When Californians laugh at you for being cold....

A recurring theme during my stay here has been the fact that the locals complain about temperatures in the 50s as though it is "cold" and "winter." In fact, just this evening on the TV weather forecast, the weather lady described this as "another cold night," showing the temperature map with lows in the upper 40s and lower 50s.

It is no doubt that humans living along the warm ocean currents of the Pacific are weak. Weak when it comes to cold weather. I have taken pride in my running shorts and long sleeve tech shirt attire.

But let me tell you something. This neighborhood I'm in is near the water. It's in the fog belt. There is something about this strip that makes my friend's apartment, specifically the room holding the couch I sleep on, really really freaking cold. So today I figured--what the heck? I'll wear my running pants. It'll be cozy. No sweat. Besides, my pants have zipper pockets, and my shorts only have one small crotch pocket. When I wear my shorts, I have to hold my phone (the phone that brings you GPS magic) the whole time I run. It is nice to be able to throw it into my zipper pocket.

I started off, and was almost instantly too warm when the sun hit me. However, that cold wet wind soon blew into me, and I was thankful that I had a little extra.


Speed training.

The thing about speed training in Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park is that it truly is a stadium. It is set below ground, in a bowl. That means the wind is somewhat broken. And the sun bears down like crazy.

I'm going to spare you the details, folks. I got laughed at by high school kids today. I got laughed at by high school kids in shorts, tshirts, and sports bras. THESE ARE CALIFORNIANS. The same wimpy creatures that have worn their down coats and pulled their collars up high to protect themselves from the gorgeous weather that I could only dream about in Michigan in February and March. I am so ashamed.

It had been two weeks since I did a speed workout, and I could tell. I couldn't quite meet my goals. The fact that I did my first of three 800m repeats about 15 seconds too fast may have had something to do with it. What is nice about having such a consistent training regimen for over a year is that I don't feel like it will take me very long to get back to where I was. I think I should be able to recover in just a couple weeks, as long as I find time to do my long runs and speed workouts while in Oregon. (which, by the way, I am off to on Monday).

Since GPS is so awesome, here is the map of todays run, along with stats. See if you can decode my repeat pace. (Hint 1: I did 3x800m repeats with 400m jogs.) (Hint 2: the third repeat was cut to 400m because I blew out.) (Hint 3: It is hopeless to decode the data because I didn't stop the caching until after I had been walking around in circles on the sidelines for several minutes after finishing that excruciating 400m. You will also notice that it cut out at one point, hence the long straight line cutting across the track. Or am I just that fast?)


View 3-4-2010 in a larger map

Created by My Tracks on Android.

Total Distance: 3.95 km (2.5 mi)
Total Time: 21:40
Moving Time: 19:19
Average Pace: 5.38 min/km (8.7 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 4.89 min/km (7.9 min/mi)
Min Pace: 3.33 min/km (5.4 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 31 m (101 ft)
Max Elevation: 50 m (162 ft)
Elevation Gain: 89 m (293 ft)
Max Grade: 8 %
Min Grade: -5 %
Recorded: Thu Mar 04 16:21:25 PDT 2010
Activity type: track running

 A fantastic idea! Right on the track. One at each end in fact. Take note, Michigan State University!