RnR: Week 4 Day 7

Great hill work this morning with my hubby and my BIL. We ran at the Los Gatos Creek Trail all the way to the top of Manzanita Trail at St. Joseph's Hill and down Jones rail towards downtown for a total of 6.65 miles @ 1:19:15. It was sunny, warm and humid. I had a tough time getting through the first 4 miles which happened to include 3 killer hills in today's running route. My legs felt like jello, I had a hard time finding my groove. I managed to get myself to a slow run the first hill towards the Lexington Reservoir but the St. Joseph's hill climb I pretty much just walked.

The way down the hills was a different story. I felt like I was flying out there and it felt awesome. It was well worth the struggle the first 4 miles. It was like a reward after all the hard work. My mile splits are as follows:

Mile 1 - 11:02
Mile 2 - 11:24
Mile 3 - 16:05
Mile 4 - 13:08
Mile 5 -10:59
Mile 6 -10:40
Extra 0.65mile - 10:08

Big thanks to my hubby, as always and to my BIL for running with me, for motivating and inspiring me to keep pushing myself to reach further. It was one tough but an awesome run nonetheless.

Our 6.65 mile route today

Today's elevation

RnR: Week 3 Day 2

I was planning on taking a day off from running today since I had a long-ish run on the treadmill yesterday but had to change plans when my girl friend Jane called. I couldn't turn down the invitation to run with her. Jane and I set out to run 3 miles at the Guadalupe Creek trail. It was still pretty warm out when we started around 5:30pm. I was pleasantly surprised to see more people at the trail than usual. There were 3 lone runners, a couple with there kids on their bikes and a few walkers and bikers. It was a nice mix of trail users. Hubs and I usually don't see that many people on that part of the trail during our runs. I guess people flock the trails to enjoy the nice and warm summer days.

Jane and I did 2.76 miles total for 33:29 mins. We ran a pretty nice, easy pace. Our total time included the failed attempt to find Jane a restroom. The closest one would be another 2 miles out which we didn't plan on doing. It also included some walk breaks because she felt slightly overheated. Although I was all amped up and could have ran some more, it was alright for me to head back home. It's supposed to be a rest day anyway. I'll take this run as an active recovery from yesterday's workout. I'm just glad I got out there and got some miles in with Jane today.

Runspiration courtesy from Pinterest.com

RnR: Week 1 Day 6

Hubby and I did our routine weekend long-ish run starting at Campbell Park all the way to the 5 mile marker at the Los Gatos Creek Trail. The out and back is about 5.27 mile which we did at 54:37. It started off pretty slow since my left shin was a bit painful and it took awhile to warm up. Once we got it rolling though, it actually felt like I did a decent pace throughout the run.

Here's our mile splits:
Mile 1 - 11:14
Mile 2 - 10:36
Mile 3 - 10:44
Mile 4 - 10:12
Mile 5 - 9:41
extra .27 mile @ 9:20

Today's route

Today's elevation

It was kinda humid out there today but not too bad. We arrived to the trail at 9AM. If we had gotten about an hour earlier, we could have enjoyed a cooler, nicer run but that's what I know I have to deal with since it was my fault I don't wake up early enough.

4.5 Miler in the Heat!

Here's our treat once we reached
uphill - a beautiful view of the Lexington Reservoir

The hubs and I did our regular weekend trail run this morning. As usual, I didn't get up 'til mid-morning so I was gearing myself up for a run in blazing heat. Well, the heat was actually tolerable. It's the humidity that was a real challenge. We ran at the Los Gatos Creek Trail starting from Miles Ave. all the way to Lexington Reservoir and back. It's about 4.5 miles total but with the heat and humidity, the effort seemed longer than the actual mileage. I took it easy going uphill for the most part, careful not to over do it and exhaust myself too soon. I was hoping to do a longer than 4.5 mile run but was more relieved than disappointed when the hubs told me that we are turning back around instead of climbing up St. Joseph's hill.

Nathan Quickdraw Plus hydration. Love it!

Downhill is sweet! I love this part of the run. I picked up the pace on the way back and was almost surprised that I felt strong despite the heat and humidity. The heat can take its toll on you sometimes so I made sure I stay hydrated on runs like this. Whoever invented the Nathan Quickdraw Plus hand-held hydration deserves a big pat on the back. I love this thing. This is more or less $20 but worth every penny.

This run was short but I definitely felt accomplished having to contend with warm muggy weather and a steep uphill climb but never for one second thought about bailing out.