It’s been another week of slow but not very easy runs for me. I guess it was still because of the blood donation last week? It seems to take longer to bounce back from those the older I get. But I finally had an easy run today that actually felt like it, so I think I’ve turned a corner.
I wound up taking a rest day Monday. Tuesday, I ran before work, 4 miles at a 9:39/mile average. That evening, I really didn’t feel like running intervals, but I knew we’d skip this coming week because of Fourth of July, so I made myself go.
We started with a 1200, which I ran in 5:35 (7:20/mile pace.) Then we ran two 800s; my splits were 3:43 (7:10) and 3:47 (7:18.) Finally, we ran three 400s, which I ran in 1:48 (7:01), 1:45 (6:56) and 1:46 (6:56.) My legs felt NUMB on all of those intervals, like they weren’t getting any oxygen. It was tough!
With a warm up and cool down, I ran another 4 miles.
Wednesday, I ran again before work, 3.1 miles at a 9:36/mile average, and in the evening, Clark and I met the run club in Vista and I ran 3.9 hilly miles with Shawn, also at a 9:36/mile average.
I took a rest day Thursday. Today, I ran 5 miles in the middle of the afternoon at a 9:12/mile pace and didn’t feel like I was going to die the whole way. Which hadn’t happened in a while!
That also finished off June — and half the year! — so here’s my monthly summary.
Mileage:
Week 1 (June 1-3): 10.1 miles
Week 2 (June 4-10): 39.5
Week 3 (June 11-17): 24.4
Week 4 (June 18-24): 27.3
Week 5 (June 25-30): 27
Total: 128.3 miles
I only ran one race this month, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Diego, which went pretty well.
In July, I have zero races planned. I’m just training for the Balboa Park 8-Miler and Hood to Coast, both in August.
This weekend, I’m running tomorrow with the group as usual, but Karen can’t make it, so Kathy and I are meeting her at her house for a hilly run Sunday morning. Other than that, Clark and I will likely be out enjoying the weather. June Gloom is outta here, nothing but sunshine in the 10-day forecast!
Saturday morning, I met the running group early, and ran 5 miles at a 9:55/mile average with Kathy.
Sierra was already bored haha.
While we were running, Kathy convinced me to come to Oceanside later in the morning to walk in the 4th of July parade (which seemed a little early on June 24, but anyway.) Kathy is the race director for the O’side Turkey Trot — or she was, until the day before, when she sold the race, so she could focus more on her Move Your Feet Before You Eat Foundation. Every year, she got a group together to walk in the parade to promote the race and the foundation.
I also managed to talk Clark into it, so we rode our bikes to Oceanside and joined in the parade. Clark said he was pretty sure that was the first parade he’d been in since eighth grade marching band, and I hadn’t been in one since I was in the band in Air Force tech school in late 2002.
Banners at the front of the pack.
We had a pretty simple assignment — just wave and blow bubbles ha.
Clark and me taking our jobs very seriously.
We spent the rest of the day bouncing around Oceanside. One of the big fancy hotels they built near the pier has a rooftop bar, so we checked that out.
Nice view!
We rode our bikes home later and got a pizza from a nearby place for dinner.
Sunday morning, we slept in. I eventually went out for a run. It had warmed up, and there were a ton of people on the road because it was such a nice day, so it wasn’t the most pleasant run. I got in another 7 miles at a 9:32/mile average.
That afternoon, we rode our bikes into the village to see what was for sale at a street fair for local artists, but we didn’t find anything we liked enough to spend money.
And that brings me to today. I haven’t run yet. I was thinking about a short run but I’m also thinking about just taking a rest day.
Monday, I ran 4 miles at a 9:02/mile average, and then I donated blood.
The marine layer was still hanging around at the beach.
I didn’t try to run Tuesday morning before work, but I did go to the track workout that evening.
I knew I was going to be slow because of the blood donation the afternoon before, but it was rough anyway! We did two sets of two 400s followed by an 800. My splits for the first set were 1:53 (7:18/mile pace), 1:54 (7:22) and 3:50 (7:34), and the second set were 1:53 (7:14), 1:51 (7:13) and 3:49 (7:26.) My legs felt like they were going numb on those 800s! With a warm up and cool down, we got in a total of 3.4 miles.
