July 28

AM: 3 x 2-mile @ goal half-marathon pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 3 x 200m strides, 13 miles

For my last run in Berkeley, I warmed up to the track with the plan on doing a Fire Trail tempo. Instead, I crossed paths with Sam and jumped in his workout instead. It felt really smooth and a shade faster than last week on the same effort.

Splits: 10:36, 10:35, 10:33

As of tomorrow, I'm an east-coaster again.

July 27

AM: 5 miles easy


PM: 10 miles easy

Shake-out run in the morning, and one more run with the Strawberry Canyon guys. I'm flying back to Atlanta tomorrow and then am driving to Durham Thursday. School starts on Sunday, marking the end of summer and the beginning of the MBA program at Duke. It's been a productive summer in the Bay Area, but I'm itching to get back.

July 26

AM: 9 miles easy

Recovery run in the morning including the first half-hour with Tyler. I don't feel much if anything from yesterday's workout. I had meetings during the day and went to the Giants game in the evening, so just one run for me today.

July 25 - SF Half Marathon (101 miles/week)

AM: 20 miles w/ 11.9 miles race/tempo/steeplechase/boondoggle


So the plan this morning was to run a half marathon at goal Chicago Marathon pace: steady between 5:30 and 5:40 pace. This turned out to be easier said than done.

I went to the recent with recent training partners Sam and Reed, as well as former college teammate Tyler, who'd ultimately go on to win in a time one second shy of the Olympic Trials standard in the marathon. I have to believe that he's going to get in on appeal, especially given the race conditions. He's been lighting up the roads already this summer since finishing his collegiate with an All-American performance in the 10k this spring.

We opted to run the faster second half of the race course (half-marathoners have a choice), but were dumped out into the middle of the marathon in progress around folks running 4:30 marathon pace, which created some logistical challenges. I ran into a few people straight on while they listened to iPods or suddenly turned in the course. All of the guys around me were weaving in and out of crowds, making it unavoidable.

I started on perfectly on pace, running 5:39 and 5:43 for the first rolling two miles but missing the marker on the third. Then unfortunately the workout went south. The first half marathoners were finishing around mile 4 (meaning that there were three different races covering the same course at the same time), and somehow the group of six runners I was with diverted into the finishing area. Seeing all of the runners come to a screeching halt in front of us lead to a collective gasp of, "Oh s***."

In perhaps the most athletic feat I've ever accomplished and completely propelled by adrenaline, I launched myself over a metal police barrier and then squeezed between another, running back on course. Or so I thought.

By now, we could see the mile markers for the marathon and I started running back on pace, or slightly better. I stuck with a Google corporate team runner in front of me, who pulled us along to 5:19: too fast.

I backed off, and then by the next mile I looked at the mile mark and had another "Wait a minute..." thought when I thought someone yelled "GO LEADERS!"

Uh-oh. I yelled back at the runners just behind me that we'd cut the course. I caught back up to the Google runner, told him what happened, and lumped in with one other runner. We shrugged it off as bad luck and pressed onward. I was still feeling quite comfortable and in control, despite some hard turns and  steady hills until the last 3-4 miles.

Tyler eventually passed me again with a mile to go, and I was screaming my head off for him to get moving. I stopped just short of the finish line and ripped off my timing tag, which didn't do any good because I'm still in the results as a 1:05:38: that will happen someday for me for the full 13.1, but it didn't happen today.

The good news is that we only cut off a mile, and from different Garmin-wearers among the course-cutted, I'm told we ran somewhere between 12 and 12.1 miles. I finished with a lot left in the tank and didn't kick. This was to be a tempo run and strictly that. Thus, though the course issues proved disappointing, I crushed my expectations going in from the workout, comfortably maintaining approximately 5:30 pace depending on how far our route actually was. I missed a lot of mile markers, so I can't be sure. What is a little disappointing is that I may have been close to my half marathon PR today (during a workout!) had we run the full course. This proved to be a surprisingly encouraging day and easily my best workout of the summer. In the words of my GRC comrades, "The surge is working."

For what it's worth, here are the splits that I was able to get: 5:39, 5:44, 5:19, 16:15 (3 miles), 5:33, 5:33, 5:39, 5:40

July 24

AM: 9 miles easy, strides

First half with Tyler in Berkeley, and then added on solo for another half hour.

July 23

AM: 6+ miles easy


PM: 8 miles easy

Ran with Tyler in the morning in Berkeley, who's in San Francisco for the half marathon on Sunday. It was great to catch up for a little bit.

I ran again during lunch at work. I should have known better, but I wanted to run along the Embarcadero (since I really haven't since I've been here), only battle some serious crowds and lots of intersections. Running during work always recharges me, however.

