Thursday, May 13, 2010

Mid-Week Mini Vacay


Work has been slow, to say the least.  And while I fully admit just a few short weeks ago I was complaining about how swamped I was, I am now complaining about the lack of work :)  I'm fickle like that :)  I'm also fickle with the weather, since one day it's cold and windy and rainy, and the next, like yesterday, was just...beautiful. *sigh*

Yesterday I decided to take the day off and hang with the hubbs.  His schedule is also quite flexible and after a quick meeting in the morning, he was left to spend the whole day with me - a mini vacation on a Wednesday!  So, since the weather was just beautiful yesterday we decided to take a trail run in the area that I will be running my trail race on the 23rd.  The course description says difficult in many spots, and Ari was able to confirm this as he often rides his mountain bike through there.  I was excited through to get out and switch up the mundaneness of my runs.  Since there have been  few attacks on women joggers on the Bay Area lately, I have been sticking to my busy road (yes, the one where I got hit!) and I'm tired of it.  So the chance to run on a trail, with the hubbs, could not be passed up!


We left a little later than I would have liked, almost 11, and with the temps predicted to hit near the mid 70's I was a little worried about being out in the noon time heat.  It's amazing too, since we have had SO MUCH rain here this season that the grasses are already turning brown! Boo!  Most of the trail is a single trail, with parts of it hitting a fire road.  There are a ton of steep climbs, one even was 0.4 up!  They were challenging but a great workout!  I can't believe this was in my backyard all these years and I never knew it! 


Ari riding ahead of me


I think we were the only ones out there, too!  I ran a total of just over 5 miles and that was about all I could handle.  It was getting warm and the terrain was difficult.  I am just hoping that since the race starts early I won't have the heat to deal with.  I also made my first outdoor "pit stop" while we were out there - Beth, you would be proud of me :)  My advice, find a nice little stream to take care of business!


5 miles 49:17  9:51/mi pace - I was actually quite surprised I was able to keep a sub 10:00 pace with all the steep climbs.  This is going to be great practice for Lake Tahoe, too!

The rest of the day was spent just takin' care of business.  It's amazing how much more you can accomplish with errands and stuff during the week than on the weekend!  The grocery store is dead at 1pm on a Wednesday!  Perfect for me since I absolutely loathe grocery shopping.  Over all, a really nice day spent with the hubbs and pooch!  If ever possible, take a Wednesday off from work - it's so nice to break the week up that way!!!

In other running news, I have been keeping my runs in the lower mileage since I have a tight glute right now.  I don't want to aggravate it too much so the lower miles, along with lots of foam rolling seem to be helping.  I want to do a med-long run this weekend so we'll see what I can fit in.  Sunday I am going to go and cheer on Tara and possibly Kristen as they tackle a Sprint Triathlon on Sunday!!!  I'm so impressed by these ladies :)

Hope your week is going by fast - tomorrow is FRIDAY!  Whoo hoo!
Happy Thursday and Happy Running peeps!

23 comments:

TMB @ RACING WITH BABES said...

OK. Love the new look.

And how lucky are you to have those trails to run on? Super jealous right now!!

If you are really bored at work, feel free to fly to VA and come babysit my kids. I promise you won't be bored.

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

The blog looks GREAT!! So NICE to have a mid-week decompress with the hubby. TRAILS...there are a lot of local trail races, I am thinking of planning something with my local buddies but we would go the pace of the SLOWEST person so we could enjoy it.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Katie said...

And if you're coming to VA to babysit, you might as well stop and say hello to G!

Nice trail run - it looks like such a nice switch from the roads. & I'm with you on the grocery shopping - I make the boy do all the groceries because I always ending up wanting to stab someone!!!

And, of course, <3 the new look! You're fancy now!

Ewa said...

Now the new blog look is very 'go, go, go'. Love it.
Haven't been to Santa Teresa Park since April, I think. It was still green and muddy. I am looking at your pics and think: HOT! But you are right, this is a great park to train for Tahoe. Another one: Quicksilver.

LAPT said...

New blog look, nice! And also, that trail run looks like fun! It's nice trying out new places to run...the "newness" of it all can distract you from the distance!

Jo Lynn said...

Yay for trails!!!
I was surprised too, at the browning of the hills already.
I will know Sunday if I'm working on the 23rd. Keeping my fingers crossed. Maybe I'll have a closing shift and be able to squeeze in the 10k or something. ;)

Jill said...

So glad you got to have a day off, you totally deserve it! Sorry I bugged ya in the middle of your run - hehe. The trail looks incredible, hope you take me here this summer! :)

Love ya!!

Sarah said...

Nice new look in here! :)

The trail sounds fun. Tim and I used to go up there with B in the jogger to hike around and OMG the hills were crazy!!

ShutUpandRun said...

That looks gorgeous. And warm. Love the blog. Nice merlot background. Reminds me of wine. MMMM wine.

jennifer said...

We have ditches:) Yep, no decent trails, no scenery, but no attackers either! Ive been so absent from the blogging community! Nice to catch up and see where everyone is! Hope you have an awesome time on that trail run! I'm running that weekend too but probably just pacing a friend. Good luck!!

Jenn said...

yeah-that was me. wrong account!

Anonymous said...

Great photos! I am fickle with work too. I like to be busy, but not TOO busy!

Julianne Chai said...

A mini vacay mid week sounds fantastic!! You lucky girl. :-)

Um and yes, I may even post 3 times in one month! LOL

Denise said...

congrats on your first out door pit stop, i'm very proud of you!! :-)

take care of that glute.

Teamarcia said...

Those trails look divine, brown grass and all. Glad you got out with hubs and enjoyed them!

ajh said...

Those trails look great!

teacherwoman said...

Nice job on the trail run! Those are some great photos! Have a great weekend!

MCM Mama said...

Wow, that looks so different than around here.

Glad you got a nice day off to enjoy the trails with your hubby.

Heather said...

I like the new look! Souns like a great day off with your hubby, nice job on the trail run.

B.o.B. said...

That looks awesome and I too am digging your new layout. Have a great weekend sistah!

N.D. said...

middle of the week day off sounds fantastic!! :) And the sites are really pretty!

X-Country2 said...

What a perfect way to spend the day.

Kristen said...

So I am REALLY behind on blogs right now (story of my life) so so sorry for just now getting over here! :)

That is so sweet Ari came out with you and took pictures! It is nice to have a husband who supports your running addiction.