Weekly Running Tally ending July 6, 2009

This week I felt more tired than usual on my runs. I ran two days less, I was aiming for 5 days but ran only 4. J*** was in town so I wanted to spend more time relaxing. I was shocked I did a run at 6:33 pace. I did have a scare on one of the runs when I felt a sharp pain in my left knee. I think I just need to not push as hard on the uphills. I found a hill on Seadrift Avenue near Irvine Terrace Park that is moderately challenging. No real pain in the abdomen. Today I ran 6.1 at 6:45 pace for my longest run yet post-surgery. I will be posting that in the log at the end of the week. Below is the latest log:

Date	Time	Mileage	Min per Mile	Observations	HR Max	HR Ave
June 29, 2009	30:38	4.49	6:49	It was a Monday run. I felt ok. Worked in some hills. Average HR was good. Trying to keep it around 80% of max.	166 (89%)	151 (81%)
July 1, 2009	31:04	4.57	6:47	Ran after a long day at work. I was tired and my HR showed it. I had to work extra hard to keep pace.	176 (94%)	156 (83%)
July 3, 2009	32:20	4.83	6:38	Wow, this was a tough run. I was breathing pretty hard. I pushed it a bit too much I think I felt a twinge in my left knee. I had to stop. It went away though.	174 (93%)	155 (83%)
July 4, 2009	29:52	4.55	6:33	Wow, my fastest pace yet. I was so in the mood to just get it over with. Happy 4th of July!	173 (93%)	155 (84%)
Week ending July 5, 2009	---	18.44	---	Trying to get at least 25 miles next week. I will try to run 6 days but pace slower. I don't want to overdo it.	172.2 (92%)	154 (83%)

J***'s visit was great. We did a lot. We went over to the Balboa Peninsula a bunch of times. The night he came in we took the Balboa ferry and ate at The Newport Landing on Thursday for their $1 tacos. We each had 4. They were good. It was super busy though and lots and lots of high school kids. I forgot what it is like to be a teenager. The kids in SoCal seem very spoiled though, much different than Boston teens.

Friday we didn't lay out on a beach but drove 2 miles over to Corona Del Mar, a section of Newport Beach. It has many cute shops and restaurants. We at at Thai Del Mar, a small place on Pacific Highway (PCH). We both had the lunch special for $6.99 but it was not enough food. I was left hungry and had to immediately eat a whole wheat bagel at Bruegger's across the street afterward.

We attempted to drive to Balboa Island and park my car, but there was not a single space left on the island. Yes, we made the grave mistake of actually driving off the island during 4th of July weekend. My roommate actually assumed we had walked to Corona Del Mar. So after 20 min of not finding a space we decided to head to Fashion Island up the road and check out some stores and walk around. We then parked in a neighborhood nearby and walked went to Corona Del Mar State beach. We took photos of The Wedge from afar. Waves can get insanly big there (up to 15 feet high). They were only 3-4 feet last weekend though.

Saturday we ended up taking the ferry again and going to the Balboa peninsula beach for a few hours. It was a perfect day with perfect sun. I didn't bring my boogie board since I don't think I am ready to do that just yet post-surgery. My abs still feel sore inside where the incisions were. We did go into the very COLD water though. The waves crash close so you can get pounded pretty easily. For lunch we initially headed to Great Mex for some great Mexican food. We were going to go on Friday, but it was way too busy and no places to sit. We then walked down the Pier and saw the over-priced menu items at the Ruby's diner. Later that night we want to Shanghai Pine Garden on the island for some great Chinese food. I had the steamed chicken and veggies with a garlic sauce on the side and J*** had shrimp with string beans and rice. The prices were $9-$11 for a lot of food. Granted, it's not the most fancy place, but it's convenient and good.

Sunday we went down to hike at El Moro Canyon at the Crystal Cove State Beach. We opted for the 3.1 mile loop since we were hungry and doing the 4-6 mile option was not going to be an option. In the future I would like to do a very long hike there. It's a nice workout with very steep inclines and declines. After grabbing some salads at Trader Joe's we headed to the Cystal Cove State Park's beach at Pelican Point, which is very nice. The $10 fee for doing the hike got us into the beach parking area too. Not a bad deal if you do both activities.

J*** left this AM and then I went into work early. I will miss him! I stayed until 6PM per usual. I become unproductive mid-day and then I get a lot done from like 3-6 so I just go with it. I should have left earlier since I came in at 7:30AM! Anyway, I am tired now and will go to bed.