Life Update

Well, it's been a while since I updated, yeah?

The movie got made - which was ridiculously grueling. Caltech prepared me well, actually. I did my best to sabotage it, doing many stupid things along the way, but hopefully I was net helpful.

I've been working a lot on getting ready to head out on my next big trip. I actually hadn't really realized how much work it would be, but it was a lot. I'm going to be lucky if I don't have any major disasters with logistics. The other day I even noticed that one of my plane tickets I'd absent-mindedly made for the wrong day! Now that would have been a big surprise getting to the airport and realizing that.

So, the spreadsheet has been updated, mostly. Check there for future updates. Next up: Thailand, New Orleans, Washington State, Glacier Park, Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., North Carolina, then back to Pasadena before Stanford starts up.

Ramping up the pre-pro

Monday, 1 June
Rode up to Red Box plus a little bit. Felt pretty good; tried to keep myself moving and throw in a few surges here and there. I feel like the body is finally getting used to being back on the bike - especially my lower back. I should do a bit longer ride soon. Tired after the ride.

Tuesday, 2 June
Congrats.

Got an afternoon start up 39 so I just wanted to go by time... made it to mile marker 36 (18 miles from the start) which I think was 5-10mi from the intersection with the 2. After I turned around, I drank from this delish stream that was all cold and amazing. It made me think of this William Carlos Williams poem:

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast.

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold.

Fortunately it didn't give me giardia (yet).

The adventure of the ride happened shortly afterward when I was up to top speed coming down the 39. I got hit, hard, in the face by a rock which I soon discovered was actually a some sort of stinging hymenoptera - not sure if it was a bee or a wasp or a hornet or whatever. Anyways, it stung me right between my upper lip and my nose.

I managed to pull over safely and got my wits about me. I knew that I'm pretty allergic to stings - not anaphylaxis-allergic, but I've had asthma-like reactions before, and crazy swelling/itching. So I was a little nervous, considering the fact that I was beyond the road closure and didn't have phone reception. It took me a while to get the stinger out - I was trying to do it without pinching it (because I didn't want to squeeze any more poison in.) Eventually I gave in and grabbed it, though, because it was just so painful.

It was rough getting back. My eyes were swollen and runny, my nose was fire-hosing my whole face, my lip was so swollen I couldn't really breathe out of my nose, and my gums were seeping gross tasting stuff. It was weird because it really hurt, but something in the venom also made my whole lower face numb to the touch. I could barely see or breathe. Yuck.

I kept almost calling for a pick-up, but I was too embarrassed. I tried to ask a sheriff's van for a first aid kit (I was thinking I needed to get some benadryl in me, stat) but they were too busy pulling someone over... dammit. Eventually I got back into town and figured that I was safe. The last bit from Encanto too FOREVER. I was in really bad shape by the end.

After that I just sucked on ice cubes and iced it and took claritin.

Wednesday, 3 June
Off, I guess it's been a little while since I took a day off, huh?

Woke up and my face was freaking huge today. Upper lip super really swollen (got lots of stares at the grocery store today.)

Thursday, 4 June
AM: surfing with some folks from the surf club. It was pretty cool! We went to Palisades, so it was familiar territory.

PM: met up with Susan and did lower Arroyo, plus a little extra on the trail. Feeling great!

Friday, 5 June
Drove (me bad?) to the RB, then did the backwards loop Susan was telling me about (up Glen Oaks and down San Rafael). I scrounged some apricots from a heavily loaded tree and stopped by the car to drop them off. Then I hit the bathroom and picked it up on the trail (counter clockwise) trying to keep a good clip going. Up under the freeway and then back, finished up with some drills.

Saturday, 6 June
Great run with Susan et al - nice to get a bunch of the runners from XC out for an easy long run. It was Keely and the gang for our own version of the Tiger run 10k hills series - basically we went out lower arroyo, did the hills up Via del Rey, then stopped by Susan's folks' house for some water and then jogged home. I just tried to keep it easy in prep for tomorrow.

After the run I jumped in the pool with John Doyle to try on a wetsuit and do some drills and swim a bit. Feeling nervous for tomorrow!

Sunday, 7 June
Playa del Run (1k swim/5k run) at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Not sure of my total time, but my swim was in the 16:00s, transition about 2:30, and then run 19.36, although the course was quite obviously short. How hard is it to measure out a legit 5k, people? More race details to follow.

