Hobblin' Along...

6:50 a.m., Saturday, August 27th....14 miles-- from the Berkeley Marina to Pt. Isabel and back. I think I finally experienced the so-called "runner's high"--- from miles 4-7 and 10-12. Seeing the pups at the doggie park gave me an extra boost. My left leg cramped up on the return, but fortunately I was able to walk it out for about a mile, before picking up the pace again. The last two miles seemed to go on for an eternity. The hill leading to Golden Gate Fields on the return was a b*tch and almost did me in. The finish line banner was a wonderful site to behold---3.5 hours later!

Totally impressed with my Maui teammates who ran 18-20 miles--Awesome! All in all, a beautiful Saturday morning in Berkeley!

This is the longest run for me so far and I'm still standing up, albeit with sore calves and feets. Ice, Motrin and rest occupied most of my Saturday afternoon. The training calendar says that tomorrow's regimen is either "rest" or an "easy run" of 20-30 minutes. I'm modifying that to shopping at Santana Row at a leisurely pace for 2-3 hours with lots of breaks.

Core Drills...
warm up: 2 laps around the track, stretches

• 1st drill: 1 lap around the track, 30 squats, 20 crunches, 10 push-ups
• 2nd drill: 1 lap around the track, 15 lower back exercises, 10 push-ups, 10 left leg squats, 10 right leg squats
• Repeat "1st drill"
• Repeat "2nd drill"
• Finish drills in 27 minutes & 5 seconds

Pant, sweat, drink Gatorade, stagger home... 'nuff said... good night

Training Books
As Coach Al said, "running is 90% mental..." Taking those words to heart, and as a bibliophile, I've been reading books about amazing feats of endurance and survival. Some favs are--"Into Thin Air" (Everest, frostbite, lack of O2 and freezing to death), "Alive" (plane crash, team work, cannibalism and the sheer will to survive), "Swimming to Antarctica" (iceberg swimming, rogue waves and persistence) and "Touching the Void" (falling into a crevasse, broken leg and impossibility of survival). As I'm running and feel a good whine coming on, all I need to do is remember that others had it way worse than me, persevered and lived to tell their tales.

Off The Couch
Okay, what about the 10% physical? X-training has been kicking my butt...The sessions Monday and today have been killers...plus, my calves are still sore from Friday's workout. My trainer extraordinaire, Scott Meister, has created workouts for muscles that haven't moved in years. I can't believe that I'm paying money to be tortured.

I'm still slow as can be when it comes to running, but my distance has vastly improved. For someone who used to only run "when being chased", and now running up to 9 miles on my own free will...its time to say that "The pigs are flying"! This Saturday's run will be a challenge --- 14-16 miles for us Nike runners. If you see me at the Berkeley Marina, please kindly roll my inert body to the side, so I won't get trampled by the other runners.

Shout Outs
Of course, I can't do all of this alone. Some special folks are my family; friends dealing with cancer; Coach Al & Mama Lisa of TNT---such encouragement and inspiration; Therese, Sandra, Portia, Monica, and other TNT mentors and teammates; All of you who generously donated to my run!; Scott--who has the unenviable task of getting me into shape; and the wonderful gang at Fleet Feet Pleasant Hill.