Later that night, I picked up Clark from the airport. With all the road work going on on the 5, it was nearly 1 a.m. when we got home and went to bed finally. So I didn’t get up to run Wednesday morning either.
That evening, we met the run club in Vista for one of the hillier routes. I ran with Shawn and had to slow to a walk on the two big long uphills. We did 4.2 miles at a 9:57/mile average.
Thursday, I took a rest day.
Today, I ran another easy 5 miles at a 9:28/mile average.
Finally looking like summer at the beach here.
This weekend, we don’t have any big plans. I will meet the running group tomorrow morning though, and probably go for another run Sunday.
Friday afternoon, I ran an easy 5-miler at a 9:06/mile pace.
This turned out to be the only sun we saw in Carlsbad all weekend.
Later, I met a couple friends in the village for a beer at Park 101, which has a second story deck with a view of the intersection of Carlsbad Village Drive and Coast Highway.
Goodbye sun, see you never!
Saturday morning, I met the running group early and ran another 6 miles with Karen and Kathy at a 9:29/mile average.
Big turnout for some reason.
Later I went to the Weekend Warriors class at the gym.
I didn’t do much the rest of the day. I’d have liked to have rented a stand up paddle board or gone to the beach, but the sun never came out and it was chilly without it. June Gloom is especially annoying when it follows May Gray, Graypril and an unusually rainy, crappy winter.
I did stop at Eppig Brewing for a beer though, and got to see this old car parked on a hill. The brewery is in a business park where Carlsbad Raceway was located until 2004, and they’re working on raising money to make some kind of monument there to acknowledge it.
I went to bed early because I had an adventure planned for Sunday that I was pretty excited about!
Sunday, I left the house at 6:30 a.m. for the one-hour drive to the trailhead for the Cedar Creek Falls hike. The website said that trailhead was closed for maintenance, but the AllTrails app had some recent reviews that said rangers were letting people skirt around the very small section that was closed. The other trailhead to get to the falls was another half-hour drive away, so I took a chance and went to the closer one first.
The drive there was pretty cool, through the San Pasqual Valley and its acres and acres of citrus trees, and then up a windy mountain road to Ramona. It was still foggy that early in the morning.
I got to the trailhead and found it was, in fact, wide open. There was no maintenance at all. I guess they finished whatever they were doing.
I got all my stuff together — water bottle, one gel, driver license and hike permit ($6 from recreation.gov, to control the number of people on the trail) and of course, most importantly, my phone for pictures. There’s a clipboard right there at the top of the trail to sign in and out, so I filled that out and got started.
I’d read plenty of reviews from other hikers saying the trail was crowded, but that early in the morning (I started at 7:45), I had it nearly to myself! I passed one group of hikers also on their way down right after I started, and then I didn’t see another soul until I got to the falls.
The way to the falls was the fun part — nearly all downhill. It was pretty rocky in some places though so I took my time, not wanting to trip.
A little fog remaining.
Switchback around a large rock.
Dirt trail headed down.
One of three water crossings. You could use the rocks as stepping stones but even some of them were under water.
The last half-mile or so to the falls was covered with a lot of large rocks that had to be climbed up and over, and then I was there!
There was another group of hikers leaving just as I was arriving, so I had the whole waterfall all to myself.
Cedar Creek Falls.
Panoramic photo.
I sat there enjoying the shade and the sound of the rushing water until my butt was starting to hurt from sitting on the rocks. I ate my gel and then started the trek back.
The way back up was more challenging. What had been 1,050 feet of descent on the way there was now 1,050 feet of climbing, and it was getting noticeably warmer, with no shade. I also ran into a lot more people who were headed down. I was really glad I’d gotten there early before the “crowd.”
One of many pictures my phone was taking from inside the mesh pocket on my shorts ha.
These signs were posted every 1/2 to 1/4 mile.
One last view from near the top.
I got back to the top and signed out around 9:25 a.m. — it took me 1:25 to cover 5.6 miles according to my Garmin, plus the time I spent at the falls.
