My week of running…

Happiest of Fridays!

I had a great week of running, for me, an average of 50 miles a week seems to be the sweet spot that I can maintain when I’m not training for anything in particular. (which I’m not right now)
My body stays fairly healthy/ injury free and I get in lots of trail miles and ‘easy’ road miles when I’m not training for a race, so it’s doable to keep a good base. 
I do have a couple of trail half marathons coming up in the next few weeks, but they are ‘for fun’ and nothing I can’t handle with a few days taper beforehand. 

I’m lucky to live/ run in a gorgeous area with trails and views that are quite enviable.

(SF and a peak of the GGB in the background) This week, amid some easy road miles, I fit in 2 sunrise trail runs: Wednesday at 5:30am and today at 6am. I run with a mixed group of runners (I’ll never run on the trails in the dark solo) and it’s really great QT to chat and start my day, especially because I don’t get to go into an office or work environment where I can talk with adults all day long! 🙂 I’m chatting it up toddler style at home instead. Running gives me much-needed sanity and patience for the day!

(Top of Mt Tam, view SE across the Bay)

Wednesday’s run was the classic Tam Summit, starting 2500 ft below the East Peak in downtown Mill Valley we climb 4miles up up up to the summit… in the dark most of the time!

  

But starting the run at 5:30am gives us enough time to get to the top (55min-1hour) and take pics and watch the sunrise over the Bay and SF. It’s breathtaking; each ‘rise is different.  

    

Then we get to descend a longer route to get in the remaining of our mileage for the day, 7 miles down Railroad Grade is easier on the quads and gives us 11 for the day- all by 7:30am!

Coffee and egg/ avocado sandwiches are consumed with happiness after a Summit.

 
Friday’s run is a bit of a ‘sleep-in’ start of 6am (I mean, it’s Friday!) and we ran the Ninja Loop.  It’s a loop through the Marin Headlands that was created by a group of runners who wanted to get in a quick(er), easily accessible trail run before work (start is on the NW side of the GGB- easy access for city runners and Marin).   

The loop is a total of about 2500 ft of climbing but spread out over almost 12 miles of up/down/up/down. A bit easier on the legs than a Summit but has its own challenges. The views make it worth the climbing! 

     These 2 longer trail runs, along with some easier miles in between, take me into the weekend with about 34 miles already!

I’m heading to Austin to meet the husband for a big work event he has, so I’ll fit in some 8-10 milers along the Lake, but nothing too aggressive or crazy.

It’s a kid-free weekend for us (a rare, rare occurrence!), so I’m going to enjoy the lack of responsibility and hopefully not see the sunrise 😉

What is your favorite time of the day to run?

Any running plans this weekend?

Happy Friday! (The 13th!)