M.O.R.E.: The Dirty Dozen

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Dirty Dozen

I don't think Marathon Mom and I were fully prepared for how uncomfortable our run today turned out to be! Our friend C couldn't make it, and maybe we just needed her to push us along (guilt trip!) or maybe it was the route we ran. I had a vague memory of a run that the hubby and I did years ago that took us to Decoro and sure enough that was the route we ran today. I had forgotten the part where we ran uphill toward Rockwell, which was a hard way to start a long run, after turning on Rockwell, we ran to Valencia, turned right and headed to McBean, and then took a left and ran toward Decoro. The Decoro hill isn't so steep, as much as it just goes on forever, we decided to walk a bit of it so we would have something left in our legs at the end of the run, (it didn't help). We took Decoro to Seco, Seco, to Bouquet (quick stop for water at Jack-in-the-Box) and then to Valencia, Valencia, to Magic Mtn. and the Magic Mtn, to the South Fork Trail. Once we hit the South Fork trail, I think both of us were done running, the sun was out in force and the legs had nothing left. We even stopped and walked a bit on the trail knowing we weren't far from being done. We came out the trail on Wiley, and headed to Old Orchard which is not our favorite because of the lack of sidewalks and the slight uphill climb, we were so happy to get back to McBean and turn toward Granery Square. We were just behind the very last guy and we figured that our Jack-in-the-Box stop was the reason why, but we found out that several of the runners didn't do the last two miles on the South Fork and just continued up Valencia to McBean, I have to say we were tempted, but we finished all 12. The one thing that went through both our minds on our run today was if it is this hard to do 12, how in the world will we get through 26.2? Hopefully we will have a selective memory, kind of like childbirth and will be able to get out and do it again in a couple of weeks! Map to follow.

5 comments:

marathon mom said...: Today was just excrutiating. BTW, it was actually more like 12.5 miles and that extra 1/2 mile means a lot to me! I just really have to prepare better for these long runs by making sure I get enough sleep the night before. Also I'm thinking that we may really need to watch our mileage during the week now that we are running more on the weekends. This next weekend, we cycle back down to 6 miles so we can continue to work on improving speed, but on the weeks that we are amping up the miles, we should just run easy. The trainer wasn't kidding when he said we would be well prepared for any marathon due to the hills we train on beforehand. As I was running up Decoro, I just kept thinking "how am I going to do this at mile 23?" Also, we have to be careful not to let the 10 milers or the 1/2 marathoners pull us through too quickly in the beginning of the runs. The hips and lower back are sore from the train/car ride after the run, which is to be expected. I am going to sit in an epsome salt bath tonight.; July 26, 2009 at 7:51 PM
SD said...: Wow that is a nice route!! I'm so glad you guys (gals) are posting the routes!!!

Someday, I want to be able to do that route. It won't be running like you did, but it will serve as a great walking route.

The problem I see right now, however is the heat. I think the only really good time to do it would be very early in the morning.

Y'all are great motivation to me as well as a goal for something that I strive toward.. Keep up your good work..

Also, I must agree with the amount of miles per week dealio. I did 45 miles this week and although it was nice to get a personal record, I found that I essentially tore myself up (blisters, sore back, swollen ankles).. So it looks like I will be adding more rest days and doing 4 days / week with 3 days off -- basically alternating -- instead of 6 or even 7 days..

Congrats on the 12.5er though!!

David; July 26, 2009 at 8:29 PM
marathon mom said...: The only problem with that route is that it goes right by my house almost at the halfway point and it was really tempting to just go home. You definitely want to do this route as early in the morning as possible since there is really no shade once you hit Bouquet and not until you're back on Orchard. I'm so glad that we found out later that all those runner that were so full of energy afterwards and talkative didn't all run 12 miles. I felt like I wanted to go crawl in a dark cave and they looked like they were ready to go again.; July 26, 2009 at 11:14 PM
Patty said...: There is a reason we start at 6:30! It wasn't so much that it was "hot" at that time of the day, but having the sun on me just seems to drain me of energy. It was also very humid, and I know we were getting dehydrated when we just weren't sweating as much anymore. I felt bad to write such a long post, that was basically the directions of our run, but other than that it would have been more complaining, which there was enough of as it was! I have to say on a positive note, we finished it, and I don't feel bad at all today.; July 27, 2009 at 8:21 AM
marathon mom said...: I feel better than I thought I would today considering how bad I felt yesterday. My muscles are a little tight, but that's probably more due to the car ride. Hope I can make it tonight, otherwise run without me. Are we running the COC this week?; July 27, 2009 at 8:41 AM

Favorite Trails

South Fork 3.1: Start from dirt parking lot on Magic Mtn Pkway and run to the loop at Wiley Bridge and return the same way.

