Brr...un

With the feels like 10 degree temperature, I managed a 50 minute run in the Cinnamon Ridge neighborhood.

P.S. I took two days off while in the Hudson River valley because my nephew was too darned cute ;O I guess that means that I won't get a new hat, but I'm still pleased with my east coast running.

P.P.S. Last night, I dreamt that I was meeting someone and traveling to SF for a race but we were running late. Somehow, I was chill about the prospects of rushing to the start of the race!

Dashing through the snow

Happy holidays, y'all!

I did a bit of my run in some powdery snow in NJ, and the weather outside was delightful.....Now it's time to celebrate :)

Socks rock

I wore my new black wool socks (from an Oakland, CA cycling store) for today's brr-tastic run in New Jersey's 35 degreeish weather. My feet stayed cozy, but my body was quite chilly for the first 15ish minutes. Fortunately, I *did* warm up and managed 50 minutes at a solid pace, involving repeating a couple loops near my Hubby's former-middle school.

In fact, I was feeling just a tad overheated towards the end of the run. But, in my book, it's waaay better to be warm & dry than shivering!

Vacation

Next week, I'll be heading east for winter break. It will be a challenge to maintain a running routine while dealing with the cold weather plus overall gluttony of holiday celebrations with family and friends. I'd like to run a few times per week but realize that a long run won't happen, and that's totally fine :)

Here are a few things to help keep me on track (Ha! Definitely not planning any track workouts!)....I bought a pair of thin, wool biking socks to wear while running in chilly temps. I'll try to run in the early afternoon when the sun's been out for a few hours. Hot coffee before and after the run always help! And, finally, there's always bribery: If I manage to run every other day (with no 2 days off in a row), I will treat myself to a new running hat. Deal.

Fun with hills

It was a gray and foggy afternoon for a run. I thought a few hill sprints could break up the monotony of the past 4 weeks' plain ole running (which I've been doing for to reacquaint my body with running after thrashing it at NYC marathon!!). So I ran up Mandana, found a suitable 1 minute hill and did 5 repeats. The first couple felt strange but then I found my groove; the final repeat was my fastest :>

Happy Hanukkah!

Best wishes for warm and joyous Hanukkah celebrations! Prior to this evening's fried potato pancakes and merriment, I went for a 13 mile run through the soaked city of SF with J (We ran through medium rain, mist, cloudiness, some sun, some piercing rain, light rain, and more medium rain. And, yes, our feet got soaked!).

Driving back home, I thought of some awesome running-related gifts....

1) a shiny marathon PR :)

2) analysis of my running form

3) personal training for upper body/core strength

4) new running clothes, socks, and shoes

5) fresh pasta & new flavors of gels and Nuun hydration tablets

6) massage

7) spa/sauna

8) pedicure

Graphing and analyzing

Here's my heart rate data from today's run...Generally, I should run my general endurance/easy-medium runs in the 132-142 bpm zone. Uphill running works your heart differently, so up to 153 is alright. Today's run involved a long, gradual uphill to Piedmont Avenue, and then a nice downhill back home. And it seems that my heart rate really evens out in the high 130s toward the end of the run (picture perfect, in my humble opinion!). I'm not completely sure how this heart rate data is helping me, but I've got a bit of extra time on my hands and am taking advantage of Garmalade's diverse functions!!

Streak

I'm on a 4-day running streak, and my legs are feeling good. I usually don't run more than 3 days in a row, but I might run till Thursday....It's nice that ALL my runs are easy runs right now, so there's no pressure to hit any speeds or even specific distances.

Today's run was on one of my favorite routes around North Berkeley, and I'm glad I wore my running pants, hat, and gloves!!

Chill

The Bay Area is experiencing a cold spell, and I ran in this afternoon's low-40s weather. The Lake Merritt run was calming and the cool air and puffy pockets of clouds were invigorating. Keeping warm was great motivation to run at a decent pace :>

I'm trying to run a bit higher mileage for the next two weeks because I'm not sure how much running will happen out east, especially since I'm a bit wimpy about running when there's snow/ice on the ground!

Ten

I thoroughly enjoyed running 10 miles to Berkeley and back with J. It had been awhile since J and I had run long together, and it made the time fly by :> The weather was cool and gray, but my legs and body were pleased to be out on a Saturday morning to do the long run routine. There's a few more weeks of unstructured running before serious training begins for the Avenue of the Giants marathon, and I'd like to experiment with heart rate training, a couple new routes, and maybe some extra stretching.

Last but not least, a HUGE congratulations to a fellow Bay Area blogger who qualified for the Boston Marathon today!

Heart to heart

I'm trying to use my Garmalade's heart rate monitor. So, I calculated my maximum heart rate (around 189 beats per minute) based on a formula from Runners World. And then I determined my endurance heart rate zone (123-142).

And, on today's run, I averaged 139 bpm. Pretty neat, eh?!?! It was cool to see how my heart rate went up *a lot* on big ole hills AND how my rate went way down while running downhills or jogging. But there are still things to figure out, since the monitor's band is not that comfortable (fits by the bottom band of my sports bra) and I'm not completely sure what my precise maximum rate is....