was a wee bit crappy, but at least I put some time in.

While @Russellnuts was finishing up, I sprawled out on the bleachers at a nearby baseball diamond and caught some sun. So good, y'all. So good.

Image courtesy of Snorg Tees. Now that's a damn fine shirt.