Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a great new year and I wish you all the best in 2010!


Tomorrow Brooklyn will be two weeks old. It is an adjustment . . . living with a newborn. But, it is great. My New Year goal is simply to keep up running to some extent while I adjust to Brooklyn’s schedule and routine.

Getting running in is much harder. I have found that during the week shorter runs work best. I’ve tried to get about 3 runs in during the week between 3 and 4 miles each. I’ve mixed up the runs between the outdoors and the treadmill.

Last Sat., I was able to get out to Picchetti Open Space Preserve for a run. We started at Picchetti and then went onto the Fremont Older Open Space Preserve. I had to take Brooklyn to her first doctor’s appointment (well-visit) so I could only run for about an hour and a half. The rest of the group was going to run about 3 hours. I started with them and after 45 minutes turned around. It was great to be outside and enjoy two nice trial runs. The weather was great, it was nice and cool. A bit overcast. The main issue was making sure I did not get lost on the way back . . . one wrong turn and I’m late to Brooklyn’s appointment. Since the car seat is in my car, that means my wife would be very upset. Going out I was very careful to make sure I knew what trial I was on and each major turn we made.  I made it back in time without getting lost or being too slow on the turn trip.  Here are a few pictures.

This Friday, on New Years Day I was able to get out and run the Los Altos 5K run/walk. I had a PR with a time under 22 minutes. They did not have numbers, but they did have a clock. It was a very informal run. No numbers. No fees. It was four ½ laps in, near and around Los Altos Downtown. There were many walkers, which made it a fun family event. Yet, there were a number of serious and fast runners. I started with the lead pack but they were going at a 5/6 min pace and I had to fall off quickly. I ran it in a 7.22 pace. For a time of 21 minutes and 26 seconds. The problem is that my Garmin showed only 2.91 miles at the finish. I ran and kept pace until Garmin read 3 miles for a time of 22.05. Yet start to finish was 21 minutes and 26 seconds. I think the reason for the 2.91 miles is that runners stayed on the left and since there were a lot of walkers, we were on the far left. With just left turns (big loop), that cut off the distance . . . I think. So now I have to decide if this counts as a PR. I think so since it was a 5K and the time and distance was what they were. It was a great way to start the year.