If it's Wednesday, we must be at Temescal!

TONIGHT: Temescal Park, 6pm to warm up, 6:30 take-off! This should be an interesting one, I forgot to bring pants!

NEXT RUN: Monday May 3 6:30pm Lake Merritt colonnade. Janeen is going to blow our freaking minds!

Picking up speed!

We've been doing so well on Wednesday nights in Temescal! Being there every week is a great commitment to your training, your health, and your team. It's also an opportunity to see the lake coming alive every week, with flowers in bloom and baby ducks hiding somewhere, I just know it. I think any athlete would agree that being consistent is the key to developing your skills, so we're definitely on our way!

Now it's time to kick it up on Mondays. I finally figured out how to work my stopwatch so I'm breaking out the Couch to 5K running plan! The first workout is super easy, with only 60 second intervals of jogging interspersed with walking for a total of 20 minutes. Can we do it?? YES WE CAN!

TONIGHT: We'll take off from the corner of Shoreline and Willow at 6:30. If you want to warm up, be at my house at 6 pm!

NEXT RUN: Wednesday April 28, 6:30, Temescal.

Rain, rain, let us play!

Looks like we'll have exactly one hour of sunshine today and it's conveniently scheduled for 6 pm! We'll meet in the parking lot as usual and see if the weatherman was right.

Temescal Park, north parking lot, 6 pm.*

NEXT RUN: Monday April 26, Alameda Shoreline (meet at Willow and Shoreline), 6:30 pm!

*Am I crazy? Should we just cancel and go to Ikea instead? We can do laps there!

Tonight, we run!

See you at the north parking lot at Temescal tonight at 6 pm! We'll talk, we'll laugh, we'll jog a little bit. I think it's a good time to test our limits--just so we know exactly how awesome we are when we leave those limits in the dust. To that end, I've devised a little game...

NEXT RUN: Monday April 19, Lake Merritt, 6:30 pm* Meet at the eastern point of the lake at the colonnade.

*I may not be able to make this one as I have a huge work event the following day. Go team go without me!

Are we gonna let a little rain stop us? Probably.

With another round of rain on the way and thunderstorms a possibility this evening, I'm going to cancel our planned run in Alameda. For your safety of course, not because I'm a little sugar princess who is afraid of melting.

You're not totally off the hook though, now you'll have some time to think about your next personal goal. This should be whatever you want to accomplish in the next week or two, we're just getting started here so don't look too far ahead. Share it with your teammates below if you'd like!

NEXT RUN: Wednesday April 14, Temescal, 6pm. There will be prizes available! Need not be present to win, but showing up does help your chances.

I'll probably do some yoga to get me warm and limber tonight. For those of you who have Comcast On Demand, there are tons of great work outs available when you aren't able to get outside.

In other 5K news, check it out! We're running the exact same distance as the world's deepest known undersea volcanic vent. Next year, we dive.

Keeping up with George

George is kicking it up this weekend and he'd love some company! Email him to confirm if you're going to join. I totally forgot he was on the track team at Stanford so he is an official running smartypants!

From George: I’m thinking of doing some interval training Sunday at 4 PM in San Mateo at Sawyer Camp Trail. Sawyer Camp Trail has markers every 1/2 mile. Interval training would be run 3/4 mile, walk say 1/4 mile and repeat 5 times. It is a great way to build endurance and speed for distance running. My guess is that the workout should take about an hour. Here are some articles on interval training:

military.com
therunningadvisor.com
runners-resource.com

Run one: DONE!

We had a phenomenal first outing on Wednesday! Michelle, Janeen, and I did laps around Lake Temescal, in a gorgeous little park in Oakland that I hadn't even heard of until recently. I've got the lay of the land now, and I think we can have some real fun here. I'm picturing relay races!

Three loops of the lake was just about 5K and it went by in no time. We jogged a little to see what it felt like and you know what? It felt GREAT!

The evening closed with a touching sunset ceremony in which Michelle was honored with the Peacock Prize for Excellence in Racemanship. I may have shed a little tear. I am just so damn proud of you guys!

Training schedule: Ready, set, GO!

I'll post any planned training sessions here, show up when you can! You'll hear me say this 100 times before the race but please, please, please everybody feel comfortable at your own pace, whatever that is.

TONIGHT, 6 pm: Temescal Park, North Parking Lot (off of Broadway NOT Broadway Terrace).

There's a ~1 mile loop around the lake so we'll tackle that.

Next time: Monday April 12 6:30 pm at the Alameda Shoreline (meet at the corner of Franciscan and Willow). We'll alternate between Alameda and Lake Merritt for Monday nights.

Feel free to set your own training run times and invite others. If you're working out on your own here's a handy guide!

Everything you need to know!

We've got a great team so it's no surprise you came up with some great questions! Answers below:

What: Alameda R.A.C.E.--The Ralph Appezzato Charity Event benefiting local non-profits such as the Midway Shelter and Alameda Food Bank.

Where: The starting line is just in front of the Bank of Alameda at 1416 Park Street. The finish is 3.125 miles (5K) away at Webster and Haight. See the parade map below; we'll start a few blocks further down Park Street but otherwise the route is exactly the same. We'll be running/jogging/walking/what-have-you on paved streets.

When: July 4th, 2010 9 a.m.

Registration: Eventually required. This being 1950s Alameda there is no website for the event so I'll keep my eye out for details as it gets closer. I believe the fee was about $30 last year, and you can register on site but if you want the bitchin' t-shirt you've got to get signed up in advance.

Team name: Keep the suggestions coming! I love Arms Akimbo so far, Carissa somehow guessed one of my favorite words.