In our continuing quest to keep up with the running, Rob, Nina, and I did the Pfleger Estate Trail Run two weeks ago and the Muir Beach Trail Run yesterday. The two runs couldn’t have been more different: the Pfleger Estate had gently rising hills and generally even terrain. Oh yes, and beautiful weather.
When I showed up at Rob’s house for the Muir Beach run, he said, “Is that all you’re wearing?”
What did that mean? I had on a long-sleeved running shirt and my running tights. Sure, it was nippy out, but it was 6:30 in the morning. It would warm up by game time, it always did, right?
Except we weren’t running in Cupertino. We were running near the Pacific Ocean. In winter, this area is best described by the terms “windy” and “cold.”
When we got to Muir Beach, none of us wanted to get out of the car. The wind was blowing fiercely. The lady in front of me at the porta-potties said her car reported it was 45 degrees. “I think your car lied,” I said through chattering teeth. It probably was 45 degrees, with a significant wind chill factor.
“It’ll be warmer when we start running,” Rob said.
“I hope you’re right.”
And it was, especially since the first kilometer or so out of the gate was straight up. On the second rise I had to wave Rob and Nina to go on without me, because I was having the damnedest time breathing. That’s the thing that’s killing me when I go running with them: I can keep up well enough on the flats, and I go downhill a great deal faster than they do (possibly because I have gravity working in my favor, but I think it’s just because I’m stupidly fearless), but I just die on the uphills. When I stop breathing at all well, I know my heart rate is at 165, which is the top of my range.
What can I do to increase my aerobic capacity? Do deep breathing exercises? Just get into better shape? Lots of hill drills? This is killing me.
There was an aid station just before the 7 km mark. Usually the shortest runs don’t have an aid station, but I guess all the runs went through this point. The aid station was to soften us up before the last hill, which went a mile straight up, with the rain that started and more wind, before we tore down the hill to the finish, where we enjoyed soup and gummi bears. I wasn’t particularly hungry, I just needed that soup to warm up my insides. Surprisingly, our consensus was that the rain didn’t bother us (it wasn’t a heavy downpour or anything). The wind had chilled us far more than the rain had.
After we fed our faces for a bit I said, “Coffee?” We all quickly said, Uh-huh, and went off to search for coffee. At Starbucks Nina said, “I hate their coffee! It tastes like bile! Their Americanos are good though.”
“I guess we’re getting Americanos,” Rob said.
“I don’t want anything that tastes like bile, that’s for sure,” I said.
And she was right: the Americano is much better than a standard cup of Starbucks’ drip, so I’m sold.
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The Angel Island Trail Run is in January! Anyone up for a wonderful run should sign up now!
Drills are probably what you need for better performance on hills. Wind-sprints have been excellent for me overall. I’m doing a lot of HIIT (high intensity interval training) cardio, and it’s showing on my longer runs.
Your longer runs are much longer than mine, but I think sprints would be helpful with the area in which you seem to be lagging.