Lake Chabot, Hills and the Heat
Today's run was at Lake Chabot in El Cerrito, and there were two big differences from the coached runs we've had up until now and today's. The first was that we were doing hills instead of a relatively flat course, and the second was that we were beginning with staggered start times - the slowest full marathon runners starting at 7:15, the medium speed full marathon folks starting at 7:30, the fastest full marathoners starting at 7:45 and all the half marathoners starting at 8.
Normally, I would rejoice at having the latest start time because mornings aren't exactly my cup of tea. OK, who am I kidding??? If I could sleep till noon every day, I would do it in a heartbeat! Sometimes getting up at 8 AM is a struggle. But those of you who know me well already know that.
On Thursday, I started seeing the weather predictions for the weekend, and the dire warnings about how hot it was going to get. I pondered for a little while, and had a conversation with myself about whether or not I would be able to get up early on Saturday. Then I fired off an email to Monica, our team manager, and Mama Lisa to see if I could start with the first group of runners. Since I expected it to take me 2 hours to finish the run, I certainly didn't want to start any later than I had to.
So this morning came. I would say bright and early except there was no brightness because the SUN was still in bed!!! I set my alarm for 5 AM. Yeah, right. I got up closer to 5:30 (still miraculous in its own right) and wandered through my pre-run routine in the zombie-like haze that I've come to accept from myself that early in the morning.
I had planned to leave the house at 6:15, to get to the course by 6:45 and maybe even begin running at 7. But since I slept an extra half hour in the morning, I ended up leaving the house at 6:40 ish, and getting to the course at 7:10 (here's a staggering thought - it's just about the length of a marathon to go from my house to Lake Chabot.....)
I got there just in time to acquaint myself with the surroundings, and then the first group of runners went off to go stretch and run. Coach Al described the course to us - 2 miles out and back in one direction, then 1, 2 or 3 miles out and back in the other direction, depending on what our target distance was.
He also reminded us of the importance of drinking water, using his own dehydration illness from the previous day as an example of what not to do. He also reminded us to snack along the way and drink Gatorade at the water stops to keep our energy up. He sent us off with a final threat - drink at least 2 cups of water at each water stop or drop down for 10 pushups. Gee... tough choice....
The first thing I noticed about the course was that it was hilly. Not that I didn't know that intellectually before I started, but it's quite something else to be faced with the reality of the hills. By the time I reached the first water stop at 1 mile, I was ready for a break. I was already feeling hot and tired, and it wasn't even 8 am yet! I had my couple of cups of water and a couple of cups of Gatorade too, then started off again. By about a mile and a quarter, I was having some serious doubts about being able to finish my 6 mile target distance for the day. I also had to go to the bathroom.
Then I saw my escape route - a port-a-potty just by the 1.25 mile marker. At first I passed it by, figuring I would tough it out, but then I realized that just after the port-a-potty began another hill. Ugh. That was the LAST thing I wanted to do at that moment. So I circled around, and headed for the port-a-potty.
When I was done, I felt a little bit energized, and relieved (pun intended!) and started back to running again. Up that hill, down the other side, up the next, then down again, across the dam, then up, up, up.... the hill leading up to the 2-mile marker was a killer! Then turn around at the 2-mile mark and do the same thing in reverse. I ran the hills as much as I could, but didn't give myself any grief when it was time to drop "out of warp" (hehe) and into a walk.
The water stop at mile 1 was a welcome sight as I came down that hill. Michael, one of our honorees was there, as well as Carol, the gal in charge of our team's website. I chatted with them as I stopped for my couple of cups of water and Gatorade, and asked after Michael's friend Dennis, who is also one of our team's honorees. Michael told us Dennis was doing better, but still not out of the woods by a long shot. I told Michael that I was dedicating the next mile to Dennis, shared my wishes for his health to improve, and took off again.
I caught up with another one of my team mates, Misty, on the way out to the one mile turnaround on the other side of the course - or rather, she caught up with me. It turned out she was having some difficulties getting back into the mileage because she'd been out with an injury, and she was having some stomach problems on top of that. We chatted as we completed the last 2 miles of the run - about running, about our reasons for joining TNT, about what had been going on in our lives lately.
Then we got to talking about high school. I mentioned that I had gone to high school with one of the fellows who's a mentor for the team, and it turns out that Misty went to the same high school I did also! We compared notes abut who we knew in common (she being 2 years behind me), and I was reminded how many people I really didn't know in high school because I kept so close to the choir programs. It also struck me how two such different people could end up doing the same thing together 12 years later, and find common ground from which to build a friendship. It was very cool.
We made it back to the starting point - 6 miles done in 1:54, about 19 minutes per mile. Not surprising, considering the hills and heat and all. I was just glad I had achieved my distance goal, because that's really what I was concerned about. I chatted with Misty and some other folks I knew as we relaxed after the run and had some snacks. Laura, from my parents' church; Alicia, who's been a terrific friend since the first day of track practice together, and some other people whose faces I know but names I don't know yet.
Slowly but surely, the conversation broke up after a while, as people decided to head on their way to go back and face the day. I headed back to the car, already starting to feel sore and wishing I paid the park entrance fee and parked on the inside lot instead of parking out on the street and walking in. By the time I made it back to the car, the temperature had risen to about 90 degrees - at 10:00 in the morning, and I was once again very grateful that I had started earlier rather than later.
