M.O.R.E.: So Long Soledad

Saturday, November 21, 2009

So Long Soledad

Tomorrow is exactly 2 weeks away from our Marathon, and today was our last chance to get int a long run before we start to taper down. We planned to run 15 miles, starting at Peet's, heading to Soledad and taking it as far as we needed till we hit the halfway point. It was cold when we started at 7am so we kept our jackets on and headed toward the Lowe's shopping center. Of course by the time we got to Lowe's we were hot, and we ditched our jackets and gloves in some bushes and started the run up Soledad. Marathon Mom's GPS ran out of battery, so it was up to me to keep track of our mileage, and time our 1 min. walk breaks, Ugh! I think I did a good job, only forgot to look at the mileage, once that I confessed to. When we made our stop at the bowling alley on the way back to refill our bottles, and go to the bathroom, the smell of eggs and bacon was almost too much! It was all we could do not to order breakfast and call it a day. We picked up our jackets from the Lowe's parking lot, swallowed the last of the advil and GU, and set off for the last 2 miles of our run. We decided to keep the pace slow, and not stop at all, just run it like a cooldown. However, it was a little tough to keep our pace over 10 min, as I think we have a set pace that we automatically revert to. It was a good feeling to be done, (just in time), and we all felt good to do about 15.15 miles at a very respectable 10:31 pace!! We were really cheered toward the end of our run, when we realized that we wouldn't have to run down Soledad again (at least for a long time) since we were done with the really long miles. The next long run, is the BIG one, so this week, we are going to try to keep the running fun, like the Turkey Trot, on Thursday, and hopefully today's success will keep us optimistic about the Marathon. Oh, and I convinced the girls, that coffee and pastry would not be enough, so we had a wonderful breakfast at Denny's afterward, it was the perfect end to a very good run!!

2 comments:

marathon mom said...: I'm was very grateful that you had your GPS to back us up. I know I talked about not bringing my GPS for the marathon, but I think I will since I like to see the pace I'm running. It's weird, but in some ways I think I will miss Soledad Cyn, just in a nostalgic sort of way of all the pain and suffering we endured together there. I really felt good today, but I'm worried that we're tapering down too much, too soon. Oh well there's not much we can do about it now. Breakfast was really good and it was a nice change of pace (sorry about the pun) to actually sit down and have breakfast rather than just a cup of coffee and pastry. I'm looking forward to finding out what kind of spirits you and C come up with for the finish line of our marathon to celebrate. I think you girls are corrupting my morals. Before running with you two, I didn't even know what Patron was. Right now, I'm voting for champagne!; November 21, 2009 at 2:41 PM
Patty said...: I think it is the prevalence of liquor stores along Soledad that prompts the "spirits" discussion. I also have a feeling that you were in pretty good "spirits" yourself and have not been influenced. 26.2 miles and a stomach full of advil and GU may not be ideal conditions for spirits or champagne. I am sure we will be celebrating though!! FYI a patron is someone who frequents a place of business. (not from Websters); November 21, 2009 at 4:54 PM

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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.