Tesoro 3.25: Start in Albertson parking lot and take sidewalk/trail until it ends and then enter the water tower road to the top two towers where the ends. Return the same way.

Chesebrough 3.25/4.60: From Chesebrough Park, N. to Copperhill, So. on Bike Trail, turn around at Decoro, back up trail to power lines to bridge at park. Turn around at Heritage will give you 4.6 miles.

Chesebrough 3.5: Chesebrough Park down to McBean, south to Northpark Dr., the paseo trailhead. Take the paseo to Helmers and back. Very hilly.

Bridgeport 4.0: Fairly flat, run toward Lowes and under Bouquet bridge to RiverPark community until you reach the closed gates and return. For a hilly run, go north into Helmers and run up the paseo switchbacks into Northpark where the paseo ends and return the same way.

Chesebrough 4.0: N. to Copperhill to west side of river trail, run S. on Bike Trail past Decoro bridge, across Decoro to the east side of river trail, up back to power lines trail, back to park.

Chesebrough 4.0: From park down power line trail to Heritage Park and back same way.

Bridgeport 4.0: From School, cross McBean via bridge or street and head into industrial center on Ave. Scott Bridge and enter bike trail going south toward the train bridge. Turn around at train bridge and return same way or cross the bridge and head toward Peet's after crossing train bridge and back onto the Lowes Trail.

Heritage 4.0: From park, run up bike trail to Decoro, over McBean Bridge into Helmers, and into Bridgeport through lake trail back to park. Can be done in reverse. Moderately hilly.

Chesebrough 4.25: Chesebrough north to Copperhill, left to Albertson side of bike trail. Run south on trail to Decoro and cross over bridge and head north all the way to Copperhill on east side of river trail and back to the park the same way as started.

Cheese/Decoro/Helmers 4.25: From the park, down dirt trail to bike path, south to Decoro. Leave bike path at Decoro and cross paseo bridge at McBean. Stay on paseo up hill towards Helmers. Run up water tower trail once then continue on to switchbacks and paseos back to park.

Heritage/Bridgeport 3.3: Heritage Park south to McBean Bridge @ Panera. Cross and head toward Lowes bike trail and head east toward Bridgeport Park. Halfway mark is at park bathroom, head back by entering trail along the lake and back onto the bridge.

Lowes 4.25: Lowe's parking lot to McBean, cross the bridge and to South Fork. At Valencia Bridge, enter trail behind Hart Baseball diamonds. Continue on trail to Bouquet and across the bridge on the east side and back under the bridge again towards Lowes.

Peet's & Decoro 5.2: Peet's Coffee to train bridge path; to Decoro and across bridge; back down McBean side of bike trail back to Peete's.

Peet's & Wiley 6.0: Start at Peet's Coffee and head east toward South Fork trail and past the Wiley Bridge. Keep running another 200 yards to where the trail forks left and right. Turn back same way.

Peet's & Copperhill 6.0: From Peet's to bike trail heading north to Copperhill and back.

Albertson 7.0: From the Albertson parking lot on Copperhill, enter the westside bike trail and head south until the train bridge. Return the same way.

Peet's 8.5: Run to Copperhill on east side of river trail and return via train bridge on other side.

Lowes 10: Start in the Lowes parking lot. Enter the bike trail heading west. At McBean, cross the bridge and head east toward SouthFork trail. Continue on trail until you come to the Wiley bridge and head back the same way.

McBean 14: This route can be done from anywhere along the trail route. Starting from McDonald's across the post office, run to the end of the South Fork trail and return the same way, cross the McBean bridge and run on the Lowes trail until you hit Bridgeport Elementary and then cross Newhall Ranch via the bridge or street and run back towards McBean. Continue north on McBean until you hit Copperhill. At Copperhill, cross McBean and enter San Francisquito bike trail and run south on the trail until you are back at McDonalds.