Here are a few pictures taken from the University of San Diego (UCSD) trails that I ran on a couple of weeks ago testing out my new Saucony ProGrid Xodus Trail Running Shoes. This is also the trail where I ran my first 5K race back in May.
This is a really fun trail to run on with many different paths to choose from. There aren’t too many hills, but a few here and there.. Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, February 9, 2002
Workout: Warm-up to Live Oak, Hard to The End & Back to Live Oak, Cooldown Live Oak
Time: 51:41 (Mile 1: 6:00, Rest avg: 7:37) Weather: Sunny
Today’s trail run to the End and Back was handicapped! So whoever had the slowest time last time we ran to the End began first and the other runners would follow according to how much faster they ran it the last time. To my disappointment, I had to start the run, so I had to run with the fear of everyone else catching up to me. As usual, I started off too fast and after mile one, my legs felt really tired. I don’t know what from since the last time I had a hard run was on Wednesday. I guess I just started way too fast, which hurt me for the rest of the run. Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, February 2, 2002 (02-02-02)
Workout: Hard (pace) to Railroad
Time: 44:40 Weather: nice
Well I would have ran the real workout this morning (6 laps around Arcadia Park and finish at the top of the hill) if not for the alarm clock glitching or me not getting up from it. I’m pretty sure it is the latter, but who knows? So I decided to run on my own on the trail to the Railroad. When I first started running, I wanted it to be a hard workout since that was the type of run we were supposed to have today and I made it just that (but in the wrong way).
My first mile was 6:30 and that was what Fernando said we should run for the workouts. He wanted us to be able to run 6:30 for six miles, comfortable. But I was dying, so that wasn’t good. I was tired and was running all alone, two very bad combinations. I ran the last two miles coming up at 8:00 pace, which is pretty slow. It seriously felt like I was just jogging, even though I was trying to run faster.
I rested for a little bit at the Railroad and just wanted to get the workout done with. Coming back was the same as when I was running up: really bad. The last mile, I wanted to kind of pick it up and I did, sort of. The pace coming back was about 7:23 average which I think is alright. I was just glad I finished the run and went home without stretching or doing any strides.
Sunday, January 27, 2002
Workout: Warm-up to Live Oak, hard to The End and back to Live Oak, Cool down Live Oak
Time: 48:38 Weather: chilly
While running the warm-up on the trail, I thought I felt pretty alright: no pain, injuries, no real complaints really. When we were stretching at Live Oak after the warm-up run, I realized that only four guys would be running today, so there would be big gaps between the people (which means we would most likely be running alone, which I hated). I guess all four of us could have ran together as a pack, but the odds of that happening were very slim. I think it’s a combination of the fact that all four of us are on different skill levels and there is always this feeling that we need to beat each other..
We started the run extremely fast, under 6 minutes (5:45-5:50) and after that I felt really tired. Other times before, I felt alright because I didn’t start out that fast. But this defnitely had an adverse affect on me, like it would with anyone starting a run too fast. A little bit before coming up to The End, I realized that Raymond was running right behind me. The rest of the way, I got discouraged because I thought he was going to beat me (I kept thinking, “Is he going to pass me now, which is fine or later on toward the end of the run, which would suck”) I saw how close he was to me when I got to The End and turned around and saw him running up toward the fence. It was literally 100 feet away or less. At the Park, I turned around (which I really didn’t want to do) and didn’t see him anywhere. That relieved me..a little.
