The G Running Diary

A Nice Place to Train: 4/4/03

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With the long runs that Don and I have planned, hill training is important. Last year we used to go out to Mission Peak one day in the middle of the week. That meant getting up at 5:00 am, running up and down the hill for just under two hours, and then not getting back until almost 10:00 because the traffic from the East Bay back to Sunnyvale was nasty. So, now I live in Mountain View close to a little hill. Rhus Ridge goes up for .9 mile into Rancho San Antonio Park. Although that is short, we decided we could go up it more than once for a good workout.

So here is what we did on Tuesday this week, and one day the week before. First just go up the hill, with some running, but mostly even paced all the way up. Come back down. Then, do intervals going up the hill. Run hard for 1:30 minutes, cool off, run, cool off, until you reach the top. It makes me feel like barfing by the time we are almost done. But that's a good thing. It's much more fun that working out in a gym, and the drive over there and back home is really short--10 minutes even when there is traffic. The days that we did this work out, we made it to work earlier than usual.

Morning workouts during the week are very short. When I run flat, it is just around my neighborhood for 30-40 minutes, just to do something. But instead of feeling good that I ran, I get mad that I can't just run all day. Even if someone would pay me to do that, I guess my body isn't ready for it (yet). And I shouldn't complain, because I have opportunities to do just that on many weekends coming up. Tomorrow (Saturday) is the American River 50 Mile Run. I expect to take about 10:30 hours. That will be running all day.

My previous times have been 10:18 and 10:16, but I think I was better trained for the run. It is fairly flat for the first 27 miles on the bike path along the American River. Then the run goes on trails that roll along, with some good climbing in the last 3 miles. The race starts in Sacramento and finishes in Auburn. Lots of people who run it say they won't do it the following year, because that first 27 miles are just like a road marathon, and they like trails better, but when the time comes, they all turn up again for this race (even me). So it is another race where I will see people I know, running or volunteering.