Cool running along the bluffs......

north of Cayucos is such a change from running the streets of Bakersfield. The morning was cool as the fog was still in along the California Central Coast. The trail runs right along the bluffs about 50' above the beach below. I was told that it was about 4 miles to where the trail comes up to a rock pile and ends. I started out running with Ginger and Debbie. The others planned on walking on this day, except for Bill, but he didn't start running right away, but rather walked with the others. Debbie set a real nice pace for us up to two miles where they decided to turn around. I wanted to do another mile out before I turned around so I continued on. I was running so comfortably, my knee wasn't hurting and I felt like I could run forever. This trail gies you options to take cutoffs along the way that get even closer to the edge of the bluffs and dip deeply into gullies and back up. I took everyone of them just because it was fun. I got to the bottom of a hill and my GPS said three miles, so I turned around and headed back. Not sure why I didn't continue on, I just had in my mind six miles. Later, I regretted not continuing on. About 1/2 mile after I turned around Bill came by going the other direction. He looked really good. He ended up going all the way to the end of the trail so ended up with and 8 mile run, albeit he did walk probably the first couple of miles. Soon I passed the rest of the group as they were still walking north as I ran south headed for the finish line. I got to the finish and decided to turn around and keep running back until I met up with Dani and Kim. So that's what I did, ran about 1/2 mile and met up with them and walked back to the finish with them. This run really makes me wish I lived at the coast all the time so I could enjoy these kind of runs more often. More on my running future in another post.

Running with a dog....

is different. You can't run as fast because you have to be aware at all times of where the dog is. Willow is really good at staying right by my side and not trying to pull or lag behind. But she stays so close to me that I have to be careful she doesn't trip me up. She is a real joy to run with though. She seems tireless, she could probably do much longer runs. I took water and offered it to her a couple of times, but she didn't want any she just wanted to keep going. Lot's of other dogs along the way greeted us as we ran by and though she turned her head and looked their way, she did not try to pull over to them. She was interested in the deer that ran across the road in a couple of places but again she stayed mostly focused on continuing her forward progress, much to my delight. Of course my time was slower than normal, but that is ok - it was all about putting in the miles and having a great time with my canine friend Willow

I think I overdid......

it a little bit today. I went out to do 11 miles and it was only 76° so I thought it would be perfect day for a long run. By the time I got to around 7 miles it had gotten quite a bit warmer and I was really getting tired. I started doing 2 min run/1 min walk and I was drinking a lot of water but it was just HARD. At about 9 miles my left knee suddenly started acting up and it became really difficult to even walk on it, so I called my wife and had her pick me up at mile 10. I wonder if I should just give up my long runs completely. I still haven't run a marathon, which is something I have always wanted to do, but maybe releasing myself from that goal would not be a bad thing. I would still run of course, I don't think I could ever give it up completely. I have a lot of thinking to do.

8 mile run on day after triathlon

Probably shouldn't have done that. Today I was supposed to take a rest day, except for my yoga class in the morning. About 1:00 I decided I really wanted to go for a long run, 8 miles to be precise. The thermometer in my office said 89 deg which didn't sound too bad. So I strapped on my Camelback and my GPS and took off. I made the first three miles doing pretty well, but then started doing some walk breaks. It really felt hotter than 89 and I was thankful for the full Camelback of water. By the time I got to Planz Rd, about 4 miles in I could barely do more than walk. Essentially I was walking almost the last 4 miles of my 'run'. My lower abdomen is hurting, my inner thigh muscles are sore and my glutes are sore. I will definitely need to rest for a couple of days. It's hard to accept that my body just doesn't react like it did when i was 30. It takes me longer to recover from hard workouts. I have been reading Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run where he talks about how the vegan way of eating has given him more energy and enabled him to recover much faster than when he was eating animal protein. Sure Scott, that's just great for you, but you are not 66 yrs old!!