Westlake Library

Time: 61:34

Distance: 10 miles

Sandhya and I took the movies back to the Westlake Library that we had rented for our trip to Palm Springs. I decided that it would be a nice way to end my stay and chose to run home from there. I started out by running on Agoura Rd. and took it to Adobe Reyes, but once I got to TO Blvd. it had only been 11 minutes and the run was going to be waaay too short. So I took a left and got back on familiar territory by heading up to Lindero Canyon. I'll map out the run when I have more time, but for now it should be noted that it was a good run. I wasn't feeling great but the pace of the run was a little up tempo. My legs weren't too sore from the 200s yesterday. I think they are just a little fatigued from starting back up.

I'm currently posting from Union Square in San Francisco. It's great to be back up in Nor Cal and I'm looking forward to getting back on some runs from my high school days. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with Steve Laurie and we'll get in some runs on the trails in Santa Rosa.

Edit: Just got done mapping the run I went on. I'm not completely certain that the starting point is correct. I can't find the exact address of the library, but I'm 99% sure that I got it right. The run was pretty much spot on for 10 miles. Glad to know that my legs are a little sore from the quicker pace and not that I'm totally out of shape.

2 Hundos

Time: 57:19
Distance: 8-9 miles

Ran from the house down to Agoura Hills HS. It looked liked they recently got a new infield. One of those field turf kinds with the little rubber pellets everywhere. I warmed up 21:27 which included about a mile around the track in lane 6. I was planning on running some 200s but thought that since it was such a nice day that I should do some drills. I can't remember the last time I did drills but I have always enjoyed them. I used the extra movement as a way to loosen up instead of stretching. By the time I was done with a few strides I was fairly loose and feeling good.

Target: 8 x 200 @ a decent pace.
Actual: (50.84), 31.18, (51.13), 31.69, (52.94), 31.49, (53.38), 31.69, (53.56), 32.06, (54.52), 31.68, (54.42), 32.07, (53.00), 30.00 for 11:15.65.

Not a bad workout. I'll take it. 11:15 for two miles running hot/cold 200s. I was feeling pretty good the whole way. Not happy with those two repeats that were 32 though. I was able to maintain form well and feel like I was striking with power. Running in trainers wasn't too bad. I thought about bringing the Adidas flats out but I didn't want to run down to the track and back with them. This is just a starting point for the season. I'll definitely be doing this workout again and the times will be in the 28-29 range. I just hope the rest splits will be the same.

C/d back to the house 24:37.

Back to Agoura Hills

Time: 61:54
Distance: 9-10 miles

Ran from the house in Agoura on the route that I did on Sunday. Instead of turning on Grey Rock, I continued down to Kanan Rd. and took the Fountainwood way back up to the house. It was terribly windy this morning. I was able to maintain a steady pace despite the wind and hills. I hit the corner of Lindero Canyon and Kanan at under 25 minutes which was a few tics faster than when I ran it a few days ago. I wasn't feeling particularly stellar at any point but I was able to clip along. The legs weren't as sore as I would have expected them to be from yesterday's hills. Aerobically I feel great on these runs, it will just be a matter of time before the legs come around. I say it will be about Jan. 1 before the legs feel good again.

Looks like I better get to work since the world record in the beer mile has just been lowered. 5:09?!?!?! Are you kidding me.

Short Run

Time: 31:11

Distance: 4 miles

Ran from the house down to Kanan and out to Oak Park HS. I ran to the intersection of Doubletree and Kanan. On the way out I spotted two Toyota Prius' parked on the side of the road. I was wondering what they were doing when I ran by but thought nothing of it. On the way back I saw that a man was filling the lead Prius with gas. He had two of those little red plastic cans and was messing with the fuel tank. First of all, how do you run out of gas on a car with a gauge? When the light comes on you fill up. If you're Nick Neely, you might wait a few days, but still you never run out of fuel. Second, how the hell can you run out of gas with a Prius? The thing is a hybrid and gets like 60 mpg. That is enough to go like... from LA (the city) to LA (the state). The person who owns a Prius and runs out of fuel should have their license revoked, be forced to pick up trash along the hwy and have to travel by camel for month. Idiot!

Oak Park/Thousand Oaks Loop

Time: 55:33

Distance: 8 miles

Ran from the house in Agoura Hills down to Kanan Rd. Took a left and headed out toward Oak Park. Ran past the high school, turned left on Lindero Canyon Rd. Ran until I hit Thousand Oaks Blvd. Ran along past Taqueria Oscars which I learned is now closed or went out of business. Such a shame b/c I never got to go there. If I remember correctly, Chase who used to be on the Brown XC/TF team was from Thousand Oaks or Oak Park or near where I am staying. He didn't care too much about running and his only real contribution to the team was about how porn stars who get their buttholes waxed should be considered for the Purple Heart. However, he will be most remembered for "munging." If you don't know what it is, look it up. Not cool.

The run was on this route. Turns out it wasn't 8 miles but closer to 9. I must be terrible at recording on Gmaps Pedometer or not that out of shape.

Overall, it was a good run. Pretty decent loop that was rolling most of the way. I didn't need to be reminded of munging though.

Agoura to Oak Park

Time: 48:11
Distance: 7 miles

Ran from the house here in Agoura down to Kanan Rd. Took a left at the light and ran out in the direction of Oak Park. I was hoping to hit around 50 minutes, so I turned at 25:30. I figured that the entire first mile plus was downhill and that it would be faster. I still negative split the run which was fine. I woke up a little sore this morning. Nothing too painful, but definitely a little silly to be sore after a 40 minute jog.

I take it struck a nerve with the one person from socal that lives in Oklahoma. Great comments were left in yesterday's post. For those 3 individuals who may actually read this blog, just so you know, Fresno, Bakersfield and Modesto are perhaps the 3 most despicable cities in California. They would be comparable to New Haven, Conn. (for the east coasters), Ardmore (for the Oklahomans), and perhaps Fairbanks, AL (for the Alaskan).

Agoura Hills

Time: 43:14
Distance: 6 miles?

I'm here in sunny California. The shitty part though. The southern half of the state is in great need of something. Oh well. I can't be complaining b/c it is much, much better than not having electricity in Oklahoma. I can't knock the OK state one bit though. It's the name of this blog. I like to think of myself as the OK runner. I work at a store in the OK running community. I want to rep OK to the fullest. I'll fight for OK. I'll die for OK. OK does not suck (I'm not sure why Texas doesn't fall into the ocean). Regardless, any place is miserable when you don't have power. Goes to show how reliant we as a society are on technology and first class amenities.

Back to running... I ran down the hill and looped the roughly 3 mile circle twice. Legs felt good. Not sure what they will think in the morning. The loop was slightly hilly which is going to rock me in a few days. The pace was good. Breathing was good. All diagnostics were good.

Useless piece of info.: I saw a coyote outside the back fence this morning. It was the size of a German Sheppard. I also saw a Mini Coop crash into some garbage bins and then the back of a suburban. Well, I didn't see it happen. But, I saw the aftermath and all the cops/medical units. See what I tell you... socal sucks.