Last Training with the San Diego Ladies

Because I will have to miss the next two Saturday trainings, today was the last time I will train with the crew going to San Diego. Although we had a small team to begin with, and only few of them have regularly come out to train, they have been a good group. Today, my running buddy Lelia couldn’t make it, which was too bad. But we are planning on running together this coming Wednesday after work. Today, our team consisted of coaches Chuck, Kristi, and Walter, and summer teammates Lauren, Nancy, and Ann Marie. Several of the other ladies are recovering from injuries or surgeries, or work Saturdays. Some of the worst injured are going to have a tough time of it in San Diego in just three weeks.

Today, a very hot and humid morning, I traveled 12.25 miles on foot. I also did a lap walking around the lake with Lauren and Kristi before hand, which is about .45 miles. The first little bit of our formal training was some slow walking and dynamic stretching. So my actual run was about 12.1 miles and it took me 143 minutes, or an average pace just under 12 minutes per mile. This included at least 6-7 minutes at four badly needed water stops. I ran the first mile and a half so I could spend a little more time with the others, then I took about a 6 minute walk break. From there, I went into run / walk intervals, with the run interval double the walk in length. So I would guess I ran about 9 miles and walked about 3 miles of the distance traveled. As the morning went on and the heat and especially the sun got more pronounced, my intervals shortened. I started at 5 and 2.5 minutes, went to 4 and 2 minutes about five miles in, and finally ended up with 3 minutes running and 1.5 minutes walking after 7.5 miles. A few times, I wore out and stopped running a bit early, but mostly I stuck to the schedule and a 2:1 run – walk ratio.

I missed having Lelia to run with and talk to. But after starting the walking, I would catch the other runners at the each of the water stops and run with them for a few minutes. And about 8 miles in Coach Walter ran with me the rest of the way which was good, because I had him to run with and to ask questions of. He is an experienced racer at many levels, and a Richmond Marathon pacer, so has lots of good information. He also does trail running an ultra-marathons, and I enjoy hearing about those.

The course was maybe 50:50 shade and sun, and the sunny parts felt like you were being roasted on a spit. At the end, my clothing would not have been more wet had I just taken a shower fully clothed. Oh, but the breeze back at the lake – so miserable in the winter – felt wonderful! Coach Chuck, who also coaches the fall team, was waiting at the lake. Once we got back, he started running to meet Kristi and Nancy who were walking. I did a bunch of stretching, and then decided to wait around and see the walkers in. I’ve been on several walk teams and it is always nice to see someone there waiting when you are coming in all tired. So I found a shady tree near the end of the course and just took a load off for a bit. They all came in about 35-40 minutes after I arrived, and moving along so well. I used to walk fast but could not keep up with them the last few minutes coming back to the lake!

From there, I went home, dumped a bunch of ice in a tub of cold water, and soaked my lower body for 15 minutes while drinking a mug of hot tea. That actually felt pretty good, as did the hot shower afterwards. But even so, my legs feel a bit tired and heavy six hours after finishing running!

Here are a few photos:

This was the team today, plus me. From left: Chuck, Ann Marie, Walter, Lauren, Nancy, Kristi.

Ann Marie, Lauren, and I running near the lakes at the start.

Walter and Lauren running along through the Windor Farms neighborhood. I would have gotten pretty sunburned if I had run without a shirt, but it was tempting at times.

Lock Lane is a pretty street.