Missed my Sat run, but I have a great excuse

My daughter was born on Saturday!

Her name is Brooklyn.

Last week I was able to get a run in on Monday and Wed.  Then, my wife had to be induced on Thursday.  Yes, Thursday . . . birth Sat.  After 49 hours my daughter was born at 1:06 pm on Sat.  I was suppose to run 10-12 miles at a trial in the South Bay.  Yet, I cannot think of a better reason to miss a run.

My wife and baby come home from the hospital on Wed so it has been a crazy week so far and I'm sure things will only get crazier (but also very exciting).  Yet, I did get a run in tonight (a short 4 miles) and I plan to get another run in on Wed.  Then, hopefully I can make it out for a trial run on Sat morning.  My wife gave me the option of going on a run or going to the 49er game (I have season tickets).  My choice was going on the run.

I'm so happy!  Brooklyn is my first child.

***sorry also for being behind in other blogs I read.

Wet, Cold and Muddy Run

First, I’m so far behind with reading the running blogs that I really enjoy reading. It has just been a crazy few weeks. Especially, preparing for the expected baby and family coming into town. I despise google reader at the moment because I feel so guilty everytime I go in there. I just can't get caught up.

However, with that said, I have done my best to get out there and run. I have been able to get a few short runs in during the week. And, last Sat., I met up with some people from my running group last summer for a run. We met at the Skyline Open Space Preserve and were going to run through the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve.

I was really looking forward to the run.  As the weekend approached, however, I knew it would be a rough run.  It rained a lot on Friday and rain was anticipated on Sat.  It was cold and windy.  We exchanged e-mails on Friday and still planned to head out there for the run.  When we got there, it was cold, wet and windy.  Worse . . . it was muddy.  We arrived and debated for a few minutes on whether we should just leave and save the run for a better day.  However, we decided to attempt to run and the run started up this hill:

It did not go well.  We made it about .1, .2 if lucky and stopped.  It felt like our feet dropped in 1 foot of mud with each step.  It was cold and windy.  We walked back down the hill and considered calling it quits.  Yet, we saw another path that looked a little better and we headed out.  We stopped a couple of times and considered whether to go on or turn around.  We lost one on the way, but me and four others kept going.  Even though it was very cold (40s) and windy, we pushed on.  Here are some pictures:

We made it about 3 miles out and to the top of a hill (Borel Hill) and then decided to turn around.  The wind was nasty and the footing was getting worse.  The plan was to go either 7 miles or 11 miles but with the weather we were happy with how far we got.

I'm in the last picture.  As you can tell . . . I need Santa's help with winter running clothes.  I had to use my bike jacket, a regular hat and my bike gloves.  Last winter I was injured and could not run.  So I have very few winter clothes for running.  I've been a good boy, so I hope Santa helps me out.

The route back was very interesting.  There were a lot of running down hills and with the poor footing it lead for interesting moments.  No falls, but we were all over the place.  A few times it felt like I had no control of my feet they were going where they were going to go. Almost ran into bushes, someone in front of me, someone behind me and a few times came close to doing a face plant.  Yet, that made the run fun.

We decided to take a short cut back due to the conditions.  We ended up running about 5 miles. About 4.9 miles longer than what it looked like we were going to do.

7 mile Sunday Run

I was able to get out for a 7 mile run on Sunday at Stevens Creek Trail in Mountain View. It was cold out, but I generally like running in the cold so it was nice. I started off a little slower than I wanted (about a 9 min pace the first 1/2 mile), then I went too fast until mile 3. My hands were cold (and I did not have gloves) so I pulled my long sleeve shirt over my hands (and over Garmin). I would check my pace at the mile markers and knew I was going to be in trouble down the road once I saw my pace.  I was going about a 7:30 min a mile pace for miles 2 and 3. Way too fast.

I was really getting tired in miles 4 and 5 . But, I thought about all of the people running races on Sunday (especially those running marathons) and knew that I could get through these last few miles when others were pushing themselves so hard. I wanted to finish at an 8:30 pace. With about a 1/2 a mile left, I check Garmin and my pace was 8:32. I kicked up the speed and was about to finished my 7 miles at 8:29. I was tired, but felt really good.

It's very interesting to be running without a race coming up. In 2008 when I re-started running, I was training for a marathon and then after my injury layoff I started running in preparation for another marathon. So, this is really the first time, I'm running, just to run. With the baby coming soon, I don't want to plan a major race until mid-year (looks like maybe San Diego). I had a work Holiday party on Sunday and someone asked me what are you training for. And, I said nothing. Just running to run. It feels great.

Busy week . . . but still got some runs in

This week has just been crazy busy.  I'm so backed up with my google reader that I'm scared to check it.

But, I did get a few runs on.  This past Sunday, I was able to make it out to Steven's Creek Trail, in Mountain View, for a run.  I got up relatively early and make it out there for a 6 mile run.  This was the longest I ran since the SV marathon.  I felt good.  I ran it at an 8:29 pace.  I'm not sure I could have kept that pace up if I went longer.  If I went at a slower pace, I think I could have done 8/9 miles. I was sad to learn that later that same day on that same Trail, a women was attacked.  Fortunately, she was able to get away.  Be careful out there.

I planned to get three runs in during the week, but work has just been keeping me tied up.  Besides the regular work, I have an article that I wanted to get done yesterday (it is due soon).  So far I have not had time to start it.  I'm hoping to find time in the next day or two.  But, I did get a short 3.1 mile run in on Tuesday.  I wanted to get another run in Thursday morning.  I was up late on Wed night trying to get work done (until about 1:30am) and I wanted to get up at 6:20 to get out there by 6:30-6:40 am and do a short 3 mile run.  The alarm did go off at 6:20am.  But, I did not get up.  :(   I finally got up about 7am, but then had to get ready for work and in the office.  I was able to get in a 3.4 mile run tonight on the treadmill. Running on the treadmill is just not the same (I did run at 11pm so was able to watch a rerun of Seinfeld.

Some people from my running group were planning to get together for a 10/12 mile trail run on Sat.  I was really looking forward to going.  Then, I realized I have a baby CPR class in the morning so I have to miss it.  :(   I was a bit unsure if I should increase my mileage so much this soon so maybe it is for the best that I cannot attend.  Instead, I'm going to try go for a 7 or 8 mile run this weekend.