Week Nine

This was a week of solo runs. Due to some misunderstanding on my part, I landed up for the buddy run at the wrong time. After waiting for 10 mins for the others to show up, I ran 4 miles on Stevens Creek , starting at Whisman park. We had done this trail on the first long run, and on the previous week's buddy run as well.

For the weekend on-your-own run, I wanted to do the Sawyer camp trail once again, hence decided to not go for the planned runs on Saturday. Instead, I headed out to that trail on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, due to some biking race, the trail was closed until noon. I therefore headed back to the Palo Alto baylands trail near my house.

I had decided to do 6 miles this time. By the time I started running, it was already late morning. The wind on the bay was quite strong by then and it offered me a good resistance. This was the first time I was running in such windy conditions. Initially I was trying to maintain my usual pace, but that started draining my energy more than usual. I realized that I needed to do something about it. I started slowing down my pace a bit until I was running more comfortably. That helped me conserve energy, and on the way back, assisted by the windy conditions, I managed to maintain my regular average pace for the entire run.

The 14 mile run tomorrow promises to pose similar challenges. This run is along the bay on a flat, but windy trail. I better get used to the winds, as I am sure San Francisco will be quite windy. I am getting slightly anxious about tomorrow's run, as this is the first time I will run more than the half marathon distance. Let's see how that goes.