Running Journal, Saturday, 2007-04-07

Running Journal, Saturday, 2007-04-07
Resting heart rate: 55 bpm (60-second test, early morning)
Body Mass Index (BMI): (kilograms/(meters^2)) 22.673
Weather: overcast
Temp: 11-21 C (51.8-69.8 F)
Time: 07:45-13:45
Terrain: mostly flat, some hills

Comments: 28 miles--a new personal best. I woke up around sunrise, ate breakfast, dressed, and arrived at the Parkway at 07:42. As I exited my car a deer bolted from the small hill adjacent to Bridge Street. It's springtime along the American River Parkway. Perfume fills the air, saturated purple and orange petals line the bike path for miles and miles. Fields full of wildflowers seem ripe for a lazy picnic (such as the field near the mile 16 marker). A cool breeze greeted my walk across the pedestrian bridge. I'd remembered everything--the new pair of shoes, the lip balm, sunblock. I left my sunglasses in the car since the weather looked overcast. I had about five hours of sleep, but I felt rested physically, due to taking Friday off. The Saturday morning Parkway crowd consisted of packs of running teams and bikers. Some of them wore shirts reading A.I.M.. I'm not sure what organization this was--it didn't seem to be the Greater Sacramento/Northern Nevada Leukemia & Lymphoma Society "Team In Training" folks. On the mile markers I noticed paper notices announcing the inaugural City of Sacramento Police Department's City of Trees Woman's Marathon on Sunday, April 29. I forced myself to run slowly, or at the very least, what I thought was slowly, from the very beginning. It turned out I wasn't running much slower than 5.0 mph. By my guesstimates, I was averaging about 12:00-12:30 minute miles. I kept my arms loose and straight, which helped reduce fatigue. After an hour or two, the overcast sky broke up, and sun began pouring through, brightening the landscape and (less pleasantly for me) heating the air. I noticed that the water fountains on the Parkway trail near miles 14 and 12 have been turned on again, and that they may be repairing the fountain near mile 15. I also noticed that the fountain under the Howe Avenue bridge has too little pressure to be useful, but another fountain near mile 7 works great. I must have missed the fountain near mile 7 on my last 28-mile run (almost 11 months ago now). I stopped at the half-way point (mile 6) at 10:53. They have a plaque there that reads, United States Constitution Grove\A living legacy of 213 California Valley Oaks planted by community volunteers April 9, 1988\Sacramento City/County Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution and the Sacramento Tree Foundation. Due to the mid-March catastrophic Sacramento railway trestle fire, I noticed signs closing down the Parkway beginning at mile 6. The signs read, S.C.O. 9.36.040\Area Closed for Public Safety\Do Not Enter. A kiosk there talks about the Bushy Lake Preservation Act, which includes Bushy Lake, a man-made lake in the California Expo flood plain. The Bushy Lake area contains: mixed woody riparian vegetation; elderberry savannah; sandbar vegetation; herbaceous vegetation; willows; cottonwoods; oaks (valley oaks are the tallest oaks in the Sacramento area); great blue herons; large mouth bass; red tailed hawks; and deer mice. The valley grasslands include wild oats (Avena fatua and A. barbata), creeping wild rye (Leymus triticoides), sweet fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), star thistle (Centaurea solstitialis), soft chess (Bromus hordeaceus), and other annuals. The map on the kiosk pointed out several things I had not noticed or known the names too--I had run underneath the J Street bridge; Glen Hall Park (apparently behind the golf course); Paradise Beach; Guy West Bridge at CSUS; the filtration plant; and Rio Americano High School. I began running back at 11:08. The greatest enemies on a long run are boredom and impatience, and I faced both on the return trip. The steady stream of morning runners had evaporated, leaving only the whirring rush of bikers or the occasional pedestrians. The sun heated the air, causing additional sweat and labor. The terrain was a repeat of the first half. I noticed at the CSUS Campus Commons golf course that a number of laborers were trenching and installing white two-inch PVC irrigation pipes on holes five and six. The bike dancer that I noticed on March 2 passed me near mile 9 and waved. I noticed him parking his bike to my left, on the levee trail, dismounting, and dancing. I wanted to know what he's listening to but he didn't pass me again. About a mile later, I began playing leapfrog with four bikers--two men and their daughters. They were laboring to bike in the early afternoon heat, and the second pair fell behind. As I passed them, I overheard the man attempt