Which way did he go George?

Well this weekend was my toughest run ever. We did 16 miles up in Woodside, but I ended up doing between 19-20 miles because I got lost...twice. I probably could have run an entire marathon that day if it weren't for the hills at Woodside. These aren't normal hills, no. These are the type of hills where you look up and you wish you had climbing gear with you. I might be exaggerating a bit. Regardless I got a great feeling of accomplishment from doing my "16" that day. After the run we had an honoree picnic after which I went to a mentor's house and relaxed in her pool and hottub. Taking a dip in the cold pool followed by the hottub was very nice for my sore muscles.

One thing I have to be wary about on these longer runs though is hydration and keeping my electrolyte levels high. I drank a ton of gatorade on my run but eventually got cramps in my quads. I'm going to need to figure how to keep myself properly hydrated on these longer runs when I'm in Japan training since I won't have the same support system I have here. I can't say enough how much I appreciate all the help and support all the volunteers provide. They really deserve as much credit as anyone else involved with Team In Training.

Well I think I'm going to take it easy this week in terms of running so I can recover. Thursday at track workout. Hill repeats. Yay.

Did the Indians really do this?

Had a nice time at the track workout last night. We did something a little different from running on the track because we did Indian runs. This is where we run in a group of 5 or 6, single file, and the person in the back runs up to the front. This continues throughout the entire run. What made our run a little bit more interesting is that we did up a Vasona Dam, which has a very "nice" incline. I liked it though since the run got my heart rate up. When I started running I did a mile in 8:30 now I can do one in 6:30. I never ran that fast even in high school.

Saturday will be a 6-8 mile On Your Own run. I'll be headed down to Nisene Marks where a few other people will be going to do my run. I really like running down there because of the scenery. We run through very wooded areas with lots of trees. I like to be surrounded by nature. I hope to find some place similar in Japan.

I was going to play basketball today for some more cross training but there's rain so that's a no go. Oh well. I'll be all revved up for Saturday.

I think I'm turning Japanese

Well I'm back again...again. For the buddy run this morning we went 7 miles. I felt absolutely great this morning, so I kicked it up a notch on the way back. Last Saturday we did a run at Natural Bridges park in Santa Cruz where I ran 14 miles. My right leg was feeling a bit sore that day and for the week preceding that, so I took it slow. I ran the 14 in 2:05. I feel like I'm getting much more comfortable running these long distances. It helps when you're feeling good though. This Friday I take off for Japan. I hope to get at least 6-8 miles done this weekend. To help me keep track of running I bought a running watch made by a company called Polar.



This watch is amazing and extremely accurate after calibration. The 7 mile run I did this morning registered at almost exactly 7 miles give or take a few hundreths of a mile. It's an awesome tool. I love it! Well that's it for now. I should be updating this more as the weeks and miles progress. Until then I'll keep running!