6 down, 7.1 to go!
Normally, I would rejoice at having the latest start time because mornings aren't exactly my cup of tea. OK, who am I kidding??? If I could sleep till noon every day, I would do it in a heartbeat! Sometimes getting up at 8 AM is a struggle. But those of you who know me well already know that.
On Thursday, I started seeing the weather predictions for the weekend, and the dire warnings about how hot it was going to get. I pondered for a little while, and had a conversation with myself about whether or not I would be able to get up early on Saturday. Then I fired off an email to Monica, our team manager, and Mama Lisa to see if I could start with the first group of runners. Since I expected it to take me 2 hours to finish the run, I certainly didn't want to start any later than I had to.
So this morning came. I would say bright and early except there was no brightness because the SUN was still in bed!!! I set my alarm for 5 AM. Yeah, right. I got up closer to 5:30 (still miraculous in its own right) and wandered through my pre-run routine in the zombie-like haze that I've come to accept from myself that early in the morning.
I had planned to leave the house at 6:15, to get to the course by 6:45 and maybe even begin running at 7. But since I slept an extra half hour in the morning, I ended up leaving the house at 6:40 ish, and getting to the course at 7:10 (here's a staggering thought - it's just about the length of a marathon to go from my house to Lake Chabot.....)
I got there just in time to acquaint myself with the surroundings, and then the first group of runners went off to go stretch and run. Coach Al described the course to us - 2 miles out and back in one direction, then 1, 2 or 3 miles out and back in the other direction, depending on what our target distance was.
He also reminded us of the importance of drinking water, using his own dehydration illness from the previous day as an example of what not to do. He also reminded us to snack along the way and drink Gatorade at the water stops to keep our energy up. He sent us off with a final threat - drink at least 2 cups of water at each water stop or drop down for 10 pushups. Gee... tough choice....
The first thing I noticed about the course was that it was hilly. Not that I didn't know that intellectually before I started, but it's quite something else to be faced with the reality of the hills. By the time I reached the first water stop at 1 mile, I was ready for a break. I was already feeling hot and tired, and it wasn't even 8 am yet! I had my couple of cups of water and a couple of cups of Gatorade too, then started off again. By about a mile and a quarter, I was having some serious doubts about being able to finish my 6 mile target distance for the day. I also had to go to the bathroom.
Then I saw my escape route - a port-a-potty just by the 1.25 mile marker. At first I passed it by, figuring I would tough it out, but then I realized that just after the port-a-potty began another hill. Ugh. That was the LAST thing I wanted to do at that moment. So I circled around, and headed for the port-a-potty.
When I was done, I felt a little bit energized, and relieved (pun intended!) and started back to running again. Up that hill, down the other side, up the next, then down again, across the dam, then up, up, up.... the hill leading up to the 2-mile marker was a killer! Then turn around at the 2-mile mark and do the same thing in reverse. I ran the hills as much as I could, but didn't give myself any grief when it was time to drop "out of warp" (hehe) and into a walk.
The water stop at mile 1 was a welcome sight as I came down that hill. Michael, one of our honorees was there, as well as Carol, the gal in charge of our team's website. I chatted with them as I stopped for my couple of cups of water and Gatorade, and asked after Michael's friend Dennis, who is also one of our team's honorees. Michael told us Dennis was doing better, but still not out of the woods by a long shot. I told Michael that I was dedicating the next mile to Dennis, shared my wishes for his health to improve, and took off again.
I caught up with another one of my team mates, Misty, on the way out to the one mile turnaround on the other side of the course - or rather, she caught up with me. It turned out she was having some difficulties getting back into the mileage because she'd been out with an injury, and she was having some stomach problems on top of that. We chatted as we completed the last 2 miles of the run - about running, about our reasons for joining TNT, about what had been going on in our lives lately.
Then we got to talking about high school. I mentioned that I had gone to high school with one of the fellows who's a mentor for the team, and it turns out that Misty went to the same high school I did also! We compared notes abut who we knew in common (she being 2 years behind me), and I was reminded how many people I really didn't know in high school because I kept so close to the choir programs. It also struck me how two such different people could end up doing the same thing together 12 years later, and find common ground from which to build a friendship. It was very cool.
We made it back to the starting point - 6 miles done in 1:54, about 19 minutes per mile. Not surprising, considering the hills and heat and all. I was just glad I had achieved my distance goal, because that's really what I was concerned about. I chatted with Misty and some other folks I knew as we relaxed after the run and had some snacks. Laura, from my parents' church; Alicia, who's been a terrific friend since the first day of track practice together, and some other people whose faces I know but names I don't know yet.
Slowly but surely, the conversation broke up after a while, as people decided to head on their way to go back and face the day. I headed back to the car, already starting to feel sore and wishing I paid the park entrance fee and parked on the inside lot instead of parking out on the street and walking in. By the time I made it back to the car, the temperature had risen to about 90 degrees - at 10:00 in the morning, and I was once again very grateful that I had started earlier rather than later.
6 down, 7.1 to go!
Labels: Training
posted by Erin at 10:33 PM
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