There was a park ranger there, probably checking permits, but he just asked me how the trail was — if it was getting hot, mainly. He was worried about people taking their dogs, not realizing how much hotter it would be for them. Apparently a guy had taken his dog on the hike the day before and came back with his own shirt ripped up to make “boots” for the dog because the trail had been burning the dog’s paws.
As if on cue, a younger couple showed up with their black dog. As I passed the guy, I heard him tell the dog, which was already starting to pant a little, “Don’t you go dying on us! I know we brought enough water for your bitch ass.” I was glad I wasn’t the park ranger who had to tell them it wasn’t a good idea to start the hike with their dog!
I stopped in Ramona at Main Street Coffee for an iced coffee and a piece of banana Nutella toast, and then I drove home. I could see the marine layer hanging over the coast as I got near Vista. It was completely gray at home. Again.
I called my dad for Father’s Day and met some friends for a late lunch, then went to bed again pretty early. I was beat.
Today, I’m going to do another short easy run and then go donate blood.
Tuesday, I ran before work in the morning, 3.1 miles at an 8:45/mile average. That evening, I met the running group at the high school track for our first interval workout in a few weeks.
Milad was there with just about his whole family, and he made us all pose for a group photo before starting the workout. Been a while since we’ve done one for track night.
My Garmin froze up when I tried to start it, which it’s never done before. I was able to unfreeze it when I got home and plugged it in to the charger, but I didn’t get to record the workout.
I think I had a good workout though. We did 10 400s, and Milad was calling out our splits every time we came around. I think the first one was 1:44, most of the rest were in the 1:40-1:42 range and the last one was 1:35. With the warmup and cool down, I probably did about another 3.7 miles.
Wednesday, I ran in the morning again, another 3.1 miles at a 9:06/mile pace, and then in the evening, I met the running group again in Vista. Milad wasn’t there that night so no picture ha. I ran with Cesar, 3.5 miles at a 9:32/mile average. He is also doing Hood to Coast, with a team from work (he works for Adidas) for the fourth or fifth time, so we mostly talked about past experiences at that race.
Thursday, I took the day off, and today, I’m done with work so I’m heading out for an easy 5-miler.
Clark is in Montreal for the F1 race this weekend (I’m kinda jealous). All I’ve got planned for sure are a couple runs. I’m meeting the running group again tomorrow morning to run with Kathy and Karen. Sunday, I got a permit to run/hike to Cedar Creek Falls, which I’m pretty excited about. Unfortunately the closest trailhead is closed for maintenance — which I didn’t realize until I’d already scheduled and paid for the permit — but you can still get to the falls from another trailhead. It just tacks on about a half-hour drive both ways. Other than that, I might hit the beach or rent a stand up paddle board at the lagoon.
Chris wasn’t feeling well so Julie went back to hang out at Aunt Helen’s with Clark and me. We got dinner from Julie’s new favorite spot, a Chinese restaurant in Federalsburg. I had an early alarm set for the next morning, so I went to bed when she left. I got a few hours of sleep but I woke up around 3 a.m. with a bad stomach ache. That sweet and sour pork was not sitting well! I didn’t feel nauseated or anything, but just like it wasn’t going anywhere, like it was just sitting in my stomach like a rock.
I didn’t get much more sleep before my alarm went off at 5:15, so that was my second night of not much sleep in a row. At least my stomach felt mostly better by the time I had to get up. I was pretty sure the problem was going to move south and cause some different digestive issues once I got running though ha.
I drove to the Salisbury zoo and park to run the 5K loop I always run with Kelly and Susan. The weather was amazing! Almost a little chilly when we first got started, not too windy or even humid, and the sun was out.
I had a great run with those two as always! We even ran into Melissa there, who was also running. Kelly had to leave after we’d finished 2.5 loops, but Susan and I finished the rest of the third loop, plus a little bit extra, to make it 10 miles on the day. Well, 10.1 according to my Garmin. Mine has always measured shorter than Susan’s for whatever reason — and I’ve had three different ones since I started running with her.
I drove back to Aunt Helen’s and Clark and I got cleaned up and then drove to Lewes for Bart and Janelle’s party.
