Pacific City

Thanksgiving dinner still bulging in my tum, we left the little beach house on the hill over Neskowin and drove up "the 101" to the sand swept parking lot outside the Pelican Pub. My goal for the morning was to run two sets of 4 miles each at 8 minute/mile pace. My hoped for race pace. Lynda and the dog were going to stay on the beach while I headed up Sand Lake Rd.

Got warmed up for a mile over some gentle hills and taking it very easy. It was cool out but the sun was shining and it was just a perfect morning on the coast. The mile over, it was time for the first set of four miles. I had my watch set for manual laps so I could record everything the way I wanted but it also meant I had to pay attention and mark each mile. This wasn't tough because I was looking at it a lot to stay on pace. It was a huge advantage to be running 8 minute miles because it's so easy to stay on pace, for example at .25 miles I needed to be at 2 minutes.

Soon I was past the Thousand Trails RV park and heading north along a cliff overlooking the ocean, the mighty Pacific. As the road curves and clings to the edge of the continent it couldn't help but rise and fall like a an ocean swell. But I felt good and strong and kept a good pace. I used the down hills to purposefully shorten my stride and increase my turnover and try to get rid of my habit of chomping down the hills and hitting the brakes.

When I got to Sand Lake I was no longer sure where I had determined from Google maps where I needed to turn around. I had imagined there to be a road that ran west just south of the lake but I never saw it. So I ran a little farther and eventually just felt I had gone far enough. I crossed to the other side of the road and started back south.

After the first set I used the 1/2 walk break to shed my light jacket and get some water. Actually it was a 50/50 mix of water and gatorade. My layers adjusted and a new playlist on the iPod, I started the second set feeling pretty good. When I got back to the RV park I took the inland road just to see something different and follow my plan. This road was a little less traveled but did go past a small lake and crossed a bridge as it entered town. My GPS showed that at the end of the set and one mile cool down I was still quite a ways south of my destination. I ended with 11 miles by the time I jogged into the Pelican's lot.

Nearly every mile during the pacework was done faster than I needed.

My calf muscle did fine during this entire run and was never a problem. But the next day it was tight and I might even say a bit painful. In hindsight I wouldn't have run this at all knowing that now I'm probably not going to be 100% for the marathon. But this is a game of risk and reward. I have pushed myself to the edge and perhaps have gone just a bit too far.

On Sunday I'll find out.