February 18 - February 24 (75 miles/week)

February 18 - 6 miles easy with strides

I ran from home in the morning out to the Foster City turf field, ran some strides, and then went out to Half Moon Bay to play golf with my mom.

February 19 - 9 miles uphill progression run, treadmill

I worked down to 6:00 pace halfway in, notching up the treadmill incline 0.5% every half mile.

February 20 - 9 miles easy (PM)

An earl conference call pushed my run back to the evening.

February 21 - 7 miles easy

February 22 - 10 miles easy (PM)

February 23 - Lake Chabot 30k - 1:53:51, 3rd place - 20 miles

The goal going in was to get in a good, hard long run, and I accomplished that much. After cranking at Uwarrie last year, I still wanted to keep my effort in check, even if it meant ceding the lead, which I did about halfway in to two other guys as we made our way up some of the course's only steep switchbacks. Those aren't my strong point right now. My splits were all over the place, ranging from uphill 8:00 miles to downhill surges at 5:20 and 5:09. I would have liked to have won, but I was happier to not be totally wrecked this early in a racing season.

February 24 - 14+ miles easy

I stayed at Reed's place in the city last night, and we got up for a longer run through Fisherman's Wharf and across the Golden Gate Bridge and back. He wanted to climb up into the Marin Headland's for a little bit, but I had to pull the ripcord on that idea after yesterday's trail race. The run capped off three runs totaling almost 45 miles for me in 48 hours, so I spent the balance of the day pretty pooped.

February 11 - February 17 (88 miles/week)

2/11
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: 5 miles easy, treadmill

2/12
AM: 6 x 4:00 on/2:00 off - 10 miles
PM: 6 miles easy, treadmill

2/13
AM: 9 miles easy

I picked up Tim after work, so no second workout today.

2/14
AM: 10 miles easy

I'd planned to go into the city after work, but I got stuck in traffic and bailed.

2/15
AM: 8 miles w/ 4-mile tempo (5:23 average)
PM: 6 miles easy, weights, core

I felt just OK running this workout around Bayfront Park but was tight on time in the morning. I did run my fastest Bayfront lap yet (12:00) however.

2/16
AM: 11 miles moderate

I felt surprisingly good on this run. With my mom in town to visit, we drove up to the Sawyer Camp trail, and I felt good from the start. I hadn't planned on timing my run, but I realized I was moving at a decent clip. I knocked 10 miles in 58:00 minutes, clipping off 5:30s and 5:40s on the way home, before jogging back and walking in the last mile with my mom. I hope this spontaneously quick run is a positive sign that I'm getting into shape.

2/17
PM: 14+ miles easy

After working in the morning, I dropped my mom off in Palo Alto and got in a long run around Stanford and the Dish.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/235283070/

February 4 - February 10 (101 miles/week)

2/4
AM: 10 miles easy
PM: 5 miles easy, treadmill

2/5
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: weights, core

Now that hunting season is over, I can run on the trails in the slough near work (Ravenswood). Even though they can get a little muddy, it's cool to have access to soft trails near campus. I'm fine with Bayfront Park, but I can only take so many laps around a landfill.

2/6
AM: 20 x 1:00 on/off - 10 miles
PM: 7 miles easy, treadmill

2/7
AM: 10 miles easy
PM: 7 miles easy, treadmill

2/8
AM: 9 miles moderate
PM: 4 miles easy (treadmill), weights, core

I picked it up in the second half of my morning run, hitting a 5:24 mile, but I didn't feel that great. With a tough run tomorrow, I shut it down early.

2/9
AM: 18 miles moderate

I drove up to Mill Valley to meet Varner for a long run with a lot of trails and climbing. We were a little faster from the get go, making it to Stinson Beach in a shade over an hour, whereas we have been 1:10-1:15 the last few times. Moving pretty well, that moved into 30+ minutes of climbing that went from sea level to 1600 feet. We reunited and wound our way back down the trails that criss-cross Mt. Tamalpas, stopping for a gel about 1:40 into the effort. All told, we were on our feet for a shade under 2.5 hours:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/231429536/

2/10
PM: 12 miles easy

I waited until the afternoon to go up to the Sawyer Camp Trail, and I was still tired. This was my first week over 100 miles in 10 months, so I'm thankful to continue making progress.

January 28 - February 3 (95 miles/week)

1/28
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: weights, core

I ran at Stanford in the morning with NBSV and then went to the gym after work.

1/29
AM: 10 miles progression run
PM: 6 miles easy, treadmill

I ran the progression run around Bayfront Park in the morning, starting at 7:00 pace and cutting down to 5:41, 5:38, 5:36, 5:32, 5:33, and 5:24 over the last six miles.

1/30
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: 6 miles easy, treadmill

Just a pair of recovery runs at work.

1/31
AM: 8 miles w/ 12 x short hill sprints (~30 seconds)
PM: 7 miles easy, treadmill

Light workout in the morning from work at Bayfront Park.

2/1
AM: 10 miles easy
PM: weights, core

2/2
AM: 3 x 2 miles with 1 mile jog recovery - 13 miles

I planned to go to the track, but there was a soccer game underway, so I drove to the Sawyer Camp Trail for an old GRC staple workout aka "point-to-point on the canal" aka "Cherry Blossom tune up" aka "try to kill your teammates." The first rep was a net uphill (10:42), the second was a net downhill (10:12), and the third was an equalizer (10:26). I felt strong on this one for the first time in a while.

2/3
AM: 17 miles easy

I finished my highest week in a while with a run up at the Crystal Springs reservoir and XC course just before the Super Bowl.