M.O.R.E.: Sweet 16

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Sweet 16

To be honest, it wasn't quite so sweet and it wasn't quite 16 miles either. It was more like 15.7, but Patty and I ran it at 10.5 pace overall which is pretty darn good considering how many hills were involved. On the 3rd mile we got to talking with another lady who uses the run/walk marathon strategy and she swore by it. Since she runs around our pace and her marathon times have been really good, we thought we'd give it a try with her today. I have to say, it worked really well. We ran 1 mile then walked for 1 minute. It made the miles go by faster and the short walking was just enough, but not too long where your heart rate drops. I felt much better today using this method running close to 16 miles than doing the 3 mile run/10 min walk strategy I did last time with my 14 mile run. This was a harder route too. Patty didn't feel the same way, but I think it was her stomach more than anything. At a certain point though, you feel so tired that you start to get giddy. At least I do. It's a good thing I didn't notice Patty's shirt problem until after we ran, otherwise I would have had trouble laughing and running at the same time. When we finally finished, all Patty and I could do was just sit on a bench in the shade for a while. It was too soon to get up and stretch; however, I finally had to when my calves started to cramp. I'm glad we did it and that's it's over. I think we had 38 people show up this morning for the marathon training. Toward the last 6 miles of our run, it was getting really hot and we were hugging what little bit of shade we could find. Running in Santa Barbara will be nice.

6 comments:

Patty said...: It was not "sweet" today at all! I knew it would be a tough run today, but I wasn't expecting it to be as hard as it was. The route really bothered me with all the hills and running in the sun. I did not like the part where we turned off of Rye Canyon onto the Old Road and were running on the bridge with no "ped" lane at all. My stomach was a mess, nauseous and the side cramp made the last 4 miles really hard. You tried to distract me from my pain by noticing the beautiful scenery and being silly in the sprinklers, but I felt like I was done about half way in, and everything after that was sheer will. I did have to laugh when we were all done, even with our coffee and you finally told me that my shirt had been inside-out the whole time, I thought we had an agreement on those things. I am sore this afternoon, and keeping my movements to a minimum! Glad it is done.; August 23, 2009 at 2:59 PM
marathon mom said...: I honestly did not notice your shirt being inside-out until the very end when I mentioned that your shirt was on sale at Dick's. When I kept looking at, something just didn't look right, but it didn't occur to me that it actually was inside-out until you said jokingly "it's probably inside-out". I guess it was still a little dark this morning when we got up :)

I honestly didn't feel all that bad today. Like I said before, the worst part was when we were done and my calves began hurting so badly. I really didn't enjoy the dead skunk odor though. That really turned my stomach early on. As for the hills, remember to always plan on them when running with this group.; August 23, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Marisol said...: Ladies you are AMAZING! I am very impressed and inspired...don't get any ideas:) Maybe one day I'll be out there with you. I can't believe the route you ran. How are your legs even working??? Looking forward to running with you soon.; August 23, 2009 at 8:07 PM
Patty said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; August 23, 2009 at 11:04 PM
Patty said...: OK, I am sore tonight, hopefully tomorrow will feel better. Trying not to think about the "hilly eight" coming up.; August 23, 2009 at 11:06 PM
marathon mom said...: I think Sea N Sun and K should join us for the hilly 8 next week. It's not that long, as far as miles go.; August 24, 2009 at 7:37 AM

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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.