Training Begins!
Prior to starting training today, I spent the weekend engaged in activities that are not conducive to exercise, or healthy living in general. On Friday evening, we went to a dinner party at a friend's house and had a few glasses of wine (we had to leave fairly early, though, since the party was in San Francisco and the bridge was closing to east-bound traffic for the entire weekend at midnight).
To help make sure that I got it all out of my system, my friends Dave and Heidi came up from Los Angeles on Saturday. I went to high school with Dave and he was also on the track team but, like me until recently, swore off running for the "good life." Recently, however, he has decided to start exercising again, although he is having the natural tendency to push himself too hard rather than ease in to training. I definitely started out this way, and wound up with various injuries, including a stress fracture in my left leg. I tried to encourage him by letting him know that he'll reach whatever fitness level he wants to reach, but also reminding him that it is important to be patient and not do more than your body can handle.
We spent Saturday catching up, starting with visiting Dave's older brother and his beautiful brand new (one week old) baby. We then went to lunch at Quinn's Lighthouse, an eclectic place on the marina in Oakland. After Quinn's, we went to Alameda for vodka tasting at Hangar One. The location is amazing with great views of San Francisco, and they have a fantastic array of vodka products. We then headed into San Francisco, and had a glass of wine at the wine bar in the Ferry Building, walked up to Gordon Biersch for some garlic fries and a beer, and then headed to Tres Agaves for dinner. I didn't think that getting a table at Tres Agaves would be a problem since the Giants were not in town (the restaurant is right by the ballpark), but the place was packed! We were told that there no were tables available because the "Cazadores Girls" were performing. I have no idea if this is actually the reason why the restaurant was so packed (we saw the performance, which was basically a marketing campaign for Cazadores tequila), but we were able to find some room at the bar and enjoy some of Julio's fine margaritas (as well as some delicious carnitas and carne asada). After dinner, we walked over to The 21st Amendment, before winding up at the Gold Dust Lounge in Union Square. In all, a very full day!
Sunday was more of the same, as Dave's parents joined us for a trip to the Wine Country. They had never been, and it is always fun to introduce people to some of the world's best. We started out with a tasting on the "Member's Patio" at Cakebread, which was very relaxing. We then headed for the exact opposite experience at V. Sattui: it was wall to wall people, although we were able to get a table on the grounds there for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we headed to Heitz (great wine, and no charge for tasting!), Goosecross Cellars (a nice smaller winery off the beaten track), and ended the day with some sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon. For dinner, we headed back to Berkeley for barbecue at T-Rex. We ended the night with a drink at a new tiki bar on Piedmont Avenue called the Kona Club. This place used to be a great dive bar called the King's X, and while they definitely seemed like they were trying, they didn't quite have the full concept down yet. After all of this, we got home and were in bed by around midnight.
After this action-packed weekend, I had put on a few pounds (current weight: 173 pounds) and was definitely ready to start training. I still have not settled on the exact training that I will follow, but will most likely combine one of Hal Higdon's training schedules with some of the other schedules out there, like the recent marathon training published by Runner's World that requires only three days of running per week. I don't know if running only three days per week will be effective, but it certainly sounds realistic!
Mondays are typically rest days but, because I did not run a long run on Sunday, I decided to start the training with a short run. We were thinking about going to Lake Merritt, but instead decided on Inspiration Point, which is the course for the Tilden Tough Ten annual race in May. I run this course pretty regularly and forgot that the course is called "Tough" for a reason: it contains plenty of rolling hills (as Dave reminded me once we completed our workout up there). We got there at about 10:30 a.m., and the sky was clear with some fog in the direction of San Francisco. It was fairly warm, although a cool breeze was blowing through the open parts of the course.
I started with a five-minute warm-up walk (.33 miles), followed by an out-and-back totaling about 3 miles (1.53 miles on the way out in 12:07, or 7:54/mile pace, and 1.59 miles on the way back in 12:38, or 7:58/mile pace). I ended the workout with a quarter-mile walk in 3:40. One easy day down!
