September 2017 – TheSpeedydave!

Running Summary: Week Of 9/11/17 – 9/17/17

Running summary of the past week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon.

General Reflections: This week I officially registered for and was accepted into the Boston Marathon! As for training, I planned to cut back on mileage but I wound up putting in more miles than I wanted to.

Monday: 8 easy miles
Tuesday: 12.2 with track intervals | 4 easy miles | Tennis
Wednesday: 10 easy miles
Thursday: 13 miles with a few at Marathon Pace to NYC | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.4
Friday: Easy 8
Saturday: Easy 13 | Easy 2
Sunday: Easy 10

Weekly Totals: 88 miles. 3,199 ft of elevation gain

Favorite Workout(s): Tuesday’s track workout

On Tuesday I had my first track workout in a while (Strava info). This was also the first track work I’ve done for months where the temperature was fairly mild. It’s crazy how much of a difference the cooler weather made.

My heart rate was able to recover much quicker than in the past on sweltering hot days, which led to being able to keep my pace up on the intervals. My intervals / times were:

8x800m ~2:48
4x400m ~1:18
4x200m ~0:37
1×1 mile ~5:40

Each rep had a recovery jog of half the previous rep’s distance between them (besides the final 1 mile rep). Normally I check my heart rate between reps to see what it recovers to, and for these intervals I found it getting to about 10 bpm lower than it usually gets.

Biggest Issues: I spent all day Saturday in NYC, and the new cable I brought to charge my phone with my portable battery wound up being a dud and not working. The only way I was able to keep my phone juiced was to go to two different Apple stores to plug it into the cables they used to charge the products on display… That was a stressful experience. I did a couple other runs and long walks that day but couldn’t track any of them because of my phone being in a constant state of low battery.

Lessons learned: Test everything before relying on it.

Next Week: Lower the mileage a little more and but have a good long run. 5 weeks till the Marine Corps Marathon!

Running Summary: Week Of 9/4/17 – 9/10/17

Running summary of the past week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon.

General Reflections: I was in Los Angeles for half of this week. I set a new weekly mileage record, topping 100 miles for the first time, and a new weekly elevation gain PR.

Monday: 4 easy miles | 4.5 easy miles
Tuesday: 17.8 trail + road miles
Wednesday: 1 easy mile | 18 trail + road miles
Thursday: 7.6 easy miles
Friday: 10.1 mile workout | 5 easy miles
Saturday: 20.3 miles
Sunday: 13.2 miles

Weekly Totals: 101.8 miles. 5,883 ft of elevation gain

Favorite Workout(s): My Wednesday long run

On Wednesday I took a train to Hollywood, and did a trail run up and around Griffith park (Strava info). The views were phenomenal and fortunately it was a more frequently trafficked trail system so I didn’t get really lost (like I did the previous day).

Biggest Issues: On Tuesday’s trail run I got dangerously lost.

Lessons learned: Bringing an emergency little flask of water (I have a 7oz one I used) on runs that may be longer than planned is a good safety precaution to take.

Next Week: Lower the mileage and get back to more speed work

Los Angeles August 2017 Final 2 Runs

The 8th and 9th days of running from my August 2017 trip to Los Angeles.

All good things must come to an end. Here’s the story on my last 2 runs in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday I decided to take a train into Hollywood and run / hike up to the Hollywood Sign.

I started with a steep climb up to the Griffith Observatory, which is gorgeous and a place I definitely want to check out again.

After that initial ascent, I followed a trail to the peak of Mt. Hollywood. I was confused when I couldn’t find the Hollywood sign from the peak, but I realized that the sign and “Mt. Hollywood” are two separate things…

I felt pretty silly, but decided to make the best of it and followed a different trail from where I was that connected to where the sign was. It was only an extra couple miles, and it was totally worth it.

After navigating my way down the mountains and back into the city, I made my way back to the my friends’ apartment.

Wednesday totals: 18 miles – 8:47/mi avg pace – 1,428 feet of elevation gain. (Strava info)

Thursday was my last day in LA. I woke up a little extra early, and ran down my favorite bike / running path one last time. It was a perfect day, and the views from my favorite beach spot were phenomenal.