The afternoon had warmed up, but not too much. The rest of the day was just as beautiful to hang out outside, drink beer and eat a lot of food. I didn’t take many pictures at the party but here are two Charlies:
“Handsome Charlie,” a moose Bart hunted in Maine, whose antler was a great spot to hang the Bose speaker.
The neighbor’s golden retriever, also Charlie, who just wanted someone to throw her ball.
Clark and I stayed at Bart and Janelle’s place that night. Three of their 20-something daughters convinced us to go with them to the Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach. Once we got there, we quickly realized we were too old and tired for that scene that night ha. We stayed long enough to drink a couple more beers with them, but we had to tap out and get our own Uber back to the house, where we collapsed on one of the couches.
Sunday morning, we said goodbye to everyone at Bart and Janelle’s and then drove down to Fenwick Island to see Clark’s parents. Their house is a ranch-style “cottage” that was built in the ’50s, which they gutted and completely remodeled after they bought it in 2010. It used to fit in with most of the other houses on the street, but since I was there last, the empty lot right next to theirs and the lot on the other side of that, which had an older smaller house on it, have both sprouted massive rental houses. It’s crazy how much construction is going on all over the beaches — and quite a distance inland too.
We walked over to see the Atlantic while we were there. They’re dredging up sand to replenish the beach there right now, so it wasn’t the most scenic day.
Barge in the ocean, pipes to the right of the frame to pump in the sand.
Later that afternoon, Dave took Clark, Corey and me out on the boat. It was a hot day, but very windy, so the river was really choppy. We weren’t planning on skiing because the water is still kinda chilly, but we wouldn’t have been able to ski on that anyway.
Instead, we just putted around, stopped at Suicide Bridge Restaurant and then putted back to the Choptank marina.
Our last stop of the day was my parents’ house. We couldn’t stay too late though, because we had to drive to D.C. to the downtown hotel Clark is at through tomorrow for a trade show.
We had to get up at 4 a.m. today — fourth night in a row of not a lot of sleep — to get me to BWI for my flight to San Diego, with a plane change in Las Vegas. Everything was running smoothly and I was home in Carlsbad just in time for a phone interview I’d scheduled last week at noon Pacific time. Then I worked my usual hours in the afternoon. It made for another long day, but it also meant I pulled off the whole trip to the East Coast and back without burning a single paid day off.
So I’m probably going to fall asleep pretty early tonight — at least I really hope I do — because tomorrow it’s back to my normal schedule, which means I have to go in the office. Clark won’t be back until next Tuesday night so I’m on my own until then.
Tuesday, I went for a run before work, 4 miles at a 9:06/mile average. I see a lot of cool vehicles people use to haul surfboards in, but this old bakery delivery van was a first:
We didn’t have a track workout that night because the stadium was already set up for graduation the following evening.
Wednesday morning, I ran again before work, 3.1 miles at a 9:12/mile pace.
In the evening, we met the run club in Vista, and I ran a hilly 4-miler with Shawn at a 9:08/mile pace.
Thursday, I ran again first thing in the morning, 5 miles at a 9:19/mile average. Where I turn around for a 5-miler, you can see tide pools down by the ocean if the tide is low, which it was yesterday morning.
Later that afternoon, we flew to Baltimore. The flight took off an hour later than scheduled, and by the time we got Clark’s checked bag, got on a shuttle to the rental car facility, stopped at a Royal Farms for some very late dinner and drove to Preston, it was 3:30 a.m. Eastern time when we finally got to go to bed.
So I slept in quite a bit later than I intended this morning, and even being three hours ahead of my coworkers, I only had time to go to Dunkin’ for an iced coffee before I had to start working.
Well I’m done now, so I’m gonna go take a shower and then finally see my younger sister’s house this evening.
This weekend, as far as running goes, I’m only planning on one run, tomorrow morning with Kelly and Susan, but we’ll probably do about 10 miles.
I had about the same race as last year, but I kinda screwed myself off the bat by starting with a later corral than I was assigned because it felt more important to get through a port-o-potty line first, which meant I had to do a lot of weaving around other runners until oh, mile 10 or so? So I ran 13.3 miles instead of 13.1, and finished officially in 1:51:33.
But overall I was pleased with how I ran this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon, and best of all, I didn’t have to use the bathroom once on the clock!
