Gettin' It Done

Pleasanton Ridge -- Exposed climbing, but beautiful.

My clients have been *very* needy the last couple of weeks.  The Monday holiday crammed 5 days into 4 this week.  So, on several days, I worked, fit in short breaks for a workout and meals, and continued to work until 11:30 PM or later.  It's been a long time since I had to do that for several days in a week when I was otherwise at home and not overly scheduled (read -- the late nights of work were *despite* my best efforts, not due to my schedule being too tight or otherwise conflicting with work).

In workout news, I had a great week.  Possibly the best week in at least 8 months.

Mileage:  40.87.
Percentage sub 9:30:  9%.
Walking: less than 10% (unless you count the hiking on Saturday's long run, but I don't, uphill cardio counts by effort, not speed).
Yoga: 75 minutes in the studio on Friday (still sore)
Tabata:  7.  Only 4 more to make-up.

Saturday's day out at the Pleasanton Ridge Trail with a group of local running ladies was too much fun.  I can't believe how lucky I've been with the friendships I've made with local runners thanks to the Internet and social media -- it's definitely one of the best things that's happened to me in the last several years.  

It's not fair that 2 of these ladies are moving from the area and I just barely got to know them.

Most of the trail looked something like this (photos thanks to Cat)

The climb was much more difficult than I expected (this is one of the things that happens when you rely on super organized folks to do all the planning and you just show up -- after getting lost, of course).  So, rather than the planned 12 mile trail run, I watched the time and tried to settle for 9 miles of trail hiking and running where I could.  I left the group at around 4.5 miles to turn back solo because I was worried about getting back in time for my afternoon plans.  Ha ha.  The joke was on me.  I got lost on my way back.  After a few wrong turns, I finally found a single track steep "short cut" detour down an extra hill I'd climbed and back to the main trail.  Thankfully, the way back was primarily downhill, so even with the unexpected detour, I made it back with 9.59 miles total, realizing I could just wait for the 10 mile group and join for brunch.

Trail Run?  Trail Hike? Whatever. It was a great way to get in a good solid cardio workout while spending time with friends.

 On Sunday, I ignored my sore quads to join a different running friend for a mellow 7 miler.  We gabbed the whole way out and back, and afterwards, I felt the long-absent twinge of complete and utter end-of-a-high-mileage-healthy-week good leg and hip exhaustion.

Overall, I'm feeling very good about my slow ramp-up in fitness over the last several weeks.  I've got two upcoming events:

1. Pace a friend at the Seattle Rock 'n Roll half marathon on June 13.
2. The Corrigan Sports Sunnyvale 10-Miler on June 28.

I'm still looking for a few more Summer runs to use as motivation for training, so if you're local and you've got any suggestions, send 'em my way.