Fun times

Monday, 25 May

Tuesday, 26 May
Ran for a bit on the south field, waiting for a lane in the pool. How dumb sounding is that? Anyways, I rocked out the Frees, did some drills and strides, then I hopped in the water and got all splishy splashy. I did more drills with the buoy but also tried to swim a bit more. My arms didn't get as tired as before - cool. The head lifeguard said I looked like I knew what I was doing as much as the next Sheila, which made me feel awesome.

Wednesday, 27 May
Rode down to Carlsbad to hang out with Gustavo since he's a bum and doesn't work (just kidding, Gus.) Seriously, what a treat. The weather was great - overcast but not too cool, not too much traffic, and my legs felt pretty good (other than my left knee which was a little funky on the inside occasionally). I rode the newly-rebuilt KHS, which is riding great. The pannier worked out okay too, so I have more confidence for taking more tour-y trips in the near future.

When I arrived I was treated to a delish and complex meal of fish, rice, brussels sprouts with bacon.... all sorts of goodness.

I want to go to Brasil now... especially with Gus - he rocks it! Freakin' beaches and dancing and eating amazing foods! YES!

Thursday, 28 May
Tooled around Carlsbad by the beach with Gustavo. Legs were feeling a little slow, but no majorly sore spots and the left knee felt fine. Overall this trip was just a nice change of scenery - which I needed.

Friday, 29 May
Went out and down Craig to Chaucer/Euston/Shenandoah to the gym. Did some gas exchange stuff, lunges, lifting. Then I ran back home. Just chilled the whole time, was thinking a lot about lunch.

Saturday, 30 May
Swam for about 40 minutes, then aqua jogged for 10 (doing underwater drilly stuff). It was a nice prelude for the all-sports banquet, which was very enjoyable. I ate cake and everything.

Afterwards my tummy was a little upset though. Guess I'm not too used to drinking cola or something.

Sunday, 31 May
Long run. Pretty epic; my right armpit was crazy chafed the last few miles so I was running crazy. I took it pretty easy for the most part; I rolled through the JPL trail part and then ate my snack (half a clif bar) and gave myself a few blocks to digest. After that, I picked it up a bit for a few miles between Marengo and Allen on Altadena. I'd guess the pace was something around 7:40. Then I just trotted it home.

I was pretty tapped by the end; I lost 4.2 pounds of water (almost 2L?!). That seems like a lot.

Get my freak on

Goals for this week:
- put some better fuel in my tank
- mix up the routine with some biking and other forms of exercise.

Monday, 18 May
Chilled at the track. Ran about 20+ minutes barefoot, much of that on the actual track. It's way softer than I remember. (That's what she said.) It felt great! Did some drills and a couple of strides. My legs feel good today. Although, I did have some tightness in my hips after I ran.

While I was at the track, I chatted up a kid I used to babysit who's now a junior in HS, and also another kid who's on the track team. He just made NCS in the 800 and the rest of the team is done practicing, so I felt a little sorry for him. There wasn't even a coach out there with him or anything. Apparently his mom is a really good half marathoner - I looked up her times and was very impressed. Anyways I timed him a bit and cooled down with him and hopefully wasn't too creepy. He seemed like a very nice kid and I hope he does well in his big meet. I'm going to really miss coaching!

Tuesday, 19 May
Gate to BV with a pickup at the BV m.m. 6:49 on the downhill way, then maybe 30 seconds rest, then 6:39 on the uphill way back. Got several comments on how fast I was running! It felt really good to run hard up there. Lovin' it.

Wednesday, 20 May
NFTC with Ian and Gibson. Feeling pretty good, but my calves are really sore so that was the limiting factor. Ran a bit barefoot, but the extra tad that stretched my calves actually made them feel worse.

Thursday, 21 May
Awesome run with Susan and Gustavo. Very chill Arroyo starting from Madison and going down Marengo. Came up through the aquatic center like we normally do. Shins were feeling a little bit iffy, but no serious pain. No running tomorrow.

Friday, 22 May
Mixitup day. Swam for 45 minutes, which wasn't as hard as it sounds because I mostly did drills focusing on arms or legs. Then I ran barefoot for 20 minutes on the south field, and did some drills during that 20 minutes. Finally I lifted, mostly with my legs. Trying to get some tone back!

Doyle is trying to get me to do a sprint triathlon at the end of June. We'll see about that.