I then met my friends for breakfast (burritos and smoothies on the beach). It was a perfect morning.

Reflections: I’m sad to be leaving, but there will be more trips to look forward to. I accomplished most of what I wanted to while out there.

One major thing I took away from this trip is how important it is to travel. I may not have the money to travel the world, but this country is a good place to start, and I think I’m going to start doing a lot more of that.

Los Angeles August 2017 Day 6 and 7 Runs

The 6th and 7th days of running from my August 2017 trip to Los Angeles.

Monday was a pretty active day for me. I did a morning 4 miles, and an evening 4.5 miles, with a 3 mile hike in between.

Tuesday though.. Tuesday was a big one. I ran from UCLA to attempt this hike. Getting there went fine and the first half of the loop was great. I managed to snag some pictures:

Somewhere along the way I got mixed up (they really need to have some trail markings out here). There was a lot of climbing and looking around, and then I lost phone service. I brought emergency backup water this time though, which wound up being needed.

After panicking for a while and second guessing every decision, I found a road which led to another road which led to civilization.

17.8 miles 10:22/mi average pace, with 2,015 feet of elevation gain (Strava info).

Hooray for mid-week long runs!

Running Summary: Week Of 8/28/17 – 9/3/17

Running summary of the past week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon.

General Reflections: Most of this week I’ve been in Los Angeles, just in time for a little heatwave.

Monday: 12.5 easy miles
Tuesday: 6 easy morning miles (before flight)
Wednesday: 13.4 progressive miles
Thursday: 12 easy miles
Friday: 5.3 easy miles
Saturday: 10 easy miles
Sunday: 16.6 mile long run

Weekly Totals: 76.2 miles. 3,340 ft elevation gain

Favorite Workout(s): My Wednesday and Sunday runs.

Wednesday was my first run in Cali, and I had a great progressive run to the beach (Strave info). I felt fast, and timed it well so I caught the sun setting:

LA Sunset Beach

Sunday’s run was the long run (Strava info), and while the heat was exhausting, I climbed a mountain and enjoyed taking in the sights.

Biggest Issues: It was way hotter than I expected, and while climbing the mountain my water supply got dangerously low.

Lesson: Don’t be stupid on hot days when in a new area, make sure you have enough water!

Next Week: Miles. Lots and lots of miles.

Los Angeles August 2017 Day 5 Run

The 5th run from my August 2017 trip to Los Angeles.

I just got back from an amazing, and exhausting run.

But what about my day 3 and 4 runs? Those were nothing special so I’ll go through them quickly.

On Friday I totally lost to the heat… It was 90+ out, my muscles rebelled and I only managed a few miles to UCLA.

Saturday after resting through the hottest part of the day and feeling bleh I finally got out for a 10 mile run. I need to remember how much running boosts my mood.

It’s now Sunday, and with fresh legs I decided to explore an area I’ve never gone before. I ran to Santa Monica, and then went North to Temescal Gateway Park. Just getting to the park was about 10 miles, so by the time I got there I just wanted to do a short easy loop which I found out about here.

This loop was far from easy…

The terrain was perfect for trail running, but man was it steep, which meant much of this part of my run was power walking. The trails also aren’t really marked at all so I was constantly second guessing whether I was on the right path. That combined with the 90 degree weather and my dwindling water supply led to a pretty scary experience.

The views at the top were amazing, totally worth the soreness I’m sure my buns will feel tomorrow.

After the run I met my friends at Philz. Sure wish we had that coffee back east.

It was a rough run, but I’m glad I did it, despite being underprepared. It wound up being 16.7 miles with an average pace of 9:21/mi.

Now it’s time for some gatorade, hooray!

Los Angeles August 2017 Day 2 Run

The second run from my August 2017 trip to Los Angeles.

My Thursday run went through Venice beach and up to Santa Monica.

I went during the hottest part of the day (it hit about 90 degrees), so while it was supposed to be just an easy run, my muscles were exhausted by the time I was finished.

Nothing too spectacular to report on the run. 12 miles at 8:09 average pace. Hoping to get out to some trails over the weekend.

Happy running!