Who runs on a Friday night instead of going out? I do. Tonight I decided to keep my running habit and ran 45 or so minutes along Santa Monica. I started at our usual running spot, “Shutters” (which is a restaurant along the beach), nearing the time of a beautiful sunset, and headed to the Venice pier and back. It’s definitely a lot more active along Venice as I ran past busy bars and restaurants. I really love the sights and sounds of many people walking, biking, and running along the beach. I also ran by the usual smell of marijuana from random people on the sidewalk, and ran by some weird looking people who just give you a crazy stare like I shouldn’t be running at this time of night.
I recently bought some new shoes which I was trying to break in, but it posed a problem during my run. I started to have shin splints which I never had, and only started to get them ever since I used these shoes. The pair that I wore were the same model as my previous ones, but it was a newer model. Not even a mile into the run I was aching. I walked for a bit until the pain went away, but I was motivated to get back to my car before it got too late. I really think something is wrong with my shoes because that’s the only variable that has changed for me ever since the pains came. We’ll see how it goes.
I’ve been very good this week in keeping up with my mid-week runs. Monday at the gym, Tuesday in Brentwood, and then last night we had the second session of Track Training at Santa Monica High School. It wasn’t as tough as last week because this time around was all about keeping a consistent pace, for 20 laps. Coach asked us what our target marathon time is, then he calculated what kind of pace we should keep during our run. I want to break 5 hours for the marathon, so he suggested I finish each 2 lap set in 5 minutes. We did 10 total sets at that pace, with decreasing rest times. The first 5 sets were 3 minute rest peroids, to 2, to 1.5, to 1 minute. We didn’t realize how long were were running for until the end, because we got out of there at 9:45ish. So a total of 24 laps, including the warm up and cool down laps equaled 5.6 something miles. It probably went under the calculated 6 miles because I took the inside lane most of the time. 
It’s already near the end of the season and the majority of my mid-week runs have been on the treadmill at 24 Hour Fitness, with the exception of one Saturday run in Hollywood. Last night was my FIRST mid-week run with the team. I never went to any of them in the past because I lived in Pomona, commute was far, or I would just get out of work too late to go. I finally decided to go, and I’m glad I did. It was a pretty good turnout, at about 10 people, most of which were of the faster pace groups. My mentality during the run was the same as track training. Since the distance is much shorter, I’ll give it my all to go a little faster. The scheduled 45 minute mid-week run was right on schedule, 
We just started the third major section of our training in TNT. The first third was working on our base, where strength training occured, making sure our bodies will transition into longer miles nicely. The second third was all about hills. This time around, we started working on speed. Track training was at the Santa Monica High School, not too far from our Sunday meeting spot. 
Week 12 Sunday Run:
Tonight was the final scheduled session of our hill training. Unfortunately, this was only my third of five total sessions. After an initial warm up run down the street, we ran up the hill for a total of 6 times (7 to be exact because we did 2 half runs), and looped around the block for 3 times. 
Week 11 Sunday Run: 
Week 10 Sunday Run: Ok I know I’m on the “Summer” team, but it’s not summer yet! It felt like summer today, running 10 miles in 80 something degree weather. They even ran out of water at the 2nd water stop, and my water belt went empty early on. The sun was beating so hard that we scrounged for shade while we ran.
Week 9 Sunday Run: After finishing strong last week with no problems, my teammate Phillipa decided we should try out pace group 3 this week. I agreed, and guess what? This is the week where the team happens to extend our intervals by one minute to a 7:1 interval. Mind you, this pace is faster, AND we’re running longer (14 miles).
Week 8 Sunday Run: I missed last Sunday’s run due to Easter in San Diego with the family, so the last time I did a long run was two weeks ago. Boy, time surely flies. I can’t believe it’s week 8 already. Today’s scheduled run was 8 miles. It was our usual course, from Shutters, to the end of Venice, back north to San Vicente, then back to the parking lot where we meet.