Saturday, 23 May
Bike ride. Dave accompanied me for a little ways towards Clear Creek. I tried to keep it up-tempo since I wasn't going to ride for super long. It kind of worked but I did space out a lot. Also, when I was cranking away uphill my left knee kinda bothered me when I was pushing bigger gears, so I'm not sure what that was all about. Hopefully it won't bother me tomorrow. It took about 60 minutes to get up to Clear Creek from the base of the 2 and it took about 55 minutes to get from the top back down to egg pizza, so I was making good time. Pretty warm out.

Sunday, 24 May
Long run with Susan. Went from her house, then up San Rafael (front side of Patrician) and down to the RB and drank the gatorade I'd stashed there. Then we did the north trail ("otter pop" loop) and back on the east side, and around and back to her place on Walnut. It took 1:47 and was about 13 miles I think - a good solid run. I felt great the whole way and my calves/shins were fine. I felt particularly good the last 10 minutes or so - I might have even picked it up a bit but I told myself to settle down.

Taking things easy

Monday, 11 May
Took the day off. Feeling pretty gross - tired, one side of my nose is stuffed up. Yeesh.

Tuesday, 12 May
Cycling workout up at the gym. Did the classic VO2 max test (upwards ramp, 1 minute intervals increasing by 25W until failure at 300W, which I held for maybe 10-15 seconds). There was snot everywhere inside my mask and wearing it made me nervous, so I kind of want to do the same test again. I wasn't pushing it insanely hard, just pretty hard. Then we did a rest where I sat there and tried to get my HR down, and then we did some more intervals.

It looks like my VO2 max is something like 63 (ml/kg*min) which I think is pretty good. I guess the exact number depends on how much weight I've put on in the last few weeks (I gave them my weight at an optimistic 118 lbs) but I'll try not to think about that too much. :) Doyle was excited (his is 61) but then he gave me some whole lecture about how I'm under-performing given the watts I can put out and my V02 max and how I should work on my biomechanics some more.

Wednesday, 13 May
Off, flew home. Feeling like dogshit.

Thursday, 14 May
I think I was off again. My shins are still bothering me.

Friday, 15 May
Feeling much less sick and so I ran easy around Piedmont. My right shin was hurting me this time.

Saturday, 16 May
Similar to yesterday, but the shins are feeling better. Weird how it comes and goes.

Sunday, 17 May
Bay-to-Breakers. What a crazy day! I rocked my bumblebee costume like it was 1999. I started in corral "D" (second to last one) so mostly I just worked my way up. That was actually really exhausting, because I was constantly either shuffling or sprinting through a hole in the wall of people in front of me. Things didn't really open up at all until I got over by the panhandle (about 3 miles in), but even after that I was just hauling ass running serpentine to get through the crowd. Absolutely nuts!

I feel good about my time, because the first mile or two I was alternatively shuffling and surging to get around folks and I ran WAY more than a mile or two because I was weaving around so much. It took a lot of energy. The run seemed to take a long, long time because I was so mentally drained from that part, I think. After the Hayes hill (which is no biggie, by the way, I don't know what the big deal is) when I got around to the panhandle I could weave enough that I didn't have to surge and slow as much which really helped, and around mile 5 was when I didn't have to weave quite as much. By that time, there were almost no costumes around because I'd worked my way up so far so I was a bit sad. I think I must have been averaging well under 7:00s by that point to run the total time that I did (58:34, 7:51 pace). Better than expected!

Also, it was really hot. I saw tons of naked people and lots of sweet costumes, and I got to chill in the elite/VIP tent afterwards with the Aggies. That was awesome! So we drank all the elite booze (sooooo good) and wandered drunkenly around SF for the rest of the day. I even got to briefly chat up my favorite gang of Ryan, Talia, and Dan. Now we're plotting running a centipede some day - anyone else in?

It's Business Time.

Monday, 4 May
Recovery day. I jogged 2 miles or so on the NF, which I noted is *slightly* bigger now. When did they take that fence down? Where the heck have I been?

My legs feel tired, but not 100% thrashed (not as sore as they've ever been). I had a lot of tightness, but my hip flexors are doing okay and the shin hasn't exploded. Things are holding together... albeit with proverbial tape and string and spit. I noticed some new tightness, especially in my left hamstring, but the shin didn't hurt while I was running, so that was good. I did some drills and 2 strides just to test the waters, and they felt kinda bad.