July 22

AM: 10 miles w/ 10 x 1:00 on/off


PM: 6 miles easy, hurdle drills

Both runs again felt good. I'm hoping that all of these big weeks out in California are starting to pay dividends. I'm running the San Francisco half-marathon on Sunday morning as a marathon-paced tempo run. If all goes well, 5:30-5:40 pace will feel relaxed but fast for me.

July 21

AM: 11 miles easy/moderate

Just a morning run today, but it went well enough...past campus, up MLK, through Albany, and back through the Greenway Trail.

July 20

AM: 3 x 2-mile @ half-marathon pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 12 miles


PM: 5 miles very easy


I met Sam up at the dirt track for a controlled workout early today: we already warmed up and ready to go before 6:30 AM. We switched leads every two laps and comfortably hit 80-second laps like clockwork, extending the last lap to make it a full 2 miles versus 3200m. I only started feeling the "heavy-leg" fatigue associated with this workout in the last mile of the last rep.

Splits: 10:44, 10:41, 10:41

This will be the second-hardest effort this week. Sam's racing the half on Sunday also, and even if I only tempo it (as is the present plan), it's still going to be a long, hard workout. A shake out run followed in the evening. I felt tired all around and took it super slowly.

July 19

AM: 5 miles easy


PM: 9 miles moderate

Shake-out run in the morning before meeting Reed in the city after work. We ran at a decent clip through the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park, including past the "Painted Ladies" (from Full House). I felt OK other than a couple of pit stops brought on by late-afternoon coffee.

July 18 (117 miles/week)

AM: 21 miles easy/moderate

I struck out with Sam and Joe to the other side of the hills in the sunnier central valley in Walnut Creek. The goal was a 21-mile out-and-back almost entirely on asphalt: in other words, a perfect Chicago training run. We averaged about 7:00 pace on the way out but comfortably shaved off more than five minutes on the way home for about 6:40 pace for the entire run. This was one of the first runs in a while where I was done several minutes before I expected to be.

I also felt fantastic and had some great conversation. This was a non-fueled "adaptation run" (if that exists), where despite running more than 20 miles, I only took water and not gels, Gatorade, etc. This, I feel, has worked wonders in the past on long easy runs because it teaches the body to metabolize fat, which is critical during the marathon. If I can get in a few of these runs with some long, fueled harder workouts and long runs, then I can get to marathon race day ready to fight. I can't say it's the gospel, but this marathon long-run philosophy has worked for me for past successes building up to Boston '08 and City of Oaks '09.

July 17

AM: 15 miles easy/moderate, drills

I was only planning on 12-13, but I jumped in with Kyle and Nathan on their long run, so this is how much I ended up with. I felt great, anyway, and the morning was still cool enough that by the time we made it up the Fire Trail and into Tilden, we were well into the morning fog, dripping with cool humidity. The fog was thick this morning: the trail looked painted on a white canvas at some points, with nothing but white directly above and below in the canyon with less than 50-foot visibility.

July 16

AM: 9 miles easy


PM: 4 miles easy

Very easy on both runs today, and tried my best to keep it flat.

July 15

AM: 4 miles easy


PM: 16 miles w/ 45:00 tempo

After a short morning run, I made it to the Strawberry Canyon practice, where I jumped in a tempo run with a group of guys from the track up the Fire Trail. This meant that we started with 3.5 miles that ranged from a little uphill to brutally uphill. Kyle stuck with me through the bench about halfway through the effort to the bench where the trail finally flattens out for a reasonable stretch. I then ran the second half solo, turning around at the short, steeper hill at the gate near the lab, stopping back at the bench, right before I ran down the 3.5-mile that had turned my quads into mush at the beginning, at almost 45:00 even. I cooled down with Kyle and Joe back to the track and then ran home solo.

Solid effort today and a good mid-week long run. I'm going to be seeing more of those now that I only have about 12 weeks left until Chicago.

July 14

AM: 11 miles easy/moderate


PM: 6 miles easy, drills

Felt just smashing on both runs. I tried a new loop in the morning up to campus and up MLK through North Berkeley, coming back on the bike path. Drills at the track followed in the evening.

July 13

AM: 9 x 3:00 on/1:00 off, 10+ miles


PM: 5 miles

I felt really good on both the light morning workout on the Fire Trail and the evening shakeout on the dirt track. Turning a corner on my fitness before I leave California in two weeks would be awesome.

July 12

AM: 7 miles easy

PM: 9 miles easy

Relaxed shake-out run in the morning. Mixing up my schedule a little bit, I met Reed (Duke Law and bitter  5k rival) for a lunchtime run along the Embarcadero with some of the Aggies guys. This meant only 4 hours between runs, but breaking up the day felt awesome.

