Training Log Archive: runninghils

Did the Checkpoint Challenge with Katie. Fun to catch up with an old friend, even if our weaknesses were ill-matched. She hadn't mountain biked in years and was on a borrowed bike. I was in terrible running shape. I don't like this marked course follow the arrows thing. After CP3, we missed the turn-off and rode all the way back down to the road the way we came in and got turned back... lost at least 30 minutes there since we had to ride back up to the top of the hill. Fun single track down, but Katie wasn't comfortable and was very cautious on the hills - especially with her back brake starting to lock up. The single track was about 12 miles or something, and I thought it was pretty cool. We got back and did the second kayak section, which went well. Unfortunately, when we got back, they informed us that we couldn't do the trek because we were over the time limit. There was a father-son team that had been with us on the bike who were in the same situation. The others were trying to convince them that we should be able to continue. I said "how about if we go pick up the course?" The RD agreed, so we went out and the 4 of us picked up all the signs, the flag, and all the flagging from the course. It was fun, and we got to take it at a relaxed pace (with lots of slow-down and stops to pick up flagging and signs). It was a cool trek, so i'm glad we did it. John (the father of the father-son team) thanked us and said that without us, they never would have finished the course or gone out on the trek. SO, despite not winning or even having a fast time, I was overall happy with how things ended up. Plus, they gave us a free entry to the next race for picking up the course! What's not to like about that? Next time, Katie will practice mountain biking beforehand and I will be in better running shape.

Track workout. Felt tired, but thought I'd knock it out anyway.
200 - 0:53
200 - 0:50
400 - 2:00
800 - 4:03
400 - 2:00
200 - 0:56
200 - 0:54

Based on these times, I guess I didn't push it hard enough on the shorter distances if I could run almost the same pace for an 800. 400s were slower than last week, but I ran and hiked on hills yesterday whereas last Sunday I just paddled.

Run a lap around Arroyo Verde, but the hills are steep in places and I can't run up all of them yet. Jeff said it took him two years, but i'm planning to be able to run the whole loop sooner than that.
I walked this same loop before I ran it, but since I was talking to my cousin on the phone, I didn't count it. She just moved to the South Bay area for her new job with Google. Trip up to the Bay is definitely in the plans.
It's crazy - on one side of the park closer to the ocean, it's overcast, but on the other side, it's sunny. Sometimes, it's only foggy/cloudy over the ocean.

Forgot to start my watch, but I went out with the Hokuloa club. Today was just an easy intro and there were kids, so we kept it short. They were impressed that I already had the basics down. I think I'm going to join and start racing outrigger canoes. That should be a fun new thing to do!