Read the rest of this entry »
Monday, January 21, 2002
Workout: Medium/Hard to Duarte
Time: Up: 35:23 (7:04 pace)
Today, we were either going to run to Duarte or the Railroads on the trail, but I told the coaches that a few of us were sore from the run Trail Run to The Rise on Saturday, so he told us all to go to Duarte. Frank told us he was going to Camino pretty hard and come back and do stair workouts on the track stadium seats. Coming up, we were all running pretty close together, but the group started breaking up and the first group was me, Frank and Ha. I remembered that Frank was going running hard to Camino, so I wanted to get away from that pack, but Ha stayed, so I decided to hang with them. Also, at Longden, Frank told us to pack it up, but it seemed like we picked it up instead. I guess he meant pack it up and run together at that faster pace. At Camino, I thought Frank was going to stop, but he kept running with us. Just before Duarte, Ha was falling back and Frank was yelling at him to keep up and catch us, which he eventually did do. It felt pretty good keeping up with Frank though, especially at the pace we were running at. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday, January 18, 2002
Workout: Easy to Camino
Time: easy Weather: warm
Coming up, Fernando said he was going to run hard to Duarte, so I tried staying at his fast pace along with some other runners. Then at the golf course, everyone started to packed it up and run in a group, so he decided that we should all run up together easy to Camino. It was pretty fun and easy going up. I remember some time during the run, Fernando told us his experience about missing CIF finals in track by .2 of a second because he got cutt off during the 800. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday, January 13, 2002
Workout: Warmup to Live Oak, Hard to The End and back to Live Oak, Cooldown Live Oak (Total 9 miles)
Time: 51:33 Weather: cold, then sunny
Today’s run on the trail was the first one since Wednesday, so I didn’t know if the three days off would kill me or help me run even faster. So we came in the morning and everybody came except Fernando. He came to the trail late, but was in street clothes. He said he had to be somewhere so he would run later on in the day. But before he left, we just stood in a small circle just talking and telling jokes. We finally started running and warmed up to Live Oak. After stretching at Live Oak, we took off, and as we started running, Frank was going kind of slow (as a joke), so I passed him.. Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday, January 8, 2002
Workout: Easy to Camino
Time: Easy Weather: Sunny/warm
Running up to Camino, we thought it was going to be an easy run, but we were running with an old classmate and he made the workout not as easy as we expected. We ran up hard until Longden and then a couple of them stopped, including the old runner. Frank and I continued to Longden and immediately toned down the pace. Frank said that he killed the old runner, and I thought that was pretty funny. I think it was his first couple of days back to running, and I guess he was trying to show off. We stopped at the 2 mile mark and rested for a while. We then started running back together, but at a much easier pace. At the dirt downhill, Frank slowed down to do something, so I kept running with another runner. But right before the cement, Frank caught up to us and it looked like he was going to kick, so I went with him. I finished the run right before Frank medium, kind of hard. Then, after resting a while, he said we should do strides. Read the rest of this entry »
So our high school has been running on this trail for many many years, won many champsionships (even a state championship) training on this trail. It begins as a bike road along a wash, going along a golf course (there are horror stories about driving range nuts trying to behead us with golf balls). Once we get to the first street (Live Oak), it is pretty much all trail or dirt. This Google Map shows the trail from beginning to end. For a better look, check out the original Google Map that I screen-grabbed this from.
I think my next post will be the first entry in the running log/journal that I kept during my Junior year in high school.
I guess this should have been my first post, but I created the About The Trail Running Blog page, so thought it would have been a sufficient explanation, but I will try to elaborate a little bit more.
I have wanted to start this running blog for quite some time now, but due to other events in my life, I never came around to doing it. I also didn’t know enough about blogging to truly make this work the way I wanted it to. So I patiently waited, for the right moment to start this.
Back in high school, I was told by my coach to start and keep a running log/journal of my runs, just to have to look back on in the future. So I did just that: I sat down and wrote about each run good or bad. Although it has not done much but bring back fond (and depressing) memories of past running experiences I had. Now that I have been able to set up this blog and upkeep it on a daily basis, I will share my stories, hoping to relate to others who have (had) the same passion for running that I used to have or still do, and hope to revive that passion that I once had.
Almost 5 years after running in my last track season, I have tried to get back to running on a daily basis. I have attempted this before, numerous times, to no avail. Either I was too busy with work, or too tired from it, I was never able to consistently run. I have run 3 times in the last 4 days, which is quite a feat for me. I hope I can run 4-5 times a week, for now, which is weak sauce since I ran 7 times a week in high school, 3-10 miles a day, as opposed to 1-2.5 these days.
But the fact that I can still run that long without having to stop for air or water, I think it just shows that I still have the running mentality in me. I am also getting inspiration from my Husky, Molly by having a companion with me while I run. Although she pulls like no other, and is afraid of the dark and sewer drains, she is still happy to get out of the house every now and then. Little does she know she is actually keeping me inspired to run every day.
I will try and post old running log entries as well as new ones from current runs that I find blog-worthy, not to mention any other running facts or knowledge that I can muster out of this old runner’s brain..
A running blog for training, race reports, product reviews and lessons learned..