July 11 (87 miles/week)

AM: 21 miles easy/moderate

I waited until after the World Cup finals to drive up to Redwood Canyon to meet Sam for a run. A gritty, 21-miler followed. Since we both raced a track 10k less than 48 hours earlier, neither of us felt particularly frisky.

Most of the half hour was spent on rolling single-track with some decent climbs. Thus, while the effort was certainly there, the pace was not. After running with Caitlin for a little bit, we ran out and back on an open trail section for a while near the stream at the bottom of the canyon, finally opening up our strides a little bit, before we climbed again up to the ridge to finish the remaining 50 minutes of the run.

The last hour of running left us both dehydrated and sapped by the end after a constant barrage of hills and exposed sun. While Berkeley and San Francisco are cool (if not cold) during the summer, any trek to the Central Valley brings a rapid rise in temperature. I can't complain too much. It's a dry heat...

Days like today build strength and character. Even though we ran 2:39 total, we only covered 21 miles.

This ends a recovery week with only one short double the day of the race. The mileage is going back up again, and I'm ready for it. Friday night was a painful lesson that left me eager to prove myself.

July 10

AM: 14+ miles easy

I ran with Sam and his girlfriend, Caitlin, from campus down to the marina and the Aquatic Park (aka the New Jersey Township Industrial Park of Berkeley) early-ish in the morning.

I wasted no time dusting myself off after last night's suffer-fest and getting back on the horse. It's funny how mediocre races just make you want to race more. I know I'm better than last night's effort indicates, and honestly I'm more pissed than embarrassed about it.

July 9 - USATF Club Nationals

AM: 3 miles easy

PM: 10,000m race, 32:52, felt horrible

While this wasn't the focus of my summer, but damn, I was hoping for better than this. I went out in 15:59 for 5k, and while technically on pace for the target of sub-32:00, I knew I was in trouble. I fell off and fell off hard, suffering through an 11-lap implosion as I fell off the pack versus log a DNF.

I'm looking forward to getting in more marathon-specific work at this point. Clearly I have more work to do. I'm longing to get back on the roads, and I don't think my head was really into this race. Racing when not physically and mentally prepared proved to be a disaster.

The few positive takeaways from this are that it was a good workout effort, and I'm in no danger whatsoever of peaking too early for Chicago.

July 8

AM: 6 miles easy, strides

Easy shake-out run per the race tomorrow. This is obviously a recovery week for me based on how the summer has been thus far. The mileage is going back up north of 110 next week.

July 7

AM: 10 miles easy

Easy morning run on the Fire Trail. I ran into David and put in a few minutes with him.

Update: I got into the 10k on Friday night. I honestly have zero idea of what kind of racing shape I'm in, so I'm just going to throw down and see what pans out.

July 6

AM: 10 miles easy

Easy recovery run to Berkeley Marina in the morning before a day in Napa Valley with the family.

July 5

AM: 2-mile tempo, 800m jog, 6 x 400m w/ 400m jog, 11 miles

I felt awfully flat during this light workout following a late evening. I struggled from concentration lapses and through the cold wind commonly associated with San Francisco, but normally spares the East Bay. I held back from a larger workout in the event that I'm racing Friday, which is looking doubtful at this point.

Splits: 10:19, :70, :70, :71:, :72, :70, :69

July 4 (104 miles/week)

AM: 12 miles easy, drills

Decent run on the fire trail before my family rolled into town. When 104 miles feels like a recovery week, we're making progress. I have a real recovery week coming next week.

July 3

AM: 18 miles easy/moderate with 4 miles @ MP

I met Sean and Kyle at the fountain for the beginning of my long run. We started up the fire trail, and I was not feeling particularly spry, as evident by some laboring on the connector trail, a brutally steep 200m section. We pressed forward, and came to yet another steeper and rockier climb, heading up to Grizzly Peak Rd. This was also steep and covered in loose rocks, making for a tough 5 minutes or so where I fought to lose cadence and fall into a hike, rather than a run.

Once we finally did make it to the top, the climb at least rewarded us with a spectacular view while I physically tried to shake some of the lactic acid out of my quads, as if could somehow trickle down past me knees and out of the bottoms of my feet by doing so (no such luck). The day was clear enough that we could see across the bay to Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Marin. When the weather cooperates, the Bay Area offers some fantastic scenery that can break up the drudgery of the day-in, day-out miles.