to encourage his daughter by telling her that their destination was William B. Pond Park, and that it was only a couple miles farther (it was three miles away at this point). He followed up with, We're going one mile every four minutes or so, which either was a lie or ignorance, because the daughter wasn't buying it and looked like she wanted to stop and rest. I don't think they ever made it, because I passed the lead pair a few minutes later as they waited, and they didn't pass me again. As I recrossed the Harold M. Richey Memorial Bike Bridge between Goethe Park and William B. Pond Park, a biker tapped me on the arm as he passed. It was an old co-worker, Tom Haviland! I've run on the Parkway for 15 months and never met someone I knew until today. He and his partner are practicing for the Chico Velo Wildflower Century Bicycle Race. A few minutes later, a pair of bikes passed me--a father with a daughter in a child carrier and another daughter on a bike with training wheels. As I walked, the younger daughter turned and looked at me as her father slowly paced himself next to the daughter on training wheels. I smiled and waved at the daughter in the child carrier and she quickly turned away. A few moments later, she turned back and I smiled and waved again. This time she smiled and turned away again. It was an impromptu game of peek-a-boo. I can't even imagine how bored she might have been sitting there for such an extended period of time--I'm glad I helped provide some entertainment. This continued for a bit longer until I began running again. As I passed them going uphill, I noticed the daughter on the bike struggling to ascend a steep hill. Finally, she stopped, and the father (perhaps impatient or fearful of losing his balance) pushed her forward with his left hand and urged her to go. The daughter reacted negatively toward this (I can't imagine it felt so great to be pushed). After I passed I heard the daughter begin to get upset and the father exclaim, Sorry, sorry (I saw that coming a mile away) but then he got defensive and started to explain why he had to push her. The whole time I'm thinking, Man, that guy's clueless with how to encourage his daughter up the hill. Their mother was waiting for them at the water fountain a few meters up the trail. As I passed her, I heard her asking if her family wanted to rest. A few minutes later, I noticed the father zoom by me, alone, with the youngest daughter in the child carrier. So I'm guessing he felt impatience and frustration and wanted to get his exercise in. A few more minutes passed, and I saw him returning, so I guess he probably went about a mile and turned around. I wished him patience and continued. The last five miles are always the hardest. Miles 14-15.5, 17-18 and 19-19.5 are away from the river and can get hot without the cool breezes. My mind leaped ahead, savoring the finish when it still is maybe 30 minutes out. At mile 18, another extraordinary event happened. A biker passing me says, Hey, Kevin! It was John Blake, another old co-worker! We chatted for a few minutes and he said he also planned to bike in the upcoming Chico Velo Wildflower Century Bicycle Race. He planned to bike 70 miles that day and was feeling sore in his back from the headwind (which felt good to me ;). It was good to see both of them. After we parted, I finished the run without incident, feeling pretty good for having run 28 miles. As I walked toward the river to soak my legs, a man sitting on top of a picnic table with a can of beer in an insulated holder and a bike next to him said to me, It's gonna rain man (imagine Cheech and Chong inflection). We talked for a few moments and he shared that he had been homeless for 20 years (not presently) and that he could feel the rain coming and see it in the animals and the birds. I initially told him that the weather forecast predicted a few afternoon showers, and he replied, I don't need the weather report, man. He seemed harmless, a bit lonely. As it turned out, it didn't rain (to my knowledge). I soaked in the calm, cold waters of the American River next to the pedestrian bridge, and watched two fishers next to me cast and retrieve. Three kayakers passed by, as did some Mallard ducks and a white crane. It's wonderful to soak again after so many months. I walked back up to the pedestrian bridge and headed home.
Exercise Time: 07:48-14:24 (6:36 minutes, including downtime)

Goal Time: 6:00 (12:51/mile pace)
Distance (running): 45.06 km (28.0 mi)
Total Running Distance For Year: 500.11 km (321.79 mi)
Weight (after exercise): 77.6 kg (171.11 lbs), 16% body fat
Any irregular feelings, aches, pains, heart rate, and so forth?:
Foods eaten today: two bowls of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with peaches and soy milk, banana