Bay Area Running

Last Thursday I left our rental house in Oakland at 6:30am and headed south on Broadway toward Lake Merritt. 3 mile tempo, 3 minutes easy, 3 mile tempo, 3 minutes easy, 2 mile tempo. I ran for the first time in my New Balance Minimus Zero shoes, pictured below in red. These are lightweight! I had been running in what I think are called the New Balance Minimus 10, pictured in blue below. On Saturday I wanted to get out for a long run in the afternoon and I decided it would be a great adventure to run through Redwood Regional Park. It was uphill all the way to the park, from 200’ to 1200’. I ran the east ridge trail first. Soon I was by myself, with no signs of civilization except for the washed out, sun-baked path in front of me. The rugged beauty of the mountains stretched in different shades toward the horizon. Eventually the undulating path spit me out onto a road and I quickly descended to Redwood Creek. I followed the creek back into the park, looking for the west ridge trail. I stopped at a park ranger station to ask for directions. At this point I was 11 miles out and I didn’t want to get lost. She asked me where I came from and if I wanted to go back to the parking lot on the west side of the park. I told her I came from Oakland. She said, “Oh! Then you’re a maniac” [laughing with consternation]. I soon felt like a maniac as I climbed from 500’ to 1200’ in about a mile. The west ridge trail was more shaded. The terrain was rocky in places and in others it was covered by a mixture of muddy eucalyptus hummus and wet clay. As I was speeding down a hill around mile 14, I stepped on a rock and bruised my foot between the heel and mid-foot. This was painful and made it more difficult to brake on the downhills. I exited the park and knew the rest of the way was downhill. This is what they call a downer. I began to compensate by putting more weight on my right leg. I thought about stealing a kid’s scooter. But then I remember that I was a dirty, salt-crusted maniac. I cruised home. It was an epic 21 mile run. We traveled back to MSP on Sunday and I took a day off running. Yesterday I decided it would be in my best interest to take another day off and get on the bike instead, work out the kinks. My left calf is sore and my right calf is a hurting unit. My quads are a little pounded. The run today helped but the bruise still needs ice. I wouldn’t be surprised if I feel better than this after the marathon. Still, I would do it all over again. Awesome.