Afterward I swam for 30 minutes, just trying to take it easy. I tried swimming fast for 50Y and I did about 40 seconds. I think that's approximately like 80s for 400m running - my 1500 pace. Hilarious.

Then I rolled and stretched and got in the cold whirlpool, which wasn't actually as bad as the cold bath I made myself at home on Sunday night. So it was a pleasant surprise.

Luckily I was able to convince Kim to give me a massage, which was amazing and pretty much blew my mind. In hindsight I'm not sure if I have ever had that acute a pain before - (especially when she did my hamstrings, oof) - and certainly not voluntarily. What is wrong with me?

She really dug into my hamstrings (elbows and all) and also made me feel nice-nice by doing my quads and lower back. Sweet. I'm going to try and get her to work on me later this week too.

Tuesday, 5 May
Biked, 30mi. Not sure how long it took. Was going to go up Chantry, but it was closed (until the 8th- FYI.) Changed plans and went up NY drive to Altadena, top of Lake and down to Lincoln/the RB, a loop down there, then back on Green to Rosaritos for some Cinco de Awesomeness. I gorged myself on Mexican, which hopefully will not kill me. This is the last crappy food I will eat before Saturday. Promised. The legs felt totally fresh while I was riding, but I was not tempted to go hard.

After the ride I hopped into some shorts and did some strides and drills out in the alley, just to test the waters with my legs. The strides were really tough - it was hard to get up to a top speed. But, the drills felt really snappy - so that's a good sign I think. I'm going to hop on the track tomorrow, so we'll see then how I'm doing pace-wise.

Wednesday, 6 May
Track. Worked out with John Doyle, which was totally cool. The guy is legit! We did 3 x 300m with 90 seconds rest, jogged a lap and a half, and then did 3 x 200m with about 75 seconds rest. Times:

54 (90 rest) - got a little excited
57 (90 rest) - kept things under control this time - 19/19/19 for the 200s.
57 - at this point I was dodging kids left and right
4:00 jog
36 (77 rest) - I would have taken less rest but I thought I should show John some mercy
36 (82 rest) - there were kids EVERYWHERE on this one, and I was on the grass and out in lane 4 at some points so I figure this was about a 35 effort-wise
34 - John got a little uppity on this one so I brought it in a little quicker, but I felt like there was a marginal amount of giddyup in my legs, so that was good. I held him off.

Anyways, I wore my flats and my shin felt decent - worse than yesterday, but better than the end of last week. I guess it felt about the same as last Tuesday's track workout. I'm going to baby it for the rest of the week. I was glad for all the little kids running on the track, and for Doyle being there, because it gave me targets and kept me thinking about my form and control. It actually felt really easy to do those short distances. And the pace felt pretty easy too - I hope I didn't take too much rest.

I also did some strides and drills as part of my warmup but I wanted to take it easy on my shin. :)

I'm obviously getting pretty pumped. The plan is to take it easy on my legs, get a massage tonight, and start thinking about rocking out.

Thursday, 7 May
Easy day. I'm getting pretty restless. The legs were feeling relaxed but a bit sore today, which I guess is to be expected. (In particular, my shins felt beat up.) But, it really felt like I got strung with whole new hamstrings. So that's good! I ran for 20 minutes (10 minutes run, 10 minutes drills and a few strides.). On the good news side, I did feel like I had a few steps at max speed today, which I didn't feel the past few days at all. After that, I swam for about 25 minutes. Clint mentioned that there is a swimming class T/Th 3-4pm so I may go next week.

Friday, 8 May
Prerace. I ran a few laps at the NF with Susan then ran out Lombardy to Allen and back. I wore the tall socks hoping they might help, but my shin (the left one) really hurt. Bad. The worst it's been since it started hurting actually. I'm going to just take it easy today. Also, I'm feeling like I may be coming down with something - I woke up today with a sore throat. I hope everything is okay... I guess it's better to have something to think about today rather than obsess about tomorrow. But it would be nice to feel 100%.

Saturday, 9 May (Oxy Invite)
I did it. Finally! And in 4:55 too - even better than my most optimistic dreams.

Here's how it went down. Things started with me being extremely nervous and almost vomiting all over myself all morning. (I hate evening races.) Then I got my game face on and headed to Oxy, where I proceeded to frighten people by pacing around and having a scary face. Thankfully, my shin was feeling much better, so that wasn't distracting me. I did some drills and tried to stay cool and focused by wrapping myself in an icy towel.