Friday after work, I ran 5 miles at a 9:19/mile average. That evening, we went to the trivia tournament semi-final at Tower 13 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. We got blown out of the water ha. Those questions were on a much higher level than the ones in the regular weekly game! Even if our best player had been there, I think he’d have only scored us a few more points. So no trivia tournament prize money this year for Drunk in Public.
I got up early Saturday morning and met the running group again. Kathy and I ran another 5.1 miles at a 9:41/mile average.
Clark and I drove down to San Diego later that morning so I could hit the expo at the convention center kinda early. I got my race bib and T-shirt and then jetted through the maze of race merchandise and other vendors. I hate that they force you to walk through all of it to get out! People who want to see what else is there will go look.
Anyway, I was pretty hungry by that point, so Clark and I walked to Kansas City Barbecue for lunch. When we left there, he noticed I was walking kinda funny.
I’d gotten new casual shoes on Thursday — the same size and style as two other pairs I already own and have walked a lot in, just in a different color — but these were sawing into my outer ankles on both feet with every step! I guess it was a different material. Seriously, the ankle on my left foot was bleeding. We had to stop at a Ralph’s to get Band-Aids so I could patch them up. Of course I did this to myself the day before a race. Sheesh.
We stopped at one more bar in the Gaslamp, then drove to AleSmith, and finally came home. Clark grilled some marinated tri-tip for dinner and I was out early, which was good, because I had a 4 a.m. alarm set.
I felt pretty well rested when my alarm went off Sunday. I got up and immediately made some coffee and had some cereal, and I was able to clear out the ol’ GI tract before we even left the house. Things were looking good!
The drive to the city was easy enough that early in the morning, but for some reason, Apple Maps sent me to the start line a different way than last year — the same way everyone else was getting there too, apparently. Once we got off the freeway, it took a lot longer to get anywhere near the start line along Balboa Park.
Finally, we got within a couple blocks. I got out there (Clark didn’t run, so he could park the car closer to the finish line) and booked it for the start area. I had to PEE.
When I got there, I only had about 15 minutes until the 6:15 a.m. start, and the port-o-potty lines were predictably long. I wasn’t too worried about it though; I was supposed to start in the fifth corral anyway, and the last couple of years, they used a system to spread out runners from the start, so it had taken a while to get over the line if you weren’t right at the front.
Well, they didn’t spread out the runners this year. They just let every corral go en masse. I heard them announce the fifth one was next when I was almost to the front of the line. I really had to pee and I thought it’d be better to start a couple minutes later than I should have, rather than take off with the right corral and hope the urge to go went away or find a port-o-potty on the course.
So I started with the seventh corral — but with an empty bladder.
The first five miles of this course are rolling hills. Nothing big up or down, but enough that you have to make some pace adjustments to keep an even effort in a few places.
This year, I also had a lot of slower runners to get around, and it was pretty crowded. I was doing a lot of weaving, which I knew was just adding distance to my own race, but it was either that or slow down. The first two miles were 8:22 and 8:23.
I was running near a group of at least three runners who were annoying the crap out of me. One of them was wearing sunglasses, even though it was overcast, and the other two kept yelling “blind runner coming through!” to make fun of him, I guess. But it was just confusing all the runners around them trying to get out of the way of the “blind runner” and his guide. Also, any joke gets old fast when you keep repeating it! I wanted to yell back “I’M GLAD YOU’RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN BUT PLEASE SHUT UP!!” I would say I’m just cranky now because I’m old, but honestly that would’ve bugged me 14 years ago when I ran my first half.
Anyway, I lost them in the crowd eventually. There’s an uphill in the third mile that has always made it my slowest on the course (unless I had to stop to use the bathroom); this year that split was 8:50.
The next few miles go through the Normal Heights neighborhood, where a lot of residents come out to blast music and set up unofficial aid stations offering everything from water to Sour Patch Kids and Bloody Mary shots. Miles 4 through 6 were 8:37, 8:19 and 8:22.
Then we ran back through North Park. I always look forward to the Ron Burgundy impersonator between miles 7 and 8. This year he was announcing, “San Diego is home to the best runners in the world. In fact, you’re all in first place right now. Stay classy, San Diego!” as I ran by ha. Those two miles were 8:29 and 8:25.