We descended for what seemed to take an eternity, giving me some indication of how far we'd just been climbing. It was here that I happily discovered the Kyle ran for a small school in Minnesota and was a college teammate with none other than the GRC's own Dylan/Dwight/Desmond/Darrell/DeAndre Keith.

After I parted ways with Sean and Kyle, I made it to the dirt track right at the 90-minute mark, which had patches of mud from the sprinklers watering the infield. I took a gel and some water before hopping right into a marathon pace effort, clicking comfortably downward 5:40, 5:38, 5:37, 5:28. I stepped off feeling like I could have done more and pleased with the effort, and jogged it in where a smoothie, an ice bath, soccer, and a nap awaited.

July 2

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 7 miles easy

A pair of relaxed recovery runs. The morning was on the Fire Trail, and the evening was through the Berkeley neighborhoods and campus with core work and pushups afterward.

July 1

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 4-mile split tempo (3 laps @ ~marathon-half-marathon pace, 1 lap at 3k/5k pace), 4 x 200m strides, 11 miles

The only thing notable about the shake-out run is that I was out of coffee. That made it go by so much slower.

After work, Sean and I teamed up for the mixed tempo run, prescribed by the SCTC coach, Carl. Most of the guys in the club are either recovering or peaking for club nationals next week. As for me, I'm backing down, but as the last three weeks have shown, the race will merely take place during a recovery week without a real full-blown taper. This assumes I get into the race, which I have not as of yet.

Anyway, the workout wasn't that long but significantly better than the 4-mile tempo from just a few weeks ago. I ended up running faster than that, even with the "hot" laps. I didn't get to run those quite as fast as I wanted, but they were safely in 5k pace range. I will always, always need to develop my inner derailluer more. Switching gears doesn't come naturally to me. The good news is that I comfortably ran my 10-mile PR pace for 4 miles, even though Sean blew my doors off with a :66 at the end.

Splits: 4:05, :72, 4:03, :71, 4:02, :73, 4:00, :72

June 30

AM: 10 miles easy

Easy recovery run in the morning that included a stop for a train and another pit stop.

I had an interesting discussion later about the opportunity cost of running. This issue relates closely to the question I'm sure a lot of us get: "How do you have time to run so much?" The easiest answer to that for me has always been, "I don't watch much TV." Do that, and it's pretty easy to find and extra 90 minutes in your day. Running means that we don't get to do things like join kickball leagues, go out to (multiple) happy hours, sleep until noon on the weekends, and many other sacrifices that we gladly make to pursue what's not just a sport, but a lifestyle. If you're reading this entry, then you probably already know all of that. Carry on.

What is not often discussed is the true opportunity cost of running. How much are we giving up by running every day, or as was my case, 87 miles per week for a year? The chart below is my attempt to quantify that.

I made a lot of assumptions here, and while I was conservative with some figures (that I average 7:30 pace on all of my runs), I was liberal with others (excluding travel time to run or race, stretching, the gym, self-absorbed training log contemplation and analysis, etc.). Another key assumption I made here is that I could replace running 1:1 with a job that pays $20/hour without taxes, and that this job would likewise require no other commute or time investment other than punching the clock. I also included the fact that, if I gave up running overnight, I'd still find 6 hours per week to get some form of exercise to avoid total physical atrophy and to keep healthy, which would likely save me more in the long run.

So for me, it costs me roughly $7,000 per year to run as much as I did last year. It's interesting to think about because, yes, that's a lot of cash. Obviously, there are a lot of intangibles with running, like boosting productivity in other areas and feeling good about life. However, what this does give is a baseline answer to some important questions that I ask myself--admittedly too often. I'm really self-conscious about this. Here's the breakdown of "runner" me versus "non-runner" me:

Why keep doing this? Why "waste" so much time running?

I had written a few comments here initially for the "whys", but they didn't really reflect my thoughts on the issue, so I'm starting over after thinking about it more. The short answer is that running brings me balance and happiness in my life. The long answer is that, while running is often cast as a sport for loners, I've met many if not most of my best friends through running. This is true for my girlfriend, the GRC guys, friends and teammates from college, friends from high school, and many friends in North Carolina. In basically every chapter of my adult life the best friendships I've forged have been with runners. Many of those same folks have quit running, but the relationships and friendships stay the same. That's noteworthy. Critics might call running a sport of narcissists, but I challenge that based on how much time we spent supporting one another and building each other up.

All of the relationship building and camaraderie all complement the individualistic self-improvement, chasing goals, staying fit, and just the sheer visceral joy of the pursuit. To me, while it might be technically easy to quantify how much running cost, the intangibles of the sport in the end blow any sort of analysis like that away. Even though it's a sport often obsessed with numbers, it's really the qualitative components that get me out the door every day. Twice.