When the gun went off, I just tried to think about getting a good position and relaxing as much as I could. There would be plenty of time to get tense. Everyone said I looked like I was jogging - which makes sense, because I came through the first lap right at the back. But I felt good about that - I'd seen the clock at 57 when I came through the finish so I knew I needed to ease up a bit.

I heard something like 79 when I came through the first lap, which was slightly alarming because I'd wanted to do something like 82. So, on the second lap I just thought about not getting stuck behind people, and staying relaxed so I wouldn't lose focus or get negative and implode on the third lap.

When I heard 2:40 at 800m I got a little panicked - this was not the plan (I'd wanted 2:44-6). I remembered what Rene had said - if you get off the plan, just use your guts and run. So the whole third lap, I was just thinking about how close to the end I was, and how far I'd come, and how I wasn't going to let what happened last time happen again. I just tried to think about moving up, and how close I was to getting that "4:xx".

Coming up to the final lap, I swung around a group just before the turn. At this point, I saw the clock hit "3:40" right as I went by - and I could *taste* that sub-five. I became aware of Ian screaming at me, and I was hit with the surprising reality that the next pack was in fact the lead pack. Now I knew that, not only was the 5-minute barrier within my grasp, but the win was, too. I heard Ian shriek "you're gonna win this! you're gonna win this!"

I wish I could say I thought tactically about where/when to pass the front group, but I really didn't - I knew the most important thing was still between me and the clock for that sub-five and I didn't have any time to waste, so I just kept going and swung around the front group. On the far straightaway it was just me and the track. I couldn't see anyone else around the track, hear anything, or feel anything in my body. The closest thing I had to a physical sensation was the tug-of-war going on between my mind and legs, where my mind just kept telling my legs to go, and my legs kept getting slower to respond. But it didn't feel painful like in workouts, it was way more disembodied.

Anyways, those last 200m or so were like meditation. It was just like when I visualize a race, or when I run a workout by myself -just me and the track. I kept thinking that if I ran my heart out no one would be able to catch me - so I couldn't let up for even a second. On the straightaway I saw the clock at 4:43 and I was thinking "I don't know if I can do 100m in 17 seconds - I hope I'm closer than 100m!"

I saw the clock at 4:55 when I crossed the line and I was suddenly surrounded by all my pals - everyone that had been there for me when things went badly last year were now here for me when things went well. It was so awesome to share that moment with everyone who knew how much I'd wanted it and how hard I'd worked for it.

I checked out the video Dave took, and it was pretty amazing to see how far back I'd been - it looked like almost 100m at one point.

400m in - 12/13th place
800m in - 9th place
1100m in - 5th place
(350m to go, you can hear Ian say "you're gonna win this!")
~1200m in - 1st place
final straight: Dixon Farmer says "Katherine Breeden of the North Field Track Club!"

It was pretty sweet to get the shout out over the loudspeaker! Even if I didn't hear it at the time... A great day for the NFTC - Kim tied for 3rd in the high jump (1.65m).

Sunday, 10 May
Little mountain jaunt to get me out of the house; felt really good. Calves a bit sore, but I didn't push things. I'm feeling a bit under the weather and my nose was running a lot but otherwise things were good. Very nice and sunny and breezy out.

Down Week for the Relay

Monday, 27 April
I swam today for 30 minutes, finishing up with 5 minutes of aquajog. I felt good about practicing my freestyle technique, because it gave me something to think about. I even did a whole 600m without stopping! Or getting too bored! Next time I will go even longer.... I also had Kim massage my calf again a little bit and it felt pretty tender - although it felt fine after the swim when I did a little jog. As long as I wasn't accelerating up to top speed, it felt fine. So I guess no more strides for a little bit.

Much more importantly, the SCIAC champs were today, including a great PR from Anton in the 1500 final (he ran a super smart, tactical race) to add to all the women's PRs in the 1500 prelims. I didn't mention it on Saturday, but I was so pumped about the women's races in the 1500 - Natalya and Masha had massive PRs, Best ran a PR in a race that went out really fast and left her alone for much of the race, and Sedona broke 6 for the first time (!). It was awesome.