The half and full courses split around mile 8, and then the half heads toward the outskirts of Balboa Park. My mile 9 split was 8:17.
In the next mile, there’s a steep downhill followed by a less steep uphill. Then we run through a parking lot and finish mile 10 — that split was 8:31.
Right past the mile 10 marker is the worst uphill of the course. Thankfully it’s not super long, but it sure feels like it.
It takes us up to Pershing Drive, where it flattens out and then starts going down. Mile 11 was 8:23 and mile 12 — which was almost all steeply downhill until we got back into downtown San Diego near the end — was 7:59.
The last mile has a few small uphills and then one last downhill stretch to the finish. I ran mile 13 in 8:24 and the last 10th of a mile at 7:26 pace, and crossed the line in 1:51:33.
My legs were kinda wobbly as soon as I stopped running and I felt like I was almost going to tip forward for a few seconds there, but I managed to stay upright and get my medal. It took a while to get out of the finishers chute though, because so many large groups of runners were hanging around in it, trying to take group pictures or just waiting for other runners to finish. I was getting cranky again ha. I weaved my way around them to gather all the water, Gatorade and snacks they were handing out to runners, and then I walked down to the harbor, where I found Clark napping in my car.
I was absolutely drenched in sweat and water I’d spilled on myself trying to run and drink at the same time. I felt a lot better once I peeled off all my soaking wet running clothes and put on dry stuff!
We walked over to the post-race party so I could get my one allotted June Shine canned cocktail.
I also checked the Garmin Connect app on my phone and saw my Garmin was being a jerk again.
Unproductive!
We came back home, and then that afternoon, we went to our friend Kris’ house for a cookout. It was a fun day but I was ready for bed early last night.
That was the end of a three-week streak of races for me. My next one isn’t until Aug. 5 in Balboa Park.
I do have some other fun stuff coming up though. Clark and I are heading back to the East Coast this weekend for our friend Bart and Janelle’s party to celebrate their wedding, her finishing her Ph.D. and their new house they’ve been renovating. I’ll also get to see my younger sister’s new house and go for a run with Kelly and Susan, and hopefully go out on the boat. Both of my other siblings are swimming Sunday morning — my brother is doing the swim leg for an Eagleman relay team and my older sister is swimming 4.4 miles across the Chesapeake Bay!
Race bib, medal and T-shirt. I just noticed the date on the shirt is wrong! The half and full were June 4.
So, to wrap up this post, here are my stats from the race:
Tuesday morning, I ran before work, 4 miles at a 9:15/mile average. There was no track workout that night, but Clark and I lifted with the new adjustable dumbbells at home.
Wednesday morning, I ran again before work, 5 miles also at a 9:15/mile average.
That evening, Clark and I met the run club in Vista, and we did another 3.2 miles at a 9:42/mile average with Shawn.
That finished off May, so here’s monthly summary.
Mileage:
Week 1 (May 1-6): 28.8 miles
Week 2 (May 7-13): 23.6
Week 3 (May 14-20): 25.1
Week 4 (May 21-27): 31.2
Week 5 (May 28-31): 16.4
Total: 125.1 miles
Thursday, I didn’t feel like running again, but Clark and I lifted at home with the dumbbells again.
And today, I’ve only left the house so far to go to Dunkin’ and get my free donut for National Donut Day, but I’m about done with work, so I’m going to go for another easy run soon.
We have a couple exciting things going on this weekend. First, tonight is the trivia tournament semi-finals! We were first told our team hadn’t made the cut, but then they changed their minds and said we were in. Unfortunately, our main history buff is out of town, so I don’t have high hopes of making it past the semis tonight, but you never know.
Sunday is the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in San Diego. I was happy with the 1:50 I ran on this course last June. I’d love to come in under that this time. I’ve run faster in all the short races leading up to it, so I think I’ve got a chance. Fingers crossed I can stay out of the port-o-potties, which was a big part of why I was able to finish that fast last year.
That means tomorrow, we’ll have to go down to San Diego at some point so I can pick up my race packet. I’m also planning on meeting the run club early as usual.
A Simple Running Log 