Sunny-A's Sunday

"Yeah! Sunday! Woohoo!"

That's what I would've said if I had woke up at 10am but it was 7am instead and I gave myself another 10 minutes... ... ... ... ...

OK. I can do this. Just because we were at a friend's house for a nice BBQ, eating salmon, tri-tip, chicken kabobs, and 5 kinds of dessert, didn't mean I should skip my Sunday long run. Man I was tired but I did the quick change downstairs, brushed teeth and hair and quietly went out the front door to the car.

Although I arrived exactly at 7:30am, everyone was still just making conversation. The usual suspects were there or arrived shortly after I did: Fermin, Coach Kao, Patrick, Leiping, Sergio, Mindy, Joanne, Tani, Terry, Gretchen, and team.

The front runner crowd had 13 miles in mind but my Achille's wasn't even 80% healed so I "wimped out" for the 10 mile route.

We all started together heading down Bollinger toward Dougherty. I talked with Fermin and Patrick but then started a conversation with Sergio. After we started talking I noticed we had left the group behind and I was running too fast. The pace was perfect for Sergio but for me it would be trouble so at Mile 2 I wished him good luck and pulled back (but not too much). I kept Sergio in my sights as we headed to Old Ranch Road and by the time I started the climb, the rest of the team had me in their sights.

I went down to Alcosta and then coach started yelling something about the water stop so I turned around and I guess I had passed it. I gu'd and took water. I would now run with the rest of the team at a slower, controlled pace for the next 4 miles.

Once we got to Bollinger I split for my 10 mile target and pulled Leiping and Ron with me. Coach said "Don't do anything foolish!" >:) It's a hill so I marched right up it and was pleasantly suprised with the result. It also feels good on my Achille's to give it an extra stretch running uphill.

When we got to the finish we were short 10 so we ran up a bit further and back again to get it. I ditched my shoes and socks and dipped in the cold pool to help ease my muscles then quickly grabbed my things and headed home. Matthew had an A's baseball game to attend for Little League and we needed to be on BART in an hour.

The game was good with the A's winning in the 12th inning. The weather was hot, Matthew got a lot of cool souvenirs and I think he had a great time even if we left after the 3rd innning. . As for me, I was so tired I started falling asleep on the BART ride home. No worries though... my father-in-law, Ken was with us the whole time so it's not like I'm gonna fall asleep on BART leaving my 5 year old to fend for himself.

A change of clothes, a wash down and Matthew's off riding bikes around with his sister and the neighbor kids until it's time for a story and bedtime.

Business: Looping Dougherty route to Bollinger using Iron Horse Trail for 10 miles in 1:21.14 @ an average 7:45min/mile pace.
Splits are as follows:
Mile  1: 8:50 (0:08:50) - Easy Dougherty downhill.
Mile  2: 7:48 (0:16:38) - Running w/ Sergio.
Mile  3: 7:49 (0:24:27) - Running w/ myself. Not much slower...
Mile  4: 7:53 (0:32:20) - Old Ranch Road. Up & over.
Mile  5: 7:28 (0:39:48) - Pop a Gu. Water stop (30sec.)
Mile  6: 8:05 (0:47:53)
Mile  7: 8:25 (0:56:18)
Mile  8: 8:13 (1:04:31) - Bollinger uphill climb of DEATH (j/k)
Mile  9: 8:13 (1:12:44)
Mile 10: 8:30 (1:21:14) - Finish. Into the pool for 5 seconds!!!

End-of-Week Summary:



Gut-check
Breakfast: 1 Gu, 2 chocolate milks, 1 banana, water.
Lunch: A hot dog, chips, capri sun, water, chocolate donut.
Dinner: Bowl of oat cereal, 2% milk, water.

Run. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

=RUMBLE