Which brings me to the women's 5k - I thought I was going to have to give myself a time-out I was so happy for them. Natalya was first with a 23 second PR - a great race for her that showed a lot of guts, especially in mile 2. Next was Stephanie, in 20.02 - a time that I know she found disappointing, but which I think was really solid, especially after going out in 6.00 with the main pack. She had a few rough laps in there but she stuck it out, and I think she really got back on it at the end of the race, which is super hard to do. Then there was Clara, who sprinted in to a 20.04, which is a 32 second PR. She varied widely in pace during the race, but that's something she knows to work on. Next, to my great delight, was Sylvia - who in 20.13 destroyed her PR from multis by 50 seconds. Talk about a breakout race! She was so controlled the whole race, something I had seen at multis, and it was so awesome to see her digging in, moving up and running with folks during this race. I can't wait to see her run cross country next year. Not to be outdone, Masha followed her 1500 PR with a 20:28, which was 40 seconds faster than her huge PR at multis. She just rocked it the entire race and it was amazing for me to watch. I feel like she's just smashed through as a runner this season. Amazing. The team was rounded out by Heather (a 1 minute PR!) shortly followed by Sedona (a season best). I was so proud of these two because they were the last two to come in, and the whole Oxy stadium was going nuts for them - when Heather put up her fist as she crossed the line, and I saw how big a PR it was for her, I was just so glad these gals have such a great attitude. It's really a delight to see. (PS, I wonder if we'd scored the 5k like a XC meet if we would have beaten any teams... maybe if we scored 3 places we'd have gotten CLU or Redlands).

I spoke with Scott a bit afterwards about it. I mean, I did think it was pretty obvious that the women's distance squad had a ridiculously good couple of days, between all the PRs in the 1500/5k and just the absolute times - between multis and conferences we had 6 5k performances under 20:15 by 4 different runners. And the men did good too - Andrew and Ryan in particular just seemed to have really solid progressions throughout the year, and Anton and Sachith are clearly learning the ways of racing the 1500. But Scott seemed totally baffled - he said something along the lines of "I can't explain it, they're all just running so fast!". This kind of pissed me off, but I couldn't really put my finger on why.

I mean, it's not like some random accident that they all ran fast. Although, I can't come up with a good explanation, either - maybe we're just lucky this year to have a lot of talent? Maybe the group cohesion that developed during XC helped? Maybe they all just worked harder on their workouts? Or maybe it just helped that there was such a much bigger team of women? What do you guys think?

At any rate it's enough to get you excited for cross country already. *Sigh.*

Tuesday, 28 April
Track workout. I had gotten myself pretty pumped for this one, after Demar told me about doing a 1200m time trial as part of his 1500m pre-race prep. I thought that, if it went well, it would be a good confidence boost before the 1500 to go with the speed stuff that I've been doing, which has been good so far. I also felt really motivated to run hard after seeing all the performances last night. So, I decided to risk the calf/shin to hop on the track for the 1200.

Here's how it went down. First, I decided to wear my flats as a compromise since the spikes had potentially made my calf/shin sore. Second, this may sound crazy, but I decided that I wanted it to be like a race, so I drove out to Claremont to do it on my PR track (BTW, thank you for that track, Dr. Rossi). I also thought about going to Oxy to do it but I thought that it would be more special if I saved that for later.

Anyways, my reasoning is this. If I were to run even splits, I would have to run 80's to break 5:00, which would be 4:00 for 1200. But, I know that I am a kicker, so it's more realistic for me to think backwards from the end - let's say that I can close the last 300m in 56 (which I've done before), then if I want to break 5 I have to squeak through 1200 in 4:04 or under. This means that I have to run the 800 in the range of 2:40 - 2:50, with the best possibility for breaking 5:00 being a time of around 2:45, to allow for negative splits while not burning myself out at the beginning of the race, like last year at the Oxy invite. Agreed?

So I said hi to Goldhammer on my warmup, and it was the perfect setting because I was the only one on the track. Standing at the start I just looked down the track and imagined myself at the start of the race at Oxy, and I could almost see the Oxy track laid out in front of me. I got myself in my zone and off I went. I split 83/83/77 for 4:04, which really couldn't have been better. With the flats, my shin, and it being a race-simulation I was prepared to be happy with anything up to 4:10. The first lap I just tried to settle in, the second lap I just tried to hang on and think about my last lap, and the last 500m or so I tried to pick it up, passing imaginary runners in the straightaway with about 300m to go and trying to kick it in while still being controlled (and imagining myself with an additional 300m to go after the end of the 1200). I felt good about my mental state, and the shin didn't bother me while I was running. I breathed easy for a minute or two and then did some shorter stuff to finish things up, 2 x 200m and a 300m with 2 minutes rest in between (35/35/55).

