- 424 students came
- I worked with 38 instructors and TAs
- Supervised 16 different courses, ranging from astronomy to psych to writing
- The kids were in class for 100 hours per 3 week session
- I logged over 200 miles, swam about 60,000 yards
- Ran and won one race: San Francisco 5k with a PR
It was a great summer. There were a lot of challenges and the program requires a lot of time and effort, but totally worth it. I learned a lot, and it is a job that I love doing. I love working with these kids and staff so much, and I always find this to be a rejuvenating experience.
I got in 7 weeks of stellar running in. I don't think I ever ran in temperatures higher than 70 degrees. I did so much running on hills - tempo runs, easy runs, long runs. And these were great runs. My times were not always much to write home about, but I think once I get back to flatter courses and getting in more sleep, things will really click. I haven't done any track work yet, and won't until cycle 3 of training. But last summer, I came back from the West Coast and later in the fall had some good races. But early in the fall, I had a tough rust-buster 5k, and I didn't feel like it was showing my work yet. Sarah thinks that from now on, I should be able to run under 20 for the 5k consistently. I did it for the first time in March, but then in 2 subsequent 5ks I ran 20:xx, but then ran under 20 again in July. Hoping to know be consistent with that too, even in a not so fast race. I am feeling a bit more confident this point. I also am starting to alternate weeks of 4 days of running with weeks of 5 days of running. We are testing that out to see if I can handle a little more mileage, particularly since I am doing enough strength training to stay strong. I am looking forward to that - while cross training and swimming is nice, running is my true passion and it is great to get more runs in.
My last weekend in Santa Cruz included 2 solid runs. On Saturday: 2.5 mile warm up, Fartlek ladder run, 5x4x3x2x1x1x2x3x4x5min. Take 3 minutes easy after the 5 minute
fartleks, 2:30 after the 4 minute ones, 2 minutes after the 3 minutes ones, 90
seconds after the 2 minutes fartleks and 1 minute after the 1 minute
fartleks. 2.5 mile cool-down. Total=10 miles These road workouts, while they don't have the same feel as a track workout, are also challenging and sometimes feel never ending. You never step off the road or grab a bottle, you just keep going and going. I was pretty pleased with this one - lots of undulating hills. And then on Sunday, I ran 13.5 miles. I hope I never take for granted that I can "bang out" a half marathon in under 1:50 as part of a training run. I am very away that that is a distance many people are training to run some day - my mom included! She is training for the Rochester Half Marathon in September, and has already gotten up to 9.75 miles in her long runs. Very exciting! But I digress. I covered my over half marathon distance fairly easily. I will never take that for granted. But I will say, it is pretty cool to run a half marathon on a Sunday and then just move on with the day. It has taken years of training to get to this point. A few years ago (2009), 13 miles would have had me seeking out the couch for the rest of the day. But with more practice and more mileage, I know how to get in that kind of run and then go on with my day without being sidelined. It goes back to that 10,000 hours concept - that it takes that much time of practice to excel at something. I think I have gotten maybe a couple of thousand hours in so far, but am nowhere near 10,000 hours yet. I wonder how long it takes Olympians to get to 10,000 hours?
But my West Coast time is running out. I am sitting in the SFO airport, waiting to fly back to Rochester. I am leaving the most beautiful running place in the world, but in return, I get to go home to my family. Sounds like a good trade to me.
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