Total miles (running): 3.12
Total time (running): 24:45
Next run: Wednesday (5 miles)
To help make sure that I got it all out of my system, my friends Dave and Heidi came up from Los Angeles on Saturday. I went to high school with Dave and he was also on the track team but, like me until recently, swore off running for the "good life." Recently, however, he has decided to start exercising again, although he is having the natural tendency to push himself too hard rather than ease in to training. I definitely started out this way, and wound up with various injuries, including a stress fracture in my left leg. I tried to encourage him by letting him know that he'll reach whatever fitness level he wants to reach, but also reminding him that it is important to be patient and not do more than your body can handle.
We spent Saturday catching up, starting with visiting Dave's older brother and his beautiful brand new (one week old) baby. We then went to lunch at Quinn's Lighthouse, an eclectic place on the marina in Oakland. After Quinn's, we went to Alameda for vodka tasting at Hangar One. The location is amazing with great views of San Francisco, and they have a fantastic array of vodka products. We then headed into San Francisco, and had a glass of wine at the wine bar in the Ferry Building, walked up to Gordon Biersch for some garlic fries and a beer, and then headed to Tres Agaves for dinner. I didn't think that getting a table at Tres Agaves would be a problem since the Giants were not in town (the restaurant is right by the ballpark), but the place was packed! We were told that there no were tables available because the "Cazadores Girls" were performing. I have no idea if this is actually the reason why the restaurant was so packed (we saw the performance, which was basically a marketing campaign for Cazadores tequila), but we were able to find some room at the bar and enjoy some of Julio's fine margaritas (as well as some delicious carnitas and carne asada). After dinner, we walked over to The 21st Amendment, before winding up at the Gold Dust Lounge in Union Square. In all, a very full day!
Sunday was more of the same, as Dave's parents joined us for a trip to the Wine Country. They had never been, and it is always fun to introduce people to some of the world's best. We started out with a tasting on the "Member's Patio" at Cakebread, which was very relaxing. We then headed for the exact opposite experience at V. Sattui: it was wall to wall people, although we were able to get a table on the grounds there for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we headed to Heitz (great wine, and no charge for tasting!), Goosecross Cellars (a nice smaller winery off the beaten track), and ended the day with some sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon. For dinner, we headed back to Berkeley for barbecue at T-Rex. We ended the night with a drink at a new tiki bar on Piedmont Avenue called the Kona Club. This place used to be a great dive bar called the King's X, and while they definitely seemed like they were trying, they didn't quite have the full concept down yet. After all of this, we got home and were in bed by around midnight.
After this action-packed weekend, I had put on a few pounds (current weight: 173 pounds) and was definitely ready to start training. I still have not settled on the exact training that I will follow, but will most likely combine one of Hal Higdon's training schedules with some of the other schedules out there, like the recent marathon training published by Runner's World that requires only three days of running per week. I don't know if running only three days per week will be effective, but it certainly sounds realistic!
Mondays are typically rest days but, because I did not run a long run on Sunday, I decided to start the training with a short run. We were thinking about going to Lake Merritt, but instead decided on Inspiration Point, which is the course for the Tilden Tough Ten annual race in May. I run this course pretty regularly and forgot that the course is called "Tough" for a reason: it contains plenty of rolling hills (as Dave reminded me once we completed our workout up there). We got there at about 10:30 a.m., and the sky was clear with some fog in the direction of San Francisco. It was fairly warm, although a cool breeze was blowing through the open parts of the course.
I started with a five-minute warm-up walk (.33 miles), followed by an out-and-back totaling about 3 miles (1.53 miles on the way out in 12:07, or 7:54/mile pace, and 1.59 miles on the way back in 12:38, or 7:58/mile pace). I ended the workout with a quarter-mile walk in 3:40. One easy day down!
Total miles (running): 3.12
Total time (running): 24:45
Next run: Wednesday (5 miles)
posted by pmk-one at 8:37:00 PM
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