Overall I felt pretty good, although the shin is really bothering me mentally. I am irritated that this is going to be my only workout this week (because of the Relay and the shin). So it's good and bad times.

Also, I am concerned about how tired I was at the end of the 1200 - I mean, 300m more seemed like a lot! Hopefully a positive attitude and competition and spikes will be enough to tack on another sub 56 second 300m at the end of a potential 4:04 at Oxy.

Wednesday, 29 April
Camping. Did a run up to the top of Mt. Pinos (8,800+ ft) which was basically me sucking air the whole time and trying not to cry or pee my pants. The flat parts felt SO much better. I wish I'd been able to enjoy this run more and get some strides in afterwards, but my shin (left one still) started bothering me halfway through. It started hurting halfway through after I stopped at the top to look around. I ran for a little while longer and eventually stopped and walked down the hill, which was probably smart.

Afterwards I iced it with snow from the stray snowbanks (!). Hopefully I didn't give myself leg-giardia!

Thursday, 30 April
Off. Calf/shin needed a day of rest I think. Freaking out a little. Iced it.

Friday, 1 May
Swimming. I'm trying to be smart here about my calf/shin, because yesterday I realized that... holy crap I'm going to have a big, pavement-y weekend ahead of me and I do NOT want to get permanently broken before the 9th. Andres gave me a compression sock to wear on my leg and some instructions as to what to do during the race. Hopefully all goes well!

I swam a whole 30 minutes without stopping, and I did freestyle until my (left) shoulder got a little tired. I am actually proud of that joint - I haven't done any PT on it in a long while and it's held up nicely in the swimming. Anyways, I did a little kicking and then I did aquajogging for 10 minutes, trying as best I could to approximate plyos even with the extra resistance. It kind of worked.

Saturday, 2 May - Sunday, 3 May
The relay.

Got up real early to drive up and meet Ryan et al. in El Cerrito. Then we drove up to Calistoga for the start, had a pulled pork sandwich, and was on our way. My van: the Brain, the Beast, Mark, me, Talia, Talia's sister Lisa.

leg 1 (I was runner 9, I had some of the easiest legs:) 5.5 miles, pretty much flat chilling through Sonoma. It was dark by the time I finished this, but probably the worst part was that I didn't see any other runners the whole time. This is probably because we had a late start time. It was a little nerve-wracking because my shin had been bothering me, but I just rolled and massaged it like crazy beforehand and wore the sock that Andres gave me plus another pair of diabetes socks. They made me feel silly but I didn't care, because maybe the support would help. The shin hurt a bit the first 2 miles or so but then it stopped bothering me. Afterwards I got into dry stuff as soon as possible and rolled it some more. time: 39:51.

leg 2: 6.5 miles, it was rated "moderate". There were some rollers and quite a bit of wind coming up from the ocean (I was rocking out in Millbrae, mostly on Skyline and partway on the bike path.). It was hella, hella dark (4am). I passed a whole bunch of people (15+) which was really good considering how lonely it had been on the last leg. Since the leg was feeling better I felt like I could really open up more and stop being as cautious. I just worked the downhills and tried to run smart. I also practiced picking it up for the last 5 minutes or so, so that I could be more prepped for the 5 minutes of effort I'm going to put out next weekend. time: 46:21.

leg 3: 6.3 miles, some hills but net downhill. I just tried to not exert myself too much on the uphills and to get some time back on the downhills. The best part was that there was mile markers on the road, so I could check my splits. That was nice because it gave me something to think about. My legs felt great and I just tried to run consistently, but not too hard. I really started thinking about Oxy on this run, and so I just practiced being focused and tried not to thrash my legs too much. time: 43:43.

This whole thing was such a blur. I can't believe we covered so much distance (running and driving) in so little time. It was good quality time with the whole gang, though. Random thoughts:
- Why does this charity, which is for such an important cause, have such a silly name?
- This will blow your mind: slug sex.
- Dan Feldman is a beast who recently handed Gabe Jennings his ass on a platter.
- Many of the women on the team were crazy-legit: Talia (10:11 3k, 17:49 5k @ Oxy), her sister Lisa (school record holder in 800m @ Willamette, 2:09), Eastwood (at least 4.40 in the 1500, not sure what her PRs are). Where do these people come from?